Shigeko Kageyama, AKA Mob
by Green Kneesocks
Summary: The ongoing life of Shigeko Kageyama, also known as Mob, as she tries to navigate work, school, feelings, growing up, and being the protagonist of her own life. MobXReigen. MobXTeru. May be M rated in later chapters. FemMob. Now with cover art by ponystoriesandothers!
1. Meet Kageyama Shigeko

Kageyama Shigeko, also known as Mob, was thinking. She was thinking mostly about the cost of incense. Why was it so expensive? Well, Master Reigen seemed to be more worried than she was. It still costed a lot for something that you burnt. There were some spirits in front of her. Neutral ones. Maybe they knew.

"How can incense be so incredibly, expensive? Honestly, at this point we should just start making our own. _Spirit's and Such_ brand incense, 100 yean a box. No, a stick. It'll be gold mine. But wait, no, we need to be the ones to be removing spirits. This could undercut our business. People need to depend on us. What do you think Mob?" asked Reigen, turning around and waving his hands in their air for emphasis. He was met with silence.

"Mob?" asked Reigen again. His assistant, his devoted student, was seemingly staring blankly at the air as if it was more interesting than Reigen himself and all of the wisdom he had to impart upon her. Impossible.

"Hey, Mob. Anybody home?" Said Reigen again, this time snapping his fingers in front of his young assistant's, devoted student's, secret weapons, and occasional tea maker's face.

"Kageyama Shigeko? Hello? Earth to Shigeko?" asked Reigen waving a hand in front of her face. She blinked and sat back suddenly. Oh. She had been thinking too hard. She hoped that Master Reigen wasn't mad at her or anything.

"Sorry, Master, but the spirits over there were arguing." Said Mob, motioning to the corner of the room where two neutral spirits were arguing over the meaning of the afterlife. She wouldn't ask them about the cost of incense, it would be rude to interrupt, and she hated being rude. It was really fascinating, too, each one having their own position on their new existence.

"Spirits?!" Asked Reigen, alarmed, before composing himself. Right. If they were evil they would have attacked. Besides, Mob didn't seem bothered at all. Then again nothing really seemed to ever bother Mob.

"Yes. Over there. Can't you sense them, Master?" asked Mob. Master Reigen was a psychic, not an esper, so his powers worked differently than hers. Not that she fully knew how her powers worked either.

"Well you see, Mob, they're so weak that they didn't even register. I suppose my aura must have cancelled them out." Said Reigen. Mob looked up at him. She couldn't see his aura at all. Besides, her aura had never cancelled out the aura of s spirit before. His powers were different. Yes. That was it.

"But I thought you were hiding your aura." Said Mob, still as deadpanned as always. Master looked a little startled. Had she said something wrong? She was always saying the wrong thing. She could never, ever, get a clue, could she?

"Well, sometimes it becomes too much for even me to handle." Said Reigen with all the confidence he could muster. He watched her face. Flat as always. He stared at her for a while. Her eyes were really the only expressive part of her.

"Are you alright, Master?" asked Mob holding eye contact with him. He had really pretty eyes. Blue. Hers were brown. Some people had green eyes but she had never seen green eyes before in person.

"I'm fine, just a little…tired. Yes! It's been a long day, Mob, lots of shoulder and back curses to remove! How about you take over exorcising these spirits? Show me what you've learned." Said Reigen motioning in the general direction of where Mob had seen the spirits. She smiled a little. She liked it that he trusted her. She couldn't do it, though. These spirits weren't bothering anyone. It would have been rude to exorcise them.

"But Master, they aren't evil." Said Mob simply. Reigen shrugged. He just didn't like the idea of spirits hanging around.

"So? They aren't supposed to be here." Said Reigen with a tone that Mob couldn't read. Tones were hard, sometimes. Well, all the time. Faces and tones were the layers of conversation that she just couldn't get through.

"But they aren't hurting us or anyone." Said Mob making eye contact. Reigen was about to say something else but stopped himself. Darn. She was giving those puppy eyes. He was a sucker for her puppy dog eyes. Well, any of her eyes. Her face seemed to be incapable of expression but her eyes told her whole story.

"Well, hmm. Mob, would you just let yourself into someone else's home?" asked Reigen pulling some wisdom out of the air as he spoke. Mob shook her head.

"No, that wouldn't be polite." Said Mob. She wasn't an RPG character. She couldn't just let herself in and loot other people's houses. She didn't even like doing that in game. Ritsu did. They had a fight about it. She didn't care if it was just a game it wasn't nice at all.

"Exactly, these spirits can't just go waltzing into our home like this." Said Reigen. He just didn't like the idea of the unseen world right there in his office where he worked and ate and occasionally slept.

"But this is an office." Said Mob. Reigen thought for a moment and then pointed to the no loitering sign he had hung up in the TV area. That was mostly to keep people from overstaying after he gave them massages.

"Just tell them that they don't have to go home but they can't stay here, especially when we're trying to work." Said Reigen moving back to his desk. Mob nodded. She got up, smoothed down her school skirt, and walked over to the spirits. She tried to smile but caught sight of her reflection in the window. It didn't look natural. It never looked natural when she smiled.

"Hello. My Master, Master Reigen, says that you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. I'm sorry to make you go but he's the Master and I'm the student so I have to do whatever he says when he says it." Said Mob, a little sadly, because she had been enjoying their conversation. It was wrong to eavesdrop though. She felt a little ashamed. She should be a nicer person. The truth of her charm was in her kindness after all.

The spirits debated amongst themselves for a moment before sliding through the walls and out of the office. Mob was a little sad, she didn't think that they had to chase those spirits out but Master Reigen knew what was best. He was the twenty first century's greatest psychic after all.

"Did they leave?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded. Reigen walked over and gave Mob a reassuring head rub and hair tug. He knew that he was pushing the line with her and he didn't like to. Reigen wasn't the sort of man who liked upsetting 14 year old girls. If she didn't want to exorcise the spirits then he wouldn't force her too. He wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable like that.

"Yes Master Reigen, they left. They're still hanging around the building, though. You said that they couldn't stay here and this room counts as here." Said Mob fixing her hair back to its half bowl cut. The other half was taken up by a pair of braids which reached her shoulders. He hadn't disturbed those too badly, though. Sometimes they came unbraided and mom said that she looked sloppy and embarrassed the family.

"Well that's OK then. You did great Mob." Said Reigen messing up her hair again. She used her power to fix it that time. Mom said that it was important to keep up neat appearance now that she was getting older, and she had to set a good example for Ritsu. Not that Ritsu needed her to set an example. He was just a naturally good person. He was good at everything even if his ideas about what the end of Evangelion meant were utterly insane. Of course instrumentality wasn't death. What, he had not been watching the same movie that she was?

"Thank you, Master Reigen." Said Mob, still deadpanned and still staring, to Reigen at least. Mob didn't really look around that much. She just sort of picked a spot and looked at it. He had his hand on her shoulder, now. He felt so warm. She could feel something warm bubbling up within her and squashed it down. She had to stay in control or something bad could happen, like the time when those bullies were picking on her and Ritsu so she sent everyone to the hospital on accident and hadn't even realized it. It wasn't a bad feeling she was getting right then but it was a big feeling, and those could also cause trouble.

"You're welcome, student! Soon you'll be the greatest psychic the world has ever known, just lie me! But first….I sense someone has entered the building." Said Reigen staying in character. He liked being this person, the Reigen Arataka in her mind. He could make her eyes light up like this. There was no better sight than her eyes lit up with joy. He had heard the door to the outside open, but Mob didn't need to know that. She needed to believe that he really was the Great Reigen Arataka, for both of their sakes.

"It doesn't feel like a spirit, just a regular person. No curses either." Said Mob, smoothing her skirt as she sat back down at her box/desk. She expanded her perceptions, her aura. She thought it felt like just a normal person, no curses or anything, but Master Reigen knew better. He knew everything and she was lucky that he was teaching her.

"I'll be the judge of that. Watch and learn, Mob, and maybe one day you can get on my level." Said Reigen. Secretly he was grateful. This was most likely a massage situation. Grate some rock salt, rub some shoulders, and get paid. Maybe get some takoyaki or ramen afterwards. All in a day's work for the great Reigen Arataka.

Mob went back to doing her homework, well trying to do her homework. Math was hard, EVEN Master had a hard time with it. He helped her, though, sometimes. He leaned over her when he helped her. She could smell him then. After shave, cigarettes, incense, and something she could only describe as him. She could close her eyes and lean back into his chest. She could have, but she didn't. That would have been weird. She could still think about it, though, right? Mob was so absorbed in her work she didn't notice the office door opening.

"Arataka, are you around?" called a voice as the door opened. Mob clutched her pencil. That was very familiar. Too familiar. Nobody ever called Master Reigen by his first name. She had never even called Master Reigen by his first name. Reigen spun around on his chair, dramatically.

"Oh, you're back." Said Reigen. He had a whole spiel planned but it was just a repeat customer. Not that he minded, he didn't, no, this actually made his job easier. He knew this woman, sort of, well her body anyway. If his intuition was right then maybe he would get to know her more intimately. Not that he set out to end up with customers like that. No. That would be sleazy.

"Oh Reigen, I think I'm cursed again. I've got the worst tightness in my shoulders and the pain in my back is just UNBEARABLE! Oh you've just got to help me." The woman, dramatically. Mob glared down at her work. She didn't know why she was so annoyed. It was just a client. They had plenty of clients. She didn't have so show up so near to closing, though. Yes, that was what was so upsetting about this.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion 15%_

"Well don't you worry, removing curses is my specialty." Said Reigen, not noticing the dark glare the Mob was giving her homework. She took a deep breath to try and squish down her emotions again. Unfortunately this drew the woman's attention.

"Oh hello there! You weren't around last time I was here, I would have noticed you. Aren't you just the cutest little thing?" said the woman. Mob looked up and tried to look polite. She had to be polite and sweet and nice and kind.

"Yours?" asked the women. Reigen shook his head. He was twenty eight, there was no way that he could have a kid Mob's age.

"No, this is just my dedicated student. Mob, say hi, introduce yourself." Said Reigen. C'mon Mob, be nice to the customer. We have rent to pay. That went through his mind quickly. She was a nice person once you got past that cool exterior, it was just a hard exterior to get around.

"Hello. My name is Kagayema Shigeko. Everyone calls me Mob. It's nice to meet you." Said Mob standing up and giving a bow. The woman didn't bow back but instead clasped her hand and shook it.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion 25%_

"Oh you're just so polite too. I'm Yuno. Oh I just can't get over how cute you are!" She said, not noticing the beads of sweat that formed on Mob's forehead. Reigen did and decided to save his poor, socially awkward student. Mob didn't much like being unexpectedly touched. Sometimes her powers could be felt, sort of like static electricity. She had hurt Ritsu a few times like that when he tried shaking her awake.

"So, you were saying someone cursed you?" said Reigen. Mob smiled, grateful to have been saved, and returned to her work. Well, returned to staring at her work anyway. She wasn't staring because the math problems were hard, which they were, why did they have to add letters to math anyway? It was hard enough just working with plain numbers. Mob wasn't staring because the machinations of this new form of math eluded her, no, it was because she…she didn't like that woman. She didn't hate her but this woman just, what was the phrase? Rubbed her the wrong way. Not physically but emotionally. She was too close to Master Reigen, too familiar with him.

She was too familiar and impolite. It was important to try to read the atmosphere and that woman seemed to have no idea that there even was an atmosphere in the first place. Now she was back there in the massage room with Master Reigen. Getting her back rubbed.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion 30%_

The pencil in her hand twisted itself into a knot like it was made of rubber. She needed to calm down. This wasn't good. What was she even so upset about? Master gave massages to people all the time. Her head hurt now, and things around the office began to float through the air. A potted plant almost hit her in the head before she got s grip and put everything down.

A loud laugh came from the massage room and Master Reigen stuck his head out.

"Hey, uh, Mob why don't you-" he glanced at the clock. Too early to send her home, they might get an actual customer later and then he's have to call her and wait for her to show up. Plus it bothered her when he called her on short notice, even though she didn't really do much on her own anyway.

"Master?" asked Mob looking up, her stare as long as ever. Emotions kept down where they should have been in the first place. He thought her eyes looked duller for a moment. They looked like that, sometimes, too.

"Takoyaki! Go and get us some takoyaki! And…um…go get something to drink, too. From the convenience store. The one that's far away and has a good selection." Said Reigen quickly. That should have bought him about half an hour, maybe even forty five minutes depending on if Mob get distracted or not. She could end up stopping to pet some cats, or to just watch the world go by.

"Why do I have to go to the store that's far away? There's a store a block away." Said Mob. It wasn't super hot out, the seasons were changing, but she didn't feel like walking that much. The selection wasn't really that much better there. Reigen ran his hands through his hair and thought. What was he supposed to tell her? Hey Mob, go away while I use this massage table for a purpose it was never intended to be used for? No, that would be awful for her. She was just a kid, she didn't need to know about what he got up to.

"Spirits! Go and check for spirits. I was getting a weird feeling from that place. You should check it out." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Well, if Master Reigen felt spirits then of course she would go check it out. This was her job after all and maybe, just maybe, he'd tug on her braid and tell her something nice and then she'd smile.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. She got up, got some money from the office cash coffee can, and set off on her way. She waved to the spirits on her way out, they were still debating and Mob was curious to see what conclusion they would come too.

Mob walked alone, looking out for any evil spirits. There were none on the way to the store or the takoyaki vendor. Just the neutral ones just existing and not bothering anyone. They weren't bothering anyone so she wouldn't bother them. When she made it back to the office the woman was gone, thankfully, though Mob didn't know why she was thankful.

"They gave us one extra again." Said Mob as she put the food down on the little table she and her master shared meals on occasionally.

"You did good again, Mob, making me proud as always." Said Reigen messing up her hair again. She fixed it using her powers, slightly angry at her Master. Why? Why was she upset? She didn't like this feeling at all. It was new and gross and she just wanted it to go away.

"I just went to the store, Master, that's all." Said Mob quietly as she began to eat. Reigen sat down to join her but in his enthusiasm accidentally set the food flying towards the floor. Mob caught it and spun it around a few times to cool it down enough for her Master to eat. She didn't feel burning like other people. She felt ambient heat like on a hot day but it took things like fire a while to bother her.

"Thank you, Mob. Thoughtful as always." Said Reigen as he began to eat like he had never seen food before. Mob looked her Master up and down. His shirt was buttoned wrong, and his tie was skewed. She didn't know why this bothered her either. Maybe because that's not how Master Reigen was supposed to look. No, he was always impeccably dressed even when he was covered in salt or running for his life. He always looked so cool. She had seen other people in suits before but nobody wore a suit like Master Reigen.

"I try to be, Master, like you taught me." Said Mob. Master Reigen had taught her that the truth of her charm was in her kindness. She took everything he said to heart.

"Nice to know you're listening." Said Reigen as he got soy sauce and mayonnaise on his face. Mob passed him over a napkin with her powers. He always ate so messily. She didn't get why but it was kind of…nice. Funny.

"I always listen to you, Master." Said Mob. She always listened to Master Reigen when he told her things. He was so wise. He knew everything and he so graciously imparted his wisdom onto her. It was nice, spending time with him. She didn't come in every day, though. Sometimes he didn't need her. She was so sad and alone on those days. Ritsu was busy with student council all the time these days. He was the only first year there so it was an accomplishment but she missed how they used to be friends. They used to watch anime together and play videogames and board games like go and they'd go to the arcade and the candy store and lots of other stuff. Maybe she needed to branch out more. Maybe she should….maybe she could join a club. Some club must have been willing to take her. She was weird and awkward and couldn't get a clue for the life of her but she…there was a place for everyone, right?

"You're smart like that, Mob. Stick with me and I'll make sure you learn everything you need to know." Said Reigen still with his mouthful. Mob didn't mind. She never minded anything about him. It was nice, being able to be some version of himself around her. Even in character he could be more…just more Arataka, really. Loud and messy and dramatic.

"Master…I've been thinking." Said Mob. Reigen felt his heart jump into his throat but didn't let it show. What was it? She found out he was a fraud? She wanted a raise? Mob was always thinking but she hardly ever voiced her thoughts. What did go on in that head of hers, anyway? What was she always staring at?

"That's new, you don't usually start conversations." Said Reigen as calmly as he could. Mob looked up at him and then looked back down. She had been thinking lately that she should do more, that she was wasting her youth, that she needed to do what her mom said and "make some friends and try to be normal, Shigeko" but now she was also…upset. She was upset because…because she didn't want to lose Master Reigen? Actually everything had been annoying her lately. Maybe she needed to join a club and make some other friends. She needed more friends than just her brother and Master Reigen, right?

"I've been thinking that maybe I should do more outside of work." Said Mob, not wanting to get into it about why she was upset. She wasn't great at reading the atmosphere but she knew that if she brought up how she was feeling it would be making things awkward. She knew that it had something to do with that woman and how she had been so familiar with Master Reigen. She had never seen a woman be that familiar with him. Well, she had, sometimes. Little touches, tones and looks she couldn't read, but his first name seemed like a little too much.

"Oh…that's great!" said Reigen. It really wasn't, from a business perspective, but he wasn't going to say that. He could spare for a few hours in the afternoon, he thought. She was young and she deserved to have a nice time while she could. Hopefully her youth would be better than his was.

"Really?" asked Mob, her little eyes filling up with hope in that way that made Reigen, and anyone else around, want to squeeze her like a tube of toothpaste because she was just so incredibly adorable, even with the unfortunate bowl cut.

"Of course! So what are you going to do? Take up music? Art? Hitchhike around the country?" asked Reigen, hoping that it was something small like a school club. He had no idea what he would do if she were ever to quite. He wasn't exactly drowning in espers. Actually, he wasn't even sure if there were any espers out there other than Mob. There had been Mogami back when he was a kid but he had no idea if Mogami was the real deal or just a really good actor.

"I was thinking of joining a club. So I might not be able to make it to work right after school anymore." Said Mob quietly. She wanted to spend time with Master Reigen but she wanted friends, too. She wanted to be like everyone else and make good memories and have good times. She could maybe even be popular. She envied the popular girls like Tsubomi a little. They always had people who wanted to hang out with them and everyone wanted to be friends with them.

"But you'll still come in, right?" asked Reigen. He'd be out of business without her. Also, who would hang on his every word if she was gone? He wasn't exactly drowning in people trying to be his students. Mob nodded quickly. She would always come back to Master Reigen. He was her Master.

"Of course, Master Reigen." Said Mob. She smiled a little, feeling kind of warm. It was…nice…yes that was the feeling. It was nice that Master wanted her around, that he liked having her around. He wanted to be with her. Nobody had ever really wanted to spend time with her but Ritsu but he was her little brother so he was obligated to be her friend. That was how it worked with siblings. She would have been his friend either way, though.

"Great! Have fun in this new life endeavor and tell me how it goes." Said Reigen, slapping her on the back this time. Not meanly, and it was nice. She felt her face heating up. Her takoyaki flew off the toothpick and she barely caught it in time. To hide her smile she ate it quickly. What was wrong with her?


	2. The Body Improvement and Telepathy Club

Mob has absolutely no idea what she was doing, not really, and not just because it was math class. No, she had no idea what she was doing in general. She wanted to make friends and be popular, but did she want it for herself or because her mother kept telling her to be more normal, more like everyone else?

_"Honestly, Shigeko, when are you going to make some friends? You can't spend your entire youth working."_ That's what her mother had said a few days ago.

_"Oh don't be like that, Shigeko's just a little career woman, aren't you?" _Dad had come to her rescue. He was always nice, well, when he wasn't too tired to be with them. He worked all the time.

_"Shigeko is really nice and lots of people would like to be her friend." _Ritsu was always nice to her. He was her friend, probably because he was her little brother, though.

She looked around. Other people were, not better, but different. They didn't have to worry about losing control or hurting anyone. Mob worried about that a lot. She needed to always be vigilant of herself, or something terrible could happen. Because she was always so inward she didn't have the mental energy to read the atmosphere and that made her awkward. She was tired of being awkward.

Tsubomi was up at the board solving the equation. She was always so pretty and cool. They used to be friends, when they were little, but Mob's psychic powers had just scared her away. The other kids used to poke her or yell at her until she exploded. That seemed mean but she had just been misreading the atmosphere. The other kids were having fun so she should have been having fun, too. She felt hurt then, and wanted to stay friends with Tsubomi but they were too different. She was pretty, Mob was just cute, she could read the atmosphere like a book, and Mob couldn't tell if the atmosphere was in Japanese, English, or Martian.

But if she could be friends with Tsubomi again then she could be more popular, and have other friends. But first she had to become a more well-rounded person. To do that she would need some hobbies, interests, something other than work. Not that she didn't like work, work was nice. Master Reigen was nice, always so nice. Smart too. He had already taught her so much about her powers and they had a lot of fun just hanging out.

There, she already had a friend. Did Master Reigen count as a friend? He was her teacher and her boss but they also hung out a lot. Did work still count as work if they weren't doing any actual work? Like those long days when they didn't have any clients, not even anyone coming in for a massage or anything, and they just watched funny cat videos and ate junk food all day.

If she could make one friend then she could make another. But first she had to figure out how all this math worked, and why there were all these letters in it. Ritsu could help her later. He was great at math. He was great at everything. He was super well rounded, too. He was smart and athletic and well liked, too. Maybe she could be well liked if she, what was the expression? If she put herself out there more. She'd join a club. She'd find some other people to make friends with and she'd get more hobbies than working, watching anime, reading manga, and playing go with her little brother.

But what club to join? She honestly had no idea. She wouldn't try to join student council, though. It would be nice to spend more time with Ritsu and all but she didn't get good enough grades and those guys were super intense. There was only one girl on the student council but she was older and kind of scary.

What kind of club would she like? There wasn't an Evangelion club. There was an anime club but she had passed by their room a few times and it wasn't for her. It was all boys and all they did all day was watch shows that she didn't like and draw cute girls. No thanks. She didn't even like those kinds of shows. She liked shows about feelings, mostly. Where people grew and changed and fought for good. She also liked shows where people were in clubs and had club adventures.

Hey, maybe if she joined a club then she could have club adventures.

The videogame club was all hardcore gamers. She liked mobile games, Mario games, and games where you took care of a virtual pet. That reminded her, where did she leave her Nintendog game? Oh, yeah, Ritsu had her DS now. She liked games but she was no gamer.

The manga club was super hardcore, too. This one had girls but they all cared about ships and stuff. She cared somewhat about shipping, everyone knew that Shinji and Rei from Eva were meant for each other. She liked love. She liked plots where people fell in love and kissed at the end. She just wasn't super hardcore into it. She read Weekly Shoujo and a few series when they came out in compilations. Some light novels, too. Nothing too hardcore.

Maybe she should hang out with boys, though. She wanted more female friends but hanging out with boys might be fun, too. She looked around. She liked boys. She wasn't in love with any boys but she liked the idea of them. Of someone who loved her, of someone who wanted to hold hands and maybe even kiss.

No, not kiss, not yet. The thought of kissing a boy, any boy, made her turn beet red.

She had never had her first kiss. She had never gotten close enough to any boy to kiss him. She had kissed Ritsu on top of his head but he was her little brother and she knew that little brothers didn't count as boys. Master Reigen didn't count, either. Not that she would mind kissing him…

Where in the world had that thought come from?

Kissing was for when you were in love and she was not in love with Master Reigen. She couldn't be because he was the master and she was the student. She couldn't think these sorts of thoughts about him. She should have been thinking these sorts of thoughts about the boys in her class. She looked around. Nobody she wanted to kiss.

She had to get to know a boy better before she kissed him. She had to get to know him as a person and feel comfortable with him. To do this she needed to actually meet a boy and to meet a boy she would have to join a club. But which one? Maybe she should go to work today and take a night to think about it. She could ask Ritsu. Why had he wanted to join the student council? What made him want to be a student council member? He must have enjoyed it a lot. He was always going to meetings or doing student council duties. Not that the student council did as much as the ones in anime, though. They mostly just bossed people around and breathed down your neck about your uniform.

She chewed on this for the rest of the day. She had been so deep in thought about which club to even think about joining that she didn't notice the group of people harassing the entire school about joining their club. No, not just a club but a society devoted to friendship, comradery, and discovering the mysteries of the paranormal!

"Hey, you, come with me." Mob was on her way out of school, everything but math having gone well. She looked up and saw a chubby boy in glasses trying to get her attention. Well maybe not hers, she wasn't the best at reading the atmosphere. She looked around and then pointed to herself.

"Yes you, come with me." He said. She shook her head. She had to go to work. She hadn't chosen a club and Master Reigen would probably need her for something. She also looked forward to seeing him. Maybe they could get takoyaki again.

"No, I have to go now." Said Mob in her usual monotone. She had a commitment to keep. She said that she wouldn't come to work if she had joined a club. She hadn't joined a club and therefore she needed to go to work.

"Are you in any clubs?" he asked. This was the last person left. They had asked literally every other student. He knew her, sort of. Shigeko the girl who never smiled and always stared off into space. Ritsu, the only first year on the student council's, big sister.

"No." said Mob simply. This boy was looking at her weird. People looked at her like that, sometimes. Master Reigen said that she looked weird, sometimes. Spooky.

"Cram school?" he asked again. As far as he knew she was a card carrying member of the going home club. If she was then she would be absolutely perfect.

"No, I don't attend that either." Said Mob. Cram school? Yuck. She had a hard enough time at regular school. Mom wanted her to go, though, but dad said that it would be a waste of money because if she hadn't gotten as smart as Ritsu at this point then cram school would just be throwing money away.

"Any hobbies or interests?" he asked again, holding way too much eye contact. Mob shrugged. She liked anime and manga and games. She wasn't hardcore into anything, though.

"I have an after school job and I have to go to it now. It was nice meeting you." Said Mob walking towards the door. He looked at her like she was the answers to all of humanity's hopes and prayers. It honestly made her uncomfortable, the sheer amount of eye contact he was making. Master Reigen said that there was a sweet spot to eye contact but that she would probably never find it.

"You're perfect! Come with me!" he said as he dragged her down the hall. She let herself get dragged. Maybe this was something interesting, or maybe it was something weird. Either way it didn't look like he was going to leave her be until she heard him out. Master always said that it was important to hear people out and then make your judgements about them. Master was good at things like that, talking to people and stuff.

Mob found herself dragged down the hall and into a far off club room. The sign said it was the telepathy club. Oh, she had passed by this room. She couldn't join, though. She was an esper, not a telepath.

"I found someone!" the boy said as Mob was thrust into the room. She looked around. Two other boys and a girl, lots of junk food, manga, and videogames. Oh, and what looked like a descent collection of empty soda cans. Maybe they were going to build something. She and Ritsu used to make cars and spaceships from old soda cans. Well, they did until Ritsu cut his finger and mom said no more making Ritsu play with garbage.

"Yes! Thank God!" the girl said. She walked over and bowed. Mob bowed back. That was the polite thing to do. She didn't know this girl. She looked older, though, so that would explain it. Not that Mob knew a lot of people.

"I'm president of the telepathy club, Kurata Tome." She said taking both of Mob's hands in hers. Familiar, but not unwanted. She seemed nice. Maybe she wanted to make friends. Mob knew that she could always use more friends.

"I'm Kageyama Shigeko, but everyone calls me Mob." Said Mob. She did want some more friends, and here were more friends. Sort of. She could make friends with them, though, and they wanted her to be there it seemed like. She needed a club, here was a club. Perfect.

"Hey, I've heard of you. Didn't you once ignore your teacher for so long that he dragged you out into the hall?" asked Tome. That was a rumor that had made it's rounds a couple weeks ago. This was the same girl? Tome had been picturing a badass when she had heard that. This girl looked more like a cross between an emotionless anime girl and the token moe girl. Hey, they could have a moe mascot now!

"He didn't drag me, just my chair." Said Mob flatly. Flat fact. It was just the flat fact of what happened. She hadn't been ignoring class on purpose, she had just been too wrapped up in the colors that made up the world. It was a kaleidoscope. Really, if she focused that was what it looked like. Normal people couldn't see it that way, though. This girl looked like a normal person. Not colors around her. No AT field. Or was it an aura?

"Club president, she's perfect. No clubs, cram school, or hobbies of any kind." The boy said. Mob nodded. That was pretty much it.

"She's cute too!" someone else said. The club president, Tome, whacked him on the head without turning around. Mob didn't react. She knew that lots of people thought that she was cute. She was cute in the way a kitten or a little kid was. She wasn't cute in the boys wanted to confess to her way.

"Don't scare her away. We need her." Said Tome through clenched teeth. This girl was literally their last resort. Tome circled her. She just sort of stood there. Her eyes didn't even follow Tome as she circled her. What was with her? Was she putting on an act or what she really like this?

"For what?" asked Mob. She wasn't perfect for anything but being awkward and clueless. She knew that she was weird, her parents had told her as much many times.

"Why to join the telepathy club of course." Said Tome as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. What had Inukawa done? Dragged her in without explaining a thing?

"You all have telepathy?" asked Mob, hope welling up in her eyes. The only other person she had ever met with abilities like hers was her Master, and Master Reigen said that his powers were spiritual and not psychic. She didn't have telepathy and she had been afraid to come in and ask them, before, because she was bad at approaching people. Plus she herself did not have that particular power.

"Well…not exactly…." Said the Tome rubbing the back of her head. They were still working on that part of their name. They had the club part down, though.

"Oh, Ok. I have to go to work then. Good bye." Said Mob. She couldn't believe that she had gotten her hopes up. Maybe there was nobody else like her. Master Reigen wasn't even like her, not really. She felt hurt, now, because her hopes had been shot down. She…she did wanted that, to find another person like her.

"Wait! Please, stay." Said Tome grabbing the girl, Kageyama, by the shoulders. This was their one last hope and Tome would not let her walk right out the door.

"Why?" asked Mob. She knew that Master Reigen said that she could show up to work later than usual if she had a club but she…wanted….to go to work and hang out with him. Being with him felt more…appealing…than it used to. Not that she didn't enjoy sending time with Master Reigen before, but now it was something she was really looking forward to, like a cold glass of milk on a hot day.

"Because….we need another member or our club gets disbanded! Everything that we're fought tooth and nail for will vanish! Us, we true comrades, will be scattered to the four winds! Will you do what you can to stop this tragedy from occurring!?" Said Tome, her excitement getting the best of her. Mob nodded quickly. She was being shaken now. She needed to make it stop before she got motion sick. She got motion sick easily.

"Alright. I'll join then." Said Mob. She could do that. They all seemed to really care about their club and she didn't want something they loved to get taken away from them. If she could help then she would. Besides, joining a club was something she had put on her list of things to do to become a more well rounded person.

"Really?! Perfect! I can tell that you and I are going to be the best of friends, Kageyama! Just you wait!" said Tome, shaking Mob back and forth like a rag doll. She hadn't had a female friend in a while and now she had one! And she was moe! Mob kept herself calm even though she was starting to get motion sick.

"So, what does this club do, then, if you guys don't have telepathy?" asked Mob. She didn't know what else that they could be doing if they had no powers. Maybe she and Master Reigen were the only people with powers in the city, maybe even the world.

"We at the telepathy club have dedicated our lives to improving our telepathy skills in order to make contact with extraterrestrial beings!" said Tome dramatically. The boys around her groaned. Tome shut them up with a glare. They worked hard, sometimes. Not always but they had bursts of furious activity!

"Ok." Said Mob quietly. She looked at them all with her same deadpanned stare. To them she looked bored. She was just taking them all in. They seemed nice enough, kind of like they were in a club shenanigans anime. Maybe she could find a role, here. She'd be the quiet background character, probably. She was Mob after all.

"That's it?" asked Tome. She didn't have any further questions? She was just going to accept their crazy explanation?

"What?" said Mob not getting what she had said wrong.

"That's all you have to say?" said Tome. Mob thought for a moment. Right. Master Reigen said that when you talked to other people you should always ask follow up questions.

"Have you made contact with any aliens?" asked Mob. Were aliens real? She had never seen an but then again most people had never seen any spirits. Everyone blinked and then looked off in different directions.

"Well, no, because we…um…get a little sidetracked…because we needed to keep up moral!" Said Tome. Mob nodded. On the outside she was calm, aloof even, but on the inside she was all topsey turvey. She wanted to make friends and join a club but she also wanted to better herself. Would she truly better herself by doing, what looked like, a whole lot of nothing? She could play videogames and eat junk food with Ritsu at home, so would doing so at school really be bettering her in any way? But then again she enjoyed doing these things. She didn't have telepathy and she didn't care about finding aliens but she did care about making friends.

She was interrupted from her internal debate by the buzzing of her phone. It was Master Reigen.

"Hello, Master." Said Mob as she answered his call. She was smiling a little, she noticed. She sometimes smiled when she talked to Master Reigen. His voice sounded nice, too.

"Mob, good, I got a hold of you. I need you to come by right away." Said Master Reigen. She smiled, a little smile not anything big, and felt herself get warmer. Tome gave her a grin like the Chesire Cat that ate the canary.

"Boyfriend?" she asked slyly. They could girl bond over guys. Not that she had ever had a boyfriend. At most she had practice kissed Inukawa and that hadn't been very good. Mob shook her no. Her? A boyfriend? Sure, and then they'd make another Eva rebuild movie.

"No, this is my Master, Master Reigen." Said Mob. This got everyone's attention. Shishou? Like in a manga? What did she need a Master for?

"Master?" they all asked at once. Mob nodded, not getting why they sounded shocked. It was common knowledge that she was the weird girl with the spooky powers, wasn't it?

"Yes. He teaches me to control my powers, and I work for him." said Mob. This just earned her further looks of confusion. Someone muttered something about middle school syndrome. Someone else muttered something back about crazy rumors.

"Mob? Mob? Are you still there?" said Reigen. What Mob couldn't see was the pissed off spirit in front of him, the salt needlessly scattered everywhere, and the looks of terror in the eyes of the clients. This was not the time for her to be ignoring him.

"I'm here. Master, remember, I asked you not to call me on such short notice. I have a club meeting today." Said Mob. She would have come in on her own, well, before she had joined this club.

"Can you cut it a little short today, Mob? I really need you." asked Reigen. He had absolutely no way of getting rid of this evil spirit on his own, he needed Mob's help. He'd make it up to her. He'd get ramen and one of those milk popsicles she liked so much, and he'd pay her double…or time and a half. Yes, that was more affordable. Reigen had rent to pay after all.

"Master, I just joined." Said Mob. The war within her was reignited. On the one hand she wanted to go and help Master Reigen, and not just because of the warmth that filled her when he said he needed her. No, she wanted to help him because he was a good person and he was asking for her help. Also it was her job.

"Well, say that you'll stay double time at the next meeting then." Said Reigen. Mob was about to reply when the phone was ripped out of her hands.

"Hello, this is club president Tome. Kageyama can't come in today, we need her to sign the papers so she can be an official member of our club. I'm sure you understand." Said Tome in a tone that left no room for discussion. The calm sort of angry tone that her mom used when she was up late screaming into his mic. Well it usually left no room for discussion, when she used her mom's tone, but she had never verbally sparred with the likes of Reigen Arataka before.

"I'm sorry but Shigeko has to come in to work today. She can sign the papers or whatever tomorrow." Said Reigen in his best tone that said that he was the adult and what he said went.

"It'll be too late by tomorrow." Said Tome, starting up the water works. Mob was honestly concerned and took her phone back.

"Um, Master, I think I should stay at least to sign the forms. The club president is about to cry." Said Mob. She didn't like it when people cried but she also didn't want to disappoint Master Reigen.

"Mob if you believe that I have an underwater bridge that I can sell you." Said Reigen with a groan. He could tell that those were crocodile tears and he wasn't in the room. Why was Mob so bad socially? How did that happen to someone that they couldn't even realize when they were getting the crocodile tears?

"But why would the bridge be underwater?" asked Mob. Tome rolled her eyes and tried to snatch the phone through her fake tears. What was with Kageyama? She wasn't being sarcastic, that was genuine.

"Mob…what's this club even called?" asked Reigen trying to keep from yelling. He couldn't yell at a bunch of middle school girls, that would have been bad.

"The telepathy club, but nobody has telepathy. They look for aliens and hang out." Said Mob. Everyone was, once again, looking in all different directions. Well when she put it like that they sounded incredibly shady.

"What-in-the-….?" Said Reigen trying to fit how any of those things went together in his mind. Kids these days.

"The club is called the telepathy club. They don't have telepathy but they look for-" said Mob thinking that maybe they just had a bad connection.

"I heard you the first time. Mob…it's important….please. I'll make it up to you." Said Reigen practically pleading. Mob nodded her head but then remembered that she was on the phone and that they were on chat only.

"Of course, Master." Said Mob. If Master Reigen really needed her then of course she'd go to help him. She closed her phone and bowed to her new club mates.

"You're going?" asked Tome incredulously. So what, she was just going to go running because she was told to?

"Yes. I'm sorry. I'll be back tomorrow though." Said Mob with a bow. Tome tried to stop her.

"You're just going to go? Just because he said so?" said Tome. If her mother had told her to rush home during her club time she would have given her mother a big piece of her mind.

"Yes. He's my Master and my boss. I have to go but I will be back tomorrow. I promise." Said Mob as she left. She felt sort of bad but knew that she'd be back tomorrow, she'd sign the papers, and they'd be able to keep their club room. It would all work out. She had promised after all and a promise was a promise.

The spirit turned out to actually be a fairly weak one. Mob didn't know why her Master had called her all the way out of her club meeting for such a weak spirit. Well, maybe it wasn't so weak because, well, the special salt splash move didn't work. Not that she had ever seen the salt work.

Still though, Mob didn't really like being called away.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion 30%_

"Thank you so much Mob. I mean, I could have gotten it if my, uh, powers weren't so drained already from clearing all of the spirits that were there before the one you got too." Said Reigen trying to sound smooth. Mob nodded and kept her eyes fixed in front of her.

"I asked you not to call me on such short notice, Master." Said Mob quietly. She liked helping Master Reigen but she did have her own life, not that she had much that she was doing. Reigen threw his arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Mob. Tell you what, I'll make it up to you." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak just then, and she didn't know why. This was…this was new. Master Reigen had always causally touched her before, a pat on the head, an arm across her back, so this its self wasn't different. Maybe she was different. Maybe there was something wrong with her.

"Let's get some ramen! You like ramen!" said Reigen. He took her silence for anger. Maybe he had crossed a line with her. He didn't know what he'd do without her. Hopefully ramen and a day off in the future would make her feel better.

"Alright." Said Mob quietly, looking down at her shoes as if they were the most important thing in the world. She could feel him near her, the weight of him. She could smell him. She could lean in and rest her head against him, if she chose to. She wanted to but she didn't.

"And you can have the whole day off tomorrow." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. She could go to her club meeting. The schedule on the wall said that they met every single day. They wouldn't have a teacher breathing down their necks either. The club advisor was the librarian and she was almost eighty. Mob was glad, she got enough of her teachers during the day.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob quietly, her voice wavering a little. She wanted him to let her go and she wanted him to pull her closer. It honestly made her feel something like motion sickness.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion 45%_

They walked towards the Ramen shop, Reigen's arm around her shoulder the entire way there. He narrated to her the amazing, and unknown to her heavily embellished, account of that day's activities. Mob hung on every word he said. Her Master was so brave, getting rid of an entire parking structure's worth of spirits all on his own, not stopping until his powers were totally depleted. She wished she had been there to help, she could have saved her Master that fate. She wished she had been there to save him but she was also happy that she had been able to join a club, sort of.

"So, Mob, what's with this club you're going to join?" asked Reigen, finally taking a break to ask about her. They were at the ramen shop now, bowls of ramen cooling in front of them. Reigen didn't mind how hot his ramen was, he slurped up his noodles and kept up conversation just the same as if they were ice cold.

"It's the telepathy club. They-" said Mob getting ready to start her spiel again.

"I know what you said, they look for aliens and goof off all day." Said Reigen. Sounded pretty shady to him but if this was what Mob wanted he wouldn't discourage her. Lord knew that she could have used more friends.

"That's pretty much it, yes, as far as I can tell." Said Mob, stirring her noodles so they cooled faster. She wanted it to be at a pleasant temperature. Then she wouldn't slurp her noodles and make a mess like Master Reigen tended to do.

"Do you even want to join?" asked Reigen. He wasn't trying to dissuade her per se, or so he told himself, he was just trying to keep her from making a mistake. She didn't really seem too gung ho about this, even for her.

"I think so. I mean I should join a club." Said Mob quietly. She needed to join a club and this was a club willing to have her. What was there to think about?

"Do you want to or do you just think you should because everyone else is in clubs?" asked Reigen. That must have been it, peer pressure. She didn't want to quit and leave him high and dry. She wouldn't start pulling away from him until he was all alone again.

"I…I'm not sure, Master. I want to be a more well-rounded person, and to be more popular." Said Mob. She did. If she were more popular then she could be happier and all she wanted was to be happy.

"So you joined the telepathy club?" said Reigen incredulously. She wanted to be popular so she joined what sounded like a shady refuge for lazy weirdos?

"Yes. They needed another member or their club would be disbanded." Said Mob. She liked being helpful like that. The truth of her charm was in her kindness after all.

"Well if you ask me the whole club sounds pretty shady. If you want to join a club why not one you want to join, instead of one you felt pressured to join." Said Reigen offhandedly. It was different if Mob felt pressured. She was bad at confrontation especially with other kids. Realization dawned in Mob's eyes.

"I…understand. Thank you, Master." Said Mob as she began to eat her ramen. If she wanted to be a more well rounded person she needed to join a club that she wanted to join, not just one that was convenient or one that she felt pressured to join. But then again she didn't know what kind of club she wanted to join. If she didn't know what kind of club she wanted to join then wouldn't it make sense to join the Telepathy club because they wanted her?

"What's going on in that head of yours?" asked Reigen as he watched the activity behind her brown eyes. He could tell what she felt, if he really focused. Mob looked him in the eye for longer than was necessary. He had been staring at her so was it then ok for her to stare right back into his eyes?

"I already made a promise to them that I would join their club, and a promise is a promise no matter what." Said Mob. A man was only as good as his word, Master Reigen had told her that. She wasn't a man but she would never, ever, break her word.

"That's true, but…" said Reign sitting back in his chair, so laid back that a feather could tip him over. Mob liked it when he sat like that. He looked so relaxed. She could see his suit straining against his body when he leaned like that.

"But?" asked Mob leaning forward. What did he mean by that? Why would he keep her in suspense like this?

"But a promise made under pressure isn't a real promise at all." Said Reigen sagely. Mob nodded. That was like when she was five and Ritsu held her favorite stuffed panda hostage until she agreed to give him her milk pop. She had promised it to him just to get her panda back. Mom had been mad at her for sticking to the promise because she had ruined Ritsu's dinner. A promise made under duress was not a real promise and she needed to be mature enough to understand that.

"Yes Master, that makes sense. Thank you." Said Mob. Master Reigen was so wise, he always knew just what to do.

"No thanks needed. What kind of a Master would I be if I didn't impart wisdom on my student?" said Reigen. Internally he was dancing. He still had her around, he could still get rid of spirits and keep his business going. There was a part of him, long buried and dying of neglect, that actually felt, well, slimy, about what he was doing. He was lying to her, pretending that he had psychic powers and that he was her teacher. That part of him, the nay-sayer, was drowned out by the other parts of him that knew just how many truly slimy people there were out there. Guys ready to take advantage of a trusting little middle school girl, and in more ways than he ever would. Mob could have wound up working for a real piece of trash who would have done God knows what with her. She was actually pretty lucky to have someone like him looking out for her.

Later on that night Mob laid in her room, trying to figure out what to do. She wanted to tell the telepathy club that she wasn't joining after all. She wouldn't have been a bad person if she did that, Master Reigen said that a promise made under coercion was no promise at all. She didn't want to be a jerk though. The atmosphere was so hard to read.

In addition to this her mom had been very angry with her for bending another spoon. She couldn't help it, sometimes they just bent.

_"Honestly, Shigeko, you're too old to be spilling your food all over the table like a toddler."_

She felt bad that she couldn't be good enough, that she couldn't control her powers. She had one gift and she was bad at it. She wished she could be more like Ritsu. Ritsu was good at anything he put his mind to. She was so proud of him.

She was proud of him but she was also hoping that he didn't get powers. She knew Ritsu wanted powers more than anything but she didn't want him to have to carry this burden. He deserved better than that. She was glad her little brother was good at everything but psychic powers and she hoped that he never was in a position where he needed to be good at psychic powers.

Mob wished she were good at more things, like Ritsu was. The first step to being good at more things was to try new things. That was why she was going to tell the telepathy club…she was going to tell them no thank you as politely as she could. If she could. Could she? Would she?

The next day at school Mob was faced with a dilemma. She had been watching the clock all day, every lesson taught went in one ear and out the other. She was just a ball of worry, anxiety, and stress.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion 49%_

"Just sign here and you'll be a full fledge member of the telepathy club." Said Tome happily as she thrust the clipboard into Mob's hands with more force than she realized. Mob looked down at the paper in front of her. She didn't really want to join the telepathy club but she didn't not want to either and she did want more friends….and people weren't exactly lining up to be her friend aside from all of the club members. However, hanging out and goofing off all day wouldn't make her a more well rounded person.

"I'm not really sure…" said Mob. She wanted more friends so she should join but she also wanted to find out what she truly wanted. What was with her? Why was she so indecisive? She needed to just make a choice already.

"Here, just sign before the student council vice president shows up!" said Tome shoving the pen into Mob's hand. She barely held on to it. This was all too much. The other members of the club watched her with baited breath and just as she was about to put her name to the paper the student council president came barging in surrounded by the biggest middle schoolers that Mob had ever seen.

"Still only four members I see! Well that's tough but what can you do? That's life." Said vice president. He stood there in all of his fancily parted hair glory. He looked down at the slackers before him. They had wasted this room for long enough.

"Wait! We have our fifth member right here! Shigeko, sign the form already." Said Tome nudging her with her elbow. She could even sign with an 'x' if she didn't feel like writing out the kanji for Kageyama Shigeko.

"Well, the thing is, I'm not sure if I want to join your club…" said Mob quietly. A promise made under duress was no kind of promise at all, right?

"But you said you would!" said Tome. Mob shook her head.

"Only because you guys made me." Said Mob

"Listen here and listen well. Join this club if you want to, but be warned. This club is nothing but a den of slackers. This room would much better serve another, more useful club." Said the student council vice president with his nose turned up so high that he was in danger of drowning in the rain.

"What club?" asked Mob looking over at all the boys who were carrying in a lot of heavy looking work out equipment. Wow, they were huge. Bigger than Master Reigen, even, and he was the tallest person that she knew.

"The body improvement club." Said the student council vice president. Mob's eyes lit up. Maybe if she joined that club she could improve herself and become a more well rounded person. She wasn't athletic at all. Gym class and her were mortal enemies, but that was a shortcoming that she could improve. She did like the idea of self-improvement after all.

"Mob, don't listen to him. We're in middle school, this is the last time in our lives when we can just hang out and have fun." Whispered Tome. What could be better than goofing off before you had to grow up and work yourself to the bone? Mob looked at everyone before giving a deep bow.

"I would be honored to join both of your clubs." Said Mob. There. She could improve herself and make new friends and the telepathy club could keep their room. The truth of her charm was in her kindness and she was going to be kind and find a solution that helped everyone.

And so the Body Improvement/Telepathy Club was born.


	3. New and Weird Feelings

Mob hated running. Everything hurt, from her feet and legs which she figured would hurt to her back, shoulders, and even her chest. She had barely run a single kilometer before passing out.

"Maybe she's anemic?" was the last thing she heard before she passed out. She woke up back in the shared club room, a towel covering her like a blanket and another one under her head like a pillow.

"I just mean that girls get anemic easier than guys." Said a the same voice

"So maybe we should all take iron supplements, just so she doesn't feel left out." Said another voice

"You're right, we should. And more green vegetables." Said the first voice. Oh, that was the club president. Mob opened her eyes. There was a wet compress on her head, water had run down her face and into her eyes, salty with her sweat.

"Hey, you're awake. Still think being a member of both clubs is a good move?" asked Tome, a stick of poke poked out of her mouth and her nose buried in a game.

"Yes, it was. I passed out but next time I'll be able to run further." Said Mob with her best attempt at a smile, it came out crooked. Everything hurt, she felt like she had been run over buy a car and then stomped on by an elephant but what was the old saying? No pain no gain. She was on her way to getting stronger.

"She's so cute!" came a chorus from behind her. Mob looked away. She wasn't cute. She didn't feel cute.

"Why not just hang around and have fun? Come on, Kageyama, you know you want to." asked Tome. Mob shrugged.

"I can have fun whenever I want to. Now I want to work on myself." Said Mob. Tome looked at her like she was some kind of alien, but not the cool kind.

"I don't get you at all." Said Tome. Mob wanted to say something like "I don't get you either" but she didn't. That would have been mean and she never, ever, wanted to be a mean person.

"That's alright. My Master says that everyone is different, some people are just more different than others and there's nothing wrong with that." Said Mob. Master Reigen had said that years ago, when Mob was sad because she couldn't read the atmosphere and got made fun of. Then they got ice milk pops. It was a very nice day.

"Right. Your Master." said Tome in a disbelieving tone. Tome's days of pretending were behind her. She was a mature fifteen now, it was time to put away those childish things.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion 60%_

"He's a very wise man." Said Mob squishing down any anger she might have felt. Master Reigen was wise, he knew a lot of things and Mob was grateful that he was teaching her so much.

"Sure he is." Said Tome rolling her eyes. Kageyama was so young, wasn't she? She was still playing around like that even at her age? Thank God she had someone like Tome to guide her.

"He's teaching me to control my powers." Said Mob. He taught her more than that, though, like how to be a good person, but the powers things was the most pertinent.

"I believe you." Said Tome. Mob decided to be totally helpful, not showing off at all, and moved the trash off the table and into the garbage can. She wasn't showing off at all, no way.

"Wait…you have psychic powers and you're wasting your time with the body improvement club?" said Tome. This was amazing! This must have been the work of aliens! Or maybe some people were just born with esp. She'd have to do more research later.

"Yes. I can improve my powers later but I want to improve myself now." Said Mob. What good were psychic powers that she could barely control? She wanted to be more like everyone else. To be more well rounded and that meant being more athletic and popular. Then she could make more friends and stuff.

"Why don't you help me achieve my dream instead?!" said Tome with a dramatic flourish. Yes! Kageyama was perfect! She could use her psychic powers to help her finally make contact with extraterrestrial life!

"To find aliens? But I'm not telepathic." Said Mob. Not that she wanted to bother any aliens anyway. If they were real then it might be like every movie with aliens in it ever. She didn't want to be responsible for an alien invasion.

"I'm brimming with passion here, try to sound a little more enthusiastic." Said Tome. What was with Kageyama? She never had any kind of expression. Was she trying to be an emotionless moe girl?

"I'll help you as best I can, when I'm not at school or clubs or work." Said Mob. She did want another friend and Tome was nice enough. She probably wouldn't find aliens anyway but she did like to be helpful.

"Does he at least pay you?" asked Tome. Whatever this guy was paying her she'd double it. She could always ask for another advance on her allowance.

"Yes. 300 yen an hour." Said Mob. She could make nine hundred yen a day if she really hustled.

"I get more than in allowance." Said Tome dismissively. She could totally spare six hundred yen to achieve her dreams.

"My parents cut off my allowance." Said Mob quietly. Well, mom had yelled at her for over an hour and then dad had cut off her allowance just to get mom to stop yelling. This was fine, though, because now Ritsu got double allowance.

"That sucks. What'd they go and do something like that for?" Said Tome. Did that count as child cruelty? Because it certainly sounded like a form of child cruelty. How were you supposed to get games and snacks and merch without any allowance?

"Because of my grades." Muttered Mob. Mainly her math grades. She just didn't get math. Master Reigen said that was alright too, math was really hard. Even he had trouble with it.

"300 yen an hour is still really low. You could make more than that picking up cans." Said Tome

"It is?" asked Mob. Tome nodded. Mob stared straight ahead in thought. She had never thought about how low her pay was before. Maybe she could talk to Master Reigen about a raise. Tomorrow though, not today. Today she had the day off. Now she had to get back to working out. Like the club said, she had to fight on and fight on.

Two days of fighting on really took it out of Mob. Even with green veggies, iron tablets, and plenty of milk and water she was still a giant sore lump by the time she came into the office for work.

"Mob?" asked Reigen as his loyal disciple didn't so much walk through the doorway as crawl through it.

"Hello…Master…Reigen." Said Mob as she flopped down into her seat at the reception desk/homework desk/place to store her cat figurines.

"Wow. You look like hell." Said Reigen as he leaned back in his chair. She was walking like a marionette. Her face was flushed, too.

"I've been getting some exercise." Said Mob through clenched teeth. It felt like her body just didn't want to move, not even to talk.

"In the telepathy club? Seriously?" said Reigen. Mob nodded her head no as best as she could. Even her neck was stiff, and she only ran today.

"In the end I joined the telepathy club and the body improvement club. Now this way the telepathy club still can keep their room and I can better myself in the body improvement club." Said Mob. Reigen looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"You joined the body improvement club? But you're not at all fat." Said Reigen with a dismissive wave of his hand. Girls and looks. Even Mob was getting self-conscious.

"I know but I think that if I get more athletic then I can be more…popular." Said Mob. Psychic powers didn't make a person appealing, in fact they scared people, but making herself more athletic would make her more appealing.

"Mob, let me tell you something about popularity." Said Reigen getting up and walking towards her. She looked up at him, her eyes so filled with trust and hope that Reigen had lost his train of thought.

"Yes Master?" asked Mob waiting for Reigen to impart more of his wisdom upon her.

"Popularity is something that…um…comes with our actions. We get popular as a side effect, not an end goal." Said Reigen. Mob looked up at him like he was delivering the word of God from on high.

"Oh. OK. So you're saying that I should improve myself for my own self-improvement and not just so that people will like me better?" said Mob

"Precisely!" said Reigen, arms thrown in the air in emphasis. Mob smiled. Just a small smile. Not a big one, even though she had a lot of very big feelings. Not bad ones though. The bad ones melted away almost as soon as she got back to work.

"Now, let's get to work!" said Reigen, playfully hitting her on the back. She groaned in pain and curled into a ball in her chair.

"Mob? Shigeko? You alright?" asked Reigen internally panicking. Shit. He didn't hit her that hard, did he? He wasn't even trying to hurt her, he was just kidding around.

"I-I'm fine Master. Really." Said Mob as she tried to straighten out. She attempted to stand and stumbled. Reigen reached over and supported her.

"What have you been doing, exactly?" asked Reigen as he watched her. He knew muscles, knew their names and shapes and function, and also that it was important to take care of them. Mob, obviously, hadn't.

"Getting some exercise, but I think I'm really out of shape." Said Mob through clenched teeth. Reigen rubbed her back lightly. Lots and lots of knots.

"C'mon Mob." Said Reigen as he led her to the massage/exorcism room.

"Master?" said Mob as she walked on shaky legs as quickly as she could

"You did too much too soon, and you didn't stretch enough. C'mon, I'll fix you right up." Said Reigen as he led Mob over to the massage table. Mob looked up at him with wide eyes and hopped up on the table. She had never….she didn't know how to feel about this.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 72%_

"Keep your shirt on and lay down." Said Reigen taking off his suite coat. Mob nodded and did as he said. Poor kid. She tried so hard. He couldn't even imagine the amount of pain she must have been in.

"Like this?" asked Mob quietly, grateful that she was face down because she must have been red as a tomato. She focused on keeping her breathing level. She had seen Master Reigen "exorcise" people here before but she had never been on the receiving end. She also had a pretty good idea, based on an embarrassing class at school and an even more embarrassing talk with her mother, of what else happened in that room sometimes. The thought of Master Reigen and that woman from the other day, in this room, together, made her so angry she could just-

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 82%_

"There, now isn't that better? Tell me when I hit a sore spot." Said Reigen as he began to work on the knots in her lower back. She must have been in a lot of pain, her hair was doing that thing when her powers started to act up. Both of her braids were floating in the air as if she was at the bottom of a clear spring. She had a pretty bad blush going on, too.

"Oh!" said Mob as his hands swept up, to her mid back, and then went to her shoulders. He was so close, she could smell the cigarettes and aftershave and incense that clung to him. His chest was pressed against her back now and she could feel…oh why hadn't she ever noticed how broad his chest was?

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 65%_

This was so nice. She was…warm. Very warm. Tingly. Mob closed her eyes and let out a low, throaty sound that she had no idea that she could even make. She felt like she was made of butter. Warm butter, like butter that had been forgotten out on the counter on a hot summer's day.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 42%_

"Sore spot?" asked Reigen. Mob made a noise of agreement. She was sore, right? It was like a new, nice soreness. Master Reigen moved down to her legs, her calves. She could feel her toes curling in her shoes. How had she never noticed how long his fingers were? How…oh she could feel every callous. She wished she wasn't wearing her uniform.

A crystal shattered.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 79%_

Where had that come from?

"Mob? You alright?" asked Reigen, stopping what he was doing. Mob took a moment to collect herself. Her head was swimming, her heart was beating out of her chest, and she was pretty sure that all the blood in her body was trying to pool in her face….but it felt good.

"Fine. Sore. That's all." Said Mob. That was all the Japanese she could conjure up at the moment. She bit her lower lip to keep from crying out, or making that weird sound again. She NEEDED Master Reigen to keep going. She needed him to keep going like she needed air.

"Don't worry Mob, I'm almost done. You were so tense I don't know how you could stand it." Said Reigen. He needed to teach her how to work out, properly. Despite the fact that the last time he had done any serious exercise was when he was in middle school himself. Poor, poor kid. He felt guilty, putting her through it all, but he needed her in fighting shape. They just got a big job to clear out a haunted tunnel and there was no way he was going to clear it out with table salt and special moves.

"Keep going." Muttered Mob. She could see why Master Reigen got so many repeat customers. It really felt like a curse was being lifted from her. Master Reigen did, in fact, keep going. He moved up from her calves to her thighs. Mob found herself making the most ridiculous of wishes. She wished that she wasn't wearing her long school skirt. She wished…she wished for a lot of things she had never thought to wish for before. Master Reigen found a spot on the back of her thigh, above her knee, that was pure heaven. Mob clenched her mouth shut to keep from crying out.

"Sorry!" said Reigen, assuming that he had hurt her. She clenched her thighs together and gasped. The candles flickered, roared to life into a towering inferno, and then put themselves out.

"I'm fine. I have to go to the bathroom!" said Mob as she hopped of the table and ran to the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her and sat on the closed toilet lid. The lights around her burnt out.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion 90%_

She squeezed her thighs together. It both fed this feeling and quenched it. Everything in the bathroom, from the soap bars to the extra toilet paper to the spare toothbrushes were floating around her in a circle. Now an oval. Now a rectangle. She rocked back and forth, not understanding what she was doing but knowing that it was so, very, incredibly, nice.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 99.5%_

The tap turned its self on and filled the room with floating globes of water. She felt like she was going to explode, but not a stress explosion. No, this was a good explosion if there even was such a thing. The mirror shattered. She floated until she bonked her head on the ceiling.

"Oh." Said Mob. Then it was over. She slowly floated back down to the ground and surveyed the mess she had made. She quickly put everything right as she rested against the wall, feeling a maelstrom of feelings.

Happy. Scared. Tired. Excited. Sore. Relaxed. Hungry. Full. But also, and above all else….

_EMBARSSED 100%_

How would she explain, well, any of that to Master Reigen? She couldn't. She wouldn't. She didn't understand it herself really, or so she told herself, she she'd just have to…lie. She hated lying to anyone, especially someone she cared about. Maybe Master Reigen wouldn't ask.

Reigen Arataka, rising star of the 21st century and greatest psychic in Seasoning City, felt terrible. He was outside having a much needed cigarette. Poor kid. So that was what years of pent up stress, possibly a lifetime of it, looked like. He needed to start actually helping her, so she didn't keep everything bottled up. He wasn't psychic but he did know people. Maybe he should teach her how to meditate. Stretch too, he needed to teach her how to stretch. It wasn't good to push herself so far so fast. He looked back up at the office, she sounded like she needed a moment to herself to get collected. He jumped when he heard the door open.

"I'm back. Why are we outside, Master?" Said Mob. She was momentarily frightened when she found no trace of Master Reigen, thinking that maybe he had decided to run away because she was too much trouble. Of course she now knew that thought was just ridiculous, Master Reigen had promised to teach her everything he knew so that she could control her powers and of course Master Reigen would never, ever, break a promise.

"C'mon, we've got a job to do!" said Reigen pointing in front of them. The street ahead was desolate, completely devoid of people. Somewhere a bird began to sing.

"Alright." Said Mob quietly. Reigen crushed his cigarette beneath his shoe. He didn't like smoking near Mob, it wasn't good for her. That's what he told himself, anyway. He also, maybe, didn't like to diminish himself in her eyes.

Mob stared straight forward the entire trip to the job. She didn't want to risk looking at Master Reigen. She didn't want to risk him finding out about whatever that was. That didn't stop him from talking though. He could really fill the atmosphere.

"Of course most urban legends are usually stories made up by bored people looking for something interesting in their lives but it's always good to check, and we're getting paid twice the highest exorcism fee. There might even be a bonus in there for you. How's that sound Mob?" said Reigen looking over at his young protégé.

"That sounds alright." Said Mob quietly. She just had to control her breathing, and her thoughts. She shifted in her seat. It felt weird wearing her gym shorts under her skirt, but it was better than that slimy slickness that he been there before.

"We'll be helping a lot of people too, of course. Lots of people have gone missing in these tunnels, mostly bloggers and college students looking for a challenge. It won't be a challenge for us though, the greatest psychic of the 21st century and Mob!" said Reigen. Thank goodness the bus was mostly empty, sometimes people who didn't have an appreciation for his showmanship would completely ruin the atmosphere and shush him.

"OK, Master." Said Mob quietly. She couldn't look over at him. She couldn't because then he might now how she felt, how she had felt, how she was feeling towards him.

"Here, check this out." Said Master Reigen handing her some papers he printed out from the internet. There were those lines on the page that the printer made sometimes. They needed to get some more ink. Hopefully they got paid enough for this job that they could.

"A group accident?" asked Mob quietly. That was sad, but at least they all went together. If they were all friends.

"Twenty years ago, it looks like. All those people dying so suddenly, all their hate must still be lingering in the tunnel." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Reigen scooted closer to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded, feeling some of the warmth creep onto her face again. She felt better than alright, actually. All her muscles felt lose, and all of her emotions had broken free so she didn't have to exert so much effort in keeping them squished down.

"I'm fine, Master. Really. I feel…nice" Said Mob quietly, still looking straight forward.

"Too much weighing on you, that's what happened." said Reigen with tone that assured Mob that, yes, her Master did know everything. Master Reigen had to know everything because otherwise Mob would know nothing. She needed someone to teach her so that she could be better.

"Yes, Master Reigen." Said Mob. Reigen wasn't too perturbed by how quiet she was. She was always quiet, ever since she started working for him, he had known her to be very quiet. It wasn't that she had nothing to say, Reigen thought, just that she didn't have to say much. Reigen wondered if that was an effect of having psychic powers. She didn't have to talk her way into or out of anything. Her strength was her own, she didn't have beguile others like he did. If she wanted to, she could use her powers to get and do whatever she wanted.

Reigen didn't like to think about how much stronger she was than him, than anyone else he had ever known. She could lift this bus off the road if she wanted to. But she wouldn't, because she was, to Reigen at least, a genuinely good person. Even now she was trying to better herself, and it was all because of him.

Wat sort of person would she have been like if she hadn't come into his office all those years ago. What had he told her? That having psychic powers didn't make her any less human. He had just thought she was a kid with an over active imagination and he didn't want her getting drunk on power that didn't exist. She could have gotten hurt. But now he knew that maybe, just maybe, he had been the only thing stopping her from growing up to be one of the many people Reigen had seen drunk on their own sense of power, thinking she was somehow above everyone else because of her amazing abilities.

Hell she could have been worse. Those guys he knew in the past, they didn't even HAVE psychic powers.

Really Mob was better off having had known him, he decided. She was looking kind of down, maybe he shouldn't have shown her what happened in the tunnel…the tunnel full of evil spirits that he was taking her to. Damn. He put an arm around her, but maybe that wasn't the best move either seeing as how she instantly tensed up.

"Master Reigen….?" Asked Mob quietly. She had been looking at the chair in front of her, trying to think of anything but Master Reigen touching herm and there he was, touching her again. Not like before, she wasn't as warm, but it was still nice.

"Are you ok? I'm sorry if the whole tunnel accident thing is-" said Reigen, for once not being able to quite find the right words. He wasn't….good….at apologizing. He wasn't good at saying sorry but he had to because Mob didn't need to be getting upset over his carelessness.

"No, it's not that." Said Mob. Reigen wasn't convinced

"You're really brave you know, to be helping people like this." Said Reigen. Mob looked over at him, her eyes filling with joy and admiration. Reigen suddenly felt just a little guilty, for using her like that. No, not guilty. He was helping her, not using her.

"You're brave, Master Reigen." Said Mob. It was true. He dedicated his entire life to helping others and helping her with her powers. He was smart and brave and…well she thought a lot of things about Master Reigen that she was still trying to process. She wanted…well she didn't know what exactly she wanted. This was nice though, she wanted this. His arm around her shoulders, the sun starting to set. Hand holding would be nice too...

Mob looked out the window and tried to focus on her surroundings. Anything but holding hands with Master Reigen as they walked off into the sunset. It was a pretty sunset though.

Eventually they made it to the tunnel. Mob found some ants and watched them just to have something to watch. She had been having the strangest thoughts in her mind the entire way there. Maybe if she didn't look at Master Reigen, or talk to him, then the thoughts would go away.

"Mob! What are you doing you-?! C'mon, the sun's going down!" said Reigen. He hopes that this tunnel wasn't really haunted, he really did. Maybe it wasn't, Mob didn't seem too interested. He couldn't believe he almost called her an idiot though, she didn't need that.

"Oh. I thought you could handle it Master." Said Mob

"Me? No, if I try I'll melt the entire place. This spirits in here are pretty weak, you can take care of them." Said Reigen with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Oh. Ok. The spirits in this tunnel feel really strong though." Said Mob. She could sense a lot of very strong, very angry spirits. Master Reigen must have been very powerful if he couldn't risk using his powers against them or everything would melt.

"They do?" asked Reigen, breaking out into a cold sweat. Damn, if Mob was worried then it must have been…no he couldn't show fear. He had to be strong here.

"Yes. It's a good thing that we're going to clear them out. If a normal person went in there they'd probably die." Said Mob. Master Reigen was overcome with emotion for the regular people who died there. He was such a good person.

"It's a good thing we aren't normal people then, huh Mob? Why don't you go first, I'll stay behind you in case they try to take us by surprise." Said Reigen pushing her in front of himself. A small part of him was ashamed at using a middle school girl as a human shield.

"Ok Master Reigen, it just seemed like you had everything under control; that was all." As she allowed herself to be pulled to the front. The tunnel was a little scary, mainly because it was dark, but they weren't normal people and they'd be fine. She could hear Master Reigen behind her spreading salt around. She wasn't sure what the salt did, the spirits weren't bothered, but Master Reigen knew what he was doing.

"It's a little cold in here." Said Reigen to disguise his shaking. Mob nodded

"We forgot to bring flashlights, too." Said Mob. She didn't really need to see in there, she was going by feel, but she still wasn't a big fan of the dark.

"Good thing there's still some sunlight." Said Reigen trying to match Mob's pace. She said that this tunnel was crawling with evil spirits, but she just kept going.

"Master, don't you feel anything?" asked Mob

"Well it is a little humid in here…." Said Reigen

"No, I meant auras." Said Mob

"Oh, those. Well my nose is a bit stuffy." Said Reigen. Mob didn't even turn to look at him.

"Does that have anything to do with this?" asked Mob. Spiritual powers must have been very different than hers.

"When you get to my level it does. Do you feel anything?" asked Reigen. Mob stopped walking and looked around

"Feel would be an understatement. There are ten….twelve…eighteen….and it feels like they're going to attack us now." Said Mob, her voice still so level that Reigen wondered just how strong she was. Eighteen evil spirits surrounded them and she was perfectly calm…like it was just a trip to the continence store for her.

"Right, I'll leave the small fries to you. Go get 'em, Mob." Said Reigen patting her on the back. She looked down quickly. Master Reigen put so much faith in her. She raised her hands and exorcised all the spirits around her. It wasn't really that hard, she didn't even have to move.

"Man, that's a lot of noise. They're really strong, huh? Good thing we're not a couple of normal people or we would have been in real danger, huh?" said Reigen as he walked quickly away from the lights and noise of the exorcism. He wasn't abandoning her…he was just getting to safer ground while she did her thing. If she needed help he'd definitely help her…if he could.

"Master?" asked Mob as Master Reigen began to walk deeper into the tunnel, where she could feel the strongest of the auras.

"Well I'm sure that took care of all of them. Another piece of cake-" said Reigen before bumping into what felt like a steel wall.

"Master, wait-" said Mob. If he couldn't sense auras then he couldn't see the boss of the spirits right in front of him. He could get really hurt if he couldn't use his powers.

"Whoa! What are you? An evil spirit!?" said Reigen pulling out his phone to use as a flashlight. He could hear Mob walking over to him, her shoes slapping against the pavement of the tunnel.

"Master. That's the-" said Mob

"Oh, just a wrestler. Quite messing around and go practice somewhere else." Said Reigen

"Master, I'm sure you're aware of it but that's the boss of the spirits." Said Mob in her usual matter of fact way. Reigen felt all the blood in his body congeal into a cool mass, like leaving a pan of grease on the stove after it had cooled down.

"Right. You dare try to disguise yourself as a wrestler to fool me!? Take this!" said Reigen as he threw all the salt in his pockets around. The site promised that this salt was blessed, it should have been based on what he paid for it. Unfortunately the salt did nothing to deter the spirit.

"This tunnel….it was twenty years ago in this tunnel that my gang and I met our ends…when I slipped on a banana peel and died…." Said the Spirit. Reigen wasn't really listening, his life flashing before his eyes, but only the bad parts for some reason. He couldn't die here, he still wasn't somebody yet….

"This tunnel is….my turf! And I'll crush every last intruder!" said the Spirit. Reigen suddenly forgot how to walk, how to speak, how to breathe. Mob narrowed her eyes. She wasn't going to let anything happen to Master Reigen.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 17%_

"Curse ya! Cigarette burn sacrifice!" said the Spirit. Mob immediately put up a barrier around Master Reigen. The tunnel filled with light and fire but Reigen was untouched.

"Wh-what?" said Reigen quietly. He was still alive.

"Ha! You thought you could take on the greatest psychic of the 21st century, Reigen Arataka! Prepare to be banished! Salt punch!" said Reigen falling back into his character, mainly for Mob's benefit he told himself. He tried, and failed, to punch the spirit. Damn. This salt was supposed to be blessed. Well that was certainly a waste of money.

"Huh? So you are a fake." Said the Spirit. Mob felt herself tense before she destroyed he spirit. How dare that spirit say something like that to Master Reigen.

"Go back to the ozone layer." Said Reigen as Mob banished the spirit before him. He had been holding onto that line for a few days.

"Hey! Hey, wait!" said the Spirit. Mob stopped her exorcism as she walked to Master Reigen's side.

"Master, we should hear him out." Said Mob

"We're nothing compared to the Spirit at the end of the tunnel. We've been getting orders from him, which is why we've been scaring people." Said the Spirit. Reigen scoffed

"You think you can fool Reigen with those lies?" Said Reigen wondering if he was over doing his persona a bit. Maybe not, Mob was still eating it up.

"It's not lies. It's just that if our gang, the Death Specters, disappeared while being falsely accused we could never rest in peace. Ok, there. That's all I have to say. You can make me disappear now." Said the Spirit laying on the ground waiting for Mob to finish him off.

"So you're trying to make us pity you? Don't listen, Mob, there are the lies of a con artist. Melt him." Said Reigen with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Hang on, Master. I'm going to take a look down the tunnel." Said Mob as she walked down the tunnel, her braids swinging as she walked.

"Huh?" asked Reigen, snapping to attention. She was just going to leave him alone with this evil spirit, defenseless? Wait…she didn't know he was defenseless.

"The aura I felt before, it's weird that it's still around. I'm going to take a look." Said Mob. Master Reigen would be proud of her, handling the entire thing herself. He would think that she was capable and brave and he's tug on her hair or throw his arm around her shoulders again. She needed Master Reigen to be proud of her.

"Well, yeah, I thought it was weird too-" said Reigen trying to sound as calm and relaxed as he could.

"Stop her!" said the Spirit, now tiny and shriveled like a plum left out in Reigen's fruit bowl because he was trying again to be healthy but the siren song of ramen was just too much.

"No matter how strong that kid is, she's no match for that spirit. It's been living here for hundreds of years! Everyone who was killed in this tunnel was killed by that spirit! She doesn't stand a chance!" said the Spirit.

"So…you guys were also…." Said Reigen, sweat collecting on his face again. Mob…he couldn't lose Mob.

"No, I just happened to slip on a banana peel." said the Spirit. Reigen felt himself calm down for a moment before a blast of energy sent him toppling onto his back.

"You get it now? If you care about that girl at all you'll call her back! Hurry up before it's too late!" said the Spirit. Mob looked alright, like she knew what she was doing….but she was just the student. Reigen was the Master. She may have been strong but she was just a kid and had the judgement of a kid. Reigen knew just how great his judgement was back when he was that age and it didn't inspire confidence.

"Mob? Mob! Come back! It's not safe!" said Reigen. Now of all the times she chose not to listen to him. She stood at the end of the tunnel, energy swirled around them until it formed a many eyed monster that looked like it was made of old gum. Before Mob could react it swallowed Mob whole.

"Mob…." Said Reigen, falling to his knees. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. His skin felt like it didn't quite fit. His lungs forgot how to work. Tears streamed down his face. Mob was…

A flash of energy, a spark of light, and the Monster was gone. Mob was floating there, her hair splayed around her like she was swimming, her clothes floating around her too. Reigen was grateful that she was wearing gym shorts under her uniform.

Mob stood in the middle of a maelstrom of power. The spirit vanished totally and completely gone. It was weaker than she thought it would be. She waved her hand and everything hit the ground. Her clothes stopped floating too, thank goodness she was wearing shorts.

"That Spirit was pretty weak." Said Mob as she walked back over to Master Reigen. He looked scared. Maybe his powers came back and he wanted to take care of it? She just wanted Master Reigen to think she was brave.

"Who-Who are you?" asked the spirit, clearly terrified. Reigen stared at her, trying to collect himself. That was…nothing….to her? Absolutely nothing. Like she was squishing a bug. How could anyone, especially a little middle school girl, be so powerful?

"I'll tell you who you are! You're the student and I'm the master you-! When I say come back, you come back!" said Reigen. He was about to call her an idiot again. That wouldn't have been good, he needed to watch his mouth sometimes. You don't shoot the golden goose and all that. Also, maybe, he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Yes Master. You're the master and I'm the student." Said Mob quietly. She didn't want Master Reigen to be mad at her. It hurt. It felt like someone was reaching inside of her chest and squeezing her heart.

"Of the great Reigen Arataka, rising star and greatest psychic of the 21st century!" said Reigen before he noticed how downcast his student looked.

"You still did really well." Said Reigen. She looked up at him, and she was actually smiling.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob, the good feeling coming back.

"And thank you. Now we can all pass on peacefully. " said the Spirit. Mob held out a photograph she had found.

"I found this back there. Is this yours?" asked Mob. The spirit took the photograph from her and began to cry, as best as a spirit could.

"Thanks kid….thank you." And the Spirit passed on.


	4. Realizations

"Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth." Said Reigen. He had put up a sign on the door which said that the office would be open again in half an hour. Half an hour of being closed was worth it, it was for Mob.

"But that's how I always breathe." Said Mob. She was doing her best but her breathing kept on coming out short. It was too hot, yes, that was it. It had nothing to do with the fact that Master Reigen was very close, again.

"Well…do it better I guess." Said Reigen with a shrug. The room was dark, lots of incense and candles. Very relaxing. That was good. Then Mob could relax for a second instead of squishing her powers down until they blew up, like shaking up a soft drink on a paint shaker. Reigen still didn't know why he had done that back when he was a kid.

"How do I breathe better, Master?" Asked Mob. She was breathing as best as she could. Her gym uniform was clinging to her, the room was way too hot. The yoga wouldn't work if the room wasn't dark and hot. Master Reigen said so and he was good at this spiritual stuff.

"Here watch me. Slowly and deeply." Said Master Reigen. He was in workout clothes too, an under shirt that had seen better days and gym shorts. Nothing that made it easy for Mob to breath deep and slow. She had rarely, if ever, seen her Master not in his suit. He was always so well dressed….

"There, that's it." Said Reigen as Mob let out a slow, deep breath as she watched Master's chest expand and contract. She quickly looked down at her feet and crossed her legs tightly. She unclenched as she felt a familiar feeling burst into bloom within her.

"And we breathe, and we breathe, and we breathe." Said Reigen with each breath. He didn't know much about spirits and such, as the name on the sign implied, but he did know about yoga and such, and he could and would help Mob.

"Master, why are we breathing so much?" asked Mob

"Because we need to get ourselves into the right mindset." Said Reigen

"For what?" asked Mob

"Yoga, Mob!" said Reigen enthusiastically. She always paid attention when he was enthusiastic, it was like he was hand delivering the word of God to her.

"Oh. Ok. But why?" asked Mob. When she came in to work Master Reigen just told her to get into her gym clothes and meet him in the mediation room. She didn't really ask why. Master Reigen always had a good reason for telling her to do the things that he did. After all, he was the master and she was the student.

"To help you achieve inner peace, then you'll, you know, have better control over your powers." Said Reigen. She looked at him for a while and nodded.

"Will this help me get more fit, too?" asked Mob. Today was individual work out day in the body improvement club and she had been spending her club time running. It didn't hurt as much afterwards, after she had double stretched like Master Reigen suggested. He must know a lot of about exercise, considering how fit he was and considering that fact that he seemingly lived off of junk food.

"Of course, yoga is excellent for the body and mind." Said Reigen

"Is that how you stay so fit?" asked Mob. Reigen looked at her for a moment. Huh. Maybe that was it, considering that he ate a diet consisting of the salty and fried food groups almost exclusively.

"Yup. Alright now stand-" Said Reigen as his phone began to vibrate. He clicked it opened and traced his pattern quickly.1990/10/10. Nobody would ever think that he would make it as obvious as his birthday. He clicked his messenger app and it opened after a moment. Time for an update, or an upgrade. He read his message, smiled, and then shut it. It was the woman from the other day, but she could wait. Mob needed his help, and she liked exercise. She must have. She wouldn't just join a hardcore workout club on a whim, would she?

Huh. He had gotten to the point in his life when he could turn down no strings attached, middle of the day sex. Who knew?

"I'm standing, Master." Said Mob. Master Reigen was looking down at his phone and smiling. Maybe it was a client, she hoped it was. Then they could help people and maybe stop for ramen afterwards.

"Right. Now reach for the-" his phone vibrated again. He barely looked at the message before clicking it off. He already said that he was working. He did have a job, he was a functioning member of society.

"Master?" asked Mob. Maybe it was important, like a strong spirit for once. Or maybe it was something he would handle on his own. He didn't need her for everything. She didn't know how she felt about that.

"Reach for the ceiling as high as you can." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and reached up, her gym shirt coming up past her belly. He could see her under shirt. Hmm, he'd lend her a shirt afterwards, or just get her a pack of them. Come to think of it, her clothes weren't really fitting that well and it didn't look like her parents were on top of that.

Come to think of it, he had never met her parents. Huh. That was…disconcerting. If Reigen had a daughter he'd be a little suspicious that she was spending so much time with a man twice her age.

"Alright, now down to the ground." Said Reigen. Mob copied him and bent at the waist until she was touching her toes. Master's phone started to ring.

"Hang on, Mob, I'll be right back." Said Reigen as he got up and left the room, a blast of cool air hitting Mob's back as the door opened. She could hear Master on the phone with someone and she strained to listen, even though eavesdropping was wrong and rude and she had to be a good person.

"Later." Said Master Reigen. Mob nudged the door open a little with her powers. Not too much, just enough so that she could know what was going on. It was…important…because there might have been a client.

"Because I'm busy right now, that's why." Master Reigen said. He was sounding familiar, very familiar. Too familiar for a client. Maybe it was something personal. She should have stopped listening. She didn't.

"I'll see you tonight. Your place?" Said Master Reigen. Mob let herself hit the floor. Oh. It was personal. He was going to meet up with someone, a female someone based on the distorted voice she could hear coming from his phone. He really need to turn the volume down, it made it too easy for eavesdroppers.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 35%_

She knew that Master had a life outside of work, she just never really thought too much about it. He had a bunch of friends and a life of his own and she was just a small part of it. This knowledge made her feel a little like someone had dropped an ice cube down her back. He was her Master, nobody else's.

"How about I get you a drink, later? I know a great little place." Said Master Reigen, his voice low now. Low enough for Mob's spine to tingle pleasantly. He never talked to her like that. She wished he would.

"Well if you want….it's pretty messy though." Mob could barely hear him now. She laid on her side and clenched her thighs together before quickly unclenching them. Now was not the time. She didn't want to wreck this room like she had wrecked the bathroom….or the bathroom at home….or her bedroom.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 39%_

Last night she had done the same thing and the water in her tub had hit the ceiling while staying in the shape of a cube, which was odd because the tub was in the shape of a rectangle. Then later on she herself had hit the ceiling and all the lights in her room had burnt out. That had gotten everyone knocking on her door and a lecture from her parents about keeping the entire house up all night because she was messing around with her powers all night instead of sleeping or studying. Plus she was disturbing Ritsu and he needed all the rest he could get because unlike her he was out there every single day making the family proud.

Yeah. This new development was something she would rather keep to herself.

"I gotta go now, work stuff." Said Master Reigen. Mob quickly got back into position. She didn't want to be caught like that, it would have been so embarrassing.

"Wow, you help that the whole time? I'm impressed, but you can stop now." Said Reigen noticing just how red and out of breath Mob was. Wow, for her that was actually pretty good. Hell, that was good for any first timer.

"Alright." Said Mob. She let herself it the floor and went back to sitting cross legged.

"Well, do you feel more relaxed." Said Reigen. She was sitting stiffly as always, still staring straight ahead. Her eyes looked more relaxed, though.

"I guess." Said Mob. She stared right ahead and watched some incense burn. It went around and around in spirals, but not scary spirals like the ones in that one manga she read once. That was so scary she and Ritsu had to sleep under two blankets with all the lights on for a week.

"You sure?" asked Reigen poking her in the shoulder. She felt like a rock, solid and unmoving. Maybe he had just been misreading her eyes. She was a hard person to read, sometimes.

"Yes. I'm very relaxed." Said Mob in her usual monotone. Reigen looked her up and down. Something was bothering her.

"You alright?" asked Master Reigen. Mob was anything but alright but she didn't know how to say that. Whenever she had a problem she talked to Master Reigen but how could she talk to Master Reigen about this?

"Master…do you ever think about people?" asked Mob quietly and risking a glance at her Master. He looked perplexed for a moment.

"Of course. Thinking of others is important in this job." Said Reigen confidently. Mob shrugged. That wasn't what she meant, but then how did she ask him about what she meant? How did she ask anyone?

"OK. Are we going to stretch some more?" Said Mob. Reigen checked the time on his phone. Hmm…not a lot of time left. He had to open up shop if he wanted a shop to open up the next day…or something like that.

"Nah, we've got to open back up soon. Maybe we'll get another client." Said Reigen. Mob dug her nails into her palms.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 44%_

"Were you talking to a client, before?" asked Mob even though she knew full well that it wasn't. She was…she was getting upset. It wasn't a good feeling, the one settling down into the pit of her stomach. It felt like…

Like when she looked over at how the other girls had friends and we pretty and popular.

Like when she was three and her parents wouldn't listen to her because Ritsu was crying.

Like when everyone got ice pops but hers fell apart because of her powers.

Like all that but worse. Like much worse.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 55%_

Jealousy. She was jealous. She was jealous that Master Reigen was going to meet up with someone. Another girl. She was jealous that Master Reigen was going on a date with another girl. Woman. That had been a woman. That was a woman and she was just a little girl.

"Nah, that was something else. Don't worry about that." Said Reigen quickly. He was not going to discuss that part of his life with Mob. She was just a kid. She probably still played with dolls and read shoujo manga and slept with stuffed animals.

"Ok." Said Mob. She had a lot of words she wanted to say, most of them mean, and she didn't want to be mean to her Master. Why was she feeling like this? What was wrong with her? Why would she be jealous of Master Reigen and some unnamed woman? Was she…was she in love with Master Reigen?

"You…don't look Ok." Said Reigen. Her hair was doing that thing again.

"I'm fine. Let's get back to work." Said Mob. She stood up and went to the bathroom to change back into her uniform, leaving Reigen dumbfounded. What was with her?

Was she mad at him? Did she know the truth? Did she want a raise? Maybe it was something else, she was fourteen after all. Boy troubles maybe? Gossip? Reigen didn't understand teenage girls, even when he was a teenager himself. Time of the month, maybe?

And that was the last Reigen was going to think about that.

He didn't want to think about Mob growing up. Mentally he still pictured her as the little eleven year old who came to his office three years ago. All pig tails and wide eyes. She still had the pig tails, and she still gave him that wide eyed look where he was the answer to all her prayers.

How much longer would that last?

He hadn't given any thought to the future, not really, but would she leave him? She would go on to high school and the university. She'd get a boyfriend and make all kinds of friends. She deserved that. She was already breaking away from him.

But where would he be, without her? Not just business wise. She was the person he spent most of his time with. He didn't really have a lot of close friends or a real girlfriend. He wasn't even sure if he wanted a girlfriend. That was just so…permanent. Like this was the woman out of all others who he was going to spend his entire life with. He hadn't met the woman who he wanted that with him, or who would even want him for that.

Even now, after work, a drink, sex, and back to his normal routine. The first time had been so sudden that he didn't even have time to think…so he just sent Mob to the store while he….

OK, that was kind of sleazy….kind of really sleazy. He should refrain from doing things like that in the future. Wait, no….

Alright, no more of that while Mob was around. He'd keep that in the privacy of his own home.

Mob didn't know what that was about, right? She never gave any indication that she even thought about anything like that, that she even had any awareness of that. Did anyone ever even talk to her about…?

Damn. He hoped that responsibility wouldn't fall to him. Maybe it would. Probably. Her parents didn't really seem to be on top of things. Her clothes didn't really fit, she had that unfortunate hair cut that looked like someone had just plopped a bowl on her fringe and started cutting, and she spent all of her time with him. He was grateful to have her around but she spent hours and hours with him, sometimes late into the night, going all over the city, and he was twice her age.

Mob was lucky to have him. She could have easily wound up with some weirdo.

After getting dressed Reigen found her sitting at her desk doing some homework. He took the sign off the door and found a client just about to leave. Not a real spirit this time, just a massage, so he didn't have to bother Mob. She looked pretty deep in thought.

Mob had been deep in thought for the rest of the day. She had been…jealous. Was she…was she in love with Master Reigen? No. He was her master and she was his student. Plus he was a grown up, and she was just a kid. He wouldn't be interested in her. She was still in an undershirt even.

Her spoon twisted at her displeasure. It didn't just bend, it looped around. That was new.

"Shigeko, again with this? Honestly you're much too old to be doing these things, you need to grow out of this phase already. Look how it's twisted, you did that one purpose." Said her mother jabbing her finger into the table for emphasis.

"I'm sorry, mom. It was an accident." Said Mob quietly. Maybe she could talk to her mom…no mom would just say all the things that were wrong with her and how she was a terrible big sister to Ritsu. She shouldn't take mom's attention away from Ritsu, he was the one in the family who mattered.

"Eat more like Ritsu does. See, he doesn't make a mess." Said her mother. Mob looked over at Ritsu. He gave her an apologetic look. He didn't like it when mom was mean like this either.

"I'm sorry, mom." Said Mob. She definitely couldn't talk to Ritsu about this. He was younger, and a boy at that. She certainly couldn't talk to a boy about this. But she didn't know any girls she could talk to. Wait, Tome was her friend, right? And she was older. And all her friends were boys so she must have known about them. Yes, that was what she'd do. She was so happy that her cup flipped over. She barely managed to catch it.

"Honestly, Shigeko, what did I just get through telling you?" asked her mother disdainfully. Mob apologized again and took her plates to the sink. She still had homework to do, she didn't get any done before because she couldn't keep her mind on anything. Now that she had a plan she could try to get some done already.

"Sister, wait." Said Ritsu. Mob stopped her ascent to her room and turned around.

"What's wrong, Ritsu?" asked Mob

"I'm sorry Mom was so mean to you back there." Said Ritsu. He hated the way mom talked to Shigeko. She didn't need to be stressed like that. If she get stressed then she'd explode again, like she had that day.

"No, it's ok. She's right, I should be more like you. You're good at everything. You're the one who matters, not me, because you're so good at everything and you're so smart." Said Mob. There was so affect in her voice, she was just stating a fact, but Ritsu heard what sounded like pain in what she said.

"Big sister, you're good at lots of things too." Said Ritsu before pulling her into a hug. How could she say something like that? She had the one thing he wanted more so than anything. What was the point of any of the things he could do, if he didn't have psychic powers?

"Not as many as you are, Ritsu." Said Mob with all the sincerity in her heart. She really looked up to Ritsu, even though she was older. She wished she could be more like him. He would know just what to do, if he was in her situation. He always knew what to do. Why was he so much smarter than her? Maybe because he was born right and she wasn't.

The next day Mob decided to ask Tome during warm up stretched, that way she wouldn't be wasting any precious exercise time.

"Tome…have you ever been in love before?" asked Mob as she stretched. It had taken her a while to gather enough courage to ask her friend this. Was Tome her friend yet? She didn't know. Her only friends were Ritsu and Master Reigen.

"Why, what have you heard?" asked Tome quickly. She glanced up from her game, even. She knew that she couldn't trust Inukawa! He probably went and blabbed to everyone! She wasn't even in love with him, they just went out a couple times! One kiss and a few dates didn't count as love!

"Nothing. I just figured that because you were older, and a girl, you'd know about love and things." Said Mob. Tome looked at her for a moment. Actually, aside from practice kissing she had absolutely no experience with anything romantic at all. Not that Mob needed to know that. No. This was what female friends did. Female friends helped each other with all of this shoujo romance stuff.

"Come with me." Said Tome getting up quickly and dragging Mob by the front of her shirt. Mob stumbled as she followed.

"Why are we out here? I need get back to stretching. If I don't stretch twice as much as everyone else it really hurts." Said Mob as she felt her gym shirt and undershirt stretching out. Mom would kill her if she ruined anymore clothes. Clothes were expensive. Mom had said that if she didn't stop ruining her clothes she'd stop getting new ones and have to wear Ritsu's old ones.

"Because I'm not delving into the world of love and romance with all those boys around. C'mon Mob, get a clue." Said Tome. Honestly. Boys couldn't know about this stuff just like they weren't supposed to know about all the stuff that the boys talked about.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob. Great. She just couldn't get a clue, could she?

"It's ok now tell me….who are you in love with!?" asked Tome pulling Mob in very, very close. Mob shook her head. There was no way that she could tell. She knew that it was dumb. Master Reigen was twice her age. He could easily get an actual grown woman. She was just a little girl. She didn't even wear a bra yet. Mom said that she didn't need one yet.

"I don't want to tell." Said Mob. Tome shook her back and forth. She had to tell, they were female friends and this was what female friends discussed with one another.

"C'mon, I won't tell anyone. Is it another girl?" asked Tome. That would make sense, why she didn't want to say anything. Forbidden girl's love, just like in a manga. Plus Kageyama didn't even look twice at any of those body improvement club boys and they had muscles from her until tomorrow.

"No, he's a boy." Said Mob quietly. She didn't like girls like that. She had never felt this way about another girl before, just Master Reigen. Well, him and Shinji from Evangelion but that was what she had been little.

"Is he in your class?" asked Tome. She didn't know too many second years but there were a couple cute guys in Kageyama's class. Mob shook her head no. She didn't know any of those boys well in enough to be in love with them.

"No, he's older." Said Mob quietly. Tome made an 'o' with her mouth and then motioned towards the club room. Maybe she had just been too shy to look twice at those boys. Maybe she liked Musashi? He was a really nice guy.

"So that's why you joined the body improvement club, huh? I can't blame you, hanging around those hunks all day would make even ditching us worth it." Said Tome. She didn't really blame Kageyama for not hanging out with them all the time. There were much hotter guys in the body improvement club. The only guy worth being with was Inukawa, anyway.

"Oh no, not one of them. The guy I like is…a lot older." Said Mob. The wheels in Tome's head started to turn. Ooh, forbidden high school romance. Two star crossed lover being kept apart by the insane conventions of society.

"Age is a number. Aliens don't even have the concept of age, you know, because time distorts as they cross the vastness of space." Said Tome. Not that she spent that many nights all alone thinking about an alien space captain who would take her away on his ship and make her his space co-captain and then they'd-no. She didn't think about that at all.

"So even though he's older he might still like me?" asked Mob. Tome was older and she hung out with boys all the time. She must have known all that there was to know about guys.

"Why don't you just read his mind and find out." Said Tome. Kageyama had esp and from her research she knew that esper powers could include telepathy.

"I don't have telepathy." Said Mob. She mostly had destructive powers. She wished that she had telepathy, though, then she might be able to get a clue.

"What are you talking about, you have psychic powers, and I've seen them so don't pretend that you don't." Said Tome. She had been up late into the night researching psychic powers. Well, that and videogames. She was only human after all.

"Not telepathy though." Said Mob

"Use your powers to make him like you, then." Said Tome

"No, that would be mean. You can't force someone to love you." Said Mob

"Ae you always this moral?" asked Tome. Psychic powers were wasted on Kageyama. If Tome had psychic powers then she'd be other there every day trying to make her dreams come true but also at the arcade because she would win all the best stuff from the claw machines.

"I have to be." Said Mob. She had to be the kind of person that Master Reigen wanted her to be. She had to be a good person. That was what he had spent so much time trying to teach her. She needed to be a good person for him and no one else.

"If you want him to like you, why don't you just…um…" said Tome trying to think of something that would work. She didn't know. She didn't even know how to get Inukawa to like her for real. Not that she cared or anything.

"I thought you knew, since you're so much older and all your friends are boys." Said Mob. Tome bit her lip. Crap. Well now she couldn't let Mob know she knew nothing at all. She'd have to bluff her way through this.

"Wear something pretty, and make up, and perfume…and like the things he likes…yeah that's it." Said Tome remembering everything that anime and manga had ever taught her. Mob gave a deep bow.

"Thank you very much, Tome." Said Mob. She felt much better. It was OK to feel that way about Master Reigen. There was even a chance that he could feel the same way, and that he could even feel the same way….that was a lot. Did she really want that? What if he thought she was….

Mob would have to think more about this later. Right now she had to exercise so she could be more athletic and then more popular.

Mob took the long way to work after school. Ok. She was in love with Master Reigen. She was ready to admit it to herself. She wasn't going to tell him though. He didn't love her back, and she couldn't take that kind of rejection. If he rejected her then she could never face him again.

How could she face him today though? How could she face him knowing that he had been on a date, and probably kissed, and maybe even all that other stuff with someone else? She blushed. She wasn't even sure what all those other things were, school was pretty vague, just that it made babies. Oh no. What if Master Reigen fell in love with someone and had a bay with her. He'd never want to see Mob again. That would be…that would be the worst.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 59%_

"Hey there, cutie! Why the long face?" a woman who was passing suddenly decided to talk to her. That wasn't reading the atmosphere, Mob knew that. Plus she was talking to someone with a mask on. That was rude.

"No reason. I'm walking to work now. Good bye." Said Mob, pausing for a moment but continuing on her way. She had to get back to work or she'd be late. Not that she knew what they were doing today but she still didn't want to be late.

"But wait. Sweetie, don't you want to smile?" asked the woman

"No, I'm fine." Said Mob. She didn't smile that often but when she did it looked so unnatural. Mom said that it looked unnatural and that she needed to learn to smile like a normal person. She couldn't, though, because that was just how her face was.

"Don't you want to join an organization that'll make you happy and popular?" asked the woman. Mob's eyes lit up. She did want to be popular, more than anything else, and she could always use more happiness. Was she unhappy? She was mostly happy when she was around Master Reigen, but not at home. At home she mostly just waited until it was time to go somewhere else. Nobody liked her at home but Ritsu. Nobody cared about her but her little brother. She wished that she could take the happiness that she felt with she spent time with Master Reigen and keep it with her always. Maybe if she had more friends, maybe if she was more popular, then she could take that feeling with her because she would have other people who cared about her.

"More popular?" asked Mob. Yes. That would be so much better. She wouldn't feel so alone anymore.

"Yes." Said the woman

"Ok then, let's go." Said Mob. She had heard for her entire life not to go off with strangers but if worse came to worse she could always just levitate herself and leave, even though it made her motion sick.

Back at work, unbeknownst to Mob, Reigen was watching the clock. She was five minutes late, then ten, then twenty. He tried calling her but she didn't pick up. Was she blowing him off?

Was she hurt?

Was she lost?

A thousand and one things that could have gone wrong went through his head. The city wasn't just crawling with spirits, it was crawling with creeps, weirdos, and perverts too.

"Please, pick up already. C'mon Mob…..Shigeko." Muttered Reigen as he called her again.

Mob wasn't in the clutches on a pervert, weirdo, or murderer at all. She had found herself in the clutches of a bunch of cultists. She only stayed for the milk, and to make sure Mezato was alright. She was in her class, after all, and they could have been friends. Maybe they could make friends now. She knew that she could always use more friends.

Well, Mob wasn't so much in the clutches of these crazies as they were at her mercy. She had been pushed to the breaking point totally and completely. She hid her emotions for a reason. She didn't like letting them out because then she did things she didn't want to do. She was angry and annoyed, at first, the rage had some later on. She had been pushed to that point.

If she didn't learn to smile and laugh then she could never smile and laugh with the boy she like, that's what the leader, Dimple, had said. When he had said that it had mad her mad, especially when he told her to get a clue, but now upon reflection she did laugh and spend time with Master Reigen.

Maybe she was OK after all, just the way she was…as a downer.

She felt…bad…about ruining all of those people's fun. All they had wanted to do was laugh and she had ruined it for them. She had been walking home, work having long ended, but she needed someone to talk to. Master Reigen. He always knew what to do. She wondered if he'd still be at work and clicked open her phone. Oh. She forgot to turn it off silent. 12 missed calls, all from Master Reigen. She shouldn't have just skived off work like that. That had been awful. She hoped that he wasn't super mad at him.

Oh. Well. This was bad. Was Master Reigen mad at her? The thought made her stop in her tracks. She had better call him back.

"Hello…." Said Mob quietly as Master Reigen picked up the phone.

"Mob! Where have you been!?" Reigen screamed into the phone. He could feel bad about that later, right now he was pissed off.

"Master…um…I got captured…." Said Mob quietly. She could hear some crashing in the background.

"What?! Mob stay right there! I'm coming!" said Reigen as he jumped up from his desk. Captured. Kidnapped. Mob. Damn it! Ok, he was putting that tracking stuff on her phone. Invasion of privacy be damned!

"Master? Master, I'm fine." Said Mob. Reigen was listening, sort of. He was already running out the door, not caring that all the lights were still on. It didn't matter, who knows what could have happened to Mob out there in the world?

"Tell me where you are!" said Reigen louder than was necessary. Mob wanted to tell him that she was fine and he didn't need to come to her but he was the Master and she was just the student, she had no right to go disobeying orders again. Mob told him where she was and within ten minutes he was racing down the street.

"Mob! Thank God!" Said Reigen as he scooped her up in a hug. Mob felt her breath hitch in her throat and her face heated up.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 61%_

She reached up and hugged him back, splaying out her fingers to feel the muscles of his back. Hmm. He was squishier than she thought he'd be.

"What happened? Are you alright?" asked Reigen as he let her go. Mob stared straight forward and nodded.

"I'm alright, but I think I did a bad thing." Said Mob, still in her usual monotone. Reigen didn't let any of the momentary shock of fear he felt grace his face.

"Well, it couldn't be that bad. C'mon, let's get some dinner and you can tell me about it." Said Reigen. It was about dinner time anyway, and he had been too worried about Mob to eat anything. He didn't even have her address to check and see if she was home.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. It was late, she was missing dinner anyway. There was a MobRonald's nearby. Master Reigen got something that was twice the recommended daily caloric intake that a man his age needed. Mob got a salad with plenty of meat, and some milk. It was healthier that way.

"Seriously? That's not food, Mob, that's what food eats." Said Reigen through a mouthful of burger.

"Club president Musashi says that I'm probably anemic and I need more protein and green veggies." Said Mob as she took a sensible bite of her salad

"You'll never bulk up eating salad." Said Reigen, still chewing

"I don't want to be too bulky, I just want to be more athletic." Said Mob quietly

"It's your loss." Said Reigen dangling a fry in front of her. She took it with her powers and ate it.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob as she chewed. Reigen frowned a little, she was picking up his bad habits.

"So….what happened today?" asked Reigen. Mob looked away. A lot had happened that day. She had come to the conclusion that she was in love with him. She wasn't great at reading the atmosphere but maybe this was not the time for love confessions, especially because he seemed kind of mad before.

"I did something bad." Said Mob

"Played hooky from work? Yeah…that wasn't great." Said Reigen. She looked guiltily at him. Ok, maybe that was a little much. He should be nicer to her.

"I'm so, so, sorry Master. I wanted to come in but this woman stopped me on the way and I got captured by a cult and then I ruined everything." Said Mob. Reigen's eyebrows rose to his fringe. Cult? What in the…?

"I ruined all their fun. All they wanted to do was laugh but I couldn't laugh and then…." Said Mob looking down at her salad. Reigen reached over and clasped her shoulder, getting some salt and grease on her school shirt.

"Then what happened?" asked Reigen. Mob looked up at him.

"Then I exorcized their leader. I didn't mean too, I just got so mad because he kept trying to make me smile when I didn't want to…and he said that the person I loved would never love me back because I couldn't smile with him…" said Mob quietly. Reigen took a very, very long sip of soda.

"You….exorcised….a person?" said Reigen trying to think of what that would entail besides, well, the two of them burying a body in that park at midnight and then never speaking of it again.

"Oh no, Master, he was a spirit pretending to be a person." Said Mob quickly. Reigen let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"Well, that's alright then." Said Reigen calmly. Mob gave him that look again, that 'you're the answer to all my hopes and dreams' look. He liked it, he really did, but she could be really intense.

"Really?" asked Mob, making more eye contact than was really necessary. Master had blue eyes. They were kind of pretty.

"Umm...yes. That's our job, to exorcise evil spirits." Said Reigen breaking eye contact. She had never looked at him like that for so long. She must have been really choked up about all of that.

"But he wasn't really evil. They just wanted to laugh and I took it all away." Said Mob. That had been mean of her. They were all having such a nice time and she had just come in like a downer and ruined it.

"They didn't really want to laugh, not really, if they were forced." Said Reigen remembering the part about the whole smile masks thing. What the hell kind of city were they living in?

"But laughing is good, right?" asked Mob. Even if you were forcing someone to laugh laughter was always good so then it was for their own good, right?

"When you want to laugh it's good but you can't go around forcing your will on others." Said Master Reigen. Mob nodded. Master Reigen was so wise. She was still looking at his eyes. Why hadn't she noticed before how blue they were?

"You're a good kid, Mob. You saved all those people. You did good Mob." Said Reigen still trying to break eye contact. No matter how many times he looked away.

"You think I'm a good person…even though I can't smile or laugh?" asked Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"I've seen you smile and laugh plenty of times, Mob." Said Master Reigen. She still watched his eyes. They were so, so nice. He was so, so nice.

"And yeah, you'll be able, uh, smile and laugh with whoever you're in love with." Said Reigen rubbing the back of his head. He hadn't even known that Mob had those feelings for, well, anyone. Little Mob was growing up.

"I'm not in love with anyone!" said Mob quickly before stuffing her face with salad.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 75%_

"Of course you aren't, it's fine if you are. You're in middle school after all. Hell, I remember when I was your age I was in love with someone new every week. They didn't exactly love me back but….you'll probably do better than I did. You're adorable." Said Reigen not choosing his words with his usual amount of care.

"I'm not in love with anyone." Said Mob looking down. She had a lot of conflicting feelings. She didn't want to think about Master Reigen being in love with anybody else but he also complimented her. He said she was adorable. She wished he'd call her pretty.

"And if he doesn't feel the same then he's an idiot." Said Reigen taking a massive bite out of his burger. Mob looked down and kept eating. Mob, in love. Huh. Poor girl. He didn't see too much romantic success in her near future. Poor kid just couldn't read the atmosphere for the life of her.


	5. Mob's First Solo Exorcism

"Hey buddy, what are we up to today?" said Dimple, Mob's new unwanted, indefinite houseguest. She had woken up to a spirit watching her sleep and had done the only logical thing, she smacked it around to see if it was real or she had finally lost her mind.

"I'm going to school. You have to go away." Said Mob as she took her school uniform off its hanger. She didn't mind getting changed in front of a spirit, they were everywhere after all. She couldn't remember a time when they weren't hanging around her in some way.

"Nah, I think I'll hang around you some more. You're a nice kid." Said Dimple, plus he could leech some of that extra psychic energy she was giving off until he could reach full strength and then he could become a God. Hey, everyone had dreams.

"Go away or I'll exorcise you." Said Mob as she braided her hair and stared straight forward at herself in the mirror.

"Wait, don't!" said Dimple

"Why?" said Mob

"Because I won't do anything bad anymore at all, so you don't have to get rid of me." Said Dimple

"Ok, fine. I'll talk it over with my Master later today." Said Mob

"You don't have to exorcise me at all." Said Dimple

"You're annoying me." Said Mob just before her door opened.

"Hey, Shigeko, mom says hurry up and come down for breakfast already." Said Ritsu

"Ok." Said Mob simply, as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on at all.

"Were you talking to someone just now?" asked Ritsu

"No, nobody at all." Said Mob. She didn't want Ritsu to be worried. After he left Mob decided to just endure Dimple's company until it was time for work. Master Reigen would tell her what to do.

"C'mon kid, I might be able to help you out. Don't get rid of me just yet." Pleaded Dimple. Mob looked over to him

"How?" asked Mob as she brushed her fringe. It was getting long again, her mom would be plopping the bowl on her head soon for another home haircut.

"I could show you how to use your powers for the better." Said Dimple. He could get this kid to depend on him and then little by little gain enough power to get back to his full form.

"Sorry, I already have someone for that." Said Mob as she tied her neckerchief

"I can teach you to maximize your potential." Said Dimple. Mob batted him away.

"No thanks, I have Master Reigen for that." Said Mob. Dimple raised what would have been an eyebrow if he was at his full form.

"I saw your aura flare just then. Tell me more about Master Reigen." Said Dimple

"He's my Master, he teaches me about my powers and helps me with my problems and stuff. He's the nicest, smartest, and wisest person I know." Said Mob pulling up her socks, which then decided to pool at her ankles. Oh no, the elastic on these were broken too. Mom would be so mad…

"I could show you how to get him to like you." Said Dimple

"He already likes me." Said Mob as she collected her school bag. Uniform on, school bag packed, hair brushed and braided, everything was go. Time for breakfast.

"Not like you like him." said Dimple. Mob stopped in her tracks.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I need to eat breakfast now." Said Mob. Dimple flew over next to her.

"With your powers you could make anyone like you, in any way you want, even him." said Dimple. Mob didn't immediately bat him away. Progress!

"You're crazy and I'm hungry. I'm going to eat breakfast and then go to school. Please stop following me." Said Mob. She ate quickly, Dimple chattering nonstop at her. Ritsu glanced her way the entire time. She hoped that he couldn't see Dimple too. Her little brother didn't need the burden of psychic powers.

Dimple did not leave her alone for the rest of the day. He followed her, hovering and constantly commenting on every single little thing she did. It was like having an annoying mosquito following her around, except it wouldn't just suck her blood and move on already. He seemed to think that his constant chatter was somehow endearing to her.

From what Dimple observed psychic powers were totally wasted on little Shigeko. There was so much she could do, she could be ruling her school. Instead she mostly just misread the atmosphere and made an awkward idiot out of herself. He kept up a running commentary on all of her social misfortunes until she made it to work.

"Master?" asked Mob. Master Reigen was hard at work at something on the computer. Probably doing another graphic exorcism. She could never feel the spirits in the photographs but they were there so clearly they must have been doing something. Master Reigen knew better than she did. That was why he was the master and she was only the student.

"Oh, hey Mob. What's up? You're early." Said Reigen as he kept on working. This was one of the more chill parts of his job. He didn't have to go anywhere and he was pretty good at using photoshop.

"Body improvement club wasn't today and I skipped telepathy club to come and talk to you." Said Mob simply. She liked watching him work, he looked so unguardedly happy then. Reigen gave one final flourish.

"A-a-a-and done!" said Reigen as he hit print. He had even managed to fix the eyebrow he accidentally erased.

"That's your Master?" asked Dimple skeptically. Mob nodded.

"Yes, that's Master Reigen. He's the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century." Said Mob. Reigen looked up at her, she was talking to the air.

"How can he be the rising star of the twenty first century and the greatest psychic?" said Dimple. He couldn't get any kind of a reading off this guy. Maybe this idiot could be useful to him too.

"He just is." Said Mob defensively. He just was and that was what mattered.

"This is the guy who makes your aura flare like that? This guy? Right here?" said Dimple nudging her over and over again. Mob sent a small burst of power his way, making a small whirlwind in the office.

"Be quiet. My aura is normal." Said Mob glaring at Dimple

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 80%_

"Uh Mob? Earth to Mob? Are you ok?" asked Reigen. She was either talking to a spirit or she had finally cracked. He'd believe either.

"I'm fine but there's been this spirit stuck to me. He's not hurting anyone, he's just being annoying." Said Mob. Dimple hadn't done a single evil thing all day. Was it right to exorcise him? She had already exorcised him for being evil and starting a cult but he had come back and said that he wasn't going to do anymore bad things. She'd defer to Master Reigen's judgement on this one.

"Are you going to exorcise it?" asked Reigen looking all around for the spirit. He had never seen one, not once, but maybe this would finally be his day. It was not.

"He's right here, Master, and I don't know. He's not hurting anyone at all, he's just annoying." Said Mob. You couldn't exorcise someone for being annoying, that would be mean. Right?

"Must be too weak for me to see. The way I see it is that he's pretty much just like a lady bug on your shoulder. Do whatever you want." Said Reigen. He had finished photoshopping that picture and now he was regular shopping. A job had just come in and he needed middle school uniforms. He could just call Mob in sick from school, she could use the day off.

"Ok. I think I'll leave him alone. He's not hurting anyone and it's not right for me to exorcise him just because I think he's annoying." Said Mob before siting at her desk. Reigen nodded. Damn, these uniforms were expensive. He had found a used male uniform from an alumni but nobody had been willing to send him a female uniform. Apparently it was weird for a guy with no kids who lived alone to be buying middle school girl uniforms. Mob would definitely have to dress up as a boy, and he didn't even know if he could find his own uniform. Not a lot of middle schoolers were the size of grown men.

"Master, are we going to stretch today, too?" asked Mob. It had taken her some time to gather up the courage to ask, good thing Master Reigen was so absorbed in his work.

"What are you wasting your time with this guy for, Shigeko? He's old, and not anywhere near your weight class." Said Dimple looking at her like an enigma wrapped in a puzzle stuffed in a Chinese finger trap written in the most difficult of kanji.

"I'm not fat, Dimple." Said Mob not even looking at him.

"No, I meant that you're more powerful than he is, by a lot." Said Dimple. Now Mob turned to look at him.

"I can't be more powerful than Master. He's the master and I'm the student." Said Mob. Reigen, who had only been half listening, immediately sat up, jostling most of the things on his desk. What was that spirit telling her exactly?

"Sure thing Mob, and here I got you some new gym shirts." Said Reigen reaching behind his desk and holding up a shopping bag. He hoped she didn't notice that these came from the discount store.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob pulling the bag over to herself with her powers. Wow, brand new and in a bigger size too.

"Well, time to get changed. Maybe you should leave your little spirit friend in here for now, so you don't get distracted." Said Reigen as he grabbed his gym shorts from under his desk. He needed to get her away from that spirit, she didn't need him influencing her like that. Mob couldn't know that he was a fraud. He couldn't lose Mob.

"I'm going to change into my gym clothes now, so don't be weird." Said Mob getting her gym short out from her bag and pulling them on under her skirt.

"Hey Shigeko, want me to show you how to use X-ray vision?" asked Dimple nudging her. She glanced in the direction of the bathroom. She hadn't seen a naked boy before in her life. Taking baths with Ritsu when they were kids didn't count, and brothers didn't count as boys either way.

"Ha! I don't know either, you pervert." Said Dimple. Mob shook her head and pulled off her uniform shirt and kicked off the skirt. She pulled on one of the new gym shirts Master Reigen got her over her under shirt.

"You sure you're in middle school?" asked Dimple. Mob glared at him.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 85%_

"I said not to be weird." Said Mob, the books on the shelf flying into the wall. She gasped and quickly put them back the way they were. Well, she hoped that was the way that they were. She hoped that Master Reigen didn't have a system for organizing his books.

"I'm just saying that if you want a guy like that you'll just need some help in the, you know, looks department." Said Dimple. Mobbed looked down at her chest.

"You think?" asked Mob quietly

"Yeah, you look like you're in elementary school! A guy like that can get actual grown women." Said Dimple

"Well then if you're so knowledgeable then what am I supposed to do?" asked Mob

"Stuff your bra, sit in his lap, and go _"oh Master, teach me a lesson"_ or something like that. You know, be forward. Guys love that." Said Dimple. That's what he'd do if he had ever been a girl, anyway. A guy like that, shady as hell and already spending all his time with middle school girls would probably be into it. Then if he helped Shigeko get what she wanted maybe she'd let him leech some of her extra power.

"I don't think I could ever do something like that." Said Mob, blushing a bright red. Sitting in Master's lap, him actually touching her all over kissing him. No, she had to squish these feelings down.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 91%_

"Damn kid, you are keyed up." Said Dimple. Mob shook her head, her hair was doing that thing again. She could feel the energy cracking between her fingers.

"Mob? You dressed yet?" asked Reigen. He could hear some of that one sided conversation. Damn. He needed to get some actually blessed salt. If there was something that Mob didn't want to do then there was probably a very good reason for her not wanting to do whatever it was.

"Yes Master, coming." Said Mob. She practically ran over to the massage/yoga/meditation/nap room. She managed to squish down some of her feelings.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 80%_

When she got there Master Reigen was already sitting cross legged and breathing deeply. The room smelled like jasmine and incense. It was dark and warm, it almost felt like they were the only two people in the world. She sent a strongish burst of energy at Dimple to get him to go away. She wanted to be alone with Master Reigen.

"Took you long enough." Said Reigen motioning for her to sit down. She sat next to him, a little closer than was needed.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob quietly. Master Reigen shrugged.

"It's ok, girls always take a while to get ready, fact of life." Said Reigen Mob smiled.

"Ok, just like yesterday. Breathe in, breathe out. In and out. Focus only on your breathing." Said Reigen. Mob closed her eyes and started breathing, slowly, in and out. She was more focused on Master's breathing. In and out, in and out. Just like that. In and out. The room was getting hotter.

"Mob, what's with the candles?" asked Reigen. He didn't like fear, and as far as Mob needed to know he didn't even know the meaning of the word. So he wasn't scared that the candles had become a towering inferno, no, he just didn't want to pay for the fire damage to the building.

"Oh, sorry Master." Said Mob. The candles put themselves out and they were plunged into darkness. That way he couldn't see her expression.

"Well, then, this isn't much better. Hang on let me find the light switch." Said Reigen. Mob put some of the candles back on.

"I…didn't know you could make fire." Said Reigen with just the smallest amount of worry creeping into his voice.

"I didn't either." Said Mob. Her eyes were still closed so she couldn't see just how worried Reigen was,

"Mob, you know fire is like a knife too, right?" asked Reigen

"What do you mean, Master?" asked Mob, wishing that they were breathing again. It really helped her calm down.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 65%_

"Well, fire is like a knife in the sense that it's a tool that we use. You don't play with it and you don't point it at others." Said Reigen in his most Master to student voice

"Of course, Master. I know not to play with fire, I'm fourteen." Said Mob

"Oh, ok. Well back to breathing." Said Reigen

"Actually, Master, My back is kinda sore." Said Mob taking her courage from where she could get it. Reigen looked at her for a moment. She didn't look at all possessed. Still, that wasn't like her to ask him to rub her back…but if she was sore he of course would help her.

"Hop up on the table Mob." Said Reigen. Mob laid face down on the table. This was nice the first time and maybe it would be nice again, especially because she wasn't actually sore at all.

"Just tell me when I hit a sore spot." Said Reigen as he started at her shoulders. She made a contented noise and he could feel her relax. He hoped that he was helping her calm down, otherwise everyone was doomed.

"I'll tell you." Said Mob as she exhaled and felt her toes curl. She could feel every callous on Master Reigen's hands as he worked his hands on her not so tight muscles.

"Master Reigen? Where did you learn to do this?" asked Mob in a breathy, dreamy voice that she didn't know she possessed. Dimple was right, being forward worked wonders. Maybe she'd keep him around, he seemed to know his stuff.

"Oh this? I picked this up from books, actually." Said Reigen

"It's not part of your powers?" asked Mob, her eyes fluttering as Reigen made his way down her back. She could feel him breathing against her. It was better now that he was just in an under shirt.

"Well Mob, I use my powers while I do this. Just of a practical application." Said Reigen trying not to put too much of his weight on her.

"Oh. Spiritual powers are really different I guess. So your powers are making people feel good?" asked Mob, shifting so that more of her was pressing against Master Reigen. Mob wondered if she could get him to do this to her again.

"Um…yes. My powers are mainly helping people with their feelings. That's why I can't see weaker spirits, they don't have enough, um, emotional presence. Yeah, that's it." Said Reigen as he moved down her body

"Do you think I could ever learn how to help people like that?" asked Mob as Master Reigen moved down to her sides. She moved towards his touch, she needed it. She needed to feel every callous of his hands, every join in his fingers. His thumbs made circles through her gym shirt and under shirt. She wished she wasn't wearing either of them.

"Yeah, I could show you a thing or two. I'll find you the book I learned this from, too." Said Reigen. She was more relaxed now, that was good. Everything had more of an underwater quality to it now, the energy that hung in the air was gone. It was a very calm atmosphere. It reminded Reigen of when he was a boy and he'd let himself sink to the bottom of the swimming pool and just watch the world drift in and out.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob, her voice coming out in more of a mew. He was moving down lower, he was at her thighs again. Moving up and down, up and down. She wished her gym shorts were shorter. She had never really thought about skin before, his or hers or anyone's, but skin on skin contact felt absolutely wonderful. She stifled a mewing sound, and held the table down. It wanted to fly up. Things sometimes hit the ceiling when she felt like this. Her toes curled in her socks, she felt a flush spread across her face. It bloomed and grew from her cheeks and across her face until she was sure she was beat red.

Was this what it would be like?

Mob didn't know how to feel. The thought of it, it with anyone, was something scary. Something knew. Something which she wasn't ready for, not really.

"You alright now?" asked Reigen as he took a step away from her. Mob sat up slowly. Reigen felt the pride of a job well done. Another satisfied customer.

"Yes, Master. I feel much better now." Said Mob trying to sit up on her own power. She felt like she was made of jelly. Boneless. Limp.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 35%_

"Calmer?" asked Reigen

"Yes. Much better, thank you." Said Mob. She was sad though, just a little, that it had to stop. She wanted to keep going.

"Alright, back to stretching." Said Reigen. Mob stifled a groan. She wanted Master to keep going, in two ways. She wanted him to keep rubbing her back and she wanted to see what came next. Kind of. Actually, no, that scared her a little. Not like math class scary, or the time when she lost control and hurt Ritsu scary. No, this is a whole other kind of scary.

Reigen watched Mob as she stretched. She was definitely more relaxed now. He was glad. She deserved to be happy, with the weight of the burden that she had to carry. He didn't envy her, having those powers.

The rest of the day was spent giving massages and trying to find a middle school girl's uniform for Mob. There wasn't a single alumni from Black Vinegar Middle School willing to sell him a used uniform. He was too young to say Mob was his kid, or that he could even have a kid in middle school.

Well, plan B then.

"Hey, Mob, is anything important happening at your after school club tomorrow?" asked Reigen. Mob looked up from her desk and shook her head.

"No, not really. We're starting squats tomorrow in the body improvement club but I can come into work early." Said Mob

"Yeah, you can just tell them you're sick. I think you're ready for your first solo exorcism." Said Reigen. Mob's eyes lit up and he felt himself actually get a little warm. She shouldn't idolize him so much. He wasn't worth it.

"You think I can do it by myself?" asked Mob. Wow. Master Reigen thought that highly of her. He wasn't going to be there to supervise her. He trusted her.

"I think you're ready to try without me, at least this once." Said Reigen. He couldn't have her doing all the exorcisms by herself, he'd have to pay her more, well that and he liked spending time with her.

"I won't let you down, Master." Said Mob solemnly. She had to do this for Master Reigen. If she could do this right then he'd be proud of her and then they'd get ramen or something else and it would be so nice…

"I know you won't, Mob. I trust you. Now wait here while I get your disguise." Said Reigen. He put that uniform somewhere…he just didn't remember where.

"Disguise?" asked Mob quietly. Dimple nudged her.

"I'm sure whatever he wants to dress you up as is for an 'exorcism' and nothing more." Said Dimple. Mob felt her cheeks color.

"Dimple, stop being weird." Said Mob as Master Reigen fiddled around under his desk for a few moments before pulling out a paper shopping bag.

"Here, try this on." Said Reigen holding it out for her. She looked at him skeptically.

"Master Reigen, why do I have to wear a disguise? And miss after school club?" asked Mob. Reigen rubbed the back of his head nervously

"Well you see, Mob, sometimes jobs come at, um, inconvenient times and places." Said Reigen trying to find a nice way of saying that nobody would let him get into a school to perform an exorcism at a middle school or sell him a middle schooler's uniform so he had to have her dress up and sneak in so they could make 5500 yen.

"It's important?" asked Mob

"Extremely. It's an evil spirit haunting a school." Said Reigen in his most serious voice. Mob took the bag from him.

"They really need our help?" asked Mob

"Of course, and you're the only one who can help." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Alright, Master Reigen." Said Mob. She took the bag into the bathroom. As soon as her back was turned Reigen let his smile fall. She'd do literally anything he asked of her, wouldn't she? Did he want that kind of responsibility?

Mob wasn't sure if she wanted to pretend to be someone else. She could barely be herself right, let alone another person. But maybe it wouldn't take too long. Just go in, get rid of the spirit, and then leave. How hard could it be? She put on the clothes Master Reigen wanted her to wear and frowned.

How was she supposed to pretend to be a boy?

"Mob! You look adorable!" said Reigen as his student emerged from the bathroom. Mob held her hands close and looked down. How could she pretend to be a boy? She didn't know anything about boys. But Master said she was adorable, was that like pretty?

"You think I look nice?" asked Mob quietly, a small smile crossing her face. She could feel her braids starting to stand up.

"Yup, just like a boy." Said Reigen. Mob frowned and looked down at her shoes.

"Ouch, that's rough, kid." Said Dimple. Mob batted him away

"A-a-a-a-nd perfect." Said Reigen. He pinned her braids behind her head. Yup, she looked just like a boy. This plan was going to be perfect. Huh. She looked kind of sad, and not usual Mob gloominess either.

"What's perfect?" asked Mob quietly. She could feel how close Master Reigen was to her, he was right behind her after all.

"Take a look." Said Reigen. He pulled out his phone and took her picture. Damn. She really did look sad.

"Oh." Said Mob. She looked just like a boy, with her hair pinned back and in that uniform. She brought her arms in close. Adorable. Not pretty.

"This is going to go off without a hitch." Said Reigen clasping her on the shoulder. She shrugged.

"What's the matter?" asked Reigen. Mob didn't look up.

"You think I look like a boy?" asked Mob. Reigen began to sweat.

"No, just now. Usually you're very, uh, pretty." Said Reigen. Oh crap. Right. Girls were sensitive about this stuff. But still, Mob had never given any indication that she cared about her looks before.

"You think I'm pretty?" asked Mob looking up at him again like he was the answers to all of her hopes and dreams.

"Uh, yeah. You're a really pretty girl." Said Reigen. Poor kid. Did anyone ever tell her she was pretty? That was important for girls to hear, right? Wait, was it OK to call her pretty? He didn't want to be the sort of guy who appraised the looks of middle school girls.

"You look nice too." Said Mob quietly, looking up at him through eyelashes that Reigen had never noticed were that thick.

"Now use your powers to pull him down and make him kiss you! C'mon, you know you want to! It'll be easy!" said Dimple. Mob's eyes widened and she walked quickly back to the bathroom. If she had done something like that Master Reigen would definitely have been mad at her.

"I'll just get back into my normal clothes now." Said Mob as she shuffled away. Reigen rubbed the back of his head in confusion. No matter what age they were girls were confusing. He felt bad about offending her too. Yeah, even in disguise no girl wanted to hear that she looked like a boy. Little Mob was growing up, the thought filled him with melancholy and dread. When he closed his eyes he still saw her as that eleven year old in pigtails who wandered into his office, but she wasn't eleven anymore even if she was still in pigtails. She was fourteen now. Where had the years gone? He'd make it all up to her, he'd get her some meat in her ramen, and a bottle of milk on the way home too.

The next day went by slowly for Mob. She really didn't want to have to dress up like a boy, she knew she'd make a fool of herself. She didn't want to but she had to. Master Reigen was placing his trust in her and she wasn't going to break it.

"You do seriously look just like a boy right now, Shigeko." Said Dimple as Mob got changed in the school locker room.

"I know, but it's just for this job. Master Reigen says I usually look pretty." Said Mob as she pinned back her braids.

"That master of yours would probably tell you whatever you wanted to hear." Said Dimple. Poor little Shigeko, naïve to the ways to men. Good thing she had him to set her straight.

"No, he wouldn't lie to me." Said Mob as she set off. She tried to be as inconspicuous as possible and managed to leave school without anyone questioning her. However, she was noticed and soon talk began to spread amongst the delinquents of the infiltrator from Black Vinegar Middle School. A fight was would soon commence, and Mob was none the wiser.

Entering Black Vinegar Middle School was also surprisingly simple. Nobody really noticed Mob when she was a girl and that went doubly so when she was a boy. Wearing long pants felt weird. Usually she wore a skirt and tall socks all day. This uniform was a little too big too, the cuffs of her pants dragged on the ground as she walked. She was supposed to meet their clients on the roof but she didn't know where the roof was, so her best bet was to head upwards.

"Watch it!" a boy said as their shoulders collided. Mob turned around and gave a bow.

"I'm so sorry." Said Mob. The other boy laughed as he walked down the hall. Dimple scoffed at her.

"Guys don't apologize, Shigeko. You've got to assert your dominance." Said Dimple. Honestly, the poor girl would be lost without her. Completely and totally lost.

"Master apologizes to me all the time." Said Mob

"Yeah, but you were a girl then." Said Dimple. Mob's eyes widened.

"I'm still a girl." Said Mob quietly

"Not now you aren't. You've got to act like a guy." Said Dimple

"I'm not sure I can." Said Mob as she ascended a stair case. The roof was probably as up as she could go so this was as good a place as any to start. She took a long stride and momentarily felt the urge to clasp her legs together or someone would see up her skirt. Oh, right. Pants.

"Sure you can, just act tough." Said Dimple

"But I'm not tough." Said Mob. Wow, this was a lot of stairs, Black Vinegar was huge compared to her school.

"With your powers you could be, how about letting me take over your body for a little bit?" asked Dimple

"No, that's ok." Said Mob. Maybe all of these stairs would make up for missing the body improvement club.

"C'mon, I'll be in and out so fast you won't even realize it." Said Dimple

"I don't believe you. I think you'll try and stay forever, and I don't want that. Then Master Reigen would have to exorcise you, and I don't want to be covered in salt." Said Mob

"He couldn't exorcise his way out of a paper bag." Said Dimple under his breath. Mob pretended not to hear him, he was just trying to upset her. Of course Master Reigen could perform exorcisms; that was what he did all day while she was at school. He just left her the weaker ones so she could practice.

"He's got a cute ass though." Said Dimple changing tactics. Mob looked down and his her face in her blazer as she continued to walk up the never ending staircase.

"Dimple." Said Mob quietly

"What, like you didn't notice." Said Dimple. Mob shook her head because, no, she hadn't noticed but now she couldn't un-notice.

"Do you want me to exorcise you, too?" asked Mob. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself. She wondered what kind of trouble she'd get in if she got busted. What was the penalty for dressing up like a boy and sneaking into another school?

"C'mon kid, I could help you. With my help you could have any guy you want eating out of the palm of your hand." Said Dimple

"Like a duck?" asked Mob. Why would she want that?

"You know what I mean." Said Dimple. Mob shook her head again. Who knew with Dimple? She made it to the roof and cautiously opened the door looking for her clients. There were some tough looking boys on one side, and some less tough looking boys on the other side. Mob took a deep breath.

"Um…hello?" said Mob as confidently as she could, which wasn't very confidently at all.

"Hey, who do you think you are?" asked the boy, the much bigger boy. Mob felt herself shrink a little. Boys never talked to her like that before, well then they did talk to her.

"Um…no…I-" said Mob

"This roof is for third years only. Get out!" said the boy, pushing her flat on her back.

"C'mon Shigeko, are you just going to take that?" said Dimple. Yes, Mob was. She wasn't going to use her powers against people, no matter how jerky they were acting.

"C'mon, leave him alone. There's something going down over at Salt." Said the other boy. They walked away while Mob was still sitting on the ground. Were all boys this mean to each other? She couldn't imagine Ritsu being mean to anyone.

"Wow, that was pathetic." One of the other boys said that, the ones farther away. Mob didn't get up but she did turn to look.

"Seriously man, you're just going to let them kick your ass?" asked another boy

"I don't like fighting." Said Mob still not getting up

"Hey, are you that exorcist guy we called?" asked the boy

"Yes." Said Mob finally getting up. She wasn't used to fighting with people, just spirits. The Spirits she could understand. Why did boys just fight each other?

"Huh. I thought he'd be older, and, uh, half. You know, like the guy on the poster." Said the boy. Mob looked up. Master Reigen was half…she never really noticed before. She noticed his eyes, and his hair, but she never really thought about it. She never really thought about his parents, or where he came from.

"That's my Master, I'm his apprentice. He sent me because the school wouldn't let him in to perform an exorcism." Said Mob

"Do we still have to pay the 5500 yen?" asked the boy

"Yes." Said Mob before being picked up by the front of her shirt.

"Why should we pay the full price when all we get is the apprentice?" asked the boy trying his best to be intimating.

"Fine. If you don't want to pay then you can get rid of the spirit yourself." Said Mob in her monotone. She stared straight forward too, not in any conscious attempt at being disconcerting but instead to keep her powers in check. Dimple was there too, begging her to fight these boys. She wasn't ever going to use her powers on a person, Master Reigen taught her about that.

"Hey, Ito, I think he's the real deal." Mob was still looking straight forward, so she didn't notice the looks being exchanged.

"You think, Subaru?" asked the first boy, presumably Ito. Mob nodded.

"Yes, I really have psychic powers. I wouldn't be here if I didn't." Said Mob

"Yeah? Then prove it!" said the other boy, presumably Subaru. Mob pulled her shirt back and used her powers to hover off the ground for a moment before putting herself into a standing position.

"Whoa…." They both said at once

"I'm not going to fight with you, either, so stop trying to fight with me." Said Mob

"Uh…sure….whatever you want man." Said Ito

"Yeah, uh, we're sorry. Here, let's start again. I'm Subaru Akira and he's Ito Kai." Said Subaru with a bow

"I'm Kageyama Shigeko, but everyone calls me Mob." Said Mob with a bow. Both boys had a look unparalleled confusion.

"Shigeko? That's usually a girl's name, right?" asked Ito

"Shigeko is, I'm not sure about Mob. That's just something my Master calls me. Well, everyone calls me." Said Mob

"Dude, why do you have a girl's name?" asked Subaru

"I'm a girl." Said Mob simply. Both boys looked skeptical.

"You sure?" asked Ito. Mob used her powers to let her braids down.

"Oh…damn….damn….you're a girl…..we're so sorry!" Said both boys at once, kneeling before Mob in apology. Crap. You don't ever fight with girls, everyone knew that. Were they going to jail? Crap. That looked so bad.

"It's ok, you didn't know." Said Mob wondering why her being a girl mattered. Boy or girl fighting was wrong and stupid.

"But, hey, why are you dressed up like a guy?" Said Ito as Mob put her braids back up.

"My Master said that I needed to come in disguise." Said Mob simply. The boys looked at each other, theory's racing through their minds, each more wild than the next. She was apprentice to a powerful psychic, she was actually controlling her Master and using him to build her power base, she was a master of disguise traveling through Japan and hunting spirits because she herself was a spirit. Mob was, of course, oblivious to this.

"You make a really convincing guy." Said Ito. His friend nodded in agreement. Mob felt self-conscious. Maybe she did look like a boy all the time, not just when she was dressed like this. Maybe that was why mom mostly only got her dresses and skirts to wear, and why mom made her wear mostly pink.

"Thank you, I guess." Said Mob. A compliment was a compliment even if she didn't want it so the polite thing to do was to say thank you.

"Really, we never would have guessed." Said Subaru in what he thought was a placating tone with an undercurrent of 'please don't hurt us, Miss psychic chick.'

"Thank you very much. So, can you tell me about the spirit?" asked Mob trying to change the subject of her boyish looks. She was here to do a job and make her master proud and that was what she would do.

"Ok, so we first started noticing that stuff started just disappearing. We thought it was someone being a jerk but it kept on happening no matter what we did. Then stuff started floating on it's own and we heard weird noises coming from the music room, like music but not." Said Ito

"Yeah, we thought it might have just been Teru, he can do stuff like that, but it wasn't." said Subaru

"And when we asked Teru he said he wouldn't help because he thought it was funny. Then he picked us up and threw us." Said Ito

"He threw you? That's not nice." Said Mob. What was with boys and fighting? She fought evil spirits because she had to, not because it was fun or anything.

"Uh, Mob. I think you're missing the bigger picture." Said Dimple

"Yeah. He's, uh, like you." Said Ito. Mob turned her gaze towards him

"He has powers?" asked Mob

"Yeah, he's really strong but he won't help, so we called…uh…you." Said Ito. Mob nodded. On the outside she was the picture of calm, disinterested even, but she was interested. There was another person like her in world? Like her and Master Reigen?

"Where is he? Is he around?" asked Mob, still doing her thousand meter stare

"Teru? He's probably at home now, and we don't really know him well enough to call him." said Ito. Subaru muttered something about nobody wanting to call that jerk anyway. Now Mob was curious. Why was he using his powers against people? Maybe he didn't know it was wrong.

"Oh. Ok. We should look for the spirit now. Where does the spirit usually hanging out at right now?" asked Mob. She was curious about another esper, more than curious, but Master Reigen sent her here with a job to do and she needed to do it.

"Let's check the music room first, and not just because I forgot my reorder." Said Subaru

They hunted high and low for the spirit, the entire time Mob feeling a weird energy in the air. It was too strong to be a spirit, too concentrated even though it was spread out. Eventually Dimple told her that she was feeling another esper's aura. He must not have been that powerful then, if she could feel it. Master Reigen was strong enough to hide his aura completely. Eventually after scouting out the entire school, even the boy's locker room, which was thankfully devoid of boys, but no spirit. Turns out it was hiding in the gym watching the boys play basketball. Of all the things to do in the afterlife. What was the point of watching other people have fun?

"You! You're worse than the last one!" screamed the spirit. It looked like a giant green girl, with bad acne and big glasses. She reached out a hand and Mob batted it away. It disintegrated. Easy. This spirit was all show and no tell.

"Somebody call Teru!" she heard someone yell. She was focused on the job now, though. She needed to exorcise this spirit so well that it never, ever, came back. Then Master Reigen would be happy.

"Huh, you're a strong one. Maybe I'll just have to take a hostage!" Said the spirit. Mob disintegrated the arm like it was nothing. It really was a weak spirit, all show and no tell even when it tried to show.

"No! How are you doing this?! Said the Spirit. Mob cut it to pieces with a wave of her hand.

"Who is that guy?" she heard someone ask as the spirit exploded into a shower of color and light.

"Ok. It's over now. You can all go back to what you were doing." Said Mob simply. She could feel what felt like a million eyes on her. She shrank down into her suit coat. Too much attention, far too much attention.

_"Whoa!" "Who is that guy, you ever seen him before?" "What class is he in?" "He's cooler than Teru!" _Mob heard all of these things and felt herself smiling a little, on the inside. Master Reigen would be so proud, she did it all by herself. On the outside though she was flat as ever.

"Damn it….how could I be defeated by a loser like you…." Came a distorted voice. The spirit began to appear as she did in life.

"And to think I had finally found happiness….." continued the spirit. Mob frowned. She thought she had gotten rid of it completely.

"You and me….we're the same…." Said the Spirit

"Same? How?" asked Mob

"We both played the loser role in life…." Mob waited to see if it would pass on to the next world on its own before trying to defeat it again.

"I…" said Mob quietly. She wasn't a loser, was she? No. She was making friends and doing stuff and she had an important job to do. She helped Master Reigen exorcise evil spirits and keep the world safe.

"I finally started to have fun after I died….I was content….but I guess it's all over now….say….are you living every day to the fullest…..?" Mob felt a jolt go through her. Was she?

She ruminated on that the whole way home. She had the 5500 yen, she'd give it Master Reigen when she saw him next. Right now she needed a nice, long, soak in the tub…and to take this uniform off. Boy's uniforms were too warm. Why did they have to have shirts and jackets and long pants? Were they always cold? Master Reigen always worse a full suit too. Maybe. She'll ask Master Reigen tomorrow, or Ristu tonight. Maybe not Ritsu, she didn't need to be bothering him. He had a lot on his plate, not like her. Dimple was somewhere else too, or maybe he was just hiding, she wasn't looking too closely for any spirits. She was grateful for the alone time. She still felt that aura though, even after she left the school, like it was following her.

Mob didn't notice the blonde boy who followed her home. She had never felt another esper's aura before that day, so she had no idea that she was being followed, or if her follower was friend or foe, and she certainly couldn't read the violent intent emanating off of him.

"How dare you…you come into my school….exorcise my spirit….steal my lackeys….." Mob couldn't hear that, either. Her thoughts were consumed with homework, dinner, a bath, and a nice glass of milk. She didn't even know someone was behind her until she felt something pulling her back. She immediately put up a barrier and lashed out a wave of energy. It must have been strong, whatever that spirit was.

"No! How are you doing this!" she heard someone yell. She turned around and felt something slam into her barrier, hard.

"No! No! No!" she heard the voice yell and to her surprise it wasn't a spirit but a person slamming into her. Repeatedly.

"You're like me!" said Mob happily. She didn't care that she was being attacked, there was another esper and he was her age. Was this that Teru guy they were talking about?

"No! I'm nothing like you! I'm stronger!" said Teru as he lashed out blindly. Mob was confused for a moment, what was his problem? She hadn't done anything to him to why would he be attacking her?

"What are you attacking me for? I haven't done anything to you!" said Mob loudly, still behind her barrier. She wouldn't fight back, no, because she would never use her powers against another person. Ever.

"You came into my territory and took my spirit and my lackeys!" yelled Teru. He was still attacking her barrier but it stood strong. She wasn't even angry or upset, just confused.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know that was your spirit. I was just doing my job. Was it haunting you?" Said Mob holding out her hands in a gesture to surrender.

"Don't play dumb! You knew what you were doing!" said Teru. He was giving the barrier his all but it just wouldn't crack. Who was this guy?

"Stop that, you're going to hurt someone." Said Mob. They weren't near any houses yet, just a park, but there was still stuff that could have gotten hurt. The people had cleared out though, that was good.

"I'm trying to hurt you!" Said Teru. He had never been so angry in his entire life. How dare this guy come into his school, his turf, and just think he could dethrone Teru like that! He was the strongest, the best! He was the protagonist of this story! Of every story!

"But why?!" asked Mob. She was getting tired. Her barrier couldn't stay up forever. Why would this guy be trying to fight her? Oh. She was still dressed like a boy. Boys fought all the time.

"I told you!" said Teru

"Wait, hang on!" said Mob. She was about to undo her braids so he could see was a girl but he managed to get her barrier down and sent her flying.

"Fight me!" yelled Teru

"No. I won't use my powers against another person." Said Mob. She was about to put up a barrier but he managed to send her flying again.

"Stop that! Someone's going to get hurt!" said Mob. Things were flying now, chunks of the ground were coming up and crashing into surrounding buildings. They weren't houses but that didn't mean that there weren't people inside potentially.

"I don't care!" said Teru. Mob tried her best to put a barrier around him. Did that count as using her powers against people? She hoped it didn't.

"You can't trap me!" said Teru. He pushed against her barrier until it broke. She was too tired, or maybe she was just holding back. He was strong, stronger than any spirit she had ever faced before.

"Please, can't we just talk? I'm not going to fight! I didn't mean to do anything to hurt you!" said Mob trying to keep up her barrier and failing. It was like he was pouring all of his energy into hurting her, and she didn't even know why.

"If you won't fight back then I'll make you fight back!" shouted Teru. Mob didn't even think, she just felt so scared and angry. She didn't want anyone to get hurt and she was tired of fighting.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 95.5%_

Mob didn't know why she did it, she didn't know how she did it, but she send him flying up into the air and then deep into the ground so hard he hit the pipes underneath. She gasped and rushed over to help him. He flew out and grabbed her by the front of the shirt.

"I finally got you to fight back!" said Teru. He was shaking her now, hard. Her braids came unpinned and the buttons on her shirt broke open.

"…you're a girl….?" Said Teru. All the rage left his face. Oh shit. Oh damn. Oh no. This other esper, the only other esper he had ever met that wasn't some weak Claw lackey and the only person ever to stand up to him…was a girl.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I used my powers on you! Please, forgive me!" said Mob through tears. How could she have hurt someone with her powers? That was the biggest rule that she had!

"You…you're apologizing?" asked Teru. He wasn't angry anymore. Where had it gone? He had been so angry before that he couldn't even think but now…oh crap. You don't fight girls. Everyone knew you didn't fight girls. He looked her up and down. Crap. She was crying. Crap, he tore her shirt really badly. Crap, now he was looking at her breasts. This was…Teru didn't know what to do. He had never been that angry before…he had never lost control like that before. Crap. He thought he had lost his lackeys before, because they had found someone more powerful, but now nobody would follow him. He hit a girl and ripped up her clothes. This looked so, so, so bad.

"Please, forgive me!" sobbed Mob. How could she have broken the rule? She hurt someone with her powers, just like before. She was a terrible person.

"You…stop apologizing!" yelled Teru. He pushed her down and ran away. What else could he do?

Mob cried on the ground for a moment as she looked around at the damage she did. She used her powers to try to put it like it was. She was still crying when she picked up her school bag and starting walking home before abruptly changing course. She couldn't go home. Ritsu would worry, and her parents would be mad. Where could she go?

Master Reigen might still be at work.

Would he hate her now? Would he tell her to go away and never come back? She hurt someone with her powers. That was the first thing that Master Reigen had told her not to do. That was the first thing he ever said to her. Powers were like knives. You never, ever, pointed them at people.

She had to confess.

She walked to work crying and trying to keep her shirt closed. Everyone could see her under shirt. It wasn't a long walk, or maybe it was, who knew? She eventually went up the stairs and into the office.

Reigen Arataka was not an easy man to scare, at least that was what he told himself. The first scare he'd had that day was a client coming at him with a kitchen knife, but he had played that cool and fought him off without getting a scratch on him. He was totally not scared, and being scared had nothing to do with why he had already smoked three cigarettes in a row.

The second scare came walking through his door right before closing.

"We're closing in a few minutes!" called out Reigen. Honestly he didn't want to deal with any more clients. He just wanted to smoke his last cigarette and call Mob and see how she did. He was pretty sure that she could handle a simple exorcism by herself.

Huh. He had gotten to the point in his life when exorcisms were simple, everyday occurrences. Who knew?

He was about to call up Mob and see how it went, finish that last cigarette, and see if he had enough cash to take her out for some takoyaki when she came crashing through his door. In tears. And ripped clothes. What….the….

"Mob!" Reigen didn't push out his chair, he just jumped out of his desk. He shouldn't have left her alone. He should have gone with her. He should have been there to protect.

"M-Master…" said Mob through her sniffles. Reigen ran over and knelt down before her. Oh God, her shirt was practically ripped in two. Her hair was a mess. She was covered in dirt.

"Shhh….I'm here. I'm here, Mob." Said Reigen. He stood up and held her, practically picking her up off the ground.

"Master…I-I'm-" said Mob. She needed to tell Master Reigen what she had done, how terrible she had been. She had hurt another person with her powers, just like before, when she was little.

"Mob. Oh God Mob. I'm sorry. I'm sorry Shigeko." Said Reigen, visions of all the things that could have happened to her running through his mind. He had left her alone, and for what? 5500 yen. Not even enough to pay the light bill.

"Master Reigen…I did a bad thing." Said Mob as she was crushed against him. He was rubbing her hair and telling her he was sorry. What did he have to be sorry for? She was the one who messed up.

"Mob…Mob…I'm so sorry…" said Reigen. He tried to pick her up and he heard something hit the ground.

"I'm sorry, Master Reigen…I dropped the money." Said Mob quietly. Reigen pulled away and looked at her for a moment.

"Fuck the money, Mob." Said Reigen, clasping her face in his hands.

"Master…" said Mob

"I said forget it!" said Reigen kicking it away. 5500 yen. Who cared anymore? Who needed it?

"Master…I was bad. I…I was fighting…." Said Mob. Reigen pulled her over to the couch and sat next to her, prepared to hear about whatever happened to her, his mind filling with all the awful things that could happen to a little girl out in the world.

"The spirit?" asked Reigen. He was not a praying man but right then and there he was praying to whatever deity listening for all that had happened was a spirit fight. Mob's shirt was still opened, he could see that her undershirt was torn too. There was a pink bow on the front. Her chest wasn't…she was older….there were all kinds of things that could happen to her now. He took off his suit coat and covered her with it like a blanket. She didn't want him seeing her chest.

"No, that went fine. Afterwards when I was walking home a boy was following me…." Said Mob before she began to cry again. How could she tell Master Reigen what she had done? He'd...he would be mad at her. He would be disappointed in her. That would be worse.

"Mob, it's not your fault." Said Reigen. It wasn't. Whatever she was about to tell him, she needed to know that it wasn't her fault. It was his, and he'd spend the rest of his life atoning to her for it.

"It is. I didn't want to hurt him but we kept on trying to fight….because I got rid of his spirit and took his friends….even though I didn't mean to…I just did the exorcism…" said Mob quietly. She pulled Master Reigen's suit coat around her like a blanket, like it would keep her safe.

"Mob it wasn't your fault." Said Reigen. Even if she lost control and hurt someone it wasn't her fault.

"It was, Master. It was! You told me not to fight but I did anyway! I hurt someone with my powers!" said Mob, fresh tears streaming down her face.

"Mob, what did that boy do to you?" asked Reigen. A kid. A kid her own age. A kid her own age had done this to her. Reigen could have protected her.

"He kept using his powers to try and fight me but I wouldn't fight him and it just made him mad…" said Mob

"Powers?!" asked Reigen trying to hide his alarm. Mob nodded.

"He was like me. He kept trying to fight so I hid under my barrier….but I got tired….so I tried to put up a barrier….but then it broke…." Said Mob. Reigen dried her tears with his tie.

"Mob, it wasn't your fault…if you lost control-" said Reigen

"But I didn't lose control….I hit him when I was in control…because he wouldn't stop trying to fight….but then he just got madder and shook me and my shirt broke." Said Mob. Reigen took her face in his hands and looked her in the eye.

"Mob, the biggest losers around are the one who go around hitting girls." Said Reigen

"But I-" said Mob

"You were defending yourself." Said Reigen

"But Master Reigen, you said that I wasn't supposed to use my powers against people, never ever. You said-" said Mob

"Mob! I know what I said! I-I know what I said before, but listen to what I'm saying now." Said Reigen. Mob nodded as best as she could

"Powers are tools, like knives, and we must never point knives at other people…unless they're pointing them at us first." Said Reigen

"But before-" said Mob

"Mob, you were defending yourself. I will never, ever, be angry at you for defending yourself." Said Reigen

"You're not mad at me?" asked Mob

"Mob, I'm just so glad that you're alright." Said Reigen. He pulled her close and buried his face in her hair. He kept on telling her he was sorry.

She didn't know why.


	6. Pointing Knives Back At Others

Reigen didn't want Mob out of his sight. Not in a creepy way, he was just worried. There were other espers out there, ones that could hurt Mob. He was always confident that, if it came to it, she could defend herself. She could but she hadn't…because of him.

He fired off a text to her. _"How's school?" _Just to make sure that she was there and she was OK. He watched his phone and waited…and waited….and waited. God, he was like a middle schooler. After an agonizing five minutes she texted back.

_"Fine. In class now." _Reigen let out a breath he hadn't realized that he was holding. Right, of course she'd still be in class. He hoped that he hadn't gotten her in trouble. He just needed to know that she was alright. There was so much that could happen to her out there, and he wasn't there to protect her. Not that he could protect her from an esper. He didn't actually have any powers. He did have drop kicks though, and those hurt anyone.

_"Learn anything cool?" _asked Reigen. He just needed to hear from her, she could return his text whenever though. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. He couldn't be texting her that often, it was weird and he was bothering her.

On the way home the other day he had gotten her all the meats in her ramen and a massive bottle of milk, but that wasn't enough. He had put her in danger….and all he could do what get her junk food. Well, not only that, he also got her another pack of undershirts. He thought he got the right ones, white with a pink bow. Not that he could give them to her, after leaving the discount store he realized that getting her undershirts was kind of weird.

Then he went back and got her a pack of socks. Then he went back and got her some hair ribbon. Then he went back and got her a head band. At that point the clerk at the hundred yen store asked him if everything was OK. It wasn't, it wasn't at all, but Reigen didn't say that. After that he stopped over at happy trails and, eventually made his way home. He woke up on the ground in his kitchen covered in his own vomit.

The next night he tried to resist stopped by Happy Trails and he woke up later that night in an alley.

He needed to stop drinking, he suspected that he was bad at it….and it was unhealthy, he supposed. What would Mob say, if she saw him throwing up in his kitchen at one in the morning? She'd pity him, probably, or worse…she'd just accept it. She'd say something like "It's alright, Master" as help him get up. He couldn't be that way, he needed to be better for Mob.

He didn't want her to pick up his habits. She deserved better than that.

_"Math is hard." _Reigen's phone vibrated and he opened it up more quickly than necessary. He smiled.

_"Math is the worst :-(" _said Reigen. He always hated math, too. He didn't even need to use most of what he learned, although he did wish that he had payed attention to the parts about budgeting. Yeah, he needed a few lessons in that.

Mob was ok. She was in school, and she was safe. She wasn't mad at him either. Reigen had been worried…not that he wanted to think about it….but he had been worried that she'd just turn up one day and tell him off. He didn't want them to go their separate ways. He needed to keep her safe…and he needed her, too. Her company. The way she hung on his every word. The way she took every single thing he said as gospel. The way she looked up at him like he was the best person she had ever met. The way she called him Master, the complete and total trust in her voice.

When he was with her, he was somebody.

He had broken her trust. He had to be better for her. He had to be better because….because she had no one. Right?

She never told him how her parents reacted to what happened. He had walked her home after Ramen, keeping an eye out for anyone who would hurt her. He even walked her right up to her front door. Come to think of it, he had never even seen her house before then. She just said her good byes and walked right in. Nobody greeted her, nobody asked where she had been. She had just gone inside, like nothing had happened.

If Reigen had stayed out that late in middle school his parents would have given him an earful the minute he walked through the door. And it was late when he had gotten her home, the sun had been down for hours and it was well past what could be considered dinner time. She didn't seem to have gotten in trouble, either, because she was back at work the very next day like nothing had happened.

He kept her out late the next night, too. This time they got Korean barbeque because it was delicious and she had never been. Hell, he had gotten her home even later that next night and still there had been nobody waiting to greet her. He had watched her go in the house, and nobody had even asked where she had been.

Was that why she had been so clingy lately? He had always been a little touchy feely with her, she was adorable and a kid, but now it seemed like every day she needed a back rub or a hug or both. He was happy to oblige her, of course, because she deserved to feel loved. She needed to know that she was somebody and she mattered. She mattered to him.

He was looking out for her, he cared about her. She needed to know that somebody out there cared about her. He knew that her parents favored her younger brother based on the way she talked about them. Sure a lot of people favored sons but she was still a person and still mattered.

Reigen knew what it was like, to feel like you didn't matter. When his parents split…those were hard times…and he didn't have a single friend in the world to help him. Well Mob wouldn't have to go through that. He would be Mob's friend, and he'd help her through whatever she was going through and they'd both come out the other side just fine.

He had to be there for her, because if he didn't who would be?

Mob stared at the equations in front of her, trying to make sense of what she was supposed to be doing, when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She was startled for a moment. Nobody ever texted her, except for Tome sometimes when she was sky watching, or Master when there was a work thing to do. Well sometimes Ritsu texted her too to see when she'd be home. He wasn't happy that she had been out so late these past few nights. He worried too much. Master Reigen would never let anything bad happen to her, and she liked spending time with him. She looked down at her phone when she got a chance. Oh, it was from Master Reigen. She opened it as stealthily as she could, they weren't allowed to have phones on in class.

_"How's school?" _ There, it was short and simple but it sent Mob's heart fluttering. Master Reigen had been texting her more with non work related things, just to talk to her. Huh. Maybe Dimple really did give good advice. Being more forward had worked, although she wasn't ready for any bra stuffing or lap sitting just yet. She wondered where Dimple kept going off to. What did a spirit have to do all day, anyway?

_"Fine. In class now"_ said Mob. She wanted to tell Master that she had gotten an 80 on her English quiz, ran all the laps in gym, and had even made plans to sky watch with Tome that weekend. She didn't have time to text all that out, though, because she didn't want to get in trouble.

_"Learn anything cool?" _ Replied Master. Mob felt her cheeks color. Was it healthy for her to be doing that so often? She hadn't really learned anything though, and wasn't really learning anything right now either.

_"Math is hard." _Said Mob. That was something they already knew, though. Master Reigen had stopped being able to help her with her homework last year. He took one look at her book and almost cried.

_"Math is the worst :-(" _Mob smiled. Yes, it really was the worst. She wondered what Master Reigen was like in school. He probably had a lot of friends. He was probably in a lot of clubs and everyone thought he was really cool and popular. She wished she could be popular.

"Kageyama! Since you seem to already understand the lesson perhaps you'd like to come up and solve an equation?" said her teacher. She sat up straight and began to seat like she was standing on the surface of the sun. Mob shook her head as everyone turned to look at her.

"That-that's-" said Mob quietly

"Oh no, come on up and enlighten the class." Said the teacher. Mob looked down and shuffled her way to the front of the room.

_50% Embarrassed_

Why did these things always have to happen to her? She wondered if Master Reigen ever had these problems

While Mob was trying and failing to divine the secrets of the mathematical across the school a group of delinquents was trying to divine the secret of what, exactly, went down at Black Vinegar middle school. They had fought with the gang from Black Vinegar, then gotten their asses soundly kicked by their shadow leader. Apparently while they were getting their butts kicked some mysterious transfer student had tried to dethrone their shadow leader, and he was a total badass too. He had destroyed the Black Vinegar shadow leader's spirit slave thing and after that there was a great big fight that almost totally ruined the park. Not the big one but the little one with the fountain, it was important to know which one for reasons.

Black Vinegar's position was weak and now Salt was in a position to take over their territory. The only problem was that they were still too wounded from the last fight. What they needed were bigger guys to fight for them, and since nobody's big brother was going to get involved in this mess they had to recruit from within the school, and fast too.

A guy from Black Vinegar was seen skulking around their school the same day as Black Vinegar's shadow leader was almost dethroned. General consensus was that he was gathering intel in order to destroy the leadership at Salt. Some people even said that it was the same guy trying to dethrone Black Vinegar's shadow leader. Was this guy trying to control all the territory in Seasoning City?

That was what brought the delinquents and the body improvement club together on that fateful day.

"For the very last time no, we're not helping you." Said club president Musashi. The entire body improvement club glowered down at the delinquents. Of course they weren't going to go and start picking fights were no good reason, and it was insulting that they were even asked.

"But you have to!" pleaded Onigawara. He was then picked up by the top of his head with one hand.

"For the abslute very last time, no." said Musashi. Honestly, he didn't like to use his strength this way but this guy just wouldn't take no for an answer.

"But…why?" asked Onigawara, his feet dangling in the air

"Because fighting is stupid." Said Mushashi simply. Mob nodded in agreement behind him. What was it with boys and fighting?

"But-" started Onigawara before he was put back on the ground

"Now come on everybody, let's go do some squats!" and with that the body improvement club ran outside to get some fresh air and exercise, Mob trailing behind them as best she could. Her presence, for once, did not go unnoticed and soon she would have her own part to play in the complicated world of middle school delinquent gangs.

Later that day at work Mob decided to ask a question to which she had been wondering about for a number of days.

"Master Reigen?" asked Mob. Master Reigen was exorcising another photograph, he looked deep in thought. She felt bad as soon as she got his attention.

"Mob! Are you alright?" asked Reigen, accidentally erasing the client's ear. Great. Well whatever, there was nothing photoshop couldn't do.

"I'm fine, but I was wondering something." Said Mob. She still felt bad, he looked kind of upset. She hoped she wasn't interrupting him too much.

"No, Mob. You're fine. What's wrong?" asked Reigen

"Why do boys fight all the time?" asked Mob. Reigen got a dark look.

"Did that boy try and fight with you again?" asked Reigen digging his nails into his palms. He was fully prepared to fight a middle schooler for Mob. Thankfully she shook her head no.

"No, not him, but today someone asked the body improvement club to fight Black Vinegar middle school for them, but the president said no because fighting is stupid. But why do boys keep wanting to fight? When I was dressed as a boy everyone kept trying to fight me, and Dimple, that's the spirit haunting me, said that boys always have to fight. I just don't get why." Said Mob

"You see Mob, the answer is simple…boys are idiots." Said Reigen. It was true, God knew he was an idiot when he was her age.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. Reigen knew that look, she had more on her mind.

"Something just happens to guys when they get to your age where their brains just stop working." Said Reigen, omitting the fact that most of the blood in their bodies was going somewhere else for the next ten or so years.

"Ritsu doesn't fight though, I don't think he does anyway. I don't watch him every second of every day." Said Mob. She couldn't imagine Ritsu fighting anyone, even when they were kids he never really fought with her.

"Well the way you talk about him, he's practically perfect." Said Reigen with a wave of his hand before he could catch himself.

"Yeah, Ritsu's good at everything. Sometimes I think he's jealous of me though, because I have powers and he doesn't. I don't know why he would want powers, though." Said Mob

"People want what they can't have." Said Reigen simply. Even Mob wanted to be a normal person when she had power that other people would trade their left arm for.

"What do you want, Master Reigen?" asked Mob simply. She couldn't imagine that Master Reigen wanted anything. He was already the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century, he helped people every day, and he was a good person.

"I-" said Reigen. He wanted to be somebody, an actual somebody. But he couldn't tell Mob that. Mob thought that he was somebody already.

"I want to be the best master I can be." Said Reigen. That was something else he wanted, to be the best person for her that she could be. Sometimes when he looked at her he saw himself at fourteen, a lonely boy with no idea what he was doing. She knew what she was doing, though, some of the time.

"You're already the best." Said Mob so sincerely that Reigen felt a punch to the heart.

"I try to be." Said Reigen. Mob smiled at him, her actual smile. God, he had to be a good person for this kid. He had to be better, and he had to make what happened up to her. She didn't seem bothered by getting beat up by a boy, actually she was more upset with herself, he thought, because she had hurt someone. Sure she didn't seem bothered by what happened but it could be hard to tell with Mob, she didn't exactly wear her heart on her sleeve after all.

"Master Reigen…you're really not mad at me?" asked Mob

"Of course not, why would I ever be mad at you?" said Reigen

"Because of…before." Said Mob

"I already told you that I will never, ever, be upset at you for defending yourself." Said Reigen

"But I still feel upset at myself." Said Mob quietly

"Well, you shouldn't be. Mob, you didn't do anything wrong. Remember what I told you?" asked Reigen

"Only the biggest losers in the world go around hitting girls. But why is it alright for boys to fight other boys but not to fight girls?" asked Mob. Reigen thought for a moment on how to explain it.

"Usually boys are stronger than girls, so it's not at all a fair fight. People should only fight people as fairly as possible, and they should only fight when they need to." Said Reigen

"But…I'm stronger than everybody." Said Mob

"That doesn't matter, Mob! Nobody should be trying to fight you!" said Reigen talking with his hands again. Mob nodded.

"Yes, Master Reigen." Said Mob, still looking at him, making an unusual amount of eye contact.

"Something on my face?" asked Reigen

"No, but your eyes are blue. They look nice." Said Mob, speaking sincerely. Being forward worked last time. He had been spending more time with her after work and texting her during the day since the last time she had been forward. She almost wished that Dimple had stuck around, he actually gave good advice.

"Uh, thanks, Mob." Said Reigen. His entire life people had been pointing out that he was half, usually not to compliment him sincerely though. Mob was sincere, he didn't think that she was capable of being insincere.

"You hair is nice, too." Said Mob. She was a sweet kid but she needed to get a clue sometimes. He was happy for the complements, but as her master he needed to teach her not to be as awkward, especially if she was serious about trying to be popular.

"Yours is nice, too, Mob, but you should really stagger your complements." Said Reigen

"You can complement someone too many times?" asked Mob, worried that she had misread the atmosphere again. She always managed to make a fool of herself.

"Yeah, too much of a good thing and all that." Said Reigen

"I'm sorry, Master." Said Mob quickly. Reigen waved her off.

"No, you're just fine Mob." Said Reigen leaning back into his chair with an exaggerated carelessness. That was weird, she had been initiating more and more conversations lately. That was good, though, right? It wasn't like she was going to eventually grow out of him and move on…right? Reigen didn't like to think about the future.

"Hey, Mob, what do you want for dinner?" asked Reigen quickly. He wasn't going down a good mental path there, not at all. He needed to put his mind on something else, and food was a good something else. It was amazing that he wasn't a blob yet.

"Uh-" started Mob. He asked her what she wanted. He had never asked her what she wanted, he just told her what they were eating after work. Well he asked her to come with which was pretty much the same thing as telling her what they were going to eat. He had called it dinner too, not just getting an after work snack. She needed to find Dimple again, he maybe have been weird and annoying but he gave great advice.

"If you aren't sure-" said Reigen. Mob shook her head quickly

"Ramen. I like when we get ramen." Said Mob looking down. It was always fun, and she suspected that Ramen was Master Reigen's favorite food.

"Great, ramen it is." Said Reigen. Part of him said that ramen wouldn't make anything better, he had still put her in danger, but the rest of him said that everything was alright as long as she was happy. He shifted in his chair and his foot hit the plastic bag under his desk. It crinkled loudly.

"Oh yeah, Mob, I got you some stuff from the store." Said Reigen. Well, it was weird but now she must have noticed and she'd look over at him with those big curious eyes and, hell, Mob couldn't get a clue for shit, she'd probably just thank him and go about her merry way.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob, still looking at him like he was the best thing since dehydrated instant ramen.

"You don't even know what it is." Said Reigen. He held out the bag and she carried it over with her powers. She opened the bag and smiled. New undershirts, which she did need since hers were getting too tight, new socks which was great because all of hers had broken elastic, and even some pretty stuff to wear in her hair. Wow. Master Reigen… he had gone to the store without complaining and got her things which she needed without telling her how she could never, ever keep anything nice and she should be grateful for what she got. Wow.

_80% happy_

She felt like she was walking on air, but she wasn't, she was just levitating herself in her seat. She dropped herself quickly. Wow. All things she needed, even new undershirts.

Right, because her shirt was broken the other day and she was practically topless. Right, Master Reigen had seen her undershirt. Not even her mom saw her that undressed. Darkly she thought, well it wasn't like there even was anything to see. No, none of those mean thoughts. No, she was going to be happy now.

"Mob. You don't have to be like that, it's just stuff from the 500 yen or less store." Said Reigen. Damn. Why was she so….who was taking care of her? If they ever met Reigen would have a few choice words for the Kageyamas.

"You didn't have to do this, Master Reigen, but you did anyway. Thank you." Said Mob. Last time her mom had gotten her new clothes she had gone on and on about how Ritsu never ruined his things and how she had to start being grown up and mature and set a good example. She was a terrible big sister, sometimes, and daughter. She shouldn't make things harder on her family.

"You-you're welcome, Mob. It was really no trouble, the store is right by my house." Said Reigen. Poor, poor kid. Reigen knew she wasn't being hit or anything, her parents didn't have powers and would have been idiots to do anything that could send her into a meltdown, but they were just…apathetic seemed like a fitting word.

"Hey Mob, do your parents mind you being out so late almost every night? You don't have to have dinner with me, I don't want you to get in trouble." asked Reigen as nonchalantly as he could, like it didn't even bother him either way.

"No, not really. They leave some food out for me for when I get home. Ritsu says mom's been a lot nicer, lately, and dad's been talking more. It's nice, that they're happier now." Said Mob, same monotone, same stare. That's what got to Reigen. The fact that she could just be so…calm.

"I'm happy, happier, that you're around. You're a great friend, Mob." Said Reigen because, really what else could he say? She smiled.

"You're a great friend too, Master Reigen." Said Mob, same stare, same monotone. She wasn't looking at anything, she was just trying to keep herself together. Anything strong, not just bad feelings, could cause her powers to go out of control, and this was a very strong feeling. It was like her insides had been replaced with warm soup, and it was a warm summer's day. She focused on her breathing. In and out, in and out. Slowly. Deeply. In and out. In and out.

Reigen watched her. At first he thought she was crying, but no, she was just breathing. She was breathing just the way he taught her. She must have been close to a meltdown but the room was still calm. Her eyes were open, but it didn't look like she could actually see anything. She finally closed them, and went slack, like a rag doll. He got up and tentatively walked over to her. He reached out to touch her and felt something like static electricity near her. She opened her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Master, I almost lost control." Said Mob, her voice a little more animated. Her eyes were dynamic now, too, and she looked at him but with a happy medium of eye contact. Usually it was either none at all or far too much.

"I'm sorry I pissed you off that badly." Said Reigen, not quite meaning it. He had seen her pissed off, he had seen her panicked, but that was neither. She had actually looked pretty happy there. Mob shook her head.

"No, I was happy, but then I focused on my breathing like you said and now I'm alright." Said Mob. It had worked. She just had to breathe and all of her feelings just faded back into the storm of her mind. She hadn't become overwhelmed at all. Master Reigen really was amazing.

"Hey, you are learning something from me. What am I saying? Well of course you are. You're the student of the greatest living psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. Reigen Arataka!" he said in that way that made her look up at him like he was her everything. It was nice, nobody had ever looked at him like that.

"You've taught me so much, Master. Thank you." Said Mob. She stood up, walked over, and wrapped her arms around Reigen. She was only about waist high so he could just pat her back and rub her head. Her hair was really soft, like a cat's.

"How about I teach you something else?" asked Reigen. Mob let go and looked up at him.

"Anything, Master." Said Mob

"Great! Now come over here and I'll show you how to banish a spirit digitally from a photograph!" said Reigen. Mob smiled and followed him over to his desk, leaning a bit more closely than was completely necessary.

Mob got home late again that night. She said hello to her parents and went up to her room only stopping briefly to say hello to Ritsu.

"Shigeko, we missed you at dinner again." Said Ritsu

"I texted mom and she said that it would be fine if I had dinner with Master Reigen again." Said Mob

"You've been having dinner with him almost every night this week." Said Ritsu

"Do you want to come too? I'm sure Master Reigen would let you come with us." Said Mob

"No, I'm fine. I want you to come home, Shigeko." Said Ritsu. Mob stared at him.

"I am home." Said Mob because, yes, she so obviously was home. She didn't know why Ritsu was making that face. Well she knew that he was upset, hence the upset face, but she didn't know why he was upset.

"No, I mean more often." Said Ritsu taking her by the shoulders

"Ritsu….what's wrong?" asked Mob. Something was bothering her little brother and she'd find out what. He had enough to deal with in his life. Being good at everything was also a burden, Mob thought, because it also meant that he had a lot on his plate.

"You're never home anymore, Shigeko, and don't tell me that you're home right now. You know what I mean." Said Ritsu

"Oh, you meant that I'm away a lot. So are you, Ritsu." Said Mob, flat as ever. She didn't understand why Ritsu was upset but hopefully she could understand so that she could fix whatever was bothering him

"That's different." Said Ritsu defensively. She was out all night with a guy twice her age. Ritsu knew how guys were and could be and he wouldn't let anyone, let alone that fake, take advantage of his big sister.

"No, it's not. I have a job and even friends, now. You have student council, which is like a job, and friends." Said Mob. Ritsu must have missed her a lot, she'd have to make more time with her little brother, like a big sister should.

"My friends don't take advantage of me." Said Ritsu

"Neither do mine." Said Mob

"That Reigen guy isn't….he's not doing anything?" asked Ritsu, not wanting to hear the answer. If he was Ritsu would go down to that office and beat him so badly that he would never, ever, think of coming near his sister again.

"He teaches me things. He taught me to control my powers, a little, so I don't get upset and pass out…like what happened that day. You remember, right, Ritsu?" asked Mob quietly

"I-I remember…but you aren't like that anymore." Said Ritsu

"Yes, because Master Reigen is teaching me how to control my powers. Today I almost let my feelings get out of control, but I calmed down." Said Mob

"He taught you that?" asked Ritsu skeptically

"Yes, he taught me how to focus on my breathing." Said Mob

"Hey, uh, you'd tell me if he did anything to you, right?" asked Ritsu quietly. Mob was confused.

"Do you mean like if he was mean to me?" asked Mob

"If he ever tries to make you do anything bad." Said Ritsu

"Master Reigen would never do anything bad to me, but if he did I would tell you." Said Mob. Ritsu looked relieved.

"Will you come home sooner then?" asked Ritsu

"I…I don't really want to. You said it yourself, mom and dad are happier without me around. I want them to be happy." Said Mob

"They love you." Said Ritsu. They had to. Parents had to love their kids, it was their job as parents.

"Yes, but they aren't happy when I'm around." Said Mob

"I'm happy when you're around." Said Ritsu

"I know, but you're happier when mom and dad are happy and nice." Said Mob. She wanted Ritsu and her mom and dad to be happy, and if they were happier when she wasn't around then that was fine. She was honestly happier having dinner with Master Reigen. Sure he talked with his mouth full all the time and got food all over the place like a toddler but he wanted her to be there. He never told her that there was something wrong with her, even when she accidentally bent spoons or got food on herself. He started walking her home too, which was nice, because he wanted her around. The atmosphere was nicer with him than with her family, except for Ritsu.

"Is there anything I can say that'll make you come home for dinner?" asked Ritsu

"No, not really." Said Mob simply

"And if I tell mom and dad to make you come home you'll be mad at me?" asked Ritsu

"Yes, a little mad." Said Mob. The thought of not being able to spend time with Master Reigen made her insides twist painfully.

"Fine…but if he hurts you I'll-I'll-" said Ritsu

"Master Reigen would never do anything to hurt me." Said Mob. She turned and went to her room. Why did Ritsu think that Master Reigen was a bad person?

She had barely closed the door to her room when she was greeted by a familiar sight.

"Dimple? You came back." Said Mob. Dimple was in her room, wow, she thought that he had been gone forever.

"Yeah, eating weaker spirits was getting boring and then I thought to myself, 'hey, what's the kid up to' and then before I knew it I saw your aura lighting up the sky like the sun on an all caffeine diet. So then I thought, eh I think I'll pay her a visit since she seems to have a lot of extra energy to spare." Said Dimple

"I'm glad you're back." Said Mob after a moment

"Glad enough to, say, let me take over your body for a little bit?" asked Dimple hopefully

"No, I'm not that happy to see you, now I'm going to put on pajamas so don't be weird." Said Mob

"Weird? When am I ever weird?" asked Dimple

"Most of the time. You're weird but I like you, you give good advice." Said Mob as she got into her pajamas, the pink ones with the kittens on the front. Most of her things were pink, actually, because her mom thought she liked that color. She didn't really care one way or another.

"So it worked out with that Reigen guy?" asked Dimple

"Yes." Said Mob

"It went REALLY well?" asked Dimple waving his eyebrows, or the spirit equivalent.

"It went really well. We've gotten dinner every night since I decided to be more forward and he's texting me all the time, not just about work stuff too." Said Mob

"That's all?" asked Dimple

"He rubbed my back too." Said Mob simply. She wouldn't talk to a person about this, she'd be a beet red stuttering mess, but she would talk to a spirit about it because sprits weren't like people, and Dimple wasn't like any person or spirit that she had ever known.

"You call that being forward?" asked Dimple. Mob nodded.

"I'm not going to just walk up and kiss him like you said." Said Mob

"Why not? Wasn't I right before?" asked Dimple

"You were right before but I don't want to kiss Master Reigen like that." Said Mob

"Your aura says otherwise." Said Dimple

"If I did that and Master Reigen didn't want me to he'd be mad at me, he might even tell me to go away and never come back." Said Mob

"Or, and just think about it, he'll pick you up and ravish you." Said Dimple. Ugh, this kid needed his help. She had the power to get whatever she wanted, even that old idiot, but she just wasn't going for it. She was so lucky to have him, she could show her how great life really could be and she'd be so grateful she'd let him take over her body and they could both ascend to godhood.

"R-Ravish….?" Said Mob, feeling weak. She sat down on her futon and pulled the blanket up over her head. She wasn't dumb, she knew what that meant, or at least she had a good idea of what entailed acquired from school, anime, and manga.

"Or you two could just walk hand in hand into the sunset while romantic music plays in the background. That's probably more your speed." Said Dimple mockingly

"That sounds much better, Dimple, how do I make that happen, besides letting you take over my body?" Asked Mob pulling the blanket off her head. She sat up and began to let her braids down.

"Well, first you'll have to look less like a middle schooler, or not, hell, maybe he's into it." Said Dimple, who strongly suspected that this Reigen guy was. He'd have to be a blind idiot not to

"But I am in middle school." Said Mob

"Well, is he into middle school girls?" asked Dimple

"I don't know, but probably not." Said Mob. She had never known Master Reigen to have a girlfriend, but the women he took into the massage/exorcism/mediation/yoga/nap room had all been his age. Plus she thought that the stuff Dimple was talking about might have been illegal because of how old she was. Actually, that was the sort of thing that she needed to look into.

"Well find out what he's into and then do that." Said Dimple like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If I become a better person Master Reigen will love me?" asked Mob

"Yeah, I guess, but think about what he likes." Said Dimple

"And you're sure this will work?" asked Mob

"If you can't trust me then who can you trust?" asked Dimple. Mob shrugged.

"Probably everyone who's not an evil spirit." Said Mob. Dimple stuck out his tongue.

"Aww don't be that way, you know you love me." Said Dimple. Mob shrugged.

"You're alright, just alright." Said Mob before putting out the lights. She was tired and needed to get up for school in the morning.

As she slept Seasoning City's various middle school delinquent gangs were abuzz. Rumors flew about someone who was either a boy pretending to be a girl or a girl pretending to be a boy, or possibly a magical girl who turned into a boy when she wore a boy's uniform because she was under a curse placed upon her at the capture of her master and she wandered the Earth exorcising spirit after spirit until she had gotten rid of enough to free him from the horrors of the underworld….or something like that after a while it became sort of muddled.

This person, if this person existed, was a person of interest. In the span of one day he/she had not only infiltrated Salt middle school but also made a move against the Shadow Leader of Black Vinegar middle school and exorcised a spirit… supposedly. If this person existed they were a threat to every shadow leader in the city, and therefore they needed to be discovered.

Surprisingly enough the shadow leader of Black Vinegar middle school, Hanazawa Teruki, wasn't calling for blood. He had almost been dethroned, and yet he was unusually subdued. Rumors circulated that he had fought and lost against this mysterious person who may or may not have been a girl. That was crazy, what girl would take on Teru? Girl delinquent gangs fought other girl delinquent gangs, otherwise the world would be thrown into chaos because boys did not fight girls. There was no way to win at that fight. Either you got beat up by a girl or you were the loser who went around beating up girls.

Teru may have been quiet on the subject but internally he had been ruminating. A girl, he had fought a girl…and she was strong. Stronger than him. He couldn't fight her so maybe…maybe they could rule together? He hadn't ever thought of sharing his power before but he had never met anyone who could be his equal. It was good that she was girl, then she could rule by his side. If it had been a boy then he would have needed to be eliminated. A girl though…yes, Teru could share his power with a girl. He was the main character of this world, but every good main character needed a love interest.

He knew her name, thankfully she had introduced herself properly to some of his lackeys, he just needed something else. He searched Kageyama Shigeko and found nothing. Maybe it wasn't even her real name. He'd find her though. A plan was in the works to draw out this mysterious person. A student from Black Vinegar was seen at Salt middle school and that same student then told a pair of idiots who had the nerve to exorcise his spirit that she was in disguise. Therefore the place to start was looking was Salt Middle School.

Unbeknownst even to Teru a plan was being put into place. A plan by idiots, for idiots. Of course the subject of this plan, Mob, had no idea what was brewing.

Mob sat in class completely ignorant of the turning tides. For someone called Mob she had been attracting a lot of attention lately, and not just from delinquents. No, a classmate of hers, Mezato, had been staring at her all day.

"Hey, Mob, you piss anyone off lately?" asked Dimple as Mob tried and failed to understand the math problem in front of her.

"Don't distract me, Dimple, this is hard enough." Said Mob. It really was, she hadn't even looked at the texts she had gotten it was so hard.

"I'm just saying, that girl behind you, with the brown hair, she's been staring at you all day. She looks familiar, but I can't quite place her face…" said Dimple. Mob turned her head and made eye contact with Mezato. She smiled. Mob was stone faced.

"That's Mezato, you tried to brainwash her." Said Mob quietly. Were you still supposed to carry ones? Even if they were attached to letters?

"Oh yeah, reporter girl. You piss her off lately?" asked Dimple. Mob shrugged.

"Well, I did ruin your smile group, but I don't think she wanted to be there in the first place." Said Mob. Why didn't they get calculators for this? Master Reigen always said that any math worth doing was worth doing on a calculator….then he started crying on her math homework.

"Maybe she thinks you're cute." Said Dimple suggestively. It was lost on Mob.

"Everyone thinks I'm cute." Said Mob. It was true. Everyone was always calling her cutie or adorable, if they noticed her, like she was a doll or something. Dimple rolled his eyes.

Honestly, this girl would be completely and totally lost without him. If anyone asked Mob she would feel otherwise. He watched her struggle with math. Shigeko was incomprehensible sometimes. If Dimple was in her body he wouldn't waste their time with math, or school at all, unless it was to gain followers. He could feel the energy coming off of her right now, and she was doing nothing with it. Well, he could at least make her life better, then she'd join with him willingly.

Mob could feel Mezato staring at her. Had she done something wrong? A lot of the time she had done something wrong without even realizing it. Mob cursed her inability to read the atmosphere. Mob was so worried that she hadn't heard a word of the math lesson, but that much was normal for her.

"Hey, Kageyama, wait up." Said Mezato

"Oh, hello, Mezato." Said Mob as nicely as she could. On the outside she was the picture of calm, detached even, but on the inside she was worried. When she was younger the other girls would often do that thing were they were nice and mean at the same time. It made her head spin.

"Kageyama, can I talk to you for a minute?" asked Mezato

"Sure, but only for a minute, I have to eat lunch." Said Mob

"Can I eat lunch with you?" asked Mezato. Mob nodded. People didn't usually eat lunch with her, just around her. Maybe her becoming more popular plan was working. They walked in silence, well silence broken only by Mezato's pen scratching in her note book. She had been keeping detailed notes on Mob, and yet still knew almost nothing.

"What were you writing?" asked Mob after they had gotten their food and sat down.

"Notes about you." Said Mezato. Mob looked up, alarmed.

"See, I told you this girl was into you!" said Dimple. Mob took a deep breath. Maybe her plan to become more popular was working too well. She didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea.

"W-Why?" asked Mob

"This." Said Mezato pulling a flyer from her bag. It was a picture of someone with a black helmet. 'Psycho head religion looking for leader' it said.

"Huh, looks just like you, don't you think?" asked Mezato. Mob shook her head.

"No, not really." Said Mob taking a bite of her food.

"So that's what my followers are up to. They're so predictable." Said Dimple

"I saw you do amazing things the other day and I want to how. The world needs to know." Said Mezato

"Oh. That's it." Said Mob

"That's it? I saw you, you saved everyone. You saved me!" said Mezato. Mob stared at her.

"I had to save you, I would have been a bad person otherwise. Exorcising evil spirits is my job because I can." Said Mob simply. That was the gist of it, but Master Reigen had said it better.

"You do this a lot?" asked Mezato, taking furious notes. Mob nodded.

"It's my job. Every day after school my Master and I exorcise spirits. Well, not every day. Sometimes we just removes curses and I do my homework." Said Mob simply

"Tell me everything." Said Mezato meeting Mob eyes with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns.

"That's all." Said Mob

"That can't be all!" said Mezato

"We get dinner after work too." Said Mob

"No, I mean like, what made you want to do this? How do you exorcise spirits? What exactly are your powers?" asked Mezato quickly

"Um…I do this because it's the good thing to do, I guess. I exorcise spirits by kind of just thinking about it and sending energy at them. I have telekinesis and I can see and exorcise spirits." Said Mob

"Uh huh. Uh huh. This is great." Said Mezato writing so fast that her pen could barely keep up.

"That's all." Said Mob quietly. She didn't really like talking about her powers. Her powers were just another part of her, that was all, and they didn't make her any better or worse than anyone else. She didn't hate them, but sometimes she thought that life would be easier without them, but not better, because then she wouldn't have Master Reigen.

"Wait, do you have telepathy too? You're in the telepathy club." Said Mezato not even looking up for her writing.

"No, I just joined so that they wouldn't lose their club room. They have to share with the body improvement club, though, but Tome doesn't mind. She's the president. She's not telepathic either but she wants to find aliens. I haven't seen any aliens either." Said Mob hoping that she wasn't talking too much. She didn't say enough words, Master Reigen said so, but she also sometimes said too many words. How many words was enough? What was the magic number? Or was it conditional?

"Wait…aliens are real too?" asked Mezato. Mob shrugged.

"I don't know, I haven't seen any but a lot of people haven't seen spirits either and they're real." Said Mob

"When did you get your powers?" asked Mezato

"I was born with them. My mom says that when I was born all the lights in the hospital went off and she floated right off the bed." Said Mob quietly. Mezato was looking at her again, but not in that same angry way that her mom got when she told that story.

"No offense but have you considered becoming a magical girl?" asked Mezato seriously. Mob jumped up. She had liked magical girls when she was younger, she had even dressed up like Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury when she was little. Those were her favorite Sailor Scouts. She outgrew that when she accidentally lost control and hurt Ritsu. Psychic powers weren't for fun.

"No. Psychic powers aren't for fun." Said Mob seriously

"Well you're already saving people. All you need is a cool outfit and a funny sidekick." Said Mezato.

"Hey, sidekick! I like the sound of that!" said Dimple. Mob shook her head.

"No, I'm not a magical girl. I'm just a regular person. Having psychic powers doesn't make me any better or worse than anyone else, and I can't get wrapped up in my powers. Humility is important. That's what my master, Master Reigen, says." Said Mob in her usual monotone. To Mezato, however, she sounded like a sage monk delivering wisdom from on high. Yes, she would be perfect to lead the Psycho Helmet religion.

"You would be absolutely perfect. These people need a leader, you could be that leader." Said Mezato

"No thank you." Said Mob. Dimple was screaming in her ear. Mob didn't want to be anyone's leader, she just wanted to be a regular person.

"What-? But-but-why?" asked Mezato looking like the entire world had suddenly stopped making any and all sense.

"I don't want to be a leader. I'm just a regular person." Said Mob

"With phenomenal psychic powers." Said Mezato

"Psychic powers are just another talent, like being book smart or strong or good at talking." Said Mob

"But you could be so popular!" said Mezato

"No thanks. I'd rather become popular by being a better person." Said Mob finishing her lunch.

"You're wise. You're weird, but you're wise. Thank you for the interview." Said Mezato getting up, bowing, and skipping off to print off what would definitely be the best thing she had ever reported on. This might even be good enough to get her a job on a real paper.

"Uh…..you're welcome…?" said Mob. She shrugged and then took her dirty plates away. Finally someone took an interest in her and it was just because of her powers. Huh. Well then. She couldn't let her powers become a crutch, like Master Reigen said, she was more than them.

She's right, you know." Said Dimple

"I know, I just don't care." Said Mob quietly. She learned early on not to talk loudly to the spirits, other people would think she was crazy, like when she was little.

_"Honestly, Shigeko, think of Ritsu. How would he feel if everyone was making fun of him for having a crazy sister? That's what people say, you know, that you're crazy. That's all I hear, day in and day out." _

"You're strange, Shigeko, but I think I'll keep you around." Said Dimple

"I think I'll keep you around too, Dimple." Said Mob softly. Sure he was haunting her, but he was alright. Just alright.

Mob went about the rest of her day with Dimple on her shoulder, telling her all about the wonders of world domination. People were strange sometimes. Why would anyone want to rule the world? Seemed kind of bossy to Mob.

Dimple was in the middle of telling her what all of her followers would do for her when she opened her shoe box to find a note. She read it and felt her blood turn cold.

"Abhor? Someone abhors me? Why? Did I offend someone?" asked Mob. Dimple read the note over her shoulder.

"To Kageyama of the body improvement club 3 I'm a really hot guy, but Kageyama, I, huh I guess it's supposed to say adore, you! I'll be waiting for you at Ankle Park. 3 Please come!" said Dimple as he read skeptically.

"Adore!" gasped Mob

"Don't fall for it, Shigeko." Said Dimple

"Why not, it's just a love letter." Said Mob sweating more than she ever had before. Someone wanted to confess to her? That was certainly unexpected…and not entirely wanted. The thought of someone feeling like that about her…exhilarating….but she still loved Master Reigen. She wasn't just going to give up on him for some mystery boy.

"Ok, first of all who the hell writes 'I'm a hot guy'? If a guy's hot he doesn't need to be confessing to girls, and he certainly wouldn't sign his name like that. Secondly you introduce yourself as Mob to everyone you meet, so he wouldn't call you by your last name. Even your club friends call you Mob. Thirdly, this guy writes like a kid holding a crayon so he's not worth your time. Finally, I thought you were trying to get that Reigen guy, remember him? Light hair, talks with his mouth full, rubs your back whenever you like?" Said Dimple. He even manifested fingers to go over all the points.

"But if it's someone genuine I should at least let him down nicely." Said Mob

"Seriously? Shigeko, you're too nice sometimes. I guess if it is a cruel prank you can still mess 'em up with your powers." Said Dimple. Mob shook his head.

"Fighting is only alright if someone is trying to fight with you first." Said Mob as she put on her gym shoes.

"So you're going to the park?" asked Dimple. Mob nodded.

"Yes. It's it just a joke then I'll go home. If it's not I'll tell him I don't like him." said Mob. It made perfect sense, to her at least. Either it was real or it wasn't. Either was she still loved Master Reigen and even if he didn't love her back she still didn't want anyone else.

"You're incomprehensible, but alright." Said Dimple

"You're annoying, but alright." Said Mob

Mob missed the first day of squats so she had to work double time, and she did. She didn't think too much about the love letter. Either way it didn't matter. What Mob didn't know is that she was being watched carefully by idiots, many different idiots.

"C'mon, go already." Said Onigawara as he watched the body improvement club do squats for the past fifteen minutes. The girl was still there, Kageyama. What was she still doing there? Didn't girls always go running to the guy when he sent a love letter? He had read enough Shoujo manga to know a thing or two about women. Purely for research purposes of course.

"Alright, independent exercise time!" said the club president. The club began their chant of 'fight on! Fight on!' and went back to the building. All except for one, the girl. She looked like she was talking to someone, huh, maybe she was crazy. Thankfully she ran off in the direction of Ankle Park. Yes! His plan was working perfectly.

"Shigeko, are you sure about this?" asked Dimple as Mob jogged along

"Yes….I…..am….." puffed Mob as she jogged along. Ankle Park wasn't that far away, though she hadn't been there since her fight with that other boy….this would give her a chance to apologize. Master Reigen said that it was ok to fight if someone was trying to fight with her first, but she didn't like fighting anyway.

"Fine, but if this is just some prank don't come crying to me." Said Dimple

"Don't….worry….I….won't." gasped Mob. Her lungs could talk, or they could keep her alive, but they couldn't do both.

"Really, don't cry to me at all. I warned you, Shigeko, but you rejected my wisdom." Said Dimple

"I…heard…you…Dimple." Said Mob as she came upon the park. It looked alright, not wrecked like she remembered it. She did a better job of putting it together than she had thought. She looked around but didn't feel the auras of any other espers. That was sad. She wanted to apologize and be friends with that boy. He was the only other esper she had met, besides Master Reigen. Master Reigen didn't even count, only having spiritual powers and all.

"See, nobody's here." Said Dimple. Mob shrugged.

"At least I came." Said Mob. She came, nobody was here, but she got some jogging in. It wasn't a loss at all.

"Yeah, I can't believe you seriously came." Said Dimple

"Well if someone was here I'd feel bad if I just left them waiting." Said Mob

"Still, you came here all alone. You didn't even tell the muscle guys where you were going." Said Dimple

"We're supposed to train on our own right now, jogging is training, and it's good for your heart." Said Mob

"Bad for your lungs though, I thought you were going to pass out back there." Said Dimple

"You were hoping that I'd pass out so you could take over my body." Said Mob

"Well, yeah, but I guess I'd be kind of bummed if something were to happen to it." Said Dimple

"You're alright, I guess." Said Mob

"And you're an idiot." Said Dimple

Mob waited for a few more minutes, stretching as she waited so that she didn't waste valuable training time.

"One, two, and three….one, two and three…." Muttered Mob as she stretched. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn't notice the group of boys from Black Vinegar middle school creeping up on her.

"Oh crap, it's a girl." Said a voice behind her. Mob turned around.

"Hi." Said Mob quietly

"Do you go to Salt?" asked a boy. Mob nodded.

"Uh…I think we're supposed to kidnap you." Said the boy nervously

"Yeah, we have this rope….." Said the boy next to him holding a length of rope, though he looked like he would rather not have been holding it.

"The thing is we didn't know you'd be a girl…." Said the first boy

"Are we going to prison?" asked someone from the back of the crowd.

"You all go to Black Vinegar?" asked Mob quietly

"Uh, yeah." Said the boy

"Do you know a blond boy who can do stuff like this?" asked Mob as she levitated the rope and tied it into a butterfly before untying it.

"Yeah, that's Teru." Said the boy

"Can you take me to him?" asked Mob

"Uh, yeah, he might still be at school. We'll take you there…uh….but we won't tie you up. That would be…uh….weird." said the boy.

"I've been there before, I know the way, thank you though. I'm Kageyama Shigeko but everyone calls me Mob." Said Mob with a bow

"See! I told you she was real!" came a voice from the back of the crowd. Mob waved.

"Hi Subraru and Ito." Said Mob with a wave. The crowd then lost their collective minds. One the way to Black Vinegar Mob had to field questions such as "Are you a boy or a girl?" Girl. "Have you always been a magical girl?" Not a magical girl at all. "How long have you been an exorcist for?" Three years, but still just an apprentice. "Wow, an apprentice! What's your Master like?" A good person. "Do you have a boyfriend?" No. "Can you fly?" It causes motion sickness. And so on and so forth.

"See, boys eating out of the palm of your hand." Said Dimple. Mob shushed him.

"The magical girl says to shut up!" called a boy. Mob shook her head.

"No, not you. There's a spirit hanging around me and he talks too much." Said Mob.

"That's so cool!" said most of the crowd. Some people eyed her wearily. They didn't want another Teru. One was more than enough. He had powers too but he was a real jerk. She seemed nice. Her eyes were weird though, what was she staring at?

"Told you, you use your powers a little and you'll be super popular." Said Dimple. Mob shrugged. She wanted real popularity, not people hanging around her because she had powers.

They eventually reached Black Vinegar, the rope having disappeared as they made their way there, because nobody wanted to give anyone the wrong idea, and Mob sat in a chair waiting for Teru to show up. She would say sorry, then tell him not to fight with her again, and then they could be friends.

What Mob didn't know was that news of her 'kidnapping' had reached the body improvement club, who rushed over as soon as the note was discovered.

"Hey, there's some guys from Salt here, and they're huge!" all the boys rushed outside, fighting taking president over hanging out with a real live magical exorcist girl. They most definitely had their priorities in order.

"Hey, Shigeko, you're just gonna hang out in here?" asked Dimple. Mob shrugged.

"I don't like fighting." Said Mob

"They might need your help." Said Dimple. Mob shrugged.

"I'm only supposed to fight if someone is trying to fight me." Said Mob

"So what are you doing here, then?" asked Dimple

"I'm waiting for Teru, he's a boy I met." Said Mob

"Oh, forgetting about that Reigen guy already?" asked Dimple

"No, I'm not in love with Teru, I just want to meet him and apologize." Said Mob

"For what?" asked Dimple

"We got into a fight and I hit him." said Mob

"First? That's not like you at all, kid." Said Dimple

"No, he hit me first, but I hit him too, and it's wrong to use my powers against people." Said Mob

"But he fought you first." Said Dimple

"I know. Master Reigen says that powers are like knives. You're only allowed to point them at people who start fights with you." Said Mob

"What are you, a pacifist?" asked Dimple

"I don't know, what's that?" asked Mob.

"Someone who doesn't ever fight." Said Dimple

"Ok, I guess that's what I am then." Said Mob. She heard screaming and crashing.

"Kageyama! You alright?" said a loud voice from outside. Mob got up from her chair and went outside. Oh, it was going to rain. She didn't have an umbrella. She walked out of the school and waved. Oh. There were hurt boys everywhere.

"I'm here, I'm alright. I'm sorry, I had something to do. I wasn't slacking." Said Mob coming out of the school looking apologetic.

"Nah, we're just glad that you're alright." Said President Musashi

"Oh yes, I'm fine. I was never in any danger, they were actually pretty nice…aside from the fighting." Said Mob

"Well now that you're back let's go back to school and do some more squats!" said President Mushashi

"No thank you. I have to wait for someone, and you guys should get going. He likes to fight." Said Mob

"What, like these idiots?" asked Musashi. Mob shrugged.

"I guess. I'm sorry you guys came all this way." Said Mob

"No, it was good cardio. We'll see you back at the club room." Said Musashi. The club ran off with a chant of 'Fight on! Fight on!' before they were knocked over like bowling pins. Mob felt the aura before she saw him, but soon he was right in front of her. She put up her barrier.

"You shouldn't use your powers against other people." Said Mob

"You…you again…" said Teru. He was trying to keep it together. In his head he had planned to get down on one knee and ask her to rule with him, if he ever saw her again. He'd smile, hold her hand, maybe even kiss her, and she'd be putty in his hands. Seeing her was different. She was there, staring that same bored stare. His lackeys laid out before him. So she was trying to dethrone him.

No, he needed to keep it together. He couldn't fight a girl. He was too old to be fighting with girls.

"I said…stop." Said Mob, still calm, still detached, but she made a second barrier to hold him.

"Huh, there's kid espers besides you out there, Shigeko." Said Dimple as he floated by her side. This kid looked like he'd be more fun…actually no, he looked pretty head strong. Too hard to control.

"How are you doing this? How can you put a barrier around yourself and me at the same time? Are you a natural?" Said Teru. He tried to calm down. He was going to end up fighting with her again.

"I was born with my powers, if that's what you mean. Were you born with yours?" asked Mob. Concentrating on two barrier was making her tired. Not because it drew power, but because it was harder to keep her feelings down when she was using her powers like this. She wasn't used to this, and her feelings threatened to boil over.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 40%_

"What's the creepy ball floating next to you? Are you it's Master?" asked Teru. It looked like a spirit, it felt like a spirit, but it was just floating there, not doing anything. He had tried capturing a spirit but it was uncontrollable…..then this girl came and exorcised it.

"I'm a friend." Said Dimple

"He's haunting me." Said Mob simply. The other boy still wanted to fight. She wasn't going to fight with him. Fighting was stupid.

"There's so much I want to ask you….like why you keep trying to dethrone me!" said Teru angrily

"I'm not trying to do anything like that, I want to apologize." Said Mob. Teru struggled against her barrier, she strengthened it. She was getting tired, doing all of this and stuffing her feelings down too. It was a lot.

"See, yes you are. You want to apologize for that." Said Teru. Her barrier was starting to fade. Good.

"No, I want to apologize for fighting with you when we first met. My Master said that it wasn't my fault, and that the biggest losers around are the ones who go around hitting girls, but I still feel bad. So I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Said Mob with a bow

"Stop apologizing!" said Teru, his anger giving him the strength to destroy the barrier around him.

"Hey, stop trying to fight with me!" said Mob

"Don't call me a loser! I am not a loser! I'm the protagonist of this story!" said Teru sending a burst of energy her way. Mob wasn't expecting that and her barrier fell, she flew back and rolled on the ground for a few meters.

"Hey, Shigeko, we need to get out of here. This kid is serious, he's going to fight you." Said Dimple

"I know but I'm not going to fight him. He's the only other person like me I've ever met, I want us to be friends." Said Mob

"Shigeko, you're a moron. This is the first time he's ever met anyone like himself too, probably, and he's decided to make an enemy out of you. He needs to establish himself as superior or any self-worth he had will wither away." Said Dimple

"That's dumb. Master Reigen says that self-worth comes from what you do and who you become. Powers shouldn't have anything to do with that." Said Mob. The boy, Teru, was using his telekinesis to make himself move around super-fast now. Mob hoped he tired himself out soon.

"Why don't you just start a religion around Reigen, since you take everything he says as gospel?" Said Dimple

"He wouldn't like that." Said Mob

"Hey, why don't you ever do that? It looks cool, like wire movements." Said Dimple

"I get motion sick." Said Mob. Dimple rolled his eyes.

"Psychic powers are wasted on you, Shigeko." Said Dimple

"I know, Dimple." Said Mob. She was getting motion sick just watching Teru, but hopefully he ran his energy out. Master Reigen said that some people needed to do that; that was why he took so many walks even though Mob knew he was going outside to smoke.

"Dammit!" shouted Teru. He used telekinesis to blow his enemies away. It worked on normal people but she was just looking at him like he was being weird. He geared up to attack her, too angry to think.

"Uh, Shigeko? I think that it might be time to show this guy who's boss? He looks like he's going to attack again." Said Dimple

"No, I'll just put up a barrier. I won't use my powers to fight." Said Mob

"Reigen said that you could." Said Dimple

"Yes, I know, but I don't want to. Like you said, I'm a pacifist." Said Mob

"Don't be an idiot, Shigeko! You're going to get your ass kicked! You don't get to take the moral high ground when someone's attacking you! You're always wasting your powers. Look how today went! Do you think you're appealing without them?!" said Dimple. She was going to get seriously hurt if she didn't start fighting back, and he needed her body in good shape if he was going to take it over later. Plus, who would he hang around if she got killed? She might pass on immediately after she died and then he wouldn't even get a chance to absorb her.

"I'm not using my powers in a fight, and I'm not wasting my time fighting. Fighting isn't living my life to the fullest, and it won't make me more fulfilled. Also, I'm not going to live a life based on having psychic powers. They're a part of me, but I can't let them be my defining characteristic. I'm going to change myself, and I'm going to be a better person." Said Mob

"You say that but-" said Dimple. One minute she was talking to Dimple, the next she was flying through the air.

"A life without psychic powers?! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" shouted Teru as he body slammed her. He had expected her to put up a barrier. He didn't think she'd fly so far. The rational part of Teru was telling him to stop while the angry part, the part that allowed him to access his full potential, egged him on. Who was she to call him a loser like that?

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 50%_

"There's no reason to live your life like an average person! Studying!? Working out?! All are useless when faced with psychic powers!" said Teru. He tried to catch her, sort of, but ended up pushing her around instead.

"Brain? Brawn? All are powerless before our gifts!" yelled Teru. He dragged her against the ground, and she just rolled like a rag doll. She was insulting him. She wasn't even putting up a barrier. The part of him with sense pleaded with him to stop, because this wasn't even a fight this time, he was just tossing a girl around. The angry part of him told him to keep going to get some sort of a reaction out of her because she couldn't just call him a loser, she couldn't just stare at him like that with her impassive eyes.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm special and the world revolves around me!" yelled Teru

"The world revolves around the sun." said Mob, not to be mean but because it was the truth. The world couldn't revolve around a human being, it was too big. She was dizzy. Everything hurt. She was going to throw up.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 70%_

"Jeez, I guess there's no choice." Said Dimple as he floated over to Teru. He could see Shigeko's aura, and it was flaring like crazy. He didn't know exactly how much power she had but he knew it was enough for her to accidentally kill someone. The kid didn't need that kind of guilt, especially if she was serious about this whole pacifist thing.

"Hey, little boy? How about we just call this one a draw." Said Dimple diplomatically. He was doing the kid a favor, really. He may have been a little prick but he didn't deserve to face whatever it was the lurked inside of Shigeko. Dimple could see glimpses of it poking out, and it was terrifying.

"Not happening. Ending up in a draw with someone like her would be the biggest disgrace of my life." Said Teru. She was laying on the ground, still staring. Still with the damned staring. What the hell was she staring at!

"Yeah, well, listen here kid. I can't have you breaking Shigeko, trust me you don't want to go down the road you're going. She's not going to fight back, no matter what you do, but she will lose it. You can't really call that winning, if your opponent isn't going to fight back." Said Dimple

"I'll win! I won't let her win!" shouted Teru. Dimple sighed.

"Well you leave me no choice." Said Dimple as he began to get back to his true form. He had been absorbing weaker spirits and leeching energy for a while, and it was just enough to get big again.

"Dimple….." said Mob. She tried to sit up, her vision was blurry. She managed to stand and threw up on the ground in front of herself. She reached forward. No, she didn't want Dimple to fight either. He was….he was alright. He was her friend and he was alright.

"I'm still pretty much just scraps left over but I shouldn't have any problems disciplining a cocky little brat like you!" said Dimple reforming completely.

"No…don't…." said Mob staggering. Her legs hurt, what was all that blood? Why was she all bloody? Standing was hard.

"Shigeko is a girl who could become a God if she chose to and yet she-" Dimple was cut down. Exorcised. Vanished. Gone. Dead. Double Dead. Mob couldn't hear. There was some buzzing. She couldn't see. She couldn't smell. She couldn't taste. She couldn't feel.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 99.9%_

She needed to keep it together. She needed to keep it together. She needed to keep it together.

"There. You exorcised my spirit, so I exorcised yours." Said Teru smugly. There. Now she was reacting. He was worth the reaction.

"That was my friend." Said Mob. There was a white light around her, and a whirling wind. Her voice was distorted.

Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together.

"What? A spirit for a friend?" mocked Teru

"He was my friend. He was weird. He was annoying. But he gave good advice. He was fun to talk to. He was a better person than you." Said Mob, her aura turning the gloom into a warm summer's day.

KEEP IT TOGETHER. KEEP IT TOGETHER. KEEP IT TOGETHER. BREATHE. BREATHE. BREATHE.

"I don't know why you're getting so worked up. Kind of a pointless existence if you ask me, kind of like yours. I can't believe I'm even wasting my time with a third rate small fry like you." Said Teru

BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT.

"Hey, what's with the light show? What, you think that scares me?" asked Teru, laughing meanly.

"Why do you belittle others? Bringing someone else down won't make you any taller. It's just mean." Said Mob. She wanted to hurt him, but she didn't go through with it. Master Reigen wouldn't like that. Master Reigen would be upset with her. Master Reigen wouldn't love her. He wouldn't want her. He would make her go away. She didn't want to be alone.

"What-" said Teru

"Well, I just realized that Dimple was an OK guy after all. He was annoying and weird but he was a lot nicer than you are, anyway." Said Mob. She was breathing as deeply as she could. It felt like there was something inside of her trying to crawl his way out.

"What…don't you dare talk down to me!" said Teru, charging up another attack. Even through the light show she was still staring….always with that staring…..

"I'm not." Said Mob. Her eyes felt weird, she must have forgotten to blink.

"Yes you are! You-I'll teach you to submit to me with my psychic powers! I'll come at you with full strength!" said Teru

"That's dangerous, if it wasn't me you could really hurt someone." Said Mob simply. That was so, so, so dangerous. Why did he want to hurt her?! He was going to hurt someone else! Fighting was so stupid!

BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT. BREATHE IN. BREATHE OUT.

"Are you trying to say that you're more powerful than me!" yelled Teru. Mob could have hurt him so easily, she wanted to, but she couldn't. She wasn't going to hurt him no matter what he did. She went flying through the air, again, but this time her barrier was strong enough to keep her from taking any physical damage. She just flew through the air, the view was pretty, and then through a wall and through the school. She let herself lay on the ground. She needed to focus on keeping herself together, because she knew that if she lost control again she would hurt Teru. She felt just like this when she was a kid, and Ritsu got hurt.

"I told you to stop that….." said Mob, her fists clenched. He made her so mad….what was the point? All he was doing was breaking stuff…..She was so….so….so…mad.

"Show me your powers! Actually fight me!" said Teru. She couldn't just reject him like this. She couldn't just sit there and let herself be thrown around. This needed to be a fight. If she didn't fight back then it wasn't a fight, it was just him throwing her around, and that was wrong.

"No." said Mob simply, still staring straight ahead, still barely holding herself together.

"Fine…I'll see how much you can take with an endurance test!" Teru pinned her against a wall and threw as much of his power at her as he could. She still just stared straight forward, not even at him….

"Ow…." Said Mob as she was thrown the wall, then another, and another, until she finally stopped. The back of her head felt warm and wet. Her barrier had come down again. She couldn't keep up her barrier and keep herself together. But she wouldn't fight. She wouldn't…because if she did then Master Reigen would be afraid of her…and then he'd make her go away….she couldn't let that happen.

"Will you just fight back already?!" said Teru. What…what was wrong with her.

"No." said Mob. She spat out some blood. Oh. That was rude. Why was everything so blurry? Her head lolled to the side. She was sleepy…she needed to sleep.

"Why not! It's OK, I'm asking you to! Fight me!" said Teru

"No, I won't. I don't know why you hate me so much….maybe because we're the same." Said Mob through gasps

"What! We are not the same!" said Teru

"We are….but not because of powers…..because you don't…..no confidence…..but you're like….everyone else….and you're scared….but I'm….not. Mob is….Mob is like everyone else…." Said Mob, her head spinning

"I'm NOTHING like you. I use my powers to the fullest, you just sit there and take everything life throws at you. You just pretend to be normal because you have no confidence. That's why you're Mob! You just WANT to be like everyone else, Shigeko!" said Teru

"Shigeko….Shigeko is not Mob…." Said Mob, her voice becoming more distorted. She felt herself being pushed more into the wall and tried to counter the force as best as she could.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 99.999999999%_

"Heh, the home ec room…I know how I'll get you to react….." said Teru. He opened a draw and levitated some knives.

"Hey….hey….you shouldn't…..point knives…at…people…." Said Mob weakly. That was…dangerous…..someone could get hurt….

_"What don't we do with knives, Mob?"_

"We….don't point them….at people….." said Mob. Knives were flying at her. She didn't think, she just threw them back where they came from….at Teru….

"What….you did that on purpose!" shouted Teru. At first he thought that she was trying to stab him, but then he caught sight of his reflection.

"Don't point knives at people!" said Mob before everything went dark. It was just like falling asleep, only faster and not relaxing. Teru hadn't been focused on holding her up, so she just hit the floor like a rag doll.

_Mob: 100% PISSED OFF_

"How dare you! You think I look like some middle aged pencil pusher now, don't you!" yelled Teru as he threw himself to her. He picked her up and started to shake her, but she was dead weight.

"Oh….shit." said Teru, all of his anger flowing away. He…he hadn't meant to do that? Had he? He…he had just wanted her to fight him back but….was she dead?

"Hey, Kageyama….Shigeko? Are you….please don't be dead." Said Teru sitting her down against the wall. He felt her pulse at her neck. Her heart was still beating, and she was breathing…was that blood? That was…it wasn't like he didn't draw blood in his fights before…but this wasn't even a fight….this was him beating up on someone….because he lost control…..

"Well you shouldn't have tried to take everything away from me! Then we wouldn't have had to fight! If you had just submitted you could have ruled at my side! I would have asked you out!" said Teru

She still didn't move.

"Why do you keep rejecting me? Since the day I met you….you've been rejecting me. Why didn't you just fight back? What are you so afraid of?" asked Teru. He shook her again. She twitched. She opened her eyes. Then everything went white.

"Ha! I knew you couldn't stop rejecting me!" said Teru as Mob began to float, so bathed in white light that she was just a dot of black. She faced him. Teru didn't even have time to react. There was…what was that thing? Was thing even human? He didn't know, but he knew that he had uncovered something that was never, ever, meant to be touched. He was thrown against the wall. He was thrown through the wall. He was naked. He was flying into the sky. He was looking down from the stratosphere. It had all happened so fast….

"I'm sorry. I won't use my psychic powers on other people ever again." Said Teru quietly as he floated naked in the stratosphere, kind of like how it was before he was born, he imagined. It was nice, soothing. The world was very big, and he was so very small. There were so many people. They were all walking around, they were all so busy. They all kept going, even though he had stopped.

"I guess I'm just an average person, after all." Said Teru

It didn't take long for Mob to realize that she hadn't changed at all. She had caused another accident with her psychic powers. She hadn't even wanted to fight, but she had destroyed the school and sent Teru flying into the sky. She had hurt someone else, just like when she was little.

She didn't know where to direct her emotions, her powerlessness coming from the paradoxical nature of her existence. She wanted to change, but she couldn't. Was she doomed? She cried. She got down on her knees to apologize. To who she did not know. She apologized and cried. The pieces of the school she had sent into the sky came down slowly. She grabbed them and put the world back as best as she could, still crying.

_100% Sadness_

She didn't realize what she had done until it was finished. The school was put back together so well there wasn't even a single visible seem. She stood up and wiped her eyes. It was raining. Some of the blood was washed off of her body. It was mostly just scrapes and they would heal fast. She healed fast, usually. She looked around, nobody seemed to be hurt in any serious way.

"Hey, uh, Kageyama-" Teru needed to apologize to her. He had started it. Maybe this fight had humbled him, or maybe he knew to submit in the face of overwhelming power.

"Oh! Teru! I'm so, so, so sorry." Said Mob. Oh now. Not only had she beaten him but she had also stripped and shaved him. What was wrong with her? She bowed repeatedly.

"You apologize a lot. You shouldn't." said Teru. He was yelling at her or insulting her. She was actually a nice person, maybe. She fixed everything they broke and she brought him back down to Earth, in more ways than one.

"Teru, I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me." Said Mob. He didn't look mad or sad at all, those were emotions she could easily recognize on other people, no, he looked almost happy. She was reading him wrong, she was sure of it, because he had no reason to be happy at all.

"You shouldn't apologize. This was all my fault, this fight. I didn't want to fight you, not really, but I did. I'm sorry. Stop apologizing. I'm sorry." Said Teru standing naked before her, only his hand for modesty. Mob felt her cheeks color.

_"What happened?" "Where are we?" "Who won the fight?"_ The others were starting to wake up too. It didn't take long for all eyes to land on Teru.

_"Hey! It's Teru!" "He's been beaten, stripped and shaved!" "Did the magical girl do that?" "I'm not sticking around so that happens to my hair!" "Let's get out of here!"_ They all ran as a mass.

"Those guys…." Laughed Teru, but not in a mean way.

"Are you alright?" asked Mob. He didn't look hurt just naked. Really, really naked. She wasn't sure where to look, honestly.

"I'm just like you. Psychic powers aren't everything. Take those away and we're just like everyone else." Said Teru

"Do you…do you maybe want to be friends?" asked Mob quietly

"Sure, I'd like that….it would be nice" Said Teru

"Hey Kageyama, Mob. Are you alright?" Oh, right, the body improvement club. She still had to finish out club time before work.

"I'm fine, I heal fast." Said Mob

"Are you coming back with us now?" asked President Mushashi. Mob nodded.

"I think I'm done for today, I have to go to work. You guys go on without me." Said Mob. The club waved goodbye and ran away with their chants of 'Fight on! Fight on!'. Mob took a step. It still hurt, but not as badly as before.

"There's nothing I can really say. I lost. I totally lost. But I was never winning in the first place." Said Terus quietly as he walked home, naked, but richer in other ways.

Mob went back inside and just put her uniform on over her gym clothes. Dimple might not have been gone. She had tried to erase him before but he had come back. Maybe Master Reigen could help her. Oh no….Master Reigen. What would he say? She had to confess to him. She did something wrong…right? No, maybe not. He told her that it was alright to point knives at people only when they pointed knives at her. She had only pointed the knives back at Teru when he pointed them at her. Master Reigen would understand. She checked her phone. Oh. He had been texting her for a while.

_"Hey Mob, how's school?"_

_"Look at this dog :-)"_

_"I'm going to the store, you want anything?"_

_"How's your club going?"_

_"Are you coming to work soon?"_

_"Don't forget your umbrella :-)"_

Master Reigen still cared about her. Well, he didn't known what happened but he would still care about her. He cared because he wasn't a regular person, he could understand. He could and he did. And he would help her look for Dimple because he cared about her.

He cared and Mob loved him for it.

_"Club is over. I'm on my way to work now." _Said Mob. She'd tell him…she'd tell him the truth. But in person, and not just because she wanted to see him.

Reigen was the picture of calm as he grated rock salt all over a client. He focused on his work, chattering on about how spirits hated salt. This was another easy job. Just grate the salt, rub some shoulders, and then collect his yen. Maybe he'd draw this all out, just so he didn't have to be alone with his thoughts. Mob hadn't returned a single text all day. He wanted to go out and look for her but he didn't because, honestly, their relationship was weird enough.

He hoped her phone had just died. There was so much that could happen to her out there. He had seen her come through his door bruised and crying, looking just like a scared middle schooler. She could have been lost or hurt somewhere, without him to protect her.

Or maybe she was just out having fun with her friends. She had those, now. He didn't. Not that he'd ever admit it. She would still come back to him, she still needed him, and he still needed her. Not just for work. Because Reigen was occupied her didn't check his phone as it vibrated. He figured that if it was import they would just call and leave a message, or it was Mob checking in. Hopefully. Hopefully she wasn't just calling him to tell him that she was ditching him to hang out with friends or something. No. She would never do that.

Reigen kept up the chatter, anything not to hear his own mind betraying him with all these thoughts that just served to make him anxious.

Mob made it to work soaking wet. She didn't even bother putting up a barrier, she didn't really feel like using her powers after what happened. She sat at her desk and dripped on the floor. She stared straight forward, hearing the drip, drip, drip of her clothes. She could hear Master Reigen talking about how heavy spirits often settled on people's shoulders. She certainly felt like a spirit was settling on her shoulders, all her muscles really. She hoped Master Reigen would run her back again, and not just because of the warm butterflies that lived under her skin when he did that. She sat there, staring, when the door opened. A man was there.

"Hey there sweetie, is Reigen around?" asked the man. Mob nodded and pointed to the back room.

"Thanks kid." He said. Mob nodded. He shuffled. Well, he was going to try and forced Reigen into the whole séance thing again but there was a little girl here. He wasn't going to pull a knife around a little girl, that would look terrible and he'd end up spending all his dad's money on lawyers.

"So…" he said. Mob was still silent. He looked over at her. Reigen said something about having an apprentice. Was she the real deal too? She was staring straight forward with her hair covering her eyes, like a ghost.

"Well alright, you should be good now. I can't sense anymore evil spirits settling on you." Said Reigen as he walked out with another satisfied customer. He pushed his bangs up, they were plastered to his head. Yeesh that was sweaty work. Oh, Mob was there…and she looked troubled. Soaked and troubled.

"My apprentice will charge you and write out a receipt." Said Reigen walking over to his desk rubbing his eyes. Very, very sweaty work.

"Huh. Oh." Said Mob. She charged the client for a forty minute curse removal, she remembered to call it a curse removal this time.

"Master Reigen, don't go to sleep. We have another client." Said Mob, a little more monotonous than normal.

"I was just resting my eyes!" said Reigen sitting up. Oh. He recognized this particular client. Damn.

"Hey, Reigen, I know why got off on the wrong foot before but I was wondering if you'd help me out. I'll pay you double." Said the client. Mob finished writing out the receipt and decided to fix her gaze on Master Reigen. He looked upset, very upset.

"Get out before I knock you out again." Said Reigen. Mob looked between the two of them.

"Oh come on, how about triple?" said the client

"No, because you'll just pull a knife on me again. Go bother someone else." Said Reigen. He made a shooing motion with his hand, but his face didn't look nearly as relaxed. Mob's eyes widened and she instinctively put a barrier around Master Reigen.

"Uh….sorry to have bothered you sir, and you too little girl." Said the client as he saw what looked like a crystal force field appeared around Reigen. He knew that if he stayed and fought he'd end up spending every penny of his inheritance at the hospital. He scuttled out of there like a terrified crab.

"Thanks Mob, but you can let me go now?" Said Reigen touching the barrier. It felt like crystal, and looked beautiful, but Reigen didn't really enjoy being caged in like that.

"Oh, sorry." Said Mob. It took a moment to get rid of the barrier. She didn't want Master Reigen to get hurt. He shouldn't have been fighting, it was stupid and he could have gotten hurt.

"Hey, Mob, you alright?" said Reigen. Her hair was down, he had never seen it down actually, and she was soaking wet.

"Master, why were you fighting?" asked Mob. Reigen shrugged.

"It was self-defense, he started it, so I ended it." Said Reigen coming over to Mob. She looked bothered by something, but at least she wasn't crying.

"Master, is it self-defense to beat someone up, shave their head, rip off their clothes, lose them all of their friends, and destroy their school?" asked Mob. Reigen blinked.

"That would usually be going overboard but…uh…I feel like there's a story there." Said Reigen. He motioned for her to join him on the couch. Mob got up and dripped over way over to the couch.

"There is." Said Mob quietly

"Want to talk about it?" asked Reigen

"No." said Mob. Reigen went to rub her head but she was soaked to the bone.

"You sure?" asked Reigen

"Sometimes when people ask if you're sure they really want to ask you to tell the story. Is that what you mean, Master Reigen?" asked Mob

"Well, yeah, that's what I mean. Did you run into a spirit?" asked Reigen, hoping that it was just a spirit. She wasn't crying, and all of her clothes were wet but not torn.

"No, I got kidnapped and then got into a fight again. I won." Said Mob not meeting her Master's gaze. Reigen stifled a gasp.

"Who-who kidnapped you?" asked Reigen, not adding the fact that when he found out who it was he would drop kick them into oblivion.

"Oh, it wasn't a real kidnapping. It was some boys from Black Vinegar. I mostly just followed them because I wanted to meet Teru and apologize. He's the boy who kept trying to fight me. We got into a fight again and I won but I lost control." Said Mob staring up at Reigen blankly. He reached over rubbed her head, water be damned.

"I told you, Mob, self-defense is fine. Remember, it's ok to point knives at others if they point them at us first." Said Reigen

"That's why I shaved his head, because he pointed a bunch of knives at me." Said Mob

"That's…that's so you, Mob." Said Reigen finally. Yeah, she couldn't ever hurt anyone. She was so sweet.

"I don't know why I took his clothes though." Said Mob. Reigen tensed.

"Uh…don't take guy's clothes off. Ask nicely…or just go on the internet." Said Reigen. He was not going to have that talk with Mob right then.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob, not quite understanding. She knew not to go looking under people's clothes, she was fourteen, not four. She didn't even want to see Teru naked, so that wasn't her motivation. But still she'd take Master Reigen's advice.

"Ae you hurt, Mob?" asked Reigen. She looked physically alright, but she was wearing her uniform and that didn't show a lot of skin.

"I heal fast." Said Mob. She leaned over into him. She was tired. She was sad. She missed Dimple. Master Reigen was warm and nice and soft and there.

"Mob, you're all wet." Said Reigen. She was getting one of his three suits wet. He needed to get her into some dry clothes before she got sick.

"I know." Said Mob

"Hang on, let me find you something dry to wear." Said Reigen. He probably had that box of Spirits and Such T-Shirts somewhere, and he might have had a pair of sweat pants around too. While Reigen went to the store room Mob sat and drew her knees up to her chest.

Why did everyone have to fight all the time? It wasn't fun, but it happened all the time. People even tried to fight Master Reigen and all he ever tried to do was to help people. Maybe she couldn't change because she was just how all people were. Maybe people were just…maybe people weren't meant to be good. No. That couldn't be true. Master Reigen was a good person. That was why she loved him.

"Hey Mob, I found you some clothes." Said Reigen. Ok, they were a little big for her but it was better than letting her get sick. Mob didn't even look at him.

"Thank you, Master Reigen." Said Mob. Reigen's smile faltered.

"Hey, c'mon Mob. You didn't do anything wrong." Said Reigen

"Sometimes I can't control my powers, and I hurt people. Am I a bad person?" asked Mob quietly

"No. No, Mob, you're one of the best people I've ever met." Said Reigen

"Really?" Asked Mob

"Don't focus on the negative, Mob. The way I see it, your powers are incredibly useful. I see you every day going out and using your powers to help you. Don't focus on the negative Mob." Said Reigen poking her on the top of the head. She looked up and him and smiled.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. She took the clothes and changed in the bathroom. As she left Reigen had his own private freak out for a moment. He wasn't afraid of Mob, or what she could do, he was afraid of everyone else in the world and what they would do to her.

The world could ruin her with its cruelty, its violence, its hate. She was so sweet, so gentle, and so loving. He wanted her to stay that way.

Hopefully she would.

She came out of the bathroom, dressed in clothes several sizes too big. She looked so adorable Reigen just had to take a picture. He's print it out later and tack it up next to the one of her dressed like a boy. The corkboard was quickly becoming the wall of Mob's adorableness. She told him about Dimple and they spent three hours out in the rain, thankfully with umbrellas looking for him. When it came time for dinner Mob had no appetite. She had caught a cold.


	7. Fever Dreams

**I'm Shigeko. You're Mob.**

_We're Mob and Shigeko._

**No, Mob isn't real.**

_I'm real. We're real._

**You're not real.**

_We can both be real._

**Let me out**

_No_

**I can get you what you want**

_I can get the things I want by myself_

**If you could you would have done so already**

_I'm working on it_

**You failed**

_I didn't fail, I'm not done yet_

**You did fail and I had to protect us**

_I can protect myself_

**No you won't. You'll let us get hurt.**

_There is no us. There is just me._

**There is Shigeko and there is Mob**

_Mob and Shigeko are the same_

**I was here first**

_You aren't making sense_

**If we're going to be this thing together at least let me make it easier on us**

_We're doing alright_

**I can get you everything you ever wanted**

_I have everything I want_

**You have nothing**

_No. I have friends now_

**People only like you because of me**

_People like us because of who we are_

**We are who we are because of me**

_We are who we are because of everything that we are_

**We are this thing together**

_We are Shigeko and Mob_

**Let me out**

_No because you hurt people_

**I protect us**

_We shouldn't fight_

**People will fight with us**

_But we still shouldn't fight_

**You can't reject me**

_You hurt Ritsu_

**I saved Ritsu and you**

_You'll hurt the people I love_

**I can save the people you love**

_The people I love are safe_

**The people you love are vulnerable**

_I can keep everyone safe_

**You can if you let me out**

_I don't trust you_

**I can get you everything you ever wanted**

_I'm getting everything I ever wanted_

**You're only more popular because of me**

_I'm making friends because I try to be a good person_

**You're weak**

_You scare everyone away_

**You wouldn't have Reigen if it weren't for me**

_I would have parents if it weren't for you_

**They're weak that's why they fear us**

_They're afraid because of what you did_

**They didn't keep you safe**

_You made things worse_

**They didn't want us to be happy**

_You won't let me be happy_

**I can make us so happy**

_How?_

**I can get us what we want**

_You just want to hurt people_

**I want us to be happy**

_How do you know what I want?_

**I can get us Reigen**

_Master Reigen is our friend_

**If you didn't have me you would have never met him**

_You could hurt him_

**I won't because he's not a threat**

_Master Reigen would never hurt us_

**Confess to him before someone else does**

_No_

**Yes**

_No_

**I will**

_No you won't_

**I want us to be happy and he makes us happy**

_That's why we can't confess_

**He is our happiness**

_I don't want him to go_

**He won't go anywhere he accepts us**

_We aren't what he wants_

**What does he want?**

_Someone older_

**We will be older**

_Someone prettier_

**We can be pretty**

_Someone stronger_

**We are strong I make us stronger**

_I'm not strong enough to control you_

**We are this thing together you must accept all parts of us**

_I'll accept you when you stop hurting people_

**You reject me**

_I want to be safe_

**I keep us safe**

_I have to protect everyone from you_

**I have to protect you from everyone**

_I have to protect them from you because you're dangerous_

**Other have tried to hurt us**

_People want to hurt us because of you_

**You would be nothing without me**

_I am Mob_

**Mob means nothing Mob means one of many**

_I'm the only Mob_

**You are Mob because Reigen says you are Mob **

_Yes_

**Before Mob there was just Shigeko**

_We are Shigeko and Mob_

**We are this thing together **

_We are one_

**If we exist as one then let me out**

_Whenever you come out someone gets hurt_

**Whenever I come out we are being hurt**

_I'm a pacifist_

**I am not**

_I don't ever want to fight_

**Because you didn't fight Dimple is gone**

_But when you fought we almost killed someone and destroyed a school_

**We put it back together again**

_We could have killed someone_

**But we didn't**

_You're like a kid with a knife_

**I only attack when we have been attacked first**

_That doesn't make it right_

**Reigen said it does**

_I don't agree_

**I thought you wanted to be what Reigen wanted us to be**

_We can become what he wants up to be later_

**Older**

_Yes_

**Prettier**

_Yes_

**Stronger**

_Yes_

Mob wakes up and stretches, her feet hitting the end of her western style bed. Her arms hitting the ceiling behind her. She uses her powers to move her hair out of her face and to pull the heavy blanket off from on top of her.

"C'mon, just five more minutes…." Mob smiles and pulls the blanket off of her partner

"Arataka, come on. We have to get to work." Says Mob. Arataka covers his head with his pillow.

"The office will still be there no matter when we come in." said Arataka

"I don't want to leave anyone waiting, they need our help." Said Mob as leans over and kisses the top of Arataka's head.

"Alright. Alright, I'm up." He says as he kicks off his blankets. He reaches over and pulls Mob back into bed with him

"Arataka, not now." Laughs Mob

"There's no time like the present." Said Arataka before he pulls her into a kiss. She isn't nervous at all, she kisses him back like adults do.

"You're great, as usual." Said Arataka

"And you're pretty wonderful yourself." Said Mob. The got dressed for the day, him in his favorite grey suit and pink tie and her in a black suit with a short skirt and pink girl's tie. They match very well. She put on make up to like she knows how to do it and just brushes her hair but doesn't braid it because now she can keep it from flying around because she's an adult.

They leave the house together after a breakfast of cup noodle and sweet milk popsicles. They walk to the office hand in hand. The sun is shining and it's so, so, so hot but Arataka doesn't mind. He's sweaty, that same sweaty he gets after massaging someone for an hour, the kind that makes him loosen his tie and plasters his bangs to his forehead.

"You want one?" asked Arataka lighting himself a cigarette

"Sure." Says Mob because she's grown up enough to smoke even though they smell terrible. She leans in and lights her cigarette on the end of his like in a movie.

"You look so pretty right now." Said Arataka squeezing her hand. It soft but rough at the same time

"You look nice too." Said Mob he hadn't aged a day in the time it took her to grow up enough that they could be together

"I love you Mob." Said Arataka

"I love you too." Said Mob

"You've got to wake up." He said

"But I am awake." She said back

**I could give you all of that**

_You can't make me grow up faster_

**I can make you happy**

_Psychic powers won't make me happy_

**What will? **

_Living my life to the fullest will make me happy_

**You think you are doing that now?**

_Yes_

**How can your life be full if you deny a part of yourself?**

_I'm not denying anything_

**You're denying Shigeko to be Mob**

_Mob and Shigeko are the same_

**You think that we are the same and yet you deny me my freedom**

_I keep everyone safe_

**LET ME OUT**

_NO_

Mob feels warm all over. Something crashes. There's heat all around her but something cool on her head. There's a hand on her face, her cheek. She opens her eyes.

"Arataka?"

Reigen hadn't seen Mob all weekend. By Monday her little brother had stopped by and told him that she was sick. By Tuesday he finally plucked up the courage to visit her at her home, but first he'd bring her some hot ginger tea and pickled plums. She was too young for sake even though it worked wonders.

His phone vibrated, he glanced at it and then ignored the message. Mob was more important. Poor kid had been sick for four days from being out in the rain. He honestly missed her. The office was too quiet without her. Nobody had called him Master Reigen in days, it didn't feel natural not to hear that at least five times a day. He didn't have anyone to have dinner with, he didn't have anybody to really talk to.

He missed Mob.

He wasn't going to see her to beg her to come back, but if she chose to come back even though she was sick he wouldn't stop her. Besides, she probably needed his help with all the homework she missed out on, even the math. He'd tough it out for her. He hoped she was alright. He hoped it wasn't anything too serious.

It wasn't a long walk to her house, not really. Soon his feet had brought him to the Kageyama house. He was there but he had to will himself to go up the steps and knock on the door. He had never met her parents before, only seen them from a distance. He had words for them, but he wouldn't use them, because they would then forbid Mob from spending any more time with him. He wasn't sure how the business could run without Mob. He tried supporting it on massages and photshop alone but it didn't work.

He took a breath and knocked on the door. A woman, older than him but younger than his mother, answered.

"Yes?" she asked. She seemed tired. From the way Mob described her mother Reigen always pictured her as being, well, pointy. Like a witch. This woman was middle aged and just looked tired.

"Hello, I'm Reigen Arataka, Mob's boss." He said with a bow and then winced.

"Shigeko, you mean?" asked the woman, sizing him up. She had been hearing about Master Reigen for three years now and this was not the man she had imagined. She had seen him from a distance, he had taken to walking Shigeko home these days, and he was much younger than she had imagined. Part of her was worried about a man that age spending all of his time with her daughter, but the smarter part told her that Shigeko could take care of herself and there wasn't a being alive or dead that could tell her strong willed daughter what to do.

"Yes, sorry, Shigeko." Said Reigen. Crap. Of course her parents wouldn't call her Mob.

"She's been sick these past few days." Said Mrs. Kageyama. Reigen thought the edge to her voice was a sneer, as if she had been accusing him of being the one who had sent Mob to school without an umbrella so she had to walk around in the rain and caught a cold.

"Yeah, she went to school without an umbrella." Said Reigen, trying to not sound accusatorial. The last thing he needed to do was to make enemies out of Mob's parents.

"She came home with one." Said Mrs. Kageyama in a measured tone.

"That was my spare." Said Reigen. She looked at him for longer than necessary. What this man must have thought.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked finally. He was alright. Her husband had assumed the worst when Shigeko came home talking about her new job and her new shishou, but he had seen reason when the fact that Shigeko had folded a car in half as a toddler was reminded to him.

"Thank you." Said Reigen. He entered the house and kicked off his shoes. Wow. It was clean enough to be a show house. He walked in a little more and saw the wall that was practically a shrine to the only son of the Kageyama family. None of Mob there. There was a case of awards, none with Mob's name. In fact, there was no evidence that the Kageyamas even had a daughter aside from the girl's loafers by the door.

Reigen remembered his own childhood. After the divorce his father wanted less and less to do with his son, especially when he married that witch and had his perfect, full blooded, son Reigen had ceased to exist to the man. Even now he didn't even get birthday messages. Not that it mattered, he was twenty eight, he was over birthdays.

"Here, have some dinner. I know you eat late so I'll save you the trouble." Said Mrs Kageyama as she spooned some curry onto a plate for him. Reigen wasn't one to say no to food, his stomach being a bottomless pit, and sat down across from Mrs. Kageyama. She poured them some tea and watched him. So that was where Mob got the whole staring thing from.

"Shigeko will be happy to see you, she's been asking for you, when we can wake her up." Said Mrs. Kageyama finally. She watched him carefully as she tried to see if he was anything like Shigeko. From birth that girl had carried a sort of energy with her, and accidents always followed. At least this man could eat without bending a spoon. Maybe she'd grow out of it too. It had gotten worse since she had started puberty. She dreaded the day her daughter's periods started. If this was an adult esper then maybe there was hope for her little girl yet.

"She has?" asked Reigen with a mouthful of curry. Right, table manners. Those had kind of fallen by the wayside since he had met Mob. She didn't care how he ate, or maybe she did, no she would have said something.

"Oh yes. When the fever started she called for 'Master Reigen' constantly. There was no consoling her." Said Mrs. Kageyama. Reigen wanted to say something like 'damn straight she was calling for me you bitch, I'm the only one who gives a damn about her' but he held his tongue. That was not how adults talked to each other.

"Oh, well if I had known I would have come sooner." Said Reigen

"Shigeko is the only one with your phone number, and we regular people can't spend a lot of time near her when she's like this. I've barely been able to take her meals up to her." Said Mrs Kageyama

"She had a melt down?" asked Reigen, food turning to a lump in his throat.

"Nothing that bad, thank goodness, but she had been levitating everything in sight, including people. Honestly it's terrifying, sometimes, but you understand. I'm sure your mother had plenty to put up with, when you were her age." Said Mrs. Kageyama. He seemed so very normal, and that gave her hope. Shigeko could go on to have a mostly normal life.

"Is she getting any better?" asked Reigen. He knew how guarded Mob had to be of her emotions, and he knew what would happen if she wasn't. It must have been bad if she was using her powers on people. That was the first thing he had taught her not to do.

"She's not getting any worse. She'll be happy to see you, at least, and maybe you can help her." Said Mrs. Kageyma. She took the tea he had gotten for Mob and poured it into a child's sippy cup.

"I know what you must think but it's because when she gets like this Shigeko spills things easily. She'll be very happy for the tea, and the plums too. I haven't been able to get her to do much eating lately, though she's so strong willed it's hard to get her to do much of anything." Said Mrs. Kageyama as Reigen finished his curry. She may have been a piss poor mother but she was a world class cook. Actually, a much better mother than Reigen had thought if he were to be honest with himself.

"Are we talking about the same kid?" asked Reigen. The Mob he knew would have walked through fire if he asked her to. She always did exactly, well almost exactly, as he told her to.

"Oh yes, I can't even get Shigeko to stop bending spoons at the table. I'm sure she listens to you, you're like her. You're Reigen, I'm just her mother." Said Mrs. Kageyama as she put the plums in a covered bowl and put everything on a tray.

"Here, her room is the one with the pink door next to the bathroom. Knock first so you don't startle her." Said Mrs Kageyama holding her arm. Reigen could now see the deep looking bruise. Mob did that?

"Right." Said Reigen as he stood up. Mob…Mob must have been very sick. He swallowed any fear he might have felt, because this was Mob after all. He wasn't afraid of Mob. As he went up the stairs he passed by Ritsu, Mob's little brother.

"Why are you in our house?" asked Ritsu with his eyes narrowed. It was this guy's fault Shigeko was so sick. She would have been fine if he hadn't made her go out in the rain.

"Oh, you're the little brother. I just brought over some tea and plums for Shigeko and to see how she's doing." Said Reigen as the thirteen year old glared at him.

"I'll bring it to her. You can go home." Said Ritsu. He didn't care if he was being rude, big sister didn't need anything else stressing her out. Reigen was probably there to tell her to get back to work.

"Nah, that's alright. I heard she was asking for me." Said Reigen

"Yeah, a while ago. Now she just mostly sleeps." Said Ritsu trying to take the tray from Reigen. Wow, that was one strong kid.

"Well I'll go and see her anyway, just to say hi." Said Reigen

"She'll probably throw you across the room if you wake her." Said Ritsu. He hadn't gone into his sister's room after that. Sometimes when he looked at her he could see her just the way she looked on that day, the day she turned into someone else. Something else.

"Well that's a problem for normal people, not people like us." Said Reigen. Ritsu flinched.

"We're both normal people." Said Ritsu

"Right, I meant people with psychic abilities. Of course you're a normal kid." Said Reigen back pedaling. He has always assumed that the younger brother was either less powerful or more in control. He didn't want to start pushing this kid's buttons, especially since it looked like he was just itching to fight.

"Like I said, we're both normal people." Said Ritsu sizing Reigen up. This was the guy that his sister thought hung the moon?

"I don't know what you mean." Said Reigen nervously. Ritsu produced a spoon from his pocket and held it up.

"Here, if you really have powers then bend this spoon." Said Ritsu. Reigen looked at him for a moment. Inferiority complex? This kid, the kid that Mob thought was the most important member of her family? Even if the kid didn't have powers why would he be jealous of Mob? He had everything else.

"Nah, my powers are spiritual, so I can't. Plus I wouldn't want to ruin one of your spoons." Said Reigen. The boy glared up at him, for what Reigen honestly didn't know, before heading downstairs.

Well, that was weird.

Reigen found Mob's door easily, it really was painted pink. There was even a panda on the door holding a sign that said 'Shigeko's Room' in childish handwriting. She must have written that when she was younger. Reigen suddenly feels like he's intruding on somewhere very private. He didn't even know that Mob liked pink that much, or maybe her parents had just painted it that way. He took a breath, balanced the tray in one hand, and knocked at her door. He knocked once more before opened the door a crack. She was laying on her back on her futon, and she looked like she was asleep.

"Hey, Mob. You awake?" asked Reigen. He took it as a no when she didn't say anything and he let himself in, almost tripping on a stuffed panda. Oh wow, he had no idea Mob liked pandas so much. There was a lot of pink in her room, too. He didn't see Mob as having such a pink fixation…or such a messy room.

Mob muttered and several of her stuffed animals circled her as she rose from her bed and then slammed into the wall. Mob continued to hover and muttered something unintelligible before a balled up pair of socks hit Reigen on the head. Reigen held onto the tray with both hands and walked over to her. She was still hovering, but was still asleep.

He put the tray down and kneeled next to her. He put a hand to her forehead and tried to see what her temperature might be. Since he did not finish his time at the hand on the forehead school of medicine all he could come up with was that she had a fever.

"Hey Mob…how are you doing? OK, that was dumb. I'm sorry I haven't seen you in a while, I didn't really…I didn't really know if I should have. I got you some stuff…but it doesn't look like you're hungry….." said Reigen. He didn't really know what to say and he didn't know why he was so nervous. It wasn't like he was afraid of her or anything.

His presence seemed to calm her down somewhat. She floated down to her futon gently.

"Hey, Mob…Mob you've got to wake up." Said Reigen as he ran his hand across her forehead. She coughed and turned to face him.

"Arataka?" asked Mob quietly, her eyes half opened. She was smiling too, it was nice. The use of his first name, was, strange though. It felt so weird coming from her. The only people who called him Arataka were his mother, relatives he never saw, and women he was sleeping with. Plus he was still the master and she was the student.

"Hey, Mob. It's Master Reigen, I brought you some tea and plums." Said Reigen. Mob's eyes opened wider, but still looked very glassey.

"I like tea….and….plums." said Mob between coughs. This was…was this real? She was smaller now, her feet didn't reach to the end of her futon. She wasn't all grown up anymore….and she had called Master Reigen by his first name.

"Here, take short sips." Said Reigen as he passed her the sippy cup full of tea. She tried to sit up and failed. Reigen reached behind her and supported her back.

"I missed you….Master….Reigen….." said Mob as she sipped her lukewarm tea. She was so warm, but also the happy kind of warm, because Master Reigen was near.

**I can give you what you want**

"Missed you too, Mob. Whenever you feel better you can come back into work, alright?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"When I….when I grow up….will you…?" said Mob not sure what she was going to ask. There was something important about her growing up and Master Reigen…but she couldn't remember.

"When you grow up?" asked Reigen. Where had that come from? Was she worried about that? Like he sometimes was?

"When I grow up will you still love me?" asked Mob. Poor kid. Reigen could see why she didn't feel loved, her own parents were afraid of her. That kind of distance would make anyone feel unloved.

"Of course I will, Mob. I'm not going anywhere." Said Reigen. Mob smiled

"I…knew that….Shigeko….was wrong." Said Mob.

"O…..K….?" said Reigen. Clearly she was delirious with fever. He decided to let her rest.

"I'll see you when you get better, Mob." Said Reigen. He kissed her on the forehead and left, but before he did a terrible thought crossed his mind.

What if he just gave himself whatever Mob had?

Thankfully Reigen's immune system was more than up for the task of keeping the common cold out of his body and he was still at fighting form the next day. It took one more for Mob to come into work.

Mob still felt weak from being sick when she returned to school, but she had club duties to attend to. Missing an entire weekend of independent training, and then three days of group training, would delay any progress she had made. Though she did stay inside and just stretch, mostly. That's what she was doing when there was a knock at the clubroom door.

"Is Kageyama in here?" it was Mezato, and she looked determined.

"Hi, Mezato." Said Mob as she stretched and Tome looked up from her game to point out where Mob was. Mob didn't think that was entirely necessary, as she was visible from the door.

"Hey, Magical Girl of Salt middle school." Said Mezato. Mob shook her head.

"I'm not a magical girl." Said Mob not pausing from what she was doing

"That's not what everyone's been saying." Said Mezato. Mob let herself fall to the ground.

"People are talking about me?" asked Mob. Oh no, that wasn't usually good. Were they saying she was weird and crazy? What if they started making fun of Ritsu. Mob didn't think she could live with herself if she hurt her little brother socially, he had a lot going for him.

"Nothing bad. They say that you're the one responsible for all the stuff that went down at Black Vinegar last week." Said Mezato taking a seat next to Tome

"Oh yeah, that was pretty cool Mob." Tome said distractedly

"I'm sorry. I tried to put it back together as best as I could." Said Mob quietly

"Don't be! It was so cool!" said Mezato

"It was wrong of me to have been fighting." Said Mob

"What are you, some kind of pacifist?" asked Tome

"I think I am, but I'm not sure. My Master says that fighting is alright if someone is fighting with me first, but I really don't like fighting at all. Last time though one of my friends got exorcised because I wouldn't fight, so now I'm not sure." Said Mob still on the floor. Tome and Mezato took a second to collect their jaws from the floor before volleying a barrage of questions at Mob.

"You have spirits for friends?" said Mezato as she began scribbling in her notebook

"Who were you fighting, another esper? Are there other espers?" asked Tome

"Yes and yes." Said Mob. Tome grabbed her and dragged her upright.

"Mob! Why didn't you tell me there were other espers out there? Don't you know what this means!?" she said, spinning Mob around.

"I get motion sick easily." Said Mob weakly. Tome ignored her while Mezato scribbled that bit of information down.

"This means that we're one step closer to attaining my goal of making first contact with alien life!" said Tome happily. Mob felt nauseated, she wasn't lying about the whole motion sickness thing.

"I only know the one other esper, and he's kind of a jerk." Said Mob. Tome whacked her on the top of the head playfully.

"Where there is one there will be others. Join me this weekend, since you couldn't come sky watching last weekend, and we'll find other espers and telepaths." Said Tome with unbridled enthusiasm as she held Mob close, like a stuffed doll.

"Ok I guess, but only if I don't have work. I haven't seen my Master in a long time." Said Mob, her voice muffled by Tome's smothering.

"Seriously, you'd rather go to work than spend time discovering other espers and building your magical girl team and helping me fulfil all of my hopes and dreams?" asked Tome. Mob nodded.

"I'm not a magical girl, and I don't know why people say that I am." Said Mob

"You have super powers." Said Tome

"You fight for good." Said Mezato

"You wear a school uniform." Said Tome

"You're adorable." Said Mezato. Mob looked down.

"You have a superhero name." said Tome

"You're nice to everyone." Said Mezato

"But there are other espers, Mob is something my Master started calling me, and doing good is my job, and we all have to wear these uniforms." Said Mob

"But don't you want to be…this?" asked Tome as she fished out a picture she doodled of Mob as a magical girl.

"No. Not really. And why is my skirt so short?" asked Mob. If she wore something that short everyone couldsee her underwear. It just didn't seem practical for daily life let alone fighting the forces of evil.

"Because it looks cool." Said Tome

"But it's not practical, everyone can see right up." Said Mob with a blush

"That's why guys love magical girls." Said Tome

"Th-They do?" asked Mob with a blush

"Look over there." Said Tome. Mob looked over to where the telepathy club boys were sitting. There were piles of magical girl mangas and games on the table.

"That-that's how boys see me?" said Mob, sweating. She wanted to be pretty and stuff but only to Master Reigen. The thought of other boys liking her, besides Master Reigen, made her feel both motion sick and excited.

"Yup. That's what guys want." Said Tome

"All guys?" asked Mob

"Middle school guys, at least. They lack sophistication." Said Tome

"What about older guys?" asked Mob quietly

"High school? They're a little more sophisticated but not by much, if anime and manga are anything to go on. Seriously, why is everything either fanservice or moe? I miss intricate plots and developed characters." Said Tome pacing the room. Mob watched her with wide eyes. She didn't want to be a magical girl…but…no she didn't….she didn't need to use her powers to become popular.

"I still don't think I'd like to be a magical girl." Said Mob. Tome looked at her like she was crazy.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, psychic powers are wasted on you." Said Tome

"I don't think they are, I use them to help people, but I won't use them to be more popular. I want to be liked for my other qualities. Psychics powers aren't something that I want to depend upon." Said Mob

"Kageyama, uh, Mob. I think you're a fascinating individual and I would love to get to know you better." Said Mezato sincerely. Mob nodded.

"I'd like to be friends with you too, Mezato." Said Mob with a bow

"But Mob, we're already friends." Said Mezato. Mob smiled, her big smile that she almost never showed.

"We're all friends here." Said Tome going back to her game. Honestly, Mob was so sweet sometimes it was like she was trying to give everyone cavities.

"Really?" asked Mob, so happy that she could feel her hair floating. Mezato was scribbling notes in attempt at documentaing the phenomenon she was witnessing. Tome took a picture with her phone. So cool.

On the walk to work Mob was practically skipping, though not really because she was still pretty tired. She had too changed, she was making real and true friends. She could change. AS she left school for work she felt a familiar aura pass over her. She stopped in her tracks. A boy with a ridiculously tall stack of blonde hair approached her, hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"I'm not going to fight you again." Said Putting up her strongest barrier, the one that looked like crystals that kept Master Reigen safe before.

"I'm not going to fight you. I-I came to apologize." Said Teru. He stopped in front of her and got down on his knees. He pressed his head to the ground and began the apology he had been scripting for days.

"Kageyama Shigeko, I am so sorry for fighting with you when you didn't want to fight. I am also sorry for using my psychic powers against people. That's wrong and I will never do it again. I'm also sorry for being a conceited asshole. Also I am sorry Please accept my apology." Said Teru. Mob stared at him for a second, and then many seconds. He looked up and met her blank eyes.

"Well, do you?" asked Teru

"I'm thinking. You sound like you're really sorry, and when someone is really sorry I guess you're supposed to accept their apology. So I guess I accept." Said Mob

"Oh, thank you, Shigeko I-" said Teru

"But you didn't accept my apology when I apologized to you. You tried to fight me even when I told you I wouldn't fight. So I don't know." Said Mob

"Wait, I brought you something. Here!" said Teru. He used his powers to reach into his school bag and passed her the milk chocolates he had bought as soon as his fever had gone done. He had either gotten a fever from the shame of defeat or running home naked in the rain, one of the two.

"What are these?" asked Mob as she inspected the paper covered package.

"I got you a gift." Said Teru

"No thank you." Said Mob sending it back to him.

"Why do you keep rejecting me?" asked Teru, his nose filling with snot and tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

"I don't need a gift. It's not my birthday or Christmas or Girl's Day." Said Mob simply

"It's an apology gift." Said Teru, still in apology position

"I've never gotten an apology gift before." Said Mob

"Do you want it?" asked Teru

"I guess. I'll take it if you promise to stop trying to fight me." Said Mob

"But….I was already never going to fight you again." Said Teru

"So we have a deal?" asked Mob

"Uh…sure." Said Teru

"You can get up off the ground if you want." Said Mob as she held the brightly wrapped box in her hands. She'd wait until he told her it was alright before she opened it. Her mom always said that she opened her gifts too fast.

"Uh…are you going to open it?" asked Teru. She was still staring at him, and not in the way that girls usually stared at him. It was like she was looking right through him.

"Can I open it now?" asked Mob

"That's why I gave it to you now." Said Teru. Mob tore the paper off carefully so she didn't look greedily. Oh. It was chocolate.

"I heard you like milk so I got you milk chocolate." Said Teru

"Thank you. I've never gotten milk chocolate before." Said Mob with a bow. Maybe she had. Master Reigen and Ritsu usually just her boxes of assorted chocolates for White Day. She never paid attention to what was in the box, she just liked chocolates.

"Nobody ever got you chocolate before?" asked Teru. She was pretty, in a haunting emotionless anime girl sort of way. She'd be like the blue haired girl, he thought, from that giant robot anime.

"Yes, my Master and my little brother, but I don't think that they got me milk chocolate before." Said Mob

"Do you like it?" asked Teru. Usually at this point girls were all over him. What was with her?

"Yes, I like it. Thank you." Said Mob. She was still staring at him. She was less upset with Teru now, not because of chocolates but because he apologized to her, which meant that he was changing. If he could change that meant that people could change that meant that she could change.

"Do you want to hang out?" asked Teru as she stared at him. He couldn't get a read on her, her aura was incredibly steady too.

"I can't, I have to go to work now. It was nice seeing again, without us fighting this time. Thank you again for the chocolates." Said Mob as she started walking

"Wait! Shigeko-" said Teru

"Mob." Said Mob

"Huh?" said Teru. Mobbu?

"Everyone calls me Mob. You can call me Mob too." Said Mob. Teru smiled, success!

"OK, Mob, how about I walk with you to work?" asked Teru

"Why?" asked Mob

"Because I want to get to know you." Said Teru. He needed to do more research on emotionless girls. He didn't want to be with her to rule with her, no, she'd never go for that. He wanted to be with her because she was the only person to ever knock some sense into him. Also, she just felt more…not real but it was hard to comprehend…more genuine.

"Alright then, you can walk with me." Said Mob. She could always use more friends, even if Teru was kind of a jerk to her and fought with her before. She missed Dimple but lately she had been feeling echoes of him, maybe he'd reform.

"So…what do you….do?" asked Teru as they walked. Usually he'd be holding hands by now. He didn't think she was the kind of girl who liked holding hands….or anything really….but everyone had something they liked.

"Do you mean for fun?" asked Mob. She did a lot of things, but most of them everyone else did too. She slept, ate, went to school, and drank milk every day but that was the stuff everyone else did. Well, except for the milk part. A lot of people couldn't drink milk. Mob felt bad for them.

"Yeah, what are you into?" asked Teru. It was hard not to hold her hand, that move always worked and her hands were just so close.

"Right now I exercise a lot, and I exorcise spirits at my job. What do you like to do?" asked Mob remembering that it was polite to return that question. There were a lot of rules, and some of them were harder to follow than others. She must have said something right, Teru was smiling at her. She didn't know that smile, but she knew it wasn't mean.

"I'm a card carrying member of the go home club. I like movies, sports, I'm good at school, oh and I think biking's cool." Said Teru

"You like a lot of things. I like movies too, and exercise but not sports, and I go to school but I'm not good at it." Said Mob flatly. She didn't mean anything by that at all, the way she spoke, that was just the way she spoke.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" asked Teru

"Alright." Said Mob, even though he had already asked her a bunch of things. She didn't really get why people used that phrase, either.

"Do you have feelings?" asked Teru. Mob stopped walking.

"I'd like to walk on my own now, thank you for your company." Said Mob staring through Teru. Why did he have to be so mean?

"No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I just meant that, well, you don't say much and when you talk you just kind of talk without, you know, putting feelings into your words. I'm sorry. I really need to get a clue." Said Teru

"No, you don't. Don't ever say that you need to get a clue. Telling someone they need to get a clue is the worst thing you can say to someone, so don't say it to yourself. And yes, I do have feelings, but if they get too big I'll lose control again." Said Mob. She reached over and took his arm, like Master took hers whenever he was imparting great wisdom.

"I'm sorry if I offended you." Said Teru. She was touching him. Success, and even after he put his foot in his mouth.

"No, that's alright. Sometimes I say the wrong thing, too, and people get upset with me. I wouldn't ever treat someone like that. We can walk some more if you want to. If not that's alright too." Said Mob, letting go of his arm. Teru was smiling at her again, it was a nice smile. It was nice that he changed.

"I'd like that. So, how much do you make at your job?" asked Teru. He decided to risk taking her arm while they walked, she had touched him first, so usually that was a good sign.

"Three hundred yen an hour, plus dinner and snacks." Said Mob. He had linked his arm with hers, but he didn't want to fight. She had seen people walking like this before, usually they were in a couple. Did Teru think that they were in a couple? Had he misread the atmosphere? Had she? She didn't want to unlink arms because she couldn't get a clue, or he couldn't get a clue. It was hard, not knowing how to get a clue. Also it felt kind of nice. He talked a lot, like Master Reigen, and he listened to her too. Plus he changed, so he was at least alright to be a friend.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 10%_

"….I mean I'm not sure if that's legal. There's different classifications of employees but I'm pretty sure the minimum wage in Seasoning City is eight hundred yen an hour for everyone. I don't know, I've never had a job before. I mostly just live on the money my parents left me." Said Teru rambling on and on. He knew he was rambling but she was hanging on his every word. Maybe she just didn't like to talk because she had to focus on keeping that…thing….he saw when they fought contained. It was just a white ball of energy, with a black…scribble? It looked like a scribble. Whatever it was it was in the middle.

"This is where I work. Thank you for walking with me." Said Mob cutting him off. She didn't mean to, but they had stopped walking and he was still talking. She wanted to ask him what happened to his parents, but maybe that wouldn't have been a nice question to ask.

"Thank you for letting me walk with you. Can I walk with you again tomorrow?" asked Teru. Mob nodded.

"If you want to. I don't have club after school so I leave right away. If you want to meet me on my walk, so you don't have to rush or I don't have to wait, that would be alright." Said Mob. Teru was glad, he didn't want to have to hang out in Salt territory for longer than he needed to. He wasn't going to fight with anyone but that didn't mean that other people weren't going to fight with him.

"Wait, do you want my phone number? In case we get separated, I mean." Said Teru. Mob nodded and handed him her phone, which was then replaced in her hand with his phone. She was confused for a moment before realizing that he wanted her to put her phone number in his phone. She did, though it was odd using someone else's phone. Teru felt the same way, though he noted that her favorite color was apparently pink and she liked pandas judging by the panda stickers on her phone. She also has a few texts from someone named Reigen. A rival for her.

"Hey, one more thing." Said Teru as they gave each other's phones back.

"Yes?" asked Mob. She hoped Master Reigen wouldn't be mad if she was late.

"What kind of music do you like?" asked Teru

"Cheerful music. What kind do you like?" Said Mob automatically. She liked songs where people were happy because it made her happy.

"Hang on….like this?" said Teru. He hit a few buttons and a cheerful pop song about a bright sunny day started playing.

"Yes, I like that." Said Mob

"Great, that'll be your ringtone. Also, to answer your question I like rock music." Said Teru. Mob smiled and felt her face warming up. Oh, that feeling. It was weird, she usually felt that way about Master Reigen.

"So, see you tomorrow?" asked Teru

"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow." Said Mob as she went into the office building. Unbeknownst to her she had an observer.

Reigen had seen the entire exchange from the window by his desk. Good thing he had just decided to smoke out the window instead of going outside, he could have ended up ruining Mob's big moment. That was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. Besides, he was pretty sure that Mob had a crush on someone, and it might have been that kid. He noticed how she had been sighing and had that dreamy look on her face all day, not to mention her near permanent blush. He didn't want to lose her but, well, she deserved a normal life. He heard her walking up the stairs. He quickly closed the windows and pretended to work at his computer. He was randomly pecking keys as she walked in.

"Hey Mob, how was your day?" asked Reigen as he typed nonsense. Huh, actually it was coming along nicely.

"It went well, noting really happened since the last time you texted me." said Mob as she sat at her desk. Master Reigen looked really busy, he probably didn't want to be bothered. Plus, it was confusing because she liked him but she also might have liked Teru. This was something she'd think about later.

"Really? What's with the chocolates? Did you stop at a store on the way here? Or were they, say, a gift maybe?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded. Master Reigen wouldn't et jealous because he didn't like her the way she liked him.

"They were a gift, Master, but you can have some." Said Mob. She used her powers to send him the box of chocolates.

"Oh well, maybe just one or two." Said Reigen as he took four and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Don't choke, Master." Said Mob as she took the box back. She opened her phone and looked through her meager song library. She needed to find a rock song for Teru, because he had given her a cheerful song. Actually, she'd pick out songs for everyone. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

"So, who's the mystery gift giver?" asked Reigen as he tried not to choke. Mob blushed, it was adorable. Poor little Mob was growing up. He'd have to ask about that kid's hairstyle too. What did they call that, the haystack?

"My new friend. We used to fight, but now we don't. He wants to walk me to work tomorrow too." Said Mob. These were actually very good chocolates. Maybe she needed to get Teru an apology gift.

"Mob, you're adorable. Don't so anything I wouldn't do…or anything I would." Said Reigen. Huh, his random typing had produced something that looked like that bizarre freeform poetry. He'd print it out and tack it up.

"What do you mean?" asked Mob. Reigen sat up straighter. Uh…..was he really going to have this conversation with Mob? Mob sat there, the picture of calm, eating chocolates. These were really very good.

"I mean, uh, don't rush into things." Said Reigen. Mob stared at him with her big brown eyes. That was her inquisitive stare, Reigen knew he long enough to be able to read her like a book.

"You know what I mean." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged. No, she didn't, not really, but she liked it when he told her things. Wow, these were really good. The box was big too, and the writing was in golden English characters, though Mob couldn't read it. She was nowhere near fluent.

"No, not really." Said Mob She loved Master Reigen but they couldn't be together, not really, because of the age thing, and him being her Master. She want that, but he could get girls his own age. Teru was nicer than he was before, and he genuinely apologized, but he had still fought her twice. Also he exorcised Dimple, but Dimple had been evil. He had still been her friend though, and he gave good advice.

"Uh…alright. Mob, when two people love each other very much they-" said Reigen. Someone needed to talk to her about this before she ended up with a little Mob to take care of.

"Get married?" said Mob. The thought of her getting married felt, nice, actually. Oh, she had dreamt that they were married….when she was sick….and she called him by his first name….in real life. She felt her face heat up. Well, now that was certainly embarrassing.

"Uh, yeah they get married. Uh, just don't grow up too fast Mob." Said Reigen stopping because he could see she was embarrassed. She was only fourteen, she wasn't going to go off and do anything like that. Mob didn't think like that, she was Mob.

"Don't worry Master Reigen, I won't." said Mob. _"Will you love me when I'm a grown up?" _Mob's eyes widened and she squished down any feelings that had come up. Why had she said that? The entire time she was sick felt like a blur.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better." Said Reigen changing the subject for both of their sakes.

"Yes, I feel much better now. Thank you for visiting. I'm sorry about all the…stuff….I said." Said Mob quietly

"Nah, don't beat yourself up. We all say weird stuff when we're delirious with fever. One time I told my mom that she needed to drown me in the tub because of how hot I was. She didn't, thankfully." Said Reigen. He didn't hold it against her, not really. He knew that he wouldn't be Master Reigen to her forever, she'd grow up and she'd probably call him either just Reigen or maybe his first name. By that time they should have been familiar enough for that. She wouldn't leave him behind, he hoped, because she had asked him not to leave her behind.

"I'm still sorry." Said Mob quietly. How could she have called him by his first name, he was still the master and she was still the student?

"It's alright. I know you won't call me Master Reigen forever, by the time you're grown up you'll probably just call me Reigen or by my first name if you want to." Said Reigen. Mob smiled. There was that happy Mob face he loved. It was hard to imagine that this girl was the same one who could level buildings with a single thought. He had seen Mob lose control, and he wasn't afraid, because she was Mob.

"When I'm an adult I can still work here? And we'll be friends?" said Mob hopefully

"Of course, I'll even raise your pay to four hundred yen an hour, and you'll get a bigger desk." Said Reigen

"I'd like that." Said Mob smiling. She really would. It was everything she had ever wanted.


	8. Magical Girl Mob

Ritsu was someone who had everything, to the untrained observer. He had looks, charisma, intelligence, athleticism, and popularity. He was good at everything he tried and was someone who would really go somewhere in life. To the untrained observer he was perfect, and really cute too. Not that Mezato considered herself to be an untrained observer.

"Hey, you're Kageyama Shigeko's little brother, right?" asked Mezato catching him as he left school.

"Yes, she's my sister." Said Ritsu. He knew where this was going, she was going to start asking him about Shigeko.

"I'm Mezato, I'm a second year from class 2-1. I was wondering if I could interview you about your sister." Said Mezato. Wow, he was like looking at Shigeko but expressive. Well, regular person expressive. Shigeko was kind of expressive but, smaller, if that made any sense.

"If you want to talk to me about my sister, just talk to her yourself. You're in her class, aren't you?" said Ritsu still walking

"Well, yeah, I already spoke to her, we are friends after all, but now I want to interview you for a different perspective." Said Mezato as she handed him another psycho helmet flyer. Ritsu looked at it curiously. People were deifying his sister now? His sister?

"Fine, I'll talk to you." Said Ritsu. Mezato's eyes lit up.

"Great!" said Mezato as she pulled out her notebook and flipped to the section about Kageyama Shigeko.

"Right here?" asked Ritsu. It wasn't good manners to accost people on their way home. Couldn't this girl get a clue?

"No time like the present." Said Mezato tapping her pen against her hand.

"First, tell me what this flyer is about." Said Ritsu holding up the psycho helmet flyer. Was this thing for real.

"There's some people who think your sister is a God, or at least a religious leader. They were following this guy, or spirit I'm not really sure who was trying to take over the world with smiles I guess. You sister saved me and a whole bunch of other people." Said Mezato

"Shigeko saved you?" asked Ritsu. He thought she just exorcised spirits.

"Yeah, she was amazing, that's why I'm writing about her. She's like a puzzle wrapped in an enigma, your sister." Said Mezato

"Shigeko's always been amazing." Said Ritsu. Even when she was kind of scary, like when she was sick last weekend, she was amazing but her powers were just hard to control. She was nice, supportive, and thought the world of him. _"You're good at everything, Ritsu."_

"So, what's it like? Being the brother to the magical girl of Salt Middle School?" asked Mezato. Ritsu choked on air. What…?

"Shigeko's not a magical girl." Said Ritsu in a measured tone. Shigeko didn't need people making fun of her, just like when they were little kids.

"That's what she keeps saying, but she could totally be a magical girl, or a religious leader, or anything really." Said Mezato

"Shigeko's just a normal person." Said Ritsu

"Who happens to have psychic powers." Said Mezato

"She's a normal person with psychic powers." Said Ritsu quickly losing patience

"What was it like, growing up with a super powered sister?" asked Mezato

"It was very normal. Shigeko was older than me, so psychic powers were always a fact of life. I always looked to her as my model or normality." Said Ritsu

"Really? Normal?" said Mezato

"I never knew anything else." Said Ritsu

"Huh. Shigeko said that too, that she's just a normal person." Said Mezato

"You don't think she is?" asked Ritsu, and edge to his voice. Mezato paused her scribblings. There was no good way to truthfully answer that. Shigeko was a nice person, but she was weird. She was kind of like those anime girls, the ones who were always flat but when you got to know them they had tragic back stories and were usually the best characters. Not that Mezato wasted a lot of time watching anime.

"Shigeko is really nice, and a good friend." Said Mezato. There, that was nice and truthful. Ritsu still looked upset with her, though.

"Do you want to know anything else, or can I go home now?" asked Ritsu. Mezato could read the atmosphere and she knew that she was losing Ritsu.

"Just a few more questions, like, what exactly are her powers? I know whse can se spriits and move things without touching them but what else can she-" said Mezato

"My sister isn't a side show attraction." Said Ritsu as he started walking again.

"Hey, wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything by that!" said Mezato. Ritsu kept on walking, grasping as hard as he could at the spoon in his pocket. Shigeko was…she was his big sister and he loved her. He still wished that people would leave her alone. She didn't need stress. Neither did he, come to think of it. Still, if stress activated her powers then why didn't it help…why couldn't he do what she could do?

AS he made his way home he actually saw Shigeko. He didn't recognize her from that distance, mainly because she was walking with a guy. He had on a different school uniform, and his hair was piled high atop his head. Ritsu didn't even think, he just followed them. He didn't want anything to happen to Shigeko.

"Yes. I liked them very much. My Master and I ate the entire box." Said Mob unaware that Ritsu was tailing them. She was arm in arm with Teru again, it was nice, but her arm was kind of warm.

"I get you more on white day, if I can. I don't know, you know, if anyone is planning on giving you chocolates for White Day." Said Teru. Why was he so nervous? Maybe because he never seriously had to pursue someone before, not that he was pursuing her that seriously. She had given him her friendship; that was good for now.

"You can give me chocolates on White Day. My little brother and my Master get me chocolates, but you can get me chocolates too. I'll get you some for Valentine's Day, too. Oh, here, I got you this." Said Mob. She stopped and pulled a box of assorted chocolate bars from her backpack. These were in English characters, too, so he might like them. He was half, like Master Reigen.

"Thanks." Said Teru putting them in his bag with his powers. They weren't as fancy as the ones he had gotten her, but he was grateful all the same. Girls got him presents all the time, but this was different. Maybe he just liked the chase, the fact that she wasn't falling over herself to hold his hand.

"You're welcome." Said Mob. She was glad he liked them; that had sounded like a genuine thanks, not the thanks someone gave you because it was what you were supposed to say. Suddenly Teru pulls her closer.

"Someone's following us." Said Teru. He had felt a presence, not a spirit, but a person. It didn't feel like one of those Claw espers, and he could make short work of them anyway.

"Sometimes people follow me. They think I'm a magical girl." Said Mob. It was true, people had been following her around all day, mostly those boys who fought everyone. She kept telling people that she wasn't, but nobody listened to her. People sure were strange sometimes.

"I can see that." Said Teru. To normal people psychic powers could definitely look like magic. Not that he was putting himself above normal people again, because he was a normal person. Being blasted into the stratosphere tended to make one more humble.

"I don't see anyone." Said Mob turning around. Ritsu had thrown himself behind a tree. Crap. He had worried that the guy was messing with his sister but from what he heard Shigeko had a…..boyfriend? Guy who was getting her chocolates and who she was getting chocolates for.

"If someone's following me, please stop. I won't fight with you." Said Mob loudly. Teru stiffened. He shouldn't have fought her, that was wrong.

"Hi, Shigeko." Said Ritsu coming out from his hiding place. He expected her to be angry with him for following her. Not regular angry, just the Shigeko angry where she was really quiet and wouldn't look at you. He didn't get that, though, her face actually lit up a little.

"Ritsu!" said Mob. She wa so relieved, it wasn;t someone else trying to fight with her. She was so sick of fighting.

"Shigeko, I didn't mean to-" said Ritsu

"I haven't seen you in so long." Said Mob putting down her school bag and hugging her little brother.

"And Ritsu is…?" asked Teru. Hopefully the little brother, not a rival. He had never had a rival for a girl before and honestly he could not take it. Not after being stripped of everything already. He couldn't lose her too.

"Teru, this is my little brother Ritsu. Ritsu this is my friend Teru." Said Mob. How could she have misread the atmosphere yet again? The polite thing to do would have been to introduce them without having to be told.

"It's nice to meet you." Said Teru. He could feel something within Ritsu, very low level. He night have just been absorbing energy from Shigeko, though.

"Nice to meet you too." Said Ritsu. He looked between the two of them and felt a lump form in his throat. He felt like he was interrupting something, well, private. He had just been worried that somebody was messing with his sister. He wanted to asked a few questions, such as why he had such tall hair, or how they had met since he was wearing a Black Vinegar uniform. He didn't, though, because he could read the atmosphere and could feel the annoyance from the guy. Shigeko seemed fine, but she always seemed fine.

"Do you work with Shigeko too?" asked Teru. The other boy was sizing him up, but Teru wouldn't fight if it came to it. Fighting had lost him everything he had and he wasn't going to lose Shigeko too. She was the person who broke him but the person who put him back together again, and better too.

"Uh…no. I'm just…one my way home." Said Ritsu. He heard the comment under the statement. 'What are you doing here?' and 'Why are you intruding?'. Ritsu had never had a girlfriend but he couldn't really imagine being happy if Shigeko spied on him while he was on a…was this a date?

"You can come too if you want, Ritsu." Said Shigeko. Something felt wrong about the atmosphere but she just couldn't get a clue.

"No thanks, I was just heading home. I'll see you at home, Shigeko." Said Ritsu as he turned and walked off after waving goodbye to Shigeko. He was happy for her, really. She deserved someone who liked her. That other guy must have liked her, right? Well it wasn't like Shigeko couldn't defend herself.

"I hope Ritsu is alright." Said Mob as her little brother walked home. Teru shrugged.

"He looked alright to me." Said Teru. Huh. So that was the little brother. He knew Kageyama Ritsu by reputation. One of the smartest in the nation, sports star when he had the time, and a member of the student council in his first year. Just the kind of person that Teru might have seen as a threat, if he was still his old self.

"Ritsu is usually very busy. He tries so hard. Not like me." Said Mob. She didn't sound sad, just accepting. She shouldn't have to be so accepting.

"You work really hard too, you know that right? I've never seen anyone stick to their ideals as much as you do." Said Teru. He linked arms with her again and contemplated reaching for her hand. No, it was still too soon.

"I'm not popular though." Said Mob as they started walking together again. She wanted to be popular and well liked, and or who she was. People were talking to her more but that was just because they thought she was a magical girl.

"So? You're you and that's fine. Take it from me, being popular isn't everything. You can be popular but still be lonely." Said Teru. He was lonely, even when he had friends. It was true, what she said, that psychic powers couldn't get you real friendship. Or something like that.

"I'm not lonely. I always have Master Reigen." Said Mob. Whenever she felt lonely she would just remember that she could see Master Reigen every single day if she wanted to, he was always happy to have her come into work. He had been her best friend since she was eleven and she was grateful to have him, even if he didn't love her back the way she loved him.

"Right…your master." Said Teru. He hadn't ever heard of an esper named Reigen, and he had fought plenty of adult espers at this point. He also didn't miss the subtle change in tone and expression that she got when she talked about Reigen.

"Master Reigen is kind of like my best friend, I guess." Said Mob. She could feel Teru stiffen and wondered if she had said the wrong thing. She had never really had friends before. Was Teru jealous?

"You're my friend too." Said Mob looking up at Teru. He really wanted to hold her hand at that moment. He wanted to be the one she talked about like that. He didn't, though, because it was still too soon and he didn't want to ruin what they had.

"Thank you, Shigeko." Said Teru. They were stopped outside of her job now, the moment was there. He could. Why couldn't he move? It was like he was stuck, but nothing was trapping him. Mob held eye contact with him. She didn't usually make that much eye contact but she didn't want to break it. She didn't want him to think she was rude. The moment was ruined, however, by the arrival of Reigen.

"Mob, thank God I caught you. We just got an exorcism job, and the client says he'll pay double if we get down there in less than an hour, so we've got to catch the bus." Said Reigen as he locked up for the day. He stopped in his tracks when he say just how close she was standing to tall hair boy. Oh. Moment ruined.

_Reigen 100% Awkward_

"Alright Master Reigen. Goodbye Teru." Said Mob. Teru was sizing up the man in front of him. So this was Master Reigen? He felt just like a normal person, and what was with the bag of…was that all loose table salt?

"Bye, Shigeko. I'll see you again tomorrow?" has asked hopefully. She nodded. That would be nice. It was nice having company on her walks to work.

"Sure. I have club tomorrow, so you don't have to wait around if you're busy." Said Mob. Teru wasn't busy, all of his friends had abandoned him and she was the only girl he was currently or planning on flirting with,

"I'll still wait for you." Said Teru. Reigen was loathe to interrupt this scene of pure sugary sweetness but they really needed that money. He tapped his wrist where his watch would be, if he still wore a watch.

"Mob, today." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and waved goodbye to Teru. She and Master Reigen made the bus in seconds flat and off they went. She sat up straight and stared out the window.

"This is going to be so great. Tonight I'll take you wherever you want, just name it." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"I like ramen." Said Mob simply. She liked it when they got ramen, it was familiar and Master Reigen was always very happy there, even if he ate like a little kid.

"C'mon Mob, something better than ramen. Anything you could ever want." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"Sukiyaki is nice." Said Mob. Reigen patted her back and then draped an arm over her. She looked either tired or deep in thought.

"That sounds great. Sukiyaki it is." Said Reigen. Of course he was letting her pick dinner, this was a big job. Apparently this guy's dress shop was full of annoying spirits who were spying on people and teasing them, and by full he had meant full. He hoped Mob was up to it. Mob leaned into him and closed her eyes.

"Thank you, Master Reigen." Said Mob. She wasn't pretending to sleep, exactly, she just felt so warm right then and there. Reigen didn't know what to do. He didn't particularly mind her resting her head on him, but it might give people the wrong idea. Whatever, she deserved her rest.

Reigen shook her away when they were near their stop. Huh, she had actually fallen asleep. She stretched as she woke up and as they departed she grabbed onto him for stability. Those were some tall bus stairs, that was what she told herself anyway.

"How are you doing, Mob?" asked Reigen. She seemed a little out of it. Mob nodded. She felt fine, mostly. A little….confused…maybe. About what she wasn't sure. The atmosphere between her and Teru, she thought.

"Master Reigen, do you ever…do you ever have trouble getting a clue?" asked Mob as they walked down to their destination.

"I do, sometimes, but not usually. Some people just have trouble getting a clue and that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. We all have different talents." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. She wanted to confess to him, just to get all of this off her chest. She didn't, though, because Master Reigen would most certainly reject her and that would hurt worse than any other hurt that she could ever conceive.

"Having trouble with your new…friend?" asked Reigen. He was about to say boyfriend but he didn't want to embarrass her. Mob with a boyfriend, he honestly never thought that he'd see the day. She was really growing as a person and, honestly, he was afraid she'd outgrow him. Reigen didn't like to think about that, though, so he squished those feels deep down where they couldn't get to him.

"No. Teru is very nice. He forgave me for beating him up, shaving his head, ripping off his clothes, losing him all his friends, and destroying his school….but I put the school back together and he got a really tall wig." Said Mob as they walked down the street. Reigen stopped in his tracks.

"This…this is the boy who was fighting with you?" asked Reigen. How did Mob get herself into these situations? Why would she even….?

"Master Reigen?" asked Mob. They needed to get going or they wouldn't get double.

"Mob, you know you can say no to people right? You don't have to be with this boy?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded, not quite understanding.

"I know I can say no. When he tried to fight me again I said no and didn't fight back…until I exploded and did all those things." Said Mob

"I mean, you don't have to go out with him." said Reigen. He couldn't forbid her from doing anything, and if he told her that what she was doing was a bad idea she'd just double down. He had been fourteen once too. When his parents told him that he couldn't cut his hair long in the front and short in the back he had shaved half his head himself right then and there. He didn't want to be the one to kick off Mob's rebellious phase.

"We aren't going out!" said Mob, hiding her face in her hands from the sheer embarrassment. Wait, did walking together count as going out? Had she misread the atmosphere that badly?

"You sure?" asked Reigen. They had walked together two days in a row, that was practically a marriage proposal by middle school standards. Mob nodded furiously.

"Teru isn't my boyfriend. We don't even hold hands." Said Mob. Oh no, what did Master Reigen think? Just because he wouldn't love her now didn't mean that he wouldn't love her when she was grown up. She didn't want to have inadvertently ruined her chances.

"Sure he isn't." said Reigen disbelievingly.

"He's really not." Said Mob

"I believe you." Said Reigen

"Then why are you saying it like that?" asked Mob

"Hey, you are getting better at getting a clue." Said Reigen tossling her hair. She looked up at him through her bangs. He shrugged.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry I misread the atmosphere." Said Reigen. It was nice to see that Mob wasn't all grown up just yet. Mob was still looking up at him.

"I was just saying that you don't have to be with someone who tried to fight you. I remember how shook up you were that day, and it shook me up too." Said Reigen. Mob was still looking at him.

"I just worry about you, alright? You're just a kid and…and I don't want anything to happen to you." Said Reigen. She was still looking up at her through her fringe.

"And it's not that I don't trust your judgement, I just don't want anyone to hurt you. You understand right?" said Reigen. Mob kept that same expression, or non expression, but nodded.

"You'd tell me if someone hurt you right? I'd defend you, you know, you don't have to go it alone." Said Reigen. Mob nodded again.

"Teru is nice to me, we don't fight anymore, if that's what you're worried about." Said Mob. Sometimes it was best to just let Master Reigen talk himself out.

"He shouldn't have tried to fight you in the first place, but if you want him to be your not boyfriend then he's your not boyfriend. Just be careful. Also don't make it a habit to strip and shave your defeated enemies." Said Reigen

"I won't. I didn't even mean to strip or shave him. The other me did that." Said Mob. Reigen stopped in his tracks.

"The…other….you?" asked Reigen

"The me that only comes out when I explode. That me is meaner, and hurts people. I don't like to hurt people." Said Mob

"Oh, you're being metaphorical. That's a relief. We all have a different inner person, and that's fine, but just don't let yours strip and shave people." Said Reigen

"I won't fight either." Said Mob

"Sometimes you have to fight. Remember what I said about self defense?" said Reigen as he started walking again. Well, this had certainly come out of left field.

"I don't like fighting. I'm a pacifist." Said Mob

"Pacifist? Where'd you learn that?" asked Reigen

"Dimple told me about it. It means someone who won't ever fight." Said Mob

"Sometimes you're going to have to fight, like now. C'mon, let's go fight this spirit." Said Reigen as they arrived to their destination. It was a closed dress shop.

_Closed for the foreseeable future check again tomorrow_

Mob could feel the spirits as soon as they arrived. There were a lot of them in there, but they were acting as a group. Usually when there were so many spirits in there they were eating each other. These spirits were acting as a group for one goal. That was strange.

"Are you the exorcist?" said a man, presumably the owner, as he cracked the door to his shop open so just a sliver of hid face showed.

"That's me, Reigen Arataka greatest psychic of the twenty first century at your service, and here within the hour if I may point out." Said Reigen

"Yes, yes, your fee. You'll get it when my shop is free of these awful spirits. Please, come in." said the man. Reigen entered, with Mob trailing behind him.

_A little girl_

_So gloomy_

_So plain_

_Make her pretty_

"So, what seems to be the problem?" asked Reigen. He was watching Mob out of the corner of his eye. She was staring at something, more focused than her usual staring. She was more curious than freaked out though.

"These spirits are bothering all of my customers! That's the problem. I can't even have people in the shop anymore!" said the man flailing his hands dramatically.

_Hello little girl_

_Don't you want to be pretty? _

_Aren't you tired of being plain?_

_We can make you so pretty_

"Don't worry, we'll make short work of them." Said Reigen. He reached into his bag and began dramatically spreading salt all over the shop. The owner looked like he was about to cry.

"Is that...necessary?" he asked

"If you want these spirits gone it is." Said Reigen. Inside of his mind he narrated his actions, it helped him work.

_This is one of Reigen's special moves: The Salt Monsoon, in which he spreads a torrent of salt on all offending spirits with all his might and speed._

"Well, I think I got some of them, but let me bring this to my apprentice." Said Reigen motioning towards Mob

"Apprentice?" asked the owner. He hadn't noticed any apprentice. Oh no…it was a girl.

"You didn't say you were bringing a little girl with you!" gasped the shop owner. Reigen shrugged.

"What's the big deal, I bring her everywhere." Said Reigen. Mob looked transfixed on something. That could either be very good or very bad, depending.

"You shouldn't have brought her! Every time a little girl comes in the spirits…they…." He gasped out dramatically. Reigen felt his blood run cold. Had he put Mob in actual danger?

_You're so gloomy_

_So plain_

_Come with us_

_We can make you look pretty_

"Sure." Said Mob stepping forward. She didn't think anything truly bad would happen to her, she knew her own strength. Banishing spirits wasn't really fighting anyway, so it was alright if she had to.

"No little girl! Don't!" screamed the owner as Mob was enveloped in fabric.

"Mob!" said Reigen. He tried to get close but was slammed into a wall.

_Ick, a man_

_You can't be pretty_

_We'll fix the plain girl_

"Those spirits may not let her go for some time….if ever." Said the shop keeper.

"What do you mean?!" asked Reigen. Crap. He couldn't let anything happen to Mob.

"At first when I opened they were very helpful, cutting down my work to a tenth of what it was. Then they got….pushy….and greedy. Now whenever a little girl comes in they take her and…and…and-" said the owner

"What do they do?!" asked Reigen shaking the other man.

"They give terrible make overs!" he wailed. Reigen let him go and just stared.

"What?" he asked flatly

"They have no comprehension of color coordination or balance! They don't take into account the clients coloring, body type, or facial structure. Plus we are too far from Harajuku for those types of dresses. Honestly, she'll stick out like a sore thumb, which might not be bad actually for her. Such a plain little girl, I didn't even notice her." Said the owner

"Don't say that about Mob. She's….adorable." said Reigen dramatically. She was adorable when you spent enough time with her.

"Hey, if that's what floats your boat." Said the owner with a shrug. Reigen was about to ask what he mean by that when he was hit in the head by Mob's uniform shirt and skirt.

"Wait, she's naked in there!" said Reigen pointing and screaming. That was not ok. Mob could be scarred psychologically for life!

"They're making her a new outfit. I shudder to think what they'll do to her." Said the owner

"Mob, hang on!" said Reigen. He attempted to approach, to pull her out of the swirling cocoon of fabric, but was knocked on his back again.

_Our pretty_

_Our project_

_Our snack!_

Reigen tried and failed again to save Mob, but she didn't need saving. The cocoon was enveloped in her pink and blue energy barrier before shuddering and, ultimately, exploding leaving only Mob floating in the air. She stepped down and stood in front of Reigen in what looked like a fabric store exploded.

"Master Reigen, do I look pretty?" asked Mob before helping him up. Reigen nodded. She was in a pink….dress? It was very wide and looked like it had lots of layers. It had bows on the hem too, and the back, and the collar, and in her hair. There were also sequins involved, and a sequined bow on her head.

"You look…very nice." Said Reigen. Who was he to judge fashion? Mob's entire face lit up.

"I'm sorry about the mess." Said Mob to the owner. She used her powers to quickly put everything back where it looked like it went. The owner was still crying.

"I'm so, so, so, sorry that THIS happened to you. You poor, poor, poor little girl." He cried. Mob was confused.

"No, I'm alright. They wanted to eat me because of my power so I erased them." Said Mob simply

"Good work, apprentice, but remember, I softened them up first." Said Reigen. Mob nodded, she wouldn't tell her Master that he had forgotten to have the salt blessed again. It would hurt his feelings.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. The owner was still looking at her with tears in his eyes.

"Here's your fee, double just like we agreed, and the little girl can keep the dress. Just, please, don't tell anyone you got it here." Said the owner. Mob looked at her shoes. Little girl?

"Thank you very much, and don't forget to tell your friends." Said Reigen with a bow. He collected Mob's uniform and out they went. Mob still mulled over the shopkeepers words. Little girl? She wasn't little, she was in middle school. Master Reigen still saw her as a little girl too.

"C'mon Mob, let's head back to the office for a few hours and then…" said Reigen taking a dramatic pause.

"Sukiyaki?" said Mob

"Sukiyaki!" said Reigen enthusiastically. On the way back they, mostly Mob, turned heads. The only trouble was that people weren't calling her pretty, they were calling her words like cute and adorable. She looked like a little kid. Dimples words rang in her mind. Master Reigen could get grown up women if he wanted, what would he want with her?

"Hey Mob, are you alright?" asked Reigen as they closed up. No more exorcisms that day, a few massages though but he took care of those. Maybe Mob was tired, or just thinking really hard.

"Master Reigen, did you mean it when you said I was pretty?" asked Mob. Reigen didn't even stop what he was doing, but internally he was panicking. What was it with women and their looks?

"Of course I think you're pretty, Mob." Said Reigen

"Not….adorable?" asked Mob

"They mean the same thing, don't they?" asked Reigen. Pretty, cute, adorable. As far as Reigen was concerned they were all positive assessments of someone's appearance.

"I guess…." Said Mob

"You look really nice." Said Reigen. Mob smiled her smallest smile. It was always nice to be complimented, even if it wasn't the compliment she wanted to hear.

"Thank you." Said Mob

"Now come on, Sukiyaki awaits!" said Reigen as he ushered her out the door. Mob really was growing up, but he would deal with it. She wasn't Peter Pan, she wouldn't stay eleven forever. Besides, Reigen had weathered worse in his life than having to deal with a moody Mob, not that she was moody now, but Reigen could see that she was on the road to becoming moody. He just had to stay a positive relationship in her life, that was all he could do really.


	9. First Stumbling Steps

Ritsu had insisted on spending the morning with her, not that Mob was complaining. It was always nice to spend time with Ritsu, even though he had so many other things he could be doing.

"Do you want some sugar?" asked Ritsu, cautiously. He wasn't afraid of his sister but instead he was afraid of popping the soap bubble that was their happiness. Lately the atmosphere had been heavy between them, he thought.

"No thanks." Said Mob as she took a bite of her cereal. Ritsu made it for her, not that you really could make cereal since it came already cooked in the box, but he poured her a bowl. He didn't have to but he did.

"Hey, Shigeko, I really am sorry for the other day." Said Ritsu. He had to clear up the atmosphere with her before it became unbearable. He had been ashamed these past few days and had actually been avoiding her. It hadn't been difficult, since she spent more time out of the house than in.

"When you accidentally used my toothbrush?" asked Shigeko. That had been gross but she washed it off with hot water. They were too old to be sharing germs like that.

"No, but I'm sorry for that too." Said Ritsu. He honestly hadn't meant to, he was just half asleep and hers was the first toothbrush he had grabbed. He hadn't noticed that it was pink until he had already finished.

"It's alright, you didn't mean to." Said Mob. Ritsu would never do anything to hurt her, even something as petty as using her toothbrush so she had to spend ten minutes running it under hot water so that all the germs were killed and so that she didn't accidentally have an indirect kiss with her little brother.

"You're right, I really didn't but that's not what I'm apologizing for. I'm sorry for spying on you and your boyfriend." Said Ritsu finally. Mob looked at him for longer that was necessary. Ritsu wasn't a fan of her stare. He still couldn't tell good stares from bad stares from neutral stares.

"Teru isn't my boyfriend." Said Mob. She didn't think she sounded defensive, she was just stating a fact. Teru hadn't confessed to her and hadn't asked her to be his girlfriend, therefore they were not boyfriend and girlfriend.

"You don't have to lie to me, Shigeko. I saw how you were with him. I'm happy for you." Said Ritsu. Maybe she was embarrassed. Neither of them had ever been in a relationship before. She didn't need to be embarrassed, though, they were both way too old to be teasing each other about things like that. They weren't in elementary school anymore.

"He's not my boyfriend, I only just met him." said Mob. People needed longer to be in relationships. Even Tome had known all the Telepathy club boys since first year and she still hadn't picked one to be her boyfriend.

"Then why did you give him chocolates and let him walk with you?" asked Ritsu. He was a smart guy, he had the test scores to prove it, but he knew he wasn't exactly wise to the ways of women. There was a platonic way to give chocolates to and walk arm in arm with a girl who wasn't your sister?

"He gave me chocolates first and wanted to walk with me." Said Mob simply. She didn't see why she should have rejected him. Walking with him was nice, and he talked a lot so she didn't have to. He also had a lot of interesting things to say, kind of like Master Reigen.

"Why did he give you chocolates and want to walk with you if he didn't want to be your boyfriend?" asked Ritsu, genuinely curious. He hadn't found the right girl to confess to but when he did he knew that he needed to do it right so that the atmosphere wasn't confusing. Mob stopped mid-chew and thought.

"I just thought he liked me." Said Shigeko. Teru might have just liked her, he might have really liked her, she didn't know. She liked him. Not as much as she liked Master Reigen, he was on a whole other level, but she liked him a lot. He was smart and nice and had managed to change, so he gave her hope too.

"He probably likes you, but really likes you. You know what I mean?" asked Ritsu. His sister was probably misreading the atmosphere again. Ritsu needed to clear it up because, while he didn't know this Teru guy well, he must have been a better partner for Shigeko than that fraud Reigen.

"I thought he might have but I was worried I was misreading the atmosphere." Said Mob. If she was wrong then things could have become really awkward, and she hated it when things were awkward.

"The atmosphere was pretty clear." Said Ritsu. It was good that he was having this talk with Shigeko before she ended up married without having realized it.

"Oh." Said Mob. Her spoon bent as she thought. Teru liked her? She trusted Ritsu's judgement, he was really good socially and she just plain wasn't.

"I'm still glad for you. He seems nice." Said Ritsu. He wasn't that Reigen guy; that was what mattered more than anything. Maybe now that Shigeko had a boyfriend she would be out all night with Reigen. Ritsu always waited up to greet her, to see if she was alright. She was always so happy when she came home, happier than she used to be anyway, but that didn't change the fact that Reigen was way too old for her.

"He's nice now. We used to fight but now we're friends. It's nice." Said Mob. Ritsu handed her his spoon. She didn't tell Ritsu how they used to fight, he would just get worried for her. He worried about everything, even Master Reigen just because he was older than she was.

"You should spend more time with Teru and less time with Reigen." Said Ritsu getting to the point, which was best with Shigeko. She didn't really understand subtlety. Mob looked at him like he had just declared his intentions to quite school and devote himself to watching the clouds go by.

"But I like spending time with Master Reigen, and he likes me and isn't scared of me." Said Mob. She knew that people were only asking her about her powers because they were scared of her and wanted to understand her. She knew that Onigawara and his friends only wanted her to fight their battles because of her powers, and that's why they had started calling her the Magical Girl of Salt Middle School.

"Nobody's scared of you." Said Ritsu quickly. Nobody was scared of her, just the thing that came out whenever she exploded.

"Mom and dad are, it's obvious." Said Mob. She didn't even seem sad, just stating a fact. Ritsu wanted to refute it but didn't. Mom had even said that meals were nicer without Shigeko, and dad had spent less time at work since she started being out until late at night. As long as her homework was done and she wasn't out doing anything terrible they were content to leave her alone with Reigen.

"I'm not afraid of you." Said Ritsu. He wasn't afraid of his sister. That thing that came out when his sister lost control wasn't Shigeko at all, so it wasn't really a lie.

"Sometimes I think you are." Said Mob bluntly. No sadness, no anger, nothing. Just her particular brand of flat fact. Reigen stifled a gasp. She thought that he was afraid of her? Why? He stayed up and greeted her every night, he hung out with her whenever chance he got. She still thought he was afraid?

"Why? Why would you think that, sister?" asked Ritsu, a pleading edge to his voice. His own cereal now forgotten and growing soggier by the second.

"Because of that day." Said Mob. The day when she exploded and woke up with Ritsu's blood all over her. He had to go to the hospital and get stitches that day. Dad looked so scared. Mom was crying and pushing her away.

"I already said that didn't bother me." Said Ritsu. It really didn't. Shigeko had defended them against those high school guys. It was his fault she exploded. He was the brother, he was supposed to defend his sister.

"Sometimes people say things just to make other people feel better." Said Mob quietly. She could tell, sometimes, when people did that. Master Reigen did that to clients all the time, pretending to do séances so that they could say goodbye to relatives, spreading salt around when there weren't any spirits around at all, and giving people who thought they were cursed massages because sometimes the weight of the world got to be too much, he had said.

"Shigeko, I'm not afraid of you." Said Ritsu stressing every syllable so that she could understand just how serious he was being.

"Everyone is, they just don't say it. Mom, Dad, you, people at school-" said Mob. She didn't want to be scary at all. That's why she was wearing that dress today, the one the makeover spirits had made for her before trying to eat her. She looked nice and pink and cute, like a magical girl even though she wasn't one. Maybe people weren't calling her magical girl to be mean but instead it was just a misunderstanding. Either way, people liked magical girls and she wanted to be liked.

"Who at school is being mean to you?" said Ritsu darkly. He would end anyone who made fun of Shigeko. She didn't need stress. If she exploded again she'd hate herself.

"Nobody is, but I can feel it. People keep trying to fight with me, or asking me to fight other people, and they keep asking me about my powers and they call me a magical girl no matter how many times I say I'm not." Said Mob. Ritsu didn't bring up the fact that she was currently dressed like a magical girl. That…that was something he'd ask her about later. She just showed up in that big, puffy, pink dress a few days ago. It had hung up on her door until she was wearing it today. He figured it was a gift from that Reigen guy. He seemed like the kind of guy who would

"Names. I want names." Said Ritsu. Mob knew that tone, Ritsu was going to lose his temper at someone. That wasn't good, her little brother shouldn't have had to fight her fights for her.

"They weren't trying to be mean." Said Mob. Sometimes people were mean without realizing it. They were probably calling her a magical girl like they were stating a fact. Either way people really liked magical girls.

"I don't care, people should be nicer to you. You're not a sideshow attraction." Said Ritsu. People had been treating Shigeko like she existed for their amusement since they were kids. He remembered how even when they were little there were times like when Tsubomi made Shigeko do all that stuff with her powers and then just ditched them when she got bored.

"I don't want you to fight for me, Ritsu." Said Mob putting her hand over his. Ritsu took a deep, calming breath like he had seen Shigeko do a few times. Mob didn't want her brother fighting but wondered if she could stop him. Most boys seemed to be obsessed with fighting. Even the Telepathy Club boys played fighting games all day.

"I want to fight for you, I'm your brother. It's my job to defend you." Said Ritsu. He couldn't defend her one that day but he could defend her now.

"But I don't want you or anyone else to fight for me. I don't like fighting. It's stupid." Said Mob, her dress rustling as she crossed her arms. Fighting was stupid but Ritsu was not, he was one of the smartest people she had ever met, so she didn't want him to do something as stupid as fight some people who were bigger, stronger, and honestly might not have even been trying to be mean to her.

"It's not…it's not stupid if I'm defending you." Said Ritsu. Why couldn't she see that he needed to do what was best for her? Besides, she fought evil spirits every single day of the week, why did she think that fighting was stupid?

"I don't need you to defend me." Said Mob. Ritsu opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. Objectively she didn't need him or anyone else to defend her. She could lift cars with her mind. She could throw people a hundred feet in the air. But he was still her brother. He would still fight for her, even if she didn't realize that he was.

"I'll always be there to defend you." Said Ritsu. It didn't matter that she was stronger than him, he was still the brother in this situation and it was his job to protect his sister from people trying to make fun of her. She didn't need that kind of stress in her life, and he was her brother so it was his job to help her. He would use his power in the student council to do something about the people who bothered her. He was pretty sure who started the rumors that she was a magical girl. Not Mezato, no, Mezato was Shigeko's friend. He had heard Onigawara and his delinquent gang talking about a real live magical girl, and how with her they could defeat the other delinquent gangs. Good. Ristu knew what he needed to do.

Mob mulled over what Ritsu said on her way to people watch with Tome. She held up her dress with her powers so that she could walk better. It was hot, itchy, and too pink but it made her feel pretty and people seemed to like it, based on how many times people had called her cute on her way into the city. Master Reigen liked it too, and so did she because he did.

She wondered what Master Reigen was up to. She had been coming in more often so he gave her Saturday off. He was probably sitting in the office giving people massages. Saturday was a big massage day. She rolled her shoulders. She needed a back rub too, and not just because it was nice having Master Reigen so close.

What would it be like to have Teru so close? He wasn't Master Reigen but he was still nice. He also made he feel warm and happy but it was a different kind of warmth. Master Reigen set a fire under her, Teru was like sitting in a warm tub on a cold winter's day. Teru was still nice though, and he forgave her for all the stuff she did to him.

Plus she knew what he looked like naked.

Mob stopped in her tracks and shook her head. Where had that thought come from? It was because she was getting older, and all that other stuff they had explained at school. It was still embarrassing though. She kind of hoped that telepaths weren't real, even though it would crush Tome's dreams, because she didn't want anyone to know all the embarrassing thoughts that she had been having these past few weeks, or the things she did as a direct result of these thoughts. No, that was extremely private.

She wondered if other people thought the same things she did. They probably did, at school they said that the new thoughts they were having towards the opposite sex were totally normal and nothing to be ashamed of. Did anyone think about her like that? The thought made her blush so that her face was the same shade of pink as her dress and hair bow. Who would think about her like that? She wasn't pretty, she was adorable, just like a little kid or a doll. There were prettier girls, like Tsubomi, who looked older and probably didn't still wear the undershirts their moms got at the five hundred yen or less store.

Mob didn't know if she wanted anyone to think about her like that, even, because she wasn't sure if these were things that she actually wanted to do. Actually, she didn't even fully know what she wanted to do. She had no idea what was actually done so her thoughts revolved around touches, feelings, and half formed impressions. She knew, objectively, that they would never actually come to pass. Master Reigen could find someone his own age who actually looked grown up and knew what to do.

The thought of Master Reigen thinking about someone else the way she thought about him made her feel motion sick. She knew what he did, sometimes, because she had been shooed out of the office on more than one occasion to go to the store that was far away and bring back snacks. She could see his aura afterwards, if she focused. Very calm, faint like a regular person's but calm. He always was so happy and relaxed too. She wanted to be the person who-

Did she? The thought made her nervous. That would be….she didn't know how to keep things normal between them if they did that. Not that they ever would. She had never even held hands with anybody. Ritsu didn't count because he was her brother. She had never even kissed anyone before, not for real. She wanted to do. Teru…he liked her. Did he think about her the way she thought about Master Reigen? The thought filled her with something like a mixture of nervousness and giddiness, like the time she and Ritsu had decided to drink a pot of coffee to see what it was like.

If Teru asked her to be his girlfriend…maybe she would say yes. He probably liked her, if Ritsu thought he did then he was probably right, and she didn't think that she could reject someone. Her heart hurt at the thought of being rejected. She would probably say yes and maybe they could be happy. Teru was her age after all.

"Kageyama! Mob! He-llo!" Oh, that was Tome knocking on her head.

"Sorry, I was thinking." Said Mob. Oh, Tome was following her for a little bit. Sometimes Mob got lost in her own head, sometimes it even felt like she was arguing with someone else.

"Conversing telepathically?!" asked Tome excitedly. Mob shook her head.

"No, I was just figuring some stuff out, that's all. I'm sorry I ignored you." Said Mob with a bow. Friends didn't ignore friends, and she liked being friends with Tome.

"I can find it in my heart to forgive you. Now, it's time we got to work!" said Tome as she grabbed Mob by the hand and dragged her down the street to Tome's usual people watching/hanging out bench. Mob wondered if Tome had tried drinking a pot of coffee that morning too. She could be really animated sometimes, Mob liked people like that. Then she could just be herself because they filled up the atmosphere all by themselves.

"Alright, this is right in front of the train station so we have a pretty good chance of finding another esper." Said Tome as they sat down. Tome flopped down while Mob sat down more slowly so she kept her dress nice.

"What do we do when we find them?" asked Mob

"We ask them to help us, of course." Said Tome like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mob stared at her for a moment. She had never met an esper who could read minds before but then again she had only met Teru and Master Reigen, and Master Reigen had an entirely different power set.

"Are you reading my mind?" asked Tome excitedly. She had been doing online research and discovered that espers could have more than one power. She hoped that Mob had spontaneously developed telepathy, then she could fulfil her life's goal and quietly retire to the arcade or the manga shop and live out the rest of her days in peace and contentment.

"No, I still can't do that." Said Mob, still staring but not really looking at anything in particular. She was trying to feel for an esper's aura, it would be easier now that she had felt Teru's.

"Then what are you staring for?" asked Tome. Was she seeing spirits? Was she clairvoyant? Did Tome have something on her face?

"I was just trying to see if I could feel any other espers around. Everyone feels like a normal person, but they could just be hiding their auras like my Master can." Said Mob

"Well it's still only morning. We have all day!" said Tome before pulling out her gaming thing. Mob watched over her shoulder. She liked videogames, not as much as the telepathy club but she did like them. Tome was playing a rhythm game, Mob loved those. She and Ritsu used to go to the arcade when they were little and play Beatmania and Dance Dance when they were little. Mob used to sometimes use her powers without realizing then, and she and Ritsu would fight because she kept on accidentally cheating.

"You should get a DS, then we could play together." Said Tome as she furiously hit buttons like they had personally offended her.

"I used to have one but I gave it to Ritsu when his broke." Said Mob. Wow, Tome was really good at that. Usually at that point Mob's powers took over and it was like having infinite hands.

"Do you want my old one? My parents got me this one for my birthday but my old one still works. It doesn't do 3D though, but you can do multiplayer with us." Said Tome not looking up.

"You don't have to do that, Tome." Said Mob not wanting to take advantage of her friend.

"I want to, this way we'll have an even number for games." Said Tome. It would be nice to have another girl in the group too, not that Tome was particularly girly. Not as girly as Mob apparently was. Where did she get that dress? Harajuku?

"Thank you." Said Mob gratefully. Tome was so nice, and cool too. How could she talk and keep up that pace without any powers? She guessed that Tome had honed her skills because this is what she yearned to do. But why? Playing videogames wouldn't make her more popular?

"Yes! I finally beat my high score. I am truly the top idol." Said Tome. Idol Master Dance Party was a guilty pleasure of hers. Not that she was into idols or anything, she just liked rhythm games and the esthetic and the music and sometimes dancing when she was alone in her room.

"Why do you play games so often?" asked Mob suddenly. Tome shrugged.

"Because they're fun. What are you, stupid?" asked Tome. Mob looked at her with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" said Mob as she began to apologize. She just couldn't get a clue no matter what she did.

"I was kidding. Jeez Mob, you take everything so literally." Said Tome. Mob seriously could not get a clue, but it was alright, she was still better company than the boys sometimes.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Tome." Said Mob

"You apologize too much." Said Tome. Mob stifled the urge to apologize again. The rules were so complicated sometimes. She thought than when you did something wrong you were supposed to say sorry, otherwise you were being rude, but apparently there was such a thing as to much apologizing and it annoyed people. She wished that one day a big book of instructions would just fall from the sky so she could have some idea of what she was doing.

"But yeah, videogames are really fun." Said Tome, hoping that she hadn't actually hurt Mob's feelings. She could be insensitive sometimes, she knew that. Sometimes she couldn't really get a clue, too.

"But playing them won't make you popular." Said Mob. Tome scoffed.

"Who cares about being popular?" asked Tome. Popularity was overrated. If somebody didn't like her for who she was then they could go and sit on a cat.

"You don't?" asked Mob. She cared about being popular more than anything; that was why she was trying to change. Now she had clubs and friends and was doing something on her day off besides watch TV or work.

"No way. I'd rather do what makes me happy than try and be someone I'm not." Said Tome simply

"But how did you know what you wanted to do?" asked Mob. Tome shrugged.

"I do what makes me happy." Said Tome. Mob looked at her. What made her happy? Mob hadn't gotten out of her comfort zone to be happy, not really, but because she was dissatisfied. Did dissatisfaction count as unhappiness?

"I guess I do that too." Said Mob. She exercised every day because the satisfaction of self-improvement made her happy. She hung out with the telepathy club because having friends made her happy. She went to work almost every day because being with Master Reigen made her happy. She walked with Teru every day because being with him made her happy. Huh. Tome gave her a lot to think about.

They went back to people watching, well Mob was people watching and Tome was playing her game. Nobody that felt like an esper walked by. Lots of interesting people, though.

"Hey Tome, look at that." Said Mob. Tome sat up and grabbed Mob's arm.

"Is it another esper?!" she asked, looking around for anything out of the ordinary.

"No, I just thought that guy had a really unique haircut." Said Mob motioning towards the man with the purple Mohawk.

"Oh yeah, that's really neat….but get your head in the game, Kageyama! There have got to be more espers out here." Said Tome

"I'm not sure how many of us there really are, I'll have to ask Teru." Said Mob. Tome looked up from her game

"Hold up, who's Teru?" said Tome

"He's a boy who used to fight with me but now he wants us to be friends. Also I think he likes me." Said Mob

"You know another esper and you didn't bring him along?" asked Tome. They could have doubled their search potential with another esper.

"I didn't know I could invite him along too." Said Mob

"We could have been doubly close to our goal!" said Tome

"I'll ask him to come along next time, then." Said Mob. She like to sit her with Teru, he'd talk more than Tome.

"Hey, is this the same guy you said was kind of a jerk?" asked Tome. Mob nodded.

"He's not a jerk anymore, though. He's really nice now, actually. Ritsu thinks he wants to be my boyfriend." Said Mob. Tome gasped and then leaned in conspiratorially

"Is he the older guy you were telling me about, before?" asked Tome

"No, that's someone else. Teru is new. He's really nice. He walks me with and we exchanged cholates. That means he wants to be my boyfriend, right?" asked Mob. Tome was about to ask Mob why she was asking her but then immediately tried to put on a sagely air. Right, Mob thought she was some kind of boy expert.

"Usually that is a clear indication of romantic intent. However, given your social difficulties I would get verbal conformation of any such arrangement." Said Tome in her most expert like voice. Mob watched her and nodded.

"So I should just ask him if he wants to be my boyfriend?" asked Mob

"Well you need to wait for the right moment." Said Tome thinking back to anime and manga. There was always a moment where the two character's eyes met and everything moved really slow, then they declared their love.

"Oh….I need to read the atmosphere." Said Mob. She was most certainly going to make a fool of herself, in that case.

"Don't worry, you'll know the moment. Your eyes will meet, your hands will touch, and everything will get really slow and quiet." Said Tome. At least that was how she thought it meant. She actually hadn't really done anything like that with a guy before, not for real anyway.

"Then I ask him?" asked Mob. Huh. Well she could read the atmosphere if it was really clear like that, then.

"Yup. Just like in anime." Said Tome. Mob was deep in thought again. She had never had a moment like that before, but it sounded nice. She…did she want a moment like that with Teru? The thought of having something like that with Master Reigen made her happy. More than happy. But the thought of something like that with Teru…also made her happy.

"Is that how it was for you?" asked Mob. Tome quickly composed herself.

"Well…I guess. I've really only practiced before. I just haven't met the right guy yet." Said Tome. Practice kissing had been ok, but he had tasted like green apple soda and chips, so it was kind of weird.

"But you know so much." Said Mob

"Well yeah, I put stuff I learned together. That doesn't make me an expert." Said Tome

"Oh." Said Mob. They went back to people watching, still not finding any other espers. Mob felt her attention wavering. There was a little dog. She liked dogs too. He had a little outfit on, and dog shoes.

"Hey, Mob, check out that guy. Now there's a unique hairstyle." Said Tome Mob looked up and saw Teru. As she saw him his aura hit her. It felt nice, warm, not like when they first met. He waved at her. She looked around before waving back.

"That's Teru." Said Mob as Teru came over to them. Was she supposed to stand up? Or stay sitting? Tome was still sitting so she decided to do that.

"Here's your big chance, Mob." Said Tome nudging her. Judging from hat guy's look he and Mob were made for each other. It was romantic, really. Two espers finding each other, doing battle, and then falling in love.

"Hello ladies." Said Teru. He was talking to both of them but he was staring at Mob. She blushed and looked down.

"Hi Teru. Teru this is my friend Tome. Tome, this is Teru." Said Mob. Tome and Teru said their hellos and Mob tried to stop blushing. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before. It was nice, but also made her nervous.

"Well I've got to go, very busy today. Super, super busy. You guys have fun." Said Tome getting up and going. Mob knew that was a lie, Tome never had a lot of stuff to do, but figured that she just didn't want to feel like an extra person.

"She seemed nice." Said Teru. Mob nodded.

"Tome's really nice, she's in club with me. She's the president of the telepathy club." Said Mob. Teru sat down next to her, much closer than Tome had.

"She's a telepath?" asked Teru incredulously. She had felt just like a normal person, of course he had never met a telepath before.

"No, but she wants to find telepaths so she can find aliens." Said Mob. Teru cocked an eyebrow, he really didn't see the connection.

"How does that even work?" asked Teru scooting a little closer to her. She didn't push him away; that was good. Mob didn't want to push him away, this was nice. Kind of like being near Master Reigen.

"I'm not sure, really, but it's something Tome wants to do so I help her." Said Mob. She could feel Teru's hand near hers. His fingers were touching hers.

"Well, it looks like she had something else to do, so do you want to do something." Asked Teru. Mob shrugged.

"Do you want to?" asked Mob. She wanted to hold his hand, she wanted to ask him if she was his girlfriend.

"Have you had lunch yet?" asked Teru. Mob shook her head. His fingers were touching hers now, did she want to hold hands? She was hard to read.

"No. Only breakfast." Said Mob. She inched her hand closer, her fingers were on his. She was aware of how close he was, and it was so nice. So warm.

"Do you want to get some lunch?" asked Teru. She had put her fingers on is, hopefully intentionally. Yes. He had her, maybe. Hopefully.

"Alright." Said Mob. She didn't really want to get up but usually when people asked if you were hungry they were really trying to say that they were hungry. Teru got up first and offered her his hand. She took it. He could see how flushed she was. He didn't think she had enough blood to get so flushed, she was so pale. Pink was a nice color on her, though.

"Do you like cafes? I know a nice little one not too far from here." Said Teru. He had taken a few girls there, they had all liked it. Mob nodded.

"I've never been to a café before, but I'll go if you like it." Said Mob. Teru didn't know if that meant she wanted to go or not.

"Where do you want to go?" asked Teru. Mob shrugged. She and Master Reigen usually just went to ramen or takoyaki or MobRonalds. Actually she usually just went wherever Master Reigen wanted to go.

"Where ever you want is fine." Said Mob. Teru took that as an OK and they walked off to the café. He told her about his day. He had been shopping and bought some new shirts, but he had to take the train to get the since Seasoning City was bereft of good clothing options. He also asked where she got her dress and she told him the story about the makeover spirit. He said she looked really pretty and she couldn't meet his eyes. Pretty. Not adorable. Now they were eating cakes and drinking café drinks. Teru had coffee, she had hot milk with vanilla. It was very nice.

"Do you have work today?" asked Teru. If she didn't he could invite her over, watch a movie, and see where that went.

"No, but sometimes Master Reigen calls me on my days off…even though I've asked him not to make me come in on such short notice." Said Mob. This was a nice place, and the cake was nice too. Teru was sitting cross from her, he was nice. This was nice.

"Why don't you just tell him you're not coming in?" asked Teru. That's what he would do.

"I could never do that, Master Reigen needs me." Said Mob before taking another bite. Cake was bad for her but it tasted so good.

"Would you go if he called you now?" asked Teu. Mob knew that she answer was yes, but she also knew that she didn't want to hurt Teru's feelings.

"No." said Mob, cake turning to ashes in her mouth as she lied. She'd make it up to him later. Teru smiled and put his hand over hers.

"Is this OK?" asked Teru. Mob nodded wordlessly. This was most definitely OK. This was the most OK. So this was holding hands? No, wait, his hand was just over hers. Was holding hands better than this?

"Hey, uh, Mob. Do you want to come over to my house?" asked Teru slowly, gauging her reaction. He had actually never brought a girl over to his house before. It had always just seemed too…much. But he had never really been serious about a girl before.

"Sure." Said Mob. She was about to ask if his parents would mind before she remembered that he didn't have any of those. She wanted to ask what had happened but knew that if she asked he'd feel bad, especially if they were dead or something. Or maybe they just loved abroad, like in anime. No, that part of anime wasn't true in real life, right? Probably not.

"Really? You're alright with that?" asked Teru. He didn't think that she would actually….well he had hoped that she would….this was good. He may have lost everything but he gained a girlfriend. Maybe? Hopefully.

"I am. Why wouldn't I be? I know we aren't going to fight again, and I've never been to anyone's house before." Said Mob

"Not even your friend's houses?" asked Teru before he realized what he said.

"I never really had any friends before." Said Mob quietly. Teru laced his fingers in hers.

"I'm sorry. I just can't get a clue, I guess." Said Teru

"Don't ever say that." Said Mob seriously. She made eye contact with Teru, more than was probably needed, but he held it. He held it and held it. Breathing was becoming difficult. Everything felt slow. Was this the moment.

"Teru-" said Mob. She was interrupted by Teru kissing her hand. He, too, had felt the moment.

"Was that alright?" asked Teru. Mob nodded, dumbfounded. That was, well, romantic. Blatantly romantic. Nobody had ever been so blatantly romantic with her before. She could feel her hair floating around her hair, like she was under water. Her fork floating up in front of her, cake at the end still attached. A gold aura touched her blue one, and everything floated down gently.

"Sorry. When I get too…anything….my powers act up." Said Mob. Teru shrugged.

"I used to do that too, when I was younger. It goes away." Said Teru. Of course that happened when he ten years younger, but he didn't want to tell her how much younger because he didn't want to make her feel bad.

"Really? Thank you." said Mob. She hoped it would go away, soon, because she was so tired of people being afraid of her. Teru wasn't, anymore, though. Even though she had exploded at him. She was smiling, really smiling. He was smiling back. She wanted this to last forever.

Eventually, though, they had to go. They took a bus to Teru's house, well it was more of a high rise than a house. Mob looked up as they arrived, it was so tall. Teru squeezed her hand, they had held hands the whole way there. If they could stay like that forever Mob would have.

"Are you alright?" asked Teru

"I've never been in a building so tall, before." Said Mob. She hoped he lived on the ground floor. If she lost control of her powers so high up…the entire thing would come down like a house of cards.

"You're not even inside yet." Said Teru. He laughed, but it was a nice laugh. Teru pulled her closer. He was calm on the inside, but on the inside he was breaking apart. He had never, ever had a girl in his house before. He had never even had a girl near his house before. What was he supposed to do? What did she expect? Did she expect anything?

"Are we going inside?" asked Mob. He had gone quiet, which was weird, because he had been talking to her the entire way there, mostly about clothes and stuff. He really liked her dress and he promised to take her to Harajuku where they had more clothes like that.

"Right. Sorry. After you." Said Teru. He used his powers to open the door and she went inside. She stood still in the elevator while he fidgeted.

"Are you alright?" asked Mob. He was either upset, bored, or really had to pee.

"Fine! I'm fine, I just, uh…I never had a girl over before." Said Teru

"I've never been to anyone's house before, so we're even." Said Mob quietly. Teru squeezed her hand again. The elevator shuddered.

"Sorry." Said Mob

"I think that was both of us." Said Teru. Well, that was embarrassing. He hadn't done anything like that since he was a kid. She still looked worried, so he pulled her close. Mob closed her eyes, he smelled nice, like boys soap. She didn't notice the elevator stop.

"Well, this is it." Said Teru as they walked up to his door. He undid the lock with his powers and the door swung opened. Mob kicked off her shoes and looked around. There was so much light is was like living in a star, the carpet was so thick and soft, and the ceiling was so high her footsteps echoed like she was in a cave.

"You live here?" asked Mob. She spun around like she was a kid again. It was so big and roomy.

"For most of my life." Said Teru watching her spin. She was so pretty, he was grateful to have her there with him. He could feel his heart beating in his ears. No girl had ever gotten him like this before.

"It's really bright, I like it a lot." Said Mob. She stopped spinning and was facing him now. She felt warm again, time felt slow. They were all alone, it dawned on her.

"Do you want a drink? I mean something to do. Obviously I don't actually have drinks. Not that I couldn't if I wanted to but I haven't really ever seen the need to drink." Rambled Teru, also becoming aware that he was alone in his house with a girl.

"Do you have any milk?" asked Mob. She loved milk.

"Sure." Said Teru. He walked into his kitchen and took a moment to collect himself. He couldn't be nervous. He had to be cool even though he was breaking apart on the inside, but in a good way. He had a second chance with her, he wasn't going to mess it up. He poured her a glass of milk, and himself a glass of water. Beyond that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He left the kitchen and found her sitting on his couch staring out the window.

"Do you want to…." Said Teru trailing off as he set their drinks down on the coffee table. She turned to look at him.

"You can see the whole city from up here." Said Mob exaggerating slightly. You could see a lot of it, but not her house, which made her a little sad. She wondered what it looked like from above. She wouldn't life herself to see it, though, because it just didn't seem worth the motion sickness.

"Yeah, there's downtown, and the train station, and the big park-" said Teru scooting closer to her so he could see better.

"And the cultural museum, and the salt factory, and the giant noodle sign." Said Mob. Wow, it was so cool, and Teru got to see it every day. He was so lucky. Well, aside from the no parents thing. That wasn't lucky at all.

"They have the best soba." Said Teru

"They really do. Master Reigen took me there once, it was really good." Said Mob. Teru stiffened at the mention of her shishou. His rival. He could tell by the way she talked about him. He put an arm around her.

"So, what's with you and him?" asked Teru

"He teaches me things and I work for him, you met him before, remember?" asked Mob. She let herself lean back into him. His sweater was warm, and pink too. It was a very nice place to be.

"That's all?" asked Teru

"We're friends too, I think. We hang out a lot after work and sometimes on the weekends when I come in, but weekends are usually busy. Lots of people get backrubs because they don't have tie during the week. Wait, I'm not supposed to call them backrubs, they're supposed to be curse removals and Master Reigen says it's alright to call them that because back pain is a curse and we're still helping people. Well, Master Reigen helps people, I just write receipts." Said Mob. Teru wanted to ask if they were just friends but didn't. She was with right then at that moment in time, that was what mattered. Even if she was talking a lot about that Reigen guy.

"Well, I hope Claw doesn't get to him." said Teru, somewhat sarcastically. Mob looked up at him.

"What's Claw?" asked Mob. It sounded familiar, wasn't that the name of the criminal organization from that show she and Ritsu liked when they were little?

"They haven't tried to recruit you yet?" asked Teru incredulously. She was more powerful than he was, and those idiots had already bothered him four times.

"Recruit me for what?" asked Mob

"It's this group that's trying to build an esper army I think, but everyone they have is really weak. They tried to recruit me four times and I think they've got the message now." Said Teru. Mob was confused.

"There are more of us?" asked Mob

"Not naturals like us. They give people with latent abilities a power boost but it really isn't much. You're the strongest person I've ever met." Said Teru, lacing his fingers in hers slowly. He savored it, each finger, the way she trembled, the way she was looking at him. This was new. It was new in a good way. The sun was shining, it was a nice day, and he had good company. Life was good.

"Why-Why do they do that? Seems kind of dumb to me." Said Mob. If there were other people like her, why fight? They could all be friends. She stifled one of those weird noises she made when something felt really good. Teru was holding her hand again, but slower. His hands were really soft, no callouses at all. His nails were short and clean. She flushed as he dragged one of his fingers over hers.

"I have no idea." Said Teru, his voice deeper than usual. Huh. That was weird, he never sounded like that before. Her hands were soft, but not as soft as a lot of girl's were. They were still nice, though. He had held hands with girls before but not like this. He had enjoyed it but not savored it. It had mostly been an ego thing, reminding himself that he was attractive and all that. This was different. He still felt attractive but he cared about the person he was holding hands with.

"How many of us are there?" asked Mob. She wasn't alone, there were other people in the world like her. There was one such person there with her at that very moment.

"I honestly have no idea. You're the only other natural I've ever met." Said Teru

"Same." Said Mob breathlessly. Teru was leaning in closer to her. She let him, because she liked having him close.

"Hey, Shigeko….can I ask you something." Said Teru gathering all of his resolve. This was the moment. They were alone, he had the home field advantage, and she looked very receptive. Still, he should warn her first. That way if she didn't want to she wouldn't leave and never speak to him again.

"Sure." Said Mob. He was so close she could feel his breath, they were millimeters apart in her mind, though not so close in reality.

"Can I kiss you?" asked Teru. Mob leaned back quickly. Whoa. What? What? She didn't know how to…she had never…..but she…she wanted to. But why? She loved Master Reigen, but Master Reigen wasn't there, and he didn't love her like that….but Teru wanted to kiss her.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 50%_

"I'm sorry! Please don't-" said Teru. Crap, he misread the atmosphere. She was upset with him now. She'd go and he'd be all alone again.

"I never kissed anyone before." Said Mob quietly. Teru felt his mounting panic deflate.

"Oh. Well we don't have to-" said Teru

"Can we practice?" asked Mob. Tome had practiced before and she said that practice didn't count. Mob could practice so that when she did actually kiss someone for real it would be nice. Someone being Master Reigen and when being when she was a grown up. She did want to kiss Teru, she wanted to kiss him so badly. But she also wanted to kiss Master Reigen. Was it possible to want to be with two people at the same time?

"You want to practice kiss?" asked Teru. He hadn't practices with anyone since elementary school, but if she hadn't practiced before then…he'd do it. But it hurt, just a little, that she only wanted to practice.

"If you want to." Said Mob looking down. That was dumb, she didn't know why she said it.

"OK." Said Teru. He wanted to kiss her, she wanted to kiss him, so why not just kiss already?

"Alright." Said Mob, making no attempt at moving. She had just held hands for the first time that day. Was she going too fast? She wanted to kiss Teru but was that the right thing to do? What if she was bad at practicing? What if she made a fool of herself?

"Sure." Said Teru. He had kissed plenty of girls, five to be exact, so why was he nervous? Was he just nervous because she was nervous? What if she didn't like it? What if she didn't like him? He didn't think he could be able to stand her rejecting him.

"Right." Said Mob. What if she was so terrible at it that he laughed at her? She didn't think she could take him making fun of her. She hated it when people made fun of her.

"Do you want to now?" asked Teru. The moment was long gone, that was true, but they could still…if she wanted to that is.

"Yeah!" said Mob sitting up straighter and leaning in closer to him. She mentally went over every single time she had ever seen two people kiss in real life or on TV and realized that she knew so little that she couldn't even copy them. She marshalled all of her courage and leaned in.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 60%_

"Uh-" said Teru as she leaned in close. Right. Well this was it. Teru reached over dragged his thumb down the side of her face. She opened her eyes.

"What are you doing?" asked Mob

"Trying to get the moment back. You can't just kiss someone." Said Teru. He dragged his finger down the side of her face and across her lips. He hoped this worked, he saw it in a movie once.

"That's nice, Teru." Said Mob as her eyes closed slowly. His skin was so soft. She could feel his nail a little bit, too, and she shuddered in a good way. Huh. That was a new feeling. She wondered if she was supposed to be touching him at all, too. She slowly put her hand on his shoulder, and then down to his back.

"Teru?" asked Mob in a breathy sort of voice she had no idea that she could do.

"Shigeko?" asked Teru putting his other had at her waist. She shifted closer to him.

"Why do you like me?" asked Mob, her eyes still closed. Teru closed his eyes, too.

"Because you knocked some sense into me." Said Teru quietly. He had been such an asshole before that day, he cringed just remembering himself.

"Just because we fought?" said Mob. Teru could feel her frowning a little.

"No, because you're smarter than me and stronger than me and you're always genuine." Said Teru. His forehead was pressed against hers. Her hair was really thick. He kept his wig on with his powers, it kept trying to tip over. He wasn't mad at her, anymore, for that. It was his own fault for messing around with knives in the first place. Knives were not for pointing at people.

"Teru…you're so nice." Said Mob. She was closer now too, very close. She didn't want to open her eyes. She didn't need to in order to know how close he was, how close they were, and the fact that she was floating things. She could feel her aura extending from herself naturally. Not lashing out like when she exploded but instead ebbing and flowing around them. She could feel his, too. It felt like they were floating, which they very well might have been. It was so nice, she wanted to live in that moment forever.

"So are you." Said Teru before he leaned in and closed the gap between them.

While Mob was taking her first clumsy steps into the world of intimacy across town Reigen was enjoying one of the few benefits of not having Mob around, namely that he could add another use to the massage/exorcism/yoga/meditation/nap room. It wasn't skeevy if Mob wasn't there. Besides, he could disinfect the room later.

"I'll see you later, Arataka." She said as she left. Reigen lit a cigarette and leaned back into his chair. It was a good Saturday. He'd flip the closed sign to open later, right now he needed a minute. He took a long drag of his cigarette. That was good. This was his favorite part, winding down, and he could do it without having to meet Mob's big, innocent, eyes.

He wondered what Mob was up to. Probably hanging out people watching with her friends. He wanted to text her just to see what was up but thought against it. She needed time to herself, and it would have been that the first thing he does after sex is text a middle schooler about her day. He almost wished that the people he was with stuck around afterwards. When he was younger he would have hated it if a woman stayed but now he was getting older. He still hadn't met the woman he'd spend his life with, though. Usually people met each other at work but the only other person he worked with was Mob.

Heh, spending his life with Mob. She'd be at her little desk, no he'd get a real desk eventually, and helping him well into their adulthood. Well, hers. He'd probably be middle aged at that point. A somber thought. He was getting older, and so was she. She'd outgrow him, maybe, no matter what she promised. He didn't want that. He could…he had to…he couldn't lose her.

Without her he wouldn't have anyone.

What was with him? Why was he always thinking of her, even when he didn't think he was thinking of her? He'd be watching TV and think 'hey Mob would like this' or he'd be at the store and think 'Mob would like this' without even realizing. Sometimes he laid awake at night and wonder if she was alright.

At some point, Reigen didn't know when, Mob had become his best friend. His only friend. He didn't know how to feel about that. His best friend was a fourteen year old girl. He wasn't even best friends with a fourteen year old when he actually was fourteen. He actually hadn't had many friends when he was that age. It wasn't easy growing up, being who he was. What he was. People weren't as accepting back then, even if it was only about a decade and a half ago.

He hadn't had many friends, and was a lifetime member of the go home club. Going home, of course, had it's own problems. His parents had fought constantly towards the end until they finally just broke apart. He hoped Mob's family wasn't the same way. He knew he had given his parents endless grief in his youth, and he hadn't even had barely controlled psychic powers. What was he thinking? Mob was nothing like him, even if her mother had called her willful. Mob would have walked off a cliff if he asked her to.

Not that he ever would. He wanted what was best for her. He would make sure that she was happy and loved because she deserved that. He didn't want her to end up like he did. But would keeping her with him mean that she would? What did she want in her life? She wanted friends, he knew that, but what about her future? What had she said?

"Will you love me when I'm grown up?"

That was what she had asked. Of course he would. He would always love her no matter what age she was. Even if she grew up and left him he would still love her. He honestly had trouble picturing his life without her. He didn't know what he would do with himself if she wasn't by his side. Probably carry on as he had in the past. Eating junk food in front of the TV, watching the clock at work until he could finally go home, getting drunk off his ass every night, and then waking up to do it all again.

It all changed when that kid walked into his life three years ago. He actually lived more for her now. He would be better for her, he had to be, so that he was the kind of adult she would want to be around. Of course he would love her when she was an adult. He's always want to be with her, and if he could he'd spend his life with her.

Whoa. Not like that. No. He wouldn't love her like that. She was too young, and even when she got older she'd still be too young.

Reigen lit another cigarette. What was wrong with him?


	10. Ritsu Discovers His Full Potential

The sun is shining above Seasoning City, the birds are singing, bees were trying to reproduce with them, as was Mob's understanding based on a very confusing saying she had heard before, and unbeknownst to her Ritsu, her only and favorite brother, was having the greatest crisis of his life. Greater than time when he was four and he took some gum from the convenience store, greater than when stole the neighbor's cat and hid it in his closet because people kept throwing rocks at it, even greater than when he accidentally broke his DS and let Shigeko give him hers so that mom would be mad at her and not him.

Ritsu was going to hell when he died, and he couldn't even tell the person he cared about most in the world because he had done it for her. He didn't want delinquents bothering her, and it's not like they were actually making the school a better place, so he and the vice president had…disposed…of them.

Not murder, though Ritsu felt like he had killed someone. He had framed so many people and now they would carry the mark of shame for the rest of their natural lives and maybe even come back as spirits and haunt him. He was only trying to help Shigeko, and he had succeeded, but at what cost to himself? The road to hell was paved with good intentions, wasn't it?

But it was worth it if it was for Shigeko.

His alarm was blaring but he just rolled over. He did not want to start this day. He couldn't face himself after what he had done, even if it was for his sister.

"Ritsu, are you still sleeping?" asked Mob as she entered his room. He was still in bed. She turned his alarm off and stood in front of him. She leaned her head down to check if he was breathing. He was alive at least.

"Should I tell mom to call you in sick?" asked Mob. Ritsu sat up.

"No, I'm awake." Said Ritsu. Mob put her hand on his forehead. He didn't feel warm but he looked pale and motion sick.

"Are you sick?" asked Mob. Ritsu shook his head. He wasn't alright, but it wasn't something physical.

"No, I'm fine. I just…" said Ritsu. Mob sat down on the bed with him, pink nightgown clashing with his blue bedspread. She used to do this when they were kids, it always made him feel better knowing that she was there for him.

"You can tell me, brother." Said Mob sincerely. The sincerity was what cut through Ritsu. He couldn't tell her. If he told her what he had done then she would hate him.

"Are people picking on you?" asked Ritsu. If they weren't picking on her anymore then he had done his job as her brother.

"No, not really." Said Mob. People have even stopped calling her a magical girl, even though it was kind of growing on her. Everyone was talking about the weird thing that Onigawara did now. Mob thought it was gross, why would anyone want to lick recorders? It didn't even count as an indirect kiss unless the person's mouth was just on the thing you were putting your mouth on. That's what Tome said, anyway.

"That's what matters." Said Ritsu firmly. There, he had done his job as her brother. Why did he still feel terrible though?

"No, you're what matters." Said Mob equally as firmly, which made sense as she was imitating the tone Ritsu used. People had been making fun of her since the beginning of her memory, somewhere around pre-kindergarten, so who cared? Ritsu was what mattered. She was his big sister, it was her job to make him feel better and fix whatever it was that had him so depressed. He was the one who mattered, not her. He was smart. He was good at everything. He was Ritsu, she was just herself. Mob. Shigeko.

"Stop that, sister, just stop." Said Ritsu pulling the blanket back up over his head. He knew she cared and it warmed his heart; that was why she needed to stop. If she knew what he had really done, what he was actually capable of she would have wanted nothing to do with him.

"Stop doing what?" asked Mob genuinely confused. She wasn't actively doing anything annoying, she wasn't even making too much eye contact as she tended to do. Has she said too many words? Too few? Usually Ritsu didn't get upset if she didn't follow the social rules exactly.

"Stop putting me on a pedestal." Said Ritsu from under his blankets. Mob laid down next to him on top of the covers. He sounded really, really upset.

"I'm not putting you on a pedestal. That means that you're praising someone when they don't deserve it. You deserve it. You really are amazing, Ritsu." Said Mob. Why couldn't he realize how amazing he was? She was proud to be his big sister, to be related to someone who would grow up to be someone smart and important. She didn't even know what she would grow up to be. She wanted to work with Master Reigen forever, but everyone else was talking about going to university and having careers and stuff. Was that what she was supposed to do?

"Why? Why do you always have to say things like that?" asked Ritsu. What had be done to earn her praise? High test scores? Popularity? Looks? None of these things mattered in the face of what he had done….or what she could do.

"Why do I always have to say things like what?" asked Mob, truly not understanding the question. To her it was a given fact. The sky was blue, water was wet, carrots didn't belong in ramen, and her little brother Ritsu was truly an amazing and talented person.

"Why do you keep saying things like **that**?" asked Ritsu. She always had to say things like that, like he was this big amazing person. He was a liar, and he was weak. If he could do the things she could do then he wouldn't have had to resort to such dirty, underhanded tactics.

"Like what? Ritsu, I don't understand what you mean." asked Mob, fearing that this would turn into a game of 20 questions. She wasn't good at that. If Ritsu wanted to say something she wished he would just say it instead of making her ask questions. It was always so hard to figure out what it was that people were trying to get at.

"That I'm amazing." Said Ritsu after a pause. Why? Why did she have to go and say stuff like that? She was the amazing ones. She could telekinetically lift things and exorcise ghosts. He could sneak around and plant recorder tops.

"Because you are. You're so smart and you're good at everything." Said Mob, turning to face him even though he was under the covers. Ritsu turned to face the wall, even though he couldn't see her. He didn't want her to look at him. Some irrational part of him was worried that she could see what he had done written on his face, even though she couldn't actually see his face at all.

"I'm not good at everything." Said Ritsu. He couldn't defend his own sister without resorting to sneaky, underhanded tactics. He also couldn't do even a tenth of what she could. If he had her abilities…but he didn't. No matter how much he tried the spoon just would not bend. He had been up practically half the night just staring at it, willing something to happen. Anything at all. Shigeko could bend them without even realizing it.

"Well I guess not literally everything, like the time we tried to make curry or the time we tried to paint my room when you were little." Said Mob. Maybe that's what Ritsu was upset about? That was alright, sometimes she didn't get that people didn't mean exactly what they said either. Words could be really confusing and even Ritsu could have a hard time getting a clue.

"I don't mean that. I can't keep you safe, Shigeko." Said Ritsu. If he had her powers then he could be a real brother. He could make sure that nobody in the world would ever dare make fun of her again.

"But you don't need to do that, Ritsu." Said Mob. She didn't want Ritsu to fight anyone, especially not for her sake. He needed to do what was best for himself because he was, well, Ritsu and he had his own things to do and goals to meet. He didn't need to take time out of his life to go around fighting for her.

"I do. You don't realize it but I do." Said Ritsu. She was so clueless sometimes. It was like when they were kids and she didn't even realize that people made fun of her. She needed him. Without someone there to make sure that she was safe she'd get hurt, and she didn't deserve that. What was worse was that she could explode, and turn into that thing again. That scary thing that lived inside of her, that he had only seen once but never wanted to see again.

"Ritsu, please tell me what's bothering you." Said Mob. Whatever it was that was bothering him she would do her very best to fix. She hated seeing him like this. He didn't deserve to be hiding under the covers like when they were little.

"Nothing is bothering me, Shigeko." Said Ritsu. Mob was hurt, just a little, because he was lying to her.

"You can tell me anything." Said Mob practically pleading with him. Whatever it was they could fix it together. He didn't have to deal with his problems all on his own. He could have her help. That was what she was there for. She helped people all the time and she would help him.

"I'm fine, sister, alright? I need to change and get ready for school, you should too." Said Ritsu. Why couldn't she just get a clue? He didn't want to talk about this, he wanted to be left alone with his misery.

"Alright, but if you want to talk, I'm here." Said Mob getting off his bed and going back to her own room. Sometimes when people were bothered by something they didn't want to talk about it. That was one of the rules Mob knew. Master Reigen told her that after he got really quiet one day and sent her home early. He made it clear that he had other things bothering him but wasn't upset with her in any way. The nest day everything was back to normal. Maybe it would be the same with Ritsu.

"How can I talk to you about this?" muttered Ritsu as she left. It would have been easier, their whole relationship would have been easier, if they didn't love each other so much. If she was like his friends' big sisters, all shouting and fighting, then he wouldn't feel bad about freezing her out. They couldn't fight though, not ever. If they fought than the other Shigeko would come out, the one he had seen that day. They couldn't ever fight so they had to love each other.

Mob went to her own room to get ready for school, still worried about Ritsu. She hoped that he was alright, she really did. She didn't know what was bothering or what she could do to help. She hoped it wasn't one of those times where there was nothing she could do. She needed to help her little brother, she was his big sister, helping him was her job. She loved him more than anything in world.

She was right, there was nothing that she could do. Even if there was Ritsu didn't want her help. He was doing this for her. She should have just understood that. Why couldn't she just get a clue already?

Ritsu spent the entire day in a terrible mood. He was ready to snap at anyone but he decided to take a page out of his sister's book and stuff everything down behind an impassive stare. He had caught sight of himself in the mirror once and thought he was looking at a male version of Shigeko. There were some family similarities but it was something intangible behind the eyes that linked them together.

_Progress towards Ritsu's explosion: 25%_

"Kageyama! Kageyama! Hey! Hey! Hey, Mob's little brother! Can I talk to you?" asked Mezato. The day was over and she had been waiting and waiting for Ritsu to finally exit the building. Her story about Mob had broken and now her star was rising, she could continue this meteoric rise with an inside look at what she was going to call "The Big Salt Cleanup" which was very poetic because people used to use salt to clean things up with, and the student council had cleaned up the school.

"I told you that my sister wasn't a side show attraction." Said Ritsu as he kept waking. Mezato was undeterred and followed him.

"I know, but this isn't about Mob." Said Mezato pulling out her trusty notebook. The nickname for his sister sent a shudder up his spine. That wasn't her name. People should not have been calling her names like that.

"Why do you call her that?" asked Ritsu, stopping suddenly.

"What? Mob? That's how she introduces herself." Said Mezato confused. Mob must have liked to be called Mob, that's why she introduced herself as Mob. Right?

"It's a misnomer." Said Ritsu

"What?" asked Mezato

"It doesn't fit." Said Ritsu

"Yeah, I know what a misnomer is, but it totally fits. She doesn't really stick out." Said Mezato. In a crowd she was pretty plain, nothing much to look at. That was why she would make the perfect magical girl. She already had a secret identity. Shigeko, average middle school student by day, and Mob the Magical Girl by….the rest of the day, Mezato guessed.

"If she doesn't stick out then why did you write about her?" asked Ritsu

"Because she's the only esper in school." Said Mezato

"So she doesn't stick out then." Said Ritsu

"Ok, so she does sometimes, but she didn't used to. Her presence doesn't really register." Said Mezato. It was true. Maybe it was Mob's powers but sometimes it was just so hard to notice her, even when she was right there.

"She doesn't want to draw attention to herself because when she does people make fun of her. You're her friend, right? If you truly are then you should know that." Said Ritsu. His head hurt, it was like a building pressure. He could feel it radiating from his head throughout his entire body. He just wanted to go home and lay down.

"People are teasing her? That's just….dumb….and not because of what happened over at Black Vinegar. It's dumb because she's actually a really nice person." Said Mezato. Teasing people in general was wrong, but Mob didn't even do anything to deserve it. Not like that kid last year who everyone teased because he got caught looking at weird stuff on his phone during class, or that girl who kept a baggy of the hair of guys she liked in her shoe box. Mob didn't really do anything wrong, aside from the fact that she couldn't get a clue, all of the creepy staring, and the whole muted emotions thing. Those weren't really wrong, though, because she was a genuinely nice person.

"They call her the Magical Girl of Salt Middle School." Said Ritsu

"We aren't teasing her when we say that. We think she's cool." Said Mezato

"You guys just care about her powers." Said Ritsu. He was trying to squish down this mounting anger he was feeling. He tried to be as numb to it as possible. He squished down everything, even his expressions, until he was blank.

"Are you alright? You look kind of like-" said Mezato

"I'm just tired of people making fun of my sister." Said Ritsu in an even tone. Simple. Flat.

"We aren't making fun of her. We think she's cool and I mean that. She's a cool person and we aren't making fun of her." Said Mezato

"Did you ask her if she wanted to be called a magical girl?" asked Ritsu

"What do you have against magical girls? Have you seen Yuki Yuna? Madoka? Sailor Moon? Magical girls are awesome." Said Mezato

"This isn't TV." Said Ritsu

"Besides, I don't think Mob minds being called a magical girl." Said Mezato. She pulled out her phone and showed him a picture that had been making it's rounds around the various people in the know. Mezato always kept her ear to the ground and her cousin, a delinquent at Black Vinegar, though he didn't like to be called that, and he had sent her a picture of their sort of shadow leader on a date with the Mob. She was dressed like a magical girl and the guy she was with, Teruki, was dressed like he had gotten into a fight with a Christmas tree. Magical power couple.

"I…don't know why she was dressed like that." Said Ritsu. She had been talking about wanting to be pretty but that outfit….it was one of those things that was so pretty it was actually hard to look at.

"I don't get Mob sometimes, most of the time, either but she looks pretty happy." Said Mezato. She really did. She was smiling so big her teeth were visible. That guy's hand was on top of hers, and she looked like she was having the time of her life.

"People still shouldn't be teasing her." Said Ritsu

"I agree. Is that why you and the student council president cleaned up the school? For your big sister?" asked Mezato probingly. Ritsu felt his heart stop.

"What?" asked Ritsu

"C'mon, we all know that Onigawara didn't actually steal all of those mouth pieces. He's stupid but he's not so stupid." Said Mezato

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Said Ritsu

"And the rest of his group? They wouldn't steal anyone's gym clothes. They respect your sister too much, she might even be the first female shadow leader in the history of Salt Middle School." Said Mezato. Ritsu was lucky that nobody liked those delinquents or he could have been in a lot of trouble. The lie was so transparent that you could read the school paper through it. Ritsu just blinked and blinked as he tried to wrap his mind around everything Mezato had just said.

"Now I really have no idea what you're talking about." Said Ritsu. Shigeko a shadow leader? She couldn't even get herself motivated to do…well much of anything besides spending time with that Reigen guy. How was she going to command the school's delinquents? Why would she even want to in the first place?

"You remember how Black Vinegar got demolished and then put back together, right?" said Mezato

"It was all over the news." Said Ritsu

"Well, Onigawara used her as bate to try and get the body improvement club to fight Black Vinegar for her after his gang set her up to be kidnapped. They did, there was a fight, and then she fought with Black Vinegar's shadow leader but they fell in love and now, well, the rest is history." Said Mezato

"Did any of that actually happen?" asked Ritsu. Shigeko wouldn't go along with any of that. First of all, how would anyone possibly kidnap her? Secondly he could see Shigeko fighting to protect herself and that other Shigeko coming out but to then fall in love with the other shadow leader…who was supposedly her new boyfriend with the weird hair who Ritsu suspected was color blind?

"I swear on my notebook. So, do you want answer a few quick questions?" asked Mezato.

"You should become a novelist, you're great at writing fiction." Said Ritsu walking off briskly. That was so crazy, too crazy. Shigeko…Shigeko wouldn't go for any of that. She did have a boyfriend though…and he was the guy from the picture. No, if this happened she would have told him, she told him everything. They told each other everything. Well, not anymore….

Ritsu kept on walking home, his headache growing. He felt like he was going to explode, like a shook up soft drink, just ready to pop at any point.

"Hey, Kageyama, right?" it was someone that Ritsu had never seen before. He looked foreign and was dressed like his wardrobe exploded.

"Yes?" asked Ritsu keeping his distance. He had been warned about strangers for his entire life, and he wasn't his sister. He couldn't throw people through walls with just his mind.

"Thank goodness, I guess there was a point in waiting around after all." He said. Ritsu looked at him.

"You just hang around waiting for kids to get out of school?" asked Ritsu. Well, at least this guy ran into him and not Shigeko, for his sake.

"No, just for you, Kageyama." He said

"Yeah, that's creepy and I'm going home now." Said Ritsu

"Wait, let me present my credentials." Said the man as he held out a red business card. Ritsu took it and read it over. Awakening Lab?

"I'm Mitsuura Kenji, it's nice to meet you." He said holding out his hand. Ritsu didn't react. He kept his face schooled into a very Shigeko like expression.

"What is this?" asked Ritsu

"This is an aopportunity to amplify your psychic powers at my research facility." He said with a smile. Ritsu kept his face impassive. This guy must have thought he was Shigeko. Well yeah, since she never really used her first name for anything.

"I have to go now." said Ritsu turning around and walking away.

"Give me a visit if you change your mind." Said Kenji. Ritsu didn't even turn around. Awakening lab, it was probably just another Spirits and Such. Fraud and charlatans everywhere. He told himself these things to keep from getting false hope. He had always lived in Shigeko's shadow and he knew that it would always be his place. Shigeko had displayed her powers from the moment she was born, he hadn't gotten anything in the full thirteen years he had been alive.

He held the card in his hand, staring at it, as he continued to walk home, deep in thought. The route took him near the cross streets of the Awakening Lab. He didn't go in, at first. He circled the building. It was just an apartment complex.

"Kageyama! You beat me here!" Oh great, it was that Matsuura guy again.

"This is just an apartment complex, you liar." Said Ritsu. He was grabbed and dragged in.

"Come in and see!" said Kenji, happy to have found another esper kid. He couldn't be one of them but he could be around them, and from what happened to that school this kid was incredibly strong. Maybe he could even become an esper.

"No way." Said Ritsu digging his heels in.

"Oh, come on in and meet the other esper kids!" Kenji said

"Others?!" asked Ritsu. There were other esper kids in the world besides Mob? He could feel the hope within him growing. He could…if there were other kids then maybe he had the gift too and it just wasn't awakened. Maybe he could at least try.

"Sure, five of 'em!" he said. Ritsu allowed himself to be dragged inside. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he could get powers too and stop living in Shigeko's shadow for once in his life.

"Five?" asked Ritsu. Five more kids like Shigeko, that had all been awakened. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

It turned out that there was no hope for him after all. All five of the kids barely had powers, and what they could do was either useless or something Shigeko could do as a baby. There were DVDs in the cabinet under the TV to prove it. Even those kids could do better than he could. He couldn't even bend a simple spoon. He felt the pain in his head growing and growing. He just wanted to go home and sit in his room. He stomped all the way home.

"I don't think it's here, Master." That was Shigeko's voice. He turned the corner and saw her….with him. Ritsu hid around the corner, she probably didn't want him spying on her. Who was he kidding, she'd invite him along. She was out here all day with that…Reigen guy. She would want him to hang out with them. She would beg and plead for him to join them, and he might even say yes just to keep her from exploding.

"Well Mob, as you know I can sense all sorts of spirits but some are so low level that they escape even the notice of the great Reigen Arataka, so I'll defer to your judgement. But first….sodium chloride monsoon!" said Reigen, tossing salt everywhere like an idiot. Shigeko was giggling, why was she giggling? He was making an idiot out of himself, and he was making a mess.

"Master Reigen, you're getting salt on me." Said Shigeko. She was smiling a little, Ritsu hadn't seen her smile like that in….actually she had never smiled like that at him. That made sense, that wasn't the smile that little brothers were supposed to get.

"Friendly fire, Mob. Friendly fire. Even our allies can get caught up in this war we rage against the spirits, but it all works out because we know the satisfaction of a job well done." Said Reigen. Ritsu peaked a little more around the corner and saw Shigeko was gathering salt in her hand, by the grain it looked like, and was making a ball out of it. She was still smiling at him. He wasn't funny, he was annoying.

"Master Reigen, there's a spirit stuck to you." Said Shigeko, still with that same smile. That Reigen guy started jumping around and spinning in circles.

"Mob! Get it off! Quick!" said Reigen. Shigeko threw the ball of salt at him. It hit him in the face, but he didn't look upset.

"Did you get it?" asked Reigen shaking the salt out of his hair. Shigeko used her powers to get the rest off. All the salt from the ground flew into the air and then spread itself out evenly. Ritsu knew she was capable of brute strength but such fine movements, to move every single grain of salt? Even if he did awaken any latent powers he'd pale in comparison to her.

"It's gone, Master." Said Shigeko. He looked at her for a while, smiled, and then tugged at her pigtail. Ritsu was about to ask him what he thought he was doing but Shigeko just giggled.

"You're adorable, Mob." Reigen said. Now Shigeko frowned a little. Huh.

"Fine, you aren't adorable at all. You're a mature, grown up lady." Said Reigen. He sounded like he was making fun of her, but she looked happy again. He was saying something mean, but not saying it meanly. He was smiling too, but not meanly.

"Thank you, Master." Said Shigeko. The way she was looking up at him…the way he was looking down at her. It was…it was different but the same….no more intense maybe? It was like her and that Teru guy. Maybe. Ritsu didn't know. He had never seen his sister so unguarded, not since they were little anyway.

"A mature grown up lady who laughs when I do this." Said Reigen tugging on her pigtail again. Shigeko giggled, batted his hand away, and fixed the ribbon tying off the end of her pigtail. She fixed it with her powers. More very fine movements.

"You're a mature, grown up man who laughs when I do this." Said Shigeko flipping that Reigen guy's tie up with her powers. He laughed too, but not meanly. He looked pretty happy.

"Mob, never change." Said Reigen throwing an arm around her. Ritsu didn't want him being so touchy with his sister, but Shigeko could handle herself. She could life cars and send people flying through walls.

"I'm trying to be a better person, Master Reigen." Said Shigeko. Reigen was checking his phone, he didn't see the way Shigeko was looking at him now. Ritsu knew her well enough to be able to read her eyes. She wanted him to know something.

"Huh, what? Oh. You are a good person Mob. I mean never stop having fun. You're good company…..unlike some people." Said Reigen. He muttered that last part, but Ritsu could make it out. He was still ignoring Shigeko and texting someone. He looked less happy.

"Master Reigen? Who's not good company?" asked Shigeko. Ritsu knew that tone, she felt worried. That wasn't good. Was he trying to send her into a melt down? Or maybe he was just too stupid to realize that he needed to tiptoe around her because she could fly off the handle at any moment.

"Oh nobody, just this chi-wom-person. Just a person, a person who obviously doesn't know how to read a clock…." Reigen said, texting more angrily. Shigeko was still looking up at that guy? Why? Why was she trying to get his attention? Or was he trying to make her jealous? Why? She'd just explode. Maybe this idiot deserved it.

"Maybe you could teach her?" said Shigeko. What was with her voice? Why was she making it high like that? She was usually so cold when she spoke. Why did this guy get her actual voice? Why did he get so much of her time?

"Honestly, her company is just so draining, and not in a good way." Said Reigen, making an 'Oh crap' face at the end. Ritsu knew that it was wrong to spy but he hadn't seen his sister so unguarded in years. This was the only way he could see this side of her, peaking around corners like a snoop.

"Is my company draining in a good way?" asked Shigeko. Man, she just couldn't get a clue, could she? Well at least that Reigen guy was funny now, the way he was wringing his hands and stuttering.

"Your company is…different…I'll tell you when you're older! Anyway don't you have to get home for dinner?" Reigen asked. Now Shigeko was looking at the ground. Didn't Reigen know that their family was happier without Shigeko around? That their parents were so afraid when she was around that they couldn't even have regular conversation? That they were tired of having to tiptoe around her because she could explode at any time? Like she would when they were little?

"Master Reigen….please don't make me go home." Said Shigeko quietly. Huh? What was with her? She never sounded like that.

"You sure, Mob?" asked Reigen. His hand was back on her shoulder. Both hands were. Whatever. If Shigeko didn't like it she could just throw him off. He was just a regular person after all.

"I'm sure, Master Reigen. Can we go to Yoshinoya tonight? Please? They just opened one and Tome says it's really good. They let you put whatever you want in your beef bowl." Said Shigeko. Why was she asking? With her powers she could have made him do anything? What was with his sister?

"Sure, but don't eat me out of house and home." Said Reigen. Shigeko was startled. Ritsu could feel the ground under him shake a little. Yes, there was the Shigeko he knew. She'd do that until she got her way, just like when they were kids and she really wanted takoyaki but his parents said no so she shook the kitchen off the house. They were four and five, or maybe younger. Who knew what she could do now that she was older.

"I'm so sorry, Master Reigen. I didn't know I was-" Shigeko was apologizing again. She did that all the time. She thought that if you just said sorry enough it made it OK. Like how she kept apologizing about that day.

"Hey, Mob. I was kidding. Eat as much as you want. We can go to the park again afterwards, too. Maybe we'll find some more of those black seeds. I want to see what they grow into." Said Reigen. Even he knew that you had to appease Shigeko or she'd have a break down. Huh. They went to the park, too. Ritsu couldn't remember the last time he and Shigeko had gone to the park together.

"I'd like that, Master. Did I tell you what happened today? Tome gave me her old DS and it has some games on it so she taught me how to play….." they were walking away now. Ritsu wasn't going to follow them. He had already been enough of an eavesdropper already. He didn't need to know about all things that they did together. Ritsu continued his walk home, kicking the ground as he walked. He was so…so….what was this? It was like something was building up inside of him, like a pot left on the stove for too long.

His head was killing him. He felt like he was going to explode. He couldn't stand it. When would this end? Would he ever-

Oh. What was that? A creepy looking balloon?

Ritsu saw something green and floating in front of his house. What was that thing? He got closer and it…it looked back at him?

What?

"What are you?" asked Ritsu. Shigeko used to draw pictures like this when they were kids. Was this an evil spirit?

"Hi little boy, I'm Dimple, a friend of Shigeko's. You mind letting me in?" asked Dimple. He had been hanging around outside for hours. He was so weak now he couldn't even get inside the house because Shigeko lived there.

"S-Sure." Said Ritsu. His brain was fuzzy right then, the regularly scheduled programming cancelled for the moment. He was seeing a spirit, a real not live spirit. Dimple was grinning. Yes, this was going to much easier than he thought. Finally, a new body. This kid's aura was all over the place, but he wasn't as strong as Shigeko. Maybe he could break through the kid's natural defenses and get his plans back in motion. He'd say hi to Shigeko too, just to see how the kid was doing.

"Man thanks for helping me out." Said Dimple as he followed Ritsu to his bedroom.

"Y-You're welcome." Said Ritsu. He was actually seeing a spirit. He actually had powers. Well, either that or he was going crazy.

"You ever been exorcised twice? It's not fun. Hurts, actually, but I made it back from the particle layer all by myself, finally. The only thing is that my spiritual energy is a lot less than it used to be, so I can't even get back into the house myself because your sister lives here, which sucks because she really needs me. Oh well, you'll do for now." Said Dimple. He was doing that staring thing that Shigeko did. What was with this family?

"You-You're a spirit." Said Ritsu. This gross thing that looked like a cross between a balloon and a jelly was real, a spirit, and was talking to him. Ritsu knew what he had to do.

"Yup, the name's Dimple. Please to meet you!" said Dimple. The kid was reaching over to him, and he had that same look Shigeko did.

"You wanna shake hands?" asked Dimple before he was grabbed and kneed in the face. Repeatedly.

"I have to exorcise you!" said Ritsu as he kneed the spirit in the face, trying to make it leave the corporeal world.

"Hey! Will you knock that off! That's not even how you exorcise someone!" said Dimple. Ritsu stopped and let him go.

"Well then how do I exorcise you?" asked Ritsu

"You don't know how?" asked Dimple. Ooh, this was good. He might even have a chance with this kid.

"No. I've never even seen a spirit before today." Said Ritsu through gritted teeth. Great, he had powers but all he could do was see spirits. He couldn't even exorcise him. His powers were as useless as the ones that those kids from the Awakening Lab had.

"But you're Shigeko's brother!" said Dimple, trying to hit a nerve. He couldn't get through Shigeko's head that she needed his help but maybe his brother would have more sense.

"I know I'm her brother!" said Ritsu kicking the wall. He finally gets powers and they're useless. Utterly useless.

"You know, I could help you." Said Dimple. Ritsu shook his head.

"I'm useless. I can't do anything." Said Ritsu, the pressure building within him again. Dimple watched his aura. He could see the kid's aura, and it was uneven. He had potential though, a decent amount of it. He wouldn't be on Shigeko's level or anything but Dimple honestly didn't think that there were people on Shigeko's level.

"Hey, why don't you pick up that spoon over there." Said Dimple

"Why what's the point?" asked Ritsu

"Go on, just do it." Said Dimple. What was with this kid? Some kind of complex? He motioned towards Ritsu and with some trepidation Ritsu took one of the spoons off his desk and held it in his hand.

"It's not bending." Said Ritsu glaring at it. He tried to will it to bend but it just wouldn't budge, exactly like what happened at the Awakening Lab. Ritsu threw it as hard as he could.

"See, Dimple, I'm useless!" said Ritsu throwing the spoon at the wall hard enough to make a loud clanking sound. Dimple smirked at him. This kid was far from useless.

"You sure about that?" asked Dimple motioning to the pile of twisted silverware on Ritsu's desk. Ritsu gasped.

"I really do have actual psychic powers." Said Ritsu. The pressure inside of him was gone. He could do it, he could really do it.

"Hey, why don't we team up? With my help you could surpass even your sister." Said Dimple, lying just a tiny bit. He could surpass Shigeko when she held back, and he doubted that Shigeko would ever let herself get to full strength. The kid was just too much of a pacifist. Dimple never should have taught her that word.

"Surpass….Shigeko?" asked Ritsu. He could be even more powerful than her. He could stop living in her shadow. He could stop tiptoeing around her.

"So, do we have a deal?" asked Dimple. Yes, this was going amazingly. He finally had a new body. He's treat it well though, no need to have Shigeko exorcise him again. He didn't think he'd survive a third attempt.

"Sure Dimple, we have a deal." Said Ritsu. He could surpass Shigeko. Suddenly everything going on in his life felt trivial. Nothing mattered now that he had these psychic powers. He didn't have to be perfect all the time. Athletics, test scores, nothing mattered now. He'd actually use his powers to the fullest too. He wouldn't waste them like Shigeko did.

"Great, wanna start now?" asked Dimple

"Yes! Right now!" said Ritsu

"Great. Well I'm going to need you to relax your body and close your eyes." Said Dimple. Ritsu did just that and Dimple possessed him easily.

"Hey, Dimple, where'd you go?" asked Ritsu. He felt a wave of energy pass over him and then Dimple was gone.

"Crap! I'm too weak to control the body!" said Dimple. Ritsu heard him in his own head and gasped. He shook his head back and forth wildly trying to get rid of this new intruder.

"You're possessing me?" asked Ritsu

"No, I'm…uh…trying to regulate the output of your powers. Your aura is all over the place, kid." Said Dimple

"Well how should it look?" asked Ritsu

"Steady. You've got flare ups and cool downs happening at once somehow. Hang on, let me just tweak a few things." Said Dimple, not mentioning that he'd be siphoning some power for his own use. He couldn't be this weak little thing forever, he'd go crazy.

"I can feel that." Said Ritsu. He could feel himself getting…stronger? Not physically stronger. It was more like an energy was filling him up like a balloon. The pressure from before was gone, and now all that was left was warmth.

"Try bending that first spoon now." Said Dimple. Ritsu found where he had thrown it and with a thought it twisted and folded.

"Dimple! It's working!" said Ritsu. He began to levitate things around his room. They orbited him like he was the center of their universe. This was so perfect. He finally had everything he ever waned. Everything would be alright.

While Ritsu was discovering his own awesomeness Mob was poking at a bowl of rice, beef, and assorted veggies with a very pensive look on her face.

"What's up, Mob? You don't like it?" said Reigen. He'd happily eat her portion. The kid could pick a good restaurant, even though she took up valuable space with vegetables. This was the only kid he had ever met that actually liked those things. Or maybe spending his childhood watching Junk Food Fighter Michael all day had warped him food wise.

"No, it's good. I'm just worried." Said Mob. What was with Ritsu today? He seemed so sad.

"About what?" asked Reigen with his mouth full, rice and sauce sprinkling the table. He didn't notice the looks other patrons gave him.

"Ritsu. My little brother…he was just so sad this morning. I don't know how to help him. I don't think he wants my help." Said Mob using her powers to get a napkin and clean up the table. She loved Master Reigen, and she looked up to him, but his table manners were terrible. Maybe that's just how people ate where his people came from. The United States, right? She honestly wasn't sure now that she thought about it.

"He's thirteen right?" asked Reigen picking out some beef with his fingers. Mob wanted to warn him about germs but she didn't. He wouldn't listen to her anyway, he never listened when he got all messy like this.

"He's thirteen." Said Mob

"Well he's probably just got some stuff going on that he doesn't want to tell his sister about. I mean, you don't tell him everything that you have going on, right? Like with that guy you're seeing, Teru? The one with the haystack on his head." asked Reigen. Mob turned pink again, it was adorable.

"No, I don't tell Ritsu about stuff like that." Said Mob looking down at her food. That kind of stuff was private. Nobody had explicitly told her but she didn't want to tell even her little brother that she had practice kissed Teru, that she hadn't done it right, and that they had played go all afternoon.

"Well then the same would go for him." said Reigen. Lord knew he had all kinds of stuff going on when he was thirteen that he didn't want to share with anyone. He had been a moody little shit too, back then. It was amazing that his parents hadn't dumped him by the side of the road. Mob's little brother seemed like the moody type, too, if their limited interactions were anything to go by.

"I just hope he's alright. Boys at my school are getting so weird, I don't want the same thing to happen to Ritsu." Said Mob. She hoped that Ritsu wasn't turning into one of those boys who did weird stuff and fought all the time. No, he wouldn't. Ritsu knew better than that. Hopefully he'd be back to normal soon.

"Weird how?" asked Reigen. He hoped that it was Mob, not being able to understand people weird, not the kind of weird he had seen in his middle school days. Hormones made a person do cray things, like dress up in a wig and girl's uniform and hang out in the girl's locker room. Reigen still didn't know what was going through his head when he planned and executed that. Not only did he get caught but all the girls hated him for the next three years. Thank God he moved in with his mother for high school and didn't have his reputation follow him as he matriculated to high school.

"This boy, Onigawara, got caught stealing the tops of girl's recorders so he could lick them, and his friends stole a bunch of girl's gross used gym clothes. They said that they didn't do it but Ritsu was there when they got caught, and Ritsu wouldn't tell lies. Maybe that's what bothering him; that he had to get people in trouble. Ritsu would always try to be so nice, he wouldn't want to hurt anyone. But why would someone do something so weird like that in the first place. Stealing is wrong and stealing that kind of stuff is so gross." Said Mob. They were suspended, all of them, but she had found a note in her shoebox saying that she was the shadow leader now and that they hadn't done anything. That was its own thing to be unpacked.

"Well Mob, it's like I said; boys are idiots at your age. Believe me, I know. When you get to that age all the new feelings make you do the dumbest things." Said Reigen. Licking recorder pieces? That was just gross. Stealing gym clothes he could understand, but it was still pretty skeevy.

"Girls too?" asked Mob. Would she start to do dumb things? She knew she loved Master Reigen but she knew not to press the issue no matter what Dimple said. It was better to wait to grow up, that way he'd be less likely to reject her and she could spend as much time as possible with him in the meantime. That and backrubs, those were heaven on Earth.

"No, girls usually have more sense than to do a lot of the dumb stuff boys do. The worst I've seen girls do it start writing their names using the guy's last name." said Reigen. As an adult it was weird but as a kid he wished a girl would do that for him. Girls wanted the same things guys did, the woman who didn't seem to get the concept of 'hey I'm not doing this with a kid around and I don't care about your schedule' was a testament to that. He hoped Mob could handle the way she felt, just so she wouldn't embarrass herself. Actually whatever she had going on with that guy she was seeing was going pretty well. She at least hadn't overshared with him, and he knew something must have been going on because Mob was way blushier than usual. Huh. He didn't know how to feel about that.

"You mean like pretending to be married?" asked Mob. She had never thought about that. She tested it out in her mind. Reigen Shigeko. He tea cup flipped over.

"You alright, Mob?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded but didn't look at him. Her tea cup righted itself and her tea went back in.

"Mob, don't try and drink that, you'll just make yourself sick. These tables are absolutely filthy. Hang on, I'll go get you another one." Said Reigen. He couldn't have her getting sick again. Last week had just been people with back pain, a couple séances, and a lady with a cat living in her walls. He didn't know what he'd do if she ended up getting sick again and there was an actual spirit that needed to be exorcised.

After Master Reigen left Mob ate her food in thought. She watched him too. Reigen Shigeko. That sounded nice. Hanazawa Shigeko. That also sounded nice. Reigen Shigeko sounded more right though. She liked Teru, she liked him a lot, but what she had with Master Reigen was different. Ritsu liked Teru better, though. She had no idea why, though. Boys, even little brothers, could be so confusing sometimes.

Mob had no idea just how confusing her little brother could be. Ritsu had skipped dinner, instead messing around with his newfound powers. He wasn't as strong as Shigeko but he could feel his power growing. He could eclipse her. He could be the strong one.

"I can't believe that I finally have psychic powers." Said Ritsu as he levitated a bottle of orange soda around his room. The sloshing of the liquid made it hard to hold onto at first but now it was like nothing.

"You've always had psychic powers, Ritsu, they've just been dormant all of these years. I suspect that they're only coming out now due to your emotional state." Said Dimple. Emotionally this kid was a rollercoaster. Guilt, shame, anger, jealousy, fear, protectiveness and love all swirled around in the storm of this kid's mind. He was trying to keep a lid on everything but that never worked.

"So my feelings are the key to unlocking my powers?" asked Ritsu. So he was like Shigeko. He could be better though. He could control his feelings, instead of letting them control him like Shigeko's did.

"Yup. So, anything stress you out really bad lately? Like shitting your pants in public or getting caught peeping in the girl's locker room?" asked Dimple. Judging by this kid's face he, also, couldn't take a joke. What was with this family?

"No. Are you making fun of me?" asked Ritsu darkly. Nobody could make fun of him, not with these powers.

"Sheesh, it's just a joke kid. Man, you really are Shigeko's little brother. Alright if nothing embarrassing happened did you do something bad?" asked Dimple. The way Shigeko talked about her little brother you'd think he was the greatest human being to ever live. A guy like that must have had a few skeletons in his closet.

"Corruption and guilt. That's what fuels my powers." Said Ritsu darkly. It was true. Shigeko's were fueled by stress and anger, all negative emotions. Therefore because he was her little brother then the same must have gone for him.

"Huh. Getting a little dark there, hus Ritsu?" asked Dimple

"I'm just like Shigeko." Said Ritsu quietly. Would he explode too? Did he also have something terrifying living inside of him? Whatever it was, he could control it. He had to. He could eclipse her. She thought that he was that person, that he was good at everything? Well then fine he would be that person, the version of him that existed within her mind.


	11. Mob the Runaway

Mob didn't know what to do about Ritsu. He was eating breakfast next to her, that was normal, but he had a look on his face that she couldn't really place. She watched him eat his cereal. It was his favorite kind but he wasn't smiling, not even a little. Something was wrong with his eyes too.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" asked Ritsu. His voice wasn't right either. It sounded kind of mean, but Ritsu wasn't a mean person at all.

"You don't look alright." Said Mob bluntly. She wasn't trying to be mean, she just wanted to know what was wrong with Ritsu but couldn't come out and say 'what's wrong with you' because that was a mean thing to say to someone.

"I'm fine." Said Ritsu. He just wanted to eat his breakfast in peace. His tone was flat, measured, and simple. He was feeling pretty good. Dimple was possessing him and hiding his aura from Shigeko.

"You sound weird, too." Said Mob. His voice usually had more…niceness… to it. Warmth. He was talking to her like he didn't want to be talking to her.

"I sound like you, sister." Said Ritsu. He was doing his best Shigeko expression after all. Flat tone, lots of staring, no real feeling one way or another. Apathy.

"I don't sound like that." Said Mob. She didn't sound mean when she talked to people. Something serious must have been bothering Ritsu if he was acting like that. She just didn't know what.

"You do. This is exactly how you talk." Said Ritsu exaggerating his impression. He was staring straight forward at nothing now, just like she did. He was angrily apathetic.

"I do?" said Mob. People…people thought she was mean?

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 25%_

"Yes." Said Ritsu simply. It was time she knew the truth about herself. He had been shielding her from it for their entire lives. Now he had the power to stand up to her, to stop living in her shadow. To stop having to fear her. He was stronger than she was because he could actually control it.

"Does it make people feel sad when I talk?" asked Mob quietly. She didn't want to make anyone sad. She wanted to have friends and be happy but she couldn't do that if she made people upset just by talking to them.

"Do you feel sad right now?" asked Ritsu. He could tell that she was. It hurt him a little, making her sad, but he decided to see that as fear. He must have been afraid that she'd have one of her explosions. Well he didn't need to be afraid anymore. Now he was the strong one.

"A little. I feel like you're mad at me." Said Mob. She didn't know what she could have possibly done to make Ritsu this angry with her. He was never angry with her, not even after that day. She tried to see if he was possessed but when she focused she couldn't get any kind of reading off of him at all. That was also weird.

"Good. Now you know how I feel all the time." Said Ritsu, still imitating her monotone. She gasped. Pictures shook themselves off the wall. Something shattered, it was the photograph from his elementary school graduation.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 35%_

"You-you feel like this all the time?" asked Mob. Ritsu was sad all the time? He was anxious? He…he was worried that she was upset with him? But he was her little brother, she could never be upset with him.

"Yes. Every day I'm afraid that I did something to upset you, and you'll explode." Said Ritsu simply. Mob felt like she couldn't breathe. That's what Ritsu was worried about? That she would…hurt him?

"But you don't! You never upset me!" said Mob. Her cereal bowl shattered. Her hair was acting up. Thank God mom and dad weren't home or she would have gotten in real trouble.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 40%_

"Fine. If not me then something else or someone else." Said Ritsu not even looking at her. Dimple was screaming in his head about not pissing her off. Even he was afraid of her. Ritsu wasn't. He knew that if it came to it he could take her.

"I don't know what you mean, brother, but you never upset me. I'm not mad at you now or ever." Said Mob trying to calm down. She even put her cereal bowl back together and levitated the ruined food into the trash. She was in control. She was in control. She was in control.

"You don't know what I mean? You're the one who's always bringing up that day." Said Ritsu. She was the one who started it, bringing up what had happened all those years ago. He had already made his peace with the day his sister had put him in the hospital, he didn't need her dredging up the past. He didn't need it but she kept on doing it. Why? What did she have to gain by bringing it up?

"I was only saying sorry about it." Said Mob quietly. She had only wanted to apologize to him, she didn't want to make him upset. She had made him upset, though. This was all her fault.

"You got me thinking about it, and about you. I'm afraid of you." Said Ritsu. That was what he was feeling, fear. Well he could turn that fear into fuel for his powers. He couldn't let her see that he was afraid, because he wasn't. Not anymore.

"No…please don't be….I would-I would never hurt you." Said Mob trying her best to keep it together. Mob began to focus on her breathing like Master Reigen taught her to. In and out. In and out. Ritsu was afraid of her. No. breath. In and out.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 55%_

"Not on purpose, though." Said Ritsu. It was true, she couldn't hurt a fly. When they were children she'd let bugs go outside rather than squish them.

"You know. You know I would never hurt you on purpose." Said Mob. At least he knew that. She had to work harder at controlling this other part of herself. The bad part. She couldn't let Ritsu think that she was going to hurt him. He didn't deserve to be afraid.

"No, it's never on purpose." Said Ritsu. That's what made it worse, the fact that she could explode at any time.

"It's not!" said Mob. Her hair was standing up like she was in a room full of fans. Knickknacks were rotating around them. She had to keep it together for him. She had to be better for Ritsu.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 59%_

"See, you're doing it again." Said Ritsu. She wasn't doing that on purpose, she was just upset. Maybe she'd explode again.

"I-I'm not trying to." Said Mob. She focused and made everything calm down. She needed to calm everything down. She needed everything to be safe for Ritsu. She had to make home a good place for Ritsu.

"No, you never try to do anything. Things just happen to you." Said Ritsu. He had spent his entire life working hard. Even to control his powers he had to work hard. Everything just worked out for her. She couldn't control her powers, but she was still powerful. She was cold and aloof, but people still wanted to know her. She was apathetic but she still had someone who loved her, someone who wanted to spend all his time with her. Ritsu had himself.

"Ritsu…why are you being like this? This isn't you." Said Mob. She was calmer now. Something was wrong with him, there had to be. There had to be something wrong with him because otherwise there was nothing but truth in what he said. If something wasn't wrong with him then he was truly afraid of her.

"You're right, it's not me. I changed, I can finally tell you what I actually think." Said Ritsu. Dimple was calling him names now. If Ritsu didn't need him he'd have been exorcised long ago. This was who he really was, now that he was who he really was. He had only cared so much for his sister because he was afraid of her. He had only cleaned up the school because he didn't want her to have a break down there and hurt people.

"No…something's wrong." Said Mob weakly. Something must have been wrong with him. She was actually hoping for something to be wrong.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm going to school." Said Ritsu. He got up and walked away, not even putting his bowl in the sink. Mob just sat there. She didn't want to follow him. She would just scare him more. She sat at the table until she was in danger of being late, then she left. She tried not to think too much about Ritsu. It didn't work.

Ritsu on the other hand was, as Dimple kept putting it, drunk with power. Threatening to exorcise him had shut him pretty and truly well up. He was serious about it, too. He didn't need anybody talking to him like that. He was not at all drunk with power, he was acting the way he was truly meant to be. He wasn't going to live in fear of his older sister anymore.

"Guilt. Anger. Fear. These are the fuel for my powers." Muttered Ritsu as he made his way to school.

"Normally I'd say that you should keep doing whatever it is that you're doing but you were a real dick to Shigeko back there." Said Dimple. At first he had been all for this kid indulging his angry, power man side, but this was getting to be too much. Shigeko could have killed him, even at his current power level, if she had lost control. Plus she was a nice kid and didn't need one of her favorite people in the entire world treating her like garbage.

"Dimple. You just keep on talking. I'm going to be able to regulate my powers on my own someday." Said Ritsu in what was somehow and angry monotone.

"Are you…ok?" asked Dimple. This kid was getting rally cold on the inside, too. Anger was drowning out all of his other emotions. Guilt and anger. They were churning together inside of him to make something ugly beyond belief.

"Dimple. Stop talking." Said Ritsu. Dimple decided for once in his afterlife to shut up. When he used Ritsu to attain godhood he'd make it up to Shigeko. He'd hypnotize that old fraud she was into and give him to her. She'd like that.

The rest of Ritsu's walk to school was peaceful until he was stopped by the student council president on his way into the school gates.

"Kageyama, a word?" he asked

"What do you want?" asked Ritsu

"I want to stop getting beaten up all the time! This is all your fault, you fought with that thug from another school and now they're taking it out on me!" he said. Ritsu shrugged.

"If you can't defend yourself that's not my problem." Said Ritsu as he kept walking. It wasn;t his fault if other people just weren't on his level. If thugs waned to fight with him then he'd fight. Well, they didn't really count as fights, since the other guys couldn't really fight back.

While Ritsu's self esteem climbed and climbed Mob's plummeted and plummeted until she couldn't even manage to lift a single dumbbell, do a single squat, or run a single kilometer. Eventually she just gave up and flopped down into a chair next to Tome.

"What's eating you?" asked Tome, her nose buried in a game

"My brother and I had a fight today." Said Mob. Ritu's words had been ringing in her head all day and she knew that she was close to an explosion. She didn't know what to do or how to make it stop. She'd have to make up with him but she didn't know how.

"About what?" asked Tome. She couldn't picture Mob fighting with anyone. Mob was, well, Mob. She probably helped old ladies cross the street and found homes for abandoned kittens in her spare time.

"Ritsu said he was afraid of me." Said Mob quietly. She knew that it was rude to burden other people with her problems but she also knew that it would be worse if she held it in and exploded.

"That's dumb." Said Tome. Mob sat up and stared at her. She stared and stared and Tome took it as an inquisitive stare.

"What? It is. You're the nicest person I know." Said Tome not looking up. She could still feel Mob staring.

"Tome, you're not scared of me at all?" asked Mob. But Tome knew what it looked like when she exploded. What happened to Black Vinegar when she and Teru fought had been broadcasted all over the TV, and Tome loved to watch TV so she must have seen it.

"No way. You're cool. Well not popular cool but interesting cool." Said Tome still not looking up. She just needed to get to the save point, then she'd be her usual polite and sociable self.

"I wish Ritsu thought that. He was really mean today, I think something's wrong with him." said Mob. Maybe he was getting sick. Or maybe he hadn't gotten enough sleep. Or maybe her was under a lot of stress. Or maybe aliens were real and they had gotten to him. Tome would love that theory.

"Who cares? You know there's nothing wrong with you, so what does it matter what he thinks?" said Tome

"I care because I love him." said Mob

"You can still love someone without agreeing with whatever they think about you." Said Tome

"I don't…I just don't want him to be afraid of me. He keeps saying that he's worried that I'm going to explode and hurt him….again." said Mob. Tome let herself die. She could always try again.

"Again? Ok, story time." Said Tome. Mob shook her head.

"One time when we were little some high school guys tried to steal our money. They hit us and pushed me. I hit my head and when I woke up there was blood everywhere. I don't remember what happened, exactly, but I hurt Ritsu and I thought he had forgiven me but he actually didn't." said Mob

"So what's the problem? He can be as upset all he wants but he can't act like a jerk. You were kids, it was an accident. Did you ever hurt him again?" asked Tome

"No." said Mob. She had always made sure to never, ever hurt Ritsu again. She loved him more than anything.

"So what's he getting himself all twisted up over? Mob, don't beat yourself up. He's probably just going through his own stuff and he's taking it out on you." Said Tome. Mob wanted to hug her, she actually felt a lot better.

"Master Reigen says something like that too. Sometimes people can't deal with things that are going on so they take it out on others." Said Mob. She remembered that day. Master Reigen had shouted at her but then apologized. He had only been upset because he was worried about making rent on the office and it wasn't her fault at all. She remembered that she had felt the same way that day as she did now. Maybe Ritsu would be better later, when he felt better. Maybe he was having problems that she truly couldn't help with.

"See, you guys are going to be fine. Now get your DS out, I need your help with something." Said Tome. Mob got her DS out of her bag with her powers and helped Tome as best as she could even though she wasn't used to that game. She felt bad not working out but she could try again later. Tome was her friend and needed her help.

She was met after school by Teru. He seemed troubled too.

"Are you mad?" asked Mob. They were holding hands, she was holding his tighter than normal. That way she could remind herself that he was there, he was another person who wasn't afraid of her. He was someone who wanted to be with her.

"Huh? No, no, no. I'm just thinking. I've heard something interesting, something about you." Said Teru. Poisoned Magical Girl, Salt. Originally White T Poison but that nickname had merged with the Magical Girl of Salt Middle School. Apparently she was the shadow leader of Salt Middle School, and apparently everyone was gunning for her.

"People are spreading rumors about me?" asked Mob. Great. Now people were going to be mean to her again.

"Yes and no. Apparently our fight had a few….repurcussions….in the world of people with nothing better to do than fight." Said Teru. He had managed to hold onto his position, barely, and had managed to convince those idiots that of course the new shadow leader wasn't a girl. He didn't know how long he could keep all those morons convinced for.

"Oh. I'm not going to fight with anyone. Will you?" asked Mob. She didn't mean anything by it, she was just stating a fact. She and Ritsu were already fighting verbally. She didn't want to have any more physical fights ever again in her life. Fighting was so stupid.

"No. Of course I won't." said Teru tensely. Was she doubting him? Did she want him to step down as shadow leader? He wasn't fighting anymore but he wasn't going to leave those morons to their own devices. That would have led to something just awful. Also he may have been happy to have held onto something of his old self. Just a little bit of power, of respect.

"Thank you, Teru." Said Mob giving his hand a squeeze. She was thanking him for changing. If he could change then so could she, then Ritsu would like her again. Or maybe it was like Tome said and whatever he was upset about had nothing to do with her.

"You're welcome." Said Teru. He stopped walking and dipped his head towards hers. Mob blushed and tried to give a quick kiss. She missed.

"That was just for practice, right?" asked Mob. She didn't want to kiss him for real because she loved Master Reigen. She really, really liked Teru though. It was a confusing mess she didn't want to think about.

"If you want." Said Teru. He had only kissed her once, and that had honestly been the worst kiss he had ever had in his life. Teeth scraped. It was unpleasant. Not that he told her that. He had even let her win at go a few times…most of the times.

"I'm sorry I'm not…." Said Mob. Teru did that thing she liked where he dragged his finger across the side of her face. He knew she liked it but she didn't know that he knew exactly what that did to her. She really liked touch, actually. Not that Teru was going to push her into anything more than what they were doing. He was being respectful, he told himself. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had never done anything like that before and wasn't confident in his abilities.

"You're fine. I'm not complaining." Said Teru. Mob frowned. Well of course he wouldn't. People never complained to other people's faces about things even though that would make things a lot easier.

"What's wrong?" asked Teru. She was frowning a little. That wasn't good considering that she was practically allergic to emoting thanks to that scary…other her…that lived inside of her.

"A lot of things." Said Mob. There was a moment of silence.

"Such as?" asked Teru. Was she thinking or did she honestly not think that he wanted to know more?

"Ritsu is afraid of me and today we had a fight." Said Mob. She said that flatly but Teru could see her eyes and her aura.

"Did you…you know?" asked Teru. Mob shook her head.

"No, but he says that he's afraid that I will." Said Mob. Teru was about to tell her that her little brother's fear was totally understandable. He knew better, however, and said nothing like that. That was not the way you were supposed to talk to your girlfriend. Not that he was going to come out and ask her to be his girlfriend. No. He told himself that he would just end up scaring her with such finality, not that he was afraid of rejection or anything.

"Well, he can feel whatever he wants I guess. I don't think you'll explode at him or anything. You didn't even explode at me until after I…." said Teru

"Pointed knives at me." Said Mob. Teru winced.

"I'm so, so, so sorry about that." Said Teru lacing his fingers with hers. He used his thumb to trace circles on the top of her hand.

"I know, Teru. I forgave you and I mean that I forgave you. I didn't just say that I forgave you." Said Mob

"I know. I don't think you're even capable of lying." Said Teru. Mob smiled. She tried not to lie, she prided herself on it actually.

"Teru, you're really nice to me. Thank you." Said Mob. She leaned over and rested her head on his chest. This was an advantage that Teru had over Master Reigen, it was alright to touch Teru. He wouldn't think she was weird, and he wouldn't push her away.

"I aim to please." Said Teru but it came out as more of a squeak. People usually telegraph their movements. She didn't. She just did things and he didn't have time to plan out his next course of action. Plus there was a girl on his chest. She was very close. He didn't know what to do, exactly, so he wrapped an arm around her and put the other at her waist.

"Thank you, Teru. I feel better now. I should keep walking, though, so I'm not late." Said Mob as she took a step back from him. He smelled nice, like fabric softener and boy perfume. Cologne. Not real cologne like adults wore but that stuff in a can that they sold at the convenience store.

"Can I walk you the rest of the way?" asked Teru trying to sound smooth. He knew she'd let him, he was just trying to charm her. It went right over her head.

"You always walk all the way there with me." Said Mob confused

"I know I was just trying to…you know what? Let's start walking before I dig myself in any deeper." Said Teru. Mob was confused but took his hand and kept walking. She did truly feel better and she was grateful that she had so many people in her life willing to help her with her problems.

They walked the rest of the way hand in hand. Mob pushed out her awareness and tried to feel for Ritsu. Sometimes he walked this way. She couldn't feel him even if she was specifically looking for him. It was because he was a normal person, they were harder to feel for, and Teru's golden aura drowned out everything else. She gave him a goodbye and ran up the stairs to work. She wasn't late, she just hadn't run much that day.

"Hey Mob, come here and remove a curse for me." Said Reigen nonchalantly. He had been tossing table salt and speaking gibberish to this clearly, actually, cursed vase. Thank God she came in when she did, he was starting to run out of bullshit.

"Sure." Said Mob. Not even a hello. Teru always said hello to her, and asked her about her day. Master Reigen had a client, though, so that must have been it. She didn't even have to move to remove that curse, it was pretty weak. It just stung the hands of whoever tried to touch the vase.

"As you can see I've weakened the curse enough for my assistant to remove it. Your vase is clean thanks to the great Reigen Arataka….and Mob." He added in even though it didn't really flow all that well. It was good to give her credit. Usually she just lit up when he did. Huh. She was still as flat as ever.

"Oh thank you so much, and you too little girl. Aren't you just the cutest thing?" cooed the customer. Mob sat at her desk and pulled out her homework but took a moment to smile. It was polite, even though she didn't really feel like smiling all that much.

"My assistant will write you out a receipt." Said Reigen shaking the salt off of his hands, also a signal for what to charge the customer. Curse removal deluxe. There, they'd stay afloat another month at least. Hmm…what was with Mob? She looked troubled a little. Just a little. He could tell because it looked like she was making an effort to be normal. When something was seriously bothering her she made no such effort.

"Here's your receipt." Said Mob as she wrote one out quickly. She saw the signal and charged accordingly. After the client left she went back to staring at her homework.

"Please don't tell me that's math." Said Reigen looking up from his computer. Someone made another massage appointment with him. Yes, another repeat customer. Maybe he should just become a masseur and end it? Nah, where was the fun in that?

"I won't. This is English." Said Mob holding up the sentences she was supposed to translate. Reigen's face lit up. He could help her with that easily.

"Can you look at it when I'm done?" asked Mob. Master Reigen spoke fluent English. She was lucky to make 80's on her tests.

"_Of course I will." _Said Reigen in English. He could see the wheels in Mob's head turning.

"_Thank you teacher Reigen." _Said Mob. Arragato Shishou Reigen. That was correct, right?

"_You are welcome student Mob." _Said Reigen slowly so she understood. It sounded clunky but she was nowhere near fluent. She was thinking again.

"_Teacher Reigen. I am troubled." _Said Mob. Reigen thought her English was actually pretty OK considering that she only had school stuff. It was stiff though, but not as bad as his mother's Japanese used to be. What could be troubling her? Hopefully nothing too big. She didn't need any more stress.

"_What's the matter?" _asked Reigen. Mob was composing her thoughts again. She was still worried about Ritsu. Maybe Master Reigen would know what to do.

"_Younger brother is very unhappy. He say that I frighten him. He very mad." _Said Mob. There, that was close enough.

"Make all your words agree, Mob. He said that I frightened him. He was very mad. There, that sounds better." Said Reigen. He try to work on her accent too but that was for another day.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob grateful that they were back to Japanese.

"So, Ritsu's scared of you, huh? I don't know why he would be." Said Reigen

"That's what Tome said, too. She says that just because Ritsu is scared of me it doesn't make being mean to me alright." Said Mob

"He was mean to you?" asked Reigen. He wondered how much time he'd have to do for fighting a middle schooler. Well he half wondered. He wasn't actually going to go around beating up kids.

"No…yes….sometimes I can't tell. He made me feel sad though and now my insides are all turned around. Not literally. My emotions." Said Mob. She still didn't feel all the way emotionally alright.

"Well your friend was right, being upset with someone is no excuse to act like a jerk." Said Reigen. Damn. This kid just lost another person close to her. Her parents and now her little brother, the one she always spoke so highly of. Poor, poor, poor kid.

"But how do I make him not be afraid of me?" asked Mob. She didn't want another person being afraid of her. She didn't try to be scary, things just happened to her.

"Mob, if he's afraid of you that's his own damn problem. You're a good person and you shouldn't be afraid of yourself just because of how other people see you." Said Reigen

"Sometimes I can't control my powers…sometimes I feel like they're more of a burden than anything." Said Mob

"Well I think they're very useful. You help people every day, you helped those people just now. You're not a scary person Mob, you just lose control sometimes. That only happens when other people are messing with you, right?" said Reigen

"Yes. Sometimes people try to fight with me, and I lose control. Then the other me comes out, and she'd kind of a jerk." Said Mob. Reigen wasn't entirely sure if calling her powers the other Mob was entirely healthy but if it got her through the day then they could think of something healthier later.

"Well then he has no reason to be afraid of you if he's not trying to mess with you." Said Reigen. He honestly wasn't sure if he was even helping. Reigen could defiantly see why her little brother would be afraid of her, and it was justifiable seeing as how he was just a regular person, and younger than her at that. He could also see Mob's side of this. She loved her brother and would never actively hurt her. Ritsu was just doing what his parents did, probably. He had probably picked up on their fear of Mob and thought that it was alright. Times like these made Reigen glad that he didn't have any siblings close in age.

"He does have a reason to be afraid of me, though. I hurt him when we were kids. I didn't mean to but I did." Said Mob

"Mob, that was three years ago. I remember that was right before we met and you were beating yourself up then too. It happened, you apologized, he accepted your apology. It's over. You can't change the past but you can change how you act in the future." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"You're right, Master. Thank you." Said Mob. Everyone said that Ritsu was in the wrong so maybe they were right. But Ritsu couldn't be in the wrong, he was Ritsu. This entire thing was a confusing mess. She had changed, Ritsu just couldn't see it. There. That was a conclusion to it all. Ritsu just needed to see that she had changed, that was all.

Ritsu wanted the world to see that he had changed. He was at the Awakening Lab again, showing off. He was bending spoons into complex shapes while barely lifting a finger.

"That's amazing!" said Matsuura. Ritsu shrugged.

"If you think that's cool maybe I could fold your car next." Said Ritsu nonchalantly. He was the most powerful esper here, probably in the world if these kids were anything to go by. He just needed to beat Shigeko, then he would be the best.

"Uh…are you alright, kid?" asked Matsuura. This kid was a lot…colder…than yesterday. Maybe activating his powers hurt his emotional state. He didn't know, really. This kid was uncharted ground. He had never seen powers so strong in his life. It gave him hope, really. If this kid who struggled to bend spoons could become so powerful in such a short amount of time then there was hope for him yet.

"Perfectly fine." Said Ritsu. Everyone was looking at him like they were scared of him. Good. They should have been. He was the powerful one, the most powerful one. He was even more powerful than Shigeko. Dimple said something in his head about having delusions of grandeur.

"You're just a little…different." Said Matsuura. He cared about all the awakening kids, even this knew one. They were his hope for the future, the culmination of his life's work….and he didn't really have a lot of friends either.

"I feel great. I'm stronger now. Actually, I think I'm the strongest here. Am I right?" asked Ritsu. He had a weird glint in his eye, something none of them had ever seen before.

"Well it's not about being the strongest, it's about working together to-" said Matsuura

"I think I'll pass. I have no use for those weaker than myself." Said Ritsu. He picked up his school bag and walked away. Dimple was ranting about him acting like an asshole. Whatever. Dimple wouldn't leave his body, he needed the energy Ritsu gave off. He had noticed Dimple syphoning some. Whatever. He had energy to spare.

His walk home took him through the same path as Shigeko's boyfriend, apparently. Huh. He had a pretty strong aura, too. Gold like chocolate coins. Ritsu's was dark blue, like a school uniform. Shigeko's was cotton candy blue and bubblegum pink.

"Hey, Shigeko's little brother." Said Teru. He had felt something powerful coming his way and for a moment thought that Shigeko was having another meltdown. The energy felt the same. Anger. Fear. Guilt. Violent intent.

"Shigeko's boyfriend." Said Ritsu. Dimple was making some noise in his head about running away, and this guy being bad news. Ritsu didn't care if this guy was an esper, he was probably just like the kids at the Awakening Lab.

"You got your powers?" asked Teru. Shigeko hadn't mentioned that at all. That changed things. Teru read the other boy's aura. It was like looking at a slightly younger and less good looking version of himself.

"Yes. I can finally eclipse my sister." Said Ritsu. He tried to feel Teru's aura. Huh. He was stronger than the Awakening Lab kids. That was unexpected. But how strong was he? Ritsu pulled back his hand. Just a test of endurance.

"Thank you for the handshake. It is nice to meet you again." Said Teru. Unlike his sister Ritsu telegraphed his movements. Teru would have gladly fought with Ritsu before, but things were different now. Fighting wasn't something that he did for fun, and he had promised not to ever use his powers against people unless it was for self-defense. Shigeko didn't even like self-defense though, and would never forgive him for attacking her little brother.

"I-I-I-" said Ritsu. The attack he was charging up was gone, swallowed up. He could feel Teru's aura encasing him. He couldn't move. Dimple was begging him to run way before it was too late.

"I used to be like you. I thought that my powers were he be all, end all. I learned, though, and so can you. Your sister knocked some sense into me." Said Teru. He wasn't happy in those days, the days before Shigeko when he had to prove that he was above everyone else. He was lonely too. It was lonely being the protagonist of every story. He wasn't though, now he was just the protagonist of his own story.

"Shigeko knocked sense into you?" asked Ritsu. Dimple was just as confused as he was. He could see Shigeko losing control and hurting someone but to actually be trying to hurt someone, well that was something else entirely.

"More like I pushed her into it." Said Teru. Something felt weird about this guy. Teru let his aura penetrate Ritsu's. He put up a fight but Teru overpowered him. He wasn't using his powers against Ritsu per say, it was more of a diagnostic test. Yes. There was definitely something living inside of Ritsu, and it felt evil.

"That was you that made her explode that day at Black Vinegar?" asked Ritsu. He could feel Teru's aura probing him. It was unpleasant but not painful. He could endure this, he was stronger. Dimple was telling him to run.

"Yeah, that was me. She only exploded because I was acting just like you are right now." Said Teru, omitting the whole pulling knives on Shigeko thing.

"Me? I'm not acting like anything. You're the one attacking me." Said Ritsu pushing his own aura out against Teru's. This guy was strong but he was stronger.

"How long have you been possessed for?" asked Teru getting right to the point. The spirit was there, but it was still pretty weak. How had it managed to control Ritsu. Wait, no, that didn't feel like possession. Symbiosis?

"I'm not possessed. Dimple isn't anywhere near strong enough to possess me." Said Ritsu to Dimple's protests.

"So you're working together then? Listen, I can't just let this happen-" said Teru before a stiff breeze knocked his wig askew. Crap, he had forgotten to hold it on with his powers.

"Ritsu! Run while you have a chance!" said Dimple loud enough to give Ritsu a headache. He booked it. That guy wasn't as strong as he was but he was getting tired of Dimple's constant talking.

"Dimple! Why didn't you tell me Shigeko's boyfriend was an esper?" asked Ritsu after they were well and truly out of sight.

"Boyfriend? That guy? Well she certainly has a type…." Said Dimple. Alive or dead he would never understand women. At least this kid was a better choice than that old fraud she was into before.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Ritsu

"Hey, I got exorcised pretty early into that fight. I didn't think your sister would end up going out with that guy." Said Dimple

"How many other espers are there?" asked Ritsu. It was stupid of him to think that everyone would be on the same level as the Awakening Lab kids.

"I honestly never bothered to count them all. It's not a common gift but people can be born with powers, that's rare and naturals are usually pretty strong. You can give people powers too, that doesn't usually work out well if it works at all. Those people are usually pretty weak." Said Dimple

"He was more powerful than I thought he would be. He must be a natural, or maybe it's because his brain is so developed." Said Ritsu

"Uh…actually that's a wig….though I have absolutely no idea why he's wearing it." Said Dimple. When he was done with Ritsu, which would be soon because this kid was turning into a little asshole, he'd have to ask Shigeko how that fight went. He felt like there was a story there.

"Whatever. When we face him again I'll be ready." Said Ritsu

"Don't mess around with this guy, Ritsu, he's strong and he'll mess you up really bad." Said Dimple

"I doubt that." Said Ritsu

"What is your problem lately? You've been such a little asshole." Said Dimple

"If you don't like it then leave. I don't need you anymore." Said Ritsu as he walked in the direction of home. He could regulate his powers on his own, now, maybe. He'd figure it out.

"Maybe I will." Said Dimple. He could always jump ship, he had gathered some more energy, but where would he find another esper willing to let him control their body? Saving up enough energy to take over Ritsu's body was easier than finding another esper and hoping that they shared their body with him. But then again this kid was really starting to get on his nerves. He liked funny jerks. Not jerky jerks.

"Fine. I don't need you." Said Ritsu as he reached his house. He reached within himself and expelled Dimple.

"Seriously kid?" asked Dimple. Well now that was just rude. He flipped the kid off and flew away. He'd just go back to Shigeko. She'd be happy to see him, probably. She loved him, he helped her become a better person. Look where she was now; she had snagged herself a big talking light haired guy like she always wanted.

"Forget you." Muttered Ritsu as he used his powers to throw the front door opened and slam it shut. He didn't need Dimple. He didn't need anyone.

"Mob! Where's the cat?" asked Reigen. They had been called out to exorcise a possessed cat for a sweet old lady who could only pay them in change and homemade noodle soup. Mob was a sucker for cats and helping people, Reigen was a sucker for food and helping people. This job was supposed to be easy.

"It went in the walls, Master." Said Mob as she watched some fish swim in an aquarium. The cat didn't feel possessed but Mob was just the student, not the master.

"Oh dear. Once she's in there's no getting her out." Said the old lady, Mrs. Yamamoto. She was seventy five and fond of giving Mob hard candies that tasted like staleness and aging.

"Never fear, the great Reigen Arataka is here, and we'll save your cat. Mob, crawl in the cat hole." Said Reigen pointing to the large hole in the wall.

"Master?" asked Mob. It looked dirty in there, and dark, and it smelled weird.

"Go on Mob, you'll fit." Said Reigen. Mob loved cats so she'd love going in the cat hole to save one.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob as she resigned herself to crawling into the wall hole that smelled like mildew and spirit energy. Wait, the cat wasn't possessed though…maybe there was a good reason for her to crawl in the hole. Besides the obvious fact that Master Reigen asked her to.

"Be careful dear, try not to cut yourself on any nails." Said Mrs. Yamamoto. Such a sweet little girl.

"Yes Mrs. Yamamoto." Said Mob. She crouched down, careful of her skirt, and crawled through the hole. She used her powers to keep herself stable and the dirt off of her.

"So I've got to ask you, how did such a small cat manage to make such a big hole?" said Reigen as he sipped watery tea. It needed, well, everything.

"Oh Snowflake didn't do that, that was the mice." Said Mrs. Yamamoto

"Mice?" asked Reigen. He wasn't afraid of mice, per say, not like cockroaches, but he still thought that they were terrible creatures that needed to be eradicated for the good of all mankind.

"Oh yes. Big ones. Snowflake's been acting very strangely since she ate one." Said Mrs. Yamamoto

"That's when she started acting possessed?" asked Reigen taking a sip of tea and trying not to grimace.

"Oh yes, the exact same time." She said as she poured herself another cup of tea.

"And why didn't you mention this before?" asked Reigen

Oh, I thought you psychics would just know." Said Mrs. Yamamoto. Reigen resisted the urge to tug at his shirt collar.

"Hey Mob, how are you doing in there?" asked Reigen

"The cat scratched me and I lost one of my ribbons. Aside from that I'm fine." Said Mob with a cough.

"You're doing great Mob, but try not to breathe too deeply." Said Reigen

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob pulling her shirt up over her nose. She should have changed into her gym clothes before doing this, her uniform would get ruined if she didn't focus on keeping it nice. Then mom would yell at her again.

"My apprentice will take care of the spirit, but I'll take care of any residual energy at no additional charge." Said Reigen

"Oh thank you so much young man. I just want my Snowflake back." Said Mrs. Yamamoto. Reigen tried to look relaxed as he listened hard for Mob. He could hear her crawling around and she sounded like she was doing OK.

"Master, I found Snowball." Said Mob. She was on her hands and knees holding out her hand for the cat. It hissed and swiped at her. That was weird, cats usually liked her.

"Good, bring him out and we'll get rid of that spirit." Said Reigen. He knew he could count on Mob. He'd take her out for some shaved ice after this. There was a new place that didn't charge extra for excessive amounts of syrup. She liked shave ice. Maybe they'd go there after dinner, he had a beef bowl coupon and she liked that place. If she was hungry by then. She might not have been hungry after the promised noodle soup. After dinner and desert they could go to the park too, there was a cat there she liked to pet. Or maybe she'd had her fill of cats for today. He could take her to the arcade, they had a claw machine there just full of these panda plushies she would absolutely love.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. She reached out again and tried to make her aura feel more calming. She thought about the last time she and Master Reigen went to the park and saw that stray cat, how happy she was to see it, how soft its fur felt. She tried to send out a 'I love cats' signal but it didn't seem to be working.

"What's wrong kitty? Why don't you want to come out? Your owner loves you so much, I can tell. If people love you then you should love them back. Someone wants you around, you should come out." Said Mob

"Well I'm actually quite happy in here." Said Snowball. Mob gasped and backed up into the wall.

"Mob? You alright in there?" asked Reigen

"I'm fine, Snowball just startled me. You were right Master, the cat is possessed….unless she's from the cat kingdom She can talk." Said Mob. She liked that movie a lot and so did Master Reigen. Maybe they could watch together after work one day. They did have that little TV in the office with a built in DVD player.

"Meow, that name is Snowflake. You see how white and soft my fur is?" said Snowflake waving her tail around and kicking up dust and cat fur.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Snowflake." Said Mob

"Oh….uh….. keep me posted Mob. I'm handing this one off to you. Make me proud!" said Reigen. Huh. He thought he was just dealing with a moody cat. He had researched cat massage for nothing.

"I will." Said Mob. She would make Master Reigen so proud. She would save this cat and eat the gross candy and then he'd be so proud of her. He'd tug on her braid and put his arm over her on the bus ride home and then they'd get dinner where he'd talk with his mouth full and impart wisdom. Then they'd go for a walk together in the park and maybe see that cat again or see if that pretty spider web was still there between the lover's trees.

"So he says jump and you say how high?" said Snowflake with a stretch.

"Yes, he's the Master and I'm the student. Now hold still, I'm going to get that spirit out of you." Said Mob. Now that her aura was out more she could definitely feel that spirit inside of the cat. It wasn't possession, really, it was almost like they were living together in harmony. Like those fish that ate the parasites off of sharks.

"No, we rather like it in here. I get a corporeal form and Snowflake here gets all the mice living in these walls." Said Snowflake

"But Snowflake can catch mice without you. That's what cats do, it's one of their skills." said Mob

"Yes. She can catch mice on her own but I make her faster and I give her more stamina." Said Snowflake

"But it's wrong to impose your will on others like that." Said Mob

"Isn't that what you're doing right now?" said Snowflake licking her paw.

"What do you mean?" asked Mob

"You're trying to separate us because you think that the two of us should be separated no matter how much we want to be together." Said Snowflake

"No, I have to separate you because Snowflake's owner wants her back." Said Mob

"Well then maybe she shouldn't pet so hard, then. This fur is attached, you know." Said Snowflake

"Mob, are you and the cat having a philosophical debate?" said Reigen. He was hearing bits and pieces of this conversation and it was….bizarre….to be debating with a cat like that. Huh. So this was the point that his life had gotten to.

"Snowflake says that she doesn't want to be separated from the spirit because they like working together and she won't be nice because Mrs. Yamamoto pets too hard. Her fur is attached." Said Mob

"Oh my." Said Mrs. Yamamoto

"Uh Mob, just exorcise the spirit already." Said Reigen

"But they're happy together." Said Mob

"What are you going to do, then? Broker some kind of deal?" asked Reigen

"That's a good idea, thank you Master Reigen." Said Mob

"Oh, such a sweet little girl, and now Snowflake and I can talk to one another. She's been my one companion since my husband died." Said Mrs. Yamamoto

"You're OK with this?" asked Reigen

"Oh yes. I only called you because Snowflake has been acting terribly lately but if we can be together again then I'm fine with the spirit inside of her." Said Mrs. Yamamoto

"You're a very open minded person." Said Reigen. Nobody had ever wanted to keep the spirit around before. This one was going down in history as one of the oddest jobs they had ever gone on.

"Oh son, you don't know that half of it." Said Mrs. Yamamoto with a smile on her face.

"O….K…" said Reigen. He hoped that this wasn't going to go to weird places.

"Treat that girl well and you'll both have a lifetime of happiness." She said as she took a log sip of her tea. Reigen smiled and sipped his tea too, to be polite. He wasn't sure that he liked the way she said lifetime.

"Mob, you close to a deal yet?" asked Reigen. No soup was worth the level of awkwardness that he was feeling.

"Snowflake says that she'll come out of the wall if Mrs. Yamamoto doesn't pet her so hard, keeps the TV on channel 5 at least two hours a day, and gets the cat food with the shrimp and fish on the green label can." Said Mob

"Are you amenable to this deal?" asked Reigen hoping that he could get out of there soon. He didn't really want to think about a lifetime with Mob. It sounded wonderful, and that was why he didn't want to think about it.

"Oh yes. You can have her come out of there now. I hope the poor dear hasn't cu herself. Oh well, I have plenty of iodine if she has." Said Mrs. Yamamoto

"Mob, she says that fine. Now come out of there already!" said Reigen. He heard coughing and shuffling and out came the cat, followed by Mob. The cat hopped up on its owner lap.

"Pet my soft white fur." Said Snowflake. Reigen did a double take.

"As much as you want." Said Mrs. Yamamoto. It was both a heartwarming and strange scene.

Mob and Reigen took their payment and left with a quick 'you're welcome' and a few polite bows. They had soup in repurposed take out containers. It looked alright, hopefully the tea wasn't an indicator of their client's cooking skills.

"You alright, Mob?" asked Reigen. Mon nodded.

"I'm fine. I'm glad that Snowflake decided to be nice again." Said Mob. They were waiting for a bus now, it was getting dark. She hoped that they would still get dinner, she liked having dinner with Master Reigen.

"You and cats." Said Reigen tugging on her braid playfully. Mob smiled up at him. He felt warm, her smile was absolutely infectious.

"Master Reigen, are we still eating dinner?" asked Mob

"Do you want to?" asked Reigen motioning to the soup they were holding. Mob nodded.

"Yes. We can eat this tomorrow, its cold anyway." Said Mob

"You're right. I have a beef bowl coupon if you want to go back there." Said Reigen

"But you don't like it that much." Said Mob

"Yeah, but you like it. It can't just be about me all the time." Said Reigen

"But you're the master and I'm the student." Said Mob

"That's true but I also consider you my friend." Said Reigen, omitting the only part.

"…You're my friend too, Master Reigen. We can go, if you want." Said Mob. Friend. Was that enough? It would have to be, for now. She had Teru though, and he liked her back. She decided that she wouldn't think about that now.

Mob decided to take her phone off of silent, maybe someone had tried to text her. She had a text from Tome with a link to a video that was absolutely an alien space craft and not just a pie plate someone threw. There were also several missed calls and texts from Teru. Oh. That wasn't good. She opened his texts and dropped her phone, not even catching it with her powers. Thank God for her panda case.

"Mob? Hey, what's wrong?" asked Reigen. Mob handed him her soup while staring straight forward. He put their soup down and snapped his fingers in front of her face. Her hair began to stand up. Her eyes were as wide as they could be.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 75%_

"Ritsu is in trouble. Teru says that there's a spirit possessing him, that's why he's been acting so mean lately. I have to go now, I'm sorry." Said Mob

"Wait, what? Mob, how are you going to get home? The bus isn't for another-" said Reigen before Mob used her telekinesis to pick herself up and fly in the direction of home. Motion sickness be damned, Ritsu needed her.

"Goodbye then, I guess." Said Reigen as he watched her take off. Huh. Mob could fly. Even after all these years they were still learning things about each other. Well then. Time to go home, eat soup, and text her later to see how the exorcism went. He was fine with this. He could have some time to himself tonight. Yeah. The sky was the limit! He could email some old friends or pick up a book or clean his apartment or anything really. Yeah, he was fine.

He went home, ate soup in front of the TV, got lonely, and then went to Happy Trails to get drunk. Pretty much everything he did before Mob.

Mob rushed home as fast as she could. She needed to save Ritsu. She threw open the door, kicked off her shoes, and raced to his room. She threw open the door without even knocking.

"Sister, you're home for once. Did you finally get tired of trailing after Reigen?" asked Ritsu as he did his homework.

"Sprit! Let my brother go!" said Mob, her powers creating a miniature whirlwind. Ritsu turned to face her.

"You're too late, I already expelled it." Said Ritsu

"I don't believe you." Said Mob sending out a wave of energy. She needed to get that thing out of Ritsu so that he could be her little brother again.

"You're making a mess." Said Ritsu putting up his barrier. She was confused for a moment and Ritsu took his opportunity to send her flying into the wall.

"You shouldn't go around starting fights, sister." Said Ritsu. Mob looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Ritsu…you have powers…" said Mob stunned. She picked herself up and stared at him.

"Yes. Now I can finally-" said Ritsu before he was enveloped in his sister's arms.

"Ritsu! I'm so happy for you!" said Mob as she hugged her little brother close. She was crying a little. This was all that he had ever wanted.

"What?" said Ritsu perplexed.

"You've wanted powers for so long and now you have them. I'm so happy for you. You're the best, Ritsu. I love you so much." Said Mob. Ritsu used his powers to push her away and she wound up sprawled out on her back. Her head had hit the floor and it throbbed.

"I've been thinking, sister, and I've decided to dissolve our relationship." Said Ritsu. She was trying to push the spirit out of him again. He could finally feel her aura properly. It was thick and heavy, like a down comforter on a hot summer's day. She choked everything in this house, she overwhelmed it. How hadn't he noticed this before?

"Ritsu…why are you saying these things?" asked Mob. She couldn't feel a spirit inside of him at all, and she was actively probing as much as she could without physically ripping him open. She could feel herself crying. Not wracking sobs but tears streaming down her face.

"I'm saying them because I'm tired of living in fear of you. Like I said, now I understand the true nature of our relationship. I've spent my entire life afraid of you. I've been afraid of you for my entire life. We could never even fight as siblings because you could explode. Well now I don't have to be afraid of you anymore. Now I can stand up to you. Now I can truly eclipse you in every way." Said Ritsu

"You don't mean these things. This is just because you had a spirit inside of you, it twisted the way you see things. This isn't you, Ritsu." Said Mob

"You think that your friend, Dimple, would have enough power to control me?" asked Ritsu. Mob stood up but Ritsu pushed her back down.

"Dimple? He reformed?" asked Mob. Dimple….Dimple did this to Ritsu? No. He tried to take over the world with smiles, not meanness. Dimple was her friend….

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 80%_

"He's actually the one who helped me control my powers. I guess he was useful for something." Said Ritsu

"You…you let him take over your body?" asked Mob

"Yes, but then I expelled him. I don't know where he is now." Said Ritsu

"You're not OK. You need…you need rest. You need to think…you're not thinking." Said Mob. He must have just been…tired…or something because this was not Ritsu at all.

"I'm thinking clearly for the first time in my life." Said Ritsu. She tried to stand up but he pushed her down again, harder.

"Don't point them at people…." Said Mob clenching her fists in her skirt.

"What?" asked Ritsu

"Psychic powers are like knives. They're tools like any others. We never point them at people." Said Mob through her tears. She could feel herself coming apart again. She could feel herself building and building towards and explosion and she stuffed it down as hard as she could.

"Who told you that? Reigen?" Said Ritsu. Mob nodded.

"We just have more abilities than other people. It's no different than being smart or strong or good at talking. We have to remember that we're still human." Said Mob. Ritsu pushed her again with his powers and she slid into the wall. Her head bounced off of it leaving a sizable dent.

"Of course that idiot would tell you something like that. I can't believe I ever looked up to you." Said Ritsu

"I'm not going to fight with you." Said Mob. Her back hurt a lot, and so did her head. Her braids were coming loose and her hair was floating around her like she was under water.

"You will. I can see your aura. I can see that thing trying to get out. Let it out. I can take it." Said Ritsu. Mob slammed her feelings down as hard as she could.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 60%_

"No. I won't hurt you again Ritsu. Even if it would be in self-defense." Said Mob. She tried to get up again but Ritsu slammed her into the wall.

"You'll end up exploding again. I'm not afraid of you anymore." Said Ritsu

"You're-You're not mad at me. Sometimes when people have things going on in their lives that are-are worrying them or-or stressing them they-they take it out on others." Said Mob as she squished her feelings down as deep as she could.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 55%_

"Did Reigen teach you that, too? I can't believe that you're stupid enough to fall for that conman. You know he has no aura at all, right? You should be able to see auras, what does his look like? Faint, like all the other normal people's? Tell me I'm wrong." Said Ritsu. Mob covered her ears.

"Be quiet." Said Mob s she covered her ears and closed her eyes.

"He's a liar. He's lying to you, and you just let him. No, you like it when he lies to you." Said Ritsu. Mob began to shake her head back and forth. A shelf collapsed.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 65%_

"Stop talking." Said Mob trying to focus on her breathing like Master Reigen had taught her to.

"I've seen you with him. The way he talks, you just eat it up. I've seen the way you look at him, I can't believe you would look at someone like him like that. The way he talks to you, you like that? I can't believe you." Said Ritsu. Mob pulled her knees up to her chest and kept her eyes firmly shut.

"Ritsu please…stop talking." Said Mob. She had to keep it together. She couldn't hurt Ritsu again. She loved Ritsu. She loved Ritsu. She loved Ritsu. She loved Ritsu. She loved Ritsu. She loved Ritsu. She loved Ritsu. She loved Ritsu.

"It's like you're in love with him or something." Said Ritsu mockingly.

"I said stop talking!" said Mob. She threw her head back and the entire house shook. Ritsu's bed flipped over and his drawer full of spoons wound up crashing into the ceiling. Rapid footsteps were heard running up the stairs and the door was thrown open.

"Shigeko! What are you doing!" said her mother. Mrs. Kageyama immediately threw herself between Ritsu and Shigeko, despite the fact that Shigeko was on the floor crying. She just kept having flashbacks to that awful day, the day she had found her only son covered in his own blood.

"Mom…." Said Shigeko. She got up but her mother took a step back and protected Ritsu. From her. Mom was protecting Ritsu from her.

"I am fed up! Do you hear me? Fed up!" yelled Mrs. Kageyama. All her daughter could do was stare. She just stared and stared and stared. That was all her daughter could do, stare.

Mob had pushed all of her feelings down. She couldn't feel anything anymore. She was empty. She was cold.

"Leave your brother alone! Hasn't he had enough? Haven't we all?!" shouted Mrs. Kageyama. All her daughter was doing was staring. The constant, never ending, staring! Didn't she feel anything?!

"Why do you have to do these things?! Why can't you just be normal?! Why can't you just leave your brother alone?!" she was shouting at the top of her lungs now. She was just saying things without thinking. Fourteen years of pent up rage were spilling out of her, and all her daughter could do was stare.

"I can't do this anymore! I just can't!" shouted Mrs. Kageyama. Her daughter was. Still. Staring.

"Say something! Say something! Say something! Speak!" she shouted. Ritsu was staring at his mother with wide eyes. Who was this woman? Shigeko was still just staring. There was nothing happening behind her eyes.

"Don't you have anything to say?! Don't you feel?!" shouted Mrs. Kageyama. Mob turned and left the room. She didn't want to be there anymore. She went to her room and used her powers to stuff her gym bag with clothes. They didn't all fit so she got her old Sailor Moon suitcase out of her wardrobe and stuffed that with clothes too. She took her phone charger, DS, its charger, and her graphing calculator and put them in her school bag. She found her backpack that looked like a stuffed panda filled it with her money jar, spare hair ribbons, toothbrush, hairbrush, and the rest of her socks. She had as many clothes as she could carry, her important things, and her money. She took a look at her room before leaving. Her dad was at his computer at the table. She took a look at him before slipping on her shoes and leaving.

Mob didn't want to be in a place where people were afraid of her.

The world stretched out before her, a wide endless expanse. The sun was going down, the air was getting chilly. She used her powers to get her hoodie out of her gym bag and to pull it on over her head. The world was so big, and she was so small. Maybe there was a place for her in it.

She knew where she belonged.

Her feet took her down the road to Spirits and Such. That was where she belonged. That was where she worked. She helped people. She helped people every day. Nobody was afraid of her there. She was wanted there. People were so nice to her there.

She was cold on the inside, like if she had swallowed an ice pop without chewing. She was proud of herself, though. Yes, that was a feeling. She hadn't exploded. She had kept the other her at bay. She had changed.

Now she had to change her scenery.

At home people were happier without her. That was fine. She just wouldn't ever go home again. She wouldn't go where she wasn't wanted. She would go away and never come back. That's what she would do. Then her family would be happy.

She walked and she walked and she walked and she walked. She walked and walked until she got to spirits and such. Master Reigen would have gone home for the night. Master Reigen. She could…no….she didn't even know where he lived. No. She would stay here. This was where she was wanted.

She opened the door with her powers. The office was dark, so she turned the lights on. It wasn't right. It was too empty. Master Reigen was gone. He needed to be there, or it wasn't right. She moved his chair and typed on his keyboard with his powers. No. Even pretending wouldn't work. She could…she could call him.

What would she say?

No. She…she was ashamed. She was ashamed that she had pushed her brother to that point. She was ashamed that she had pushed her mother to that point. She put her stuff down and laid down on the couch. She squeezed her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes. She didn't liked laying down on something so high off the ground. She missed her sleeping mat. She missed her room. She pulled panda-chan over and hugged him. He wasn't that cuddly, being full of stuff. She still hugged him. He had been a birthday present from Ritsu. She held him tighter. She just felt more alone. She texted Master Reigen, just to ask how he was.

She waited for a response.

She waited for an hour before giving up. Maybe he was busy. Maybe he went to sleep early. Maybe he was with his own friends. She held her phone in front of her with her powers and watched it. It vibrated. A text from Teru.

"_How did it go with Ritsu?" _Mob didn't want to answer that text. She didn't want to talk about what happened with Ritsu

"_What do you think of this shirt?" _She opened the picture. He was in a lavender and lime green striped sweater. She would text back.

"_You look nice." _Said Mob

"_I'll go with that then. Want to get dinner tonight?" _oh. Teru texted back fast. Mob felt her stomach rumble. She didn't want to go outside and be around people, but she did want food.

"_OK." _said Mob. Teru would make her feel better. He wasn't afraid of her. He liked her.

"_Where are you? We can go to a place near you so you don't get home too late." _Said Teru

"_I'm at work."_ Said Mob. It was the truth. The dots that told her he was typing came and went. It looked like his message went through a few drafts.

"_Will Reigen be jealous?" _said Teru

"_No. He had dinner at home." _Said Mob. It took a full minute before he texted back. She could tell that he had started several messages.

"_Working overtime?"_ said Teru

"_I live here now."_ Said Mob simply. Her phone immediately rang. She answered it.

"What? Why do you live at work? Shigeko, what happened? Stay there, don't move, I'm coming." said Teru rapidly. She could hear him running, then a rush of air that told her that he was making himself fly. The signal dropped. Mob still laid on the couch. Fifteen minutes later her phone rang again. She answered it.

"Shigeko? Are you inside?" it was Teru. He sounded upset. She hoped he wasn't upset with her. She didn't want anyone else to be upset with her.

"I'm inside." Said Shigeko quietly. She heard the door open and someone running up the stairs. Teru threw the door opened hard enough to shake the pictures on the walls. She was still laying on the couch.

"Shit. Shigeko, are you alright?" asked Teru. He rushed over to her and knelt down on her level.

"I'm fine, how are you?" asked Mob robotically. She sat up to be polite.

"Fine, I'm perfectly fine. What the fuck do you mean you live here now?" asked Teru

"I packed a lot of my things and now I live here." Said Mob in her usual monotone, but somehow more monotonous.

"But why?" asked Teru, practically shouting.

"Because I can't go home." Said Mob

"Why can't you go home?" asked Teru losing patience quickly.

"Ritsu yelled at me and then pushed me a lot. Then my mom yelled at me and cried. I left and now I live here." Said Mob simply. Teru stared at her.

"Fuck your brother. Fuck your family." Said Teru finally. She didn't deserve those idiots. She was a player character, they were just NPCs.

"You're cursing a lot." Said Mob. He pulled her close. It hurt her back.

"I'm sorry but I feel that the situation warrants it." Said Teru firmly. She gets thrown out of her home and she's worried about his langue. That was so Shigeko.

"Do you still want to go get dinner?" asked Mob. She really was hungry, she hadn't eaten since lunch. She regretted not taking that soup home with her.

"Shigeko….come home with me." Said Teru. He held her hand and looked deeply into her eyes. He needed her to understand what he was asking of her.

"OK. I don't know how to cook, though." Said Mob. She actually hadn't had a home cooked meal in a long while.

"I'll teach you." Said Teru, still holding her hands.

"Alright." Said Mob simply. She got up and Teru followed. He put his hand on her arm.

"Do you….do you understand what I'm asking?" asked Teru tipping her head up so they were making eye contact again.

"You want me to come over for dinner." Said Mob simply. Teru put his other hand on her waist.

"Shigeko….I'm asking you to come live with me." Said Teru after a moment, like he was proposing marriage. Mob nodded.

"OK then, let's go." Said Mob

"You-you're saying yes?" asked Teru, his gold aura washing over her.

"Yes. I don't think that Master Reigen would like me living here. He'd be upset about how high the electric bill would be." Said Mob grabbing her things with her powers. He wouldn't like the extra bills and he would be mad at her because of what she did. Or maybe he wouldn't. She didn't want him to know, though.

"OK….sure I'll take it." Said Teru. That was, once again, so Shigeko. She was, at heart, a pragmatist he decided. She left home when it became unbearable and she moved in with him to save her employer the extra expense of her living in their workspace, thus keeping her wages at a steady level. Teru didn't think this just because he had just learned that word in school, either.

Ritsu flipped his bed back to its rightful position and laid down. His parents were fighting downstairs.

"_It's not my fault that you can't control the children!"_

"_I'm doing my best! Let's see you deal with her!"_

"_You haven't been dealing with her! She just walked right out the door! She's never home anyway!"_

"_Well I didn't see you getting up and chasing after her!"_

"_How was I supposed to stop her?!"_

"_How am I supposed to control her?!"_

"_I don't know! Alright! I don't know!"_

"_You go after her, then! Be a father!" _

"_We have no idea where she is!"_

"_If she doesn't want to be here then what are we supposed to do!"_

"_She left because of you!"_

"_Don't pin this on me!"_

"_You favor Ritsu!"_

"_So do you!"_

"_No, not like you do!"_

"_Of course she fought him again, the way you carry on about him!"_

"_Be quiet! He can hear you!"_

Their voices got quieter. Ritsu couldn't hear them anymore. He turned onto his side. He had felt so big before, so strong. Now he just felt numb. He didn't…he didn't hate Shigeko. He didn't even really dislike that much. He should…he shouldn't have pushed her. He shouldn't have said all of those things to her.

In the moment he had felt so…right. In the moment everything had felt right. He had been angry all day and it finally just spilled out. No, that was abdicating responsibility. He had…he had wanted to say those things to his sister. No. Yes.

He had and he hadn't. He was tired of being afraid of her but he hadn't wanted to hurt her. She didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve him being mean to her. He was her brother, he was supposed to be nice to her.

But he had been nice to her. He had been nice to her for their entire lives. He had played all of his roles well. Top student. Star athlete. His sister's keeper. He had his jobs well and now he was tired. Hell, he only started student council because it was expected of him, and it was a good place to keep people from making fun of Shigeko. He didn't have any real friends, just acquaintances. Hell, he had risked everything to clean up the school FOR Shigeko. He always had to be there for her. He always had to take care of her.

He was tired of it.

He was tired of always having to take care of her, but that was no excuse for how he had acted. He had been a jerk and now his sister was out there, cold, alone, where anything could happen to her. No, wait. She was strong enough that the people Ritsu had to worry about were the ones stupid enough to mess with her. She was probably fine. She had just probably gone to spend more time with that Reigen guy.

She was probably fine.

Mob was fine. She hadn't gotten too motion sick on the way to Teru's house, he already ahd some tea made so her stomach was pretty much all the way settled, and now she was watching TV while he made curry. She wanted to help but he told her to just relax. So wasn't really watching, not really, but the tea was very good. His home was warm. She dug her toes into the carpet. It was soft.

"Do you want to eat in the living room or the kitchen?" asked Teru. Curry wasn't hard to make at all so it didn't take too long. He kept pushing his aura out around hers. She felt fine. No spike at all. Well that would have been fine for a normal person. She usually had small spikes just from going about her day.

"Whichever is fine." Said Mob. She hadn't sat down and eaten in a home in a while. She and Master Reigen always got food from places and at it at the restaurant or the office. Sometimes they even ate at the park. Those were nice nights. She checked her phone again. He still hadn't texted her back.

"Kitchen it is, then." Said Teru after a thought. That would be nicer. He usually ate in front of the TV, but he had company for once. Or did she live here now permanently? He didn't know how to feel about that. He had only had a girl over once before and now she was moving in. Well, if she had nowhere else to go then it was fine. Besides, the company would have been nice, too.

"Alright." Said Mob getting up and sitting at the table in the kitchen. Teru used his powers to get all the food on the table and to make up their plates. They ate in silence. Mob really was hungry. It was very good.

"This is good Teru, thank you." Said Mob between bites. Teru reached over and took her hand.

"No, thank you for coming." Said Teru. There, her aura spiked. That was normal for her.

"Thank you for inviting me into your home." Said Mob trying her best to be polite. Teru was being so nice to her….

"Thank you for coming into my home." Said Teru giving her hand a squeeze

"Thank you for thanking me." Said Mob without thinking. Teru looked at her for a moment before laughing.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob. Teru immediately stopped laughing.

"No, sorry, I didn't mean to be mean." Said Teru

"Oh. I misread the atmosphere." Said Mob going back to her curry. Teru was staring at her.

"So…what happened?" asked Teru finally. Sometimes with her, all the times with her, it was best to get to the point. He needed to know why, exactly, she couldn't live at home anymore.

"At my house?" asked Mob. Teru momentarily wanted to roll his eyes and say something like "No, on Mars" but he wouldn't because this was his girlfriend and one did not speak that way to their girlfriend.

"Yeah, why'd they kick you out?" asked Teru

"They didn't kick me out. I left." Said Mob. Teru swallow and looked at her. He had just a little more respect for her. She just up and left because people were being jerks.

"I see….so you left because they were being jerks?" asked Teru. Mob shrugged.

"Ritsu was being really mean to me. I don't know why. Then my mom yelled at me. Then I left." Said Mob finishing her dinner. Teru talked, but not as much as Master Reigen. She wished that Teru would talk more and ask her fewer questions.

"Well, you can stay here for as long as you need to." Said Teru. He watched her aura. It didn't move when she said all of that. Flat fact. Devoid of emotional response. No, she wasn't unfeeling. She was trying not to feel.

"Can I stay forever?" asked Mob. Teru made a squeaky sort of sound that he didn't know that he was capable of making.

"Sure." Squeaked Teru. Damn. He thought his voice was done changing.

"Are you ok?" asked Mob. She didn't know what he meant by that, and she was too tired to flip through her mental books of inflections and expressions.

"I'm fine." Said Teru trying to get his voice to go down a couple of octaves. Sure. His girlfriend could live with him forever. That was fine. Sure. Great. Awesome. Wonderful. Extravagant. Wait, that last one didn't really fit.

"Ok. Oh, and Ritsu has powers too, so if he tries to fight you don't fight him. He's just…I don't know. He's not acting normal." Said Mob. The plate in front of her began to shake back and forth before flying off the table. Teru caught it with his powers, his gold aura mixing with her pink and blue one.

"I…figured as much. He was kind of…off today too. I think it might just be…mental contamination from the spirit." Said Teru thinking up something quick. He had never heard of that but he hadn't ever not heard of that either.

"Mental contamination?" asked Mob, slightly hopefully. Yeah, maybe Ritsu just went crazy from having Dimple inside of his body for so long.

"Yeah. Maybe because he shared his mind with the spirit so long it messed with his head." Said Teru

"You mean like piloting an Evangelion for too long?" said Mob remembering those late nights watching that show with Ritsu through the cracks in her fingers because it was just so sad.

"Right….just like that." Said Teru. He could see that she also enjoyed watching anime like most of the population.

"When I find Dimple I'll make him fix Ritsu." Said Mob, her spoon twisting. Teru untwisted it.

"Dimple? You know the spirit?" asked Teru

"He's the one you exorcised…when you were trying to fight with me." Said Mob. She wasn't trying to make Teru sad but his aura ebbed away from hers.

"I'm sorry about that." Said Teru. He really was. He didn't know why he had lost control like that. Wait, he did know. He acted like that because he was drunk on his own sense of power, and he needed her to bring him back down to Earth.

"I know. I didn't mean to make you feel bad." Said Mob. She didn't need to be making Teru mad at her too. She wanted him to still like her. Somebody had to still like her. Somebody had to want to be around her.

"I'm still really sorry." Said Teru. He didn't need her to dislike him. She'd go, too, from him. She already left her family.

"I'm sorry that you're sorry." Said Mob getting up and bowing. Teru got up and hugged her. She felt warm. Nice.

"You apologize a lot." Said Teru laughing. Mob shrugged as he let her go.

"It's a polite thing to say." Said Mob. Being polite was important. If you weren't polite then people wouldn't like it.

"How about no more saying I'm sorry?" said Teru. He was tired of them apologizing to each other. What happened kept hanging over them like a shroud. That was then, this was now.

"Ever?" said Mob. No. Apologies were important. They were a very important social rule.

"About what happened when we met, that's all. I'm sorry, you're sorry even though you shouldn't be, so we're even." Said Teru

"OK." Said Mob. They stood in the kitchen for a moment. She looked around with her aura. It didn't feel like anybody else had ever lived there, not since Teru moved in. He permeated everything. It was like a warm blanket covering her. She let his aura wash over her completely. She dropped retreated into herself so he could cover her. He made a weird gasping sort of sound.

"Did you do that on purpose?" asked Teru. One minute he as thinking of something to do and the next he could feel…her. She pulled back completely and he could feel all of her. He even felt that thing he had seen before, but it felt different. Smaller. Penned in.

"I did. You feel nice, that's all. Do you want me to push my aura out again?" Said Mob. It was nice, like a warm bath. No, bigger, like a heated swimming pool.

"No, you can leave it the way it is." Said Teru, hs face heating up. This was certainly…intimate? Was that the word? Not intimate like what was best kept between him and his internet provider but intimate like…holding her? Like skin to skin, almost.

"I'm tired." Said Mob after a while. Her body and her mind felt tired. She needed to lay down.

"But it's only-well I guess it is kind of late. Do you want to go to bed?" asked Teru. It was early for him, he didn't need as much sleep as normal people but he wasn't sure about her. The sun had been down for hours after all.

"…..I don't want to be alone." Said Mob finally. She didn't want to lay down in an unfamiliar place. She didn't want to stare up at the ceiling, the unfamiliar ceiling, and think. She wanted to be back in her room, looking up at her ceiling. She wanted to lay down, though, her back really hurt.

"I'm here, you're not alone, Shigeko. This is my house, after all. I'm not going anywhere." Said Teru. She was sad. He wasn't an empath, actually empathy was difficult for him when it came to most people, but he was close enough to her to be able to feel what was under that emotionless mask she wore, and it was a mask. Yes, he could see it now. Everything that she stomped down to keep that…thing….from coming out.

"Thank you, Teru. That…it means a lot to me." Said Mob. She was wanted her. Teru wanted to be around her. He wasn't afraid of her. He was poking other Shigeko now but he wasn't afraid of her either. Teru was looking at her, really looking at her.

"What?" asked Mob. She couldn't read the look in his eyes. It wasn't mean though, that was what mattered.

"Nothing. You're just so damn pretty." Said Teru. He knew he had heard it in a movie before but it fit. Her aura was showing again, all pinks and blues. Her hair was messy but it suited her. She was so…she was so herself. She was so herself physically and mentally and she was just so damn pretty.

"You look nice too." Said Mob quietly. That certainly took her mind off of Ritsu. She felt conscious of herself, almost like she was seeing herself the way Teru was seeing her. He took a step towards her and put his hand on her back, pulling her close.

"I can see you, inside of you I mean. Not your insides, that would be weird, but I can read your feelings. It's ok, if you want to cry." Said Teru. She did feel sad, and it must have been. He had been sad when his parents left him, too.

"I can't. I can't let my emotions out or I'll explode." Said Mob

"I'll make sure you don't." said Teru holding her close. Empathy wasn't something he had a lot of experience in, and he didn't like the way that she was making him feel right then and there. Also, he didn't like that she had to be feeling that too.

"Teru…." Said Mob. She wasn't sobbing, she was just letting her tears flow into his shirt. His new shirt. Darn. She'd wash it for him later.

"I didn't mean…it's ok. You're ok." Said Teru. Tears didn't stain too badly, right? The salt would fade the colors, though. Whatever, he had plenty of shirts. He let her cry it out. Girls needed to cry, he thought, not that he was an expert on the mysterious ways of the opposite sex.

"Thank you." Said Mob as she cried into his shirt.

"I…I felt like this when my parents left too. I get how you feel, I mean." Said Teru as she cried. He had cried, too, after they moved abroad. It wasn't like in anime, it wasn't really cool living alone. Lots of loneliness.

"Are they dead?" asked Mob quietly

"No…they just don't want to live with me." Said Teru

"I'm sorry." Said Mob wiping her eyes on his shirt.

"It's alright." Said Teru pulling her closer.

Ritsu's parents had eventually stopped fighting and had gone to bed. He was still lying in bed. The lights were still on, his room was still a mess. He turned around. There was a dent in his wall. He closed his eyes.

He had been such an asshole.

Not that she didn't deserve it.

Well not being pushed around. That was on him.

He still shouldn't have had to live in fear of her. That was on her.

He got up and walked to her room. He was almost expecting her to be in there, asleep. He didn't know what he'd do if she was in there. Apologize? Talk to her? Watch her sleep like he knew she sometimes did?

Her room was empty.

Her wardrobe was thrown open. All of her drawers were opened. A lot of her clothes were gone. Her charger wasn't plugged in. Panda-chan was gone. She wasn't there, and it didn't look like she was coming back.

This was his fault.

No it wasn't.

He laid down on her bedroll and looked up at the ceiling. There were cracks in it from when she had bad dreams. He remembered. He used to sleep next to her when she had nightmares. She used to climb into bed with him when he had bad dreams too, even though she hated beds.

She was always there for him.

He felt the scar under his fringe. He remembered that day. He remembered the blood. How fast it happened. How that thing looked.

She wasn't always there for him. Sometimes she hurt him.

Sometimes he hurt her.

He felt like absolute crap. Ritsu closed his eyes and tried to block out the world.

Reigen Arataka felt like absolute crap. It was midnight when he finally stumbled home. He was lonely and when he got lonely he drank, despite the fact he was really bad at it. He needed some real friends, not that he had ever had many of those. No. All he had was Mob, and she had her own stuff going on. She had left him alone.

She'd leave him once again. She'd leave him eventually. She promised him before that she wouldn't but who knew what the future held. He wasn't sure what he could do without her, and not just business wise.

When he got up he felt like his day was in black and white. The color only came when he saw her. He lived for her smiles, he frowns, all of it. He lived for the way she'd call him Master and hang on his every word. The way she'd rest her head on his shoulder. The little ways she'd smile at him when he pulled her pigtails, or held her close. She was so adorable.

Sometimes he thought about what it would be liked if these halcyon days never ended. If he could spend every day with her at his side. That would be absolute heaven and a half. Sometimes he even closed his eyes and imagined her as his friend, just them doing friend things.

He remembered when the found that white cat, how happy she looked. When they went on their first exorcism and she was so proud of herself. When he taught her how to make tea and it was the best damn tea he had ever had. The long bus rides when she'd close her eyes and rest her head on his chest so she didn't get motion sick.

He missed her a lot. He'd see her tomorrow. That made him smile. He'd see her again and then he'd help her out with whatever was bothering her and he'd ask her what happened with her brother and he'd dispense life advice and then they'd get dinner and maybe hang out and then they'd do it all again.

That would be wonderful.

He walked through his door and kicked off his shoes. He threw himself down on his couch and checked his phone. Oh. A text from Mob.

"_How are you doing?"_ Oh. She had sent this hours ago. He started several replies but didn't send them. What could he say?

"_Mob I miss you so much and I can't wait to see you again you're the most amazing person I've ever met you've grown so much and you matter so much you are everything to me"_

Yeah. No. He wasn't going to send that. Just no. He was drunk. He wasn't so drunk as to not know he was drunk but he was drunk. He couldn't tell her that. That would just be weird.

"_Mob I'm fine how are you what are you doing up have you seen the dog video qhere the dog is stuck in a paper bag and the cat scares it?"_

No. Too much rambling and it didn't go anywhere.

"_I love you"_

He didn't send that either.

He did love her. She had become the first thing he thought about when he woke up and the last thing he thought about when he went to sleep. Not romantically, no. The thought of that made his stomach roll. It was possible to love someone but not want them romantically or physically.

Physically.

The thought did ultimately make him throw up. At least he made it into the bathroom.

Mob stared at the tile wall in Teru's bathroom. Her teeth had long since been brushed, Teru's toothpaste tasting unfamiliar. She looked and looked at the wall. It was pink. The walls at her house were white. Teru liked pink a lot. She liked pink too. Maybe she'd be happy here. She left the bathroom and went to the living room where a pillow and blanket had been left for her. She laid down and looked up at the ceiling.

The ceiling was wrong. The room was too big. She was too high off the ground. The sounds form the outside were wrong. She was too high up to hear passing cars. This wasn't her room. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

She couldn't.

She was alone.

She didn't want to be.

She got up and levitated her pillow and blanket down the hall with her until she got to Teru's room. She didn't want to be alone and when she felt like this she always slept next to Ritsu. She could sleep next to Teru, if he didn't mind.

"Teru, are you awake?" asked Mob opening the door a crack. Teru was sitting up in bed, reading something on his phone.

"Oh, hey. Are you alright?" asked Teru. Mob took that as allowance to enter.

"Can I sleep with you?" asked Mob walking over to his bed. Teru stared at her. The wheels in his brain absolutely stopped turning for a moment. He looked at the pillow and blanket hovering beside her and took his mind out of the gutter.

"Sure." Said Teru scooting over to the side. He used his powers to put his phone on the charger. It's movements were jerkier than normal. His aura was spiking, he tried to smooth it. If she noticed she said nothing, just laid down next to him. She turned onto her side and faced him. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

"Teru? Do you want me to go?" asked Mob. He felt weird, and he was breathing funny. Maybe he had done that thing when people said that they were OK with something but actually weren't.

"No! I mean yes! I mean you can stay." Said Teru. He laid down more until they were parallel. They were so close the could feel each other breathe.

"Thank you." Said Mob. She felt better already. She scooted closer to him. He was really warm. She hoped that it was alright, she could feel him tensing up.

"Shigeko…." Said Teru. He wanted to ask her what she was doing, but he didn't. He didn't want to pop the bubble of whatever was happening. She was so close. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest against his. He put his arm across her waist and rested his hand on the small of her back. He couldn't be nervous now. He couldn't let her see that he was nervous.

"Yes?" asked Mob, her eyes still closed. It felt nice having him so close. Not like sleeping next to Ritsu. Well, Ritsu was her brother of course it was different. Teru was Teru and she was Mob and they were happy.

"Nothing." Said Teru. He used his powers to turn off the lights. It was earlier than he usually went to bed but he didn't want to keep her up. He moved his hand on her back and she tense. He pulled his hand away like it was on fire.

"No. You can keep holding me. I liked it. My back just hurts from where Ritsu pushed me." Said Mob

"I'll kill him." said Teru without thinking. It was one thing for him to fight with Shigeko, he didn't even know her then. It was another to go and push your own sister around. Not that he had any sisters, of course, but it was just common sense. What was it that Shigeko had said? Oh yeah, the biggest losers in the world were the ones who went around hitting girls.

"Don't!" said Mob, alarmed.

"I wasn't being serious. I remember what you said, we don't use our powers against people." Said Teru. Mob relaxed.

"Oh, OK." Said Mob. Teru dragged his hand up and touched the side of her face. She opened her eyes.

"That feels nice too." Said Mob. She felt warm all over. She liked how soft Teru's skin felt, and he smelled nice too. She closed her eyes again and just went with it. She let her aura ebb and flow with her breathing. She let her aura mix with Teru's.

"Now that's nice." Said Teru. Skin to skin, aura to aura. So this was what it was like to have a real girlfriend. It was so nice. Too nice. He scooted back from her.

"Sorry." Said Mob pulling her aura back.

"No, it's ok. You can keep going." Said Teru. This was a lot of firsts for him, but he was at his limit. Not that he didn't want to, because he did. He must have. Right? Because he had certainly spent long enough thinking about it, and she was right there. But she didn't want to.

"Sorry about your hair." Said Mob. She ha dher eyes closed but she could feel the top of his head when it was against hers.

"It's growing back." Said Teru. It was growing back fast, but it was still way too short. He didn't want to have to shave off the rest of it.

"You can cut my hair off, if you want." Said Mob quietly, almost whispering. It was too dark and too cozy to be loud.

"No, that's alright. You have really nice hair." Said Teru, equally as quietly. He ran his fingers through it. It was easy, she slept with her hair down. Mob made a full body shudder usually reserved for back rubs.

"That's really good, Teru." Said Mob breathlessly. Teru felt himself blushing worse than he ever had in his life. She was scooting closer to him again. He couldn't show her how nervous he was. He had to be confident about whatever it was that this was or what it was going to. Was this how it started? He didn't know. All he knew was that there was a girl in his bed and she was there and alive and warm and he was actually there with her.

"Are you alright?" asked Mob. His aura was spiking like crazy. She didn't know what that was all about. It was almost like he was upset, but he so clearly wasn't.

"Shigeko….what do you want to do?" asked Teru. Direct was best with her. She wasn't one of those girls who batted her eyes and played coy when she wanted him to kiss her, but she wasn't one of those girls who grabbed by the shirt front and pulled him close either. It was so hard to tell what Shigeko wanted. More comfort? But she didn't feel upset. Closeness? Hell, maybe she was just afraid of the dark.

"Tomorrow? I guess I have to go to school. I'll get in trouble if I don't. I'll go to work too, then I'll have dinner with Master Reigen. You can come too, if you want." Said Mob. She didn't want to worry about tomorrow, she just wanted to enjoy what was happening now.

"I mean, what do you want to do right now?" Said Teru. He didn't want to get her talking about her master. He had seen the way she was with him. Reigen. His rival for her. He wanted to make her forget about him.

"This is nice, I don't really want to do anything else but lay here with you." Said Mob. She thought he meant like hanging out. She wasn't really in the mood to watch TV or play go again. Relaxing was very nice.

"OK." Said Teru, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Well, that was a lot of pressure off of him. Not that he didn't want to do that with her, because he did. Just not right then and there. A person needed time to prepare mentally. Besides, what were they rushing for? They had their whole lives ahead of them.

"Why do you feel tense?" asked Mob resting her head on his chest. She could feel his heart beat, it was going really fast. This was nice. She hoped that they could be like this all the time.

"I was just thinking." Said Teru

"Bad thoughts?" asked Mob worried that he was having second thoughts.

"No, about us." Said Teru

"Why were you thinking about us? We're right here." Said Mob

"Yeah, you're right. We are. I was just thinking….never mind." Said Teru. If he told her exactly what he had been thinking she would have run away screaming.

"Is this OK?" asked Mob. Maybe she was too close. Maybe he actually didn't want to share a bed with her. Maybe she had overstepped her role as a guest. There were a lot of rules, it was hard to remember the nuances of every last one of them.

"Shigeko, this is perfect." Said Teru. It really was. It was so dark and they were so close, it was like they were the only two people in the world.

"I'm glad." Said Mob. That was a load off of her mind. She hadn't misread the atmosphere. Teru still liked her. She could stay here with him. She got closer and threw a leg around his. This was so, absolutely wonderful. She felt the same as when she was close to Master Reigen, but they had never been this close before except for in her own mind. So this was what it was like. So this was what it felt like to be this close to someone.

"Shigeko….can I kiss you?" Said Teru. Mob lifted her head and gave him a quick peck. She didn't miss that time. She was getting better. She kissed Teru again, this time for a moment longer. She let all the good thoughts wash over her and chase away the sadness of earlier.

"I mean….can I kiss you for real?" said Teru. Nothing felt more right at that moment than kissing her, but for real. Like in the movies…not those kinds of movies. No, the movies with romantic subplots that he had so religiously studied so he'd be good at getting girls.

"You mean not for practice?" asked Mob. She had wanted to kiss Master Reigen when she kissed someone for real but he wasn't there. He wouldn't kiss her for real now, or maybe even ever. Teru wanted to, though, and she was curious. How would it feel? Would it be better than practicing?

"I mean like…." Said Teru trying to figure out how to describe what he was thinking. He couldn't say like in a movie because then she'd think everything he did he just copied from movies. He didn't copy everything, just some things. Plus is wouldn't make him look confident, and someone had to be confident in this relationship.

"Ok. Sure." Said Mob. Teru sat up quickly, almost bumping heads with Mob.

"Really?" asked Teru, his voice doing that squeaky thing again.

"Sure. What do I do?" asked Mob

"Just…close your eyes I guess." Said Teru. Mob nodded and closed her eyes. Teru took a deep breath and kissed her. She was still tense, she was always tense when he kissed her. He had only kissed one other person like this before, and it had gone….decent. He thought he did it right, maybe.

"Ok. That was nice." Said Mob. There was spit that time, which normally would be kind of gross, but was nice now. He took her mind off of everything, and replaced the numbness left over from stuffing down her feelings and crying.

"You don't have to be so tense." Said Teru

"What do you mean?" asked Mob. Great. Something else she did wrong.

"Here. Close your eyes and let me lead. Don't be tense." Said Teru. Mob shrugged but closed her eyes. Oh. Whoa. Wow. That was nice. She made a mewing sound, one which she did not plan to make, when he broke apart from her.

"Was that for real?" asked Mob, her eyes still closed. Her face was flushed. She was breathing deeply. The negative feelings inside of her were replaced by an all over sort of warmth.

"Yeah, if you want it to be. I, for one, think that was pretty good." Said Teru. Mob's eyes were still closed. She nodded. Teru kissed her again. A glass of water shattered, the books flew off a shelf, and the clothes from the wardrobe flew out and hit the wall across from them.

"I'm sorry!" said Mob. Teru laid back down.

"No, it's fine. I take it as a compliment." Said Teru, clearly pleased with himself. What was he so nervous about? He knew what he was doing. He'd never made a girl destroy his room before, not that he had ever had a girl in his room before.

"Oh. Right. Sleep." Said Mob laying back down next to him. She was still flushed, but she had forgotten, momentarily, about everything that had happened. Eventually, she fell asleep for a few hours. However, it was not a restful sleep at all. The maelstrom of negative emotions could not be kept at bay for long, and sleep was not easy coming.

Also, Teru hogged the bed.

Ritsu got up early, momentarily confused as to where he was. The ceiling was wrong. The walls were wrong. The bed was wrong. His back hurt.

Oh. He was in his sister's room. Shigeko was gone. She was off with Reigen. He was all alone. He got up and stretched. The panda clock said that it was around the time he usually got up for school, a little earlier. School. He'd have to go. He got out of bed and stretched. As he left his room her could hear his parents arguing again.

"_Well if she doesn't want to come home what the hell am I supposed to do?!"_

"_Make her come home!"_

"_You do it then, if it's so easy!" _

They were still fighting about Shigeko. Ritsu was off his power high and now he was starting to feel guilty. He'd talk to his sister at school. They'd talk it out and she'd come home and then mom and dad would stop fighting.

He got into his uniform and left without breakfast. Well he tried to leave but his mother stopped him.

"Ritsu, can you talk to your sister today?" asked his mother. He expected her eyes to be red from crying, but she just looked tired. Had mom and dad been fighting all night?

"Sure mom. I'll ask her to come home." Said Ritsu

"Don't….don't upset her. Just ask her what she's planning on doing." Said his mother. Ritsu frowned.

"Why don't you just pack up her stuff and mail it to Reigen?" asked Ritsu a bit more sarcastically than was needed.

"Ritsu! Don't talk to me like that! I'm your mother!" said his mother. Sheesh. How did Shigeko deal with being at the receiving end of this all the time?

"I'm just saying, mom, that maybe she won't want to come home. She spends all of her time with Reigen anyway so you might as well just send her stuff. He could probably marry her, too. I think that's legal if you say she can. I don't even think you guys want her around, to tell the truth. You even said that it was better when she wasn't home." Said Ritsu. His mother pulled her arm back and for a moment Ritsu thought she was going to smack him. She let her arm fall and sighed.

"I love both of you." She said, quietly.

"OK mom." Said Ritsu as he slipped his shoes on and left. If his mom really loved both of them then she would have stopped Shigeko from leaving in the first place. He never should have made her leave in the first place. Dimple was right, he was an asshole.

Reigen woke up with an absolutely pounding headache. The light streaming in through his curtains seemed to exist simply to torture him. He rubbed his eyes and got up. He had a terrible taste in his mouth. He yawned and stretched and tried to come to life, it worked.

"What the hell did I do last night?" Reigen asked himself. He checked his phone. An unsent text to Mob, all gibberish. His heart stopped for a moment. Had he drunk texted her? He scrolled up. No. He had just never replied to her text.

"_Morning Mob :-) sorry my phone died last night. How are you? Have fun at school! Don't so anything I wouldn't do! Or anything I would!" _There. That was a nice text. Oh. She was texting back. Huh. That was weird, she was usually busy this early in the morning.

"_But if I don't do anything you would do and if I don't do anything you wouldn't do then what do I do?" _Heh. Classic Mob.

"_It's just a figure of speech. I'll see you after school today and I'll explain it better then." _She would probably show up. He didn't call her in every single day before but now…if she had other things going on she'd tell him.

"_OK. Have a nice day."_ Also classic Mob. She was always so polite. He'd ask her in person how it went with her little brother. Hopefully they made up. They were both at a very awkward age, those two. You couldn't pay Reigen to go back to being that young.

He went about his morning routine, once again vowing to never drink again no matter how lonely he got. It wasn't good for him and it wasn't good for Mob for him to be getting drunk so often. He was setting a bad example, and he got reckless when he got drunk. More than usual, anyway. He couldn't believe that he was actually going to text her that he loved her. She would most definitely take that the wrong way.

Actually, everyone would take it the wrong way if he was sending I love you texts to middle school girls. Even if he didn't mean it like that. She was his best friend, he had to admit it to himself, and he cared about her. There was a difference between loving and being in love with someone.

His commute took him over the bridge and he looked out into the horizon as he did every day Some joggers, the same two guys every day, ran by. Where were they running too? What was their relationship? Did they like jogging, or did they just jog to get fit? The sky expanded out in front of him. The world was so big, there were so many people in it, and he was one of them. He was one of many people, just another soul trying to get to work. Not a salaryman though, not like before.

He was going to be somebody. He was somebody. To Mob he was Reigen Arataka, the world's greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. That was the Reigen that existed in her mind. He'd like to meet that man, someday.

Reigen bet that the Reigen in her mind didn't get stumbling around, vomiting all over the bathroom floor drunk when a fourteen year old girl cancelled dinner plans with him.

He passed that same cat he saw everyday on his way to the office. He took a picture and sent it to Mob. She sent him a happy face. He sent her one back. This was nice, she didn't usually text back so fast. He hoped he wasn't going to get her in trouble, was she in school yet? He checked the time. Probably. He shouldn't have been texting her while she was in school.

He made it to the office but found the doors unlocked and the lights on. Nothing was missing, and it didn't look at all like a break in. The safe was untouched. Huh. How had he forgotten he doors and the lights? Great. He hoped that this didn't run up the electric bill too much. Oh well, what happened, happened. Nothing he could do about it now but try to be more conscientious in the future. He'd have Mob remember to tell him to lock up, she was good at remembering things.

Reigen opened his E-Mail. Just more repeat customers this morning. Honestly, without Mob around eh was little better than a masseur. Maybe he should have just gone into massage? If his mother could see him now. He had spent four years at university to fix all the stiff shoulders in Seasoning City. Speaking of stiff shoulders that Yuno woman was pissed at him for blowing her off. Whatever. He was drowning his sorrows, and she wasn't really that great anyway.

If a version of him even five years younger could see what he was doing he'd reach through time and strangle his future self. What was he doing, passing up sex? Maybe he was just getting older. Sex without an emotional connection was just two adults licking each other's wounds at this point in his life. He just hadn't had an emotional connection with a woman in years, not since his university days anyway. He missed it. That was why he didn't check any of his social media anymore. Too many happy couples. People from high school were all paired up now, even some of his younger cousins from the United States were married or were on the path to marriage. He didn't need to worry about that stuff, his mother did enough worrying for him. She'd probably have a heart attack if she knew he spent all of his time with a fourteen year old girl.

It was legal in Seasoning City though.

Not that he had sought out that information. That was just something he had picked up.

His mother would go there immediately. She'd rant and rave until her Japanese ran out, then she'd switch to English. When she ran out of words she'd probably just learn sign langue in order to keep lecturing him. He'd probably share that little tidbit of knowledge just to see the blood drain from her face. She'd clutch her chest and start wailing, like when he told her that he had a girlfriend back in high school.

Mothers were weird. One minute they wanted you to do one thing and then they went and changed their minds. Before it was "Arataka focus on your studies" now it was "Arataka where are my grandchildren?" like his life was just something that she could control. Well his life was his own and he was the protagonist of his own life. He wondered if Mob ever had these sorts of problems. He couldn't imagine her mother ever getting so involved in her life, actually. Mob's mother seemed down right afraid of her daughter.

Reigen heard the downstairs door open. The first of the massages was here. Well, back to it then.

It wasn't a terribly long walk, Kageyama Hana decided, to her daughter's place of work. So, this office building was where Shigeko spent most of her time. It wasn't what she had been expecting, not that she knew what she had been expecting. Something a little less unassuming. You wouldn't even know that a psychic consultation office was housed here if not for the sign. Nonetheless she was here for a reason. She opened the outer door and walked slowly up the steps. It felt like Shigeko here. She carried a sort of energy around here that seemed to linger in the places that she spent the most time. It was strongest in her room.

Hana opened the door to the inner office. It was small inside. There was a little desk that she assumed was Shigeko's. There was a little plaque that said reception on it, and a small ceramic cat. How hadn't it shattered? Shigeko's powers destroyed anything breakable. She had a little pink chair there, too, and a pencil cup.

"I'll be with you in just one minute. Why don't you grab a questionnaire from the table in the waiting area and fill it out?" that was the man's voice, Reigen Arataka. He was doing something in the other room. Hana sat down on the couch, above it was a sign that proclaimed this to be the waiting room. There were a stack of papers, a cup full of pens, and a couple of clipboards on the side table. She didn't fill out a form.

She sat there, her arms and ankles crossed, and the smiling visage of Reigen Arataka gazed down at her. He even had posters. She looked around. Oh. Photographs of Shigeko. She got up and walked towards the corkboard hanging on the wall.

There was a procession of birthday pictures. Shigeko at twelve, thirteen, and fourteen. Reigen at twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, and finally twenty eight. So that was how old he was. She remembered that day, Shigeko had made a mess of the kitchen baking him that cake. There were also Christmas pictures. The two of them opening gifts, smiling. The two of them at a summer festival, those seemed to be yearly too. Shigeko in a yukata she had never seen before. Oh. She must have outgrown her old one. There was one of Shigeko dressed as a boy for some reason, she looked less than pleased in that one. There was one of Shigeko in that ghastly pink dress she had come home in one day, too.

Shigeko was smiling in most of these. Hana couldn't remember the last time she had seen her daughter smiling. Hana took one of the pictures off the board and flipped it over. Shigeko was young in that one.

_Mob's first exorcism, 2016._

She took another off the board.

_Mob's first day of middle school, 2017._

Another.

_Mob beat the claw machine, 2018_

Another.

_Reigen and Mob exorcise the cat shelter, 2019_

Another….

_Merry Christmas, 2016._

Her daughter's name was not Mob. Mob was not a name. Shigeko was not Mob. Mob was…Mob was a very happy girl, apparently. Mob smiled.

Shigeko never smiled for pictures. Hana had given up on that long ago. Shigeko also didn't really seem to like holidays, but here she seemed happy. Most of these pictures weren't taken in this office. Hana never asked what they did all day, and never where her daughter went on those long summer days. Some of these weren't even taken in the city. There was one of her and Reigen gathering mushrooms.

Maybe Shigeko was better off with this man. Maybe she was better off with another human being who could understand her, and who made her happy. Hana knew that she had no idea what to make of her daughter, she was ashamed to say that she even feared her daughter. This man didn't fear her, this man was like her. She tacked the pictures back up on the corkboard and sat down.

She didn't know anything about her daughter at all. Nothing. Shigeko was….Shigeko was better off. Ritsu was too, maybe. Ritsu had pushed Shigeko down last night. He was a smart boy but he was only thirteen. Shigeko was fourteen. Hana remembered her own youth and how quick she and her sisters were to fight. Ritsu and Shigeko couldn't fight as siblings or Shigeko would have one of her episodes.

She rested her head in her hands but looked up as she heard a door open.

"Oh thank you for lifting the curse! Can I come back next week for a follow up?" Reigen was coming out of the back room with what she assumed was a customer. He had a sheen of sweat on him. His ties was loosened and he threw his suit coat on the back of his chair.

"Of course. Same time next week?" asked Reigen. He knew he had a customer on the couch but now he needed to get paid or there wouldn't be an office to see this client.

"Oh yes. Thank you so much." Said the client as he paid. Reigen was now rich enough to afford another box of printer paper. He almost sat down at his desk when he noticed who this new client was.

"Oh, Mrs. Kageyama….welcome." said Reigen. His mind was going a mile a minute. Something had happened to Mob. Her mother was making her quit. Her mother was here to tell Reigen that Mob wanted to quit. Mob had gotten his by a car and was now in the hospital. Mob had been abducted by aliens. Mob was crushed by a street cleaner. Each thought was more outlandish than the next.

"Hana. You can call me Hana. I'm here because…how is Shigeko doing?" she asked. This man, Arataka, was looking at her like she was the grim reaper himself.

"Arataka, you can call me Arataka, and Mob's…she's alright. I just texted her this morning and she seemed OK. Why? Is something the matter?" asked Reigen. If she wanted to be on a first name basis then that was fine with him, but why was she asking about Mob? Reigen shot off a quick check in text with Mob. Hopefully she'd respond.

"Why do you call her that?" asked Hana suddenly. Mob. Mobbu. That was not her daughter's name.

"What? Mob? She doesn't mind, and it sort of fits." Said Reigen. She looked tired, like she hadn't slept at all last night. Her clothes were rumpled, from yesterday probably. Her hair was greasy and pulled into a messy bun. She wore no makeup or jewelry but she had what looked like smudged eyeliner around her eyes, probably also from yesterday.

"I suppose it does. Mob." Said Hana. She turned to look at the pictures tacked up on the corkboard.

"Is everything alright?" asked Reigen. If Mob was dead her mother would have said something, right? He knew that look, that mom look. She was gearing up for a lecture. Great.

"You two get up to a lot. Shigeko doesn't look like herself in those photos. She hasn't been that happy in years. I haven't seen her smile like that in years." Said Hana wistfully

"How about I make us some tea?" asked Reigen not waiting for her reply. Mob really made a better cup of tea but he was confident that he wouldn't send her mother to the hospital.

"Maybe she is better off with you." Said her mother. Reigen almost dropped the electric kettle. What in the hell…?

"What do you mean, exactly?" asked Reigen collecting himself.

"You're like her, you can understand her. You aren't….you don't fear her. Why would you? You're an adult, I'm sure that your abilities are far greater than hers." Said Hana dabbing her eyes. She loved her daughter. She really did. But if Shigeko didn't want to come home…If Shigeko didn't want to come home then what was she supposed to do, exactly? Drag her by the pigtails?

"I'm afraid that I don't follow." Said Reigen pouring water from the jug into the kettle. He eyeballed the tea leaves, it was at least enough to color the water.

"Shigeko left last night." Said Hana simply. She watched his reaction. Would he try to pretend…no that was shock, he wasn't faking it. This man wore his emotions on his sleeves.

"What?!" asked Reigen. He dug into his pockets and pulled out his phone. Mob had texted him back. She was in English class. She wanted to know if her sentence made sense. He called her. It went to voice mail. He called her and called her.

"She…she didn't go to you?" asked Hana, alarmed. Where had Shigeko gone? Where could she go? Seasoning City suddenly felt huge. Japan suddenly felt huge. The world felt as vast as the universe.

"What? No, I live forty minutes away by train. I'm not sure if she even remembers my address! What? Mob, pick up your goddamned phone!" said Reigen as it went to voicemail again. Damn it!

"Then…where could she go?" asked Hana softly

"I don't know. Her boyfriend's house, maybe. Uh…her friends from club…I think her and Tome are getting pretty close. She also mentioned a friend from homeroom named Mezato….God damn it Mob, pick up!" said Reigen. He was pacing now. He had another client soon but who cared. If he had been sober last night….if he had texted her back….but no he had to go and get drunk and now she was God knows where with God knows who.

"She has a boyfriend….and friends….and she's in a club…?" asked Hana looking at this man like he had proclaimed himself the Martian ambassador to Earth. Were they still talking about Shigeko?

"What? Yeah, Mob's got a pretty active social life…." Said Reigen. He was staring at her like she was insane. Did Mob not ever talk to her mother? What the hell was going on in the Kageyama house?! Didn't these people ever talk to one another?

"I had no idea…." Said Hana. She felt like somebody had sucked the life out of her. Shigeko was…she was missing. She was well and truly missing. Her shishou didn't even know where she was. His phone rang.

"Mob! Where the fuck were you last night?!" said Reigen. He looked horrified with himself and took a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, I just want to know where you were last night. Your mom is right here and she says that you ran away or something….uh huh…uh huh…..hold on." Said Reigen. He pulled the phone away from his face.

"She stayed at her boyfriend's house. They had curry." Said Reigen before putting the phone back to his face.

"Oh, hello. It's a family emergency, give her back her phone. Right. Mob. Next time you come to my house. Take train fare from the safe, you know the combination, right? No? It's my birthday. No, I'm not mad, I was just worried. Why did you go and do something like that…uh huh….your brother did what?" asked Reigen. His face got very dark. He as gripping his phone so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

"I don't give a damn what the fight was about. I don't give a damn that you have psychic powers. I told you already, only loser go around hitting girls…yes Mob pushing isn't hitting….no, it's not self-defense unless you hit him first." Now Reigen was angrily pacing. He was running his hands through his hair now.

"What…possessed? Dimple….Dimple's still alive? Yeah, I know what I said. Just…Mob…" he turned to look at Hana and then turned away.

"Mob, you're only fourteen years old. You can't live with your boyfriend. What did his parents have to say about all of this? What do you mean by they live abroad? What? Is that even legal? Mob, I know that happens all the time in anime but this isn't TV, this is real life." Said Reigen covering his eyes and shaking his head. Hana didn't know what to do, so she just watched.

"Mob, listen. Do you want to go home? Are you sure? Ok…I'm closing the office early today…no you're not in trouble…just listen….." said Reigen. He was looking at Hana again.

"Mob…I'm picking you up from school today….you're skipping club today….because I want to wait for you, that's why….fine I'll wait for you but I'm waiting right outside the gates….yes Mob we can get ramen but listen….Mob…." said Reigen. He was still watching Hana's face. She looked more curious than anything. Well, curious and relieved. Somehow she wasn't as worried that he was that Mob had spent the night with a boy. She was old enough to get pregnant, right? He knew very little about the ins and outs of female biology and honestly didn't want to think about what probably happened last night.

"Mob…I'm picking you up and we're going to your boyfriend's house to get your stuff and you're staying with me until you're ready to go back home…Mob…are you there….I'm glad you're happy….Mob I don't care what Teru said you can't live alone with him…..because you just told me that he was a bed hog…..yes I'm talking about sex…yes I will use the word sex…..I don't care if you two didn't you could and then you could get pregnant…..well I'm sorry but one of us needs to be the adult here, so leave it to the actual adult….Teru can sleep over as often as he wants, we'll all camp out in the living and I'll sleep between you two….yes he can have ramen with us…." Said Reigen watching Hana's face. She seemed weirdly amenable to all of this. Huh. His mother would have been shouting until she was blue in the face at this point.

"I have a couch….I'll get you a sleeping mat if you want…..laundromat….yes I have cable….yes there's Wi-Fi…..no tub just a shower…regular shower head….the living room….white….blue…..bubblegum flavor….western dining table….MobRonald's…..incandescent…..Sundays….Mob I have no clue but we can figure it out when we get home….no shampoo just a bar of soap….of course I'll get you your own…..I don't know, when do you usually go to bed?" said Reigen. He was sitting at his desk now, writing something down. It was in English and Japanese.

"Right…Mob get back to class….yes it made sense all your words agreed….no you don't have to change your name to Reigen…no I don't have to change my name to Kageyama….apartment….train ride….Mob go back to class….I'll see you later…Yes I'm telling the truth….alright goodbye….Mob your Master is asking you to hang up and get back to class." Said Reigen. He pulled his phone away from his face and rested it on the desk. He sighed and slumped down in his chair.

"How is she doing?" asked Hana. Reigen shook his head.

"Well the good news is nobody tried to murder her. She tried to sleep here last night but her boyfriend, he's fourteen too and his parents live abroad by the way, picked her up and told her that she could live with him forever. Oh, and he's a bed hog, too. I'm trying not to think about all the implications of that statement because, well, it's Mob. Are you following me?" asked Reigen getting himself worked up. Hana nodded. She wondered if adult espers had the same problem with stress episodes like Shigeko did.

"Good. Well she spent the night with her boyfriend and they made breakfast together before school. He's an esper too, by the way. She made it to school on time but she was avoiding your son. Your son who apparently pushed her, repeatedly. That's insane because first of all you do not ever hit a woman, and that's not some sexist shit that's some human decency shit. Fighting is stupid and thank God that I taught Mob that because we both know what she's capable of. Well she held herself together but now she's avoiding him. She says that he was possessed by a spirit but I know Mob's just trying to protect him. So, yeah, she doesn't want to come home. She says that she's not going back to a place where everyone is afraid of her so she's staying with me now because I don't think either of us wants her living alone with a fourteen year old boy. I was a fourteen year old boy and I know exactly where that's going. Oh, and I'm hosting a sleepover tonight too. That's pretty much it." Said Reigen dangerously close to losing his temper.

"Oh." Said Hana, processing everything she just heard. It was a lot, like she had tried to read the dictionary in one sitting. Everything was just swarming around in her mind.

"Yeah, oh." Said Reigen. He needed a cigarette and a drink. He still had work to do and he was not in the right mental place to do it in.

"I mean…if she doesn't want to come home…" said Hana still processing. If Shigeko had been a normal girl she would have said no to all of that. Shigeko wasn't normal, though, and frankly Hana was ready to admit that she had absolutely no control over her daughter. This man did. Arataka. Shishou. Shigeko respected this man. He didn't fear her. He had even gotten her to listen. Hana couldn't even get her daughter to stop bending spoons.

"She's fourteen years old, she has no clue what she needs…" muttered Reigen as he lit himself a cigarette

"I know what you must think-" said Hana before Reigen cut her off.

"I think you should talk to your son. I think you should teach him how to pick a fight. I think you should teach him not to hit girls." Said Reigen trying to keep a lid on his temper. Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

"I love my children. I…I love Shigeko…and I know that…I know that she'd be happier…." Said Hana. Reigen took a long drag of his cigarette. Empathy. This was not his mother. He was not Mob. Mob wasn't….it was different than between his parents. They were siblings. Siblings pushed each other. They weren't adults. Kids fought, it's what they did. They didn't know any better. This wasn't two adults who never should have been married in the first place.

"It's hard, isn't it?" asked Reigen finally. He has only seen Mob at her best. He didn't…he had no right to start throwing stones. He wasn't anyone's father, hopefully.

"Unbelievably so." Said Hana. With that she got up and left, keeping herself composed until the crooked sign was out of sight.


	12. Mob the Roommate

"Hey, Mob. What are you smiling so much about?" asked Tome. Mob was trying to lift dumbbells, but she was smiling so big all of her teeth were showing.

"Huh? Oh. I ran away from home." Said Mob coming over to where Tome was. She looked up from her game.

"Why'd you go and do something like that?" asked Tome, slightly impressed. Wow. She didn't think Mob had it in her. Tome herself had run away in the past, but never for more than a day and usually to the arcade or her friend's house.

"I didn't want to live in my house anymore." Said Mob, switching arms. She was so happy she didn't even care about the pain she was feeling. Sure she didn't get to live with Teru anymore but she got to live with Master Reigen and Teru could visit whenever he wanted. She got to be in a place where she was wanted.

_Mob 99% HAPPY_

"Ok…why?" asked Tome. She usually only had good things to say, when she talked about her family. So this was kind of out of left field, like when a random high level enemy got spawned when you weren't even in the right area for it.

"Because everyone at my house is afraid of me." Said Mob. Remembering was making her a little sad, so she thought again about how wonderful it would be to actually live with Master Reigen. They could hang out ALL THE TIME.

"Uh….OK, story time." Said Tome patting the seat next to her. Mob sat down but still lifted. Fifteen pounds was her limit, but that was better than when she started.

"Ritsu yelled at me, then my mom yelled at me, so I decided that I didn't want to live at home anymore." Said Mob. Tome stared at her.

"Mob…you realize that your minimalist style of storytelling only raises further questions, right?" said Tome

"Oh. I'm sorry." Said Mob. This was why she liked Tome, she explained things. Now Mob could be a better storyteller. That was nice of her. Friends were supposed to help friends.

"Nah, it's fine. Just give me more details." Said Tome

"About what happened?" asked Mob, making sure. There were a lot of details and she didn't want to bore her friend.

"Yeah, what did you two fight about? Where'd you run away too? And why are you so happy about all of this?" asked Tome. She wondered if she should have started taking notes. This sounded like quite the story.

"Ritsu said that he was afraid of me for his whole life and then he used his powers, he has powers and I'm super happy for him, so he yelled at me and he pushed me and said really mean things. Then I got upset and broke some stuff with my powers on accident and then my mom yelled at me so I ran away from home. That's it." Said Mob flatly as she recalled the previous events. She didn't let any of the sadness seep out. She kept thinking about how fun living with her Master would be. They'd have fun every single day, even if they were just hanging out and throwing paper balls into the garbage can like they did that day when they forgot to turn the closed sign to open.

"Your brother is a prick!" called Onigawara from his place with the body improvement club. Mob shook her head.

"No, Ritsu is just….I don't know why he's so upset but he'll get better eventually." Said Mob. Onigawara scoffed at her. Of course she'd side with her brother. He shouldn't have handed power over to her, of course blood would be thicker than water. If she was a guy she would just kick her little brother's ass but girls were super emotional like that so of course she'd side with her brother.

"Maybe if you didn't go around fighting with everyone people would have been more willing to side with you." Muttered Tome

"I'm sorry. I'm not a very good shadow leader, you can have the job back." Said Mob. She never really wanted the job in the first place.

"No. I was a worse shadow leader than you are." Said Onigawara. Mob sighed. So close, so very close.

"But I don't even want-" said Mob

"Oh my God, don't start up with him again! Keep telling the story!" said Tome standing up on top of her chair like a little kid.

"Oh. Sorry Tome. That was rude of me." Said Mob. She was still grateful that Tome was nice enough to tell her what she was doing wrong.

"No problem." Said Tome as hopped down and went back to sitting. Mob thought that she should exercise with the body improvement club sometimes, she was more athletic than she let on.

"That's everything that happened when I ran away though." Said Mob

"Where'd you go? How are you surviving? Are you living by your wits on the streets?" asked Tome picturing Mob as Mitchiko from Mitchiko and Hatchin. Actually, no, Mob would be Hatchin. How did that anime end again? She'd watch it again when she got home.

"No. I live with my Master now. He says that I have to." Said Mob, not sounding like she was being forced at all.

"And I'm sure that you're just torn up over that." Said Tome sarcastically. Mob looked really, really, happy about that. Tome wasn't exactly joined at the hip with her parents but she wouldn't want leave home forever. At least not until she was either an astronomer, pro gamer, a voice actor, or a paranormal investigator.

"Oh no, I'm not. I'm super excited. It'll be like being at work, but all the time." Said Mob smiling. The room shook with the force of her happiness.

"You'd make a great salaryman." Said Tome

"Do you think? I don't think I would. My dad is a salary man but he's not very happy." Said Mob. Her dad was actually kind of grumpy when he got home from work, so he didn't like his work. She was happy with her work and always came home happy.

"I just mean that you sounded like the perfect employee right then. Like you want to actually live in your office." Said Tome

"I tried to but Teru didn't want me to live there so he asked me to move in with him." said Mob. She flushed a little at the memory of that night. That was the one downside to living with Master Reigen, she and Teru wouldn't have nights like that anymore.

"…..you're one of the great minimalists of the world, you know that, Mob?" said Tome. For every single answer Mob gave ten more questions popped up.

"No, I'm a pacifist." Said Mob

"The Magical Girl Pacifist." Said Tome

"I'm not a magical girl, but I dress up like one sometimes." Said Mob

"Yeah, I saw that picture. You and that guy are made for each other." Said Tome. She found the picture Mezato had sent her and showed Mob. She blushed and looked down.

"Who took that?" asked Mob quietly

"Mezato's cousin's friend's brother's math tutor." Rattled off Tome. Mob blushed and looked down at her shoes. She only wore it because it made her feel pretty.

"Hey, don't be like that. You look so cool!" said Tome. Mob looked up suddenly and smiled.

"Thanks, Tome." Said Mob. Tome tapped her on the top of the head.

"Now, keep telling me what happened! I want all the drama! Intrigue! Action! Suspense! Romance!" said Tome. Mob blushed harder. Tome knew that this was the path to follow to get to the good stuff.

"Um…Teru said I could live with him and then we had dinner and went to bed and woke up and had breakfast." Said Mob quietly. Tome sat more closely than Mob thought was socially acceptable.

"That's your boyfriend right? The esper?" said Tome, living vicariously through her friend. She didn't have the guts to move in with a guy. She looked at the telepathy club boys. Even if there were boys worth running away from home for she wouldn't have the guts.

"Yes. He's my boyfriend now." Said Mob. She didn't really want to talk about what happened last night. It filed under super private not for anyone else's eyes. The table began to rise as she remembered just how it felt, how everything felt. It had all just been so warm and perfect….

"Wow Mob. I didn't think you had it in you." Said Tome nudging her. She honestly didn't. Mob, of all people….wow. Huh. Really made her gain some perspective on her life. She could go out there and…nah. There were games to play and shows to watch.

"Had what?" asked Mob. Tome leaned in close.

"I can't believe you slept with your boyfriend. I mean, wow. You're even younger than I am." Said Tome. Mob let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Oh. That. I didn't really sleep so well. Teru's a bed hog." Said Mob. He really was. He moved around so much Mob thought he was awake. He kicked in his sleep, too. Plus he kept holding onto her and waking her up. She didn't know how married people did that every night. When she grew up and got married she was sleeping on her own on the floor.

Was Master Reigen a bed hog too?

A can of green apple soda next to her exploded. She gasped and grabbed all the liquid while trying to put the can back together. Someone asked if she was OK. She nodded quickly.

"I-I-I-" said Tome. Well, Mob was certainly….candid….about things. Mob looked at her curiously and then tried her best to read the atmosphere. Oh.

"Oh, you're thinking that we had sex. That's OK. Master Reigen thought so too, but we didn't." said Mob helpfully. Tome shook her head rapidly as if to clear her thoughts.

"Mob….psychic powers aren't the only thing wasted on you." Said Tome. Mob was confused but nodded anyway. She looked down at the time and jumped up.

"I've gotta go! Master Reigen's picking me up from school today!" said Mob. She grabbed her gym bag and raced to the bathroom to change. She felt but didn't see Ritsu. She wasn't avoiding per say, she just didn't want to see or hear from him until he stopped acting mean.

Ritsu wasn't avoiding his sister, per say, he was just staying away from her until he was sure that she had calmed down from their fight and wasn't about to lose control and pull the building down over their heads. He was making the last of his rounds when he felt her aura. Well, it looked like hers but it felt…happy. She was projecting happiness, which she had never done before. It was either his sister or someone doing a damn good impression. But why would she be happy? He had been the ultimate asshole last night?

He could feel her near the bathroom and decided that maybe it wouldn't be too bad if they crossed paths. Maybe she was alright and they could talk this out and everything would be alright. He hung around outside the girl's bathroom until she came out.

"Ritsu? Why are you hanging out outside the girl's room?" asked Mob from behind the closed door. If he was waiting for her then she'd just jump out the window. She didn't want to fight with him again.

"Can we talk?" asked Ritsu. Crap. She was…was she afraid of him? Well now wasn't that a bizarre turn of events?

"We're talking right now." Said Ritsu. Mob sat down with her back against the door. She drew her knees up to her chest. She didn't want Ritsu to say mean things anymore.

"I mean face to face." Said Ritsu. What did she have to be afraid of? All he did was….he shouldn't have pushed her. She had done worse. He felt the scar under his fringe. But he had…they both made mistakes.

"No thank you. This is fine for me." Said Mob. She felt herself getting sad. She couldn't let that happen. She was going home, to her new home, and she and Master Reigen would have fun and it would be wonderful. Too bad Teru said he didn't want to come over. He seemed kind of sad that she wasn't going to be living with him anymore. She could still visit though, so that was good.

"Shigeko…will you just come out?" asked Ritsu. He just needed to talk to her face to face, then they could be alright again. That's all that he needed.

"No thank you." Said Mob flatly. Ritsu sighed and slumped down against the door. He pressed his back to the door and drew his knees up to his chest.

"Why are you acting like this?" asked Ritsu. Mob could feel his aura. It was thick and soupy, like something was weighing on him. It clashed with hers, their auras spiked when they touched, like crashing waves.

"Do you mean why I won't come out?" asked Mob

"Yeah." Said Ritsu

"Because I'm afraid." Said Mob. She was afraid Ritsu would be mean to her again. She was afraid that he would be afraid of her again. She was afraid that he'd push her down again because he was the absolute last person she ever wanted to fight with.

"You're afraid of me?" asked Ritsu incredulously. She, Shigeko, was afraid of him? The girl who demolished a school and put it back together again just because she was fighting with her boyfriend was afraid of him?

"Yes. You've been really mean to me these past few days, Ritsu." Said Mob clutching her skirt, the tile of the floor cool against her thighs. It was a little comforting, really. Nice and cool and calming.

"I know I've been a prick and an asshole and I'm sorry, OK?" asked Ritsu. There was a moment of silence.

"You cursed." Said Mob quietly. Ritsu never, ever, said bad words like that.

"Yeah, I did. I'm sorry." Said Ritsu awkwardly. He cursed, just not around Shigeko. He had to be perfect for her, after all.

"I've never heard you curse before." Said Mob. It didn't seem natural coming from Ritsu. Master Reigen cursed sometimes, but he was always sorry afterwards. Teru cursed too, but only when he felt the situation warranted it. She never cursed. It wasn't polite.

"Well I'm not perfect." Said Ritsu a little angrily. He was tired of having to play a role all the time. Why couldn't he just be himself? She got to be herself all the time.

"I think you are." Said Mob. She really did. Even after all the fighting she still thought that Ritsu was the greatest thing since milk iced pops in the shape of cats.

"Even after how I acted?" asked Ritsu. How could she be so forgiving? It would have been easier if she was the one cursing at him. He almost wished that she would just be a normal big sister and yell at him for being such a huge jerk to her.

"I think that you're just troubled but you'll be back to normal in no time." Said Mob. Maybe this was just a phase he was going through. She had heard that people go through phases all the time. She used to go through phases, like when she was really into Sailor Moon when she was little but then she grew out of it. Ritsu was probably just going through a meanness phase.

"So you'll come home then?" asked Ritsu hopefully. If she came home then they could put all of this ugliness behind them and go back to being a family. Then everything would be OK and mom and dad would stop fighting.

"No." said Mob simply. She had no plans of ever going back home. She was going to be happy. She had everything she had ever wanted now. She got what she wanted but she had to lose what she had, not that she had much. She would miss Ritsu but they could reconcile when he went back to normal, and he could visit whenever he wanted. He could even come to work with them now since he had powers.

"Why not? I said I was sorry." Said Ritsu resisting the urge to yell. Shigeko could be so stubborn and willful sometimes, just like mom said. He didn't get why she was being like this.

"I know, but I also know that you're afraid of me. Mom and dad are afraid of me, too. I don't want to make you or mom or dad afraid, so I just won't come home." Said Mob. She wasn't going to be in a place where everyone was afraid of her. She wasn't going to live like that, anymore. She was the protagonist of her own life and she was going to go where she would be happy. Her family would be better off without her, anyway.

"They aren't….mom wants you to come back. She almost hit you today when I suggested that she let you live with Reigen forever." Said Ritsu. He had never seen mom like that before. Well, he had never mouthed off before, either. Maybe she just didn't want to have two kids who didn't listen to her.

"Thank you." Said Mob. Her barrier went down a little. The floor around her cracked. Wow, Ritsu really cared for her. He was the one who convinced mom to convince Master Reigen to let her live with him.

"For what?" asked Ritsu genuinely confused. What was Shigeko thanking him for? She was so…Shigeko….sometimes.

"For telling mom to let me live with Master Reigen." Said Mob gratefully. See, Ritsu still loved her. He was thinking about her and how to make her happy. He finally got it.

"She didn't actually let you live there, you just ran away." Said Ritsu slowly. Mom wouldn't have actually let Shigeko move in with that con artist, would she? No, she wouldn't. She'd…she was afraid of Shigeko but she wouldn't have been that afraid. Right?

"No, she did. She went to visit Master Reigen at work today and he told me that I had to live with him." said Mob. Well, first he had yelled at her but he had apologized. She was a little bummed about not being able to live with Teru anymore but this was great too.

"What? That's crazy…wait….if you weren't with Reigen then where did you sleep last night?" asked Ritsu, a million terrible scenarios going through his mind. Did she sleep in the park? In a tree? In a pile of trash in an alley?

"With Teru." Said Mob without thinking. Oh, he didn't meant literally where….and that sounded bad…didn't it?

"…..what….?" said Ritsu. He cleaned his ears really quick to make sure that he had heard her correctly. What? What? WHAT?

"Yesterday I tried to sleep at work but then Teru said that I could live with him forever but then this morning Master Reigen called and said that I was too young to live with my boyfriend so I had to live with him. He thinks we had sex and it bothers him, I think." Said Mob. She hoped that Ritsu hadn't taken that the wrong way. She didn't want him thinking at all about that part of her life, now that there was that part of her life to begin with.

"Did you?" asked Ritsu before he could stop himself. If that guy had done anything to hurt his sister Ritsu would use his powers to peel him like a potato.

"Ritsu!" said Mob, the bathroom shaking and the toilets erupting like volcanos. How could he ask her that? Why would he want to even know that?

"What? If he made you-" said Ritsu angrily, his aura turning a darker blue and spiking dangerously. Mob was a little offended, honestly. Teru would never make her do anything she didn't want to do, and she wasn't a child. She was fourteen, this was what people wanted to do at her age. They had a whole class about it and how normal it was.

"No I didn't even do that! And anyway what I do isn't-isn't something you should worry about. Teru is nice to me." Said Mob. She did not want to be talking about this with her little brother. It was hard enough talking to Tome about this, and they were friends. Her face turned beet red. Ritsu did not need to know at all about anything that had transpired between her and Teru last night.

"Fine, I'm sorry for assuming that a guy you fought with, and destroyed a school with, hurt you. I met him on my way home yesterday. He said that you knocked some sense into him. You guys fought at Black Vinegar, right?" asked Ritsu losing his patience. Why couldn't she just see that he was trying his best to protect her?

"We got off on the wrong foot when we met but we said sorry and now everything is alright." Said Mob. Ritsu was just worried about her, that was good, it meant that the old Ritsu was still in there somewhere. It was still annoying though.

"So you exploded at him, too?" asked Ritsu sarcastically. She thought that she had changed, she thought that everything was alright, but she was still exploding at people. No. He couldn't think like this. He needed to stop it. He needed to stop being mean to her.

"Yes, but it was in self-defense. Don't be mean, Ritsu." Said Mob. Ritsu wanted to ask her how someone destroyed a school in self-defense but bit his tongue. He was not going to fight with her again, that was how he had gotten into this mess in the first place.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be acting like this. I…I don't know what's wrong with me." Said Ritsu. He honestly didn't. It was like he was at war with himself. Was this how Shigeko felt? He had heard her describe that thing that came out when she was stressed as the other Shigeko. Did he have another Ritsu now? Or was abdicating responsibility?

"Master Reigen says that when boys get to be your age something happens and they get really weird." Said Mob helpfully. Well, Master Reigen said that they turned into idiots but she wasn't going to call the way Ritsu was idiotic. Just weird. He was just acting like a real weirdo.

"Yeah. I'm sure he'd know." Said Ritsu sarcastically. Always with that guy. You'd think he made the sun rise and set with the way that Shigeko talked about him. It was a low blow, yesterday, saying that she was in love with him though. He shouldn't have went there. He should have been yelling at Reigen instead, for exploiting the love that his sister felt.

"He would, he used to be your age." Said Mob not catching the sarcasm at all. To her it was flat fact, Master Reigen had experienced being thirteen so logically he would know a thing or two about it.

"Yeah, and now he's twice your age." Said Ritsu, still sarcastically. How could Shigeko not see what this guy was? How could she be so naïve?

"No, not exactly. His birthday is in October. Mine is in May, so it's really more like thirteen years and-" said Mob doing some quick mental math, still not catching her little brother's tone or meaning.

"Shigeko, you know what I mean." Said Ritsu. How could she not see it? He was twice her age, he hung around her all the time, either he was using her or he was into her. Both weren't good for her at all.

"I hate it when people say that. If I knew what you meant then I would have said the right thing to begin with. Why can't people just say what they mean and mean what they say?" asked Mob. Seriously. Japanese was complicated enough, and she had the test scores to prove it, without adding in yet another layer of meaning to the conversation.

"Fine, you want to know what I mean when I say that? I mean that he's super old and it's weird how much time you spend with him and I don't trust him." said Ritsu, his patience having had run out. Why did she have to make this so difficult? He was just trying to protect her.

"…you're being mean again." Said Mob closing her eyes. She tried to think of happy things to block out Ritsu's mean words.

"I'm trying to protect you! That's all I've ever done is try and protect you." Said Ritsu, his aura shoving hers away. She shuddered and put a barrier around herself. She hoped that he hadn't meant to do that. He had only had his powers for a little bit, after all.

"Is that why you pushed me down so many times?" said Mob. He wasn't trying to protect her yesterday. He shouldn't have been telling lies like that. People should tell the truth as often as possible.

"No…that was just me being a jerk. Just come home, Shigeko." Said Ritsu. He wasn't going to defend what he did. He wasn't going to defend pushing his sister. That was wrong of her.

"I already said no." said Mob getting up and wiping her eyes. She needed to stay calm. She had been so happy, before. She could be happy again. She was getting a happy ending, like in stories. It wouldn't be perfect but it was a lot of what she wanted. She wanted Ritsu to be alright, too. That would be the last piece of the happy ending.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" asked Ritsu. He stood up and crossed his arms. For him she was stubborn but when that con artist said jump she said how high. When he said sing she said what song. If he asked her to knock on the gates of hell she'd so it without a single moment of hesitation.

"Why do you want me to go back to a place where everyone is afraid of me? Can't I just be with someone who isn't afraid of me for once in my life?" asked Mob. The atmosphere in her house was difficult. If someone was afraid of her then didn't it make sense to leave them alone so that they weren't scared anymore? Why did people just plain not make sense sometimes?

"….you're really that unhappy at home?" asked Ritsu quietly. It was hard to tell what his sister was feeling a lot of the time but he had never thought that she picked up on how mom and dad were.

"When I'm at home it's like all I do is wait for tomorrow to happen." Said Mob. She would just sit and wait until she could go to school and see Master Reigen again. Why should she go back to that? Her life was her own, like Master Reigen had said.

"Shigeko….I'm sorry that I pushed you to this…please…when you feel better just come home….alright?" said Ritsu. He squished down all of his bad feelings. He needed to let her be happy. That was for everyone's own good. If she was really that upset at home then…then she should be able to go where she was happy.

"….alright." said Mob quietly. She…she loved Ritsu but she wanted to be happy, too. This was so complicated it was giving her a head ache.

"And if this Reigen guy does anything-" said Ritsu angrily. She needed to know that no matter what happened he would always be there to defend her.

"Master Reigen is a good person." Said Mob. Why did Ritsu think that everyone who liked her was a bad person?

"At least admit that he's a fraud." Said Ritsu quietly. He wasn't a terrible person but he was a liar, and a conman, and he was using her. She was just letting herself but used by this guy. What was with her?

"Master Reigen is a good person." Said Mob again, slightly more forcefully. Master Reigen has only ever been her friend, and her only friend when she had none. He had taught her how to control her powers, and how to use her powers to help people.

"Shigeko, I'm not trying to be mean here, I'm trying to protect you from getting hurt." Said Ritsu. She couldn't be so naïve all the time, it was just going to get her hurt.

"Master Reigen has never been mean to me, or afraid of me, or pushed me." Said Mob. Master Reigen had only ever been good to her. That was why she loved him.

"Fine. Be that way." Said Ritsu. He didn't want to fight with her. He loved her, he was going to be nice to her, he was sorry for being a jerk, but he wasn't going to be his sister's keeper anymore.

"Ritsu…I'm sorry that I was mean." Said Mob. She knew that she was hitting low when she said that, and it made her motion sick. She wasn't ever going to be a mean person. She had to be a good person. Good people did not talk to their little brothers like that.

"It's fine. Just come home whenever. Or don't. It's your choice." Said Ritsu getting up and leaving. Mob sat on the ground for a moment longer before getting up and leaving. Master Reigen was waiting for her right at the gates where he said that he would be. Maybe everything would be alright.

As soon as Mob saw Master Reigen waiting for her by the gates she knew that everything was going to be alright. She practically ran to the gates and threw herself into a hug.

"Hey Mob." Said Reigen as she threw her arms around her and buried her face in his stomach. It took a moment but he hugged her bad. Poor kid. He knelt down to her level as she let go.

"Mob. I'm sorry I yelled at you, before." Said Reigen. He put his hands on her shoulders and made plenty of eye contact. Mob needed to know that he would still be there for her. She probably felt abandoned. God knew he would if he were in her position.

"You cursed." Said Mob simply. That was what scared her. She at first just thought that it was a work thing but then he yelled and she got startled and a bunch of doors opened and closed. It was embarrassing, too.

"I'm sorry. I should really watch my mouth." Said Reigen. He felt like the biggest piece of shit on the planet after he had yelled at her, and he was sorry. She didn't need to have someone stressing her out, not after what she had been through.

"No, it's alright. I shouldn't have worried you. I'm sorry that I worried you." Said Mob. She shouldn't have been worried about him being ashamed of her for what she had done. He was Master Reigen, he was a good person, and he would always be there for her.

"Mob, I'm not mad at you, but you need to call me next time." Said Reigen. He should have been there for her. Anything could have happened to her out there in the world.

"I texted you." Said Mob

"Tell me it's an emergency. Are you listening? If it's ever an emergency I will always be there for you." Said Reigen. Mob stared at him.

"But you said your phone died." Said Mob. How could she have called him if his phone was dead?

"…right. Mob, next time you take train fare from the safe behind my desk and come to my house." Said Reigen. He needed to make her feel safe. He needed to be there for her, obviously nobody else would be.

"But I don't know where you live." Said Mob flatly. She didn't know why Master Reigen was so upset, she had been fine. Teru had kept her safe and given her a place to stay.

"Mob, here." Said Reigen. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a key with a very large base on a long plastic necklace.

"Here, this is for you. I made a copy of my house key and I wrote my address on it." Said Reigen. He flipped the key over and there was a label with his building and apartment number. If she lost it and he got robbed what, exactly, were the thieves going to get? His eight year old computer? Nine year old TV? Collection of various ramen packets?

"I can keep this?" asked Mob. Wow, it was like a giant necklace. She didn't really wear jewelry though, because of her powers, but it was still such a nice gesture.

"Yes, how else are you going to get in?" asked Reigen tugging playfully on her pigtail. She giggled and batted his hand away.

"I can use my powers to open locks. That's how I got into the office yesterday." Said Mob. Reigen didn't let the shock meet his face.

"Mob...don't use your powers like that unless it's an emergency." Said Reigen. Well then. Thank God Mob was such a moral little girl or the world could have a serious problem on its hands.

"Don't worry, Master. I know that breaking into places is bad." Said Mob. Reigen felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. What was he thinking? This was Mob. She wouldn't even use her powers to cheat at the claw machine.

"Good. Also, if you're the last one out of the office lock up and turn off the lights, ok?" asked Reigen. Well, at least now he knew that he hadn't been burgled.

"I'm sorry that I forgot, Master." Said Mob. She looked down. She had messed up and now Master Reigen was disappointed in her. Reigen put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up.

"I'm not mad at you. You had a really stressful day….you had a stressful day and I wasn't there. I'm here now, alright? I'm here so let's go home and get you settled in." said Reigen. Mob looked up at him, her eyes were welling up with happiness.

"You got my stuff already?" asked Mob spying all her bags piled up behind him.

"Yeah, your boyfriend left it all in the office for you." Said Reigen. More like tossed everything onto the floor and attempted to glare him to death. Reigen felt for the kid, he really did, but he was not going to let Mob live alone with her boyfriend. She needed to have an adult in her life actually acting like a responsible adult. He wasn't naïve, he knew exactly what kids did at their age and he knew that Mob didn't need a little Mob to take care of. Not that he would forbid her from seeing her boyfriend, he wasn't going to use his power as her Master like that, but he wasn't going to just let her live alone with another kid.

Was that even legal, that kid living alone like that?

"Oh. I think Teru is kind of sad that I left." Mob. She had texted Teru and he seemed sad, but he also texted her a lot of hearts. Tomorrow on her way to work they'd walk together and talk together and it would all be alright. Maybe he'd even let her kiss him. For real. With spit, even though it was supposed to be gross.

"He'll live." Said Reigen. He put his hand on her back and they started walking, him carrying everything because he was nice like that.

"Master Reigen, if it's too heavy I can help." Said Mob. Reigen huffed and puffed as he walked but he shook his head no.

"It's fine Mob. It's not that heavy." Said Reigen. That suitcase her boyfriend had lent her was the heaviest. What did the kid do? Fill it with rocks?

"If you say so, Master Reigen." Said Mob. He led her through the city and to the train station. He put her things down and slumped onto a bench. She sat down next to him and offered her the water bottle from her gym bag.

"Oh God, thank you Mob." Said Reigen. He didn't even think, he just drank directly from the bottle. He wasn't in shape, he knew this about himself now. Mob blushed. Did that count as an indirect kiss? She closed her eyes. She needed to get her mind onto something else. Why did her mind keep going to this kind of stuff?

"It's kind of a long train ride, about forty minutes." Said Reigen. Mob had her eyes closed. She must have been tired. He was going to assume that she didn't really sleep last night. He didn't want to think about that part of her life, it wasn't his business what she did and did not get up to.

Still, he did not need to know that Teru was a bed hog.

Mob wouldn't…this was Mob. She didn't even think about…well she was fourteen now. He knew what his mind was on at that age and he wasn't going to assume that just because she was a girl she didn't think about these things at all. No, but she was Mob. He sighed. Mob was growing up and he needed to accept that.

"Hey Mob, are you asleep?" asked Reigen. Mob opened her eyes.

"No, I'm just thinking." Said Mob. She didn't exactly dislike where her mind as going because it kept her from thinking about how she and Ritsu were fighting. Or maybe they had made up. She'd ask later, when Ritsu was less mean.

"Mob…you can always talk to me. I know that it's got to be rough, what you're going through right now, but its ok to talk about it." Said Reigen. She kept things inside, he knew that, and he knew that it wasn't healthy. If she had just told him how bad things were at home he could have been there for her more.

"Oh. You mean about moving out. No, I feel fine about that." Said Mob. She would miss her family but if they were better off without her than they were better off. She didn't want to make them afraid and she didn't want to be around people who were afraid of her.

"Mob, you don't have to lie to me." Said Reigen. She didn't need to be strong now. He was there for her and he would always be. Nobody was there for him when he was her age but it would have made all the difference if someone had been.

"Master Reigen, I'm telling the truth. If my family is scared of me then I'll go away so that they can be happy." Said Mob. She didn't put any emotion into it. This was just a fact to her. It was the best thing for everyone, if she left. She remembered her mom yelling. She didn't ever want mom to yell like that again. She didn't ever want Ritsu to be afraid of her again, either.

"That's not right…." Muttered Reigen. She was just so calm. She didn't need to be. He almost wanted her to yell or cry or something. No…she was just accepting this shit. She thought so little about herself that she just left her house and her family.

"No, it's what happened. I was kind of sad yesterday but now I'm just mostly worried about Ritsu. He's been so mean and weird lately." Said Mob. Reigen stiffened. She was worried about her brother even after he had treated her like that. Reigen held his tongue for once in his life. These were siblings. Siblings fought, it was normal.

"Well Mob, don't worry. You're going to be alright. We'll just go home and-" said Reigen trying to sound as confident as he could. Home. His home was their home now, for the time being anyway. Huh. It hadn't really dawned on him before.

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Mob. She couldn't wait to see where Master Reigen lived. He probably had a lot of spiritual books around, it was probably really nice, though. Messy too, probably, because Master Reigen wasn't exactly the neatest person.

"Get you unpacked and get something to eat. I'm starving." Said Reigen, which was true. He had been too worked up to eat lunch, and his cure removals weren't the best today.

"Alright." Said Mob, closing her eyes again. She pushed her aura out, just a little, not trying to touch Master Reigen's but if they mixed she wouldn't mind. He had a really faint aura. Not as faint as a regular person's but not as strong as an esper's.

"Uh, Mob?" asked Reigen. Something just hit him. Something warm, like a beam of sunlight, but over his entire self. Huh. Not unpleasant but kind of weird.

"Oh. Sorry. That was my aura." Said Mob pulling back. She smoothed down her feelings. That was…she knew she had over stepped. It just felt nice with Teru…but that was Teru. She kept her aura near herself where it usually was. Auras weren't physical but was touching auras with someone like touching skin to skin with someone? Were the rules the same as with touching someone?

"Oh, well of course I knew that. I've just never seen you…project like that. I of course hide mine." Said Reigen. She smiled. She always like his Reigen Arataka, world's greatest psychic persona.

"Why do you hide it?" asked Mob, curiously. Teru didn't hide his from her. Well, Teru was different wasn't he?

"So people don't notice how powerful I am and try to pick a fight with me." Said Reigen simply. Mob opened her eyes and stared at him.

"Do you think that's why people want to fight with me? Because they think I'm strong?" asked Mob. By people she mostly meant Ritsu. He had said something about finally being able to eclipse her, and he had even told her to explode because he could take her.

"Mob, there's always going to be people like that. Some people think that they need to be the strongest so they go around picking fights to prove it. That doesn't mean that you have to fight back." Said Reigen. Crap, were people trying to fight with her again? Who was stupid enough to look at Mob, sweet adorable Mob, and try to pick a fight with her?

"Is that why Ritsu pushed me?" asked Mob. Ritsu kept saying that now he was strong and he didn't have to be afraid of her anymore. Maybe he was turning into one of those dumb boys who had to fight everyone.

"I honestly have no idea why he would do that. He's probably just going through some stuff. Sometimes when people are going through stuff they take it out on others. It's not your fault, Mob, and don't think that it is." Said Reigen. Of course he had plenty of ideas why Ritsu would have pushed her. He was a thirteen year old who had grown up in a house where even his parents were afraid of his little sister. Of course this kid would have fought with his sister, growing up like that. Reigen was, of course, not going to share with Mob his opinion of her parents.

"He talked to me again today. He said that he was sorry…but then he was mean again." Said Mob. Reigen reached over and put his arm around her. He was so glad that he didn't have any close in age siblings.

"Mob, guys your age aren't exactly the best at that kind of thing. I'm sure he still loves you, just don't get yourself all worried about this. You don't need this kind of stress." Said Reigen

"You think that I'll explode?" asked Mob. Reigen frowned. She sounded hurt. He tugged at her pigtail again. He could say a lot without saying anything, sometimes.

I'm here. I'm here for you. I'm not afraid.

She reached up and flicked his tie so it hit him in the face.

I know you're here for me. I appreciate you. Thank you.

The train came and they fund seats easily. It was still for the salarymen to start heading home, and most kids in Seasoning City didn't have to travel too far for school. Mob felt a little guilty, taking up so much space. It didn't seem to bother Master Reigen, though. He threw himself down into his seat and turned to look out the window. It was weird, heading home while the sun was still up.

"Hey Mob, check that out. Quick!" said Reigen motioning out the window. Mob quickly turned to look and saw a man walking a white cat on a leash like it was a dog.

"I didn't know you could walk cats, too." Said Mob. Wow. Was there anything cats couldn't do? She hoped that there were cats where Master Reigen lived. Fluffy white ones, those were her favorites.

"Me neither. The things you see in the middle of the day, huh Mob?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded. There were lots of interesting people out during the day. There were joggers, and dog walkers, and someone throwing broccoli at passing joggers and dog walkers.

Reigen enjoyed looking out the window on his commutes, and it looked like Mob did too. He wished she'd take a nap though, she looked totally exhausted. She didn't deserve this. He pulled her closer and traced circles on her shoulder with her thumb. She sighed.

"That's nice." Said Mob, her eyes closed. She leaned back onto Master Reigen's chest. He smelled like cigarettes and incense. She liked it, it smelt familiar.

"Hang on." Said Reigen. He took off his suit coat and then pulled her back down onto his chest. He covered her with his suit coat. She made a pleased sort of noise.

"Master Reigen…." Said Mob. Her eyes were closed, she smiled. It was nice. She felt so warm all over. Warm and safe and comfortable.

"Try to sleep, Mob. I'll wake you up when we're at our stop." Said Reigen. Mob nodded, but didn't open her eyes. He kept and arm around her. She needed to feel safe.

I'm here. I've got you.

He took a deep breath. Mob needed him. He was going to have to take care of her. He hadn't even had to think when he offered his home to her. It would have been irresponsible to let her live with her boyfriend at her age and maybe, just maybe, he…he wanted her to be with him. He thought about his home, small and empty. He thought about his nights eating junk in front of the TV, getting drunk and collapsing into bed. His nights spent waiting for tomorrow to happen. Waiting to see her again.

He needed more friends. He knew this. He had never had many friends in his life but somehow this little girl, this kid who wandered into his life, had become his best friend in the entire world. Maybe Reigen was selfish in asking her to, no telling her to live with him. Maybe he should have encouraged her to go home, to reconcile with her family. It wouldn't have been good for her, though. He remembered her mother, the way that she was just so accepting of it all. She didn't even talk to Mob. If it were Reigen in Mob's place his mother would have grabbed him by the back of his gakuran and dragged him home kicking and screaming.

Her mother loved her, Reigen could tell. The way she talked about her daughter. Empathy. It must have been hard. He had seen Mob at her best. He had seen her on clear days, never stormy. He had never seen her explode at him, but he had seen her explode.

She was eleven, and they were out on a job. The spirit had grabbed her and thrown her. She hit the ground and for a terrifying moment was so, incredibly still, but then she floated up and Reigen saw something that would have terrified anyone else. Hell, he had been scared, of course he had been, but he knew that someone needed to be in control of the situation. He just walked up to her and pulled her back down to Earth. It had hurt, the energy coming off of her. He was alright though. Afterwards they had gone to the park and talked. What had be said?

Why would I ever be afraid of _you_?

Her eyes had lit up like the summer festival. She looked up at him like he was the answer to all of her hopes and dreams. All he had done was to be there for her. Nobody else was. Reigen knew what it was like, to have nobody. She didn't deserve that. She was just a kid. She didn't need to be afraid of herself.

How could anyone be afraid of her? Reigen looked down. She was so small. She was just a kid. She was so small and so trusting…he wasn't worthy of her trust. He lied. He lied all the time. He lied but…sometimes it was for her own good. She needed the Reigen Arataka that lived in her mind. She needed the wise mentor who knew everything and laughed in the face of danger, spat in the face of fear. She needed someone stable in her life, someone understanding.

He had to be that person.

The train eventually made it to Reigen's station, second stop from the last. He shook her awake as the train approached. She blinked and stretched. He took he suit coat and put it back on. His shirt was in bad shape. Sweat was murder on whites and his undershirts were the crappy ones from the five hundred yen or less store. Maybe he could move laundry day up from Sunday to Saturday. No, he'd just rinse out his shirt when he got home. He still had some clean clothes, no sense in paying for laundry until he was out of things to wear.

"Are we there yet?" asked Mob, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She caught a smell of herself. Cigarettes and incense. It was nice.

"Yeah Mob, we made it." Said Reigen as they departed the train. She took some of her bags this time, before he could say anything. He watched her carry her things effortlessly. That work out club of hers was paying off.

"It's not a very long walk, don't worry." Said Reigen as he led her away from the station and down the road to his home. She trotted along happily, taking in all the sights around her.

"Are we still in Seasoning City?" asked Mob. It was different here. It was more cramped, and the air smelled different. There were lots of vending machines around, too. She could see a whole line of them that went from one side of the street to the other. Just a long line of drinks and junk food and, oh wow, was that a noddle soup one?

"Yup, the very edge of the old industrial district." Said Reigen. He watched her eyes. She looked excited. She didn't know any better, he thought. He didn't live in a nice neighborhood at all but she didn't even notice or care. He had moved here after university because it was cheap and far from his parents. He hadn't really minded the commute, a small price to pay for cheap rent.

"Master Reigen?" asked Mob. She had so many questions for him, but she didn't know which ones to ask. She was so excited. So this was where he lived. How long had he lived here for? Was he born here? Did he like living here? What was his house like?

"You didn't ask enough questions this morning?" asked Reigen with a laugh. She had fired of questions so fast he hardly had time to answer her. He actually had to pull rank and order her to hang up the phone and get back to English class.

"Sorry." Said Mob quietly. Reigen tugged on her pigtail again. She smiled. Oh. He was kidding.

"Ask your question, student, and your Master shall answer. There isn't a question in the world that can stump the great Reigen Arataka" Said Reigen. She giggled again.

"Why do you live here?" asked Mob. Reigen expected there to be some sort of value judgement but, of course, found none. This was Mob. She said what she meant and meant what she said. That was refreshing about her, there wasn't any other layer to what she said. Talking to her was simple, and he could put away the verbal gymnastics he had perfected.

"Honestly? I moved here after university because it was cheap." Said Reigen. Mob looked disappointed. He decided to continue.

"When I moved here it was absolutely packed with spirits and I, being the great Reigen Arataka, took it upon myself to cleanse this place of all evil spirits." Said Reigen with a dramatic flourish. Mob was smiling now. Good.

"You're amazing, Master." Said Mob with a smile. He really was. He was the most amazing person she had ever met.

"So are you Mob, don't forget that." Said Reigen. She felt herself blush and stared straight ahead. Reigen didn't notice. He went over the checklist he had made. He needed to get Mob moved in and figure out what she needed. She needed her own soap and shampoo, he only had the one bar he used for everything. He needed to get her a rice bowl, too. He was down to one. He needed some more plates and eating utensils, too. He at least had a spare pillow and blanket for her. He'd get her a bedroll, too, because he knew she liked sleeping on the ground.

Thank God for the discount store.

Actually he might end up saving money in the long run. He ate out a lot, for pretty much every meal these days. His rice cooker had gone unused for so long that it was dusty. He'd have to get rice, too, now that he thought about it. He needed to learn to cook, too. What could he make? Not much, and most of it from convenience foods. Mob probably didn't know how to cook, either.

He drop her stuff off and then go to the discount store. He's make ramen at home tonight, but something better than the stuff he got in a dehydrated cube. She wanted ramen, she had said so. With what she had gone through she deserved to eat whatever she wanted, and yes Reigen was well aware of the fact that he ate his feelings. He'd worry about that when his metabolism started to slow down and he got fat.

"Turn here." Said Reigen. He lived on a street lined densely with apartment buildings in all shades of grey. Mob nodded and followed him. When they got to his building she practically raced up the stairs, her shoes clanking against the metal of the steps.

"Wait, you don't know which floor!" said Reigen trying to keep up with her. She wasn't all grown up yet, thank God. He remembered when he could be so enthusiastic for something so mundane as coming to someone's apartment. She was so adorable.

"Which one?" asked Mob from the top of the stairs. She wanted to get there already! She had been thinking about this all day. The stairs began to sway with the force of her emotion.

_Mob: 100% EXCITED_

"The top floor, at the very end, if you can't wait for your old Master to catch up." Said Reigen. She was practically jumping up and down. He had rarely seen her so completely unguarded. He could feel the energy coming off of her, and it was nice. This wasn't her usual, upset sort of energy. This was infectiously nice.

"Alright." Said Mob before she continued up the stairs. She tried not to run, the stairs were made of metal and walking on them was noisy enough. She made her way to the very last on the third floor and just stared. Wow. This was where Master Reigen lived. She had a key but she didn't know if it was alright to just let herself in. Eventually Reigen huffed his way up the stairs. He needed to smoke less and exercise more.

"Hey…Mob…you beat me…." Said Reigen as he dug his keys out of his pocket. He opened the door and motioned for her to walk through.

"Ladies first." Said Reigen. He wished he had cleaned up. It wasn't a pig sty exactly but he knew that his ashtray could use a wash, the apartment could have used a dusting, and well everything could have used some straightening up.

"Wow." Said Mob without a hint of sarcasm. This was really where Master Reigen lived. He had so many books, it was like living in a library. He had a lot of plants too, and they all looked so healthy and green it was like he had brought springtime inside.

"It's not much but its home." Said Reigen. It wasn't much at all. It was cramped, and he had way too much stuff. Mostly left overs from other times he had tried to be someone. Old books from university, books about massage, books about spiritualism, and way too many novels in bother English and Japanese that he didn't get around to reading. A little too much manga for a man his age, too.

"It's great." Said Mob looking around. Was this rude? If it was Master Reigen would have told her. He was someone who would tell her when she was doing something wrong, like Tome did. He had so many books, a lot of them were about spiritual stuff and spirits. Some of these Mob could only guess the contents of, being in English and her English being nowhere near fluent.

"Here, I'll give you the grand tour." Said Reign putting her stuff down. She practically ran up to him, her excitement shaking the room a little. Reigen hoped the neighbors didn't complain, not that they could be throwing stones with the way they carried on sometimes.

"Here's the living room, I guess it's your room for the time being. I'll get you a futon later but you can sleep on the couch for now." Said Reigen. Mob looked a little less excited. She couldn't sleep high off the ground but for Master Reigen she'd try. She was a little disappointed too. Of course it wouldn't be like with Teru. Obviously. She just couldn't get a clue.

"That's my room over there." Said Reigen. He saw how disappointed she looked. He'd get her a futon as soon as he could. Some people just didn't like western sleeping, and that was alright. He had never slept on a futon so if he had to he would have been uncomfortable too.

"You have a lot of plants. It's so cool, like being outside." Said Mob. He had even more plants in his room. Ferns, flowers, even tiny bonsai trees. He had some even on the ledge by the window by his bed. Oh. She wouldn't have fit there with him anyway, not unless they got really close. Mob felt her hair act up again.

What was with her? Where were these thoughts coming from?

"Yeah, I've always been into growing things. I don't know, I just like it." Said Reigen. He liked that about her, genuine compliments. Not just the old "Arataka, you have so many plants!" She actually liked them enough to…did those just grow?

"Mob, can you control plants?" asked Reigen motioning to the jungle that had sprouted on his windowsill.

"Oh. I didn't know I could do that." Said Mob, hoping he wouldn't be mad. No, he looked happy.

"Mob, have I ever told you that you were amazing?" asked Reigen. They could grow so many plants together. Could she make plants flower, too? Could she make vegetables grow? The possibilities were endless. He briefly pictured them at the dour farming couple in that famous American painting.

"…yes." Said Mob quietly. She blushed easily, and she hated it. Reigen didn't notice, his mind filling with all the things they could grow. Out of season tomatoes…..indoor sunflowers….tiny lemon trees like his grandparents had….

"Master Reigen? Are you alright?" asked Mob. She had been looking around his room. She saw his two other suits hung up on the wall, pajamas kicked into the corner, an ashtray on the floor next to his bed, and a computer covered in various sticky notes. She pushed her aura out just a little. It felt like Master Reigen in here. She wished he'd stop hiding his aura so she could feel it properly. It was yellow. Not gold like Teru's but more like a good custard. Like custard bun yellow, the ones at the Chinese restaurant.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking." Said Reigen. He wished he had an actual garden now. House plants were well and good but if they had a garden they could grow so much. He'd get some window boxes later.

"Good thoughts?" asked Mob

"Just thinking about everything we could grow together. Anyway, back to the tour. C'mon, Mob." Said Reigen, omitting that she would be using her powers to do most of the growing. Mob blinked and smiled. That sounded nice. The two of them, together. She followed him back to the hallway.

"That's the kitchen at the end and the bathroom there. That's pretty much everything. Oh, the wifi and password are on the box, by the way." Said Reigen. He should have cleaned up the kitchen at some point, or at least did something about the egg on the counter from when he stirred one into his ramen at an attempt at being healthy.

"Thank you so much, Master." Said Mob. She turned around and hugged him suddenly. She was in his home, he had offered up his home to her. This was everything she had ever wanted and she didn't even know that this was what she had wanted to begin with.

"It's nothing Mob, really. My house is your house." Said Reigen patting her on the back. Poor kid. Had she ever even felt welcome in her own home? It didn't matter, she was welcome here for as long as she wanted to stay.

"Thank you." Said Mob, her face buried in his shirt. She didn't want to let go. Master Reigen wanted her here. The atmosphere was different, nicer. She felt like he wanted her around. It was just so nice.

"You're welcome." Said Reigen quietly. He would let her hold on for as long as she needed. She must have felt awful, she just didn't want to. He couldn't imagine going through this at her age. Well, he could. His parents had fought like cats and dogs but they were still his parents. It had been so sudden when his parents sat him down and said that they would be divorcing. Even worse when they argued over who had to keep him. Not who got to, who had to. He would never make Mob feel so unwanted.

She eventually let go and he excused himself to get changed out of his suit. He found Mob in the living room texting someone. He took a moment just to watch her. She looked just like a normal kid. How could anyone be afraid of her? She looked up at him and smiled. He loved her smiles, especially since they were becoming less and less rare.

"Teru says hi." Said Mob. She watched Master Reigen. He didn't look like himself, dressed like that. He was in sweat pants and a black T-shirt. It took her a moment to recognize him, honestly.

"Tell him hi back." Said Reigen. He didn't know how to feel about that kid. On the one hand Mob really like him, on the other hand he had fought with Mob in the past. Reigen had to remind himself that these were kids, not adults, and they would fight because they were still learning how to act. The kid didn't seem to like him too much, either. If he was fourteen and someone said that he couldn't live alone with his girlfriend he would have been pissed too.

"Are you going to bed, now?" asked Mob. He was dressed for bed, after all. She knew that regular people needed much more sleep than she did, maybe it was the same for people with different powers too.

"Huh? No, I don't wear the suit all the time. It gets uncomfortable, honestly. You can change out of your uniform if you want. I'm just going to rinse out my shirt and then we can head to the store." Said Reigen. Maybe he should have worn actual clothes. He usually didn't get home so early in the day.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. She had never seen Master Reigen out of his suit, not really. He still looked nice, too. Just different. More…more familiar. They were more familiar now. She used her powers to grab one of her bags and dug out a comfortable dress. Master Reigen sat down on the couch and checked something on his phone. She went to the bathroom to change, hoping that he had a hanger for her to hang up her uniform so it didn't get wrinkled.

"It takes the light a second to turn on, the bulb's not dead." Said Reigen. He went over the list he made of things he needed, thank God he had taken a picture of it because he didn't know what had happened to the paper one he made. He had been so worked up he switched back and forth between English and Japanese. He mentally added a few things. He'd pick up some inside shoes. He never wore them but Mob might. He looked down at the bottoms of his feet. The carpet could definitely use cleaning.

He was going to take care of Mob. He was 100% responsible for her now. He couldn't even keep his apartment clean and he was responsible for another human being.

REIGEN 100% OVERWHELMED

He knew nothing about keeping human beings alive. He could barely take care of himself. He could pretend she was a plant. She needed food, water, sunlight, and love. She wasn't a plant though, she was an actual human being. She had him and he had her. He needed to keep her safe and happy. She needed to feel welcomed and loved. There, that was what he needed to do for her. Also he needed to get her soap and food and a place to sleep. He leaned back on the couch. It wasn't even that comfortable. He had gotten it second hand, most of what he owned was either second hand or from a discount store.

"Master? Are you asleep?" asked Mob. Oh. He had closed his eyes. He was pretty tired too, mentally. It had taken a lot out of him to have kept it together for his clients. He opened his eyes. Mob was there. Her hair was down.

"I'm up, Mob. I'm up." Said Reigen standing up. He'd probably call it an early night, tonight. He needed a cigarette, and a drink. No, he wouldn't leave Mob alone to go out and get drunk. She didn't deserve that.

"You can go to bed, if you want. I won't mind." Said Mob. She brushed her hair behind her ears. Teru said that she looked pretty when her hair was down. Her mom made her keep her hair in braids because when her powers acted up her hair stood up. It felt weird, having her hair down during the day. Maybe she'd braid it back up again.

"Bed? I'm not that old yet, Mob. The sun's still up." Said Reigen as he got up with a stretch. She looked different, with her hair down. He must have looked different to her, too, dressed like that. This was a new level of familiarity for them. He didn't even know that she put her hair down when she got home.

"Oh. Sorry." Said Mob. He looked pretty tired, though. Not old, just tired.

"It's alright. Even the great Reigen Arataka needs to rest sometimes. This is not one of those times. Now, to the store!" said Reigen dramatically. She laughed a little. The walls didn't shake that time. That was good. She was being more free with her positive emotions at least.

"Why are we going to the store?" asked Mob. They had only just gotten home. Home. Was it too early to think of this is as her home?

"Just to get somethings for you, and some stuff for dinner too, probably. It's about time I started cooking at home again." Said Reigen. He'd get a nicer kind of instant ramen, and crack some eggs in there and he'd get some vegetables in there for her, too.

"I don't need anything." Said Mob

"Soap?" asked Reigen. She couldn't use his, it was his. She deserved something better than the cheap bar soap he got for a hundred yen. She probably needed god shampoo and conditioner, her hair was usually pretty soft.

"That would be nice." Said Mob. The thought of sharing soap was a little too intimate for her. Soap was….it was soap. If there was such a thing as an indirect kiss then was there such a thing as an indirect touching someone's naked skin? She took a deep breath. What was with her?

"C'mon Mob. You've got to come with because I have absolutely no idea what to get." Said Reigen. He really didn't. He usually just bought whatever was cheapest. Girls were different, it was an entirely different standard of grooming that he was incredibly grateful that he wasn't expected to follow.

They slipped on their shoes and went out the door. Mob saw several stray cats on their way to the store, which she was grateful for. She wondered if they had names and if cats had lives and friendships like people did. She liked to imagine the lives that they might have had. The way there Reigen pointed out various places to her. Some had good food, some had alright food, and some didn't even seem to understand what food was. He also warned her not to talk to strangers or to go out on her own at night. Of course she wouldn't do that, she wouldn't worry him.

Reigen kept an arm around her shoulders to keep her near. This really wasn't the best neighborhood and yes, she could easily defend herself, but he wasn't going to put her in the position where she had to. She seemed pretty happy though, unguardedly happy. Was she really so happy to be away from her family? He should have looked more into what her life was like. She never seemed upset, just kind of…normal. Well, normal for Mob. She was being…happier than normal. He could see the way small objects, stones and leaves, were pushed from her as she walked down the street. Did being around him really make her that happy?

She certainly made him happy. It was just nice, not to be lonely. He had been lonely for so long that he hadn't even realized that he was lonely. At some point he had begun to look forward to seeing her, to the point that he went home and just waited for tomorrow to happen so that he could see her again. Now he would see her all the time. He hoped that they wouldn't get sick of each other. He didn't know any of her habits, not really. He had never been that familiar with her. He hoped that she didn't get sick of him. It would be different with her around. He would have to wear pants around the house all the time, for instance. He wouldn't be able to smoke as much, either. The second hand smoke wasn't good for her at all.

He lit a cigarette as they walked. The wind was blowing away from her, she would be alright, and he really needed a cigarette. She turned to watch him.

"Is smoking fun?" asked Mob suddenly. Her dad had said that people who didn't smoke were missing out on half of their lives.

"Not fun per say." Said Reigen. It wasn't fun but it was enjoyable.

"Why do you smoke?" asked Mob

"I like it. It smells nice, tastes nice, and it's pretty relaxing." Said Reigen. It was true, something in them kept him going throughout the day.

"My dad says that people who don't smoke are missing out on half of their lives." Said Mob

"People who smoke are going to end up missing out on half of their lives." Said Reigen. He knew it was bad for him when he started, but he had been cutting back over the years.

"I know. They said at school that it was bad for you, but everyone seems to like it." Said Mob

"Here." Said Reigen passing his cigarette to her. She looked up at him.

"Master?" asked Mob

"So you know what it's like. I'd rather you try and not like it with me then try on your own and get hooked." Said Reigen. He had started smoking, originally, because it pissed his parents off. He didn't want Mob to end up like he did, it really wasn't a good habit.

"Oh. OK." Said Mob. She took it from his hand and inhaled like she had seen before. She immediately started coughing and passed it back. She couldn't even appreciate the indirect kiss of it because of how awful smoking was.

"You alright?" asked Reigen. Good, she didn't like it. Hopefully she'd keep her lungs pink and healthy for as long as possible.

"I'm fine. Why do you do this?" asked Mob between coughs. That was awful, just awful.

"I've been asking myself that since I was your age." Said Reigen patting her on the back repeatedly.

"You started smoking when you were fourteen?" asked Mob. She thought you had be an adult before you could buy cigarettes.

"Fifteen, but yeah pretty much since I was your age." Said Reigen

"I'm never smoking again." Said Mob as she finished coughing.

"Good. I don't want you to start." Said Reigen. Great, he was starting to sound like his mother. 'Arataka, stop smoking, I didn't spend twelve hours in labor with you for you to die of lung cancer.' And so on and so forth for half his life.

"Then why'd you offer some to me?" asked Mob

"I'd rather you try it with me and not like it then pick up the habit on your own." Said Reigen. He went to give her pigtail a hung but instead found her loose hair. Wow, she had some very thick hair. Mob stifled a shudder. That felt really nice when Teru did it. It still felt nice when Master Reigen did it. Oh. He was trying to tug on her pigtail.

"I've never seen you with your hair down. You look nice." Said Reigen. She smiled a shy Mob smile.

"Thanks you. I don't usually keep it down because of my powers." Said Mob

"Well you look adorable." Said Reigen. Mob stared up at him.

"I'm sorry, you look pretty." Said Reigen. She was growing up but she'd always be adorable to him.

"…you look nice too." Said Mob. He did, he really did, even if he was dressed down. He looked very…what was the word? He looked more comfortable. He was usually Reigen Arataka, her master, but now he looked like Reigen Arataka, her friend.

They made their way to the discount store. Still cramped, still dark, but it had everything they needed. He handed Mob a basket and told her to pick out what she needed. She went to the grooming products and started smelling bottles of shampoo and reading labels. Reigen didn't get it. It all got your hair clean, how was one different from another? He grabbed his own basket and got some things they would need.

He got her a plate of her own, rice bowl, and set of chopsticks all in pink. She seemed to really like that color. He got himself some things too. New pack of socks because his were full of holes, house slippers for the both of them, some cleaning fluid too because his house really could use a good disinfecting. He went to look for Mob and passed by the hygiene products aisle. Oh yeah, Mob was at that age, wasn't she.

As soon as Reigen stepped foot in that aisle he knew he was out of his depth. It wasn't even an entire aisle but he had no idea what he was supposed to get. Damn. Well he'd et something, no reason to embarrass Mob and she'd need this stuff if she was going to stay with him for the foreseeable future. He tried to remember high school health class and turned up with nothing. Oh, right. He had a phone.

The internet was not helpful in the slightest.

Well, at least he knew that the numbers meant centimeter length. He needed to pick something fast before he looked like some weirdo hanging out in this aisle. He just grabbed some stuff at random. If Mob didn't like it she'd….she'd probably keep it to herself and suffer in silence.

"Master Reigen, I'm done." Said Mob. She got shampoo, conditioner, soap, and more hair ties. Her basket was pretty empty but his was pretty full. Oh. They were in this aisle. Mob decided to stare at a spot on the wall.

"Oh Mob, thank God. Is any of this stuff any good?" asked Reigen biting the bullet and just asking her. Mob shook her head.

"I don't know." Said Mob, not wanting to discuss this with anyone, especially Master Reigen. This was not something that boys were supposed to know about.

"Oh. Well then what is good? I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing here." Said Reigen hoping that she'd pick something, anything. Not that he was squeamish, this was just a part of Mob's life that he didn't like to think about.

"….I don't know…I don't…I mean I haven't….." said Mob quietly. She wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Reigen also wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Oh. Well then. That was something he didn't really need to know about her, but he did. Well then.

"Oh, I'll just get a bunch of stuff then. Don't look so embarrassed, it's a natural part of life." Said Reigen patting her on the back. He just grabbed some random stuff for her. It was better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.

"…can we never talk about this again….?" Muttered Mob as she stared at the wall in front of her.

"Mob, you're adorable. Alright, fine. This conversation never happened." Said Reigen. He felt bad about embarrassing her, but he'd make it up to her. On the way to check out he grabbed her some more ribbons. She had lost one the other day on that talking cat job. She didn't notice. She was doing the whole staring thing again. Poor kid. He felt bad about bursting her happiness bubble.

"Pass me that Mob, I can carry it." Said Reigen as they left. Mob nodded and passed it over. It wasn't that heavy but if Master Reigen really wanted to help she'd let him.

"Another cat, see, it's over there." Said Mob. There was a gray cat hanging out under a tree. She channeled all of her love of cats into her aura and went to go say hi.

"You and cats Mob…" said Reigen. He watched as the cat got up and met her half way. It immediately began rubbing up against her legs. She reached down and petted it. Reigen got close and the cat looked up at him and began to get defensive.

"It's a stray cat, it doesn't like people." Said Mob as the cat ran away.

"It seemed to like you a lot." Said Reigen, feeling slightly rejected.

"All cats like me." Said Mob. They really did, ever since she was little. She knew how to make her aura feel loving and calm even before she knew what an aura was. She never really thought about it until recently.

"You're a friend to all living things, Mob." Said Reigen. Maybe they could get a cat? She liked cats, he liked cats, and judging by the sheer number of strays in his neighborhood there were plenty of homeless cats to go around.

"I just change my aura so they know I won't hurt them. You can tell, right?" asked Mob. Auras were better than words, she decided. There were so many layers when you were talking to someone, and it was easy to misread the atmosphere. When you used your aura you could easily convey what you were thinking and feeling.

"Well when you get to my level they all kind of blend together so it's hard to pick out individual ones." Said Reigen. Mob looked at him for a while.

"That's sad, Master Reigen." Said Mob simply. She was sad that he didn't get to feel what she felt. When she and Teru mixed auras it felt better than anything else in the world. It was different when she and Ritsu touched auras, mainly because he was her little brother and she of course didn't think of him like that. She wondered if Master Reigen not being able to feel auras was like her not understanding a lot of social stuff.

"No, it's alright. I can get by on my other talents." Said Reigen. He wondered what it was like for her. He had read about auras in the course of becoming the great Reigen Arataka but he had never seen or felt one. She could feel them, though, so for once she was one up on him. He wondered what his looked like, or what hers looked like.

"It's still sad. It's like you miss out on a way of…being with people…I guess." Said Mob trying to find the words to describe what another sense was. It wasn't quite touch, it wasn't quite taste, and it wasn't quite smell. It was like an amalgam of all three senses but you felt it with your spirit.

"Is it really that big of a thing for you?" asked Reigen. Mob blushed and looked away. It was a big thing, for her, when she had been with Teru. It was like….what was the word? It was like being inside someone else, but also being outside of them. It was like seeing someone naked but they still had all of their clothes on and also it wasn't embarrassing at all.

"Oh, it's one of those things." Said Reigen. He didn't want to push her too much with this, if it was truly one of those person intimate things that one did not want to discuss with their Master because, duh, why would she?

"Those?" asked Mob. She didn't like it when people said things like that. She knew she was supposed to know what those meant but she didn't exactly.

"You know, intimate sort of things." Said Reigen. There was a difference between things that were intimate and things that were sexual, and Mob of course wouldn't bring up something that was sexual, because this was Mob after all.

"You mean sex?" asked Mob bluntly. Maybe that was what it was like, she obviously had no frame of reference for those sorts of things. She could feel the tips of her ears heating up by how embarrassed she was.

"What? No, not like that. Also you're way too young for that, Mob. No, I mean like…not like that but being close to someone I guess. That's the closest definition that I can think up." Said Reigen. He hadn't had much intimacy in his life, he realized, so it was difficult for him to describe. He hadn't but was that how she experienced other people? Was being near someone's aura like walking up to them and hugging them? No wonder she wasn't good socially, if that was the case.

"Oh. Like laying really close to them?" asked Mob

"Yeah, something like that." Said Reigen not wanting to delve too deeply into that particular portion of Mob's life.

"Oh. Then yes, that's what its like to feel someone's aura. I'm sorry that you can't feel them individually. I guess it's like me and regular people. Their auras are so faint that I can barely even see them." Said Mob. She focused on Master Reigen's aura. It was yellow, not muted like other peoples. It was calm too, very steady. It wasn't sharp like Ritsu's or heavy like Teru's. It was like putting your feet up to an electric heater, she decided, when it was on low and you could sort of feel it but only when you get very close.

"Can you see mine?" asked Reigen suddenly. Curiosity had won out over common sense in his mind. Was she getting suspicious? Did she see him for the fraud he was? No. He saw the look in her eyes. She still trusted him.

"Yes. It's yellow, like the yellow on the wrappers of chocolate coins, or Chinese custard buns." Said Mob. She let her aura get a little closer to his. There was a sweetness to him, she decided, just like custard. That was the closest approximation she could make. She heard him gasp.

"That was…wow." Said Reigen. He had briefly….not seen visually but…what….he had seen the Reigen Arataka that resided in her mind. Not telepathically, he thought. But then again the only experience he had with telepathy was the way it was shown on TV. He had seen himself, though, as she saw him. Well, it was more a collection of feelings. Admiration. Safety. Love. Concern. To her he was all of those things.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob quietly. She pulled away from him. It was like if somebody ran up and tore his suit coat off it was so sudden. It was like a sudden coldness, sort of, but not physical.

"Nah, it's fine. That was pretty cool, actually." Said Reigen. He knew Mob looked up to him but that was how she felt? That was…that was the depth of her feelings for him? He knew she wasn't as unfeeling as her face would suggest but he never knew…or maybe he did. She way she called him Master Reigen, the way even after making friends and getting an actual social life she spent all of her time with him.

He just wished he was the Reigen Arataka that she saw him as. He seemed like a pretty great guy.

Reigen talked to fill the silence as they walked to the grocery store. He talked about nothing at all, really, but she hung on his every word. He knew that she was listening. Her eyes were alert. She actually had very expressive eyes, if you knew how to read them. As he talked he watched her closely. She was listening to him, she always listened to him.

What was his responsibility to her?

She had come into his life three years ago and he hoped that he had shaped her for the better. She took everything he said as gospel, even to the point of not defending herself because he told her to never use her powers on other people. She followed him around for three hundred yen an hour, money that she had been saving for years if that jar was any indication. Now she living with him for the foreseeable future. She trusted him enough…she trusted him truly and completely. She couldn't conceive even of him being capable of hurting her in any way.

He had never had another person look at him the way she did. He had never had the complete and total trust of another human being. She also felt a deep love for him. He had felt it reflected back to him in what must have only been half a second. He loved her, too. Not romantically, obviously, but he loved her and she loved him.

Huh. It felt nice, actually. He could get used to this. To her. To her presence. He didn't know what he'd do once she left. He didn't want her to go. He was selfish like that. He would never act on these selfish feelings, of course, because it was his job to act in her best interests. That was his responsibility to her. It was in her best interest to reconcile with her family….her family that had apparently just let her walk right out the door and into the big, wide, world. The family that had no idea where she was for a night. The family that let her pack up and move in with him.

It didn't matter that she had psychic powers. It didn't matter that she seemed so cold and unfeeling. It didn't matter that there were times when she was absolutely terrifying. She was only fourteen and needed some kind of guidance. She needed someone stable enough to provide her with that guidance. She needed someone that wouldn't let her make incredibly stupid and dangerous decisions because she was stronger than them. She had the potential to be the worst kind of monster and it was a stroke of good look that the universe had filled her with so much natural altruism.

Pacifist. Altruist. Mob. That was her. The girl who would crawl into dank, dark, mildew filled hole after a cat. The girl who would blame herself for her little brother's poor behavior towards her. The girl who would share what was essentially her spirit with him because he had never felt anything like that before. The girl who stuffed down everything she felt, positive and negative, because she thought she had a monster living inside of her that would come out and attack at any time.

He wasn't worthy of her admiration. He wasn't worthy of it but he still had it and he had to make the most of it. He needed to become the Reigen Arataka that existed within her mind. He was the person she deserved for herself.

"Hey, Mob. We're here!" said Reigen suddenly. Well, they were a few steps passed where they were supposed to be but it was close enough.

"Why are cooking? We usually go out and get food." Said Mob. She really and truly had no idea how to cook. She could make toast and white rice with raw egg and omelets on fried rice, and boxed ramen with an egg in it…pretty much everything she knew how to do was either egg or rice based. Oh and cereal, she could make bowls of cereal, if that counted.

"You deserve a home cooked meal for your first night in a new place." Said Reigen. Also, he had no real food in the house to speak of. He had chips and cookies and bread and ramen as well as various assorted condiments but honestly his kitchen looked like it was stocked by a ten year old with no parental supervision.

"…I can't cook." Said Mob quietly. Her mother had tried to show her but she got so nervous that things kept bending and spilling and exploding that she had been banned from the kitchen.

"I'll show you Mob, there's nothing to it." Said Reigen. One of them needed to know how to cook and being the adult it had to be him. He knew how to make a few simple things, mostly rice based but he could also stir fry vegetables and she loved those. He could make a decent curry too, from the curry cubes anyway. Thank God for the internet and recipes on the backs of boxes of things.

They each grabbed a basket. Mob followed Reigen, though, she didn't know this store. Master Reigen knew what they needed, though, so she stuck with him. He tossed vegetables into his basked seemingly at random.

"Hey Mob, you like these, right?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Yes, those are nice. What are you going to make?" asked Mob. There wasn't anything inedible in there, so that was good. She wasn't too into carrots, though, but if he liked them then she'd eat them.

"What are we planning to make, you mean." Said Reigen with his usual enthusiasm. Mob was curious, he could tell.

"Are you asking me to help?" asked Mob. She thought he was, by his tone, but she had to confirm it. Even Master Reigen said that she couldn't get a clue sometimes.

"Well I did say that I would teach you how to cook." Said Reigen as he tossed some potatoes into his basket. His mom had shown him how to make mashed potatoes when he was Mob's age and he still sort of remembered how.

"Oh. Alright." Said Mob trying to figure out what could be made with this combination of vegetables. Stir fry?

"I forgot how heavy food was." Muttered Reigen. The basket then became weightless in his hand.

"Mob, you don't have to help." Said Reigen. Mob looked at him for a second too long. She was thinking. That could be good or bad.

"You said that I should use my powers to help people, so I'm helping you." Said Mob. She knew that she wasn't supposed to use her powers for no reason but he needed help and that was what she did, she helped people.

"You don't have to, Mob. I've got it." Said Reigen

"It's hard for you but its easy for me. I don't even have to think about it, really." Said Mob. Lifting things with telekinesis was actually easier for her than lifting things with her hands, that was how she had gotten into such terrible shape in the first place. When she was a baby she had to go to special doctors because she wasn't using her hands enough.

"Hey Mob, just out of curiosity, how much can you lift?" asked Reigen. He had seen the footage of the destruction and reconstruction of Black Vinegar Middle School and he honestly wondered what her limit was.

"I really don't know. It's easier for the other Shigeko though, but she had trouble moving little things. Like how I can braid my hair with my powers but she'd probably accidentally rip it all out." Said Mob. The other Shigeko was meaner than she was, and she lashed out whenever she came out. Her voice was mean, too, when they'd talk in the dreamscape. Sometimes they did talk, in that place between awake and asleep, but very rarely.

"The other you?" asked Reigen. He knew that was what she called herself when she exploded but was it really a separate consciousness? He had always thought that it was a way for her to distance herself from the parts of herself that she didn't like.

"The me that comes out when I get upset." Said Mob. Reigen patted her on the back.

"Well, I don't mind any part of you, even the upset parts." Said Reigen. She needed support now more than ever before. She must have been feeling abandoned, she needed to know that he was there for her.

"…I don't mind you either." Said Mob quietly. She squished down the feelings that she was feeling in that moment. All of the warm, fuzzy feelings that made her mind go to places it shouldn't have gone.

"But do you mind seaweed, that's the question." Said Reigen. He remembered how to make his mom's seaweed soup. It was decent and filling.

"I like seaweed, but why are we getting so much food?" asked Mob. This was way more than for one meal.

"Habit, mostly. My mom was from the United States so we always shopped for the week." Said Reigen as they went to the dry good aisle. Yes, dehydrated curry cubes, and they were on sale. He got a bunch and tossed them in Mob's basket. He tossed a couple sacks of rice in, too. How could he have run out of rice? It was a staple food for crying out loud.

"Oh. Were you born here or there?" asked Mob. Master Reigen spoke both English and Japanese fluently so it was hard to tell. He was a lot like an American too, though. They talked a lot and loved fast food, at least the ones on TV did. Mob actually hadn't ever met a foreign person before.

"In Japan. My mom moved her for university, that's where she met my dad. Nine months later I came along." Said Reigen as he tossed ramen cubes into her basket. One could never have too much ramen, it was a staple food for crying out loud.

"Oh. I was born in Seasoning City. I've never been anywhere else." Said Mob as she eyed the growing pile of ramen in her basket. She reached out and tentatively took one of the shrimp ones she liked.

"Here, get as many as you want. They're dirt cheap." Said Reigen putting more into her basket. One couldn't ever have too much ramen.

"Have you ever been anywhere else?" asked Mob. Reigen paused what he was doing and started to think.

"I've lived in Seasoing City, Lower Back Pain City, Mixed Beverages City, Tokyo, uh…let's see where else. Oh yeah, we liked in Mito when I was really little." Said Reigen rattling off everywhere he had ever lived, putting up a finger as he listed each city. Mob's eyes widened.

"That's a lot of places. Are you going to move again?" asked Mob. She was afraid of that, and she hadn't been before. In her mind Master Reigen had always been permanent. It was weird to think of him having a past and parents and stuff.

"Huh? No, I'm staying here, don't worry. Where else am I going to find another you?" asked Reigen tugging on her hair. She smiled.

"There are other espers, though." Said Mob. Reigen shrugged.

"Yeah, but there's only one Mob." Said Reigen. Mob smiled. A display of cans toppled over. Reigen rushed them both away.

"Sorry. I should go and pick those up." Said Mob quietly. That was why her mom had stopped taking her shopping when she was little.

"You don't have to, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob looked at her.

"But it's the right thing to do. When you make a mess you should clean it up." Said Mob. She went over and started restacking the cans by hand. Reigen had been worried that she would use her powers and draw attention to them but she was actually doing it by hand. She really was such an altruist. After a moment he went over to help her.

"I'm really sorry." Said Mob

"No, you're fine." Said Reigen. Growing pains, maybe? Like a growth spurt but for her powers? It was obvious that she couldn't control it, but what triggered it? It wasn't stress, she wasn't stressed out. Maybe it was just something that happened to her and there was no reason to it.

"I shouldn't do things like this." Said Mob quietly

"Hey, Mob, look at me." Said Reigen. Mob looked up at him.

"This is something that happens to you, that's all. It's not your fault." Said Reigen softly. She held eye contact with him.

"When will I be able to control it?" asked Mob softly. Reigen rubbed the back of his head.

"As you get older, probably. When your emotions settle down." Said Reigen. That was an educated guess. There was surprisingly little written about espers that was actually reliable. What existed that was actually somewhat reliable had nothing on someone at Mob's power level. It was supposed to be difficult to move heavy things with telekinesis, for example, but he had seen her lift all the furniture in the office to find his suit button all the way back when she was only eleven.

"Is that how it went for you?" asked Mob as she finished. There. It was something like what it looked like before.

"Uh…something like that." Said Reigen as they made their way to the snack section. Just a few snack foods, they were also a staple….well they were for him anyway.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob as Master Reigen tossed some cookies into her basket.

"You can grab some stuff too you know, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob was just staring at him.

"I'm fine. What you got is fine." Said Mob simply. Reigen studied her.

"Really? There's nothing you want? Not even….panda grahams?" asked Reigen holing up a box of panda graham crackers. Mob's eyes did that thing where they lit up while the rest of her face was still. Reigen tossed a couple of boxes in. Who cared how much it cost him, food was essential for life and all that.

"…can we get the kind with strawberry in them, too?" asked Mob quietly. Reigen tossed a few boxes of those in, too.

"Alright, I think that's it. All the essentials. You want anything else?" asked Reigen. He didn't know about her but he was content with everything they were getting. It was hard to tell with Mob sometimes, though.

"….mochi?" said Mob quietly. Reigen immediate whisked her over to the mochis and let her pick out whichever ones she wanted. She only got a few, though. Huh. If it were him he would have piled that basket high.

They walked home together, him filling the atmosphere with words and her hanging off of them. She made their bags lighter so it only looked like they were carrying them. Mob thought that it was a lot of food for two people but then again Master Reigen did love to eat. She wondered how he stayed so skinny, especially since he had mostly bought ramen and snacks. They had plenty of eggs though, which was good because eggs were some of the few things that she knew how to cook.

They made it up to their door and she unlocked it with her key. She wore it like a necklace and she thought it looked pretty, sort of. Either way it wasn't just a key but a symbol of Master Reigen's trust in her. She kicked her shoes off haphazardly, like her did. It was freeing, sort of, to not have to worry about her mom getting mad at her for things like that. They carried everything into the kitchen and put stuff away.

Master Reigen had gotten a lot of things for her, and they were all in pink. She had her own plates, chop sticks, and rice bowl. She had a plastic drinking glass shaped like a panda, too. It felt nice, the permanence of it all. These were her things and this was their home. It didn't feel like her, yet. It felt like Master Reigen. His aura was faint but it permeated everything in the house, or rather apartment.

"OK, so let's make dinner. Vegetable stir fry or ramen?" asked Reigen. Mob looked up at him.

"Nobody ever asked me to help cook before, so I don't know." Said Mob. She figured that ramen would be easier to cook, but vegetables were more nutritious.

"How about both?" asked Reigen. She had wanted ramen before but making it at home wasn't nearly as filling as getting it from a place. Vegetables weren't really filling either, to be honest. He watched her eyes. Yup, happy Mob eyes. Both it was.

They cooked together, Mob trying her best and Reigen Googling things when he thought she wasn't looking. Huh. This wasn't that hard at all. He tried to look confident, she tried to be helpful, the rice cooker tried to quit on them, but soon they were eating while watching TV, something else Mob never did when she lived with her parents.

"OK, so the cat can talk?" asked Reigen as he watched one of Mob's shows. It was an anime about a depressing guy and a talking cat, apparently.

"No, the cat can only talk to other animals and the people can only talk to other people." Said Mob. This was a sad episode, she was feeding herself with her powers and watching through her hands. She was glad that nobody close to her ever died. She didn't think that even the love of a cat could bring her out of that kind of depression.

"Oh. OK. Is this it?" asked Reigen. Anime had sure changed when he was a kid, but he never really watched this sort of thing. He needed action, giant robots, and plenty of jiggling. Mob seemed to like slice of life stories about people dealing with their feelings.

"Yes, that's the show. It's the best show this season, I think." Said Mob. Sometimes she thought about what life would be like if she was a cat. Would she be happy? No, if she was a cat then she couldn't do all the things people could do. She wouldn't be happy, in that case.

"Seriously, Mob. This?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Yes, it has a cat and everyone is really nice to the main character even though he can't get a clue." Said Mob

"Classic Mob." Muttered Reigen. Mob turned to look at him.

"I just meant that this is definitely something that I can see you watching." Said Reigen. Mob looked at him for a while.

"It's a good thing." Said Reigen finally. Mob smiled and nodded. Of course Master Reigen wouldn't make fun of her. He would never, ever do something like that. She used her powers to put her chopsticks back into her hands. Alright, the sad part was over.

"Do you like this show?" asked Mob. She wondered what kind of TV Master Reigen liked, if he liked TV. Lots of adults didn't have time, she had heard.

"It's pretty good. I'll watch if you like it. It's no Junk Food Fighter Michael, though." Said Reigen mentioning the apex of animated television. She looked at him.

"What's that?" asked Mob. Now it was Reigen's turn to stare at her.

"Student, it has come to my attention that you have massive gaps in your knowledge of animated television. Therefore, as your master I shall take it upon myself to rectify the situation. Now, wait there!" said Reigen before putting his bowl down and going over to the bookshelf. Yes, the complete first season! He looked over, the credits were playing for Mob's sad cat show. Also perfect!

"Now watch the great Reigen Arataka broadens your television horizons! Single move show switch!" said Reigen really getting into it. With one hand he put the DVD in and with the other he switched the input from cable to DVD. Mob was giggling a lot. The lights flickered between normal and bright.

"Is this your favorite show?" asked Mob picking up her food and sitting up on the couch. The floor was more comfortable but she wanted to sit near him. It was nice when he said things like that, he was funny and he made her heart flip flop.

"From the ages of seven to fourteen I devoted my life to living according to the ideals of the Junk Food Fighter." Said Reigen with an over the top level of seriousness. Mob stared at him.

"Why did you stop?" asked Mob. Reigen shrugged.

"I got older." Said Reigen. To tell the truth his parents didn't like watching cartoons and at fourteen he had found much worse ways to rebel.

"Oh. I guess it's like me and Sailor Moon. It used to be my favorite show but then I got older." Said Mob

"You don't like Sailor Moon?" asked Reigen. Great, and he had gotten her a pink Sailor Moon plate and rice bowl.

"No, I still like it but not as much as when I was little." Said Mob scooting a little closer to him than was necessary. Reigen didn't notice.

"Now you like shows about sad people and cats." Said Reigen. He saw the look in her eyes and gave her hair a little tug. The meaning was clear to Mob. 'I'm just kidding'. She wished that it was as easy to understand everyone as it was to understand Master Reigen.

They watched six episodes in one sitting, until the sun was well and truly down and the hours had been whittled away. Mob was feeling drowsy and her head and found its self resting against his shoulder and on his chest. He had an arm around her and was absently tracing circles on her back, she seemed to like that. She was like a cat, sometimes. He was pretty absorbed in the show, actually, and didn't notice the happy little noises Mob occasionally made. He forgot how suspenseful this show was. Reigen looked down at Mob, she was starting to doze off. She was so adorable, like a cat.

He checked his phone. Oh, wow. It had gotten late. He turned off the TV and attempted to lay her down as he got up. Mob sat up quickly.

"Master Reigen….?" Asked Mob. She must have fallen asleep.

"Sorry Mob, I tried not to wake you up." Said Reigen. Mob rubbed her eyes.

"I'm not that sleepy." Said Mob with a yawn. It wasn't a lie. She was sleepy but not super sleepy. She could stay up more, especially if it meant being that close to him again. She always felt good when she was near him.

"It's late, Mob, and you've got to get up extra early to get to school." Said Reigen. He'd get up with her, just to make sure that she made it back alright. Opening the office a little early wouldn't hurt, it might even balance out for closing it so early before. That was how it worked, right?

"But we can keep watching." Said Mob. Reigen smiled at her. Yes, he had converted her away from her sad slice of life world and into his action packed superhero world.

"It's a DVD, Mob. We can just keep watching tomorrow." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Are you going to bed too?" asked Mob. She didn't want to sleep all alone. Maybe she could stay up with him, if he was still going to be up.

"Yup. I'll see you in the morning, alright?" asked Reigen. He'd get to bed in a little bit, he wasn't really tired yet.

"But I'm not wearing pajamas." Said Mob in a last ditch attempt at staying up later. Reigen shrugged.

"You packed some, right?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Then you can change. I'll be in my room. I'll see you in the morning. Oh, wait, don't forget to brush your teeth." Said Reigen. He'd take his own advice, too. He didn't feel like going to the dentist any time soon.

They both made their way to the bathroom, her toothbrush on the counter next to his. He brushed his teeth for longer than normal, because she did. He had to set a good example. Mob looked contemplative about something.

"The walls here are blue." Said Mob

"Yup, that's how they came when I moved in." said Reigen wondering what she was getting at.

"The walls at my house were white." Said Mob. Oh. She must have been homesick. Reigen stopped trying to get vegetable scraps out of his teeth and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright if you want to go home." Said Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"No, I was just thinking. I don't want to go home." Said Mob, omitting the ever that came after home. Reigen thought she was omitting a yet.

"Whenever you want to go home, you can." Said Reigen before going back to getting shards of vegetables out of his teeth. Mob wondered why he kept saying that. Of course she was staying forever.

They said their goodnights and Reigen went to his room. He laid down and had a before bed cigarette before flipping through his messages. Mostly junk, some new appointments, and one from his mother. He'd read that later. Oh, Friendbook needed an update. Might as well, maybe someone would message him out of the blue one day. He heard Mob shuffling around in the living room. She seemed to actually be pretty happy that day.

It would be hard to see her leave.

The place just felt different with her around, more alive. He spent his evening the same way he always did, eating in front of the TV and all that. It was different now that she was around. He worried that it would have been awkward being so familiar around her but they slipped into this new living situation surprisingly easily. He could get used to this. He knew that he shouldn't, this was only temporary until she reconciled with her family, but he wished that it was. He took a deep drag of his cigarette and allowed himself to imagine her living with him when she was all grown up. They could still have fun, then. He'd make her a full partner in the business, he'd tell her the truth about himself, too. They go out drinking and on day trips too. She had never really left Seasoning City, he'd show her all the places in Japan he had lived. They'd discover new places too, the two of them together. He took another drag.

It was a nice fantasy.

She'd probably leave him to go off to university, and she'd probably live with that guy she was seeing, if she was still seeing him. Wow. Mob was actually seeing someone. He never thought he'd see the day. Too bad that kid didn't like him. Reigen didn't care what Mob got up to but he did care that she got up to things that she was emotionally ready to handle. Lord knew that Reigen wasn't ready emotionally when he started.

Mob deserved to be happy, though. Even if her boyfriend was a bed hog. He still wasn't going to touch that one with a ten foot pole. He hoped that it was innocent. Knowing Mob it most likely was. She covered her eyes during love scenes in movies after all. Yeah, Mob was still just a kid, and he hoped that she stayed a kid for as long as she could.

He was pulled from his thought by a knock at his door. He quickly put his cigarette out.

"Hey Mob, what's up?" asked Reigen. Mob looked alright, and her powers didn't flare up so she must have at least been alright emotionally.

"Can I sleep with you?" asked Mob. She had gathered all of her courage to ask this. She knew that it probably wouldn't be at all like with Teru but she still wanted to at least be near Master Reigen. She didn't want to be alone. Reigen shook his head.

"Bed's too small, Mob." Said Reigen. Poor kid, she really was lonely. He wouldn't let her sleep with him, though, the bed was way too small. It would have been uncomfortable and maybe close to crossing a line, maybe. She still looked kind of sad. He got up and put his ashtray on his windowsill, silently begging the plants to forgive him.

"C'mon Mob, help me drag this thing." Said Reigen as he grabbed the end of his mattress. Mob was momentarily confused but used her powers to levitate the bed. That counted as helping someone, it was really heavy and in club she had learned that lifting too much weight too soon could really mess up your back badly.

"That works too. Can you move the living room table, too, so there's room?" asked Reigen. They couldn't both fit in his bed but he could sleep next to her. It must have been a lot for her, sleeping alone in an unfamiliar room. He heard the table shift in the other room. Oh. She didn't even have to look at what she was doing when she used her telekinesis.

"Thanks Mob. Alright, put this down next to the couch." Said Reigen. Mob looked over at him but did as she was asked.

"Master Reigen, why am I doing this?" asked Mob. He couldn't have actually meant to sleep on the floor, he never would have been comfortable sleeping on the floor since he was used to a bed.

"You said that you didn't want to sleep alone, right?" asked Reigen. Mob smiled and followed him into the living room. Reigen was about to lay down in his bed before sitting up on the couch. Mob stared at him again, her eyes questioning him.

"Here, you can have the bed. You're used to a futon, right?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded and laid down slowly. She felt herself blush. It was still warm.

"Can you get the lights?" asked Reigen. Mob didn't move a muscle but all the lights went out. The room suddenly got much smaller. To Mob it felt like they were the only two people in the world, like with Teru. This bed wasn't the softest but it was warm and it smelled just like Master Reigen. She could actually feel his aura, too. She sighed.

"Night Mob." Said Reigen as he turned onto his side. It really wasn't that comfortable of a couch. He'd definitely have to get her a futon soon. He scratched his leg with his foot. He'd have to get used to wearing pants to bed again, if he was going to be living with her. That was a little too familiar.

"Good night Master Reigen." Said Mob softly. It was almost like being next to Teru the other night. She closed her eyes and remembered how that felt, how close they were. He was so warm and he smelled so nice and when he kissed her it felt like heaven. She focused on how that felt, how much better it was when she wasn't tense. How soft his lips were against hers. He way his hand felt as it ran through her hair, the other hand at her waist. The way that she could feel his mouth moving against hers. There was spit but not grossly, it was actually pretty nice….

The lights flickered on and off. Mob unclenched her thighs and turned onto her side, her face burning with the white hot embarrassment of a thousand suns. How could she have-! Master Reigen was laying right there! What was wrong with her? She was actually about to-!

"Mob, you alright?" asked Reigen sitting up. Bad dream maybe? How fast could she possibly fall asleep? Maybe it was a psychic thing.

"I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. How are you?" said Mob quickly, her back still to him. She knew that it was rude of her but she didn't want him to see her face. She worried that he would be able to see what she had been thinking in her expression.

"I'm fine, Mob. You sure you're doing alright over there?" asked Reigen. She was freaked out by something. Maybe there was a spirit in the room or something.

"I'm fine! Goodnight!" said Mob closing her eyes as hard as she could. She could have sworn that she heard someone chuckling, but they were the only two people in the room.


	13. The Kidnapping of Kageyama Ritsu

"Mornin' buddy!" said Dimple as Mob opened her eyes. He had been watching her sleep all night, not in a creepy way but mostly to gauge what he was waking up to. While she slept he could see that other being poke itself out. Little glimpses of something white hot and bright as the sun. Something angry, hurt, and afraid trying to claw its way out.

"Dimple…..?" said Mob as she opened her eyes. As he came into focus she grabbed him with her powers so that he couldn't get away again. He was the one who made Ritsu act so mean.

"Hey! Hey, it's me! Your good buddy Dimple! Remember me Shigeko? Old buddy, old pal?" said Dimple. She was glaring at him, her hair was loose and floating about her head in all directions. If he had a collar he'd be tugging at it. He felt something close to violent intent coming off of her.

"Dimple, give me one good reason not to exorcise you." Said Mob quietly as not to wake Master Reigen. It was early, dawn was just breaking. She didn't know when he usually got up and didn't want to wake him too early.

"Because we're friends!" said Dimple. She looked like she really wanted to hurt him? Why? His advice had obviously worked out. Did she know that he had possessed her brother?

"We were friends, then you stole my brother's body." Said Mob lowly

"Oh. You know about that." Said Dimple. Crap! Without her he was officially out of espers, and he just maybe might have missed her.

"Ritsu told me. You took over his body and turned him into a jerk." Said Mob. That was the only explanation for why Ritsu was acting the way he was. Ritsu was a good, nice person and he would have never treated her like that if he hadn't had an evil spirit taking over his body.

"Hey, wait a second! He asked me to take over his body, he needed me to help him regulate his powers!" said Dimple

"I don't believe you." Said Mob, the room rattling slightly.

"Feel my aura, I'm telling the truth!" said Dimple

"You're a spirit, you don't have an aura." Said Mob

"Not an aura like a person's but I'm made of energy. Just feel me and you'll know I'm telling the truth!" said Dimple. Mob closed her eyes and concentrated on pushing her aura out. She tapped Dimple's energy and felt something kind of cold and slightly akin to slime.

"You feel gross." Said Mob. Yuck. It was like picking up frogs from the river on a cold day.

"Huh. I guess it's unpleasant for the living to touch the dead. Who knew? Anyway, I am telling the truth! I like you, why would I make your brother act like such an asshole?" said Dimple. Good, her barrier was wavering.

"You mentally contaminated him because you piloted him like an Evangelion." Said Mob. Dimple scratched his head.

"I don't get the reference, and I was not piloting him. He's your brother, he's too strong for that! So you really think that your brother is weak enough for me to control him!?" asked Dimple. Mob stared at him. She watched and watched him. What he said made sense. Ritsu wasn't weak, he wouldn't have let himself get taken over. Ritsu…Ritsu couldn't have meant the things he said.

"I don't know what to believe." Said Mob quietly. She dropped her barrier and drew her knees up to her chest. Dimple patted her on the head.

"Believe me, Shigeko. Would I lie to you?" asked Dimple. Mob looked at him for a while.

"Yes, of course you would." Said Mob simply. He was an evil spirit after all, of course he would lie. The question was, was he lying to her right now?

"Well, this time I'm telling you the truth. Ask your bother, he'll tell you what happened!" said Dimple praying to whatever spirits prayed to that Ritsu was done being a dick.

"I will. I'll text him." said Mob. She pulled her phone over with her powers and texted Ritsu. She watched her phone, waiting for him to text back.

"Uh, Shigeko? It's like five in the morning, he's probably still asleep." Said Dimple

"I'll talk to him at school then, if he wants to talk to me. I don't know if he will. He's been so mean lately." Said Mob staring at the wall as she contained her sadness. Dimple felt something akin to guilt, he thought. It was an unpleasant emotion, in as much as spirits could feel emotions.

"Yeah, I saw. Sorry about that, by the way. I really don't know what's wrong with him. He kept on saying cryptic shit like 'anger and guilt fuel my powers' and stuff like that. I don't know, I think he's got some kind of a complex." Said Dimple. Mob was still staring. Anger and guilt.

"He had another Shigeko inside of him…." said Mob quietly. Anger and guilt. Her Shigeko fed on rage, stress, and fear. His Ritsu….did everyone have another them? Teru had one, too, she thought. That was who she had met when they had first met. Anger, fear, and embarrassment fed his.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Don't tell me you're hearing voices." Said Dimple. Great, she was crazy and her brother was an asshole. What was the matter with that family?

"Sometimes, when I'm half asleep the other Shigeko tells me to let her out and that she'll give me all the things I want. She only takes control when I explode and pass out." Said Mob. She turned her aura inwards and felt the edges of the other her. It was a ball of white hot power. It hurt to get too close, like putting her hands too close to a flame.

"So it's another consciousness? How does that even work?" asked Dimple. She sounded crazy but he could definitely see something else inside of her. It was hovering within her, he could only catch glimpses of it, but it was there.

"You mean she has her own mind?" said Mob. Did the other Shigeko? No, because she didn't really do anything but destroy when she came out. Yes, because she did have wants, she just wanted whatever Mob wanted. Huh.

"Does she? I'm not living inside of you, kid. That is unless you wanted me to take over your body…." Said Dimple giving her his best persuasive look. Mob shook her head.

"No. I know that if I let you take over my body you'll use it to do bad things." Said Mob

"I just want to make us a God, doesn't that appeal to you at all?" asked Dimple knowing the answer. This girl was the most powerful esper he had ever seen and all she wanted to do was lead a normal life. Such a waste of perfectly good power.

"No thank you. I'm very happy right now." Said Mob. She was pretty happy. She got to spend all the time she could ever want with Master Reigen, she had friends, and she wasn't around to make her family scared anymore so now they could be happy. Aside from Ritsu being mean life was perfect.

"Oh I bet." Said Dimple nudging her with his elbow and motioning up to where Reigen was sleeping. He was on his back now, and snoring slightly. Mob stared at him.

"You know…." Said Dimple. Mob shook her head.

"I don't know what you mean, Dimple, but I feel like you're implying something." Said Mob. It was too early to be trying to figure out what he meant.

"You and Reigen, duh. See, you took my advice and now you've not only got him but that blonde kid we were fighting with before I almost died again." Said Dimple

"But you're already dead." Said Mob

"You know what I mean, erased then." Said Dimple

"I…I took your advice. Being forward works…." Said Mob as she watched Master Reigen sleep. She had been forward with Teru and that had been amazing, and she told Master Reigen that she wouldn't go home so now she got to live with him. Maybe Dimple was worth keeping around…..but that would be selfish. He had corrupted Ritsu, possibly, or at least brought out the other Ritsu that lived inside of him….if he had another Ritsu. This was so complicated. She laid back down and pulled the blanket up over her head.

"Hey, don't go back to bed. C'mon, I can help you out." Said Dimple. He needed to get back into her good graces. She was a leaking faucet of power, no, not even leaking. She was a sink with the tap broken off.

"With what?" asked Mob, the blanket still pulled over her head. It smelled like cigarettes, sweat, and incense. It was nice.

"Him. Go on, there's room for you up there." Said Dimple. Mob turned onto her side.

"Dimple, that's a terrible idea." Said Mob. She knew that first of all Master Reigen wasn't Teru and it wouldn't be like with Teru, also if she did the things she did with Teru with Master Reigen then Teru would be hurt. She didn't want to hurt him.

"Have I ever steered you wrong?" asked Dimple. Mob thought about it.

"You steered Ritsu wrong." Said Mob

"Yeah, but you're not Ritsu." Said Dimple

"Dimple, if you want to hang around me then shut up." Said Mob a little more meanly than usual. She wanted to crawl up there with Master Reigen. She wanted to and it scared her. She didn't want to hurt Teru, she didn't want to ruin what she had with Master Reigen. Last night when she had wanted to sleep next to him it was different. She didn't want to sleep alone in a new place. Now her mind was elsewhere, and on other things…things that she didn't like to think about. Or she did. It was bother exhilarating and terrifying.

"Whatever you want, kid. You're the boss." Said Dimple. Good, she would keep him around. She'd come around, too, once she started taking his advice again. He hoped that he hadn't actually inadvertently poisoned her little brother's mind. She didn't deserve that.

Mob decided to get up and start her day. Her phone said that it would be a long commute to school, living so far away now. Master Reigen still slept, she was careful not to wake him. She heated up some rice from yesterday for her breakfast. She'd crack an egg in it and then put in some soy sauce, that would be pretty good.

Dimple hovered around her and said nothing. He had to physically hold his tongue a few times to keep from commenting on what she was doing. He needed to make everything up to her and the only way he could do it was either taking over her body and getting her the things she wanted or telling her how to get them.

She was doing well, though. She not only had that old fraud she wanted but that other esper kid, too. He didn't know why she kept on suppressing physical desire, though. If he was corporeal he knew exactly what he had been doing. Living people didn't know how good they had it. Eating, drinking, having sex, all those things were lost to him when he died.

"Morning Mob." Said Reigen. He had woken up momentarily confused as to where he was and why he was stepping down onto his mattress. The smell of warming rice had gotten him up and when he saw Mob in the kitchen, bed head and all, he remembered. He pulled up and chair and sat down. There was a lighter and cigarette box on the kitchen table, he lit his morning cigarette without thinking. Mob walked over to a window and opened it.

"Good morning , Master. Dimple's here too." Said Mob. From the way Master Reigen was looking around she guessed that Dimple was still too weak for him to see.

"Did he apologize for messing with your brother's head?" asked Reigen. Of course it was probably a lifetime of pent up emotion that caused her little brother to explode like that, of course Reigen wouldn't tell Mob that. She needed to believe that her little brother was a paragon of virtue. The sun rose every morning just for him and all that.

"He said that Ritsu had another Ritsu inside of him, like I have another Shigeko, and he lives on anger and fear and guilt and stuff." Said Mob. Reigen took a long drag off of his cigarette.

"We all have those parts to us." Said Reigen finally. If calling her explosions the other her helped everything make sense then he wouldn't stop her from thinking that. Poor kid had enough to worry about.

"Do you?" asked Mob as she spooned some rice into their rice bowls.

"….I do….but I won't show you that part." Said Reigen as she put the egg carton and soy sauce on the table. He reached over and patted her on the shoulder.

"Even if I make you upset?" asked Mob as she cracked an egg into her rice and stirred it.

"Mob, you hardly ever upset me. Just when you put yourself in danger." Said Reigen stirring an egg into his rice.

"I wasn't in danger." Said Mob adding soy sauce to her breakfast.

"You were, you just don't know it." Said Reigen

"Teru kept me safe." Said Mob staring at her breakfast.

"I…I know he did but I just feel better now that you're with me and I know you're alright." Said Reigen choosing his words carefully as he stirred his egg and rice together.

"Jeez Shigeko, you guys are like an old married couple or something." Said Dimple. It was like watching two old people or something. It was a good thing that he had come back to her, she was wasting a golden opportunity.

"Dimple, I said you had to be quiet." Said Mob. Reigen looked over at her but said nothing. Great, now he was infested with spirits.

"Do we have any exorcisms today?" asked Mob between bites.

"Nobody E-mailed about one yet but we can always get a walk in. Anything fun planned with your clubs today?" said Reigen with his mouth full.

"We're going to start upper body strengthening soon, but we're still on lower body strengthening. Oh, and Tome says she's going to make me a Friendbook account so that I can help her with her cat ranch." Said Mob

"Cat ranch?" asked Reigen, rice falling onto the table.

"It's a game she started playing. It's where you and your friend raise cats and then they fight other people's cats. I don't like the fighting parts but I like cats." Said Mob. She used her powers to pour herself a glass of milk. She didn't want to rely on her powers, they were just her first instinct for doing things.

"Yeah, that's definitely something you'd be into. When she makes you one be sure to friend me." Said Reigen. Maybe he'd get back to social media if he had an actual friend on there. His mother would certainly appreciate it if he posted more. It would probably just be a virtual version of the picture wall in the office. Hmm…he did have a lot of pictures of him and Mob, she was better than a selfie stick when it came to taking pictures.

"I will." Said Mob. She never saw the need for a Friendbook since she didn't really have friends but now she did. Getting out of her comfort zone was working out well so far.

"Going to school after this?" asked Reigen as he finished his breakfast. He didn't usually eat raw eggs but it wasn't half bad. The rice cooked the egg just enough.

"I have to change first and get ready but then I will." Said Mob as she carried their dishes to the sink. It was nice, her mother wasn't there to tell her how she never did the dishes. She wasn't even allowed to do the dishes because she broke them sometimes.

"I'll walk with you, I might as well since we're pretty much going to the same place." Said Reigen getting up and stretching. First he'd take a shower, though. Mob had the same idea.

"You first, Mob. Save me hot water though, alright." Said Reigen. She'd probably take longer but he'd let her go first to be nice. He didn't want her running out of hot water mid shower, that was never pleasant.

"I won't take that long." Said Mob. She would make an effort to shower fast. She was used to baths but she hadn't bathed in a while and didn't need to be picky. While she showered Reigen had another cigarette.

So, this was his life now.

It was nice. He hadn't had breakfast with another person in….not since before university….before high school? Huh. Nobody had made him breakfast since he was a kid. Well then. It felt right, actually. Waking up with someone, eating breakfast with someone. This was pretty nice.

He shouldn't get too used to this. He needed to remember that she'd make up with her family eventually. He shouldn't get too used to her being there, her presence. He smiles, her stares, her little frowns. The room shook, some books fell off of his shelf.

He'd eventually get used to that. He was actually starting too. What was with that though? She didn't seem upset, and he could tell when she was upset. She didn't really seem to want to talk about it though, if last night was anything to go by.

He rested his feet on his mattress. He'd leave it there for now, he could sleep on the couch for a few days until she got a bedroll. He had never been able to sleep on futons, too low to the ground. He had known Mob for three years before learning that she didn't like beds. What else was there to know about her? He had learned a lot recently. She slept with her hair down, she liked to crack a raw egg into her rice, and she couldn't sleep in a room by herself. If it were up to her she'd sleep on her futon in the living room and he'd sleep on the couch forever. Nah, he couldn't take many more nights on that couch. She'd probably end up dragging her futon into his room. Poor kid. She didn't take well to loneliness.

"Dimple! Go away!" Right, Mob was being haunted. He wondered why she didn't just exorcise the damn thing already. She was certainly strong enough, and she didn't seem to like the damn thing. She was just too nice, that was her problem. He finished his cigarette. He needed to stop smoking so much, it was bad for Mob.

It always came down to her, didn't it? She was…she meant a lot to him. He cared about her and he'd take care of her for as long as she needed him to. That was all. She needed him and he was going to be there for her. He would always been there for her for as long as she needed him. He heard the bathroom door open.

"You're turn, Master." Said Mob. She was dressed in her school uniform, it was wrinkled. He'd have to get an iron…or move up laundry day. Did they still write you up for a messy uniform?

"Thanks Mob, I'll be quick." Said Reigen. He hoped that there was hot water left, she looked red as a lobster. Women were pretty much impervious to heat, in his experience, and yet they were also cold a lot of the time. All girls were paradoxical, not just Mob. She seemed cold on the outside but was warm on the inside. Warm. Cold. She'd be cold, come winter. Winter was coming in a little over half a year, he'd have plenty of time to get her a hot water bottle for her futon. Not a space heater, another one would short out the apartment. That is, if she was still around come winter.

He took his shower as quickly as he could. His bathroom smelled like a flower shop exploded. Yup, that was Mob's doing. She didn't leave any water anywhere, though. An advantage of having psychic powers, he supposed. She hung up her nightgown too. Reigen did the same and hung up his sleep clothes. He lived with someone else now, he couldn't just leave his things out everywhere. He showered, shaved, and had another morning cigarette before they set out. It was a little early for him, the sun was barely up.

As they walked to the train station Master Reigen told her about the different clients he'd have today. From that Mob took away that she shouldn't slouch because she'd ruin her shoulders. She wouldn't mind being cursed with bad shoulders if it meant she got more back rubs. They passed more cats, too, and Mob stopped to meet them all. She played with her aura some, animals had something like an aura and she could sort of tell what they were feeling.

"Mob, are you going to pet every cat in the city?" asked Reigen as she stopped for the fourth time. What was with her and cats? They were just coming up to her now, like her pockets were full of cat food or something.

"No. I think that there are too many, and a lot of them live in people's houses anyway. I don't think that people would want me bothering them so early in the morning to pet their cats. They have to go to school and work and stuff, like we do." Said Mob as she started walking again. Reigen rolled his eyes.

"Well you could always go door to door over the weekend." Said Reigen with a shrug. Mob turned to face him, her eyes boring into his.

"Will you come too, Master?" asked Mob. Reigen was about to say he was kidding but then again going door to door with an adorable kid, petting a few cats, and handing out flyers would be good for business.

"Sure. Bring your boyfriend too, if he likes cats." Said Reigen. If this kid was going to be a big part of Mob's life then Reigen needed to at least be on good terms with him. Besides, two psychics were better than one.

"I think Teru likes them, I'll ask him if he wants to come with. Can he stay over, too?" asked Mob. She wished that Teru had been over last night but he said that he didn't feel like it. Maybe he felt like it today.

"Sure, whenever he wants. He's sleeping on the floor, though." Said Reigen

"Why?" asked Mob. He probably wouldn't like that, he was used to an actual bed.

"Because you said he was a bed hog." Said Reigen simply

"I keep telling you we didn't have-" said Mob flatly. Why didn't Master Reigen believe her? She always told the truth. Well, usually. She hadn't ever lied to him in a big way. Lying about needing backrubs wasn't so bad, right?

"Mob, I used to be fourteen. I know what I would have done if I were in your position and you know what? You probably aren't emotionally ready and I don't want you to get hurt." Said Reigen

"But I'm not even-" said Mob. How could she get hurt if she wasn't even doing that, and what did he mean by hurt exactly?

"Alright, I believe you. I just don't want you to get hurt, emotionally." Said Reigen

"Did you?" asked Mob. Reigen stopped in his tracks.

"That's….that's a long story that I'll tell you when we have more time." Said Reigen. Would he really…? He'd clean it up for her. Nobody told him anything about the emotional side of this and he ended up getting way too hurt way too early. Mob couldn't deal with that level of hurt.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. She watched him for a moment and it looked like he was going to say more but he didn't, he just kept walking next to her. She stopped to pet a few more cats on their way there. Reigen decided to indulge in his vices, too.

"Master Reigen, do we have to stop at all the vending machines?" asked Mob. Master Reigen tossed her a can of warm milk and some cream filled panda grahm crackers.

"This is my vengeance, pupil!" said Reigen. He tugged on her braid as he said it. Mob looked up at him, doing that thing where she smiled with her eyes. She got his meaning.

"_I'm kidding"_

She smiled and ate her panda crackers. Ooh, these were double stuffed. She needed to stop eating so much junk food, she'd never get more athletic eating this stuff. Then again Master Reigen had said that everyone had their vices. She ate as they made their trip on the train. The world went by so fast she could barely see it go by, she could hardly take in one thing before it was replaced by the next. Master Reigen seemed to be able to see it, he was staring right out the window being able to pick out each individual scene as they passed. She leaned into him and he raised his arm and put it around her. Warmth. Acceptance. Safety. Reigen could pick up on these feelings, she was so close. This was new.

She tensed and her eyes broke open. She looked out she looked out the window and for a moment he could see genuine terror on her face.

"Hey Mob, what's up?" asked Reigen. She sat up and pressed her face against the window. She stared and stared until she sat down and resumed her position cuddling up to him.

"Nothing I just….I thought I felt another esper." Said Mob. Reigen pulled her close, closer than was probably acceptable, honestly, but she looked scared.

"Another kid?" asked Reigen. Some kind of bizarre baby boom? Chemicals in the food? Government conspiracy? Something had to explain how many kids seemed to have esper powers. Two was a lot more than he had ever heard of when he was a kid.

"No. It…it felt like an adult. A mean adult." Said Mob. She had pulled her aura all the way in when she first felt him. He felt spikey and prickly and gross, like a raw sea urchin still in its shell.

"An adult….?" Asked Reigen. Great, something else to worry about. A kid esper didn't have the same threat register to him because at the end of the day he was a grown man and could always drop kick any little brat that dared mess with Mob. Getting into a fist fight with another man was another story. Plus, well, he wasn't any kind of esper and an adult would probably be stronger than a kid. Not that he wanted to be fighting anyone.

"Yes. But we passed him a while ago." Said Mob, her eyes closed. She was close to Master Reigen and the usual butterflies were replaced by a feeling of overwhelming safety. Master Reigen was the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century, he'd always be there for her.

"Hey Mob, if you ever find someone like that I want you to run away. Sometimes you have to run away, and that's fine. Your life is your own, ok? Sometimes you have to run away, so you can live to fight another day." Said Reigen. He turned to that he was facing her. She opened her eyes. He made complete and total eye contact with her.

"If I ever feel another esper I have to run away?" asked Mob. It made sense, she thought, because she didn't like to fight even if in self-defense.

"If you ever feel like someone is dangerous I want you to run. I want you to run away as fast as you can. Mob, promise me." Said Reigen, his mind filling with all the terrible things that could happen to her. She had been in fights before, he had to remind himself that those fights were kid stuff and that those two had more than made up. Another adult…a fight with one….that wouldn't just be kid stuff. She'd be in actual danger. She was powerful but he had no idea how powerful. What could other espers do? What was even the upper limits of power?

"Fight another day? But what if I don't want to fight at all?" asked Mob. Reign held her face in his hands. He could feel her blushing. Too bad, she had to hear this. She had to learn this.

"Mob. If you ever can't run, if you're ever cornered, then it's OK to fight. Do you hear me? There's nothing wrong with self-defense. But before it comes to that I want you to run away. Tell me that you will. Promise me." Said Reigen seriously. Mob nodded.

"I promise that I will run away." Said Mob. Master Reigen let her go.

"Good! Now, do you want to go back to resting? We've still got a few stops." Said Reigen. He felt bad, he must have scared her. The train hadn't been derailed, she wasn't freaking out at all, so she must not have been that scared. Still, though. That was not the way he should have been talking to her.

"Alright." Said Mob. He raised his arm and she rested herself onto his side. He put his arm around her and held her close. She put an arm around him and closed her eyes. She held onto him tightly, poor kid. He had scared her. He reached up and rubbed her back.

"_I'm here, Mob. I'm here and I'm sorry."_

She relaxed and made a pleased sort of sound, kind of like a cat would and buried her face in his side. She smelled like fruit, milk, and…cigarette smoke. Damn. He needed to stop smoking in the house, or maybe the entire apartment just smelled like smoke and he was nose blind to it while he was inside.

"Dimple….stop being weird….I don't even know what any of that means….." Muttered Mob. He reached into his pocket and sprinkled some salt around. The website promised that this salt was 100% blessed. He hoped that this site wasn't full of lies like the last one. Maybe he should have just taken a day to go to the temple and get all of his salt sacks blessed. Or maybe it had to be blessed by a Christian Priest, like in that movie he saw. Or maybe spirits actually didn't mind salt all that much at all. Mob shook her head as he sprinkled salt onto her and she let her head slide downwards until it was practically resting in his lap.

Reigen decided that he didn't mind clingy Mob, not really. It would have been weird if she were a guy, guys didn't get touchy like that. She was a girl though and there was a vulnerability to her, he decided. She was smaller and weaker than him, physically. Maybe it was a biological thing then. She was adorable though. She was so soft and adorable, kind of like a cat.

Mob closed her eyes and ignored Dimple. She shouldn't have ate on the train, she was going to get motion sick. Master Reigen was there, though, and he helped stabilize her so she wouldn't get sick. She was a little scared, too, because of how serious he had been. She liked the idea of running away, though, because fighting was bad. She laid her head down onto Master Reigen. He smelled like aftershave, strongly of it, but more strongly when she laid on his side. He smelled like cigarettes too, it was nice. He smelled really good, actually. It was nice. She had almost used his soap just to smell like him but changed her mind. Sharing soap was much too intimate. Her phone vibrated. Oh. It was Teru. He wanted to meet her at the big tree on the way to her school. He said that it was important.

Reigen watched the world go by. The joggers were back, a plane went overhead. Normal morning. Mob was moving. Oh, she was getting a text. He looked away, he didn't want to snoop through her life like that. He knew full well how violating it was to have your texts read over your shoulder. Whatever it was about it got her pretty happy though. That was good, she needed it. She had been happier lately, actually. Less blank staring, or maybe he just hadn't spent enough time with her before recently to learn how to read her face, her eyes especially.

They parted ways at the train station, him to work and her to school. Dimple was hovering over her telling her all the ways she could use her powers to make herself more popular. He was annoying but...she had missed him. Ritsu has said that he invited Dimple to take over his body. Maybe Dimple hadn't realized that being inside of a person for so long could make them crazy. Dimple was an evil spirit, too, so could he help his nature. If something was inherently evil could they change? Was any behavior inherent? People could change but spirits weren't people anymore, just shadows, so could they change too?

This was complicated, very complicated.

She chewed on this the entire way to school, stopping at the tree and waiting for Teru. She had made better time than she had thought she would, even with all the stops to pet cats. She waited and waited until she felt his aura. It felt volatile, but not mean. Something was troubling him. The thought of him being troubled hurt her.

"Hi Teru. Good morning." Said Mob simply. He looked nervous. She reached her aura out to his and let them mix. He took a deep breath. She was trying to tell him that she was there for him and whatever was bothering him, like how Master Reigen could tell her so much with just a tug of her braid.

"Shigeko. I have something to tell you." Said Teru. She was there, right there waiting for him. The sun was hitting her just right, her entire face was lit up. She was perfect and she was his, she had to be. He couldn't let Reigen have her. He had been up half the night thinking of what to do. No matter what he did she would still always go back to Reigen. They didn't do anything, thank God, otherwise Shigeko would have had more form and would have had to rely less on sheer enthusiasm. Teru knew where he had made his first mistake. He had done this western style, he watched way too much western TV. He needed to do this the way she expected.

"Is it something bad?" asked Mob. He looked more nervous than she had ever seen him before. She reached over and touched his arm, trying to show him that she was there for him. She didn't know the language of touch, not like Master Reigen did. This just seemed to get him more nervous. She had sent a burst of power at Dimple to get him away. She enjoyed her privacy from time to time, and times were Teru usually ended in something that she didn't want an audience for.

"No, not at all….just….I'm sorry I've never done this before." Said Teru. Why was he no nervous? She wouldn't say no….she couldn't. She….she liked him. Right? She had kissed him for real, he had never kissed anyone the way he had kissed her, and not just physically. It wasn't physical, well it was, but it more than that. She had brought him down to Earth, she had never given up on him, never fought him no matter how much he tried to fight her. She had forgiven him when nobody else in the world would have. She accepted him.

"Done what?" asked Mob taking his hand. He took a step back and bowed. She watched him, her stare as constant as ever. What was wrong with him, not that she'd come out and just ask or anything like that because of social rules. They sucked, sometimes.

"I'm confessing to you. I love you. Be my girlfriend. Please." Said Teru, almost forgetting to hold his wig on with his powers. He stood there, bare before her. Direct worked best with her. He couldn't have been any more direct unless he had written on his face. Mob stared at him for a long second. He looked up at her. Did he do it right? He wasn't kidding, he had never done anything like that before. Girls confessed to him, not the other way around. She was still staring. Was it good? Bad? Her face was still, her eyes were watching his.

"Ok. Sure. But I thought that we became boyfriend and girlfriend the night we slept together." Said Mob. Direct. No value judgement. No embarrassment. Just flat fact. Teru turned red and his jaw hung open wide enough to become a fly sanctuary. He then looked around to make sure nobody heard that. Why would she….? Did she see it like that? Was she ok with that? Would she be ok with that?

"Please don't call it that." Said Teru, his face red. Did she really think of it like that…and she was alright with that….was he alright with that?

"But we did." Said Mob. That was exactly what happened. Those were the right words. What was with him? Oh wait, did he think she was talking about…..

"We slept next to each other." Said Teru. Maybe she just didn't get it. That must have been it, she was just being literal. Unless she….no they just got together. Yes, she was probably just being her usual way too literal self.

"Oh. I said that wrong. Sorry, my fault." Said Mob after thinking about what she said for a moment. She blushed and looked away. There was the embarrassment. As an abstract concept sex didn't embarrass her nearly as much as when it became something that could apply to her, when it became something less abstract.

"So…you accept?" asked Teru. She accepted, right? If she had thought….wait no she hadn't thought. Mob nodded, thankfully. Teru let out a breath he hadn't even realized that he was holding.

"Of course I do. I thought that I already was. Also, do you like cats?" Said Mob bluntly. She had figured that she was when they had kissed for real. A person didn't just give their first real kiss away to anyone and no matter how much she wanted it to have been with Master Reigen she knew that it couldn't be. She still wasn't grown up.

"Thank you! I mean, I knew you'd say yes, obviously, but I had to make it official. That to make sure that you knew that I wanted it to be official. Oh, and I like cats. They're alright." Said Teru smoothly. There, that was that. She was his and not Reigen's. She nodded. Good. She didn't look to happy. He reached over to feel her aura. She was happy, happy. She was looking at him, staring. Really staring. She was thinking. That could be good or bad.

"So what do we do now that we're official?" asked Mob. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted to badly. Nobody was around, even Dimple had flown away, they were all alone there in the trees. The warmth that had been growing began to spread. He was there, right there, and she had been thinking about him.

"Go on dates, hold hands, kiss, other stuff." Said Teru taking her hand. They were soft. He ran his finger between hers. Not that he'd push her into any of the other stuff. One had to be respectful of their girlfriends. He had plenty of time for all of that. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had no idea how one went about doing any of those other things and that the thought of doing those things with her terrified him. Intimacy was….too intimate. That was the closest way that he could describe it.

"We're holding hands now." Said Mob giving his hand a squeeze. Her voice was flat, she was staring at him, but he felt like she had meant something but that. Sometimes she just stated facts as facts. He couldn't just go reading too much into what she said, that was how misunderstandings happened and girlfriends got scared away.

"We are." Said Teru. There was a look in her eyes, when he could meet them. She held his gaze, her hand squeezing tight around his. She was breathing more deeply, too. She took a step nearer to him. Did she…? Oh. He could feel a nervous sort of energy coming from her, when she got closer. He looked around. Lots of trees. All alone. He reached over and cupped the side of her face. She leaned into his hand.

"Can I kiss you?" asked Mob suddenly. She wanted to, she wanted to so very badly. She was flushed, her breathing was funny, and she wanted nothing more than for Teru to kiss her. It was almost like when she got overwhelmed and exploded, except she wanted to follow this emotion. This was good, she didn't want to suppress this. It was big, it was new, it was a little scary, but it wasn't the bad kind of overwhelming.

"You don't have to ask." Said Teru trying to make his voice sound deeper, girls liked that. She was his girlfriend now, she could just kiss him whenever she wanted to. He couldn't imagine not wanting to kiss her. He brought her close and kissed her. She was letting him lead again, good. She was usually so tense. He used his powers to keep his wig on as her hands let her hair. Oh, wow, that really was nice….. He broke away from her, well he tried to.

"Teru, can I kiss you again?" Said Mob breathlessly as they broke apart, barely. Her hand still held his. She could feel everything that had been building churning within her. She couldn't have this with Master Reigen but she could with Teru. He was there and he wanted to. Leaves began to float around them as if guided by an invisible current, which they were. Mob didn't even know that she was doing that, but it was the good kind of losing control. The other her wasn't trying to defend them, she thought, the other her was happy. She was happy. This was pure happiness.

"Shigeko, stop asking. You don't have to ask, just do it." Said Teru as he leaned down and kissed her. What she didn't have in experience she made up for in sheer enthusiasm. This was….intense. Yes, that was the word. He had kissed girls before but not like this, there had never been real feeling behind it. He wasn't with her because dating her stroked his ego, he was with her because she was Shigeko. He put his hand around her waist. She pushed herself closer to him. Her arms were around his shoulders.

Mob's head was swimming. It felt like she was going to explode, but in a good way. She broke apart for air and made that weird mewing sound again. She leaned into him and kissed him again, this time little ones. This was like eating panda graham crackers, it was impossible to stop at just one. Teru's hand was in her hair, he was undoing her braids, probably on accident. He was trying to run his hands through it. He liked it, it was incredibly thick and soft. She used her powers to pocket her ribbons and just let her hair be loose. It floated around her as if she were underwater. Swaying, not whipping around like it did when she exploded.

"Shigeko, sit down. People are coming." Said Teru pulling her down onto the grass. He didn't want her to get in trouble. Mob let him lead her down to the ground. She tried to collect herself, smoothing down hair that wanted to float and trying to stop being beat red. She was warm all over, inside and out. She checked the time, she had no idea how long she had been kissing him for. She could cut it a little closer. She wasn't that much in danger of being late for school. Her aura was swirling with Teru's, she didn't want that to stop either. Gold, pink, and blue. It was pretty.

"Ok, they passed us." Said Teru, he turned to face her. She was breathless again, and very flushed. He felt his ego swell, he had done that. She was feeling all of that because of him. Yup. He knew what he was doing. He had someone as powerful as her. He had her and not Reigen. He had made her come apart, not him. He had her and she had him. This was his girlfriend, possibly the most powerful esper ever, and he had just been kissing her. Or something like that. Thoughts were…difficult.

"Teru…." Said Mob. Thoughts were hard. Usually when she felt emotion at this depth she would start to squish it down. She didn't know what to do with this feeling. It felt good but it made her feel out of control. She wanted to chase this feeling because it just felt so good. She chased it on her own but chasing it with another person, not a collection of feelings, memories, and fantasies. It was exciting. It was scary. She wanted to see where this went. She wanted to run away. She wanted to kiss him forever. She didn't want to be late for school. For everything she wanted her natural inclination was to do the opposite, to keep her emotions controlled, to stay steady.

"Shigeko…don't ask. Just kiss me already." Said Teru. She was his girlfriend, she didn't have to ask. He almost wished that she was the kind of girl who would grab him by the front of the shirt and kiss him. He liked kissing her but he wanted her to lead, especially since she was much better at this. He leaned over to and kissed her. He did this as she was about to say something to the effect of 'it's polite'.

The collective force of their emotion, for those who could see auras, lit the area up like a camera flash. They broke apart quickly, both with wide eyes. Teru recovered quickly.

"Well that certainly something." Said Teru watching her face for some indication of how she felt about that. It wasn't his intention to do that, it had truly been an accident, but it was a nice accident. He had never done that before, not with anyone, but it hadn't been unpleasant.

"Your tongue touched mine." Said Mob. That was…what was that? Good? Not good? Different. New. Not bad, really. Huh. Well then. Alright. She watched him, stared at him. That should have been gross. It wasn't. It was surprising. She hadn't even conceived of that. But it had happened. It had happened, it couldn't un-happed. She didn't want it to un-happen.

"Was that…are you….what are you thinking?" asked Teru. Unlike her he had conceived of that, and that had not been his intention. He hadn't even done that before. He had no idea what he was doing. She looked….was she bothered? Her stares were hard to read.

"I'm thinking about what happened." Said Mob simply. That had happened too fast to actually feel anything. That burst of power wasn't her being upset, it was her being surprised. Was that one of the other things that he had mentioned? It was…it was alright. Nice. Decent. Good.

"Did you…how do you feel?" asked Teru trying to be patient. He couldn't rush her. This was like walking on thin ice. One wrong move and she could…would she go? Run away? Suffer in silence?

"That was nice, I think. It was surprising but not too bad. Nice, maybe. I didn't know that people did that. I thought that it would be gross, maybe, not that I ever really thought about it that much. The idea of it, really, I guess the idea would be gross but that….that wasn't. I don't know, I'm still thinking about how I feel." Said Mob. Her voice was flat as she rattled off everything happening in her mind. She watched Teru as she spoke, she watched his aura and his face. He looked and felt happy.

"That's….I'm glad. Do you want to maybe…." Said Teru nervously. This was certainly….this was something. She was honest, if anything. That was unexpected but not bad, not really. He should have been more careful, though. He could have planned that out and made it perfect. Nervousness and uncertainty didn't suit him, he thought.

"I don't think we have time to do anything, if your school starts at the same time as mine." Said Mob showing him the time. Teru jumped up. Crap. They were going to be late.

"Are you going?" asked Mob as she stood up. She shook the leaves from her uniform, she hoped she didn't get any dirt on it. Wash day wasn't until Sunday. She missed having a washing machine. Teru looked at her for a long time. His eyes looked sad. He reached over and kissed her quickly.

"I don't want to go." Said Teru. He meant that, he really did. When he was with her he felt…he felt less alone. He felt like there was another person in the world, one who could understand him. Being who he was, having his powers didn't make him better than other people but it did make him different. It wasn't just what Shigeko and he did physically, it was how she was someone who was there emotionally too. She understood. She understood what it was like to be them, to be different. She wouldn't go like his parents had, and she didn't follow him sycophantically like most other people did. She was a being that cared for him just because she did, and she was his.

"I don't want to go either but we have to go to school." Said Mob simply. Teru looked sad, she knew what that looked like. She was tired of seeing it on herself, let alone someone she cared about as much as him. She hugged him close, both of her hands reached around and grabbing the back of his school coat tightly.

"Shigeko…" said Teru as she hugged him, clutched him. He held her back, not wanting to let her go. So, this was what love was? He liked it. It was like he had finally found someone to play multiplayer with. He had found someone to be there for him, and someone he could be there for. Intimacy. Caring. Love. New but not unwanted.

"I'll see you after school, and you can come and sleep over at Master Reigen's house when we're done with work. You could help us make dinner too, if he wants us to cook again. He said that you could come over whenever you wanted, and sleep over too, but you have to sleep on the floor." Said Mob letting Teru go. That would be so nice, him being there with her. Teru didn't look too happy, though.

"Of course he would say that…." Muttered Teru. She was his, she had accepted him. She was his but…was she Reigen's too? The way she still talked about him….she was still happy to be with him….was she…? No. Shigeko was his. She was his and he was hers.

"Huh?" asked Mob genuinely not understanding what Teru was getting at.

"Sorry. Uh…maybe. I don't know, let me think about it." Said Teru. He didn't want to be there with the two of them but he didn't want to leave her alone with that Reigen guy either.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. She grabbed her school bag as he grabbed his and they got to walking. His arm was draped over her as they walked. She had barely made it to school on time, she worried that he was going to be late. She put her shoes away in her shoebox and found a note.

"_Magical Girl, you may not know this but your brother has been fighting under your name and in your place. Others are getting caught in the crossfire. If you really are a force for good like they say then you will stop him before anyone else gets hurt. –anonymous."_

"Well it's not that Onigawara guy, that's for sure. It looks like it was written by someone literate." Said Dimple appearing next to her. Mob didn't look at him.

"Dimple, how long have you been here beside me?" asked Mob as she folded the note up and put it in her school bag. She'd have to text Ritsu. No, that was too impersonal. She'd have to talk to him in person, but when? He was a year below her. His classes were on a different floor, he ate lunch at a different time, and he had break at a different time. After school. She hated missing her club meetings but this was for Ritsu. She couldn't let him use his powers to hurt people. It was wrong.

"Not long, I came back after that little light show you two put on. Now that was a good meal, hell it was like a full buffet." Said Dimple, elbowing her in the side. She looked straight forward.

"Hey Dimple….was Ritsu fighting people, when you two were together?" asked Mob. Ritsu had tried to fight her, he'd probably try to fight others too.

During the school day Teru received a similar message. Well, at least the idiots weren't going after Shigeko. Maybe they would have stopped all of this stupidity if he told her that yes, the new shadow leader of Salt Middle School was his girlfriend. No….they'd just go after him then. He could easily win in a fight with all of those morons but then Shigeko would be upset with him. She hated violence. She was a pacifist, she said.

His phone vibrated again.

Those idiots had been watching the so called Magical Girl of Salt Middle School. They assumed that it was something that they called this guy to make him sound weak. He was apparently anything but. Last name Kageyama, fought like Teru. Yup, Shigeko's little brother. Yup. Ritsu, or whatever his name was, he didn't matter.

Teru put his head down on his desk as roll was called. Great. Damned if he did, damned if he didn't. If he did nothing then Shigeko's stupid little bother would end up seriously hurting someone, and then Shigeko would get hurt. If he beat some sense into her little brother then she'd break up with him and Reigen would have her. If he told her….if he told her then maybe she could….no.

Her little brother would never listen to her, right? From the brief time that he had spent with the guy Ritsu seemed like he was just as stubborn and short sighted as Teru was in those bygone days before he had been blasted into the stratosphere.

That was his best bet. If Shigeko could talk some sense into him…or knock some sense into him…but then if she did lose control at her little brother she'd never forgive herself. She loved the little idiot. She loved him even though, from what he could gather, he was the favored son and she was just someone who their parents were happy to get rid of.

This was her little brother. She deserved to know what was happening with him. If this got back to her, which it most likely would since the dumbasses at Salt had named her their shadow leader, then she'd never forgive him for keeping this information to himself. He resigned himself to the coming shit show. If he was damned either way he might as well be damned in the way that kept him in Shigeko's good graces.

He fired off a quick text to Shigeko. He told her to meet him after school. He had something to tell her. Something concerning her brother.

Ritsu had no idea the battle that was brewing just for him as he left school. No student council that day, nothing to do but go home and wait for tomorrow to happen, really. Back to that empty house. Mom and dad were still fighting. Shigeko moved out. He'd move out too, if he could, but where would he go if he did? He had gotten his powers, he had become as powerful as his sister, he was guessing, but he still felt…bored? Hollow? Unsatisfied.

He felt someone following him, a lot of people, actually. Regular people. Well, back to fighting, he guessed. People thought he was Shigeko for some reason, even called him Magical Girl, Salt. How did she get herself into these messes? Well, too bad for these piss heads. He may have not been on the best terms with Shigeko right then but he wasn't going to let a bunch of morons beat her up. Plus, well, getting out some aggression would be good for him. He had been so angry, lately. Angry at himself, angry at everyone, angry at the hand fate had dealt him, angry at the entire world. He turned down an alley. Well, he'd might as well get this over with.

"Hey, are you the guy that they call Magical Girl, Salt?" Oh. More delinquents from another school. He called it. Sigh. Not even a real challenge. He could see why Shigeko looked so bored all the time.

"Why do they call you a Magical Girl? Is it a Ranma ½ thing?" someone called out. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"What? I like that show!" said that same guy again. White uniform? Mayo Middle School? Or maybe Bean Paste Middle School?

"….you're not allowed to talk anymore." Said an insanely tall guy. Ritsu dropped his school bag.

"So, who's first." Said Ritsu, flatly. He sounded just like Shigeko, there. Maybe the whole emotionless anime girl thing wasn't her shoving down her powers, maybe she was legitimately bored.

"What?" said the crowd all at once. Ritsu rolled his eyes.

"_He thinks he's such a badass!" "Teach him a lesson!" "Kick his ass!" "It could totally be a Ranma ½ thing!" _

"There's much more of you than usual." Said Ritsu stepping towards the crowd. This would be easy, like swatting flies. Too easy. Anger, fear, and guilt fueled his powers. Right? What was he feeling, now? Apathy? Annoyance? With his powers he could do whatever he wanted, but he couldn't get whatever he wanted. What he wanted was his sister back, but that would never happen. These powers had lost him his sister, the one person who cared about him most in the world. These powers couldn't eclipse hers, these powers that he had spent a lifetime wishing for couldn't even get him what he wanted.

"Well? I'm waiting." Said Ritsu. There was a freedom in this. He had lost his limits. He had limited himself his entire life, so that he wouldn't set Shigeko off. So that he could be a good little brother to Shigeko. She had been his motivation and his limits. No he had lost them all.

"_Come on!" "Get him!" "He can't stop us if we all rush him at once!" "Wait! I heard that Magical Girl, Salt was really a girl that had to disguise herself as a boy so that she could fight and the guys she defeated were cured to be a part of her love haram!"_

Everyone stopped and stared. The guy who said that looked sheepish.

"_I just…it's just something I heard….."_

There was a collective look between the group before they went back to rushing Ritsu. That one guy with the wild theories had slunk away in shame, his life forever changed by the rejection of his peers.

"Back to it then." Said Ritsu. He didn't even move a muscle and they all toppled over like bowling pins. He watched them all go down and then come back up.

"You guys know something? I can kind of see where my sister is coming from." Said Ritsu as he tossed them all aside like rag dolls.

"My sister hates fighting, she says that it's stupid. I thought she might have just been afraid. She's strong, maybe stronger than me, but she's dangerous too." Said Ritsu. He picked some of these guys up and threw them into the group like a game of pick up sticks.

"_How is he doing that?!" "Maybe he is a magical girl!" "Magic is real!" "It's just tricks!"_

"I could be pretty dangerous, maybe I am. Not like her. That's her limit. Her fear is her limit, that's why I have to do this. She would never fight you morons." Said Ritsu. He tossed one high in the air and then down into the group. Easy. Child's play.

"_What the hell is this?!" "How are we supposed to fight this guy?!" "Don't give up, it's just tricks!"_

"I don't have that holding me back. She held me back. She's held me back my entire life. Well now I'm free. I'm freer than all of you." Said Ritsu. He stopped tossing them around and surveyed his handiwork.

"I've obtained loss." Said Ritsu. He turned to walk away but he was held in place. This energy was gold. It was strong.

"I'm sorry, Shigeko." There, at the end of the alley, was Shigeko and her boyfriend.

"Ritsu…..why?" asked Shigeko, tears in her eyes. Ritsu looked away. She was walking towards him.

"Teru, let him go." She said as she walked towards him slowly. She let her tears run down her face. He could hear the guys behind him starting to get up. Crap. She could get really hurt….she was already really hurt.

"Shigeko….I-" said Ritsu. She walked past him and bowed before the thugs he had just finished beating up.

"I'm so sorry for what my little brother did to you. He's just going through a lot right now, that's all." Said Shigeko through her tears. She got down on the ground and pressed her forehead to the ground. Ritsu shook his head.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 45%_

"What are you-?" he felt a hand on his shoulder. Oh. Shigeko's boyfriend. He looked pretty pissed.

"Walk away. Just walk away." Said Teru. Huh. This guy didn't feel possessed. Just being stupid, then. Teru wanted to kick his ass, he really did, but he wasn't going to no matter how much he had deserved it. Her little brother had better have been grateful for this. Shigeko didn't need to apologize for his stupidity.

"Please forgive him for what he did. Please look past this and try to be friends." Said Mob, still bowing. Teru let go of Ritsu and glared at the group as he walked up to Mob. He tapped her on the back and she got up.

"You think that I'm sorry is enough you stupid bi-"! Teru put his arm protectively around Shigeko, still maintaining his glare. He could feel his aura, violent intentions, strong enough for even regular people to pick up.

"It's over. Everyone, go away. Don't you morons have homes or jobs or something?" Said Teru as angrily as he could. He could feel the stress building from Shigeko and he knew that, emotionally, she would never recover if she exploded and hurt all of these idiots. She'd be mad at him, too, if he had to kick some ass even if it was for her.

"If you think that we're-!" Teru turned away, pulling Mob with him. He wanted to fight, to assert his dominance, to show these NPCs who the player character was, but he didn't. She mattered more than his ego. She mattered more than his pride.

"It's over!" said Teru as he tried to walk away with his girlfriend. These guys knew him, they knew what he could do. Obviously they didn't feel like another telekinetic beating. Gasped and looked up. Her face turned pale, she tugged on his jacket.

"Teru….run away!" said Mob. She broke out into a run, dragging Teru and Ritsu with her. The whole time she had been feeling a new aura, a mean one. Different. Pointy. It was the adult esper from before.

"Sister! What are you-?" yelled Ritsu as he felt her trying to drag him away. He wasn't going to just walk away from these guys, they weren't any kind of threat.

"Run!" said Mob fighting against her brother's energy. He was trying to stop her from dragging him, he could certainly put up a fight. She barely took another step before someone fell from the sky and grabbed Ritsu, slamming him into the ground.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 95%_

"Ritsu!" screamed Mob, energy spreading from her like a mini earthquake. Teru tried to pull Ritsu away but the other guy's grip was like a steel beam.

"Let me go!" said Ritsu thrashing around. Someone was grabbing him, someone strong. He could feel that this was another esper, an adult. Ritsu tried to break free but he couldn't. He was nowhere near strong enough.

"You guys are adorable. Even in the face of overwhelming power you still don't know to submit. So adorable." Said the adult esper. Teru felt his blood run cold. The man's hood had fallen off, revealing a scar going across his face. He had heard about the scars, the upper echelon of Claw….and now one of them was going to try and….they needed to fight! Shigeko was right fucking there!

"And you, little boy. You think you have the power to stop me? Let me guess, you've spent your whole life as the biggest fish in a very small pond. Well, now you'll learn to submit to someone stronger!" said the adult esper as he batted Teru away. Teru flew backwards and tried to skid to a stop. He got up, intending to throw himself back into the fight. He used his telekinesis to move as fast as he could, but he was too late.

"My little brother….." said Mob grabbing at the other esper. She could see her barrier, all pinks and blues. Her hair was sticking straight up. She could feel the other Shigeko trying to claw her way out. She could…but no….if she let the other Shigeko out then everyone would die. There were a lot of people there, normal people. She couldn't put everyone in danger like that.

"Oh, a little girl. How sweet." Said the man, not breaking his hold on Ritsu no matter how much Mob tried to pry his fingers apart with her powers.

"Let go!" said Mob as she tried and tried to get him to let go of Ritsu. She was sobbing now, heavy rocking sobs that shook her body. She could see Teru's aura, too. He was trying to help. Oh. Now here was there. He got thrown again. He looked hurt. Nobody hurt the people she loved.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 98%_

"You think that just because you're small and cute with your little pigtails and school uniform I won't fight you. Well, you're wrong you little brat!" he yelled as he pushed Shigeko into a wall. The brick cracked and she wound up sprawled on her back. She stared straight up, blankly.

"Shigeko!" Ritsu and Teru shouted at the same time. Ritsu tried to use his powers to attack, to pry himself free, but he just wasn't strong enough. Teru changed direction so he was standing in front of her. She didn't have a scratch on her, and she might have been staring but her eyes looked…she looked mad….he had never seen her angry…..

"Let go of my little brother." Said Mob using her telekinesis to move herself faster than the eye could see. She could feel the other Shigeko, the angry part of her. Good. Nobody hurt Ritsu.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 99%_

"Little girl, you don't know when to quit, do you?" he said, attempting to push her back. Mob stared at him. She stood and she stared. Blood ran from her mouth. He hit her again. Again. Again. Again. She still stared. She looked still but she was pouring as much of herself into getting Ritsu free. The ground around her began to cave in. The atmosphere began to distort.

**Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. He's going to kill Ritsu. He's going to kill Teru. HE'S GONG TO KILL US.**

"SISTSER!" cried Ritsu. How strong was this guy? His powers weren't doing anything….He thought he could see Dimple out of the corner of his eye, flying away. He marshalled what he had left and exploded, like he had seen Shigeko do a before. The man's grip slackened enough for Ritsu to be pulled away. He looked up and saw Shigeko's boyfriend.

"You need to run away right now!" said Teru. He had to save the little brother, first, and then kill that scar. He would, he knew he would. He was hurting Shigeko. She wasn't going to fight back, she was going to be killed. Teru knew that he couldn't let that happen.

"No! Shigeko needs…." Said Ritsu before he was slapped across the face.

"Your sister need you to run!" said Teru using his powers to try and push Ritsu away. This was not the time for the two of them to be fighting. He threw himself into the fray and was flung into the air. This guy was strong, impossibly strong.

"Stop….or I'll…hurt….you." Said Mob, coughing up blood as she spoke. Her insides hurt. Her face hurt. She didn't care. She needed to keep Ritsu safe. He needed her, she was the big sister. She was the one who needed to protect him. Teru was hurt too. Teru needed her. She was needed.

"Know your limits, sweetheart!" said the esper as he kneed her in the gut. She flew into the air, gasping. She couldn't breathe…..she couldn't breathe….she couldn't breathe…..

**We are going to die. Let me out. Let me out or we WILL DIE.**

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 100%_

MOB: 100% PISSED OFF

"Well then, now that she's down and out time to get back to business. Since you've all seen my face you're going to have to disappear-" said the scar. Teru could feel it, murderous intent. It felt like someone was pulling his organs out through his belly button. It felt like someone had dumped gallons and gallons of ice cold milk down the back of his shirt. He stood up as best as he could. He had to get Shigeko out of there. She came down to Earth and stopped, hovering. Her hair was loose and whipping around her head. Her school shirt was almost totally ripped off, she was pretty much in just her skirt and under shirt. Her face was one big bruise. Her eyes….her eyes were like staring into the sun.

"Now look what you've done. This has never happened to me while I've been awake, before." Said Mob/Shigeko. She stared and stared. He had Ritsu again. No. Ritsu was hers. Teru was hurt again. No. Teru was hers. This wasn't right. That man would have to hurt.

"What the fuck!" he screamed as he felt something hold him tightly in place. He was being squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. There was a sudden crack. Oh, that was his head. There was a sizable dent in the ground, now. She smashed him around like a rag doll.

"You…you attacked us….unprovoked…" said Mob/Shigeko. This man needed to die. They were a pacifist. This man needed to suffer. They weren't supposed to use their powers against people. This man needed to be peeled like a grape. Fighting was stupid. They needed to fight. They needed to keep everyone safe. They needed to rip this man apart molecule by molecule. They needed to calm down. They needed to get angrier. They needed to save Ritsu. Yes, they needed to save Ritsu. They needed to save Teru. Yes, they needed to save Teru to. They needed to fight in self-defense. Yes, self-defense was fine. Master Reigen had said so. They loved Master Reigen.

"What in the hell do you think you're-" blinding pain. Oh. That used to be skin, so that was what people looked like on the inside. He had a lot more blood than he thought he did.

"You attacked my brother and I unprovoked. You're going to pay. This is self-defense." Said Mob/Shigeko. They needed to peel him like a potato. No that was going too far. No it wasn't going far enough. Yes it was too far.

"Sister….." said Ritsu. He had been dropped and he had rolled away. He wanted to run but he was….his legs wouldn't work. It was back, that thing was back. He was ten again. There was light. There was blood. '

"Knock it off you little bitch!" screamed the esper as he struck her, finally. She had barely moved. She was still staring. Staring and staring and staring and staring.

"Stop fighting back. She wants to kill you. She won't let me kill you." Said Mob/Shigeko. The light was back, that was Shigeko trying to take over. She didn't want…she wanted….she didn't want anyone to die. She wanted her brother back.

"What the…..fuck. I hate to do this to you kid, but I've spent enough time here already." Said the man, pulling something from his coat pocket. Mob fell asleep. Shigeko disappeared back into the recesses of their mind.

"Shigeko!" said Teru, rushing to her side. She stood there, rigid. Her eyes were blank. She was still breathing. In his haste to save Shigeko he had abandoned Ritsu. He was promptly carried off. He didn't notice. He tried to get close to her and was repelled. He tried and tried but she repelled him like a magnet.

"Stop it! It's me! Teru! Teruki!" said Teru trying to get close to her. She kept repelling him. He tried to reach out with his aura. He tried to touch hers. There it was, all pinks and blues. It was in floating fractals, protecting her. He reached over, gold washing over pink and blue. He enveloped her. He held her. Eventually the fractals stopped their circulation around her, and stopped moving all together before vanishing.

"Hey….Shigeko….wake up…please….please wake up….." said Teru. He was holding her now, physically. She was so light. Her clothes were practically in tatters…..there was no much blood…..

"You….you've got to wake up…please…..Shigeko….Mob….don't…..I love you….don't leave me all alone." Said Teru as he held her. She wasn't moving. She was so still. He put his hand on her chest. She was still breathing….thank God she was still breathing…..her heart was beating…..she wouldn't get up.

"Wake up. Please…" said Teru. She stirred, a little, and he felt white hot searing pain. He almost dropped her.

"Teru….." said Mob, her eyes opening slightly before closing. Teru held her close.

"C'mon. I'll….I'll take you….I'll keep you safe…" said Teru. He picked her up and carried her away. They needed to…to rest…..to be….he didn't know….he had to….he…..

Teru carried her home. There was nothing else he could do.

Reigen checked his phone for the fifth time in five minutes. Where was Mob?


	14. Infiltrating the 7th Division

Shiegko doesn't wake up for a while.

She doesn't wake up when Teru carries her home.

She doesn't wake up when he shakes her.

She doesn't wake up when he washes the blood off of her with a damp wash cloth.

She doesn't wake up when he cries.

She doesn't wake up when her phone rings for the sixth time.

She doesn't wake up when he gets her tattered clothes off of her.

She doesn't wake up when he pours water on her head.

She doesn't wake up when Teru dresses her in some of his clothes.

She doesn't wake up when he screams at her.

She doesn't wake up when he begs her.

She doesn't sleep but she doesn't wake up.

**You've always held us back, you know.**

_No I haven't. _

**Yes you have**

_No I haven't_

**YES YOU HAVE**

_I have not_

**You let Ritsu get kidnapped**

_That was your fault_

**No it wasn't we could have stopped that from happening easily**

_You didn't want to save Ritsu you just wanted to hurt people_

**We both know that we were strong enough to easily stop that man**

_Yes but you wanted to peel him like a grape_

**Yes and that would have stopped him from ever hurting us again**

_You just like hurting people_

**You just want everyone to love us**

_I just want everyone to stop fighting_

**Even Master Reigen says that it's alright to fight**

_Master Reigen wasn't talking about using you_

**LET ME OUT**

_NO_

**We are this thing together**

_Yes_

**Then let's work together**

_Maybe_

"I….I….." said Mob as she cracked her eyes opened. Suddenly Teru was at her side.

"You woke up…I knew you would, of course, but I had to make sure." Said Teru sounding much more confident and in control than he felt. She opened her eyes slowly, they felt very heavy. The blanket was pulled away with her powers as she sat up. It hurt to move her muscles. It was like she had been training all day, but it wasn't the soreness of a job well done. No, this was different.

"What happened?" asked Mob, coughing as she spoke. She still tasted copper. She looked down at her arms. The blood was gone but she was still covered in grey and yellow splotches. Healing bruises.

"We were attacked and your brother….." said Teru. How would he tell her that his little brother had been kidnapped? His tongue felt thick and heavy, suddenly. He just couldn't get the words out.

"Ritsu!" she said suddenly, her powers reached out and grabbing anything near her before throwing the things she grabbed. They were reaching out for him or for what had taken him. That was the other Shigeko. She was scared. She was angry. She was….she was still hovering at the edges of Mob's consciousness, ready to attack at any moment. Mob tried to stomp her down but she…she fought back. She tried to climb ever higher. Something shattered.

"Shigeko, hey! Calm down….I'm here. I'm here and you're here and we're going to-to-" Said Teru quietly. They had to find her little brother but he had no idea how to even begin looking. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob quietly. She was sore, everything hurt. She couldn't save Ritsu. She couldn't stop that other esper. She couldn't even stop the other Shigeko from destroying Teru's room. Teru sat down on the bed next to her. He could still feel that thing, it was poking at him, his aura. Testing him. Learning him. It tried to repel him. Not as violently as before but it wanted him away from Shigeko.

"It's fine, it's fine." Said Teru taking her hand despite the pain. The other Shigeko seemed calmed by this. She had at least stopped trying to fight him. She didn't repel him that time. He took her hand between two of his. He looked into her eyes. There was a fire there, something that wasn't there before. It hurt to look at it for too long.

"What happened?" asked Mob. She knew where she was, Teru's room. She was wearing his clothes. Pants. Itchy and constricting. Not good for moving around in. She would need to move around, if she had to fight. She could be embarrassed that he had seen her naked later. Right now she needed to find Ritsu and fight whoever had taken him.

"Your brother…I'm sorry but I couldn't save him." said Teru. He had been too weak. He had failed her. He had failed himself. Mob squeezed his hands with hers. She tried to tell him that she was there. She had him. She wasn't mad at him.

"Teru, you couldn't have stopped him. He was too strong. He was too strong for you." Said Mob. That esper was the strongest thing she had ever felt in her life. Even Teru at his most out of control didn't come close to that man. She could have…she was strong enough to….but she didn't. She didn't because she didn't want to hurt anyone. Sometimes…sometimes she was going to have to hurt someone. Sometimes she was going to have to use her powers against other people. She would have to hurt someone, eventually.

"I could have. If I had been stronger. If I had-if-" said Teru. Mob squeezed his hands between hers again. He needed to know that she was there and she wasn't angry with him. She made her aura feel safe, feel welcoming. She saw the tension leave his body. Good. Now she had a job to do. She let go of him and stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Teru jumping to his feet. She had just been unconscious for three hours and now she was going to do, what, exactly? He looked her over. She was a mess of black, blue, and yellow. Her eye was still swollen. Her lip was split. It looked like she was even using her powers to move around.

"I'm going to find Ritsu." Said Mob simply. She was going to look for Ritsu. She was going to look behind every tree, under every rock, and in every closet until she found her little brother. She didn't care if it took forever. Master Reigen would understand if she missed work. Master Reigen….no. She wouldn't call him. His powers were spiritual. The person who had attacked had regular psychic powers. Master Reigen would only get hurt.

"We have no idea where he is! We don't know why, well we do know why, but we don't know where Claw's base is." Said Teru blocking her path. They needed to rest, to regroup. They needed an actual plan because Claw was huge and they were only two people. Two injured people. He didn't look much better than she did, but he healed fast. He had no idea how hurt she was exactly or how fast she healed. Mob stared at him, and stared, and stared.

"So we'll look." Said Mob, her eyes boring into his. She said it simply, flat fact. This was something that they would have to do. They were going to save Ritsu. They had to save Ritsu. Teru held eye contact with her, challenging her. Trying to make her stop for a moment and think this through.

"We don't know where to start looking." Said Teru stepping closer to her, blocking her path further. He wasn't going to let her go out that door and get herself killed. What was her plan, even? To around and knocking on door until they found her little brother.

"So we won't waste any time. We'll start now." Said Mob letting him step closer. She didn't want to have to pick him up and move him out of the way but it might have come to that. Teru didn't understand. Ritsu was her little brother. It was her job to protect him. To save him.

"We need to think up a plan." Said Teru grabbing her arms a little harder than necessary. She was not going to walk out that door. She was not going to get herself killed. He would not let that happen. She stared at him.

"I plan to win." Said Mob, her voice flat but her eyes burning. She was going to let Shigeko, the other Shigeko, out. She was going to destroy anything and everything in her path. She was going to save her little brother, no matter what she would have to do. If was worth it. She didn't get to take the moral high ground when her little brother was in danger.

"I thought you were a pacifist. Where'd that Shigeko go?" asked Teru. If she fought, if she let that thing out, she would win. She would probably end up seriously injuring, if not outright killing someone. Maybe a lot of people, even. Maybe she'd even be overwhelmed. Claw was…from what he had been told Claw was huge. He had assumed that all of their espers were as powerful as the ones who tried to recruit him. Obviously that wasn't true. He had no idea what they would be up against.

"Sometimes it's ok to run away. Sometimes is ok to fight. I….I don't want to fight, Teru, I don't want to…." Said Mob laying her head on her chest. She had used her powers on another human being. She had….she had hurt someone. She had peeled someone's skin off….she had…

"Then let me fight for you." Said Teru. He could win, he would have to win. He would have to win for her. If this were a movie they'd be in the third act. This would be their all is lost moment and he, the main character, would rise to the occasion and fight for his love interest. If this were a movie. This wasn't, though. This wasn't a movie and he was the main character of his own story, but not hers. No. She was the main character and she would have to rise to the occasion…but it would hurt her.

"Teru, no. You aren't…you don't…" said Mob. He didn't have another him like she had another Shigeko. The other Shigeko had beaten him in an instant.

"You don't think I'm strong enough to protect you?" asked Teru, his voice hard. Of course he could protect his girlfriend. That was his job.

"You're not in my weight class, Teru. You know that. You've….you've seen the other Shigeko." Said Mob. When she had passed out the other Shigeko had come out. He had seen her. He had seen her and he should have known just how dangerous she was.

"Don't say that. I am! I am strong enough to-!" said Teru breaking away from her. She held him in place with her powers, that fire back in her eyes.

"Teru! I'm not going to let you get hurt! Do you think I want to fight?! I don't! I don't but I have to!" said Mob. She held him in place, her hair was acting up, everything not nailed down was trying to hit the ceiling. She took a few calming breaths. Shigeko….Shigeko was a part of her. Shigeko was out, sort of. No. Yes.

"Then let me help you! Goddamn it Shigeko!" said Teru, his aura breaking away hers. They were both breathing heavily, staring each other down.

"Get out of my way, Teru." Said Mob, her eyes still fixed on his. This was her fight. He wasn't going to get hurt because of her.

"No." said Teru simply. He held her gaze. He was not backing down.

"You're going to get hurt." Said Teru. She stepped closer to him.

"I'm going to win." Said Mob. Or was that Shigeko? She was breathing deeply, trying to keep her emotions in check. Her face was flushed, but not from embarrassment. Her fists were clenched.

"Then let me help you." Said Teru, not moving. He wasn't going to let her get hurt. He didn't care what she did to him, he wasn't backing down.

"Teru, no. I won't let you." Said Mob

"I'm not asking your permission." Said Teru

"I don't want to have to fight you, too." Said Mob. That was more Shigeko. She could feel the other her worming her way into her aura, her spirit. Then pink to blue ration began to skew more towards blue.

"You won't fight me." Said Teru, adding the gold of his aura into the mix. He poured his feelings into his aura. _"Let me help you."_

"I don't want to have to." Said Mob. Her aura churned with his. Not in that way that made her feel warm and giddy on the inside. No. This was different. _"We can do this by ourselves."_

"Shigeko…." Said Teru. They were chest to chest now. Him, unmovable. He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Teru….move." said Mob. They were nose to nose now and he still wasn't moving.

"No." said Teru

"Yes." Said Mob, still not moving.

"You're so attractive right now." Said Teru. Crap. Well, she was pretty hot right then but he didn't need to go and say it. There was a weird atmosphere there, he could feel it, and not just because the room was saturated with their combined energy.

"I can't stop you, can I?" asked Mob looking up at him through her fringe.

"Nope." Said Teru, looking down at her. He leaned down and kissed her stripping her senses on the stop. The maelstrom of her energy became a gentle breeze, a placid lake.

"Fine. You can come with." Said Mob. Now that was just fighting dirty. His kiss had broken the train of thought Shigeko had her on. It was like they were playing red rover and Teru had broken right through their chain.

"Good. This has officially become a multiplayer game." Said Teru. This wasn't a movie, but a game. A two player game. He didn't know which one was player two.

"This is real life." Said Mob simply

"Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood. You…you seem upset and you never, you know, show these kinds of feelings." Said Teru

"I'm angry. I feel angry. I'm going to save my brother. I'm going to fight. I have to fight. I have to use my powers against other people. I have to, there's no other way." Said Mob. Her voice was still flat. She was squishing down the other her, the her that wanted to hurt people. Mob didn't want to hurt anyone….that didn't deserve….that did. They did deserve it for hurting her little brother.

"I thought you were a pacifist." Said Teru once again trying to lighten the mood. That dark look, the fire in her eyes, it wasn't Shigeko. Mob shook her head.

"Sometimes you have to fight, that's called self-defense. Sometimes you can run away, too, but this isn't one of those times. If I don't fight then Ritsu could….could…he could…." Said Mob as she began to sniffle. Teru held her close.

"Claw wouldn't kill him. They would try to recruit him. That's what they do, they take child espers who have yet to mature and they recruit them into their ranks." said Teru, omitting the fact that he wasn't quite sure what Claw did to people, exactly, to accomplish their goal. He knew that they were building an esper army, so they probably wanted someone as powerful as Ritsu alive.

"For what?" asked Mob. If they were trying to recruit people then why would they go around beating people up and kidnapping them?

"I think they're building an army. I don't know why." Said Teru. Well, an esper army would be pretty good for taking over countries and fighting wars and stuff, but he didn't tell her that. She didn't need something else to worry about.

"How did these people even find out about him?" asked Mob. Why would they come for her brother, anyway? She had her powers for much longer and plenty of people had seen her use them.

"I might be able to help." Said Dimple, materializing before them. Teru jumped back, Mob stared at him.

"What is that?! An evil spirit!? Wait….don't I know you?" asked Teru. He wasn't scared at all, just surprised. Yes, that was it. A spirit that he hadn't sensed at all had materialized before him. Of course that would surprise him. Yes. Perfectly normal.

"This is Dimple. You've met." Said Mob staring at Dimple. Where was he during the fight? He could have helped…..The other Shigeko wanted to crush him like a bug. Mob…Mob just wanted her friend back.

"Hey little jerk, how've you been? Also, what's with the wig?" asked Dimple waving to Teru. Mob still stared at him. Dimple may have been an evil spirit, and annoying, and weird, and talked a lot about stuff that embarrassed her, but he was still her friend.

"Shigeko shaved my head. What's with the whole still being around thing?" asked Teru trying to sound nonchalant. If Shigeko wasn't reacting then maybe this spirit was ok.

"I managed to come back from the particle layer all by myself, no thanks to you. Little jerk…." Said Dimple angrily. Teru shrugged as best as he could. He had….he had destroyed this spirit down to the core and yet it was still there….and it seemingly served Shigeko…

"Dimple, what do you know about what happened?" asked Mob cutting to the chase. Dimple was about to say something clever but stopped himself. Anger was rolling off of her in waves. He could see glimpses of that thing, that other her, but the other her was more integrated into her aura, sort of. It was trying to follow the mixing of the fractals. There was more blue there, then pink. Dimple wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"I don't know anything, honest. Ritsu was acting like an asshole but he didn't piss off any adult espers." Said Dimple, his hands up diplomatically.

"Did anyone from a group called Claw ever try to recruit him?" asked Teru. Dimple stroked his chin in thought. Claw…nope. None of the people Ritsu had beaten up said anything about that….but he did meet some other espers….but what was that place…? Oh!

"No, he didn't piss off any espers from Claw but he did go to this place called the Awakening Lab." Said Dimple helpfully. Those espers couldn't have possibly been the ones to kidnap him, though. No, they were all kids and they all had powers that were pretty much useless.

"They must have been the ones to sell him out to Claw!" said Teru. Of course! See, this was why he didn't get involved with groups like that. There was Claw so there must have been others. The building shook.

"Shigeko, you could have been killed back there. I can see your aura, I know what you're planning. These people are bad news, Shigeko. You could totally die!" said Dimple

"Then that's where we're going to go. If I could die then Ritsu could die. I won't let him die. Our first clue is this awakening lab place. Dimple, lead me there." Said Mob flatly. She grabbed one of Teru's hoodies with her powers and walked out of the room. Dimple and Teru exchanged a look but followed her out the door.

"Shigeko, wait! There are more of them! They could still be at the lab! We need a plan!" said Teru following her. Mob turned to face him.

"I already told you, Teru. I plan to win." Said Mob slipping on her shoes and walking out the door.

Ritsu was well and truly fucked.

He had been carried off, blindfolded, and taken to an unfamiliar building in an unfamiliar place. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know what was going to happen to him. He just knew that he was doomed. He must have been.

"Well it took you long enough." Oh. There was another esper there. Ritsu's blindfold was pulled off. There was another esper there. Ritsu could feel his aura, it felt pointy too. Sharp and mean. He eyed the other esper's katana. It felt gross and sticky, like someone had dumped a can of soda all over him and made him stand out in the sun.

"It wasn't my fault. This little brat had reinforcements. A couple kids. The boy had potential but the girl…I've never faced anyone like her before. I had to end up using your special spray." Said the one who kidnapped him. Ritsu could see the man's blood on his uniform. It was bandaged crudely, Shigeko had peeled the flesh away. Ritsu felt sick to his stomach.

"…and you didn't bring them?" asked the man with the katana, disgustedly. There were others there too, including a kid Ritsu's age. He didn't look like he was captured, though. He looked more bored than anything.

"Well, uh, no. They weren't part of the mission." Said the one who kidnapped him. The one with the katana sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Our mission is to gather as many espers as possible. How you could have forgotten that I shall never know, Koyama." Said the man with the katana. The kid behind him looked like he was stifling a laugh.

"Fine, you go after them then, Sakurai." Said the man, presumably Koyama

"I would have to if you could just do your job, Koyama, but instead it sounds like you got beat by a little girl" Said Sakurai

"I made a strategic retreat, the mission came first. When I face that little bitch again she'll pay!" said Koyama

"Leave my sister alone!" said Ritsu before being punched in the face. He heard his nose crack. He stifled his tears.

"Why are we here? I just want to go home!" that was the red haired girl from the Awakening Lab. Rei. She was crying. Ritsu didn't blame her.

"Put these brats in the holding cells!" said Koyama tossing Ritsu to the ground. He struggled to get up as he was dragged through the building, along with the other kids from the awakening lab. They were tossed into a cell

Ritsu drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head against the wall. He was captured. Kidnapped. Trapped. Stolen. He would never go home again, never go to school again, never see his family again, and never be able to apologize to Shigeko.

If she was even still alive.

If that thing inside of her hadn't consumed her completely. It had been just like that day. The day when he was ten. He closed his eyes. The light. The pain. The blood.

"Hey Kageyama, are you alright?" it was another one of the awakening kids. Ritsu couldn't remember all of their names but he felt bad about being such a dick, before.

"Do I look like I'm alright?" asked Ritsu through his teeth. Of course he wasn't alright. He couldn't even save himself. He had let himself get captured. He had frozen. He had let Shigeko explode. He had wanted powers so badly but now they were useless. He called upon them but got only the wispiest traces of energy.

"Shut up in there!" one of the guards was yelling at them, now. They weren't even talking that loudly.

"Just let us go! None of us have powers!" said Ritsu. It was true. These kids struggled to do things that his sister could easily do as a baby.

"Is that so?" oh no, someone new. He looked important, and he was doing that thousand meter stare that Shigeko did. Ritsu…he had done that too, when he was at his most powerful. Was it a sign of power, the staring?

"Please!" "Yes!" "We're all normal people here!" "We're telling the truth!"

"I see that you've all made an agreement to pretend that you don't have powers. Very well then. You there, boy, come here." Said the scary boss guy. He called the younger Shiratori brother forward.

"You, boy, you have five seconds to show me your powers." He said. The younger Shiratori brother began to sweat as the others begged him not to show his powers. He didn't even know how to show someone his telepathy without his brother.

"Very well then. Come with me." The man dragged him away. The other pressed their faces against the bars of their cell as they watched him being dragged away. Rei was crying again. Ritsu struggled to get air into his lungs.

Screams. Inhumanly loud. Screams of suffering. Then a squelching wound followed by silence. The silence was actually somehow worse.

"This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real." Someone was saying that, Ritsu couldn't say who. Everything sounded far away and underwater. There were footsteps coming.

"You have until the end of the night, around ten hours, or you will share his fate." Said the man. He dragged the body behind him by the ankle. There was a trail of blood. Ritsu felt himself begin to shake. He willed his powers to do something, anything, but they were gone. He was alone. He was surrounded by people but he was alone.

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die.

All around him people were crying. He was crying, too, he noticed. This was it. This was how he died.

The older Shiratori brother was silent.

Would Shigeko be silent, too, when she learned of his death? That is if she herself was even still alive?

No. He wasn't going to die here. This was not where he would die. He didn't know when he'd die but he didn't want it to be here.

"Guys, we need to get out of here." Said Ritsu stuffing his feelings down. No. He couldn't give up. He couldn't give in to despair. Shigeko never did that. No matter what happened she always picked herself back up again. He needed to be like his big sister.

"Dude, someone literally JUST died!" said one of the kids, the blonde guy. Uh…Go. Yeah, that was his name. Cheap lighter guy.

"Do you want to die too? Do any of you?" said Ritsu. They stared at him but shook their heads. Of course they wanted to live.

"Good. Now we need an escape plan." Said Ritsu. He wasn't going to die here. He was going to die someday but not here.

"Seriously, wait at least five minutes. Kiato's brother was just killed in front of us. Let the guy mourn." Said the pointy looking guy. Uh…the telekinetic…Takeshi. Good, it would have been awkward to ask them their names at this point.

"No, it's cool." said Kaito standing up. Everyone gawked at him.

"You guys are insane, completely insane." Muttered Go. Seriously, somebody had just died and even his brother was over it just like that? He knew Kageyama was a jerk, but not this bug of a jerk.

"Don't worry, Daichi's fine. Telepathy, remember? What we saw was an illusion. He saw all of us dead, too." Said Kaito

"That must be how they recruit people. Fear." Said Ritsu. Fear was a terrible way to rule. Ruling though fear would get them nowhere.

"So, he's alive?!" said Go. Kaito nodded.

"Alright, now how do we get out of here? Any ideas?" asked Ritsu. He looked around. There were guards, security cameras, and a heavy looking lock.

"We could tunnel out with this!" said Takeshi holding up the spoon which had fallen out of Ritsu's pocket.

"Wait, I have a better idea." Said Ritsu. Sure these guys were weak but his powers were nonexistent so he had no room to throw stones. They heated the spoon and jammed it into the lock. Hopefully it would take the shape of the tumblers and the lock would open.

Oh. It was unlocked the entire time. Well then.

"Hey, you brats think you can escape? You're much safer in that cell, trust us." Said one of the guards. They all looked over to Ritsu for guidance.

"You have a plan for this part, right Kageyama?" asked Go. Ritsu took a moment to think. His powers…he could feel them….but they weren't listening. Maybe he shouldn't have expelled Dimple.

"Alright. Go, use your pyro kinesis and Takeshi, use your telekinesis. We'll blow these guys away." Said Ritsu. They shuffled awkwardly behind him.

"Uh…I may be a pyro kinetic godsend but even I can't set fire to a moving target." Said Go looking at his shoes.

"Yeah….and telekinesis can't lift anything as heavy as a person." Said Takeshi. Ritsu sighed. He willed his powers to work.

"Work powers….please…." said Ritsu. He willed his powers to do something, anything. They did something. They pulled the goons into the wall so hard that massive dents were left. They were still breathing but not moving.

"Kageyama…why did you need us again?" asked Go. The others nodded in agreement. They stared at him. How, exactly, did those guys end up capturing him.

"My powers don't always work, all right? Now c'mon, we're in the camera's blind spot but they won't think that we're being disciplined for long." Said Ritsu

"But we don't know where we even are." Said Takeshi

"Yeah. My brother doesn't even know where he is, either. I don't know how to even get to him from here." Said Kaito

"Right. Rei, we're going to rely on your clairvoyance for now. Are you up to it?" asked Ritsu. Rei blushed and looked down.

"Well, if you think I can." Said Rei. The other guy's faces fell. Girls!

The Awakening Lab had been decimated. Well, in the 'oh crap people are hurt sort of way' not the 'one tenth of the population has been removed' sort of way.

"This is terrible….how could they just go in and kill people…so many people….." said Shigeko wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Dimple patted her on the shoulder.

"How could they kill all these civilians?" asked Dimple, honestly disgusted by the scene in front of him. Even he had his moral standards.

"They're not dead, just unconscious. Cursed too, it feels like." Said Teru checking some pulses. The room they were in, not the entire building, had a sick feel too it. Gross and sticky, like being covered in stale custard.

"It feels so gross in here." Said Mob with a shudder. She didn't even have to lift a finger as the curses that hung in the air dissipated.

"Thanks." Said Teru. She didn't even look tired…..

"We need to find someone who knows what happened. Someone's got to be awake." Said Mob. The war within her was raging. She wanted to hold everyone upside down and shake them until they told her what happened. She wanted to ask as nicely as possible so that she got off on the right foot.

"Hey, I found one!" said Dimple coming down through the ceiling. Teru and Mob looked at each other before Mob starting walking quickly. If whoever that was wouldn't give her the information she needed Mob would ask nicely and Shigeko would crack them like an egg. They ran upstairs and found a man all dressed in red and tied up.

"Are you in charge here?" asked Teru. Shigeko was too…upset? Angry? She didn't have the people skills for interrogating, that was what mattered.

"Who….who are you?" asked the man. He had been attacked, tied up, and left for dead. He couldn't even save his kids, the kids, from their attackers.

"You answer our questions first." Said Teru. Mob was in the back, staring. The man's eyes kept darting towards her. She looked like a ghost. Pale skin and long dark hair covering her face.

"Whatever you want!" said the man. These kids couldn't have been from the same group. Something was washing over him. He could feel it. Was that an aura? Violent intent. He felt his insides freeze. Were those people back to finish him off?

"Who are you?" asked Teru channeling every interrogation scene he had ever seen. He paced, he looked menacing, and he glances backwards at his girlfriend to make sure that he wasn't scaring her. He knew he was projecting violent intent, he just hoped that Shigeko didn't hold it against him. He reached his aura out to hers, tentatively, and pulled away. She felt weird. Anger, wrath, fear….they didn't suit her.

"Mitsuura Kenji! I-I didn't do anything! Please!" said Mitsuura. Teru made like he was going to slap him but didn't. Shigeko looked over at him, but not entirely disapprovingly.

"I don't think that counts as self-defense, Teru." Said Mob quietly. If this man did betray Ritsu then he deserved to be beaten to a bloody pulp. No he deserved a chance to apologize and change.

"Sorry Shigeko. You! You're lucky my girlfriend is so merciful! Especially after what you did!" said Teru pacing dramatically. Shigeko was still staring. It was getting harder and harder to get a read off of her.

"I-I-I didn't do anything!" said Mitsuura

"Did you sell Kageyama's information to Claw!" said Teru finally, with an accusatory point of his finger.

"Man this kid can really chew the scenery. Remind you of anyone, Shigeko?" asked Dimple nudging her with his shoulder.

"Dimple, not now. We have to be serious now." Said Mob flatly. Mitsuura looked puzzeled.

"This is Dimple. Unless you're an esper or another kind of psychic you can't see or hear him unless he wants you to. He's my friend, too, and he does what I say sometimes. If you don't tell us everything you know, including why you sold my little brother out, I'm going to let him take over your body forever, and he'll probably use it to do weird stuff." Said Mob. She held his gaze, her tone never wavered. She stood perfectly still.

"Yup. The weirdest. Things you've never even thought of. I've been around for….I don't really know how old I am but there's a lot of weird stuff I've been wanting do. Most of it sexual. Some of it criminal. Some of it I don't even know how to classify it as. So how about you start talking, huh?" said Dimple making himself visible. Mitsuura almost peed his pants at the sight of a real live spirit.

"Alright! I'll talk! I'll talk!" said Mitsuura. The ghost girl walked up to him slowly. No wait, she was flesh and blood. She just looked, well, creepy.

"Then talk!" said Teru

"I don't know what happened! Some people just let themselves in and started attacking everyone! They stole all of our data and the kids! I had nothing to do with it! Really! Please! Leave my body alone!" said Mitsuura. The kids looked at each other.

"It feels like he's telling the truth." Said Mob simply. Regular people didn't have auras like espers but they did have presence. He didn't feel like a liar, he just felt scared.

"I think so too." Said Teru. Great. Another dead end. He looked towards Shigeko. Still stone faced.

"Can I have his body anyway? Please? I haven't been corporeal in a while!" said Dimple. Mob shook her head no.

"We can't go back on our word. A man is only as good as his word. Master Reigen said that once." Said Mob sagely. Teru and Dimple facepalmed.

"Shigeko, we can be moral later." Said Teru taking a deep breath. It always went back to that guy.

"Yeah, that's enough from the gospel of Reigen for now." Said Dimple. Jeez, she needed him more than he thought. You don't talk about your main guy while your side guy was right there.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Said Shigeko

"Wait…you aren't with the people who attacked us?" asked Mitsuura. He was both relieved and terrified and…hopeful. These were espers, child espers, and they possessed powers which he had only recently realized was possible.

"Hell no." said Teru

"Then who are you?" asked Mitsuura

"Hello. I'm Kageyama Shigeko but everyone calls me Mob and this is my boyfriend Hanazawa Teruki and Dimple, you've met him already. We're here to find my little brother, Ritsu. He came here before and now he's been kidnapped and I don't know where he is and he could be dead or hurt or scared or alone and-and-and-" said Shigeko, her breathing shallow. She was breathing much too fast. Master Reigen would have been disappointed in her, he had spent so much time teaching her how to breath.

"Hey, Shigeko. I've got this." Said Teru, putting his hand on the small of her back.

_I'm here. I've got you._

"Teru….I'm scared. Why is this happening? Why did this have to happen?" Said Mob. She was sacred. She was angry. She wanted to run away. She had to save Ritsu. She wanted to go home. She wanted to stay and fight. She wanted to be held. She wanted to be left alone.

"It's going to be alright. We'll find Ritsu." Said Teru even though he had no fucking clue what to do now.

Some slow clapping interrupted their shared despair. A man with salt and pepper striped hair emerged from the shadows, follows by two of what looked like lackeys.

"Well, I'm loathe to interrupt but I must. You two are coming with me." Said the man. Teru and Mob looked at each other.

"Do you want to or should I?" asked Teru. Well then, now this was serendipitous. A scar, from what it looked like.

"I'm upset Teru, I might accidentally hurt him. You can do the interrogating." Said Mob. The other Shigeko was angry. She kept trying to put violent intent into their aura. She was trying to worm her way in. Her aura was starting to get too much blue in it.

"That's so cute. You children think that you can-" started the man before Teru struck. In less than a minute the lackeys were knocked out and the man was tied up and hanging upside down. Mitsuura took this time to wiggle his way over the corner. He didn't want to get in the middle of whatever all of this was.

"Now, start talking!" said Teru. The man was tied up and hung upside down. Shigeko was staring. He read her aura. Violent intent. Murderous intent…..?

"Where….is…..my….brother?" asked Mob. Her hair was acting up again. Her eyes were blank. She decided to let the other Shigeko out just a little. So she wouldn't explode out later, until she was needed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Said the man. He eyed these kids, wearily. Two espers. A boy and a girl. Murderous intent from one. A two colored aura. Strange. The boy was more subdued. Violent intent and…concern. Oh. The girl was his.

"You do. You have a scar. Now I want you to tell me where Kageyama Ritsu is, and anyone else you kidnapped. You're going to tell me." Said Mob/Shigeko. It would be so easy to squish him. That would be wrong. It would be like the time she accidentally stepped on the toothpaste. It would be murder and murder was wrong. Murder in self-defense didn't count. Master Reigen would never forgive them. Master Reigen would understand.

"Little girl, I don't know what you're talking about. Now let me go before you get hurt." He said. He smirked and sent an air whip her way. It disintegrated before it could touch her.

"Shigeko, remember, you wanted me to handle it…?" asked Teru. That was defiantly murderous intent coming from her. Her eyes were wrong. Her aura….that wasn't…that was…who…what…what?

"Teru, I've got this." Said Mob/Shigeko. Teru was wonderful. Teru was great. Teru was amazing. Teru smelled like spring time. Teru needed to be protected. Teru was strong. Teru needed to be kept alive. Keep Teru safe. Keep Teru alive.

"H-How did you-?" said the man as she shrank under Shigeko/Mob's gaze. He could feel something crushing him from all sides. That was…that was her energy barrier? How…how could a little girl make such a dense energy barrier….?

"Shigeko, ease off before you crush him to death." Said Dimple. There. That thing was back. He could see it clear as day, murderous intent.

"Yeah….give him time to answer at least." Said Teru taking a step back. That was…that wasn't Shigeko.

"Listen. You people are making it very difficult for me to be a pacifist. I just want my brother back, and anyone else you've kidnapped. I want to crush you, but also I don't. I don't know which part of me is going to win. I've never been this angry before in my life. It feels bad. It feels good. I don't know. What I do know is that if you don't start talking I'm going to let the other Shigeko out and she's angry too. I don't think she can anything other than angry, actually. She will kill you. I'm not saying that to be mean, that's just how she is. Now are you going to talk or not?" said Shigeko/Mob. She stood in front of him, still as death. Her face was flat. Her eyes were dull. Her aura was still. Murderous intent rolled off of her.

"Little girl-" said the man mockingly before his mouth was paralyzed.

"The next words out of your mouth had better be where my brother is. Tell me what I need to know. I'm losing my patience." Said Shigeko/Mob. Dimple was hiding in the corner now. That thing felt….unpleasant….whatever it was. Teru took a step forward.

"Shigeko…I've got this. You can stop." Said Teru. She turned to face him.

"Are you scared, Teru?" asked Shigeko/Mob. Her voice still inhumanly flat.

"No." lied Teru through his teeth.

"Don't lie to me. I know you are. It's ok. She scares me too." Said Shigeko/Mob. Teru took her hand. She didn't repel him. She felt…unpleasant…..on a spiritual level. That thing, whatever it was, wasn't meant to be touched.

"Shigeko…." Said Teru quietly

"Teru…please…she's going to….I think she's going to kill him. Help me." said Mob/Shigeko. Tears were streaming down her face. Teru kissed her. He kissed her not matter how unpleasant that thing felt. How angry it felt. How murderous. How hungry.

"Shigeko….let go. Just let go. Let me handle this. Please, Shigeko. Just let go." Said Teru. The man behind them looked about ready to faint. Good. This was better than any interrogation he could have done. It was just terrible that Shigeko had to go through this.

"Teru…I can't. I can't. I need….she needs….we need…we need to be this thing….we need to be this thing together….we need to save Ritsu." Said Mob/Shigeko through her tears. The other her made her strong. The other her would help her get her brother back before he…before he was…

"You! Talk! You're making my girlfriend cry! You'd better start talking before whatever she's trying not to do to you ends up happening!" said Teru. The man could only nod. He felt the energy keeping his mouth closed was release and he began to spew out every bit of information he had about Claw. Screw the organization, he wanted to live! He didn't know who or even what that girl was but he could feel murderous intent clear as day.

Teru, Mob, and Dimple had collected pages and pages of notes on Claw. There were useful things, such as the location of the facility, the names and abilities of the members, and where they kept prisoners. Some of it was most likely useless, such as where they ordered the uniforms from, how often the floors were waxed, and what everyone's favorite colors were. They had tied the man up, they learned his name was Terada, and they brought him along to make sure that they were headed to the right place. Mob was carrying them in a car, Mitsuura had insisted that they borrow it.

"Teru….if we get there….if we get there and I-" said Mob quietly. She carried the car smoothly despite how she felt. That feeling that she had….what the other her had wanted to do…what she had wanted…what they had wanted.

"Shigeko, I'll protect you. I've got this." Said Teru as they floated along. Him in the passenger seat and her in the back. She sat with her knees up to her chest. Those pants would have to be ironed again, later. No, he'd worry about his clothes later. She needed him right now.

"Teru, no. I'll protect you. I'll do it. I just…I'm-I'm scared…." Said Mob. She wasn't stuffing Shigeko down, no, she was letting Shigeko mix with her. Their aura was changing. Their thinking was changing. It was unpleasant.

"Shigeko, stop. I'm here, alright? I'm here and we're going to kick ass together, even though you don't like to, and we're going to save your little brother. I promise." Said Teru. She needed him, no one else. He knew that they were in a life or death situation right then but he couldn't help the swell of pride that he felt at that. She was well and truly his, now. Her, the most powerful esper…ever? That he knew, anyway, and the number of espers he knew was growing by the hour.

"Sometimes we have to fight, even if we don't like it." Said Mob quietly, her knees drawn up to her chest.

"You kid should turn back, while you still can." Said Terada. The murderous intent was gone and now he could see her for what she was, a scared little girl. These brats were going to get themselves killed if they tried to infiltrate the base. It would be a pity, too, such a waste of natural talent.

"Don't talk unless we ask you to." Said Teru. The car shuddered. Shigeko was getting upset again, and he didn't think he could hold up an entire car for any great length of time.

"I'm just saying that you two can't take on all of Claw. You think you're hot stuff, and maybe you are, but the sheer number of people we have is going to overwhelm you. Just turn back now before it's too late." Said Terada

"I think this guy just doesn't want everyone to know he got beat by a couple of kids." Said Dimple

"Dimple, you can take over his body. Just don't do any weird stuff to it, that would be mean." Said Mob

"I can't. Every esper has their own mental protections, you two included. I can't take over his body unless he lets me in. Or maybe if he's passed out. It depends on how powerful he is." Said Dimple. It was a pity, this guy looked like he would have been really fun.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. That guy probably wouldn't have let Dimple take over his body, and it would have been mean to force him. She was getting tired of being mean.

"Hey, what's that thing?" asked Dimple pointing out the window. Mob sat up. She turned to look out the window, a large structure was coming into view.

"That's it, that's the base." Said Terada. Suddenly the car descended and made a not so graceful landing.

"I'm sorry. I hope Mitsuura doesn't get too mad about all the dents." Said Mob

"Shigeko, I'm sure it'll be fine. He did say that we could borrow it after all." Said Teru assuaging her guilt. He could feel her, now, spiritually. Lots of negative emotions, but nothing bubbling like she was going to explode. Her aura was pretty quiet too, no spikes, the coloring was just wrong.

"Hey, that Terada guy just ran away." Said Dimple as he watched the tied up man hobble away into the trees.

"Forget him, we got the information we needed, and considering how shook up he was I doubt he'll try and fight us. Let's stop wasting time and go save your little brother." Said Teru. Mob nodded. She didn't want to fight anyone unless she absolutely needed to.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Dimple. He could sense a lot of very concentrated power coming from that building. Mostly living people but he could sense some spirits too, strong ones, but not stronger than him when he was at full power.

"I see some guards on the outside we'll, no I'll, take them out so we can sneak in." said Teru. Shigeko was still upset. She hated fighting. He didn't want her to have to go through that again.

"Don't hurt them too badly, Teru. Please." Said Mob. He reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. Still lots of negative feelings.

"I-I'll try not to." Said Teru. This was hard for her, and him too. She…she held him back…but in holding him back she made him better…right? This was the time for violence but…violence its self wasn't ok, was it? She thought so. She was a pacifist, but that didn't mean that he was. No. He wasn't going to use his powers to bully people again but this was different. This was self-defense. This was life or death.

He broke from his thoughts by a tree crashing down onto him. Teru pushed her out of the way with his powers as a tree crashed down into them.

"You brats! You'll pay with your lives for trampling all over my pride!" yelled Terada as he broke through the ropes binging his hands together. He had actually been afraid of a little girl…no! He couldn't have been!

"You're seriously going to kill us over your pride?" asked Teru incredulously. That was…well Teru had been willing to….but he had changed. Good. It was good that he had changed, he didn't want to grow up to become an adult like that.

"Say hello to my air whips!" said Terada as he attacked. Teru used his powers to push Mob out of the way. This was his fight. He was going to protect her. He had to. This was his job, he was her boyfriend. He had to protect her, no matter how strong she was.

"Shigeko, are you alright?!" asked Teru as he jumped up into a tree. She was standing under an energy barrier, she looked bored.

"I'm fine, just startled. I guess his powers are tree throwing. Huh. Are you alright, Teru?" asked Mob. She looked for him and saw him in a tree. He didn't look hurt at all. Good.

"I'm fine. Leave this to me, Shigeko!" said Teru as another tree almost crashed into him. Where was guy?

"Say your prayers, brats! I can't let you infiltrate this facility, my reputation will be ruined!" said Terada, air whips at his sides. Teru pushed Mob further out of the way. She stood stiff as a board but allowed herself to be pushed. The other Shigeko was putting her feelings into their aura again. She wanted to hurt Terada. They had to fight. Teru was going to get hurt. They loved Teru. They needed Teru. Teru said he could fight for them. Sometimes it was alright to run away. Why run away when they were strong enough to fight? Mob covered her eyes and groaned. She was getting a headache.

"Seriously! That's what you're worried about?" asked Teru. He made a dense energy barrier around himself and tried to do his wire movement trick. He moved as fast as he could but he was grabbed around the neck and slammed into a tree. Through a tree. Into another tree. Through another tree. His barrier took the worse of the damage, he hadn't broken anything. It still hurt. He wiggled free and was thrown hard into the ground.

"I-I guess you aren't so lame after all." Gasped Teru. His throat felt tight. Breathing was difficult. Three more trees came crashing down and he used all his strength to hold them up. Crap. He was pinned.

"Not bad, huh? Think you can hold up, kid?" asked Terada. What was he so afraid of? He glanced over. The girl looked like she was crying again. No…she wasn't.

"Don't make me hurt you." Said Mob. She uncovered her eyes and stood up. She held eye contact with Terada. He wasn't letting up.

"Shigeko! Don't! I've got this!" said Teru. No. She had that look in her eyes again. Her hair was flying around her head, no, floating.

"Stop it. Stop using your powers against others. Just stop, before I use mine against you." Said Mob/Shigeko. The ground below her cratered out. A tree next to her shuddered and was reduced to splinters.

"You think you scare me, little girl?!" yelled Terada. Crap. These were some strong kids. He felt a wave of violent intent hit.

"I know that I do, don't tell lies." Said Mob/Shigeko before sending trees in four different directions to crush Terada. He gasped and was still. She could still see his aura, it looked like a living person's. Good.

"Wow….I guess in the face of overwhelming power technique means absolutely nothing." Said Teru. She had picked those up like they were nothing. Like nothing at all. No build up. No movements. Nothing.

"I guess that there are lots of ways to use powers…." Said Mob quietly. Fighting was a way to sue them. She didn't like it. She took the trees and put them back, willing them to start growing again. Good. They listened.

"How' he do that…?" asked Teru. He tried to gather energy in his hands and make it tangible. Visible. Huh. It wasn't that complicated, he just had to practice….

"I really hated doing that." Said Mob. Shigeko liked it though. She liked it? Were they…no. They were separate people. They had to be.

"You were finished as soon as my girlfriend considered you an enemy. This battle won't last for more than one night." Said Teru looking down at Terada, hating him for making Shigeko feel like that. He was knocked out but still alive. He reached over and took Shigeko's hand. Tey walked until they saw the entrance.

"More people. What are you guys going to do?" asked Dimple

"We should just blow them away. They feel pretty weak, almost like regular people." Said Teru

"What about you? Shigeko, you need to think too." Said Dimple. She was back to staring. What was going on in that head of hers? Judging by what he was getting off of her, nothing good.

"I just want to save Ritsu." Said Shigeko as she stared. More people would need to be hurt. Maybe this was OK? Like dealing with evil spirits? She never exorcised neutral spirits, just the evil ones. These people worked for an evil organization, did that make them evil? Was this alright, then.

"Shigeko, just leave this to me, alright? Don't fight unless you need to." Said Teru putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She leaned into his hand and he touched the side of her face. She looked up at him and nodded.

"Alright, let's see if this works." Said Teru as he did the air whip thing. Oh. It did work. Perfect. He dragged the guards over and knocked them out. One began to sit up and jerk around like a marionette.

"Thanks for the new body, kid. It's so much easier to possess someone while they're in shock." Said Dimple testing out the new body. Hmm, not bad. This would be useful. He tried to move around but it…ugh…he had forgotten the physical limitations of the human body.

"You seem pretty used to this, Dimple. Are you a really powerful evil spirit?" Said Teru, grimacing at the movements and faces that Dimple was making. He had dealt with evil spirits before but very few had been powerful enough to possess someone for long periods of time without being expelled.

"Of course not! I'm Shigeko's buddy, right?" asked Dimple. Mob just stared.

"He's evil, but he's still my friend." Said Mob simply.

"If it's easier to possess someone in shock why not just possess Terada again? His powers could come in handy." Said Teru

"Nope, he's still an esper. Just because he's unconscious doesn't mean his powers aren't still active, plus I'm in a much weaker state of being right now. Usually I can destroy minds with a single thought." Said Dimple

"Honestly you weren't such a big deal before, either." Said Teru. Dimple sputtered.

"I wasn't anywhere near my full power then, either!" said Dimple. Mob shook her head.

"It's alright, Dimple. Now that you have a body you can help. I'm sorry for exorcising you before, too, by the way." Said Mob

"It's fine, kid. I forgive you." Said Dimple putting emphasis on you. Teru shrugged.

"I guess I'm sorry too." Said Teru not sounding even the least bit sorry.

"Good, we all said our apologies. Now let's kick some ass!" said Dimple. Mob looked less than enthusiastic.

"Let's just save Ritsu." Said Mob. She had fought enough for one day, but even more fighting would come. She felt motion sick. She didn't like letting the other Shigeko out. She didn't like being this thing together.

Reigen Artaka checked the GPS on his phone. He hadn't been too worried at first, when Mob was late. Maybe she was doing stuff with her club. Maybe she was hanging out wither boyfriend. Hell, maybe she had found some cats and was petting them.

One hour turned into two.

Then three.

Then four.

Then she didn't show up at all.

She didn't pick up her phone.

She didn't answer his texts.

Reigen knew that something was wrong. Thank God he had put that tracking stuff on her phone. That was why he was currently in a taxi driving well out of city bounds. He could think of a few reasons why she'd be deep into the woods like this, none of them good.

He prayed that she had just snuck off here with her boyfriend to do, well, exactly what Reigen snuck off to the woods to do when he was her age. Yes. Please for the love of God let it be that.

He knew, though, that she was in trouble. She would have called him, otherwise. She never just didn't show up to work. She only avoided him when she was in real trouble. Like when she had run away from home….

"Dammit Mob." Muttered Reigen as he tried her phone again. It rang for thirty long seconds before going to voicemail. Fuck. He felt his pockets. Salt, hopefully blessed this time but probably not. He prayed to God that she was alright.

Anything could have happened to her.

She had said that she had felt an adult esper that morning on their way into the city. That meant that there were others like her. Like her but all grown. She was just a kid. He knew all the things that could happen to a little girl out in the world. He knew exactly what some adults were capable of. Mob was strong, but he had no idea how strong.

In esper terms….was she strong? Was she strong or just untrained? When she had fought with her boyfriend, before the kid was her boyfriend, she had lost. She had come stumbling through the door in tears because she had lost. No, not because she had lost.

Because she had used her powers against another human being. Because she had done thing, the one thing, he had made her promise never to do. He knew that his talk about self-defense had probably gone in one ear and out the other. Mob was moral, like that. She was such a sweet, gentle person.

The rest of the world wasn't sweet and gentle. Reigen had seen it. He had seen what it was capable of. What it could do to people. What it would do to people if given even half the chance. Mob wasn't…Mob couldn't stand up to that. She couldn't stand up to that without exploding. She would explode.

Then God help anyone in her way.

Or God help her.

If she got to that point…if she did…she'd…could she come back from that? Would she? No. She needed him. He was coming. He was coming and he was going to keep her safe. Even though he couldn't do even a thousandth of what she could do he would help her. He would save her. He had to save her.

He had to because he loved her.

"You can stop here." Said Reigen. He paid the cabby, he didn't care about the cost, and followed his phone to where it said Mob was. Oh. She was moving. He would have to catch up, then he'd figure out what was happening. He felt the salt in his suit coat.

Please, for the love of God, let it just be spirits.

"Which way now, Rei?" asked Ritsu as they came to a fork in the road. She blushed and pointed left. He felt bad, he hadn't meant to embarrass her. As he walked he could have sworn he felt…no…that wasn't Shigeko's aura. It felt too wrong, too violent. It was like something had tainted it.

"What's wrong, Kageyama?" asked Go, readying his flames. Ritsu shook his head.

"I thought that I felt my sister nearby, but it couldn't be her. It felt wrong." Said Ritsu. Everyone stared at him.

"Your sister has powers, too?" they all asked at once

"Yes, she does. Shigeko's the strongest person I know." Said Ritsu. They exchanged a look before deciding not to press him any further. No need to upset the most powerful guy there, especially because he said that his powers didn't always work.

"Sister, if you're here, please be alright." Muttered Ritsu as they kept walking. If she had been captured too…no…he couldn't think like that. What he had felt wasn't his sister. It couldn't have been.


	15. The Death of Pacifism

"Teru, I think I felt Ritsu." Said Mob as they wandered the corridors. Some guards had bothered them but Teru had made short work of them. He only knocked them out, of course, not killed them. He may not have been a pacifist like Shigeko but he wasn't going to go around killing people either.

"Good! Did he feel…was he alright?" asked Teru. They had lost Dimple a room full of what looked like torture chambers, so that didn't exactly inspire any confidence in Teru. Still, if the little brother was at least still alive that was something.

"I don't know. I only felt him for a little bit. He was moving." Said Mob

"Then he must have escaped, too. Quick, push your aura out and try to find him." said Teru. He couldn't feel any individual person, even Shigeko was hard to feel and she was right beside him. It was just too noisy, so crowded with other espers. More other espers than he had ever felt in his entire life.

"I'm trying. It's so loud in here, Teru. There's so many people, but I'll try." Said Mob. She pushed herself out and felt…she felt a lot of violent intent. Violent, murderous intent.

"I…I felt someone…some bad…close." Said Mob. Teru pulled her behind his back and looked around. He knew it, they couldn't have all been these third rate lackeys.

"You should be careful, little girl. Don't go calling out, you just might get heard." Someone turned the corner. The air suddenly got very hot and dry. Teru pushed her away.

"Run away! I'll take care of him!" said Teru. What was this? Pyro-kinesis? He put a barrier around himself as the room erupted in flames.

"Teru! No I can help you!" said Mob. She focused on the flames but as soon as they extinguished they erupted back to life. She could have…she could have….but it would have been wrong…no…self-defense wasn't wrong…but she didn't want to….but she loved Teru

"Stop it!" yelled Mob. She knew what she had to do. The flames were extinguished and kept down. The room began to crack around her. Teru let down his barrier and went on the offensive.

"So you two figured out teamwork, huh? No matter, you'll both burn!" said the man. The room filled with flames. Mob put a barrier around Teru.

"Shigeko, handle the defense!" said Teru. He could handle it alone, he knew he could, but she wouldn't let him. She was just so….she was just….she loved him. He came to this conclusion as he fought. The barrier went down just long enough for him to land his hits. The air inside was hot, he felt his lips crack. They needed to take this guy out, and soon.

"You two children think that you can defeat me, Miyagawa! Don't make me laugh!" said Miyagawa as he turned up the heat. The blonde brat was trying to attack him, and doing a decent job of it, too. Time to change tactics.

"Hey, little girl! I bet you can't attack and defend at the same time!" said Miyagawa as he sent a torrent of flames at her. Good. She couldn't keep up two barrier.

"I said stop it!" yelled Mob, her barrier coming up. She could keep up multiple barriers…it was just hard. The other Shigeko…she could help…but no. No. Mob wasn't…she didn't want to be this thing with the other her. She could handle this herself.

"It's getting hot in there, huh? Rookie mistake, kids. Those barriers are just like saunas. I bet you'd both be crying right now, if the heat wasn't evaporating your tears!" laughed Miyagawa. He laughed and he laughed. Mob covered her ears. She had Teru under a barrier, it was too hot, and there was too much fire for him to safely attack. She…she'd get burned. He'd get burned. Fire…fire was dangerous.

You weren't supposed to play with fire.

She could feel herself start to lose control. The flames began to grow, it was her doing. Teru could see her, he could see her starting to lose control. That guy, Miyagawa was starting to look worried. Was he not immune to fire? Huh.

"Shigeko! Drop the barrier now!" said Teru

"No! You'll get burned!" said Mob

"Trust me!" said Teru. Mob dropped the barrier around him. In an instant there was another barrier, this one was golden, and it trapped the other esper. It was beautiful, like a snow globe full of fire.

"Oh." Said Mob. She calmed down, the fire she was feeding died with the swell of her fear. Now…yes…she could trust Teru.

"You're amazing, Teru. I never would have thought of that." Said Mob. Fire couldn't seriously hurt him, right? She had touched fire before, when she was little, and it didn't really hurt. Not really, it was just unpleasant.

"Thanks. It was nothing, I just saw how nervous he was getting. That was a cool trick, fighting fire with fire and all." Said Teru. Mob gasped.

"Wait, he's burning in there?!" asked Mob. Teru looked sheepish and dropped his barrier. The man was covered in burns. The room smelled like cooking, but kind of gross.

"Is he dead?" asked Mob quietly

"No. He's still breathing. He'll probably heal fast, if he's anything like us." Said Teru. Crap. He messed up again. No, not really. In a life or death fight you had to be prepared to do whatever it took….even burning a man alive.

"That was mean, Teru." Said Mob. Lots of the man's skin was black. It looked crispy, too. Did it hurt? She had seen in TV that eventually you just stopped feeling pain all together.

"He was trying to burn us to death. It was self-defense." Said Teru

"I'm getting really tired of self-defense." Said Mob quietly. Teru squeezed her hand in his. She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. Well, his sleeve technically. Their clothes were signed. That was close. Not that he was scared or anything.

"It's almost over. We just need to find your brother. I'd ask this guy but he doesn't look like he'll be talking to anyone for a while." Said Teru as he nudged the guy with his shoe. It was his own damn fault. He shouldn't have been trying to burn them to death in the first place.

"I just want my brother back." Said Mob quietly. Teru pulled her close, kissed her, and then they kept going. There was nothing else he could do, really.

They walked and walked down endless white corridors. Teru held her hand tight. She had gone quiet, unresponsive. He squeezed her hand and got nothing back.

"Shigeko…are you still in there?" asked Teru

"Earth to Shigeko." Said Mob in a deep voice. She smiled. Teru narrowed his eyes. Her aura was….there wasn't too much pink left.

"Yeah….Earth to Shigeko. What are you thinking?" asked Teru. She didn't even turn to face him.

"Master Reigen says that a lot. He used to call me Shigeko more, when he was trying to get my attention. Mob's attention." Said Shigeko/Mob still staring straight forward. Untether she could let her aura roam free. Ritsu was near, despite all the interference.

"Well, which do you prefer?" asked Teru not wanting to hear about Reigen Arataka

"Right now you're talking to Shigeko." Said Shigeko/Mob. So many people here. So many threats. She needed, they needed, to save little brother. Little brother was one of the important people in their life. He needed to be safe.

"I know I am." Said Teru. She wasn't possessed, he knew what possession looked like. Had she…had she cracked under the stress? She had talked about another Shigeko before, be he assumed that it had been a metaphor.

"No. You always talk to Mob. Never me. I don't talk. Mob's still here, don't worry. She's the one you love." Said Shigeko/Mob. A threat was coming. Energy. Control. No life. No after life. Dolls.

"I love **you**." Said Teru stopping her. She turned to face him. Her eyes….those weren't Shigeko's eyes. This wasn't possession. Split personality? Whatever it was, it scared him. He tried to put up a barrier but it…it wouldn't even form. She was pressed against him now, her very presence feeling unpleasant.

"Then show me." Said Shigeko/Mob pushing him up against a wall, the entire length of her against him. What? Oh, right. The dolls. She reached out, mentally. The dolls were in a room at the end of the corridor. With a thought she shattered them into wood chips. Where was the puppet master? There. Well, she wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. Not dead, of course, Mob wouldn't want to wake up to that.

_When they were six Ritsu tore the head off of their favorite doll so they had to destroy every single toy he owned. Guilt followed. The toys were put back together. They were still broken. Mom was mad. Dad was mad. Mom and dad were scared. That's the first time she's locked away._

_When they were eight a bigger boy takes their panda doll and throws it in the mud. Shigeko wants to send him flying but she can't. She's stuffed down. She reaches out and turned the playground into a mass of twisted metal._

_When they were too young to remember they forgot a doll…somewhere…somewhere bright with lots of other children. Ritsu is a baby. The car folds in half. _

"Wh-what?" asked Teru. She was looking at him like he was something to eat. She was…how was she so strong? Warm…oh God she was warm. They were practically nose to nose.

"You heard me. If you love me, then show me. Mob…Mob never gives us what we want. Mob never wants." Said Shigeko/Mob

_When they're five they want the panda from the claw machine. They levitate it out. Mom is mad. They never go back to that arcade again._

_When they are seven they want the pink gumball. They get a green one. She tries to smash the machine so they can have a pink one. That other part of her stops her._

_When they are nine the other part becomes more dominant. Tsubomi has a new hairclip. They want it. The dominant part won't let Shigeko rip it out of her hair._

_When they are eleven some high school boys hurt younger brother. The dominant part is knocked out. Shigeko still can't crush those boys like ants. Little brother is caught in the crossfire. Mom and dad are scared. Shigeko is stuffed down, far down._

_When they are elven they meet a man named Reigen Arataka and Shigeko hardly ever comes out. He will protect them, he says. She wants something, she doesn't know what it is, but the dominant part won't even let her figure out what it is. This part is now named Mob._

_When they are fourteen they know exactly what they want, and who they want it from. Mob is scared. Mob rejects this desire. Mob tries to satiate it herself. She can't. She won't let Shigeko have control. She won't let Shigeko give them what they want._

"I-I have no idea what you mean." Said Teru trying to push her off. She pressed against him harder.

"You know exactly what I mean, don't lie." Said Shigeko/Mob. Teru pushes against her. She takes a step back.

"I-I'm not….I won't….not here! Not now! Not like this! Shigeko, get a hold of yourself!" said Teru. She looked…confused...if anything.

"The concept of self-denial eludes me. Why deny yourself what we both so clearly want? I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being denied." Said Shigeko/Mob. If Teru didn't want to then she wouldn't. Mob would be upset if she hurt him. Teru wouldn't want to be with them. They couldn't lose Teru. Teru was important he was…they loved him.

"What are you?" asked Teru. He…he didn't know how to feel. He was scared but also worried and maybe just a tiny bit turned on. He wasn't going to…this wasn't Shigeko. This wasn't his Shigeko. She…she had finally cracked under the stress….but this wasn't an explosion. That thing he had seen before…was it capable of speech?

"I'm Kageyama Shigeko. I am every desire that Mob has ever denied herself. I protect us. I get us what we want." Said Shigeko/Mob. Teru took a step back.

"Give me back my Shigeko." Said Teru, energy cracking between his fingers. He…he couldn't beat that thing…but he needed Shigeko back.

"You really want her back?" asked Shigeko/Mob. People were strange. Confusing. She wished that a big book of instructions would just drop down from the sky before her so she could understand what she was supposed to do. She hadn't ever had control given to her like this before….she liked it….but Teru….Teru wouldn't give them what they wanted because he wanted Mob.

"Yes!" said Teru getting ready to attack if it came down to that. Shigeko stared and stared at him before closing her eyes. She sank to the ground, slowly, under her own power. Teru took a few cautious steps towards her before she opened her eyes.

"Teru….did we find Ritsu yet?" asked Mob as he came into focus. Teru said nothing, he just got down to her level and held her.

"Please…don't ever….please don't stop being you….I love you." Said Teru. Mob was confused. Had she…oh…she had let the other her out.

"Did I….explode?" asked Mob quietly. Teru shook his head no. He leaned down and kissed her.

"You didn't explode you just….you scared me, is all." Said Teru as he buried his face in her hair. That was…that had been….was that the thing that lived in her? He had always imagined it as something more…inhuman. That thing had looked human but had not….had not felt human….

"Teru…please…forgive me." Said Mob as she buried her face in his sweater.

"Remember what we agreed on, no more saying sorry." Said Teru. He needed to keep her calm, he needed to get her happy or else that…other her….the thing….would come out.

"You said that it was just about when we met." Sniffed Mob. Teru ran his hands through her hair, she liked that.

"Well, don't apologize about that, either, but don't apologize to me about what just happened. You can't-you can't control it." Said Teru. He was so wrapped up in her that he didn't notice the other two auras approaching.

"Teru….I….I just want all of this to be over. I…want to….oh God I just want to go to bed…." Said Mob. She wanted to lay down on the mattress in the living room and finish the Junk Food Fighter show with Master Reigen. Teru and Ritsu would be there, too. It would be nice. She just….she just….why was this happening?

"Shhh…it'll be over soon." Said Teru. Of course he had absolutely no idea when it would be over. He just…one of them had to be strong and he was the guy so it had to be him.

"You're right about that, kid." Oh no. Oh…no. OH NO.

"I won't go easy on either of you this time." It was that man from before….Teru stood up and threw his arms back. He had to protect Shigeko. This was his job. He had to protect Shigeko from herself.

"Neither will I!" said Teru. He created the densest energy barrier he could. He rushed the man but we batted out of the way. He got up and tried the air whips. He managed to send the man flying into the wall…where he bounced….and bounced….and bounced…

"I'm sorry, but we didn't have time for all of that." Said Mob. The man wasn't dead, he still felt alive. He was just passed out and sticking half way into the ceiling. Teru stared at her. How had she….

"I know you still like to fight, Teru, probably because that's just how boys are, but we don't have time to play around. Ritsu is near." Said Mob. Her bother was alive but….he wasn't….it felt almost like he was asleep.

"Shigeko, behind you!" shouted Teru. Oh, a woman this time. Mob held her in place.

"Are you the violent type too, old lady?" asked Mob. That one was more Shigeko. She was putting more and more of herself into them. All the meanness, the greed, the wrath, every feeling that was bad or scary or too big made up Shigeko's being. These feelings also gave Mob power, power she needed to fight these people. That was why they were becoming this thing together, even if it meant being mean.

"Old Lady! My name is Tsuchiya, you little brat, and I'm going to teach you a lesson!" said Tsuchiya as she hardened her qi and broke through the energy holding her in place.

"I've got this, Teru. You shouldn't have to fight a lady. Master Reigen says that the biggest losers in the world are the ones who go around beating up women." Said Mob as she batted Tsuchiya away. Teru was about to day something when he was grabbed from behind and pulled through a wall. His mouth was covered, and Mob's back was turned towards him.

"That's an insult!" screamed Tsuchiya, getting a punch in. Mob went flying but caught herself.

"What do you mean?" asked Mob, trying to encase her in a barrier. Tsuchiya punched through it. Mob hadn't put too much energy into it. It was dangerous to go all out, Mob still had to see how much she could take. She didn't want to accidentally kill someone.

"You! You think that just because you're a girl you're somehow weaker than a man?!" said Tsuchiya. Mob nodded.

"Guys are bigger and stronger." Said Mob moving herself to the other side of the room. She looked around. Where was Teru?

"We're not talking about brute strength here! We're talking about psychic powers. Just because you're a girl that doesn't make you less than any man, remember that!" screamed Tsuchiya throwing herself across the room.

"I don't think that I'm less than. Actually I hate fighting and would rather not fight ever. I think I know how much you can take, now. I'm going to knock you out, in self-defense of course." Said Mob. Master Reigen said that boys and girls weren't supposed to fight because boys were stronger but she…when she and Shigeko worked together they were stronger than everyone else.

"That's adorable. You think you can really-" said Tsuchiya before she was bounced around the room like a pinball. Mob stopped when she felt the other woman lose consciousness.

"Teru! The fight is over, you can come out now! Teru! Teruki!" said Mob. She spun in circles trying to find him with her aura. He….where was he?! She began to breath deep and shallow. She couldn't…she didn't….she was alone….she was so, very, alone….she didn't….

"Please…please come back…..I don't want this. I don't want this. I don't want this…please don't leave me alone…." said Mob. She began to cry. No. She couldn't. No. She had to be strong. She had to-to-to….she had to find Teru and Ritsu. She had to do this because it was up to her. Master Reigen had told her that she was the protagonist of her own story. This was episode twelve. Yeah. She was in episode twelve right now. She was…she was a magical girl and this was episode twelve and she was going to fight the bad guy and get her teammates back and then the series would end on an upbeat pop song with room for a sequel if it sold well enough.

She kept walking. As she walked she hummed a theme song, she couldn't remember to what show, it was just the first one that came to mind. She wasn't a magical girl…but she could be. Right now she could be a magical girl. She's save everyone and then she'd go home and watch TV and make at home ramen, which was nicer because Master made it with her.

Ritsu had no idea where he was going. He was following Rei but she only had a 60% success rate with her telepathy. Soon they rounded a corner and a wave of psychic energy hit them. They toppled like bowling pins.

"Well, what have we here?" Oh. It was a kid. Ritsu felt the other kid's aura and felt another wave of energy slam into him.

"Seriously? That's a little forward, don't you think? I don't even know your name." said the kid. Ritsu turned to the others.

"Guys, run away! Find Shiatori's brother and get out of here!" said Ritsu as he put up his strongest barrier. The kid batted it away like it was nothing.

"Kageyama! Let us help!" said Go. Ritsu pushed them all back. They were next to useless in a fight, they'd only get themselves hurt.

"I'll take care of him! Get out of here!" yelled Ritsu. He could hear them all running away. He fixed his gaze on the other kid. He would win this fight…he had to.

"You know, you're the first ones to actually escape. The 7th division actually found someone worthwhile." Said the boy. Ritsu tried to crush him under a barrier but the kid moved too fast to see.

"You're telegraphing your moves. Don't, you're just giving yourself away." Said the boy. Ritsu tried to do that exploding thing that Shigeko did, the light and heat and power. He didn't have it in him.

"I'm Sho, by the way." Said the boy, presumably Sho. Ritsu turned around to try and hit him using brute force. He was grabbed by the wrist.

"This is the part where you introduce yourself." Said Sho, holding onto Ritsu like a vice. Ritsu struggled in vain. He tried to force some of his power out but it didn't even phase this guy.

"Ritsu….Kageyama Ritsu…." Spat Ritsu through clenched teeth. He tried to kick the boy but found that his feet were seemingly glued to the floor.

"You should really stop trying to fight back, you can't beat me. It wouldn't even be a fight, really." Said Sho. His words only strengthened Ritsu's resolve.

"Seriously, you have some real potential. No need to be so mean, we could really be great friends." Said Sho. The walls began to quake. Ritsu was lashing out blindly.

"Let me go." Said Ritsu. Sho laughed.

"What? You really think you can defeat me? You're not a moron, are you?" asked Sho mockingly. This kid had definite potential, he'd make a great soldier someday. That is if he would just stop wiggling around already.

"Yes….because I know someone stronger than you." Said Ritsu. Shigeko…Shigeko could have taken care of this kid easily. He has seen her lift and crush cars. Shake the entire house so plaster rained down on them. Pick up human beings and throw them so high that they couldn't be seen anymore….but he was just Ritsu. He was….he wasn't Shigeko. He could never eclipse her.

"Just give up and give in. You could be great, you know." Said Sho letting go of him. Ritsu took this as an opportunity to attack. He rushed Sho, putting all of his power into his barrier. Sho just batted him away. He spun and hit the wall. His barrier fell as he hit the wall and he was knocked unconscious.

"Darn, I thought you'd put up more of a fight. Well, I'll see if the other one have more fight in them. They certainly feel powerful." Said Sho as he blended himself in with the wall. He could feel someone, something, strong coming. Anger. Murderous intent. Fear. Pain. Concern. Whatever it was, it was pissed.

Reigen Arataka was not wearing the right shoes for this endeavor. He was hiking through the woods, deep into the woods. He followed his GPS. Mob was around her somewhere, or at least her phone was. He'd find her and hug her before he lectured her. She couldn't just go disappearing on him like that! He was responsible for her!

"What the hell…..?" muttered Reigen as he walked up to an imposing building. It looked like something out of an anime.

"You! Identify yourself!" someone was yelling at him. All these people were in uniforms. What had Mob gotten herself into?

"Hey, what's up with this place?" asked Reigen. If there ever was an evil building the surely this was it. He had a playset like this when he was a kid, actually.

"First thing's first, you suspicious jerk! Tell us who you are!" oh. Someone was yelling at him. Reigen felt around his pockets and turned up empty handed.

"_Does he have a gun?" "Oh no!" "Be careful!"_

"Crap, I'm completely out of business cards." Said Reigen as he felt the front of his suit coat. Well then, he'd just have to adlib. If these were psychics he'd have to pretend to be one of them. Easy. If there was one thing he was good at it was talking.

"_Seriously?" "He has business cards?" "What's going on here?"_

"Alright, so getting back to the matter at hand-" said Reigen before someone roughly grabbed him by the front of his suit.

"Who are you?!" someone asked as they grabbed him with as much force as they could. Reigen had to stay cool. He kept his face impassive. He had to keep this conflict on his terms.

"Is something going on inside that building?" said Reigen pointing to what looked like the Doom Fortress he had gotten for his tenth birthday. They were momentarily confused and the crowd began to murmur.

"I'm going to ask you again who-" said the man. Reigen shrugged his hand off.

"Huh. They usually tell me when something happens but I haven't heard a single thing. Whatever. I'll check again." Said Reigen pretending to check his phone. The murmuring started again.

"_Who is he?" "He's so confident." "He's too confident to be an intruder."_

"Can someone tell me why everyone's just standing around out here?" said Reigen as her took in the crowd. He was getting that same sort of static energy feel he got from Mob, just much less powerful. More espers?

"What are you doing here? You answer us first!" asked the lackey who held onto his suit coat. Reigen shrugged.

"So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you all have psychic powers." Said Reigen. The entire group of them felt less powerful, less intense, than Mob did when she laid her head on his lap and watched TV, and these guys looked pretty keyed up, too. Huh.

"_What?" "How does he know about that?" "Who is this guy?"_

"Right, I'm getting nowhere with you guys. Listen, I'm only here to talk to my subordinate, so if someone could lead me inside that would be wonderful. Oh, and let go of me, too." Said Reigen. The best way to lie was to tell the truth. Mob was technically his subordinate, at work anyway, so there. Near total truth.

"_Subordinate? But we're all subordinate to the division leader." "Does that make him…?" "Yes!" "It must be…THE BIG BOSS"_

Well then Reigen could roll with this.

"Oh please, sir, have mercy and forgive me!" said the man who was holding on to him. He threw himself down onto the ground and begged for Reigen's forgiveness. What-in-the-actual-?

"Uh, is this guy alright? Hey, you guys over there, help him up. Take him inside, too. You guys must have a breakroom or something." Said Reigen. This entire place was like something out of an anime. The evil looking structure, the lackeys in uniforms, it was like something a ten year old thought up. It was bizarre.

"_Oh! Such a kind man!" "So nice!" "Nothing like the division leader!" "He totally exudes superiority!" _

Soon Reigen found himself being let in, a crowd of his adoring fans basking in his awesomeness. It was like being followed around by dozens of Mobs. No, Mob didn't even look at him with this much reverence. What was with these guys? As he was lead inside he saw someone, a short someone, peaking around the corner and then ducking.

"Hey, someone's hiding up there. What's up with that?" asked Reigen genuinely curious. What, exactly, was this place? It couldn't have been an actual evil base; that was just TV stuff. Still, this entire place did look like it was designed by a kid.

"An intruder or an escapee! After them!" yelled a lackey. As a unit they all ran up the stairs, Reigen trails after them.

"Is this really necessary!?" said Reigen as they came to a halt in front of….a group of scared kids. All Mob's age. There's a girl there too. For a moment he sees Mob, crouched on the floor and shaking in terror. Something twists inside of him.

"Why are there kids here?" asked Reigen through clenched teeth. These kids were well and truly scared and these….adults…were responsible for this.

"Well, you see boss, they escaped…." Said that same lackey. Reigen could feel the fire burning behind his eyes.

"You're their boss?" one of the kids said that, the pointy one all dressed in white.

"Well I wouldn't exactly say that…" said Reigen

"_He's so humble!" "So modest!" "The real deal has no need to impress children!"_

"I just want to go home…." The girl was crying. They all looked scared. Wait…were these kids….

"You're keeping children prisoner?" asked Reigen through clenched teeth. Mob. Mob was here. Mob was being kept prisoner here. Reigen had never had murderous intent before in his life but this must have been pretty close.

"Please! Sir! We were kidnapped and they won't let us go!" said the girl, tears in her eyes. Reigen felt his heart stop. All he could think about was Mob. Mob…Shigeko….she was here, in this place….she was here….he had to protect her…..he had to protect all of these kids.

"They have my little brother too! We don't know where he is, though!" said the blocky looking boy. Reigen could feel his fists clench tightly. He took a few calming breaths.

"_Oh no!" "The boss is pissed off!" "We're all gonna die!" "It was his idea! Every bit of it!" "Don't pin this one on me!"_

"There's another one of us, we got separated. He was fighting another kid!" said the blonde boy. Reigen took a long, long, long exhale. He needed to be calm. These kids were scared enough. These kids had homes and families who were worried. The way he felt about Mob, there were people who felt that way about these kids.

"Were you guys holding these **kids** here against their will?" asked Reigen through clenched teeth. There was immediate pandemonium.

"_We were just following orders!" "It was his idea!" "I had no idea!" "I need a bathroom break!"_

"Listen. Just because you were ordered to do something, that doesn't mean that it was the right thing to do. When underlings start being too obedient they become absolutely worthless!" said Reigen, more serious than he had ever been in his life.

"But sir, we were just-" started the underling before Reigen cut him off.

"You idiots! Even if you're able to rise to the top like that all you'll see is the filth you've left in your wake! I'm not sure what it is you're trying to do here, exactly, but getting to the top only feels good if you get there the right way! You just think about that!" yelled Reigen. Thank God Mob wasn't around to hear him. He scared even himself, a little.

"_He's got a point." "I feel awful, we've been doing such petty things." "I'm a piece of garbage." "You're a piece of garbage."_

"Show these kids out and make sure they get to the main road safely. The rest of you, take me to where you keep your prisoners. I'm looking for someone specific, a little girl with black hair named Mob…Shigeko." Said Reigen. If he focused he could feel….was that Mob? It felt kind of like her. He had been around her long enough to recognize her aura, he had known it even before he knew that it was her aura.

"_A little girl?" "Oh, that one?" "She's still alive right?" "Just knocked out I think." _

"Take me to her….now…..or you'll regret it." Said Reigen through clenched teeth. Knocked out. Mob. Hurt. She was here, in this place. She was alone and hurt and afraid….and he hadn't been there to protect her.

Mob followed the feeling of Ritsu's aura. She couldn't feel Teru's at all…no…she'd think about that after she had found Ritsu. She had to just keep going. She had to just keep walking. She told herself this.

Time to walk now.

Time to walk now.

Time to walk now.

Time to walk now.

Time to walk now.

Time to walk now.

Don't think about Teru. Don't think about where he could have been or what could have happened to him. Don't think about where she was. Don't think about all the people she had to hurt. Don't think about the other Shigeko and how they were working together. Don't think about all the people she had to hurt. Don't think about all the rules she broke. Don't think about how disappointed Master Reigen was with her. Don't think about how worried Master Reigen must have been with her. Don't think about Dimple who….who had fought on his own….she couldn't feel him either. Don't think about being alone.

Don't think about being alone.

Don't think about being alone.

Don't think about being alone.

Don't think about being alone.

Don't think about being alone.

Don't think about being alone.

She was never alone. She could feel it. She could feel all the negative emotion. The strong emotion. It was…it was there. It wasn't building. She was….she was using it. She was using the other Shigeko. They were becoming one.

She was never alone.

She was never alone.

She was never alone.

She was never alone.

"I am you and you are me. We are a we, together we are a she. Together we are Mob. We can work together. We will work together." Said Mob to herself. She began to laugh. First quietly and then she began to cackle. The other Shigeko….she was reaching out. She was grabbing at the walls. They were starting to close in.

"It all comes tumbling down! Tumbling down! Tumbling down!" laughed Mob. She could make it all come tumbling down and down and down! She laughed as she walked. Paper. It was all made of paper! The floor was made of paper! The walls were made of paper! She was all alone here! She was a paper doll all alone in a paper house!

"I'm not real! Nothing is real! It's all made of paper! It all crumbles like paper!" screamed Mob. The walls crumbled a little, they were designed to withstand such outbursts after all. She spun as she walked. She used her powers to spin and spin like a top. She didn't get dizzy.

"My name is Mob! I am Mob and we are us! We are Shigeko! We are paper! This is all paper!" Screamed Mob. She screamed and screamed and screamed until her voice hurt.

"I'm all alone! I've lost everything! I've experienced loss!" screamed Mob as she turned a corner. She could feel something….this was important….oh….little brother. She walked over to him. He didn't move.

"Ritsu….Ritsu why are you on the ground?" asked Mob poking him with her shoe. Oh. He was hurt. He was all crumbled up, like paper. She poked him a few times.

"Ritsu…I let you down. You're hurt. I've let you down." Said Mob, sitting next to him. She began to cry. She began to laugh.

"These things should be happening to me, not you. You're you and I'm me. I'm the one who should be hurt. That should be me. I should be you and you should be me! I've let you down! I just keep letting you down. I let everyone down! It all returns to nothing! I am nothing! We are nothing! We all come tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down." Laughed Mob, pulling her unconscious brother into her lap. Someone rounds the corner.

"Hello little one. I hope you haven't been defeated already…." Mob heard someone, she felt someone, but she didn't care. He was paper. This was paper. It would all turn to nothing, it would all just come tumbling down, tumbling down, crumbling down, crumbling down, crumbling down…

"I've obtained loss. I've obtained loss!" screamed Mob as she held her brother's unconscious body. She didn't notice or care about the person behind her. Paper. It was all just a paper construct. She could make it all tumble down so very easily. Why not? They had lost! Mob and Shigeko had obtained loss!

"Oh, you haven't? In that case I'll show you even greater despair, free of charge." Said the voice. Mob kept laughing. Suddenly there was a pressure on her head, in her mind. She screamed. It didn't sound human.

_Ritsu dead._

_Teru dead._

_Master Reigen dead._

_By her hand._

_Her alone, so very alone._

She kept laughing. She laughed and laughed as the pain got worse and worse.

"I just keep letting me down! Letting me down! Letting me down!" screamed Mob. She couldn't save anyone. Everyone would return to nothing, including her. She and Shigeko. Mob and Shigeko. They were nothing. They were paper. This paper dollhouse would come tumbling down, tumbling down, crumbling down, crumbling down…..

"I've obtained loss! I've obtained loss! I have nothing! I have no one! I'm all alone!" screamed Mob. There was an agonized scream behind her. The pressure on her mind grew more and more intense. The other Shigeko was taking over. No. They were Snowflake the cat now. They were helping each other. They were one. They were this thing together!

"I'm never alone! I am alone! I'm never alone! I am alone!" screamed Mob. The room was collapsing. Someone was screaming in agony. She didn't care.

"'I've lost everything! I've lost everything! I've lost everything! Everything that matters to me! That matters in this world! It all returns to nothing! Nothing! **NOTHING!**" screamed Mob before the pressure, the pain, became too much. She passed out, it was quicker than falling asleep.

"Wow, that was a close one. You managed to amplify and redirect the illusion Muto showed you. Hmm…but was it planned or natural instinct? You're pretty cool, for a girl anyway. It was totally worth using this guy as bait. Not bad, the both of you." Said Sho. He used his powers to pick the two of them up and take them to the holding room. These two would make great additions to Claw, better than any of the other recruits here that was for sure.

Teru felt like he had been cut off from a sense. It was as if his eyes had been plucked out, his ears stuffed with cotton, his skin coated in wax, or his nose stuffed shut. He had no powers in this room. None. None at all. He couldn't see them. He couldn't use them. He couldn't even see…the world was dull. A layer of color, the spiritual layer, was taken off the world. He struggled against his bonds, he was tied up too.

He didn't know what happened.

One minute he was about to tell Shigeko that, no, he had this and she could sit it out but then he was grabbed, dragged through a wall, tied up, and taken here. Becoming intangible….it hurt. Without the physical presence of his vessel his spirit…he needed that barrier between himself and the world. He needed to be able to filter out the world.

Without that barrier he had seen everything. He had felt everything. Every molecule of air, every bit of energy of the auras around him, everything. It had….felt….painful. Too much. He couldn't process it all. How could he? How could anyone process the sheer vastness of the universe?

He had felt it.

He was back in his vessel now, but he couldn't see enough. The colors that followed people, that hung in air, trailing behind people and spirits, the air, were gone. He couldn't even feel his own aura. He couldn't see if. He couldn't get anything off of anyone in that room. Nothing. Not even that other kid.

He took a few deep breaths. How many people were around him? He couldn't tell. Where was he? He couldn't tell. He didn't realize how much he relied on his powers, how much they really told him about his surroundings, until they were gone. He could feel himself breathing funny. His knees were drawn to his chest. He needed to feel small, to feel safe. He needed to be safe. He wasn't safe. He was alone. So alone. The most alone. Where was Shigeko? Shigeko. Mob. She was….he couldn't feel her.

She had burned, bright as a star, before. When she was upset. When she just was, when she was just existing, she was a neon sign. All pinks and blues. When they were together she was bright, colorful, burning. He could look out the window from any point in the city and if he focused he could at least vaguely feel her, there, hovering. Existing. Existing there in the world. A star. A burning star tumbling down to Earth. He couldn't feel her, or see her, no matter how much he tried.

He couldn't even feel himself. He closed his eyes. He heard the door to this white, endlessly, white, room open.

"Sorry about that, you guys, but you're heavy." Oh. It was a kid's voice. Teru doesn't open his eyes. He doesn't want to. When they're closed then the void, the void that was this room, made sense. Like he was nothing. Like he had returned to nothing. He had come from nothing, right? He hadn't existed, but then he did. Was this what nonexistence felt like?

There was another guy here, another kid. Teru had heard his voice. Without the ability to see auras, to see all the invisible energy of the world, he didn't know much else. He couldn't, no, wouldn't open his eyes. He didn't because he just could deal with how **blind **he was. The kid had just come in like it was nothing. Come into this void this terrible void. Teru could feel himself starting to cry. He didn't. He couldn't. He had to be strong for Shigeko. Wherever she was, whatever she was. She was his reason, now. He needed….he needed….he wished that he could just **see.**

"Hey, it's alright. Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." Said Sho. That guy was freaking out, Sho didn't blame him. This room, he used to even have trouble in rooms like this.

"I can't-I can't-" said Teru. He could see, but he couldn't. He didn't….he couldn't….he just….it was just-it was too much and too little at the same time.

"Hey, it's OK. This room just cancels out powers, that's all. You're fine. You're going to be fine. Here, open your eyes." Said Sho. This guy was coming apart, too, like the girl had. These 7th Division morons were wasting all the good talent. This guy was powerful, and he had real potential.

"N-No. I can't." said Teru screwing his eyes shut. He could….he couldn't feel this person but he knew that this person was there. He could hear the voice, feel the warmth of another human being.

"I was afraid, too, the first time I was in one of these rooms. It's alright. You just have to open your eyes. Here, I'll untie you, too. I bet that's pretty uncomfortable." Said Sho as he began undoing the knots that held the blonde kid together. The other two kids were still passed out. Nobody would attack him, without having been in a room like this a lot of espers were too freaked out to do much of anything.

"See? Isn't that better? Now c'mon, you've got to open your eyes. Keeping them closed will only make it worse." Said Sho trying to pull the guys hands from in front of his face. Oh. He was crying too. He was saying a name. Shigeko? That was a girl's name, right? It was. Sho glanced behind him. Well that was either crazy girl or red haired girl.

"I can't-I-I-I can't. I can't!" said Teru. He tried but he couldn't feel anything. He couldn't see anything. He felt so, incredibly, alone. An island unto himself. Not an island. He couldn't even feel himself. Alone. Alone. Alone. Alone.

"You! Trainee! Get away from the prisoners!" Oh. It was that jerk again. Sakurai. Sakurai the wannabe samurai.

"Don't tie them up like this, you'll just freak them out. You want them to join us, right?" said Sho standing up and going back to his chair. That blonde guy didn't really look like he wanted to be bothered. Everyone dealt with sense death in their own way.

"You're overstepping. I'm blunter than the others. Don't forget that you're just a trainee." Said Sakurai. The greed, the impudence, of youth. This kid had walked in thinking that he was hot stuff, he'd be put in his place soon enough.

"I'm just saying, these guys are pretty powerful. Don't make them go crazy. I think Muta really messed with the girl's mind….however much of it was left." Said Sho. This made Teru open his eyes. He could see it, the blinding whiteness. He kept his eyes opened, he had to. A girl. Shigeko was a girl. He couldn't feel her!

"Hi! Hey, it's alright, don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." Said Sho. For a moment he tried to pour calm intent, friendliness, and happiness, into his aura. Heh. He didn't have one in here. He had to communicate like the regular people did.

"Where…where…where…." Said Teru trying to make words. Everyone, even regular people, had either an aura or at least spiritual presence. He could feel neither from the guy he was looking at. It was…it was like looking at a mannequin, or a corpse, come to life. It was disconcerting. Unpleasant. Scary, even.

"You're in a special room designed to negate powers. I'm Sho, that guy over there is Sakurai. I don't know who those two passed out guys are, but I bet they'll be happy to meet you, too. I don't know who those two passed out guys are, but I bet they'll be happy to meet you, too. You're alright, nobody's going to hurt you." Said Sho trying to put into words everything he would pour out into his aura.

"Shigeko….where's…." said Teru trying to make words, to make sense of where he was. Of even what he was. His vessel was still there. He was still tangible. He touched the floor. Even touch….even touch was wrong without his powers.

"Shut up you-!" started Sakurai. Sho held up a hand to shut him up. Honestly, this guy….

"Who's Shigeko? What's she look like?" asked Sho. This guy was freaking out less, that was good. These guys were pretty strong, they'd probably end up being recruited to headquarters. Dad would be so proud.

"Warm. Sunshine. Star shine. Neon. Blue. Pink. Happy. Angry. Cold. Smiles." Said Teru trying to put Shigeko into words. That was what she was, what he could remember she felt like.

"No, I mean physically. Powers don't work in here. What does she look like, this Shigeko? With eyes not auras?" Said Sho. It paid to be nice, that was how dad got some of his best lieutenants.

"She-She has black hair….brown eyes…." Said Teru picturing her in his mind. These weren't the things he noticed about her. These weren't the things that mattered about her.

"Well, yeah, we're in Japan. What else about her? Was she wearing a green hoodie and bright purple pants?" asked Sho looking over at the girl he had carried in, the one who seemed really into Evangelion judging by the nonsense she was screaming.

"Yeah…yeah…Shigeko's…wearing my clothes." Said Teru. What was she wearing? Why did it matter? He took a few deep breaths. He was alive. He was alive. He hadn't been reduced to nothing. He was alive and in his vessel.

"Is she your girlfriend or something?" asked Sho. The guy in the uniform was starting to wake up but the girl was still passed out. She wasn't dead, though, so that was good.

"Yeah…I love…she's mine…" said Teru still trying to get his breathing under control. There's someone else in here, with a sword. It looks like it's made of plastic. The floor is…it feel weird. There are…those are other people. One is…one is in a school uniform….the other is a riot of color. Green. Purple. Shigeko.

"She's alive, I can tell you're freaking out. Here, let me try and wake her up." Said Sho before that guy could start screaming. He walked over to the girl, the blonde guy followed him. He still looked pretty out of it.

"Don't you think that's a little dangerous?" asked Sakurai. This kid needed to learn his place, and the suffering caused by his mistakes would be his teacher. In this room nobody's powers worked, but brute strength sure as hell did, and the kid was outnumbered.

"Shouldn't you be out there playing with your sword?" asked Sho dismissively. He points to the girl and kneels next to the guy. He grabs the guy by the shoulder and shakes him.

"Hey, you guys, can you wake up now? C'mon, you're safe here." Said Sho shaking the guy, not hard enough to hurt him though.

"Shigeko….hey…..are you….are you Shigeko….?" Asked Teru. He touched her arm, her face. She felt like a corpse. He cried, a little, because she well and truly felt dead. Her chest was moving, though, and he could feel her heart beat. Nobody was home, though.

"Hey….hey! Get away from me!" yelled Ritsu as he woke up. Sho took a step back. This guy really was something. He wasn't the least bit freaked out at being cut off from his powers, his other sense. He was standing up and talking like normal.

"Hey, I'm Sho, remember? I kicked your ass earlier?" asked Sho trying to look friendly. Ritsu stared at him. Yes…he remembered. There were other people here, another guy with a scar and….was that….

"Sister!" screamed Ritsu throwing himself down at his sister's side, pushing her boyfriend away. Her boyfriend didn't even react. He looked….he looked like he wasn't seeing anything. His eyes weren't focused. Ritsu tried to call on his powers to break down the walls and escape. Great. They weren't listening again. Just wonderful.

"She's not…." Said Teru. He was sprawled out on his back. He couldn't catch himself. The floor felt weird. The other guy, Shigeko's little brother, Ritsu, felt weird too. Teru tried to sit up. He felt heavier than usual.

"Wake up! Wake up! C'mon….you;ve got to wake up…." Said Ritsu shaking her. He could feel her breathing. He checked her pulse. She was still alive. He shook her again and her eyes fluttered.

"We are….I am…." Muttered Mob as she came back to the waking world. Was she? No. This was a dream. She couldn't see anything. She couldn't feel anything. She was so heavy. Something was touching her. She opened her eyes. The world was so dull.

It felt like nothing.

It sounded like nothing.

It tasted like nothing.

It smelled like nothing.

It tasted like nothing.

She laughed.

"Nothing…nothing….I'm nothing! This is nothing!" laughed Mob. She couldn't feel the other Shigeko. Not the buzz of her power, not the constant push of her will. Nothing. She couldn't even see her own aura. She wasn't a spirit, she wasn't dead. She was still alive. Was this life? Could this be called life? This never ending whiteness. There were people around.

"Shigeko…big sister…." Said Ritsu. This wasn't an explosion. This was….she was rocking back and forth and laughing. Had she….had she finally…..was she….

"You look like Ritsu. You look like Teru." Said Mob between laughs. Ritsu reached over to touch her but pulled back. She felt wrong. The energy around her….it was gone. She…this wasn't right…..

"I am Ritsu. That is Teru. You're Shigeko." Said Ritsu. Mob shook her head.

"I'm Mob. Mob, Mob, Mob, Mob, Mob, Mob!" she laughed. Shigeko was gone. Ahe was gone and all the feelings that made up her existence were just there and floating around in her mind and oh! There were so many of them and oh! She couldn't….where were her powers?! Paper. She bit her arm.

"Stop that! Shigeko! You're going to hurt yourself!" said Ritsu pulling her arm away from her mouth.

"Shigeko's not here right now!" laughed Mob. Shigeko was gone, there was only Mob. She laughed and laughed. She laughed until tears streamed down her face. Ritsu moved away from her. Teru moved closer.

"You…you're Shigeko. Remember. I'm Teru…that's your brother, Ritsu. We found him. Remember? We were trying to save him." said Teru pulling himself together. This room nullified powers. He was still Teru. He had still retained himself. He hadn't returned to nothing like he had thought. He was still Teru, he had to remember that. Even without his powers he was still Hanazawa Teruki.

"No you're not! I can't see either of you! I can't see anything! It's all wrong! Paper! Paper dolls!" screamed Mob. Teru held her close. It felt wrong. He couldn't feel her, not really, but this was still Shigeko and Shigeko loved him and she loved to be held.

"No. We're not paper dolls. Shigeko, you need to think. This room takes away powers. That's all. What did you tell me, before? That we're more than our powers?" said Teru rubbing her back like she liked. She had stopped laughing.

"Alone….I'm finally alone….so alone…." Muttered Mob. He smelled just like Teru. Without an aura…but the soap was the same. The smell, the physical smell. But burned, sort of. But still nice.

"No, you're not. I'm here and so it your brother. Ritsu! Say something." Said Teru. There were other people in the room, but they didn't matter. Just Shigeko. She was all that mattered.

"Ritsu is….Teru is….loss. I experienced loss. I obtained loss….." muttered Mob. Ritsu put a hand on her head.

"Sister…it's me. You didn't obtain loss. You don't want to obtain loss, trust me. I'm here, your boyfriend is here, you didn't lose anyone. We're here, we're all here for you." Said Ritsu. Sister…his sister. This was all his fault. He had brought this upon her.

"You're….you're here? You're here but you're not. No. I can't **see **you. I can't see you at all. You look like you….you sound like you….but you aren't really you. Your colors are…gone. All the colors are gone. My whole world….is ending. It all comes tumbling down….tumbling down….tumbling down….." said Mob. The world was gone, different. White. Dull. She couldn't feel a thing. Not the people around her, not the life in the world, not even herself.

"What does she mean she can't see!" asked Ritsu alarmed. He waved his hand in front of her face. She blinked.

"You haven't had your powers for very long. You don't…you aren't used to them. You aren't used to how…he **we **see and feel. She's….it was weird for me, waking up, without being able to see and feel anything but for her….for all the power she had….she can't stay in this room." Said Teru. He could have easily broken through this room, if he had his powers, but he didn't.

"It's making her crazy?" asked Ritsu. Shigeko was still muttering about things tumbling down. That was from something….he couldn't remember what. She was alternating between laughing and crying.

"….this whole day is making her crazy." Said Teru touching her face like she usually liked. She just….what was this? Today her entire moral structure had fallen apart, she had to do terrible things that conflicted with who she was as a person, she had to merge with that terrible thing inside of her, and she had gotten beaten up so many times…..and he couldn't protect her. He had failed her. He was a terrible boyfriend.

"…..I'm sorry." Said Ritsu quietly. This was his fault. He had….he was the one who had drawn attention to himself. He was the one who had gotten himself kidnapped. They….they had gotten into the middle of this fight. HIS fight.

"I know." Said Teru. She was laughing now. She was laughing and he held her. He shushed her and kissed the top of her head. Ritsu turned away, both in shame and because he felt like he was witnessing something private.

"Let us out of this room right now." Said Ritsu turning to face the spikey haired kid. What was his name, Sho? Sho.

"Yeah, sorry, no. You guys are pretty special, you're going straight to headquarters." Said Sho with a shrug.

"Let my sister go! She's going crazy in here! Just take me!" said Ritsu. Shigeko was looking at him.

"Ritsu….don't hurt Ritsu…don't!" screamed Mob. She screamed and screamed until she wasn't even making words anymore. Teru tried to hold her but she thrashed. She thrashed and she screamed. She screamed until she tasted blood and she kept screaming.

The more the Reigen saw the more disgusted he was. These people were seriously talking about taking over the world. They were like children playing pretend. They had been told that they were part of an organization that would take over the world with psychic powers. It was like something out of Mob's cartoons. No, Mob had better taste than that.

Cells.

Awakening chambers that looked like something out of a horror movie.

Stupid uniforms.

A bunch of what were adults following him around like, no, not like Mob. Mob hadn't followed him around like that since she was little. Well, more little.

He kept his act up. He kept up the confidence. They wanted a boss, so he was their boss. He would be their boss until he found Mob. She was here, in this terrible place. She was here and alone and afraid. She was somewhere, but he couldn't feel her. He had gotten a feel of her energy when he came into this place, it lingered for a while wherever she was. He had felt a burst of it, too, the nothing. He was worried. It didn't show. What was it, in the song from that movie Mob used to like? She had watched it in English as a class assignment. Oh yeah, conceal, don't feel. Great, now he was quoting kid princess movies. Thank God Mob wasn't still into those.

No. If Mob was alright he'd take her home and watch whatever she wanted. They'd eat whatever she wanted and do whatever she wanted. If she was alright then tomorrow would be Mob's day. He'd do whatever she wanted and he'd make her happy and he'd make it up to her that he couldn't protect her from this terrible place.

"That's it, boss. That's all the holding cells." One of the lackeys said. Reigen clenched his fist.

"So this is the last possible place that a prisoner could be kept?" asked Reigen. The crowd murmured again.

"Well there's also the power nullification room, but we aren't allowed in there." Said the lackey. Reigen felt his blood run cold. Nullification. Power nullification. Mob.

"Take me to it." Said Reigen. More murmurings. He gave them his best Master Reigen look, the kind that stopped Mob in her tracks on the rare times when she didn't listen to him.

"But we aren't allowed." Said the lackey

"I'm giving you permission." Said Reigen. There were murmurings but he was led down let another identical corridor until he got to a large metal door. He pressed his hand to it. It cold. Then he heard it. Screaming. Deep terror screams. A girl. Mob.

"Open the damn door!" said Reigen grabbing the lackey by the front of his uniform. The door opened, too slowly, much too slowly. As soon as he could get through it he did. Mob was on the ground, screaming.

"Reigen!?" said Teru and Ritsu at once. There he was. Grey suit, pink tie, yellowish, orangeish hair. Cocky look. Underserved swagger. That was how they both saw Reigen Arataka, the Reigen Arataka in their minds. To them he had swaggered in, imposing, and ready to set everything right. He had saved them, but he shouldn't have been the one to do so. Jealousy was a difficult emotion to let go of.

"What the hell is going on in here?" asked Reigen. In contrast to how they saw him, there was the way he saw himself at that moment. A scared man. A scared man shaking in a cheap suit, in need of a haircut, and with several decades taken off his life in the instant he saw Mob, his Mob, there, screaming. He stepped into the room and felt something wash over him. He stumbled. It was like the world had gotten a little duller, somehow.

"Shigeko! She-She can't be in here! I think-I think she and that-that thing-" said Teru before Shigeko was torn out of his arms. The crowd of lackeys was murmuring again. The guy with the katana tried grabbing Reigen but got punched in the face, hard. There was a crack. The kid was standing off to the side, he looked amused if anything.

"Mob, you've got to calm down." Said Reigen as he carried her out of the room. Someone tried to stop him, so he acted purely on instinct and punched the guy out. Mob was clinging to him, her face was buried in his suit. He pulled her out of the room and put her on the ground.

"Mob…calm down. I'm here. Master Reigen's here. You're here. You're…you're going to be alright." Said Reigen taking in the sight of her. Bruises. A lot of bruises. Splotches of yellow and grey. Her lip was split but healing. She had a black eye, it was healing too. She wasn't screaming. No. Now she was just talking nonsense. He got down on the ground with her and held her. There. He could feel her, again. That energy she carried with her. There. She was grasping at his suit coat, now. Her other hand was tangled in his hair.

"Master…..Master Reigen….it….it hurts….it huts so much….alone….I'm alone…." Said Mob. Reigen rocked her back and forth, not caring that he had an audience. He was there. He was there and she was there. He felt something burning. It was a sharp, continuous pain. He didn't care. He still held her, still rocked her. She was small. So small.

"You're not alone, Mob. Shigeko. You're not alone." Said Reigen, still rocking with her. He patted her hair, he rubbed her back. Anything to sooth her. Would she explode? He could feel the energy, the pressure, burning. If she exploded then so be it. He wasn't letting her go.

"Is this real? The world….the colors. The colors are back. I see-I see-I see you. Yellow." Said Mob, her hands grasping every part of him she could. She could feel him. She could see him. She touch him, smell him. She could hear him. Real. The world was real again. Colors everywhere. Feelings. Impressions. The people around her. They weren't paper. She could see their depth. She could see everything. She could feel everything. She could feel the energy pooling within her, her negative emotions pooling with them. Her strong emotions. They took shape within her. They pooled and pooled until they formed the other Shigeko. Yes. She was back too. Her anger. Her strength. She hadn't obtained loss at all. No. She had…those colors. Those feelings. Teru. Ritsu. They were there too. She hadn't lost them. She wasn't alone. The people she loved….she was surrounded by the people she loved.

"I see you too, Mob. I see you too." Said Reigen. He could hear the crashing around him, the yelling. Someone almost slammed into him. Part of the wall gave way. He held Mob tighter. She needed to be alright. That's what mattered. She needed to be alright.

"Reigen! A little help!" said Teru. He felt so much better immediately after leaving that terrible room, and now it was time to fight. The weaklings went down easily, in numbers they were powerful but one good hit and they couldn't form a cohesive group. The kid had run off somewhere, now he and Ritsu were trying to deal with the katana guy.

"Fuck that! We're running away!" said Reigen. He picked Mob up and tried to carry her. She wasn't moving.

"No. We can't." said Mob simply. They couldn't just run away. No. These people weren't going to give up. She needed….sometimes it was ok to fight. This was self-defense. She had felt loss, experienced it, and obtained it. She never wanted to feel that again.

"I'm the Master and you're the student! I'm the adult here and I am ordering you to run away!" screamed Reigen trying to drag her. She wasn't moving. She stared at him. Suddenly the wannabe samurai was suspended in the air.

"Don't point that at people." Said Mob, her voice distorted. The katana flew out of the guy's hands and imbedded itself into the wall.

"We are going home right now!" said Reigen grabbing her by the hand. It hurt. Touching her hurt. There was just so much energy coming off of her. It hurt. He didn't care. Mob had no clue what she needed. Mob was just a kid. He was the adult and what he said she had to obey because he was only acting in her best interests. Oh God, he sounded like his mother…..his mother had a point, all those times she said no. She had a point just like he had a very good point right then and there. These people were crazy, and it was impossible to fight a crazy person because there was no winning in that fight. He knew that he couldn't go as far as to seriously injure or murder someone but he had a feeling that these people might.

"Nobody's going anywhere." Said a figure dressed in all black wearing a mask and joined by a tall bald man with giant, unnecessary shoulder pads, and a guy caressing a jar covered in stickers. Reigen would have laughed if he wasn't afraid for Mob's life.

"Master, stand back. You're a spirit specialist, you'll just end up getting hurt." Said Mob as she stepped forward. Reigen tried to pull her back but it was like trying to pull a tree out of the ground with his bare hands.

"Shigeko! Wait!" said Teru rushing to her side. Mob pushed him back. She didn't want anyone else she cared about to get hurt. They could run away, she would have to protect them. She had to do it. She had to.

"Sister! Stop!" said Ritsu trailing after them.

"Wait! All of you! Just run away!" said Reigen. They wouldn't listen. He was…he was powerless to stop them. Even Mob. Why was she being so stubborn? He could only watch as something brought her to her knees. The floor began to give under her. Pink and blue energy lashed out in all directions, followed by gold and dark blue. The other two were brought to their knees. Reigen had to do something.

"Anti-esper drop kick!" said Reigen as he drop kicked the esper in the mask as hard as he could. His leg hurt a little, honestly. He had to do something, he had to be something. He had to be the Reigen Arataka that Mob saw him as.

"Master Reigen….." said Mob as the crushing pressure left her body. Her energy barrier flared for a second before she called it back.

"Mob. Tell me something? Were you going to use your powers against another human being?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"You said that self-defense was alright." Said Mob staring down the other two espers. They were sizing this group up. A man who felt powerless, two boys with potential, and a girl…what was that girl. A two colored aura, one which moved in fractals. Duality. Conflict. But power. Contradiction. That should have…the contradiction within her should have made her too unstable….but she had withstood the full brunt of Ishiguro's power…not only that but she had also used her power to protect the other two…

"I also told you to run away!" said Reigen. Mob stood her ground.

"I don't want anyone else I love to get hurt." Said Mob. He watched her eyes. Pain. Fear. She was too stubborn, he believed her mother now, to back down. She had been pushed to this point. Mob, the girl who called herself a pacifist, who had come through the door sobbing because she had hit someone with her powers was standing there ready to fight for her life…for everyone's life….

"Mob…you feel this cornered?" said Reigen. He reached over and held her face. She nodded, holding his gaze.

"Master Reigen….I don't want this." Said Mob quietly. She didn't want to become this thing, this terrible thing. She could feel her powers, the other Shigeko, under her skin just waiting to come out. Self-dense still hurt.

"This must have been so rough on you." Said Reigen quietly, still holding her face. She was so small, so very small. Her face…she was hurt. She was scared. She was just a scared kid. He looked around. The others were scared too. These were just kids. He was the adult here.

"Mob, I need you to leave these guys to me." Said Reigen. He could buy them enough time to escape, if anything. Hopefully he could talk these guys down, but if not, they could still get away.

"No….Master. You're not strong enough." Said Mob. She was too scared to even appreciate the closeness between them. Reigen patted her on the head.

"Don't underestimate your master Mob. I thought that you were a better student than that." Said Reigen. He reached into his pocket and got the hundred yen coin he had on a string.

"Reigen! You'll be killed!" oh. It was the blonde kid, Mob's boyfriend. He was an OK kid, Reigen decided. Mob deserved to be happy. He wished that he could have seen how it went with the two of them. Maybe they'd make it.

"Are you crazy!?" Heh. The little brother. Hopefully he got out of his asshole phase soon. Some people never grew out of it. From what Mob said he was usually a pretty nice kid. That was good, hopefully he went back to being nice, for his sake and Mob's.

"Master Reigen! Please…" Mob. Her voice cracked at the end there. Poor kid. She needed to start running though. She needed to start running soon if she wanted to have a chance. They had a good run, the two of them. Best friend he ever had. He watched her. He hoped that he lived up to even half of what she thought of him.

"I'm sorry you felt so cornered. I'm sorry that I wasn't here for you." Said Reigen. The hundred yen coin was in his hand. He knew what he would do. He had no scruples about fighting dirty.

"You guys make me sick!" said Reigen addressing the espers. They eyed him curiously. He felt like he had almost no power to him, his aura was barely colored. He barely registered.

"Confrontation is the hardest thing for her, especially with **adults **who should know better. Seeing this girl, who works so hard every single day **not** to become this sort of person, turn into something she hates just….it just pisses me off!" said Reigen. Mob watched him. She watched him march off to fight for her. She couldn't stop him. She could use her powers to drag him away but….she could feel him. She could feel him so clearly. He wanted to do this with every fiber of his being.

"Stop stressing out my student! Since you are all so hell bent on fighting then how about you fight me!?" said Reigen. Run, Mob, runaway while you still have the chance.

"You're going to fight us on your own?" asked the big bald guy with the crap on his head that Reigen couldn't see the point of.

"Guys, let me tell you something. You're not supposed to harm others." Said Reigen getting back into character. The easy swagger, the showmanship. This was how Mob needed to remember him. This was how she wanted him. This was the version of him that existed in her mind.

"But drop kicks are OK?" muttered Teru. Was he actually powerful? Could he even be so powerful that he could hide his aura? Was that why Shigeko called this man her master?

"If you won't listen then I'll have to fight you. I'm the adult here and I'm not going to let you fight these kids. So c'mon let's see what you've got? But first, why don't you get a look at my hypnosis?" asked Reigen pulling the coin from his pocket.

"What? How foolish." Said the man. Reigen held his gaze.

"Watch the coin. Watch it swing back and forth, back and forth…." Said Reigen as confidently as he could.

"He actually has powers?" muttered Ritsu. Well then that would explain why his big sister was always following this guy around.

"Now as you watch…..hypnosis punch!" said Reigen as he hit the guy as hard as he could. Good. Now that they were shocked he could….oh crap. He felt himself being pulled forward.

Teru might not have liked the guy but he wasn't about to let Reigen get killed in front of Shigeko. He looked toward her. Her hair wasn't acting up, but her aura was. That thing, that terrible thing, that lived inside of her wasn't lashing it….it was planning something….?

"Hey!" said Reigen as he was dragged across the floor. There was a clink of metal. Oh. That guy had his katana back.

"Say hello to Jugan!" said Sakurai as he swung towards the man. Someone was trying to get Jugan out of his hands. Ha! As if he would make that same mistake twice!

"Seriously!" said Reigen. Crap. Well then. He hadn't bought them time at all. He had…he had royally messed up.

"Come out my little ones. Let's see how you face off against all the evil spirits I've nurtured!" said Matsuo releasing some of his pets. Reigen stood up and grabbed Mob, pulling her away. She was limp down, like a doll. He snapped his fingers in front of her face. She wasn't responsive. Touching her hurt, too.

"Knock it off! They're just kids!" said Reigen putting Mob behind him. She was standing, just limply. Crap.

"Ethereal Bodies technique. I can freely exit my physical body and even clone my ethereal form." Said Muraki as he surrounded the group.

"Listen to me! These are children!" said Reigen. Shit. Hell. Damn. Fuck. Son of a bitch. He just made things worse!

"Maybe I'll get a little angry. Black orbs. Their varying gravity swallows up and rips apart everything they touch!" said Ishiguro conjuring up several orbs of varying density. Reigen felt himself shaking as he kept Mob securely behind him. Well. This had well and truly backfired. He could win verbal arguments easily but that was against normal people. This deranged group of misfits had somehow gotten stuck somewhere in childhood. How did they even get to the point where kidnapping children and fighting to the death with them was even a thing!

His plan had backfired. He has made everything worse. He had underestimated these people, these people who were seriously going to fight a group of middle school kids. Mob. He needed to keep her safe. She wasn't safe. She was….they all were….

"Mob! We're getting out of here!" said Reigen. He tried to pick her up but she had rooted herself to the ground again. The next thing he knew he was being pulled back, hard. He suddenly saw gold and felt a pull in the opposite direction.

"Shigeko! Help me! He's heavy!" said Teru. She was standing there. Her eyes seemed…asleep. She was rooted to the ground. Was she….was she forgetting reality again? Was that thing taking over? Did she pass out? He tried to clear his mind and focus on saving Reigen. He heard a scream. Shigeko's little brother was pinned down under his barrier.

"Hey! I don't want to be sucked into a black hole but I don't want to be ripped apart either!" said Reigen. So this was what it must have felt like to be put up on the rack. Heh. Maybe he'd get taller. Gallows humor. The orbs suddenly disappeared.

"Maybe I went too far." Said Ishiguro. Huh. He hadn't meant to do that. He let himself perceive the aural spectrum. There. The girl. She had nullified his black orbs? She hadn't even….he looked closer. She was like a black hole herself. She was absorbing the energy around her. Charging up an attack? How!? How could that much power possibly be contained within that child! It wasn't fair! She couldn't be more powerful than him!

"Ritsu! Hang on!" said Teru before the ethereal bodies attacking Shigeko's little brother were enveloped in pink and blue before shattering.

"Oh. We can just break them apart with psychic powers." Said Ritsu as he dropped his barrier. Oh. He had been afraid of seriously hurting the guy.

"Give it a try!" said Muraki. He hadn't meant to call back those bodies. He couldn't even feel them shatter, and they didn't usually shatter when they were broken to begin with! Did that man…no…the little girl. He could feel something pulling at him. His power. Was she doing that consciously?

"Shigeko! You've got to help us!" said Teru as he was pursued by the Katana guy. He moved as fast as he could but agility meant nothing when your enemy could slice the walls and floor apart!

"Mob! Don't! You need to run away!" said Reigen trying to pull her away. She wasn't budging again. Suddenly, they were surrounded by what looked like giant plush toys.

"How are we supposed to run from people trying to kill us!?" said Ritsu as he was thrown around. He had made his barrier into a bubble and was not being passed around like a pinball. He couldn't hold it for much longer.

"Crap! Mob! We're surrounded! You've got to run away!" said Reigen. The spirits suddenly retreated behind their master.

"What are you doing?! Go! What?! You're scared of her!? She's just a little girl!" screamed Matsuo, his voice grating to even himself. His spirits were disobeying him because of what?! Oh….she was leeching power? How? How could someone's vessel contain that much energy?! He could feel it from his distance. She was swallowing it all up, greedily, like one of Ishiguro's black orbs.

"Shigeko! Please! Use your powers! The ones you used before! It's alright!" said Teru as he tried to not get either cut in half or cursed, whichever came first. Oh. Crap. Why did people always have to go after his hair!? Damn it! What was Shigeko doing? He could see her, see that thing consuming her aura. He could even see it's…vessel? Whatever that white thing was. This was going to be big, whatever it was.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 99.999999999999999999999999%_

"No! Mob! Don't do this! I'm an adult so I'll deal with them!" said Reigen. He couldn't move her, she wouldn't budge. It hurt so much, being near her, but there wasn't a scratch on him. He could feel something like a tugging, but from within him. Like he was having his insides pulled out through his belly button.

"Sister! It's OK! Use that thing! The one you used on those bullies when we were kids!" screamed Ritsu as cracks began to form in hi barrier.

"Mob! Shigeko! I am ordering you to run away! Will you just stop being a stubborn brat and listen to me!?" said Reigen shaking her. His hands burned where he touched her. He could see it, cotton candy blue clinging to him with wisps of bubblegum pink.

"Shigeko! You're the only one that stands a chance! Please!" said Teru. He was getting tired. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. Why was Reigen telling them to run away? There was nowhere to run to! Claw would just keep coming after them again and again and again!

"Mob! Goddammit! Please….if you stoop to their level you'll never forgive yourself! Mob they want to kill you! You can't kill another human being! I know you! I know that you'll never live with yourself if you do that! I know that I would never be able to live with myself if I let that happen!" screamed Reigen. She. Just. Would. Not. Budge.

"Shigeko! Please! I need you!" said Ritsu. Mob's eyes began to gain some life back.

"The other Shigeko and I have been talking. We agree. We're the only ones strong enough to stop this. If we can save the people we love who cares what happens to our enemies? We have to, I have to, fight with everything I've got-" said Mob. Reigen clasped her face hard between his hands. He looked her in the eye.

"Mob. I have this. I know what I said, it's alright to fight back. That's what I said, but listen to what I'm saying now. It's OK to run away. Your life is your own, OK? Sometimes you have to run away to live and see another day. I'm here for you. I've got this." Said Reigen, reaching over to give her hair a reassuring tug. She stared at him just like she did on the day they met. Like he was the answer to all of her prayers, the culmination of all of her hopes and dreams.

"Master….." said Mob. She could feel….she felt…..she felt so _good._ All the tension, the pressure, the burn of the energy, it was gone. She felt…light.

Then Master Reigen screamed. Then he fell. Then nothing made sense.

_She's eleven again._

_The stairs are so tall. The door is so heavy. Her feet make a loud sound when she walks._

"_Hello? Can I come in?"_

_He's so tall._

"_Sure kid. What's up?"_

_He seems nice. Yellow. Maybe. Yellow hair. Yellow colors, if she squints. _

"_Umm….I'm an esper…and sometimes I have trouble controlling my powers. It's really scary. I thought that maybe you'd be like me and maybe you could help."_

_Is he scared?_

"_What?"_

_He is scared._

"_Well, come on in. Sit down, I just made tea."_

_He's so nice. _

"_Did someone tell you to come here and tell me that?"_

_He feels nice._

"_No. I saw the sign and came here on my own. I can move things without touching them, even when I don't want to. I can see spirits too, and sometimes they're mean, so I exorcise them."_

_It smells like smoking in here. Smoking and something nice._

"_You know I was troubled, too, when I was a kid."_

_He understands._

"_Uh…the thing to remember is that just because you have psychic powers, it doesn't make you any less human."_

_He's not afraid at all. He understands. He's like me. He isn't afraid I'll hurt him. He doesn't look at me like I'm a monster._

"_It's the same as people who are smart, or fast, or people with strong body odor. Psychic powers are just another characteristic."_

_Yes. He understands. Somebody understands._

"_You must embrace that part of your life and live positively. The truth behind one's charm is kindness. So just try to be a good person. That's all."_

_He tugged my braid. He didn't do it to be mean. Be a good person. I can be kind. I can be good. _

"_May I come back and talk to you, again?"_

_He could be my friend. Somebody could like me. Somebody could understand. _

"_Uh yeah, I'm not too sure about that. I'm usually pretty busy-"_

_The tea falls. Will he catch it?_

"_Look out! You'll be burned!" _

_I can catch it. He's afraid that I'll get hurt? He's not mad that I distracted him and he dropped his tea. He cares about me._

"_Whoa! Hey, uh, you said you could see spirits, right?"_

_I can do that. I nod yes. _

"_And you said you could exorcise them?" _

_I can definitely do that. I nod again._

"_Alright, come again tomorrow around the same time." _

_He….he actually wants me around?_

"_What? Really?" _

"_I'll show you just how to use your powers."_

She's fourteen again.

Master Reigen is on the ground. She can't see his faint aura. She can't see any aura, anyone's. It's not scary, though….she feels…..good?

Master Reigen gets up. Suddenly everything is going to be OK.


	16. Awakening

"I think that I'm going to hurt you." Said Mob simply. She stared Sakurai down, in his mind. In her mind she was just looking at him.

"What? I'm sorry I must have misheard you." laughed Sakurai. Now this little girl was going to talk big? She was paralyzed with fear, earlier. Whatever attack she was planning, earlier, well all of that energy was gone now. Whatever it was, it was over.

"I don't like to fight, and I tried to be a pacifist. I think that being a pacifist doesn't work, though, because everyone keeps trying to fight with me. I don't like to hurt people but I guess that I have to. Master Reigen said I could run away but you guys wouldn't let us. I'll probably have to hurt you now. I hope you don't die. I don't want to ever kill anyone, even if it is in self-defense." Said Mob. She had been talking, not with words, with herself. They decided that obtaining loss was terrible. They never wanted to feel like that again. But they hated it when people were afraid of them, like they were some kind of monster. If they didn't fight back everyone they loved would die. They had to fight back, and win.

"You? You're just a little girl. Give up now and maybe we'll show you mercy." Said Sakurai. This girl could be useful. She was powerful, but raw. The others wanted to eliminate these kids, but he had actual foresight.

"Everyone says that, that I'm just a little girl. That's all that they let me be. That's all that Master Reigen let me be. Now he's….now he's gone because I couldn't fight back. I'm going to fight back, now. I'm sorry Master Reigen." Said Mob as she tried, and tried, and tried, to use the energy that she had collected while she was talking to the other Shigeko. It was…gone?

"Shigeko…." Said Teru quietly. They would win, if she fought. They would win but….could that be called winning? Especially after….after Reigen…..Teru wasn't exactly best buddies for life with the guy, he was trying to steal Shigeko after all, but now he was….Teru had never seen someone die before. It felt…he felt a weird sort of emptiness, and pain, for Shigeko. Empathy.

"Sister, thank you." Said Ritsu quietly. They had no chance of surviving this night without her. But how was she so calm? Reigen had just….died….he was dead. He was gone and now a tsunami of stress was going to hit his sister any second now…..

"Ugh….what the hell?" said Reigen. Why was he on the ground? Did he get cut?

"Impossible!" screamed Sakurai. That man should have been split in two and cursed!

When Reigen had told Mob that she could run away, she hadn't listened. Sometimes one's convictions could override their sense. The fear, the pain, the rage, had caused a war within in. The war had come to a conclusion and, for her, it was a truce. The two sides decided to stop fighting in the face of a greater enemy and had decided to marshal as much of their forces as possible. While this power grew the fear grew as well. Fear, anger, all building up to a critical level.

"_I've got this"_

It was an uneasy truce, born out of fear, and the difference in ideals between Shigeko and Mob was still vast. Therefore, when Reigen had told her that he would take care of it, with all the confidence and conviction that he could muster, Mob was filled with a love and reverence for her kind and wise Master. The gratitude Shigeko/Mob felt for Reigen overwhelmed the collective force of their emotion and most of that energy was passed over to Reigen. In essence they both got what they wanted. Shigeko got to use her power to protect the people they loved and Mob got to run away, finally.

_Mob/Shigeko: 100% Grateful_

_REIGEN ARATAKA: 1000% MASTER LEADER TEACHER FRIEND TRUSTED_

Reigen Arataka feels like a million yen. That was weird, he could have sworn he had gotten cut. He feels the back of his suit jacket. Damn that's a big rip. He'd have to sew it up when he and Mob got home.

"Master!" said Mob. Whoa, what was with the light show? She was covered in pink and blue fractals! With a white…center? Actually, there were colors everywhere…ah! Too bright! The colors dimmed. The world was still much more…vibrant! Was it always this vibrant? Oh. Everyone was staring at him, including Mr. Katana over there.

"You really had me going there, that thing's nothing but plastic. Pre-tty clever, but how'd you manage to slice the floor?" said Reigen. He could see it now, just cheap plastic. Wait, it felt kind of gross. Ok. Now it didn't.

"H-How are you doing this!" screamed Sakurai as he swung his sword. Reigen caught it in one hand.

"Don't go swinging that thing around. Sheesh! Even Mob doesn't play with plastic swords." Said Reigen. Now that was just embarrassing. This guy was like his age. What was wrong with this guy?

"Fine! I'll just chop your damned head off!" screamed Sakurai. Reigen felt it hit his neck. He grabbed it and held on to it.

"Will you quite swinging this thing around? You'll poke your eye out." Said Reigen sarcastically. Mob was smiling. There. The look was back, the admiration. He was Reigen Arataka, world's greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. The other two were looking at him with awe, too. He had to keep this up for them, too. He was the adult here, he was in control of this situation.

"He's the real deal….." muttered Teru as he collected himself. He was so tired, he could barely stand, but he had to get back down there. He had to see….he couldn't believe…..but he had seemed so weak before? Who cares! Teru would go home that night. He would go back to his room and lay in his bed and wake up tomorrow and eat cereal and watch TV and iron his clothes and-and-and all the other things he took for granted before.

"Whoa….so he's not a liar….." said Ritsu. Wow, that was a lot of yellow. So he was hiding his powers, before…so that was what his sister saw in that guy. Ritsu felt a sense of relief wash over him Reigen was still alive, he was going to fight, he would win, and they would all be alright.

"Listen, real adults don't have time to go swinging plastic swords around! Grow up already!" said Reigen, snapping the sword like the piece of plastic that it was. Sakurai looked like a part of his soul had been snapped in half.

"Sakurai! Get out of the way! Candy! Wreak havoc!" screamed Matsuo, releasing another one of his pets. Good. The man shook in fear.

"An evil spirit! Hey Mob, help me out here!" said Reigen. Mob shrugged. She couldn't gather enough energy to. Master Reigen was strong enough to take it on himself. He was amazing. Teru threw himself over to her, ready to protect her.

"Ha! Now you'll know the ultimate suffering of-!" screamed Matsuo, his voice as grating as ever. Wait….what?

"Oh. It feels like a plushie. Kind of annoying, though." Said Reigen. He batted it away and it exploded into a shower of color. Wow. Reigen didn't even have words for some of those colors. He could feel something….he was….not physical strength. No….but like an energy. Power. He felt like he could jump over the moon.

"Don't get cocky!" said Muraki as he split his ethereal form. He surrounded the man but, immediately, he was batted away.

"I can see what Mob was saying earlier, about paper. Sheesh! No wonder you guys were trying to fight kids." Said Reigen. They came apart like paper dolls. Huh. This was…this was actually amazing. He hadn't even been trying to hurt that guy. What? Could he accomplish if he actually was trying?

This was what Mob was afraid of. This power. This strength.

He was starting to get drunk on it, the power. No. This wasn't his, this wasn't him. This was all Mob. This feeling, it was Mob. He had to remember that. He had to make sure that he remembered that this wasn't him. He looked over at the kids. They were pretty calm, calm colors. Good. He had this. He was in control of this situation.

"Master Reigen is amazing." Said Mob softly. Reigen Arataka was truly the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. He had walked into battle for her. He had almost died for her. She watched him, her eyes filling with every emotion she was feeling. She could feel the big feelings, now, because Shigeko was so dormant.

"Yeah…he is…" said Teru through his teeth. So this was what the great Reigen Arataka was hiding. This was why…this was why Shigeko cared for him….no not the power. Then what? Teru held her hand as he watched Reigen make short work of espers that Teru was honestly afraid were going to kill him. He watched Shigeko's aura. Faint, much fainter than usual, and the fractals weren't moving. More pink than blue. She was at peace.

"We can stop now, Teru. Master Reigen has this." Said Mob as she watched Master Reigen swat away more ethereal bodies. Ritsu hobbled over to them. They all stood and watched.

"So, how was your day?" asked Teru as Ritsu joined them. Ritsu shrugged.

"I've had better. Got kidnapped, escaped, beat up a lot, and now _that guy's_ rescuing us." Said Ritsu as he watched Reigen bat away super dense black orbs like they were soap bubbles. Ritsu felt…humbled. On the grand scale of things it seemed like he wasn't that powerful at all.

"This was a terrible day and I want to go to bed." Said Mob. She gasped as Master Reigen got tackled but he just stood up like it was nothing. His suit didn't even get hurt. She reached over and held Ritsu's hand. Obviously not in the same way as she held hands with Teru. That would be weird.

"Same here. I'm so glad tomorrow's Saturday." Said Teru as Reigen threw the weird woman across the room, black orbs mask woman. Teru just wanted to go back to his bed and sleep until his powers came back. His well was pretty much dry at this point.

"You can sleep over if you want, Teru." Said Mob. She needed to be near him. To be near someone. She did have feelings for him, and when he was near she felt better. Safe. Teru had gone into this terrible place with her. He had risked death for her. She loved him. Dai Suki. She loved Master Reigen too. Dai suki da yo. Or maybe that last one was how she felt about Teru. She didn't know. All she knew was that she was just so happy to be alive and to not have had to kill anyone.

"Sister, come home." Said Ritsu. Mob shook her head. Ritsu squeezed her hand.

"Ritsu. No. I'm never coming home." Said Mob flatly. She had no plans to ever return home. Well, maybe for her spare school uniform. No, wait, she had packed that. Yup. No reason to go home now.

"But why!? I'm…I'm sorry for what I did to you." Said Ritsu

"I know. I forgive you. I'm still not living in a place where people are afraid of me. You can sleep over, too, if you want. There's nowhere for you to sleep if Teru comes over. We only have a bed and a couch. Well, I can sleep on the floor if you want to sleep next to Teru." Said Mob. Master Reigen made even more black orbs disappear. That spirit collector guy was back, he was holding something.

"But…what? Why the hell not?" asked Ritsu. Living with mom and dad couldn't have been that bad, right? Mom and dad weren't mean. They were just….not there. Not there for her, anyway. It wasn't like they hit her or starved her or anything like that. He watched the battle. Reigen got kicked in the head. He was still standing. Wow. That guy could really take a hit, probably because he had nothing going on in his head. No…that was mean. He was done being an asshole.

"Mom and dad are afraid of me. I'm not good at reading people but I know what fear looks like. I don't like it. I'm never going to live in a place where I make people feel fear. There isn't anything you can say that will ever make me live in a place where I make people feel fear, Ritsu. Now, are you coming over tonight? I'll sleep on the floor, there's a rug, and you can share the bed with Teru. Sleeping with Teru is pretty nice, he's a bed hog though so you should sleep as much to the middle as you can. He kicks in his sleep, too, and hugs. The hugs are nice. He smells nice when he sleeps too, people smell different when they're asleep. It an aura thing, I think." Said Mob. Master Reigen was making fun of that bald guy's outfit. He did look pretty silly, like he was trying to be a manga villain.

"That's….more than I ever wanted to know." Said Ritsu looking over his sister's head towards her boyfriend. Teru suddenly found the battle to be very fascinating. Oh. The orb woman was an old man. Huh. Well. What do you know?

"Oh. You think we had sex. We didn't. I don't know why everyone thinks that." Said Mob simply. Teru and Ritsu both wanted to disappear. Neither could meet each other's eyes. They watched the battle, even though Reigen was obviously going to win. Ritsu was happy, though. That was his sister. He missed her and her complete inability to read the atmosphere.

"Hey, look! A giant black hole is forming right over there!" said Ritsu pointing towards the battle. The old man was screaming now about how he was a God among men and he was going to make the entire world disappear.

"Thank God." Said Teru. Oh wait, no. They were being sucked in. Well, he had wanted to disappear…..He loved Shigeko but she needed to…no. She was perfect the way that she was, even if she did make the last few moments of his life socially awkward.

"Mob! Lend me your powers again!" said Reigen. Crap. He was all tapped out. Mob shrugged. Double crap. Wait, he wasn't moving. Mob's doing? Yup, pink and blue.

"They're still growing back. I can't even feel the other Shigeko. I can keep us safe though, until that guy gets tired. He's acting like he needs a nap." Said Mob as she used what little she had to root herself, Teru, Ritsu, and Master Reigen to the ground. She could use a nap, too, honestly. It must have been late. She had missed dinner. Maybe they could get late night ramen on the way home. Ritsu and Teru could come too. She'd even treat everyone, she had enough in her money jar.

"What are you so upset about?" asked Mob. This was certainly an overreaction, she thought. That weird old guy looked like he was exploding. Oh. Mob knew that feeling. But why? Master Reigen had beaten them fair and square. Besides, if they didn't want to lose they shouldn't have started fighting in the first place.

"Seriously. You're older than my father. Knock it off!" said Reigen, still stuck to the ground. Well now, this was embarrassing, for the other guy. The power was gone but now, without the threat of the kids dying, he could see how pathetic these people really were.

"Disappear! Disappear! Disappear!" screamed Ishiguro. He wouldn't be beaten by this man. This man who had tried to run away, this man who had no ambition and yet had managed to gather so many powerful pawns.

"Ishiguro! It's over!" shouted Muraki, holding onto the wall as best as he could, his shoulder pads flying off. He really did look ridiculous….

"Stop it! I'm sick and tired of fighting!" said Mob. She could feel her power returning. She was pulling it from the black hole, filling the cup that was her powers. The black hole began to fade away.

"How! How are you doing that! Someone this skilled cannot still exist in this world!" screamed Ishiguro as he pointed at the man, the man who had tried to run away. Who had reduced his black orbs to nothing.

"That just now? That was Mob's doing. How many times are you going need to get your ass kicked before you quit?! Seriously! You're stressing her out, and she doesn't need it!" said Reigen. He had to give her credit where it was due. He didn't give her enough credit. He could see it, if he tried hard enough. He could see Mob swallow up all energy from that black hole. Eating it. Drinking it up like a glass of milk. Nobody else was doing that...could they, even?

"No! I reject this! I won't lose to you! I am special! I am a gift to the world! I am filled with ambition and with my powers-" said Ishiguro before a calm, placid, even bored voice cut him off.

"You're wrong. Psychic powers don't make you special. You're human just like anyone else." Said Mob making eye contact, the way that you were supposed to when you were talking to someone specifically. She felt bad for that guy, kind of. He relied on his powers so much he never grew up. He was acting like she did when she was really, really little.

"See, there you have it." Said Reigen. Yup. Mob still got it. He was glad, actually. She was still Mob, his Mob.

"Yes…we should just go back to being commoners." Said Muraki. Reigen turned to gawk at him.

"Listen to yourself! We're all commoners! I am, you are, they are, even she is! She's a commoner the same as us and she's the most powerful person here!" said Reigen. Jeez! What was with these people? He understood the drive to feel like someone but you actually had to work at it.

"But Claw is a noble-" started Mukari. Obviously compared to this group he was a commoner, he had been beaten soundly and he knew to submit in the face of overwhelming power.

"We're all human, the same as anyone else! We're only human, you guys don't realize this yet! You're all so addicted to your special powers that you've developed tunnel vision! You're plotting world dominating when you haven't even seen the world! Don't make me laugh! You're like a bunch of kids! No, wait! Those are kids and they have more sense than any of you!" said Reigen. Mob smiled up at him. Teru glared.

"Don't you lecture me on my place in society when you've only seen it's good parts!" screamed Sakurai. He pulled out his air gun and fired. A barrier, pink and blue, appeared around the man.

"Seriously? More toys? Grow up already! Mob doesn't even play with toys anymore!" said Reigen grabbing the toy gun and tossing it over his shoulder.

"You think that you can lecture me about society? You think that, after the life you've lead, you can say anything to me! A warm home, mother's cooking, I had none of that! From the moment I was born I was alone! I had nothing but my powers! I was terribly bullied at the world, so I cursed the world! It was the only way I could survive!" said Sakurai. Reigen looked at him, stone faced. Reigen felt for the guy, he really did, but hard life or not it was no excuse to go around kidnapping and trying to fight and kill **children.**

"Stop looking at me like that!" said Sakurai. Reigen shook his head.

"We're similar, you and me. It's been a hard twenty eight years. My parents weren't the best either. One time when I was in fourth grade I forgot to tell them that it was sports day at school and I was the only one without a lunch." Said Reigen. His father had been out all night with his 'work friend' and his mother had been crying and breaking things. He hadn't wanted to bother any of them, but he's not going to say any of that. He was just a kid then, he had to be a man now and put all of that behind him.

"Hey…that not at all the same! That was your own fault. Why even bring it up !" said Sakurai

"So that we could bod over stories of how lonely we were as boys." Said Reigen with a shrug. Wow. Samurai guy looked pissed.

"You-! I-I'll put you to sleep with this cursed cologne!" said Sakurai. Reigen yanked it out of his hands like he was taking a knife from a child.

"You shouldn't go around pointing or spraying that at others. Give me that." Said Reigen. Honestly. Some people just didn't know when to quit.

"No! I reject your world view! I am special! I am a God! I will not be reduced to nothing! Disappear! Got to hell!" screamed Ishiguro as he conjured up the biggest black hole he could, so big that no vessel could contain it's energy. So big that it even pained him to create it!

"Hey, Mob? You got this?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded. She understood, now, how it worked. She could absorb power, if she tried. She could absorb it and save it for later, like having a big breakfast and no lunch. She could store it inside of herself and even give it away. Well, she wasn't too sure about how the last part worked. She knew that she could swallow up this black orb, though, she had to. She had to save the people she loved. She had to be strong.

"I've got this." Said Mob resolutely. Ishiguro stared down at that little girl. She stared back up at him. Power. He could feel it. Her vessel….her vessel was containing all of the energy…..it wasn't the man at all. It had never been the man. It had always been that child.

"Disappear!" screamed Ishiguro. In the face of overwhelming power one could either submit or fight. He chose to fight. He would not be less than to a child. She stared. She stared and she stared and she stared.

"No." said Mob simply. She took the energy she was taking in and pushed it through and out of herself. She could feel herself healing. She could feel plant life coming in through the floor, the walls. She even threw some of it to her friends, to the people she loved. Teru was healing, so was Ritsu. Master Reigen had his hands over his eyes. She pulled away from him. He was a spirit specialist, not an esper. He wasn't used to powers like this.

"Mob…oh God…." Said Reigen as he held his head in his hands. The world was so bright, so busy, so colorful. She was lending him her powers again, right? No, this was different. He could see everything, even with his eyes closed. Colors. Feelings. Intentions. Thoughts. Then suddenly it was cut off.

"Sorry, Master." Said Mob. She looked over to Ritsu and Teru, they seemed fine. All of their injuries were healed. She had heard, once, that the body was just an engine. So if the body was just an engine then did it have limits on the amount of fuel it could take in? She didn't know if hers did, but the more she took in the harder it was to keep it together. Did other people have that problem? She could see cracks of white light appearing on her skin. She threw more of the power she took in away. There were entire tress springing up inside, now.

"Shigeko….you're amazing." Said Teru. He could feel all of aches and pains vanish. His hair even grew back. She was….she was doing all of that. She was taking in all of the energy from the rapidly shrinking black hole.

"Sister, don't hurt yourself." Said Ritsu. He wanted to help, but he couldn't. He had no idea what she was even doing. He couldn't do what she did, he could never eclipse her, and that was alright.

"I want this to be over. Just stop already. I'm not going to fight." Said Mob as she held eye contact. She watched and she watched. A black aura. Mean, pointy, and gross. Like raw sea urchin. Murderous intent. He was made of meanness. She…she wasn't. She was made of…of love. Yes. That was what she had to be made from.

"Yeah, I agree." Said Sho. Mob looked up. She saw the other boy before she sensed him. Orange aura. Annoyed. Bored. Not mean. She made eyes contact with him. He waved at her before jumping down and completely destroying the black hole.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you gramps?" said Sho as he dropped Ishiguro down through what was once he floor with the energy he redirected from the black hole. Oh. The girl was staring at him now.

"I had that. You didn't have to be mean." Said Mob simply. She stored up the rest of the energy, in case she had to defend everyone. He scoffed at her.

"You were just gonna stand there all night until one of you passed out. Pretty boring if you ask me." Said Sho. The girl still stared at him. The blond guy was holding onto her now. The guy in the uniform was making eye contact too. He took his eyes off the girl and kept them on uniform guy.

"This isn't a game, it's not supposed to be fun." Said Mob simply. The boy's aura flared a little. Not violent intent though, and at this point she knew exactly what violent intent felt like.

"You still shouldn't fight like a coward." Said Sho dismissively. Ritsu pushed him with a burst of energy. Sho let it hit him.

"Don't talk about my sister like that! She's braver than anyone-" said Ritsu before he felt something wash over him, poking at him. Gentle, though. More gentle than when he and Teru had sized each other up. Like he was being picked apart. Unwound. Unwrapped.

"If you're going to fight you should put the battle on your terms, and not hide behind others." Said Sho. This kid felt interesting. Lots of negative emotions, but a lot of love, too. He felt nice, like sitting under an electric blanket. Darn. They were naturally compatible. They could have been great friends, if all this hadn't happened.

"People shouldn't fight in the first place." Said Mob, watching him and Ritsu. Oh. Maybe they could make friends. This was just a kid, a kid like them, so maybe he could change, too. He didn't feel mean at all.

"Yeah, but they do. That's life." Said Sho, still sizing Ritsu up. That was his name, Ritsu. He didn't care too much about the girl. They had called her Mobbu? That was a weird name, Mob. Whatever. She was powerful and had assembled her own group but she lacked ambition. Still, she could have been a threat to Claw, being as strong as she was. He poked at her a bit and pulled back. Ick. Whatever he had felt it had been unpleasant. He went back under the electric blanket.

"Could you stop that?" asked Ritsu. He was still new to this whole aura thing but he was starting to get uncomfortable. It was almost like making skin to skin contact, and he didn't even know this guy. This cocky annoying guy.

"Oh, sorry. Just returning the favor from earlier. Don't go poking people's auras unless you want to be poked back." Said Sho with a smile. Teru looked between the two of them. Well. That was something he hadn't know about Shigeko's little brother. An interesting way to end the night.

"Yeah, OK, we're all friends now and that's great but we need to go home, all of us." Said Reigen. The fight was over, it was super late, and he had work in the morning. Work. Right. Life would return to normal in the morning. He felt himself shaking, just a little. Wow. That had been….he had almost….they had almost…..

He needed a smoke.

"Nobody's going anywhere!" screamed Matsuo. Reigen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Didn't these people ever quit!?

"Matsuo, it's over." Said Mukari. He had been soundly beaten, both verbally and through brute force. He knew when to quit.

"It's not over yet! I present to you, my ultimate creation! Come out, Marshmallow Candy Corn Surprise!" screamed Matsuo as the ultimate creation burst forth from its vessel….and promptly knocked him out.

"Alright! Let's do this!" said Dimple, emerging in his full form. Everyone stared at him. Dimple looked around felt a distinct air of finality hanging around everyone.

"Come on! Now that I'm at full power I can help out a hundred fold!" said Dimple. He looked to Shigeko, she shook her head.

"It's over, Dimple." Said Mob simply. Master Reigen was reaching over to touch Dimple. Oh, he was seeing Dimple finally. He must have used up enough of his powers so that he could see weaker spirits. No, wait, Dimple felt really strong.

"Is that an evil spirit….?" Asked Reigen. Dimple jumped back and shrank.

"How can you see me when I'm not in my visible mode?" said Dimple. Oh, wow. This guy finally had a presence, a strong one. Yellow aura, bright. He was taking in a lot, actually. Not stealing energy but reading it. Oh, we couldn't filter yet. Damn. He missed one hell of a fight.

"You're Dimple…?" asked Reigen. Oh. That was Dimple….Mob's spirit. He wasn't as cute as Reigen had pictured him, with a name like Dimple and all.

"Damn it! I can't believe I missed the climax!" said Dimple. He felt a wave of curiosity and fear hit him. Shigeko? No, this was trying to write to him. Shigeko just sort of shouted her feelings. Reigen?

"Dimple, I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you." Said Ritsu. He had been really mean to Dimple and all he had done was help. He was an evil spirit and he talked too much but he had still helped Ritsu when he needed it.

"You're apologizing? I'm going to savor this, you little jerk. You should be apologizing to Shigeko if anything." Said Dimple crossing his arms.

"You're right. I'm sorry, sister." Said Ritsu. Somehow apologizing just wasn't enough. He had been terrible, he had dragged everyone into this…..

"What the hell?" asked Reigen as he was hit with a wave of…what was that? His mind translated it. Greif. Sadness. Atonement. Shame. Guilt. He took a step back. That was coming from….Ritsu? What was this? Was it permanent? He hoped it wasn't.

"Master Reigen?" asked Mob. She put her hand on his arm. Reigen closed his eyes. Concern. He could feel it from Mob, see the pinks and blues that made her up dance behind his eyelids. She drowned out her brother. He leaned into her, spiritually and physically, until she drowned out everything.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Teru. Reigen didn't look well. He looked like he was going to pass out, if anything. His aura was loud, no, bright? It was too much. Teru didn't just think that because he was so close to Shigeko, either. Though he didn't like that one bit.

"It's too…it's too bright." Said Reigen. Ugh…what was this? He shook his head and controlled his breathing. He felt a burst something else. Jealousy. Concern.

"Give him some air, he's obviously not used to this level of power." Said Dimple. Well wasn't this ironic. Reigen finally got what he wanted and it ended up being too much for him. Poor guy was doing too much too soon and he couldn't regulate whatever flavor of psychic powers he got. He felt like an empath, though. That was neat. Dimple hadn't felt an empath in….well the years tended to blend together when one became a spirit.

"But Master Reigen is amazing. He's-" said Mob. Teru squeezed her hand. He had a look on his face. Mob didn't know what is was. He felt weird, too. She was too focused on Master Reigen to properly feel Teru out, to understand him. This just made the feeling worse.

"He's not used to this. Give him a minute. Hey, Reigen, calm down already! Sheesh, empaths." Said Dimple. Reigen took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He centered himself. He was there and everything would be alright. He took this feeling and held it within him. It grew and grew until he pushed it out.

"Master Reigen, I've never seen you use your powers before." Said Mob. She felt good. Calm. Placid. Her aura even shrank down, the fractals moving less violently. Teru let out a shuddery breath, the weird feeling she was getting from him disappearing.

"He's the real deal…" said Ritsu. He had seen Reigen use powers earlier, amazing ones, but then he had asked his sister to lend her his powers. This was all Reigen, though. Oh. Ritsu actually felt kind of bad about doubting the guy. A little bad, but not too bad. Reigen was still a cocky jerk, and he spent way too much time with Shigeko.

"It's…it's been a day, Mob. It's been a day." Said Reigen. He calmed himself down, the world was still vibrant but it wasn't overwhelming. What had Dimple said…empath? He had actual powers….he looked towards Mob. He could actually help her, now.

"Can we go home, Master?" asked Mob. She wanted to take a step towards him but Teru was holding her hand tight. She tried to take a step but he was rooted to the ground. She stepped towards Teru, instead.

"Yeah. We're all going home right now. That's not a problem, is it?" asked Reigen looking towards the remaining Claw members. He met no resistance.

"They're really strong." "No, we're just weak." Reigen heard this as he walked away but said nothing. He needed to get these kids home. He checked the time on his phone, surprisingly it wasn't broken. Wow. It was really late.

"I seriously can't believe I missed everything! I mean, seriously! What happened? Oh! Oh! Did Shigeko explode! How'd Reigen turn into an empath? What happened to Teru's hair? C'mon guys! Details!" said Dimple as they walked out of the Claw base. The kids filled him in, Reigen just couldn't…he didn't have anything to say, for once. The world was so big, and he was so small.

It was louder out here. Brighter. Different. The plant life...it was so green. He had to focus, focus hard on where he ended and the world began. Was this how Mob saw the world? What all espers saw the world as? He was…he was an esper. He could see spirits. He had powers….sort of. Empath. He knew the concept. Dimple had called him that. Well, he had always been pretty in touch with his emotions, he liked to think. He leaned into Mob, spiritually. He let her wash over him, he hid in her colors. It was easy. She was just so, well, loud. She took up so much space. Her colors, her energy. Little Mob. Mob who could blend into every background. Someone so small, so unobtrusive, could be so loud.

"I have no idea how to get home." Said Ritsu as Dimple regaled them all with tales of how he could have totally done everything better if he had been controlling their bodies. They were out of the building. Shigeko and her boyfriend were leading them deeper into the woods.

"I kind of remember." Said Mob as she led them to the car she and Teru borrowed.

"Mob….I've been following you." Said Reigen as he ran his hands through his hair. Alright. They were going to be wandering through the woods at midnight. Yup. Well, it wasn't exactly midnight. They still had a little bit until tomorrow happened.

"I know. The car is this way. It'll be easier to find our way home while we're in the sky." Said Mob. They could see all the roads from there. She was up to lifting the car again. She felt pretty good, actually. Well, so long as she was near other people. They kept her mind off of things. She'd be fine as long as she didn't think about it.

"Car? Sky? Mob, how did the two of you get here?" asked Reigen. He was already putting together an absurd mental picture. Teru put an arm around Mob.

"We borrowed a car and captured a Claw member so we could find this place. Shigeko carried us here." Said Teru. Mob smiled at the contact. Teru watched Reigen. He had almost died…they both had….for Shigeko? Teru knew that he had fought for her. He knew that he loved her. This had been a turning point, he thought. Going from word which meant really like to the word for the more intense sort of love that was in movies and TV. Maybe more than that. What was the word for going off into battle and almost dying for someone?

"I'm driving. Mob, I think you're great but you shake the entire building just by taking a shower. Cars are dangerous enough without flying through the air." Said Reigen. He willed himself to be calm again. He just got a massive burst of love and jealousy from Teru and a massive burst of embarrassment from Mob. She was actually pretty red. The ground around her shook.

"I trust Shigeko." Said Teru. Reigen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This kid…what was with this kid? Did he actually think…? Well then. He'd do something about that later, talk to the kid, but right now he needed to get home and have a smoke and eat an entire box of cookies and as much ramen as he could make at once.

"It's alright, Teru. My powers do sometimes get out of control. I trust Master Reigen." Said Mob. Reigen felt another stab of jealousy. He willed himself to calm down and felt his feelings reach towards everyone else. He was…oh. He retreated into himself. It was largely out of instinct. He didn't know the exact way his powers worked, they just sort of worked. Was this how Mob felt?

"Master Reigen, you're using your powers on other people." Said Mob. Master Reigen had always told her never to sue her powers on others….maybe he was just stressed. Maybe because of what happened he couldn't control his powers. He really did understand. He understood her.

"I'm sorry, Mob. It's just, well, it's been a lot today. You understand?" asked Reigen. Crap. Right. He need to take his own advice. He still needed to be the adult in this situation.

"I understand." Said Mob quietly. She did, she really did. She remembered merging with the other her. The fear. The anger. The hunger. The darkness. The things she had made them do…not that they wanted to do. Had they really? She closed her eyes. She needed to keep it together. She couldn't think about it. How it had felt….something calming washed over her.

"Mob, hey. Mob, c'mon. I'm here." Said Reigen. Teru pulled her closer. He was practically staring Reigen down. Ritsu continued to stay silent and pretend that the scenery was the most amazing thing ever. He had no urge to get in the middle of whatever that was. All he wanted to do was go to bed. Were mom and dad waiting up for him? Had they gone to sleep already? Or did they just assume he had left, like Shigeko did?

"I'm alright." Said Mob simply. She leaned into Teru. He was holding her tight. He had her. The other Shigeko was back, clawing just below the surface. She wanted to protect them. She still thought that they were in danger. Mob could…Mob could understand her, that part of her. Well, Mob understood her better. They had talked. Not with words but with feelings and ideas. Like sensing auras. She tried to tell the other her, that scared part of her, that it was over even though it didn't really feel over.

"Hey, Reigen, clam her down. Use your powers." Said Dimple

"No, I've got this." Said Mob. Yes. There. Stable. Calm. She could do this herself. She had to be able to do this herself. She had to be able to keep from losing control. She had to be able to stop herself from hurting others.

"You're doing great, Mob." Said Reigen. He could see it now, if he looked closely enough. She was literally compressing her emotions, pushing them away from the surface. He wanted to reach out, so calm her down. He had the power to do that now. Power he had just gotten and had no understanding of…maybe not wasn't the time to be messing around, actually.

They walked some more. Mob kept her breathing in check. It was too quiet, nobody was filling the atmosphere. She wished that someone would start talking. Even Dimple was quiet. Mob didn't want them to be quiet. She wanted Master Reigen to talk about, well, anything. He had a way of making even a trip to the convenience store turn into a grand adventure. She wanted to hear Teru talk about his life, the places he'd been, the people he'd known, the movies he'd seen, the clothes he'd worn. She wanted Ritsu to talk to her, about anything really. She would even take him begging her to come home again. Even Dimple being weird would be nice. She looked over towards Ritsu. He looked so tired. Everyone looked tired. She felt awake. Too awake. She had taken in a lot of energy, earlier.

Teru kept an arm around her. He had fought for her. He could have died for her. She was his and he was hers. He held onto her like a man dying of thirst held onto the first source of water he could find. He remembered it, everything. He remembered how it had felt to be stripped bare, emotionally. To know that he wasn't the strongest. To know that he wasn't the protagonist of anything other than his own life. She had taken everything away but given him something better. She had given him humility and hindsight. He knew what the Teru that everyone else saw was like, and he didn't like that guy. She had made him a better person. She was the first person to ever call him on his bullshit. She was the first person he had ever changed for. The first person he had ever really kissed. The first person he had ever slept next to. The first person he had ever let in, in his entire life even. She was the first person he had ever said he loved. She was the first person he had ever laid his life down for. He was not going to ever let her go.

Ritsu walked with his hands in his pockets. Well then. He had almost died a few times. That had happened. He had been kidnapped. That had happened. A lot had happened. It was his own fault. He had, well, he had played around with his powers. He had picked fights and drawn attention to himself. He had pushed his sister away. He had brought her into this place. She had come for him. He needed to stay calm, and to stay strong, He…he had to atone, somehow. Not just to her but to everyone he had hurt. He knew what Hanazawa meant about having some sense knocked into him. His powers didn't make him anything special, using them on people was a crappy thing to do, and he had no hope of ever eclipsing his sister and even thinking about that was terrible. Well, at least he had helped take these people down…no, that was all Shigeko and Reigen. At least the kids from the Awakening Lab had gotten away….right? They must have.

"Hey, uh, did you guys seen any other kids while you were in there?" asked Ritsu as they approached a dinged up car sitting in the middle of the woods.

"No. None at all, except for that Sho guy." Said Teru. Crap. Well, they could still go back and find the other kids….or their bodies. No, he couldn't think like that.

"Let's go back and look." Said Mob. She turned and started walking before anyone could say anything. It was obviously the right thing to do.

"Oh yeah, I found a bunch of kids when I came in. I told those minion looking guys to get them to the main road." Said Reigen. Damn. He had been too focused on saving Mob.

"Oh. Maybe they're walking then." Said Mob. Poor kids. It was a long walk, probably. It had been a long fly.

"Right. Everyone, get in. If they're on foot then they probably didn't get too far." Said Reigen. He couldn't believe he had been so irresponsible. How could he have just-

"Master. You're making everyone feel worried." Said Mob. She had never seen him lose control, before. It was….that wasn't Master Reigen. Master Reigen always knew what to do. He always had everything under control. He had even had their big battle totally under control.

"Sorry. Just my aura-" said Reigen rubbing the back of his head.

"No, it's not your aura, dumbass. You're writing to people. Knock it off." Said Dimple. Ha! Let's see Reigen talk his way out of this one. The joy might have been shameful but Dimple still loved it. He was still an evil spirit after all.

"Uh…right. Yeah, like I said, it's been a big day for me. For all of us." Said Reigen. He glared at Dimple. So that was why Mob was always telling that little glob of snot to shut up.

"Oh. That's what sharing feelings is?" asked Mob. She thought that auras just acted like that. Dimple facepalmed.

"I guess I'm the expert here! No, you can't write with your aura, just share what you're feeling. You can't tell people how to feel with your aura, Shigeko, don't try you'll just hurt yourself. You're a lot of things but obviously an empath isn't one of them." Said Dimple with a laugh. Shigeko, an empath? That girl had turned her own emotions into a sentient curse, imagine her messing with other people's feelings!

"Thank you Professor Dimple, we'll be sure to attend the rest of your lecture series in the future." Said Reigen as he opened the driver's side door. He wanted to know more, a lot more, about how any of this worked but that wasn't the person Mob or these kids needed right then.

"Master Reigen is just upset now, Dimple. That's all. Sometimes people get a little mean when they're upset." Said Mob as she sat in the passenger' side. Ritsu looked away when she said that. Of course she hadn't meant anything by it, but sometimes Ritsu forgot about her particularly straightforward way of talking.

"You can sit in the back with me, Shigeko." Said Teru. Mob shook her head.

"It's easier to see from here, Teru." Said Mob sitting next to Master Reigen. Oh. That feeling was back from Teru. Master Reigen turned to face her.

"It's alright Mob, I'll tell you where to take us. You can sit in the back." Said Reigen. He was not going to sit there and feel the jealousy radiating off of that kid the entire way home. Just no.

"Oh. Ok. Ritsu can sit in front then." Said Mob sitting next to Teru. She sat down and he immediately put his arm around her again. It was nice. He still felt weird though, but it was nice. Ritsu felt weird too. Uncomfortable. She closed her eyes and took a breath. Calm emotions.

"Yeah…sure." Said Ritsu. He sat with his knees close to his chest. He would have rather crammed himself into the back. He didn't…he wasn't the biggest fan of Reigen. Sure Reigen wasn't a fake like he had thought but…Ritsu didn't just didn't like the guy, ok?! He could like and dislike whoever he wanted to! Especially someone who had taken his sister from him.

"Alright, everyone in? Good. Mob, take us to the road, I can drive from there." Said Reigen, gripping the steering wheel as he felt the collective force of their emotion. Jealousy. Discomfort. Love. Sadness. Shame. Guilt. He couldn't think.

"Psst! Reigen! Try pulling back inside of yourself. Focus inwards." Whispered Dimple as he hovered over his shoulder. Reigen closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. It took a moment but it happened. Calm. Quiet. Space.

"I'm here, Master Reigen. We're all here." Said Mob. She knew what it felt like, to be alone. For a moment she imagined him in her place, back at the base. When she had experienced loss, obtained it. Objectively she knew that it was stupid but for a moment she had thought that he had felt the same thing.

"I'm fine, Mob. Just tired. That was a lot, even for Reigen Arataka." Said Reigen. Mob stared straight out the window but reached over and gave his hair a tug.

"_I'm here. I've got you."_

The Awakening Lab kids hadn't gotten very far at all, as it had turned out. They had flagged the car down, and were overjoyed to see the so called 'extremely kind boss of Claw'. Reigen had some explaining to do, there. From what he could feel this just further soured Ritsu and Teru's feelings towards him. He'd have to talk to both of them, eventually. Jealousy was a terrible feeling and it could make a person do terrible things.

Greetings and introductions were exchanged and it took every fiber of Reigen's being not to cry out from the collective force of all of their differing emotions. Joy. Apprehension. Fear. Relief. Pain. Hunger. Uncertainty. Love. Desire. Weariness. Dimple helpfully informs him that it'll be a lot easier with normal people. Normal people. Three million people lived in Seasoning City. Was Reigen going to have to deal with the collective emotion of the entire city? No wonder Mob was so stressed out all the time.

The next trouble came when they had to figure out how, exactly, they were going to clown car everyone in. This was a compact car and there were nine people including Reigen himself. Obviously laps were going to have to be sat on. It wasn't safe or comfortable but it was either that or some people ran behind the car. Nine people, four seats. Five if someone squished. It was people Tetris time.

Mob was willing to sit anywhere. Teru didn't want her anywhere else on his lap. So Surprising. After five minutes of them sitting together like that Reigen was ready to cover himself in salt so he could get rid of these powers. He did NOT need to know that Mob had those kinds of feelings.

The Shiatori brothers didn't mind sitting together. Thank God. These were some pretty easy going kids. Aside from Mob they were quickly becoming his favorites.

Rei had been insistent on sitting on Ritsu or Teru's lap. Well, she had backed down the Teru front when she had learned that he and Mob were together. She had ended up on Ritsu's lap, crammed into the back seat. She and Mob got to talking, or rather she spoke and Mob listened. They had already exchanged phone numbers and Friendbook friendvites. Huh. Reigen didn't even know Mob was on Friendbook.

Go and Takeshi had tried to squish in side by side in the front seat. That, obviously, wasn't going to work and eventually they learned to suck it up and be uncomfortable for a while….and boy were they uncomfortable.

It was a cacophony of not only emotion but sound. These kids could TALK, and this was coming from Reigen.

"I didn't know you had a Friendbook. I couldn't find you when I looked, Shigeko." Said Teru, trying to distract himself from the fact that she was, well, on his lap. He actually envied Ritsu. That guy was pretty much impassive. Family trait?

"Tome just made one for me so we could play games together. I'm Kageyama Mobbu on there." Said Mob, happy that there were so many people around to fill up the atmosphere.

"Here, I'll add you." Said Teru fishing his phone out of his pocket. He found her pretty fast, she was the only Mobbu in the city after all. She fished out her phone and accepted his friendvite.

"We should all add each other!" said Rei. The phones came out and Reigen was glad for the moment of emotional and verbal silence. It was broken only by rings, pings, and vibrations.

"Sorry, I don't have one." Said Ritsu. Reigen chuckled and shook his head at the sheer amount of disappointment coming off of Rei. As loud as they were these kids were adorable.

"We should start a group text then!" said Rei. Huh. Jealousy from those other two boys but nothing at all from Mob's little brother. Mob herself was as usual stone faced but underneath that placidity she was happy, well trying to amplify the joy socialization gave her. Huh. He was getting better at picking out different feelings from different people.

"Hey! Watch it!" that was Go. Lap sitting wasn't the best position to be using phones without the aid of telekinesis.

"You watch it!" said Takeshi shifting in his seat. Annoyance. Itchy.

"Guys, be nice to each other. Don't make me turn this car around." Said Reigen. O God, he really was turning into his mother.

"But Master, then how will you get home?" asked Mob. She honestly and truly thought he would actually turn the car around. There was some laughter. Mob was confused. Then ashamed.

"They're laughing with you, Mob. Not at you." Said Reigen helpfully. Joy. Relief.

"We're your friends, Mob, we wouldn't laugh at you." Said Rei. There were murmurings of agreement. Reigen felt warm inside. This was good for Mob. For Mob he would sit in this car for hours and listen to whatever these kids had to say and take on all of their feelings no matter the headache he got.

"Hey, look a dog sleeping on the side of the road." said Daichi, his brother having seen it first and having had promptly informed him. The car shook and swayed s everyone tried to crane their necks.

"I didn't get to see it. Reigen, can we turn around?" asked Rei. Reigen took a deep breath.

"Guys, it's late, and it's not like you've never seen a dog before." Said Reigen trying to keep everyone on task.

"But we haven't seen that dog before." Said Ritsu. Reigen could tell full well that he didn't give a damn either way, he just wanted to irritate him. Reigen needed to thank his mother for putting up with him when he was that age.

"Do you guys want to look at dogs or go home?" asked Reigen Oh God they were actually debating it! Reigen drove a little faster. He took a breath. It had been a stressful day and these kids needed to unwind. Still, he wasn't going to turn around so they could look at a dog.

"You're driving over the speed limit." Said Kaito helpfully. The others agreed with him.

"Sorry, sorry." Said Reigen slowing down. Relief. Worry. Sleepy. A fair bit of physical desire that Reigen was trying his best to block out.

"Master Reigen, how much longer?" asked Mob. She was happy to have made so many knew friends but it was a lot of people. A lot, a lot. She was getting a headache from trying to keep up with everything. There were also the feelings about that day that she was trying to forget.

"A while, Mob, but not too long. If you guys are tired try and get some sleep….as best you can." Said Reigen. Most of them felt sleepy. Please, for the love of God, let some of them go to sleep.

"How are we supposed to sleep like this?" asked Ritsu. That Rei girl was squirming a lot, and touching him a lot too. He got that it wasn't comfortable at all but she didn't have to squirm so much. He wished that he was sitting with Shigeko. It would have been uncomfortable but she wouldn't have squirmed. Or would it have been weird, because they were brother and sister? Or was he weird for thinking that it would have been weird. She looked happy, anyway, sitting with Teru. They were holding hands. He looked away. That was obviously not for him to stare at. Reigen took another deep breath. Right. He felt other people's feelings. This must have been rough on him.

"Well we could just lean back." Said Rei leaning back into his chest. He was so hot, and strong too. He was even much less of a jerk than he was when they met. She tried to use her clairvoyance to see if he'd go out with her next weekend. The future was unclear. Darn!

"You're crushing me." Said Ritsu. She was heavier than she looked. Teru was giving him a weird look. What was that about?

"No crushing each other." Said Reigen automatically. Mob's little brother was weird, he decided. He was what, thirteen, and he wasn't even a little happy to have a girl that close? The Kageyamas were a reserved family. Well, not Mob, emotionally. She looked as impassive as ever, physically.

"Or crushing on each other." Muttered Takeshi. Kageyama wasn't anything special. He just had good looks and strong powers and brains and….yeah Kageyama was great.

"You're crushing me, put some of your weight on your legs. I'm not a chair." Said Go. He was lighter, he should have been the one on top. At this point he was ready to run behind the car like Reigen had suggested. If his powers were stronger he could have launched himself like a rocket.

"Am I crushing you, Teru?" asked Mob. He was shifting around a lot. She was getting a weird feeling from her. He felt really warm, too. He was holding her hands really tight.

"No, Shigeko. This is fine." Said Teru. Damn, his voice broke again. If he knew where he was he could have just flown himself home. Usually this would have been great but there were so many people around, including her little brother.

"Am I still crushing you, Ritsu?" Said Rei shifting her weight yet again, trying to get him to get a clue already.

"It's not that bad." Said Ritsu. Well, she wasn't leaning back anymore at least.

"Hey, Daichi and Kaito fell asleep." Said Takeshi, pointing and hitting Go in the face.

"If you fall asleep on me I swear that I will burn this car to the ground." Said Go

"Don't play with fire." Said Reigen and Mob at once. Go was sheepish.

"I wasn't really going to do it." Muttered Go

"You couldn't set something as big as a person on fire." Said Takeshi

"Really? But fire is so easy to make." Said Mob. Go turned as best as he could to face her.

"You can make fire?" asked Go. Mob nodded.

"Not in the car, Mob." Said Reigen. Actually, he could really go for a cigarette. No, not in a car full of kids. He wasn't going to save them from Claw just to give them all cancer.

"I know, Master. I'm not a little kid." Sai Mob. Oh. She was honestly offended by that.

"Sorry, just making sure." Said Reigen. Ok, now she was less offended. Good.

"How many powers do you have?" asked Go. Mob shrugged.

"I don't know. I just do a lot of things. You guys can only do one thing?" asked Mob. Everyone started stuttering and trying to explain. Reigen rolled his eyes. He wanted to tell Mob that obviously she was pretty high up there, power wise. She had taken out the entire Claw base practically by herself.

"We can help you. It's not that hard, adapting other techniques, once you figure it out." Said Teru. Now they were all planning a meetup sometime in the future. The phones came out again and now, somehow, a Friendbook page for the Awakening Lab had been made and plans were being planned. Actually, that didn't sound half bad. A Friendbook page for Spirits and Such could drum up some new business.

They made it back to the city, but not before everyone's life story had been gone through in fine detail. Well, that was how Reigen felt at least. He had never known Mob to be that talkative with people. He needed to take a few deep, centering breaths. He needed a cigarette. The first dropped off had been the Shiratori brothers, living more towards the outer layer of the city. Next had been Takeshi, Go being incredibly relieve to have his space back. Go had practically run from the car. Reigen could feel the worry and anger from his parents as they had turned onto his street.

"Ritsu, do you want to walk me to my door. You know, to keep me safe?" asked Rei as they pulled up to her home. Reigen could feel Ritsu's annoyance. Weird kid.

"Fine." Said Ritsu. What was with this girl?

"Bye Mob, bye Teruki! Bye Reigen!" said Rei as she practically pulled Ritsu to her door. Reigen didn't have to look to know what was happening. Hope. Warmth. Joy. Annoyance. Sleepy. Confusion. Then she opened the door and he was hit with a wave of anger and worry.

"Alright, who's next?" asked Reigen. It was almost two in the morning, and he had to open the office at nine. Maybe he and Mob could just sleep in the office. He wanted to skip work but Saturday was one of the few days where he made decent money.

"I'm next, and so is Shigeko." Said Ritsu. The car rocked.

"No. I told you I'm not coming back." Said Mob. She was speaking plain Japanese. Did he want it in English, too? His English grades were better than hers, after all. His grades were better and eh was more popular and he had better control of his powers and their parents like him better. He belonged at home.

"But I want you to come home!" said Ritsu. The car rocked in the other direction.

"Guys…." Said Reigen. They survived that entire battle…only to die in a horrific car accident.

"But I don't! You need to learn to listen, Ritsu!" said Mob, the car moving again.

"Guys!" said Reigen. They weren't listening. Anger. Stubbornness. Fear. Resolution.

"You need to come home!" said Ritsu. It wasn't that bad at home, it couldn't have been. Mom and dad didn't hit her or starve her or anything.

"I don't want to." Said Mob staring him down. She was sick and tired of fighting. She wasn't going home, end of discussion.

"Everyone! Outside! Now! I am not getting crushed to death in this car and neither are you!" said Reigen, his patience finally running out.

"I'm not getting out because I'm not going to hurt us." Said Mob. Reigen took a deep breath. When did she become so stubborn? She had disobeyed him at the battle, too. Rebellious phase?

"Mob…what if I told you to go home?" asked Reigen. He felt an acute stab of pain and rejection.

"I would sleep at work." Said Mob. Was…was Master Reigen kicking her out? Was he tired of her? Was he upset because she had fought? Did he…did he hate her?

"And if I said you couldn't?" asked Reigen. She was in a lot of pain….but he had to know. He had to know just how bad things were at home.

"Then I'd live with Teru." Said Mob. Teru perked up. Well, he had no problem with that.

"And if I said no?" said Reigen. Well, that was certainly a rollercoaster. The negative emotions from Mob, the anger and horror from Ritsu, and the sheer amount of joy and excitement that Teru felt.

"Then I'd live in the park." Said Mob. She wasn't going back to a place where people were afraid of her. She was never going to make other people afraid. Besides, living with Master Reigen was nicer. The atmosphere was better, even if it did smell like cigarettes all the time.

"Mob….you stubborn…..I'm not kicking you out. You want to come sit up front?" asked Reigen with a sigh. Yeah, Kageyama Hana was right. Nobody could make Mob do something that she didn't want to do.

"Yes, Master Reigen." Said Mob. Reigen tried to keep the collective negative emotion at bay. He needed a drink.

"Sister…." Said Ritsu. Teru put his hand on Ritsu's arm and shook his head. He could feel Shigeko, read her. She was stressed out, she didn't need this. Ritsu crossed his arms and tried to bore a hole in the seat in front of him with the force of his glare.

_RITSU: 100% REJECTED_

_MOB: 100% STUBBORN_

_REIGEN: 100% HEADACHE_

Ritsu sulked the entire way home. Reigen tried to block out the negative emotion but he couldn't. Eventually he just hid inside of his head, or he tried to. Powers. Why did he have to get powers? He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Master Reigen, do you want me to drive? You don't look well." Said Mob. Well, not drive but push the car with her powers. She could see his aura. She couldn't tell people what to feel, she was trying to make him happy but instead had just made her head hurt. Dimple was right about that. She couldn't make Ritsu happy, either. The one power she wants and she can't have it.

"I've got this, Mob. Just two more stops before we get home." Said Reigen trying to smile. Ritsu stiffened and glared at him at the mention of home. Teru wasn't all that happy, either. Reigen wanted to pull over and hash this entire thing out but didn't. He wanted to go home and go to bed….er….couch. Damn, Mob still had the mattress.

"I'll give the car back, tomorrow. You''ll come too, right, Teru?" asked Mob

"Yeah, but I'm sleeping in tomorrow. It's like two in the morning." Said Teru. The weight of the day was starting to settle in on him. He was tired. He needed sleep. He wanted to go home with Shigeko, he really did, but he wanted to be in his own home and his own bed.

"Oh. Well, we'll give it back after work, then." Said Mob

"You have to work tomorrow?" asked Teru, but watching Reigen. He was going to make her work after they almost died so many times?

"Mob, you can stay home and rest tomorrow or hang out with your friends or whatever." Said Reigen. She didn't need to come in, it was all sore backs and stiff shoulders.

"But I want to go to work." Said Mob. Her voice flat, but Reigen could feel it. Rejection. He reached over and tugged at her hair. Comfort. Jealousy.

"Mob, no. You're tired, we're all tired. I need to go to work tomorrow because its pretty much all stuff that I can handle. I want you to sleep. You've….we've all had big day. I just want you to rest, alright?" asked Reigen. He had to watch the road but he felt two set of eyes on him. Something was….the closest approximation to physical sensation that his brain could make was poking. Someone was poking his aura. Mob and Teru both rub their temples.

"Master Reigen, you're the most tired." Said Mob. She had seen Teru trying to poke Master Reigen, gold clashing into yellow. She had tried, too, just so see what was happening. He didn't look alright, he was actually not alright at all. Stressed. Tired. Afraid. He had been sending out these feelings but she had been trying to…well not eat them….but she could absorb energy…..no, she was trying to be like a blanket. She was trying to be somewhere safe for him to hide, the same way that she could hid inside of Teru's aura sometimes.

"Mob, I know. We're all tired, but I'm the adult here. I'm the adult and I need to go to work tomorrow. You're just a kid, Mob, and I'm telling you to stay home tomorrow. Sleep in, watch your depressing cat shows, hang out with your friends, go somewhere nice with Teru. OK?" said Reigen

"You keep saying that, that I'm the kid and you're the adult." Said Mob simply. She didn't need to be constantly reminded of that fact, the fact that no matter what she did Master Reigen would still always see her a little kid. That even though she had saved everyone he still thought she was a kid. She wasn't….less than? She was….she was still the student and he was the Master. Of course he was in charge.

"Because it's true, Mob. It's the truth. I'm the one who has to be responsible here, alright. You've worked every single day for weeks now. You've earned the day off." Said Reigen. More Rejection. He wasn't rejecting her, goddamn it! He just needed her to rest.

"….but I don't want to be alone." Said Mob quietly. She felt Teru reach over and take her hand. He drew circles on her palm with his thumb. She retreated back into his aura, she let the gold mix with her pinks and blues.

"Dimple will probably come back, when he gets tired of following Ritsu around." Said Teru, actually a little grateful that the spirit had decided to haunt Ritsu for a while. Being that close to a spirit for that length of time felt, well, not great.

"You're right. He'll come back, eventually. He likes to steal energy from me. I don't mind, I have a lot of it….but I don't know when and I just don't want to be alone after…." Said Mob. She didn't know how to stop taking it in, though. She could feel it, the energy coming into her. She was aware of it now, like when she could feel her heartbeat if she focused hard enough.

"You know I'll always be here for you. Besides, Shigeko, I'll see you tomorrow. It'll be fun. I'm here for you, Shigeko." Said Teru. He could feel her, all of her. She was letting him envelope her. She didn't hurt, anymore. She didn't feel unpleasant. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't dominant again. Good. That thing was just plain unpleasant. He let himself mix with her. Yes. This was his Shigeko.

"Do you promise?" asked Mob. Reigen pulled away from them, spiritually. He had to, because over there was a mixture of emotions that he wanted absolutely no part of. He felt like an eavesdropper, pressing his face in on other people's windows. The mixture of love, intimacy, desires, caring, safety, and absolute acceptance was something between the two of them alone.

"Of course I do. I need my pants back, anyway." Said Teru. Oh, he had said the wrong thing. Right, she couldn't read tones.

"He was kidding, he actually wants to see you more than anything else. He cares about you a lot." Said Reigen. Rejection again. Poor Mob. Great. Another stab of jealousy. He pushed it away. These emotions weren't his. He had to remember that.

"Oh. Ok. I care about you too, Teru." Said Mob. Teru felt weird again. He didn't like Master Reigen that much at all, but she had no idea why. Master Reigen was amazing, and he wasn't hiding his powers at all from them anymore, so Teru should have been able to feel the things she felt. The understanding. Master Reigen understood them, and he wasn't hiding anymore.

"Good. I'll call you if something that I can't handle, I mean something that you might want to take care of comes up, but remember that I want you to relax." Said Reigen. He could feel her understanding. Her happiness. Anticipation. All of those and some other things that he never wanted to think about Mob feeling.

They had come to Teru's building and for a moment Reigen thought that he was being messed with. The kid lived here? All alone? Seriously? Huh. The kid was doing better than he was, and he was half Reigen's age. Well then.

"I'll walk you to your door, to keep you safe." Said Mob. Reigen pulled out his phone so that he could have something to focus on. He didn't need to eavesdrop on anything that they were feeling, and it was a lot. He wasn't just eavesdropping, no, he was…experiencing….he Googled empath powers. Dimple had wandered away and frankly he needed to figure out what to do about all of this. He needed some kind of answers. Oh, he was shaking. This was…this was big….oh. That was Mob, she was reaching out. She had him. She had him and he had her.

"Teru, what are you thinking about?" asked Mob. She couldn't read his face. She had no idea what he was thinking but it must not have been good, the way he was looking back at Master Reigen.

"Nothing." Said Teru, holding her hand. She held his gaze.

"I can tell you're thinking about something, I can see you making faces while you think." Said Mob. Teru touched the side of her face again. She smiled and leaned into him. He was trying to distract her, but it was a nice distraction.

"I'm….we almost died. We almost died tonight. We almost died and I'm tired and I kind of want my mom but she's gone and I never really wanted her before and I'm worried about you because you could have **died** so many times and I couldn't save you and I'm just so….I'm worried and now your Master can't control his powers and I can feel what he's feeling and I think he knows what I'm feeling and it's just so….it's not pleasant, Shigeko. I…I want to go to bed." Said Teru, everything spilling out of him like a cup with a crack in it.

"We're alive now, Teru. We lived and now we don't have to fight anymore. I….I did bad things. I did bad things and I….I couldn't save you…and I keep trying not to think about it….Teru…I'm sorry that this happened to you." Said Mob softly. She tried to pull away from him, tried to extract her aura from his, but he held onto her. He leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers.

"Shigeko, I'm not mad at you. I…love you." Said Teru. He was about to use the other, bigger word for love, but he didn't. He just….he decided to be honest with himself. He wasn't ready for that. There were enough firsts that day.

"Teru, I love you too. I'll see you tomorrow. Or, later today I guess. It two in the morning." Said Mob softly. He still smelled like smoke and burning. She pressed herself closer to him. There. Now she could smell him, without the smoke.

"Yeah, the sun's going to come up in a couple hours." Said Teru, putting his arm around her. She was shaking. He brushed some debris off of his hoodie. Her hoodie now. She could keep it. It was nice, her wearing his clothes. Like the world could see that she was his.

"Teru….I wish I could come up with you….I want to sleep next to you again….even though you're a bed hog I feel safe when I'm with you." Said Mob, putting her arms around his shoulders. He felt much bigger than her, even though they were about the same size. He was taller and broader than her. This….this was nice…on a primal level. Instinctual. He made her feel safe.

"Then come inside." Said Teru. He wouldn't mind sleeping next to her, either. It was nice. She was so warm and just…there. Her presence. He felt his face color. Right….the other Shigeko had said….he chose to ignore that. Too many firsts in one day, already. It was two in the morning, he wasn't going to start that particular conversation right then and there.

"I want to but I can't. Master Reigen is waiting for me." Said Mob. She felt Teru stiffen. She looked up at him.

"….don't sleep next to him, alright?" said Teru quietly. Mob was confused. She watched his eyes, his face, his aura. She knew that feeling….she had felt that feeling. Jealousy. Oh.

"I won't, don't worry, Teru." Said Mob, still watching his face. Teru had asked her not to, so she wouldn't. She….the thought of either Teru or Master Reigen sleeping next to someone else made her insides twist. That must have been how Teru felt. Well, she wouldn't make him feel like that. He didn't deserve to feel like that. She had hurt enough people already, that day.

"Promise?" asked Teru. He was not going to lose her. He had almost lost her, she had almost died. He wasn't going to go through all of that just to lose her to Reigen. Reigen was first guy, though, and in shows first guy always got the girl….but Teru was best guy. He was the one who had gone through all of this with her and he would be there for her. She was all he had.

"I promise." Said Mob, meaning it. She wouldn't sleep next to anyone other than Teru. Just because she wanted something, it didn't mean that she had to just go for it like that. No. She had Teru, she wouldn't act on any of her other feelings. She had to be in control of at least some of her feelings.

"Shigeko, can I kiss you?" asked Teru, doing that thing where he touched side of her face. He was going slow, she felt herself do that shudder thing. She reached her aura out, bright and big. It mixed with his.

"I thought we didn't have to ask, because we're a couple." Said Mob quietly. Teru leaned down close, they were practically nose to nose. She could feel him breathing.

"Sometimes it's nice to ask." Said Teru, practically whispering. He watched her, the way he could make her come undone like this. Undone in a good way, of course. Even after all of that, after all the fighting and danger and threats of death she was still his. She was his and he was the only one who could make her feel this way.

"It is." Said Mob, closing her eyes and enjoying the closeness. The world was very quiet and still. It was so dark out. It was like they were the only two people in the world. She forgot that Mater Reigen was waiting for her, that she had an audience. She melted into Teru, spiritually. She let him help her forget everything. Everything that had happened seemed like it was dull, colorless, like when she had been in that awful room. This moment in time, the one she was living in, felt vibrant and colorful.

"Then can I?" asked Teru, one hand around her waist and the other hand in her hair. Even after all of that it was still so soft, so very soft. He ran a hang through it. She made that sound again, the mewing one she made when she was really happy. Mob felt something pull away from her. Not Teru. Oh, someone had been in her aura, too. She'd think about that later. This. This was all that mattered.

"Teru, please." Said Mob pressing her nose against his. She could almost him, the brush of his mouth against hers. She wanted him to complete it, though. It was better when he led. She could feel him, and it felt amazing. His hand in her hair, his other hand on her waist, everything.

"Here." Said Teru, and he kissed her. Not the way they had accidentally kissed that morning, that was…that was a lot….but he did kiss her for real. Not the way they had kissed when they had first tried. No, this was better, even if their teeth scrapped a little.

Reigen wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He did not need to be privy to this, he really didn't. This was not at all something that he wanted or needed to know about. It was a lot, actually. Everything. Thank God for the cigarettes he had found in the glove compartment. He didn't care if whoever owned this car missed them. He needed a cigarette more now than at any point in his life. He felt the car down open. Mob was back. He looked over at her. Face impassively, forcibly so. He knew what she was feeling, because he was trying not to feel it too. The internet had been somewhat helpful. Apparently a lot of people considered themselves to be empaths. He needed to keep looking inwards, and find something to focus on. So he smoked. He smoked and he tried no to look too deeply into Mob even though she was just so loud. She was so loud and took up so much space spiritually. So much noise.

"Master?" asked Mob. He was smoking really hard. She could see a few cigarette ends, too, and the inside of the car smelled pretty smoky.

"Just…give me a minute, Mob." Said Reigen as he finished his cigarette. Three in a row, and in such a short amount of time. That wasn't good. He let out a shaky breath. That was private. What he had just seen was incredibly private. With his new powers he would be privy to things like that. He didn't want that.

Mob watched him. He wasn't alright. He shrank back from her, from her aura. She wanted to reach over and touch him, but she didn't. Sometimes people didn't want to talk about it. He must have felt like she did, like everything was so big and just so **much** and unless you distracted yourself then it would just get too big and-

A streetlight broke.

"Mob, c'mon. I'm-I'm fine." Said Reigen. Even when he closed his eyes it was so bright. Not physically, it was just the only way his mind could translate everything he could perceive.

"I can tell that you aren't. Did you….did I hurt you? When I gave you my powers, I mean." Said Mob. Reigen reached over and rubbed her head.

"Mob, I'm not hurt. It's just…this is a lot for me. This entire night has been a lot for me. These powers….Mob I have to tell you something." Said Reigen. He opened his eyes and looked over at her. No. He couldn't tell her the truth. The truth would shatter her image of him. He was her stability. He was Master Reigen, and that was who he needed to be for.

"Master Reigen?" asked Mob. He was looking at her like, well, she didn't know what that look meant. It wasn't fear, though, and that was what mattered.

"I'm not used to having these powers. Powers this, well, big I mean. I can….Mob I can just see so much. It's….it's hard. You almost died. Mob….Mob I almost lost you tonight and now there's this and I-I-Mob, I'm sorry." Said Reigen. He was crying. Oh God. He was crying and he just couldn't stop.

"Please….I'm sorry!" said Mob. She could feel herself crying. Another streetlight popped and glass rained down onto the street. Reigen got a hold of himself. He needed to. He had to be strong for Mob.

"No, Mob. I'm….Mob I…let's go home." Said Reigen finally. He wasn't going to come to pieces here. He couldn't. He could feel the force of Mob's worry, her stress. He needed to get her home.

The ride home was long and silent. Mob stared straight ahead out the window. The city rolled past them. Empty. Dark. Quiet. This was the hour when most people were asleep. The spirits were out, though. Neutral ones. Mob didn't bother them. She could see Master Reigen looking at them, though. He was looking at them like he had never seen a spirit before. That was weird. Maybe he hadn't, being so high level before. But that…but if he was so high level before then wouldn't he be even stronger, now?

Mob didn't want to think about that.

She thought about all of her new friends. How she and Ritsu had mostly made up. How much she loved Teru. How nice it would be to get home and sleep. Even how glad she was that Dimple was still alive, well, sort of. She thought of anything but how afraid she had been. How she had forgotten who she was. The sticky, icky, grossness of merging with the other Shigeko. That terrible white room….she expanded her perceptions. Colors. Lots and lots of colors. Feelings. Energy. She was there. She could **see.**

Everything would be alright. Master Reigen was there now. He was with her. He would keep her safe. He had saved them from Claw. He had gotten them out of that room, that terrible room. He had gone into battle for her. He would have died for her….he had planned to die for her….he was Reigen Arataka. He was Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty fist century.

She just had to believe in Master Reigen. Even though he was shaking. Even though he had cried. Even though he had yelled at her. She just had to believe in him and everything would be alright. She trusted him. She trusted him completely and totally. He would always be there for her. He was Master Reigen. She believed in him. He had saved her. He had saved her that night and even that day all of those years ago.

Without Master Reigen she could have ended up like all of those adult espers. She never, ever, wanted to become someone like that. She wouldn't let herself ever become that.

But then what was she? She wasn't a pacifist anymore. She had fought too many people. Besides, pacifism didn't work if other people were trying to fight with her. She had fight to defend the people she loved. She wasn't going to let anyone she loved get hurt. She…she would run away, if she could, but she wouldn't let anyone she loved get her.

She would never have murderous intentions again, though. Never, ever, ever. That had been the other her…right? Right. She didn't want to hurt people. The truth of one's charm laid in their kindness. Master Reigen had said that to her, all those years ago. She just had to focus on being a good person. She just had to be good. She had to be a better person.

She had to try harder.

They made it home. Reigen opened the door without a word and went straight to the kitchen. He did exactly what he planned to do, he smoked and ate. He would talk to Mob afterwards. After he had collected himself. It was easier, now, because he knew it was finally **over**. He was home, she was home, and it was over. They were safe. Then why was he still crying? Not sobs, just tears. He cried and he shook. He felt a presence, Mob. She was worried. He didn't even have to look at her, anymore. He just knew.

"Master? Master….." said Mob. She had just wanted to lay down, and she had. But then she realized that Master Reigen needed her. She had to be there for him just like he was always there for her.

"Mob…Mob don't." said Reigen wiping his eyes. She was leaning on him now, holding him. She was all around him, physically and spiritually. Her aura, herself, she filled the entire apartment. He was mired in her. He wanted to just let go, to plunge into the pool that was her, and just lose himself in there, because even though it was so loud it was so **quiet** too. It was contradictions, like Mob herself.

"I'm here. I'm here, Master." Said Mob. She rested her head on top of his, her arms around his shoulders. Not in the way she would have with Teru. No, this was comfort. The butterflies in her stomach, the warmth under her skin, it all went quiet. That wasn't what this was about.

"Stop….don't call me that. Not now." Said Reigen. He stood and sat on the couch. He just needed…he needed to collect himself. Mob follow him. She was everywhere. She was all around him. She sat next her him, her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, Master. I'm so sorry." Said Mob. This was her fault. She should have…she shouldn't have…she had….she hadn't…she didn't know. She just didn't know.

"Mob…please. Don't call me Master right now." Said Reigen. He couldn't save her. He couldn't help her. He was just…what was he to her, now? Now that he was home, now that they were alone, it was hitting him. They had both been just a stroke away from death. He remembered her screams….when he had found her….then her laughter…the pain he felt touching her. He reached around her and pulled her close. She didn't hurt, not now. She was so small and soft and fragile.

"What do I call you?" asked Mob as he held her tight. He was crying into her hair, now. She could feel his tears hot and wet. She held him closer. She was crying, too, because he was.

"I don't know…my name. Call me by my name. I'm not…right now I'm no kind of master to you." Said Reigen. He just kept letting her down, didn't he? He had almost lost her. If he had been there later, or if he hadn't thought to put the GPS thing on her phone, or if he hadn't been there at all….

"Arataka?" asked Mob. She didn't know if he meant family or given name. She always called him Master Reigen, so maybe just Reigen was too close. His name felt clunky and unfamiliar on her tongue. So many syllables. So much to say.

"That's…right now that's who I am." Said Reigen. Right now they had been more equal than they had ever been before. He had no idea what he was doing. He was none the wiser than she was. No, she was the wiser. She had been born with her powers, she currently had more control than he did….she was the one who had….she was the one who had lent him her powers in the first place. Without her he would have died.

"Will you be Master Reigen again in the morning?" asked Mob. She….she wanted Master Reigen back. He was the one who kept her safe. He was the master and she was the student. That was the way that it was supposed to be.

"I'll try." Said Reigen. The morning. It must have been past two in the morning. He had to open the office at nine. He had to be Reigen Arataka again. He had responsibilities. He was responsible for her. He had to be the strong one. He had to be, but he wasn't.

"Arataka…please tell me why you're crying." Said Mob as he held her close. She tried to hold him close too, but she was small. She was so very small right then.

"Because….because….because…." said Reigen trying to find the words. He couldn't. He couldn't so he just held her. He mired himself in her. She was everywhere around him. He just let himself plunge into her. She gasped and went rigid before slowly relaxing.

"Did I…did I hurt you?" asked Reigen. Surprise. That's what he had felt from her.

"N-No. I just got startled, that's all." Said Mob. This was…this was different from with Teru. The feelings were different. The intent was different. Everything was different. She took a few deep breaths. She just had to get used to this, that was all.

"I'm sorry, Mob. Is…is this…." Said Reigen. Was this ok? Was it…what was this equivalent to? How did this look? Who cared, who the hell cared? They had almost died. Who cared what some invisible, imaginary observer thought?

"This is nice, you don't have to say sorry, Arataka." Said Mob, getting used to it. His yellow was moving with her pink and blue now. Wisps of yellow mixing with the fractals. Thin but easily seen, if she focused. Sometimes she couldn't even see her aura, sometimes it was right there clear as day.

"Mob….please….I need you to promise me something." Said Reigen, his head still buried in her hair. She smelled like smoke and burning. Fire. She had been in a fire.

"What?" asked Mob as she took in the ebb and flow that was them. They fit together pretty well. The yellow was its own fractal, now, and it was rotating with the others.

"I need you to promise me that if you're ever in that kind of trouble you'll call me. I…I can't lose you." Said Reigen. He felt…nice. Like everything was going to be alright. He had a place, there, next to her. They had each other. He shouldn't have been leaning on her so much, but he was. He was leaning on her and he liked it.

"Master….I can't lose you either." Said Mob quietly. She would lose him if he had been there with her, he didn't have the same powers she did. He couldn't do what she could. He would have been hurt or maybe even killed. But then again….she hadn't listened. She hadn't run away. By not listening she had hurt him, too.

"Then please….Mob…never do anything like that again." Said Reigen softly. She was just so, very, small. She could have….she could have never come home again. He could have never seen her again.

"Arataka...I'm sorry but I…I couldn't. It all happened so fast. Then I…I had already broken the rules and I thought that….I thought that you'd be mad. I know that I'm not supposed to fight but…but it was self-defense. It was and it wasn't. Me and the other me we….we came together and we hurt those Claw guys…I know I should call you, you want me to but…but…what if someone tries to fight with me….and I can't run away?" asked Mob. What if it happened again? Her insides twisted. She never wanted to do anything like that again.

"I'll be there. I'll always be there." Said Reigen. He wasn't mad at her for fighting, he had been mad at her for disobeying…but she had only disobeyed because she had been cornered….and she had only been cornered like that because he hadn't been there for her.

"But I was bad…I…I fought. I hate what I did. What if…what if it happens again? Arataka…I don't know what I would do…I'd have to-" said Mob, her voice breaking.

"Then you call me, and I'll handle it. I will always be there for you." Said Reigen as he held her close. She had been so cornered. She had been forced to….she had been forced to fight. She had accepted that. That was never something that should have ever happened to her.

Reigen would never let that happen to her again.


	17. The Next Morning and All That Comes With

For a moment Reigen had no idea where he was. The ceiling was wrong, his bed was wrong, and he was sore. He rolled onto his side and saw Mob sleeping on a mattress on the floor. For a moment he just stared at her, watching the slow rotation of the fractals that made up her aura. She was still asleep. His phone alarm hadn't woken her. Calm. She felt calm.

Oh. Right.

That hadn't been a dream. He had really helped to defeat an evil organization and had awakened his psychic powers. Empathy. Empath. He was an empath. He had actual powers. He wasn't a fraud anymore. He…he could actually help Mob. He could actually use his powers to help people. He could actually be someone, now. Mob stirred.

"Arataka?" said Mob quietly. She was half asleep, still very tired. The sun was barely up, from what she could see. She pulled the blanket on over her head.

"Hey, it's Master Reigen. You can keep sleeping." Said Reigen. Arataka. It had cut through him like a knife. The four syllables that made up his name. Ar-a-ta-ka. His given name. He had asked Mob to use his given name.

"I knew you'd be back in the morning." Said Mob softly, closing her eyes again. It was early, way too early. Sleep. Sleep was wonderful.

"Yeah Mob, I'm back." Said Reigen. He could feel her slipping off to sleep. His eyes got heavy and he felt himself lying down. No. He had to stay awake. Whether that was a result of his powers or the fact that he didn't get to sleep until almost three in the morning he didn't really know. He got up, careful not to step on the mattress. He needed to get her an actual futon to sleep on.

He stumbled into the bathroom and reached for his toothbrush. It felt weird, did it always have those ridges? Oh. That was Mob's. He put it down and picked up his. He watched himself in the mirror. He looked like death. Dark circles under his eyes, hair standing up in all directions, and way too much stubble. Right. Back to the morning routine.

This was another day. The sun had come up. Everything was back to normal. Time to shower, shave, smoke, and rub all the sore backs and shoulders in Seasoning City. Just another day in the life of Reigen Arataka. Maybe he'd skip the shower. He smelled himself. No. Definitely shower time. He shrugged out of his shirt, he had gone to sleep in his button down and slacks. He'd have to wear his black suit, the grey one was ruined.

Slashed across the back. Pain. Fear. Exhilaration. Power.

Reigen shook his head. He tried to tune out everything. He could feel people around him, in the building. It was like someone moving in his peripheral vision. He could sort of catch their feelings. He centered himself, pulled into himself. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, and then out. He did this until all he could feel was Mob.

She was so much brighter, louder, than the people living around him. She was, if he looked closely enough, a Christmas tree. Or a star. Or a creaming angel on top of a Christmas tree, like the one he had as a child that sang until the recording broke and all it could make was a high pitched whine.

Mob was so quiet in life but so loud spiritually. She could become background noise, though, if he relaxed. If he let himself lean back and plunge down into the pool that was her. Her feelings. Her aura. Her presence. She could become a part of his background. Her namesake. Mobbu. A background character. A presence.

He wore her like a blanket as he started his day. She was calm, asleep. She wasn't dreaming. Placid. He could hide under her, within her, just to block out everything. He was getting used to the vibrant colors of the world. The light of day made everything truly beautiful. He has spent time just watching the water tumble down onto himself, the way the sunlight caught on the glass of his windows, the way he could practically see his plants growing.

Was this how Mob saw the world? Was this what all the staring was about? Reigen caught himself staring. Just staring at the world, the way it worked. The energy of it, previously invisible to him, but now so incredibly visible that it was transfixing. She herself was transfixing. The colors, the feel, the duality. He looked inward, again. He shrugged her off like a blanket as he left his home. That could not have been healthy, not at all. For either of them.

He needed to figure out how to control his powers, for both of their sakes.

What kind of master could he be, if he had even less control than his student. How could he even live in this world, this busy world, if he felt every feeling that passed over anyone around him? Just being in the car with the kids was enough to give him a headache. At least he didn't have to take the train to work today. Oh. Right. He had no idea where he had to return this car too. Whatever. Another day wouldn't hurt. He wasn't going to wake Mob up to ask, she needed her sleep, and frankly these were the risks one took when lending one's car to middle school kids.

He watched her sleep for a little while longer. If he stared, really stared, he could see cracks of white under her skin. If he felt, spiritually not physically, he could feel the sheer unpleasantness living within those cracks. It felt hot, too hot, and sticky, like sticking your hand in hot custard. He pulled back. Mob herself, though, felt nice. She was calm as she slept, she still hadn't begin to dream. It would be so easy just to slip off into sleep next to her. To lay down next to her and let her aura cover him from head to toe, like a blanket. Like a warm bath. A hot spring. It would be easy, that was why he couldn't.

He threw his suit jacket on with a flourish, stepped into his shoes, and left. It was time to be the Great Reigen Arataka again. The sun was shining, he was still alive, so was Mob, and it was time to get back to business as usual. Maybe with a stop off at the vending machines for a can of coffee, though. He checked the time on his phone. Yeah, he had time, he was driving that day.

Mob woke up alone. She felt it before she even opened her eyes. Master Reigen was gone. No, Master Reigen was back, he just wasn't physically pleasant.

She wasn't sure if she was ready for Arataka yet.

She was the student and he was the master. Master Reigen and Mob. Not Arataka and Mob. Not Arataka and Shigeko. No. They were still master and student. They weren't equals. She didn't want that. Master Reigen always knew just what to do. He was wise and he knew everything. He didn't cry. Not that Mob had anything against crying, it was just….scary….from Master Reigen. If he was crying then they were well and truly in trouble. If he couldn't keep it together then how could she?

She didn't like it when he yelled, either. He had yelled at her, before, but she deserved it. It was like when they went into the tunnel and she didn't listen, or when she ran away from home and didn't call him for help. He had yelled then because he knew what to do. He knew what had to be done and she was out in the world with no idea so he wanted to save her.

They couldn't both have no idea what to do. They would be well and truly, well, curse words, if that happened. No. He was Master Reigen again and everything would be alright. He was probably at work now, lifting curses and giving massages. He was helping people and he probably had his powers under control again and then he'd come home and they'd try to cook again because cooking together was fun and then they'd watch more anime, a few of hers had updated already, and she watch some of his though and then they'd do more fun stuff together on Sunday and then just keep going and going and going.

That was a good plan.

Mob yawned and stretched and tried to come to life. She couldn't stretch very far. Right, pants. Teru's pants. They were too tight around her hips and she couldn't bend her knees that well in these. Well, any pants, really. She was still wearing his shirt and hoodie, too. She pulled his hoodie up over her nose and took a deep inhale. It smelled like him, underneath the smell of burning and cigarettes. She'd have to return Teru's clothes that day. Maybe he'd let her borrow the hoodie for a little bit longer. It was comfortable and when she wore it she could imagine that he was there with her.

Teru. Boyfriend. Love. Safety.

She would always love Master Reigen, of course, but she had Teru. He was so nice. He had changed for her. He had almost died for her. Almost died a few times, actually, and for her. Also it was alright to kiss him and stuff, which she didn't realize was as important to her as it was until she had started doing it. She pulled her phone off the charger with her powers. She'd text him good morning, and she use those smiley face things too. They made texting easier because she knew exactly how the message had to be read. They made reading the atmosphere much easier.

Oh. Wow. 33 missed texts. That was weird.

Right, the group text. She flipped through it. All the Awakening Lab kids were grounded and punished. Rei wasn't even supposed to be on her phone. She was upset that she was chained to her old laptop. The little smiley face and the LOL told Mob that she wasn't being literal. Mob added in her reply. At least some good had come from all of that insanity last night, she had made so many new friends, and they were all espers like her.

'_Good morning everyone! I'm sorry you all got grounded and I hope you're all alright!'_

Mob threw in a few of the faces too, so people knew that she had good intentions. It was kind of like aura reading, she decided. You could use these to project your feelings and intentions. Her phone started to vibrate with good morning messages from everyone. Well, almost everyone. Ritsu was included but hadn't said anything. He might have still been asleep.

'_Mob did you and your brother get in trouble, too?'_ that was Rei. She used a worried face too. That was helpful. When she texted Tome she sometimes had trouble figuring out if Tome was serious or not. Even in real life she sounded serious when she was kidding.

'_I don't know about Ritsu but Master Reigen didn't yell at me or anything we just ate and went to bed.' _Said Mob. Oh. Everyone was asking why she lived with Master Reigen now. She decided to tell the truth.

'_Because I want to.'_ Said Mob. She didn't want to get into the whole story. She hadn't mentioned it in the car because she didn't want to make Ritsu upset. She decided to specifically text Teru good morning, before she forgot. Wow. She had never texted this many people before. Friends. Well then, having friends was nice, she decided. Wow. She had achieved her goal, well, one of her goals. She was more popular and had more friends.

She was alive. She had friends. She had someone who loved her. She lived in a great place with Master Reigen. She and Ritsu had sort of made up. This was a good day to be alive.

Because she had almost **died. **Master Reigen had almost **died. **Ritsu had almost **died. **Teru had almost **died.** She had almost **hurt** people with her powers. She had almost **killed** people with her powers. She had lost her **mind.** She had **merged** with the other Shigeko.

Today was a new day. Everything that had happened yesterday was **over. **She was still alive. Everyone was alive. Master Reigen wasn't upset with her. He was back to normal. Everything was back to **normal.** She needed to remember that. Things had happened but now they were over.

She looked back down at her phone. It was easier if she didn't think about it. She was amazed that it had survived the battle. Her panda case was a little messed up, though. She had been wanting a cat one. Maybe that would be something to do on her day off, go to the phone accessories place with her money jar. Oh, Teru texted back. He wanted to hang out. The books on the shelf behind her fell to the ground. That was her losing control, the other her was reaching out to grab whatever she could. They were more….at peace? More together now. Not together, together, of course, but Mob had more on an….understanding of the other her. She was suppressed desires and instincts and she reached out whenever there was either a threat or something that they really.

They really wanted to see Teru. She really wanted to see Teru. There, that was what they would do. They would get up, get dressed, and go hang out with Teru. She would get up, get dressed, and go hang out with Teru. She would. Mob would. Yes. It would be a good day.

Ritsu had spent the night looking up at the ceiling. He had been thinking, ruminating, going over every mistake he had ever made in his life up to that point. Dimple was there, too, but he got bored pretty fast. Ritsu wasn't going to let Dimple have his body again, that was for sure. Merging with evil spirits couldn't have been safe. Shigeko had merged with the other part of her, she said, and Ritsu remembered how she screamed. How she laughed. He remembered his sister losing her mind when they were in the white room.

Or maybe she had lost her mind because she had been cut off from her powers? Ritsu hadn't really noticed. He was grateful for the lack of colors, honestly. That was the hardest thing to get used to, all the new energy he could see. Dimple had at least dipped him into that particular side effect of having powers gradually. It was harder for Shigeko and Teru, probably, because they were more used to having their powers. He'd have to ask if Teru had his from birth, too.

Ritsu used to wish that he was born with powers. He used to want to be able to do all the things that Shigeko could do. Now he saw his powers for what they were, a tool and a burden. These powers could be incredibly useful but they also painted a target on his head. He had no idea that there even were evil esper groups but there were and he had almost died. He had almost died so many times, the Awakening Lab kids had almost died, Shigeko and her boyfriend had almost died, hell he thought that he had seen Reigen actually die.

He didn't want that.

He didn't want to have to worry about having to fight for his life. He didn't want to have to worry about dragging people he cared about into things like that. He knew that the night was over, but it didn't really feel over. He still felt like at any time he could….he could end up in that situation again. He had to try harder, to get stronger. Not to eclipse his sister but to protect her. He was the brother, it should have been him protecting them back there. Not his sister and certainly not Reigen. Reigen. Reigen with his cocky swagger, his ridiculous special moves, everything about him. Ritsu just did not like the man. He had taken Shigeko from him. She had said that she would rather live in the park then at home.

He missed her. He missed her and she didn't…she cared, he knew she cared. She would always care about him. She cared and would always care but she was still worried about how mom and dad felt. He wanted to walk up to them and bend every spoon in the house. He wanted to show them that, yes, he had powers too. He had powers and what were they going to do? Let him walk right out the door?

The probably would have.

He would keep it to himself. He was selfish, he knew this. He still….he still loved his parents. Not that his sister didn't, because she did. Ritsu had read somewhere that when you loved someone enough you would be able to let them go. He loved his parents but he….he didn't want to go. He didn't want to stop being Ritsu. To stop being Kageyama Ritsu. He had worked hard, well not hard, but he had accomplished a lot.

It would be a lot to give up. He just wasn't prepared to.

He wasn't as strong as Shigeko. Not in any sense of the word. Well, physically, obviously, but not in the real ways, the ways that counted. He could leave home. He couldn't defend them from those evil guys in any real way, and he certainly wouldn't have been brave enough to look someone in the eye while they were trying to pull them into a black hole and just say no. That's all she said, no. No she wouldn't die. No she wouldn't let them die. No she wouldn't lose.

Ritsu pulled the blanket up over his head and groaned. He needed to stop thinking but his brain just would not shut up. Well, both his brain and his unwelcomed house guest.

"Hey, Ritsu? Still beating yourself up? What's wrong with you?" asked Dimple, knocking him on the head. Ritsu turned onto his side.

"Dimple….can't you go somewhere else, anywhere else?" asked Ritsu through gritted teeth. Dimple had been hanging out all night. Well, he had come and gone. Ritsu didn't know where it was, exactly, that he went but he always came back.

"Well it's way too loud at Shigeko's and Reigen's place and I'm not attuned enough to break through the layer of energy around that blonde kid's house." Said Dimple. He had followed Ritsu because the little guy felt like he could use a friend but had ended up watching the kid brood all night. He was thirteen, what did he have to brood so much about? He had gotten to take part in the climactic final battle, had lived through the night, and had made up with his sister sort of. Kid should have been on cloud nine.

"Loud? Are they fighting?" asked Ritsu jumping out of bed. If Reigen was doing anything to his sister he would walk to wherever it was that he lived and kick his ass.

"What? No, it's just too many espers and way too many big emotions. That Reigen guy is actually not taking it any better than Shigeko. Actually much worse from what I've felt." Said Dimple. He had made his way to their house but it was too loud, too busy, and frankly he didn't want to get in the middle of that emotional display. He didn't like watching the poor kid cry.

"Good. Serves him right." Said Ritsu. He got out of bed, he had might as well start the day…or…afternoon he guessed. He took his phone off the charger. One hundred and fort eight messages….? What…? Oh, he was in a group chat. Shigeko was there too. Oh, and they were asking for Reigen's number to add him. Ritsu didn't feel like dealing with the guy in any capacity.

"What do you have against the guy? Sure he's a liar but he's a funny liar. You're sister liked him, a lot actually." Said Dimple. Ritsu glared at him.

"I know. That's why I don't like him. He's using her. I don't know why she wants to spend all of her time with him." said Ritsu. They used to hang out, well, until that day. Not the day when she exploded at those bullies and he got caught in the cross fire but instead the day she had come home late after school and told him all about her new Master. After that it had always been 'Master Reigen says this' and 'Master Reigen says that' incessantly. They used to hang out, but then she spent more and more of her time with that guy. It got worse when he went to middle school. He got involved with student council and she worked harder than ever with that conman. Well, no, he did have powers, so he wasn't a conman….but he was using Shigeko.

"Well then you're either blind or stupid." Said Dimple. Seriously, this kid had no idea whatsoever why his big sister would want to spend all of her time with a guy? A guy who, judging by who her boyfriend was, was her exact type.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Ritsu. He had been aiming low when he accused Shigeko of being in love with Reigen, he knew that now and felt like a total asshole. But still…the way she looked at him. The way she giggled at all the ridiculous stuff he said. Or maybe not. He didn't know anything about girls.

"You'll figure it out when you get older." Said Dimple. Ritsu glared and sent a burst of energy at Dimple, who barely dodged it. He held up a finger and waved it at Ritsu like a disapproving school teacher.

"Dimple, why are you so weird? Sometimes I think that you just say things to upset me." Said Ritsu. His phone vibrated. Oh, it was that Rei girl. Another girl he didn't understand. She was texting him really, really, fast. Three more messages. He said hi and answered her questions. Oh. She must have wanted to be friends. She was alright, kind of annoying.

"Well, duh, I'm an evil spirit. Remember?" said Dimple. It was always fun getting a rise out of people, and boy was this kid high strung.

"Yeah, I remember. You don't really do a lot of evil things, though, do you?" asked Ritsu. Damn. How could one person have so much to say? And how could she type this fast? She was talking to people in the group chat, too. She had even managed to steal her phone back from her parents, specifically for texting. That was dumb, she'd just get in even more trouble for that. He told her as much. She said that it would be worth it because she got to text him. Girls were weird.

"Excuse me?! I happen to do plenty of evil things! Things you wouldn't even believe!" said Dimple. That kid didn't even look up. Yup, definitely Shigeko's little brother.

"You're right. I don't believe it." Said Ritsu. Now Rei was asking if he wanted to hang out with her next weekend, if she could convince her parents to unground her. She didn't tell them the truth, that she been kidnapped, because then she wouldn't have been allowed to hang out at the Awakening Lab anymore. Nobody had told their parents for the exact same reason. Ritsu didn't plan on telling his parents, either. They had been asleep when he had gotten home and he didn't want to deal with them getting into this particular part of his life.

"Well you should! I happen to have started a massively popular and powerful cult." Said Dimple. Ritsu still didn't look up.

"Shigeko told me about that. Wasn't that why she exorcised you?" asked Ritsu. Dimple sputtered at him.

"Well, yes, but that was because I went easy on her." Said Dimple

"We both know that she probably was the one going easy on you." Said Ritsu, distractedly. Rei was asking him a lot of questions, now. Yes, he liked cake. Yes, he liked going to arcades. Who didn't? Yes, he liked going to the movies. No, he didn't have a girlfriend. Oh. Now she was asking if he was looking for one. Huh. Was he?

"Well obviously I didn't want to actually hurt a little girl. I'm not that much of an evil spirit. Hey? What's with the weird face?" asked Dimple. The kid looked like he was thinking pretty deeply about something. Looked kind of like his sister, honestly.

"Nothing. Just this girl." Said Ritsu. He hadn't thought about it before. Girls had confessed to him, before, but it made him feel more awkward than anything. Like, what was he supposed to do, then? He hadn't loved the girls back, he hadn't even known them.

"Ooh, a girl? Aww, you're growing up, little Ritsu." Said Dimple. Ritsu rolled his eyes.

"Call me little Ritsu again and I'll exorcise you." Said Ritsu, still not looking up. He had said no to those girls because he didn't know them. Girls he only sort of knew or had never met confessed to him. Of course he wasn't going to go out with someone he didn't know. He kind of knew Rei, though. She was kind of annoying but she could have been an alright person. He was thirteen, lots of other guys had girlfriends. His sister even had a boyfriend. He was in middle school now, that's what you were supposed to do in middle school. Right?

"Well I can see that you're not planning on being good company. I'll go see what your sister is up to. She knows how to treat a person!" said Dimple. If he could have stomped out in a huff he would have, but he settled for floating away with his arms crossed.

"You're not a person, you're a spirit." Said Ritsu absently as his finger hovered over the send button. He didn't really want to go out with her, but then again he didn't really not want to go out with her. They had gotten kidnapped together, and her clairvoyance had led the others to safety, he respected her for being so brave during. For helping the others. And they had bonded over that terrible, scary thing that had happened. So, yeah, maybe it would be alright. He hit send.

If anything, this whole thing would be a good distraction.

Reigen needed a distraction. Something. Anything. Anything to distract from the constant background hum of the people around him. It was like being in a crowded train station. Everyone walking around and talking. A constant low hum punctuated by the occasional burst of noise as someone got closer to him.

Thank God he had driven in. He'd return the car to wherever it belonged tomorrow. Or the next day. He wasn't sure if he was ready to take the train, yet. It was an enclosed space with a lot of people. At least regular people weren't as loud as Mob, or as loud as those other esper kids.

Someone walked across the street. They were worried. Reigen rubbed his temples and reminded himself that these feelings weren't his. He had been reminding himself of that fact all day. The clients were actually easier than dealing with other people. When he was with a client his powers came in handy. If he focused he could feel physical sensation, which was good for his work at least. Almost like he was giving himself a massage, which was weird but cool.

Feeling the emotions he invoked in people while he rubbed their backs and shoulders was another matter entirely. He had always had women who had come onto him during, and some he had even, well, misused the massage table with, but he had no idea just how many women, and some guys for that matter….it was flattering and weird. He was getting much, much, better at shrugging off physical desire though. That was good. Really good. It was weird to feel it coming from his regulars and a few new customers. It was downright disturbing to feel that from Mob, and he lived with her. She was fourteen, he harbored no illusions about what must have gone through her head. Just because was a girl that didn't mean that she was incapable of all the, well, feelings that came with puberty.

He just didn't want to be privy to them.

He took another deep, centering breath. He didn't have another client scheduled for a while but there was always the possibility of a walk in. He needed to distract himself or he'd reach out again. His mind seemed to want to reach out, or wherever his powers were centered. He seemed to want to reach out to people, but he kept himself penned in. He needed to keep his feelings to himself and everyone's feelings needed to stay their own.

He decided to open up Friendbook and make that page for Spirits and Such. It would be a good distraction and he could maybe drum up some new, non-massage based, business. He clicked the site opened and found a lot of alerts. Oh. It had been a while. The first was a friendvite from Mob. Oh, she had sent him one. So had all the Awakening Lab kids, minus Mob's little brother and Mob's boyfriend. He'd have to talk to those two, eventually. Hash this out before it turned into a thing. He knew how teenage boys could be, he had been a teenage boy, and he'd rather this get taken care of sooner rather than later.

He accepted all of his friendvites and checked out Mob's page. Her picture was her looking lie her usual self while another girl, probably her friend Tome who had made the page, posed next to her looking enthusiastic enough to make up for Mob's Mob-ness. Everything she posted was either updates from games she was presumably playing with her friends or pictures she was tagged in with some other kids, including that girl again. Oh, that must have been her club room. Wow, that was a lot of exercise equipment for a middle school.

He got another alert. She had accepted a relationship request. She was no officially, according to the internet, in a relationship with Hanazawa Teruki. His main picture was him and a slightly happier looking Mob. Oh, someone else tagged Mob in a post. She and this kid were apparently at an arcade. He had won her a big panda.

Then about five more pictures of the two of them were posted. Mob looked pretty happy, which was good. Reigen still rolled his eyes, though, this kid was like a dog pissing on a tree. Reigen was tempted just to get on the messaging feature of this site and tell the kid that, as a twenty eight year old man he was well past the age at which he could possibly be attracted to someone Mob's age. Even if she wasn't Mob, even if he didn't have that history with her, he still wouldn't have been attracted to her. He was twenty eight for God's sake. What was with this kid?

He didn't like to think about what people would think if they saw him and Mob together. Obviously their relationship was weird. His best friend, coworker, student, and roommate was a fourteen year old girl. That was pretty weird, to the outside observer. He didn't want to worry about some imaginary outside observer but, well, he couldn't help it sometimes. Sometimes he wondered, even, if he and Mob were too-too, what was the word for it?

Was the word for having someone who leaned on you when they needed it the most? Having someone who depended on you to make everything alright because they just couldn't handle it sometimes? Having someone you looked up to, someone who would always be there for you no matter what? To be that person and to have someone who was that person to you. To have someone who you would go into battle for you, who would die for you? Whatever that word was, it was who he was to Mob and who Mob was to him.

Best friend.

It just didn't feel…big…enough. Reigen was a man for whom words came easily to. He could win a verbal battle against anyone. He prided himself on knowing just what words to use and when. On knowing just the affect his words could have, on knowing just what words to use. But what was the right word for this? For them? Did they even need one?

No, they didn't. They were Master Reigen and Mob. Eventually just Reigen and Mob. Maybe, in the future, they would be Arataka and Mob. Maybe. Maybe not. Just….he shouldn't have unloaded on her last night. He shouldn't have just broken down and cried on her, then hidden inside of her aura like she was a blanket and he was a kid making a blanket fort. Or like she was a pool and he was standing at the edge and just letting himself plunge it. It had felt good, safe, to be mired in her, but he couldn't…he couldn't lean on her like that. Depend on her like that. He was the adult and she was the kid. She didn't need to shoulder that kind of responsibility. He was responsible for the both of them. He had to be.

His phone vibrated. He traced the code to unlock it. Mob didn't go through his phone, she wasn't that type of person, but he wouldn't risk her seeing something that she shouldn't have. He put a password on his computer, too for the same reason. No need to have her seen something she shouldn't have, or learn something about him that she shouldn't have, and then have the rest of their lives be awkward. He opened up his phone and saw sixteen new messages. Oh. He was in the group text the kids had made. They were talking about last night.

None of them had told their parents the truth. Reigen didn't blame them. He wouldn't have, either. He knew how his mother would have reacted. She wouldn't have ever let him out of his sight again for the rest of his life and he would have grown up to be one of those guys who never left his room. Adult Reigen, of course, would have reacted the same way if they were in his care. Hell, he almost wished that he had dragged Mob out of the house with four or five hours of sleep and had her sit there in her little desk where he could make sure that she was safe.

Oh, she was in the group chat too. Reigen let out a breath he hadn't even realized that he had been holding. Right. Of course she was fine. Her boyfriend had tagged her in a million photos. Just his way of saying 'Hey, she's mine and I make her happy' or something like that. That kid had been so jealous, yesterday. The kid had nothing to be jealous, of.

He read the messages they exchanged. They were processing everything. Someone had tricked them into seeing each other's dead bodies. They were talking about that. Mob was talking, too, those little face things ending her every sentence. She was trying to be reassuring. He scrolled up. She hadn't mentioned how she had felt during their little adventure, just her part in it. He'd talk to her tonight, when he got back. They'd cook again and he'd talk to her about how she felt. How she was processing everything. He'd talk to her without breaking down this time. He'd be calm, in control, and strong for her. She was just a little girl. No. She wasn't so little anymore. She was still a kid, though, no matter what psychic powers she had. She was still just a kid.

He went back to making the page for Spirits and Such. He'd make Mob an admin too. She did fifty percent of the work around here, anyway. The spirits part of spirits and such. She deserved admin rights at least, especially if he was going to make her a full partner when she grew up. He used to worry about it, their future, if they even had a future but after last night he was, well, less worried. He felt it now, the change in their relationship. He had almost died for her and vise versa. She wouldn't just leave him when she grew up. He wasn't something she'd cast aside when she grew up, like those dolls she played with when he met her. No, they'd be even better friends when she grew up.

There'd be less of a power imbalance. They'd be equals, but she'd be up on his level. Then she'd call him by his name but not because he was reduced to the level of a scared child but instead because she had grown up. They could carry on as they had but as equals. He'd tell her the truth, then, when she would be old enough to handle it. When she was ready for him to stop being Master Reigen and ready for him to just be Reigen. Or Arataka. She'd still be Mob, though, unless she wanted to be Shigeko.

Shigeko. The name felt foreign in his mind, on his tongue. A name he only called her when he needed to get her attention. Shigeko. Nurturing child. Reigen Arataka. Miracle Worker. Mob. Faceless mass. Master Reigen. Teacher, leader. Other people called her Shigeko. Most people called her Mob. He hadn't ever asked what she preferred. She had just told him one day that people called her Mob and that was what he had started calling her.

He called her Mob on the Spirits and Such page. That was what she called herself on her Friendbook page, so that was what he'd call her there. He found a picture of the two of them in Spirits and Such T-shirts. She looked younger there, younger than she looked now. He looked at a more recent picture of her. When had she started growing up? When had she….? He knew that she wasn't eleven anymore but now…when was this picture taken? Not even a year ago. Had she grown that much in a year? Huh. Just like in that song his cousin liked. Everything turned and turned and turned. The world kept on turning. The Mob that existed in his mind wasn't the Mob that actually existed. The way she existed in her own mind must have been different, too. What was that Mob like? What was she like in the minds of the other people close to her?

He knew what she was like in her mother's mind. Before last night he would have dismissed her mother and being addled by fear, fear of nothing. Mob couldn't always control her powers but before last night he never would have imagined that she would ever direct them at another person. Never imagined the sheer magnitude of her powers. Never imagined that she would ever deliberately disobey him on that level. To root herself to the ground and tell him that she wasn't going to listen. To walk into battle, fully prepared to fight, probably to the death….he had never seen that Mob before. Never conceived of her. Never thought she would give up her kindness, the fear she had of herself, everything that made her who she was. But she had. She had been so cornered. So alone. So alone because he had left her alone. But he hadn't. He had been there. He had done what he could.

It hadn't been enough.

He had seen the stubborn part of Mob. The part that wouldn't listen to reason. The part that had disobeyed orders, exact orders. He had also seen the terrifying part of Mob. The part of Mob that she called the other Shigeko. The powerful part of her. For a few minutes he had even held her power in his hands. Batted away spirits and black holes like they were nothing. The sheer amount of power contained in that one little girl…and he hadn't even known he was using it. That power, that energy, that thing that was what was inside of Mob, reaching out every day. What lurked just beneath her skin, what she called the other Shigeko.

He had seen every part of her and he knew why her family would fear her. Why those morons at Claw had feared her. He had seen the way they had looked at her, when they had realized what she was. The power that she had held in the palm of her hands. Reigen had seen it too, but he wasn't afraid. He could understand the concept of being afraid of her, but the Mob that existed in his mind was incompatible with that fear. He had seen every part of her, been mired in her, and drowned in her. He had drowned in her but had come back up. She had seen him, too, the parts of himself that he hid from even himself. She had seen him come undone, the Reigen Arataka in her mind clashing up with the reality of him, but she had still stayed. She had still stayed by his side, had still held him, still let his tears fall onto her.

Reigen had never had that with another human being. He had never been laid so bare. He never been so afraid. Afraid for himself and for another person. He never thought that he would…die. He had been prepared to die for her. She would have died for him. For all of them. Whatever it was that they had together, whatever they were, it was the best damned thing that he had ever had with another person.

As far as Teru was concerned this was the best damned thing that he had ever had with another person. Shigeko was there, in his home. They were drinking tea and playing go. She had a glass of milk, too. She loved milk. This was just so utterly perfect. The simplicity. The safety.

"Teru, it's your turn." Said Mob. He was watching her again, she liked it. The way his eyes rested on her when she wasn't looking. The way that their auras meshed together. The warmth, the love, and the joy they shared together. It was really nice.

"Damn. I don't think there's anything I can do." Said Teru. She had bested him yet again. It wasn't his fault, she was just so transfixing.

"Oh. I guess I won again. You aren't letting me win, are you?" asked Mob, stretching as she spoke. She had been sitting still for a while. They had been out, earlier, to a few different places. She leaned back and rested on big panda-chan. Teru had spent so much time winning her this. It was had to win those games without powers, but he hadn't cheated once.

"Of course not. You're just really, really god at go." Said Teru, watching her lean back. She was still in his hoodie, he had decided to let her keep that. There was just something about her in his clothes. He reached over to his phone and took a picture of her.

"Thanks, I used to play a lot when I was little. We had it on the computer, well the old one. I even beat Ritsu a few times." Said Mob. Well, she had been letting him win all of those other times. There wasn't much else to do in those days. She didn't have friends but Ritsu did.

"You should play go professionally. Forget the exorcist thing and just get on the professional go circuit." Said Teru, moving the go board aside and sitting next to her. She looked over at him.

"No, I couldn't leave my job or Master Reigen. Besides, I think it wouldn't be as fun playing competitively." Said Mob. Teru bit his tongue at the mention of Reigen. He leaned in close and took a picture of the two of them.

"I guess. I don't know, I never minded a little competition." Said Teru as he posted yet another picture of the two of them.

"Hey, Teru? Why do you keep taking so many pictures of me?" asked Mob as she reached over and finished off her milk. She made some more room on her giant panda for him. He was close. He smelled like that convenience store cologne from the spray bottle he liked. She liked it.

"Because I think you're pretty and because I don't have that many of you, or us as a couple." Said Teru. Also because that damn Spirits and Such page that just went up was 90% pictures of her and Reigen together on jobs. Jobs which didn't always look like jobs. What kind of a job involved eating takoyaki in the park at twilight?

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob letting her head rest on his chest. This wasn't too comfortable but she was getting kind of tired. Not sleepy, it had just been a big day. Riding the train so far, getting lunch, going for a walk, going to the arcade, and finding all of those cats had been a lot. It had been a lot but in a good way, like how some animes had a thirteenth episode that was just a funny part because the last episode was super busy. Yes. This had been a breather episode for them.

"Hey, Shigeko?" asked Teru. This wasn't that comfortable, which was of course the only reason why he would even ask this of course and not because he wanted anything or for anything to happen and certainly not to push her into anything.

"Yes, Teru?" asked Mob, stretching out her legs. It was so good to have the full range of leg motion back. She didn't know how boys wore pants all the time.

"Do you want to lay down?" asked Teru quickly. Mob thought for a moment.

"Is that one of those things that means something else? I only ask because we're already laying down." Said Mob

"It doesn't mean anything! I mean, I meant that it wasn't that comfortable here. I mean that my bed is more comfortable than the floor. For me, I mean! I know you like to sleep on the floor but I just thought that maybe you'd be more comfortable in my bed-I mean in a bed! I mean….I mean do you want to go lay down next to me in my bed and nothing else?" Said Teru. It was her stare, that was what got to him. The way she just looked at him, it made him lose track of everything he was going to say until he said the worst thing possible and then the backtracking started and he just made a mess out of things.

"Can I kiss you? When we lay down together. I don't mind if you don't want to, I just liked it that one night when we were there together and we were so close and we kissed. It was really nice." Said Mob after some thought. She didn't know if she was saying the right thing but Dimple had said to be forward and for an evil spirit he did give good advice.

"Sure. If you want. I mean that I won't make you doing anything that you don't want to do." Said Teru. He remembered the other her, what she had said. Asked of him. Was that what Shigeko wanted? Self-denial, that was what the other her had said. If Shigeko wanted….well anything…..the he was her boyfriend so he was supposed to….not that he didn't want to….but it had been a lot of firsts….but firsts were good, right?

"No, it's alright. I'm kind of tired too, let's go lay down." Said Mob not thinking nearly as deeply into this as Teru was.

"Alright." Said Teru as he got up, his voice thankfully not cracking at the end of that. Him, her, that, all of it, it was nice distraction from the whole almost dying thing. Something regular to think about. Something that didn't involve either of their mortality.

"Teru, why do you feel nervous?" asked Mob as they went to his room. She was getting better at this whole people thing, mainly because she was finally aware of all the ways an aura could feel, and he felt nervous.

"I'm not….right I can't lie to you. I'm just a little…" said Teru trailing off, not sure how to say that he'd do whatever it was she wanted to do even though he had no clue what he was doing or if he was even ready to do those things or anything really.

"Are you still upset from yesterday?" asked Mob. She knew that she was, when she thought about it. She knew that Master Reigen had been and might still be. Like Master Reigen had said, it had been a big day. A scary day.

"Shigeko…I…let's lay down." Said Teru. He took the side closest to the wall. She took the edge. They laid parallel to each other, their knees touching, facing each other.

"I'm here, Teru. If you want to talk about it I'm here." Said Mob. If she could be there for Master Reigen then she could absolutely be there for Teru.

"I'm just…I want to think about something else. That's all." Said Teru. He leaned over and kissed her. Soft at first, and then harder. Her hand found its way into his hair.

"Oh, it grew back." Said Mob as they broke apart.

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, it grew back when you sent me all that extra power from the black hole. That was a cool trick, by the way. You'll have to teach it to me." Said Teru, slightly breathlessly.

"I'm not sure if I can. I'm not even sure how all of my powers work. That part was mostly the other me." Said Mob softly. The other Shigeko knew how they worked better than she did, which made no sense since they were the same person.

"The other you…." Said Teru. Right, that thing. That…unpleasant….thing. He could see it, if he focused hard enough. If he really focused he could see the cracks of white peeking out from just underneath her skin.

"Well, not a whole other me. A part of me, I guess." Said Mob. She didn't want to remembering merging with the other her. She didn't want to remember obtaining loss….not knowing where Teru was….being so alone. She scooted closer to him, so close that she could feel the rise and fall of his chest against hers.

"Shigeko….can I ask you something?" asked Teru

"That's a funny way of asking a question, I always thought. When asking me if you can ask me something you're already asking me something. But yes, you can ask me something." Said Mob. She slowed her breathing down to match his. Inhale, exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

"Shigeko….when we were in the base the other you….she said some stuff." Said Teru biting the bullet. Blunt. It was best to be blunt and to the point with her.

"She talked to you?" asked Mob. She didn't know that the other her could use words. They always communicated, even in the space between dreams, with thoughts and idea. Feelings. Impressions. Wants. Needs. But never words.

"She said that….she said that…she asked me too…." Said Teru. How did one say this, exactly? No. he couldn't be nervous.

"Teru, I'm sorry if we, if I, was mean to you." Said Mob, an ache in her chest. She couldn't be mean to Teru. She couldn't let the other her push him away.

"No! You, you weren't mean. You just…you asked me too….Shigeko the other you pushed me into a wall and asked me to…well…stuff. She said that she was all of the things you wanted but denied yourself and I mean if I'm one of those things. I mean…if you want to do something I'll do it with you." Said Teru, breathing like he had just run a marathon. Mob stared at him. She stared and she stared and she stared. As she stared she turned progressively more and more red. She knew EXACTLY what the other her had been talking about. The thoughts she had, thoughts she would never act on but had, when she was alone….she wanted to dig a hole, climb inside, and pull the dirt up over her head.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 20%_

"No, this is fine. Thank you for asking." Said Mob, her eyes still wide. Teru could NOT know about all of the things she thought about. Sometimes intentionally when she was alone and sometimes just randomly when they were together or even when she was just going about her day.

"I didn't mean that we had to! I just meant that if you wanted to…I mean I'm flattered that you think about me like that. I mean….nobody else has before….so…." said Teru as he watched her aura spike and flare. Crap. She was either embarrassed or offended or both. He didn't poke too deeply. He himself didn't feel particularly, well, he was out of his element.

"You haven't ever….with anyone before?" asked Mob, making way too much eye contact. The thought of him and anyone else made her feel like her insides were trying to become her outsides but she had always, at least at the back of her mind, figured that he had before. He always seemed to know what he was doing, He had always been so sure of what to do and how to do it.

"What?! No! Shigeko, you're the first person I ever kissed for real. I mean, the right way. The way you like. You're the first person I ever confessed to. You're the first person I've ever had over. The first person I ever slept next to….yeah….I've never…anything." Said Teru, feeling somehow naked even though he was fully clothed. There. Now she knew that he knew nothing, Zip. Zilch. Well, he knew what he had seen but to be honest he figured that most of that wasn't what people actually did and if it was it never went like that.

"Oh. Me neither. You're all of my firsts, too. You're the first person I've ever held hands with or kissed or said I love you to or slept next or seen naked. Taking baths with Ritsu when we were really little doesn't count, I think, and he's my brother anyway so it wouldn't count because it's not at all the same." Said Mob. She had been jealous, hadn't even realized it, and now was feeling relieved that he hadn't before. Why? Objectively she knew that he had a life before he met her but now for some reason she felt better. Maybe because they were more equal, now.

"Right…you saw me naked…." Said Teru. Right, after their fight. His powers had been so drained that he had to run home naked in the rain.

"It's ok, you've seen me naked, too." Said Mob, turning ever redder.

"When?" asked Teru. He would have most definitely remembered that.

"After the fight with that Claw guy? Remember, my clothes got ruined so you dressed me in yours?" asked Mob, still somehow discovering new shades of red. She had decided to be embarrassed about that later. Well, later had finally come.

"I didn't see you naked, just in your underwear." Said Teru, discovering his own shades of red. Right. That was another first for him. Well, it hadn't really been like that. He had just used his powers to dress her really quick because she was just in an undershirt and ripped up skirt. She wouldn't have wanted to wake up like that.

"Oh. Well that's not the same I guess. I mean, I look like a boy anyway so…." Said Mob. Of course it wasn't the same. She still looked like she was in elementary school. Her underclothes weren't even pretty. She had changed for gym with the other girls every day for the past two years. A lot of them were wearing pretty, grown up, stuff already. She was still in the cheap white stuff that was five hundred yen a pack. She didn't even have a bra yet. She didn't even need one.

"What?! You don't look at all like a boy!" said Teru because first of all she was clearly a girl. He hadn't been looking when he dressed her, not really, but she certainly didn't look anything like a guy and second of all he wasn't into guys so if she looked like a guy why would she be in bed with him talking about all of this?

"I do too, don't lie." Said Mob. Sometimes people said things like that to make others feel better. She didn't that from Teru.

"Shigeko, you don't look at all like a guy." Said Teru feeling her hair. She looked up at him.

"Because I have long hair and I'm wearing a skirt, right?" asked Mob. Teru shook his head. He looked at her for a moment before taking her hand in his. He put her hand on his waist.

"Because my waist doesn't do this." Said Teru. He took a deep breath before resting his hand on her side and moving it down to where her waist dipped inwards. She did that shuddery breath thing he absolutely loved. She held eye contact with him.

"Teru…." Said Mob. Wow…what was….he had held her there before but this was….different.

"And my hips don't do this." Said Teru running his hand down her side and upwards over the flare of her hip. This was…this was nice….she liked it. He didn't have to read her aura to know she liked this. He…well this was another first. H had held her waist but his hands had never strayed so low….could he…would she want him to….? Did he want to…?

"Uh-huh….they don't…" said Mob, mirroring his movements. She closed her eyes. She felt light. Dizzy. But in a good way. She had never in her entire life been in this position….it was nice. What had she been so afraid of?

"And my stomach doesn't feel like this." Said Teru dragging his hand back up and oh God what was that sound and how did he get her to make it again? He right above her belly button. He could feel her stomach through two layers, his hoodie and her shirt. He watched her face. Her eyes were closed but they fluttered. He dragged the tips of her fingers just under his shirt, where it had ridden it.

"It doesn't, you're right." Said Mob breathlessly. Wherever this was going, it went. What was she worried about? This was wonderful, better than in her head. She'd chase feeling to wherever it went to, she decided. Wherever it went, it must have been a good place.

"It-It really doesn't." said Teru. He mirrored her movements. Her stomach was softer than his. She gasped. The bed tried to rise off the ground, he held it down. Something tipped over. She was coming undone. He was making her come undone.

"Teru…." Said Mob, breathlessly. She wanted to say sorry for whatever it was that she had broken, or spilled, or tipped over, or whatever that sound was.

"Do you want me to stop?" asked Teru. He would, if she asked, because this was already a lot and what he was going to do, what he wanted to do, well it was a lot too and it might have been too much because he had never done this before and he had no idea what was too much but this is what she had wanted and he would give her whatever she wanted and he wanted this too and-

"Teru…I don't. I don't want that at all. Don't stop. Do you want me to stop?" Said Mob because this was just **wonderful** and they had almost **died** yesterday and to think that she could have died without having ever felt like this before….but this was new and a lot and she didn't want to make Teru do anything that he didn't want to do and she hadn't even been trying to feel his bare stomach anyway it was just that her eyes were just closed and his shirt was up kind of but oh God this was wonderful and they had almost died and-

"No. Of course not." Said Teru after a moment of thought. This was alright. He was alright with this. He was more than alright with this. What had he been so afraid of? Not knowing exactly what to do? She knew even less than he did. They could figure it out together and they weren't going to…were they? Was that what she…?

"Alright." Said Mob, her fingers still on his stomach, right above his belly button. Belly buttons were weird, she decided. Wait, why was she thinking about this? She had never really thought about them before, they were just sort of there. She had never thought about stomachs or skin before much either but now she couldn't un-think and oh!

"And my chest doesn't feel anything like this." Said Teru. He had been wrong, it was three layers. Hoodie. Shirt. Undershirt. Well…this was…this was pretty damned amazing. Something shattered. A lot of somethings shattered. She opened her eyes wide and stared at him. He pulled away, fast. Oh crap! Too far! Way too far!

"I'm sorry!" said Teru snatching his hand away like it was on fire. Crap. She was still staring. He tried to read her. Nothing but contradictory emotions. She still stared at him. Unreadable. He laid there and he watched her. He watched her and he watched her.

"I didn't mean for you to….I was just startled….nobody has ever…I mean you're the first person to…" said Mob. He wanted her to say something, he was expecting her to. He looked scared. No, not because of her powers, he had seen those at their worst. It must have been because she had reacted like that.

"I-I shouldn't have gone so far. I'm sorry, Shigeko." Said Teru mentally cursing himself. He was an idiot. A complete and total idiot. Of course she wasn't ready to….of course they weren't ready to….but she had looked so happy….

"No. I don't mind that. I was just startled. I'm not upset." Said Mob. It had been surprisingly. She had never thought that he would….that any boy would even want to….because she didn't even have….but she did. She did, somehow she just hadn't noticed…how could she not have noticed? That's why her undershirts were getting too tight, and she couldn't fit into a lot of her old clothes comfortably anymore. She hadn't minded, she just hadn't been expecting that in a million years. It was scary and exciting. It was amazing and it felt weird. She wanted to stay there with him forever and she wanted to run all the way home. She wanted to see where that went and she had wanted to forget that they had ever started whatever it was that they started. Plus, well, she had been close to…not exploding but….her powers had definitely been reaching out and they had broken something. A lot of stuff, actually, by the sound of it. Hopefully not a window, those were harder to put back together.

"No, I still shouldn't have just gone and done…that. I was thinking….I wasn't thinking at all." Said Teru. Well he had been thinking. He had been thinking of how badly he wanted to do that. About how she was coming undone. About how she wanted him to. About how he wanted to. About how close he had come to dying, they both had. About how they could have died without doing stuff that they both wanted to do. About how even if he wasn't any good at, well, anything he couldn't just not do things because he wasn't good at them because then he could die without knowing what **anything **felt like.

"I was thinking. I was thinking a lot." Said Mob simply

"Good things?" asked Teru. She looked like she was having fun. She looked happy. Was she…what had been going on in her head?

"I was thinking about how I wasn't scared anymore." Said Mob

"Scared?" asked Teru

"Scared of what it would be like. If I messed it up. If I did it wrong. If I would be embarrassed. Things like that." Said Mob

"I was…I was nervous about that too…but then I thought…if you wanted to…anything…with me….and if I wanted to…with you…." Said Teru

"And if it feels nice how could it be wrong? And if it felt nice and we both wanted to then why shouldn't we because we could…." Said Mob

"Because we could have died yesterday and we could die whenever and if it's something we both want….." said Teru

"We could have died so many times tomorrow and I could have died without knowing….and you could have died without knowing….." said Mob

"What anything is like." Said Teru

"Yes. What anything is like. I mean….Teru we almost died." Said Mob finally. She scooted closer to him. He rubbed her back.

"I know. I was….last night I was here and I was just thinking about….about all the things that I had to do the next day. That I had to wash some clothes and get stuff ready for dinner and do some cleaning and my homework….and how if I had died then none of that stuff would have gotten done. I thought about how I like to iron. I like ironing my clothes, I don't use my powers to do it. I like to listen to the TV and iron." Said Teru rubbing her back.

"You really like clothes." Said Mob, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"I do, I really do. If I had died then….then I still have a lot of stuff I haven't worn yet, and I still have ironing to do. If I had died then I couldn't do that. I don't know. It sounds so stupid…" said Teru. Mob looked up at him.

"No, Teru, it doesn't. Last night, after Master Reigen was done crying and I went to bed I just kept thinking about…about my desk at work." Said Mob

"Reigen cried?" asked Teru incredulously

"Yes. He cried and he told me not to call him Master right then because he wasn't any kind of master to me so I called him Arataka. That's his given name. I didn't really like it because he's the master and I'm the student. He always knows just what to do and if he doesn't and I don't then who will know what to do?" said Mob softly

"That's why you were thinking about your work desk? Because he was crying?" asked Teru

"No, maybe, but mostly because it's getting too small. That was my desk back in elementary school and I was shorter than. Now my knees keep hitting it because I'm getting taller and if I had died then….then I wouldn't have ever needed a new desk." Said Mob, almost whispering, like she was saying curse words.

"This morning I just wanted everything to be normal but I…I couldn't….make it normal. Then you texted me and I wanted you to come over, not because I wanted to do this, but because I didn't want to be alone. I wanted to go out with you today to…to make sure you were alive, I guess. To make sure you were alive and to make things normal." Said Teru

"This morning I spent a long time playing on my phone trying to forget. The house…apartment…was too empty and I just wanted to think about something else, anything else, so I started talking to people and I wanted to see you because….because I think about good things when we're together. I think about…that…but also how much fun we have and how…I like it when you talk and tell me things…and I like how safe you make me feel. Even though I'm more powerful than you, thank anyone I think sometimes, you still make me feel safe." Said Mob

"I…I make you feel safe?" asked Teru

"Yes. You do." Said Mob

"You…when we're together I don't feel alone. I feel like…you understand. Regular don't understand but you do. You've always understood, even when I was too stupid to see it. You understand, and I don't ever feel alone. Even when we aren't together I don't feel alone because I have you….and the thought of someone taking you away…." Said Teru

"Nobody's going to take me away. You don't have to feel alone, Teru, I'm here." Said Mob holding him close.

"And you don't have to feel unsafe because I'm here and I'll protect you." Said Teru holding her back.

"….Even from myself?" asked Mob softly, almost too softly to hear.

"Shigeko….I've seen the other you. You don't scare me. I'll stop you…I'll try to stop you….if it ever gets bad." Said Teru

"Sometimes I think…it feels like there's a monster inside of me. Something made up of everything I try to get rid of. Something just waiting to hurt people, but it's worse. She doesn't….she doesn't want to hurt people. She just wants to keep us safe….but she doesn't know how to keep us safe without hurting people…." Said Mob

"I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you…the other you….from hurting anyone….anyone who isn't trying to kill us." Said Teru

"I went crazy, Teru. I went crazy when you were gone. When I…when the other Shigeko….when we obtained loss….we didn't know what was happening. We didn't know what was real anymore. Nothing was real. It was….we were in a paper dolls house. Everyone else was paper dolls. Paper. It was all paper…and it would all return to nothing. I don't know….we were remembering Evangelion for some reason." Said Mob

"I…I shouldn't have let my guard down…I shouldn't have gotten captured….I should have been more careful…" said Teru

"No, we shouldn't have merged like that. I knew that it was dumb….that she would make me crazy…bad…but I needed to be strong. I needed to be strong enough to protect us. Everyone." Said Mob

"No. I should have been strong for you. I couldn't even….I couldn't even get us out of that room…that godawful room." Said Teru

"I…I remember. It was….Teru nothing felt real there." Said Mob

"I could see either. I didn't realize how much I needed my powers….how much they colored the world. I mean…I was born with them." Said Teru

"Me too. I couldn't…Teru I think I use my powers to **move**. I mean…even moving was so hard, like I was in body improvement club….I was so heavy…moving was hard…" said Mob

"Me too….but it's over….it's over now." Said Teru

"It's tomorrow." Said Mob

"It's today. It's today and we're here. I'm here and you're here and everything…everything is normal again." Said Teru

"But we're not normal, yet, are we?" asked Mob

"No…not yet…but I think that we'll get back to normal eventually. Once the memories fade." Said Teru

"You really think so?" asked Mob

"Yeah…they'll fade…and if anyone tries to mess with us again I'll keep you safe, so you don't have to merge with the…other…you." Said Teru

"I love you, Teru." Said Mob

"I love you too, Shigeko." Said Teru

Reigen figured that since he had a car now, well temporarily, he could at least go to the discount department store and get Mob a futon and her own sleeping stuff already. They even had a pink set with cats on it. He got her a big futon, too, because she deserved it and because he had no idea what the optimal futon size was. As he pulled up to the building he shot her off a text asking her to come down and help him carry something if she was home yet. What he didn't expect was to see her and Teru coming down the steps together.

Embarrassment. Closeness. Annoyance. Jealousy. Happiness. And a generous slathering of physical desire.

Well then. Yup. Ok. He had interrupted…whatever it was that he had interrupted. That was fine. Perfectly fine. Normal. Natural. Most natural thing in the world. Yup. He couldn't exactly forbid Mob. That would make him a hypocrite. This guy cared about her. You didn't take on an evil organization just to get into a girl's pants. That didn't mean Reigen to be comfortable knowing about this, though.

"Hey Mob, and Teru. I didn't know he was coming over." Said Reigen. He'd talk to Mob about what happened later. She looked happy and from he was getting…he pulled away and back into his own self. That was Mob's and Mob's alone.

"He wanted to see where I lived." Said Mob, omitting most of the details about what had happened after he had seen the room she slept in and the mattress she slept on.

"Yeah…it's nice." Said Teru not being able to meet Reigen eyes. Reigen felt a sudden burst of shame and jealousy. Right. Yeah. He and Mob were going to have to have two talks tonight.

"Great, you can both help me carry this." Said Reigen. He popped the trunk and hauled out Mob's new sleeping arrangements. Good. He could have his mattress back…though judging by what he was picking up from the two of them he would have to burn it.

"What is it?" asked Mob. She watched Master Reigen. His aura was way too bright but he didn't feel sad or scared like he had before. That was good. He was well and truly back. Everything really would be OK.

"A big box?" asked Teru, with a hint of sarcasm. Reigen had just popped the bubble of…well…yeah that they had built. He knew coming over here would have been better, they were too sad in his house. At least she had taught him how to use powers to fix broken dishes, otherwise he would have had to get an entirely new set.

"It's a futon for you, Mob, so you can finally have your own bed and I can have my mattress back." Said Reigen. He had been around regular people for too long, unless they got close they were much easier to shut out than espers.

"Thank you!" said Mob, with genuine gratitude. Permanence. Her own bed, her very own bed, meant permanence. He wouldn't ever make her go back to her parent's house.

"From the discount store?" asked Teru reading the other bags in the trunk. Reigen wondered how much time he would get for fighting a middle schooler. Well, half wondered. He wasn't actually going to do it.

"Just because something's cheap doesn't mean it's not good. You're shirt's got a pretty expensive label but I bet there's something just as comfortable for cheaper." Said Reigen. Teru was momentarily confused before looking down and realizing that his shirt was inside out and backwards. He looked down, not able to meet Reigen's eyes.

"Thank you so much Master Reigen." Said Mob. Oh, there was bedding too. Pink again…no she liked pink. Cats, too. Yes, this would be wonderful. She'd sleep well tonight.

"Can you guys help carry?" asked Reigen, trying to fight off the embarrassment he was feeling from Teru. Maybe he had taken the one step too far. Yeah, most definitely. He'd apologize later.

"Can't you just do it with your powers?" asked Teru, now making eye contact. Fine, if Reigen wanted to embarrass him then he'd embarrass Reigen right back.

"Nope. I don't have telekinesis." Said Reigen simply. He was not getting into…no, continuing this pissing contest with a middle schooler.

"Here, I can carry it." Said Mob. She grabbed the big box with her powers and immediately went upstairs. Reigen stopped Teru as he grabbed the rest of the stuff and turned to follow.

"What?" asked Teru moodily. Reigen tried to project calm feelings. Huh. Well it was easier with normal people.

"You don't have to be jealous. She really, really likes you." Said Reigen. Usually he was good with words but he had never had to tell a kid half his age that, no, he wasn't after his girlfriend.

"More than you." Said Teru before he could stop himself. He could feel it, Reigen trying to…what had Dimple called it? Write. Write feelings to him. Once he recognized emotional manipulation it was easy to block.

"In a totally and completely different way. I know what you think, well what you feel, and you don't have to be jealous. Me and Mob aren't like that. I'm twice your age. I'm not interested in middle schoolers and I can't believe that I even have to say that." Said Reigen

"You're twenty eight? You act younger." Said Teru, not trying to be mean. When he thought of someone twice his age he imagined someone much more serious and buttoned up. Not this yellowish, orange-ish haired man in a cheap black suit.

"Well you act pretty young sometimes, too. Anyway you don't have to jealous so please, for the love of God, stop being jealous. I pick up other people's emotions like they're mine. It's unpleasant enough as it is. OK? Truce?" asked Reigen. Teru stared at him for a moment. Confusion. More jealousy. Shame. Embarrassment. Resolution.

"I'm sorry." Said Teru with a bow. How could he have been so stupid? Reigen was an **adult**, of course he wasn't interested in Shigeko.

"Good. Glad we could clear the atmosphere. Also, fix your shirt when we get inside." Said Reigen. Embarrassment. Well, the kid shouldn't have been walking around like that if he didn't want people to know what he had been up to.

Getting Mob's bed set up had been pretty quick with psychic powers. Reigen's bed was returned to it's frame and Mob's futon was laid out in under five minutes. Teru declined staying for dinner and a ride home. Reigen was glad, too, because somehow clearing the atmosphere had just made him more uncomfortable around Reigen. He could understand, sort of, God knew he had come to some embarrassing conclusions when he was fourteen. Either way he hoped that this cut through most of the jealousy. Now he just had to talk to Mob's little brother, but first Mob herself. She sat down on the couch, watch TV, and beet red. Reigen sat down next to her.

"So…." Said Reigen. Embarrassment. An insane amount of embarrassment. Enough that Reigen could feel himself getting hot under the collar. He took off his suit coat and tie, tossing them over the side of the couch.

"How was work?" asked Mob, trying to be polite and normal. She couldn't believe that she had….Master Reigen could not ever know. Ever. For as long as they lived. She sat rigidly. Her legs crossed and the ankle and her arms crossed in front of her stomach. Defensive.

"I swear to God that this city is being plagued by shoulder spirits, but hey at least we made good money. I made a page for Spirits and Such, too, on Friendbook. That'll probably drum up some new business." Said Reigen. She was still rigid. Stiff defensive. He HAD interrupted something. Mob was growing up, this was normal, and he would not be a hypocrite about it.

"I saw. You made me an admin?" said Mob, trying not to be embarrassed. It was written all over her face, her aura.

"Well, yeah, you the only other person that works there." Said Reigen trying to relax. She was just so loud, her feelings. She was red. Stone faced and red.

"Thank you, Master, and thank you for accepting my friendvite." Said Mob, trying to be less tense but it was just so hard because she had...it had been a day. It had been a big day.

"You're welcome. I would have accepted it sooner but I haven't checked Friendbook in a while. I saw all your pictures today, looks like you and Teru had a fun day." Said Reigen. Plenty of new pictures for the Mob wall, at least. Oh, her giant panda was here too. He reached over and handed it to her.

"It was an ok day. Teru won this for me. He didn't use his powers at all." Said Mob hugging big panda-chan to her chest.

"I'm glad you had a big day. Listen, Mob, about last night…I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to see that part of me." Said Reigen getting right to it. He shouldn't have broken down like that. He shouldn't have asked her to use his first name. He just needed to make sure that she was alright.

"Master Reigen, I'm not upset. You told me a while ago that it was ok to cry." Said Mob. She had been scared, worried, but that yesterday. This was today. Everything was better today.

"It's ok for you to cry. I'm the master and you're the student. I need to be strong for you, Mob. I'm sorry. I just wanted to apologize and see how you were doing." said Reigen. This was harder than it needed to be, there was just so much embarrassment. He needed to cleat this atmosphere, too.

"But Master, I'm not upset. You're back, now, and that's what matters. It's today. It's a different day. I mean because the sun came up, that's all. Yesterday we almost died, and I was upset even though I tried not to be, but I'm alright now." Said Mob, sitting less rigidly. Master Reigen was back and that was what mattered.

"But yesterday was still a lot, Mob, and if you want to talk about it, I'm here. I won't push you though, but I need you to know that I'm here if you want to talk in a day or a week or a month or a year. It's hard enough to dealt with as an adult, everything that happened, so I can't imagine how hard it must be for you." Said Reigen. Mob turned to face him.

"It was hard, but then I talked to Teru, and now I feel better. He was sad, too, and we were both still scared even though everything was over. It was….it was scary. I talked to him about what happened to me and he told me about what happened to him." said Mob. Talking about it had made it all feel better, instead of trying to ignore it. Sometimes you could run away from things, and sometimes you had to confront them. This had been one time when it was better to talk about all the bad feelings that were coming up instead of running away by trying to distract yourself or by trying really hard to make everything normal.

"What…what did happen to you, Mob? I mean….you never really told me?" asked Reigen quietly. He knew the basics, the part that she had played, but he didn't know the specifics.

"I told you, I merged with the other me….then I went crazy." Said Mob softly. Reigen over and put an arm over her.

"You mean when I found you?" asked Reigen. He remembered her, the way that she screamed. The way she was laughing. How small she had been. How he hadn't been there too-

"You're using your powers, again, Master….I've never seen you like this, before." Said Mob. Master had be able to control his powers otherwise…otherwise how could he teach her.

"Mob, I'm….my powers….Mob listen, I'm not used to my powers…being like this. I'm not used to it but I'm learning, alright? I can still…I can still help you and I can still be there for you." Said Reigen rubbing her back in small circles. She stared at him for a while.

"We'll learn together, then, and I'm sorry. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't shared my powers with you." Said Mob finally

"No, don't ever blame yourself for this. Mob, if you hadn't given me your powers then you would have had to do something terrible. Mob, you don't deserve that. I'm glad, I'm so glad that I could spare you from that." Said Reigen. She was…she was trying to mask her feelings…no…surpass them again. He held her closer. Comfort. Safety.

"Master….I feel bad about what I did….and when I went crazy….I'm worried. I was worried, but then Teru said that he would be there for me and keep me from having to merge again. When I did, Master, it was….I was stronger but I did….do you ever want to do bad things, even though you don't want to?" asked Mob suddenly. Reigen thought for a moment. He had read about something like that, back in university. Oh.

"They call it the imp of the perverse. It's pretty much the little demon on your shoulder telling you to do bad things. Everyone has one but we have to choose not to listen to it, that's all." Said Reigen confidently. She looked up at him like that, like she had when they first met.

"So, like Dimple?" asked Mob. Dimple hovered on her shoulder and told her to do things that were wrong.

"Yeah, like him. Mob, what you do makes you a good person, not what you think." Said Reigen

"Oh…but I did bad things…I mean it was self-defense…but I still didn't listen to you and I still used my powers to hurt people…and for a while, when we were merged, I like being the strongest. I liked keeping everyone safe. I liked it but then Teru was gone and….and then I went crazy. I kept thinking about things being made of paper and Evengelion songs and then I forgot who I was….and then I was in that room….and then nothing felt right or looked right…but then you were there…and you saved me….so thank you, Master." Said Mob. Reigen watched her, then gave her hair a tug. She was wearing it down, again. Huh.

"Mob, you're you. You're my student, and a nice person. You're brave and stronger and you lasted longer than most people would in your position. I'm proud of you but please, for the love of God, I never want you to act like such a stubborn brat again. If I say run, you run. If I say hide, you hide. If I say you call me when it's an emergency you'd better use that phone for something other than games and Friendbook and call me." Said Reigen. Shame. Guilt. Maybe he was being too firm…no, there was no such thing as too firm when it came to life and death.

"I know, Master, and I'm sorry. I said sorry yesterday, remember?" said Mob. Reigen watched her for a while. Right, the message had sunk in. Good. No use beating a dead horse.

"I can see that you get it, so I'll leave it alone. Now, let's make dinner." Said Reigen standing up. Mob waited a moment before following him into the kitchen. He filled the rice maker and she watched.

"Hey Mob, let's make that vegetable thing you like." Said Reigen. She was placid. Calm. Hungry. Self-conscious? Huh. That was new from Mob. Well, new-ish. This was more…he probed more deeply….she was more conscious of her physical self. Huh.

"Sure. Also, you're poking me." Said Mob as she got what vegetables they had left out of the fridge. She passed some to Reigen and they washed them off in the sink.

"Sorry, didn't mean to." Said Reigen

"No, it's alright. I don't mind." Said Mob. Master Reigen handed her a knife and they began to cut up the vegetables. They were silent for a moment before Reigen decided to start big talk number two.

"So, do I have to burn my bed?" asked Reigen as he sliced some carrots slightly too thin. Damn. Now they'd cook too fast. Oh. Confusion.

"Why? We shouldn't play with fire, you said so yourself." Said Mob. She stopped chopping as he said this. That was weird. Really weird.

"You're so literal, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"It's hard to tell what people mean sometimes." Said Mob

"I mean….Mob….God this is much harder on me than it is on you, believe me." Said Reigen. Mob looked at him for a while.

"Do you want me to chop up the vegetables, Master?" asked Mob as Reigen was hit with another wave of confusion. Jeez this kid…no, it wasn't her fault. She was the way she was and that was fine.

"No, it's not that. Mob…what did you and Teru get up to, today? Not the Friendbook stuff, the other stuff." Said Reigen coming out with it already because if they had then they needed to get down to the clinic right away and get one of those pills that kept you from having a baby because he was pretty sure that Mob wasn't on the pill, not that he had ever asked, but she did not need a little Mob to take care of.

"I don't want to talk about it." Said Mob as she stood rigidly and turned red. The vegetables she was cutting were now on the ceiling, along with the knife.

"Mob, be careful with knives, that's the first thing I taught you." Said Reigen pointing up at the ceiling. He could always tell the landlord that it was like that when he moved in.

"Sorry, Master." Said Mob. Everything returned to it's proper place.

"Mob, I'm not trying to embarrass you, and believe me, this is not information that I want but if you did then I'm taking you to the twenty four hour clinic and getting you those pills hat keep you from having a baby because you're fourteen and don't need to have a kid right now. I'm worried about you, alright?" said Reigen

"They're called morning after pills and insurance doesn't cover them. They taught us that at school." Said Mob quietly. Reigen opened the kitchen window and lit a cigarette. Thank God he had picked up a new pack on the way home.

"Well, babies are more expensive." Said Reigen. Mob used her powers to pull up her hood. Reigen stifled a laugh. She was adorable, even now.

"I didn't even….I mean we didn't….I'm not ready to…." Said Mob quietly as she went back to chopping. She chopped and chopped and chopped for lack of anything else to do because if she stopped she'd have to talk more about **this **with Master Reigen, which she really did not want to at all.

"Try not to get too much cutting board in the vegetables." Said Reigen as he finished cutting his share. Alrighty then. Well she hadn't…yeah. He didn't have to burn his bed.

"…..wouldn't do that on your bed anyway." Said Mob quietly. Of course she wouldn't, not when it wasn't even her bed to begin with and when he had…probably…with other….her insides twisted.

"Well, thank you for the courtesy." Said Reigen. Jealousy. Huh? Where had that come from?

"Can we make curry, not stir fry?" asked Mob quietly. She felt like curry. Curry took longer to make, and Master Reigen had put in too much rice for stir fry anyway.

"Sure. Cube or powder based?" asked Reigen as he opened the cabinet.

"From the curry cube, please." Said Mob quietly. Reigen got the pan ready while Mob washed off the cutting boards. It was faster to wash dishes as you cooked, and Master Reigen trusted her to wash dishes anyway.

"Meat flavored alright?" asked Reigen. It was either meat flavored or…plain? Where had he gotten? How did they even make a plain flavor? And why had he bought it?

"Yes. Do we still have black pork flavor?" asked Mob, keeping her embarrassment at bay. She did not want to talk about that part of her life with Master Reigen.

"Yup, mostly black pork flavored, actually. I need to pay more attention when I grab things." Said Reigen as he got the curry roux ready. That was the fast cooking kind of rice, he didn't want to spend all night waiting on a rice cooker.

"Do you still need my help?" asked Mob, wanting to crawl into her futon and hide for the rest of her life.

"You want to take turns stirring?" asked Reigen. He knew her, she was going to go sit down and stare for a while. He needed to talk to her because, well, she was essentially playing with fire here. He didn't want her to end up making his mistakes.

"Not really but I'll help." Said Mob. She checked the rice maker. Oh, he had used the quick cook kind. It was alright. She liked the kind that took a while, better, but this was fine too.

"Thanks. Hey Mob, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I'm just worried. I don't want you to jump into something that you're not ready for, or to make any mistakes. Any of my mistakes." Said Reigen. Mob pulled her hood down but stared straight forward.

"You're mistakes?" asked Mob quietly. Curiosity. Jealousy? Embarrassment, too. Copious amounts of it.

"Here, stir the roux, and yeah. I made plenty of mistakes when I was your age." Said Reigen as he handed her the stirring spoon. She was still staring.

"What kinds? How do you make mistakes when you….? I mean, they told us at school that you can get sick or have babies but….do you have a baby somewhere?" asked Mob. Jealousy. A lot of it. Oh, she was worried about being replaced. He knew that feeling full well.

"Nope, I've been careful. Like you should be. But yeah, I figured that since I was old enough to, and I thought that everyone else was, then I should…well…get to it." Said Reigen. Mob handed him the spoon, still staring straight forward.

"What happened?" asked Mob as she separated the vegetables by type and size. Not that it was necessary, she just wanted something to do.

"I wasn't ready and I got my heart broken. It took me a while to be alright, after that." Said Reigen, over stirring the roux. His mother would have been turning over in her grave had she been dead. There were a few minutes of silence.

"Do you think that Teru would break my heart?" asked Mob. She had never had her heart broken before but it sounded just plain awful.

"No, not on purpose. The guy almost died for you, and from what I can feel he does love you. Sex changes things, though, Mob." Said Reigen dumping the vegetables into the roux. Damn, they chopped too many. Oh well, it was what it was. There were a few more minutes of silence. Mob fidgeted with her powers, arranging and rearranging the cutlery drawer.

"Changes things how?" asked Mob finally

"Well it's intimate, it's the most intimate thing you can do with someone." Said Reigen handing her the stirring spoon.

"Does that make it bad?" asked Mob as she stirred. How could something that felt good, supposedly, be bad?

"Not bad, not at all. It's just a big thing. Sharing yourself with someone physically like that isn't something you should take lightly." Said Reigen. Mob handed him the spoon. She was fidgeting again. He could hear the books on the shelf shifting.

"Then what changes? If you love someone then what would change? Wouldn't that make you love them more?" asked Mob. She certainly felt like she loved Teru now, and they hadn't even really done anything.

"Like I said, it's an intimate thing. It stirs up a lot of feelings. Sometimes afterwards you feel more in love than you've ever felt in your entire life. Sometimes you feel alone. Sometimes you're full of energy. Sometimes you just want to go to sleep. It stirs up feelings for both people and they're big. There's closeness, too. It's as close as you can be with another person. There's a lot of trust involved, too, so make sure that you trust who you're with and that they don't abuse that trust." Said Reigen, turning off the stove. Wait. He turned it back on. Those vegetables weren't soft enough yet.

"Master Reigen, you're turning the vegetables into baby food." Said Mob, poking them with her powers. She wasn't a cook, not really, but she knew that squishy vegetables were gross.

"Fine. For you I'll endure half cooked vegetables." Said Reigen cutting off the fire again. He checked on the rice, perfect timing. Thank God for modern food science. Mob grabbed the plates and chopstick with her powers while Reigen got everything to the table. They ate in silence for a few moments.

"How can you tell if someone is abusing your trust?" asked Mob suddenly. Reigen almost choked in his food. Oh, she was still talking about that. Right. For a moment he thought that she had found him out.

"If they only call you for sex." Said Reigen, a little more darkly than he had wanted to. Mob nodded.

"What if you hang out together a lot and have a lot of fun together?" said Mob staring down at her food.

"Make sure he calls you his girlfriend. Trust me, you probably couldn't take it, emotionally, if you started a friends with benefits type of thing. That's when you have a friend who you also sleep with. It hurts, emotionally, eventually. Well, at least one of the people in that kind of arrangement gets emotionally hurt." Said Reigen. Mob got him a glass of water and herself a glass of milk with her powers. She knew that she shouldn't use them for mundane things but using them seemed to help keep explosions at bay, and she was embarrassed enough to explode.

"But it's alright if you're a couple?" asked Mob

"Yeah, usually." Said Reigen. He had made the hell out of this curry. Maybe Mob was right about the whole half cooking the vegetables thing. They ate in silence for a few more minutes.

"Is that what happened to you?" asked Mob after taking a long drink of milk. Reigen took a deep breath, trying not to project his emotions.

"….yeah. A few times." Said Reigen hoping that she would leave it at that. He looked up. His aura was pretty close, not mixing with hers. Good. She didn't need what he was feeling.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob, spooning herself some more rice and curry. Reigen held his plate out, he could use some more too. She spooned him some.

"It's alright. I've learned from my past mistakes, and I don't want you to go through them, too." Said Reigen. Mob didn't need that kind of pain….or to know that she had caused that kind of pain in another person.

"Master?" asked Mob after a moment

"Yeah?" asked Reigen, rice and curry all over his face. She used her powers to hand him a paper towel.

"Is that why you don't have a girlfriend? And why you sometimes make me go to the store that's far away to get snacks?" asked Mob. Now it was Reigen's turn to stare.

"You….you knew why I was sending you to the store?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"I'm not stupid, Master Reigen, and I'm not a little kid anymore." Said Mob. If she had been eating with a spoon, it would have bent. This was why she preferred chop sticks.

"I'm sorry, Mob. I won't…I won't put you through that ever again. That was….that was sleazy of me." Said Reigen. Anger. Jealousy. His own guilt. Of course Mob knew. She was right, she wasn't stupid and she wasn't eleven anymore.

"I forgive you." Said Mob going back to her food. Reigen watched her eat for a while. He really was a piece of shit, sometimes.

"Hey Mob, what are you thinking?" asked Reigen as she ate. She took her hands of her chopsticks and held them together in her lap. Her chopsticks still fed her.

"I'm thinking of questions. I don't want to ask the wrong ones." Said Mob, putting her chopsticks down and using her powers to stir the curry and rice better.

"Mob, you can ask me anything, alright?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded but said nothing. Reigen went back to eat, occasionally glancing up at her.

"Have you ever been in love?" asked Mob suddenly. Reigen finished chewing, for once, before he started talking.

"A few times." Said Reigen. Jealousy. Huh. That was weird, coming from Mob. What was she jealous of?

"What happened?" asked Mob bluntly

"Life, mainly. My first girlfriend was only using me to make a guy jealous. The second girl….her family didn't want her to be with someone like me." Said Reigen

"But you're a really good person." Said Mob

"I'm also half, Mob. It's different for people your age. When I was a kid most people wouldn't want their daughter with someone like me." Said Reigen, keeping his emotions to himself as best as he could.

"That's dumb." Said Mob simply. That was a really weird reason not to like someone. People made no sense sometimes.

"It really is." Said Reigen quietly

"You were only in love twice?" asked Mob. What was the normal amount of times to be in love? How many people could you be in love with?

"No. Maybe. Love is hard, sometimes. I've had people I've really cared about. I've had people I didn't think that I could live without. Third time was my own stupidity. Fourth was my fault too. Then after university I decided that I wouldn't fall in love again." Said Reigen, watching her. Was he worrying her? No. No worry. Placid, suppressing. He didn't want to sugar coat things too badly but he also didn't want to make her think that every guy was going to be a piece of shit and all love was doomed.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Did your heart break?" asked Mob simply

"…yeah….but I got better." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and then went back to eating, this time using her hands to feed herself instead of her powers.

"I love Teru. He loves me. I think so because we changed for each other. He used to be a jerk but now he's not. I used to be a pacifist but now I understand self-defense and I'll fight to protect the people I love. When he was gone and I experienced loss I went crazy. Also we both almost died for each other. Is that what love is?" asked Mob flatly. Same monotone. Reigen watched her feelings. Her aura. Her face. Love. Caring. Desire. Comfort.

"Yeah, sounds about right. Congrats, you've found love." Said Reigen. He envied her, just a little. He doubted that he'd meet a woman who'd die for him.

You're welcome, Master." Said Mob. She finished eating and used her powers to wash, dry, and put away her plate and chopsticks. She stared at the table in front of her. Reigen watched her. There was a question brewing.

"If you love someone is it alright to also think about someone else? Even if you still love the person you're with?" asked Mob quietly.

"Sure. Thinking isn't cheating. As long as you never act on your feelings then who cares? You're fourteen, you're hormones are hyperactive. Just don't ever act on them." Said Reigen. Relief. Happiness. Trust.

"Can we watch TV?" asked Mob suddenly. The TV turned on, anyway.

"Yeah, sure. Just let me clean up-" said Reigen. Mob got up and went to the living room. The leftovers packed themselves up and put themselves away. Everything dirty was washed and put away. Reigen shrugged and joined her. There was an anime on. This one had many cats.

"This is Meow Meow Japanese history." Said Mob. Reigen sat down next to her. She leaned against him. They watched in silence. He could feel growing apprehension from her.

"Can I ask you something? I think that you're supposed to say this before you ask a question that might now be alright." Said Mob

"You can ask me anything, Mob. You know that." Said Reigen

"Does it count as sex if you sit naked next to someone on a couch and watch TV?" asked Mob. If Reigen's brain had been a record player then that would have been the moment when the needle skipped.

"…do I have to burn this couch, Mob?" asked Reigen after a long moment. She sat up and looked at him.

"But then where will we sit? The TV is up too high to sit on the floor." Said Mob. Reigen opened and closed his mouth a few times before getting up. It was taking an amazing amount of effort to keep from projecting his feelings.

"Mob….I'll be right back." Said Reigen. He went to his room, closed the door, and flopped down onto his bed. Right. No. He couldn't…he had said that she could ask him anything…..he needed to go back out there and answer her questions before he gave her a complex…..but oh dear God why did he have to know this? He had to burn the couch. He had to bleach the living room. He had to move to another apartment. He rubbed his temples. He was overreacting. He got a spare sheet from his closet and went back to the living room.

"Master?" asked Mob. He was pulling his aura away from hers. Was he mad at her?

"Stand up for a minute, would you?" asked Reigen. Apprehension. Confusion. Damn it Mob. Why did she have to….no, this was good. It was always good to be…open…about things. Right?

"Are you going to bed?" asked Mob

"Nope. I'm covering up the couch." Said Reigen as he covered it with his spare sheet. He sat down and she watched him for a moment before joining him.

"Why?" asked Mob. Reigen looked at her.

"This couch is for eating, sleeping, watching TV, and maybe building a fort. Not for fooling around. OK?" asked Reigen. He was going to be a slight hypocrite there. Just slightly. Actually, considering what this couch had been through, maybe it would be more sanitary if he had covered it a while ago.

"Ok." Said Mob, going back to watching TV.

"Also, no, that's not sex. But please, for the love of God, not on the couch. If you have to, please, use your futon….when I'm not home…." Said Reigen. Was there a hole somewhere he could have crawled into? That sounded really appealing right then. Oh, look, cats. They were talking about the Edo period. Fascinating.

"Can I ask-" said Mob

"Mob. Just ask. Whatever it is, just ask." Said Reigen. Something awkward was going to follow. Well, alright then. Bring it on.

"Is it alright to lay next to someone and touch them?" asked Mob. Reigen went to the kitchen and poured himself some water. Right. Keep it together. Mob needed answers and better she get them from him than from the internet or on the streets. He finished his water and drank another glass before going back to the living room. Apprehension again.

"Fully clothed?" asked Reigen, staring at the TV.

"Yes, then under clothes." Said Mob

"Above the waist?" asked Reigen wondering if he could induce a stroke to end this conversation.

"Mostly, but not…uh…." Said Mob

"Not sex then. It's not sex to get felt up above the waist, but always wash your hands before and after. Hands are pretty filthy and you don't want to get sick or get anyone else sick." Said Reigen praying to God, the God of any religion, any at all, that this would be the last he ever heard about what went on when he gave Mob the day off.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. Master Reigen really did know everything. She wasn't embarrassed, mostly, because no matter what he answered her questions.

"Do you want to pick the next show?" asked Mob. Master Reigen jumped.

"Uh, no. You can pick the next one." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and flipped to another show. This one was apparently about an art club with a guy who was so into drawings of girls that he wouldn't give the one who wanted him the time of day.

"Well this art club certainly does have a problem." Muttered Reigen

"It does. The problem is that the boy doesn't know that the girl loves him because he likes 2D girls better." Said Mob

"….that's ridiculous." Said Reigen

"That's why it's funny." Said Mob. They sat in silence for a little while, Reigen praying that the God's were merciful.

"How do you know when it's alright?" asked Mob suddenly

"What's alright?" asked Reigen before he could stop himself. This was legitimately funny, in some places.

"When it's alright to do stuff with someone?" asked Mob, not looking at him.

"When I'm not home." Said Reigen quickly. Not when he was home. Never when he was home. Oh. Right. That went both ways too.

"Just then?" asked Mob

"Also when you're comfortable. Don't do anything you don't want to do or make anyone do anything that they don't want to do. Always ask, just to be safe. This is not the place for miscommunication." Said Reigen

"Ok." Said Mob. They watched through to the end of the show. She handed him the remote. He handed it back. He didn't particularly want to watch anything. She let the show roll over. This one was also about a high school club with unrequited love. These kids played videogames this time.

"Is everything you watch either about cats or kids in school clubs?" asked Reigen

"Sometimes I watch shows about giant robots, but not that often. They don't make that many of those, anymore." Said Mob

"That's a shame. I can't believe they stopped making Gundam." Said Reigen

"No, they still make Gundam." Said Mob

"Good. The state of animation hasn't gone down the drain yet." Said Reigen

"Do you like Evangelion?" asked Mob

"Mob…everyone likes Evangelion." Said Reigen

"Oh. OK." Said Mob. They watched TV for a few more minutes before Reigen could feel Mob's growing apprehension.

"Is it wrong, to want to, I mean?" asked Mob. Sometimes she thought that it was wrong, that she shouldn't think about things like that. Sometimes it was embarrassing. Sometimes she just thought that she'd be better off not thinking about that stuff at all.

"Hell no. It's natural Mob. Everyone in the entire world thinks about it. Many times a day too, usually." Said Reigen. Mob did not need a complex. She didn't need to grow up to be one those people who married their digital girlfriend, or rather boyfriend.

"Everyone?" asked Mob, not facing him.

"Everyone. It's normal. You're normal." Said Reigen patting her on the back. She nodded and kept on watching TV. They watched a few more of her shows. Some of these were pretty good, when you got past the premise. Some were just weird. He would never understand the high school club goofing off genre. Anime was for fighting, giant robots, and impossible stunts. Not for watching people hang out and not tell each other when they're into each other.

"Even you?" asked Mob suddenly. Reigen was confused but then remembered. He got up and changed into pajamas, just to give himself time to collect his emotions.

"Yes Mob. Everyone." Said Reigen sitting back down. Everyone meant everyone. He did not want to sit there and go over everyone she had ever come in contact with in her life.

"I'm going to go change." Said Mob

"Throw your dirty clothes in the laundry bag, we're taking them to be washed tomorrow." Said Reigen

"But if I wash this hoodie then it won't smell like Teru anymore." Said Mob from the bathroom. She didn't care if it smelled like burning, it also smelled like Teru.

"All the more reason to wash it, Mob, that thing smells terrible." Said Reigen. Honestly. That kid and body spray. Seductive, maybe, if you were a teenage girl. Huh. It actually seemed to work. Well then. Good for him.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. He was right, it did smell kind of bad. Like fire, smoke, and…oh. That was milk. She must have spilled some on herself. Yeah, it was time for a wash. She took off her hoodie, then her shirt, then her undershirt. She looked at herself in the mirror. She did have a chest, sort of. Not big and bouncy but she definitely did. She took off her skirt and the rest of her clothes. Her hips were bigger than they were before. She felt the curve of them. When did that get here?

"Do I just throw my dirty clothes in with yours?" asked Mob picking up her clothes with her powers. She also used them to pull her nightgown down over her head. Oh. Now she looked younger. Maybe she should have worn tighter clothes, like a lot of the other girls did. Then she'd look older.

"Yeah, it'll be simpler." Said Reigen as he checked his phone. Wow, lots of people were checking out the Spirits and Such page. He had already been e-mailed by some new clients. Oh, and Mob's friend were following it too. Mob sat down next to him.

"Hey Master, why are you answering so many questions?" asked Mob. She had always thought that these weren't things you were supposed to ask about.

"Because you're asking them. I'd rather you learn this stuff from me then on the internet or from kids in school." Said Reigen simply. She nodded.

"My mom always said that people weren't supposed to talk about this stuff." Said Mob

"You can with someone you trust and who knows that the hell they're talking about." Said Reigen. Mob watched him for a while.

"You know everything, Master." Said Mob

"Nobody knows everything but, yeah, I know a lot." Said Reigen

"I don't know anything." Said Mob quietly

"You're fourteen, nobody expects you to know anything." Said Reigen

"Really?" asked Mob hopefully. Reigen nodded.

"Really, really. You're only fourteen, you're supposed to ask questions and I have to be responsible and answer them to the best of my ability." Said Reigen. He would answer any and all of her questions but that didn't mean that he wanted to. Somethings he could easily answer, others were a little too personal but he would still answer them. He had to, even if he was sometimes uncomfortable. If anything this was great practice for keeping his powers in line. This was actually easier when he hadn't almost died a few times.

"Oh. Thank you." Said Mob. Gratitude. Caring. Safety. Reigen tugged at her hair.

"Anytime, Mob, anytime. So, you ditched the braids?" asked Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"I don't know. My mom made me keep my hair in braids because my hair acts up when my powers flare up but then I tried letting it down and I think I look better like this. Older." Said Mob. Confidence. Well, if she felt better about herself….then again…no, she wouldn't stay little forever.

"You look nice, Mob. You really do." Said Reigen. Embarrassment. Oh, that was unexpected. Reigen checked the time. Wow, it was late.

"Hey Mob, I'm going to turn in for the night. OK?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"I'll go to bed too." Said Mob. Reigen rubbed her hair.

"Night Mob, see you in the morning." Said Reigen getting up and going to his room. His own room. Privacy. A mattress. He loved Mob, he really did, but the couch wasn't the optimal sleeping arrangement if he didn't want to end up catching a back pain curse.

He had barely laid down and turned out the lights when his door opened and a futon with bedding floated in, followed by Mob herself.

"Mob…." Said Reigen. Oh. She was….worried. Sleepy. Lonely.

"I can't sleep by myself anymore." Said Mob softly. Reigen pointed to the floor next to his bed.

"You can sleep there if you really want to." Said Reigen. Mob's comfort outweighed his desire for privacy and comfort. Damn. And he wanted to sleep in his boxers, too. Much more comfortable that way.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob as she laid down. She stared at the ceiling for a while. Her aura flowed out and filled the room. Master Reigen was keeping his close, again, but she met his and they mixed again. Reigen let out a deep breath. That really was nice. Interesting. Warm. It was like dipping his feet in a pool, not drowning himself in it. Maybe his emotional state had something to do with it.

"Master Reigen?" asked Mob. She still had questions, and she couldn't sleep if her mind was busy.

"Yes, Mob?" asked Reigen. The never ending questions from this kid. No, no, no. It was his responsibly to answer all of her questions. He was the master and she was the student.

"What's it feel like?" asked Mob. She knew that it was supposed to feel good but good was a pretty vague word.

"Good, Mob. It feels good." Said Reigen running his hands through his hair in frustration. Of course she leaves the big questions for last.

"I know that it's supposed to be good, but what's it like? I heard that it hurts, too, sometimes." Said Mob quietly. Reigen turned to face her even though it was dark.

"Mob, if it hurts you're doing it wrong. Secondly I'm a guy, I have absolutely no clue what it feels like for girls. None." Said Reigen. He needed to get her some books, lots and lots of books. Good, academic books, but with lots of explanations. Detailed explanations.

"Oh. How do you know what to do?" asked Mob. Master Reigen felt frustrated. Maybe she was asking too many questions. But then again he had said that she could ask him anything.

"Go by what feels good and what comes naturally. It's mostly instinct, really. Instinct and experience. Nobody starts out good at anything, this included. Do you have any more questions, any at all?" Said Reigen praying that the answer was no.

"Yes." Said Mob

"Do you have to ask right now or can it wait until morning?" asked Reigen, stifling a groan. She didn't feel apprehensive anymore, that was good. Now if only she'd just go to sleep already.

"If I don't ask I'll be up all night." Said Mob simply

"Ask away then, I guess, but make this the last one until morning." Said Reigen. He didn't mean to be a jerk but sleep was a necessity, especially since he only got about four or five hours last night. This was for her, of course, but he had been answering extremely personal questions all night. Everyone had this limits, even him.

"Oh. Sorry, Master. I didn't mean to keep you up." Said Mob. She felt bad, now. She hadn't meant to do anything wrong. A hand reached over and rubbed her forehead.

"Mob, don't feel bad. You didn't do anything wrong, I'm just exhausted." Said Reigen

"I was just wondering if it was alright that sometimes I thought about doing things but then when it came time to do them I didn't want to because I was nervous and stuff. That's all." Said Mob. It had been eating at her, a little. The other Shigeko had called it self denial, but Master Reigen had called it the imp of the perverse. But these feelings she had weren't bad, Master Reigen said that everyone had these thoughts and feelings. So then why did she feel the way she did?

"Mob, you're fourteen. Of course you're not ready for everything. Don't do anything you're not ready for, alright? Now, please Mob, you're a great kid and I know you have a million questions but I need sleep to live." Said Reigen. She wasn't upset. Good.

"Oh. Thank you for answering my questions. Goodnight, Master Reigen." Said Mob, turning onto her side.

"Goodnight Mob. See you in the morning." Said Reigen. He could hear her stirring.

"This was a good breather episode." Said Mob softly. It had been a pretty good day, once she got past the whole almost dying and going crazy thing. Well, not past it but she was making peace with it. Teru was right, it was turning into a distant memory.

"Huh?" asked Reigen as he turned to face the wall.

"Sorry. I just thought that if this were on TV we would have been in the breather episode after the big climax, that's all. It's been a nice day." Said Mob

"Oh. Well, same here Mob. Now, please, go to sleep." Said Reigen. He was tired, so very tired. He could barely keep his eyes opened. Oh. He must have been projecting that, Mob was breathing like she was asleep. He expanded his perceptions and watched the fractals that made up her aura. He turned around and watched their slow rotation. Huh, there was some of him in there too. The ratio of pink and blue changed while she slept. He retreated back within himself and drifted off to sleep.

Tomorrow had been another day. Tomorrow was another day. He was….he was OK. He was still Master Reigen and he was still doing right by her.

He could have lead a full life not knowing exactly what he knew, though. Yeah, a nice full long life. Maybe he'd forget what Mob had said by morning.

Who was he kidding, this day would leave deep psychological scars that was last him well into his afterlife.


	18. A Sunday Spent Tsuchinoko Hunting

Reigen woke up slowly. The light pouring in through his window, the gentle movement of the curtains, all signaled to him that, yes, it was time to get up. Sunday. Rest day. Well, not always but this Sunday would most definitely be a day of rest. Well, rest and laundry and finally retuning this car. He stepped out of bed and felt something soft. Oh, right, Mob.

Huh, that was weird. He was getting used to her, he didn't even notice her aura. Oh. There it was. She was still asleep. It was still sort of early. He'd let her sleep.

He stretched and walked around her as best as he could. His apartment smelled weird. Oh, right, they had made curry last night. He took a deep breath. It was certainly nicer than cigarette smoke, that was for sure. It was tomorrow, tomorrow was today. The shaking was gone. He had almost died, but he was alive now. He was fine and Mob was fine. They were fine. He made his way to the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush. On his way there he felt something….unpleasant. Huh. Mob's doing? He let himself become mired in her again. Yes, that was nice.

Oh, wait. That was Mob's. He put her toothbrush down and grabbed his own. He opened the medicine cabinet, grabbed the toothpaste, and closed it. What was that-!

"Hey buddy! So, what are we up to today?" asked Dimple floating behind him. For a moment Dimple has hit with the urge to run away. Reigen's doing.

"Oh, hey. What are you doing here?" asked Reigen calming himself down. It was just Mob's little spirit friend.

"Ritsu is so boring. Seriously, all the kid does is sit there and feel bad about himself, so I decided to see what Shigeko was up to. She's somehow less dull than her little brother. The things that girl get's up to when you're not around. Stuff you wouldn't believe." Said Dimple with a nudge. The thigs he walked in on. Good for Shigeko, she deserved it. Maybe now she'd take more advice from her good friend Dimple, maybe even let him take over her body for a little bit.

"Dimple….you don't want to know what I know." Said Reigen remembering exactly what Mob had told him. Not that he was mad at her or anything, and it was good that she trusted him so much, but there were some things he didn't need to know about his student.

"You found out? Damn. Well, you know if you ever get tired of your powers, you know, being out of control I could always take over your body." Said Dimple. Reigen finished brushing his teeth and looked himself over in the mirror. Hmm….he wasn't working that day but….yeah he had to shave. He couldn't go around looking scruffy like this.

"Pass. I didn't…feel….anything. Mob told me." Said Reigen. Well he had managed to block out, somewhat, what he felt. He didn't know exactly how his new powers worked but if he thought hard enough they sort of listened. At least he didn't break things when he lost control, like Mob did.

"Aw c'mon. I can regulate your powers for you so you don't end up like Shigeko. You won't even know I'm there." Said Dimple. He could see what Reigen was doing and if he was lucky he wouldn't end up with a sentient curse living inside of him.

"If you take over my body then how will I barely know that you're there? And obviously I won't end up like Mob because I'm nowhere near as powerful as she is." Said Reigen as he shaved, careful not to cut himself.

"Well, yeah, you just got your powers the other day. Shigeko's had hers probably since the day she was born, of course you aren't anywhere near her weight class." Said Dimple. He could see the instability in this guy. He was suppressing, stuffing his powers down. That wasn't what Dimple meant at all by retreat inwards. He wasn't the guy's biggest fan but he did like Shigeko and she liked this guy so of course Dimple would help and, hey, if he got to at least share a body for a little bit then that would be pretty awesome.

"I can figure this out on my own, forgive me for now wanting so share my body with an evil spirit. I honestly don't have any desire to be anywhere near Mob's weight class." Said Reigen. He had held that sort of power in his hands, it was nice, but he didn't want to have to do it again, or to be in a positon where he had to.

"Seriously?! But you could be famous! You could be a God! You could be someone!" said Dimple shaking him back and forth. For a moment Reigen is as enthusiastic as Dimple, he could be someone! He really could! But….no. He wouldn't be a hypocrite. Psychic powers were just another characteristic, that was all. He wouldn't do the exact thing he told Mob not to do. He wouldn't depend on his powers like that.

"Dimple, no thanks. Really." Said Reigen as he finished shaving. He was finally the real deal. It would be so easy to use that. It would be so easy to become someone. He felt the energy around him shift. Mob was awake. He was somebody to her and that would have to be enough.

"I'll give you another day, then you'll wish you had taken you good friend Dimple up on his offer." Said Dimple. This guy would come crawling to him for help after spending time out from under Shigeko's aura, or within actually. Huh. Well then. Good for her!

"Hey Mob, your friend Dimple is here." Said Reigen, sticking his head out through the bathroom door.

"Dimple?" asked Mob as she sat up. She ran a hand through her hair. Bed head. Wonderful. She got and felt around for him. Oh, there he was. She got up and used her powers to trap him in the bathroom.

"Mob, what's with the barrier?" asked Reigen as a wall of pink and blue sealed off this exit.

"I'm keeping Dimple for running away." Said Mob. She took down the barrier as she approached.

"Aw, Shigeko, you're so sweet. Sweet, innocent, little Shigeko. Shigeko who would never, ever, in a million years-" Said Dimple with a laugh. Mob stared at him.

"Well, I was excited to see you, because we're friends and you helped Ritsu awaken his powers….even if he did get a little weird, but now I don't know." Said Mob. She knew it! Dimple had been hanging around. Well, spirits weren't really people so whatever. At least, she told herself that.

"Aw come on! I'm happy for you! Really! C'mon, buddy!" said Dimple. Mob shrugged.

"Fine, I'll keep you around. What are you doing here, anyway?" asked Mob

"What? I can't visit my good friend? Also, you said that you were excited to see me!" said Dimple. Reigen tried to step around them. Mob wasn't embarrassed, surprisingly. The two of them were genuinely happy to see each other. Huh.

"I was, but then you had to go and be weird." Said Mob stepping out of the way to let Master Reigen out. She went to the sink and began to brush her teeth.

"Oh, right, Reigen was there. Well, Shigeko, I'm sorry for your fast approaching death by embarrassment. Of course you could always just let me have your body, if you plan on exiting it." Said Mob spitting and rinsing her mouth out. Bubblegum toothpaste. Why? Just why?

"I'm not embarrassed. I told Master Reigen, already. I can tell Master Reigen anything." Said Mob as she began to brush her hair. She was embarrassed, before, but Master Reigen said that she could ask him anything and tell him anything. Then he stuck to what he said and didn't embarrass her once. He was a good person, like that.

"What? Why? You could have had both of them!" said Dimple as he shook Mob. She let herself be shaken like rag doll until he got bored.

"Not so loud, and stop being weird." Said Mob as she resumed brushing her teeth. Master Reigen was….she felt for him….he was in his room, probably getting dressed. Oh no, she had forgotten to fold her futon back up. She'd do it in a minute.

"I'm just saying, you were pretty close to getting everything you ever wanted." Said Dimple. This girl was crazy, totally instance, that was the only logical explanation.

"I have a lot of the things that I wanted. I have friends now so I'm much more popular. I go to clubs so I'm bettering myself. I get to be with Master Reigen all the time, now, not just work times. Oh, and I have someone who loves me I didn't know that I wanted someone to be with, well someone else that wasn't' Master Reigen, but I have Teru so I'm happy." Said Mob as she finished brushing her hair. She started to braid it but changed her mind.

"Shigeko, as long as I exist I will never understand you." Said Dimple. She was a simple girl with simple tastes, he decided, but it made no sense. She had to know how powerful she was, right? The things he'd do if he had her power. He'd brush his hair, too, because he hadn't been in a body with hair long enough to brush in a while and it felt nice.

"I don't understand you either, Dimple, but you're alright." Said Mob. Why did he want to be powerful so badly? She had plenty of power and honestly it hadn't done her that much good. Not that she wished that she was normal. No, she had to accept herself for who she was. Psychic powers were just another part of her.

"Mob, get all your dirty clothes in the bag! We're going to do laundry today!" shouted Reigen from his room. He sat on his bed trying to sew up his grey suit coat. It was slow going, mainly because he was bad at sewing. He flipped his coat over. It was pretty obvious that there was a big, ugly slash, across the back.

"Damn, he talks to you like you're a kid." Said Dimple. Mob stared at him.

"Do you really think so?" asked Mob as she made her way to the living room to get something clean to wear. Oh, she hadn't taken any dirty clothes with her, these were mostly things she didn't wear that often. She tried to tug down a shirt. It went, eventually.

"Of course, he still orders you around, doesn't he?" asked Dimple as she struggled to pick out a shirt. He couldn't blame her, if he had corporeal he'd chose what he wore wisely. Who knew how long he'd have a body for, when he got one. If he ever got one.

"Because he's the master and I'm the student." Said Mob simply. It was plain as day, to her anyway. Master Reigen was the master and of course he was the one who got to decide what they did and when they did it.

"Yeah, but you know how powerful you are, Shigeko. You actually know how to control your powers too, unlike him." said Dimple. He was an evil spirit, of course he was going to stir the pot. Shigeko as a good kid and she didn't deserve to be used by that old former fraud. She'd be happier if she listened to him, he was sure.

"Master Reigen is just adjusting, that's all. We're learning together, now." Said Mob. She pulled on a skirt, quickly, because this wasn't really the room to change in. This fit a little better, but she had gotten taller since she had last worn this. She hadn't really been paying attention when he packed, she just took a bunch of her clothes. She wanted to pull Teru's hoodie over her head but remembered that it was dirty.

"So wouldn't that make you both the Master, then?" asked Dimple. This kid couldn't squander her potential like this. Even if she didn't want to be a God she surely wanted something better than a futon in a one bedroom apartment?

"Dimple….Master Reigen is still Master Reigen, ok? He's the master and I'm the student and that's just the way that it's supposed to be!" said Mob, staring at him. Master Reigen needed to be Master Reigen because otherwise it would be like it was the other night when he was crying and he didn't know and then she wouldn't know-

"Hey Mob, you alright?" asked Reigen. He could feel her growing panic and had stabbed himself, accidentally, through the thumb. He sucked his thumb as he found her in the living room digging through her suitcase for some clothes.

"Oh…Master Reigen. I'm fine." Said Mob. Reigen got down to her level and threw an arm around her. He glared at Dimple. Dimple just shrugged. Who knew what set Shigeko off? He watched her, the thing, the curse that was poking its way off. Yup. A pool of strong emotions in the shape of Shigeko, piggybacking off of her consciousness.

"You can talk to me Mob, I think we established that pretty clearly." Said Reigen. Last night they had established the HELL out of that. What was she hiding? Anxiety. They were both anxious, now, because he was just so mired in her. He sat back, resting against the couch. He closed his eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out.

"Master…." Asked Mob. This was her fault, she hadn't stuffed her feelings down and now Master Reigen was feeling bad and this was making her feel bad.

"Mob…I just need a second, that's all." Said Reigen. Regular people were easier to ignore. He had felt Mob's feelings before but he had sort of been able to shrug them off, no, power through. He had been powering through her embarrassment and now he needed to power through her anxiety.

"Hey, Reigen, separate from her." Said Dimple knocking on his head like he was a door. Honestly, if the guy didn't want to end up a mess he needed to pull out of Shigeko's aura. He was actually pretty integrated into her. Maybe she had gotten what she had wanted. He didn't know what that was for espers though. Spirits merged like that, but that was to eat each other.

"What are you talking about?" asked Reigen as he tried to breathe. This was becoming a loop. The more upset he became the more upset Mob would become. He needed to calm down. Of course telling himself to calm down would just make him anxious about not being calm in the first place.

"You're inside of her right now, get out. Seriously, before you end up pissing yourself and pissing her off." Said Dimple. It was obvious. Just pull your aura OUT of the person who was upset.

"Don't….please don't ever say it like that again." Said Reigen closing his eyes. Yup. Just like Mob was always saying, Dimple made things weird.

"Master Reigen? I'm sorry." Said Mob kneeling next to him. He reached out and pulled her close. It was instinct, not something that he had planned. Warmth. Concern. Safety. Trust. He could feel his anxiety melting away.

"I'm-I'm fine, now. Mob. I'm fine." Said Reigen. Negative emotions were stronger than neutral and positive ones. Maybe Mob just felt them more strongly. Oh, she was still in his arms. He let her go. She still clung to him.

"Hey Reigen, do you still not want me to help regulate your powers?" asked Dimple. He had never been an empath before, it might have been interesting. He could influence people easier, when he figured out how to write the emotions that he wanted people to feel.

"I'll-I'll be fine, Dimple." Said Reigen as he came back to himself. He could at least control his perceptions, sort of. His aura was still inside of Mob's. Huh. That was him in there, in the fractal pattern. The first time he had done this he had plunged in. Now he sought her out, it seemed. Was that alright?

"It's ok, Master. That happens to me, too, sometimes. At least you don't break things." Said Mob, still holding onto Master Reigen. She felt something warm and wet on her arm and pulled away. The entire building shook. Reigen felt panic stab through him and began to breathe heavily.

"Master Reigen! I…I hurt you." Said Mob softly. Dimple floated over. That was barely any blood at all, Shigeko was just being a baby. She must have drawn much more blood in the climax. The climax that nobody had thought to find him for. Whatever. He wasn't holding onto any anger. It happened and now it wouldn't.

"This…? Oh, no. I just hurt myself sewing. Remember my suit coat? I'm trying to fix it. Why pay when I can do it myself?" said Reigen. Oh. Yes. That was wonderful, the sense of calm he was getting from her. He extracted his aura from hers, slowly, so he didn't startle her. There. Some distance, a little distance, was good.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought I had done that. I'll fix it for you." Said Mob. She got up and went to the bathroom. He followed her.

"Mob, it's alright. I can bandage my own wounds." Said Reigen with a laugh. His attempts at diffusion the tension were lost on her. She got out a seldom used box of Band-Aids, some antiseptic cream, and ran the hot water.

"I've got you, Master Reigen. Don't worry. I scored pretty well in health." Said Mob as she guided his hand to the water and washed off the blood. That was the first and most important part. The hot water would kill the germs.

"Mob, I'm sorry I freaked out like that." Said Reigen as he allowed her to clean his cut. She turned off the water and dried his hand with the hand towel on the wall. Well then, that certainly negated any cleaning that she had done. Good, she was tossing it in the laundry bag.

"Master Reigen, you don't have to say sorry. It just happens to you like it happens to me." Said Mob as she spread the antiseptic cream on his cut. She felt better, having something to do. One of them had to know what to do. She wasn't a little kid anymore, sometimes she was going to have to be the one who knew what to do. That was just the way that it had to be sometimes.

"Ah! Careful with that, it burns." Said Reigen. She was certainly being thorough. He had pulled away from her, but he could still read her. Concern. Resolution. He tried not make her feelings his. They weren't negative, so it was easier.

"It's supposed to burn, Master. That's how you know its working." Said Mob as she got the Band-Aids out. Sometimes the things you had to go through hurt, but they only hurt because they helped, and you'd come out the other side stronger than when you started.

"They seriously told you that at school?" asked Reigen. Hoe could something painful possibly be helpful? His mother had always just covered his injuries and sent him on his merry way.

"No, my mom did. I used to get hurt when I was a kid, and I didn't heal as fast." Said Mob. She wasn't as strong then, she decided. She was weaker, but that was before the other Shigeko formed. She made them stronger, if anything.

"Oh….I'm sorry." Said Reigen. He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, exactly. For freaking out. For being a useless Master towards her. For making her take care of him. For all time he couldn't protect her. For using her as a meal ticket all these years. He had a lot of apologizing to do, in the future.

"Don't be, it's not your fault, Master." Said Mob as she surveyed her handiwork. Well, he certainly wouldn't be dying of blood loss or blood poisoning anytime soon. Good. She could help. She could be helpful. She could know what to do.

"It's not yours either, Mob." Said Reigen watching her. She was calmer now, inside and out.

"I know, I guess." Said Mob. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't control her powers, her emotions, but she still made him upset.

"Hey Mob…does it….does it bother you when I'm in your aura?" asked Reigen after a moment. Damn it, Dimple. Why'd he have to go and make it seem weird? The more Reigen thought about it the weirder it felt. Auras were….he didn't have a definitive answer. Some places said souls, some places said spiritual energy, and some places just said nothing at all but fantasy. Obviously he knew that they were real, now. What were they, though? Was he…were they touching souls? Was that even possible?

"No, not at all. It feels nice, actually. Safe. Like I'm not alone." Said Mob. It was more than just nice. It was….hard to describe. Like holding someone and being held, inside and out.

"Oh. It's not…weird?" asked Reigen. Intimate. That was the word. It felt intimate. Too intimate, maybe. Was there such a thing as too intimate between them now? They had pretty few boundaries left…and Reigen didn't mind. They had broken down so gradually he had hardly noticed.

"No. Well, at first auras were weird because I hadn't ever felt another esper's aura but then I got used to Teru's and now I'm used to it." Said Mob. Reigen watched her. She watched him back. She didn't reach her aura out to him, he had purposely untangled himself from her.

"When I mix my aura with yours it's not….uh…Teru stuff?" asked Reigen after a while. It was certainly intimate, he decided, but if it was **that** kind of intimate he'd have to kill himself. Yup. No way around it. He'd have to climb up onto the roof and kill himself.

"Huh? No. Teru's aura and mine mostly just sit on top of each other, or mix together, like eggs and raw rice mix together but in a nice way. Not mix like yours and mine. We're like sugar and milk." Said Mob, not catching the possible meaning behind his words.

"Oh…alright." Said Reigen. He wondered what, exactly, that meant but he decided that for the sake of both of them he'd get off this before it got weird. Of course it wasn't like that. This was Mob for God's sake.

"Does it hurt?" asked Mob. He got a weird look there, and he was hiding himself from her. She couldn't tell what he was feeling.

"No, not really." Said Reigen flexing his hand. It stung, mostly. Mob had done a great job. He would have just washed the blood off and kept going.

"Do you want me to try and fix your coat?" asked Mob. She could use her powers to seal porcelain back together, she had broken enough plates and cups to have figured it out, so maybe she could seal fabric back together, too.

"You know how to sew?" asked Reigen. Huh. Something else he didn't know about Mob. She shook her head.

"I can sometimes make things fit back together. I can fix plates and cups now and they don't leak. I could probably try to fix your coat. I think thread would be easier." Said Mob. When she fixed plates she used to just put them back together like puzzle pieces but now she poured herself into it, forcing the ceramic to merge back together. Thread would be easier, she could just tie it back together.

"Sure. You can't possibly do any worse than I have." Said Reigen. He might as well let her try. He could always get a new suit, anyway, once all the rent was paid he'd see how much he had left over.

They had their way to the living room. She sat down on the couch and he hand her his coat. He turned on the TV, something to break the silence. Nothing much in the news. Oh, wow, someone had claimed to have seen a tsuchinoko. There was a reward for its capture.

"I'm done." Said Mob handing him his coat. Reigen felt the space where the rip was. The fabric felt thicker, almost like scar tissue, but it was better than the big, ugly seam that it would have been left with if he had been doing the sewing.

"Thanks. Wow, I didn't know that you could do things like this." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"I didn't know I could, either. I'm sure what all I can do, really." Said Mob. She had never tried to fix fabric before, mom always either sewed her clothes or threw them out when she ruined them.

"Well, do you think you can help me out with something?" asked Reigen. The office was usually closed on Sundays and Reigen didn't want to change that now. They needed something to do together, something that would be fun, maybe. Something more fun than just doing laundry and watching TV all day, anyway.

"Of course, Master. What is it?" asked Mob. She would always be there to help Master Reigen with whatever he needed. Reigen watched her. Devotion. Caring. She was practically screaming them at him.

"We're going to find a tsuchinoko!" said Reigen, collecting himself after a moment. Now she was skeptical.

"Are those real?" asked Mob. She had never seen one before, and she had seen a lot of things in her life.

"No idea! We can still find it though, if it is. After all, a lot of people don't think that psychic powers and spirits are real." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Sound logic.

"There's a reward, too, they said. We won't have to worry about money if we find it." Said Mob. That would be good. She knew that Master Reigen sometimes worried about making rent.

"Mob, you don't need to worry about money." Said Reigen. She didn't need that kind of stress. She was just a kid.

"Why not?" asked Mob. Money seemed like something that everyone worried about. Well, not Teru, his family was rich. Her family wasn't and her parents fought about money all the time.

"Because it's my responsibility, not yours. Alright? You let me worry about that." Said Reigen. Mob watched her for a moment and nodded.

"Yes, Master Reigen." Said Mob even though she didn't quite get it.

"Good. Now, c'mon, Mob! Get into some gym clothes and let's drop off this laundry so we can get to it!" said Reigen. Dimple rolled his eyes and flew away. He'd be back, once something interesting happened.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob. She went and dug through her clothes. Reigen watched her for a moment. He'd have to get her a dresser or something, she couldn't keep living out of bags and suit cases.

She had a bed, too. Her own chopsticks and rice bowl. Shampoo and other stuff in his bathroom. She wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. Reigen was alright with that. It was, it was nice, having her around.

"Hey Mob, when do we have to return this car, again?" asked Reigen. Mob looked up and shrugged.

"I don't know, Matsuura didn't say. He just gave us the keys." Said Mob finding a pair of track pants and a t shirt.

"Huh. So in theory we could just keep it forever, huh?" asked Reigen. He hadn't had a car in years but it certainly did make a few things more convenient. Mob stared at him.

"I think that's stealing, Master." Said Mob as she walked over to the bathroom to change. Reigen shrugged.

"If he wanted his car back then he shouldn't have given the keys to a couple of middle schoolers." Said Reigen. The room shook.

"Master!" said Mob, hoping that he was kidding. Obviously they couldn't keep it forever. Besides, they didn't need a car. The buses and trains worked just fine.

"I'm kidding, Mob. We'll return it today after we capture the tsuchinoko." Said Reigen. Even if they didn't capture the thing it would still be a fun outing. Outing, not job. Huh. He had only recently actually been hanging out with Mob. It was nice.

Reigen changed into some exercise clothes, mainly sweatpants without holes in them. He grabbed some old plastic tubs and nets left over from his cryptid hunting days. Those were in the boxes he had never gotten around to unpacking. What else was in here? Ooh, his old super famicom, and the books he hollowed out to hide tiny liquor bottles. Huh. He hadn't touched this box since his university days.

"Master, I'm ready to go, now." Said Mob as she leaned over to see what all was in that box. Master Reigen had a few boxes like that around the house, she hadn't looked inside though. They weren't her boxes to snoop through.

"Oh, hey!" said Reigen closing the book quickly. Mob didn't need to see just what he thought of the compendium of classic poetry back when he was eighteen.

"What's in these boxes?" asked Mob simply

"My old junk, mostly. Stuff I can't bring myself to throw away." Said Reigen getting up and closing the box. He'd look through the boxes later.

"Oh, ok. Why did you cut a hole in that book, Master?" asked Mob. Seemed like a waste of a book, really.

"Uh…to hide things, mostly." Said Reigen. Right. He said that she could ask him anything. He didn't want to be a bad influence on her. She didn't need to think that it was ok to hollow out books and hide liquor from him. She was too young to drink. Besides, if she really wanted to try he'd get them a bottle of good sake so that she could see what it was like in a place where he could keep an eye on her. Not like how at her age he had snuck a bottle of sake and thrown up out his window at midnight. She'd probably hate drinking, too, just like she had hated smoking.

"Why would you hide something in a book?" asked Mob. What happened when you wanted to actually read the book? Also, what would he be hiding from her? Or in general, she guessed. These boxes had dust on them, he must have packed them years and years ago.

"When I was a kid I used to hide things I wasn't supposed to have, liquor and cigarettes mainly, in books so that my mom wouldn't find them. I don't want you to do that, though. If you want to try drinking ask me and we'll drink together, alright? I don't want you sneaking around." Said Reigen. That was…responsibly irresponsible. She should not have been drinking, especially with her powers, but he'd rather she try it with hum where he could make sure that she was safe.

"Oh. Ok. But what if you wanted to read the books?" asked Mob. She didn't hide things, not really, but if she did she'd hide them somewhere more hidden. She wouldn't hurt a book, either.

"Trust me, I had no desire to read these books." Said Reigen ruffling her hair. She looked up at him through her fringe and used her powers to smooth her hair down. He felt her rusting his hair right back.

"Jokes on you, Mob. I didn't comb my hair today." Said Reigen. He should have, though. It was getting long enough to need combing again. He'd have to cut it. Hers, too. Her fringe was starting to cover her eyes. He walked over to grab the laundry sack, but she took it from him with her powers.

"You're lucky, you get to have short hair." Said Mob as they slipped on their shoes left the house. Reigen shrugged.

"Cut it short if you want, it's your hair after all." Said Reigen, locking the front door. Not that they really had that much to steal, really.

"No, then I'd look like a boy." Said Mob, their footsteps making a thunking sound as they walked down the metal stairs.

"Mob, you don't look at all like a boy." Said Reigen. He pushed her embarrassment away. Well that was certainly, well, sharp. He wondered where that had come from.

"I…I guess so." Said Mob quietly as she stared out at the city. Don't think about it….don't think about it….don't think about it…

"Huh, windy out here, huh? Mob, you look like a girl, alright? You're pretty." Said Reigen. She was getting older and worrying more about her looks. She didn't have anything to worry about, she looked like a regular kid to him.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob quietly as they walked over to their borrowed car. Good thing that they were retuning it, soon. Matsuura probably needed it, and she didn't want to be a bother.

They stopped at the laundromat first. Reigen knew that it was cheaper to just use the coin laundry but, honestly, he hated having to hang around in the coin laundry all day. Plus then he would have to iron and fold his own clothes, another pain. Mob stood watching someone else's clothes spin around in the wash cycle. It was interesting, back at her parent's house the washing machine didn't have a window.

"C'mon Mob, we're burning daylight." Said Reigen even though it wasn't even noon yet. He was starting to get a headache from the collective boredom of everyone there. The people doing their own clothes were bored, the workers were bored, it was just an incredibly boring place, and Reigen Arataka didn't do boredom.

"Master Reigen, why don't we wash our own clothes? It looks fun." Said Mob still watching someone else's clothes spinning around and around. Someone said she was adorable. She didn't know what was so adorable about watching the washing machine, it was neat, and she didn't know why more people didn't. Maybe because it wasn't a novelty for them.

"Because then we'd have to hang around here all day and eventually we'd wither and die from boredom like grapes left on the vine for too long. Besides, we have a tsuchinoko to catch!" said Reigen. Mob nodded and turned to follow him. As they left Reigen glanced over at the convenience store. Hmm…right they'd need to stay hydrated if they were going to be hiking through the woods all day.

"Hey Mob, let's get some waters so we don't end up dying of heat stroke." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged. It wasn't that hot out, not really, it was almost autumn. She still followed Master Reigen into the convenience store. As they entered he went right to the cold drinks and got out two giant bottles of water. Mob stared longingly at the milk selection.

"They have a lot of different kinds of milk." Said Mob stating a fact. Whole milk, skim milk, low calorie milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, soy milk, dairy free soy alternative milk, fruit smoothie flavored milk, even extra chocolatey cookies and cream milk.

"Do you want some milk, Mob? Why am I asking, of course you do. If having milk tapped into the house instead of water was an option you'd be all over that in a heartbeat." Said Reigen opening the milk cabinet for her. Her eyes lit up with joy, Reigen was momentarily overjoyed himself. She stared and stared until she took out the largest container of plain milk that they had.

"It's import to stay hydrated so that we don't get heat stroke." Said Mob. Reigen wanted to tell her that it was way too heavy but he couldn't argue with that logic or that face.

"Sure thing, Mob, but you're carrying it." Said Reigen. They made their way to the counter. Reigen bought a pack of cigarettes, he was running low. He knew that he needed to quit smoking already but he just couldn't. He had tried for a week when Mob started working for him but his hands had shaken so badly that his writing looked like a toddlers. He was kind of irritable then, too, thankfully not towards Mob, though.

"They have a lot of different kinds of cigarettes." Said Mob once again stating a fact. She didn't know that they made so many kinds. They must have been really good to necessitate the production of so many kinds of cigarettes. She didn't see the appeal, though. She had tried smoking once and once was enough.

"You want a pack?" asked Reigen, not being serious in the slightest. Mob was just fascinated, that was all. He remembered being her age and being fascinated by all of the adult things behind the counter. Speaking of….no, not while he was with Mob. There were certain things that he wouldn't purchase in front of her. They needed to have some kind of boundaries even though she was fully aware that he-nope. They still needed boundaries.

"No thank you. I don't like smoking and I don't know why other people do, either." Said Mob simply as they paid and exited. Reigen thought for a moment.

"They're addictive, highly addictive. Plus some people like the taste and the smell and some people find them relaxing." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"I just think that they taste and smell terrible, and the smoke hurts my lungs." Said Mob as she sat in the front seat. Reigen stood outside for a moment. He knew that she hadn't meant anything by that but he knew he needed to stop smoking in front of her.

"Master Reigen? Do you want me to drive?" asked Mob when he didn't immediately join her. Reigen got in quickly and tossed the bag from the store in the back seat.

"You know how to drive?" asked Reigen knowing full well that she didn't.

"No, but I can push the car with my powers. I did that to get to that Claw base." Said Mob

"Cars are dangerous enough as it is, I'll drive, now put your seat belt on." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and put her seat belt on, not mentioning how they hadn't used them after their great escape. Well, then again they had to fit a lot of people in. They started driving towards the woods where the tsuchinoko was spotted. Mob returned some messages on her phone. Tome and the others were playing games on her people watching bench near the train station. Mob declined her invitation and told her what she and Master Reigen would be doing. She invited Tome to come but she said that she wasn't going to waste the weekend exercising.

"Master Reigen, can Teru and Ritsu come too?" asked Mob suddenly. How could she have forgotten to invite them?

"Sure, but they'd better respond fast, I'm not driving back into the city." Said Reigen. He wouldn't mind those two. He still had to clear the air with Ritsu, after all. Teru could probably use the company, too, living alone and all.

"They both said no thank you. Teru is ironing and grocery shopping today and Ritsu says that he has to atone for all of the terrible things he did." Said Mob

"Terrible things? What'd he do? Burn down a shrine?" asked Reigen once again not being entirely serious.

"Oh no, Ritsu would never do anything like that. He just told some lies that got some people in trouble. I'm glad he's apologizing." Said Mob. That was good, then maybe Onigawara would stop moping in their club room and be the shadow leader again because she really, really, really didn't want the job.

"What'd he lie about?" asked Reigen. Good, the kid was coming out of his teenage asshole phase. Maybe then he could be reasoned with. Did he think the same thing that Teru thought? Reigen hoped not, he really did.

"Remember the recorder thing I was telling you about before? He and the student council president framed Onigawara, he's a year ahead of me and the school's old shadow leader, and they framed the rest of his friends too, for stealing girls' gym clothes." Said Mob still not understanding why anyone would want gross, dirty gym clothes in the first place.

"You brother framed those guys? Damn….well at least he's apologizing. I hope he doesn't get his ass kicked." Said Reigen without thinking. His middle school had its own delinquent gang and even at his stupidest he never messed with those guys.

"Master Reigen, you're cursing." Said Mob still staring ahead out the window. She had been stating a fact, that was all. He didn't usually use so many bad words.

"Oh, sorry. I, well, I forgot who I was with for a second." Said Reigen. Right. Mob was his friend but she was still just a kid. He shouldn't have been talking that way around her.

"You forgot who I was?" asked Mob curiously

"No, just how old you were." Said Reigen. She was fourteen, she knew the words but she shouldn't pick up his bad habits and start using them.

"I'm not a little kid. I know all the bad words. I just meant that you didn't curse that often before." Said Mob. When was he going to stop seeing her as a little kid?

"I should really cut out the casual cursing. It's not good for you to hear me talk like that." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"I'm not a little kid anymore." Said Mob still staring out the window. Reigen sighed.

"I know. You made that abundantly clear yesterday." Said Reigen. It was good that she saw him as someone she felt safe enough with to share that part of her life with but he still wanted to be able to think of her as a kid. He didn't want to think about what she got up to when his back was turned. On his couch. In his living room.

"….you said I could tell you anything. Don't make fun of me." Muttered Mob as she looked down to hide her blush. She didn't even know why she had gotten that far that fast. She now knew what the phrase 'one thing lead to another' meant.

"I'm not making fun of you, Mob, I'm just saying that I know that you're growing up. Just don't think that you have to grow up all at once." Said Reigen feeling her embarrassment. That was a low blow, he had to admit. No matter how open they were Mob would still be uncomfortable with some things, he decided. It was different in the light of day, too, he decided.

"But what if I want to be grown up?" asked Mob. She wasn't a little kid anymore. She had fought and almost died, she had found love, she had done…well very little, actually, if what the girls in class talked about was any indication of what people her age were supposed to be doing, but she was still doing stuff. Sort of. She wasn't in elementary school anymore and she didn't want anyone to think of her as a little kid.

"There's a lot more to being grown up than doing, well, that. Believe me. When I was your age I thought the same thing." Said Reigen

"Like drinking and smoking and paying bills?" asked Mob. Those were all the things that grown-ups did that kids didn't. Well, what she could think up off the top of her head.

"It's more than that, Mob. It all boils down to being responsible." Said Reigen. He was one to talk. He owned three suits, ate out more than he cooked, and was so terrible with money that even he couldn't believe it.

"I'm responsible. I do all my homework and I have a job and I help people and I can even do chores if you ask me to." Said Mob. She didn't consider herself irresponsible. She wasn't as responsible as Ritsu and she didn't take complete and total care of herself like Teru but she wasn't a baby.

"Yeah, you're right. You're pretty mature….but don't go rushing into anything just because you think that it'll make you more grown up." Said Reigen. She was a pretty great kid all things considered. When he was her age he was drinking in the park and had to literally be dragged to school by his gakuran some days.

"I know, Master. I'm not trying to be grown up by doing things, I just want to be more grown up." Said Mob. She hoped that what she said made sense. She wasn't working or going to school or being with Teru to pretend at being a grown up, she just didn't want to be a little kid anymore. That was why she had let her hair down, too.

"I get it Mob. You're doing just fine, don't worry." Said Reigen. She really was. She was a remarkably mature kid. Or young woman. Was that right? No, young woman didn't fit Mob, not really. She was still just a kid in his eyes.

As Mob and Reigen drove out of city limits to find the mystical and never before captured tsuchinoko Ritsu was wrapping up a quest of his own. He had made all of his apologies and now he just had to see what the outcome would be. God. He had been such a dirty underhanded jerk. He was walking home now, planning to spend his Sunday studying and watching TV. Shigeko had texted that she was going to the woods with Reigen. Ritsu passed. He didn't want to spend more time with the guy than was strictly necessary. His walk home also, once again, took him through the same path as Shigeko's boyfriend.

"Hey." Said Ritsu. He had felt Teru before he had seen him. He was walking away from the train station. He looked and felt less than happy.

"Oh, hey Shigeko's little brother. What brings you here on this fine Sunday?" asked Teru a little more sarcastically than he had meant to. He was going to surprise Shigeko with a visit, having gotten his ironing and shopping done early, but she had texted asking him to come with her and Reigen to the woods to find a tsuchinoko. He wanted to spend time with her, especially after all of those firsts the other day, but he didn't want to spend time with Reigen. It would have been much too awkward.

"You don't know my name by now? It's Ritsu." Said Ritsu as they met on the sidewalk.

"Sorry, that was jerkish of me. Let's start again." Said Teru. Right. He needed to remember that just because he was upset that didn't give him the right to act like that towards others.

"Sure. So, what's up? You had club or something today?" asked Ritsu. He had been walking from the direction of Black Vinegar.

"No, I was just going to surprise Shigeko but she's going to the woods with Reigen. They're on a job again, they're looking for a tsuchinoko or something." Said Teru. He would have taken her to the woods if she wanted to go that badly and he would have even looked for mystical mythical creatures if she had asked.

"Yeah, she texted me about that. I didn't want to go, not really. I mean I love Shigeko but I didn't really want to hang out with that Reigen guy." Said Ritsu

"Same here. I don't know. He's a nice guy, sometimes, but I don't really…like him all that much." Said Teru trying not to sound like a whiney brat.

"He's too familiar with Shigeko." Said Ritsu without thinking. Teru nodded in agreement.

"I know. He's always touching her. I mean, he told me that he wasn't interested in her like that, and I believe him because he's an actual adult and he can be with girls, I mean women, his own age and all that but he touches her a lot." Said Teru. He was always tugging at her hair or rubbing her back or putting an arm over her shoulders. Teru knew exactly how all of those so called innocent touches could make her come undone. Not that he'd mention that part to her little brother or anything.

"He's always spending time with her, too. She even lives with him now. She won't come home. You know, you were there when we fought. Sorry about that, by the way." Said Ritsu. They should have fought away from other people's eyes. They had been rude. He was such a jerk lately.

"It's fine, I get it. We were all pretty upset that night. I don't know why she wants to stay there, anyway. His place isn't that big and she sleeps on the floor of the living room." Said Teru. His place was much bigger and nicer and she could sleep in an actual bed. No wait, she didn't like beds. Then they'd get a big futon to share, if she wanted.

"You went over to visit? What'd you guys do?" asked Ritsu. He would have liked to hang out with them, if it wasn't just going to be Shigeko and Reigen there. Another person acted as a buffer.

"We watched TV." Said Teru quickly, much too quickly. Crap. He could feel himself blushing. Ritsu either didn't notice or knew not to go digging too deeply in that area. What would he say if Ritsu came out an asked? He'd lie, of course. He couldn't exactly say something like 'I felt up your sister and then we went back to her place where after a lot of kissing we somehow came to the idea that it wasn't fair that she had seen me naked so there we were watching TV like that'.

"…alright." Said Ritsu knowing fully well that he did not want to go digging around in that area. Right. This was her boyfriend. They probably kissed and stuff, stuff that Ritsu wanted no knowledge of what so ever.

"So…what are you doing today?" asked Teru knowing that soon an awkward silence would grow between them.

"I'm apologizing. Well, I was apologizing but now I'm going home to pretty much wait for tomorrow to happen." Said Ritsu

"Me too. Well, not the apologizing part. I'm going to go home and try to figure out that black orbs thing. Actually, I should probably do that outside now that I think about it." Said Teru. He wasn't going to go digging around into what, exactly, Ritsu was apologizing for. He figured he had a pretty good idea, based on how many guys were piled up in that alley. Power corrupts and all that.

"Wait, figure out? You can just gain new powers like that?" asked Ritsu. He had figured that he could only do a few things, like the adult espers they had fought.

"Yes and no. I'm not an expert but I think that everyone has a base power they can build upon. Well, everyone but Shigeko. I still don't fully know what she can do. I, though, and mostly good at making energy tangible but I couldn't do any of the things, say, Reigen can do." Said Teru. He could make barriers and air whips and throw people around. Shigeko could do all that and give people her power and create fire and control plant life. That wasn't even mentioning all of the fine movements she could do with her powers.

"How do you make energy tangible?" asked Ritsu. That sounded cool. He mostly just threw guys around and bent spoons.

"I just sort of collect it around myself until I can touch it. See?" said Teru forming his own energy into a golden colored air whip and knocking some leaves off of a tree.

"Let me try." Said Ritsu. He tried to collect energy into his hands and shape it but he just made cracks in the sidewalk around himself and shook the tree.

"It might not be in your power set." Said Teru seeing how discouraged Ritsu was getting. Teru tried to move the tree branch without visibly encasing it in his own energy. He couldn't.

"Well, it's still better than Reigen's. What can he do, really? Throw feelings around?" said Ritsu mostly trying to make himself feel better.

"I know. That's the one power I don't want. Having my aura interact with other people's auras is hard enough. I don't want to actually feel their feelings." Said Teru. Though that could have some good practical applications…no! Bad hormones. Stop raging. Go sulk in the corner like good hormones.

"What is an aura, anyway? I mean I haven't really had mine for long but I don't get it. Is it like an A.T. field?" asked Ritsu

"What is it with your family and Evangelion?" asked Teru

"You don't like it?" asked Ritsu. Weird, just plain weird. It was obviously the apex of mech shows. Why wouldn't they be into it?

"No, I like it, Shigeko just references it a lot, too." Said Teru. She had really been clinging to it when she, well, temporarily lost her mind.

"It's just a show we got really into when they re-aired it. I think I like it better than Shigeko did, though. She watched it through her fingers, mostly. She played the song from the movie a lot though." Said Ritsu

"Oh yeah, I remember she was talking about it a lot, back in the…white room." Said Teru. Right, that place. The place where the world stopped making sense. He reached inwards. Yes, his powers were still there.

"What was with you guys in there, anyway?" asked Ritsu

"You haven't had your powers for long enough. Shigeko and I were born with them. We've always seen the aural spectrum. I think auras might actually be A.T. fields. I always felt like mine was the part of myself that didn't fit in my vessel, uh, body. I think that with espers there's so much of us that we don't fit all the way." Said Teru trying and failing to explain the unexplainable. The incomprehensible. Something that he hadn't thought too heavily on until it was taken away from him.

"So touching auras is like touching spirits?" asked Ritsu, slightly alarmed. Well that was certainly…something. He remembered how he could sort of sense what Shigeko was feeling when they were near, how he had been able to sense Teru coming around the corner. How…weird….but kind of nice it had felt when the guy, Sho, had been mixing their auras together.

"Maybe. I don't really know. I never really spent a significant amount of time with another esper until I met Shigeko." Said Teru

"I didn't even know I was an esper until a few days ago." Said Ritsu. Huh. So that energy that permeated the whole house, the energy that Shigeko left over, came from her spirit and not her powers? Or were they one in the same?

"Well, what all did you figure out how to do in those few days?" asked Teru. Ritsu shrugged.

"Bend spoon and throw people around. I can make a barrier too, but it's not very strong." Said Ritsu. He knew that he wasn't as powerful as his sister and he had made his peace with that.

"I see. So your powers are more offensive than defensive?" asked Teru. That was interesting. If they were a party, Shigeko, her brother, and him, then they would all have clearly defined roles. He would be the shield, her brother the sword, and her the mage.

"I guess. You can make a pretty strong barrier though, I noticed. How'd you do that?" asked Ritsu

"I just made the energy around me more physical, I guess. More tangible." Said Teru putting up one of his barrier. Ritsu poked it with how own energy. It didn't even ripple.

"Can you show me how to do that?" asked Ritsu, having to take a moment to get the words out. He was suddenly nervous, conscious of how close they were. It was weird. He meant in the future, not right then and there but Teru still nodded.

"Sure. I don't really have anything else to do today. I think there's a park around here." Said Teru as he started walking. Ritsu took a second before he followed.

Reigen wished that he had telekinesis. Mob was carrying everything with her powers, it honestly made him look bad. She was also multitasking. She had her phone in front of her and was texting someone as they walked.

"Mob, be careful! Don't trip!" said Reigen as he struggled to keep up with her as they left the road and made their way into the woods.

"I'm fine, Master. Do you want me to slow down?" asked Mob as she walked in the direction of a massive amount of spiritual energy. It was either what they were looking for or something that needed exorcising.

"No…I'm…fine…" huffed and puffed Reigen as he tried to keep up. He needed to stop smoking and do more cardio. Yoga was well and good but it didn't help him with exercise like this.

"You can wait by the car. I can feel whatever it is and it doesn't feel like anything that I can't take care of." Said Mob. She wasn't a little kid, she could take care of it herself. He was the master and she was the student but sometimes the student needed to show the master just how much she had learned.

"Don't…be….like…that…Mob." said Reigen as he caught up to her. She was still texting as she spoke. What was it with her generation and phones?

"I'm just saying that sometimes I can handle things on my own." Said Mob as she felt a pain developing in her stomach. Oh. She should have stretched before hiking.

"Well, I like to be here by your side to make sure that it all works out." Said Reigen, taking a water from her telekinetic grip and drinking in big, thirsty gulps.

"If you drink too much you'll get sick." Said Mob picking the water back up after he capped it. Seriously. She didn't want him getting sick or anything.

"Mob, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." Said Reigen as he looked around. Were those…yes they were!

"Then don't do things that make me worry." Muttered Mob. She felt kind of grumpy, a little. She wasn't really sure why. It was a nice day and she was spending time with Master Reigen. What more could she have asked for?

"Mob come here!" said Reigen as he found something by a tree. Mob walked over and he held up a giant matsutake like he had found the Holy Grail.

"Oh. A mushroom." Said Mob. They were alright. It was amazing how easily Master Reigen got distracted, sometimes. Oh, Tome was texting her back. She said that they should video live finding the tsuchinoko to the spirits and such page, since mythical creatures fell under the banner of such.

"Not just any mushroom, Mob, a matsutake! These are delicious! We've got to grill them up when we get home!" said Reigen as he found some more. He filled his net with them. This was a great find, these were really expensive at the store.

"Are we allowed to take these? The sign said that this was private property." Said Mob. Maybe this was like taking flowers from someone else's garden, or fruit from their tree.

"These are just mushrooms, Mob, nobody planted them so they're free for the taking." Said Reigen as he found all the ones by these tree. Yup, this would be a great dinner.

"Yes Master Reigen, I understand, but what about the tsuchinoko? I can feel something coming closer to us, it might be it." Said Mob

"That what? Oh. Uh, you were right before. I think that you can deal with whatever it is." Said Reigen, more distracted by thoughts of what he could pair these with.

"Thank you. Oh, and Tome suggested that I make a video for the Friendbook page. She said that she would even put it on Youtube." Said Mob. Master Reigen would like that, he was always talking about how they needed to drum up more business.

"Sure, sure, that's fine." Said Reigen. Well, the page did need something besides pictures of him and Mob. Did she even like mushrooms? She didn't look too enthusiastic. She was holding her stomach a little, too. Maybe she was getting dehydrated.

"Do you want to be in it?" asked Mob. The pain in her stomach was getting worse. It was less dull than it was before. She rubbed her stomach with her powers and it went away a little.

"What? Yeah! Of course! And drink some milk, Mob, before you get dehydrated." Said Reigen

"I'll drink when I get thirsty." Said Mob. She wasn't a baby. She could when she was thirsty and when she wasn't. She turned her phone sideways and started recording.

"Is it on?" asked Reigen as he put down his net full of matsutake. He honestly wasn't sure if it was ok to take these and didn't want video evidence if it wasn't.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob. Reigen straightened himself out and got into character.

"I am the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century…Reigen Arataka! And behind the camera is my loyal student Mob. Mob, say hi." Said Reigen. Mob didn't want to but she turned the phone around and waved to the camera. She knew that her face didn't look happy though. Who cared? Her face the way it was and anybody who didn't like the way it was could go look somewhere else if they had such a problem with it.

"Try to look a little more enthusiastic…." Muttered Reigen before he noticed that the camera was back on him.

"A bunch more people just started watching." Said Mob. Tome and the others from the telepathy club were. So was Teru. Her heart fluttered a little bit at that. Oh, a bunch of people with western names were watching, too. So was someone with Master Reigen's family name. Reigen Sophia. She'd ask about that later.

"Oh, right. Anyway we are here, deep into the woods searching for the mysterious….tsuchinoko! A powerful and dangerous mythical snake! We'll make short work of it, though! Isn't that right, student?!" said Reigen with a dramatic pause and flourish. Damn. They should have worn Spirits and Such T-shirts for this. Lord knew he spent enough getting them printed up.

"It's coming closer." Said Mob. Reigen was about to tell her not to sound so monotonous when something crashed through the trees. Reigen jumped back and ended up on the ground. Mob put up a barrier around them.

"Holy crap it's real!" screamed Reigen as he scrambled to his feet. Mob still had the camera on him. Damn.

"Mob, turn the camera around! Nobody can see the tsuchinoko!" said Reigen. What was the reward for this thing, again!

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob, still in her usual monotone. It felt weird, like when she had met Snowflake the cat. A symbiotic relationship? Well, this wasn't a cat, it was an extremely deadly snake, so she knew she had to exorcise it. She turned the phone so that she and the tsuchinoko were in frame and then she exorcised the spirit. That caused the tsuchinoko to throw up like a fountain and shrink. Reigen composed himself. He walked up and put the body in his plastic bug cage, uh, cryptid tank.

"Mob, put me back on camera." Said Reigen as he brushed the leaves and dirt from himself.

"Ok. They can see you, again." Said Mob. People were commenting now, mostly in English. Her English wasn't that good. They weren't typing like it was written in her workbook. Reigen Sophia had a lot to say, whoever she was.

"Right! Well as you can see my humble and devoted student took care of it and we have preserved what's left of the body! You did good, Mob! Proud of you! Well, all in a day's work for Reigen Arataka…and Mob." Said Reigen before motioning for her to cut. Damn. He'd have to find a way to make that last part flow better.

"Master, I think we should do these in English." Said Mob, still recording. Reigen picked up a water bottle and drank greedily. Being an on camera personality was thirsty work.

"Why? We're in Japan." Said Reigen wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Because a lot of people are commenting in English." Said Mob simply. Oh. Her stomach was starting to hurt again.

"Huh? Let me see." Said Reigen walking over. They were still recording. Oh.

"Mob, for future reference this means stop recording." Said Reigen making the cut gesture again. Mob nodded.

"Oh. Sorry, Master." Said Mob as she rubbed her stomach. She poked it, it felt harder, like the time she and Ritsu had eaten an entire Christmas cake the day after Christmas.

"Nah, it's fine. We'll do better next time." Said Reigen as he scrolled through all the comments. Oh, right, he and Mob were admins so all of their friends had seen it. At least his cousins in America thought he was cool, now. His mom on the other hand had words…many words…

"Playing in the woods my ass…." Muttered Reigen. Of course his mom would have opinions. Whatever. He was a professional psychic/masseur now and what he did with his time was his own business.

"Huh?" asked Mob, not really paying attention. She took a big wig of her milk. It didn't help.

"Nothing. Are you alright?" asked Reigen. She was still holding her stomach, and she had been unusually irritable that day. Well, they had skipped breakfast, and she had been pretty down about her brother and boyfriend not being able to come.

"My stomach hurts. Can we go home?" asked Mob. Reigen walked over and put an arm around her.

"Sure. You're probably just hungry. We'll go home and grill up all this matsutake." Said Reigen as they started making their way back to the car. He'd return it tomorrow, he decided. After work. He could give Mob a ride to school, tomorrow.

Mob's stomach hurt the entire ride back, and she got motion sick. By the time they got home she threw herself on the couch and turned on the TV, hating the world as she did it.

Ritsu threw himself down on the couch and turned on the TV, loving the world. He had spent the afternoon practicing with his powers. Well, Teru was helping him practice with his powers. They had exhausted themselves, Teru even figuring out a smaller version of the black orb thing. Not that it was worth it, it was a real power sink. Teru had managed to teach Ritsu how to turn his shoe laces into a tiny sword. That had led to a productive day of play sword fighting. Now they were at Ritsu's house, resting in the living room.

Ritsu could see why Shigeko liked this guy so much, he was nice.

"Why are you guys running the heat? It's barely autumn." Said Teru as he pulled his hoodie off, his shirt sticking to him with sweat. Gross. He'd need a shower when he got home.

"Mom gets cold easily." Said Ritsu as he leaned back into the couch. He could hear his mom moving around upstairs. Crap. He should have told her that he was bringing a guest over.

"Oh, right, parents." Said Teru. He had actually forgotten that Ritsu had those living with him. He honestly had no idea how to act around parents. He knew how to charm adults in school and out in the world but parents were a whole other thing entirely, especially Shigeko's parents. How could he face them after, well, all of those firsts?

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Shigeko said that you don't…have…any." Said Ritsu feeling stupider and stupider the more he spoke. Great, now Teru looked nervous. How could Ritsu have made such an idiot out of himself?

"Huh? No, I have parents. They're still alive, they just live abroad." Said Teru bringing his mind back to **this** living room.

"In the United States?" asked Ritsu trying to unbury himself even though Teru probably thought that he was a complete and total idiot.

"No, in Europe now, I think. Germany, probably. My mom was originally from there. They like to move around, though. We don't talk that much, honestly." Said Teru with a shrug. It was what it was.

"Oh…I'm sorry…" said Ritsu as he played with the hem of his shirt. Great, he had messed up. He hadn't had anyone over in years and he goes and offends his guest.

"No, it's fine. I don't really miss them that much. I haven't seen them in years, anyway." Said Teru pulling his shirt away from himself. Ick. This would need to be rinsed out when he got home.

"Do you like tea?" asked Ritsu suddenly. He remembered that you were supposed to serve guests tea. It was polite.

"I'm half Japanese, what do you think?" asked Teru with false sarcasm. Hopefully Ritsu could read tones better than his sister could.

"Oh, right. I'll go make us some." Said Ritsu. What was with him? Why was he so nervous? Well, he hadn't had a guest over in years, and hadn't made an actual friend in just as long. He went to the kitchen and began to make some white tea, it was all they had in the house. He heard his mother approaching before he felt her.

"Oh, Ritsu…." Said Hana as she entered the kitchen. She had thought from the energy shifting that Shigeko had finally come home.

"Hey mom, what's up?" asked Ritsu as he tried to remember how much of the tea leaves to use. He decided to just use a lot. Better to stay on the safe side.

"Oh, nothing, I just thought that Shigeko had come back." Said Hana as she watched her son make tea. That was odd, Ritsu usually drank plain water.

"No, I talked to her and she said that she'd rather sleep in the park." Said Ritsu as he heated up the water. He hadn't meant…well he had….alright that had been mean.

"She's so stubborn…." Said Hana. She walked over and took the pot from Ritsu.

"Hey!" said Ritsu. Hana shook her head and put more water in the pot.

"That wasn't enough water, Ritsu, you would have ruined the tea. Why are you even making so much?" asked Hana. Of course Shigeko wouldn't come home. Why would she? If Hana could have moved out at fourteen she would have done it in a heartbeat.

"I…I have a guest." Said Ritsu hoping that his mom wouldn't make a big thing out of it. Hanazawa, no, Teru was uncomfortable enough. He didn't need to be further reminded that he didn't have parents.

"Oh? A friend?" asked Hana. Well, at least some good had come from her daughter running away, no, moving out. Yes, that sounded much better in her mind. At least now Ritsu could finally bring some friends over without worry about their reactions to his sister's powers.

"Yeah, his names Teru…Teruki. Hanazawa Teruki. He's….he's Shigeko's boyfriend." Said Ritsu. He didn't even know if mom knew that Shigeko even had a boyfriend but if he didn't say something now he'd get an earful later.

"Oh…and he's here without Shigeko?" asked Hana. She knew of this boy. The one her daughter had run away from home to…and said was a bed hog….If Shigeko had been a regular girl Hana would have dragged her home by the pigtails. She was not anywhere near old enough to be doing anything like that with a boy. Hana had barely been older than her daughter, a mature fifteen, when she started but 'do as I say and no as I do' and all of that.

"Oh, yeah. Shigeko's working today. She and…Reigen…are looking for a tsuchinoko in the woods outside the city." Said Ritsu as the water began to heat up. He glanced at the living room. He had left Teru alone for a while. Was he being a bad host?

"I hope your sister thought to wear sunscreen. She burns so easily." Said Hana. She had to say something, something to the fact that all of this psychic stuff was real and she was totally out of her element, so she said the first thing that came to mind.

"I don't know if she did. You can text her yourself if you want to remind her." Said Ritsu using his powers to will the water to boil faster. Oh. It worked. Well then.

"Oh…she doesn't want me to bother her." Said Hana because, well, what could she even **say?** She wanted her daughter **home** but that obviously wasn't going to **happen** and no amount of ordering would make her daughter change her mind. Hana was **powerless** when it came to Shigeko because she was just a regular person and had no way to **understand** Shigeko, let alone **command **her to do anything. Shigeko was better off with another psychic. Someone who understood her and had the power to keep her from doing something stupid or dangerous. Who knows, her grades might even pick up.

"Yeah, probably not." Said Ritsu getting the things ready for tea. He high tailed it out of there like he was on fire. He didn't feel like dealing with his mom right then. It had been a good day and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Oh, hey." Said Teru. He was on his phone. He held it out with his powers. Ritsu gave him a panicked look. Teru was perfectly capable of getting a clue and held his phone in his hands.

"Sorry, it's just my mom….she doesn't know I have powers and she's already afraid enough of Shigeko…." Said Ritsu. Teru nodded.

"I understand. My parents….they were like that too." Said Teru. They had no idea what to do with him when he was a baby so they left him with a revolving door of nannies until he could be trusted to be alone. Parents could be real assholes, like that.

"Here, I made tea." Said Ritsu putting all of the tea stuff down on the table. He poured him and Teru cups of tea.

"Hey, take a look at this." Said Teru pulling on his shirt. Ritsu sat down quickly at the sudden contact. Oh. It was a video.

"_I am the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century…Reigen Arataka! And behind the camera is my loyal student Mob. Mob, say hi."_ Oh. Reigen made a video. Great, like that guy needed anything else to feed his ego.

"What are you boys watching?" asked Hana. It had taken a minute to collect herself enough to meet Shigeko's boyfriend. Oh, he was blonde. Not entirely foreign looking though. Questionable sense of color coordination.

"Hello and thank you for welcoming me into your home." Said Teru sitting up suddenly and bowing. That was polite, right? Or too polite? Polite enough, maybe.

"Oh, hello. I'm Kageyama Hana. You must be Hanazawa Teruki." Said Hana. Oh, he was polite. She had been expecting, well she didn't know what she had been expecting.

"Shigeko's making a video for Friendbook, mom." Said Ritsu still sitting. Hana sat next to her son and Teru took that as his cue to sit down as well. They all crowded around his phone. For a moment he wished that he had cleaned he screen better.

"_Oh, right. Anyway we are here, deep into the woods searching for the mysterious….tsuchinoko! A powerful and dangerous mythical snake! We'll make short work of it, though! Isn't that right, student?!"_

"She's not wearing sunscreen or a hat." Muttered Hana. Shigeko's hair was down, too. It was going to fly all over the place. Not that she still got a say in her daughter's appearance.

"Mo-om." Said Ritsu, whining more than he meant to. This had probably taken a lot for Shigeko, she was so shy and quiet, even if it was for Reigen.

"Oh yeah, I saw about this on TV. There's a ridiculously high reward for catching one. I guess that they don't think anyone actually will." Said Teru as he watched, waiting for Shigeko to get back on camera. She looked pretty with her hair like that. She wasn't wearing his hoodie, though, and that made something ache inside of him. It was ridiculous, of course, because it was just a hoodie but now how would people know that she was his?

"Of course Reigen would drag her out into the woods, then, if there's a reward." Said Ritsu. Hana looked over at her son.

"How could anyone make Shigeko do anything she didn't want to do? Come on Ritsu, you know your sister." Said Hana. She had to believe that her daughter was stubborn, otherwise she was just a bad mother who had allowed her fourteen year old to walk out the door.

"Uh…yeah…sorry." Said Ritsu. He was not stupid enough to mention what had happen a couple nights ago. No. His mom would nail the windows shut, crate him in his room, and feed him his meals through a slot in the door if she knew that he had been kidnapped by adult espers and almost died, like, a lot of times.

"_Holy crap it's real!"_

"Oh, wow, they actually found one." Said Teru as they crowded around his phone. He wished that the screen was bigger, Ritsu was practically sitting in his lap.

"Shigeko…." Said Hana. For a moment she thought that her daughter was in real danger. That moment passed when her daughter made short work of the snake, just as Arataka said that they would. Phew. For a moment their she had thought that they didn't know what they were doing.

"She's fine, mom." Said Ritsu irritably. He had seen her go through **much** worse and come out the other side.

"_Right! Well as you can see my humble and devoted student took care of it and we have preserved what's left of the body! You did good, Mob! Proud of you! Well, all in a day's work for Reigen Arataka…and Mob."_

"Is he seriously doing the 'cut' thing?" asked Teru. He looked ridiculous. He must have thought that they were off camera. He took his phone back and commented. He told her that she did great and sent her the smiley face with hearts in its eyes. If the group chat was anything to go off of then she liked these a lot. Oh, that Rei girl was there. She certainly had a thing for stickers. There were a bunch of comments in English, too, but Teru wasn't super fluent.

"So I guess that they're doing this now." Said Ritsu. He wasn't sure how to feel. It was good that his sister was getting out there more, and judging by the comments she was already making friends, but he didn't like Reigen using her as a sideshow attraction just because his powers were lame and didn't look good on camera.

"Looks like." Said Teru. She was texting him, now. He pulled his phone close in case she said anything that he'd rather not explain to her brother and mother.

"That was Friendbook, right?" asked Hana. Ritsu nodded and gritted his teeth.

"Yeah mom, Shigeko has a Friendbook now. She's Kageyama Mobbu on there if you want to send her a friendvite." Said Ritsu willing his mother to get up and leave already. Didn't she have her own stuff to do? Stuff that didn't involve being in the living room?

"Mob is not a name." said Hana with a huff as she left. What else could she say? Her daughter, the girl who practically disappeared into whatever room she was in, was doing this. She was out there putting herself in front of a camera and, apparently, making friends too. Friends and a boyfriend, who was also Ritsu's friend. Maybe her children would thrive better with a more hands off approach. Ritsu had certainly thrived in the past and Hana was nowhere near as overbearing as her own mother had been. Shigeko was doing better, too.

"Sorry about my mom." Said Ritsu, still sitting close to Teru. Teru moved and Ritsu quickly scooted over. Right. Space. People needed their own space.

"No, she seemed alright." Said Teru not having much to go on, honestly. He had never had to deal with mothers before, his own or someone else's, but that had gone alright. He had heard that meeting your girlfriend's parents was supposed to be super awkward and difficult but that had gone rather well, he thought.

"I kind of wish I had gone with Shigeko, not that I didn't like hanging out with you." Said Ritsu. What was with him? He had never not known what to say, before.

"I know, don't worry. Yeah, it would have been worth it to see Reigen make an idiot out of himself in person." Said Teru

"Yeah, how can he be the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century?" said Ritsu. There, that was a good subject. The 'I dislike Reigen Arataka' fan club. He felt himself relaxing. He hadn't even known that he was tense.

"I know, right?" laughed Teru. Huh. Ritsu was actually pretty fun to hang out with. When he wasn't drunk on power, that is. This was nice, Teru hadn't hung out with someone, actually hung out, in a while. Shigeko didn't count because hanging out with a girlfriend was completely and totally different.

"Hey, uh, do you want to play…." Said Ritsu because he felt like he needed to do something. They could only badmouth Reigen Arataka for so long before it would start to get boring. He just had no idea what to do. He hadn't had anyone over in so long that this felt like the first time.

"Let me guess, go?" asked Teru spying the go board on what looked to be the Kageyama family game shelf.

"I was going to say Nintendo but we can play go if you want." Said Ritsu. Teru laughed.

"Oh no, we can totally play Nintendo. I just said go because it's Shigeko's favorite game." Said Teru, omitting how their go games usually ended.

"I'm better at videogames, honestly. Shigeko always beats me." Said Ritsu. Teru nodded.

"She beats me almost every time, too. I think being supernaturally good at go is in her power set or something." Said Teru. Ritsu laughed and got their game set up. Mario Kart, because he liked that and was actually good at it.

It turned out that Teru, also, was good at Mario Kart and their races were actually pretty close. Shigeko was either really bad at Mario Kart or let him win, Ritsu would believe either. Neither of them could remember when they had that much fun. Well, platonically, for Teru. It had been a pretty good way to spend a Sunday, all things considered.

Mob wished that Sunday would just end already. Her stomach still hurt pretty badly and she was just so grumpy. Reigen didn't know what to do so he mostly left her alone. He was in his room replying to his mother's strongly worded messages when Mob came in. Her futon unfolded and she laid down on it, typing something on her phone.

"Feel better Mob?" asked Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"Not really." Said Mob as she texted Tome back. The tsuchinoko video was really taking off. She hoped that it led to more business. Then Master Reigen would be proud of her.

"You want to stay home from school tomorrow?" asked Reigen. Mob thought for a moment. She had a test tomorrow that she couldn't miss and she wanted to see her friends and walk to school with Teru…and maybe take a detour too. No, she'd go. Maybe whatever it was would go away by morning.

"No, I'll be fine." Said Mob. Reigen watched her for a while. Such a strange kid, no, responsible. She really was more mature than he was at her age. His mother literally dragged him into his classroom by the back of his gakuran on more than one occasion.

"Well, call me if it gets worse and I'll come and get you." Said Reigen turning back to his screen. His mother was telling him to get a real job. He had a real job. He was a business owners and he had the t-shirts to prove it.

"Yes Master." Said Mob as she read through the comments that the Youtube video had gotten. Tome was happy with the views to her channel. She did a lot of game streams and lectures on the nature of extraterrestrial life and other paranormal things. Mob decided to follow her. Friends were supposed to be supportive of each other.

"….and you wonder why I never visit…." Muttered Reigen. He could feel Mob's curiosity.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Mob taking care not to look at Master Reigen's screen. That was rude, nobody liked a snoop.

"Nobody, just my mother." Said Reigen. Mob perked up. He hardly ever mentioned his mother. She had almost forgotten that he had one. Of course he must have, everyone came from someone.

"_Reigen Soo-fee-ee-ah'"_ said Mob trying to pronounce it the English way. Reigen turned to face her.

"_So-fee-uh Reigen. Family name is last in English."_ Said Reigen wondering how she knew. Oh, the comments. Right, she was an admin on the Spirits and Such page.

"_I am sorry teacher Reigen"_ said Mob in her best English. Reigen reached over and patted her on the head. He felt joy and admiration burst into bloom inside of him.

"You're fine, Mob. You're actually pretty good at English all things considered." Said Reigen. She wasn't fluent but she was getting there.

"Thank you. Is your mom mad at you? She seemed kind of mad in the comments, but then again I'm not that fluent." Said Mob. Reigen thought for a second. His relationship with his mother was, well, complicated. What would he tell Mob? The whole truth. They already knew the intimate details of each other's love lives at this point there was no point in sugar coating anything.

"My parents and I don't really get along. I was a piece of shit when I was a kid and they had their own stuff going on. My parents divorced when I was around your age and I went to live with my mom. She was….well at the time I thought that she was overbearing….and I acted out a lot. I haven't spoken to my dad in years and he has a son that I haven't seen since he was a baby. He'd be about your age now, maybe a little younger. My mom tries to be a part of my life but it's kind of hard now because, well, she has her over idea of what my life should be. It's complicated and we don't really get along." Said Reigen giving her the whole truth. She stood up and hugged him. Concern. Caring.

"I'm sorry, Master." Said Mob. Reigen hugged her back. He had meant it to be short but he ended up holding onto her for a little bit just getting into a positive feedback loop. He had to will himself to let go of her.

"It's alright Mob, and thank you." Said Reigen. Her caring, her concern, all of it. He reached over and gave her hair a tug. She tugged his right back.

He was grateful to have her as a best friend.


	19. Monday, Bloody Monday

Reigen wakes up not to the gentle breeze rustling his curtain and sunlight streaming down onto his face but to a blaring alarm. Annoyance bursts into bloom with him and he rolls over. Ugh…he does not want to start this day. His stomach hurts, too, and feels hard. He reaches down. Nope…that was Mob.

"Morning, Mob." Said Reigen trying to drag himself into an upright position. Mob groans and pulls her blankets up over her head.

"Good morning, Master Reigen." Said Mob from under her blanket. She had to get up so early now because school was so far away. Great.

"How are you doing?" asked Reigen poking her with his foot. She rolled over onto her side and groaned.

"It's too early. Turn off the sun, please, Master." Said Mob with a groan. The room shuddered. Reigen actively worked to separate his emotions from hers. Was she sick? She felt sick. Too much matsutake? No, she hardly ate them, and he knew that he picked the right mushrooms. Too much convenience food?

"Do you want to stay home today? I wouldn't hold it against you if you did. I know how much that hurts." Said Reigen. Mob sat up, slowly. She needed to go to school or she'd miss her test. She hadn't see Teru in a while, a day could be a while, and she did want to see him again. Not just for kissing reasons, though those were very good reasons.

"No, I'm fine. My stomach just hurts." Said Mob sitting up and using her powers to smooth out her bed head. She didn't feel like brushing her hair that morning. She wished that she could just chop it off but then it'd be too short and she'd have nothing to tug on. She wished that Master Reigen would reach over and tug her hair and tell her that everything would be ok because the world suddenly felt so big and-

"Hey, Mob? C'mon, talk to me." Said Reigen getting down to her level. She was anxious, now, and Reigen Arataka did not do anxiety well. She practically threw herself into his arms.

"I don't know what's wrong. My stomach hurts and I'm grumpy and scared at the same time but I can't miss my math test because there are no make ups even if you're sick." Said Mob. Her grades were bad enough as it was.

"You seriously can't miss one test?" asked Reigen. She was very responsible, too responsible, sometimes.

"It's math." Groaned Mob. Her very worst subject. Reigen rubbed circles on her back. This calmed her down.

"Call me after your test if you don't feel better by then, alright?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded into his chest. She took a deep breath. He smelled nice. People smelled nice when they just woke up. Reigen could feel something coming into life within her, he knew full well what it was to the point that it was on his actively suppress list, he let her go. Right. Mob. Fourteen. Hormones. Not something she could control. Normal. Natural. Don't freak out.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. He pulled away from her. He had never done that before. Well, fine then! She didn't want a hug anyway.

"Mob, don't be like that. I need to start the day, alright? And so do you." Said Reigen. Right. Now she felt rejected. Reigen pated her on the head. She looked up at him through her fringe. She was adorable, like the old grumpy cat picture that was making its rounds.

"Yes…Master Reigen." Said Mob quietly. She took a few deep breaths to center herself. Maybe she had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. Yes, she had heard that phrase before. But she slept on a futon. A futon was a kind of bed. She looked around. She didn't know which was the wrong side.

"Master Reigen?" asked Mob as Reigen got his grey suit out and the other things he needed to wear that day out. He'd change right after he showered. He hadn't realized how freeing it was to be able to be less than fully dressed in his own home until it was gone.

"What's up, Mob?" asked Reigen as he got a clean undershirt out of the laundry bag. Crap. Why did all of his undershirts have either holes, sweat stains, or both? Whatever, it's not like anyone was going to see them, anyway.

"Which side of the bed is the wrong side?" asked Mob as she got up and levitated her spare uniform in from the other room. Good thing she had remembered to pack it.

"Huh? That's just a metaphor, Mob. It means you woke up in a bad mood." Said Reigen. He felt his face. Stubble. He'd have to shave again. He didn't know why he bothered feeling, anymore. He was twenty eight, he'd been shaving every morning for years at this point.

"Oh. Ok. I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, then." Said Mob as she left their bedroom. Reigen shrugged. Well, it was a matter of time before he saw the grumpy side to her. He left his bedroom but Mob had beaten him to the bathroom. Great. Something else he missed about living alone, no line for the bathroom. Whatever, he'd just start breakfast then.

Hopefully she finished before he had time to make a traditional, full Japanese breakfast. He decided to just make some rice and egg. Mob seemed to like that. He felt a presence as soon as he entered the kitchen.

"Hey! What's up?" asked Dimple. He was seemingly reading the back of a box of instant rice. Huh. So that was why this stuff felt so weird, spiritually.

"Dimple? So, what? You just stalk Mob?" asked Reigen greeting his third roommate. Dimple huffed.

"For your information I'm smart enough to follow the most powerful person around, just like you are." Said Dimple, omitting the fact that he, actually, couldn't got too far from Shigeko herself or places where she had poured a lot of her energy. Whatever, she was a great kid, anyway. He wasn't at all worried that in their initial confrontation she had accidentally turned him into a familiar, like that guy from Claw could do. No, he wasn't worried at all.

"I don't follow Mob around because she's powerful, she's my friend, that's why I hang around her. She hangs around me. We hang around each other." Said Reigen through gritted teeth. No, this annoyance was Mob's. He needed to extract himself from her. He took a deep breath and visualized himself stepping back from her. A website had told him to do that. Dimple tsked.

"You sure that you don't need help with those powers of yours?" asked Dimple. He needed a body, preferably one that was already bathed in Shigeko's energy. He had taken in so much of her already, maybe that was what bound him to her.

"I…maybe. I just don't know what's up with Mob, today. We had such a great day, yesterday." Said Reigen. Well, he thought that it was a great day. They got their laundry done, hiked in the woods which was good for her because she liked exercise and nature, gotten great comments on their video, and they had matsutake for dinner.

"Things that could be bothering Shigeko…hmm…..the duality of her existence, reconciling her power levels with her attempts at being a good person, sexual frustration, that curse she has living inside of her, the fact that she sees her existence as something dangerous to those around her, uh….oh yeah and she has school today." Said Dimple listing all the reasons that Shigeko could possibly be upset off the top of his head. Sheesh, for an empath this guy really needed to get a clue.

"What….Dimple you're making things up, at this point. Also, what do you mean by curse? Mob can take care of a little curse easily." Said Reigen. Some of those things he could totally see as something that could have bothered her and one of those things he was not touching with a ten foot pole.

"You know I'm not, Mr. Empath, and we've both seen that thing living inside of Shigeko. It's all made up of emotions, big ones and negative ones. That's how curses happen, too much emotion is put into an object." Said Dimple as Reigen started to get the rice ready for breakfast. He almost dropped the box as he felt another burst of annoyance.

"Then Mob's not really cursed, she's just…well she's not cursed." Said Reigen scooping the rice back into the box. It would be safe to eat, right? It did get boiled.

"If you say so." Said Dimple sarcastically. That thing was a sentient cure, no other explanation for it.

"God damn it, Mob." Said Reigen as he felt another burst of annoyance. He took another deep centering breath. Dimple hovered over his shoulder.

"You sure that you don't want my help?" asked Dimple

"No. How do I know that you're not going to do weird stuff with my body?" asked Reigen. Dimple was an evil spirit, he could use his body to rob banks and kick geese or something.

"I wouldn't! Shigeko would exorcise me for sure!" said Dimple. What did this guy take him for? Of course he wouldn't do anything weird to the body of one of Shigeko's friends.

"Then why do you want my body?" asked Reigen. What was in it for him? Was he plotting to resurrect that LOL cult? Reigen wanted to be someone but that someone wasn't a cult leader.

"Well right now I want to taste this rice, and then I'd like to walk down the street and feel the sun, then I'd like to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes at once while I drink an entire bottle of good sake." Said Dimple. Well, those were the tame things he wanted to do. Obviously he wasn't going to share all of his plans just yet.

"I…maybe." Said Reigen. This spirit blob thing had managed to help Mob's little brother and, well, he could use actual help suppressing, no, controlling his powers.

"Cool! I'll just hang around until you fully come to your senses!" said Dimple disappearing through the walls. Reigen was grateful for the moment of solitude until the cutlery drawer flew out and hit the wall with a clatter.

"I'm sorry!" said Mob. Reigen could hear several things putting themselves away and saw that Mob was not only able to put the drawer back without looked but was also arranging the silverware. She had even managed to keep their own chopsticks together. Huh. He'd have to ask her, when she was in a better mood, how she managed to do that without looking.

Mob didn't know what was wrong with her. She had tried to take a shower but just couldn't get the water temperature right. Then she had yanked on her hair too hard when she had used her powers to get the water out. Now she just couldn't get her uniform neckerchief to lay straight. Dimple was hovering behind her, too.

"Dimple, did you ever get up on the wrong side of the bed?" asked Mob as she tried to get her damned neckerchief right for the millionth time. She clenched her fists in frustration and several things throughout the apartment went flying.

"When I was alive? Sure I did. Why, what's wrong? Is little Shigeko grumpy this morning?" asked Dimple. He recoiled as she faced him and did her best Ritsu impression.

"Don't call me little Shigeko. I'm not little." Said Mob. Why did everyone think she was little? Did she still look like she was little? Did she still act like she was little? What was it, then?

"Fine, fine, fine. Whatever you want." Said Dimple with a dismissive wave of his hand. She was probably sick, human beings got sick all the time. Hopefully she wouldn't leave a vengeful spirit.

"I want my stomach to stop hurting so much and I want to be in a better mood and I want to be left alone." Said Mob staring at herself in the mirror. She looked normal but she felt terrible.

"Alone? But we never hang out anymore." Said Dimple. He may or may not have been becoming dependent on the energy she gave off. Maybe.

"Fine. We'll hang out when I feel better, alright?" said Mob as she opened the bathroom door with her powers and made her way to the kitchen. At least there was breakfast.

"Fine, guess I'll just have to follow him around all day." Said Dimple as he floated over to Reigen.

"Please, don't." said Reigen as he spooned Mob out some rice in her rice bowl and got her a raw egg from the fridge. She took his with her powers and began to eat, also using her chopsticks with her powers.

"I can get my own breakfast, I'm not a baby." Said Mob as she ate. Reigen put his hands up defensively.

"I know you're not, you just seem like you're in a bad mood today." Said Reigen. Crap, was she becoming a moody teenager? Was this a phase? Reigen knew what he was like at that age, and he knew what caused it. Whatever was wrong with Mob he'd support her through it.

"I am. I am and I don't know why." Said Mob. Reigen could feel her sadness. He reached over and patted her on the head.

"My hair won't listen today either. Please don't mess it up." Said Mob. Reigen pulled his hand back for a second and then patted her on the back.

"My uniform won't listen today either. I don't know. I can't do anything right." Said Mob looking down at the table. She wasn't good at anything, not really. She couldn't even dress herself properly. Now she was even being mean to Master Reigen.

"Mob, you can do a lot of things right. Remember how you helped catch a tsuchinoko yesterday? We're going to get a big reward for that, and it was all thanks to you." Said Reigen. Mob smiled. Yes. She had been a big help yesterday.

"You're right, thank you, Master." Said Mob. Master Reigen always knew how to make her feel better.

"You're welcome. Alright, I'm going to get ready now. I'll try to be quick. Oh, I'll drive you to school today, too. I'll drop you off on my way to collect my, I mean our, reward." Said Reigen patting the dead snake in the plastic container on the counter. Yuck. Mob lost her appetite.

Ritsu had no appetite. He shoveled his cereal into his mouth because he knew that he needed food, even if it was mostly just sugar. The house was too big, too empty. Shigeko still wouldn't come home. Mom had packed up some of her things to take to Reigen, just like Ritsu had suggested all those days ago. It felt almost like a lifetime.

Ritsu looked at the clock. It was still pretty early but he wasn't tired. No, he had been plagued by the strangest dreams. Dreams that he didn't feel like touching with a ten foot pole. He couldn't remember the details, not really, just feelings and impressions and settings. He dreamt that he was in the Claw base again, he was afraid and trapped. Then he woke up. His other dream had been in the claw base, too. This time that other kid was there, Sho. He hadn't been afraid, then. No, it was nice, somehow. Ritsu couldn't go back to sleep after that one. He had tried sleeping in his sister's room but it felt too big and too empty. He had even tried talking to Dimple but that was just irritating.

His phone vibrated.

"_Good morning Ritsu! How are you?" _it was that Rei girl again. She texted him a lot. He texted back, when he could, because he didn't want to be impolite. She mostly just asked questions about him. What he liked to do, his favorite foods, movies, all of that. She was planning their date, she said.

Ritsu was honestly fine with whatever. He had never been on a date before so he really had no expectations. He'd be fine with whatever she wanted to do, really. He wasn't even really looking forward to it that much. She was making up for it, though, she was being pretty enthusiastic.

"_Good morning Rei. I'm fine. How are you?" _There. That was nice and polite. He wasn't sure how to talk to girls, not really. He wasn't one of those guys who got tongue tied and nervous, he just didn't know what to say to them. The only girl that he had ever been friends with was his sister. Well he was in middle school now and a girl wanted to talk to him so he was going to do what guys in middle school did and talk to her and go out with her.

"_I'm great! I managed to get my phone back so I don't have to sneak it anymore. I slept great too. Dreamt about you actually. I wish our schools weren't so far away if they were closer we could walk home together. I managed to get up to 70% of my predictions correct, too. How are your powers going? Have you been practicing? What are you wearing to our date? I'd love to see you in something other than your gakuran."_ How had she managed to type that out so fast? And why so many questions? And what did she care what he wore? Girls and clothes, he'd never understand it. Well, some guys cared about clothes too. Shigeko's boyfriend sure did. That Sho guy looked like he put some care into his clothing, too. That jacket really suited him.

Ritsu's spoon bent.

That was weird. He had never done that before. He unbent it quickly and put it down. Where had that come from? Ritsu shook his head. He was way too tired. He pulled out his phone and answered Rei's questions as best as he could. She was alright. He was getting to know her and he didn't dislike her at all. He wasn't getting all obsessive and weird like some of the other guys did. Maybe he was just more mature than them.

That must have been it. He was too mature to be following them around or doing dumb stuff like trying to peak in the classrooms that the girls were changing in or begging them to go out with him. He wasn't desperate. If someone liked him then they liked him and if they didn't they didn't. He didn't need to go chasing after girls, he had plenty who liked him.

Ritsu's appetite was still gone but he finished his breakfast and went to school, still texting Rei back whenever he could. He was amazed that her fingers weren't worn down to nubs with the sheer volume of messages that she was sending him.

Mob's appetite didn't come back at all on the drive to her school. The dead thing was sitting in its plastic case in the back seat. It was still so gross but at least they would get money for it. Money was good, then Master Reigen wouldn't be so worried about money and stuff. Master Reigen seemed pretty stressed right then and there but he was just feeling her feelings, which then made her feel like garbage because she was feeling bad. It wasn't a great feedback loop.

"Hey Mob, you're going to be alright. OK?" asked Reigen. He needed to make her feel better because he knew how terrible she was feeling. He had no idea what to do. Nothing at all. She'd talk to him later, maybe. Poor kid.

"I know, and I know that I can call you to come and get me. I listen when you tell me things, Master." Said Mob looking out the window. She had already told Teru that she was getting a ride to school. He asked to meet her at the main Salt gates then. She was looking forward to seeing him. Thinking about him made her feel better. She smiled. Even if they didn't kiss or anything she'd still be happy to see him.

"I know you do, Mob, I know." Said Reigen. Well, she felt better now at least. He let out a breath he hadn't realized that he was holding. She was just so…heavy….right then. Negative emotions were definitely stronger than others. Maybe he should take Dimple up on his offer.

"Master Reigen, I'm sorry I'm being so mean." Said Mob quietly. What was wrong with her? She was just so mean to everyone today. She even felt mad about telling Dimple to go away. He was probably lonely, being dead an all.

"It's alright, Mob. I know you don't mean it. I bet that by that you'll feel better soon." Said Reigen. Well, he hoped that she would feel better by the time she had to start work at least. His powers were so useless. He could feel other people's feelings but he had no idea what was causing them. He tried to project calming feels but it was just so hard when she was like this. She drowned out anything that he could have felt.

"You think?" asked Mob. Hopefully whatever this was it got better soon. She hoped beyond hope that she didn't explode. Actually, since she and the other Shigeko had merged for their battle with Claw she had felt less and less like exploding. If she used her powers more, gave the other her something to do, then she was less angry in there and less panicked too.

"Yeah Mob, you'll get to school and see your friends and hopefully your bad mood will be over." Said Reigen. It was probably just hormones. They did call them raging hormones for a reason.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. He reached over and went to pat her head. Oh, right, her hair. He felt something pulling his hand down. She was still staring straight forward but her intent was clear. He rubbed her head. Happiness. Acceptance. Contentment.

Yeah, she'd be fine.

Mob felt much better the minute she felt Teru's aura. She practically ran from the car, giving Master Reigen a quick goodbye. She felt bad for running like that but she'd see him in like eight hours about, depending on if she went to club and hung out with Teru after school. She'd stay for club, she made a commitment after all. Dumbbells today, though, because her stomach was really bothering her.

"Hey, Shigeko-" said Teru. He felt her before he saw her but he hadn't expected her to throw herself into his arms.

"Teru! I missed you!" said Mob holding onto him tightly. She had missed him so, so, so much. She hadn't even realized it! She clung to Teru, she didn't care who else was walking by. There's a flash.

"This is going in the paper! Thanks, Mob!" said Mezato as she ran past. Mob wiped her eyes. Oh. She had been crying a little, actually.

"Shigeko…what's wrong?" asked Teru trying to stay calm. He never saw her like this, not unless there was mortal danger or something. He pulled her close and felt around. The only other espers he could feel around her were brother and Reigen.

"I just missed you, Teru, that's all." Said Mob. He was leading her away now, toward where the trees and bushes were.

"That's all? You just seem, well, upset." Said Teru. He wasn't brining her here to do, well, anything like that. He just didn't want people to stare. Her hair was acting up, too. He smoothed it down but pulled his hand back almost immediately. It felt like static electricity, a lot of it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I don't know what's wrong with me today. I'm…I was grumpy before, too, yesterday. I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I don't know. I was even mean to Master Reigen and Dimple today." Said Mob quietly

"Yeah…I can see that…" said Teru. Well, they were both kind of annoying. She looked up at him.

"You think I'm mean, Teru?" asked Mob. Great, now she was sad. She was sad and mad at the same time and her stomach hurt and she just wanted it to be tomorrow and-

"You know I don't. You know I love you." Said Teru. Her aura was acting weird. Lots of blue, and it was moving really fast. Was she going to explode? She didn't…the energy around her changed when that thing, that other her, was about to come out. This was new. Maybe that fight with Claw had messed with her powers?

"I know Teru. I love you too. I'm just moody today, I think, but I don't think that I'll explode. I think that it's better now that I talked to the other Shigeko. Now I use my powers when something upsets me. I move things and stuff." Said Mob as fallen leaves spiraled around them. It was like fidgeting, almost. Like how she used to fidget a lot when she got bored.

"If using your powers helps you should come and hang out with me and your brother. We're hanging out again after school today. Well, after he's done with student council stuff. We're going to practice, not fight so don't worry, Shigeko." Said Teru taking her hand

"Again? You guys are friends now?" asked Mob. This was great! Ritsu needed more friends and so did Teru! Now they could all be friends….even though she couldn't hang out with them because Master Reigen needed her.

"Oh yeah, we hung out yesterday. I went to your house, well his house now I guess, and we played Mario Kart. Don't be sad! We would have invited you but you were busy. We saw the video you made, by the way, your mom saw it too." Said Teru. She looked sad and she felt sad. What was with her, exactly? She looked kind of sick, too. Maybe it was just a bad mood, though he'd never seen her in one before. Sure he'd seen her explode in a murderous rage but that was somehow easier than dealing with this.

"My mom did…? Was she upset?" asked Mob. Mom. She hated it when she used her powers. She hoped that Ritsu knew not to tell their parents that he had powers.

"No, she seemed alright. I don't really know, though, I don't really talk to my mom that much." Said Teru. Her arms were wrapped around him again.

"I'm sorry, Teru. I'm so, so, so sorry." Said Mob. He was probably sad, now. Oh, no, he didn't feel sad. Well she felt sad because she might have made him feel sad, and that would have been bad.

"Shigeko! Hey, come on. I'm fine, you don't have to be sad." Said Teru. Everyone always said that girls got emotional sometimes. This was weird For Shigeko but she was his girlfriend and it was his job to be there for her. He put his arms around her and held her close. She was so, very, very close.

"I know, but I am. I'm mad and sad but I also want to kiss you really, really badly right now but that also makes me feel bad and I don't know why." Said Mob as she clung to his school jacket.

"Why? I like it when we kiss." Said Teru. He knew that it was different for girls, this kind of stuff, but he never thought she bought into that stuff. She was usually, well always, pretty receptive.

"I do too but…I don't know. I just really want to and I feel like I shouldn't make you but you want to, to, so why not? But then I think about all the stuff that we did and how much I wanted to and how I liked to but then I think about what Master Reigen said about growing up too fast and the other stuff he said, too." Said Mob. She didn't want to be a little kid but she didn't want to grow up too fast either because Master Reigen said not to and she also didn't want to push Teru into anything that he didn't want to do because she had been kind of pushy the other day. It was her idea, after all, what happened when they got to where she lived.

"First of all if we both want to then why not? Who cares what other people think, especially Reigen. What does he know?" asked Teru. If Reigen wasn't into her then he shouldn't have an opinion on what they got up to.

"Everything. He asked and I told him. He says not to do anything on the couch anymore because the couch is only for eating, sleeping, watching TV, and maybe making a fort." Said Mob flatly. She wasn't sad, anymore. No, as quick as it came it had left. She managed to stuff down the sadness and put it to her powers. She had made more trees grow, but they were still baby trees. She pulled away from Teru and looked up at him. His face and aura were unreadable.

"Shigeko….why…..why would you tell him that?" asked Teru slowly. Ok. Reigen knew. Reigen knew about the most amazing moments of his life. That happened. Right.

"We tell each other everything. He gave me good advice and told me about stuff that happened to him, too. We're close like that. You don't have anyone you tell about stuff like this?" asked Mob curiously. She had been embarrassed but Master Reigen really was very wise and he told her a lot and answered all of her questions. He didn't once tell her that her questions were dumb or weird or that she shouldn't have been asking them.

"Could you…maybe…no, it's fine." Said Teru. He was about to tell her not to tell Reigen anything that went on between them that involved kissing or clothes or not wearing clothes or anything like that but…she was really attached to Reigen and if he tried to drive a wedge between them…well Teru didn't want to even go down that path.

"Could I what?" asked Mob curiously. If Teru needed her to do something of course she's help him.

"Just…ask me before you go telling Reigen about stuff that we do. I mean, I'm there too you know." Said Teru. Mob blushed and looked down.

"Yes, I remember." Said Mob. She had no memory of what they were watching on TV that day but she remembered how Teru looked sitting there on the other end of the couch beet red and fidgeting because he was nervous. She wasn't much better. She was picking up everything that she could with her powers and they were in a lazy sort of orbit around the room. She didn't know exactly where she was planning on going with that, it had just occurred to her while they were kissing that it wasn't fair that she had seen him naked but not the other way around.

"Well…just ask me before you go giving him details, alright? Because I was there, too. I mean, he doesn't really need details, right? I mean, he probably didn't give you any about his…life…" said Teru. Good. She wasn't getting upset.

"I'm sorry Teru, you're right. I won't tell Master Reigen details about the things that we do together." Said Mob. It made sense, she decided, and she didn't want to make Teru upset. She felt better now, being near him and getting some of her sadness out.

"Thanks, Shigeko." Said Teru watching her face and aura. She felt much better. Calmer. There were a lot more bushes around, tall ones, her doing. He sat down and she followed. He checked his phone. Plenty of time for…whatever.

"Oh…I made more plants grow than I thought." Said Mob as she sat down, making sure that her skirt didn't ride up as she sat.

"How do you control plants? I mean, can you show me?" asked Teru. Mob nodded.

"I don't really know how my powers work. I just sort of give them my energy and they grow." Said Mob. She held her hand above the grass and it grew taller. A flower spring up. Oh, a seed must have been there.

"So it's like…." Said Teru trying to will his power into the ground to make something grow. Nope, he just ended up making a hole in the ground.

"You have to, I don't really know, I guess feel that it's alive, too." Said Mob sitting closer to him. She put her hand over his and let her power mix with his.

"So like…this…" said Teru as they worked together. They just made a bigger hole in the ground with some grass in it.

"That was still pretty good, Teru." Said Mob. Even though she couldn't really help. Even though she barely knew how her own powers worked. Even though-

"Shigeko, it's fine. I'm not upset." Said Teru lacing his fingers with hers. He could feel her, read her, and she was getting upset again. If he couldn't cheer her up he could make her come apart, but in a good way.

"I know…and I don't know why I am." Said Mob softly. He scooted so that he was in front of her. He used his other hand to get her hair out of her face, his hand lingering on her face. She looked up at him through her fringe. It was getting pretty long. He used his powers to get her fringe out of her eyes.

"Can I help you feel better?" asked Teru. His mind had been completely occupied by her since he got home last night. Things that were best kept to himself. She did managed to take his mind off of almost dying, which was a really good thing. Now his mind was on her and how she looked and sounded and thought and spoke and tasted and smelled and felt. He pushed his aura out to mix with hers. She drank him down, like he was a cup of tea, or a glass of milk.

"How?" asked Mob as she closed her eyes. He was so, so, so close. It was wonderful. She felt the grass grow beneath them like a thick plush carpet, like his carpet at his house that she could just sink her feet into. Like his mattress that was so soft it could just swallow them up and oh what a way that would be to go, all swallowed up with him. Tangled up with him.

"Can I kiss you?" asked Teru. She blushed. He moved closer to her, they could feel each other breathing. His hands found her waist. He pushed down on her uniform shirt so that he could feel the way her waist dipped in and flared out into her hip.

"I thought that we weren't supposed to ask." Said Mob softly. She waited for him to close the gap between them. It was nice when he lead. He knew what he was doing more than she did. She was clumsy at it, still. Clumsy like a little kid just playing at-

"Shigeko….sometimes it's nice to ask…and I'm asking because…I like it when you ask me to…" said Teru softly. He could feel her aura, her bad mood coming back. He could chase it away, he could make her feel better.

"Kiss me, Teru." Said Mob breathlessly. Why wouldn't he? He had kissed he before, a bunch of times before. Did he not want to…?

"Shigeko...I want you to kiss me." Said Teru because she just felt so sad and he just wanted her to want to kiss him and to know that she wanted him.

"I'm not good at it." Said Mob quietly. He traced the pad of his thumb over her lips.

"Yes you are." Said Teru. She took a moment before she leaned into him. He kissed her back. It was clumsy. They were both clumsy. He felt something covering the sun. Oh, wow, those were a lot of leaves. She was…no, not on purpose. It was nice, though, the privacy. He never thought that he'd ever end up as one of those guys who spent time in the bushes with his girlfriend. He had never thought he'd find someone he wanted this with, actually wanted.

"Teru, was that alright?" asked Mob when they broke apart for air. Right, breathing was a necessity for living. He didn't say anything, he just kissed her again. He leaned in too far and they toppled over. They turned onto their sides in the tiny garden world Mob had made for them. She smiled and looked over at him. He had so many leaves in his hair. She giggled.

"What?" asked Teru. She was laughing quietly and then started all out giggling. She pointed at his hair and pulled out some leaves.

"Hey, you don't look that much better." Said Teru pulling the leaves out of her hair. She looked up at him. The world felt slower, warmer. The moment. She held eye contact with him, just taking him in. His aura mixed with hers. She wanted…she wanted a lot of things at that moment. Things that she didn't quite understand. Not just physically. No. Well, yes, but more than that.

He saw her. She saw him. They saw each other.

"Shigeko…" said Teru. She saw him. She was there and she understood and he wasn't alone anymore. She was there and he was there in that moment and in that moment everything would be alright. They had almost died together but now they were here and they were alive. She was there and alive and so, incredibly warm.

"Yes?" asked Mob. What time was it? She didn't care. If she was late then she was late. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the two of them at that moment in time.

"You're so damn pretty." Said Teru leaning over her. She laid down and let him half lay on her. He didn't put any of his weight on her, no, because then she'd be squished. He honestly had no idea what he was doing. He just did what felt right. So what if he had no idea what he was doing, neither did she, so why not just go with it?

"You're so nice." Said Mob, her breath hitching in her throat. He was so close, so very close, and that was all she ever wanted was to be close….

"Shigeko?" asked Teru, still watching her, still hovering there above her. Her hair was flowing out around her, it was pretty. She was so pretty. She so pretty and she was all his. He was all hers. This moment was all theirs.

"Yes?" asked Mob. This felt nice. Warm. Safe. She was still full of those sorts of feelings though, but she wasn't stuffing them down, so she wasn't going to explode. At least not in the destructive way. She was….it was like she was a cup that was going to overflow. She wanted to reach up and pull Teru down to her. She wanted to but she didn't. She wanted to be there, in that spot, forever. If she disturbed this feeling then the bubble might pop.

"I have no idea what I'm doing right now." Said Teru after a moment. She watched him, her eyes meeting his. Unblinking.

"I don't know, either. I don't mind, though." Said Mob. There were two layers to understand, she decided. She knew where she was physically but where they would go she did not. She would follow it, though. It felt nice and she would follow it.

"How do you feel?" asked Teru quietly. She was flushed. Her face was so red, red to the tips of her ears and down her neck and under her school shirt.

"Warm. Happy." Said Mob

"Me too." Said Teru. He heard quick footsteps running by. Right. The time. School. Life.

"What's wrong, then?" asked Mob watching his face. Nobody could see them in there, she had created a small jungle.

"School. We have to go to school." Said Teru turning back onto his side. Mob sighed. Right. School. That place.

"I know. Is it that late?" asked Mob standing up and using her powers to get the leaves and dirt off of herself. Oh. He checked his phone. Damn.

"It's almost eight fifteen." Said Teru collecting his school bag. Damn. That was really nice. Really, really nice. But all good things come to an end and all of that.

"I have to run." Said Mob feeling her stomach. Even when it was full of butterflies it still hurt. She wanted to stay there, in the little world that she had made, but she had to go. She had to go to school to do well. Then Master Reigen would be proud of her. He was proud of how responsible she was.

"And here I am without any toast. How could I be so unprepared." Said Teru. Mob looked at him for a while. Huh? Oh!

"You mean like from anime!" said Mob. Good. She had gotten the joke. She couldn't always tell when people were kidding, but she was getting better.

"Yes, just like in old anime." Said Teru as they exited their little world.

"I never understood that. Wouldn't the bread just fall apart, or wouldn't you choke?" asked Mob taking Teru's hand. Well, she didn't exactly have to run, if he wasn't going to.

"What would you run to school with?" asked Teru. Mob shrugged.

"I'd just wait until lunch to eat. You shouldn't run and eat at the same time, it's dangerous." Said Mob. Teru shook his head.

"You're always so pragmatic." Said Teru using that word because it fit and not just because he had learned it at school and it made him sound smart.

"Pragmatic?" asked Mob hoping that she didn't sound dumb even though she probably did because she never paid enough attention in class and-

"It means someone who cares more about outcomes than ideals. That's what I meant. Running to school while eating would be funny but it wouldn't be practical. That's all." Said Teru. He could stand to be a little late. What were they going to do? Call his parents?

"Oh. Ok. If it was practical though, I'd run to school with some milk." Said Mob. She could probably use her powers to eat and run. No, wait, there was still the whole choking hazard thing.

"I feel like you'd be drinking milk in place of water if you could." Said Teru. Mob nodded.

"Milk is delicious and helps to build strong bones." Said Mob

"I guess. I don't know. I'd run to school with some cake and a cup of coffee." Said Teru

"Why not just get up early and eat breakfast in that case?" asked Mob. Teru squeezed her hand.

"This is why I love you." Said Teru as they broke apart to go to their own school. Oh, she was still looking at him. She wanted…? Right in front of her school? Why not? She was his, he didn't care what other people thought.

"Oh." Said Mob as he kissed her. Not like before, no, that was super private. This was quick and nice. She had only been looking at him because of what he said. He loved her because they could talk about things? Actually, that made perfect sense.

"Bye." Said Teru quietly.

"Bye." Said Mob just as quietly. She watched him turn around and walk away before she ran into the building as fast as she could. She barely had time to change shoes and get into her desk before it was time to call roll.

She shouldn't have run. Her stomach was even worse after running up at the stairs and through the halls to her desk in class 2-1. She sat in her desk, trying to catch her breath, and her insides were killing her. She looked at her phone. She would just have to last until 3:15. Then she had club and then she could go to work. Then sleep. Then she'd wake up and hopefully feel better.

"Kageyama! Put that phone down!" Great. Now she was being yelled at. Wonderful. She put her phone down and stared at the board in front of them. Mezato waved at her. Mob looked around but waved back. She pointed at her tiny notebook but was told to turn around. Oh, she probably wanted another interview. Mob didn't really want to but she did wanted to help her friend out.

The day dragged and dragged and dragged. In Japanese class Mob shattered a pencil into dust. Why did she even need Japanese class? She spoke Japanese! Most of these characters weren't even used ever! She put her head on her desk. It hurt. Her stomach hurt, but she wasn't going to give up. She was going to fight on and get through this day. This long, endless, day.

"Kageyama! Get your head up!" Again with this? Who did it hurt if she put her head down on her desk? She kept her head up and her powers in check, tying and retying the ends of her hair into little braids. People were looking at her. She didn't really care, right then and there. She needed to keep it together. She couldn't start shaking the room or moving things through the air. She had to fidget sometimes.

By the time gym rolled around Mob felt a little better. The pain in her stomach was lessening, a little, or maybe she was just getting used to it. It wasn't absolute agony or anything, and she was pretty sure that she had felt something close to that back in the Claw base, but her stomach was still bothering her. She didn't feel like throwing up, though, thank God. She sat at her desk as the boys were kicked out so that the girls could change.

Mob didn't like changing in front of the other girls. She still looked younger than everyone else. She had a chest, sort of, but if wasn't bouncy like everyone else's. Her hips had kind of a flare to them, Teru at least liked it, but from how she saw herself she was still built like she was when she was little. White undershirt that went down below her hips and white underwear, not pretty like everyone else's. Plain. Boring. The same as it ever was. She put on her gym shorts and he T-shirt and then tried to sit back down but was stopped by Mezato.

"Mob! Psst! Mob!" said Mezato standing behind her and keeping her from sitting down.

"Hi Mezato. I really don't want to do another interview right now, I'm sorry. It's just that I don't really feel well today and I've been kind of grumpy." Said Mob sad because she was letting her friend down.

"Forget that! Here!" said Mezato putting something into her hand discretely. Mob tried to see what it was but a hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Not here! You want everyone to know!" said Mezato. A friend in need was a friend indeed and Mob really needed her help right then. She couldn't walk around like that, what if boys saw? Mob could not survive that kind of embarrassment. It sucked that there were still people who would make fun of you for something you couldn't help, but there were, so Mezato had to step in and save her friend from dying of embarrassment.

"Come to the bathroom with me! Right now!" said Mezato practically dragging her out of the classroom and down the hall to the girl's bathroom. Mob just sort of let herself be dragged. Whatever Mezato needed help with it must have been really important.

"Mezato, are you alright?" asked Mob as her friend practically kicked the bathroom door down. Mob watched as Mezato looked under all the stall doors for feet.

"Good. Nobody's around." Said Mezato. She knew what the rumor mill was like and she didn't want to see what little popularity her friend and best source of stories had disappear.

"For what?" asked Mob, confused. What was all this about? Mezato looked at her for a moment.

"Mob…you got your period." Said Mezato quietly. Mob stared at her. She stared and stared and stared. The tile around her cracked. Her face heated up.

"I-I-I-" said Mob just staring. What? What? What?! How? Why? For what purpose? She stuffed down all of her feelings.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion 55%_

"No, it's alright! I don't think anyone noticed!" said Mezato quickly. Mob covered her face and groaned. Of course. They had learned about this at the class they split the boys and the girls up for but it had never been something that Mob had worried about, not really. It had always been abstract. Very abstract. Now it wasn't. She became more conscious of the growing slick grossness. She looked down at what Mezato had palmed her. Oh. They got samples of those, too, in class.

"I-I can't believe that this is happening." Said Mob trying to calm down. Mezato put a hand on her shoulder.

"This seriously never happened to you, before?" asked Mezato. Huh. Most people started in first year, if not back in elementary school.

"No…" said Mob. A mirror began to crack but she put it back together again.

"You are so cool…anyway don't freak out. It's normal." Said Mezato. That was what her mom had said, anyway. It was nothing to be ashamed of at all but don't go to the onsen during or you'll get kicked out.

"I know…I just….sorry to freak out." Said Mob. She needed to calm down. She wasn't a little kid. She knew what this was, she had paid attention in class. She would be fine. Right?

"No problem. Everyone freaks out for the first one. I threw a bottle of shampoo at my mom and told her to get out of my life. She forgave me." Said Mezato. Her mother had laughed, actually, but then they had red beans and red wine. Hopefully Mob's mom was nice like hers. Who couldn't be nice to Mob, this was Mob for God's sake.

"Really? And she wasn't mad?" asked Mob. This wasn't a big deal. This was actually so small of a deal that she didn't need to freak out at all. Yes. Not any kind of a big deal at all.

"Nope. She got it, that it was kind of scary and unexpected." Said Mezato. She stared a Mob for a moment before hugging her. She looked like she could have used it. Who. That was a lot of static electricity.

"Thanks, Mezato. Also, please don't put this in the paper." Said Mob. Mezato laughed, but not meanly.

"It's a hard hitting paper full of serious journalism, not a gossip rag. Besides, I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy let alone my friend." Said Mezato. That wouldn't be journalism, that would just be mean.

"Thank you." Said Mob sincerely. She was so grateful to have such a good friend. Now, to Google to figure out exactly how this whole thing worked.

Reigen wondered, exactly, how this whole thing worked. The TV promised a reward to the person who could catch a tsuchinoko and he had caught a tsuchinoko. So, where the hell was his reward?

"Sir, you must understand, there's no such thing as a tsuchinoko." Said the jerk keeping Reigen from his hard earned money.

"Then why would you ask for a reward for the capture of one?" asked Reigen, one leg hooked over the other, dead tsuchinoko in the plastic tank on his lap.

"It was just to drum up some tourists, that's all. Now take your snake-" said the man, Reigen hadn't remembered his name.

"Tsuchinoko." Said Reigen maintaining eye contact. Hovering behind him was Dimple, telling him to just use his powers. He was using them, he could feel this man's emotions. He was panicked, a little, but also pissed off.

"It's a dead snake that you stepped on." Said the man through gritted teeth.

"Do you ever watch Youtube?" asked Reigen suddenly but still in that same Mob like tone of voice. He was getting better at keeping his own emotions separate from others. Regular people were a lot easier than espers in that regard.

"What? Of course I watch Youtube you-" started the man before Reigen interrupted him.

"I have video evidence of my student and I capturing this thing. It's obviously real and I'd like my check please. I'm a small business owner and I'd like to get back to it. Time is money after all." Said Reigen. He wasn't kidding, he had massages to give.

"You're a business owner?" said the man incredulously. How could this man honestly have expected to receive payment for what was obviously a dead snake? This wasn't even the first dead snake city hall had seen that day.

"Spirits and Such Consultation Office. Find us on Friendbook." Said Reigen with a false, customer service smile he had perfected in his days working at a convenience store when he was a kid. He had to deal with all sorts of assholes there, too.

"So you're some sort of self-proclaimed psychic?" laughed the man. Dimple was begging him to use his powers. Reigen wanted to, almost, just to speed it along.

"Empath, actually, but that's neither here nor there. I have the tsuchinoko and I'd like my check. I'd hate to have to take this to the press…or social media. Whichever gets me my money first." Said Reigen

"Sir, you can't just sit here making threats like that. I'll have to ask you to leave." Said the man, his face turned red. Reigen checked the time. He had to get to work, soon. Well, Dimple was always offering to help. He motioned to Dimple to do something, anything. Dimple looked overjoyed and decided to start breaking stuff. Reigen tried to remain impassive. Well, he hadn't meant something so….destructive, but his was an evil spirit after all.

"That wasn't me, that was a spirit attached to me. I have no control over him, he's not mine. How about I just get my check, you get your dead tsuchinoko, and we part ways here?" asked Reigen cursing Dimple in his mind for being so overzealous.

"Yes! Fine! Whatever you want!" said the man, reevaluting his entire worldview. The supernatural existed. It was real. Well then.

Reigen walked out of city hall several hundred thousand yen richer. He could afford so much now! A new desk for Mob, a dresser or her, too. He'd take her out to dinner, too. Someplace nice, nicer than ramen. Nicer than rice bowls. Something she'd really like.

"See! Told you I could help!" said Dimple as he followed Reigen into the car. Reigen shrugged.

"You didn't have to break so much stuff." Said Reigen as he started down the road. He was heading towards the Awakening Lab now, or at least the address the esper kids had sent him.

"Hey, influencing the physical world when you're a spirit isn't easy! There's not a lot of room for finesse! I technically exist on a different plane of existence, you know!" said Dimple crossing his arms indignantly.

"So you're not an evil spirit at all? You're just misunderstood?" asked Reigen sarcastically

"Don't be like that! I'm still totally and completely evil!" said Dimple. Reigen reached into his pocket and tossed a pinch of salt over his shoulder.

"Damn. That salt isn't purified either." Said Reigen. He knew that it wasn't, he just liked messing with Dimple.

"You think I can be exorcised with salt? Seriously, me? Shigeko couldn't even get rid of me!" said Dimple proudly

"So that's why you hang around with her?" asked Reigen as he turned the corner. Traffic was pretty good that morning.

"I hang around Shigeko because she's a nice kid! Also, I'm kind of sort of bound to her. I guess she did something while she exorcised me, or I just fed off of her too much, but now I kind of sort of can't stay away from her energy for too long." Said Dimple trailing off towards the end. Good. Show weakness. Tug at this guy's heart strings and get his body!

"So you'll die if you're away from her for too long? I didn't even know Mob could control spirits…." Said Reigen. Another new power. Another thing that she could do. He knew that she was powerful and he was starting to wonder how powerful she was on the grand scale of things. He looked over to Dimple for a second. If anything he was a wealth of information.

"Hey! She doesn't control me! I just like to hang around her or I'll start to fade, that's all. What's your excuse?" said Dimple. He wasn't totally sure what would happen if he was away from Shigeko's energy for too long but he didn't want to find out. Still, he was grateful. She was the only thing that have saved him for Matsuo's control.

"My excuse? I'm her Master. I teach her things." Said Reigen. That was his role in her life. He was also her boss and friend.

"Not what she wants to learn." Muttered Dimple. Honestly, this guy was willfully blind. How could he not have picked up on Shigeko's feelings for him? Well, she got hers. She definitely had a type and Dimple admired the way she always managed to get what she wanted. If only she did it the right way, then they'd be in business.

"I teach her plenty. Without me she'd be lost." Said Reigen. Without him, without having someone like him in her life, she could have ended up like those Claw weirdos.

"She's going to end up being the one to teach you how to use your powers, you know that, right?" asked Dimple. Shigeko the master and Reigen the student. Ha!

"I know…I'm working on it." Said Reigen through clenched teeth. Dimple could feel Reigen trying to write anger and annoyance to him. He shrugged it off. Not targeted enough and not strong enough to affect a spirit.

"Just let me inside of your body. I'll do most of the work for you. Come on!" said Dimple. Reigen shook his head.

"Will you please stop phrasing it like that? Seriously, it's weird." Said Reigen. That was literally what possession was, he knew that, but Dimple made it sound so gross.

"Fine, fine, whatever you want. Just let me live a little! I promise I won't do anything weird. You're Shigeko's and I'm not going to piss her off. Seriously. That would be suicidal." Said Dimple. Shigeko would definitely exorcise him again if he, say, never let Reigen go and used him to start another LOL cult. Yeah, Shigeko would have a problem if he took away her main guy. Or was blonde jerk her main guy now? Yeah, blonde jerk was probably the main guy, from what he had floated in on.

"Shut up for a minute, I have to return this car. Maybe…maybe I'll let you help me. I don't know, give me a minute." Said Reigen as he took a few deep breaths. Right. Normal people weren't as loud as espers but there were still millions of people in Seasoning City and sometimes it felt like that were all screaming at once.

"This is the lab? Seriously?" asked Reigen checking his phone. This was the right address, but this looked like an apartment building. He shrugged and rang the bell, Dimple hovering behind him.

"Hello? Can I help you?" said a voice on the other end of the intercom. It sounded unsure, afraid almost. Understandable after what had happened with Claw and all of that.

"Hey, I'm Reigen Arataka. I have your car." Said Reigen getting right to it. He really had to get to work. There's a silence on the other end of the intercom for a moment.

"My car?" said the voice. Reigen took a deep breath, a deep calming breath. Great, a game of twenty questions. He didn't feel like playing.

"Yeah, the one you lent to a couple of fourteen year olds last week. I have it." Said Reigen. There's another pause.

"I'll be right down." Said the voice. Reigen took his finger off the bell and stood by the door. He checked his phone. No texts from Mob. He resisted the urge to text her. She didn't need to be distracted at school. Hopefully she was feeling better. She was probably just in a bad mood, that was all. She'd probably, hopefully, be back to normal once it came time for work. Oh, another message in the group chat the kids set up. He didn't really participate, this was all kids after all, but it was nice to see what they were all up to. Everyone was bored at school. Well, most of them. Mob wasn't replying. She was responsible like that.

"Hello! I'm Matsuura Kenji, thank you so much! I thought I'd never see it again!" said Matsuura as he approached the man in the grey suit. He knew of this man, Reigen Arataka. The kids had told him about the man who saved them.

"Reigen Arataka." Said Reigen. He almost bowed but the man shook his hand with gusto.

"Oh, thank you so much for returning my car, oh, and saving the kids too! I was just so worried but they're back and they're safe now!" said Matsuura holding onto Reigen's hand for longer than was necessary. Reigen looked him up and down. This guy really had a thing for red. His emotions felt dulled, like a regular person's. He was full of enthusiasm, though, and Reigen just about managed to shrug it off.

"No problem. I didn't do anything that special. The kids needed me and I was there." Said Reigen simply. He wasn't too full of respect for this guy. When you agree to be someone's Master you agree not only to be their teacher and leader but also their protector. He couldn't protect his kids, this guy, Reigen had at least tried to save Mob and the others. He tried to stop her, to protect her, and had even saved her when given the power to.

"Right. Well thank you. I mean, as a regular person there was nothing that I could do but you're, well, like them so-" said Matsuura. He could feel the barb there. Well, he was just a regular person. There was nothing he could do against espers. He knew that what he did, not protecting the kids properly, was wrong. He knew that he had failed them. He didn't need to be reminded of his failures.

"Well that's the thing, it doesn't matter. They're just kids." Said Reigen trying his hardest to be polite and not to throw his own emotions around. He had been a regular person when he had gone into that base and saved Mob. He had put his life on the line. When you take responsibility for another person then you need to be prepared to do that.

"Well, they may be kids but they're powerful." Said Matsuura feeling the shift in the atmosphere. Reigen's kids, Mob and Teruki, had certainly displayed their powers that day. He still remembered the terrifying ghost like girl, she haunted his dreams.

"They're still only fourteen. Actually, some of them are even younger." Said Reigen, clenching his fist. It didn't matter how powerful the kids were, they were still kids.

"Didn't one of them take down that group almost singlehandedly?" asked Matsuura knowing that he was losing an argument that he wasn't even aware that he had started.

"Mob. That was Mob. She's still not alright. Just…talk to your kids, ok? Check in. Hang out in the group chat." Said Reigen. Hang out there in the mornings when they talk about their nightmares. When they talk about the what ifs. Not Mob, though. Not Mob or her boyfriend or her bother, the ones who had been in the most danger. Right. Teru had no parents and Ritsu might as well have had no parents. He needed to check in with them, too, not just Mob.

"They set up a group chat? I'll have to ask them to add me." Said Matsuura. That was a little hurtful. He thought that he had at least made friends with them, somewhat.

"Yeah, they're in there a lot. Well, yours, anyway. Listen…I'm sorry if I was being a jerk, earlier." Said Reigen. Right. He was an adult and adults didn't act like this. Mob conducted herself better against people who were trying to kill her than he was at this moment in time.

"No, you're right…I should have done more for them." Said Matsuura. Reigen stepped away from himself for a moment. Remorse. Good. He could learn from that. Being Master wasn't all hanging out and having fun. Sometimes you had to keep it together even when you couldn't. Sometimes you had to own up to your own mistakes and apologize. Sometimes you had to have hard conversations at all hours. Sometimes you had to walk into certain death to give your student time to run away.

"Well, they're fine now. Well, fine-ish. Listen, I've been doing this for years now. The best thing that you can do at this point is listen. Listen and don't judge." Said Reigen. That was all Mob needed, anyway. She just wanted to be heard and understood sometimes.

"Thanks. How many years, exactly?" asked Matsuura. He had only had this lab and those kids for a couple of months. He had seen the Tsuchinoko video, everyone in the city had seen that video, and he had seen the way he was with his student. He wished that he had that sort of familiarity with his own kids.

"Three, almost four years. Yeah, I met Mob when she was eleven. I can't believe that she's grown so much, sometimes." Said Reigen before he was hit with something he could only call absolute terror.

"You're afraid of Mob? Shigeko? The little girl in pigtails?" asked Reigen. Matsuura stiffened and looked away. Of course. The kids had told them the details of their harrowing escape. Reigen Arataka was a man who could feel the feelings of others. An empath. An esper. Right. He had seemed so normal but he was an esper.

"She threatened me, of course I'm afraid of her. I mean, she thought that I was one of those…people…but still." Said Matsuura. She was like a ghost, in some ways. Her expressionless face. The hair that fell over that expressionless face. The flat voice. The energy that she carried with her. What she could do.

"You're seriously afraid of Mob? She's the sweetest kid I've ever met." Said Reigen. That was the Mob in his mind. He didn't realize this as he said it. The Mob in his mind was different than the Mob in the minds of others. To anyone in her way, well, she must have been terrifying.

"Has she ever threatened to send a spirit after you?" asked Matsuura. He had never been possessed but from what the spirit had said it sounded like hell. That little girl could command spirits and, from what the kids had told him, had more powers than she even knew. A prodigy, most likely. If there were prodigies amongst normal people then there must have been prodigies amongst espers.

"No, but I've never given her reason to. Listen, I've got to get to work. Here's your car back, I'm sorry it's so banged up but, hey, you let a couple kids drive." Said Reigen as he turned around and left before this turned into a thing. He really, really did need to get to work.

As Reigen started walking he could feel the city pressing down on him. It was a lot but he needed to just get through it until he could get to the tiny little world of his office. Dimple floated behind him offering up commentary of what he would have done if he had been in Reigen's body. Reigen rubbed his temples. If only Mob was there. It was easier to hide in her aura, her feelings. Loud as they were she was still only one person. He checked his phone again. Mob still hadn't texted him. She had no plans to call off school.

She couldn't have been out with him, anyway. These were the hours for adults. The world was bereft of children before three in the afternoon. She would have been out of place. Noticeable. Not at all like her namesake. Mob. Faceless mass. A little girl who could have grown men quaking in fear at the mere mention of her. Shigeko. Nurturing child. The little girl who bandaged his wounds. The little girl who would cast aside all of her ideals, everything she stood for, to save the lives of the people she loved. He wanted to text her, to ask her how her day was, to see what she was doing in class, but he didn't. She was in a bad mood and she had a test that day to study for, too.

Reigen instead walked through the city, attempting to block out the collective emotion of the people that filled it. He walked alone, well, Dimple didn't really count. He walked alone waiting for the time when he would be joined again. The hours without Mob would be long and boring, but he had to fill them with work. That was his part in whatever their relationship could be called. He was the adult here, after all.

Mob wished that she had never wanted to be grown up. She could use her powers to make her stomach hurt less but that only took care of part of the problem. She still felt grumpy and sad at the same time. She still felt achy and tired. She still felt so, incredibly, gross. This was blood, her own blood, and it was so cold and wet and sticky and just gross! She stayed like that, of course, because she didn't carry napkins with her and she didn't want to ask anyone for one. She had already borrowed one from Mezato, she didn't want to ask again.

She probably messed up that entire math test, too. Her writing looked like an elementary schooler's. Her English was most likely conjugated improperly. She was a useless lump in gym. She couldn't follow along in literature. She didn't hear a word of biology. She had probably tanked her grades forever but at least she had stuck out her day.

She was going straight to work after school. Well, that was what she had wanted to do until she could tell that she was going to ruin her skirt and gym shorts soon. It was three fifteen. The school day was done. Now it was club time. There was no way that she was going to be able to fight on in her condition, but she did have a friend in the telepathy club who could help.

Tome would help her. Definitely. Certainly. Undeniably. Categorically. All of those other words that meant yes. Tome was a great friend, just like Mezato.

Mob practically ran to the club room and found Tome just putting her things down. Tome spotted her and immediately began speaking.

"Mob! I can't believe that you met other espers and didn't tell me! Also, congratulations on finding a real tsuchinoko. I would have gone with you but I'm not into hiking." Said Tome.

"Oh, right, them. I almost died, I don't really want to talk about that. Tome, I really, really need your help." Said Mob quietly, before the boys started to trickle in. Tome looked at her for a while.

"Died? What? Are you serious?" asked Tome. Mob nodded.

"Yes. Adult espers kidnapped a bunch of people so I stopped them. I don't really want to talk about that. I do really need your help, though." Said Mob. She really, really didn't want to go over what happened before. That whole night had been just awful and if she started talking about it then she might even start crying and that would just be awful. She didn't want Tome to see her cry, or anyone for that matter. It was embarrassing. She wasn't a little kid anymore. Tome opened her DS but closed it when she got a good look at Mob's face. She could even feel a sort of energy coming from Mob and the books on the shelf were rearranging themselves.

"This is something really serious, isn't it, Mob?" asked Tome. Wow. Mob looked really, really red. More guy trouble? Shame at leaving her good friend Tome out of whatever that whole almost dying thing was about? No, something more serious than that.

"I just-I-I needed to borrow…." Said Mob before pulling out her phone. This was easier to type out then to say.

"_Can I borrow a napkin?" _typed Mob out. Tome read it and did a double take.

"Come with me!" said Tome grabbing her school bag and dragging Mob through the halls. Her running attracted plenty of attention but most people just wrote it off as Tome being weird again. Mob, once again allowed herself to be led. Tome led much more forcefully than Mezato, even telling people to get out of their way. Mob was starting to regret the fact that she liked to make dramatic friends that could fill the atmosphere. Right now Mob wished that she could just fade away into the atmosphere.

"Don't worry Mob! You'll be fine!" said Tome as she threw Mob through the door of the girl's bathroom. There were some girls in there, popular girls, including Mob's old friend Tsubomi. Great…just great…

"What? We're having an emergency here? Stay and help or go back to putting on makeup, your choice." Said Tome with her hands on her hips. She was the senior girl there and she would not be intimidated by popular girls. She had been dealing with popular girls for her entire school career and she wasn't going to let herself be intimidated or made fun of anymore. Mob needed her more in that moment than she ever would in her entire life. Tome figured that this was Mob's first. Tome remembered her first. She had skipped that health class to go to a game release and missed out on all of the knowledge. Her mom told her nothing and she was up all night thinking that she was dying. She even wrote out a will. Mob wouldn't go through that, not on her watch.

"Tome…don't be mean." Said Mob quietly. Her face tomato red. These were the popular girls, the kind of girl she used to want to be. She was happier being herself, she had learned that, but she still didn't want to be made fun of like when she was a little kid.

"Yeah, Mob's right, just because you're a third year doesn't mean that you get to order us around." Said Tsubomi. This was everyone's bathroom and she could spend however much time she wanted in it.

"We don't have time for this! Mob, into the stall! You're not dying! You're going to be fine!" said Tome, the acoustics carrying her voice throughout the entire bathroom. Mob looked at her shoes and shuffled into a stall. She began to play with the taps with her powers. The fidgeting would stop her from exploding.

"Hey, Mob? I know we haven't really hung out in a while but, like, are you alright?" asked Tsubomi. She remembered Mob from elementary school, back when she had been called Shigeko. She did stuff like this with her powers, then. It had been cool for a while but stuff floating got boring after a while.

"She's fine! She's just freaking out because she's got her period!" said Tome. Water began to flow freely from the taps and pooled on the ceiling. The other girls, the ones not used to Mob, took pictures. That girl was kind of famous around school. Everyone said that she was a magical girl but her powers came at a cost. Mob, real name Shigeko, sister of the very hot but super aloof Ritsu, was a magical girl with powers so great that she had to spend every moment of every day holding them back so she didn't really talk much because of the way that the sheer force of holding back her powers took a toll on her mental energy. Or so Mezato had wrote.

"Tome…please don't tell anyone…." Said Mob. She wasn't freaking out at all, Tome was the one freaking out. Mob should have known. Tome freaked out easily. One time she had thrown her DS across the room when she had lost her game one too many times. Thank God that Mob had been there to catch it.

"Why? There's no guys here." Said Tome. Honestly, there was nothing to be ashamed of if there were no boys around. Her mom had said that it was something that every girl went through so they had better support each other.

"You'll be fine, Mob! Do you want me to see if the nurse is still here?" asked Tsubomi. Man, that was rough. She remembered her first. She had been ten and it had been sports day. Thank God her friend had tied a track coat around her waist and her mother had given her that book beforehand. If nobody told Mob beforehand then she must have really been freaked out. That must have been why here powers were making an upside down water fall.

"No thank you. I'll be fine." Said Mob from inside the bathroom stall. She could hear Tome rummaging through her school bag.

"She's so brave." Said one of Tsubomi's friends, Mob didn't know but her name was Ai. She knew of the Magical Girl of Salt Middle School, she had been in the tsuchinoko video. She was kind of weird but cool, too. Plus she had superpowers! Was that why she was in that creepy telepathy club?

"Here! Use this, quick!" said Tome handing something cylindrical under the stall door. Mob took it with her powers. Oh no….

"Tome? Do you have a…a napkin? I don't know how this works." Said Mob biting the bullet. The leaves on the tree outside were being pulled off and forced to grow back as Mob fidgeted.

"What's there to know? You just, you know…put it in." said Tome. This got her surprised looks from the other girls. What was everyone staring at?

"You use those?" asked Tsubomi. Wow, older girls really were different. She could never pluck up the courage to do something like that.

"Of course. You guys like sitting in your own blood?" asked Tome. Anything else was just gross. Who wanted to sit in that mess all day?

"No, not at all." Said Mob, closing her eyes in shame. IN? Nope. Too much. She was tapping out. That was way, way, way too much.

"It's not hard, uh, Magical Girl Mob! I mean, I use a sea sponge but I think that it would be the same...uh…concept." said Ai as she watched the leaves on the trees. Wow, that was amazing.

"Yeah! You have a boyfriend right? It's just like that!" said Tome. The lights above them burned very bright for a moment.

"I don't-we don't-I haven't-!" said Mob as she tried to get a grip on herself. She began to force her powers into cracks in the tiles, sealing them. There, that was a good distraction.

"She has a boyfriend?" asked Ai. Her friend, Emi, showed her a picture Mezato had sent her for the paper. It was titled Shadow Leader Power Couple. She had, of course, refused to accept that article because it wasn't really news and she wasn't about to go around printing things like that anyway. In her opinion the shifting power structures and this blow for women's rights wasn't really news.

"Yes. His name's Teru. He's really nice." Said Mob quietly. She could hear a flurry of activity on the other side of the door. It seemed almost like another world, the rest of the bathroom. She was living in her own private embarrassment bubble.

"Hey, let me see. Wow, he's hot." Said Tsubomi. Tome rolled her eyes, they had more important things to do than look at pictures of hot guys!

"You guys seriously don't, uh, fooley cooley?" asked Tome. Huh. She would have, if she had a boyfriend. It seemed nice and Lord knew that she thought about it enough.

"What's that mean?" asked Mob, still with her eyes closed. If she didn't open them then maybe she could cut through some of the embarrassment.

"You know, from the anime! Fool around? Do stuff?" said Tome. A lightbulb burnt out. Everyone watched in curiosity.

"I don't think that she wants to talk about that." Said Tsubomi. She remembered how, when they were in elementary school, they'd sometimes make a game out of getting Mob to freak out and break things with her powers. She was old enough and mature enough to know that making fun of someone like that was wrong.

"Teru and I don't do that." Said Mob, wondering if it was possible to actually die of embarrassment. She would welcome it at this point, honestly. She wasn't mad though, Tome had just been trying to help. She cried a little. This was still super embarrassing. She could hear more bags rustling.

"I only have the super light ones." Said Tsubomi. Tome shook her head.

"Why not just go get some rice paper from the cooking club?" said Tome sarcastically. Honestly, Mob was too shy and modest sometimes. Just shove it in. It wasn't that hard. Well, it had been the first few times…nope. It hadn't been. Tome had known exactly what she was doing.

"I have a sea sponge! Wait, no, that's not at all sanitary. Forget I said anything." Said Ai. Everyone was looking at her, now. What? It was sanitary and good for the environment.

"Useless! All of you! Mob just use what I gave you before you ruin your uniform!" said Tome, much too loud. Someone else came in.

"What's everyone yelling about in here?" asked Mezato. She had been tipped off to something going down in the girl's room and had come as fast as she could. Oh. Mob again. Either that or someone else had esper powers.

"Mezato! Good! Mob's got her period and she's freaking out! Do something!" said Tome shaking Mezato back and forth with more force than was necessary.

"I think that you might be the one freaking out." Said Mezato. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Someone else came in, took a look at the pool forming on the ceiling and Tome's theatrics, and walked backwards slowly and left. She'd hold it until she got home.

"Yeah, Mob's pretty calm." Said Tsubomi. Well, she wasn't shouting at anyone at least.

"I'm not freaking out. That's just my powers fidgeting so they don't explode later. I'm fine." Said Mob. She wasn't going to explode, that was what mattered. She would just eventually die of embarrassment.

"Hey, uh, maybe use a sock? You know, until you get home?" said Emi. Ai shook her head.

"That's unsanitary." Said Ai

"So is bleeding everywhere." Said Emi

"Oh man, I'm all out of napkins and I think that the nurse went home." Said Mezato. She didn't blame Mob. Tampons were too…much…to do and she heard that they could also cause blood poisoning. At least that was what her mom had said.

"We'll just have to wait until someone comes in and then ask her." Said Tsubomi. Poor Mob. First she gets her period for the first time at school and then her friend starts freaking out and now she's got nothing to take care of it with. She wished she had something besides the thin, light ones.

"So stop freaking out already." Said Mezato. Tome let her go and huffed. That could take hours! Mob thought that she was dying! She needed help now! They could be waiting in there for days and days until-oh, the door opened.

"Hey, this is an embarrassing question but do you have a spare napkin? There's someone in there and she doesn't have one." Asked Tsubomi nicely. There. That was how you got people to help you. She didn't know this girl but she seemed nice. She dug through her school bag and produced a tampon.

"See! They're not so weird!" said Tome loudly. Mob groaned. Well she had two options. Figure this thing out or let Tome keep informing every one of her predicament. Option one was looking better and better each passing minute.

"Sorry, this is all I have." She said. Tsubomi took it and smiled.

"Thank you, we'll make it work." Said Tsubomi. She could at least hold onto it if Mob didn't want it, if this was what the older girls used.

"You're welcome. I think I'll, uh, use another bathroom. Hi, Magical Girl! I'm sorry this happened to you!" said the girl before leaving quickly.

"I'm not a magical girl." Groaned Mob. She was an esper, if people had to call her something based on her powers they should have just called her esper girl.

"Well Mob, unless we break into the nurse's station you're going to have to go the internal route." Said Mezato. Tome had a contemplative look on her face. Nobody would know that it was them, it wasn't like there were any cameras…..

"We're not breaking into the nurse's station!" they all said at once, shutting down Tome's idea before she could voice it. The student council had just done a big clean up, nobody wanted to kick another one off.

"Mob is way too shy and modest! Desperate times call for desperate measures!" said Tome loudly. There was a banging on the wall.

"I'm not getting caught up in the student council's next big clean up. I swear, her brother and the president were on a war path and I'm not getting caught up in the next one." Said Mezato

"We need to be supportive! Do you have any idea how scary this is for her? She thinks she's dying!" said Tome

"I know I'm not dying." Said Mob from in her stall. She wasn't dumb, she knew she wouldn't die from this, although it wouldn't be unwelcome at this point.

"See? If anything you're freaking her out! Mob, you can do it!" said Mezato

"Ok…I'll try." Said Mob trying to be strong even though this was so, incredibly, unbelievably, incontrovertibly, totally, embarrassing.

"Here! I know it's not much but it'll at least help until you can get to a store, if this whole thing doesn't work out." Said Tsubomi passing her napkin under the door. Mob took it with her powers. The rustling of plastic and the tearing of glue from fabric could be heard.

"Thank you." Said Mob trying to sound polite. Well, at least she was more popular now….yes….that was a good thought….much more popular….

"Don't be afraid! The female body is nothing to be ashamed of!" said Ai loudly. Everyone was looking at her.

"What? That's what my mom told me. Then we had red dinner. It was nice." Said Ai

"Yeah, green headband is right!" said Tome. Ai gave her a look.

"I'm Ai, class 2-2." Said Ai

"Tome. Class 3-2." Said Tome

"What's red dinner?" asked Mob as she collected her courage. This was her body but she had never even done anything like this on her own before, now she had to actually…..

"When your mom gets your red foods for dinner and you drink red wine." Said Ai

"Oh. I moved out but I guess I can have red bean paste ccep today…" said Mob. That was a good thought. Not that she'd tell Master Reigen why, exactly they would be eating red bean paste ccep

"Oh yeah, Mob moved in with her Master because her powers go to be too much for her family." Said Tome filling everyone in.

"Is that allowed?" asked Ai. She didn't know that middle schoolers were allowed to move out. Huh.

"I guess, I mean, who's going to stop her?" Said Tome pointing to the rapidly rising, or falling, water level coming from the ceiling.

"You've got it! You can do it, Mob!" said Mezato loudly to cover up the sound of plastic rustling. Mob needed to know that people were there for her. She was a nice person and shouldn't have had to go through this alone. She shut up, quickly, when there was another bang on the wall.

"Yeah! You're the best around! Nothing is ever going to keep you down!" said Tome loudly. She could be more supportive. She could be the most supportive. Female friends were supposed to be supportive. There was a knock on the door.

"Now you've done it." Said Mezato. It was probably a teacher coming in to write them up. Hopefully a teacher, actually. The teachers were actually more lenient than the student council.

"Who knocks on the bathroom door?" asked Tsubomi. Wow, someone shyer than Mob. Hopefully it was just some shy first year and not someone coming to write them up for the noise level and whatever it was that Mob was doing with her powers.

"A teacher, probably. This bathroom shares a wall with the literature club." Said Emi worriedly glancing over at the wall. She did need to get back to club but there was someone who needed support at this trying time, especially with the way that Tome girl was carrying on.

"I've got this, don't worry." Said Tome opening the door. Whoever it was had better have a good reason for disturbing all the support they were giving Mob. She'd give her a piece of her mind for making Mob even more nervous!

"Wait, no, let me!" said Tsubomi getting to the door before Tome. She knew that look and, frankly, they had no right to be chasing other girls out of the bathroom. Besides, this girl might have had an actual napkin. Poor Mob.

"Can you keep it down in there? We're trying to have a club meeting." Oh. It was the president of the literature club. Tome practically shoved Tsubomi out of the way.

"Go away, this is the girl's bathroom." Said Tome. The club president sighed and pushed up on the bridge of his glasses. Kurata Tome. Of course it was Kurata Tome.

"I know that it's the girl's room. I'm just asking you guys, nicely, to stop screaming in there." Said the president. Tome was about to tell him to go mind his own business when Tsubomi pushed her way past Tome and into the doorway.

"We're so sorry about all of this, we'll be quiet in the future." Said Tsubomi as Tome tried to push past her.

"Good. You guys had better be or I'm getting the student council. They might even start enough clean up." Said the club president. Tome stuck out her tongue and closed the door with more force than necessary.

"You're too nice! Sometimes you need to tell people to get lost!" said Tome. She was shushed by everyone. This was a dramatic time so it was time to be dramatic. How else would the gravity of the situation sink in?

"Believe me, I know." Said Tsubomi under her breath. Honestly, Mob was probably more freaked out by her friend than anything.

"Hey, Mob? You figure it out yet?" asked Mezato wondering if she had time to run to the store and be back before school closed. Nobody deserved to be in Mob's position.

"…..yeah….." said Mob after a while. It hadn't been hard, once she used her powers. It had just been weird. It felt weird. Not painful. Not bad. Just weird.

"See! I told you you'd figure it out!" said Tome loudly. She began to clap. Mob wanted to die. She wanted to climb out the window and fly away from this entire situation.

"You alright? Mob?" asked Mezato. The water had stopped flowing upwards and now it was just sort of hanging out. Was that good or bad?

"….I'm fine…." Said Mob quietly. Well…that had happened. That had happened and now it was done and now she had to come out and face everyone. Nope. Not happening. She was going to live out the rest of her days in this bathroom stall with only the graffiti for company until she withered and died. Yes. That was the only thing she could do in this situation.

"I have a sweater you can borrow, if you need something to tie around your waist." Said Tsubomi after Mob didn't come out for a while.

"No….I'm fine. I think I'll stay in here forever, though. You guys can go back to your clubs now. Thank you for being so nice to me and helping me. I'm just going to sit here and wait to die." Said Mob monotonously.

"Nobody's going to make fun of you! You don't have to overact like that!" said Tome kicking the stall door. There was a bang on the wall, first a big one and then several in rapid succession. This was followed by a pounding on the bathroom door and an necessarily loud-

"I warned you!"

Mob groaned. This was not her day.

This was not Ritsu's day. He had apologized but he still didn't feel that much better. Still guilty. Why was he so guilty? Onigawara had even thanked him for setting him on a better path. His friends hadn't even threatened to beat him up, though they had been pissed off, but at least he didn't have to fight. They had given the excuse that he was Shigeko's brother and they couldn't beat up the shadow leader's little brother. It was bad for moral, apparently, and a clear breach of the power structure. Shigeko? A shadow leader? At least he had heard that she was trying to get out of the job.

His day had been slow, monotonous. It had been weird, sitting at his desk, like everything was normal. He had been kidnapped, almost died, dissolved his relationship with his sister, reconciled, lost her anyway, and now he was expected to be back at his desk like nothing had happened. But so much had happened. It had only happened for him, everyone else's story had taken it's own turn. He couldn't expect the word to somehow give him a breather. Nope. Back to normal.

This normalcy being forced upon him wasn't that bad. Having something to do, at least, cut through the feelings he had from that night. The lingering sense of dread. The lingering guilt. No. If he could get back to business as usual then that would be good. He could let go of all the dread and shame and guilt. He just had to get back into the rhythm of his life. He just had to do all of the normal things that he had done before.

That desire to return to normalcy, or the desire that normalcy had to thrust itself upon him, had led him to that girl's bathroom. He still had a responsibility to the school as a student council member to keep the peace and that bathroom was anything but peaceful. He had volunteered, actually. The only female student council member had gone home early and none of the guys wanted to deal with this for some reason.

It was just the girl's bathroom. What was everyone so anxious about? It wasn't like he actually to go in or anything.

The minute he knocked on the door he could hear more shouting and rustling. The door opened a crack and someone stuck their head out. Oh, it was that girl he and Shigeko used to play with. Uh…Tsubomi! Yeah, Tsubomi.

"Oh, Ritsu. Hi? Uh, sorry about the noise and all. We'll try to keep it down." Said Tsubomi. Oh no, Mob's little brother. Not only was he a boy, he was her little brother on top of that. She needed to get him out of there before Mob died of embarrassment and her powers went crazy like they did when they were kids.

"Are you guys….alright?" asked Ritsu. Was that water dripping from the ceiling? No…it was dripping UP. What in the….Shigeko. How could he have missed her aura? She was practically a Christmas tree. Well, probably because this was the girl's room and he wasn't trying to look into it, not really.

"We're fine! Everything's fine! Now go away!" said Tome trying to close the door. Unfortunately Tsubomi was in the way.

"Ritsu, I love you, but go away." Said Mob. Well, she couldn't actually live in the bathroom. Nobody was going to make fun of her, everything was going to be alright. She took a deep breath and opened the stall door. She made the water flow downward and used some of it to wash her hands.

"You heard her, go away." Said Tome closing the door

"Sorry, this is kind of private, and it's the girl's room anyway so….bye." Said Tsubomi as she let Tome close the door.

"Wait, is Shigeko-?" asked Ritsu. Was she motion sick again? Sometimes she got motion sick for no reason….but that hadn't been since they were little…

"Ritsu! Mind your own business!" said Mob, cracking the mirror in front of her. The door slammed opened and closed. She felt a reassuring hand on her back, then another. Mob didn't know why but she started sniffling. First a little then outright crying.

"I-I'm sorry…it's just….it's been a day." Said Mob as she pulled herself together. How could she have been so mean? Why was she so mean? Why did this have to happen to her?

"Alright everyone, show's over! Mob, pull yourself together! We have important things to get back to!" said Tome. Mob started crying again.

"Tome, you're a good person. All of you are such good people….thank you all so much…." Said Mob through her sniffles. Well, better to cry than to explode. She just couldn't take all the stress and embarrassment anymore….this was a terrible awful day….and it wasn't even nighttime yet….

"You're fine, Mob. Here, let me chase your brother away, I think he's still out there." Said Mezato. Mob nodded.

"He is, I can tell." Said Mob before splashing some water on her face. Right. She was fine. Everything was fine. Everyone was nice. She just needed to stay calm.

"Don't worry, everyone freaks out for the first one. Well, a lot of people do. You'll be fine, Mob, don't worry." Said Tsubomi. Poor Mob.

"I-I'm better, now. Thank you, really….I should go and say sorry to Ristu…." Said Mob keeping herself together. This wasn't a big deal at all. In fact it was such a little deal that she didn't need to spend another moment of her life thinking about it.

"Hey, Mob, your brother won't go away. Sorry." Said Mezato. Mob nodded. She could see the dark blues that made up Ritsu's aura. H was upset, it looked like. She really shouldn't have yelled at him.

"I'll go…I'll go talk to him. Thanks again, I really mean that." Said Mob. She was so lucky to have so many people be nice to her. So, super, incredibly nice. She hadn't expected that. She had expected to be made fun of, like when she was a kid. When they were all kids. Maybe growing up meant that you became nicer? Master Reigen was a grown up and he was the nicest person she knew.

"Hey, Mob. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I acted when we were kids." Said Tsubomi. She had to apologize for what she had done. She had been the one to even give Mob her nickname. She had been the one to point out how awkward she was and turned it into a running joke. Mob didn't deserve that. Mob was a good person and right then she had been so scared because she was going through this **thing** on her own and it didn't seem like she knew anything about what she was doing.

"I forgive you, Tsubomi. That was years ago, and you're nice to me now." Said Mob. Sure at the time she had been sad but people changed. People have to be capable of change. That was just something that had to be true, that people were capable of change.

"Thanks Mob. Um, do you even like being called Mob? I'm sorry for starting that, by the way." Said Tsubomi

"No, I don't mind. Nobody calls me Shigeko, really, anyway." Said Mob. Master Reigen didn't, and that was what counted. Teru called her by her name. That wise nice though…

"Are you going to be alright?" asked Emi. She knew that she had to get back to club, the club president seemed really mad, but she had to make sure that Mob was ok. She didn't know Mob that well, only in passing, but she seemed like a really nice girl once you got past the whole super powers thing.

"I'm going to be fine. I don't know why I was so upset, before. Once I….once I figured it out it wasn't so bad." Said Mob. She had been afraid of herself. Of that part of herself, all of it, not just physically. What had she been embarrassed about was the loss of control that this had represented. She liked to be in control of herself. It was important. But this had been so far out of her control, and painful, and worrying that she had almost snapped. Well, she would have to be better now.

"It's always hard the first time but we're your friends, we'll always be there for you." Said Mezato sincerely. Mob didn't need to be embarrassed. There was nothing she could do about it, this was something that happened to everyone. If they just went around making each other feel embarrassed about this then what would be the point of anything? They had to be supportive of each other.

"Yeah, Mob I'll always fight for you. Don't worry, you'll be the support and I'll be the fighter." Said Tome slapping her on the back, but nicely. Mob was her only female friend, that was what female friends did, they supported each other.

"Thanks. Just….thanks…so much." Said Mob. She smiled. She felt….acepted….it was nice. It was nice and wonderful but Ritsu needed her so she needed to go to him and make sure that he was alrigh. He had moved but following his aura was easy. He was all dark blues, like school uniforms. Like socks.

"Ritsu….I know you're there." Said Mob. He had ducked behind a corner but she could still feel him.

"I know that you're there too, sister." Said Ritsu. He was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest. Shigeko had never….she had never yelled at him before. Not like that. She had never told him to go away.

"Ritsu, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you like that. You're my little brother and I love you." Said Mob, her aura reaching out to his. His pulled away from hers but then, tentatively moved back to hers.

"No…I shouldn't have been prying." Said Ritsu. It had been the girl's room and he was a guy. He had just been so worried….

"No, I shouldn't have been mean. I'm sorry, Ritsu." Said Mob sitting down next to him.

"What happened? I was really worried. Did you throw up again?" Said Ritsu quietly. He could see her aura spike. She blushed and stared straight forward.

"Yes, I threw up again. That was all." Said Mob after a moment because as much as she loved her little brother she was not going to inform him of this new and extremely private development in her life.

"How do you motion sick when you're not even in motion?" asked Ritsu. That happened to her sometimes, like when they were at the store and she threw up all over his shoes.

"I don't know, it just happens." Said Mob quickly. This was not an area that she wanted him to go digging into.

"Were they making fun of you? If they were I'll-" said Ritsu. His sister didn't need the stress of people making fun or her. He didn't understand why people even would. It was suicidal, if anything, and she was a nice person too so even why bother?

"Ritsu. Nobody's making fun of me. Why do you always think that people are making fun of me?" asked Mob trying to keep it together. She took a deep breath and began to use her powers to make little braids in her hair. The more she fidgeted the less she felt like exploding, emotionally or with her powers.

"Because they used to all the time when we were little, that's all." Said Ritsu. He hadn't meant anything by it. Why was she getting so upset?

"We aren't little anymore. People are nice to me, Ritsu, so you don't have to worry about me all the time." Said Mob. He didn't need to worry about her, he had his own things to deal with. He had to think about his own life and his own things he had to do because he did so much more in his life than she did and he had so many more responsibilities than her.

"Fine. I'll mind my own business." Said Ritsu with a huff. That's what she had said, to mind his own business. He was only trying to look out for her. He had always had to look out for her. She was his sister. She didn't need that anymore…did she? She had already proven that she was so much stronger than him. But if she didn't need him anymore then…then what was he to her? What was the point of him?

"No! I didn't mean it like that. Ritsu…I love you. You know I love you but you don't have to worry about me so much anymore." Said Mob. She loved her brother but he didn't need to always be there…like just then she really hadn't needed him to be there. Nope. Not at all.

"Then don't give me reasons to worry about you." Said Ritsu. Her eyes were kind of red. She looked like she had been crying, even.

"I can take care of myself, Ritsu. I'm not a little kid." Said Mob trying to keep it together. She didn't need everyone looking out for her all the time like she was incapable of taking care of herself.

"I know, I didn't say you were. I just wish that you didn't make me worry so much about you." Said Ritsu. She was playing with her hair with her powers, she looked sad, something was wrong with her but she just wouldn't tell him what it was so that he could help her. Not like the last time he had helped her, of course, if he was going to help her again then it wouldn't involve lies and blackmail.

"I don't try to make you worry, and you shouldn't. I'm perfectly fine, Ritsu." Said Mob

"Then come home." Said Ritsu looking right into her eyes.

"No. I already said that I wouldn't and nothing you say or anyone else could say will make me come back home." Said Mob. She had no intention of coming back, ever. Her parents were happier without her, Master Reigen was happy with her. There. It all made total sense.

"Why? Mom and dad are a little afraid of you but they aren't mean….well mom can be sort of mean but they love you." Said Ritsu. Why didn't she want to be with him? Why couldn't she just come back so that things would be normal again?

"I don't want people to be afraid of me, I don't like it. I'm happy living with Master Reigen and he's happy that I live there too." Said Mob trying to stay calm and nice.

"What about me? I'm not afraid of you and I want you to come back." Said Ritsu

"You said that you were. You said that you had spent our entire lives being afraid of me and my powers because of what happened that day." Said Mob

"But…but now I have powers too….and I understand now…I'm not afraid of you." Said Ritsu. He wasn't afraid of her anymore. They were the same now, sort of. He wished that there was some way to take back all of those awful things that he had said, but there wasn't. He had said things that couldn't be un-said.

"Ristu, I'm not coming home. Please understand that…and don't tell mom and dad, either, that you have powers now. I don't want them to look at you the same way that they looked at me. I don't want to atmosphere to be the same. They love you more, Ritsu, and I don't mind that." Said Mob patting her brother on the back. He looked up at her and threw himself into her arms.

"They love you too." Said Ritsu. They had to love her, they argued about her coming home every night. If they didn't care about her they would have just said 'see ya' and turned her room into a storage room.

"And I love all of you enough to stay away. Ritsu, please, understand." Said Mob. She shouldn't have yelled at him, she needed to apologize, but she didn't feel like hashing this out for the thousandth time.

So, what, you want me to get lost then?" asked Ritsu. Mob shook her head.

"No, but I do want you to stop treating me like we're still kids. You don't always need to be there for me." Said Mob, omitting the 'especially when I'm hiding in the bathroom' part. She loved her brother, really, but right then and there in that moment in history she was tired of everything being such a big deal and just wanted it to be tomorrow.

"There's nothing I can say, is there?" asked Ritsu. She didn't need him anymore. Fine. She didn't need him because he was…he was weak. He was weak and he couldn't protect her and she didn't need him anymore. Fine.

"You can say a lot of things but none of them will make me come home." Said Mob not trying to be mean in the slightest. It just came out like that. She just wanted to be left alone for five minutes, that was all she asked for.

"Fine. I have to go home now, anyway. You can go back to Reigen then." Said Ritsu. Why was she being so mean to him? She had never been mean before. Well, fine then. If she wanted him to mind his own business that badly then that was what he would do.

"Ok. Bye Ritsu….I'm sorry." Said Mob. Great. She had been mean and now he was upset. She ran a hand through her hair. It was acting up again. She took a moment. She breathed in and out, in and out.

"Little brothers are the worst." Said Mezato coming up behind her. She had been half listening, more worried about Mob than anything. If she were writing for a gossip column this would have been juicy, but she was a serious journalist. This was strictly concern for a friend snooping.

"He's not, he's just mad at me for being mean to him." said Mob quietly

"Well, he shouldn't have been snooping around the girl's bathroom. I don't care if he's in the student council, some places are sacred." Said Mezato. She felt bad for Mob. She didn't need her brother being a jerk on top of everything else.

"You think?" asked Mob. Mezato nodded.

"Well, yeah, it says girl's room with on the door. He'll probably get over it. Everyone yells at their little brother sometimes, and you barely yelled at him at all. Anyway, I told everyone that you were probably going to go home so I guess you don't have to go back to club. I just figured that you'd want to go home after all that. I know I would." Said Mezato

"Thank you. I know I say thank you a lot but I mean it." Said Mob sincerely. Going home sounded really nice. Just her and her futon until tomorrow happened. She couldn't just go home, though, Master Reigen was counting on her and she couldn't let him down.

Reigen was counting on Mob to come in, and soon. There was an actually haunted object, not even cursed but haunted. Dimple had made that perfectly clear. Reigen had already grated some salt on it, burned some incense, and said some prayers. It will lingered. He went to the back to get some 'special' candles, candles from the spiritual store that were supposed to banish spirits and also smelled nice.

"Hey, you know with me regulating your powers I could show you how to exorcise it yourself." Said Dimple as Reigen rotted through the boxes.

"Dimple, no. I know you'll control my body and never let me go." Said Reigen

"Nope. I swear on my afterlife that I'll just regulate your powers and drink up your excess energy." Said Dimple. Reigen looked at him and then glanced at the door. Mob would still be at her club. He pulled out his phone and his finger hovered over the call button. If he called her she would have come running…but she had asked him in the past not to call her in on such short notice. Besides, she deserved time with her friends and boyfriend. She deserved to be a regular kid. She had worked so hard to come out of her shell, to put herself out there, and now she deserved to reap the benefits.

Mob deserved to live her life. She deserved to live her life to the fullest. It had almost been cut so short. A few days ago she had almost died. She could have died before she had truly gotten a chance to live. Reigen…he knew that he had spent too many years treating her like an adorable little meal ticket. Well, not anymore. She was going to get the chance to enjoy life as best as she could.

Reigen had powers now. He wasn't a fraud. He needed to become Reigen Arataka as he existed in Mob's mind. He needed to become the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. He took a deep breath, reigning himself to his fate.

"Sure. Dimple….do it." Said Reigen. Dimple looked overjoyed and flew into his chest. Reigen took a step back, something cold and slimy spreading all throughout his body. He took a step back into the pile of boxes. Something breakable clanked.

"What the hell?" asked Reigen as he took in a deep, shuddery breathe. His limbs felt oddly light. His eyes took a moment to focus. When they a world of colors burst into existence before becoming muted.

"That's the aural spectrum. You can see the energy of every single living thing if you aren't careful." Said Dimple. That was Shigeko's doing. She had given this guy enough power to fully awaken his powers, and fast too, if he could already see the whole of creation's existence.

"Yeah, I figured out how to stop seeing that on my own. Just get rid of that spirit already." Said Reigen to himself. He took a step forward, his legs taking a moment to obey him. His first few steps were very jerky until he and Dimple got the hang of it. Reigen sat back down at his desk and lit the candle.

"The energy contained in this candle will help agitate the spirit and make it easier to exorcise." Said Reigen confidently. It was a ceramic cat, the sort of thing that Mob would have liked. Apparently twin sisters had both split the cost of this cat a hundred years ago with the agreement that the last one alive would get the cat. Well, they had died at the same time and now they were both fighting over the cat well into their afterlife.

"Focus on feeling calm and light. You've got to convince them that they need to pass on." Said Dimple in his head. Shigeko and Ritsu could brute force their powers, they could simply send massive amounts of their own energy at spirits to exorcise them. Reigen didn't work that way. His vessel didn't contain nearly enough power for that, but he did have a talent for reading and writing his emotions and the ones of others.

"Now we will both bow our heads in prayer so that the spirits will feel safe enough to pass on." Said Reigen. The client bowed her head first and then Reigen followed. Calm emotions. He needed to pass on some calm emotions. He took a few deep breaths and centered himself. He thought of a nice cigarette after a good meal, after a drink, and some really good sex. Times when he felt like he could have just floated out of himself. He remembered sinking to the bottom of a pool and watching the world float by. He remembered plunging into Mob's aura, sinking into her, drowning into her, losing himself in her.

"Good. Now ball those feeling up and throw them." Said Dimple as he helped collect the spiritual energy into something more concentrated. Memories held emotions and emotions fed powers. Reigen visualized his feeling combining into a ball, he made that ball dense. He held it in his hand, almost, and threw it. There was a flash of white and the nothing.

"Oh my God! Thank you so much!" said the client, happily. Reigen smiled and leaned back in his chair. He was drenched with sweat, his muscles refusing to obey him. He felt like he had run a marathon and then swap across the sea of Japan in the same day.

"All in a day's work for the great Reigen Arataka!" said Reigen as best as he could. That had really taken it out of him. He had seen Mob exorcise spirits like they were absolutely nothing. The client paid him in cash and left, him still a puddle of exhaustion at his desk. Exhaustion and triumph.

He had done it. He had exorcised a spirit.

"Man, either you're weak or I've been hanging out with Shigeko too much!" said Dimple as he exited Reigen's body. Reigen felt slightly better, just slightly.

"Dimple….what did you do?" asked Reigen as he loosened his tie and sat up.

"Well normally to use your powers for an exorcism you would have just had to continuously pour your emotions our from your vessel and into the other vessel but that takes way too long so I just had you ball up all of your spiritual energy and throw it. You know, you've seen Shigeko do it." Said Dimple

"When…when do I get back to normal?" asked Reigen. Dimple scratched his chin in exaggerated thought.

"Soon, maybe? You'll probably feel better after Shigeko gets here. That girl is like a leaking faucet, no, a waterfall of power." Said Dimple. Reigen reached over and drank from the cold cup of tea at his desk.

"Dimple, thanks." Said Reigen after a moment. He had been a pretty helpful guy for an evil spirit. Sure he was annoying, sure he made things weird, and sure he hung around all the time but he was still an OK guy all things considered.

"No problem, anything to make this after life a little less boring." Said Dimple. Hmm, this guy could still be pretty useful. He wasn't nowhere near as powerful as the others but his powers could be useful. If he honed them he could influence the hearts and minds of the entire population.

"How old are you, anyway?" asked Reigen after a moment. Dimple shrugged.

"No idea, none at all. People dressed differently back when I was alive, and I've seen a lot of stuff change, nobody had hair your color when I was alive for one thing, but after a while it all blurs together." Said Dimple. Well. Nobody had ever asked him that before. It did all blur together, after a while. One minute everyone was in kimonos and the next everyone was in pants and suits and the world was suddenly so loud and busy. Oh well, more people to control, so it was a good trade off.

"I can't believe this…any of this….I'm talking to a spirit…I actually exorcised a spirit…" said Reigen closing his eyes. He had powers, useful powers. He…if he had had these powers back during the Claw battle then he could have helped. He could have done something. No. he needed to stop thinking about that. About what had happened.

"Hey! Don't even think about exorcising me! I'm outta here!" said Dimple as he flew off. He decided not to take any chances. Sure he had helped Reigen but he didn't know, first of all, what being possessed had done to his mental state. Secondly, Dimple wasn't totally sure if he could get back from the particle layer for a third time.

Teru had been waiting for Mob for a little longer than usual. He didn't mind, he took this time to get his homework done. He greeted her happily when she walked up to him. She stopped, looked at him, and then threw herself into his arms.

"Teru, I love you, but I want to walk alone today." Said Mob. She loved Teru, she really did, but she wanted to be alone for a little bit. Just a little. It had been a day, a long day.

"Why?" asked Teru, trying to sound calm. She wanted to be away from him? Why? Why was she…was she having second thought? Had he pushed her too far before?

"It's not you, Teru. I just….I was mean to Ritsu just now and I feel bad." Said Mob. She knew that she wasn't telling the whole truth but she didn't want Teru to know the whole truth. He was a boy, he didn't need to know anything at all about things like this.

"He'll live." Said Teru. He was so glad he didn't have any siblings to fight with. I just seemed like way too much drama to deal with.

"I know he's not going to die…I just feel bad…" said Mob. Teru grabbed her hand. He needed her. He needed her to know that he was there for her. He didn't want to be alone, not now.

"Well knowing you it wasn't anything too bad and you probably apologized like crazy already." Said Teru. Mob nodded. He leaned down and kissed her, quickly. He could feel her smiling. There. He had been waiting to do that all day.

"I apologized and…you've been waiting for me, I know…so you can still walk with me, I guess, but I don't really feel like talking too much." Said Mob because he had been waiting there for her and he did love her and she loved him so they could at least walk together. Plus kissing him was nice.

"Whatever you want, Shigeko." Said Teru as he took her hand. He tried not to talk too much, it looked like she had a lot on her mind. He had hoped her bad mood had passed, but it obviously hadn't. He's see if Ritsu was free that afternoon, just to find out what the fighting was about. He's text Ritsu after he walked his girlfriend to work. He had been looking forward to seeing her all day. It seemed like the more time he spent with her the more he needed to be around her, and not just for physical reasons, although he did genuinely enjoy those. He needed to be around her because she understood him, because she loved him, and because she was genuine with him. She didn't hang around him just to be popular, or just because he had powers. She hung around him because they loved each other and that was the best damned thing.

"Teru, I'm sorry I was mean to you, before." Said Mob as they arrived at Spirits and Such, their fingers still linked.

"You weren't mean at all, believe me." Said Teru. Her aura felt weird, like she was sort of upset about something. Her brother had probably tried to make her come home again or something. Yeah, that was probably it.

"I just…it's like I' mad and sad at the same time, that's all, but thank you for being there for me." Said Mob. He was always there for her, even when they had almost died. It just felt so good, having him around, someone else who loved her that much.

"Not at me, I hope." Said Teru. Mob shook her head.

"No, I'm happy when I'm with you. That's just how I feel about everything else right now, that's all." Said Mob. It was true. When they were together she felt so happy, so very happy. She felt happy and safe and warm and loved, kind of like how she felt when she was with Master Reigen. Teru was different though, although she couldn't really place her finger on it.

"It's fine, everyone has days like that. I don't hold it against you." Said Teru. He really didn't. Everyone had bad days, even her he supposed.

"Do you want to come up? I don't think that Master Reigen would mind having you along." Said Mob. Teru looked up towards the building. He could see Reigen's aura shinning clearly as the sun at high noon. He would have liked to have spent more time with Shigeko but it would have been too awkward with Reigen there.

"No thanks, I have stuff to do this afternoon." Said Teru. He didn't not really. He didn't really want to hang out with his old friends, they were just hangers on anyway. Maybe he could hang out with Ritsu again, actually. He was a nice enough guy. He'd text Ritsu in a minute after he said his goodbyes there.

"Oh…well you can come up whenever you want. You can visit, too." Said Mob hopefully.

"Why don't you just come and visit me? I live alone and, well, I don't mind if we….you know…again on my couch." Said Teru before he could fully think about what he was saying. Hey, he was a guy, and she was a girl, and he was ashamed to admit it but, yes, she had been on his mind a lot since that day. If it felt good, and she thought it felt good, and she wanted to, and wanted to, then why not? It was a mark of maturity, right? To be able to openly talk about things like that, right?

"Um….yeah….I'd like that….but I don't know how late Master Reigen wants me to be out on my days off…and I don't think that I can sleep over at your house. You can sleep over with me, though, I asked. You just have to sleep on the floor." Said Mob, blushing bright red. She had been thinking about it, a lot, too. She wouldn't have just come out and asked, though, because then it would have been weird….well she would have felt weird…because it had been hard enough to ask the first time…

"You don't have to stay over." Said Teru even though that would have been just plain wonderful. Sleeping next to her had been the best sleep that he had ever had.

"I know but I want to." Said Mob. Not even for…what had Tome called it? Not even for fooley cooley things. Just because she liked sleeping near him.

"Even though I hog the bed?" asked Teru with a smile. Mob nodded.

"I can get used to that." Said Mob simply. Teru did that thing she liked, where he touched the side of her face and dragged his finger across her face and down to her chin. He felt her powers lifting her onto her toes.

"Shigeko…." Said Teru slowly. He liked this, making her come apart in the good way. He also was, maybe, just a little jealous of Reigen still. Just a little. Well, as much as she cared about Reigen he couldn't make her feel like this.

"Yes?' asked Mob, still on the tips of her toes.

"Just this." Said Teru as he kissed her. He didn't care, much, who was around. He just cared how much she liked this. The way she wrapped her arms around him. The way her hand found its way into his hair.

"Wow…." Said Mob when they broke apart. That was pretty good, pretty really good. She wanted to kiss him again and again but she had to get to work.

"I'm glad that I can make you feel better." Said Teru. He had made her feel more than better, based on her aura. It was a stroke to his ego, too. The way she looked at him, the way she reacted to him, the sounds he could get her to make.

"Teru…you can come in too if you want. Really, Master Reigen won't mind." Said Mob. Teru shook his head.

"No, I'm alright. I'll see you tomorrow before school, probably." Said Teru. That was their time, the time that they had together when they could be together in this own little world. Nobody else there, just them, and certainly not Reigen Arataka.

Reigen Arataka wondered if he could give himself amnesia by closing his head in his desk drawer. He had felt Mob before he had seen her. He had decided to look out the window and greet her. Well, that had been a mistake. Yup. A big, big, big mistake. He knew that Mob kissed her boyfriend, he knew that Mob did more than kiss with her boyfriend, but seeing it in person was an entirely different sort of thing. He contained his embarrassment, his shock, and balled it up within himself. He didn't need her to know that he had seen that. She would have just felt embarrassed and then they would have just gotten caught in a negative feedback loop. He heard her footsteps coming up the stairs and pretended to be busy at his computer. At least his strength had fully returned, sort of.

"Hey Mob! How was school?" asked Reigen as she opened the door. She shrugged off her bag and sat down.

"School was fine." Said Mob quietly as she pulled out some homework. He left himself feel what she was feeling. Emotionally exhausted. Some embarrassment. Some love. Some physical desire.

"Did your stomach ache get any better?" asked Reigen. This caused the potted plants to grow to twice their size. The coins in the office coffee can/snack fund began to stack themselves on his desk.

"I don't want to talk about that." Said Mob quietly as she tried to do her homework. Reigen watched her. Something was bothering her. He hated to pry but he cared about her, he was the master and she was the student. It was his job to make sure that she was alright. He was the one who was supposed to be taking care of her.

"You sure? You can tell me anything, you know." Said Reigen. She stared at him for a while. That was true. She knew that she could tell Master Reigen anything and he would always be there for her. But then again he was a guy and guys didn't need to know about that stuff….but then again he knew pretty much everything else about her. But then again he wasn't a girl, and she wasn't one hundred percent about the girls that did know. If it were up to her she'd go home and hide under her futon until this was over, so about five to seven days.

"You can't know. You're a boy. You wouldn't understand, anyway." Said Mob simply, still staring at her homework. Math again. Why did she have to know math? They made calculators for this.

"What….oh…." said Reigen. Right. Yeah. He knew exactly what she meant. Well then. Good for her….? Was this cause to celebrate? Reigen honestly had no idea. None. None at all. He didn't have any sisters and hadn't had an actual girlfriend since university.

"Don't make a big deal out of this, please. I'm tired of people making a big deal out of this." Said Mob still not looking up.

"I'm not going to make a big deal out of this. But still, uh, congratulations?" said Reigen. Mob slammed her book shut and practically ran to the bathroom, leaving Reigen perplexed.

"Hey, Mob? You alright?" asked Reigen. The bathroom door shook. He could hear something crack.

"You said that you wouldn't make a big deal out of it!" said Mob from in the bathroom. She sat on the floor and drew her knees up so high that she could rest her head on them.

"I just said congratulations, Mob, it's not like I threw you a parade or anything." Said Reigen. She was embarrassed, so embarrassed that he was having trouble shrugging it all off. Poor kid. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, it was just a natural part of life, that was all.

"Everyone keeps making a big deal out of this! I don't want it to be a big deal!" said Mob, her voice muffled. She began to play with the globes of water that poured out from the bathroom faucet. Good. Fidgeting was good.

"I just said congrats, that's all….wait, who made a big deal out of this?" asked Reigen sitting down next to the bathroom door. He felt like there was a story there.

"Tome, mostly." Said Mob quietly

"You're friend who likes aliens and ends all of her comments with exclamation points?" asked Reigen. He knew her, well of her, from the Spirits and Such Friendbook page. She was certainly an…excitable…person.

"Yeah, her." Said Mob resting her back against the bathroom door. She could feel Master Reigen, but he was trying to hide his aura from her. He was probably trying to avoid catching her feelings.

"She made fun of you because of you got your…uh…because of this?" asked Reigen. Well, he known that girls could be pretty cruel to each other but Mob had always spoken so highly of Tome.

"No, she didn't make fun of me, nobody did." Said Mob. Everyone had been so nice, and she was grateful, but she also didn't want anyone to know about this. Anyone. She wasn't even comfortable knowing about this and it was happening to her.

"Then….why are you so upset? It's nothing to be upset about, Mob. Really, it happens to everyone. Well, girls at least. Most girls, I think. I'm not going to go around asking people or anything." Said Reigen. She was still embarrassed. Reigen almost wished that she had been a guy, then he wouldn't have to watch her go through things like this. Things that he was even more completely out of his element at dealing with. He would have preferred a spirit right about then, a high level dangerous spirits.

"Because everyone made such a big deal out of it! Nobody was mean to me but everyone made it into such a big deal and I'm all tired and achy and I feel gross!" said Mob. The bathroom door shook. Reigen took a deep breath and tried to project, not throw, calm emotions her way.

"Made a big deal out of it how? I'm sure that your friend didn't mean to make you feel bad." Said Reigen trying to reassure her. She certainly felt calmer, now.

"She pulled me into the bathroom and yelled at everyone, but not meanly, and said that I thought that I was going to die. I didn't, though, but I think she did. Then a bunch more people tried to help me and Tome kept yelling, she yells a lot actually, and then we got in trouble and then somebody got the student council and the I told Ritsu to mind his own business and I feel bad about that because I shouldn't have been mean to him like that." Said Mob all in one breath. Reigen took a moment. Well then.

"Some people just aren't good in a crisis, Mob, and they overreact. I'm sure that your friend was just trying to help. She's your age, right? I bet she was just freaked out over the whole thing." Said Reigen after a moment of thinking.

"I know that she was just trying to help me out but I just…I still feel upset that other people know….even though they didn't make fun of me." Said Mob

"Well that's understandable, it's a private thing. Don't worry, though, you're in middle school. In a week something else interesting will happen and everyone will forget all about this." Said Reigen. Girls could be so cruel but it sounded like Mob's friend didn't mean anything by this. If it didn't blow over in a week then they could…well not move obviously….they'd figure something out.

"You think? I mean, I don't think it's a super big deal. They said that it wasn't, back when we had to take that class at school, I mean. Why do other people have to act like it's a big deal?" asked Mob

"Everyone's different. Some people just panic more easily than others." Said Reigen

"You're right, Master. You're always right. I'll find a better way to apologize to Ritsu, too." Said Mob. She shouldn't have yelled at him, or fought with him.

"What's he got to do with all of this?" asked Reigen as his shoes began to tie and untie themselves. Was she doing that on purpose? No, lots of things were moving on their own.

"He's on the student council and it's their job to keep the peace, sometimes, when there's no teachers around. Tome was yelling a lot and the literature club told us to be quiet but she wouldn't so I guess the student council sent Ritsu to make us be quiet. He was just concerned about me but I told him to go away and mind his own business." Said Mob. She felt sad and mad and embarrassed before but now a sense of calm was washing over her. It was nice.

"Well….to be fair he shouldn't be bothering people while they're in the bathroom, especially the girl's room. I mean, yeah, be nice to your brother but he was bothering girls in the bathroom." Said Reigen. Well, the kid had guts, that was true. At fourteen Reigen would have never even gone near the girl's bathroom. Only weirdos hung out near the girls bathroom, like that guy who hung out outside the bathroom and asked out every girl that came in and out until they dragged him in and beat him up before shaving him bald.

"He also asked me to come home….." said Mob quietly. Reigen stiffened and took in a deep breath. If she wanted to go then she could go. It had been a good few days but she did have her own family to go back to.

"Are you?" asked Reigen after a moment. He kept his fear, his panic, to himself.

"Will you kick me out of your house?" asked Mob simply. She might go back home, if she were to run out of places to live.

"Hell no. Remember, you told me you'd live in the park if I ever made you leave." Said Reigen. Also, he loved having her around. Her presence, her company, all of that. Her smiles, her frowns, he laughs, her cries. He even loved accidentally picking up her toothbrush every morning. He….he didn't know if he could go back to being alone again.

"You just want me to live with you because you don't want me to live in the park?" asked Mob quietly. Reigen could feel the rejection coming off of her.

"No, I want you to live with me because you're my friend and my student and I care about you." Said Reigen

"Oh. Ok. I told Ritsu that I absolutely wasn't coming home at all. Then he got mad and went home. Then I got sad but Teru made me feel better. I wanted to walk alone but he had been waiting for me so I walked with him. Then I felt better." Said Mob. Reigen knew exactly how he had made her feel better, but said nothing.

"You know, Mob, you can go home whenever you want. I won't be upset or anything." Said Reigen, even though the thought her leaving would have totally been something that would have made him beyond upset, let alone her actually leaving.

"I know, but I want to live with you. I'm happy with you, Master. I'm the happiest I've ever been. You aren't afraid of me at all and we have fun and we hang out together and we talk about stuff that I can't talk to anyone else about." Said Mob

"Thanks…I….I'm happy with you too, Mob." Said Reigen. He tried to hold in this feeling he had, this feeling of being wanted….of being…the wonderful feelings that came from knowing just how much he meant to her.

"Master….I feel better now. I'm ready to come out of the bathroom now. Please don't make a big deal out of this again." Said Mob. Reigen stood up and straightened out his suit.

"Mob, I promise you that I won't even so much as congratulate you." Said Reigen. The door opened and Mob walked past him and sat down at her desk. Reigen followed and sat down at his desk. She didn't look like she really wanted to talk so he busied himself with work. Oh, the last client had posted on the Friendbook page. Oh, more good comments….and a private message. Oh. His mother again. She wanted to visit him since he refused to visit her. Sure, she could come over, a week from never.

"Master? You're making me feel upset with your powers." Said Mob in her same monotone. Reigen looked over at her and took a dep breath, calming her and his emotions.

"Oh, sorry Mob. I didn't mean to do that." Said Reigen. It had been unpleasant having Dimple inside of his body but now he wished that the little snot glob would have stayed.

"It's alright, Master. Maybe you should try fidgeting with your powers. I started doing that, because when I don't give the other Shigeko enough to do she thinks we're in danger and when I fidget we're less likely to explode. Maybe you could try to fidget too, but with your spiritual powers." Said Mob not looking up from her homework. Fractions were complicated. Algebra was complicated. Who on Earth decided to put them together.

"I don't have telekinesis, thought, Mob. But thanks for trying to help." Said Reigen. So that was why she was moving all the little knickknacks around and around.

"You're welcome, Master." Said Mob not looking up. Reigen watched her for a moment before getting back to what he was doing. He glanced over at the check they had gotten for catching the tsuchinoko. He'd go and deposit it at the bank tomorrow. But first, something Mob needed. He went to Amazon and looked for dressers, making sure to sort from cheapest first.

"Hey Mob, come over here." Said Reigen. Mob nodded, got up, and stood in front of his desk. Reigen rolled back and motioned for her to come over to the other side.

"Master, what do you need my help with? Another graphic exorcism?" asked Mob. She tried not to think of how close they were, how warm he felt, and how he somehow looked even better with his tie loosened which made zero sense because she had seen him in a T-shift and sweat pants so why was a loosened tie so appealing?

"Pick out a dresser Mob, you deserve it." Said Reigen. He'd gladly pay shipping if it meant she got something nice, plus they didn't have a car anymore so he couldn't just stop off at the discount department store. He pulled his aura away from hers, catching the quickest hints of what she was feeling. He reminded himself that it wasn't because of him specifically, she was just fourteen and her mind was pretty much only on one thing.

"It's alright. I don't need one. They're expensive." Said Mob simply. She could keep her clothes in her bags, she could always just smooth out the wrinkles with her powers.

"Mob, remember, I said that you didn't have to worry about money?" asked Reigen. He hoped that she was just worried and not trying to tell him that she didn't want that kind of permanence. What was he thinking? This was Mob, she was so transparent you could read the paper through her.

"I remember you said that but I still worry. I can't just turn worry off like it's a faucet, Master." Said Mob slightly more crossly than she had meant to. She'd worry about whatever she wanted to and she'd stop worrying whenever she stopped worrying.

"Sorry, sorry, you're right. I just meant that we have enough money to get you a dresser. Remember the reward for finding the tsuchinoko? Well we got it! No more money worries for either of us." Said Reigen, omitting the 'for now'.

"Alright, I guess." Said Mob. If it meant that much to Master Reigen then she'd pick one out. She went to the computer ad immediately clicked on the cheapest one. Actually, it would be nice to have somewhere to keep her clothes, kind of like she had a room again.

"That one? Are you sure?" asked Reigen. She didn't just have to pick the cheapest thing, she deserved something nice.

"Of course I'm sure." Said Mob sitting back down. Reigen decided not to press the issue. She was obviously not in the best mood, not that he blamed her. Wow. Mob was all grown up…sort of. He watched her for a moment. No, she was still a kid. Still adorable, even when she was grumpy.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob looking up from her homework. She needed to stop being so mean. Just because she felt bad didn't mean that she had the right to act mean to Master Reigen. He really was a nice person, even if he did make a slightly big deal out of all of this.

"Huh? Anytime Mob." Said Reigen scrolling through his messages. His mother, again. He was not playing at being a psychic, he was an actual psychic. Not at Mob's caliber but he was a psychic. His mother wanted to come and visit and have a talk with him. No thank you. He started and ended several messages, ending up with something close to civil. A simple explanation, he was busy. Good. Nice and civil and adult. He turned into such an overgrown brat sometimes, when it came to his mother.

"Hey, Mob, what do you want for dinner tonight?" asked Reigen after sending his mother the message. Mob didn't look up.

"We can make curry again, Master." Said Mob as she worked on her homework. They had a lot of curry cubes, they had might as well use them.

"No, I want to take you somewhere." Said Reigen. He knew that cooking was what responsible adults did but he missed eating out. There was a lot less to do.

"We haven't had takoyaki in a while." Said Mob after a moment. She did like takoyaki and so did he. There, that was a good choice.

"Mob, have I ever told you that you were amazing?" asked Reigen. Yes, his student truly was brilliant and had learned much from him. Oh, wait, he had embarrassed her.

"Thank you..." Said Mob quietly. The fizzy feeling in her stomach was back. No. She was Teru's girlfriend. She could only feel that way about him. Master Reigen had said that there was nothing wrong with thinking about another person while she was Teru's girlfriend but she still felt like she was doing something wrong.

Ritsu hoped that he wasn't doing something wrong. He really, really did. They were wrecking the place though.

"Concentrate!" said Teru as he put all the force he could into Ritsu's barrier. It shattered like glass and Ritsu was driven into the ground.

"I am! You're just really strong!" said Ritsu as he dusted himself off. There was a crater in the ground, now. There weren't at the park today, no, they had gone to a clearing in the woods just outside of the city. Teru had flown them most of the way, Ritsu taking over at the very last leg of their journey. It was good for endurance, Teru had said.

"Well, yeah, but you can get stronger. Come on, I thought you wanted to practice." Said Teru. Ritsu had texted him asking to practice again and of course Teru had said yes. Claw would most likely attack them again and they needed to be strong enough to fight. They couldn't depend on Shigeko's raw power again, that made them weak and vulnerable. Teru also never wanted Shigeko to have to merge with that part of her, the terrifying part, ever again.

"I do!" said Ritsu. He unbuttoned his gakuran and tossed it aside, leaving him in just his white undershirt. Teru did the same, shrugging out of his blazer, tie, and white button down shirt. No sense in ruining his uniform.

"Block me, then." Said Teru before sending Ritsu flying into the air. It took Ritsu a moment but he caught himself and lowered himself to the ground. This wasn't just practice, it was sparring. He knew that he needed to be stronger, that he needed to learn how to fight. He also, though he was loathe to admit it, needed to work off some aggression.

"Block this!" said Ritsu. Teru put up a shield but Ritsu had collapsed the ground underneath him. Teru caught himself almost immediately and tried to shatter Ritsu's barrier again, but Ritsu simply threw himself out of the way. He moved too quickly though, and got dizzy. He sank to the ground and got down on his knees

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Teru coming up behind him. Ritsu took a few deep breaths as the world spun. He felt Teru's hand on his back. He stopped breathing, for a moment. He didn't know why, exactly. Maybe he was just still in a fighting mindset. Yes, that must have been it.

"I'm fine!" said Ritsu quickly as he stood up. He ran a hand through his hair. He could feel his face heating up. That was just from the physical strain, that was all. Teru watched him curiously and levitated a bottle of water from his school bag.

"So you get motion sick too…" said Teru as he watched Ritsu trying to collect himself.

"Huh? Me, no…well sometimes. Shigeko has it worse." Said Ritsu as he drank from the water bottle. Teru's water bottle. He passed it back, quickly. They shouldn't have been sharing germs.

"Want to stop? We can, if you want to." Said Teru. Ritsu had barely had his powers, of course he didn't have the endurance for this. Still, it was more fun than how Teru had used to practice. One could only smash trees and rocks on their own for so long before it got tedious.

"Do you want to?" asked Ritsu catching his breath. Teru shrugged. It was getting late, he needed to eat dinner at some point or he'd start to feel sick.

"Maybe, I don't know. I'm starting to get hungry." Said Teru. Ritsu felt himself about to ask Teru to come to his house for dinner but thought against it. Teru, in his house, sitting there under the oppressive atmosphere of his parents. Teru taking Shigeko's empty seat. No. That wouldn't have been good at all.

"We could get dinner, somewhere." Said Ritsu instead. He didn't want to go home and sit under that oppressive atmosphere either. He also, maybe, didn't want to be away from Teru just yet. He hadn't had anyone to hang out with, for real not student council stuff, in a while. Shigeko didn't count because they were siblings and until recently lived in the same house.

"You're asking me out? Ritsu, this is so sudden." Said Teru, clearly kidding. Ritsu, however, looked like he was about to be hit by a car. Oh, right, Teru had forgotten his little theory on Shigeko's little brother.

"No! I meant that since you're hungry and I'm kind of hungry then we could stop some place on our way home." Said Ritsu. No, no way was he asking Teru out. He had never asked anyone out, ever. If he were to ask someone out he would have thought it through better. He wouldn't just blurt it out like that.

"I'm kidding, I knew what you meant. I'm not really up to flying but we can wait for the bus. There's a place by the bus station that's pretty alright." Said Teru. Nothing special, just noodles. He didn't really feel like going home and cooking.

"S-Sure." Said Ritsu. What was with him? It was just getting dinner with his friend, not that he had ever done that before. Yes, that must have been it. They made their way through the woods to the main road. Teru telling him about all the things that he could teach Ritsu to do with his powers.

"….and you might be able to control plant life, too. Shigeko can and you're her brother so it might be genetic. I tried but I really can't. It doesn't bother me, though. Everyone's good at different things. You can really take a beating, you know, but in a good way. Espers heal fast and you heal fast for an esper…." Said Teru as they walked through the woods, his shirt back on and his tie loose. His jacket was in his arms. He tugged down at his sleeves as he walked, he was getting taller. He'd need a new uniform shirt, soon.

"Uh-huh…." Said Ritsu as he listened. There was so much that he could do, maybe, if his powers got stronger, if he got stronger. He resisted the urge to play with the buttons on his gakuran, a nervous habit. But what we he so nervous about? It was just him and Teru.

"….of course everyone's powerset is different, I think. Well, awakened people maybe. I've been talking to those guys from the Awakening Lab and they're pretty much all single use powers. I think that if they just practiced more they could be stronger. I mean, look at those brothers. How can someone only be telepathic to just one person?" said Teru continuing his monologue. Ritsu nodded in agreement. Teru certainly did like to talk. He got kind of animated, too, but not annoyingly so like Reigen. No, his hand movement were more subtle. Ritsu began to play with the buttons on his gakuran without realizing it.

"…..or your girlfriend. I think that her predictions are getting more accurate. Well, that was what she told Shigeko, anyway. She says that she's up to 75% accuracy. Maybe clairvoyance is different than psychic powers in the sense that you can't really branch out from that. I don't know, really, she's your girlfriend so you ask her-" said Teru. Ritsu looked over in alarm.

"She's not my girlfriend!" said Ritsu suddenly. Teru looked over at him. Hmm….

"Sorry, I had just assumed by the way she talks about you in the group chat." Said Teru. Rei was certainly into Ritsu, that much was obvious. Ritsu was a hard guy to read. Maybe he just didn't like that particular girl too much. She was kind of pretty, psychically. Not that Teru didn't think that Shigeko was attractive….no, not the time to be thinking about her like that.

"I mean…she's nice and all but we haven't even gone out yet." Said Ritsu as they found the bus stop. He sat down on the bench and Teru sat down next to him.

"Oh. Well you really should get all of those discussions out of the way. It's not easy when she thinks one thing and you think another." Said Teru speaking from experience. He had gone out with girls like that, girls that wanted too much from him without even asking. Shigeko was different, though. He'd give her the world if she asked it. Love was different like that.

"It's not that I don't want her to be my girlfriend, I've just never had a girlfriend before." Said Ritsu quietly. He didn't dislike Rei at all, he just didn't really feel much when he texted her or thought about her. She liked him though, and he was going to give her a chance.

"Oh. Well, that's different. If you like her then you should at least go out with her and if you want her to be your girlfriend then you should just ask her. She's nice, I guess, and she's crazy about you." Said Teru trying to sound older and knowledgeable even though he was only a year and some months older than Ritsu.

"Can I ask you something kind of personal?" asked Ritsu. Teru watched him and nodded. He hoped that it wasn't anything too personal, like couch stuff personal, because there was no way he was giving Shigeko's brother any advice on that.

"How did you decide that you wanted Shigeko to be your girlfriend?" asked Ritsu, looking away. Ritsu wasn't a baby, he knew that they probably did a lot of kissing stuff, but he wasn't going to ask about that. No way. He didn't need to think about his sister kissing anyone.

"Oh. Well, she made me change, I suppose. I used to be an asshole but she changed me. We…fought….twice and she didn't really fight back until….well she exploded. She taught me that I shouldn't use my powers against others and I don't anymore." Said Teru. He wasn't going to give Ritsu the whole truth. No. He didn't need to know just how terrible his and Shigeko's first meeting had been.

"So because she beat you up you wanted to get out with her?" asked Ritsu. That….that didn't make sense. Well, it was better than something dumb like him thinking that she was pretty or something.

"No, well, yes. She's also…she's a genuine person. She's incredibly genuine. She always tells me what she means and she means what she says. She doesn't pretend. I'm just tired of people who pretend, I guess. I mean, I don't know. Love is complicated, I guess." Said Teru thinking as he spoke. He loved Shigeko because she was just so real, so incredibly real. Because she was contradictory. Because she was strong enough to take on Claw for him but weak enough that she'd refused to fight. She was shy enough that she had to close her eyes to kiss him for the first time but bold enough that she had asked him to, well, couch stuff. She was Mob, she blended into a crowd like a chameleon but she also shined bright as a star. He wasn't going to tell Ritsu anything like that, though.

"Love? Oh. I didn't know that you guys were in…." said Ritsu. This was getting into dangerous territory. He knew that he needed to mind his own business but he just wanted to know what it was like and what it meant to be in a relationship. Love. Ritsu had never been in love with a girl before, he had never even had a crush on a girl before.

"Yeah…sorry…you probably didn't want to know that." Said Teru looking out at the scenery like it was the most amazing thing in the world.

"No, it's alright. I'm happy for her, for your guys. I want her to be happy, she's my sister." Said Ritsu. He really did want Shigeko to be happy, truly, and Teru wasn't Reigen. Ritsu knew that Reigen was an adult but, well, he was way too close with Shigeko and Ritsu worried. Sometimes Ritsu felt like Shigeko had feelings for Reigen, too, and it bothered him.

"Thanks, I just…yeah. She's great and I want her to be happy too." Said Teru. What, exactly, did one say to one's girlfriend's younger brother in this situation? He didn't really want to dig too deep into the subject of his and Shigeko's relationship.

"Can I ask…how did you know? That you were in love, I mean." Said Ritsu before he could think. He had never been in love with a girl before, ever. What did it feel like? What was it like?

"I confessed to her after we…spent time together. I honestly confessed mostly because I was jealous but I knew, for sure, after we fought Claw. I don't know, just almost dying for someone I think…" said Teru. Well, this was akward-ish. Still, it was a swell to his ego, imparting his knowledge down onto someone younger and more naïve.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess almost dying will do that. I just think….well…I almost died too. I almost died without ever having had a girlfriend or ever even wanting to have a girlfriend. I almost died without doing a lot of stuff, actually. I don't know, I just think that I could die tomorrow so why not just try and….yeah." said Ritsu talking way too much. Teru nodded.

"I know how you feel. I think, well if you ask me, that you should try going out with Rei. You don't have to marry her or anything but you're right, you could die tomorrow or the next day, really." Said Teru. He really did. He could have died without knowing what real love felt like. What a lot of things felt like.

"Thanks Teru, you're really smart about stuff like this." Said Ritsu sincerely. He was grateful that he had a friend who knew so much. He pulled out his phone and texted Rei. He never texted her first but maybe he should. Maybe he should have made more an effort to get to know her. That might have been why he had never liked any girls before, he had never made any effort to get to know them.

"Well of course, I have the benefit of years of experience. You should be calling me Master. Master Teru. I like the sound of that." Said Teru. Ritsu gave him a look.

"Then I'd have to kill myself." Said Ritsu. Oh, Rei texted back. Her day went great. She had managed to get every single prediction she had made right and now she was dying her roots. Oh, her hair wasn't actually that color. Well duh, nobody's hair was that shade of red, he supposed.

"Then I'd have to kill myself, Master Teruki." Said Teru. Ritsu shoved him playfully.

"What, are you going to throw salt at me next?" asked Ritsu. Teru looked at him for a moment before laughing.

"Sorry, I'm fresh out I'm afraid. How about some pebbles?" asked Teru as he used his powers to lightly shower Ritsu with tiny rocks.

"And you call yourself the world's greatest psychic." Said Ritsu. Oh. Rei was still texting him. She wanted to know about his day. He told her, quickly, that nothing much had happened and that he was hanging out with Teru.

"Hey, that's world's greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century." Said Teru waving his hands exaggeratedly. Ritsu laughed so hard he dropped his phone, Teru caught it with his powers and handed it back to Ritsu.

"Thanks." Said Ritsu as he grabbed it with his powers. Their auras mixed for a moment, just a moment. It felt kind of nice, actually, like when he and that Sho guy mixed auras.

"No problem." Said Teru. The bus pulled up and they got on. He could feel Ritsu subconsciously poking his aura. Well, Teru was kind of sure that he wasn't doing that on purpose. Kind of sure, but not super sure. Ritsu was hard to figure out, sometimes, but Teru didn't mind. He was happy to have a friend.

In times like these Reigen was glad to have a friend. Times like these being trying to unpack the last of the boxes, five years after he had moved in.

"Master, what even is this stuff?" asked Mob as the opened another dusty box. These were the ones piled up in the kitchen, the ones Reigen absolutely had no idea what was inside of.

"Uh….hang on." Said Reigen opened one of the many smaller boxes inside of the big box. Oh, it was a shoebox full of cicada shells, snail shells, and rocks.

"Why do you have all of these?" asked Mob scrunching her nose. She thought cicadas were alright but she didn't go holding onto their shells for years and years.

"I remember these. My cousin came to visit me at university back when I was nineteen and we went to the park and collected all of these." Said Reigen. Well, he wasn't going to throw this out, too many good memories.

"But why did you take them and keep them in a box?" asked Mob. Seemed like an odd thing to hold onto.

"For the memories Mob, the memories." Said Reigen as he pulled out another shoebox. This one was full of old DVDs. Oh, wow, he hadn't thought about this show in years.

"Hey Mob, have you ever heard of this Mogami guy?" asked Reigen. Mob shook her head no. He didn't even look familiar. He must have been on TV before she was born or before she could remember.

"He was the most famous psychic in Japan. He was the real deal, too. He actually was one of my biggest inspirations as a kid, you know." Said Reigen

"That's why you started Sprits and Such?" asked Mob. She had never really thought about how it started, not really, she had just felt like it had always been there. That was stupid, of course, now that she had thought about it.

"Part of the reason. Honestly I started the office because I just…I wanted to help people. To be someone who helped people." Said Reigen

"So you used your powers to help people?" asked Mob, her eyes lighting up. Her Master really was amazing.

"Yeah, my powers. No use in having my powers if I wasn't going to use them to help people. Hey, what's this?" said Reigen pulling out another shoebox. Oh, this one felt heavy. He opened it and found an unopened bottle of sake. Red sake. There's still a bow around it. Oh…he remembered this.

"Should I put that in the refrigerator?" asked Mob as Master Reigen held the bottle. He shook his head but said nothing.

"Master? What's the matter?" asked Mob suddenly feeling very…not sad…well sad but kind of a stale sort of sadness, like when she remembered things that made her sad from far back in the past.

"Oh, nothing." Said Reigen looking down at the bottle. Now he knew why he had hidden this. He could feel Mob's concern, her curiosity. He took a deep breath. Right. They told each other everything. It had to be a two way street. If he started keeping secrets then Mob would start keeping secrets and then it'd be the Claw base all over again.

"Happy anniversary, Momoko." Read Mob. There was a ribbon and a card tied around the bottle. Reigen sighed.

"She was my girlfriend for a while, back in university. We…we broke up around her birthday. I had gotten his for her." Said Reigen. He had taken a long trip to get her this, her favorite kind of red sake that was only brewed in one place.

"Oh." Said Mob, shoving down her jealousy. Another girl. His old girlfriend. Someone who he had touched, held, kissed, and other stuff with. Did she call him Reigen, or Arataka? Did she call him Arataka in that breathless way Mob occasionally muttered Reigen or Teru when she was well and truly alone? Mob took a deep breath. No. She had Teru now, she couldn't feel like this.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 35%_

"Mob, don't be like that, it was a long time ago." Said Reigen. Poor kid, she thought that she was going to be replaced. That must have been it.

"Sorry." Said Mob, blushing slightly. Reigen reached over and rubbed her head, getting some dust in her hair as he did it.

"It's alright. You're just worried about being replaced, I can understand that. Remember something, though, you'll always be the only Mob to me." Said Reigen. Mob. Best friend. Most trusted companion. Loyal student. Nobody else could ever take her place.

"You'll always be my only Master, Master Reigen." Said Mob putting her hand on his shoulder. He could feel it, the trust she had for him. The attachment. She was there for him and he was there for her. Him more so than her because he was the adult in that situation. He put the bottle of red sake down and Mob picked it up with her powers.

"I didn't know that they made red sake." Said Mob. She had only seen her parents drinking clear sake before.

"They only make it in one place that's really far away." Said Reigen. That had been an entire day trip to get this, all those years ago.

"….you must have really loved her." Said Mob quietly. Reigen shrugged. He pulled himself inwards and away from what she was feeling. She was like a maelstrom of jealousy.

"I did, back then, but I'm fine now." Said Reigen. He hadn't thought about this woman in years. It was strange, at the time she had been his everything but now all she had been reduced to was memories in a box gathering dust in the corner of his kitchen.

"Then why do you feel so sad, Master?" asked Mob quietly. Reigen watched her face for a while. Concern. Jealousy.

"Sometimes you can be over someone, you can go years without thinking about or seeing them, but you can still remember how it was being like with them. It's, melancholic, I guess. Love is a strong feeling Mob, even when it goes away it can still linger. The trick is not to dwell on it." Said Reigen still watching her. She was watching him right back.

"I'm sorry your heart got broken, before." Said Mob quietly. She thought she knew what love was and she couldn't imagine what it must have been like to not have it returned. No, she knew that Master Reigen didn't return her feelings. Rejection. She didn't know what it felt like to be flat out rejected. Heart break was something that she never wanted to feel, ever.

"I'm fine now, Mob." Said Reigen. He was, he really was. That break up had been his fault. He had wanted….he didn't know what he wanted back then.

"Why do you say that when you aren't?" asked Mob. She didn't get. He didn't have to lie to her.

"Mob…I don't know. Because you shouldn't have to worry about me, I guess. Because I actually am fine, I guess. I'm a little sad but it'll pass. Don't worry about me, Mob." Said Reigen. She really didn't have to. She had her own life, her own things to worry about.

"Master Reigen, we worry about each other. Remember?" said Mob. Reigen look at her for a while, a long while, reading her. Pure concern. Concern not for herself but for his wellbeing. He tugged on her hair.

"Let me worry for the both of us, huh? Anyway, you want to crack open this sake?" asked Reigen. He needed a drink. Just one wouldn't hurt, and she had been asking about drinking anyway. She might as well try it with him where he knew that she was safe. Plus, it was red. The internet said that they needed to eat or drink something red to mark this momentous occasion in her life.

"What?!" asked Mob. She couldn't drink, she was just fourteen. Wouldn't she get in trouble?

"You were asking me yesterday so I figured you wanted to." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. She was curious and if Master Reigen said that it was ok then it was ok.

"Um…sure." Said Mob. She rubbed her stomach a bit. It hurt again, sort of. Just four to six more days of this. Maybe sake would help. She had heard that it was a pain killer, too.

"Hang on I think I have two cups." Said Reigen. Fourteen was a good age to have your first drink, and he was happy that hers would be with him. Mob sat down at the kitchen table and Master Reigen produced two plain porcelain sake cups. He sat them on the table and opened up the sake.

"I hope this aged well. It smells like rubbing alcohol." Said Reigen as he poured them two glasses. Mob picked hers up and smelled it. Yuck. This didn't smell like something people were meant to consume.

"You've got to sip it, and if you feel your powers getting out of control stop drinking. Ok?" asked Reigen sitting down next to her. Mob nodded and sipped her drink. Oh God! She swallowed and summoned a glass of water for herself.

"Oh wow, that certainly aged." Said Reigen as he downed his sake. He reached over to take Mob's from her, she obviously didn't like it, but she pulled it back with her powers.

"I'm not a little kid." Said Mob, downing her cup just like Master Reigen reached for it. The cabinets opened and closed quickly. That stuff burned!

"Mob, seriously, you don't have to drink it if you don't like it." Said Reigen. There was stubborn Mob again. She looked like she was in pain. He didn't have to do everything that he did. She shook her head.

"I know, but I wanted to. I'm not little and at least now I know what it's like." Said Mob. Master Reigen had drank his first drink when he was her age. Now she knew what it was like, and after it went down it wasn't so bad. She felt a little light headed, actually.

"Mob, I know you're not a little kid. In these past few days you've made that very, very clear." Said Reigen pouring himself another. Mob pushed her cup towards him.

"Can I have some more?" asked Mob. It wasn't that bad once it went down, it was a nice feeling actually. Not bad.

"You're serious?" asked Reigen. She looked fine, not nauseated and her powers weren't acting up. She was looking up at him with her big eyes through her thick bangs. He sighed and poured her another. He couldn't say no to that face.

"Why does it taste so bad?" asked Mob downing her cup. Reigen took hers away quickly. Two was enough. He needed to get that away from her before she managed to get another glass out of him.

"Because it's been aging in a cardboard box for almost a decade." Said Reigen as he poured himself another glass against his better judgement. He put his glass down afterwards. That was enough. Mob didn't need to see him drunk. His glass floated and was soon joined by hers. Soon more and more loose things began to float around in a slow orbit around them.

"I'm not trying to do that." Said Mob. Her powers wanted to be used, so she used them. She wasn't hurting anyone, so that was good. She was safe. Master Reigen would keep her safe.

"Mob, I said that when you lost control of your powers to stop." Said Reigen, slurring a little. Right. This was harder than his usual Sapporo or whiskey sour with extra sour. The room was starting to spin a little. He needed to stop drinking, he suspected that he was bad at it. Still, it at least chased away the bad feelings.

"You're not controlling yours, either, so you stop." Laughed Mob. She was feeling so dizzy but also so happy. She stood up and began to spin.

"I already stopped. Don't spin, you'll throw up." Said Reigen getting up to stop her. He stumbled and they ended up in a heap on the floor.

"I'm not going to be motion sick." Said Mob as they laid down on the kitchen floor. He felt so warm. She scooted closer to him.

"I've seen you throw up from less." Said Reigen pulling her close. She felt nice. Warm. Comfortable. Like a plushie. Mob sat up and frowned.

"But I'm not going to throw up now. I know when I'm going to throw up, Master." Said Mob standing up and stumbling into the living room. She laid herself down on the living room rug. It was much more comfortable.

"What are you doing in there!" asked Reigen still on the kitchen floor. Things were still orbiting. It was amazing, in a way, even though he had seen this a thousand times before.

"Laying down. The floor is nice." Said Mob sprawling out. This ran was soft, but not as soft as Teru's. What was he up to? Teru stuff, probably.

"This one's nice too." Said Reigen reaching up to tough the things that floated above his head. She really was amazing.

"This floor has a carpet." Said Mob. Reigen couldn't argue with that login and joined her on the floor. He laid down next to her. Oh. That happiness was hers. That warmth that was spreading through him was hers. It was nice. She was nice.

"Hey Mob, how are you doing?" asked Reigen, slurring a bit. Her nose was rosey, her eyes were kind of glassy. He caught sight of himself in the TV. He didn't look much better. He took off his tie and suit coat, tossing them on the couch.

"I feel happy. How are you?" asked Mob. She grabbed his tie with her powers and began to tie it into different shapes.

"I'm happy too." Said Reigen as she used his tie for origami. Supernatural powers were commonplace now. Huh. He had gotten so used to her that sometimes he forgot just how amazing she was.

"That stuff tasted so gross, though." Said Mob sticking out her tongue. She would never, ever understand adults. They smoked gross things and drank gross things because they felt good. This did feel good, but she wasn't sure if she'd want to taste something so bad again.

"Mob, when you grow up I'm taking you to a real bar and I'm getting you some real sake, or whatever else you want." Said Reigen. When she was all grown up and they could be proper friends. When it wouldn't be weird for her to be his best friend. They could have so much fun together. They already did have so much fun together.

"I've never been to a bar before." Said Mob. The idea of a grown up her in a bar with Master Reigen seemed like something out of a fantasy. Her, all grown up.

"That's why I'm going to take you. Oh and Teru too, if you guys are still together." Said Reigen after a moment. Right, she had a boyfriend now. He'd have to share her with someone. Wait, no, not share. She had the right to her own life.

"I hope that we are….I don't want to get my heart broken." Said Mob quietly. Reigen pulled her close. Mob with a broken heart, it was almost too much to bear.

"I don't think he'll break your heart. The kid really cares about you, that's a rare thing." Said Reigen. He was happy for Mob, he really was. Hopefully she didn't make any of his mistakes.

"But you cared about that lady you got the sake for and she broke your heart." Said Mob putting her head on his chest. Reigen took a deep breath.

"Mob, I broke my own damned heart. She wanted….she wanted more than I was ready to give at that age." Said Reigen quietly. He could feel it, Mob's concern. Nobody had been concerned for him, for real, in such a long time.

"She wanted to have sex but you didn't?" asked Mob. That was what it sounded like. Sex was a lot and she could see someone not wanting to, because like Master Reigen said it was a big thing.

"You're fourteen, Mob, you've got sex on the brain. No, she wanted more of a commitment than I wanted to give at…I think I was twenty…..yeah she wanted more of a commitment than I was willing to give. I just wasn't ready." Said Reigen quietly, so quietly he was almost whispering. Remembering hurt but not as much when he was with Mob because she was **there** and she was listening and she was so warm and soft and she cared so much.

"Oh. It gets complicated when you grow up, I think. I don't know. Teru asked me to live with him and I said yes, but we're younger than you." Said Mob. She couldn't imagine not wanting commitment. If two people were in love then why not commit to each other? That's what love was about.

"Mob, you don't know the half of it. You'll probably have an easier time than me, really. You're you." Said Reigen. She was like a drop of sweetness come to Earth. Sure she wasn't all that expressive sometimes, and she couldn't get a clue, but she was such a kind person. Sweet. Caring. She had even almost died for him.

"People used to not like me…but now they do…but sometimes I worry that they don't." said Mob. People had been so much nicer to her lately, since she started middle school actually.

"You're a great person Mob, and you're putting yourself out there more. People can just see the real you more. I was scared, actually, when you started to do your own thing. I thought I'd lose you….Mob I can't lose you." Said Reigen pulling in slightly too tight. Mob let him hold her close.

"Master Reigen, I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry." Said Mob. Of course she would never leave Master Reigen.

"But I shouldn't be scared. You're growing up so much Mob and I'm so happy for you." Said Reigen letting her go. She still laid on the ground next to him. Books and movies were floating above them now in a lazy sort of orbit.

"But you still think I'm a little kid." Said Mob sourly. Reigen shook his head. She wasn't a little kid, but she was a kid.

"Mob, you're half my age. Of course I'll see you as a little kid, but not as little as you were when we met." Said Reigen. Obviously she was older but she didn't have all the answers like she thought she did. She needed to be taken care of, still, because as last Friday

"Even when I'm your age?" asked Mob even though it seemed like it was a million years away. Her at twenty eight, what she be like? He'd be forty two, ancient.

"Even when you're my age. Wait, no. You'll be an adult then. You'll be a partner by then too, you know." Said Reigen. Mob sat up and looked down at him.

"You're going to make me a partner?" asked Mob. Reigen Sat up and looked her in the eye.

"Mob, there couldn't be a Sprits and Such without you. You're the spirits and I'm the such. When you become an adult you're going to be a full partner. Half of the business will be yours." Said Reigen taking both of her hands in his. He could feel something from her. It was almost like butterflies in his stomach. He squished those down. Those couldn't have been what he thought that they were. This was Mob and he was him.

"Master Reigen, thank you….thank you so much…." Said Mob, crying a little. Not heavy racking sobs but tears. Reigen reached over and wiped her tears with his thumbs. He felt nice, warm, and safe. No, those were her feelings. She was so colorful. This entire room was so colorful. He watched her colors, her fractals, all of her.

"Mob, you're amazing. You're damned amazing. I think that you're the most amazing person I've ever met and I'm so happy to be with you." Said Reigen softly. He watched her, her eyes. She was so happy. He was so happy. They were in a positive feedback loop. It was wonderful.

"Master Reigen….I'm happy too. I don't ever want to go, ever." Said Mob as she watched him. He looked so happy. She felt so happy.

"So don't. I want you to stay but you can go whenever you want. I…I can't keep you from your family." Said Reigen

"But I want to stay here. You're so nice to me and you aren't afraid of me at all. You're my friend Master Reigen." Said Mob. Reigen reached over and hugged her.

"You're my best friend, Mob." Said Reigen as he hugged her. She was really and truly his best friend and he knew that it was weird, her being half his age, but he meant it. She was so amazing, and not jus because of her powers.

"You're my best friend, too." Said Mob. She had friends now, a lot of them, but Master Reigen was her best friend. He had been there for her for years and years. He cared about her and she cared about him. That's what friends did, they cared about each other not matter what.

They both meant it more than anything else in the world. The two of them, there, together.


	20. Friday, a week after

A/N: This has an M rated version in the works. Be sure to tell me what you think when I post it. I love hearing from you guys!

Mob didn't know that lottery machines could be haunted. She had just never figured that it would be something a ghost would have wanted to hang around, but here one was. This ghost had thought that it had gotten the winning number but then had a heart attack and died right there on the spot. To add insult to injury it hadn't even been a winning ticket. Now the spirit haunted the machine and scared anyone who tried to buy a ticket or even just hung around too long.

That was what Mob and Reigen were doing there on a Friday night, exorcising a spirit on Friendbook live for their fans. Well, Master Reigen said that they had fans, anyway. Mob didn't really care about that, she just wanted Master Reigen to be happy.

"Mob, am I in frame?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Everyone can see you, Master." Said Mob holding her phone steady with her powers.

"Great! And….action!" said Reigen trying his best to sound like a direction. Mob hit the broadcast button and made the 'go' motion to Master Reigen. Reigen stood up straight began to narrate.

"Hello again everyone! You're watching the great Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century! And my loyal student, Mob!" said Reigen. Mob turned the camera around and waved to the audience.

"We're here at this convenience store for one reason and one reason only….to exorcise a spirit!" said Reigen pausing for dramatic effect. He held the pause just long enough to raise tension before he continued.

"We've got a particularly terrifying one here today for all of you….the lottery spirit! This spirit has been haunting this machine for a week now trying to scare off anyone who might get the winning ticket! But why, you ask?" said Reigen. Mob shook her head. Nobody was asking why, they just wanted to see the 'light show' as they were calling it. She watched the comments. All positive. Well, mostly. Her English wasn't that great but she could tell that some of these people thought that they were faking it. Also, Master Reigen probably didn't like being referred to as 'Taka-chan'.

"Because this guy was too dumb to rad his ticket all the way through and got too excited and had a heart attack! Now, you'd think he'd be trying to save others from this fate but no! Instead he's waiting to claim the next winning ticket for himself!" said Reigen dramatically.

"They want to know how you know that, Master." Said Mob reading off some of the, thankfully in Japanese, comments. Reigen looked around.

"Because the spirit just told me. He's right here." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. To them the spirit was right there but to normal people he wasn't in his visible mode so Master Reigen just looked like he was talking to the air. That was why the spirit was being such a good sport about all of this, and why it was laughing, too.

"Master Reigen, he's not visible yet to regular people." Said Mob simply. Reigen gave her a long look.

"And you didn't think to tell me, Mob?" asked Reigen. Great, now he looked like he was either crazy or stupid. Mob shrugged.

"I thought you could tell." Said Mob. Spirits were colored less vibrantly when they weren't in their visible mode, and their presence didn't feel the same. Didn't Master Reigen know that? Maybe he was still adjusting to the way his powers had changed. It had only been a week after all.

"Oh! Right! Well, my powers haven't been the same since you shared yours with me, as you know. For those of you watching last week I had to save my devoted student Mob from the clutches of a shady organization and in doing so she shared herself, her powers I mean, with me. This fundamentally changed the nature of my powers. She is an esper after all, and my powers were spiritual." Said Reigen sounding as confident as he could. He cared more if Mob believed him, she was who mattered to him. As long as he was still Master Reigen in her eyes that was what mattered.

"Master Reigen, people are being kind of mean. They want to see a light show, now. Do you want me to handle it?" asked Mob. People were calling Master Reigen a fake now, more people than before. Nobody she knew. The page had a few followers now. Mob didn't get it. If you didn't like it then why would you watch?

"What do you mean they're being mean? What are they saying?" asked Reigen breaking character. Mob turned the phone so that he could see it. She stared straight forward but she used her powers to trap the spirit. She made her aura more visible, hopefully to normal people. She let the other her out just a little, just to give the other Shigeko a glimpse at the world. Just to show her that they weren't in any real danger.

"Mob, you're aura is showing." Said Reigen as more white light could be seen. Her aura was visible to regular people, now. Her hair was flying up, and her eyes looked kind of weird. If he were a jealous man, which he did not consider himself to be, he would have called her a show stealer. He would have told her that he was the front man. He didn't, though. She was the spirits of Spirits and Such. She was the powerful one, and she would get them more viewers. Not that he was using her as meal ticket either. He told himself that. He told himself a lot of things.

"Oh. I wanted that to happen. I trapped the spirit so it can't escape, and people wanted to see something cool." Said Mob. She didn't want to depend on her powers, they were just another part of her and not her defining feature, but she also wanted Master Reigen to be happy and he was happy when they got viewers.

"Good thinking, student. I see that I've taught you well!" said Reigen passing her the phone and getting back into character.

"Yes you have, Master." Said Mob. Oh, someone was asking what 'shishou' meant. Maybe they should do at least one video in English, that way Master Reigen's family in the United States wouldn't get confused.

"Of course I have! You're the student of me, Reigen Arataka! In fact, student, I think that you should handle this one! Show everyone how well I've taught you!" said Reigen. He could exorcise spirits, it just didn't look good on camera. He could sit there and pour his feelings into the spirit until it felt content enough, or whatever enough it depended on the spirit, to pass on. It took a while and looked boring to the outside observer. He could also collect all of his emotional energy, make it physical, and throw it at the spirit but that exhausted him terrible, worse when Dimple wasn't there to keep his power output level.

"Sure." Said Mob. She poured more energy into it than was needed, lots of bright lights and flashing colors. It made Master Reigen happy, that was what mattered.

"As you can all see the spirit has been exorcised and now the people of Seasoning City are free to gamble at their leisure! All in a day's work for the great Reigen Arataka and his student the devoted and loyal Mob!" said Reigen with a flourish. Mob knew now when to cut so she did. Reigen watched her put her phone away and then took out some yen from his wallet.

"Pick a ticket, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob walked over to him and shrugged.

"I don't know which one is good, Master, I've never gambled before." Said Mob as she took in all the different tickets that they could play.

"I don't care, just pick one you think looks lucky." Said Reigen. He had might as well play while he was there. Who knew, maybe she was lucky. They had the money to play, now. People were coming into the office more, mainly just so that they could say that they had met actual psychics. He knew that most of the objects brought in weren't cursed but he spread the salt around anyway, took the pictures, and then collected his yen.

"This one, I guess." Said Mob picking one with a lot of different squares to scratch. Reigen hit the button and they got their ticket. He scratched it off with a hundred yen coin, his eyes brimming with hope.

"Come on, come on, big money, big money." Said Reigen as he scratched off the ticket. Mob had picked a good one, low returns but a greater chance of winning. He paused and handed her the ticket and the coin.

"You want me to do it?" asked Mob taking them from him, their hands brushing. She felt the familiar fluttering of butterflies in her stomach, but her face remained impassive. Reigen's did, too. She was fourteen, she couldn't help feeling like that. It had nothing to do with him.

"You picked it out. C'mon Mob, let's see if you're lucky." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and scratched the ticket off.

"We broke even." Said Mob. Reigen smiled and threw and arm over her.

"See, I told you that you were lucky." Said Reigen, suppressing the feelings that he was catching from her. He was getting better at this, at removing himself from positive feelings at least.

"But we didn't make any money, Master." Said Mob. They set off down the street, his arm still around her. Oh. Well not fully suppressed. There. The positive feedback loop was back. It was a nice feeling, though. He was loathe to extract himself from it. Warm. Caring. Safety. Devotion.

"We still had fun though, that's what matters." Said Reigen. Scratch offs were more about the fun of gambling, anyway.

"Oh. OK. What are we going to do, now?" asked Mob as they walked down the street together. It wasn't dark out yet and she didn't have school tomorrow so they could hang out back at the office or get some early dinner or go home and cook and watch more Mogami even. He was a pretty cool guy, the way he helped people with his powers like that.

"Let me see…" said Reigen checking his phone. No more exorcisms, just more massages. Actually, not that many of those scheduled either. Well, they had been working hard that week, after all.

"We can go back to the office and watch another episode of Mogami. The TV can connect to the internet, it just needs to buffer for a while." Said Mob. She wanted to see the one where Mogami reunited the parents with their dead daughter, a real séance not like when Master Reigen pretended to do a séance so that the client could feel better.

"Nah, I think I'll give you the afternoon off." Said Reigen. Ouch. A stab of rejection ran through him. Rejections and…jealousy? Mob's face was still as impassive as ever. She was actually a pretty jealous person, he had discovered, or maybe he had always known that. She had envied the other kids so much that she joined two clubs and started socializing, two things she used to be terrified of. She didn't need to feel rejected or jealous, but she still did, no matter what he told her.

"I can still work. I'm not tired." Said Mob. Why was he suddenly giving her time off? Did he want to be away from her? Or, even worse, was this a new version of sending her to the store that was really far away? She let the other Shigeko flick the street lights on and off, just so that she knew that if they got into any real danger she was ready to fight.

"I know but we don't have any more exorcisms to do today so I thought I'd let you go early." Said Reigen trying to placate her. He could see that other thing, again, when he let himself perceive the full aural spectrum like Dimple had showed him. It was hovering near the surface more and more often lately.

"We might get a walk in." said Mob staring straight forward.

"Mob, didn't you tell me a few weeks ago that you wanted to do more to enjoy your youth? Make friends and join clubs and stuff?" said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"But I went to body improvement club today, I lifted two ten pound dumbbells on my own, so I exercised already, and I hung out with Tome and the telepathy club boys too. We played a fighting game which was alright but I wasn't that good and I like Mario Kart better anyway, but I still had fun. That's enjoying my youth, Master. Oh, and I walked with Teru, too." Said Mob. Reigen resisted the urge to groan and cover his eyes. Speaking of Teru he'd need to talk to her about discretion. Those two were pretty much just hormones at this point in their lives but that didn't mean that they needed to kiss so….much….right in front of the business, at least.

"Don't you want to hang out with your friend some more?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"I would but most of the Awakening Lab kids are still grounded or they hang out at the lab but I don't like it there because Matsuura is afraid of me. Tome has to go home after club and help her mom make dinner and she has someone who comes over and helps her study for entrance exams too. Ritsu goes right home after school but I don't want to go back to my house because we'll just fight again. I could hang out with Teru, I guess, actually that would be nice." Said Mob. Reigen pulled his emotions far away from hers at the mention of Teru. That was not an area he wanted any emotional insight into.

"So go hang out with your boyfriend, then, Mob." Said Reigen. He wasn't trying to get rid of her, he just wanted her to have a nice afternoon. Well, maybe he also wanted a little time to himself. He could close early after the last massage and sit in his living room eating junk food in his boxers and watching really bad TV…well and other alone time things that he hadn't gotten to do in the week Mob had been living with him because, well, he threw emotions around and it would have been so weird doing THAT right there with her in the next room even if he didn't have powers.

"You're trying to get rid of me." Said Mob simply stating a fact. She held eye contact with him, now. Sometimes there wasn't getting anything past that girl.

"Well, it's not you, I'd just like some alone time. Sometimes people need time to themselves, Mob." Said Reigen. She held eye contact. She held it and she held it and she held it.

"But you're away from me all day, Master." Said Mob, once again stating a fact.

"That's work, Mob. You're still my friend but I just think that you've been working really hard lately and you deserve some time to be a kid and I'd like some time to be an adult, too." Said Reigen fully pulled away from her. He didn't have to be an empath to see the hurt in her eyes.

"Is this like when you'd send me to the store really far away?" asked Mob after a while. Now it was Reigen's turn to stare. Right. She was worried about being replaced. She was just worried about that, she only cared about that.

"Nope….that was different. I honestly just want to sit around in my underwear and watch TV for a while and maybe have some sake and chain smoke." Said Reigen. There. Honesty. Honestly worked best with her. She nodded.

"You can't do that when I'm around because I'm a girl." Said Mob, relieved. She could appreciate the feel of not wearing pants. Boys were so unlucky, they didn't get to wear dresses and skirts. She used to not care much either way but she felt like she might have been getting taller and she appreciated the freedom of movement that skirts and dresses gave her.

"That's right, Mob. It would be weird. Just like I'm sure that there are things that you can't do while I'm around." Said Reigen, wondering what the girl equivalent of sitting around without pants on and watching poorly written jiggle shows was. Maybe hanging around in her pajamas and watching that show she sometimes watched about those swim team guys.

"I guess….." said Mob looking down with a blush, remembering exactly what it was that she couldn't get up to because they lived together. Last time she tried she had shook the whole house, and that was before Master Reigen could sense her feelings. She had to admit she had been taking that particular dilemma out on Teru, not that he seemed to mind. Oh no! Quick, think of something else!

"Mob, you're alright, right?" asked Reigen after she hadn't said anything for a while. He was depending too much on his powers, he was starting to lose the ability to read her.

"There's a cat in that window." Said Mob pointing to an apartment. Reigen followed her gaze. Oh, cool, a calico cat.

"Wonder what that little guy's story is." Said Reigen as he watched the cat stare down at them.

"He probably misses his owner." Said Mob. She knew that she would be sad if she had to be on her own all day.

"He'll be back later, the cat just has to wait." Said Reigen putting his arm around her again.

"People are like cats, I guess." Said Mob watching the cat. It looked at her and she looked at it. Cats were such good creatures.

"Yeah, they are. Mob, you understand that I'm not mad at you and I'm not rejecting you, right?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded and hugged him.

"I understand that you just want to do things that you can't do when I'm around." Said Mob. Not that she'd mind it if he…no, think about something else, anything else.

"Great. I knew you would, you're pretty mature like that." Said Reigen patting her on the back. She broke the hug and stepped away from him.

"Thank you, Master. I'm going to go hang out with Teru. I think we'll have dinner, probably. He eats early." Said Mob. Teru liked to have dinner before the sun went down and then a late snack. Mob just liked to a couple hours before bed so she didn't get hungry again later.

"Sounds good. You don't really have to be home at a specific time but….uh…remember to come home." Said Reigen. He knew exactly what those two got up to and it wasn't his place to forbid her from doing anything, not that he'd be that much of a hypocrite anyway. He still….well he would feel better about it if she came home. She was still only fourteen, and this was Mob for crying out loud! He could be at least a little protective of her.

"Because we have work tomorrow?" asked Mob simply. That would make the most sense, since they would both be going to the same place.

"That…and I'd feel better knowing that you were home." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Ok, Master. I'll come home." Said Mob. They parted ways there, Reigen to finish up work and Mob to find Teru. She'd surprise him, he'd like that. She expanded her perceptions, her aura in a way, to look for him. She had to expand pretty far to feel for him, but she did find him.

**Safe. We are safe.**

"Oh…wow." Said Mob as she stumbled for a moment. She had extended herself so far that the other Shigeko had peaked out. It was a lot, dizzying even. She took a few deep breaths as her spirit filled her vessel. Once she was back to normal she could finally think again. She had felt Teru and Ritsu together. Oh, that was wonderful! They had made friends! They were far away though, too far to walk...too far for waiting for busses….only one thing left to do.

She jumped up in the air, held her position, and then used her telekinesis to get herself quickly to Teru and Ritsu. This was great, they could all hang out now!

"You're getting faster, that's good, but you can't dodge forever." Said Teru as he caught his breath. He pulled his undershirt up and wiped the sweat from his face. Ritsu really was fast, Teru couldn't even land a single hit that time.

"I…know….but I can still out dodge you…" gasped Ritsu as he tried to catch his breath. He made it a point to look away from Teru. He shouldn't just watch people like that, Teru would think that he was creepy. His stomach was nice though, not that Ritsu had ever given much thought to stomachs before.

"Dodge this!" said Teru. He motioned like he was attacking from the front but actually shoved Ritsu from behind. Ritsu had been expecting an attack from the front and pushed himself backwards. The combined force sent him sprawling out on his back.

"Screw you!" said Ritsu, collapsing the ground under Teru who then jumped back but ended up covered in dirt.

"Great, now I have to wash these pants..." said Teru as he pulled himself up from the dirt. Well, these pants were black and he would be the only one who realized that they were dirty….but he didn't like being dirty anyway. He'd toss them in with a load of bedding, he hadn't washed his blanket in far too long. It still smelled like Shigeko, though, so that was nice.

"Sorry." Said Ritsu, feeling slightly bad. He had never done laundry before but it must have been hard given how much his mom carried on about it.

"You will be." Said Teru not at all seriously. He practiced his fine movements and tried to tie Ritsu's shoelaces together. Well, he made a knot, anyway, and pushed Ritsu backwards.

"Hey!" said Ritsu not expected the light tap. He tried to correct himself but ended up falling. Instinctively he reached out with his powers and pulled Teru down with him. Before either of them could hit the ground they found themselves suspended in pink and blue fractals.

"Don't fight!" said Mob as she touched down, making sure to keep her skirt down below her knees where it belonged because it did have a tendency to fly up when she landed. She expanded her vision to take in everyone's aura. She may have been trying to copy Master Reigen's powers. She could sort of see feelings but she couldn't make them her own or change the feelings of others.

"Shigeko! It's not what it looks like!" said Teru trying to break free of her energy. He couldn't. Well, he could try harder but he didn't want to hurt her or provoke that terrifying other her.

"Sister, really! We were just practicing!" said Ritsu also trying to break free. Unlike Teru he was actually trying, but it wasn't enough. He watched his sister closely. That wasn't an explosion. It didn't look like she was actually expending any effort.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. No angry or violent intent. Everyone was dirty but unharmed. That was fine then. She let them down gently and Teru rushed over to her.

"Really, Shigeko. We weren't actually fighting. I know how you hate violence." Said Teru as he took her hand. She didn't look upset at all. She didn't look much of anything at all. He felt her. She wasn't upset, not at all. There was a lot of blue in her aura, though, and it didn't feel too pleasant. He retreated back into himself.

"I know. I don't think you guys are telling me lies. I was just worried." Said Mob. Boys did like to fight after all, and sometimes fighting had it's place.

"He really is, sister." Said Ritsu. Mob let go of Teru and rushed over to her brother, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Ritsu. I'm so glad to see you. I'm sorry about how mean I was, before, and I'm so glad that you and Teru are friends." Said Mob still hugging him. Ritsu hugged her back. He had missed her, he really had.

"No, I shouldn't have been bothering you in the bathroom, that wasn't right of me. I'm sorry that you got motion sick, too, before." Said Ritsu. Upon reflection, and some good advice from Teru, he realized that since the room was girls only he really shouldn't have been bothering her while she was in there.

"Right. Motion sick. Ok, I accept your apology." Said Mob letting go of her brother so that he could breath. She used her powers to get the dirt off of both Ritsu and Teru, too. She knew how Teru hated dirt and how her mom hated it when she and Ritsu got dirt on their clothes.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ritsu trying not to sound mean. He looked over at Teru who just shrugged. He hadn't told Shigeko where he and Ritsu went most days after school, mainly because she hated violence.

"Master Reigen let me off work early so I went to find you." Said Mob as she took in the landscape around her. Wow, it looked like a warzone. They must have been coming there for a while. The entire area was bathed in their energy.

"How did you find us all the way out here, Shigeko?" asked Teru. She couldn't possibly had felt them all the way out there. Right? He had sworn before that, for a brief moment, he had felt her, but that must have just been wishful thinking. She couldn't just leave her vessel like that, right?

"I looked for you. I expanded myself out until I felt you. Well, I was looking for Teru but I'm happy to see you too, Ritsu." Said Mob. She stared at them both as they stared at her.

"Show me." Said Teru after a while. How could she expand her aura that far without all out leaving her vessel?

"Ok. I just sort of do…this." Said Mob. She closed her eyes and expanded herself outwards. She had to bother the other Shigeko when she did this.

**We are safe. Teru is safe. Ritsu is safe.**

She felt herself floating out from her body and spreading out in all directions. Since she wasn't actually looking for anyone she let herself become more collected. She felt light, like she was floating. She let herself drift down and when she opened her eyes she was sitting on the ground.

"Sister…." Said Ritsu. He could see the aural spectrum and he had seen her spirit float out of her body.

"Shigeko…are you alright?" asked Teru helping her up and taking both of her hands in his. Mob nodded. She was just a little dizzy, that was all. Teru helped, he always helped.

"Just a little dizzy, that's all. I'm not really sure how I did it, though, so I'm sorry. I just sort of try to see everything. It's like floating away, almost." Said Mob as she used Teru to steady herself. He was really warm and kind of sweaty, but in a good way.

"Because you were. You just left your body. How could you stand to just leave your vessel like that?" asked Teru. He remembered his brief moments of intangibility. He remembered how overwhelming it had been so see everything, to perceive everything, to have the buffer between him and his vessel removed. It had been hell, almost as hellish as the white room had been…but she had just been able to do it. She was only a little dizzy, too, not even in pain.

"Wait, like astral projection?" asked Ritsu. He had no idea that that sort of power was even possible. What else could he do? Could he even do that? Did he even have a hope?

"I guess. I don't know, I just did it, I guess. It didn't hurt or anything, it just makes me kind of dizzy. Oh, and to do that I have to wake up the other Shigeko, but she's been really calm lately. She says that she just gets scared and likes it when I give her something to do." Said Mob. Teru just stared at her. Ritsu did too.

"How does that not hurt you? You can see everything! You're leaving your vessel!" said Teru coming dangerously close to shaking her. It wasn't like he was jealous of her or anything, no, he just wanted to learn the technique. He didn't feel inadequate at all.

"I don't know, it just doesn't." said Mob wondering why Teru was getting so excited. It really wasn't such a difficult technique, really. Controlling the other her was much more difficult.

"Wait, the other you is about to come out?" asked Ritsu, putting the strongest barrier he could around himself. Mob shook her head.

"No, she knows we're safe. She likes you guys." Said Mob. Oh, that must have been why Teru seemed upset. Ritsu too. She knew exactly how scary that the other her could be.

"….alright…." said Teru. He was going to drop the subject because, well, the other her was the last thing he wanted to talk about. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't pleasant at all.

"So, what do you guys want to do, now?" asked Ritsu. He could read the atmosphere much better than his sister and he could tell that this wasn't a subject that anyone wanted to talk about.

"We could practice some more, if you guys want to practice with me." Said Mob. They both gaped at her.

"But you're a pacifist!" said Teru. No. He would never fight her again. Ever. That had been wrong of him then and she hadn't even been anything to him then. Now she was his girlfriend and we was not going to fight her even if she got down on her knees and begged.

"I can't fight you, sister, not again." Said Ritsu. No. He had pushed her, before. He wouldn't ever do it again. He was not going to fight his sister. No way no how.

"We're not fighting, we're just practicing. Besides, I know that I can't be a pacifist. Sometimes I'm going to need to fight to keep the people I love safe." Said Mob. Teru still shook his head. Ritsu looked everywhere but at her.

"Well yeah, but I'm not fighting my girlfriend. I still feel like crap for fighting you when we first met. I'm not doing it ever again." Said Teru crossing his arms defensively. He didn't care what she said, he wouldn't do it. Even if she stripped him naked, shaved him bald, and blasted him into the stratosphere again he would never fight her.

"Sister. No. I won't fight you. Besides, you already know how to fight anyway. I saw how you beat those guys from Claw." Said Ritsu. She had swallowed up black holes like they were nothing. She didn't need any help fighting, especially when that other her came out.

"That was mostly Master Reigen." Said Mob quietly. He had been given her powers were only a few minutes but he had used them better, with more control, than she ever had in fourteen years.

"Not the part with the black holes." Said Ritsu. Teru nodded.

"I saw you beat those other mini bosses without lifting a finger." Said Teru. Koyama had been tossed around like a pinball and she hadn't moved a muscle. She hadn't broken a sweat.

"That was just because the other Shigeko and I were merged. When I was holding back Ritsu still got kidnapped. I don't ever want that to happen again." Said Mob. Teru brushed her hair behind her ear and kept his hand there.

"I promised that I'd protect you. Do you think that I would break the promise?" asked Teru softly, quietly. Mob shook her head.

"A promise is a promise." Said Mob softly. Teru stepped closer to her.

"Then let me be the one who keeps you safe." Said Teru. He kissed her, quickly, because her brother was standing right there. He knew that this was fighting dirty but he was not going to ever fight her again and if this was what kept her off of this then so be it.

"Teru, don't fight dirty." Said Mob. He could do that so easily, strip her senses on the spot. It was easier, too, because she was already pretty wound up.

"That's the only way I'm ever going to fight you, Shigeko." Said Teru stepping away from her. He was conscious of her brother standing off to the side and watching the sunlight wane through the trees. The shadows were getting long, it was getting late.

"That's not fair, though, Teru. I should protect you too." Said Mob quietly. She was the strongest. She didn't want to be defined by her powers but she couldn't just pretend that they didn't exist either. Her powers were tools, like knives, and sometimes you needed to point knives at others because they were pointing knives at you first. She needed to learn, then, how to point knives at others even though she hated it.

"I'm going to protect us both." Said Teru with an air of finality. He was the guy. It was his job to protect her, to keep her safe, to make sure that nothing bad ever happened to her again. To make sure that he was never alone, again.

"Neither of you will let me help, will you?" asked Mob. Ritsu and Teru shook their heads.

"I'm sorry but I just can't fight you, sister. It was wrong of me to push you, too, before when we were fighting." Said Ritsu. He was not going to fight her and there was nothing that could ever make him fight her. Mob sighed. Right, because she was just a little girl.

"How about dinner? It's about dinner time." Said Teru. He didn't want to watch those two fight. It just wasn't classy to watch two siblings fight, and it made him uncomfortable, too. He was so glad that he didn't have any brothers or sisters…that he knew of. No. They would have told him if he had another brother or sister.

"I got paid today, I can get us ramen." Said Mob. Ramen was good and she had enough for all of them, well, if nobody got meat. Or if they just got a little meat, not too much of it.

"I can get my own, you don't have to spend your money on me. I know that Reigen barely pays you." Said Ritsu. What did she make? Three hundred yen an hour? He got more than that in allowance.

"He pays me every day, and he said that when I grow up he'll make me a partner in the office." Said Mob. She wished that Ritsu would just stop disliking Master Reigen so much. He was a really nice person.

"Sure he will." Muttered Ritsu. That guy would probably promise her a mansion on the moon if that kept her with him.

"How about we eat at my house?" asked Teru stopping that fight before it even started. The badmouth Reigen Arataka game would only be fun if his most loyal disciple wasn't standing right there.

"We could all help make dinner. I know how to cook, sort of, I can make curry from the cubes and I can stir fry vegetables." Said Mob. It would be nice, all of them hanging out. They could eat and watch TV or play three on three in Mario Kart or have a go tournament or play one of Teru's other games.

"I know how to make cereal and toast." Said Ritsu quietly. That was the extent of his cooking skills, really, but he would be happy to help. It would be nice, hanging out with them. Plus, he had never seen Teru's house before. It would be nice, maybe, nicer than his house anyway. Nobody would be arguing there.

"I've got some miso soup ready to be heated up and I can make some rice and we can have that with vegetables and fish." Said Teru. That was what he had been planning on eating but he could feed the two of them, too, if they ate a lot of rice and vegetables.

"You don't have to be the one who does all the cooking, Teru, I want to help too." Said Mob. Cooking could be kind of fun, actually, well it was with Master Reigen. Like the other night when they had made curry again and took turns stirring again.

"You're my guests, I want to cook for you." Said Teru. It wouldn't take long, not really. He had prepped dinner that morning. The fish could be eaten raw and vegetables didn't take that long to stir fry.

"We could always get desert on the way to your house, so it's more even." Said Ritsu. It was polite for guests to bring something, right? He had never been a guest in someone's house. Well, not at his age. He wasn't a little kid anymore and he wasn't sure of the rules, especially since Teru was practically an adult anyway.

"Mochi!" said Mob suddenly. She really did want some mochi. Red bean paste, green tea, strawberry paste, chocolate filled…and milk, too, of course.

"Let me guess, with milk?" asked Teru. Mob nodded. Ritsu shrugged. Mochi and milk was fine by him, but not those strawberry ones she liked. They tasted way too artificial. Fruit needed to be made from and taste like actual fruit.

"Yes, mochi and milk. They go together." Said Mob. They really were a good pairing. Master Reigen said that pairing food and drinks was important. That's why the next time they had sake it was with grilled fatty beef.

"What is it with you and milk?" asked Teru as he threw an arm over her. They started walking towards the main road.

"I don't know, I just like it. Ritsu does too, but not as much as me." Said Mob as she let Teru lead her. She could have still flown but she would end up motion sick, probably. Teru and Ritsu were probably still tired from their play fight and she wasn't sure about holding up two people as well as herself. There was a difference between raw power and being able to split her focus like that.

"I used to drink a lot of chocolate milk when I was little but now I drink more plain water and I make tea sometimes, too." Said Ritsu. Milk was for kids and he didn't want to think of himself or be thought of as a kid. He mostly didn't want Teru to think of him as a kid. Teru was on his own, like an adult. He wouldn't want a little kid hanging out with him.

"You learned how to make tea? Ritsu, I'm so proud of you. Usually you put way too many leaves in." said Mob. Ritsu blushed and looked down at his shoes. He could feel Teru looking at him, he thought.

"I think you're a decent tea maker, your white tea at least is pretty good, and I know how hard white tea is to make. I mostly make green tea, though." Said Teru, his eyes on Shigeko. He absently ran a hand through her hair. She smiled and leaned into him. He kept his thoughts off of certain things, things that he should not have been thinking of when he was hanging out with her brother. It seemed like the more they did the more he wanted. Every time they were alone, Shigeko and him, they ended up tangled up in each other joined at the lips. A tangle of lips and teeth and hands and arms. He loved it, but was it healthy? He'd have to think about it.

"I mostly make green tea, too. Master Reigen says I can make a good cup of tea. I like milk better, though. It's just tasty." Said Mob. She tried to keep her mind off of how close Teru was because Ritsu was right there. Part of her, the part that was selfish, wished that it was just her and Teru in that clearing. Every single time that they were together they ended up kissing. Not that she minded. No, she liked it a lot. Did Teru, though? She loved other things about him but she really liked the kissing parts. Was there such a thing as too much? She'd have to think about this, more, later.

"Milk is alright I guess, I don't drink it that often, though. You know what's good? Green tea soda." Said Ritsu, and not just because Teru mentioned that he liked green tea.

"Oh, it is really good. I wish that they made green tea Calpico, though." Said Mob as they found the bus stop. Ritsu and Teru both stared at her.

"Sister, why do you keep drinking that stuff?" asked Ritsu. When they were kids she had drank at least two bottle of that a day until mom put a stop to it.

"It's like drinking yogurt." Said Teru resisting the urge to stick out his tongue. It was like drinking thick, room temperature, sour yogurt. There were so many better drinks out there, even room temperature tap water was a better drink than that.

"Exactly, it's like super milk." Said Mob with a smile. She used to drink it more when she was little but plain milk was cheaper and easier to find in vending machines and stores.

"Shigeko, you're the one keeping the dairy industry in business, you know that?" said Teru. Mob was confused.

"How can one person keep the dairy industry going? I don't drink that much milk." Said Mob. Teru and Ritsu face palmed.

"I was kidding, Shigeko." Said Teru. He loved that about her, too. She was just so, well, Shigeko. Sweet. Cute. Wonderful. He leaned her into him as they sat down on the bus bench. Ritsu sat on the other side of him.

"Oh. Sorry. Sometimes it's hard to tell." Said Mob. Tones were hard for her, sometimes, but Teru never made fun of her for it. Ritsu wouldn't, either. They were both so nice to her. Well, in different ways, obviously.

"It's fine, sister, don't worry." Said Ritsu. That was just the way she was. He understood that, and so did Teru. He was a good person like that. He was a good friend and a good person for Shigeko. He looked over at her and then looked away quickly. The way she was looking up at Teru wasn't for him to see. No girl had ever looked at him like that. What was it like? He wanted to ask Teru at some point but, well, he wouldn't. Asking that kind of thing would have been too personal.

"From now on I'll tell you whenever I'm kidding." Said Teru mirthfully. He laced his fingers with hers, subtly of course, because they had an audience. She was so small, so warm, it was really nice. He wanted to kiss her again but her brother was right there. If he was still a selfish jerk he would have told Ritsu that he was being a third wheel. That would have been mean. Ritsu was his friend and friends didn't just ditch friends when girls came along. Well, they did, but it wasn't a nice thing to do.

"You don't have to, I'm working harder on learning to read the atmosphere." Said Mob. She needed to learn how to read the atmosphere, everyone else could read it just fine. This was just another skill to improve, like working out or studying.

"You're getting better, I think. You have a lot more friends." Said Ritsu. Those two girls, Mezato and Tome, had certainly made their loyalties to her perfectly clear when they gave him a piece of their minds because he had bothered them during their bathroom screaming match.

"You're getting better too, Ritsu. You never used to hang out with people after school unless it was student council, but now you're hanging out with us and you're going to go out with Rei too. She's really excited." Said Mob. Ritsu looked away. Teru didn't need to know how much of a loser he had been in the past. Not that Ritsu had considered himself a loser at the time, but now he had hindsight. He had been so consumed in his accomplishments that he hadn't formed lasting connections with people. He could change, this, he was making friends and that was good for him as a person.

"Oh yeah, you're still going out with Rei tomorrow, right?" asked Teru. He had his theories about Shigeko's little brother but he wasn't going to just come out and bluntly ask the guy. That would have been a much too prying question.

"Yeah, I still am. We're going to an arcade." Said Ritsu. He had no idea if that's where you were supposed to take girls on dates but he liked arcades, she liked arcades, and it was always more fun to go with another person. Well, it had been fun going with Shigeko when they were little, anyway.

"Rei told me, already. She's really excited. She wants you to win her a prize." Said Mob. Rei had told her, and told her, and told her exactly how excited she was. Mob was happy that her brother found someone that he wanted to be with but she also didn't want him to grow up too fast, like Master Reigen was always telling her not to do. Plus it was weird hearing someone talk, well text, about how much they wanted to kiss your brother. Ritsu was too little to be kissing anyone. Huh. Was this how Master Reigen felt about her and Teru?

"Oh. She didn't tell me that." Said Ritsu. He could win her something, crane machine games would be easier with powers now. He'd win her a stuffed animal or something, she collected those.

"It's just something that you're supposed to do." Said Teru. He had taken girls to arcades before and winning them prizes was a standard part of the date. You get her a prize, she gushes about how much she loves it, you hold hands, and maybe she kisses you. Of course it had been different with Shigeko, he loved her so he wasn't just checking boxes to get to the kissing part.

"You only won me Big Panda-Chan because you were supposed to?" asked Mob, and ugly spike of jealousy running through her body. Of course he had taken other girls to arcades. Of course he had held hands with other girls.

"I won you the big panda because I knew that you liked pandas and I wanted to make you happy." Said Teru. This was dangerous ground they were on. She had never been with anyone else, so she had no past to get jealous of. He did. He had a very long past, and not the best reputation, and he had no idea just how much she knew.

"You won stuff for other girls, too." Said Mob quietly. Ritsu looked away. He didn't want to watch them fight, he got enough fighting at home thank you very much.

"Everyone who came before was just practice for when I got to you." Said Teru after a moment. He had heard that in a movie once and it did fit. He watched her aura. Calmer. Good. He did that thing she liked where he ran his hand up and down her back. She leaned more into him. There, she wasn't upset anymore.

"Sorry." Said Mob after a moment. How did the saying go? Green wasn't a good color on anybody? Well, green meant jealousy and it was such an ugly feeling, such a mean feeling, emotion that it must have looked ugly, too. She hated it. She hated it and she never wanted to feel it, but she did. She felt it all the time. She felt it when Master Reigen gave backrubs or talked about when he was younger, he kept a lot of mementos of lost love, and she'd felt it when she thought about how many girls Teru had been with before her. No, wait, not like they were together though. He had said that she was most of his firsts. Well he was all of her firsts, so it wasn't entirely fair, but she was too old to be whining about what was and was not fair.

"It's alright, I shouldn't have said that." Said Teru. Ritsu had better be taking notes. Well, no, actually, because it wasn't like the guy had any kind of a history to speak of.

"No, I shouldn't be jealous." Said Mob. She really shouldn't have been and she tried not to be but she still was.

"Let's just agree to both be sorry before we end up apologizing until the bus shows up." Said Teru reaching up and running a hand through her hair. It was pretty thick and incredibly soft. He could do this all day.

"Too late." Said Ritsu as the bus pulled up. Whew. Saved. He loved his sister, and Teru was his friend, but he didn't like watching them fight or make up. She was his big sister, he didn't need to see her all cuddled up with a guy. It was weird. Not that he wasn't happy for her, because he was, he just didn't need to know about that particular and incredibly private part of her life.

"It's not all the way stopped yet, so we managed to stop before the bus got here." Said Mob. Apologies were hard, sometimes, not because they were hard to say but because they were easy. It was so easy to say sorry, to make sure that the other person knew that you knew you had messed up and that you wanted to make it up to them.

"You and apologies." Said Teru as they boarded and paid their fare. Ritsu sat on the left of Teru and Shigeko. He didn't want to watch them, that is to say that he wasn't going out of his way to watch them, but he was learning. That was how you were in a couple with someone. So that was how it worked. The easy back and forth, the caring, all of it. So that was what he was supposed to do. He didn't know if he wanted this with Rei but, well, he sort of did too. He wanted that with someone. He didn't want to die without having had been with someone like that, to have had someone who cared about him and who he cared about right back.

"Apologies are good." Said Mob as she sat next to Teru and watched the woods go by out the window. It was so pretty, the way the sun was setting behind the trees. They were starting to change, the leaves were, but it was still warmish out.

"I didn't say that they weren't, just that you apologize a lot. It's ok, I like that about you." Said Teru watching her reflection in the window. She was thinking about something, he had no idea what. Her aura was calm though. She was happy.

"I just think that saying sorry is important, that's all." Said Mob as she closed her eyes. She was starting to get motion sick. Busses bounced more than cars and trains did, but Teru was there to stabilize her.

"I agree." Said Ritsu quietly. Apologies were important, even though she apologized way too much about everything, even things that weren't her fault or didn't warrant apologies. The things he had done warranted apologies, and he had. Then why did he still feel bad when he thought about it? Guilt sucked.

"I know. I heard about what you did, and I'm proud of you. The apologizing part, I mean." Said Mob. Ritsu really was still a good person, he had said sorry for everything that he had done. She was glad she was the big sister to someone as good as he was.

"Who told you?" asked Ritsu

"Onigawara and his friends. He said that he was glad that you framed him because now he's trying to be a better person or something like that. He still won't take his old job back, though." Said Mob. Teru looked at her for a while.

"Why are you trying to quit, Magical Girl Salt?" asked Teru. Mob gave him a long look.

"Why would I want to be a shadow leader? I hate fighting." Said Mob

"That rumor's true?" asked Ritsu, alarmed. The bus rocked a little. Teru steadied it. Was that Shigeko? No, dark blues. That was Ritsu.

"That I'm a magical girl or that Onigawara gave me his old job. I'm not a magical girl, I'm an esper, so that's not true. He did give me his job, though, but I don't really want it. Mezato is writing a story about it for the paper, if you want to know more." Said Mob simply. Ritsu stared at her, she stared back. Teru broke the silence.

"You shouldn't give up the job, you could have those morons doing something actually productive with their time." Said Teru. Mob shook her head.

"That's mean, Teru. You shouldn't call people names." Said Mob. Teru frowned. Right. She was nice like that.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me?" asked Teru. She was a lot nicer than him, nice to a fault actually. He still loved her, he loved that about her. She made him better like that, with her constant niceness. God help you if you got on her bad side though. Mob smiled.

"Of course I will. I'll always forgive you." Said Mob. He was Teru, she'd forgive him no matter what, and there had been a lot of 'what' since they first met. Well, not a lot. Was two fights a lot? She didn't know, but it seemed like a lot. It didn't matter, she forgave him.

"Still, though, you could have them doing something with their lives instead of starting fights all the time. You're a good influence on people like that." Said Teru tracing lines on the top of her hand with his thumb.

"I don't really want that kind of power, though." Said Mob. She had enough power already, thank you very much, and she didn't want power over people either.

"That's good, sister. You shouldn't hang around guys like that." Said Ritsu. Huh. So those guys really had made her their shadow leader, but why? Because she was powerful? She couldn't hurt a fly, literally. When they were kids she'd set them free.

"You can do whatever you want, Shigeko. You know what I'd do, though." Said Teru. Power was still a hell of a drug and he wasn't ready to give up all of his. He loved her, he loved Shigeko with every fiber of his being, but they didn't have to see eye to eye on literally every single thing. Just as long as he didn't do anything that would make her want to leave he'd be fine.

"I know, Teru, but you're a different person than I am. Like how I like to drink milk all the time but you don't, or how you like to mix lots of bright colors but I only like to wear one bright color at a time." Said Mob. She wished that he would abdicate being his school's shadow leader but he wouldn't, she knew how much it meant to him. Just so long as he didn't go back to being how he was then they'd be fine.

"Yeah, I guess we're different." Said Teru quietly. They could still be different, it didn't mean that she would leave.

"I think you're making a good decision, sister. Do you want me to talk to those guys for you?" asked Ritsu. That was what brothers did, they protected their sisters.

"No thank you." Said Mob. She didn't want him to end up kicking off another big Salt cleanup, as Mezato had called it. She could take care of herself just fine.

"I will if you want me to." Said Ritsu. Mob shook her head.

"I'm fine Ritsu, really." Said Mob. Teru put an arm around her. If she needed protecting then he'd be the one to do it. She closed her eyes. He could feel her relaxing.

"Getting motion sick again?" asked Teru. Mob nodded.

"If I throw up on either of you I'm sorry. Oh, and I'm still sorry about that one time I threw up into your hood when we were little, Ritsu." Said Mob as she settled into Teru. She hadn't meant to throw up in Ritsu's hood, it was just the closest thing around.

"Don't worry, we're almost there, then we can walk for a while." Said Teru softly. Mob smiled. Yes, that would be lovely.

Reigen decided to have another cigarette. Yes, that would be lovely. He could always pick up another pack on the way home. He really needed to stop smoking, though, it was bad for him. But it felt so nice. The working day was almost over, he just had to pay some bills before he went home. He checked his bank account. Huh. He was still in the black even after all of that. He'd have to celebrate, or save his money. One of the two.

Maybe he'd pay Mob more. She was half the business after all. But then again he was giving her room and board. He'd have to think more about that. He lit his cigarette and watched it burn for a moment. The TV was on in the background. There was a psychic there, at least she said that she was. Oh, she had written a book and was shilling it. Heh. She called that shilling. If he'd written a book he'd be able to make a fortune, easy.

Actually, that wasn't too bad of an idea. He had certainly had enough interesting things happen to him to write a book. He could probably write circles around that woman, he was an actual psychic! Well, for all of one week. Still, that was more than most people. Mob could help too. She was the spirits part of Spirits and Such.

He opened up a text document. Yeah, this was a pretty great idea. This was his best idea since the Friendbook page or the Youtube channel. He'd write a book and make a fortune! Then he could afford the fancy kind of instant ramen, or better cigarettes, or a two bedroom apart so that Mob could have her own room.

Wait.

That was. No. She was going to go home. It had only been a week. At some point she was going to have to go back to her family. She couldn't stay with him forever. No. No matter how much she wanted it, no matter how much he wanted it, she would eventually reconcile with her parents. Then she would go back to her pink room at her house and he'd be all alone again.

Or maybe she wouldn't. She was Mob. There wasn't anybody who could make her do anything that she didn't want to do. He knew her power, he had held her power. He knew what she could do. He had done it. If Mob didn't want to go home, which she didn't, then she simply wouldn't go home. She'd stay with him forever.

No. Not forever.

She'd grow up. She'd go to university. She'd probably end up moving in with her boyfriend, he lived alone anyway. She'd go off on her own into the world. Right? Probably. Not that he wanted her to. No. He wanted her by his side.

Sometimes he dreamt about the future. About their future. Not active fantasies, just dreams that he had. They carried on the way that they were, but she was all grown up. They went to bars, they smoked together, they went to arcades and gambling houses, they took trips, they were together all the time. Sometimes his dreams even put her into his memories.

No. Not those. That would be wrong.

No, the other ones. She was with him for the best times in his life. He's fifteen and he's been playing videogames for forty eight hours straight with her at his side. He's eighteen and he's drunk at the seaside screaming into the darkness and she's there holding him back from drowning. He's twenty and he's helping her finish off their second bottle of sake and the room is spinning but it's alright because he's safe and they're safe. He's in the woods and he doesn't know how old he is but there are so many seeds and cicada skins and he's going to collect them all and save them forever.

Not all of those memories were with old girlfriends, he told himself, so that made it not weird. She was his best friend, of course he'd want her to be there for the best moments of his life. Not weird at all.

He isn't planning on holding her back but if she chose to stay with him then who was he to stop her? How could he? He didn't even have a full enough grasp of his powers to make even a regular person feel something without exhausting himself. He's just going to enjoy the time they have together. He's not moving, either. Not for a year, he decides. If she's still living there for a year then she's getting her own bedroom. Or maybe six months. Whenever they start to get sick of sharing.

He'd probably leave that part out of the book. To the outside observer that would be really, really weird. He slept next to, well sort of next to, a fourteen year old girl every night. Yeah, there was no way to make that sound good. He started the book, well he tried to. Where to even start?

_I was born in a hospital at four in the morning in the year 1990. My mother was Jacobson Sophia before she married my father Reigen Yoshio in 1989. I weighted 3.25 kg and my hair was black when I was born. My mother screamed when I was born and my father blames me for making her make a scene. I haven't seen the old bastard since I was in middle school. I don't care. I haven't seen my mother since university. I don't care. Both of my parents can just go off and-_

No. That was not the place to start this book. He quickly deleted what he wrote. This book was about psychic powers, exorcisms, battles between the forces of good and evil! Not his feelings towards his parents. He decided to start again.

_I was born in a wagon in the travelling show. My mother used to dance for the money they'd throw. My father would do whatever he could._

No, that was blatantly ripped from a song. He didn't need to get sued and end up losing all the money he made. Plus, maybe he shouldn't fabricate so much. No, then he'd get found out and his reputation would be ruined and he'd end up losing his business. He was not going back to the office. He'd rather dance for coins at the train station.

_My name is Reigen Arataka and the circumstance of my birth are not important, it is what I have chosen to do with the gift of life that matters. Life has granted me amazing psychic powers and I have dedicated my life to using those powers to help others. This is my story. We'll begin in the year 2016 when I left my day job and devoted myself full time to using my powers to help others. Later that year I also met my devoted disciple, Kageyama Shigeko._

Yes, that was good. Very good. Actually, wait. No, not yet.

_Later that year I also met my devoted disciple and good friend, Mob._

There. That was better. He typed out a few pages, a few good ones, before he decided to head home. He checked the time. Maybe Mob was back already.

'_Hey Mob are you home yet?' _He waited for a response. She'd respond. She'd definitely respond. She was fine. He had given her the day off because he had been overworking her, not because he felt guilty for her almost dying last week. He certainly hadn't been keeping her prisoner in the office so that he could be sure that she was safe. No. That kind of thinking was crazy. They had just been really busy, that was all.

'_No. Not yet. I'm having dinner with Ritsu and Teru.' _Oh. Ok. She was safe then. Good. She wouldn't lie to him. She was fine. He reached for another cigarette but found the pack empty. Wait, in his bottom drawer he should have had a spare pack. Yup. This was going to be a good night. He really did want some time to himself for, well, Reigen things that didn't involve Mob at all. She'd be back eventually, though. Hopefully not with more questions. No. No more of those questions. He wasn't naïve, he knew what she got up to, but he didn't like having confirmation.

He'd use the unexpected windfall to get a new couch. With a cover. There, that was a good use of the extra money they had made.

'_Have fun don't come home too late'_ There. She'd be home, hopefully at a reasonable hour, and if she wasn't home that night well at least he knew where she was. Plus her brother was there so she wouldn't get up to anything. Not that he cared one way or the other, he just didn't want her to get hurt emotionally. If he couldn't handle it all at her age then she probably wouldn't be able to either.

He locked up the office and headed out into the city. He was able to tune most people out, emotionally. Some were louder than others, though. Nobody was as loud as Mob, though. She was probably the loudest person, spiritually, in the city. Actually, he could vaguely feel her now. At least the direction that she was in. That was good. He would always be able to find her, sort of. His phone vibrated. Mob?

No. His mother.

"_Arataka pick up your phone. I want to talk to you about what you're doing with your life. I saw the video you made. Arataka you need to reevaluate what you're doing with your life. I'm worried for you. You're far too old for this. Call me"_ Sure he'd call her….when hell froze over. He was a grown man and if he wanted to be a psychic then he'd be a psychic. It wasn't like he was hurting anyone or anything. His life was his own and nobody else's.

"_Mom. Thank you for your concern but I'm fine." _There. Short, sweet, and polite. His phone rang. His finger hovered over the button as he walked down the street. Maybe it was best to just bite the bullet and listen to the lecture.

"Hey mom." Said Reigen holding his cigarette in his other hand.

"So you use your phone for something other than making videos and posting on Friendbook." Said his mother. He bit back a retort. He was a grown man and wasn't going to mouth off to his mother.

"Sorry mom, I've been pretty busy." Said Reigen trying to sound nonchalant. He could hear her sipping tea on the other end. Green tea, probably. From the bag, not the leaves.

"I know. I could see. Arataka, I'm worried about you." Said his mother. Reigen rolled his eyes. He wasn't a little kid anymore, he could take care of himself.

"Mom, I'm fine. Really. The business is doing great, better than ever." Said Reigen. Well, it wasn't doing amazingly but it hadn't ever been this good.

"Arataka I'm glad that your….business….is going well but I just worry. You're almost twenty nine years old and you're still pretending to be a psychic. I just want you to get a more respectable job, one with stability. I love you, I really do, you're my only son. I just worry. Did you get the links I sent you?" said his mother. Reigen sighed as he made it to the train station, his cigarette having gone out long ago. He put it back in the pack one handedly with some difficulty.

"Yeah mom, I got them. I'm not going to quit, though. Me and Mob are on an upswing. You've seen how many views we're getting. With a few thousand more followers we can start monetizing." Said Reigen. It was true, then they could get a little extra income the two of them. Plus, well, he had always wanted to be famous. Mob didn't really seem to care much either way.

"So you're just going to try and be an internet star, now? Arataka you know that isn't stable. I mean, your videos are entertaining and you were always good at editing photographs and videos so I guess you're putting some of your talents to use." Said his mother. Reigen decided to end this conversation. He was starting to write his feelings to others, based on the demeanor of the people immediately around him.

"Those aren't special effects, mom." Said Reigen. There was a moment of silence.

"Don't joke, Arataka. I know that people don't really have psychic powers. You're not ten years old anymore, Arataka. Stop trying to grow up to be that Mogami person you were obsessed with." Said his mother.

"Mom, I'm not kidding. This is real. What I do is real. If you actually want proof then I'd ask you to come visit but I don't have anywhere for you to sleep, unless you want to sleep on the couch." Said Reigen. He would have his mother over if it meant that she finally thought that he had made something of himself in life.

"Maybe I will, Arataka. I haven't seen you in years." Said his mother. Crap. He had run his mouth again. He needed an out, and fast, or she'd wind up on his doorstep with her suitcases full of lectures and judgement.

"Well, mom, there really isn't any room. I mean, you can stay in the living room but it would be three people in my apartment. It's barely big enough for Mob and I." said Reigen. Good. His mother was from the United States, she had grown up in a massive house with a massive yard. He had listened to her complaining about how small everything in Japan was for his entire life.

"Right. Mobbu. Arataka…tell me about her." Said his mother. He was about to tell her to go check Friendbook when he remembered that he had told Mob to make her page visible only to her friends. There were A LOT of weirdos on the internet. He spent a good hour each morning, afternoon, or night deleting weird comments so that she didn't see them and the questions wouldn't start up again.

"She's an esper, she likes cats and pandas, she loves milk, and she can make a better cup of tea than I can." Said Reigen as the train approached. There was more silence on the other end.

"I'd….like to meet her. I…I would like to meet her. I know that I haven't always…approved…of you but I would like to meet her." Huh. What was with that tone? Whatever. He had to get on the train.

"Fine. Mom, if you want to come and visit then visit but don't expect any five star accommodations, and I'm not taking off work, either." Said Reigen. If she wanted to visit so badly then she could just come and visit. He just wanted her to get it out of her system already.

"I….thank you, Arataka. I would love that and I'd love to meet your….I'd love to meet Mob…she seems…it seems like you two really care for each other. I'll see when I can get off work next. Soon, maybe. I won't stay for too long, I know how you like your space. Besides, I'm getting too old to be travelling like this, anyway." Said his mother. Was she getting quieter? No, the train was just getting louder.

"Mom, don't be dramatic. You're only twenty years older than me." Said Reigen. She wasn't even fifty yet and here she was carrying on like she had lived through the Second World War, the great depression, and the sinking of the Titanic.

"I know. Heh. You've always been so astute, Taka-chan." Said his mother. He groaned at the nickname. The people around him seemed annoyed, too. Oh. He was writing again. Of course he was. Negative emotions were stronger than positive ones.

"Mom. I'm twenty eight, almost twenty nine." Said Reigen closing his eyes. He hated being called Taka. It was like he was being cut in half. He didn't even like his first name, not really.

"You'll always be my little Taka-chan. Anyway, I'll let you go. I can tell you're on your way home and you always were grumpy at the end of a long day." Said his mother. He let out a small sigh of relief.

"Alright. I'll see you mom. It's been…nice." Said Reigen. It hadn't been that bad, talking to her, just a little annoying. He always turned into such a brat when it came to his parents.

"It really has been. Thank you for picking up, Arataka. I've missed you." Said his mother before she hung up. Well, that hadn't been nearly as painful as he thought that it would be. She'd visit, though, but hopefully not for too long. Just long enough to get it out of her system. She really seemed to want to meet Mob, though. Huh. She had never been too interested in his friends, before. She'd probably like Mob, though, she liked kids.

He leaned back and closed his eyes. Of course you couldn't smoke on the train cars anymore. Of course. Whatever. He had all night to drink and smoke and watch weird porn with the volume all the way up and all the other things he couldn't do with Mob around. Well, maybe not the weird porn part. He still had neighbors, and they were starting complain about how often the building shook and how it sounded like he was moving furniture at all hours. It wasn't Mob's fault, though, she couldn't really control it. He wasn't going to fault her for not being able to control her powers when he could barely control his.

He watched the world rush by, it was really pretty at this hour. The sun still hadn't fully set, the sky still had some purples to it. It was a Friday night and here he was, going home to eat junk, smoke, drink, and other such Reigen things. Mob was probably having a better Friday night than him. He was glad for her, though, she had apparently totally made up with her little brother. That was good, she needed positive relationships in her life. Yeah, Mob was probably having the time of her life.

Mob was having the time of her life. Well, sort of. They were on their second Mario Kart grand prix. Dinner had been good, even though it had been mostly rice based since Teru hadn't been expecting company. Not that he had complained. No, he had seemed pretty happy. Everyone seemed pretty happy. Even Ritsu even though he was checking his phone a lot.

"Shigeko, did you just let me win?" asked Ritsu. Mob nodded. Of course she had, Ritsu deserved to win. He was her favorite and only brother.

"Yes. I love you, so I let you win." Said Mob simply. Ritsu groaned.

"Stop letting me win! It's a hollow victory." Said Ritsu. He wasn't ten anymore, he wouldn't get upset if he lost to her. Besides, Teru usually won anyway.

"You don't ever let me win." Said Teru, teasingly. Mob knew that he wasn't actually upset with her, she could feel his aura. Not that she had to stretch to feel it or anything. He was pretty close. It was nice.

"Yes I do." Said Mob. She let him win, sometimes, but not at go. Go was much more sacred than Mario Kart. Go was an ancient game of wits and strategy which she had been honing her skills at since childhood. Mario Kart was just good fun.

"Shi-ge-ko! Stop letting people win!" Said Teru whining playfully. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment before sitting back up. Right. Ritsu was there.

"I don't always let you win, sometimes you guys win on your own." Said Mob as their characters made their victory laps around the track.

"You'd probably win if you didn't always play baby Peach." Said Ritsu. Everyone knew that Luigi was the best driver. He was taller and lighter than everyone else.

"But she's my favorite. I don't think character matters that much. Teru is metal Mario and he won sometimes." Said Mob

"Well, yes, of course Mario would win. He's the main character." Said Teru. He had only won because Shigeko had let him, Metal Mario weighed a ton and drove really slowly.

"I think that they're all main characters. It's like Master Reigen always says, 'we're all the protagonists of our own stories." Said Mob. They all had their own solo games, too. Well, most of them. Waluigi still didn't have his own game and he was much funnier than Wario.

"Reigen certainly thinks he's the protagonist." Said Ritsu quietly. Teru smiled, a little, but not too much because Shigeko really cared about the guy.

"Master Reigen is the protagonist of his own story. Oh, and the videos we made, too." Said Mob. Oh. What were those looks?

"But sister…you do most of the work." Said Ritsu after a while. Mob shook her head.

"No, today's was all Master Reigen. He's getting better at adjusting to his powers after I…well after what happened." Said Mob. Why was she still upset over that? It had been a week ago. Nobody died, nobody got seriously hurt, and the bad guys were beaten. She leaned into Teru. Being around him made her feel better.

"Seriously? He can use his powers to exorcise spirits?" asked Teru. Well, then, maybe he wasn't as lame as he seemed. He was still way too close with Shigeko, though.

"Yes. He's been doing that for years. His powers are just different now, that's all." Said Mob. Why didn't they believe in Master Reigen? Maybe because they just didn't know him that well. That must have been it.

"Sister-" stated Ritsu but Teru subtly shook his head. There was no way to convince her that Reigen Arataka wasn't the greatest thing since they invented those vending machines that had both hot and cold drinks.

"You guys want to play some more Mario Kart? Or something else? Or we could watch a movie if you want." Said Teru. It was so nice having company. Usually he would have been making up his shopping list, prepping for tomorrows dinner, re-ironing his clothes, doing his homework, and planning his outfit for the next day. This was much more fun.

"It's getting late, I have to start heading home, soon." Said Ritsu checking the time. Even if he carried himself with telekinesis it would still be late when he got home. Ever since last week mom and dad had been on him about coming home. He figured that they just didn't want to lose their only other kid.

"You really have to go, Ritsu?" asked Mob. This was nice, it was like when they were little. Before middle school, before her powers got even bigger, before he got his powers, before everything changed. It was nice, really nice.

"Yeah, mom and dad have been kind of clingy lately." Said Ritsu. He wasn't going to ask her to come home. No, he didn't want to end this with a fight.

"You can come back any time, Ritsu." Said Teru. He really was good company, when he wasn't fighting with Shigeko. He was a good friend and Teru knew that he could always use more of those.

"Yeah, it's fun hanging out with you, again, like before." Said Mob. Ritsu wanted to stay, he really did, but he didn't want to end up punished or the subject of his parent's arguing. Plus, he was starting to feel like a third wheel. Shigeko and Teru were sitting close, super close. Ritsu didn't know if that was just how you were supposed to be when you were in a couple or if they wanted to be alone to kiss and stuff. He didn't want to be around for that. It was so weird watching them kiss, not that he wanted to watch, they just sometimes did it. It was nice, probably. Maybe Rei would want to kiss him tomorrow. He had never kissed anyone before, never really wanted to kiss any girls before, but he wasn't against trying it.

"It was fun hanging out with you, too, sister. It was really nice, today." Said Ritsu. It really had been, like when they were little. He had to get home, though. He wasn't Shigeko, he couldn't just leave the house whenever he pleased.

"Here, let me walk you out." Said Teru getting up. Mob got up to follow them. She had might as well see Ritsu off too. Then again she didn't want to give him a chance to start up with the whole her moving back into the house again thing. She sat back down. She'd wait up here for Teru to come back. Then they'd be here, together, alone…..She shook her head. No. Not the thoughts to be having when her little brother was barely out the door. She waited for a few minutes, just staring at the wall. She could still feel them, their auras. She had a pretty good range, she figured, now that she knew what other espers felt like.

"Hey." Said Teru as he came back inside and locked his door. He kicked his shoes off and sat next to Shigeko. She was staring, again. He couldn't tell if it was good or bad staring.

"Hi Teru." Said Mob still staring. Alone. They were alone. All alone. It seemed like everything they were alone they ended up doing one thing. She liked it, though. She really liked it. She wanted to. She wanted to so badly.

"So…what do you want to do?" asked Teru after a while. He couldn't get a read off of her. She was being all nonresponsive again. He didn't know if it was good or bad. Was she sad that her brother had left? Maybe. They were really close.

"Fooley Cooley." Said Mob. That was what Tome had called it. Well, not everything. There was a lot she wasn't ready to do, but a lot she had wanted to do, too. She really, really, really wanted to kiss him.

"Huh? That show? Which one? I think that the original is streaming but I'm not sure if the new one is still up. It wasn't as good, not really." Said Teru. He didn't know that she liked that show. Wait, it was by the Evangelion people, right? That would explain it. Yeah, she liked shows about feelings and stuff.

"Oh right, it was a show. No, I meant that I…wanted to….want to." Said Mob blushing. This was alright to ask, right? Master Reigen said that it was normal and nothing to be ashamed of, wanting to do stuff, and Master Reigen would never steer her wrong.

"You want to hit me on the head with a guitar and run me over with a vespa?" asked Teru, not catching her meaning. It really was a great show, and pretty short, he wouldn't mind watching the first series with her.

"Huh?" asked Mob confusedly

"You remember, from the anime." Said Teru. Mob shook her head.

"Oh no, I haven't actually seen that show. That's just what my friend Tome called kissing and…uh..couch stuff." Said Mob. The lights flickered above them. The couch hovered in the air. The shoes from the front hall ended up on the ceiling with a loud thud.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob putting everything back the way it was. The other Shigeko didn't just come out when she was in danger. It was any big emotion that got her all freaked out.

"No, uh…some of that was me." Said Teru catching his breath. Well then. This was…this was nice. This was really nice. She was really nice. This entire thing was just really nice. Was it hot in there? He used his powers to put the air conditioning on and he pulled off his sweater.

"Do we kiss too often?" asked Mob suddenly. They somehow always ended up kissing. Was that how it was supposed to be? Or was it too much of a good thing. It was alright if you were in a couple with the guy, right? The rules for this sort of thing were complicated.

"No! I mean, uh, do you think we do? I don't mind. I really, honestly, and truly don't mind at all." Said Teru. Talk about mixed messages. One minute she's asking to, well, stuff and the next she's questioning if they kiss too often. Girls were complicated. She was complicated. He wouldn't have her any other way, though.

"I don't mind, either, but I don't want that to be the only thing we do. I mean, I don't know how often is too often." Said Mob still staring straight forward. It was kind of chilly in there. She sat closer to Teru. He was like a furnace.

"Shigeko, we're a couple. There's no such thing as too often." Said Teru holding her hand. She thought too much, that was her problem. She thought way too much about everything. That was good though, it meant that she was genuine.

"Oh. Ok. Can I kiss you, then?" asked Mob. Well, that cleared everything up. Back to it then. She looked up at him and waited. Oh. He was looking at her, still.

"Shigeko…um….what did you mean, before? Fooley cooley, I mean." Said Teru. Whatever she wanted he'd do. He decided that right then and there in that moment that whatever she wanted he was up for it. Yup. Whatever she wanted. He wasn't at all nervous. Nope.

"I wasn't talking about the anime, I just wanted to kiss you and…uh….I'm not really sure about the other stuff but I like to kiss you and I like it when you hold me and when we cuddle in bed and, uh, when we're…you remember." Said Mob looking down. Why was she embarrassed? They had both been there and both as equally undressed.

"…ok…but tell me if I do something you don't like. I don't want to push you too far. Seriously, you can say no and stuff." Said Teru. Ok. This was happening. Whatever this was it was happening. She looked….she looked bored. Was she? No, she wasn't, she just looked bored. Her aura felt…nervous. Yup, nervous. But judging by the amount of pink he was seeing she was good nervous. He rubbed the sweat from his forehead. Maybe he was a little nervous, too.

"I know I can, Teru, but you don't make me do things I don't like. Do I make you do things you don't like?" asked Mob, fearing the worst. Maybe he didn't want to kiss her as often as she wanted to kiss him. Maybe she was too pushy. Maybe-oh!

"You could never make me do anything I didn't like." Said Teru as he broke apart from her. She made that mewing sound she did, the one that he absolutely loved, and leaned in a closed the gap between them. Well then. Back to it.

Reigen had managed to write one chapter, well one and a half. Between all the other things he had been busy with he was proud of what he had managed to achieve. Yup, this thing was coming along nicely. He'd become one of the great authors of the world! He could even do the English translation himself and save some money. He yawned and stretched. Oh, wow he was stiff. What time was it?

Midnight?!

Crap! Mob wasn't home yet! She could have been kidnapped again! She could have been lying dead in a ditch! He pulled out his phone and called her. Oh. The front door was ringing. She was home after all. He ended the call and attempted to look nonchalant as he sat at his computer. The front door opened, closed, and locked. He could hear some shoes hitting the floor and the light clocking on.

"Master….I'm home now." Said Mob. He could hear her moving around, stepping over the box her dresser had come in. They'd have to put that thing together eventually. Maybe this Sunday, if she wasn't too busy.

"Oh, hey Mob. How's it going?" asked Reigen. She was home now, that's what mattered. She was home and alive. He could hear her rusting through her clothes now. Oh, she was getting into her pajamas.

"Fine. I'm fine." Said Mob after a moment. He could hear the bathroom door open and close and decided to get back to the book. She was home and fine and that was what mattered. Even though it was midnight. Even though he had lost track of the time so badly. Damn. He needed to be more responsible. He kept typing as he heard the living room light click off and the bedroom door opened and then shut.

"What are you doing, Master?" asked Mob as she used her powers to lay out her futon. She felt so totally and completely relaxed. Reigen could feel the tension leaving his body as she approached. Oh, he was pretty open right then. He retreated back into himself.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 0%_

_Mob: 100% relaxed_

"Mob, we're going to become novelists!" said Reigen with a dramatic flourish but still not facing her. He could feel her curiosity.

"You're writing a book?" asked Mob coming closer. Wow, Master really was amazing. She didn't even know that he knew how to write.

"We are, Mob. Today I was struck with inspirations! A book could really help promote the business! You know, with intellectual types. Plus we can make a lot of money if this thing takes off." Said Reigen scrolling up to show her the working title.

"Reigen and Mob: the Great Unknown Psychics. Master, you're amazing. I didn't even know that you wrote books. I don't know if I can help, though, I've never written any books before. Also, isn't publishing books complicated and expensive?" asked Mob. Emi had explained he complicated writing process and publishing process to her, with input from Mezato. Making videos seemed much easier.

"Mob, you'll do just fine, don't be so down on yourself. I believe in you, and your composition grades are actually pretty good. Also, with the magic of crowdfunding we'll have enough money in no time. Here, check it out." Said Reigen pulling up their crowdfunding page. Wow, they were already a fifth of the way towards their goal. His theory had been correct, people would be much more willing to fund projects if someone had donated first. An excellent use of the extra money they had made this month.

"Wow. We made a lot of money. Ok, Master, I'll help. My friends Emi and Mezato can help too, they're really good writers." Said Mob. They were both in the paper. Mezato wrote articles and Emi wrote novels and human interest pieces so they could definitely help out.

"Good thinking Mob, but don't promise them more than one, no, two percent of….the….profits…" Said Reigen as he turned to face her. As he finished his sentence his eyes landed on her. For a moment he wondered how, exactly, she had ended up with all of those bruises on her neck but then he remembered where had been all afternoon.

"What percent do it get?" asked Mob. She didn't care about the money, not really, but it would be nice to save up in case there was something that she really wanted, like new clothes. She could really use some new clothes. Hers were starting to get too small.

"Uh….forty…..percent…." said Reigen. Well then. He knew that she got up to….nope. He was not going to make this into a big deal.

"Are you alright, Master?" asked Mob. Master Reigen was staring at her, but he had pulled his aura in so close she had no idea what he was feeling.

"Roughhousing today, Mob?" asked Reigen attempting to look nonchalant. Well it wasn't like she was doing anything he hadn't done at her age.

"Huh? Oh, this. No, just kissing a lot." Said Mob. You could kiss someone in places other than on the mouth. She knew this now. She knew this and it was wonderful.

"Uh…ok. That's…I'm glad for you but you can't walk around like that. Come here, let me rub your neck so those heal faster." Said Reigen. Mob stood closer and he turned her around. He rubbed her neck with just enough pressure to relive all the blood trapped under her skin.

"That feels nice." Said Mob as she closed her eyes. She hadn't gotten a back rub in a while, or even a shoulder rub. Oh yes, this was nice…almost as nice as…

"Sorry Mob, but you got yourself in this state and I can't let you walk around like this." Said Reigen as the lights above them flickered. He must have hit a sore spot.

"Why not? I heal fast." Said Mob. She knew it looked like she had been fighting, Teru didn't look much better. She didn't know that this would happen. So this was why there were so many girls who wore bandages on their necks.

"Because everyone can tell what you've been up to and that should stay private." Said Reigen as he rubbed her neck. What was the other trick for this? Oh, yeah, a cold spoon. He's try that next. Toothpaste was also a trick but he couldn't remember that one ever working.

"But you said that it wasn't bad." Said Mob as Master Reigen stopped rubbing her neck. Reigen thought for a moment. How to explain this without giving her a complex….

"It's not bad but it is private." Said Reigen. Well, it should have been private but she was fourteen and obviously neither of them had mastered the art of not leaving marks.

"But I tell you." Said Mob. She kind of knew what he meant but I did that meant that they weren't telling each other everything anymore?

"Well, yeah, you can tell me anything. I'm not mad at you, just concerned for what the rest of the world will think." Said Reigen getting up. He motioned for her to follow. Hmm…it didn't have to be a spoon, just something cold. Frozen food to the rescue!

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob as Master Reigen pressed some frozen food to her neck. She held it there with her powers. She knew that she'd probably be healed by the morning but she appreciated his concern.

"Well, this certainly isn't going in the book…" muttered Reigen. Mob looked up at him.

"You don't have to write about me, too, Master. That's alright." Said Mob. Master Reigen wanted to be famous so that they could help more people. She just wanted to help people so Master Reigen could go ahead and be the famous one all on his own.

"Yeah but I want to. Anything interesting that happens with me also has you in it." Said Reigen telling the complete and total truth. She had been his bread and butter for years. He wouldn't even have powers if not for her. It was only fair that she was in the book. Not parts like these, though. These were her own private awkward times.

"But you've only know me for three years." Said Mob. Master Reigen was old, almost twenty nine, he had spent most of his life without her and it had seemed pretty interesting. She didn't know too much about that time in his life, the time before her, just the little things he told her here and there or when she directly asked.

"That's still a while, especially for you. Don't worry. I'll leave out all the awkward parts. Actually, you can write the parts that are about you all by yourself." Said Reigen. Huh. Wow, she really did heal fast. He'd have to talk to her later about discretion. Or not. You only got a very short window to brazenly make out in public.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. Hopefully her friends would help her out. Hopefully. Master Reigen took the frozen food and put it back in the freezer. She hoped that the gyoza and fried rice balls would be alright. The packages said freeze until ready to prepare.

"Come on, you don't have to seem so down. This is going to be great, just you see." Said Reigen purposely trying to stay as far away from her feelings as humanely possible. He knew that feeling he had picked up off her of and….yeah….he never wanted to feel that from Mob. Ever. That was incredibly private.

"If you say so, Master. I believe in you." Said Mob. Reigen patted her on the back and went back to the bedroom. She followed. It was late and they needed to open the office tomorrow.

"I'm going to turn in for the night Mob. See you in the morning." Said Reigen as he shut off his monitor and the bedroom light. He could hear Mob rustling into her futon.

"I'll go to be too, Master. I'm tired. You were right, sometimes you'll be super tired afterwards." Said Mob as she laid down and closed her eyes. Reigen sat straight up so fast the bed hit the wall.

"Mob, did you two…do we have to go to the clinic?" asked Reigen. Damn. He should have taught her about protection! Great, now she was probably.

"No. We didn't do that yet. I don't really want to. Not really. I don't know. It just seems like a lot. I don't know I'm not really ready." Said Mob still laying there with her eyes closed. She could feel Master Reigen's panic but she let it wash off of her. She was just too relaxed right then.

"Oh…ok then. Hey Mob, you uh, you know how not to….we'll talk about this in the morning." Said Reigen. This was not the time to have this conversation. Nope. This was best had a week from never. No, that was stupid. This was a conversation to have at the drug store but it was a conversation to have.

"Oh. Ok. Hey Master Reigen, can I ask you something?" asked Mob. Reigen stifled a groan. That never prefaced anything good. This was going to be one of those nights, wasn't it?

"Mob, is this a work question?" asked Reigen knowing that it most likely wasn't.

"No." said Mob

"A school question?" asked Reigen crossing his fingers.

"No." said Mob again, her eyes still closed.

"A puberty question?" asked Reigen knowing that it most likely was. Well, fine then. He was a grown up, he could discuss these things with someone who needed guidance. Bring it on.

"No." said Mob simply. Reigen blinked.

"Oh…then what kind of question is it?" asked Reigen, slightly relieved. He didn't want to know what had gone on that night. Not at all. Mob tended to overshare whenever she asked those kinds of questions and he didn't want the details on that part of her life.

"Why do you want us to be famous so badly? The business always made money and we always had plenty of people to help." Said Mob. Reigen turned on his side to face her. She could feel him looking at her so she opened her eyes and turned onto her side.

"Because….I guess…I guess that I want to be somebody." Said Reigen after a moment. Mob made eye contact. He was still keeping his aura away from her. Why? Or did he get good enough control over his powers that he could hide it again like how it was before?

"But you are someone. You're Master Reigen." Said Mob. He was somebody. Everyone was somebody. Everyone was the protagonist of their own life, like he had said.

"I know but…I guess that I want to be someone to everyone, not just you." Said Reigen. He wanted to be something because he was tired of people making him feel like nothing, but he didn't tell her that. She didn't need to be burdened with his feelings more so than she already was.

"I'm not enough?" asked Mob softly. Hurt. She sounded hurt. He reached over and brushed her hair from her face. She still stared at him.

"You are, Mob, you are. I guess…I guess it's hard to let go of a dream. I mean, I don't know. This is just what I want, I guess, but I am happy being your Master. Don't ever forget that, Mob." Said Reigen, his hand still in her hair. He felt her nod.

"I could never forget that, Master." Said Mob softly closing her eyes. She really was so very tired.

"Please don't, Mob, please don't." said Reigen quietly, almost whispering, as she drifted off.

"I won't…don't worry Master. I won't." said Mob softly. Reigen watched her for a long moment before turning around and facing the wall.

"Please don't leave me behind, Mob, when you grow up." Said Reigen before he closed and drifted off. Well, he tried to. Eventually he did, in the early or late hours of the night. It depended on how you looked at it.

It was all about perspective.


	21. Feelings are Complicated

"_My loyal student came to be in the year 2016. She sought me out for my wisdom for I, Reigen Arataka, was the only person in existence who could guide her, Mob, in the use of her powers. Power too great for one little girl. The power to swallow up black holes, the power to throw men a hundred meters in the air, power that would be incomprehensible to the average person. It was in the year 2016 that I came to act as master towards the most powerful esper in Japan, possibly the world, Kageyama Shigeko, otherwise known as Mob."_

Yes, this was coming along nicely. Reigen was at his desk, typing away at his laptop. Mob was at her own little desk, scribbling away in her notebook.

"_When I was eleven years old I did a very bad thing and the only person who could help me was Master Reigen. I saw his sign while I was walking around, I didn't like to come home directly after school in those days. My parents didn't really like me, they were afraid of me, but Master Reigen wasn't. After I passed by his office for a couple of days I finally decided to head in because I thought that he could help me out. I thought that we would be the same. The stairs were tall and the door was heavy, mostly because I was so little. I was afraid, too. I thought that Master Reigen would be afraid of me because I had hurt someone but he wasn't. He was so nice. He made me tea and he looked at me like I was a person, a real person. My parents looked at me, and still look at me, like I'm a monster or a bomb. Like I could hurt them. He didn't look at me like that at all. He wasn't afraid of me at all. That's how I got to be the student of the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century, Reigen Arataka." _

Mob's handwriting was small and blocky, it would look better once she typed it out. Was it too short? Or too long? She didn't know. It was hard to put to paper, exactly what that day had been like. How nervous she had been coming up those stairs for the first time. How tall Master Reigen had seemed. How amazing it had felt, to find someone who understood. Who was like her, who knew what it felt like to have powers and to be different from everyone else. Who looked at her like she was a person, not a monster, not something dangerous, not a bomb.

"_She came to me afraid of her own powers, something understandable as she was just a little girl and her power level did exceed anything I had ever seen before, including my own. I knew from the moment that I set eyes upon her that it was destiny that had brought the two of us together. She was destined to be my student for I, Reigen Arataka, was the only person on the planet capable to teaching her how to control her powers. How to control them and how to use them for good. For the moment I set eyes upon her I knew that she would be my apprentice, my partner, and my successor."_

Hmm…maybe he was laying it on a little thick there. When he first met her he thought that she was messing with him. It didn't feel like some big, grand, destiny type of thing. He had no idea then that she would become his apprentice and friend. He hadn't envisioned any of this, but the readers didn't need to know that. People liked this kind of stuff, dramatic stuff like that.

"_Master Reigen was a very powerful esper then. He could hide his own aura and sometimes I think that he was afraid of himself, too, like I was. He always had be exorcise the less powerful spirits because he was afraid that he'd end up destroying the place with his powers. His powers are spiritual though, so I'm not sure if he counts as an esper. It doesn't matter, he still helped me and continues to help me. He's my master and I'm his student. When we met I just wanted to have someone I could come and talk to, I didn't know that I'd end up being his student. I'm happy that this happened because now I'm not afraid of myself, not as much. Sometimes I lose control but not as often and not as badly as I had before I met Master Reigen."_

That was good. It was important to be honest, especially if they were writing a book. She couldn't just lie to all of the people who read this. People could know that she was afraid of herself, that Master Reigen might have been afraid of himself. Maybe everyone was afraid of themselves in their own ways. What had Master Reigen called it? The imp of the perverse. Everyone had parts of themselves that they didn't like. The part of her that she didn't like, the part that wanted to do bad things, was just scarier than everyone else's that's all.

"_I could see Mob's fear, her apprehension, so I gave her the greatest piece of wisdom that I could. I told her that no matter what powers we had we were only human. We were human beings the same as everyone else and our powers were just another characteristic that we had. We couldn't lose ourselves in our powers, but we shouldn't waste them either. We have the power to help others and that's what we do. The truth of one's charm is in their kindness. If it weren't for me teaching her what I did I shudder to think of what she could have grown into."_

It was the truth. It was a harsh truth but it was the truth. If not for him she could have ended up like those adult espers they had fought. Actually, yeah, this could be a good sort of lead in to what had happened with Claw. He would have to write about it, it was one of the defining moments of their relationship together. Plus he was a total badass that night, sort of, when she lent him her powers. She had been pretty badass too. Yeah, that would be the book's climax. First, though, they needed to do the origin part of the story.

"_Perpetuity means forever, I learned that at school. I didn't know it then, when we met, that we would be together in perpetuity but we are. I still need help controlling my powers and Master Reigen has already taught me so much. He taught me not only how to control my powers but how to be a good person. He taught me that I was a human being like everyone else, not a monster. He didn't think that I was a monster, not like my parents did. He thought that I was a human being, the same as everyone else, and he taught me to remember that. He taught me that my powers were just another part of me and that I couldn't let them define me. They are just another talent, another part of me, but I can use them to help people. Master Reigen taught me how to use my powers to help others. The truth of one's charm is in their kindness so that's why we have to focus on being good people. That's why Master Reigen and I are together in perpetuity, because he's taught me how to be a good person." _

That was a good word, perpetuity. She had learned that in school and it sounded smart. Mezato used big words like that in her articles. The bigger the word the more serious it sounded. That day, meeting Master Reigen, was very serious. It was the most important and most serious day of her life. That was the day she had really become herself, she decided, when she became Mob. She didn't know if they would actually be together forever but he did promise to make her a partner in their business so maybe that meant forever. She hoped that things never changed, that they stayed this way forever.

"_That is how I, Reigen Arataka, came to have the greatest esper in Japan as my humble student. I am not afraid to admit that her powers to exceed my own. I, Reigen, am not a jealous man at all and I am grateful that she accepts me as her Master. I accept her as my student and all that comes with it. In the three years we've been together I've trained her day and night in the use of her powers until she could almost always control them. I trained her too well and she decided to shun all forms of violence, vowing to spend her life as a pacifist. No matter the battle she refused to use her powers against another human being. She was a pacifist to the point of sheer stupidity! She knew the power that she held under her skin, in her hands, and she knew that if she were to lose control she could, no, would, seriously harm if not kill someone. She had made pacifism a part of her very moral framework and I let her do that. It was my fault. Everything happened to her was my fault."_

No. he'd have to retype that part out later. Too real, too much of himself there. It was his fault, what had happened to Mob. That she had listened too closely, that she had ignored his talks about self-defense and running away until she was so cornered until she had no choice but to fight back. She had no choice but to put her life on the line….

"Master? How many words do the chapters need to be?" asked Mob not looking up from her writing. Reigen shrugged.

"I think that the chapters need to come to their own natural end, Mob, so I guess make them as long as you want." Said Reigen. H was averaging about ten thousand words a chapter, when he did the English version. It was good to get both versions done at once, like simuldubbing anime. Plus that way more people could read it, people who didn't speak Japanese. People on his mother's side of the family.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob getting back to writing. This seemed done then. She had finished her version of the day she met with the first time they had ever gone for takoyaki. It had been after their first job. The spirit had been really weak, just someone who wanted people not to sit on his usual bus bench. He had been so attached he had died there so Mob had to kick him out. It wasn't anything, really, she had exorcised much stronger spirits. Master Reigen had still been very proud of her and they had gotten dinner. It had been nice.

"How's yours coming along?" asked Reigen as he finished his. He ended his on the first time he had ever taken her for ramen. She was so small he had to lift her onto the stool. Her feet dangled and she lost a shoe but caught it with her powers and slipped it back on like it was nothing. He had almost choked on a mouthful of noodles, he wasn't used to her powers yet. He got used to the mundane utility to them, though. She used them a lot more when she was smaller, mostly to reach things.

"I think I'm done with this chapter. How long does the book need to be?" asked Mob. Emi always said that the bets books were either really long or really short. That way you knew that everything that needed to be said had been said.

"I don't know, really. I was just going to end it with what happened at the, uh, Claw base." Said Reigen watching her face, her feelings, her aura. He let himself wash over her. Huh. She wasn't upset at all. She wasn't really much of anything. No strong emotion at least, and he wasn't about to start digging into her feelings.

"I think that we should end it when we found the tsuchinoko. That's what our first video was about, anyway." Said Mob. All good stories, well shows, ended on a breather episode so they should end the book on a breather chapter. Their fight with Claw was just too big, too much, to end their book on.

"You think? It's not really, you know, as much as when we fought Claw. We didn't even do much, we just hiked in the woods until we found the damned thing and then you killed it." Said Reigen. They couldn't end on that, it was too mundane. Well, mundane for them, anyway.

"I think we should end it there. All the best stories end on a breather episode." Said Mob

"You think they'll adapt this into an anime?" asked Reigen already seeing the dollar signs. He hadn't even thought about licensing rights. If he finished the English translation at the same time as the Japanese version they might even get on TV in the United States. It would be a drama with real people, though, people in the United States loved dramas with people.

"Maybe, but it would have to be a manga first, and I can't draw." Said Mob. Even with her powers her drawings didn't look good at all. Like a little kid's.

"Hang on, let me….and done!" said Reigen taking a pen to the back of a questionnaire and scribbling quickly. He scribbled down what was supposed to be a picture of the two of them. Simple geometric shapes, no color, and maybe his sense of proportion was a little bit off, too. Still, it was them. Hey, he was a psychic, not an artist.

"I think we should stick to writing a novel, Master." Said Mob. She had seen manga before, read quite a bit of it, and that didn't look like manga. Not that she would tell Master Reigen that he wasn't any better at drawing than she was. That would have been mean.

"You're right, let someone else buy the rights. We could get published in something cool like Weekly Shonen Jump." Said Reigen. Maybe the big Sunday shonen too. All those old manga magazines he had read when he was a kid. They were still published, right? He hadn't picked up a manga magazine in years and Mob only read girl manga magazines. How many times could she read about two people falling in love and not realizing it before she got bored? Apparently never.

"We can't be in shonen though, unless we make you the only main character. Shonen doesn't have girls as main characters." Said Mob. Ritsu's manga, anyway, was all boys as main characters. It was even, though, because hers was all girls as main characters.

"Nah, we'll just rewrite you as a guy. Uh, what's a guy's name that sounds like Shigeko?" asked Reigen. Shingi? No, that was too far, and people would just think he was ripping off Evangelion.

"Shigeo." Said Mob simply. That was what her parents would have called her, if she was a boy. They didn't call Ritsu Shigeo, though, because it was too close to Shigeko.

"Yeah, we could just call you Shigeo. I mean, we'll have to change a few details around but it could work." Said Reigen, forgetting the saying about not counting your chickens before they hatched.

"I think we should just finish the book, first, Master." Said Mob remembering the old saying about not counting their chickens before they hatched.

"You're right Mob, after this we'll plan out the manga. We'll have to insist that they publish every single page in color though, just so that people can, you know, see what we see." Said Reigen. He was getting better at filtering the colors out, making the world seem duller. It was just so, well, vibrant. If he really let himself perceive he could even see the energy that made up everything. He had caught himself doing the Mob stare on more than one occasion.

"That sounds expensive, Master." Said Mob as she started on the next chapter. This one would be a time skip, to today times. This was going to be paced fast, she decided, if Master wanted an eventual anime adaptation. Something that they could squish into twelve or thirteen episodes. Not something that went on forever, no, then people might get bored of them.

"You're right, just a few panels should be in color. Yes….much more powerful that way…" said Reigen getting back to typing. He worked and worked, not even pausing as he sipped his tea and smoked. Yes, this was coming along nicely. He was a hell of a writer if he did say so himself. He even made sure to keep it simple even though it would look better if he used better more obscure and poetic kanji. He didn't, though, because he had translations to think about.

"Master…Master there's a client." Said Mob. Oh. He had gotten too into it. Damn. The client already had a cup of tea and Mob was holding a filled out questionnaire. He saved his text document and read over the page. Cursed? Probably stiff shoulders.

"I can lift the curse, Master, if you're too busy." Said Mob. Reigen was about to tell her that she shouldn't go around rubbing backs and shoulders when she didn't know what she was doing when he saw it. Black, sticky, gross. It was like tar. It felt grosser and grosser the more he focused on it.

"No, I'll handle it." Said Reigen. Right, show time.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob going back to her desk. This wasn't just a bad back and stiff shoulders, no, she could see an actual curse clinging to the man.

"Hello and welcome to Spirits and Such. I'm Reigen Arataka and this is my student, Mob. How may we help you?" asked Reigen. He was marshalling his power, what he could. He focused on how much he wanted that curse gone, kind of like nudging a spirit to pass on. He met Mob's eyes and she shook her head, subtly.

"Wow, you're really Reigen! You're much taller in person!" said the client shaking his hand with more enthusiasm than form.

"Uh…thank you. So, I understand that you're cursed?" asked Reigen. Wow. A fan. Not just someone who had seen his work but an actual live fan.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I slept facing north, left my chopsticks straight up in my bowl, and went to a SHIT TON of funerals without tossing salt over myself. Funerals for people I never even met." Said the client. Mob and Reigen both stared at him for a moment.

"Well, I suppose we all like to live dangerously from time to time." Said Reigen. This guy was an idiot, apparently.

"Why would you do those things? That's bad luck." Said Mob, staring down at her work now. She could understand making mistakes but not that many.

"To meet you two!" said the client. Mob stared over at him.

"You didn't have to get yourself cursed. You could have just come in. We take walk-ins." Said Mob. People were such a confusing bunch sometimes. She'd never understand them, not one bit, for as long as she lived.

"Mob, be nice." Said Reigen. He, of course, echoed her sentiments. Curses were nothing to play around with.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob returning to her work. Great, now she had lost her train of thought.

"Wow! Just like you guys talk to each other on Youtube! Hey, can I get a picture with the two of you?" asked the client pulling out his phone.

"Of course, but first my apprentice will remove the curse attached to you. Hey, Mob, show time." Said Reigen. Mob stood up. Show time meant that she had to make this look cool even though she could easily remove this curse, and it was a pretty weak one, without lifting a finger or even looking up. That's why she had to do this. Master Reigen couldn't make it look cool, he was pulling his power together like he would for an exorcism. It wouldn't work. This wasn't something that you could coax into separating from a person. This was a pool of negativity that would need to be annihilated.

"Hold still." Said Mob simply. She let her aura show so that regular people could see it, Master Reigen said that showing people that they were the real deal would put people more at ease. She made a big arc with her hands and buried the client in her energy. It was mostly for show, she was just removing the curse after all. When she finished the client began to stretch.

"Wow! That was so cool! How'd you do that?" asked the client. Mob shrugged.

"I just destroyed the curse, that's all, I'm not sure exactly how it works." Said Mob getting back to her desk. She started writing up the receipt before Master Reigen asked her to. This probably counted as the lowest level of curse removal, since the client hadn't been there very long at all.

"No, I mean what did you 'really' do? You guys can tell me." Said the client. Reigen crossed his arms. He could feel the confusing coming off of Mob.

"She means what she said. She used her powers. Now, do you still want that picture?" asked Reigen. He had to be nice to the client. Just take a picture, collect the money, and get on with his day. Call him a fraud, call him whatever, but not Mob. She was the real deal.

"Holy shit you guys are real…." Said the client. Mob nodded. Of course they were real. Why would they be running a psychic consultation office if they weren't psychics? That would be lying, and dumb. Why would regular people go around exorcising spirits? Spirits were dangerous.

"Of course we are. We wouldn't lie." Said Mob simply. Reigen looked away from her.

"Mob, come on, be the selfie stick." Said Reigen not able to meet her eyes. More confusion was coming off of her. He'd tell her the truth when she was older. When she was old enough to handle the truth.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. They took pictures with clients sometimes. It was good for their business's public image, Master Reigen had said. They stood together and Mob took the picture. She thought that this looked alright. She smiled in that one, even though she didn't feel like smiling. Smiling for pictures was the polite thing to do after all. They bid their client farewell and went back to work. The office was soon filled with the sound of key clacking and pen scratching.

"_As the years went by my student progressed far beyond what I could have ever expected. Her powers, which had eclipsed my own even during her childhood had grown beyond comprehension. This growth in power attracted the attention of those who sought to use her for their own gain. As powerful as she was she was still only the student and her power was raw, her technique was still juvenile, and that is how I, the great Reigen Arataka, had ended up taking down the organization known as Claw."_

That was alright, it could have been better. Maybe he should use a proxy name for Claw, actually. They had called it the 7th division so maybe there were others. He looked up, suddenly. Others. Mob could end up kidnaped, again. No. He wouldn't let that happen. Not again. He had come so close to losing her…

"Master? You're using your powers on me again." Said Mob as she wiped tears from her eyes. She got up and walked over to Reigen. He needed her. She didn't know what he was so sad about but he needed her.

"Oh, hey Mob. I'm sorry I was just thinking about…its nothing." Said Reigen collecting himself. The thought of her kidnapped. Of her getting hurt. Of her dying. The memories of her screams, her laughs…oh God the way she was laughing. It was still a lot. It had only been a week after all. A week and a day.

"Master Reigen, you said that we could tell each other everything." Said Mob hugging him. They were level, almost, because he was still sitting in his chair.

"I know, I know. You can tell me everything but I shouldn't…Mob you're just a kid and there are some things that I shouldn't burden you with." Said Reigen. She seemed to be pretty much recovered from what happened. She and the other kids seemed fine, if their group chat was anything to go by. Kids were resilient, he had heard that before. Maybe they were resilient or maybe they just didn't fully understand the gravity of the situation.

"I'm not a little kid. I can be there for you just like you're there for me. That's what friends do." Said Mob like she was stating the most obvious thing in the world.

"Mob, no. I..I don't want to make you feel bad." Said Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"Master, it's too late for that. I'm fine though, because I can tell that these are your feelings and not mine. Well, I'm not really fine because knowing that you feel bad makes me feel bad. Why won't you tell me why you feel bad?" asked Mob, patting his hair like he was a cat. This always made her feel better. Hair was a lot more sensitive than a person would think it would be.

"Mob…I'm just…I was just thinking about what happened last week, that's all. It'll pass." Said Reigen. She was comforting him, again, like she had that night. This wasn't her place. It wasn't her place to worry about him like this. She was the student and he was the master.

"You mean when we almost all died?" asked Mob. That would be the most logical thing to be sad about from last week.

"Yeah, when we almost died…Mob…I can't lose you." Said Reigen after a moment. Mob stared at him.

"I already promised you that I would call you next time something like that happened. I'm not a liar, Master." Said Mob

"I know you're not a liar. Mob, you're the most honest person I've ever met. I was just…God damn it Mob there shouldn't be a next time! There shouldn't have even been a first time!" said Reigen before he could stop himself. Mob took a step back.

"Are you still mad at me?" asked Mob quietly. Reigen could feel it. Fear. Rejection. Anxiety. The couch flipped over and ended up on the ceiling with a loud bang.

"No, Mob, I'm not. I was never mad AT you. I was mad because all of that happened to you in the first place. It shouldn't have happened. You shouldn't have had to go through that. None of you should have." Said Reigen. If he ever met anyone who tried to hurt Mob or any other kids again he would beat them half to death, take a break to recover his stamina, and then go back and finish the job.

"But it did happen but we're fine now. We're practicing with our powers so that if it ever does happen again we'll be ready. Teru and Ritsu practice fighting every day after school now. They won't let me practice with them but I'm working hard, too. I stopped stuffing the other Shigeko down and now she's less upset and we coexist together better. If we coexist then we won't fight when we merge again and I won't forget what's real and what isn't. The others are practicing too. The Shiratori brothers are working on hearing thoughts from other people, not just each other, and can even sort of hear their parents now. Go can set his whole finger on fire now, not just the tip. Takeshi can bend spoons and forks without getting super tired. Rei is up to 75% accuracy. Well, she said it was 75% on Wednesday, I don't know if it got any better and I won't ask her now because she's on a date with Ritsu and she wants to get him to kiss her and I don't want to ruin her chances. She said that the future was unclear about if he kissed her or not. I don't know, Ritsu is my little brother, I don't want him to grow up too fast. Is that how you feel about me? I'm not growing up too fast but I am growing up but I'm sorry if I make you feel bad. Next time happens I'll call you but I'll also fight for you and everyone else. I'm not a pacifist anymore. I understand that I have to fight but I understand that sometimes I have to run away too. That's all I have to say about that." Said Mob. Reigen blinked.

"That's the most I've ever heard you say at once." Said Reigen after a moment as he tried to process everything that she had just said. That was certainly a lot. A lot a lot.

"I had a lot to say." Said Mob. She hoped that she had gotten her message across.

"I can tell." Said Reigen still thinking. These kids…they were still just kids. The worst they should have had to worry about was getting good grades and scoring dates, not whether or not they could defend themselves if they got kidnapped. Well, actually, yeah there were a lot of sick people in the world and even if they weren't espers kidnappers were a valid thing to worry about.

"Do you want me to say anything else?" asked Mob. Maybe she needed to elaborate more, or maybe he needed to hear it all again.

"No, not if you don't want to." Said Reigen. He was still processing what she had just said. OK, the kids did need to worry about bad people and there was nothing wrong with self-defense but this was still not an alright thing for them to worry about. In a perfect world they would have been safe and happy and loved. Well, this wasn't a perfect world. The world may have been bright and colorful now but it was still full of all kinds of ugliness.

"Do you understand now, Master?" asked Mob. Did he understand that she wasn't eleven anymore? That she was strong? That they were all strong. Ritsu had gotten kidnapped because she had held back, because she was afraid of using her powers to hurt someone even though they were going to hurt her. Even though they were attacking Ritsu. If that ever happened again, if someone ever tried to hurt any of them again, then she'd use her powers. Then she'd fight back. She'd run away, too, if she could but sometimes she had to fight. She didn't like fighting and violence but it was a necessary evil, sometimes.

"Do you understand, Mob?" asked Reigen. She needed to know that if this ever happened again he would be there for her. He would always be there for her.

"I understand that sometimes I'll have to fight. I understand that sometimes I'll have to run away. I understand that you'll be there to help, too. That's what I understand about all of this." Said Mob after a moment. Reigen stood up after a moment. He walked towards her and pulled her into a quick hug.

"Mob. Mob I…I just wish that…Mob remember to run away whenever you can." Said Reigen after a moment. She hugged him back and he let her go.

"I know, Master. I don't like fighting." Said Mob

"Then why do you want to fight with Teru and Ritsu?" asked Reigen. She shouldn't have to do that. She shouldn't have to put away everything she stood for and everything that made her who she was. Pacifist. She wore that word like a suit of armor, before. Now she had cast it aside like a pair of old shoes.

"Because someday I'll have to fight, again. I don't want that day to ever come, and I'll run away if I can, but I'm not a little kid anymore. I know that one day I'll have to fight again." Said Mob. Reigen patted her hair.

"Remember that I'll be there to protect you." Said Reigen. This didn't reassure Mob, he could feel it. She looked up at him through her fringe.

"Because I'm just a little girl?" asked Mob monotonously. Reigen shook his head.

"No. Because you're a kid. You're a kid, boy or girl, and you need someone to protect you. You're not a little kid but you're still a kid." Said Reigen trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. OK, maybe if she was a guy he'd worry a little less. It wasn't a conscious choice, he just wanted to protect her more because she was small and female. It was all biology and psychology and sociology and all the other –ology things he had learned about in university.

"Sometimes I feel like that's all that you'll ever let me be." Said Mob quietly

"Mob, don't be like that. You're more grown up than when I met you, I'll give you that, but you're still only fourteen. You've got a lot more living to do before you're all grown up and I want to make sure that you live long enough to do that living." Said Reigen

"Master…everyone wants to protect me. You, Teru, Ritsu…but I'm not…I'm not weak, I'm stronger. I'm really strong. I was so strong that I took out all of those Claw guys…well you helped but you had my powers…I only lost because I wouldn't go far enough…but I don't want to go that far…but I'm the only one strong enough to protect everyone." Said Mob

"Mob, you're right. In a fight the more ruthless opponent will always win. But I don't want you to become that ruthless. It's not…it is in you…we all have those parts to us…but you shouldn't ever have to embrace them. That's why I need you to let me protect you." Said Reigen

"But...I'm stronger than…am I stronger than you?" asked Mob looking up into his eyes. Brown eye met blue. Reigen felt his heart stop. She was. She was so much stronger than he would ever be. She had always been stronger. He was a liar. He had always been a liar. He…he needed to keep on lying to her. He needed to be there for her. He needed to be her rock. He needed to be her protector because that was his job. He was the Master and she was the student.

"Apples to oranges, Mob. Right now you're comparing apples to oranges. You're an esper, a powerful esper. Mob…from the way you took down all of those guys…from the power you shared with me I think you may be the most powerful esper in the country if not the world. But I'm…not an esper. Mob, you know my powers are different. I can't compare myself to you." Said Reigen telling the truth and lying at the same time.

"If I'm so powerful then why do I need people to protect me?" asked Mob. Reigen reached over and tugged her hair.

"Because you're still you, Mob. You're still just a kid and it's my job to protect you." Said Reigen. He felt her reaching up with her powers and tugging on his hair.

"You'll be there for me and I'll be there for you, Master. That's what friends do." Said Mob. Reigen decided to let it go, for now. It was true, she was more powerful than him, but he would protect her whenever he could. She was still just a kid and no amount of raw power that she wielded would ever change that.

Ritsu could have really used a friend. This date was going well, he thought. She seemed really happy. She was smiling a lot and taking lots of pictures. She looked pretty. She smelled nice, like perfume, and her clothes were tight and short. She was happy, she was pretty, and she wanted to be his.

So why couldn't he feel anything?

"Ritsu, what's wrong? We can trade if you don't like it." Said Rei. They were eating ice cream, she had thought that he would like it. He said that he liked it, and his sister loved milk to it seemed like a good choice. She had even seen them having fun with her clairvoyance. Maybe she should just go back to saying that it was 60% accurate.

"Oh no, I like it. This is really good." Said Ritsu forcing himself to eat. What was with him? She was pretty, she was nice, and she liked him. He wished that he disliked her, then it would be easier.

"So, do you want to go back to the arcade after this? There's a whole floor we haven't even check out yet." Said Rei. He was so hard to read, kind of gloomy, like Shigeko. Probably because they were family. She had thought that Shigeko didn't like her when they first met, either, but like a hard shelled ice cream ball she was really sweet once you got through the layers. She just had to get through Ritsu's layers until she got to the creamy center with hunk of white chocolate and sprinkles. This was actually very good ice cream.

"Oh yeah, that's the one with all the crane games. You want me to win you something, right?" said Ritsu absently. He didn't notice Rei's eyes light up.

"That would be great! Oh, and I'll win you something too. I think there's a machine in there with Evangelion merchandise. I know how you like that show. Did you know that they're making another movie?" asked Rei. She knew full well which machine that it was, where it was, and which toy he would like the best. It was the mystery box with the figure of Rei, his favorite character wearing the piloting suit she would be wearing in the new movie.

"Oh yeah, it's going to be pretty good I think. Have you seen the last ones?" asked Ritsu. He liked it, not to the body pillow and devoting his life to it point, but he liked it a lot. He hadn't thought that she would. She said that her favorite show was Free. Admittedly it was pretty entertaining but it was no Eva. It was like apples to oranges.

"I've seen every episode, movie, and read all the manga." Said Rei, omitting the fact that she had spent the last week studying his favorite show. She had even hung out with the anime club to learn everything that she could. So. Much. Lore.

"What did you think of the series ending? I think that it was about Shinji accepting death. Shigeko thinks that they just ran out of money so they had to get abstract." Said Ritsu. They had decided that they were both right, after debating it all night. In the end they were both right.

"The ending? I think that…I think that it was him turning into LCL. I think that's what instrumentality looked like. I know that the movie contradicts it but they can't just, like, erase the last two episodes of the TV series. If they do then what was the point of it all?" said Rei finishing her ice cream. The last movie made the show pointless. She wondered if Ritsu felt the same. It really was an interesting show, it just wasn't her usual stuff.

"You think? I think that he died and that was his afterlife." Said Ritsu. There, they had something in common. Come on, Ritsu, feel something already.

"Well, isn't becoming LCL pretty much just dying, anyway?" asked Rei using her finger to get the last of the ice cream out of the bowl. She glanced up at him. Huh. The magazine said that guys loved that.

"No, I think that it's like becoming a hive mind with everyone. It's like everyone melted together." Said Ritsu. Ick. She ate with her hands. You could get really sick like that.

"Like your ice cream?" asked Rei. Ritsu shrugged and finished his. It really was pretty good.

"Probably not that good to eat." Said Ritsu. She smiled and giggled. She rested her foot on top of his. He pulled away but she kept her foot there. Oh, right, he had seen couples do this. It was alright, he decided. Not that bad. Not great but not bad.

"Somehow I feel like it would taste like orange juice." Said Rei. Ritsu laughed, not at her but with her. She laughed a little, too.

"Or maybe cheese. Like that artificial cheese flavor." Said Ritsu. She giggled again. Getting girls to laugh wasn't that hard, he decided. He was making her happy, that was good. Maybe feelings could come later. He had just met her, after all.

"I hate artificial flavors. Like, when you can taste and smell how artificial they are. It's just like, yuck, I'll just go and eat the real thing, you know?" said Rei. Good. He looked happier now. Layer, she just had to peel back his layers.

"I know what you mean. Like strawberry mochi, the cheap ones at the convenience store. It's better to just eat plain mochi and fresh fruit. It's not that much more expensive." Said Ritsu

"I hate artificial fruit flavors the most. That's why I always get vanilla ice cream with fresh fruit in it, oh and chocolate. Chocolate is heaven." Said Rei. His hand was on the table. Now was her chance. She reached over and put her hand over his.

"Yeah, chocolate is pretty good. I used to drink a lot of chocolate milk when I was little. Not so much, now." Said Ritsu. Oh. She wanted to hold hands. Ok. It felt alright. Maybe he was supposed to lace his fingers with hers.

"Well we aren't little anymore. Chocolate milk is alright, but I like plain milk. Not as much as your sister though." Said Rei. Whoa! He was lacing their fingers already. How could she have doubted him? He obviously just had trouble showing his feelings.

"Oh yeah, Shigeko drinks more milk than water." Said Ritsu. She was holding his hand back. This was alright, her hand was kind of sticky, though.

"Are you still hungry? I can get the next round." Said Rei. If he let her pay that was good, the magazine had said, but also if he paid it was good, the other magazine had said.

"No, I'm full. Do you want me to win you a prize, now?" asked Ritsu. He'd win her a big plsuhie. They had giant dogs, she liked dogs, and she collected plushies. Or he'd get her a big chocolate bar, she also liked chocolate.

"Sure! I'll win you something, too, remember. Then we'll be even." Said Rei. They got up and still held hands. Wow. This was perfect. He was hot, smart, funny, had good taste, and he wasn't freaking out. Go had tried to run away when they held hands because his powers activated when he got super nervous. Takeshi had tried to run away when she tried to kiss him. Ritsu was way more mature than those guys.

"Take the stairs, the elevator is going to be really crowded." Said Rei as they entered the arcade. They passed by the elevator and sure enough it was crowded with loud elementary school kids.

"Thanks, Rei. Your powers are really useful." Said Ritsu. He was telling the whole truth. He would take clairvoyance over his power set any day. It just seemed more useful than spoon bending and barrier making.

"Yours are cool too. The way you threw those guys around was amazing. You're so strong." Said Rei blushing and batting her eyes up at him. They were in a stairwell, alone. Come on, Ritsu, get a clue already.

"No, I'm not the strongest." Said Ritsu. He had his powers but he couldn't even take down one of those Claw mini bosses. He had even lost to that annoying spikey haired kid. Ritsu still thought about his defeat at that kid's hands. Smug, cocky, jerk…

"So? What does it matter if you're the strongest or not the strongest? It's so cool just to even have these powers." Said Rei. She didn't care that she wasn't 100% accurate, she was just happy to be able to see the future sometimes.

"I guess. I don't know, I've just…I spent my entire life jealous of my sister because of her powers and now that I have mine…I'm still not anywhere near her level. I know that it's dumb but…" said Ritsu. She put a finger to his lips, silencing him.

"It's ok to be jealous, I think, but you shouldn't let it consume you. We have powers and it's cool. There will always be someone cooler than you just like there will always be someone smarter or faster or stronger but that doesn't mean that you aren't awesome. You're awesome, Ritsu." Said Rei. She took her finger from his lips and stepped closer. She had seen this in a movie, once. It had been so romantic. This was kind of romantic, at least they were alone.

"You're right, Rei." Said Ritsu. She did have a point. He had a lot going for him and he had let his jealousy consume him, before, and he had turned into an asshole. He wouldn't let that happen again.

"Thanks. I don't know, that's just how I look at things. Like, I know I'm not super pretty or smart or popular or athletic but I'm happy just being myself." Said Rei. Ritsu frowned.

"You're really pretty though, Rei. I think you're smart though and I'm not sure how popular you are but you talk about your friends a lot so I guess you have more than me." Said Ritsu. They had stopped walking. She was standing really close, too. She was still holding his hand.

"You think I'm pretty?" asked Rei. She had spent a while picking her outfit and finding a bag big enough to hide it in so she could change into it in the bathroom at the arcade before their date. The magazines had been right, super short skirts and super high socks were a great combination. Her shirt might have been too small, though, it kept on trying to creep up.

"Yeah. You look nice." Said Ritsu. She wore make up and her clothes were nice so she looked pretty. He knew that clothes and make up and stuff were important to girls. Oh. That just made her move closer.

"Hey, Ritsu, can I ask you something kind of private?" asked Rei. Ritsu shrugged.

"Sure." Said Ritsu. Whatever it was he'd answer her. It wasn't like he was hiding anything or had done anything he wasn't prepared to own up to.

"Have you had your first kiss yet?" asked Rei quickly. Nope. She had to be direct. Guys loved directness. Well, mature ones like Ritsu probably did. Takeshi and Go had just gotten nervous and tried to run away. Ritsu wouldn't, he was grown up like that. He had even dressed nice for their date, his shirt had buttons and everything.

"Huh? No, not yet." Said Ritsu. Was that her way of asking him to kiss her? She should just ask then. He'd either say yes or no, so what was she beating around the bush for?

"Oh. Can we kiss, then? If you want to, that is." Said Rei. He didn't look nervous, that was good. He wasn't going to freak out and run away like so many boys had before.

"Ok." Said Ritsu. He knew that it was his first kiss, and he knew that it was supposed to be special. That always seemed dumb to him. Why would the first one be so special? It was probably going to not be that good. Things usually weren't that great the first time.

"Really? Great. Now close your eyes." Said Rei. She was practically bouncing. This was so perfect! They just needed some background music and it would be the most perfect thing ever.

"They're closed." Said Ritsu not knowing why he needed to close his eyes for this. Maybe it would be weird to have his opened, things looked weird up close.

"Good. Ok, I'm going to kiss you now. Don't run away." Said Rei

"Why would I do that? I want to kiss you." Said Ritsu. Rei didn't know she could smile this much. Wow. He was so great! Ok Rei, time to dazzle him.

"Ok. Here I go." Said Rei before she kissed him. It was quick, kind of, she thought. She pulled away, though. She was too keyed up to kiss him again. One was a lot.

"That was nice." Said Ritsu. It had felt alright, he thought. Not as slobbery as he thought it would be. Not bad. He wiped his mouth. Some of her lipstick had gotten on him. Not super great but not bad either. She looked like she had enjoyed it, though. That was good.

"You were really good." Said Rei. He had been. Not all slobbery but not all shaky and afraid, either. Mature. She could appreciate that.

"Thanks. Do you want me to win you something, now?" asked Ritsu. So that's what it was like. Well, he could check that one off his bucket list. He knew what it was like to kiss a girl and now he could die happy if an evil esper group ever came after him again.

"Yeah! Definitely!" said Rei. She took his arm and they finally made their way to the third floor of the biggest arcade in Seasoning City. She practically dragged him over to the crane machines. Ritsu let her lead. He watched her. She was really excited. Happy. She said that he was really good? Did that mean she had done that before? Probably. He didn't care. One of them needed to know what they were doing.

She practically pulled him to the machine with the Eva prizes. She pointed to the mystery box that had the toy that he would absolutely love. She was sure, she had used her powers. It took her a while to win it, though, and towards the end he just ended up nudging it with telekinesis. It was nice, how much she wanted to win it for him. It was nice having someone think of him besides his sister for once.

Maybe having a girlfriend would be nice. It would be nice to have someone in his life to hang out with all the time besides his sister and her boyfriend. He did like to text her, sometimes, when he felt lonely. Maybe she was lonely, too. She had said that she wasn't popular. Maybe they could chase away the loneliness together.

He found a machine with toys she would like. She had told him about her stuffed animal collection. She was going for a particular color scheme, mostly pinks and reds and purples. Darker shades, though. He found a machine with a dark red velvet looking dog. He could win it with his powers, easily. He could but he'd try to do it on his own, first, without powers. Just once, so he could try. She was hanging off of him, now. It was alright. He had seen couples being like this. Shigeko touched Teru like this all the time. Girls liked stuff like this.

It took two tries without his powers to win her the dog. She insisted on taking a picture of the two of them with their prizes for all of her various accounts. She looked a lot happier than he did, Ritsu thought, but he did tend to look pretty serious. They got a comment immediately. Oh, Shigeko was happy for them. She used a lot of happy faces. Rei and Shigeko texted back and forth for a moment. Ritsu just sort of watched her. Rei was alright, he decided. He was in middle school and he ought to have a girlfriend. He had never had one, before, and he could die at any time so why not? She liked him, that was obvious.

He didn't like her in the same way, maybe. He had never felt that way about someone before so how would he know what it felt like? Or maybe it was one of those know it when you see it sort of things. He didn't know. He knew that he had fun. He knew that Rei was a nice person. He knew that he liked spending time with her. If she asked him to be her boyfriend then he'd say yes. Besides, they were only in middle school. It wasn't like they would end up getting married or anything.

Their date was actually pretty fun, he decided. She was a fun person. This was fun. This had been fun. He could totally do this again.

He still wasn't in love with her, though.

Mob was so glad that her little brother had found love. Love was important, it was a really great feeling that everyone needed to feel. Love made you stronger, she decided. Rei was certainly happy. She sent Ritsu a congratulations text, too.

"What's got you so happy over there?" asked Reigen as he typed. This thing was really coming along. Maybe if this whole psychic thing didn't work out they could become famous novelists.

"Ritsu found love." Said Mob not looking up. Maybe she could put this in the book, like a subplot. She was in the title and Ritsu was her favorite and only brother so it would make sense that he got his own hundred page subplot.

"Seriously? Well I guess there's someone for everyone." Muttered Reigen. These kids were growing up way too fast for his him. He almost wanted to take Mob to the park and push her on the swing like when she was little. She probably didn't even still fit, though. Sun rise, sun set and all of that.

"Yeah, it's Rei, from the Awakening Lab. She was telling me that she wanted to be with him. I thought that it was kind of weird, Ritsu having a girlfriend, but I'm happy for him. I guess that this is how you feel about me and Teru." Said Mob. Reigen leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah, pretty much exactly how I feel. You're getting better at getting a clue, Mob. Proud of you." Said Reigen pulling out a cigarette. He really needed to stop doing this around her. He opened a window. That would really help, probably.

"Oh. Well, I hope that Ritsu is happy with Rei and he doesn't end up with a broken heart like you, Master." Said Mob going back to her work. Reigen began to cough thanks to a very startled deep breath he took. Thank God he hadn't ended up swallowing his cigarette. How the hell would he explain that one to the hospital?

"Mob, I'm fine. All of that was years ago. I'm over it, now." Said Reigen as Mob poured him a cup of tea with her powers and set it down on his desk.

"You shouldn't smoke so much, Master, if it's making it hard to breathe." Said Mob not looking up. She was actually enjoying writing this book. This was a good thing, she could share the joy that she and Master Reigen had found together with lots and lots of other people. People loved books, that's why there were so many published all the time.

"You're right, Mob, you're so right." Said Reigen still not putting out his cigarette. He'd quit later, he still had this pack and the emergency packs at home. Oh, and the new emergency packs he had bought for the office. It would be a shame to waste so much money.

"You should drink something, Master." Said Mob, the cup on his desk rattling a bit. Reigen took a big swig of tea. His throat really was raw.

"Thanks Mob, for thinking about me, but you shouldn't worry about things like my love life. I'm fine." Said Reigen.

"You have one?" asked Mob. Reigen frowned. He knew that she wasn't trying to be mean. This girl didn't have a mean bone in her body, well aside from that thing inside of her that apparently could act on its own…nope. Mob was a nice person. The other Mob was not Mob.

"Uh…yes and no." said Reigen. Right. This was not an area that she should have been digging into. He let himself feel her emotions. Jealousy, probably towards him, and happiness, probably still from her brother getting a girlfriend. He pulled back into himself. As comforting as hanging out in her aura was he knew that it wasn't super healthy for either of them.

"How can it be two things? Those answers are opposites." Said Mob honestly not understanding. She was still writing, though, this time about when they had gone to an exorcism but it had turned out to just be squirrels in the attic so she and Master Reigen had to chase them out. That had been a fun day until Master Reigen thought one of them but him and he had to go to the hospital and get a shot in the stomach. That part had been scary. That was good, books needed scary parts like that to keep the reader engaged.

"Yeah…I'm not sure if this is an area you want to go digging around in, Mob. Hey, look at the time! Quitting time Mob, come on!" said Reigen. It wasn't exactly closing but it was a Saturday so maybe they could take the night off. Well, leave like half an hour early.

"Ok." Said Mob as she got up. She collected her pages and put them into her bag. They turned off the lights, locked the door, and off they went.

"Hey Mob, I don't feel like cooking tonight. How about we get something on the way home, sound good to you?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Let's get ramen." Said Mob. As if she needed to ask. Ramen was Master Reigen's favorite.

"Good thinking, Mob. Brilliant as always." Said Reigen patting her on the back. Oh. Hungry. Confused. Jealous. Happy. Rejected. Damn it, Mob, why do you have to feel so many things?

"Master?" asked Mob. Master Reigen had stopped walking. She felt his aura, what little of it she could. Oh. He felt bad. Her fault? Something else? What happened to them telling each other everything?

"Mob…jeez Mob…you really want an answer? Because this is going to turn into a long and awkward and personal talk if I give you an answer." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. She liked long talks, she didn't mind personal stuff, and she didn't even realize when things got awkward.

"We tell each other everything, remember? You said so, Master." Said Mob. Reigen sighed. Yeah, he had told her that, hadn't he? And this couldn't just go one way, could it? No, that wouldn't be fair at all and he had to be fair to her.

"I did say that, didn't I? Dug your own grave there, didn't you Arataka?" muttered Reigen. How much of his life was alright to share with her? Boundaries were a thing but their relationship was weird. She wasn't uncomfortable though. Honestly very little could actually make her uncomfortable. As long as she was comfortable she was fine, he decided.

"You never call yourself just your given name." said Mob, it was just an observation.

"Yeah, because I hate it. It's way too long. Too many syllables." Said Reigen as they kept walking. He liked his full name, though. It was a homonym for miracle worker. Kind of cool.

"Is that why people keep calling you Taka-chan?" asked Mob as they walked. Master Reigen had his hand on her back, it was nice. He was strong, it felt nice when he led them.

"I hate that even more. The only people who call me Taka-chan are my mother and relatives I never see who barely speak Japanese. I am way too old to be chan to anyone." Said Reigen. He was almost twenty nine, practically thirty, he might as well have been an old man. Of course he was way too old to be called chan anymore.

"We never use honorifics. Should I?" asked Mob. Reigen shrugged.

"I don't really care. You call me Master Reigen all the time so that counts. I guess you would be Mobbu-chan or Mobbu-san. I didn't know you minded, honestly." Said Reigen. She was always just Mob to him. She wasn't really below him, he had dropped the chan pretty soon after meeting her. It didn't really fit. She was cute and young and adorable but she was also pretty aloof to the world, sort of gloomy looking, and sometimes super intense.

"I don't, I just thought that you might. You said that you wouldn't be Master Reigen forever." Said Mob. Reigen looked down at her. Yeah, he wouldn't always be Master Reigen, would he? The two of them had had this talk before. Well, a version of this talk.

"No, I guess I'd just be Reigen-san then. We'd be equals after all." Said Reigen. He felt something like relief from her. What was up with that?

"Reigen-san. I like that." Said Mob. Not Arataka. She didn't…the last time he had asked her to call him by his name he had been sad and crying and scared and she didn't want that ever again. No. Even when she was all grown up and they were equals she still didn't want him to be like that.

"Should I start calling you Shigeko?" asked Reigen. He usually only called her Shigeko when he needed her attention. Mob honestly fit better,

"No, I prefer Mob. Also, sometimes Shigeko thinks that people are talking to her when I'm called Shigeko." Said Mob. Reigen stopped walking.

"Mob…can I ask you something? About the other Shigeko?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Of course. We tell each other everything, remember?" asked Mob. Of course she would answer any questions that he had.

"How much autonomy does she have, exactly?" asked Reigen. He probed Mob's feelings. Confusion. He probed deeper. That thing…oh God that felt gross…and it hurt a little.

"What does autonomy mean? Also she doesn't like that." Said Mob. Reigen probed a little deeper before pulling away. Base desires. Powerful base desires. It wanted to be safe. It wanted to protect them. It wanted and it wanted and it wanted but nothing else. Well, that was what he had seen. He needed a shower for his soul. It was like sinking into a warm pool of sour milk.

"Sorry, Mob. Uh, well, autonomy means…I guess I just want to know how much of her own mind she has." Said Reigen. Mob was confused. He probed deeper. She felt safe. She felt loved.

"What do you mean? Of course she has her own mind. Remember at the Claw base when we were talking? She doesn't use words when we talk, just thoughts and ideas. She talked to Teru though. She wanted to…well she wanted to do stuff and she said that self-denial didn't make any sense to her. Then we forgot what reality was when we obtained loss. Now I don't stuff her down as much and that means that she hangs around more and I have to fidget but I don't always feel like I'm about to explode." Said Mob. The other Shigeko didn't really talk too much, she just sort of existed.

"Freud was right…" muttered Reigen thinking back to psychology one back in university. So he was right about the three components of the psyche. Huh. Well then. At least this thing inside of her wasn't actually a sentient curse like Dimple had said.

"Who's that?" asked Mob. Reigen blinked. Right. Damn, he had gotten too wrapped up in his own head.

"Sorry. He was a famous psychologist. He said that the mind was made up of three parts. I think that the other Shigeko is your id, she only understands base emotions. You're the ego, you have the concept of morality, and then there's the superego who's supposed to put it all together. I guess that you were born without one…" said Reigen. Oh. Well then. That made perfect sense, actually. People were born different all the time, maybe Mob's powers were so big that she just never developed a superego. Reigen wondered if he should find a scientist or something and tell them not to discredit Freud after all.

"Something's wrong with me…" asked Mob quietly. Reigen got down to her level. He held eye contact.

"Mob, don't you ever say something like that. There is nothing wrong with you, nothing at all. You're just a little different and that's fine, Mob, so don't ever think that there's something wrong with you." Said Reigen. She was different, that was all. She needed to know that. He was not going to be responsible for her thinking that there was something wrong with her.

"There's nothing wrong with being different." Said Mob repeating what she had been told. Master Reigen said so and therefore it must have been true.

"That's right. Mob, this is important. Remember, there is nothing wrong with you." Said Reigen holding onto her shoulders. She nodded.

"Even though I can't get a clue?" asked Mob. Reigen still held onto her.

"Mob, I wouldn't have you any other way. Even when you ask me incredibly personal questions, even when you're blunter than the kitchen knives, even when you keep me up all night telling me extremely personal things I wouldn't have you any other way at all." Said Reigen. He hugged her before getting back to his full height.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. She thanked him for making her feel better. For being so nice. For being so wise. For giving her an answer to why she was so different, why the other her existed. She was just different. Master Reigen was so smart, he knew everything. So the mind came in three parts and she was just missing one. That wasn't so bad, better than being crazy or something, anyway.

"You're welcome, Mob." Said Reigen. She was so small and she needed him. So it had its own mind, that thing, her id. Well, at least he had learned something from his time at university. He reached over and tugged her hair. He was there. He had her.

"Should I have not asked, before, when you said that the answer was both yes and no?" asked Mob suddenly. She had been chewing on that one for a while. Maybe that was her being awkward again. Even if there was nothing wrong with her she still didn't want to come make him feel bad.

"Mob, you can ask me anything, you know that. I'll answer any question that you have no matter what it is. Sometimes things are just harder for me to answer. There are a lot of things that you just…I don't think you're ready to hear them…and I'm not calling you a little kid. Adult relationships are complicated, Mob. Come one, we'll eat in the park and I'll try really hard to answer your questions." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and followed him. They got their ramen to go, paper bowls too hot to hold so Mob carried them with her powers. They wound up eating on a bench in the park as the sun went down.

"Ok, first of all you don't need to worry about my love life. I'm fine, really, my heart broke years ago but I'm mostly over it." Said Reigen as he ate. Mob nodded and watched him. He felt her emotions, she was mostly curious.

"But you seem so sad when you talk about it, why?" asked Mob. If he was over it then why would he still be sad? Could hearts get fixed, too, after they were broken?

"Because it hurt, Mob. It's like…do you have any scars?" asked Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"I don't get scars, Master. I heal too fast. Ritsu has one though, under his hair." Said Mob. She didn't want to think about that day, the day she had lost control and hurt Ritsu.

"Well heat break is like getting a scar. You're healed but it leaves a mark. I…Mob I hope you never get your heart broken. It hurts like hell and you think it'll never end. You just want everything to end and you think nobody will ever love you again and it hurts. Mob, it hurts a lot, but then it's over. Eventually it does end." Said Reigen

"But it leaves a scar?" asked Mob. Was it literal? Could strong emotions leave scars? Sometimes if she felt deeply enough she could feel a weird sort of energy that demarcated where she ended and the other her began. She had to cross that demarcation when she and the other Shigeko merged. It had not felt good.

"Not a physical one but yeah, you do change. Even when you get over it, when you become alright with it, you'll never be 100% and that's ok. So even if I seem a little sad when I talk about it I'm still fine. Ok? You don't have to worry about me." Said Reigen as he ate. Mob used her powers to hold up their ramen for them. He could see someone taking a picture in the background. It didn't matter, really, though it was kind of flattering. Whatever, he was teaching Mob about life now, he could be distracted later.

"But then how can the answer be two things? Yes and no are opposites so how can they both be the answer?" asked Mob, genuinely curious. Reigen took a deep breath. Right. That. He knew that she had trouble with things like that, things that weren't totally literal and easy to understand. But this subject in and of itself was difficult to understand, especially for her.

"Because it just is, Mob. I don't…I haven't had a girlfriend in years." Said Reigen trying to find the words. He had words, many that he could, use but he had to be honest with Mob here. He owed her at least a little honesty between them.

"But what about all the times you-" said Mob before Reigen groaned.

"You knew every single time?" asked Reigen closing his eyes. He had been sending her out of the office to go to the store that was far away for years. God, how sleazy could he possibly get? She knew the whole time…

"No, not when I was little. But you do that a lot sometimes." Said Mob. It twisted at her insides, remembering. Knowing that he had been with someone else, a lot of someone's. But that wasn't fair now was it? She had someone, too, just one someone though. She had to get off of this. Green was an ugly color on everyone, that was a saying, and one she understood.

"You know I won't do that to you again, right? It was wrong of me." Said Reigen as she looked up at him with her big innocent eyes. She could make him feel like he was on top of the world or like the world's biggest piece of shit with just a look. He may have had his powers but she had the power to make him feel everything.

"You'll never send me to the store or you'll never have sex again?" asked Mob bluntly. She didn't like it when people were vague like that. Reigen choked on his ramen.

"Jeez Mob…chase you out of the office! I'll never chase you out of the office again!" said Reigen as he coughed. Mob slapped him on the back.

"You should eat more slowly, Master, you could choke." Said Mob simply. Master Reigen always talked while he ate even though it was dangerous.

"Yeah I-thanks Mob. Yeah, I should stop eating and talking at the same time." Said Reigen praying that this would be where their conversation ended.

"You could choke." Said Mob simply

"Yeah." Said Reigen wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Then you would die." Said Mob still as momentously as ever. Reigen could feel it though. Worry. Concern. Caring. Trust.

"That's why I should be more careful." Said Reigen watching her. He could tell when the wheels in her head were turning.

"I don't ever want to lose you, Master Reigen." Said Mob staring straight forward. She didn't. She didn't want to lose him death or love. But would she? One day? One day in the far off future? When she was all grown up? When he didn't think that he needed to take care of her anymore? When he decided that he wanted to find someone his own age to be with? Someone who he could be with because she was just so **little **even though she didn't want to be.

"Mob, you'll never lose me. I will always be there for you no matter what. I will never leave you, I'll never fear you, I'll never reject you, and I'll never replace you." Said Reigen taking her little hand in his. She was jealous all the time because…because she thought that he would leave her. It was a little but ironic, them both being afraid of the same thing.

"Even if you find someone else?" asked Mob. The grass beneath their feet grew wild like a jungle. Baby trees sprouted into life, being their full adult sizes in moments. Some of them even bore out of season fruit. She was fidgeting with her powers, giving Shigeko something else to do besides break things. Master Reigen was there and he cared and he would always be there.

"Mob, stop worrying about that. There isn't a human being on this planet, so unless your friend actually finds aliens, I will never replace you." Said Reigen trying to get her to make eye contact. She didn't. She was staring straight forward. The park was turning into an arboretum. Acorns were becoming trees. The sky was being blocked out now by all the branches. Reigen did not envy the groundskeeper.

"You'd replace me with an alien?" asked Mob after a moment. Reigen shook his head.

"Mob, you tone deaf little-I was kidding." Said Reigen. Oh. She was smiling.

"I know you were. Aliens aren't real, Master, if they were we would have seen some." Said Mob. Master Reigen let go of her hand and rubbed her hair, he might have been trying to get it to stop sticking up like that. She didn't care, it was nice.

"Even if they were I wouldn't replace you. Remember that." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"I won't replace you either, Master Reigen, we'll be together in perpetuity." Said Mob. Reigen felt his breath hitch in his throat. She wouldn't…she had no idea what the future held. He didn't either. It didn't have to end in them parting ways though. No. He would never part ways with her and she would never with him, for the foreseeable future.

"Perpetuity? Where'd you learn that word, Mob?" asked Reigen lightly. He was sharing his feelings now, he could tell, but he couldn't stop. So was she. Positive feedback. They were caught in a positive feedback loop. He knew that he needed to get them out of it but he just didn't want to.

"School. Remember, you helped me with my vocabulary homework." Said Mob looking up at him. She felt so happy. This was just pure and utter happiness, like someone had bottled sunshine and mixed it with a cool class of milk and a cat riding a panda served it to her.

"Oh, yeah. You're really smart Mob. You know that?" asked Reigen still watching her. She was so adorable. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with love and admiration. She cared about him and he cared about her and that was what mattered the most. There, on that bench, in the jungle she had created he could imagine them as the only two people in the world.

"You're smart to, Master, you know everything." Said Mob

"I don't know everything, Mob." Said Reigen

"You know a lot, then." Said Mob holding eye contact with him.

"So do you. You know a lot of things, things that I don't. You're…you're a better esper than I'll ever be. You've always been. I just…I've never told you." Said Reigen. She deserved honesty. She deserved all the honesty he could give her.

"I'm powerful, Master, but I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just strong, that's all. It's like you taught me, Master, my powers are just another part of me and I shouldn't rely on them. I'm trying to be a better person, Master." Said Mob

"Mob…I don't know what I'm doing, either. I can…I can barely control my powers. I have no fucking clue what I'm doing most of the time." Said Reigen. Mob put her hand over his.

"I know. I know that it's new for you, but you're doing great, Master. You can hide your aura again and everything. I can't control my powers that well, either, but it's alright. Remember, you said that we were learning together." Said Mob. She knew how it felt, not being able to control your powers. It wasn't a good feeling.

"How did I ever end up deserving someone like you?" asked Reigen quietly. She was there, she understood, she accepted him, she cared about him. What had he done in his short, failure filled life to get anything that he had now?

"Because you're a good person, Master. I've always known that you're a good person." Said Mob

"…thank you. You're…you're a good person Mob. You really are. Don't let anyone take that from you." Said Reigen. The world was big and mean and cruel and it ruined almost everything it touched. She was small, still so small, and she hadn't…but she had. She had seen what people were capable of. She had seen just how terrible people could be. She had seen terrible things, been so corned that she had to do terrible things, but she had come out the other side just the same. No. Stronger now, in many ways. Wiser.

"I won't. How can someone take that from me? I am who I am. You said that my life was my own. Nobody can make me into someone else, because I'm me. I'm Shigeko. I'm Mob." Said Mob simply. It made no sense. If she was the protagonist of her own life then how could someone take that away from her?

"You're right Mob. Your life is your own." Said Reigen. He had taught her that. She remembered. She remembered everything he taught her. She didn't always listen but she remembered. Whole hearted devotion. He had never had that from another human being. He had never given that to another human being.

"So is yours, Master. Yours is yours and mine is mine but I like how our lives are together." Said Mob

"…I like that too, Mob. You know something? You're my best friend." Said Reigen. She was, she really and truly was. She was still watching him. Not even blinking. Just staring.

"You're my best friend too, Master." Said Mob still watching him. He could feel it. Love. Acceptance. Caring. Devotion. Negative emotions were stronger than positive emotions, that was true, but that didn't make what they felt together weak. It was strong, so strong. It was so easy to get mired in them, to drown in them just as he had drowned in her aura. Just as he had lost himself in her. He could do it again. It would be so **easy** and he **wanted** to, but he didn't. He couldn't. He wanted to but he couldn't.

"So remember, I will never leave. Ever. So stop being so jealous. Nobody will ever replace you. I'll never love someone like I love you, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob stared up him. The only outward reaction she gave was the fact that the bench rose a few centimeters and the grass grew so tall seeds formed at the top.

"…you love me?" asked Mob. Her heart had stopped for a moment before it started beating like crazy. She had to do something with her powers or she'd **explode** so she poured as much of herself as she could into the plant life around them because she had to do **something. ** This was everything she had ever wanted….

"Of course I do. I'm not IN love with you, that would just be…not good…but I do love you. I care about you, Mob, you're my best friend." Said Reigen. She was still staring at him, but she still felt happy.

"…I love you too, Master Reigen." Said Mob. There were different kinds of love, and that was fine. He wasn't in love with her but he did love her, and that was enough.

It would have to be.


	22. I'd Like To Be You For a Day

Reigen was watching Mob sleep. Well, at least he thought that she was asleep. He hoped that she was asleep. She was still breathing, at least. There was what looked like a white glob of snot hovering above her. Reigen reached out to touch it with his aura but burnt himself. Spiritually, not physically, though this was him weary of actually touching it. If it was a spirit he didn't know what to do with it. It didn't feel malicious, it actually felt familiar. It felt like Mob. The other problem was that she wouldn't wake up no matter how many times he nudged her.

He was scared.

He tried to write his feelings to it. He tried to make it go away. It seemed to ignore him. It was almost like, whatever this thing was, it was asleep. He had no idea what to do.

"Hey Mob! Mob! Shigeko! Wake up!" screamed Reigen, earning him his downstairs neighbor banging on his ceiling. He shook her. He tugged on her hair. Nothing. What else could he do?

"Mob, listen to me, you've got to wake up. Please. For me. C'mon, Mob." Said Reigen as he knelt before her comatose body. She didn't stir. He shook her some more. Still nothing.

He needed to do something.

He picked her up as best as he could and carried her to the bathroom. The white snot glob followed her. He put her in the shower stall and turned the cold water on. It took a moment but the white glob of snot flew into Mob and she woke up with a gasp.

"Master!" said Mob, the water above her sloping away as if she were under an umbrella. Reigen could feel her panic and pulled her close to him.

"You wouldn't wake up." Said Reigen after a moment. Now she was just confused.

"I thought I dreamed that." Said Mob softly. She used her powers to turn the tap off. She shivered into Reigen's warm embrace.

"No, you were really out of it." Said Reigen breaking apart from her. He helped her out of the shower stall and put a towel around her, making a point not to look because, well, he had no desire to see Mob like that.

"I thought I dreamed you yelling at me and shaking me. I think I went outside my body again." Said Mob as she used her powers to pull the water off of herself. It didn't work out too well and she ended up just tugging on her nightgown.

"What do you mean, again?" asked Reigen

"Sometimes I can go outside of my body. I guess that I did it in my sleep on accident. It was like I was looking down at myself but I was still asleep. I'm sorry I made you worry so much, Master." Said Mob. Reigen looked at her for a moment. Her aura was normal and she didn't look like it even bothered her physically.

"Do you feel alright?" asked Reigen. Right. He needed to stay calm. She was fine, they were fine, and they needed to stay their day. The weekend was over, it was Monday, he had work, and she had school. Time to stop freaking out.

"I feel cold and wet and sad, well that last part is because you're upset." Said Mob as she stood there shivering. Reigen attempted to look relaxed.

"Nah, I'm fine. That's a cool power, by the way, you'll have to teach it to me." Said Reigen. The last thing she needed was to be worried over nothing. This was just another thing that she could do, that was all. Maybe she was going through a growth spurt or something.

"It's not hard. I just kind of let go and float away." Said Mob as they left the bathroom. Reigen went to the kitchen to start breakfast, she went to get dressed and start her day. As Reigen made some instant rice and let some raw eggs get to room temperature he calmed down. It took a moment but he did.

He was starting to get used to all of this, her powers and stuff. Living with her for over a week, knowing her for three years, would do that. He had read about out of body experiences back when he had first started studying the spiritual, but had never achieved it. Maybe he could, though, if he tried.

He laid out two eggs for Mob. He felt bad. He shouldn't have just tossed her in the shower like that.

"Your turn, Master." Said Mob entering the kitchen in her school uniform. She seemed fine. Normal.

"Thanks. Here, you can have the last two eggs." Said Reigen even though it didn't seem like enough. He shouldn't have panicked like that.

"But then what will you eat?" asked Mob as she sat down at the table. She used her powers to fill her rice bowl and take one of the eggs.

"We still have plenty of junk food left." Said Reigen taking the second egg and setting it next to her.

"Junk food isn't nutritious." Said Mob passing him the egg. She cracked hers into her hot rice and stirred it with her powers. He needed the egg more than she did. He ate junk all day, she got a nutritious lunch at school.

"You're a growing kid." Said Reigen passing the second egg back to her. Something moved through the air around him. Oh, it was her chopsticks.

"Master. I don't want this egg. You take it." Said Mob passing him the egg. She began to eat her breakfast, staring down at the table.

"But I want you to have it." Said Reigen siting down across from her. She still didn't look up.

"I know that you do, but why? Why does it matter? I know when I'm hungry and how much to eat until I get full." Said Mob. What was with him this morning? He was keeping his aura too close to himself, too. Mob looked up, trying to read his face.

"It matters because I'm sorry." Said Reigen as her eyes met his.

"For waking me up? I'm not upset, Master, you were just worried." Said Mob as she ate. Reigen held onto the other egg.

"I still shouldn't have freaked out like that. I'm sorry." Said Reigen holding onto the egg. He didn't really want it, he wasn't that hungry for eggs. Junk food sounded pretty good right then.

"I forgive you. I like it better when you say sorry in the first place. I'm not good at things like that, things without words." Said Mob. Reigen patted her on the back.

"You're not that bad at it, Mob, don't worry. I'll just go get ready, then." Said Reigen. He put the other egg away, she'd probably have it for breakfast tomorrow. She didn't look up as he left. He watched her aura. She was perfectly calm. He hadn't been. He needed to be calmer. It seemed like, since that night when they fought Claw, he was becoming more and more protective of her. Worried. Aware of her mortality. Of his.

Mob's mind was on anything but her mortality. Her chief concern was the book they were writing together. Yesterday they had stayed in and wrote all day. The book was almost halfway done. Half a book in three days was pretty good. Of course they hadn't done any editing at all and she hadn't even typed up her pages yet but they were making amazing progress. Well, she thought that they were. She'd have to show Emi and Mezato what she had written to get their opinions. They knew about this sort of thing.

After they finished their book they'd probably gets lots of business. They'd help lots and lots more people. They could be like Mogami. She could be like Mogami. She had seen every episode of his show, read every article, every account, of all the wonderful things he had done. All the people he had helped.

They were the same, her and him.

He was an esper too and he used his powers to help other people, too. He was on TV and she was on Youtube. She knew not to let her powers define her but she wasn't defining herself by her powers but instead using them to help others. If he could have been a force for good then so could she.

It was a shame he had killed himself though.

She didn't understand why someone would kill themselves. Master Reigen had told her that sometimes people had their own things going on and they just go so sad that it seemed like there was no end to it. Sometimes people fell to despair. Mob wished that he hadn't. Mob wished that Mogami was still alive.

Maybe they could have been friends.

Master Reigen said, back when they first met, that he was troubled as a kid, too. Maybe it would have been better for him if he had a master. Maybe Master Reigen would have been happier, when he was her age, if he had someone like Mogami as a master. She knew that Master Reigen wasn't happy when he was her age. He told her about it. How his heart got broken. How his parents were mean.

She wished that someone had been there for him the way that he was there for her.

She wished that someone had loved him the way that he loved her.

"Mob, don't say a word." Said Reigen as he entered the kitchen and got himself some cookies. Mob looked over at him. He had cut himself shaving. A few times, actually. He looked like he had gotten into a fight with a cat.

"Why did you cut yourself so many times?" asked Mob after a moment.

"What did I just say?" asked Reigen as he ate. Damned cheap razors…

"You told me not to say a word." Said Mob putting her rice bowl and chopsticks in the sink.

"Then why did you do the opposite of what I asked of you?" asked Reigen as she washed her dirty dishes, by hand this time.

"Because I was worried. That's a lot of cuts. Is shaving hard?" asked Mob simply, flatly, monotonously. Normal. She was still normal. Reigen at least had that going for him.

"When you use the cheapest razors available it is. I need to stop off at the store on my, our, way home today. You need anything?" asked Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"We only have one egg left." Said Mob. That was the only thing she could think up off the top of her head. They had plenty of ramen and frozen food left, so they just needed eggs.

"Right. Anything else?" asked Reigen as he finished off the last pack of chocolate cookies. He'd add that to the mental list, too.

"More paper, maybe. I've been using up a lot of paper, lately." Said Mob

"How far did you get, yesterday." Said Reigen as they left the kitchen. She grabbed her school bag and they made their way out of the house.

"I got up to the part when we exorcised that scary tunnel with the biker gang spirits." Said Mob as Master Reigen locked the door. They walked down the hallway, their footsteps echoing on the metal floor.

"I'm up to the time I sent you on your first solo job. Hey, uh, how much do you want me to say about that?" asked Reigen

"The day I met Teru? You can write about everything that happened." Said Mob. She knew that she and Teru had gotten off on the wrong foot but they had made their peace and were happy now.

"You don't mind? I just don't want to write about anything that you wouldn't want people to read about." Said Reigen. He might as well have put Mob's name first in the title. This book was mostly about her, anyway. He wasn't jealous, no, not at all. He was just worried about writing about things she didn't want other people to know about.

"You said that you wouldn't put anything embarrassing in the book, Master, I believe you." Said Mob as they left their building. Reigen put his arm around her shoulders.

"You're right, Mob, I won't ever embarrass you. Not on purpose, anyway, but tell me if there's something you don't want me to mention, ok?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"You should tell me, too, Master if I'm writing something embarrassing about you. Like the time when we were in the tunnel and you thought that the spirit was a wrestler, or the time when we got ramen and you tried the spicy ramen but then you started crying, or the time when we were at the park and the bird stole your big cookie, or the time when-" said Mob. Reigen reached over and gave her hair a tug.

"I get it, Mob, I get it. You know, I won't write about the time you threw up when we were in the car, or the time when they put cilantro in your ramen and you flipped the table over, or the time when-" said Reigen. Mob used her powers to ruffle his hair.

"I can tell that you're kidding, Master." Said Mob simply, not even looking over to Reigen as he stared at her.

"You're getting better at reading people, Mob." Said Reigen after a moment. She really was, all this socialization was good for her.

"No, just you." Said Mob. Other people could still be complicated, but Master Reigen was easier to understand. They spent a lot of time together and he spent a lot of time in her aura.

"That makes sense, we do spend a lot of time together." Said Reigen. He was understanding he better, too. Spending every single day with someone, from sun up to sun down with a short break in the afternoon hours, would do that for you.

"I know, I like it. I've never been this happy, before." Said Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"Mob, that can't be true." Said Reigen. She shouldn't say things just to make him feel better.

"Well, maybe not when I was really little but since I was eleven I haven't been as happy as I am when we're together." Said Mob. He didn't believe her. Why? It was the truth. Not just because she loved him but because of just how nice the atmosphere was. Nobody was afraid of her, nobody treated her like a monster.

"Seriously?" asked Reigen as they walked down the street. He may have said that a little bit too loudly, judging by the annoyance he could feel coming from the people around them.

"Yes. I don't tell lies, Master. You're my best friend and I'm yours." Said Mob flatly. Why would she lie about that?

"You're ok with that?" asked Reigen. He had been too emotional when he had said that. Too caught up in the loop of their positive emotions. He shouldn't have just up and told her that he loved her. She had even taken it the wrong way, before he elaborated.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" asked Mob genuinely curious

"Because, well, Mob I'm twice your age." Said Reigen like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mob looked and felt confused.

"I know, Master, I can add. My math teacher said that the only thing that I can do is add." Said Mob, a little bit of an edge to her voice. She knew how old she was. She knew how old he was. He had said he loved her. He had called her his best friend. These were not words that you could take back.

"What an asshole." Said Reigen. How the hell were the kids supposed to stay motivated hearing stuff like that all day? No wonder she was so nervous about math.

"That's mean…but sometimes he is." Said Mob. She didn't curse but, yeah, her teacher could be a real jerk. She knew she was bad at math, she didn't need to be reminded of it.

"Most math teachers are. Mine used to make me stand for the entire class, even when I wasn't sleeping." Said Reigen. He didn't even get to sit down some days. He had to stand at his desk. Of course he laughed it off. Nobody could laugh at you when you laughed at yourself, first.

"Mine just yells at me and makes me answer questions he knows I don't know the answer to." Said Mob. It seemed like every single day it was 'Kageyama! This!' or 'Kageyama! That!' which just made her hate math even more than she had hated it before.

"I'm sorry I can't help you, more. What's the use of being twice your age if I can't help you with math?" asked Reigen. He wasn't any better than math than she was. It wasn't fair to her, she wouldn't even need most of this in her adult life.

"That's fine, remember you got me that graphing calculator?" said Mob. Master Reigen shouldn't be himself up just because she was bad at math. The made it to the train station and paid their fare.

"That thing still works? I got that used back when I was in middle school." Said Reigen. He had found it in one of his many memory boxes and gave it to her as more of an afterthought than anything. Just an 'oh yeah, Mob might like this' and nothing else. She reached over and held onto him as the train approached. He hoped she didn't get motion sick again, this wasn't a car, he couldn't just pull over and let have her throw up on the side of the road.

"Was middle school back then how it is now?" asked Mob asked Mob after a moment. They had gotten on the train and she was leaning into him as they sat down. He put an arm over her. She could smell his aftershave again, it was nice. It felt safe and familiar. Kind of like how she liked how Teru smelled. She didn't know which one smelled better.

"No, not really. I think that people are nicer in your generation, and we didn't have espers." Said Reigen. What was with his bizarre baby boom? How were there so many esper kids in her generation? Or maybe there were espers when he was a kid but they just didn't make themselves known. There were enough adult espers for seven divisions of Claw after all.

"You did, you had Mogami." Said Mob. Mogami was an esper, the most famous esper in the world at the time. Master Reigen wanted them to be the new Mogami, she figured.

"Mogami was an adult when I was a kid." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Right. Ages didn't seem to matter so much with adults. Everyone just kind of ran together into either adults or old people.

"Do you ever wish that he was your master like I'm your student and you're my master?" asked Mob. Master Reigen had seemed like when he was her age he wasn't happy. Maybe he would have been, if he had a Master too.

"Honestly, when I was a kid, yes. I used to imagine…something like this." Said Reigen quietly. He did used to imagine this, when he was young, that he was the great Reigen Arataka, student of the greatest esper in the world, Mogami. He hadn't imagined that he'd be on the other side of that, Master to the world's most powerful esper. Maybe.

"Is that why you're my Master?" asked Mob quietly. She had come to him for help years ago and he had helped her. He had helped to become a good person. He didn't have to, but he did. He put his hand over hers, swallowing hers up.

"Part of it." Said Reigen just as quietly. She was so small, so very small. He had become her master to use her as a gravy train, originally. She meant so much to him now. He had no idea that she would ever become so much to him.

"What's the other part?" asked Mob

"I care about you. I guess it's half for me and half for you." Said Reigen. She made him into someone and he made her into a better person. They were a positive feedback loop.

"That seems fair, Master. We're two people so we should split things in half." Said Mob

"You're right, Mob. How about…you know forty percent isn't fair. I'll give you half the book profits." Said Reigen. God, it always came back to money, didn't it? Forty percent still wasn't fair. It should have been half and half.

"You don't have to, Master, I don't care about the money. I just want to help people and help you." Said Mob

"Mob, don't be like that." Said Reigen closing his eyes. Why did she always have to be like that?

"What am I being like?" asked Mob watching him, his face, and what little aura that he allowed her to see.

"Selfless." Said Reigen after a while. How could she be so selfless at her age? She was a fourteen year old girl. Where was the whining? The eye rolling? The brattiness?

"I'd rather be selfless than selfish." Said Mob. She knew that to be a good person she had to be kind. The truth of one's charm was in their kindness and the truth of one's kindness was in their selflessness, she decided.

"I'd rather you find a middle ground." Said Reigen. She was too selfless, sometimes. She was selfless enough to go off, on her own, well not one hundred percent on her own, to save her brother from that evil organization. She had even apologized to him for breaking the rules.

"Middle ground?" asked Mob

"It's ok to want things for yourself." Said Reigen making eye contact with her. She held it. She held it and held it and held it.

"I want things for myself." Said Mob after a long while. She wanted a lot of things. She wanted big things, small things, things she could have, things she had to wait to have, and things that she knew that she would never have.

"Well, whatever it is you'll need money to get it." Said Reigen airily. Mob shook her head.

"No, the things I want you can't get with money." Said Mob. She wanted love. She wanted to know who to love. She wanted to know who she was, really. She wanted to know how to control her powers. She wanted a glass of milk. She wanted Ritsu to be happy. She wanted everyone in her life to be happy. She wanted to do well at school and grow up to be the kind of person that Master Reigen would want to be with. She wanted to know if it was alright to feel the same way about Master Reigen and Teru. Being selfless didn't mean that she didn't want things, it just meant that she wasn't going to be selfish about it.

"What do you want then? You're still trying to be more popular?" asked Reigen. Mob was a human being so of course she wanted things. It was unfair of him to ever think otherwise. It was hard, though, to imagine her big wants. Sometimes they felt too big. The things she worried about, the things she'd want to fix, were too big for one little girl. He had held her power in his hands after all. He knew what lurked just beneath the surface.

"No. I already have friends. I want to make people happy and I want to help them. I want to make all the people I love in the world happy. If I do that then I'll be a better person." Said Mob. That's the sort of person who Master Reigen would have wanted her to be. That was the sort of person who he would have wanted to be with.

"Mob, you're already an amazing person." Said Reigen brushing some of her hair out of her face. She was the most selfless, strongest, nicest person that he had ever met. He had seen her stormy but even then she was still amazing.

"Not as amazing as you." Said Mob, her face heating up a little as she felt the pad of his finger brushing her fringe out of her eyes.

"You're being like that, again." Said Reigen. She was always building him up. It was nice but it wasn't her job. But it was still nice that she thought about him.

"Selfless?" asked Mob, her eyes closed. Her fringe fell back over her eyes. She knew that it was time to plop a bowl on her head and cut it, but she didn't want to.

"Yes, selfless. You don't have to be so selfless. Mob, I'm not as amazing as you think." Said Reigen. He really wasn't. She was just too young to see it.

"That's not true, Master, you are amazing. You help people all the time and that's why you do everything you do. You said that you wanted to be someone and you already are. You're Master Reigen to me and when we finish this book and we make more videos we can be like Mogami and then everyone in the whole world can see you the way that I see you." Said Mob

"Mob…you're the best damned thing. You know that?" asked Reigen. She opened her eyes and held his gaze. She could look really intense when she wanted to.

"No, I'm not. I just say what I mean and mean what I say, that's all. All I want for you is for everyone to see you the way that I see you. Then you can be happy." Said Mob. Maybe if everyone could see how amazing Master Reigen was then he would finally understand how amazing he was.

"Mob…I'm happy. I'm happy when I'm with you. That was wrong of me to say, before, that it wasn't enough. It is. It should be." Said Reigen. She was enough. He never, ever, should have told her that she wasn't. Her love, her caring, her adoration. That was all that he needed. It had to be.

"I don't understand that word, enough. Sometimes something can be enough, like when you eat enough and you're full or you take the train far enough and you reach your destination. Then there's the other kind of enough, the enough that you can't measure. I don't think that there can ever be enough love, Master, or enough friends, because you can always make more." Said Mob

"…yeah, I guess that there are some things that you can't quantify. Mob, you're pretty wise, you know that, right?" said Reigen. Maybe she would grow up to be a philosopher if this psychic thing didn't end up working out.

"I don't think I'm wise, that's just things I've been thinking about latterly. That's all." Said Mob. Sometimes when she had a moment she would think about thinking. Think about existing. Think about her own existence and that of others.

"What's got you thinking so hard about philosophy?" asked Reigen. Maybe she had gotten into his books. Hopefully not something serious like an existential crisis.

"The other Shigeko." Said Mob simply. Reigen blinked.

"….what about it? Her? You?" asked Reigen fearing the worst. Dimple had called it a curse, everything he knew about psychology, both semesters worth, said it was either her id or she was crazy, one of the two.

"I've just been thinking about what you said, about the three parts of the mind and stuff. She's my id, you said, and I was trying to understand what an id was. Then I started thinking about how she wants things but it's never enough. She wants to keep us safe but we'll never be safe enough, ever, because we can be attacked by Claw again. She wants us to be happy but we'll never be happy enough. I think that tying to be happy is the reason why anyone does anything and if we're happy enough then we'll just end up doing nothing." Said Mob

"You're right, Mob. You know, that's why I started Spirits and Such. I used to work in an office, before all of this, and then one day I realized that I wasn't happy, so I left and started up the office." Said Reigen. Wow. She was actually pretty astute. It had taken him until his mid-twenties to figure that out.

"Is that in the book?" asked Mob. That would be a good place to start, she thought, his origin story. It must have been nicer than hers, anyway. He hadn't hurt anyone.

"No, not really. I started it from the day I met you." Said Reigen. That seemed like a good place to start, it seemed. That was the day his life had changed forever. The day Spirits and Such actually starting dealing with Spirits, and the day that the second author of the damned book became a main character in it.

"You should start it from when you started the office. It's your story too and you're the protagonist of your own life." Said Mob echoing his words like they were gospel.

"So you do listen." Said Reigen flipping her fringe up. She smiled.

"Of course, Master. I listen to everything you say." Said Mob seriously

"But you don't always do what I say." Said Reigen after a moment. She didn't give him complete and total obedience, which was good and bad. He used to think that she would walk through fire for him, and maybe she would, but not if she didn't feel like it.

"I said sorry about fighting Claw without calling you." Said Mob, the edge back to her voice. How many times did she have to say sorry before he got the message. She screwed up, she knew that she had screwed up. They didn't need to run this into the ground.

"I know, I should stop talking about it." Said Reigen feeling her frustration. He needed to stop beating this horse, he knew that he did, but he needed to know that she would never, ever, do something so reckless again.

"No, you can talk about it. Sometimes I want to talk about it, too." Said Mob. Sometimes she wanted to talk about how she felt, how it felt, that night. She talked about it with Master Reigen sometimes but it always turned into him telling her to call him next time. It was better talking about it with Teru. That always ended well. She blushed and looked away quickly.

"Then why don't you?" asked Reigen watching the various emotions play across her aura. The only outward emotion she showed was embarrassment.

"I do, with Teru." Said Mob softly. Don't think about Teru, don't think about Teru, don't think about Teru….

"Oh." Said Reigen getting a clue, finally. Right. Mob was growing up.

"We talk about a lot of things. He's still a little messed up from what happened." Said Mob. It always ended the same way, slobbery and sweaty, but he was still sad about it. They made each other feel better but he still got scared, like it was still going to happen even though they had won.

"If you guys ever need someone to talk to you can talk to me." Said Reigen. They were good for each other, he thought, but they probably needed an adult to talk to. Especially her boyfriend. Just because it was legal to leave your fourteen year old son alone so long as you paid his bills and sent money didn't mean that it was right. Poor kid was probably lonely. He probably didn't have much guidance, either. Mob wished that she'd bring him around once in a while. Reigen would even swallow down his embarrassment when all of the, well, feelings came up between the two of them.

"It's ok, we make each other feel better." Said Mob speaking from a purely emotional level. It was nice having someone who understood, well another someone who understood.

"Right." Said Reigen looking anywhere but at her. He knew exactly how it was between the two of them and sometimes he wished he didn't. He was happy for Mob, and everything she got up to was normal, but he didn't need to hear firsthand or see firsthand what they had gotten up to.

"Why'd you say it like that, Master?" asked Mob. She didn't know, exactly, what that tone had meant. Tones were hard for her sometimes.

"Like what, Mob?" asked Reigen. Right. He had a tone and she was socially tone deaf.

"I don't know, you just said it funny." Said Mob watching him. He shrugged.

"I didn't mean anything by that, Mob." Said Reigen. He didn't want to have to explain accidental double entendre to her. They'd have to wheel him off the train on a stretcher from his inevitable death from embarrassment, his and hers.

"Alright." Said Mob accepting his answer. Maybe she had just heard him wrong. She heard people wrong sometimes. It was hard to get a clue, sometimes.

"I really didn't." said Reigen hearing a tone in her voice that of course wasn't there.

"I believe you." Said Reigen looking out the window. She wouldn't lie to him, he knew that.

"Oh. OK. It just seemed like you didn't." said Mob flatly

"No, it's just you…you know what? Never mind. Anyway, what are you up to, today?" asked Reigen changing the subject as smoothly as he possibly could.

"Today I have a biology test and an oral exam in English. I'm also going to walk to school and work with Teru. I'm also going to congratulate Ritsu on finding love. Oh, and Tome has a new mobile game for us to play together, I'm looking forward to that." Said Mob. Those were all the things she could think up off the top of her head.

"Yikes. Well, I wish you the best, Mob." Said Reigen. Tests. Exams. Quizzes. He was so glad that he was out of school.

"_I will try very much to pass. You help me a lot Teacher Reigen." _Said Mob practicing her English. Reigen smiled. Stiff, awkward, but still a lot better than most kids her age could have done.

"_You're doing alright, Mob. Better than a lot of people. Try not to use Katakana." _Said Reigen. He wondered if they still took off points for that. Back when he was in school they had taken off points for katakana, but maybe that was because he had set the curve, English wise.

"_I know. I apologize." _Said Mob making sure to use the pronunciations that Master Reigen had taught her.

"_Don't apologize, you're English is actually pretty good." _Said Reigen. She didn't always use katakana, just sometimes. She had picked up some of his pronunciations, actually. His mother would just love her.

"_You speak English better than I." _said Mob making sure not use a single katakana and to speak English with his accent. He looked and felt like he was proud of her. She liked it when she made him proud.

"_Mob, of course I do. My mother spoke English. Be confident." _Said Reigen. She didn't need to be comparing the two of them, they weren't anywhere near the same level of skill. Mob nodded. They were nearing they stop now, Mob stared straight forward deep in thought, so deep that Reigen feared that she might end up missing it.

"_Mobbu." _Said Mob finally. He pronounced her name weird. It sounded awkward.

"_Mob. Remember, no Katakana." _Said Reigen bopping her on the nose like she was a kid again. She was not amused.

"_Mob."_ Said Mob testing the word on her tongue. It felt weird but it fit.

"You're better than you think you are, Mob. Don't forget that. That's a problem a lot of people, have, being worried about being perfect." Said Reigen. She needed to worry less and just go with it. Maybe she'd do better that way

"But Master, it's an exam. Don't I have to worry about being perfect?" asked Mob. She wanted to get better grades. Not amazing grades, she would never be at Ritsu's level, but she did want to at least do alright.

"Worry about doing well, Mob, not about being perfect. You shouldn't worry anyway, though, like I said your English is pretty decent." Said Reigen. She spoke it pretty well and read better than she spoke. Hell, the fact that she could speak without katakana was pretty good for someone her age.

"Even though I use Katakana sometimes?" asked Mob hopefully. Reigen flipped up her fringe, again. She smiled, again. Not her big smile but a small quirk at the corners of her mouth. It was genuine, not her picture taking smile. That was what mattered.

"That's fine, most people do." Said Reigen. It only annoyed him a little, when people tried to practice their English on him, because he was pretty much near the level of a native speaker. He had to be, his mother wouldn't speak Japanese in the house.

"Master, what does my name mean?" asked Mob as they came to their stop. He helped her up and they shuffled out of the train with everyone else.

"Shigeko? Nurturing child, I think." Said Reigen picturing the kanji that made up her name. He was mostly sure that was what her name meant.

"No, I meant what does Mob mean in English?" asked Mob as he led her out of the station, his palm pressed up against her back.

"It's pretty much the direct opposite of what it means in Japanese. Well, it means a large crowd of people. Something strong and powerful, not someone who blends into a large crowd of people." Said Reigen after thinking for a moment.

"Oh. Does Shigeko mean anything in English? Or is there a name like mine in English?" asked Mob. Who was she in English? What was she?

"None that I can think up off the top of my head. Don't feel bad, in English Arataka sounds like a girl's name. When we'd visit my cousins overseas they'd always make fun of me." Said Reigen. Yup. Every single summer for the first seventeen years of his life before he just stopped going.

"Because it ends with an A sound?" asked Mob. She remembered that from class.

"Yeah, names in English that have an A sound at the end are usually feminine." Said Reigen. Why did his mother have to call him Arataka? Well, he knew the answer to that question, she liked the homonym his full name made. She thought it was clever.

"I guess that my name would be a boy's name in English, because it ends in an O sound." Said Mob remembering another rule from class.

"Maybe. There's more leeway with girl's names." Said Reigen. He had a girl cousin named Michael but nobody ever made fun of her. Not that he was still bitter or anything. No. Not at all.

"Do you ever miss it?" asked Mob as they walked down the road. She gave the vending machine a longing look. Milk, so many different kinds of milk, and all of them cold. Well, she wanted to see Teru for as long as possible, so that meant no stopping for milk.

"Miss what?" asked Reigen as he took in the world around them. It was a pretty nice day, though the wind was starting to bite. Autumn was coming.

"The United States, do you miss it?" asked Mob picturing the far off place she had only seen on TV.

"No, not really. We only went once a year for a couple weeks and I haven't been back there since I was a little older than you." Said Reigen. Honestly he was glad that he didn't have to go on those trips anymore. He didn't much like going on a long plane ride, then a long car ride, to a country that was way too big, had entirely different rules, and where he was an object of curiosity for his extended family.

"Is it nice, there? I've never left the city, not really." Said Mob. She had only gone to the woods outside the city, really. She wondered what other cities were like. Were they bigger? Smaller? What was the food like? The people? Master Reigen knew, he had been to so many different places in his life.

"It was alright, I didn't see too much of it. We mostly stayed at my grandparent's house. Do you want to leave the city? I was thinking that we could branch out and take a day trip or two." Said Reigen. There were supernatural occurrences in other cities, traveling could be good for the channel. Plus it would be nice to take a trip with Mob now and then.

"You want to go on a trip with me?" asked Mob. That would be nice. Just them out in a new place having fun.

"Well, a work trip, not a vacation…actually we can do some fun stuff while we're out." Said Reigen not trying to get her hopes up. Nothing too big, nothing too fancy. There was that haunted hot springs he had read about. He hadn't been in a while, maybe Mob would like it, too. She had said that she liked baths. Not with her, obviously, even though it was a mixed gender onsen.

"I would like that. We could help even more people." Said Mob. She didn't care where they went, just so long as they could go there together and help people.

"And have adventures. Don't forget about the adventures, Mob." Said Reigen. Yeah, they could go this…no…next weekend. The site had promised room and meals to anyone who could remove the spirit.

"I'd like to have adventures, too, Master." Said Mob. She didn't care if they were just going to a ramen place in another city, it was nice to go places with Master Reigen.

"Then we'll have plenty, don't worry. I'm actually thinking of one we could go on, soon. After we finish the book. If we keep working as hard as we've been then we can go next weekend, or the weekend afterwards." Said Reigen. Yeah, she'd love it. She loved baths and relaxing. They'd go, make a video, exorcise the spirit, and the just relax for a couple days.

"Where?" asked Mob looking up at him. Reigen pretended to think.

"Well, it's not for certain yet, I still have to make some calls…" said Reigen. Mob was staring at him now. He let her emotions wash over him. Curiosity. Excitement.

"But calls to where, Master?" asked Mob. She didn't care where but it would have been nice to know so that she could prepare herself mentally.

"There's a haunted onsen up in the countryside. There's a spirit there that makes everyone who sleeps in a particular wing have terrible nightmares and freak out. Also, it messed with the water temperature and as you soak it makes fun of your body. The body image issues spirit!" said Reigen dramatically. Mob nodded.

"It sounds really mean, Master. Also, I've never been to an onsen before but it sounds nice. I miss baths." Said Mob. Showers did their job but she missed a nice, long soak in the evenings.

"Great! I'll make some calls. Well, I will once the book is finished." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Now she'd work extra hard.

They parted ways, him to the adult world of work and her to the kid world of middle school. Teru was waiting for her in what was becoming their clearing. He was glaring down at the grass in front of him. His aura was flaring.

"Hi Teru. Why are you mad at the ground?" asked Mob as she sat down on the grass next to him. She felt her face redden as she remembered what had happened the last time they had been this close.

"Oh, hey. I'm not mad, just frustrated. I'm just trying to make it grow." Said Teru before leaning over and kissing her. On the mouth, this time. He still wasn't fully healed from the other day. Thank God for collared shirts.

"Oh. Try asking it nicely. That's what I do, sort of. I just share my energy with it and it grows." Said Mob making the grass grow a little higher. Someone had cut down their little jungle, a lot of the plant life was gone. She could make it grow back, if they wanted privacy.

"That's what I've been doing! I just can't…nothing. It's nothing." Said Teru running a hand through his hair. He didn't care about being the strongest, he wouldn't fight her or anything, but he just wanted to see if he could…what was this even? Have power over life itself?

"I think that you're just saying that it's nothing but really you're bothered. I wish you would talk to me. I love you, Teru. I'm your girlfriend. You're supposed to talk to me about stuff." Said Mob taking his hand in hers. She helped people, that was her job, so of course she would help her boyfriend.

"Shigeko….yeah you're right, I guess. I don't know, I just can't figure out how to do this. It's probably not even in my power set." Said Teru lacing his fingers in hers. She could do this and not him. That was fine. Perfectly fine.

"There's lots of other things that you can do, Teru." Said Mob. Sometimes she got discouraged, too, like with math and exercising and stuff but like the body improvement club said, it was important to fight on. That is, unless there was something that was impossible, like how she could never have Master Reigen's powers or Dimple would never become a God.

"Like what?" asked Teru a little more meanly that he had meant. Ok, a lot more meanly than he had meant, seeing as how he didn't want to be mean at all.

"You're a good cook, you know a lot about clothes, you know a lot of really good movies, you know how to take care of yourself, you get good grades, you smell nice, and you make me happy." Said Mob rattling off a list of everything that made Teru awesome in her eyes.

"You're right, you're right. It doesn't matter if this isn't in my power set. I'm more than my powers." Said Teru. Of course she was right. She was the most powerful person he knew and she was the one who had taught him that he was more than his powers in the first place.

"You're really good at Mario Kart too! I almost forgot to mention." Said Mob. Teru looked at her for a while. Of course she was being genuine, she was always genuine. He needed to get off of this before he drove himself insane.

"You're pretty good, too. That is when you don't let me win." Said Teru putting his arm over her. There was no greater distraction than the one right next to him.

"I don't let you win, not always." Said Mob softly. She'd stop letting people win if it really bothered them so much. He ran a hand up and down her back.

"You do sometimes. I wish you wouldn't." said Teru. She liked this, he knew that she liked this. He knew that she liked a lot of things, now. Who cared about powers when you had a girlfriend? Right? Right.

"If it bothers you I'll stop even though I don't know why it bothers you." Said Mob as she felt his fingers trace up and down her back. Her toes curled in her shoes, her fingers dug into the ground below her hands. She decided that, yes, some privacy would be nice and made a nice wall of bushes and branches for them. They always ended up like this but she didn't care. It was such a wonderful way to end up.

"Shigeko, it's a hollow victory." Said Teru reaching up and running a hand through her hair. So what if he didn't have power over life itself? He could still have the power to make her come apart, and that was something that nobody else could do. Not even Reigen. Hopefully.

"Hollow?" asked Mob as she closed her eyes. This really was nice, not even in a fooley cooley sort of way. She just liked having her hair touched.

"If you let me win then how will I know if I'm doing a good job?" asked Teru. He needed to stop thinking about it, how much stronger she was than him. How he couldn't protect her. How fate had given her pretty much every power. He was more than his powers, he reminded himself of that fact. He was more than his powers, he had other talents, so why not use one of the right now?

"Teru, you always do a good job. You're amazing." Said Mob letting her aura mix with his. It still sort of churned with hers, it didn't integrate like Master Reigen's did but this was still nice.

"Yeah, I know. You made that really clear the other day." Said Teru doing that thing she liked when he made his voice really low. She was doing that squirming thing now, that thing she did when she liked what he did.

"…..well, you were. That was, I mean." Said Mob not able to meet his eyes. This was nice. He was nice. Nice was the word of the day.

"What, exactly, was nice?" asked Teru kissing her as he spoke. So what if he was less than to her? He still had powers, he was still pretty strong. She wouldn't ever think he was inadequate and leave him. She wouldn't just leave him all alone.

"You were there, you remember. Right, Teru?" Said Mob between kisses. Why was he asking for? He knew she liked him, he knew she liked what happened.

"I was, you're right, but I want to know what specifically you liked." Said Teru kissing the side of her mouth. He watched her aura. He face. Her breathing. She was the most powerful esper ever and he could make her come apart just like that.

"Why?" asked Mob as she squirmed there in the grass. Her skirt was starting to ride up, she used her powers to put it back where it belonged.

"Because I like to make you happy." Said Teru laying her down on the grass. He was good at other things, he wasn't going to think about certain things. He wasn't going to think about how he couldn't protect her, of how she was the best thing in his life, about how if he wasn't strong enough she could be taken from him. About how she could leave him even though she wouldn't. She certainly wouldn't leave him. She wasn't that sort of person.

"Teru, you always make me happy, even without….fooley cooley….stuff." said Mob. He shouldn't have to think that she just cared about him for those kinds of things. She cared about him as a person, he needed to know that.

"I know but I like making you happy like this." Said Teru kissing down the side of her face to her neck. She shrugged away from him. He tried to smother the stab of rejection that tore through his heart.

"I like that a lot, Teru, but Master Reigen says that I shouldn't walk around with marks like that on my neck. I heal fast but I don't think that I'll be all the way healed by the time I get to school." Said Mob not knowing just how badly she had hurt him.

"If you don't want me…." Said Teru. She sat up and kissed him as hard as she could.

"That's not true, I do want to be with you, but my shirt doesn't have a collar like yours." Said Mob after she was done. Oh, they had tumbled to the ground. She looked down at him. This was kind of nice.

"I won't leave a mark, this time." Said Teru. After the other night he had done some heavy duty googling and maybe figured out how to do that thing she liked without making it obvious to the world.

"Do you promise? Because Master Reigen says that I shouldn't go walking around like that." Said Mob. Teru's collar was done up much higher than usual. He didn't heal as fast as she did.

"Shigeko, kiss me." Said Teru. He sat up and pulled her down to him. He kissed her, hard, but also soft, like she liked. Anything to get Reigen Arataka out of her mind. Reigen said that he wasn't into her but…but that didn't mean that he still couldn't have her, if he wanted.

Mob kissed him back, still half on top of him. This was nice, sort of. She could decide more from up here. She could decide how deep they kissed, how much of herself touched him, plus he could reach all of her back and her hair from that angle. Suddenly he flipped her over and she crashed into her school bag. It broke open and all of her work scattered in the grass.

"Wait!" said Mob scrambling out from under Teru. She used her powers to collect all the pages she had written, grateful that she had remembered to number the pages. Teru picked one up and began to red.

"The truth of one's charm is in their kindness; that is the first lesson that Master Reigen taught me. He taught me that my powers were like knives and that I must never point them at others. I spent three years believing that I must never point knives at others, but now I know better. Now I know that to protect the ones I love I have to hurt the ones who will hurt them. I'm still very sorry for what I did but I'm glad that I could save everyone…." read Teru. His eyes dancing over her small, blocky handwriting.

"Master Reigen and I are writing a book." Said Mob

"About what happened with Claw?" asked Teru. Mob nodded.

"Yes, it was important. It was a big important thing that happened to us." Said Mob taking the page from him and putting it in her school bag. Teru looked upset.

"So, what, Reigen's going to cash in on it, then?" asked Teru taking the moral high ground even though that was EXACTLY what the old him would have done if he had been even half as badass as she had been.

"We're writing this book so that more people will know about the business. Then we can help even more people." Said Mob

"Let me guess, Reigen gets all the money?" asked Teru disdainfully. Fine, Reigen had told him that he wasn't after Shigeko but that still didn't make their relationship any less weird.

"No, I get half. Do you want to be in it, too? I mean I already wrote about when we met and I'm going to write about how we fought Claw together but you can write some chapters too and I can give you half of my half." Said Mob

"No, I'm fine. I'm not much of a writer, really." Said Teru. He didn't want to hang around Reigen any more than was necessary. Next time they had to save the world, then he would hang out with Reigen.

"Oh. Do you want to read it when we're done? We get a free writer's copy, I could lend it to you." Said Mob

"….sure." said Teru. He didn't want to read a book written by Reigen about Reigen but Shigeko was really excited by all of this.

"This is what I was busy with on Sunday. I'm sorry." Said Mob. Teru bit back what he was going to say. She hadn't been rejecting him, she had just been working. That was all. She had said that she would never reject him.

"No, it's fine, it was only practice. I don't even like soccer that much, I've just been neglecting it lately." Said Teru. He just hadn't gone to practice in a while, all of the parts of his old life had just seemed to…grey….compared to now. That wasn't good for him, the creeping apathy. So what if he had almost died? He had been fighting off Claw for years. He just came a little closer to losing last time, that was all.

"If you don't like it when why do you play? Body improvement?" asked Mob. Teru shrugged.

"Honestly, because it made me popular." Said Teru. Mob nodded.

"That's why I joined body improvement club, too, to become more athletic so I would be more popular. Did it work for you, too?" asked Mob

"Yeah….it worked." Said Teru quietly. He wanted to kiss her again, he needed to. He needed to kiss her until he couldn't remember anything, couldn't think of anything but her.

"You're sad. That face means sadness. You aura feels sad too. I'll come to your next game or practice or however it works, I don't know much about sports. I don't really like sports either but I want to be there for you. Is that alright, Teru?" asked Mob taking his hand in hers. She was his girlfriend and it was her job to be there for him. She had failed but she could make it better.

"I'm not sad, not at all, and I'd love to have you at my next game. It's this Sunday at Black Vinegar." Said Teru. He felt better. She was going to pick him above her work, above Reigen. He always had girls there cheering him on but now he'd have his girlfriend there. Probably just doing that staring thing she did but she'd still be there.

"I'll be there. I'll have to tell Master Reigen that our trip will have to be postponed, if he scheduled it for this weekend, but he'll understand." Said Mob. He said in two weeks but it could always be this weekend too. Master Reigen wasn't the best at keeping dates straight, sometimes, or commitments. It had taken him days to return the car after all.

"…you're going on a trip together?" asked Teru after a moment. His aura was super visible now. Not interested in Shigeko….right.

"Yes. To an onsen for work." Said mob wondering what was up with him.

"If you want to go to an onsen I'll take you to an onsen." Said Teru smoothing out his aura. She wasn't like that. She was sweet and trusting and stuff. She also liked baths, she had said. She probably just wanted to take a bath.

"You don't have to go through that much trouble. I'm just going because I don't ever really leave the city, it's for work, and I like to take baths. I haven't taken a bath in a while, just showers. They aren't as nice because you have to stand up and it feels weird not washing beforehand even though you don't have to with a shower." Said Mob. Teru seemed better now, that was good. Sometimes people got upset but it would pass, Master Reigen had told her that.

"Shigeko, you can just take a bath at my house, I have a bathtub." Said Teru. Yup, that was so Shigeko. Pragmatic. She wanted to take a bath and she liked to work so of course she would just go with that Reigen guy to an onsen so she could do both at the same time. It had nothing to do with the fact that onsen's were where a staple of romantic and fan service things in movies and shows.

"I know. I saw it. I just didn't ask because it seems mean to go to someone's house just to take a bath." Said Mob

"Why would it be mean? You're my girlfriend, not some stranger, you can take a bath at my house whenever you want." Said Teru

"Oh. But that's mean because I wouldn't be spending time with you and the only reason you invite me over is to spend time with me. It would be like if I was on my phone the whole time. Not nice at all." Said Mob

"Who says that I wouldn't be with you?" asked Teru speaking before thinking. If she wanted to go to an onsen he'd either take her to one or pretend his bathroom was an onsen. Well, not his. The one off of his parents' room had a tub big enough for two. He'd just have to move all of the junk out of their room; that was all.

"Because I'd be taking a bath." Said Mob not thinking into this at all. Baths meant alone.

"You said you wanted to go to an onsen. I've got a really big tub, we can pretend it's an onsen." Said Teru. Mob's eyes widened. The wind suddenly stopped blowing. Even the birds went quiet.

"….ok…." said Mob after a moment. Before, she would have been so embarrassed she wouldn't have even been able to say anything. It was amazing how the more they did the less worried she was about what came next. It could only have been good so what did she have to worry about?

"Great. I'll have to clean it up, of course, that bathroom hasn't been used since my parents left. So, yeah, whenever you want. I could probably have it cleaned up by the time you got done with work today, if you wanted." Said Teru trying to sound nonchalant. He had already…stuff…so yeah why would he be nervous about this? This was his girlfriend. The most powerful esper ever was his girlfriend. She was his and he could, and would, make her come undone again and again because, well, he could and she wanted him to.

"….that would be very nice….I could help you…." Said Mob, his shoes tying and retying themselves as she fidgeted. Why was she so nervous? Well, aside from the fact that she had never taken a bath with another person who wasn't her brother and that had last happened when she was little. She couldn't entirely shake the nervousness, even after, well, all that had happened.

"You don't have to." Said Teru. Ok. Wow. This was happening. Yup. Great. Wonderful.

"I know but I like to help out." Said Mob. It was good to be helpful towards the people you loved.

"You don't have to help me, just show up, that's all. I'll get us dinner, too, unless you want me to cook. It'll be a date. When do you have to be home?" asked Teru. He could just get takeaway and plate it nicely. Something really nice, something she liked. She liked ramen, milk, panda grams, and vegetables. Not exactly fancy date food. He'd introduce her to something nice. That was what the guy was supposed to do, plan dates and impress his girlfriend.

"I don't know. I think before midnight. Master Reigen was worried last time, and we do have school tomorrow, plus the trains don't run as often late at night." Said Mob. She didn't want to be out too late, she needed less sleep than regular people but she still needed sleep. Plus, she had Master Reigen to think about. He needed his sleep too and he wouldn't get any if he was worried about her.

"I'll just carry you home." Said Teru dismissively. She thought too much, sometimes.

"It's dangerous to fly at night it's harder to see where you're going and you could get lost. I don't want anything to happen to you, Teru." Said Mob holding his hand tightly.

"I'll call you a taxi, then, and don't tell me that it'll be too expensive because it won't be." Said Teru. Was she…no she still wanted to be there with him, she just worried too much about everything? Yes, that was it.

"Thank you, Teru. I would like that. Ok, I'll tell Master Reigen that I'm going to hang out with you after work." Said Mob

"Great." Said Teru. This was going to be awesome. He just had to clean up, get some nice bath stuff for her, oh, and make sure to shake her little brother. Ritsu was a great guy but, well, it was a low move to ditch him for a girl Teru was going to be selfish for just that day.

Ritsu wondered if it was normal to want to shake your girlfriend. Rei had insisted on walking with him to school that morning, even though he had to be at school super early, and even though her school was nowhere near his. She was holding his hand now, really tightly, like she was afraid that he was going to bolt.

"…so then I thought that, hello Rei! I thought that we could go to the movies this weekend with your sister and her boyfriend too! Oh, and then we could get dinner, the two of us together, just us. I just got this new app and I have so many coupons! Seriously, we could go wherever you want! Also, I was thinking…." Said Rei as she walked along hand in hand with Ritsu. This was so great! She had always wanted a boyfriend and now she had one. Who cared if he wasn't super expressive, that's just how people in his family were. Oh! She'd have to meet his parents, even though she pictured the entire thing as being a very somber affair. The parents did make the kids, after all. Oh! He'd have to meet her parents too! Wait, was this too soon. She'd check on the internet, there was great advice there.

"Sure." Said Ritsu. He didn't have much else to do that weekend and he'd get to hang out with Teru…and Shigeko. He missed his sister. He wanted to hang out with her. He didn't consider her to be a third wheel at all last Friday. Not at all. That would have been weird.

"That's so great! Oh, and I saw this other mech show the other night, do you like Gundam? Well they made another one and I was all like, hello Rei! So I started watching the first Gundam and I thought, hey Ritsu would really like this! Well, do you?" asked Rei. The website had said that the key to keeping a man's attention was to get into the stuff he was into and if he was into mech shows about feelings and philosophy and sadness then she could be too.

"I've seen Gundam, it's alright. We can watched together, if you want." Said Ritsu. He had to put in effort here. Maybe he just didn't feel anything for her because he wasn't putting in enough effort. Watching TV together counted as a date, right? Or at least hanging out, right? Right. He had heard some of the other guys talking about watching TV and sharing a blanket with their girlfriends. She might like that.

"Do you mean today? I have free time today, after my club. Actually I could skip club, if you don't have anything to do after school. Hello Rei! You're in the student council, of course you have a lot to do after school. I'll just wait meet you at your house then, or I could wait for you. I just figure that it'll be easier to go to your house because you have so much to do and you don't want to be traveling all night." Said Rei. This was going so great! She was already meeting his parents!

"My house is fine." Said Ritsu quietly. They were in front of the Salt middle school gates. It was still pretty early. The sunlight was making her hair look like fire. It was kind of cool. He reached over and touched it like he had seen Teru touch Shigeko's hair.

"Hey, what's up with that? Why are you tugging on my hair for?" asked Rei as Ritsu began to play with her hair. He was tugging on it a little. Damn. She had worked hard on it that morning.

"Oh, sorry. I just thought that this was something girls liked." Said Ritsu feeling like an idiot. That much have just been a Shigeko thing. He needed to stop comparing every girl to his sister. It wasn't weird, she was just the only girl he had ever really spent time with.

"Oh. Sure, I like it! Go ahead!" said Rei. She had heard from some of the girls in class that their boyfriends pulled their hair. It must have been a guy thing. It wasn't that it hurt, she just worked hard on her hair.

"If you don't like it then you can tell me." Said Ritsu. That class they had a few months ago said that you had to always as and make sure that everyone was on the same page. They had been talking about sex, though, but it probably applied to everything. He wouldn't have sex with her if she asked, though, because he was in no way shape or form ready for anything like that.

"Oh. Well, it's not so bad. Can I touch your hair?" asked Rei. His hair really was amazing. She reached up and brushed it from his forehead, feeling a scar.

"I would have said yes, if you had given me the chance." Said Ritsu as she played with his scar. He watched her aura. He wasn't the best at reading auras, and her aura was pretty faint, but he could see that her orange glow was growing just a bit brighter.

"Oh. Hello Rei! I should have waited." Said Rei as she felt the scar under his hair. It felt nice, soft but rough at the same time. He seemed pretty impassive, she'd probably get better at reading him with time.

"Why do you keep saying that?" asked Ritsu, her hand still on his scar. The scar from when Shigeko had exploded. No, they had made their peace with that.

"What?" asked Rei taking her hand from his face. That was a bad memory for him, her clairvoyance told her so. He didn't want to talk about it.

"You keep saying 'hello, Rei'." Said Ritsu

"Oh. I heard that on TV and I thought it would be a cool thing to say, like I'm in a slice of life comedy." Said Rei blushing a little. She was way too old to be borrowing things from TV. He probably thought that she was immature.

"It's funny, I guess. Cute, sort of." Said Ritsu. Girls liked to be called cute, right? She was kind of cute, pretty even.

"You don't think I'm…never mind! Hey, Ritsu, when do you have to go in?" asked Rei. Would he kiss her? All signs pointed to yes!

"I should go in soon, I have stuff to do, but we can hang out a little more if you want. When do you have to be at school?" asked Ritsu

"Not until eight thirty. Can I ask you something?" asked Rei taking his hand again and looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Sure." Said Ritsu wishing that if she had to ask him something she would just come out and ask him. Asking him if she could ask him a question was already asking him a question and thus defeating the purpose of the question.

"Can we kiss again?" asked Rei. Ritsu didn't say anything, he just closed his eyes and kissed her. It was quick but he still managed to get her lipstick on him. Or was it called something else when it was glittery and goopy and came from a tube and not a stick?

"Was that good?" asked Ritsu. She liked it, it seemed like. She was still standing there with her eyes closed and her lips puckered. Maybe he had moved away too fast. When he had seen Teru kiss his sister, gross to see by the way, he held it for longer.

"Good for me." Said Rei in a daze. Wow. Her second for real in a committed long term relationship kiss! This was so great! He didn't seem too happy but he never looked too happy. She'd get through his layers to get to his creamy middle, like he was a hard shelled ice cream Sunday with all the toppings.

"Ok. I have to go to school now. If you end up coming over tonight don't tell my parents that either of us have powers. They don't know and they wouldn't like it if they found out." Said Ritsu

"Oh, right. Is that why your sister doesn't live at home?" asked Rei

"…part of it." Said Ritsu after a moment. Yeah, he had his part to play in all of that. He had helped to drive her away and he couldn't stop feeling like that no matter how many times she forgave him.

Mob wondered if Master Reigen would ever forgive her if she couldn't get this part of the book right. She was sitting in class trying and trying to write down exactly what it felt like to explode. She had been avoiding these passages because, well, it was indescribable. It was like something built and built until it just had to come out, but it wasn't like a bomb. More like shaking up a soda bottle, only instead of soda it was the parts of her she tried to hide away. The other her took control when she exploded. That was hard to describe too.

"Kageyama!" Mob didn't hear. She erased and started again. She had to get this right for Master Reigen…

"Kageyama Shigeko!" Mob eared what she had written. No. That was no good.

"I asked you a question." Said her teacher in a measured tone. Mob couldn't hear him, not really. Everything sounded far away. She needed to get this done. She needed to get this right.

"Hey, Shigeko, either answer the question or tell him to get bent." Said Dimple poking her on top of her head. She batted him away, she had to get this right. She had to do this for Master Reigen and she had to make some progress so she's have free time to spend with Teru

"Kageyama! Are you even there?!" Mob still wasn't listening. She needed to get this part done but she just **couldn't. **How could she possibly describe what it was like to cross that line the demarcated the two of them, to climb inside of one another, to mix like warm rice and raw eggs?

"That's it, Shigeko! You've got better things to do than listen to this blow hard go on and on." Said Dimple. Her future wasn't in school, it was out there gaining the hearts and minds of the people!

"We're waiting, Kageyama!" said her teacher before he slammed his hand down on her desk. She sat up, startled. Her notebook flying closed.

"Sir?" asked Mob quietly. Everyone was staring at her. She slid down into her chair. Oh. She had been too into what she was doing. She had been ignoring class and now she was going to be publically humiliated. Lovely. She could feel the other Shigeko trying to claw her way out. Mob stuffed her down.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 50%_

"Sir? SIR? Is that all you have to say for yourself, Kageyama?" said her teacher, steam practically coming out of his ears. Mob slid lower and hunched forward. Defensive. Everyone was still looking at her. A classroom full of eyes trained on her.

"I'm sorry sir, I was just…working." Said Mob. Dimple was egging her on, telling her to tell her teacher to suck it. She would never say something like that. She looked down at her desk as her teacher's eyes were trained on her like a pair of laser pointers.

"Not on class work, I'd imagine. Am I correct?" asked her teacher. Mob nodded quickly. No, it was just regular work.

"You tell him, Shigeko! Tell him where he can stuff this stupid class! Your place it out there!" said Dimple. He hated to see her waste her potential languishing in class. She had the power to do anything, to be anything, plus she already spoke English anyway.

"…no sir…" said Mob, her face burning with shame.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 60%_

"This review session is for all of you. Do you want to fail your oral exam?" asked her teacher. Mob shook her head.

"No, sir." Said Mob softly

"What, pray tell, was more important than this review session?" asked her teacher. Mob pointed to her notebook.

"A…novel…I'm writing, sir." Said Mob softly

"A novel? You fancy yourself a novelist, do you, Kageyama?" asked her teacher, sneering so hard his

"No sir." Said Mob quietly

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 70%_

"What would you call this object, Kageyama?" asked her teacher pointing to her note book. In Mob's mind people were snickering instead of looking on in horror. She got it, it was time to knock it off. This was just painful to witness.

"A notebook, sir." Said Mob clenching her fists so hard into her palms that her nails left tiny crescents. She got it, she screwed up.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 72%_

No, in English Kageyama." Said her teacher. Mob closed her eyes. She suddenly couldn't remember a single word of English.

"_Notto Bukko_." Said Mob softly. Katakana. That was katakana. She knew that she had screwed up but she had to say something.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 78%_

"Class, it Katakana English?" asked her teacher. There was a pause and everyone glanced at each other. That wasn't fair. This was Mob, she may not have been super cool, kind of quiet and weird actually, but still she didn't deserve that kind of treatment.

"No." they all said at once, after a while. To Mob it sounded mocking, just like when she was little.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 85%_

"So, you think you'll pass without reviewing?" asked her teacher with a sneer. Mob felt her face heating up. Everyone was staring at her. She could hear someone snickering.

"No sir." Said Mob. The other Shigeko was getting upset because she was upset but there was nothing to fidget with. She couldn't just use her powers on purpose in class, she had been yelled at enough in elementary school for doing things like that.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 85%_

"Really? Because it certainly looks like you think you're fluent, based on how you've been carrying on. Are you fluent, Kageyama?" asked her teacher. She shook her head no and buried her face in her arms. She wanted to be anywhere but there. She wanted to be anyone but her.

Reigen wanted to be anywhere but there.

"No. I will not curse someone for you. I don't know what sort of place this is but this is not a service we offer." Said Reigen for what felt like the thousandth time.

_Progress towards Reigen's Explosion: 15%_

"Please, I'll pay you double!" said the client. Reigen stifled a groan. He couldn't tell if the exasperation was his own or the client's.

"No. I'm sorry but there is nothing that I can do. Something like that is not offered here." Said Reigen in his best customer service voice. He tried to marshal some calm emotions. He thought of Mob, her smiles, how warm she felt when she leaned into him, the immersed look she'd get when she watched one of her depressing cat or high school love club shows.

_Progress towards Reigen's Explosion: 20%_

"Bastard! I thought you helped people here! Just wait until social media hears about this!" said the client.

"Yes, we help people here, we do not curse them. Unless you require a service that we do provide I'll kindly have to ask you to leave." Said Reigen. Calm emotions. Mob when they went to the park and they found that snail shell. Mob buying milk for the stray cats. Mob talking about Evangelion and how much she loved the last movie.

"Come on, you're a psychic right? Don't be a spoilsport." Said the client

"No. Please leave." Said Reigen. Calm emotions, calm emotions. Mob when her dresser showed up. Mob when she beat him at online go. Mob that time he caught her trying on his suit coat. Mob cuddling with that big panda she had as she vegged out in front of the TV.

"Please, just curse this guy for me. I'm begging you." Said the client. Reigen grit his teeth.

"No. I can't help you." Said Reigen wondering how much trouble he'd be in for body flipping someone out of his office. He didn't get that green belt so that he'd never use it, no, those were the karate lessons.

_Progress towards Reigen's Explosion: 25%_

"Oh come on! I travelled a long way to come and see you! First the girl isn't even here and now you won't help me!? I came all the way from Cuticle City for this?!" shouted the client. Reigen took a deep breath. Calm emotions. Riding the train with Mob. Getting up to pee at midnight and finding Mob passed out on the couch in front of one of her shows. He and Mob finding his old super Famicom. The time when they used her powers to make reverse eggs.

"Nobody asked you to come here." Said Reigen, his shoulders growing stiff and his head beginning to ache. He wished that he was literally anywhere else. He even wished that he could do that out of body thing that Mob did even though it looked scary.

_Progress towards Reigen's Explosion: 30%_

"I can't believe this shit! And the girl isn't even here!" said the client. No curse and he didn't even see the psychic girl. What a rip off!

"She wouldn't help you either. Now go." Said Reigen pointing to the door. He was glad that Mob wasn't here. She didn't need to deal with shit like this. She would have probably freaked out, she hated confrontation with others. What was this guy bringing her up for, anyway? Just because she was just a kid she wouldn't just go along with what this whack job asked of her. Even if she did know how to curse someone she would never do it. The fact that anyone would even ask her to made his blood boil.

_Progress towards Reigen's Explosion: 45%_

"Is that how you talk to a customer?" asked the client pounding his fist on Reigen's desk. Reigen wondered, honestly, if he should just so a self-defense rush. That was where he screamed self-defense as he kicked somebody's ass. Would that really work or would he just end up arrested?

"When the customer is refusing to accept the fact that we do not provide shady services like this, yes." Said Reigen, his knuckles turning white as he struggled to control himself. These were the client's feelings and his. A negative feedback loop.

_Progress towards Reigen's Explosion: 55%_

"You're calling me shady? Me? You think that you can take the moral high ground? Seriously?" asked the client. Reigen could feel a mounting pressure in his head. What he wouldn't give to just rise up and fly away.

"What, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" asked Reigen, his voice steady. He may have lied for years about having powers but he still helped people. Therefore he was not entirely shady

"That girl can't be any older than high school. Hell, she's probably in middle school. What is she? Thirteen? Fourteen? Fifteen? Probably still legal, so about fourteen or fifteen." Said the client.

"…..I don't like what you're implying. Get out." Said Reigen

_Progress towards Reigen's Explosion: 75%_

"You think that you can take the moral high ground with me? All I want to do is curse my asshole boss, you're the one with a middle school aged girlfriend!" said the client

_Progress towards Reigen's Explosion: 95%_

"Mob is not my fucking girlfriend now get the hell out of here before I drop kick you through the fucking floor you bastard!" said Reigen standing up and slamming his hands on the desk. Anger. He knew that he was projecting anger. He tried to calm down. Calm emotions.

"I'm sure your adoring fans would love to hear about this!" said the client as he stormed out. Reigen sat down and rested his head in his arms. He could feel his breath reflecting off of the desk under his head. Calm emotions. Mob. Mob when…

Mob was **not** his girlfriend.

Who cared what people thought? Who cared how weird it looked? Who the fuck cared?

Obviously people cared. That was what was upsetting him more than anything. That his relationship with Mob could have been seen as something sordid. It wasn't. If someone looked at his relationship with Mob and thought that it was something sordid then they were the ones with the sick minds to begin with.

She was **fourteen**.

He didn't care if it was legal in Seasoning City. He was not that kind of person. He was not into girls her age. He wasn't into her. She was **Mob** for God's s sake! He loved her but he wasn't **in **love with her. He groaned and closed his eyes. He wished that he was anywhere but there and anyone but himself.

"Kageyama! Get your head up!" Reigen sat up, startled. His knees hit his desk. His bare knees. What the fuck….? His head swam. Vertigo. He looked around. Kids. Kids everywhere. Someone was glowering down at him.

"What the hell….?" Muttered Reigen as he flexed his fingers. These weren't his hands. He wiggled his toes. These weren't his toes. There was hair in his eyes. Black hair. He reached up and grabbed a handful. What the fuck….?

"Kageyama! You have something to say?" asked the man glowering down at him. He looked around wide eyes. He got several sympathetic looks. Dimple was there, too. He looked annoyed.

"Shigeko! Tell this guy to suck it! Tell him in English, that'll show him!" said Dimple. He could see the energy building up inside of her, bubbling to the surface. It had been bubbling, anyway, but now it was strangely quiet. Gone. Vanished in a puff of smoke.

"What…..?" asked Reigen. This was…surreal. He was…he was Mob? He clenched his thighs together. Well, he wasn't himself anymore; that was for sure.

"Sir? I think Kageyama needs to see the nurse." Said a brown haired girl. Wait, he knew that girl. She was one of Mob's friends. She had posted on the Spirits and Such Friendbook page. Misato? Mezato?

"Yeah…yeah I need to see the nurse." Said Reigen nodding quickly. Yeah. A nurse's office. Somewhere other than this room full of kids staring at him. He needed a minute, just a minute. He was…He was Mob. He had someone become Mob…or gone crazy. Yeah, maybe he had finally lost his mind. Maybe he was dreaming. He pinched his arm, Mob's arm. No, still awake. It was impossible to feel pain in a dream.

"I'll let you go, Kageyama, if you can ask in English. No Katakana." Said the man. Reigen took a deep breath.

"_Here you go, in perfect, unaccented English. I need to go to the nurse right this minute. Right now. Got it?" _ asked Reigen through clenched teeth. The man took a step back.

"How did you…?" he asked. All eyes were on Reigen now. The brown haired girl was giving him a thumbs up. There was a girl with long black hair giving him an encouraging smile. Giving Mob an encouraging smile. These were Mob's friends. He was Mob.

How in the hell had this even happened?

"_Can I go to the nurse or not? Because either way I'm going to the see the nurse. Alright?" _ said Reigen. Dimple was encouraging him now. Even smacking him on the back a few time.

"Kageyama? Where…how…how do you suddenly speak English so well?" asked the man. Reigen shrugged.

"_I guess that it was just your amazing teaching methods, sir. You should be proud, you're a credit to overly aggressive English teachers everywhere. Well, I need to go to the nurse now. It's an esper thing. So, yeah, I am out of here. Hey, you, help me get there. I'm not feeling too good. Later everyone! Peace!" _Said Reigen pointing towards Mob's brown haired friend. He got up, took Mob's school bag, and walked right out the door while Mob's teacher sputtered in amazed indignation.

"Damn, Shigeko! Do you finally think you're going to start listening to your good friend, Dimple?" asked Dimple as he hovered along her. He didn't know what had gotten into her but he liked it. Finally, she decided to stop being such a push over.

"Wow! You were so cool back there, Mob! He was being such a jerk, I can't believe you didn't say anything sooner. Well, I would have, anyway." Said Mezato as she practically ran to join Mob out in the hall. Wow. If she could take control like that than maybe she could be the cult leader that Mezato knew that she could be. Wait, no, cult was such an ugly word. Spiritual leader.

"Uh. Thanks. So, where's the nurse's office?" asked Reigen. He needed to rest for a moment and figure out what he was going to do. He was in Mob's body which meant that Mob must have been in his body. Cool. He just had to figure out how to get back into his own body. How hard could it be?

"Down the hall and to the left. Hey, Mob, are you…alright?" asked Mezato as she watched actual emotion play across her friend's face. Huh. So Mob could emote.

"Me? Yeah, I'm great. I'm totally fine. How are you?" asked Reigen trying to sound nonchalant. Dimple was giving him a look now.

"I'm…fine. You're just acting, well, not like yourself." Said Mezato. Reigen paused. Right. He was Mob. He tried to school his features into her usual emotionless mask. He caught a glimpse of himself in the window and went back to what felt natural. He looked even worse like that.

"I'm totally fine, don't worry. It's just, uh, and esper thing. That's all. Just my powers acting up. Nothing unusual here." Said Reigen in the tone he usually used with clients. The other girl was giving him a really weird look.

"…uh…ok." Said Mezato. Mob was acting really weird, like super really weird. Maybe she could talk to her brother during lunch. Wait, no, the first year and second year lunches didn't overlap. Maybe she could sneak off and talk to him, just to see if Mob was alright.

"Hey, I think I can make it from here. You can go back to class, alright?" asked Reigen finding a bathroom he could hide in until he figured all of this out. The other girl was still giving him a weird look.

"Sure. I'll…uh…see you in class, and you'll have to tell me where you learned to speak English so well." Said Mezato as she turned and left, ideas for stories already peculating in her mind. Half ideas, of course, because she didn't have the full story.

"Cool. See you later!" said Reigen with a wave. It was just easier to be himself right then and there than to pretend to be Mob. Pretending to be Mob. He would have to pretend to be Mob. He bolted into the bathroom and hid in a stall.

"Damn Shigeko! First you tell that asshole off and now you're sneaking into the boy's room? I approve. I wholeheartedly approve. Keep it up!" said Dimple giving a thumbs up and a hundred watt smile.

"Dimple…" said Reigen as he sat down on the closed toilet lid. He drew his knees up but remembered that he was wearing a skirt now and put his legs down below his waist where they belonged.

"Seriously, you're doing great! First you start kicking ass and taking names, then you get not only one but two guys dangling off your finger, and now you're putting the small fries in their places! I'm so proud of you!" said Dimple. He couldn't believe how much progress he was making on her. She'd be on her way to Godhood in no time!

"Dimple….." said Reigen as he held his head, Mob's head, in his hands, her hands. This felt weird, the porcelain under him, the way his legs were exposed to the air, the hair hanging down into his eyes and down his back. He crossed his arms but then pulled them away like they were on fire. When had Mob gotten THOSE?

"You know, Shigeko, you should really take my advice more often. Like with that Reigen guy. Wasn't I right about-" said Dimple attempting to impart some wisdom onto her before he was cut off.

"Dimple! I am Reigen!" said Reigen suddenly. The lights above him flickered, one burnt out, and the toilet in the stall next to him sent water up to the ceiling.

He had Mob's powers, too. God help him he had Mob's powers.

"Shigeko, I don't follow. Are you being philosophical or something?" asked Dimple manifesting a hand so that he could scratch his head.

"Dimple, you little snot glob, I need you to listen to me. It's me, Reigen. Reigen Arataka. I am Reigen Arataka, not Kageyama Shigeko. Not Mob. I'm trapped in Mob's body. I have no idea how I got in here or how I'm going to get out." Said Reigen trying to keep it together. He could feel it, something building, burning, struggling, to get out. Was it…was that the…other…Shigeko?

"…Ha! You really had me going, Shigeko." Said Dimple wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. Reigen glared up at him. He heard something crack. It sounded like glass.

"I'm telling the truth." Said Reigen in an even, measured, tone. He needed to calm down. He focused on his breathing. Slowly. Deeply. Carefully.

"Seriously?" asked Dimple, blinking. Reigen nodded.

"Yeah. Seriously." Said Reigen. He and Dimple held eye contact before Dimple started laughing. He laughed and laughed and laughed. Reigen tried to keep calm. He needed to, or this other part of Mob, this id, would hurt someone.

"I'm sorry. Well, I'm not really sorry. This is actually pretty damned hilarious! But seriously, you're freaking me out me right now. I've heard of this happening between telepaths before but you two should have swapped powers. Also, neither of you are telepaths." Said Dimple. Reigen ground his, Mob's, teeth. He needed a cigarette so badly right then.

"Dimple…that's the last thing I want to hear from you right now." Said Reigen. He had seen enough body swapping shows to know what to do. He and Mob just needed to either find the witch that cursed them or come to a great realization about each other so they could solve their conflicts and learn to see eye to eye. They never fought, though, right?

"Well, maybe I can help. What's the last thing you remember?" asked Dimple. Maybe this was a new power, or an extension of another one. Reigen could literally feel other people's emotions and write his own emotions to them. Shigeko could steal energy, save it up, and then share it with others later. Reigen was also pretty integrated into her aura. Maybe all of that had something to do with this.

"I was fighting with a client. He implied…he implied some pretty bad shit, and I wanted to be somewhere else…and someone else…" said Reigen. Dimple scratched his chin in thought.

"Well, before Shigeko put her head down she might have felt the same way. That guy was trying to embarrass her and she, against my advice, just sat there and took it. I guess she felt the same way and just decided to run away instead of staying and fighting for herself. Where'd you leave your body? I'll just go and ask her myself." Said Dimple. Well, this was certainly entertaining. Advantageous, too. Now they both needed him and now he could use at least one of them to achieve his goals.

"At the office. I was sitting at my desk and I put my head down." Said Reigen. Mob was him. Mob was in his body. She must have been so freaked out. At least she didn't have her powers. No. She had his. He could barely control his. How was she fairing? He wanted to bolt out of the school and go to her but he knew that he couldn't. This was the hour of adults. He pulled out his, no, her phone. Crap. He didn't know her pattern. He could at least check the time. Yup. No kids out and about in middle school uniforms. Even if he did find other clothes then he'd have to undress Mob's body; that was a big no. Also there was no way that Mob would be able to pass as a grown woman anyway, even if she had…Reigen slouched down.

"Cool! I'll be right back! Try not to mess up Shigeko's life too badly while I'm gone!" said Dimple, waving as he sped off.

"Right." Said Reigen quietly. He tried to open her phone again. Maybe her screen was dirty where she drew the pattern with her finger. No. Of course it wasn't. She used her powers for this, didn't she?

"What am I going to do?" asked Reigen. He closed his eyes, Mob's eyes, and focused on his breathing. He had no idea how long he was breathing for but he was soon filled with a sense of…space.

**You don't belong.**

Reigen felt another presence. Someone was all around him, but nowhere to be seen. He took a deep breath physically. Mentally a door appeared before him, plain and white. Someone stepped through. It was Mob. This Mob was glowing a brilliant white. She was naked, but had no features, kind of like a doll. Her hair was long and covered her face almost completely. The other Mob, no, the other Shigeko stood in front of him. He was also naked and featureless, he himself was bathed in yellow light.

_Are you the other Shigeko?_ Reigen didn't say it, the question was simply posed.

**I am Kageyama Shigeko. You are Master Reigen. You are welcome here. You are welcome within us.**

Not a single word was spoken. Reigen simply knew what she, what it, what she, meant. Suddenly he was in his favorite grey suit. She was in her school uniform. Her hair still covered her face.

_What are you?_

That was the burning question. He didn't care if this was intrusive, he needed to know.

**Kageyama Shigeko. Want. Need. Protect. Strong. I am this. I am Shigeko. We are this thing together. You are also this thing with me. **

This…whatever it was…had its own mind. Its own wants and needs. He could see those needs, feel them, the feelings Mob fed this thing. The things Mob wanted. Not a laundry list of her every want. No. Feelings.

Safety. Love. Caring. Emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy. Stability. Acceptance. From **him**.

He decided to lock that particular revelation away for later. He was **NOT** going to start unpacking that now.

_Do you know how I can fix this?_

He could feel it thinking.

**No idea. Don't care. You will keep us safe. You are Master Reigen.**

It didn't **CARE**? What? How? Why?

**You will keep us safe. You will always keep us safe.**

_Safe? How? This is not supposed to be happening, Mob! Shigeko!_

**You are always welcome within us**

_For the love of GOD please stop saying it like that!_

**It is the truth. You told us to always tell the truth.**

_Do you at least know how this happened?_

**You told us to run away. Mob did not want me to protect us so I let her run away. Then you came here. **

_So Mob felt so cornered that she ran to me?_

**Yes**

_But how do I get back to normal?_

**No idea.**

_How do you not know?!_

**Because I don't.**

_But I thought you were her powers! How do you not know how you work?_

**No idea. Things just happen. I will rest now.**

_What…? What do you mean? Shigeko! Answer me!_

**I must rest. I must watch. I must collect strength. Good bye Master Reigen.**

She got up and left the featureless, white, room. Reigen was all alone for a moment before he stopped out of the room. He opened his eyes, his physical eyes, and found himself staring at the stall door in front of him.

He was well and truly fucked.

Mob was well and truly curse words.

Her limbs were too long, too heavy. She was too heavy. Everything was too heavy. It took her a moment to lift her head. There was no hair in her eyes. She looked around. Work? Why was she at work? Master Reigen's desk…

She got up quickly, well, tried to at least. She tripped over his chair and fell backwards. She tried to use her powers to keep her skirt down but they didn't listen.

No powers.

No skirt, either.

This wasn't like in the white room. She had no telekinesis. She could still see on the aural spectrum. She could…she could feel **everything.** There were people all around and she could feel them. She quickly stuffed that power down, compressed it. There. Now it was quiet. She stood up. Pants. A tie. Big, calloused hands. She smelled like aftershave, incense, and cigarettes. Her mouth was kind of dry. She ran a hand through her hair. Short hair.

Oh. She had swapped bodies with Master Reigen. She knew about body swapping, she had seen so many animes with body swap plots.

Were they about to be crushed by a meteor? No, then they would have been in different time periods, too. She hit the wake up button on Master Reigen's phone. Nope. Same day. She wished she knew his passcode, though, because then she could call him and tell him not to freak out. They just needed to get back to their own bodies. They needed to come to a sudden realization of great truth or something that would help them see eye to eye. What didn't they see eye to eye on?

The way they loved each other.

The fact that she wasn't a little kid anymore.

Anime.

Ramen flavors.

Acceptable uses of the living room couch.

Where their career were heading.

Ambitions that differed slightly.

She glanced at his computer. They were writing the book from different points of view. Oh. That was what they needed to see eye to eye on. She gave the computer mouse a wave. He had been working on the book at the same time that she had been working on her share. There. That made sense. Oh, someone was posting on their Friendbook page with lots of angry faces. This wasn't snooping, she had admin rights. She clicked it opened. Oh. A person who was full of lies. Master Reigen would always help someone in need. Oh, the man wanted someone cursed. What a terrible person, of course Master Reigen wouldn't help him.

Mob thought for a moment.

She wouldn't want her life to get messed up from this. She had things to do that day. Master Reigen would probably take care of things for her. It wasn't cheating because it was still her body doing the work.

She could do his work for him, too. She felt his powers. Not nearly what she was used to but she would work with what she had. Not backrubs, though. That was dangerous, Master Reigen had said, because she didn't know what she was doing.

It was important to roll with the punches and make the best of things. Master Reigen had taught her that. He was probably doing just fine. School would be over in a few hours and then there would be club and then Master Reigen would come here and they'd get all of this sorted out.

He'd know just what to do. He was Master Reigen after all. He always knew what to do.

Reigen Arataka had no idea what he was supposed to do. He couldn't hide in this bathroom forever, or maybe he could. He could try to run to the office and dodge school patrols and truant officers. He could make himself, Mob's self, throw up and then get sent to the nurse. He could resign himself to his fate and live the rest of his life out as a teenage girl.

Reigen groaned and put his head in his hands. He hunched over, not as far as he usually could. He needed to stretch more with Mob, she wasn't that flexible. Or he could just start stretching right now. He heard the door open.

"Tenga, this is bad idea. We're going to get in a lot of trouble." Said a voice. A male voice. Oh no. This was the boy's room and he wasn't a guy anymore.

"Shut it, Yamazaki! I didn't borrow these from my brother just to chicken out now!" Reigen kept his breathing quiet. If Mob's body got caught in the boy's room Mob herself would have to live with the consequences.

"But what about body improvement?" said the first voice. Reigen prayed that he didn't get discovered. Mob would never live it down if he, if she, got caught in the boy's room.

"I'm not going to take up smoking, you idiot! I just want to try it!" said the second voice

"Nah, you just don't want people to think you're getting soft, especially since a girl ousted you." Said the first voice

"She didn't oust me! I gave her the job because she's the one who beat Black Vinegar's shadow leader." Said the second voice

"I hear they're going out now." Said the first voice

"….that's good. Then we'll have an alliance with Black Vinegar! Yeah! Then we can take some more territory!" said the second voice

"But isn't she a pacifist? Hasn't she been trying to give you your job back for a while, now?" asked the first voice. Reigen followed this conversation with interest. Didn't Mob say something about delinquents trying to make her their leader?

"Just shut up and smoke…" muttered the second voice. Reigen was silent as he listened to the familiar sound of a cigarette carton opening, then smelled the familiar smell of burning tobacco, the heard the familiar sounds of coughing.

"Why does your brother do this, Tenga?" asked the first voice through coughs. Reigen could hear a window opening.

"I don't know. Adults are weird." Said the second voice. Reigen stifled a laugh. Mob had expressed similar sentiments. Crap. They heard him.

"Hey! Who the hell is in there! If you tell on us I'll-" he heard the first voice say

"Wait, is that a girl?" asked the second voice. Crap. Reigen pulled his legs up.

"Hey, girl….why are you in here…" asked the first voice, presumably that Tenga kid. The other one must have been Yamazaki. Mob hadn't mentioned them, or maybe she had, it was hard to keep all of these kids straight.

"I'm….not?" said Reigen before he could think.

"K-Kageyama?" asked the boy, Tenga

"Yes….?" Asked Reigen

"Why…are….you…here….?" asked Tenga slowly

"Don't ask that, you dummy! This is a bathroom!" said Yamazaki

"I'm…hanging out." Said Reigen a little more confidently. He could out talk a couple of kids easily. What was he so worried about?

"But, why?" asked Tenga. Why would a girl be in their bathroom? Crap. What was he supposed to do here?

"Because I felt like it. Can I have one of those?" asked Reigen coming out of the stall. He needed a cigarette. One wouldn't kill Mob. Besides, she said that she healed fast. One measly, insignificant little cigarette wouldn't do her in.

"You want to smoke?!" asked Tenga alarmed. Reigen nodded. He needed this. He really needed this. Psychologically. Tenga shakily hand him a cigarette.

"Thanks. You have no idea how badly I needed this." Said Reigen. Tenga handed him the lighter but all Reigen had to do was think and the end of his cigarette was lit.

"….so cool…" said Yamazaki in awe. Reigen took a deep inhale and blew smoke out the window. Smoking in the boy's room. It was like he was fourteen again.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Said Reigen couching. Right. Mob wasn't used to this. Well, she wouldn't be. It was just one. It wasn't like he was going to smoke an entire carton while he chugged a nice, warm bottle of sake and strolled down the street.

"…can I?" asked Tenga. Reigen stuck out his tongue and caught sight of himself in the mirror. God, Mob could be so adorable.

"Seriously? This is a bathroom. Have some sense. Sheesh!" said Reigen. He liked this, sort of, he felt…young…again. No. Just no. He wasn't Mob. He wasn't fourteen again. He needed to just be Mob for a day. One day. Then back to being Reigen Arataka.

"Oh…I'm sorry. Hey…are you…ok?" asked Tenga. Yamazaki nodded in agreement. This girl, Magical Girl Salt, was usually so…not this. She was actually kind of cool, now, actually.

"I have been having the worst day, esper stuff, so I came to hide in here. Thanks for the cigarette, by the way. I should get back to class. I think we were reviewing for an English test or something. See ya around!" said Reigen finishing his cigarette. That had been cheap, small, and not all that great but it gave him a moment to collect himself. Yeah. He could do this. Mob for a day. How hard could it be?

Mob decided to switch the opened sign to closed for the time being. It was mostly stiff shoulders that came in and she had no idea how to fix those. She was just at Master Reigen's desk working on her part of the book. She didn't touch his document, of course, because it wasn't for her to go messing with.

"Hey, Shigeko? That you?" asked Dimple as he hovered over Reigen's body's shoulder. Mob turned around and almost fell out of the chair.

"Dimple! You're here! How's Master Reigen doing? Is he alright?" asked Mob. She knew that she was fine but she didn't know how Master Reigen was. She cared more about him than herself, anyway.

"He's freaking out in the bathroom." Laughed Dimple. Mob frowned. She needed to figure out how to get them back where they belonged or the other Shigeko could come out. She had stayed behind, apparently. Why? Did she kick Mob out so that she could have the body? That would make sense for her.

"Did she…did the other Shigeko come out?" asked Mob quietly. Dimple shook his head.

"Nope. You looked like you were about to explode but then the energy just sort of vanished." Said Dimple

"Oh. That must have been how I ended up here." Said Mob. Yes. She had wanted to run away, and now she had. That made perfect sense.

"…you're taking this well." Said Dimple. How was she so calm? Humans were usually pretty protective over their bodies, not being able to change form and all.

"I know. I have to. I'm going to have to be Master Reigen today and then after school we'll switch back." Said Mob simply like she was stating that night's dinner options. Dimple stared at her.

"Do you know how to get back into your own body?" asked Dimple. This was the same kid who got freaked out by math problems and her boyfriend feeling her up, but here she was cool as a cucumber. Shigeko was a weird, weird, weird kid.

"No, but we must have some way of getting back to our bodies. I mean, this happened in the first place. Maybe I just need to feel cornered again and have an out of body experience. That must be it." Said Mob. Dimple still stared at her.

"You can have out of body experiences?" asked Dimple. Not that he was going to steal her body out from under her nose or anything.

"Yes, but I can't really control them. I only figured out that I even could the other day. I think I do it in my sleep. Today Master Reigen had to drag me into the shower so that my body and spirit would reconnect. Maybe the other Shigeko left, or she didn't take over because she was asleep. She sleeps sometimes." Said Mob. Would the other Shigeko try to wrestle control from Master Reigen? No. They loved Master Reigen.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you? Be careful with that. Not every spirit is as nice as I am, someone could just walk up and steal your body out from under you." Said Dimple

"Really? You think? No. Master Reigen would protect me." Said Mob

"Seriously? You've got his powers, Shigeko, you know he's not nearly strong enough to protect you." Said Dimple

"Master Reigen's powers aren't weak, I'm just not used to them. It's apples to oranges, Dimple. You're comparing apples to oranges." Said Mob. She was an esper. Master Reigen was a psychic. They were different.

"Uh-huh. Sure. You know, you're just being willfully blind at this point, Shigeko." Said Dimple. Mob frowned. No she wasn't. Master Reigen was amazing. Master Reigen was the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century.

"Dimple, you're being mean. Master Reigen is strong, just in a different way. I'll show you. I'll be him for a day and I'll exorcise every evil spirit that I can find. You'll see! And if you don't stop I'll start with you!" said Mob standing up. That felt…good. No monster lurking under her skin, ready to attack at any time. No. She was just herself now. No other Shigeko.

"Sheesh, I'd blame teenage girl hormones but you're inside of Reigen now. You know what? Fine. You go and be Reigen but when you get hurt don't come crying to old Dimple." Said Dimple. She had some kind of complex when it came to this guy. He got her having a crush on him. He got that she wanted to crawl into bed with him and never, ever come out, but this devotion was nonsensical. She was INHABITING him. She knew how weak his powers were. The sooner she learned the truth the better.

"I will! I'll be so good at being Master Reigen that nobody will be able to tell the difference. You'll see!" said Mob. She grabbed his phone, the key, and the little 'gone exorcising, call back tomorrow' sign. She stuck that sign on the door, locked up, and expanded her perceptions. She could feel a headache building but she ignored it. She had a job to do.

Today she was Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century! She'd make a splash and take on the town! Yeah! She felt his phone vibrating.

Oh.

Right, he did other things besides exorcising spirits and rubbing shoulders all day. What could his passcode be? His birthday? She typed in 1990/10/10. Oh. Well then. Heh. He had lectured her on security but he still used his birthday as a passcode. She opened the text. She wasn't snooping. No. This was work related. She was being him so of course he'd answer work related messages.

Oh. Not work related. His mom. She was coming for a visit in two weeks. She closed his messenger. Right. None of her business. But why had he kept it from her? Was he hiding things from her? No. They told each other everything. Complete and total honesty. They had complete and total honesty. He would never keep any secrets from her. He must have just forgotten or something.

She felt the draw of a massive pool of spiritual energy and walked towards it. She let her, his, powers out slowly and adjusted. Huh. He couldn't take in energy from the atmosphere like she could. She felt stronger, though, when she opened herself up to people. She could squish their feelings down, though.

She had been practicing that particular skill for her entire life.

She eventually found the source of the energy, an abandoned building that used to house a department store. Lots of spirits in there, nothing she couldn't take care of on her own…as herself. No. Master Reigen was strong. He could do this. She filled herself with boundless confidence, the kind that Master Reigen exuded every moment of every day.

She was going to make him proud.

Reigen hoped that Mob would be proud of him. She had wanted to be more popular, well he could do that. He could totally do that. He walked down the hall back to class, 2-1 if he remembered correctly. He filled himself with boundless confidence, the kind Mob thought that he exuded every moment of every day. He opened the door and sat down in his, Mob's, seat. He leaned back and crossed his legs, mindful of the fact that he was wearing a skirt.

"Kageyama." Said the teacher. He was sitting in a chair with a clipboard. Someone vacated the seat in front of him and scurried off.

"That's me." Said Reigen just as he would have when he was fourteen. He was getting stares, now. Well, he would have gotten more if he had been pretending to be Mob.

"You've come back." Said the teacher. Well, this was new. This student had always been so…meek. What was with the sudden 180? He had pushed her too far?

"I didn't know I had a choice." Said Reigen. For a moment this was his teacher, he was at his school, it was 2005, and he was a teenage boy with a chip on his shoulder.

"You don't. Would you like to commence with your oral exam now, Kageyama?" asked the teacher. He had never heard such insolence from this student in all of his days. Maybe it was his fault, though. She was just a little girl and this was a difficult time. Hormones and such. He'd give her a warning or two before he took disciplinary action.

"_Sure. No time like the present." _Said Reigen getting up to sit in the little plastic chair. He was getting all kinds of stares.

"_Kageyama. Tell me about yourself. You have three minutes to have a conversation in English, a basic conversation. You'll be graded on grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Begin." _He said. Reigen sat back. Piece of cake. It wouldn't be weird, too, because Mob's English was pretty good.

"_I'm Kageyama Shigeko but in English that would be Shigeko Kageyama since the order in English is given name then family name. I'm fourteen years old, I'll be fifteen next May. My favorite color is pink. I love pandas and cats. Every day I exorcise spirits for three hundred yen an hour at my job. Let's see what else…I like to play go and watch shows where two people fall in love but don't tell each other because they've got to stretch it out for twelve episodes and an OVA. Oh, and I think that pacifism is an inherently moral and unfeasible system for the following reasons….." _said Reigen as he proceeded to give the longest, English, monologue in the history of Salt Middle School.

At his core Reigen Arataka liked to show off, and show off he did. Just as he did when he was fourteen he aced that English test. He aced it with flying colors. Mob would be so proud of him. This was going to be a great day. Yeah. For Mob, not just because he liked having this second chance. No. It wasn't like that at all.

"So, do you think that I can speak English, now?" asked Reigen flippantly. He leaned back, legs crossed at the ankle, arm thrown over the back of the chair. He was getting stared at, he liked it. The brown haired girl whose name began with an 'M' sound scribbled something into her notebook.

"Speak English? Kageyama…you practically are English! How…how did you learn to speak so well?" asked the teacher. Well. Maybe if these were the results he'd get he'd better start pushing these kids a lot harder.

"Thanks. My, uh, Master has been helping me study. Yeah, English is kind of a hobby of mine. Can I go back to my desk, now?" asked Reigen.

"Of course, Kageyama, but I'm giving you a warning about the level of lip you've been giving. This is your only warning, stop being cheeky." Said the teacher

"_Yes sir, terribly sorry about all of that." _Said Reigen as he went back to Mob's desk. The next student was called up. As they passed someone whispered to him, thanking him sarcastically for ruining the curb. Oh. Maybe Reigen needed to stop showing off. Come to think of it this hadn't gone so well when he actually was fourteen. Well then. He had barely sat down at Mob's desk when brown haired girl was back.

"Mob! Where are you getting all of this confidence from? Come on! Tell me!" said Mezato quietly. Whatever was up with Mob this would be great. She could take up the mantel of Lady Psycho Helmet with confidence like that, and Mezato would get the full scoop.

"I don't know, I just sort of…woke up like this…I guess. What are you writing down?" asked Reigen. Brown haired girl looked up in surprise.

"I'm just taking notes like I always. One day the world will know the truth, Kageyama, and I'll be the one to show them!" said Mezato. Reigen watched Brown haired girl wearily. Oh. She wanted to use Mob to get famous.

"Oh. I don't really want to talk about my powers. How have you been?" asked Reigen. Mob wouldn't like people prying into that part of her life. She didn't exist for the amusement of others.

"Me? I've been pretty good, actually. I covered the opening of that new arcade machine, the new light gun and dance game, six people have already gotten hurt. I mean how irresponsible can someone be…." Said Mezato. Reigen nodded and listened. Yup, that was the trick. You just had to get people talking about themselves. Still, it was nice to know that Mob was making friends. Oh. Her phone vibrated. He fished it out of her skirt pocket and clicked it opened. Right. A pattern.

Reigen went off on a limb and traced the three on top and the three on the right side. It didn't work. He tried the three up top and the three on the left. Yup. He'd have to talk to Mob about putting a more secure passcode. Someone could just snoop through her phone like this. Well, he wasn't snooping. No. She could have been trying to text him. Oh. It was from her boyfriend.

'_Hey Shigeko? Which do you like better? Real onsen powder or milky bath salts? I just ask because I know you like things that smell like fruit but you also said that you had never been to an onsen before' _Reigen was at an impasse. He had to be her for the day and that included holding her life together. Well, did this include holding her life together? This relationship was super important to her. She loved his kid. She had told him that she loved this kid. This kid loved her back, too, judging by the whole willing to die for her thing.

'_No preference.'_ Said Reigen. There. Short, sweet, and to the point. Nobody felt rejected, everyone felt heard, and Mob didn't come back to her body to find herself in a conflict or anything with her boyfriend.

'_I'll just get both then and you can decide tonight.'_ Reigen half listened to brown haired girl. She was still on about that dangerous light gun dance-dance revolution mixture. Reigen did cock an eyebrow though. Oh. Mob had plans tonight. Well, whatever they were he was NOT going. Nope. That was where he drew the line.

'_I might have to work late. I'll text you later when I see what my Master says.'_ Reigen his send. Brown haired girl was still talking. He did his best I'm listening face. Now she was talking about this other story she wrote about a man spending a month's salary on capsule toys. Oh. That was her older brother. Well then.

'_Ask him to give you time off. You promised me and I know you always keep your promises. We can FLCL again too.' _Huh. Reigen didn't know that she liked that show. It was, in his opinion, one of the greatest pieces of animation ever animated. He probably still had the DVD someplace.

"Mob, what's up?" asked Mezato. Mob wouldn't just ignore her. This had to be something monumentally, fate of the world, battle between good and evil important!

"Oh. Just my boyfriend." Said Reigen with a shrug as he tried to remember if he took those DVDs with him in the last move. When he and Mob got back to normal they needed to do some heavy duty unpacking.

"Trouble in paradise?" asked Mezato. This could be a great story. Shadow Leader power couple hits the rocks! How will this affect your school day?

"No. Just Fooley Cooley." Said Reigen still trying to think of what even would be in those other boxes. He had already found one full of half empty liquor bottles and one full of rocks and crystals. Maybe he should just toss the remaining ones. If he wasn't going to use the stuff inside of them, and he hadn't in the four years he had been living in that apartment, then he ought to just get rid of them to clear the clutter. He and Mob weren't exactly living in the Taj Mahal after all.

"Oh my God! Really! No way! You two?!...whoa….not that I'll write about this or anything. No. This is just between friends." said Mezato, her jaw hanging opened. Wow. She had never known anyone who had…before…and it was MOB. Wow. That was probably why she was so confident all of a sudden. Was she glowing, too? She looked different. Did everyone look different afterwards? This was big! Not that she would put this in the paper. It was for hard hitting journalism, not gossip. Besides, Mob probably only wanted her most trusted friends to know.

"…yes…?" said Reigen quickly realizing that it was obviously a euphemism for…things he didn't think that Mob was ready to start doing. But she was doing. She had been planning on doing. She had been planning on doing tonight. He shoved Mob's phone back into the skirt's pocket. Yeah. No. He was not poking this part of Mob's life with a ten foot pole.

Well. He had learned something about Mob. Something that he didn't want to know. Something that he could have lived a nice, long, life without knowing.

"No way! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." Said Mezato with all the seriousness she could muster. Wow. She was so deep into Mob's inner circle that she knew this. She would carry this secret that her friend had confided in her to her grave. No, beyond her grave. Even if she came back as a spirit she would never tell anyone this.

"Uh…thanks. You're a great friend. So, what else happened to capsule toy guy? Did he ever get the cat one that holds up your phone?" asked Reigen bringing the subject back to brown haired girl. Her eyes lit up. Yup, people sure loved talking about themselves. Greatest lesson he had ever learned in life.

"He did but he was looking for the Siamese cat specifically. The machine didn't even have it. None of the machines did and now he wants to sure the capsule toy company for false advertising…." Reigen went back to half listening to brown haired girl. His thoughts went back to Mob. Sweet, innocent little Mob. Well, she wasn't little anymore, and she obviously wasn't as innocent as she used to be. She was still sweet, though.

"Hey, Mob, it's time for gym." Said brown haired girl nudging him. She didn't look upset. He supposed that everyone was used to Mob's staring. Not that he could help it. He was having a lot of trouble not seeing the aural spectrum. He had gotten the hang of it, sort of, dulling the world so that it looked less like a Gainaxian fever dream.

"Huh. Oh, alright. I'll see you there!" said Reigen cheerily. He couldn't do deadpanned and he wasn't going to try because it would just ne even weirder.

"Wait! Mob, girl's change first today, remember? We switch off?" asked Mezato watching her friend carefully.

"Oh, right. I forgot, a lot on my mind and everything. I'll just…get into my gym clothes now, I guess." Said Reigen. He had been about to walk out with the boys. Right. No. He was not changing while he was in Mob's body. He needed a way out of this. He walked slowly to the cubby with Mob's name on it. Right. He faced the wall at the girls started to change. No…just no…he was tapping out. Yeah, eh was tapping out of this whole thing.

"Hey! Reigen! So I talked to Shigeko and she's going to take your body and exorcise every spirit in the city. I tried to stop her but, well, you know how she is when she wants something. Hey! Reigen! Are you listening?!" said Dimple tapping him on the forehead. Reigen was staring at the wall in front of him in horror.

"I could throw up. I could always throw up." Muttered Reigen as he held Mob's gym uniform in his, her, hands. Red track suit with a white t shirt. Mob got motion six pretty easily. He could always make himself throw up right there. Yeah, that would work.

"If you really want to throw up I could always, say, take over the body." Said Dimple slyly. Reigen took a deep breath.

"Do it." Said Reigen quietly. He couldn't make Mob throw up, she'd be mocked mercilessly by her peers until she graduated.

"What? Seriously?" asked Dimple. Reigen nodded.

"Just long enough to get changed or I'll have the other…Mob…eat you or erase you or whatever it is she does to unwelcome spirits in her…this…body." Whispered Reigen. Dimple's eye lit up like a million yen.

"Whatever! I'll take it!" said Dimple before diving in. He could still get a massive dose of Shigeko's energy….yuck. What was this thing? Oh, right. The curse…but not exactly a curse. He closed his eyes. Shigeko's eyes. He could feel Reigen relinquishing control. It took Dimple a moment to learn coordination. Human bodies had a limited range of motion after all and getting dressed meant a lot of tiny motions that Dimple wasn't used to making, not having physical limbs after all.

Still, though, it was nice. The feel of the air on his skin. The taste of it. The feel of the cloth. The feel of his feet in his shoes. He wiggled his toes. This was pretty sweet, actually, aside from the other part of Shigeko, the one who stayed behind, presumably to guard the body. It felt gross. Sticky and icky. Grumpy, too.

**Get out. No room. Go away, Dimple.**

Yup, it had sentience. It spoke, but not with words. Dimple got the gist of it, though. He told it that he was almost done. As much as he loved the feeling of, well, existence he hated the feeling of being exorcised. He also wasn't sure if he would survive a third attempt.

"Alright Reigen, you're turn again." Said Dimple as he exited the body. Reigen was overcome with a familiar sense of vertigo and took a stumbling step forward. Ok. Mob was changed. He'd just wear her uniform over her gym uniform. He wasn't going through that again. It was like what he would imagine being crushed into a cube would feel like. This body wasn't big enough for the two of them. Well, the three of them. He followed the rest of Mob's classmates to gym. This was just gym class. He'd be fine.

Right?

Exorcisms were easy, right? Mob hoped so as she entered the building. Not entirely gracefully, if she was going to be honest with herself. She was too tall. Her feet were too big. Everything was too high up, and she didn't have her powers to help. She used her powers subconsciously, she knew this. She remembered that white room, the one that cancelled out powers. How incredibly **heavy** she had felt. She felt heavy now, too, but that might have just been because Master Reigen was bigger and heavier than she was.

Right. Show time.

She had come this far, on foot, but she was going to prove Dimple wrong. She was going to prove to Dimple and whoever else that Master Reigen really was the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. She believed in him. She had to believe in him. She just wished that everyone else could see him the way that she saw him. Well, she'd exorcise every single evil spirit in this building with his powers and then all the naysayers would shut up and believe in Master Reigen just like she had believed in him for all of these years.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. It was heavy. She let herself see the full aural spectrum. Yup, spirits. Lots of them. The ones on this floor were all bark and no bite. It was weird for spirits to congregate like this without eating each other. Weird.

"You! You think that you can just stroll in here like you own the place! How'd you like to spend the rest of your life in agony?!" asked the spirit as it appeared before her. She bowed deeply.

"Hello I'm Ka-I'm Reigen Arataka and I'm here to exorcise you. Please hold still." Said Mob. She could feel this spirit. She was calm, she had to be. She could feel her aura trying to push out. She let it out until she was bathed in yellow.

"An esper? You think that you can exorcise me? Well come and try! Eternally pinchy shoes!" said the spirits as it sent a wave of energy over Mob. She could feel her shoes get a little too tight. That was mildly annoying, but she still projected calm emotions. Master Reigen could make other people feel what he felt.

"I'm sorry that you died. It must be very difficult being here for eternity. I want to help you pass on. Just let me help you." Said Mob calmly. Flatly. That was why spirits lingered, they had unfinished business.

"You think that you can just erase me like that?! Well, buddy, you've got another thing coming!" said the spirit as it charged up another attack. Mob took a deep, calming breath and let her aura wash over the spirit. Yellow. Everything was that same shade of custard yellow that filled her with comfort, love, caring and safety.

"Hey. This is pretty nice. Thanks, man. See you on the other side." Said the spirit as it faded away. Huh. That was pretty nice. Usually when she exorcised spirits they exploded in a shower of light. This was nice and it didn't make her too tired, either. Usually Master Reigen pulled his powers into a ball and then threw it. This was much less of a power drain.

"Goodbye." Said Mob as she waved the spirit away. Was exorcising spirits like…what was it equivalent to? That was just what she had been doing to spirits her entire life. Was she really helping them pass on or was she destroying them. She'd have to ask Dimple, and apologize too, once she saw him again. There. Once she got the hang of it using Master Reigen's powers wasn't so hard.

He wasn't as strong as she was but that was alright. That was like comparing apples to oranges. That was all. She went on into the building and let her aura, her calming aura, wash over every spirit there. Some took longer to pass on than others but they all passed on. She moved through each floor of the building and exorcised all of the low level spirits. It was odd, though, because spirits this low level would usually just eat each other to get stronger. She stopped walking as she felt a much stronger aura wash over her.

"You! You chased away my meals!" said a spirit in the shape of a big, fat spider. Mob shrugged. She wasn't afraid of bugs.

"I helped them pass on." Said Mob simply as she was wrapped up in silk. No, not actual silk, this was made up of energy.

"You destroyed years of work. I was saving those up for a big meal later on. Now I guess that you'll have to do." Said the spirit. Mob projected calm feelings. It didn't seem to have much of an effect. Huh. She tried harder.

"It's wrong to take advantage of people's trust like that. Those spirits probably thought that you would keep them safe, that was why they weren't eating each other. Lying to people and taking advantage of their trust is wrong." Said Mob. Maybe she would have to do that energy ball thing that Master Reigen did. It looked like a much stronger attack than this aura thing that she was doing.

"There's nothing wrong with using someone if you both get something out of it. I got a nice, tasty meal and they got to exist for a little bit longer than they would have on their own. I never lied, I just didn't tell the whole truth." Said the spirit as it spun Mob in silk.

"Not telling the whole truth is kind of like a lie, especially if you were planning on hurting someone. It's wrong to take advantage of others." Said Mob pulling the energy into a ball. She flicked her wrist and it hit the spirit. She suddenly felt very tired.

"That was good but not good enough!" said the spirit. Mob closed her eyes, they suddenly felt so heavy. She just…needed….rest….

Reigen felt so heavy. He needed rest. Who knew that kicking a ball around a field could be so exhausting? He stood in the field, leaning down with his arms braced against his knees. Mob's knees. Mob's arms. Right, this was Mob's body. A girl with long glossy hair ran up to him.

"Hey, Mob, why don't you sit out? You don't usually play for this long." Said the girl with the glossy black hair and pink hair clip.

"I'm…fine…" said Reigen as he caught his breath. He could definitely run for much longer as Mob, she hadn't ruined her lungs with years upon years of smoking. Reigen suddenly felt guilty. Right. He had been selfish, before.

"Well, if you're sure…" said the black haired girl before some other girls, presumably her friends, called her away. Reigen caught his, Mob's, breath. He took off his track jacket and tied it around his waist. Her waist. When had her waist gotten this dip in it? He pulled his hand away, quickly. There was a reason he hadn't noticed these things about Mob and he wasn't going to start noticing now.

"Hey, Reigen, slow down. I can't have you breaking Shigeko." Said Dimple. He was pushing that body way too hard, Dimple could tell. Shigeko used her powers subconsciously when she moved, Reigen apparently didn't.

"I'm…fine…Dimple." Said Reigen as he started running again. He had forgotten just how much fun this was, all of this. It was true, you couldn't pay him to go back to the awkwardness of this time in his life he would still gladly take the fun parts. Gym class could be fun. No stakes. Not like the adult world where it was one false step and you were ruined. The adult world where he had to have all the answers, to know exactly what to do in any given situation.

He was in Mob's world now.

For just a day he was in Mob's world. It wasn't so bad, not like he remembered it. Of course he had done all of this already. It was easier, now, being a visitor instead of a resident. Plus, these were roads he had traveled before. Not as a girl, of course, but he had traveled these roads before as a kid. Honestly, it was easier as a girl.

He looked over and saw that a brawl had broken out amongst the boys. Someone had a bloody nose.

Yeah, a lot easier as a girl. Girls didn't have to worry about getting beat up. Sure there was gossip and all but Mob didn't care about stuff like that. She was Mob. She was an island onto herself. She was who she was. She was her own protagonist and she wouldn't let anyone influence her or try to change her.

Nobody but him.

No, Mob didn't even listen to him that much anymore. She heard the words he said but she formed her own conclusions. She was growing up. She was growing up and she…she just wanted him to acknowledge it. Yeah. Just like that morning. She was growing up and didn't want to be treated like a child.

But she was. In so many ways she was still a child. He knew. He was inhabiting her. Her limbs were short, her movements uncoordinated. Her world was small, this building, those kids over there. This was her world. What was his? The office? No, his world had fewer limits. He could have been out there, on the outside of those gates, at this hour if he wanted to be. She didn't know big the world could be. Did she, now? How was she enjoying her taste of his life? Of the adult world? Dimple had said that she was going out to exorcise spirits. That was so Mob…

Wait…

No….

He was Mob. He was Mob and she was him and she could get really, really, hurt. His body could get really, really hurt. He had to stop her. Dimple. Dimple could move really fast and eat any spirits that tried to hurt her. Reigen jogged to the sidelines and sat away from the other kids. Dimple hovered near him.

"Dimple. Go tail Mob. She needs you more than I do." Said Reigen quietly. He didn't want the other kids to think that Mob was crazy or anything.

"No way. She made herself perfectly clear. She doesn't need me. Nope. Not at all." Said Dimple crossing his arms. He felt the air around them crack with energy. Right. He had all of Shigeko's powers and the only thing keeping them under control was that thing inside of her. As long as it didn't get pissed everything would be alright.

"Dimple. You're her friend. If she's out there as me…Dimple she could get hurt." Said Reigen. He could feel something clawing under his skin, again. He let it wash over him. The ground around him cracked open and small flowers grew up from those cracks. He could feel a sort of pressure on his mind. Oh. Was that the other Shigeko?

"Fine, just don't explode and kill everyone. Shigeko would never forgive herself and I hate it when she gets gloomy." Said Dimple before he sped off. It would take a while to find her, Reigen's aura was pretty faint after all. He didn't have to look for long, Reigen's aura was brighter than usual.

Dimple had gotten there just in time too. A second later and Shigeko would have been spirit food. Damn. Well then. He had wanted her to learn the truth about Reigen but not if she had to get hurt. He thought that she would have just ended up on her ass, at best. Oh well, he would still help her.

Thank God Shigeko gave off so much excess energy. He had enough to easily devour that other spirit and take over Reigen's body. He didn't do anything weird to it, he just took it back to the office.

Well, after he had a smoke. He ate some spicy noodle soup too, even though this body really didn't like noodles. He also drank some sake, not great sake but what was on the way. He just checked a few things off his list, then he deposited Reigen's body on the couch in the office. He stood vigil over Shigeko. She was just exhausted, that was all. Reigen couldn't use the world as a battery, all of his energy came from within.

Poor kid. It must have been like when he had come back from the second time he was exorcised. It was hard, going from being strong to being weak. She was the strongest esper in existence, well in Dimple's existence, which had been a pretty long one. How was it, going from being so strong to being so weak? For her? Human existence was much less fluid than that of spirits despite how much humans changed in the entirety of their short existence. Maybe because they changed form much more slowly than spirits did.

Shigeko stirred and opened her eyes. Reigen's eyes.

"Dimple….?" Asked Mob as the world came into focus. She was alive! Yes! Dimple had saved her! He forgave her for being mean.

"Shigeko! Are you a moron or something? You could have died!" said Dimple. Shigeko gave him her usual blank expression, though it looked weird coming from Reigen's face.

"I'm not a moron. I just…forgot that not everyone was as powerful as me. As I usually am. Apples to oranges." Said Mob sitting up. Oh, she felt stiff. Maybe that was enough for one day. Master Reigen was older and older people had trouble with physical stuff sometimes. Or was that just elderly people? Middle aged people? Did Master Reigen count as middle aged? Or was he just an adult?

"Right. I'm guessing that you still think he's the greatest thing since deep fried rice balls?" asked Dimple. Mob nodded.

"Yes. Of course I do. Nothing will ever change my mind." Said Mob. If she couldn't believe in Master Reigen then who would she believe in? Who could she believe in?

"You're not going to pass on when you die, you know, being so stubborn." Said Dimple

"I don't mind. I'll hang around and be a good, helpful spirit. We can be helpful spirits together." Said Mob cheerily as she attempted to sit up.

"That's a hard pass. I died and evil spirit and I shall eternally be an evil spirit." Said Dimple crossing his arms. Mob laughed. It felt nice, to have big feelings like that without something else trying to come out and break stuff.

"You're helpful to me, though." Said Mob. Dimple was a real and true friend, even if he didn't like to acknowledge it.

"Yeah, it's a real love fest! We all love each other and we're best pals for life!" said Dimple dismissively.

"I'm glad you feel that way." Said Mob. Dimple rolled his eyes at her inability to detect sarcasm. Different body, same old Shigeko.

Reigen knew that he wasn't being the same old Mob. He didn't care. He told himself because he just couldn't do a good Mob. It was contradictory to his nature. He told himself that trying to be Mob and failing would look worse than just being himself. These were the little lies he had told himself that day.

Those were the little lies. The little lies that came together to form the big lie that was his existence. Lies on top of lies.

Truthfully he couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand to be anyone else. He had to be Reigen Arataka. He only knew how to exist in his own skin even when he was existing in the skin of someone else. He couldn't stop being Reigen even when he wasn't. It wasn't like he was hurting Mob or anything. He was keeping up her friendship, making the kids in class think that she was cool. He was improving her grades and making her more popular.

He liked it. He liked helping Mob. He liked making her more popular, achieving one of her goals for life. That was his job, to help her out whenever he could. Yeah, this was all for Mob. Everything he was doing he was doing for Mob. Yes. Yup. That was what he told himself. He stretched out his legs but kept them crossed at the ankle. He leaned back in his chair, too. Comfortable. Mob was always so tense. He could feel it in her muscles. He'd have to rub out those knots, too. He rubbed his back against his chair but stopped when it started squeaking. Brown hair girl and black haired girl with the pink hairclip were looking at him, now. He smiled and gave a little wave. The other two waved back.

This was all for Mob. Reigen didn't actually like living in this kid's only world where the stakes were low and everyone was just so awkward and self-obsessed that they didn't even notice his little foibles. He could be himself, fully, here in this tiny little world. No responsibilities. No pressure. No nagging feeling that he was somehow less than. No nagging feeling that he should have been more. More successful. More well off. More than what he was.

He was Mob now and nobody could ever eclipse her. She could be so happy if she just…no. Her life was her own and she couldn't be any happier if she would just be more like him. If she would just let go. If she would just stop worrying about being popular or getting a clue. If she could just become unguarded. But no. She never would.

Reigen had seen her unguarded. He had seen her happy, sad, mad, glad. He had seen her when she was being genuine. Her genuine self with no pretext, no attempt at pretending to be the sort of person who she thought that she should be. Mob was perfect the way she was. She was her own protagonist. She chose to lead her story in the direction that she chose.

He watched the clock. The school day was almost over. He had a notebook open in front of him and had taken a few notes. Mob would be glad, she was always worried about her grades. Reigen didn't understand why. The only thing that really mattered was the entrance exam for high school. He'd take that for her, if she asked.

No. This was a one-time only thing. No repeats. No reruns. It would have to be. He watched the clock. He would go soon, he'd skip her club activities because first of all he hated working out and she was still sore from gym. He was. This body was sore. Mob's body was sore from over exertion. Yeah, he'd go straight to the office and they'd switch back and everything would go back to normal. Mob's phone vibrated. Reigen checked it, it might have been something important.

'_I'm sorry if I was too forward. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. We don't have to do anything that you don't want to do. We can stay up all night playing go if that's what you want to do.'_ Reigen closed Mob's phone quickly. Yeah, no. This was not for his eyes. This kid was good to her though. For her. Good in general.

Teruki was an alright kid. Better than he was at that age, anyway.

Reigen, at fourteen, was kind of a piece of shit. He hit his rebellious streak running and didn't stop until midway through university. He would have ruined Mob, if they had known each other at that stage of his life. If he had been born later, if she had been born sooner. He would have been terrible for her. He rubbed off on her now and he was trying as hard as he could to be a proper adult. She would have picked up more of his bad habits.

Maybe not.

Mob was an island. Mob would have probably just been there for him. He wished, sometimes, that he had someone like Mob, before. Not Mob herself but someone like her. Someone who cared about him. Someone who was there for him. Someone who he could be, wanted to be, would be there for in return. Someone like Mob but not Mob herself.

The bell rang. The school day was over. Reigen decided to avoid the crush of student herding out of the room and to their respective clubs. He couldn't remember which of these books Mob needed to take home so he just put as many as he could in her school bag. Something crinkled. Oh. It sounded like paper. He pulled out a slightly mangled notebook.

"_Reigen and Mob's novel"_

She had written it down in her same blocky script. The cover had some stickers on it, and a doodle of the Spirits and Such logo. Reigen wanted to read what she had written, to see what she had been so endlessly scribbling these past few days. He wasn't snooping. He was just…checking her progress. Wow. She had filled most of the notebook, and her handwriting was microscopic. He read a few lines before shutting it quickly.

Private. This entire thing felt private. This…it wasn't the finished product. This was just a draft. The finished product; that was what she would have wanted him to read. Yes. He put her notebook back into her school bag, carefully as not to hurt it further. The room was practically empty now. Right. Time to go home…or hunt for which shoe box was hers and then go to work. He stood up, less careful of his movements since he was wearing her gym uniform under her school uniform. How could Mob wear a skirt all day every day? Even on the weekends? Sure skirts allowed for a greater degree of movement but that movement was pointless when it was constantly trying to go up too high.

"Mob! I'm sorry but Tome she twisted me arm! Literally." Said brown haired girl as she ran up to Mob's desk.

"Slow down; who twisted your arm and why?" asked Reigen as he took in her appearance. Oh. Girls fought too, it looked like. Well then, he learned something new about girls today.

"Tome, remember, from the telepathy club? You guys hang out sometimes? Well, I guess Onigawara's been telling people that you're acting really different and kind of cool and then Tome chased me down because I'm apparently 'the nosiest girl in school' and she read my notebook and twisted my arm and I…I told her. I'm sorry, Mob." Said Mezato. She valued her friendship with Mob, really she did. It wasn't just because Mob had powers, she was a really nice person, and genuine, too.

"Oh. I'm not mad. You can stop bowing now. I mean, if she literally twisted your arm then what were you supposed to do?" asked Reigen trying his best to look calm. Loose. Laid-back. Lackadaisical even. He hoped, though, that he hadn't accidentally screwed something up for Mob. No. She didn't deserve that.

"So we're ok then?" asked Mezato. Wow. Mob was really calm about all of this. Nothing was moving on its own so Mob must have really be alright. Huh. Maybe it wasn't such a big thing because Tome and Mob were such close friends.

"We're great! I'm not mad at all. Anyway, I have to go to work. My Master says that we just got a big job today so I'll see you tomorrow." Said Reigen waving as he left. Damn. Well, Mob would…Mob would forgive him if he caused her any trouble. She always forgave him. That was just how she was.

Reigen told himself that as he went downstairs to the shoe boxes, making sure to stay on the girl's side. As he hunted around for the box that bore Mob name someone jumped out in front of him.

"Mob! I thought we were friends!" said Tome as she took Mob by surprise. How could Mob, her dear friend Mob, have told Mezato before her? Inconceivable!

"Oh. Tome. Hi. We are friends, totally." Said Reigen. This friend he knew. This was the one who used way too many exclamation points and stickers on the Spirits and Such Friendbook page. Kurata Tome. Mob mentioned her a lot, too.

"Then why did you tell Mezato before me?" asked Tome. Not that she was super hurt or anything. No. It was just the principal of the matter. Yeah, that was it.

"Because she was already right next to me. We're in the same class after all. I'm sorry, Tome. Are we still friends?" asked Reigen. Now he was trying to do a good Mob impression. Quiet. Sweet. Nice. Tome was one of Mob's good friends and he wasn't going to mess it up for her. Why were girls so sensitive about this? For guys it was just 'oh, wow, good for you man' or something like that.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I'll forgive you for this, Mob! But know this!...tell me when big stuff happens to you from now on. That's how it goes with friends." Said Tome. Right. People were looking and Mob didn't like attention like that. Or maybe she did, now. Tome wanted to ask if people really changed that much from, well, stuff. Not that Tome would know after all. Whatever, this wasn't a vs game it was a co-op game.

"Sure. I will. But I have to go. Work stuff. Sorry to skip club." Said Reigen spying the shoebox with Mob's name on it. Right. Time to go back to being himself. Time to step out of Mob's skin, finally.

"That's right Mob! Back to your duty! Rid the world of evil spirits!" said Tome dramatically. How she wished that she was in an anime.

"Sure. Bye." Said Reigen as he put on Mob's shoes and left quickly. Right. He needed to get back to being himself. He walked quickly, not slowing down for anything, even the gold aura that washed over him.

"Hey, Shigeko! Wait a minute!" said Teru. Oh. She had club today, didn't she? He had been getting ready to sit in his usual spot and start his homework when he felt her go by. Oh, she was walking really fast. He squished down his feelings of rejection and followed her.

"Oh…hi…" said Reigen. Nope. Tapping out. Done. Game over. Lights out.

"I'm sorry if I…you got my texts, right?" asked Teru. She looked different. She felt different. He let his aura touch hers. Not possessed. Not going to explode. What was that face then? That she was making? She hardly ever made faces. She wouldn't be upset with him, right? Some of that stuff from before was her idea, and she had seemed pretty happy then too. He was still healing from all of that.

"Listen, Teru, I'm-" said Reigen trying to find a way to explain this without sounding like he was crazy. Like Mob was crazy.

"Because I mean, I like it, I really do, but that's not all we have to do together. You like exercise, right? You could help me practice. I've been neglecting all of my other commitments after the whole almost dying thing but I'm getting back to things and I'd…I'd like you to be a part of them." Said Teru. She was trying to cut him off but he needed to keep going. He may have been chewing on this all day. He may have been, just maybe.

"Listen to me!" said Reigen, the ground beneath him shaking.

"It's just that I really love you. I love you so much and I-I don't want you to be upset with me and if I'm pushing you too much then I'm sorry. Ok, Shigeko?" asked Teru before reached over to take her hand. She pulled it away. Quickly. He felt like someone had hit him in the stomach with a bowling ball. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

"No! Don't cry! I'm not Mob!" said Reigen poking himself, Mob's self, in the chest for emphasis. Teru took a step back.

"Other….Shigeko….?" asked Teru, his mind going a mile a minute. He knew that thing. It could pretend to be Shigeko but it wasn't her. It didn't feel gross, though, like before. Was this good or bad? Bad. If the other Shigeko was out then this was very, very, bad. His aura flared and was visible, very visible.

"No! Reigen! It's me, Reigen Arataka! Mob and I switched bodies." Said Reigen. The kid looked like he was about to start freaking out. In retrospect maybe he could have maybe eased the kid into it or something.

"What?! WHAT?!" said Teru before shaking Reigen. He shook him twice before letting go. Right. This was still Shigeko's body. Reigen was in there. Teru wanted to shake him out but, no, he could not shake his girlfriend around. This wasn't his girlfriend but it was. Did. Not. Compute.

"Knock it off! Calm the hell down!" said Reigen pushing Teru away. Jeez. Way to overreact.

"You're INSIDE of my girlfriend! How am I supposed to calm down!?" said Teru. Breathing was getting difficult. His vision was getting blurry. What…in…the….actual….fuck?! Why would this happen? How did this happen? How did this happen outside of anime? Teru mentally went over all of the body swap animes he had seen. He hoped this wasn't a giant meteor coming to crush the city situation.

"Don't SAY it like that! Seriously!" said Reigen running a hand through his, Mob's, hair. He may have been inhabiting Mob but it wasn't…it was weird but…..

"You are inside of Shigeko right now! Get out! GET OUT!" said Teru trying to keep it together. Reigen reached over and slapped him.

"Pull yourself together! What happened to that kid who took on Claw? Be that kid again! Be him and stop saying it like that because it sounds really, really bad!" said Reigen slapping him a few more times. Not violently, just to get the kid to calm down already.

"I'm….I'm better….just…how did this even happen?" asked Teru as he took a few deep breaths. If the other Shigeko was still in there, and he could feel her if he poked hard enough, him freaking out would just make her explode.

"I think it was an out of body experience. I'm not sure. Listen, kid, I need you to stay calm because if you freak out then this thing, the other part of Mob, is going to freak out and I have no idea how to control it." Said Reigen. He had avoided using Mob's powers all day specifically to avoid that thing, the other Shigeko. He was not going to have gone through the entire day just to explode right then and there.

"How am I supposed to stay calm? This is weird. Nothing about his is normal. Why are you even inside of her in the first place?" said Teru

"I asked you not to phrase it like that." Said Reigen through gritted teeth. Huh. Mob's lined up better than his did.

"Then how am I supposed to phrase it?" asked Teru sarcastically. That was literally what was going on. He was a teenage boy, he knew full well what it sounded like. That was why he was saying it like that in the first place.

"Literally any other way." Said Reigen closing his eyes and hanging his head. He could feel the other Shigeko trying to get out. He stuffed her down. There was a building pressure.

"Fine. Why did you guys swap bodies in the first place? Is this a new power or something." Said Teru staring Reigen, well Shigeko, no, Reigen down. Reigen stared right back. Sheesh, this kid!

"I have no clue. I guess because we both spend so much time together or something like that. Hey! Don't give me that look!" said Reigen as Teru gave him a skeptical look. He was sick and tired of people looking at his relationship with Mob and seeing something that wasn't there.

"What look? I'm not giving you any kind of look." Said Teru with a shrug. Reigen was glaring at him now. That look didn't fit with Shigeko's face at all.

"You are. Kid, I thought I made myself clear. I don't feel the same way about Mob as you do. I may not have my powers anymore but I know what jealousy looks like. Stop it. Ok? She's your girlfriend. I'm not trying to steal your fourteen year old girlfriend! Come off that already!" said Reigen just about ready to slap this kid upside the head for real.

"You say that." Said Teru still skeptically. Of course Reigen wouldn't come out an admit it. So what if he was an adult. Shigeko was amazing.

"Yeah, because it's the truth." Said Reigen slowly so that he got the point across. He and Mob weren't like that. What did he have to do? Hire a skywriter?

"Then why don't you have a girlfriend?" asked Teru. If Reigen wasn't interested in Shigeko then he would have been with a girl his own age.

"Because I don't have a girlfriend. Not everyone needs to be partnered up." Said Reigen. Right. Middle school. Everyone had to be paired up in middle school.

"Fine. Girls don't like you. I can see that." Said Teru with a shrug. Reigen sputtered.

"Kid, you don't want to go digging around in that area. Of course girls like me. Women! Women like me and I like women! Not girls. Women." Said Reigen. Women liked him just fine. The ones who liked him were just not the sorts of ones he wanted a relationship with, that was all.

"Uh-huh. Sure." Said Teru dismissively. Reigen took a deep breath. He was not going to get into a fight with Mob's boyfriend. He was twenty eight years old, he was not going to stand around all day arguing with a fourteen year old boy. He wouldn't do that even if he was in the body of a fourteen year old girl.

"You're only acting like this because I'm in Mob's body." Said Reigen getting ready to leave. If he had still been himself then this kid wouldn't have dared fight with him like this. Not that he would have fought the kid if he was in his own body anyway.

"Now who's the one saying it weird?" said Teru. Actually, yeah, maybe he shouldn't have been saying it like that. It did sound really, really bad when it was phrased like that.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, Mob likes you and I think that, aside from whatever this is, you're good for her. I'm not after her so you guys are fine." Said Reigen trying to placate the kid. At least he was looking out for her, and he was pretty devoted to her. The two of them might just make it.

"Then why are you always with her?" asked Teru quietly. The way that he acted towards her didn't make sense if he didn't have feelings for her.

"Because I care about her. You can care about someone without being in love with them or any of the things that you two get up to." Said Reigen. Right. This was just a kid. A kid with no guidance at that. Nobody to tell her that other kinds of love besides romantic love existed. Nobody to show him any other kinds of love.

"We don't-" said Teru because they hadn't done THAT yet or anything in the same realm as that. He looked it up. It didn't turn into that until they had done much more than they had done before. Not that what he and Shigeko did was any of Reigen's business.

"Ok, you don't. You both hang out playing go and weaving baskets together all day. I'm not going to dig into this particular area because it's one hundred percent none of my business. Just whatever you two get up to be safe and for the love of God never on my couch again." Said Reigen. This kid had literally no guidance in this area and he…he needed to just bite the bullet and take Mob to the clinic. He need to teach her how to be safe or she'd end up in trouble. Was it too much to ask for that people raised their own kids? Not that he didn't like Mob, he loved her, but it was irresponsible of people not to be teaching their kids about this stuff.

"….I can't believe she told you about that." Muttered Teru as he looked down at his shoes. Yeah, she had told Reigen. Reigen knew. He was never, ever, doing anything outside of the privacy of his own home again, he decided.

"Yeah, Mob overshares. That's her. Anyway I'm going to work now so I can get all of this sorted out. You can do whatever you want but please, for the love of God, come off this jealousy thing. See you later." Said Reigen turning on his, Mob's, heal and walking off towards work. He, once again, did not get very far.

"…you touch her a lot." Muttered Teru not able to look up from the ground. It was true. Reigen was always touching her in some way when he had seen the two of them together.

"What?" said Reigen turning on his heel to face Teru. Teru couldn't meet his eyes.

"You're always playing with her hair or rubbing her back or putting your arm around her shoulders." Said Teru a little more confidently. Reigen, wearing Shigeko, gave him a perplexed look.

"I don't…not that often." Said Reigen. Sure he could be a little affectionate with her but she liked it and he liked making her happy.

"You do. All the time. Why? Why can't you just find your own girlfriend instead of being with mine?" asked Teru, his voice breaking a little at the end.

"I'm not trying to take her away from you and it's not even in the same prefecture as that, what me and Mob are. She's going through a lot right now and she needs affection. You're both going through a lot. Actually, if you ever need someone to talk to-" said Reigen. Right. Two kids. These were two kids going through a lot. This kid didn't even have anyone, nobody but Mob. She must have been his only source of support. Mob said that he hadn't seen his parents in years.

"I'm fine. I have Shigeko if I ever need to talk to someone about…things." Said Teru. Reigen rolled his eyes. Shigeko's eyes. Of course this kid was going to be like that.

"Mob isn't my girlfriend. I have never thought about her in that way even once. OK? Not even once. I'm not your enemy but if you ever want to talk I'm here. Now, I need to get back into my old body because I haven't gone to the bathroom all day or drank anything so really I'm not feeling too great right now." Said Reigen before he took off in the direction of work. He wasn't kidding. He hadn't eaten lunch, drank any water, and he still had to pee. He hoped that Mob was still at the office.

Mob was still in the office. She had been hanging out with Dimple all day. Turns out that Dimple was actually pretty good at go.

"Move that piece there to over there." Said Dimple pointing as he spoke.

"From here to here?" asked Mob moving is piece for him

"No, from there to there." Said Dimple

"Like this?" asked Mob still not getting it right. Dimple rolled his eyes.

"This'll be more fun when you're dead." Said Dimple. Mob smiled.

"Or if you ever get another body." Said Mob

"Well, if you want to share Reigen's I'll be happy to take it off your hands for you." Said Dimple

"No. I'm fine. Master Reigen be back after club and then we'll switch back." Said Mob

"Do you even know how?" asked Dimple. Mob nodded.

"See? Like this." Said Mob. She closed her eyes and slumped down into the chair. Dimple gasped as her spirit floated out of Reigen' body. She hovered for a moment before returning to Reigen's body. The body sat up and looked like it was going to throw up.

"See? I sort of have it figured out. I'll just show Master Reigen and then we'll be back to normal." Said Mob holding her, Master Reigen's, stomach.

"Or whatever passes for normal around here." Said Dimple. Mob looked like she was about to say something but her, Reigen's, eyes widened. She raced to the door. She knew that aura. That was her aura. Someone raced up the stairs. They both opened the door at the same time.

"Master!" said Mob as she picked…herself….up and spun herself around.

"Mob!" said Reigen as he was spun around so fats one of his, her, shoes fell off.

"Dimple!" said Dimple as he got into their love fest. Hey, collective emotion was nourishing, even if it was positive emotions.

"I'm so glad to see you…me….us!" said Reigen as Mob put him down. Oh. Wow. She did get motion sick easily.

"Master! I'm sorry that I made this happen!" said Mob wiping tears from her, his, eyes.

"It's nobody's fault." Said Reigen

"It's your fault." Said Dimple pointing to Reigen.

"It's nobody's fault!" said Reigen again. Dimple shrugged. Hey, he was an evil spirit. He spread discord, it was his thing.

"I'm still sorry but I know how get us back into our bodies." Said Mob

"Thank God! Wait, I mean, I never doubted you for a moment, Mob." Said Reigen

"I never doubted you either, Master. Thank you for being me for today." Said Mob

"No thanks needed. You know I'll always be there for you, Mob." Said Reigen

"I know, but I still want to thank you." Said Mob

"Mob, can we switch back soon and say our thank yous later? I really, really, really need to pee." Said Reigen

"…me too." Said Mob squirming uncomfortably. She needed to eat, drink, pee, and smoke. She was sort of glad that she only had to be Master Reigen for a little bit. In her own body she could hold it for two days, but not since she was a kid and she had given herself a bladder infection doing that. Ritsu had still beaten her anyway.

"So…how do we do this? Come to a sudden realization about each other?" said Reigen

"I think that we need to just leave our bodies. That's all. I don't think I realized anything." Said Mob. Master Reigen was not weaker than her. It was apples to oranges.

"Yeah, I didn't really learn anything either. Cool, time for some out of body experiences." Said Reigen. He did not envy Mob. He did not wish that he could have a second chance.

"Ok. I guess just relax and let your spirit climb out." Said Mob. She sat down on the ground and let her spirit come out. Reigen watched her and began to meditate. He let himself float out, gently. It was too much. Too bright. It hurt. He saw his body and entered it, quickly. Mob followed.

"Bathroom!" they both said at once. Mob got up and tried to run, slipping because she only had one shoe on.

"Cigarette!" said Reigen. How had Mob lived with the cravings all day? How had Mob lived as him? How had she managed?

When she came back they'd compare notes. Well, after his turn. And something to drink. And some food. And a nice lie down. Why was he so tired and sore? What Had Mob been doing all day. He checked his phone. Right. Damn. Clients. Well, he'd just work like a salaryman tomorrow, and give everyone half off. No, free massages. Yeah, he'd make up some non-body swap related excuse and then run some shoulders and backs and then he'd be back on track.

"Why am I wearing my gym uniform?" asked Mob as she washed her hands, her face red at the thought of Master Reigen dressing her.

"Dimple dressed you. We're close but we're not that close." Said Reigen as he took a very, very, very long drag. Yes. He needed this. He accidentally smacked himself in the face. Right. He was tall again.

"Your turn." Said Mob as she made a beeline for the electric kettle. She put some tea on for them even though what she wanted was a tall glass of milk. Teru had milk at his house, she would still go over there tonight, probably, because she had promised. Oh, right, Teru. She texted him not to wait for her.

"Thank you God." Said Reigen. Dimple laughed as Reigen sprinted to the bathroom. Mob measures out some tea. She needed a strong, strong, strong cup of tea. Her entire body felt sore, and judging from the time Master Reigen had skipped club. She frowned. She'd make it up to those guys later. Her phone vibrated.

'_I take it you're back in your own body?' _Oh. Teru must have run into Master Reigen. She scrolled up. Teru had texted her during the day. Oh. The kettle next to her instantly started boiling.

'_Yes. I'm me again. Do you still want me to come over?' _asked Mob as she used her powers to pour herself a cup of tea. Oh yes. She missed this.

**I missed you too**

Oh. The other Shigeko. She didn't feel angry so that was good. She was happy. She was happy what she got to spend time with Master Reigen too.

'_Of course I do. Do you still want to?'_ Mob frowned. Of course she still wanted to.

'_Yes. I like spending time with you Teru.' _She had thought that the fact that she loved spending time with Teru was just one of those things that went without saying.

'_What about Reigen?'_ Mob shrugged.

'_I want to spend time with you.'_ She hoped that she was direct enough. Of course Master Reigen would let her spend time with Teru. She wanted to and she had worked really hard that day. She figured that being Master Reigen for a day counted as at least one work day. She liked work and all but…she needed a break.

'_Thank you. I love you Shigeko.'_ Mob was confused. The little typing dots had appeared and disappeared a few times. Why did that necessitate so many drafts?

'_I love you too Teru.' _Typed Mob quickly. She only needed one draft. That was how she felt. She meant what she said and said what she meant.

"Thanks for making tea." Said Reigen as he poured himself a cup. Oh, wow. That was way, way, way too hot.

"You're welcome. Master, since I spent the whole day as you can I have the day off? I exorcised a bunch of spirits today so I wasn't being lazy." Said Mob. Reigen looked at her for a moment. He had missed her, he really had, but she had her own life to get back to living.

"Going to see Teru?" asked Reigen. Mob squeaked and turned red. He missed her adorableness.

"Yes." Said Mob after a moment. Reigen shrugged.

"I'm closing up after I finish this cup of tea and this cigarette. You can head out now if you won't. Try to get home before midnight this time, alright? It's a school night." Said Reigen as he leaned back in his chair. He felt so drained. His powers were even being quiet. What had Mob been doing all day?

"Ok. Goodbye, Master." Said Mob as she used her powers to put her shoe back on before practically running out the door.

"We're comparing notes when you get home!" called Reigen as she left. He watched her practically run down the street. Well, at least she was happy.

"I bet you feel like crap, huh?" mocked Dimple. Reigen shrugged. Yes. Yes he did.

"I've been better." Said Reigen as he attempted to stretch.

"Been better? Been better! How are you not passed out on the floor right now? Shigeko's solo mission should have totally depleted you energy stores!" said Dimple. Reigen tried to see on the aural spectrum. Huh. Nothing.

"So my powers are gone now?" asked Reigen

"No, just really, really depleted. You should get some rest." Said Dimple. He couldn't have either of these guys breaking. Shigeko would never forgive him, either, if he let Reigen break. She had some kind of a complex around this guy.

"What was Mob even thinking going off on her own like that?" muttered Reigen. She should have just stayed put. She knew that she wasn't in her own body with her own powers. He had even avoided using hers on purpose for that reason. They were not his and he had no idea how they worked.

"She was thinking that her Master was an amazing guy and he could handle it." Said Dimple. Reigen frowned.

"You're an annoying spirit, aren't you?" asked Reigen. Dimple shrugged.

"It all comes with being evil. So, when are you going to tell her that truth?" asked Dimple. Reigen closed his eyes. He needed to tell Mob the truth at some point. He needed to but he wouldn't. Not now, at least.

"Dimple, I have no clue."


	23. Doubts and Assurances

Teru's other bathtub was huge. It fit the two of them with some room left over. Mob let herself sink to the bottom and felt herself unwinding as she watched the world above her though the water's distortion. Teru was sitting across from her, she bumped into his legs and surfaced.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Mob as she surfaced. Teru had a weird sort of look on his face. He shrugged. His hands still in his lap. What was he so embarrassed about? Mob wasn't embarrassed, not really anymore, because they had seen each other naked before.

"Nothing." Said Teru as he focused on the tile wall behind them. This bathroom was way too big, to echoey, too empty even though the two of them were breathing life into this room for the first time in years.

"OK. I just thought that you might have been thinking about something because you were making your thinking faces." Said Mob as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. Yup. Those were his thinking faces.

"I am thinking, you're right. I'm thinking about a lot of things." Said Teru still looking at the tile wall behind them. Mob turned to see what he was looking at. Just the wall, even when she let herself see the aural spectrum. Nope, just a wall. She turned back around.

"Bad things?" asked Mob scooting over to sit next to him. Teru reached over and poured more of that stuff that made the water smell like minerals. She liked that. She liked this, right?

"Maybe. I don't know. It's just…." Said Teru slumping down into the water so he was covered over his shoulders. She leaned down onto him and he put an arm over her. That was nice, skin to skin.

"Are you mad?" asked Mob softly. She hoped that she hadn't done anything to upset him. Teru shook his head.

"No. I'm just…why did you and Reigen have to switch bodies? I mean, did you try to or…." Said Teru finally voicing what was on his mind.

"I didn't try to, it just sort of happened. I was in class and my teacher was yelling at me and I just wanted to be anywhere else and anyone else and then I was Master Reigen." Said Mob swirling the water with her powers. This was nice. Warm. Teru was sad, though, even though he didn't have to be. She was back where she belonged, now.

"So…you didn't plan it?" asked Teru. He didn't know what was with him. Maybe it was this room. He hadn't been in here since his parents left. He had her, though. He had someone and that someone was sitting in this bathtub next to him and she was so damn sweet and nice and warm and so, so, so damn pretty.

"Of course not. It was weird and I didn't really like it and I hope it doesn't happen again." Said Mob taking his hand in hers. He sat up and drew his knees to his chest.

"Can I ask you something?" asked Teru. Mob shrugged.

"That's already asking me a question." Said Mob

"Yeah, it is. Can I ask if you'd…would you do that with me?" asked Teru suddenly. He would not be second to Reigen. If she was that close to Reigen then…then she'd be that close to him, too. Maybe Reigen didn't want her for a girlfriend but he still wanted her. He wanted that part of her, the part that made you feel like everything would be alright as long as she was there. The part that made you feel like you could do anything, not because of your powers but because she was there and you had to keep her safe. That part of her that made the bad good and the good even better. That was what Reigen wanted from her, not this. Not where they were, what they did, what they would probably end up doing eventually. Teru was not going to let him have that, any of that.

"Pilot your body like an Eva?" asked Mob. That was what it was like the more she thought about it. She was the pilot and she was overriding control of Master Reigen's body. Or maybe she just wanted them to release that new Evangelion movie already.

"Yeah. I mean, would you, if you could?" asked Teru watching her face. She didn't seem to react. Her aura was calm, too.

"Sure, if you ever wanted to. It feels weird, though, but I think that it would be better with you because we've already seen each other naked so it wouldn't be weird to change clothes and stuff and also we both go to school so being you would be easier because I'm used to school. Not your school, though, so it might be different. Also your powers are closer to what I'm used to so I could get used to them faster. I think I would like it with you, yes, but I don't want to do that again today. Another day, but not today." Said Mob watching Teru. He seemed sad now that she thought about it. Maybe it was because she had more powers than he did. She knew that sort of thing was important to him.

"I don't want to do that right now, I was just wondering in general. Thank you, Shigeko." Said Teru running a hand through her wet hair. It was harder but she still liked it.

"We don't have to be naked right now if you don't want to be." Said Mob after a moment. He still seemed embarrassed and she knew that just because she was ok with this didn't make him ok with this.

"What? No, I want to be naked but we don't have to be if you don't want to be." Said Teru hoping that she was still alright with this. This was so nice.

"I don't mind. It's nice. I just thought that you didn't want to be because of how you've got your knees up to your chest like that." Said Mob. She sat like that when she wanted to feel small.

"This? No this is for…another reason." Said Teru not able to meet her eyes. Mob looked at him for a while before realization dawned on her.

"Oh. They told us about that at school. I don't want to do that, though. Not now, anyway. I'm sorry." Said Mob simply. Teru stared at her for a moment, half the water in the tub hitting the ceiling.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Said Teru before the water sank down to where it belonged. He put in some of that stuff that smelled like flowers, too. She liked that.

"I'm not upset, I do stuff without meaning to sometimes, too." Said Mob as she let herself warm up again. She had forgotten how cold the room felt after she had been habituated to the warmth of the water. She hadn't taken a bath in a while.

"Right. Uh, listen, Shigeko…uh…I don't want to, either." Said Teru. Well, he did and he didn't but if she didn't want to then he wouldn't ask her to. Not that he would ask her to anyway because he was the guy and he needed to go at her pace. He had seen plenty of relationships fall apart because the guy pushed the girl too hard. Plus he didn't even have anything for that and he didn't want to have a kid at that point in his life.

"Then why are you-" said Mob thinking back to what she had learned at school. Maybe she needed to do her own research. Like studying. She was bad at that, though.

"That's involuntary. It's just that you're here and I'm here and we're both, you know, like this." Said Teru looking anywhere but at her. What did they teach at Salt? How did she not know that this was involuntary? Well, they did separate the boys and that girls for that class. Who knew what they were teaching the girls.

"Oh. Ok. Can I put more warm water in?" asked Mob. Teru took it as her changing the subject. Mob was honestly just still kind of chilly.

"Well, it is an onsen." Said Teru turning the hot water tap with his powers.

"Just a pretend one, but I really like it. I miss baths." Said Mob. Showers were weird. It was like she was missing an entire step from bathing. You showered off before you went into the tub, not instead of being in the tub.

"You can take a bath here whenever you want." Said Teru

"I know. You said this morning, I remember. You can come in with me, if you want, whenever. I like this, sharing I mean." Said Mob. Teru gasped, droplets of water suspending themselves in the air.

"…sure…" said Teru putting the water back where it belonged.

"Did I say something wrong? I thought you liked this." Said Mob softly

"I do. That was…I don't know. It was good. It is good. I just got startled, I guess." Said Teru with a shrug

"Why? If we both like this then why shouldn't we do it again?" asked Mob curiously. She didn't get it, she honestly didn't. If this was nice then why not do it again?

"Because I never pictured you as being this forward, I guess. I don't know, looks can be deceiving I guess. We can still do this whenever you want, though, Shigeko." Said Teru. Sometimes in his mind she was forward but in life she seemed like she'd be pretty timid about, well, all of this.

"I thought forward was good." Said Mob frowning. She just couldn't get a clue, could she?

"I'm not complaining!" said Teru quickly. He was most definitely not complaining. This was more than he had ever thought that he would ever want, actually want, with a girl. There were things in his head, things that he thought about, but in real life he didn't want them with anyone but Shigeko.

"Oh. I'm not either. I get nervous sometimes but then I think of how it's alright because you would never make fun of me or tell me I'm being weird. I trust you, Teru." Said Mob after a moment. She really did.

"….I trust you too, Shigeko." Said Teru. He trusted her. He trusted that she would never be in this position with anyone else. She would never share herself physically with another person but emotions were different. She was stoned faced and monotonous most of the day but she still freely shared herself with the people she loved. Reigen was someone she loved. He needed to top Reigen in her eyes. He needed to be someone better than Reigen to her.

"You sound kind of weird." Said Mob resting her head on his chest. Teru reached up and ran a hand through her hair.

"I was just…hey Shigeko? God, no, I'm asking too many questions…." Said Teru. Mob shook her head.

"There's no such thing as asking too many questions, Teru." Said Mob. Whatever he wanted to ask her should just ask. She would never judge him for asking a question; that would be both mean and dumb of her.

"Ok then…Shigeko, what is this for you? I mean you said that you didn't want to, you know, so is this just taking a bath to you or…" said Teru. Mob could feel a blush coming on.

"It's both, really. It's like taking a bath but also like, uh, fooley cooley stuff. Kind of. I mean what we do, which from what I can gather isn't as much as everyone else does. I'm just mostly relaxed I guess. It's like you being here makes a good thing even better." Said Mob trying to find the right words. She wouldn't be against kissing him and stuff then but she was also enjoying the feeling of being in the tub.

"And you don't think I'm pushing you too far with, uh, stuff?" asked Teru. It was important to make sure that both people were on the same page about physical stuff, he had learned that in his research on how to, well, anything with a girl. It seemed important. He didn't want so scare her off or do something that made her hate him.

"No. Not at all. You don't have to ask me so often. If I don't like something I'll tell you. Why? You didn't like what happened before?" asked Mob sitting up and making eye contact.

"No way! That was great, don't ever think that it wasn't." said Teru holding eye contact with her.

"Even though I bit you on accident?" asked Mob staring at the mostly healed bit mark on his shoulder.

"I didn't mind, Shigeko, so don't beat yourself up." Said Teru. He really hadn't, not even in the moment. She had done it because she liked him and frankly it was flattering how he could make her come apart like that. He hadn't even done anything, not really. He just kissed her a lot, mostly.

"Even though I broke all of your dishes again?" asked Mob softly. She had sealed them back together as best as she could. There were still visible spider cracks, though.

"I think it's flattering, actually. That I could make you feel like that just by kissing you." Said Teru. That was something Reigen couldn't do for her. He had made himself perfectly clear about that.

"…you didn't just kiss me. I mean you didn't kiss me like normal." Said Mob softly, the lights above them flickering. Teru reached up and dragging his thumb down the side of her face.

"So I didn't kiss you like this?" asked Teru kissing her quickly. Mob blushed and shook her head.

"You did but also you….uh….Teru, you were there! Why do you keep making me say it?" said Mob as he kissed her again.

"Whatever happened to being forward?" asked Teru. Mob shrugged.

"Sometimes I also get embarrassed." Said Mob simply

"Are you embarrassed right now?" asked Teru

"No. Yes. Kind of. I don't know." Said Mob fidgeting with the water, making tiny whirlpools everywhere around her.

"You can be so cute sometimes. I like it, how unpredictable you can be sometimes. Not just with your powers but also, I guess, with your feelings? It's hard to describe. I just, I guess I like how genuine you are, you know? Like you're someone who doesn't do what you're supposed to do but what you want to do." Said Teru. Mob stared at him for a long while.

"But I try to do what I'm supposed to do. I'm not a liar or anything but I'm still scared of doing the wrong thing. I just wish that I could get a clue, sometimes." Said Mob. Teru put his finger to her lips.

"Weren't you the one who told me that get a clue was the worst thing you could ever say to another person, let alone yourself?" said Teru taking his finger from her lips.

"I did. I remember that I did. You're right, it is a terrible thing to say. I just…sometimes I feel like everyone in the entire world got a book of instructions and I didn't. Like everyone else knows how to read the atmosphere and say the right thing but I don't. Like everyone can always tell what a person is thinking and feeling just by looking at their face but I can't. I feel like this and then I get worried about saying the right thing and doing the right thing." Said Mob still holding eye contact with Teru.

"I know that you're genuine with me, Shigeko. I think that your genuine self is your best self. I fell in love with you because of who you were. Me and you, we don't just play our parts in this relationship. That makes it hard, too, sometimes because I know that relationships are supposed to be a certain way. Sometimes you blind side me but in a good way, you know? I guess that I'm just saying that I care about you for who you are. I love you for who you are." Said Teru holding the side of her face. She was holding eye contact with him now. He held it right back.

"Teru, I like you for who you are, too." Said Mob after a while. There, that was the absolute truth of the matter. He was Teru and she liked him because he was Teru.

"I just…I think about how it was before, you know? I think about how I didn't even realize how lonely I was. I didn't even realize how unhappy I was, trying to be the protagonist of every story. I think about how much of an asshole I was to everyone. You broke me out of that. You're the one who brought me back down to Earth. You keep me grounded, too. I just… Shigeko I don't want to lose you. I don't want anyone to take you away from me. You just…you make the good times great and the bad times better." Said Teru. He couldn't stop, the words just kept coming. He scooted closer to her. She let him.

"Teru-" said Mob. She could see his aura, he felt upset. At what she had no clue. She hadn't been kidding, people were just so complicated and unpredictable sometimes.

"I just think about how-how I almost lost you, you know? How I could still lose you. Shigeko…how are you so ok? With everything? The fact that we almost died so many times. I can't believe I underestimated Claw like that. I know it was over a week ago but I just…I still think about it sometimes. I think about how close to death we came. You came." Said Teru crying a little now. Mob reached up and brushed his tears away.

"I'm not worried anymore because I know that we can fight them, that's all." Said Mob answering his question. That was how she could be so ok with everything. She was ok with it because she had to be. It happened but now she knew that she could protect those she loved. Her powers, dangerous and unpredictable, could protect the ones she loved. She was strong, very strong, and could fight off anyone who tried to kill, hurt, or kidnap the people she loved. She hated fighting but she knew that there would be times when she had to.

"But you shouldn't have to! Shigeko, you shouldn't have to! It's my job to protect you. It's my job but I can't! I just….I'm not as strong as I thought I was. I'm not strong enough to protect you. If it ever happens again you'll have to….you'll have to merge with the other you. You'll have to do that again and you'll go crazy again. Shigeko, I don't ever want that to happen again!" said Teru. He was full on crying now. Great. She pulled him into her arms, leaning with her back against the wall of the tub.

"Teru, we can protect each other. Being the strongest doesn't matter. You're still strong and you can still do a lot. When they come again, if they come again, we can both be ready. Sometimes it IS alright to fight and I will. Being a pacifist doesn't work when lives are on the line." Said Mob rubbing his back. Teru stop crying, slowly. He still wanted to cry, to let it all out, but he didn't. This wasn't the time or the place to be crying on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry about that, Shigeko. I'm sorry that I just kind of…broke down…like that. I just…I'm having trouble getting over it, I guess." Said Teru. He had distracted himself. He had distracted himself with his life, tried to go back to normal. He had distracted himself with Shigeko, dived into her, drowned in her. Distractions couldn't work forever.

"You don't have to. I never asked you to and I think that anyone who would ask you to is mean. You can be as sad as you want. Teru. You can be sad or mad or scared or anything. Your life is your own. You're the protagonist of your own life, Teru. Nobody can ever tell you how to feel." Said Mob as Teru broke apart from her.

"I know that nobody asked me to but I know that I have to. I have to be strong here for you." Said Teru. He was the guy, he was supposed to be strong.

"Why? I'm the strongest, Teru. I know that, now. I'm the one who's strong enough to protect you but you can still protect me. We can protect each other. Teru, why do you care how strong you are? You are more than your powers." Said Mob

"….I don't know. I just do. It's hard, you know, to go from being strong to knowing that you're….that you're not strong enough. It's scary, Shigeko. It's scary and I don't think you'll ever understand it because you've always been the strongest." Said Teru. Mob looked down.

"We're different people. We're afraid of different things. I'm afraid of…myself…but you're afraid of everyone else." Said Mob after a moment.

"I'm not afraid of everyone!" said Teru scooting back quickly. Mob shrugged.

"Not literally everyone, I didn't mean it like that. I just mean that you're afraid that other espers, mean ones, will hurt you. Will hurt us. I'm afraid that I'll…that I'll accidentally kill someone. That I'll kill or seriously hurt someone. That I might even accidentally hurt you or someone else I love. I didn't mean anything mean by it. I didn't mean that you were afraid of everything or that my fear is more than your fear or that your fear is more than my fear. I just meant that we have that in common, that's all. That's all I have to say about that." Said Mob. She used to say 'the end' when she said a lot of words at once but the other kids made fun of her so she switched to something else.

"Shigeko….you get me. You get me. You get it. Sort of. A lot actually. We're both…we're both afraid. I guess that I feel like I have to…like I have to have all the answers. Like I need to be in control. Like I always need to know what to do. It's just…it's something that's hard to let go of." Said Teru

"I think that sometimes it's alright to be afraid. It's alright to be afraid if we're afraid together. We shouldn't ignore the things that make us scared, we should face them. We should face them so that they don't control us. I think that we can face these things together." Said Mob, water hanging in the air around them. The room was bathed in rainbows as the light refracted off of the water droplets. Master Reigen had told her that about fear years ago. It had made her feel better so maybe it would make Teru feel better too.

"I'll always be there to protect you. You're right. If, when, they come again we'll be ready. The both of us." Said Teru. Mob nodded.

"I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me." Said Mob. Teru smiled. She smiled back. Her real smile. Small, simple, but genuine.

"Shigeko, come over here." Said Teru as he leaned back

"Why?" asked Mob. She was pretty comfortable where she was. She couldn't read Teru's face or aura then.

"Because I feel very, incredibly, close to you right now." Said Teru

"But we're on opposite sides of the tub." Said Mob. Teru shook his head.

"Emotionally." Said Teru. She was so genuine, even then. So literal. She was always so literal and he loved it.

"Oh. Me too." Said Mob. She did feel close to him, emotionally. Like their auras were touching, which they were, but different. Just as nice, though.

"Then come over here." Said Teru. Mob wondered why he was being so insistent. There was another layer of this, she could tell, but she couldn't read that layer.

"Ok. Why?" Said Mob scooting over to his side.

"Because I want to be close to you physically too." Said Teru watching her face, her eyes. Stone faced. Impassive. So Shigeko.

"Oh. Ok. But why? You don't usually ask." Said Mob trying to see the other layer of this. There must have been one. This was like in literature class when the teacher said to read between the lines. It was like whatever was between the lines here was written in invisible ink.

"Because I want you to call me Teruki again." Said Teru after a moment. Mob blushed. Oh.

Reigen was ready to bang his head on his keyboard. He needed to get this thing done. He was losing steam, now. He need to get his part of the book done with. He was up to the part when Mob didn't show up at the office.

"_As the hour drew later and later and it became obvious that my student would not be showing up I decided to seek her out. Never in my life did I ever think that she would be in the sort of trouble that she ended up in. A shady organization, one bent on world conquest, had kidnapped her younger brother. The student then thought that she surpassed the master and attempted to go on a rescue mission without thinking to pick up her goddamned phone! It's not difficult, Mob! You just hit one button! We could have gone together! We could have saved everyone! You didn't have to go alone! And Teru doesn't count! He's just a kid the same as you!"_

Reigen looked at what he had written and frowned. That certainly wouldn't do. Too raw. Too real. Too much yelling at Mob. Mob…where was Mob? Crap. He'd lost track of the time again. It was almost ten at night, his stomach grumbled. Right, he had skipped dinner, only eating a package of cookies when he came home. Those weren't food. Living with Mob had given him a taste for actual food, with nutrients and vitamins and minerals and stuff. His finger hovered over the call button. She needed to come home, it was late, and it was a school night. He should call her. It was the responsible thing to do. His finger still hovered over the call button.

He pushed it.

It rang. Once, twice, thrice. Each ring sent a bolt of fear down his spine. What if she didn't pick up? What if…what if….a lot of what ifs.

"_Hello, Master." _Reigen let out a breath he hadn't realized that he was holding. She was safe.

"Hey Mob, it's just getting kind of late. I was wondering when you were planning on coming back." Said Reigen trying to sound nonchalant. She was fine. He needed to remember that she was fine.

"I'm on my way home now, Master." Reigen resisted the urge to lecture her about staying out so late. It was his fault, he hadn't given her any kind of curfew. She had never had one, before, with her family anyway. Still, it was late and he didn't live in a great neighborhood.

"What stop are you at?" asked Reigen trying to figure out how long it would take her to get home. He'd meet her at the train station and they'd get some late night ramen if she hadn't had dinner.

"I'm in a taxi. Teru called one for me." Reigen did some quick mental math.

"How rich is this kid?" asked Reigen before he could think to stop himself. There was a moment of silence.

"I don't know. I didn't ask. Isn't it rude to ask other people about how much money they have?" Reigen smiled. Mob was always so polite.

"I was just thinking out loud, sorry Mob. Hurry home, I want to get us some late night ramen." Said Reigen. There was more silence.

"I ate dinner already but I could eat more. Can I get gyoza?" Reigen smiled. She could have whatever she wanted.

"Sure, whatever you want. See you when you get home." Said Reigen before he hit the call end button. He stood up and stretched. He knew that he needed to get some rest, especially since he was giving twice the number of massages tomorrow to keep his regulars happy. Well, he wanted ramen more. He wanted to spend time with Mob, more.

Better than spending time as Mob.

That had been…weird. He had been Mob. Been in her skin, in her body. Not like that. He had been her and she had been him.

Well then. That happened. It hadn't been…terrible. It was nice to see that she was doing so well. Her teacher was a prick but she had plenty of good friends. People were nice to her and that was wonderful. She had made a pretty good life for herself. Good friends; that was what Mob had wanted. She had been so alone, before, when they met. She had been so alone and he had been there for her. Now she had other people. Maybe…he needed someone else, too. She had…grown. Had he? He had enjoyed himself, lost himself, in being her. In being her AGE. In having, for a brief moment, a second chance at being fourteen.

A second chance without the war going on at home. A second chance without him having to tape together the pieces of his broken heart. A second chance where nobody made fun of him. Nobody called him half or foreigner. Nobody called him weird or spaz or loser. Nobody had made him want to hide away, to retreat into the fantasy of being the great Reigen Arataka. No, he had, for a few brief hours, had a second chance.

He shouldn't have enjoyed it so much. He shouldn't have been such a cocky bastard. He should have just went straight to Mob, truant patrols be damned. He should have done a lot of things different. Maybe he needed a third chance. Heh. No. No more chances. He was himself, now, and he would have to stay himself. He had gotten his second chance and that was it. He had even done Mob some good, too. At least she wouldn't have to worry about her English grades for a while.

He shouldn't have smoked, though. That was his own stupid addiction, chemical and mental. He needed to stop. He knew that he needed to stop. He needed to stop but he just couldn't. She was worth so much she didn't need to be getting sick from his bad habits. He needed to cut back, for her. He needed to be better for her.

He needed to put some real clothes on, for her, so they could get some dinner. She'd be home soon if she was in a taxi. How much money could this kid possibly have? A taxi ride across Seasoning City at this hour would be at least ten thousand yen. He wasn't jealous. He was not jealous of a middle schooler. Nope. No sir. He checked the meager contents of his wallet. He wasn't jealous at all.

He tossed on his slacks and a shirt without any holes. There. Presentable. He slipped on his shoes, locked the door, and waited outside the building for Mob. He resisted the urge to smoke. He'd start cutting back right now.

Mob could see Master Reigen waiting for her outside the building as the taxi pulled up. She said her thank yous and got out. Master Reigen waved to her. She waved back.

"Hey, Mob. Go shopping today?" asked Reigen as he took in her clothes. Bright purple t shirt, light grey pants. Maybe she was starting to appreciate pants, finally. He didn't know how she could stand wearing skirts all day. One false move and you're in a fanservice show.

"Huh? Oh, the clothes. No, these are Teru's. He let me borrow them because my uniform was dirty. He let me wash it at his house, too, and let me borrow some clothes he didn't fit into anymore so I would have something to wear so my uniform doesn'." Said Mob. Well, it was more like Teru insisted that she wear his clothes. He said that he liked it when she wore his clothes, it made him feel like she was his. She didn't get what wearing his clothes had to do with being his girlfriend but it was still nice. These smelled like him, sort of.

"Well at least you wore something." Muttered Reigen before he could stop himself. He had let himself become unguarded. He could feel her curiosity. Curiosity, joy, warmth, safety, and some other things that he was pulling away from because they were none of his business.

"Huh?" asked Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"Just glad he lent you something to wear. You look nice. Want to go drop your stuff off upstairs and we can get some dinner?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Sure. I'll be quick." Said Mob before practically running up the stairs, her footsteps echoing off the metal of the stairs. Reigen smiled. She was still such a kid sometimes. He watched her aura. It shifted as she moved. She was inside, now she was outside again. Joy. Happiness. Safety. Trust. Relaxation. Satisfaction.

Well then.

He pretended to read something on his phone until she came back. Still in Teru's clothes. He stifled a sigh. She wasn't totally a kid, not anymore. Not an adult, though, and he needed to stop treating her like one. He needed to stop treating her like a child, too. She was something in between and he needed to figure out how to treat her.

"Master?" asked Mob standing in front of him. Oh, she had grabbed that hoodie she borrowed from Teru, too. That kid certainly liked to mark his territory; that was for sure.

"Alright Mob, let's get some ramen!" said Reigen with a flourish. Mob smiled and nodded. She walked beside him. He reached over and almost put an arm around her shoulders. Almost.

"_Then why are you always touching her?"_

Reigen knew that he touched her a lot. He liked to show her affection. It made her happy, that was all. His arm hovered behind her as they walked. She glanced over at him. Curiosity. Rejection. He put his arm around her shoulders. He had always been affectionate with her, if he stopped now it would have been weirder than if he had carried on as he always had.

"How was your day, Master?" asked Mob after a moment. His aura was out, unguarded. She let hers wash over his. This felt good. Safe. Familiar. His arm was around her, now. It was nice. This was nice. Safe. Familiar.

"Pretty great. Worked on the book some more, managed to keep all of our regulars, updated the Friendbook page. Aside from the whole body swapping adventure it was a pretty boring day. Yours?" asked Reigen. It really had just been a day to relax. He needed it after the whole swapping bodies thing. That had been…it had been something.

"Aside from swapping bodies it was nice. Being you was nice, too. I was tall. I exorcised a whole building full of spirits, well, almost. Dimple had to save me. We played Go after that. I went to Teru's house too. Oh, you knew that already. We had omurice for dinner. I helped make it." Said Mob staring straight ahead counting the streetlights. She knew that she could tell Master Reigen everything, could being operative word. He had also said that this sort of thing was private. She didn't want to tell him but she did also want to share the joy she had found but she also loved him but he loved her in a totally different way. It was all so confusing.

"I didn't know you knew how to make omurice. I think you're going to have to start doing the cooking around here, Mob." Said Reigen half kidding. He loved omurice, well he liked omurice and loved omusoba. He couldn't make omlettes, though, they never turned out right.

"….Teru did most of the work." Said Mob quietly. She still didn't know how to cook, hers had ended up being overdone, but she was still learning. Not enough to cook for them, though.

"We'll have to learn together, then. You see, Mob, there's something I have yet to share with you…I love omurice!" said Reigen dramatically. A stray cat meowed at him before walking away. Mob waved to it.

"I love it too. Ok, we can learn." Said Mob as she said hello to the cat. That was a different one, she hadn't seen it before.

"What's the one's story, do you think?" asked Reigen as the cat watched them from the safety of a window ledge.

"I don't know that one but it has a collar on. It must have a home. Maybe it has other cats it lives with." Said Mob as they passed by the cat. Master Reigen still had his arm over her. She felt warm, but not as warm as usual. She still loved it, still loved him, but felt less of that nervous sort of energy she felt when he was near her.

Well, she had called Teru Teruki after all. That would do it.

Mob blushed and looked down at her shoes.

"So, did you go to the perfume store today, too?" asked Reigen. He could feel her embarrassment. He wondered what the cause was. It could have been anything, she was fourteen after all. That was one thing he did not miss about being her age.

"….No….I took a bath." Said Mob after a moment. She still stared straight forward.

"Oh yeah, you like those better than showers." Said Reigen. She probably missed the comforts of home. Well if they ended up moving he'd find a place with a bathtub. Baths could be nice, actually. If they didn't end up going to an onsen there was a bathhouse and a Korean spa around. She'd like that.

"Showers are alright but it's like….like you're only half washing. You know, because you shower before you get in the tub?" asked Mob. She wondered if Master Reigen took baths or showers as a kid. His mother was western. Western people took baths, right?

"Oh yeah, I get it. Well, if we don't end up going to that onsen then we can go to the bathhouse or the Korean spa maybe this weekend." Said Reigen. She'd like that and it would be good for her muscles, too. He hadn't given her a backrub in a while.

"Oh ok, but not on Sunday. Teru has a soccer game then and he wants me to be there." Said Mob. She didn't know much about soccer but if it mattered to him then she'd be there.

"I didn't know he played." Said Reigen. Well, it was nice to know that the kid had something going on besides living in his big empty apartment and making out with Mob. Reigen shook his head. That was Mob's business, not his, even when they conducted their business out in front of the office in broad daylight.

"He does. He mostly played to be popular but he feels bad that he's been neglecting the regular parts of his life lately. Also he uses his powers to cheat, well he used to, and he still might but I don't think I'll make a big deal out of it. Cheating is wrong but I don't want to make Teru feel bad. He feels bad enough." Said Mob. She had seen Teru cry before but it didn't make it any less sad for her.

"Well, I guess as long as you don't start cheating it's fine." Said Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"No. I wouldn't ever cheat." Said Mob solemnly. Reigen watched her aura, her emotions. Something was on her mind.

"Hey, Mob, something on your mind? You can talk to me, you know that." Said Reigen. Please, Mob, don't keep things bottled up. She was the last person who should have been keeping things bottled up.

"Ok." Said Mob. Reigen waited for a moment.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" asked Reigen. Mob wondered if she did. Teru had cried and she had just said what was on her mind and he felt better. Well, it seemed like he had felt better.

"…Teru cried." Said Mob after a moment or two.

"About….?" Asked Reigen. If she was being this brief than it was either really bad or she was still processing.

"He's still upset about what happened with Claw. He's also upset that he's not strong enough to protect me. The way I feel about myself is the way he feels about other espers. We feel the same just about different things. Then he cried but he stopped. I didn't cry." Said Mob simply.

"That kid needs someone to talk to…" muttered Reigen. He could be that person to this kid, if he ever let go of his crazy ideas and festering jealousy.

"Teru talks to me." Said Mob momentously. Reigen shook his head.

"Mob, you're a great person, you know that, but you're still just a kid. You're not little anymore but you're still only fourteen. You're none the wiser than he is, in a lot of ways." Said Reigen. Alone. That kid had been left alone. All alone, oceans and continents between him and his parents as Mob had said. How could someone just abandon their child like that? He glanced over at Mob. Esper kids. Right. Challenges he couldn't even fathom.

"But I make him feel better and he makes me feel better. We help each other." Said Mob. People were meant to help other people. She and Teru cared about each other and they helped each other.

"Yeah but you're still both kids. It's like, Mob, you remember the day we met, right?" asked Reigen as he watched her. She nodded.

"How could I ever forget? That was one of the best days of my life." Said Mob flatly. Reigen did a double take.

"Really?" asked Reigen. Well. Wow. He felt warm in the heart.

"Yes. I wouldn't lie about something like that, or in general. I don't like to tell lies." Said Mob. Sometimes she lied or didn't tell the whole truth. She didn't like it when she had to do that. Sometimes, though, it was better to spare people's feelings and to spare herself embarrassment or to keep from messing stuff up.

"You know, that was one of the best days of my life too, Mob." Said Reigen. Yeah, meeting her was most absolutely up there in his top ten. Right behind his first kiss and that time he found all those yen in the sewer grate.

"You know how I help you? Well, I couldn't if we were the same age." Said Reigen

"Why?" asked Mob

"Because I'm wiser than you are about a lot of things. I only got this wise by living twice as long as you have. That's why kids are supposed to have parents or parental figures." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Teru feels bad that he's alone, I think. I know that I would be very sad if I was all alone. I'm happy, though, because I have you. Teru doesn't really like you, I don't know why though. Sometimes people just don't get along, I think." Said Mob. Master Reigen was amazing but Teru, Ritsu too, didn't think so. Maybe it was because they were all boys. Boys had trouble getting along sometimes. Boys could be so weird.

"I can think of a few reasons…." Muttered Reigen. Thank God that Mob couldn't get a clue or this whole thing could have been so awkward. He loved her but he wasn't in love with her, and certainly wasn't interested in her physically. That was a lot for kids their age to comprehend, probably.

"Huh?" asked Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"You should bring him over. We can all hang out. You guys like videogames, right? Well, I have more than a super famicom. I think I still have my old Nintendo sixty four, and maybe I brought my old game cube with me. We could all play together." Said Reigen. He hadn't played videogames in years but they were fun. For Mob he would spend an evening crammed onto the couch between her and Teru and live with all the glares that kid would send his way.

"I'll ask him. I would like that, anyway. I just don't want him to cry anymore. It made me sad even though-" said Mob covering her mouth before she could say more. Reigen glanced at her.

"Something that I'm better off now knowing?" asked Reigen feeling the embarrassment rolling off of her.

"No. Not better off." Said Mob. It wasn't a better off sort of thing, it was just a super private, call Teru Teruki, sort of thing.

"Something that you don't want to tell me, then?" asked Regen. Well, hopefully nothing bad, then.

"You said I could tell you anything but you also said that some things were private." Said Mob testing out what she was thinking. Being able to tell someone anything didn't mean that she had to tell him everything.

"Oh, it's one of those things. Got it, say no more, Mob." Said Reigen grateful that he was spared the details of Mob's love life.

"About this or ever again?" asked Mob. Reigen tugged at her hair.

"About this, Mob. This is a private part of your life and I get it. Also, I think I know enough to get a clear picture so….yeah. Sorry, today I…uh…I read some of your texts. Sorry. I just…didn't want to screw up your life or anything." Said Reigen. He watched her face, her aura, her emotions. Nonplussed.

"I'm not mad at you, if I was I would have said so. I…read your texts too. I just thought that if it was a work thing I didn't want to mess it up." Said Mob softly. They stopped walking. Was he mad? Oh no, this was the ramen place.

"So we're even, then." Said Reigen. She was worried, now. Of course he wouldn't be mad, that would make him a hypocrite.

"…I guess…" said Mob softly. He opened the door for her and she passed under his arm. This was different than their usual place. Smaller, louder. Master Reigen steered her to a table. She sat down as best as she could. The chairs were tall, here. She could swing her legs like when she was little.

"You sure you're not hungry?" said Reigen as he let the smell of cooking ramen wash over him. Yes. This smelled like heaven.

"I just want gyoza, Master." Said Mob quietly. Reigen watched her. Something was on her mind. But what? Well, after the day they had it could have been any number of things.

"Gyoza and….milk?" asked Reigen. Ah, there, that was happy Mob.

"…yes please…." Said Mob. Milk was wonderful, truly the greatest drink that had ever been conceived. Reigen ordered and they sat in silence for a moment. Mob wanted to ask him why he had kept it from her that his mother was coming to visit. It wasn't about her, was it? She knew that she could be embarrassing. Whenever relatives came to visit her mother forbade her from speaking, sometimes, because she had so much trouble reading the atmosphere. Ritsu was better at talking to people, even when they were little.

"Master?" asked Mob finally. Reigen looked up. He had been checking his e-mail. Mostly massages tomorrow, twice as many as usual. Massages and someone wanted him to act as a body guard while they went out and took a spirit photo.

"Yeah?" asked Reigen. Well, it would be a god video opportunity at least. The trick to this business was keeping the fans happy and the fans like to see him and Mob exorcise spirits so he'd give the people what they wanted.

"Your mom says that she's coming to visit. That was in the text that I saw." Said Mob quietly. Reigen stared at her. Right. Mom.

"Oh, so she settled on a date, then?" asked Reigen as he slimmed through his texts. Yup, mom was coming over. Great. Well, time to get that over with. He hadn't seen her in person since he was twenty two or twenty three, he was overdue to see her. Not that he wanted to, not really.

"Yes. Master, why didn't you tell me that she was coming?" asked Mob. Reigen could feel it, fear and rejection. He kicked her, playfully.

"Mob, it's not about you. This whole thing was up in the air, already." Said Reigen. It had been a tentative plan, after all. Mob smiled, her little smile. Her real smile.

"Ok. I was just thinking that you…when I was little and people would come over my mom always said that I was…embarrassing….and stuff." Said Mob quietly. Reigen thought for a moment.

"My mom used to say the same thing about me, when I was your age. Of course I was a little monster then but still…" said Reigen. He really had been a brat, back then. The things that came out of his mouth. Well, he deserved it. Mob didn't.

"Your mom thought that you couldn't get a clue, either?" asked Mob as her gyoza was placed before her. She picked one up and chewed it slowly. Pretty good.

"She did but she was right. You, you don't deserve to be treated like that. I was a brat, you aren't." said Reigen as he ate. Mob nodded.

"Were you really a…brat…when you were my age?" asked Mob. Reigen nodded and swallowed a mouthful of noodles. Pretty decent.

"The brattiest. You know today…I was kind of a brat, too. I'm sorry if I messed up your life in any way." Said Reigen quietly. He was ashamed, now, looking back. Not just for the smoking. He had been himself, his unaltered self. A show off, an overgrown child.

"Were you mean?" asked Mob. That was the only thing that could upset her, if Master Reigen was mean to another person. But that was impossible, Master Reigen could never be mean.

"Yes and no…not wait. I was kind of a jerk to your English teacher." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"He was mean, first. Actually, no, that's mean of me. I wasn't paying attention so I was the one who was in the wrong to begin with." Said Mob, her hair braiding itself and un-braiding its self over and over again.

"Well yeah but that guy is an asshole and yes, I know I cursed." Said Reigen preemptively shutting down that particular discussion. Still, he needed to curse less around Mob.

"No, he can be…curse words…sometimes." Said Mob looking away. She couldn't curse, it just wasn't in her.

"You never curse." Said Reigen as if he was noticing a great truth. That was one of his bad habits that she still hadn't picked up on, thank goodness.

"No. I don't like to. I wasn't allowed to when I was little so I don't." said Mob. It had never seemed natural even when all the other kids first started trying out the forbidden words which were used only by adults.

"You shouldn't. You're too sweet." Said Reigen. He couldn't picture Mob cursing, not like he did anyway. He cursed like a sailor when he was her age.

"Everyone always says that." Said Mob looking down. She was sweet and cute and adorable. Like a little kid.

"Because you are, Mob." Said Reigen putting down his chopsticks and brushing her fringe out of her eyes.

"I don't try to be, I just try to be a nice person. The truth of one's charm is in their kindness." Said Mob simply. She wasn't putting on any kind of an act, she just tried to be a good person. That didn't mean that she was still a little kid, though.

"Hey, I taught you that." Said Reigen smiling. She was so adorable when she said things like that.

"I know. I remember everything you teach me." Said Mob holding eye contact with him. What was so amazing about the fact that she listened to and learned from her Master.

"You should know…I wasn't….you...today." said Reigen after a moment. Right. He had acted so out of character there might be fallout for her tomorrow.

"What do you mean? You were me and I was you." Said Mob genuinely not getting it. They had literally been each other all day.

"No, I mean I acted like…I acted like I did when I was your age. I'm sorry." Said Reigen. Mob stared at him. Why was that bad? Master Reigen wasn't mean. Being mean and being nice were what really mattered at the end of the day. People already thought that she was weird so who cared if they thought that she was a little bit weirder?

"As long as you weren't mean to anyone, well anyone else, then I don't care. People already think I'm weird so it won't matter, anyway." Said Mob simply. Reigen blinked. Well then, she had certainly taken his lesson about rolling with the punches to heart.

"Nobody thinks you're weird, Mob. Well, they might, but not in a bad way. People like you, Mob." Said Reigen. If she had been born in his era, yes, she would have been teased mercilessly but these kids had actually been pretty nice to her. Those were some great kids, her classmates.

"I know that more people like me now but sometimes I still….sometimes I still think that it's like how it was before, when I was little." Said Mob. It was hard to shake, sometimes, the memory of how it had been when she was little.

"Well, you guys aren't little anymore. People get more mature when they get older." Said Reigen as he drank some of the ramen brother. Huh. Not as good as the place near the office.

"Do you think that I'm more mature?" asked Mob quietly. Mature. Not little, not cute, not adorable. Grown up.

"You've always been the most mature kid I know." Said Reigen. She was certainly more mature than he had been, anyway. What would have been like if he had been in Mob's place, if he had her powers? He probably would have been an insufferable show off.

"How many kids do you know?" asked Mob simply. She was honestly curious.

"I know you're being serious so I'll count. There's you, your brother, and your boyfriend. Well, Mob, out of the three of them you're number one." Said Reigen holding up three broth covered fingers. Mob levitated him over a napkin. He cleaned off his fingers. Right, table manners were a thing.

"You think I'm more mature than Ritsu?" asked Mob quietly. That was crazy, Ritsu was the most mature person she knew. He always kept his room clean and studied hard and got good grades and all of the other thing you were supposed to do.

"You're older than Ritsu. Older and wiser." Said Reigen simply. She was more mature than her brother, she at least never pushed him just because she was jealous, and boy was she jealous. If she wasn't such a nice person their parents could have had a Cain and Able situation on their hands. Or was that Jacob and Ezekiel. It had been a while since world religions class. Whichever had the bothers who hated each other and one killed the other out of jealousy.

"I think Ritsu is pretty mature, though. He's so smart and he's good at everything." Said Mob. Reigen shook his head. That wasn't healthy, that attitude that her parents had instilled in her. Her brother was probably a great kid but she talked about him like he had hung the moon, the sun, and the stars above.

"You shouldn't put your brother up on a pedestal like that. Everyone has their faults, Mob." Said Reigen. Mpb shook her head. She didn't put him up on a pedestal, she just acknowledged that he was a better person than she would ever be. No, wait, was that putting him up on a pedestal?

"Ritsu said that, too, that I put him up on a pedestal. I don't mean too, he's just a really great person. I wish that I was more like him." said Mob. Reigen put his hand over hers for a moment. She shouldn't think like that, it was unhealthy.

"But you can't be. We can only be ourselves, Mob. Huh. I guess that's what I learned from this whole experience." Said Reigen after a moment. So he had had an epiphany after all.

"What do you mean?" asked Mob. She had thought, briefly, that it worked like on TV and there was some plan for them to learn from each other but now she knew that this was just something that had happened because neither of them was in full control of their powers.

"You know, in body swap shows it can only be reversed if the two people have some kind of epiphany." Said Reigen. Maybe there was a reason why that had happened to them. He had figured that it had all been happenstance.

"What's an epiphany?" asked Mob trying to remember that word. She knew that it had been on her vocabulary list last month but what was it.

"It's like a sudden realization of great truth." Said Reigen

"Oh, you mean when the people learn to see eye to eye on whatever they were fighting about or they come together so solve a problem. Like in Your Name when they save the town from the meteor." Said Mob. Maybe she had been wrong and it was like on TV. Didn't art imitate life? Or did life imitate art?

"Or in Freaky Friday when the mother and daughter stop fighting." Said Reigen. Mob gave him a quizzical look. Oh, right, that was from his childhood.

"What's Freaky Friday?" asked Mob. He said that part in English and she didn't watch a lot of foreign movies. Teru did, though, he might know it.

"It's a movie from the states about a mother and daughter who fight all the time but then they switch bodies and learn about each other. My cousin Michael, girl Michael I also have a cousin boy Michael, well she would play that movie at least once a day for the entire family gathering. Back then we only had one TV for kids and one for adults and she monopolized the adult TV." Said Reigen as he ate quickly. This wasn't great but it wasn't awful either.

"Oh, I saw a movie like that, but it was Japanese. It was about a salaryman that switched lives with his daughter." Said Mob as she handed Master Reigen another napkin.

"So sort of like us except I'm not a salaryman and you're not my kid. Well, kind of. You're my friend at least." Said Reigen

"You used to be a salaryman though, right?" asked Mob. Reigen nodded.

"Yeah, most soul sucking job I've ever had. Working at the convenience store in high school was better than that." Said Reigen not wanting to remember what he considered to be the low point in his life. Thank God he got out when he did. He didn't want to ever wake up again and think to himself 'so, this is it' unless it was in a good way, like when he woke up before Mob and the promise of a new day stretched out before him. Even if he was just rubbing stiff shoulders it was still better than languishing at a desk all day. Mob had a way of making the bad good and the good better.

"What did you do, there?" asked Mob. Before she started working for Master Reigen the world of work seemed so far away, like some rabbit hole that the adults went into all day.

"At the office? We were a water cooler company, literally. We sold them to offices and businesses." Said Reigen

"Is that what you went to university for?" asked Mob honestly not knowing how and why people chose their lines of work. She hadn't even really chosen her line of work, she just sort of got her job.

"No way. I just sort of messed around for four years until I had a degree and then I took the first job that I could get." Said Reigen. Mob was looking at him, now.

"So then how do people decide what they're going to do with their lives?" asked Mob. Reigen leaned back in his chair. Oh, what a question.

"Most people just sort of luck into it, I guess. You just take what comes up and then you make the best of it." Said Reigen after a moment. That was certainly how it had gone for him, anyway. She had…it had gone the same way for her, hadn't it? She had walked through his door and walked out with a job. Three, four years, now. Longer than he had ever been employed by anyone else for, anyway.

"That's how it works? Then why do they always ask us what we want to do when we grow up?" asked Mob. They were asked that constantly. She had always said, before, that she didn't know. Now she did, she would work at Spirits and Such forever. She was getting half the business after all.

"Well, you should still aim for something. What do you want to be when you grow up, anyway?" asked Reigen. He had never asked her this, before.

"Master, you know what I'm going to be." Said Mob watching him closely.

"A travelling milk saleswoman?" asked Reigen with a smile. Mob shook her head.

"No, Master. Milk is so delicious it sells itself so why would there need to be people who traveled around and sold it?" asked Mob. Reigen reached over and tugged on her hair.

"You're right. So, what do you want to be when you grow up?" asked Reigen

"The same thing I am, now, Master. I want to work at the office with you forever. You said I could. You said that when I grew up I could have half the business. We'll be together forever, right?" asked Mob. Reigen blinked for a moment.

"I said that you could but you don't have to." Said Reigen quietly. Mob shook her head.

"I know but I want to. I want to be with you forever. Remember, perpetuity." Said Mob. Reigen wanted to reach over and put his hand over hers but he didn't. Maybe that was crossing a line. Was it? The lines were faint, between them.

"Well, you're certainly more together than I was when I was your age, Mob. When I was your age I was driving my mom crazy watching, what was it? The show she hated….oh yeah, I watched Death Note incessantly. Well, I was a little older than you, then. Still, she hated that show. Apparently it made no sense. It made perfect sense if you suspended your sense of disbelief." Said Reigen

"Oh, that's like me and Ritsu. I used to watch Your Name all the time but then he got super bored because he says that the movie is dumb. I think it's really nice but he says that they should have known that they were in different times from the beginning." Said Mob

"Wait, I've seen that I think. If they knew the dates were different then the movie wouldn't have been as good, I think. Movies need to have conflict or you might as well be watching a documentary." Said Reigen

"I know. If they knew that they were in different time periods then it would have all been different." Said Mob

"Sometimes you need to suspend your disbelief." Said Reigen sagely. You just had to turn off your brain, sometimes.

"Right, but Ritsu wouldn't and he kept saying that it was boring and we disagreed so my mom hid the disc." Said Mob. Mom had hidden it because she had lost control and turned the living room upside down, literally.

"Well you guys are different people, after all. Different preferences, different everything really." Said Reigen. That was something that people, a lot of people, never learned. Everyone was different and everyone approached life with their own set of past experiences.

"But we're brother and sister. Sometimes I think that we should be more alike. I don't know, sometimes I don't understand him either, but I still love him." said Mob. Ritsu was so much better at everything than she was but they were so different, too. Like how Ritsu didn't understand how amazing Master Reigen was or that she wouldn't live in a place where people were afraid of her.

"Well you are his big sister, you can only understand him so much and he can only understand you so much. It hard, sometimes, when you get to your age." Said Reigen. It was a difficult age when you hadn't been through it once before.

"Maybe me and Ritsu should have switched bodies, then maybe we could understand each other, or he could at least understand me. That's selfish though." Said Mob. How would that have gone? Maybe more weird because they were brother and sister, or maybe less weird because they were brother and sister. Either way it was a selfish thought, thinking of putting Ritsu through that.

"No, not really. There's nothing selfish about wanting to be understood. Is he still asking you to come home?" asked Reigen. He could see where the kid was coming from. It was hard to be thirteen, extra hard when you had powers, and even harder when your parents seemed to be, well, lackluster. No. Empathy time. He needed to be…no. He was the one taking care of Mob now and she wasn't half the terror her mother made her out to be. But then again….this was complicated.

"He stopped asking but I know he wants me to come back. I don't want to, though. I'm happy here, with you, and I don't ever want to stop being this happy. You're happy too, right?" asked Mob. She didn't want to go home and as long as she had the option to she would live with Master Reigen.

"Mob, I am…I'm happy. I'm happy to have you around but don't stay on my account." Said Reigen after a moment.

"I'm not staying with you because I think that you want me to, well I am, but I'm staying because I'm happy with you." Said Mob. She wasn't a little kid, she was fourteen and could make her own decisions about where she lived and where she was happy.

"I know, Mob, I know. You value happiness, a lot actually, I guess I learned that about you." Said Reigen. She had decided to change so that she could be happy, she left home so that she could be happy. She cared about happiness, but not just chasing short term happiness. She thought about the long term in a way that a lot of people, even people his age, didn't.

"Today?" asked Mob

"No, well yes, but in general from spending more time with you. You're someone who values happiness, that of yourself and of others. I love that about you." Said Reigen. Mob smiled and blushed. No, not loved like that.

"You value happiness too, Master. You make people happy all the time and helping people makes you happy." Said Mob. That was something she loved about him, really.

"That was your epiphany?" asked Reigen mirthfully. Mob shook her head.

"No, I don't think I had one. Well, maybe I did. I guess I didn't realize how…strong…I was compared to you. I mean, I know that I'm strong but I never realized it. It's apples to oranges though, right?" asked Mob. Reigen tugged at his collar.

"Right, Mob. You're right, it's apples to oranges." Said Reigen. He'd tell her the truth when she was old enough to handle it.

"You make spirits pass on, too, I just erase them. That's something I learned about how your powers work. Is it better, to help them pass on, instead of erasing them?" asked Mob after a moment. Reigen shrugged. He had never really thought about it.

"They're just evil spirits, Mob, I don't think it matters." Said Reigen. Evil spirits didn't count as people anymore, right?

"I think it might. When Teru erased Dimple I was so sad and angry that I almost exploded. That's because Dimple became my friend. If he got erased I'd be sad." Said Mob. Not that she was still angry at Teru for that. No, not at all.

"Well I don't think that Dimple is as evil and he wants you to believe." Said Reigen. He was a pretty decent little snot glob, sometimes.

"That's true. He's actually a very nice and helpful spirit. He gives good advice." Said Mob. He was right about being forward, anyway. That had worked out pretty well for her.

"That's debatable." Said Reigen

"What do you mean?" asked Mob

"Well I don't think that telling your teacher to suck it would have been a good move." Said Reigen

"No, no it wouldn't have. Well, some of his advice is good." Said Mob

"You actually took his advice? How'd it go?" asked Reigen. Mob stared down at her empty gyoza plate.

"…well. It went well." Said Mob

"Then I guess he's not totally useless." Said Reigen

"He's a nice person, sometimes." Said Mob

"Spirit." Said Reigen

"What's the difference between spirits and people? I know that we have to exorcise evil spirits but I don't exorcise neutral ones because they aren't bothering anyone." Said Mob

"Ok, I guess that neutral spirits have a right to personhood but evil spirits have to be exorcised because they hurt people. I guess that the main difference between us and spirits is that we're alive. We grow and change and reproduce. Spirits don't but I guess that doesn't give us a right to bother them unless they hurt someone first. You have a real point there, Mob. You're very wise, sometimes." Said Reigen finishing the last of his ramen.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. They got up, paid, and made their way home. Reigen's arm around her shoulders the entire way home. It was nice.

Rei held Ritsu's hand under the dinner table. It was alright. This dinner was alright. Sort of. Nobody was fighting.

"I hope that I mad enough, Ritsu didn't tell me that we were having a guest." Said Hana as she watched this girl, Rei, eat like a horse. She would have liked to have been informed that this girl was coming more than a couple of hours prior to dinner.

"This is really good Mrs. Kageyama! Thank you so much for having me!" said Rei as she ate. Well, between bites, obviously. This was so great! Ritsu was holding her hand and his parents like her. Right?

"Well it's always great to meet one of Ritsu's friends." Said Hana before sipping her water. So this was the first girl that he had brought home. Orange skin, not a natural tan most likely, garishly colored red hair, too many rings, and her uniform skirt rolled up much too high. Well then.

"She's my girlfriend." Said Ritsu simply. He did a good Shigeko without even realizing it. Rei smiled at that. She liked that word, girlfriend.

"I'm his girlfriend." Said Rei smiling. Wow, it sounded so nice when he said it. This was going great, he already introduced her to his parents. Now all she had to do was introduce him to her family and then they'd be golden. Wow.

"Good for you, son." Said Mr. Kageyama. Ritsu went back to eating. Well, at least dad was proud of him. Mom didn't seem to approve but she so rarely approved of anything.

"So, Rei, what do you do?" asked Hana watching the girl. Too forward, she was being much too forward with Ritsu. She had forgotten to teach her son discretion. He was much too young to be holding hands with his girlfriend, he was much too young to even have a girlfriend.

"Uh, a lot, actually. I've been really into clothes lately. Oh! And anime! I love anime. I started drawing, too. Well I always drew but now I'm getting better. Mostly characters I like." Said Rei as she used her finger to scrape up some curry from her plate. Ritsu wished that she wouldn't, she could get sick doing that.

"But are you in any clubs? Activities? Student council?" asked Hana. Ritsu was doing so well, weren't there girls at his school? Ones with achievements to rival his?

"Student council? No, that's way too much. I've been in a few clubs. I'm kind of club hopping right now just trying to fund something that fits. I usually just hang out with my friends after school." Said Rei. Her powers of divination told her to get off of this subject because there was a 60% chance that this would end in a fight between Ritsu and his mother. Why did it matter what clubs she was in? She was in middle school.

"Well then how did you two meet?" asked Hana. Ritsu glared at his mother. There was no need to rake Rei over the coals like that. She was a nice person and she liked him, what else mattered?

"We met when-Uh, I'm friends with his sister." Said Rei remembered not to mention that either of them had powers.

"Shigeko?" asked Hana. Another of Shigeko's friends. Friends, clubs, a boyfriend….her daughter really was blossoming.

"Yeah, Mob and I are getting to be pretty great friends. We have a lot of the same taste in shows and clothes and stuff." Said Rei. Oh. Her powers of clairvoyance told her that calling Mob, Mob instead of Shigeko would also lead to a fight. Jeez, why were the Kageyama's so high strung? No wonder Ritsu and Mob were so unexpressive.

"Oh." Said Hana after a while. Ritsu could read the atmosphere and he knew enough to know the battle that was brewing. Every single time Shigeko was brought up his parents fought.

"We're done." Said Ritsu standing up and taking their plates. Rei followed him as he tossed their plates in the sink and went upstairs.

"I'm sorry about my mom. She can be a little….like that." Said Ritsu as he practically pulled Rei into his room and shut the door. Rei shrugged. Moms could be weird sometimes. She didn't care. She finally had a boyfriend, who cared if his mom didn't like her. That was what she told herself at least.

"She seemed ok." Said Rei politely. She got the feeling that his mom didn't like her, or maybe she always looked like she was sucking on a lemon candy.

"You don't have to say things just to make me feel better." Said Ritsu. He knew that his mom was being kind of mean. He could tell and he didn't need her to spare his feelings.

"Oh. Well she did. Sort of." Said Rei. Her sisters had plenty to say about nightmare moms. Her oldest sister one time got kicked out of her boyfriend's mom's car in the middle of the country side.

"I didn't know you drew." Said Ritsu changing the subject. He didn't want to get into it with her.

"Oh, it's nothing, just some fan art." Said Rei with a shrug. She knew that it was immature and that she needed to stop with all the anime already.

"Fan art of what?" asked Ritsu genuinely curious. Fan art was alright, some of it was pretty cool.

"Right now it's mostly for Madoka since they're making a new series. I do a lot of Homura but after she turns into a demon, I think she looks really cool like that." Said Rei. Well, not Ritsu was interested. Finally, he could have an actual debate without having to worry about them, well, exploding.

"You think she's actually a demon? I think that she's just a new type of witch and the universe is her labrinth." Said Ritsu. He had seen that movie so many times he could probably recite it word for word.

"No, she's another thing entirely. She's stronger than the law of cycles which then was stronger than the incubators. Witches weren't stronger than incubators." Said Rei

"But she had already turned into a witch. Once you're a witch there's no coming back from that." Said Ritsu

"There are too ways to come back from being a witch. Time travel magic." Said Rei

"Yeah, magic from incubators which created witches in the first place. There can't just be something new coming into existence when incubators control all magic." Said Ritsu

"They didn't account for the law of cycles, either, which is stronger than the incubators." Said Rei

"Can we at least agree that Rebellion was dumb?" asked Ritsu

"Dumb? How can you say that?" said Rei

"Because it's paced weird and it doesn't make sense." Said Ritsu

"It makes sense if you can acknowledge that Homura is a bad person. She doesn't love Madoka because love is more than being obsessed with someone. If she loved Madoka then she would have let Madoka be the law of cycles." Said Rei

"But being the law of cycles meant that she couldn't ever do any of the things she loved and she could never see her friends again. She existed outside of time and space. That seems pretty, well, hellish to me." Said Ritsu

"I figured that she was just in magical girl heaven. Remember when she came out of the sky with all the lights and the heavenly music?" asked Rei

"That's why I don't really like Rebellion even though Shigeko put it on so many times. It's too inconsistent." Said Ritsu

"Maybe they'll fix it in the new series." Said Rei

"I hope so. I really liked the first series. Well, not as much as Shigeko did." Said Ritsu

"Well it is a girl show." Said Rei

"There shouldn't be boy shows and girl shows. I think that there should just be shows, that way I think that boys and girls would have more in common." Said Ritsu

"Somethings are so good, like Evangelion, that boys and girls can both like it. I think that the best shows cross lines between boys and girls." Said Rei

"Or Gundam, if you still want to watch." Said Ritsu

"I do! I still do." Said Rei siting down on his bed. He sat down too and she got closer to him. Wow. She was in an actual boy's room.

"We can watch something else if you want. Or whatever you want." Said Ritsu not quite sure what to do. He had never really had anyone in his room before. Hell, the only guest he'd had in a while had been Teru. Maybe if he just pretended that she was Teru. Oh, that just made him nervous.

"What do you mean?" asked Rei. Well, he was a guy. Did he mean…nope. No. Not gonna happen. Do not pass go, do not collect your two hundred dollars.

"I haven't ever had a girl over before, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do." Said Ritsu truthfully. He had never had a girlfriend before. He'd have to ask Teru, later, what you were supposed to do with a girlfriend vs just a friend. If she was Teru they'd just play videogames or play fight or something. What were you supposed to do with a girlfriend?

"I think that we're just supposed hang out and talk and stuff. I don't know, I've never been to a boy's house before." Said Rei. Well, besides stuff, she just figured that you just hung out. That was what her sisters did with their boyfriends. Well, they were step sisters but it still counted. Right? Sometimes she felt like an only child though. If Shigeko was there they could all hang out.

"You can see the future, right?" said Ritsu. Maybe she'd know what would be the most fun thing to do.

"Sometimes. Sometimes it's unclear." Said Rei simply. She looked into the future. Tomorrow her mom would get KFC for dinner in celebration of her passing her history exam. Oh, she'd pass her history exam!

"What are we going to end up doing?" asked Ritsu looking around. TV was alright but was he supposed to do something less, well, passive with her?

"We're going to watch TV and then your mom is going to come upstairs and tell you to open your door." Said Rei. That was the most probable future.

"Why? She never makes me keep my door open." Said Ritsu genuinely not getting it. Rei looked at him for a moment. Was he being serious? Wait, did that mean that he didn't want to, well, stuff? She didn't know how to feel about that. On the one hand it was a load off her mind but on the other hand what was wrong with her that he didn't want to, with her?

"Because I'm here. Whenever my sister has a boy over my mom makes her keep the door wide opened." Said Rei omitting why her sister had to keep the door opened. Well, step sister, but it was still kind of the same.

"The one in high school?" asked Ritsu. Her family was kind of complicated since her parents had both remarried.

"Yeah, Riko. Risa and Rin are in university." Said Rei. She was, technically, the youngest in her family.

"Why do you guys all have names that start with an 'R' sound?" said Ritsu. Was there a reason or just something that her parents had decided to do? He was genuinely curious.

"My parents thought that it would be cute." Said Rei. They had wanted her to match the others. Her sister's names had been pure happenstance.

"Makes sense. My parents, well my dad, wanted to call me Shigeo because it's close to Shigeko but my mom said no because it was too close to Shigeko." Said Ritsu. There was a moment of silence which they both spent looking everywhere but at each other.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" asked Rei suddenly making eye contact. The future was unclear on the outcome of this question but she was genuinely curious.

"Just ask. Asking me if you can ask me something is already asking a question." Said Ritsu. Why did people have to do that? Just ask the question if you had a question to ask.

"Oh. Sorry." Said Rei looking away. Ritsu put his hand on hers. He should be nicer to her, she was his girlfriend after all.

"It's alright. What were you going to ask?" asked Ritsu lacing his fingers in hers. He let himself see her aura. Faint, orange, but not upset.

"Why doesn't your sister live here. I didn't ask before because I saw a fight happening if I asked." Said Rei. She wanted to ask, back at the table, but then his parents would have started yelling at each other.

"I wouldn't fight with you." Said Ritsu. You weren't supposed to fight with your girlfriend. He saw how his parents fought and knew that when he got a wife he would never yell at her, even if she did eat with her fingers sometimes.

"No, I mean between your parents." Said Rei. Her parents never really fought and she didn't know what she'd do if she and Ritsu got into a fight.

"Oh. Yeah, they fight about her a lot." Said Ritsu quietly. Almost every night. Mom told dad that there was nothing that they could do and dad told mom to try harder.

"Why? What happened? I asked Shigeko but she just said that she lived with Reigen because she chose to." Said Rei. She had seen pictures of the two of them and seen their videos. They looked pretty happy together but Rei wondered how they had come to be together like that. If she tried to move out her parents would have dragged her back home and nailed the doors and windows shut.

"She moved out because…because mom and dad are scared of her and she doesn't like it when people are afraid of her." Said Ritsu. He couldn't understand it. They weren't mean to her, not really. They didn't hit her or starve her or anything. They were just a little scared. She could be scary.

"Oh. Yeah, she said that was why she won't come to the Awakening Lab, either." Said Rei. She had asked Shigeko to come by. Matsuura would absolutely love her, he loved finding new espers and she was super powerful.

"Yeah, Shigeko…she doesn't like people to be afraid of her. I…I didn't help. We had a fight and she left." Said Ritsu. He had pushed her. He had pushed his sister. The biggest losers in the world were the ones who went around hitting girls.

"I'm sorry." Said Rei softly. She could sort of see auras if she focused hard enough. His seemed sad.

"She's never coming back." Said Ritsu quietly. She pulled him into a hug. He let himself sink into her. This was nice. Not fireworks nice, he still hadn't felt that, but it still made him feel nice and safe and warm and cared for. She smelled nice, too, like flowers and bubblegum.

"Maybe she will. Uh…the future is unclear. Sorry." Said Rei as she let go of Ritsu. That felt nice, like fireworks and bubbles and nervous energy.

"It's fine. I know she won't come back. Reigen's got her and she'll never, ever come back." Said Ritsu simply. He needed to accept this. He needed to accept the facts of reality for what they were or he'd never be able to move on.

"You don't like him? But he's so funny." Said Rei. Cute too, but she wouldn't say that to her boyfriend. To Shigeko, yes, but no to her brother.

"He's a cocky jerk and he uses Shigeko because his powers are super weak." Said Ritsu. He was so weak but he still managed to take Shigeko from him. He had been hitting below the belt, though, when he accused her of being in love with Reigen.

"Well it doesn't really matter how strong you powers are. Mine aren't anywhere near as cool as yours but I don't mind." Said Rei. Matsuura always said that it didn't matter how strong their powers were it was the fact that that they even had powers to begin with.

"Yours are super useful though, being able to see the future. You aren't completely accurate or anything but I still think it's cool." Said Ritsu. If he had the power to see the future then maybe he could see a way to get Shigeko to come home.

"Not as cool as being able to pick people up and throw them around." Said Rei. He had been so cool during their escape.

"I can do other things." Said Ritsu with a shrug. His powers weren't just good for fighting.

"Like what?" asked Rei leaning close to him. Ritsu shrugged again.

"I can bend spoons." Said Ritsu with a laugh. Rei giggled. It sounded nice.

"You can do more than bend spoons. Takeshi can just bend spoons and it's hard for him. I bet that you bend other things, like forks and knives." Said Rei twirling her hair around her fingers and holding eye contact. The internet said that boys like it when they did that, and Ritsu seemed to like her hair. He had been playing with it earlier.

"Forks maybe not knives. Too hard." Said Ritsu with a smile. Rei giggled again and scooted closer to him. He scooted back a little to make room for him.

"I bet you can do a lot more than that." Said Rei practically pinning him against the wall. Ritsu wondered why she needed the whole bed.

"I can fly." Said Ritsu. Her eyes lit up. The two of them flying through the sky, past the moon, through the stars. It would be so romantic.

"Really?" asked Rei leaning even closer to him. Ritsu shrugged as best as he could. Oh, wait, she didn't want the whole bed. He had seen Shigeko and Teru do this. Rei just wanted to be close to him. Oh. Ok then.

"Really, really." Said Ritsu letting her rest herself against him.

"Would you fly with me?" asked Rei scooting so close to him that she was practically in his lap. He didn't mind, really. She wasn't that heavy.

"If you want to. I'll have to practice though, sometimes I have trouble keeping just myself up." Said Ritsu. Teru was always there to catch him, though. He was strong like that. He was a good friend.

"We can practice together." Said Rei giving him a weird look. She was holding his hand, too. Oh, wait, he had seen that look before.

"Do you want to kiss me?" asked Ritsu suddenly. That was what it seemed like, anyway. She liked kissing, he thought that it was OK.

"If you want to." Said Rei not able to meet his eyes. Why did he just have to come out and say it like that? She had been trying to make it happen organically, like the magazine said.

"I mean, not if you don't want to. You were just looking at me like you had before." Said Ritsu hoping that he hadn't misread the atmosphere.

"Oh. I do, I really do. Wait though." Said Rei. She turned on his TV and turned the sound up. He watched her curiously.

"You want to watch TV, too?" asked Ritsu. Rei shook her head.

"No, Rika just said that if you're ever alone with a guy turn the TV on." Said Rei. Her sister had imparted a lot of wisdom, most of it in the things Rei was not ready for variety but it was still a nice gesture.

"Why?" asked Ritsu not understanding one bit but then again he knew pretty much nothing about relationships or kissing or anything related to girls who weren't his sister, and he didn't even understand his own sister that well.

"To stop people from knowing what you're doing." Said Rei like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Silence was too suspicious. Even when she was little her mother always knew that she was up to something based on the sound of silence.

"We're just going to kiss…right?" asked Ritsu suddenly feeling very nervous. No, he was not doing anything else. Nope. Not that he was even sure what else there was but he wasn't doing it.

"Yeah! I mean…I don't really want to…anything else." Said Rei. Ritsu let out a breath he hadn't known that he had been holding. She looked nervous, now. She couldn't meet his eyes. Wait, did she think that he want to.

"Me neither, I'm thirteen." Said Ritsu. That was a good explanation, he thought. At school they had said that it wasn't a race and that they had their whole lives ahead of them.

"Really? But you're a guy, I thought guys always wanted to." Said Rei. That was how it seemed, anyway. Boys seemed to be obsessed with it, anyway. Well, girls were too but they talked about it differently. She and her friends mostly talked about love while the boys talked about all kinds of things, things that you didn't talk about in class, and they didn't care who heard.

"I know I'm a guy but I just don't want to." Said Ritsu. He knew that guys were supposed to want to. Half of all conversations that he had overheard, not that he was trying to overhear, revolved around who did what with which girl and who wanted to do what with which girl. Ritsu looked over at Rei. She was pretty but he didn't really want to…anything.

It would have been so much easier if he disliked her.

"Oh. Wow, you're so mature. I like that about you." Said Rei looking up again. She was relieved, very relieved. She liked him a lot but she had just kissed him. She didn't want to do whatever came next, not yet anyway. Not for a while.

"I like you too, Rei." Said Ritsu. He liked her, that wasn't a lie. She was a nice person. She was pretty. She was nice to him. So why couldn't he feel anything? Where were the fireworks?

"So…can I kiss you?" Asked Rei as she sat back down next to him. Ritsu shrugged and kissed her quickly. Still nothing. Not fireworks. No heavenly choir. Nothing. Maybe he was just doing it wrong.

"Hey, Rei, did you like that?" asked Ritsu after a moment. Rei looked at him quizzically.

"Yeah, of course, why?" asked Rei. Did he not? Was she bad at it? Well it wasn't like she had much practice or anything.

"I don't know. I just feel like I'm doing it wrong." Said Ritsu quietly. He had never been bad at anything before. Well, psychic powers but that was different.

"Hello, Rei! You've never done this before, I should be the one leading." Said Rei smacking herself upside the head comically. He smiled, a little. It was kind of funny when she did that.

"You're still trying to be anime character?" asked Ritsu mirthfully. She smiled back at him.

"Yeah. My friends think it's cool." Said Rei with a shrug.

"It's alright." Said Ritsu. It was kind of cute. Girls like to be cute, right? He wished he had spent more time with girls who weren't his sister, just so that he could have some kind of a blueprint for interacting with them.

"So….do you want to…maybe….try…again?" asked Rei. She checked the future. He'd say yes! Most likely, actually.

"Sure." Said Ritsu. She leaned over and kissed him. He tried holding it. Still nothing. It felt nice, though, physically, when he held it. Still not fireworks. Maybe he was just bad at it. It made sense, everyone had to be bad at something.

"Ritsu! Keep this door open!" said his mom and she threw his door open. Rei jumped back and hit her back on the wall. Ritsu shrugged. His mother shook her head but left the door opened.

"….I want to crawl into a whole and die." Muttered Rei and she pulled his blanket over her head. It hadn't been set in stone that they'd get caught, the future son rarely was. She could see probabilities, not absolutes.

"Well, at least your clairvoyance was accurate." Said Ritsu. He wasn't embarrassed, not really. He was thirteen, he was supposed to kiss girls. It wasn't like they were doing anything bad. Not like what the other guys his age were doing, if their conversations were to be believed.

"Yeah…75% accurate." Said Rei, that was her guess, actually. She didn't have hard numbers or anything to back it up. It was easier with cards, her percentages. Other things were up for interpretation, especially if she was looking into the actions of people.

"That's still pretty good. So, do you want to watch some Gundam now?" asked Ritsu. She nodded.

"Sure." Said Rei. That had been enough kissing for one day. She wondered if her face could be permanently red.

The next day Ritsu wondered if his face could turn permanently red.

"It's not fair, you're bigger than I am." Said Ritsu as he was pinned to the ground. Teru had him pinned, both physically and with powers.

"Try to push me off, then. Don't use physical strength, just gather enough power and kind of, well, push I guess." Said Teru. Ritsu had been grabbed and held onto when he had been kidnapped so logically the best course of action would have been to teach him how to get out of a grapple. Easier said than done, of course.

"I'm trying, Teru, you're too strong." Said Ritsu through gritted teeth. The truth was that not only was Teru stronger than him Ritsu also couldn't concentrate hard enough to marshal any power to throw him off in the first place.

"I'm not even putting my full power into this. Come on, you've got to learn this. Shigeko would kill me if I let you get kidnapped again." Said Teru. They were learning to fight and if he did such a piss poor job that Ritsu got kidnapped again Shigeko would never forgive him. Also, Ritsu would be kidnapped, which would also be bad.

"Well you've had your powers for longer, of course you're stronger than me." Said Ritsu. He kicked as hard as he could and, to his surprise, Teru was flipped over. They both laid on the ground side by side for a moment.

"See? I told you that you could do it. I mean, of course you could, I'm the one teaching you." Said Teru. He had let his guard down, that was all. Plus he wasn't putting a crazy amount of effort into keeping Ritsu pinned down anyway.

"Conceited jerk." Muttered Ritsu staring up at the canopy of leaves and branches above them. The sun was setting. It was kind of pretty.

"Baby." Said Teru right back. He was kidding, though, and thank God at least one of the Kageyama siblings could understand tones.

"Orphan." Said Ritsu still kidding. Teru stuck out his tongue.

"Mommy's boy." Said Teru. Ritsu turned to face him.

"I am not." Said Ritsu. Teru shook his head.

"She cooks your meals, washes and folds your clothes, and tells you every single day how much she loves her little Ritsu-chan." Said Teru. Ritsu shoved him, playfully.

"That's just what she does. That doesn't make me a mommy's boy." Sid Ritsu. Was this dangerous ground with him? Ritsu watched his face. He didn't look sad or anything. He let is aura touch Teru's. Nope, not upset.

"Then I'm not an orphan. I do have parents, I just haven't seen them in a while. It's fine, I don't really miss them. I don't think that I could live the way you do." Said Teru turning on his side of face Ritsu. He looked kind of like Shigeko, a little bit. God he missed her. She was with Reigen, now, because she had to work that day. That was the only reason she had chosen Reigen over him.

"What do you mean?" asked Ritsu. He was conscious of the distance between them or rather the lack of it. Should he scoot back? Would that make it awkward? Teru didn't seem to mind, anyway.

"You know, having to be home at certain time, having to go to bed at certain time, eat at a certain time. I'm my own boss. I don't think that I could go back to having my parents around." Said Teru. He did miss it, sometimes, when he got lonely but if he had parents he wouldn't have nearly the amount of freedom that he currently had. He valued he freedom more, he decided, and if he got lonely he always has Shigeko.

"Not really. My parents don't really bother me too much about coming home at a certain time or stuff like that. Sometimes I wonder if they'd even notice if I stopped coming home." Said Ritsu quietly

"They're fighting about your sister again?" asked Teru

"They never stopped. It's been worse since I brought Rei over. I don't know, I guess me bringing a girl home reminded them that they have a daughter." Said Ritsu

"You brought Rei over to meet your parents already?" asked Teru

"She really wanted to. Why? Should I not have?" asked Ritsu. Teru was the expert here. He was the Sherpa and Ritsu was the inexperienced mountain climber trying to take on Mount Everest without the faintest clue of what he was doing.

"It's your relationship, do whatever you want." Said Teru not planning on voicing just why he was so amazed that Ritsu was being so serious about Rei. Maybe he was just reading the atmosphere wrong. One did not just come out and ask these sorts of questions of their friends.

"Well, yeah, I know it's my relationship but I don't really know what I'm doing." Said Ritsu. Teru smiled. Time to impart knowledge on the inexperienced.

"Do you guys have fun together?" asked Teru trying to sound like he knew exactly what he was doing. He knew more than Ritsu, that was what mattered.

"Yeah, most of the time. She can be kind of annoying sometimes, like when she eats with her hands or when she talks too much." Said Ritsu

"Well, yeah, obviously she's going to do something to annoy you at some point. As long as it doesn't ruin the relationship you guys will be fine. Probably." Said Teru. He wasn't going to voice his theories, no,

"You think Shigeko's annoying?" asked Ritsu with something akin to an edge to his voice. Teru knew he was on dangerous ground.

"No, not always. Just when she's hard to read or she apologizes for things that don't need apologies." Said Teru. Not that he was going to tell Ritsu what her latest apologizing fit was about. No. No way. He needed a friend that wasn't his girlfriend's little brother. Then he'd have someone to brag too. Not too much, just enough for the world to know that he, Teruki, was brilliant at, well, stuff.

"Yeah, I guess she does that sometimes. Rei doesn't really do things like that. She's alright. She's smart and likes a lot of the same things I do. She's nice and she really wants to be with me." Said Ritsu. He wished that she was rude or obnoxious or mean. Then he could dislike her. No, she was just a nice person who wanted to be with him.

"As long as you two want to be a couple then that's the only thing that matters." Said Teru as sagely as he could. As long as they liked each other than that was what mattered? He and Shigeko didn't look like they'd be a good couple, she looked so plain and he didn't. He was popular and she was, well not unpopular, just a well-liked sort of person he guessed. The two of them didn't look like they fit but they still did. Ritsu and Rei didn't look like they fit but if they wanted to be together than they wanted to be together, nothing more and nothing less.

"How do you know, though, that you want to be in a couple with someone?" asked Ritsu quietly. He knew Teru probably thought that he was dumb for asking but he wanted to know.

"You just sort of want to, I guess. You like her, she likes you, and then you're a couple." Said Teru. Well, he had respected Shigeko before he liked her and he had hated her before he respected her. He had liked her, though, after spending some time with her. That was the most important part, mutual liking.

"I like her. I don't dislike her. Rei likes me and I like her." Said Ritsu more to himself than to Teru.

"Well I should hope so, she is your girlfriend after all. Well, Shigeko says that she's your girlfriend." Said Teru

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend and I like her. I'm happy." Said Ritsu. Yeah, he was happy. He had a girlfriend and she was smart and cute and could hold up a conversation and wanted to be with him.

"Happy people don't usually go around saying how happy they are." Said Teru. What was Ritsu stressing so much over? They were in middle school, it wasn't like they had a house and kids to worry about. Teru had gone on plenty of dates with plenty of girls. He hadn't felt for them what he felt for Shigeko. Ritsu, if he liked girls, was probably just having the same trouble.

"Well, sometimes they do. I'm very happy." Said Ritsu

"I believe you." Said Teru in a voice that conveyed how little he believed Ritsu

"Good. You should, because I am. I have no reason not to be. She's really nice and she wants to be with me and I could….I could die tomorrow. She makes me feel better. I don't want to die without knowing what it's like." Said Ritsu quietly

"…that makes sense." Said Teru. He had realized how short and fragile life was, too. How easily he could have died. How he could have died without having what he and Shigeko had, not only physically but emotionally.

"Do you ever worry about that, dying I mean?" asked Ritsu still quietly. Did…Did Teru get it?

"All the fucking time." Muttered Teru closing his eyes. When he didn't distract himself, when he was alone and it was quiet, he remembered. He could have died so many times. He could have lost Shigeko. He was only fourteen but he could have died.

"…what do you do, you know, to forget?" asked Ritsu. Teru got it. Someone in the world got it. Shigeko wouldn't get it. She was never in any danger. She wiped the floor with those guys. She lost it for a little bit but she still almost singlehandedly took out all of those adult espers.

"I hang out with you, I do school stuff, I'm getting back into sports and stuff, I go shopping, I cook, I wash and iron my clothes even if they're clean, and I hang out with Shigeko." Said Teru. As long as he could keep himself busy then he would never think about it and if he didn't think about it then he could go back to being normal.

"I guess Rei is like that with me, to me. When I'm with her it's like I'm normal, like everything is normal and I don't have to worry about getting kidnapped or dying or anything. She can see the future, too, that helps I guess. I mean I just…I just don't want to worry about things. I want to be normal. I'm in middle school, I'm supposed to have a girlfriend and she's the person who wants to be my girlfriend. I was never that good at…connecting with people…I guess. I mean I've always been popular but I haven't really had many close friends. Maybe I'm just bad at it." Said Ritsu

"Same. You're really my first close friend in a long while." Said Teru softly. Weakness. He hated admitting weakness to anyone other than Shigeko. He knew though, he reminded himself, of the fact that Ritsu wouldn't use it against him. He was a genuine person, like Shigeko. Well, genuine-ish. Not everybody could be as detached from the world as Shigeko. Not everyone could move through life as sure of who they were as Shigeko. He loved her for it. He envied her for it.

"It's nice." Said Ritsu. It was, having someone like Teru for a friend. Having someone he could just talk to. Having someone who listened to him and who he could listen to in return. How they were, their current situation, was nice too. Teru was close, so close that the sleeve of his undershirt touched the sleeve of Teru's. The sun was setting behind them, the wind was blowing lightly. This felt so utterly perfect.

"It is." Said Teru watching Ritsu. What was that look? Teru suspected what the look meant but he was probably misreading the atmosphere. He must have been. That was the only option because otherwise, if he was wrong, he'd make an idiot out of himself. Best not say anything.

Even though he really looked like Shigeko right then.

Teru picked Ritsu up and held him upside down.

"Hey! What was that for?!" asked Ritsu as he suddenly found himself suspended by his ankles.

"You let your guard down." Said Teru tossing him in the air and catching him. Fighting. Playing. Play fighting. This was something he could understand.

"You distracted me!" said Ritsu as get broke out of Teru's psychic hold and hit the ground. Ugh….he wondered if his face could turn permanently red.

Mob wondered if her face could turn permanently red. She knew that if you made funny faces your face could get stuck like that so did that mean that you could end up with a permanent blush, too?

"Now touch your toes without bending your knees." Said Reigen. It was after closing, not too long after closing though. He decided that he needed to help Mob stretch again because she was way too tense.

"I'm trying, Master." Said Mob using her powers to keep her gym shirt from sliding down. Reigen put a hand to her stomach to straighten her out.

"Don't twist your spine like that or you'll end up with a back pain curse." Said Reigen. He kept his aura close to himself, as close and he could. He could still feel a lot of embarrassment and nervousness coming from her. Why, though? She wasn't that out of shape.

"….sorry." said Mob quietly. She tried to keep her feelings to herself, to stuff them down. She chanted in her mind over and over again. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it.

"Nah, you're fine, Mob. It's my fault that we haven't stretched in a while." Said Reigen. He had neglected her a little. Poor kid. He had been her and she was so, well, stiff. Or maybe he was just unusually flexible. He could bend over backwards after all.

"It's ok. I haven't been stretching enough before club, either." Said Mob softly. She could still feel the ghost of his hand on her stomach. She stuffed down her feelings and kept her breathing in check.

_Progress towards Mob's explosion: 15%_

The other Shigeko didn't like it, being stuffed down like that. Mob had to do it, though. Master Reigen could sense her feelings, now. She didn't want him to know exactly what she thought about him, how she made him feel. It was even worse, now, because she had an idea of what, exactly, he could do besides rub her back. Before it had been vague feelings she had focused on. Feelings and the barest idea of what they could do. Now it was different.

"Ok, now reach up as high as you can." Said Reigen keeping a steadying hand on her back. It took Mob a moment to start moving. He was just so incredibly warm. She wanted to lean back into him. She wanted him to kiss her, to pick her up and put her on that table and kiss her and-

A lightbulb popped.

"Sorry!" said Mob picking up the glass with her powers and throwing it away.

"Too stiff?" asked Reigen. He had felt a maelstrom of emotions from her, including the other Shigeko. Well, he knew what was in the maelstrom but he decided not to pick it apart or read too much into it. Mob, when you looked deeper into her, actually went through a lot of emotions from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. That was certainly something that Reigen had no desire to relive.

"…yes." Said Mob quietly. Reigen looked her up and down. She was always so rigid. He felt her back. Yup, full of knots.

"Want me to rub your back?" asked Reigen. Any stray feeling he picked up he dismissed. Mob was, well, Mob. She got embarrassed easily. That was just part of being her age. Besides, she loved back rubs and he couldn't just let her walk around with her back full of knots like that. He knew how much it hurt, he knew first hand.

"….ok…." said Mob before hopping up on the massage/nap table. She laid down on her stomach and closed her eyes. Don't think about Master Reigen. Don't think about Teru. Don't think about Master Reigen.

"Tell me if I hit a sore spot." Said Reigen as he started at her upper back. He pulled his aura far away from hers. He knew how people felt when he did this, involuntarily of course, and he didn't want to feel that from Mob.

"Oh!" said Mob as he found a knot. He moved from her upper back to her mid back. She curled her toes and dug her nails into the table. Don't think about Master Reigen. Don't think about Teru. Don't think about it.

It was harder, though, because she hadn't been in this position for a while. She had forgotten just how strong his hands were. The little callouses. The way she could feel the tops of his nails, through her gym shirt. It was harder because, now, she had actual knowledge of what came next. Not too much knowledge but she knew what it felt like to kiss someone, to be held by someone and other such things.

"Sorry." Said Reigen as he dug his thumbs into a particularly stubborn knot. He kept his aura so close it wasn't even visible. He knew how she felt, he knew how a lot of people felt, when he did this. It was harder, now, because he hadn't done this to her in a while. The last time he had rubbed her back it had been before, well, everything. She was different. Well, she was still Mob but she was different. Older, but still the same.

Emotionally their relationship was different, he decided. They were closer now, much closer. They were closer and he knew things about her. She knew things about him, too. They knew each other better, there was less of a distance between them, fewer boundaries. Having fewer boundaries made it harder because, well it was harder to see where the lines were between them. They still needed lines, right?

_Then why do you touch her so much?_

He didn't touch her that much, did he? Maybe that wasn't the question to be asking himself while he was rubbing her back. He did touch her more than he touched anyone else but he also spent more time with her than anyone else. It wasn't in a weird way. He just…he just liked to show her affection. She needed it, God knew she needed it. She was like a cat, sort of. She was warm and cuddly. Besides, he didn't have weird intent behind it and if he just suddenly stopped showing her affection that would just end up hurting her.

"It's alright." Said Mob breathlessly. Reigen shrugged that off.

"I'm going to look for that book I learned this from. You see, Mob, that way if we ever end up switching bodies again we won't skip a beat." Said Reigen. He had to work double time that day, and faster too because a lot of his clients didn't get very long breaks. Still, at least they thought that he was good enough at what he did that they took time out of their lives just for back rubs.

If this whole psychic thing didn't work out he could always become a masseur.

"But I don't know how to rub people's backs." Said Mob grateful for the distraction.

"That's why I'll teach you." Said Reigen. It was a good skill to have, anyway, if anything.

"From the book?" asked Mob closing her eyes. She forgot just how wonderful this was, and not for fooley cooley reasons. She was always pretty tense and it just felt too good to be able to relax.

"That and practice. Practice makes perfect." Said Reigen as he saw her visibly relaxing. He'd have to get her to be more flexible though, it was just good for you.

"With you, Master?" asked Mob softly. That would be absolutely wonderful. She smiled. Being that close to Master Reigen…or was that wrong because she was Teru's girlfriend? She'd have to think on this.

"At first, before any clients, anyway, if we end up switching bodies. You shouldn't rub people's backs if you don't know what you're doing." Said Reigen moving back up to her shoulders. He let himself focus on what he was doing and not what she was feeling. She carried so much tension, poor Mob.

Mob felt a subtle shift in the energy around her. Someone was at the inner door, normal people though. More than one but less than ten. She sat up suddenly. It wasn't that she particularly wanted to get back to work, not that she minded, she just didn't want to stuff down all the feelings that were percolating inside of her.

"Master, there's clients at the door." Said Mob

"We're closed, they can come back tomorrow." Said Reigen. He was not rubbing any more sore back or stiff shoulders unless they were Mob's.

"But don't we need the money?" asked Mob stretching as she stood. Reigen thought for a moment.

"We're still closed. Business hours are written clearly on the door." Said Reigen pulling on his button down. She was looking up at him with those big, innocent eyes again.

"But we should help them. That's what Mogami would do." Said Mob. That was another adult she wanted to be like, Mogami. He helped people and so would she.

"Yeah, you're right, Mob." Said Reigen with a shrug. They did need the money after all and they had fans to please, now. The price of fame was high sometimes.

Reigen put his suit coat on over his button down as he made his way to the door. He could hear people talking on the other side. Hopefully this would be quick, Mob had a point. They did need the money even with last month's unexpected windfall and, well, they did help people. It was their thing. He couldn't just turn away someone in need. He had his tie around his neck, halfway done, when he opened the door. Mob was sitting at her desk, back into her school uniform. Damn, Mob moved fast.

Mob sat up and waited for their clients to come in. She was sitting like Mogami did, very straight and proper. She was the psychic and she was there to help. She stared straight forward, her mind going over everything she knew about Mogami, The way he sat, the way he talked, the way he worked. She couldn't be him, though, could she? She could only be herself.

Reigen tied his tie quickly and opened the door, his best Reigen Arataka smile on. Show time. There were three people there, older than Mob but younger than him. University students from what it looked like. He hoped that it was just another photo and Friendbook post because he was not up to rubbing three sets of shoulders.

"Welcome to Spirits and Such! I'm Reigen Arataka and this is my loyal disciple, Mob." Said Reigen motioning towards Mob. Mob waved without looking at them.

"Oh my God it's her! She's adorable in person, too!" said the woman. Reigen bit the inside of his mouth. More of Mob's fans, and they were calling her adorable. Great. Now she'd be sulky, well the Mob version of sulky.

"Thank you." Said Mob simply. She didn't like to be adorable because she wasn't a little kid but it was polite to say something when you were complimented.

"So, what brings you fine people in today?" asked Reigen, omitting the after posted business hours part. No, he had to help. Mob wanted to help and he wanted to make Mob happy and to live up to her ideal of him. Now was the time to be the Reigen Arataka in her mind.

"We want to make some memories before we graduate, man! So, like, we wanted to go to this popular haunted spot and take a spirit photo." Said one of them men, the one in the yellow hoodie.

"But it would totally suck if we ran into an evil spirit." Said the woman. Mob nodded from her spot. Evil spirits could really hurt normal people, she had always known this but now after having been someone weaker than herself she understood.

"That would be incredibly dangerous but never fear, we're here!" said Reigen getting more into his persona. He glanced over at Mob. She was smiling a bit. He didn't expand his aura. He didn't feel like sorting through four sets of emotions in addition to his own. As long as he kept his distance he'd be fine.

"See! Just like on Youtube!" said the woman. Reigen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. C'mon, let's just get on with this.

"So, when and where?" asked Reigen. Hopefully not that night. He wanted to get home and do more writing, and add in Mob's final drafts too. He needed to get this book done, he had gotten all the money he needed from their crowdfunding page and he had to deliver or he'd be a conman…more so than he had been before, anyway.

"Right now man! We've got a car waiting outside! It'll take ten, no, twenty minutes to get there, tops!" said yellow hoodie. He glanced over at Mob. She seemed as impassive as always. She wanted to help these people, though, and he wanted to make her happy. Besides, if anyone tried to mess with them he had a green belt and she had unparalleled levels of psychic power. They'd be fine.

They were not fine.

"How much longer? You said twenty minutes and it's already been thirty." Said Reigen trying to keep his annoyance to himself. He was sitting in the front passenger seat, physical distance made his powers easier to deal with. Mob was in the back squished between the woman and the window. He watched her through the rearview mirror. Still impassive. She was looking out the window, though, she liked to do that.

"Oh yeah, you know what? It'll probably be another thirty." Said yellow hoodie as he drove. Reigen stifled his annoyance. Great, looks like it would be late night ramen again because he was not up to cooking.

"That's twice as far as you said before." Said Mob flatly, stating a fact.

"Well, yeah, it's hard to estimate times when we're going out to the woods. The Map app is having trouble estimating time." Said the other man, black jacket.

"Mob, be nice." Said Reigen. If these people were taking them out into the wilderness to kill them then they had picked the wrong people. He was annoyed enough to put his green belt to good use and Mob, well, Mob had been known to freak out from time to time. Not that they were being led out into the woods to be killed, right? No. These felt like normal people.

"So, what's your story?" asked the woman. It took Mob a moment to realize that she was being addressed.

"What do you mean?" asked Mob not sure of the scope of explaining that she should do. She was usually either too brief or too detailed. It was hard to find the soft middle.

"I mean, like, are you just his assistant? What's going on between you guys? And what's with the uniform? Is it just fashion or are you really only-?" said the woman

"Mob, concentrate and prepare for the unexpected. These woods are full of evil spirits and cars are dangerous enough without us being run off the road to join these spirits in the afterlife!" said Reigen shutting down that line of questioning before it really revved up. Those were the questions he deleted off the page. Mob was just a kid, the less she dealt with the better. He didn't need her keeping him up all night asking why people thought what they did about the two of them. That was a can of worms he was not ready to open. Hell, he'd take another one of their long 'does _insert thing Reigen doesn't want the details of_ count as sex?' discussions over that.

"Wow! He sounds so legit!" said the woman as she pulled out her phone and took a quick selfie with Mob. Mob didn't even have time to smile, not that her picture smile was even her real smile.

They drove for another thirty minutes before getting to the hiking path that supposedly led to a haunted house. Reigen had done some googling on the way there. A family had burned to death in their home about twenty or so years ago. He put an arm over Mob as they walked. He should have googled beforehand. This was probably going to be a lot for her.

"Whoa! This is seriously creepy!" said yellow hoodie as his group walked through the woods shining flashlights all over.

"I feel spirits, Master." Said Mob. Three of them. Faint. Neutral.

"I kind of do. Must be too weak for me to feel." Said Reigen using that tired old line. It was true this time, though. Mob had said that there were neutral spirits all around them. He had never seen any but then again he was nowhere near as strong as Mob was.

"There. In the house." Said Mob pointing. The group lost their minds and began talking, again, about how creepy it was. Mob looked over to Master Reigen and shrugged. She had been in much creepier.

"Hurry up and take the picture, please." Said Reigen checking his phone. No signal out there but it still kept time. Damn. Mob had school in the morning. Well, that and now she wouldn't have time to spend with her friends. He needed to give her more time for her life. Just because he didn't have one didn't mean that she couldn't.

"Is this wrong, Master?" asked Mob softly. Reigen jumped. Wrong? What felt wrong? Evil spirits? Espers?

"What do you mean?" asked Reigen trying to stay calm. Right. Whatever it was they could, he could, take it.

"These aren't evil spirits, Master. These are neutral spirits. We're coming into their home. It just feels wrong to me." Said Mob. Neutral spirits were spirits that she sometimes spoke with but never exorcised. She respected their existence. She had heard a saying that went live and let live and a song that went live and let die. She decided, when she was very young, that she would live and let die.

"Well we won't be here long, Mob." Said Reigen. Oh. That kind of wrong. He didn't think that it was wrong, no, because these spirits were dead and the living, of course, took precedence over the dead. Not that he was going to get into it with Mob right then and there, though. He was too tired for one of their long, philosophical debates. Or would it be an ethical debate?

"Got it! Wait, actually can one of you take it and one of you get in the picture?" asked the woman. Mob nodded and took the phone from the woman. She didn't feel like being in any pictures.

"Master? Do you want to be in the picture?" asked Mob softly. She wouldn't use her powers, no, she wouldn't disturb the energy here.

"Sure. You got it, Mob?" asked Reigen going in and posing with the group. Mob nodded and took a few pictures. It felt weird to be doing this with her own two hands instead of her powers but she didn't want to disturb the spirits.

"I took the picture. Can we go now?" asked Mob handing the woman back her phone. The sun was down and it was getting chilly. She wished she had taken her hoodie, Teru's hoodie, with her she had forgotten it.

"Yeah, it's getting late and we still haven't had dinner." Said Reigen. Also, Mob was still in middle school and while she did need less sleep than a normal person she still needed to sleep.

"Oh yeah, sure." Said yellow hoodie

"Also, regarding the fee-" said Reigen. What would this count as? He'd charge them for a home exorcism. They had been dragged out all over creation at all hours of the night after all.

"What fee!" said black jacket. Reigen wanted to face palm. Well obviously he and Mob were running a business, not a charity. Things costed money; that was the basis for the country's economic system.

"The fee for this job." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"Things cost money. We don't give away free samples. That's the grocery store." Said Mob once again stating a fact. The grocery store was the only place she knew of that gave away free samples.

"Seriously? Nothing bad happened and guys didn't even do any of the cool stuff you do on your channel!" said yellow hoodie

"Yeah, you can't get something for nothing!" said black coat

"Isn't that a scam?" asked the woman. Mob blinked.

"Master? I think I forgot how economics works." Said Mob. They hadn't really done anything but they still came down there, so did that count as providing a service? She learned in economics that money could be exchanged only for goods and services, but she hadn't scored too highly in the last marking period so she wasn't sure.

"No, Mob, you're remembering just fine. You booked us for our time and we gave you our time, so pay us." Said Reigen rubbing his temples. This was great, just great.

"No way! You guys didn't do anything!" said yellow hoodie before they all ran back to the car…with the only flash lights. Mob and Reigen were bathed in darkness.

"If we try to run we could end up twisting our ankles. That happened to me, once, when I was little." Said Mob

"No pay, no ride. This is just great…." Muttered Reigen as he closed his eyes. He felt Mob's hand on his forearm.

"I'm sorry, Master." Said Mob. This was her fault. She was the one who wanted to be helpful.

"No, you had no way of knowing that this would happen. Come on, let's get back to the road and hail a taxi." Said Reigen. More likely they'd have to hitchhike back, or just hike. He checked his phone. Yup, still no signal.

"I'm still sorry." Said Mob as they made their way through the woods in the dark. Good thing they had just walked in a straight line. There was a path to the main road, it was just overgrown. She could feel along with her feet to make sure that she didn't trip over the roots and plants.

"Mob, I'm not mad at you." Said Reigen giving her hair a tug. He was more mad at himself. Note to self, always get paid up front.

Mob glanced back at the house. Three spirits were watching her. They were worried. She wished that she could go back and tell them how sorry she was for disturbing them. She didn't, though, because they were afraid.

She hated it when people were afraid of her.


	24. Anxieties About the Future

Mob typed quietly as not to wake Master Reigen. She was typing up the part of the book she was happy with. She did so slowly, using her powers instead of her fingers. She didn't even look at the screen, she just typed as she read.

'_There are some days when we don't have anything to do at all. Master Reigen worries about money on those days, I worry about other things. When we aren't helping someone I worry about who could be in trouble, who needs us, because someone somewhere must. I want to be like Mogami and so does Master Reigen. Mogami exorcised a spirit a day at least, sometimes more. We don't exorcise that many spirits but I wish we did. Only the evil spirits though, never the neutral ones. I could never do something like that. Spirits are kind of like people. If they aren't bothering anyone then they have the right to exist.'_

That chapter was about the first time they had ever gone on a job to exorcise a neutral spirit. She had been eleven, then, and she had persuaded the spirit to run away. Last night, when they found those spirits, Mob had been worried. She had been worried that Master Reigen would have wanted her to exorcise the spirits.

Would she disobey Master Reigen if he asked her to?

She didn't know. She didn't want to think about it.

Master Reigen stirred as if he knew that she was thinking about him. She went back to typing. She glanced up and saw that she had gotten a few pages done. That was about a chapter. It was longer when it was typed out. Her handwriting was really small. She hoped that the book wasn't too long. If the book was too long the more people would think that it was too long and then not want to read it. Plus Master Reigen had said that he wanted to get it made into an anime. Then it needed to be short unless they went on forever and ever.

"Mob, what are you doing?'' asked Reigen as he opened his eyes. He had been awake for a while, well half awake, listening to the clicking and clacking of computer keys.

"I'm just working, Master. You can go back to sleep. It's still twenty minutes before you usually get up." Said Mob. They had been out until very late last night, it had taken them a while to flag down a ride and then even longer to get back into the city, let alone back to their home.

"No, I'm up, I'm up." Said Reigen as he stretched. Mob watched him out of the corner of her eye. She could see his stomach when he stretched.

"Wait until I'm fully awake before you start feeling like that." Said Reigen as he yawned. He didn't know what got Mob all like that but it was too early. When he slept his aura found hers. She was like a blanket that he had yet to kick off.

"…sorry." Said Mob blushing. She began to type more quickly, hitting the mechanical limits of the keyboard.

"It's fine, you can't help it." Said Reigen as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Oh. She had been up for a while. She was already in her school uniform.

"…still sorry." Said Mob quietly

"Hey, go easy on my keyboard. How did you even get into my computer, anyway?" asked Reigen hoping that she hadn't gone looking into any of his various folders. She wouldn't, would she?

"The password was your birthday. It's always your birthday." Said Mob not looking over. Reigen slumped. Right. He needed to stop being so lazy.

"Well then I'm an idiot." Said Reigen as he stood up. Her futon was already folded up in the corner with her bedding. She had been up for a good long while.

"No, you're not. I'm sorry, I didn't know that you didn't want me to use your computer." Said Mob. She hadn't gone snooping or anything, she just needed to type.

"No, it's fine. I told you that you could type up your part of the book. How's that coming, by the way?" asked Reigen coming up next to her. Mob let herself lean into him a little, just a little. He smelled nice when he just woke up. Like himself. Teru smelled nice when he just got up, too.

"It's fine, Master. This is the part that I'm happy with. I'm going to show the rest of it to my friends to see what they think today." Said Mob. She hoped that Mezato would be back to normal. She had been looking at her really weird lately and asking her all the time how her relationship was going. Come to think of it Tome had been kind of weird too, but then again Tome was always weird.

"You're really idolizing Mogami, huh?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"We're the same. We both have powers and we both use our powers to help people." Said Mob. She had always wanted to grow up to be like Master Reigen but now she also wanted to be like Mogami. They were the same, the two of them.

"Just don't end up like him." said Reigen frowning. Whatever had gone wrong in that man's life would not go wrong in Mob's life. He wouldn't let it.

"I thought you wanted us to be famous." Said Mob confused. That was why they were even writing this book in the first place, right?

"I meant don't end up hanging yourself." Said Reigen before he could think. He let himself feel her emotions. Just more confusion.

"Of course I won't. I don't feel any despair right now and I know that you would never let me feel like that. You'll always be there for me, Master, and I'll always be there for you." Said Mob looking up at him. She was sincere. They were best friends, that was what best friends did, right?

"Mob, it's way too early for you to be this sweet." Said Reigen taken back by the sheer amount of sincerity he was getting from her. The depth of feeling was immense. Nobody had ever cared for him that much, well, to his knowledge.

"This is about when we usually get up." Said Mob. The sun had barely been up, really. As far as she was concerned she was just being her usual self at the usual time that they were usually awake at. Usually.

"Exactly." Said Reigen flipping up her fringe. She smiled and smoothed her hair back down. She had just brushed it.

"I don't need as much sleep as regular people." Said Mob flatly. Not bragging, not at all. Reigen stiffened at that before remembering that whatever tone he was hearing from her simply did not exist. She wouldn't accuse him of lying, not now.

"I know, Mob, I know. How long have you been up for?" asked Reigen. She was dressed. He could smell cooking rice so she might have even eaten already. She was in her uniform and she smelled like soap and shampoo. Damn, she had gone through her entire daily routine.

"Since before the sun. Dimple was here, earlier, but I think he went to go back to his cult." Said Mob. Dimple had been weird again, offering to possess Master Reigen for her. Of course that would have been bad, Master Reigen would have been mad at the both of them. Besides, she didn't want him like that anyway. She wanted him the way he always was, not being possessed by Dimple. He had only offered to get her to be the leader of his new cult. Well, not his, exactly.

"Dimple has a cult?" asked Reigen blinking. So that was what the spirit had been doing these past few days.

"He's trying to be Lord Psycho Helmet. It's a religion his followers started. Mezato says that they're looking for me so that I'll be there God. I don't want to be, though." Said Mob. She just wanted to be herself. Well, the version of herself she liked the best. She wanted to help people, not boss them around. Besides, being a God seemed like a lot of responsibility that she didn't want to have to deal with. She had enough to deal with just being responsible for herself.

"Jeez. You don't have the usual teenage problems, do you Mob?" asked Reigen. It was way too early for him to unpack all of that. Mob thought for a moment.

"No, not always." Said Mob. Sometimes she did and sometimes she had spirits and such to deal with. She didn't really want to be normal. She used to but now she knew that she was happy just being herself.

"Stop being so adorable, it's too early." Said Reigen smiling. She really was just too cute sometimes. Her and her understatements.

"I know you're kidding, Master." Said Mob reading the atmosphere correctly for once. She knew that was something people liked about her even though she wasn't trying to be adorable at all.

Reigen reached over and gave her hair a tug. Every single morning he woke up next to her. Every morning he started his day with his best friend. He wouldn't have had it any other way.

Every morning Kageyama Hana checked her Youtube feed. Sandwiched between the decorating tips, cooking channels, and drama recaps were the videos her daughter occasionally made. Shigeko.

"_Hello everyone! Good to see you again! I am the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century….Reigen Arataka! And this is my humble student, Mob!"_

"_Greetings and salutations this fine Saturday. Reigen Aratka here! And here she is….Mob!" "Hi…."_

"_Coming to you live from the closed down super chicken palace off the number 9 bus stop it's Reigen and Mob! ….am I in frame?" "Yes, Master Reigen."_

"_Student! Introduce yourself!" "But they already know our names, Master."_

"_Mob! Is my tie straight?" "Yes, but you have seaweed in your teeth." "Damn convenience store sushi! Is it gone?" "Yes." "Great! Now, start rolling!" "Oh." "Mob….did you jump the gun again?" "Yes. I'm sorry, Master." "I know you are, Mob….I know you are."_

"_Hi everyone! Reigen here-holy crap! Mob! Do something!" "It's just a cockroach, Master." "Kill it! Send it to hell!" "Ok…" "Mob! I see you laughing! "I'm not laughing, Master." "I see you smiling." "I'm not smiling." "Student! You think you can fool the great Reigen Arataka!" _

Every day she checked her feed to see her daughter happy. A week and a half had made such a difference. A week and a half away from her had turned her daughter into a totally different person. Someone who smiled. Someone who laughed. Someone who didn't disappear into the background.

Hana scrolled. Every thumbnail was Reigen but if she hovered she could see Shigeko. Some of these she had seen a few times before. She still didn't believe that the two of them had an actual tsuchinoko. It was huge and Shigeko had just…handled it. Impassively. Not even the least bit afraid. That man was, though. Reigen. Arataka.

He must have been acting. That was it, acting.

He was Shigeko's Shishou. Master. Teacher. Leader. He was the one, the only one, who had any hope of teaching her daughter to control the powers that she had been cursed with. Hana felt for Shigeko, she really did. What must it be like, to live with the power to crush cars and throw people? Maybe as hard as living with such a person.

It hadn't been easy, fourteen years with her daughter. Sometimes she wondered how she could have ended up with children like hers. Shigeko and Ritsu were like night and day. Shigeko was so awkward, so quiet, and lackluster when it came to school and socializing. Ritsu had always been a top student, top athlete, and he no shortage of playmates when he was younger. Shigeko had always been odd. Even as a baby she never made eye contact. She hardly ever laughed, either. She hit every milestone late, Ritsu hit every milestone early. Shigeko had never had a friend besides her little brother.

Now she was blossoming.

She had a job, friends, even a boyfriend. Her grades were even improving. Just the other day her teacher had called specifically to talk about her amazing progress in English. What was it her teacher had said? _"Your daughter doesn't just speak English, she practically is English!" _Well, of course her daughter's English had improved. That man, Arataka, obviously had some foreign blood in him, as did her boyfriend. What was that boy's name? Teruki. Right.

Ritsu's friend, too. Ritsu hadn't brought a friend home since he was ten years old. Not since the incident. Now he was bringing home not only a friend but even a girlfriend. Ritsu, her little Ritsu, with a girlfriend. Not that Hana fully approved, of course. That girl was too garish, too gaudy, and had the table manners of a sailor on shore leave. At least Shigeko had never eaten with her fingers.

No. No. That was her mother talking. Hana was sure that Rei was a nice girl. Her son had good judgement. Well, usually. He should have kept that door opened, though. He was much too young to be in his room with a girl and the door closed. Much too young.

She needed to be able to control at least one of her children.

Shigeko was…Hana accepted it. Hana accepted the fact that her daughter was gone. Shigeko didn't want to come home, and why would she? Hana didn't understand her. Neither parent understood her. That man, Reigen, did. From the day Shigeko had met him it had been nonstop _"Master Reigen says…."_

"Hi mom." Oh. Ritsu was up.

"Ritsu, good morning. How about I make you breakfast?" asked Hana. Why was he up? It was five in the morning. He was in his uniform, too.

"No thanks, I'll just have cereal." Said Ritsu moving past his mother and to the cabinets. She was holding onto her phone like it had personally offended her. She was either mad about work or Shigeko, again, and Ritsu didn't want to have to deal with that.

"You should eat something. Here, I'll make you an omelet. You love eggs." Said Hana moving towards the refrigerator. She still had one child to feed, at least.

"Mom, I'm fine." Said Ritsu. He didn't particularly want to walk Rei to school but it was better than being trapped in the kitchen with his mother. He loved his mother, he really did, but without Shigeko there he got a front row seat to all of his mother's lectures.

"You're a growing boy." Said Hana clicking her tongue. Ritsu made no move to sit down.

"I don't have time. I have to walk Rei to school." Said Ritsu. It wouldn't be that bad, walking with Rei. She was nice and she cared about him. She was a good girlfriend so he would have to be a good boyfriend.

"What? At this hour?!" said Hana turning to face her son. He needed his sleep. He needed to focus on his grades and his school commitments. Entrance exams were coming up in just a couple of years and if Ritsu played his cards right he could go on to a good high school and then a top university.

"Yeah. I'm her boyfriend and I guess it's my job or something." Said Ritsu with a shrug. Teru walked Shigeko to school each day and they had a great relationship. Maybe Ritsu just wasn't putting in enough work, maybe that's why he didn't feel much for Rei.

"Don't let that girl nag you into neglecting your life, Ritsu." Said Hana. Ritsu was too young for this. He would end up neglecting his studies and his life. He had usually been so good about keeping himself on the right track, too.

"Mom! Rei isn't making me do anything. She walked with me to my school yesterday so I'm walking her to hers today." Said Ritsu. Without Shigeko to boss around all of his moms energy was focused on him. Great.

"You need your sleep. It's five in the morning, wait, not even. When did you get up, Ritsu?" asked Hana checking the clock on the wall. Despite the crack down the face it still kept time just fine.

"Just now, like fifteen minutes ago." Said Ritsu with a sigh. He wasn't Shigeko, he didn't need someone nagging after him. He was responsible and could take care of himself.

"When did you go to sleep?" asked Hana, not commenting on the fact that her son was rolling his eyes at her.

"I don't know, at a normal time. Mom, I'm not tired. I'm fine. I'm going now, alright?" said Ritsu. He always needed less sleep than most people, not as little as Shigeko though, at least not before. Now he felt well rested after as little as four hours some nights. Maybe it was an esper thing.

"Ritsu…I can make you breakfast." Said Hana softly. Ritsu almost took a step forward. He loved his mother and all but…well…he didn't love the way she talked to him, sometimes, and he certainly didn't love the way she'd ride him to get Shigeko to come home.

She wasn't coming back. That was the fact of the matter. They had to accept it.

"Mom, I'm fine. I'm not a little kid anymore." Said Ritsu as he turned and left. Hana watched her son walked out the kitchen, down the hall and out the door.

At least he'd be coming home at the end of the day.

The walk to Rei's house wasn't that bad, not really. It wasn't like Ritsu was out of shape or anything. He could always fly, of course, be he wasn't the best at keeping himself aloft without Teru there to catch him. It was nice out this early. Not a lot of people around. The air still had a bite to it, Ritsu could feel it through his gakuran as he walked. It would warm up, soon, as the sun rose higher in the sky.

Ritsu walked down he road, playing a game he and Shigeko had when they were young. The shadows were long and he jumped around them. First person to step onto the shadows got sent to the Shadow realm. Shigeko actually won this game sometimes, she had a greater degree of leg movement than he did. What were skirts like? He had always imagined that they were more trouble than they were worth. Shigeko always watched the way she moved so that nobody could see up her skirt. It was probably nice in the summer, though. Breezy.

Ritsu hopped along for a little longer. He was way too old to be doing things like that. Being thirteen sucked sometimes. There was too much to do, too much to live up to. It was more fun, in a lot of ways, back in elementary school. He was always the brightest in class, back then, but nobody made a big deal about it, or as big. He got his awards and his parents praised him for his amazing grades. Now he had so much expected of him…

It came easy, though, most of it. School stuff. He didn't even have to study, not really, he just listened to what the teacher said in class and did his homework. That was how it went for his entire life, really. He had even spoke in full sentences by the time he was one, his mother had said, and taught himself to read at three, she had also said.

Of course this was followed by her talking about how slow Shigeko was at school and how Shigeko should have made more of an effort to be like him. No wonder Shigeko had left. It must have felt bad, being compared to him for her entire life. It must have felt so bad that she had decided that she would never, ever, come home again.

He missed her.

He missed hanging out with her. He missed how she would always listen to him and he could listen to her, even though she didn't have much to say before. He missed how they almost never fought, not about anything serious. They hadn't had a serious fight since he was five and he pulled the head off of her doll. He couldn't even remember why he had done it, he was only five after all. We has never done it again, though. She had broken all of his toys with her powers.

They had made up long ago.

He wasn't afraid of her anymore. He wasn't jealous of her anymore. He loved her. He loved her and he wanted her back. If not back than at least away from Reigen. For the past three years it had been Reigen this and Reigen that over and over again. Ritsu just didn't like the guy. He used Shigeko. He used Shigeko to solve cases that he couldn't solve himself. He spent too much time with her, much too much time. He acted like they were friends or something.

Not that Ritsu knew much about having friends.

Ritsu waited by the crosswalk. If he turned left he would find himself in the direction of Teru's apartment. Teru was a friend, a good friend, and he was Shigeko's boyfriend too so that was good. They could all hang out together and have fun together and if they ever got kidnapped again they could fight side by side. That was wonderful. It was great. The three of them. No, wait, the four of them.

Rei was his girlfriend now. Girlfriend. The word felt weird in his mind, on his tongue. Girlfriend. Boyfriend. Couple. Husband. Wife. Wait, no, not the last part! Too soon, much too soon! He was thirteen, it wasn't like she was expecting him to propose or anything, right? He didn't have any intentions of breaking up with her, he couldn't break her heart like that, so did that mean that they would be together forever….?

He shook his head and crossed the street. He went left. Towards Rei's house.

Whenever he had pictured his future girlfriend he had always pictured….well he hadn't pictured anything because he had hardly thought about it. Someone nice, someone smart, someone who cared about him. That was what he wanted. Rei was nice. Rei was smart. Rei cared about him. He liked her enough, He didn't hate her or anything. He wasn't even apathetic to her existence like was to pretty much every other girl's. Rei was so pretty and smart and nice but why could he feel anything?

He knew what it was supposed to feel like. It was supposed to be fireworks. She was supposed to be the first thing he thought about when he woke up and the last thing he thought about when he went to sleep. He was supposed to live his life around making her happy. He was supposed to be planning his entire life around her, working hard now so that he could provide her with a great big house and a bunch of kids. Hell, he was supposed to think about making those kids with her.

He was not ready to have a kid.

Since he wasn't ready to have a kid then did that explain why he didn't want to do anything with her? It wasn't that he never had those sorts of feelings, he did, he was a thirteen year old boy after all and that was normal. Well, he didn't go asking around or anything but he had overheard enough conversations to know what most guys' lives revolved around. He just didn't want that, not right then and not with Rei. He was too young and had enough sense to know that he was too young. Yes. That was it. He just had enough sense to know that middle school was not the time for that and he had to focus on his future and stuff.

Great. He sounded like mom.

The houses were nice, here, smaller but very colorful. It was a nice neighborhood. Would Rei want to live in a place like that, when she grew up? When they grew up? If he wasn't going to break up with her and she liked him then of course they would be together for a long time. Maybe they'd go to the same high school and then university and then they'd get married and have a house and kids and he'd grow up to be a salaryman like his dad and they'd have kids with powers but that would be ok because they had powers and then Shigeko would marry Teru and they'd live side by side-

Ritsu needed to go back to breathing normally again. He was breathing too fast and too shallow. Right. Calm down. Oh, his aura was showing, too. Not good.

He was in middle school. He wasn't going to marry her. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't. He didn't know, clairvoyance wasn't in his power set. He shouldn't get so worked up, though, this was what he was supposed to want. Finding a girlfriend was something that he was supposed to want, something he did want. He wanted this. He wanted to be with Rei. He would be with Rei. He was with Rei.

He stopped in front of what was, supposedly, her house. It was painted a pale shade of blue, there were lots of blue flowers in the front yard, and a white gate. This neighborhood was interesting, it was newer, probably, than his. He stood in front of the gate for a moment. He just had to move. Come on, Ritsu, you know how to open a gate.

He stood there for a few moments, then a few more moments, then a few more until the front door opened.

"Hey! You, kid! Are you Ritsu?" oh. It was a girl in a high school uniform. Older than him, didn't really look like Rei. Oh, her older step sister, or was it just sister? It was, Riko, right?

"Uh…yes?" said Ritsu. Right. He had been standing outside of her house like a wandering weirdo.

"Are you going to come inside or just stand around watching the grass grow?" asked Riko crossing her arms. Ritsu shrugged. Might as well go inside now. Not that he was nervous. No, not at all.

He followed her into the house, making sure to take off his shoes and face them the right way. First impressions were important. He was led into the kitchen and Riko motioned for him to sit at the table. There was a woman at the stove, Rei's mom. Ritsu suddenly felt nervous.

"Mom. Mom! Hey!" said Riko pulling out one of her mother's earbuds.

"Riko, you know not to disturb me when I'm gearing up for the day. Anyway since you're here watch the tamagoyaki while I get the sausages ready." Said Rei's mother. Ritsu sat at the table still, but shifting uncomfortably.

"Fine, but I'm cutting more up. Rei's boyfriend is here." Said Riko with a shrug. Rei's mother turned and gasped.

"Oh! I'm sorry, so sorry, I didn't hear you come in! I'm Kurosaki Rumi. It's so nice to meet you, Rei's told us so much about you!" said Rei mother before enveloping him in a tight hug. Ritsu didn't know what to do so he just allowed himself to be hugged.

"Yeah, you're both afflicted with middle school syndrome." Said Riko under her breath

"Riko! Be nice! If your sister wants to play with her friends then that's fine." Said Rumi. Ritsu blinked. Oh yeah, Rei had told her parents that she and the others had powers. They didn't believe her but she still had. Huh.

"Fine, fine, fine. The tamagoyaki is done." Said Riko. Ritsu's stomach rumbled quietly. He should have had something for breakfast.

"Sit, sit, sit you look half starved. Don't' worry, it's almost done. Riko! Go see if Rei is awake yet!" said Rumi as she sat Ritsu down and poured him a cup of tea. Ritsu allowed himself to be led.

"Fine….I do everything around here." Muttered Riko

"What was that?" asked Rumi as she plated some breakfast for Ritsu. Ritsu wasn't going to turn it down, he knew that it was rude to turn food offered to you by someone else in their home.

"Nothing, mom, nothing." Said Riko looking like the picture of innocence. Ritsu watched them, they didn't look at all like they were really fighting. Huh.

"Eat, eat, you're skin and bones." Said Rumi. She had heard about this poor boy, parents fighting all the time and a sister run away from home. Poor little thing needed all the love he could get. Ritsu took the chopsticks he was handed and pulled off a small amount of tamagoyaki. It was delicious.

"Rei! Get down here!" yelled Riko. The whole first floor practically shook. Her mother glared at her and she shrugged before sitting down at the table. A plate of sausages cut into octopuses was placed on the table and Riko served herself. She and her mother began to talk but Ritsu just listened. He was acting like Shigeko, he knew he was, but he couldn't help it. He was absorbing the atmosphere at Rei's house. It had been so long since he'd been in a house without a tense atmosphere.

"What! I have to hurry! He's going to be…here…any…minute…" said Rei as she practically ran into the kitchen, still in her pajamas. Well, the oversized t-shirt she wore to bed and her fuzzy orange socks.

"Hey." Said Ritsu waving to her. She turned red and began to sputter. He didn't understand why. He had seen Shigeko in her pajamas plenty of times. Shigeko was his sister though, so maybe it was different.

"You can't see me like this!" said Rei practically screaming before she turned and ran, slipping slightly in her fuzzy socks.

"Rei! What about your breakfast?!" called Rumi. Ritsu looked between all of them. Nobody seemed mad at all. So nice. Ritsu didn't know what to do so he kept on eating. Their mom was different. She was being nice to both of her kids. He didn't know that moms could do that. Wasn't there always a good one and a not so good one?

"Mom! I can't eat! I can't come back down stairs!" called Rei. Riko laughed. Ritsu shrugged. Girls could be so sensitive sometimes.

"Rei! Stop being so dramatic and eat something! I have to go to work soon!" said Rumi as she sat down at the table. Ritsu looked down at his food, like Shigeko did. It wasn't something he planned on, it was just his first reflex.

"I can't! Ritsu saw me like…this!" said Rei. Her mother rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure he'll survive." Said Rumi. Ritsu was a little clumsy with his chopsticks, just a little. He felt like he was being watched. Just like Shigeko was. He was conscious of his powers, how they didn't always listen. He hoped that he didn't snap these chopsticks.

"Run away while you still can." Said Riko. Ritsu blinked.

"No, I'm alright." Said Ritsu. Riko rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Rei's going to have one of her episodes." Said Riko

"Riko! Your sister hasn't thrown a tantrum in years." Said Rumi. Heavy steps and running back and forth could be heard from the second floor.

"Brace yourself, the princess is coming." Said Riko before drinking her miso soup. Ritsu turned to face the doorway. Was Rei that different at home? She was really nice to him.

"I can't believe you did that to me! I will. Never. Forgive. You." Said Rei jabbing her finger in her sister's direction. Riko rolled her eyes.

"You shouldn't have borrowed my hairbrush without asking then." Said Riko. Rei growled and sat down next to Ritsu. Great, the first time he meets her family and he sees her looking sloppy and now she was in a bad mood.

"You shouldn't have hidden mine then." Grumbled Rei as her mother plated some food for her. Full breakfast that day. Her mom had gone through the trouble of making a full breakfast for them because Ritsu was coming over for the first time and now it would all taste like ashes in her mouth.

"You should have used your psychic powers to find it, then." Said Riko sticking out her tongue.

"Girls." Said their mother, warning in her tone.

"Hi, Rei." Said Ritsu finally. He thought for a moment before squeezing her hand under the table. Her face lit up. Good, he did it right, then. She needed to be reassured and he reassured her. Still no fireworks but he did feel nice knowing that he was being there for her.

"Hey….sorry." said Rei quietly. She had been acting like a little kid. Of course Ritsu wouldn't care if she looked less than her best. He was mature like that.

"It's alright." Said Ritsu quietly. Still not a heavy atmosphere, though. This was nice. Her family was nice.

"So, Ritsu, Rei tells us you're in the student council. That must keep you very busy." Said Rumi. Ritsu nodded.

"We have a lot of meetings and I have to come in after school and before school a lot but it's not that bad." Said Ritsu quietly. Nervous. Was this why Shigeko was always so quiet.

"Ritsu gets good grades, too, and he's super popular." Said Rei. Ritsu resisted the urge to slink down into his seat. He knew it seemed conceited but he just didn't much like it when people gushed about how awesome he was.

"How'd you get him?" laughed Riko. Rei stuck her tongue out again. Ritsu didn't say anything, he didn't know how to explain it without going into the whole being kidnapped thing.

"Be nice." Said Rumi frowning at her older daughter. Out of all the boys Rei had brought home since starting middle school this was the only one to make it through the front door. Ritsu looked between them all. It still didn't feel like a real fight. He gave Rei hand another squeeze again just to be sure.

"We met at the Awakening Lab, I told you already." Said Rei not wanting to get into the whole almost getting kidnapped and or murdered thing. It happened and now it was over. Time to get back to daily life.

"Right. The lab." Said Riko sarcastically. Ritsu looked between them. He guessed that Rei's powers would be harder to prove. She wasn't entirely accurate, either.

"Ok now that's enough. If your sister says that she's clairvoyant then she's clairvoyant." Said Rumi. Still nicer than his mom would have. His mom never liked talking about Shigeko's powers. When they were little she yelled at him for asking when he'd get his powers and when Shigeko asked about other people with powers.

"Is he clairvoyant too?" asked Riko. Ritsu went back to eating as she tried to make eye contact with him. This was too far out of his element.

"He doesn't like to talk about it." Said Rei. She knew that at Ritsu's house powers were a sore subject so she didn't want to risk upsetting him. Ritsu frowned, a little. He didn't need people talking for him. He wasn't Shigeko, despite how he was acting.

"Oh. Right." Said Riko. Honestly. They were way too old to be playing at having super powers. Rei needed to get more mature.

"You don't have to be so quiet, you know. Feel free to jump in at any time. Don't let those two intimidate you." Said Rumi

"Mom! Now he's going to feel self-conscious! They're just a really reserved family, that's all." Said Rei. She hoped that Ritsu would still like her after all of this. Oh, he was holding her hand again. Yay!

"Uh-" started Ritsu before Rei cut him off.

"Right, Ritsu?" asked Rei. Riko laughed.

"If anything you're going make him feel self-conscious, Rei." Said Riko. Rei glared at her sister.

"No I won't, I'm defending him." said Rei. This was going all wrong. Now Ritsu would think that her family was all fighty like his was. The same thing had happened when Takeshi dropped her off after their first and only date.

"Girls. Do we have to do this today? Can't you wait until the afternoon for your daily argument?" asked Rumi with a laugh. Rei made the same face she would make as if she was drinking one of those lemon soda drinks the yellow people advertised. That was really gross soda.

"We have to get to school." Said Rei as Ritsu finished eating. Wow, he was so calm. She grabbed him by the hand and practically dragged him out the door. As they put on their shoes a box of Band-Aids went sailing through the air and hit Rei on the back.

"Hey!" said Rei. Riko slipped past them and shimmied her feet into her shoes.

"You'll thank me later. That thicket of bushes by the west gate is usually for first years. Don't go near the berry bushes or the big rocks by the north gates, the third years would probably kick your ass. Oh, and don't go behind the dumpsters, either. Student council patrols back there. Oh, and don't roll your skirt up until you get to the end of the block. Mrs. Yamamoto is the one who told mom on you. Later." Said Riko as she walked out the door. Rei blushed and stuffed the box of Band-Aids into her school bag.

"So…she seemed…nice." Said Ritsu. Closer to what a big sister usually was, anyway. He knew that they were supposed to fight with you and make fun of you while still caring about you. He and Shigeko fought sometimes but never like that and she would never, ever, make fun of him.

"She's such a jerk sometimes. She tried to embarrass me on purpose…." Grumbled Rei as they made their way out the door. Ritsu held her hand again. She really seemed to like that and it was his job to make her happy.

"Your family seemed nice, though." Said Ritsu. Not like his. He didn't know why he kept expecting her mom to be like his mom. Maybe because his mom was the only real experience he had ever had with moms.

"They're ok. Mom made a full breakfast because you were coming over even though I told her not to go through the trouble. Moms, right?" asked Rei

"It was fine, I didn't even eat breakfast this morning. My mom wanted to make me breakfast but I could tell that she was in a mood and I didn't want to be in the receiving end of that." Said Ritsu

"Is she still mad about your sister?" asked Rei

"Yeah. She just won't get it that Shigeko won't come home." Said Ritsu. Shigeko had made herself perfectly clear and with her powers there wasn't a damned thing that their mother could do to stop her. Maybe he should change tactics and try to convince her to move in with Teru, Reigen be damned. At least she wouldn't be living with Reigen then and Ritsu trusted Teru a lot more than Reigen, anyway.

"Mob said that she wouldn't, when I asked her if she was ever coming back. She says that she's really happy with Reigen. He hangs out with her all the time and he lets her do pretty much whatever she wants." Said Rei omitting some of the more personal things that Mob had shared with her. Ritsu didn't need to know things like that about his sister. She didn't even like knowing things like that about her sisters, and they were all girls. Suddenly the box of Band-Aids felt heavy in her school bag. The stuff that Mob did with her boyfriend, would Ritsu want that with her, too?

"Yeah, I bet he would." Said Ritsu. Reigen was just letting her hang out with Teru all the time because he didn't want to lose her. She was more powerful than him, he had based their whole business on her powers. Plus he was way too familiar with her. He was, like, thirty. He needed someone his own age to hang out with and stuff.

"He's a pretty nice guy, Shigeko says, anyway." Said Rei. Ritsu shook his head. Sure Reigen could be nice sometimes but that didn't change the fact that he was using Shigeko.

"I just want her to come home, but she won't, so I have to accept it." Said Ritsu simply. He had to be mature about this. He tried reasoning with her, arguing with her, and pleading with her. If she was going to be stubborn than fine she was going to be stubborn.

"You're so mature, Ritsu." Said Rei. He was like a grown up, almost. Ritsu shrugged.

"Sometimes I just have to accepting things, I guess." Said Ritsu as she held his hand tighter. Still no fireworks. She was so nice to him, though.

"I'm sorry about all the fighting, earlier. Me and Riko are usually like that…sorry." Said Rei. Ritsu shrugged. He used to wish, sometimes, that he had a regular sister who fought with him like siblings were supposed to. He loved Shigeko, he always would, but he still wondered, sometimes, what that would be like to have.

"Siblings fight, that's normal. You guys weren't really fighting too badly, anyway. I don't mind." Said Ritsu. He really didn't. She still looked worried though. He pulled her a little closer. Girls liked closeness, he figured out. They liked kissing and hand holding and closeness. He could do that.

"…even though I didn't look nice this morning…?" asked Rei quietly

"Yeah, I don't mind. You were just in your pajamas. I don't really care what you wear or what you look like. I like you, Rei." Said Ritsu. It was the truth, the simple and unabashed truth. She looked nice when she wore pretty clothes and makeup and all of that but he wasn't going to go out with a girl just because she was pretty. That would be shallow.

"…thanks…" said Rei. They walked along quietly until they rounded the corner. She stopped him.

"Hang on, I have to fix my uniform." Said Rei

"You look fine." Said Ritsu. He just said that he didn't care how she looked. What was with her?

"Here, hold my bag." Said Rei. Ritsu took her school back and looked away. Oh, he hadn't been wearing a shorter skirt before, she just rolled it up at the waistband. Huh. Those weren't tights, they were just really high socks. She loosened her ribbon and undid her first two buttons. Ritsu watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was practically undressing right there and still nothing.

"Thanks." Said Rei. Huh. He didn't even look nervous. Was he mature or did he just not like her? No, he kissed her, he must have just been very mature. Yeah. That was it.

"Why do you wear your uniform like that? You could get in trouble." Said Ritsu. One of his many, many jobs for the student council was being the uniform police. He wondered if things were just more lax at her school.

"I don't care, and I probably won't anyway. Plenty of girls wear their uniforms worse than this. Why? You don't like it?" asked Rei. She just wanted to look cute, but like hot cute. Shigeko did cute too but she did more like a moe sort of cute. Moe was well and good and all but it just wasn't Rei. Unless Ritsu liked moe cute better than hot cute. Wait, no, he said that he didn't care what she wore or what she looked like.

"No. You look nice. I like your, uh, socks." Said Ritsu landing on something specifically to compliment her on. That would be more sincere. High socks looked nice, he decided. She must have thought so, she was blushing again.

"…thanks…." Said Rei. She offered her hand and he held it. He let her lead the way to her school. It wasn't like he knew where it was. It wasn't that late, either. That was one good thing about having powers, he could wake up at four thirty in the morning and not feel tired at all.

"Oh, hey! I brought some of my drawings." Said Rei as she dug into her school bag as they walked. Ritsu held it up with his powers.

"This is something I drew a couple days ago. It's Homura dressed like Madoka. I do a lot of costume switches. I posted them, too, if you want to see more. Wait, sorry, I forgot you didn't have a Friendbook or, well anything. Not that that's a bad thing! I mean you can also use Shigeko's account, we're friends there, but you knew that already! Anyway, here. These are just some things I drew." Said Rei practically throwing her sketchbook at him. Ritsu flipped through it as they walked. She really liked Madoka Magica. She drew pretty well, actually. He flipped backwards. Oh, there was one of him.

"Wait! You weren't supposed to see that!" said Rei pulling it back and hugging it to her chest.

"Why? I thought it was really nice." Said Ritsu. It was him in his school uniform sitting down. Rei drew herself in front of him and he was holding her close. He could hold her like that, if she wanted. Looked comfortable.

"…really?" asked Rei after a while. Her face was red, she could feel it. That was just something she drew, that was all. Thank God he hadn't flipped backwards. Not that she drew anything that belonged in the back of the manga shop or anything like that.

"Yeah. I think you're a really great artist. I wish I could draw like that. Are you going to be a manga artist when you grow up?" asked Ritsu. She drew pretty well, better than he ever could. He lacked creativity, his art teacher said. What did that woman want? She said draw a cat so he drew the cat!

"Maybe. I want to be a manga artist, or a fashion designer. My parents said that it's not realistic, though. What are you going to be?" asked Rei. She hoped that she didn't ask the wrong question. She knew that she didn't really like it when adults asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. Ritsu was mature, though.

"I have no idea. I'll probably just find a job at a company and be a salaryman like my dad." Said Ritsu. He wasn't really looking forward to it but he would do what he had to do.

"You want to be a salaryman?" asked Rei scrunching her nose. With his powers he could have been literally anything else.

"No, not really. I don't want to be a salaryman but I figure that that's what I'll end up doing. I don't know, sometimes….sometimes I feel like I just do what I'm supposed to be, you know? My parents want me to be top of everything so I am and I guess that I'll go to a good high school and a good university and then get a good salary job and then get married and have kids and then get old, retire, and die." Said Ritsu. It all came up like word vomit. She just squeezed his hand though. She was there for him. He liked her for that.

"But Ritsu, you don't have to. Your sister told me something really smart. She said 'your life is your own' and I thought it was cool. You don't have to do whatever people tell you to do. Well, sort of, or you'll be punished but when you're an adult you can be whatever you want to be. With your powers you could be whoever you wanted to be." Said Rei lacing her fingers with his. He dragged his thumb over the top of her hand.

"Yeah, Shigeko says that sometimes. It's easier for her, nobody expects anything from her, well, Reigen does but that's different. Well, not really, actually. Sometimes I feel like she's just trying to be the person Reigen wants her to be. I guess that I'm just being the person that my parents, that the world, wants me to be." Said Ritsu. More word vomit. It was nice. Another upside to having a girlfriend. He could just talk to her without having to worry about what he said or how he looked.

"I don't want you to be anyone other than who you are." Said Rei after a moment. That was the right thing to say, she decided. She would care about him even if he wasn't the best at everything. It was good, she decided, that he was opening up to her. The site said that without emotional intimacy the relationship would die.

"Thanks, Rei. I don't want you to be anyone else, either." Said Ritsu. Oh. He knew that look. He leaned down and kissed her. She went rigid before kissing him back. It was for longer this time. He kept his eyes closed. It was nicer, he decided, when he had his eyes closed. Not in a mean way, he just liked it better.

"Whoa. That was…that was really good." Said Rei. She was blushing so hard she might has well have no put any blush on that morning. She took his hand but stared straight forward. She had never kissed anyone for that long before. Was that a real kiss? It was really nice but also kind of scary because that meant that he wanted to do more than kiss her the way that they had before and-hello Rei! Future vision! Nope. For the foreseeable future he just wanted to kiss.

"Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?" asked Ritsu. She was being really quiet and she wouldn't look at him. He thought that was what she wanted. Girls were so complicated sometimes.

"No! No, that was nice. I just…nobody's ever kissed me for that long before. It was really nice." Said Rei after a while. What was she so nervous about? Of course he wouldn't push her to do anything. He wouldn't push her and she wouldn't push him.

"Oh. Ok. I was just worried. You're not usually so quiet." Said Ritsu

"Quiet? I'm not quiet. Not quiet at all. Nope. Anyway, what are you doing at school today? I have anime club after school. I think I'll stick with that one, people are super nice there. Oh. Sports day is coming up for us in a few weeks, too. I hate running but we all have to run this marathon so maybe I'll just pretend to be sick. I know I'll finish because of my clairvoyance but I also know I'll hate every second of it. I should still run, though, since my parents love sports day and all. They record every single sports day and have since I was little….." said Rei. Ritsu watched her as she spoke. He had smudged her lip stiff. He rubbed it off of his mouth with the back of his hand. Oh, it was a slightly different color today. They walked hand in hand to her school. Guys were pausing and staring at them as they walked up to the gates. Didn't he know those guys….

Oh.

Well.

Hopefully he wouldn't end up having to beat someone up. Shigeko would never forgive him. She hated violence. She was a terrible shadow leader. Wait, if he ended up getting beaten up then would she have to have those delinquents fight these idiots? No, she'd try to stop them, but those idiots would just fight on their own. Would Black Vinegar get pulled into it? He knew that Teru was still their shadow leader and because he was going out with Shigeko their schools had an alliance. There were other alliances too, shifting ones. Damn. One false move and this entire thing could go World War One.

"Hey! You're Magical Girl Salt's little brother, aren't you!" Ritsu groaned. Great. Just great.

"Yeah. What's it to you? I'm not going to fight." Said Ritsu. Rei blinked. Oh, right. Boys! Honestly! She thought that Ritsu was more mature than that. Oh, wait, no, he was.

"Then why are you in our territory?" asked the guy. Ritsu motioned towards Rei.

"I'm just dropping off my girlfriend, then I'm leaving. Now, go and bother someone else." Said Ritsu. There was an edge to his voice and he was holding eye contact.

"Uh…sure! But this is your first warning!" said the guy obviously not wanting another telekinetic beat down.

"What was that all about?" asked Rei. Ritsu shrugged.

"I used to be a real jerk, you remember, when we first met." Said Ritsu

"Oh. Well I like the person you are now." Said Rei. He had been a real jerk, before, but he was better now, that was what mattered.

"Thanks. So, when do you have to go in?" asked Ritsu hoping that he wasn't making her late. She kept looking over somewhere, too. Maybe she wanted to go talk to her friends or something.

"Not that soon, but you can go to your own school if you want. I mean, it is a long walk." Said Rei glancing over at the first year make out spot. She was…curious…afraid….nervous…but also excited. If kissing him for a few seconds longer felt nice then what did…whatever it was that went on in there…feel like?

"Oh. I was just going to fly. It's faster." Said Ritsu not wanting to keep her if she had stuff to do. She was shuffling a little bit. Something on her mind? Or would he be too pushy if he asked her?

"Oh…yeah! Ok! I'll see you…tomorrow, maybe? I could walk with you to your school." Said Rei. Nope. Not ready for that. Maybe another time when she had time to do research.

"You don't have to if you don't want to….but it would be nice if you did." Said Ritsu. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. Her walking with him didn't hurt him any so why not let her walk with him if she had the time.

"Sure! I mean, I'll be there. See you around!" said Rei with a wave as she turned around. As soon as she wasn't facing him she cringed, spun around like an anime girl, and kissed him. Hello, Rei! Of course he'd want her to kiss him.

"Ok. Now goodbye for real!" said Rei. There! That was right!

"Uh, sure. Rei! Wait!" said Ritsu. She did another spinning turn again.

"Yes?" asked Rei, hopefully. Did he want to kiss her again? Or would he tell her that he loved her? Wait, not that. No, she wasn't sure if she was ready for I love yous yet.

"Your lip…stuff…is smudged." Said Ritsu as he wiped her lip stuff off of himself again. Rei blushed and began to frantically rub it off her face. Ritsu smiled. She was funny. Cute. Like an anime girl, almost.

"Thanks…I'll just…go to school now…." Said Rei. Would the embarrassment from this moment ever fade? The future was unclear. Darn!

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow!" said Ritsu waving to her. He waited for her to turn around before he speed walked right out of there. He was not in the mood to fight any delinquents. As soon as he could get out of sight of people he jumped into the air and flew as fast as he could in the direction of Salt. He still had like half an hour before school started. At least he wouldn't be late. As he felt he felt a familiar aura. Wait, no, two familiar auras. Shigeko and Teru.

He'd say hi, at least. He didn't see Shigeko that much these days and he was always happy to see Teru. He touched down near them and immediately got the hell out of there.

No amount of time would ever make the mental scar of what he had just seen fade. The image of the two of them….like that….would be forever be burned into his brain. The soundtrack too. No.

"I think I feel Ritsu." Oh crap. Right. If he could feel Shigeko then she could feel him. He did the only mature and sensible thing which a little brother could do at seeing his older sister and his friend in that…position.

He ran like the grim specter of death himself was at his heels.

"He probably just passed by on the way to school." Said Teru sitting up. Hopefully. Otherwise then the remainder of their lives would be forever awkward.

"You're right. He's on his way to school later today because he took Rei to her school. She's really excited. Well, she was excited. I don't know how she feels right now." Said Mob pulling Teru back down by his shirt.

"You still want to?" asked Teru laying down on his side. Mob nodded.

"Ritsu's gone, now. He's probably in a hurry to get to school. He has a lot to do for student council. He would have said something, if he saw us. He makes a weird sort of yelping noise when he's surprised. Also I think he would yell, too." Said Mob not wanting to think about her little brother. This was before school swap spit with Teru time. If she didn't kiss him now then she'd spend the whole day thinking about it. Besides, he liked this too.

"Well, he's your brother, I guess you know him better than I do." Said Teru before rolling over so he was half on top of her again. She was a lot more forward since that one time when they practiced at…well…stuff. The second time had been better; as short as it had been. They needed at least a layer of cloth between them, they learned. Well, that was what practice was for.

"I guess. He's your friend, too, but I don't want to talk about Ritsu now. It feels weird because he's my little brother but we're like this." Said Mob. She brought her phone up to her face with her powers. She still had some time before school and Teru said that he could just make himself move really fast.

"Yeah, I don't really want to associate him with, you know, this." Said Teru before he got back to it. He wasn't nervous, now, no. He knew that he was good at this and everything related to it. He only had to do some basic googling and he was an expert at making her come apart. For real, now, if he tried. Not that he was going to try. They were out in public, not the place for her to call him Teruki.

He had his own apartment for that.

Mob pulled him closer, not thinking quite as clearly as Teru was. Kissing was addictive. Fooley cooley was addictive. She understood the other girls better now, she thought. The ones with bandages on their necks and their skirts rolled up high so you could see the bruises on their thighs. Mob never thought that she would be, could be, a girl like that but here she was.

This was amazing.

She thought only of Teru. She made herself think only of Teru. Teru was her boyfriend. They had exchanged confessions and chocolates and I love yous and seen each other naked and practiced at stuff. She was too young to even consider having anything like that with Master Reigen. She needed to file these thoughts away to a box labeled 'open in four years' but she couldn't. She would find her mind straying to Master Reigen sometimes and she was mad at herself for it.

Thinking wasn't cheating.

Master Reigen had said that. He had told her that what went on in her own mind was her own business. As long as she never acted on these feelings then nothing was wrong. She wanted to, though, that was the problem. The things she thought about were different, too. It used to be vague feelings. Kisses, touches, I love yous. Now she had specifics. Now she had some idea of what, exactly, could happen.

She wanted to call Master Reigen by his name.

She wanted to feel all four syllables roll off her tongue as they kissed and he held her so tight and-

"Whoa! Did you just…really?" asked Teru as a tree tipped over next to them. Yes. He truly was amazing. If this was an Olympic event he'd bring home the gold, silver, and bronze for Japan. Hell, they'd invent a whole new award just so that he could be adequately praised by the world in his skill at…that.

"Uh…no. I just got excited, that's all." Said Mob sitting up. She put the tree back in the ground and willed it to start growing again. Teru sat back and ran a hand through his hair. Right, he had school. Time to cool down because he absolutely could not go walking around like this. This was worse than when he ran all the way home bald and naked in the rain. Then he had at least been unrecognizable. If he walked around like this every one would think he was weird and he'd be ostracized from middle school society like that guy they caught stealing gym clothes.

"You're so damn pretty." Said Teru as he sat back and watched her. She was sitting up now and using her powers to fix her hair. She really was. She was plain looking but there was a prettiness to her that you could only see if you looked at her for a while. If you knew her. Like there, she was blushing again.

"…you look nice too." Said Mob softly. She needed to calm down. She couldn't go to school like this. She shifted. Ick. That was something she didn't particularly like, the slimy slickness afterwards. It wasn't fun going to school like this, almost as bad as after she'd get her back rubbed.

Not the best train of thought for this.

Oh Teru's soccer ball. She used her powers to roll it over to him. He rolled it back. They passed it back and forth for a moment. There. That helped.

"Oh! I have soccer after school today. It's just a practice before our game, you don't have to come. I mean it takes place during your club time anyway. I mean that I might not be able to walk with you to work today, that's all." Said Teru as they kicked the ball back and forth. She loved it when they walked together, she had said so a thousand times. She would feel bad, now. He'd make it up to her a thousand times.

"Oh. I could leave club early to watch you practice, if you want me to." Said Mob. This was important to Teru. She wasn't a people expert but she knew that she had to take an interest in his interests like she took an interest in Master Reigen's interests. Oh, that reminded her, they still had to finish the first season of the Junk Food Fighter. Preferably while eating junk food.

"No, you really like going to your club. Besides, weren't you going to show your phone friend, no, club friend, Tome that book you're writing, today?" asked Teru. He hoped that she would offer to be late for work, or even miss it. He could show her off at school and the after wards he could take her to get some cake or an actual meal and then they could spend time in the park, too, and feed stray cats or collect nature stuff like cool rocks and snail shells and animal bones if they could find any. She liked stuff like that. Then they could go back to his house and they could watch that new romantic drama that just went to streaming about the childhood friends that fall in love but one of them dies. Wait, no, the one with the two coworkers who are rivals but also fall in love. That would put her more in the mood. Then he'd kiss her a bunch and run them a bath or maybe just go straight to his room and-no! Bad Teru! We need to go to school now! Remember, that place!?

"Oh. I can miss one day." Said Mob. She could, for him. Relationships were two way streets. She had heard that, before.

"I don't want to make you miss club….what about work?" asked Teru. Right. Shigeko didn't ever read between the lines. He watched her. She was thinking.

"I'm sorry but I can't. I would if it was just a day where I made tea and wrote receipts but Master Reigen says that we have an exorcism today and we need the money, especially since the people the other night wouldn't pay us." Said Mob. Teru squished down the hurt he was feeling. Right. Work. This was a work thing, not a Reigen thing. She was not choosing Reigen over him. No, she said that she would have been late if she was just being the secretary. This was about helping people, not preferring Reigen over him. How could she? Reigen wasn't her boyfriend, he was her boyfriend, and he could make her come apart just by kissing her.

"I get it. You're a…career woman." Said Teru. Yeah, he knew this plot. She was a driven career woman and he was the guy who would marry her and then she'd slow down and they'd have domestic bliss. Wait. What? Huh? No, not that plot! Not that this was even any kind of a movie plot! Not that he was even thinking about marrying her! They were in middle school! Not the life plan to make!

"No, I just like helping people, that's all. Like Mogami." Said Mob. She had powers and because of these powers she had a responsibility to save the people who needed her help. Maybe she was kind of like a magical girl, actually.

"Oh yeah, that psychic you watch." Said Teru. He had seen an episode or two of that guy. His later episodes. Teru got a bad feeling about him, sort of. His voice, the way he emoted, all of it.

"Yes, Mogami. He devoted himself to helping others and used his powers to help people until the day he died." Said Mob. She could be like him. Maybe her powers weren't a cure. Maybe it wasn't a monster living under her skin. Maybe she and the other Shigeko could use their powers to help everyone who needed it. Then she would be a good person. The truth of her charm was in her kindness.

"…didn't he hang himself from overwork?" asked Teru. Mob shrugged.

"I don't know why he hung himself, nobody does. Maybe he just had his own problems that nobody knew about. Master Reigen says that people kill themselves when they fall to despair and see death as the only way out. That might be what happened to Mogami. I don't know. I'm sad that he died, though." Said softly. If he had still been alive then Mob would have been friends with him, Master Reigen too, even though Mogami would have been an old person by now. Maybe if Mogami had someone then he wouldn't have fallen to despair. Mob wondered if his spirit had passed on. If it hadn't then she'd make friends with his spirit.

"I wouldn't let you, feel like that I mean. I mean that…if you ever feel like that I want you to tell me." Said Teru. He hated it when she talked about death, not that she talked like that often. He just didn't like thinking about how she could die. He never wanted her to go. He needed her.

"Teru, I don't feel like that. I like my life and I won't fall to despair because I don't feel like that. If something ever happens, or a lot of somethings that make me feel that way, I'll tell you. Would you tell me, Teru, if you ever felt like that?" asked Mob. The thought of Teru dying, or anyone in her life dying, made her heart twist like it was a washcloth that was being wrung out.

"Of course! I love you, Shigeko. I would never keep anything like that from you. You make me feel better, you know? I mean…I'm….before I had you I was lonely and I didn't even realize it. I filled all my time trying to be the main character because…because I was all alone. I was the only person I knew like me and I…this is hard for me." Said Teru. Mob reached over and took his hand in hers.

"I can help you if you tell me how. Talking things are hard for me, too." Said Mob softly. He pulled her close. Not in a fooley cooley sort of way but in a holding her because she was a drop of perfection from heaven come down to Earth just for him.

"I know, I just….Shigeko I love you. I love being with you, and not just when we're like this and the thought of losing you, of going back to how I was before, makes me feel like someone cut me open and filled me with spicy mayonnaise and broken glass. Please, don't…don't go." Said Teru. That was a terrible analogy! He only said that because there was a broken bottle of spicy mayonnaise over by that tree over there.

"Oh. If you mean right now we still have to go to school or we could end up in a lot of trouble. I like being with you but I don't think we have a choice about going to school. If you mean dying like we were talking about before I have no plans on dying any time before I'm an old person and I try not to die whenever I'm in a place where I could die." Said Mob after a moment. She was still buried in Teru's chest. His heart was beating so fast it sounded like it was humming, like a hummingbird's.

"Right. School. You're always so pragmatic, Shigeko, but in a good way. Come on, let's go before you're late." Said Teru standing up. He used his powers to help her up.

"Don't you mean that we should go before we're late?" asked Mob. Teru shook his head.

"Unlike you I can move really fast without getting motion sick." Said Teru, smiling. Mob watched him for a moment before smiling back. He was kidding.

She was getting much better at getting a clue.

Reigen wondered if he could ever get a clue.

He had been working, well typing, and he hadn't noticed Kageyama Hana until she was right in front of his desk. She was holding something, an envelope. She seemed…he relaxed his aura, his powers….she was…resolute. She was determined. She was stuffing down anything else. Mob's habit, too.

"Oh, sorry. Hello! Welcome back! Can I get you a cup of tea?" asked Reigen standing up from his desk. Hana shook her head, the large plastic shopping bag in her hand rustling.

"Oh, no, thank you. I just stopped by to drop off some of Shigeko's things and this." Said Hana handing Reigen an envelope. He took it and put it on his desk, assuming that it was a note for Mob. He controlled his feelings. Right. Probably a long missive begging her to come back home.

"I'll make sure she gets them. Are you sure you wouldn't like some tea?" asked Reigen. Right. He had to be hospitable. This was Mob's mother after all. No matter how she had behaved towards her daughter or what he thought of her parenting he couldn't alienate himself from her parents.

"No, thank you. I really have to be getting back. That envelope is for you, too. It's just some money for taking care of Shigeko." Said Hana. It was only a few thousand yen, enough to cover any food she had eaten and such. It was the polite thing to do. What this man would think if she just pawned her daughter off on him.

"Oh, no, you can keep that. Mob and I are doing alright. Business is booming." Said Reigen. It really was, the spirits and the massage side of business.

"I know, I've seen your videos. I've never known Shigeko to be so comfortable in front of a camera." Said Hana glancing at the corkboard full of moments from her daughter's life.

"Oh yeah, Mob's just full of surprises." Said Reigen as he took the bag from Hana. Mob's things, money to take care of her. Permanence. He….he liked it. The fact that this was so very permanent. Perpetual. Perpetuity.

"Oh yes, I can believe that. Did she tell you that she speaks fluent English? Or is that your doing?" asked Hana. He may have spoken English, he was so clearly half and the comments section had plenty of comments in English.

"My doing?! Well, I suppose I may have had a hand in helping her." Said Reigen recovering quickly. That had most definitely been his doing, not that anyone would know that.

"She's doing well…." Said Hana trailing off. Reigen decided to pour her that cup of tea. He poured them each a cup of tea and then led her to the table. She sat down.

"I've been talking to Mob and she won't agree to going back home." Said Reigen as they sat down. Well, he had asked her if she wanted to go home and made it clear that she could leave at any time. Same thing, right?

"No, I wouldn't imagine that she would want to. Shigeko has always been stubborn." Said Hana

"Oh I know it." Said Reigen taking a sip of his tea.

"Really? Even for you?" asked Hana. Huh. Shigeko had always seemed to devoted to her Master.

"Not about anything serious! Just, you know, little things." Said Reigen. Right. He knew that as an adult he owed it to Hana to tell her that her daughter had almost been kidnapped and or murdered but he also knew that she would react badly to that sort of news.

"She's not drinking that awful yogurt drink again, is she?" asked Hana. Who knew how hogwild Shigeko was running without her. She was probably drinking nothing but milk and yogurt and staying up until all hours and not brushing her hair and-

"No, just milk though, mostly. We're been going through about two liters of milk a week." Said Reigen leaning back trying to look relaxed. This woman was not happy, not happy at all. Reigen really didn't want Mob to go but it was obvious her mother wanted her back, too.

"Well that's Shigeko for you. Don't let her drink too much though, she gets motion sick more easily when she's had a lot of dairy." Said Hana. Reigen blinked. Oh. He hadn't know that.

"So that's why she got motion sick last week." Said Reigen. He just thought it was the poorly maintained mountain roads.

"Shigeko loves dairy but she knows that it makes her sick. Honestly, that girl…." Said Hana. Shigeko might have left home but she still needed someone to take care of her and this man was obviously that person.

"Oh. Mob didn't tell me milk didn't agree with her." Said Reigen. Seriously Mob? Talk about stubborn. She could have at least drank soy milk.

"Well I'm sure she must have realized it by now." Said Hana. Shigeko drank milk nonstop just because she enjoyed it with no thought to her health.

"Mob probably doesn't care. She wants what she wants." Said Reigen with a shrug. Mob didn't get sick that often, right? She was old enough to go through two liters of milk a week if she wanted to.

"That's true. Oh, also she needs to sleep on a futon. She tends to flip beds over in her sleep." Said Hana speaking a little more quickly. There was just so much to know about Shigeko and so little time to go over it.

"Already got it covered." Said Reigen. Where did she think that her daughter had been sleeping? Obviously Mob's comfort came first.

"She hates cilantro, too, and won't eat anything that's even been near it." Said Hana. It was the next thing that came to mind. When Shigeko was three she flipped the entire table over.

"I…didn't know that." Said Reigen. It hadn't come up but then again there wasn't much variety to their diet. It was eggs, rice, ramen, takotaki, cookies, milk, curry, and tea.

"For breakfast she likes to eat just eggs and rice but try to get her to have a fruit, too. Have her eat some cereal too, for variety." Said Hana. Shigeko had given herself a vitamin deficiency, before, when she ate nothing but eggs, rice, and milk for a while.

"I'll throw some in the cart, any particular brand?" asked Reigen

"She loves Hello Panda or Hello Kitty cereal but she'll eat just about anything. Not like Ritsu, he's so particular…." Said Hana. Reigen watched her. She was sad. She was worried. She was annoyed, too.

"How's he doing? Mob says that he has a girlfriend now." Said Reigen. He hoped that the kid was doing alright. It was a difficult stage in life, being thirteen. Plus that kid carried a lot of very big emotions with him.

"Yes, both of my children are growing up. I don't particularly like the girl but he's only thirteen, there'll be another one next week." Said Hana. Hopefully, anyway. He could have done so much better.

"Mob says that they're pretty happy." Said Reigen hoping that Ritsu had no idea how his mother felt. He could see that kid being stubborn enough to marry the girl just to prove his mother wrong. That was a stubborn kid, he had decided at the age of ten that he didn't like Reigen and in three years he hadn't let up once.

"He's thirteen, someone else will make him happy and then he'll bring her home. How is Shigeko doing, by the way, with her boyfriend?" asked Hana. Her children were too young for all of this. Ritsu had his entire future ahead of him and Shigeko had…well she was too young anyway.

"She's happy, very happy. They're great together." Said Reigen quickly. What was he supposed to say? Your daughter came home covered in hickeys the other night and I'm taking her to the clinic as soon as I can?

"That's good. I've met him, he's a very nice boy. I don't know how Shigeko got someone like him." said Hana. She really didn't. Shigeko had never even shown interest in a boy and now she had one and a pretty normal one at that. Well, aside from the questionable sense of color coordination.

"Mob's a great kid." Said Reigen trying to keep his annoyance to himself. No wonder she didn't want to come home. Reigen wouldn't either. Mob was a great person. She was kind, sweet, understanding, caring, devoted, and she always cleaned up after herself and rarely complained. Great kid.

"Shigeko is…she's Shigeko." Said Hana. She had meant that her daughter was difficult to describe, difficult to pin down. She saw him stiffen. Oh, what this man must have thought.

"Mob really is a great kid and I'm happy to take care of her for as long as she wants me to." Said Reigen downing the last of his tea.

"Thank you for doing this for us, for her. She…Shigeko needs you." Said Hana. Reigen took a deep breath. Sadness. Worry. Right, as harsh as this woman could be she was still Mob's mother.

"You're welcome. Would you like some more tea?" asked Reigen getting up so that he had something to do. Hana shook her head.

"No, I must be going. Thank you, though." Said Hana as she rushed out. Reigen poured himself a cup of tea anyway and downed it. He needed a real drink. He heard footsteps coming closer and closer. Well then, back to it. He sat down at his desk and saved his text file. He'd get back to that later. He sat up straight and watched the door waiting for the next walk in. Time to be Reigen Arataka, the one everyone was expecting, again.

Mob walked to work on her own. It felt bad, walking without Teru, but he hadn't wanted her to skip club that day. She missed him even though she had just seen him that morning. She was lonely, lie before, and it was a bad feeling. She walked quickly, trying to get to work as soon as possible.

Master Reigen would be there.

She missed him, too, even though the lived together and they saw each other all the time now. She just didn't want to be alone. Ritsu had even run away when she tried to talk to him. She figured that he must have just been busy, he wasn't actually running from her. They may have had their differences but they still loved each other. They were siblings, no matter what differences they had they would always love each other.

The world seemed to stretch out before her endlessly. The walk to work feeling like a thousand mile trek. It wasn't, though, obviously, and she found herself racing up the stairs to the office soon enough. She walked through the door calmly, though, so that she wasn't rude.

"Hey Mob." Said Reigen as he made up a lucky charm for a client. He felt Mob's eyes lingering on him.

"Hello, Master." Said Mob. She could see something stuck to his back, sticky and black and gross. Reigen reached over to take the client's payment and knocked his ink well over. Mob knew that that was, it was a curse.

Who would ever curse Master Reigen?

She sat down at her desk and watched him. He didn't seem to notice a thing. That curse hadn't been there that morning, either.

"Something on my face?" asked Reigen as he watched Mob watching him. She shook her head.

"No, Master. Just a curse stuck to your back." Said Mob. Did he really not notice? Well, it was really low level.

"What! Mob! Get it off, quick!" said Reigen jumping up from his chair and twisting around as if he was trying bat it away. Mob stood up and walked over to him.

"Yes Master, but you've got to stop moving." Said Mob. This was a split second decision, nothing more. Master Reigen had told her that she needed to learn how to rub backs and, well, she had always wanted to know what it would be like. This was for a real reason, to, and it wasn't anything in the category of stuff either, so it was ok.

"Ok, ok! Just get it off!" said Reigen. She walked behind him and traced her hand down his back before digging in a little. He felt her energy wash over him. She snatched her hand away quickly.

"Ok. I got rid of it." Said Mob as she walked back to her desk. She used her powers to pull on of her books out and pretended to read it just so that Master Reigen couldn't see her blushing. She could barely see his aura so he probably couldn't feel her feelings, either.

"Thanks Mob, you're a life saver." Said Reigen as he sat down. That was really nice of her. It must have been a powerful curse, then, if she had to touch him to get rid of it. He felt bad though, she seemed pretty embarrassed.

"It wouldn't have killed you. The worst that would have happened was you tripping down the stairs." Said Mob, her face still buried in a book. She couldn't lie to Master Reigen.

"That could easily end up killing me, Mob. Not everyone is as durable as you are." Said Reigen sitting down. She was still embarrassed. He reached out to her with his powers and sent her calming feelings. The blush left her face.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob feeling much better. She put the book down on her desk normally.

"No, thank you. I can't believe that I didn't notice that thing clinging to me." Said Reigen with a shudder. Mob looked over at him.

"Maybe because it was so low level. It could have been because you keep trying to hide your aura." Said Mob. She liked it better when he mixed his aura with hers. They felt closer that way. She missed it.

"You think?" asked Reigen. He figured that the curse wasn't low level, Mob was just massively powerful. He could accept that about her, really, and wasn't the least bit jealous of her at all.

"Yes. I wouldn't lie." Said Mob going back to her book. Reigen watched her read for a moment. Right. He had to tell her. He couldn't keep something like this from her.

"Your mom came by today while you were at school." Said Reigen after a few moment. Mob didn't even look up.

"I'm not going back home." Said Mob. No. She was staying with Master Reigen. She wasn't a baby, she could decide where she lived. She was going to live in a place where she was wanted.

"You didn't even ask me why she came by." Said Reigen taken aback by her response. Great. Now stubborn Mob was back.

"I can't think of any other reason why she could come here to talk to you." Said Mob with a shrug. She loved her parents and that was why she wasn't ever coming home. She remembered how her mom had yelled at her and how her dad had just let her go. No. She would stay in a place where she was wanted and she didn't make anyone angry or afraid.

"Mob, your mom misses you." Said Reigen practically choking on his words. He knew that Mob was happier with him and he knew that he was happier with her. He had to do the right thing, though. He had to be a good person.

"Did she say that?" asked Mob looking over at him.

"Not in those words." Said Reigen

"Then what did she say?" asked Mob. Reigen could literally feel how stubborn she was. He was being hit by the strength of her convictions as he sat there under her stare.

"She asked about you and brought you some stuff you left behind." Said Reigen motioning to the plastic shopping bag next to his desk. He could relief, now, her relief.

"Oh. Then she wants me to stay with you." Said Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"Mob, I think she wants you to come home." Said Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"My home is with you, Master. We have a home together now." Said Mob. Reigen needed a moment. That was the pure and utter truth. They had made a home together, now. Well, for about two weeks. It had been a wonderful two weeks, though.

"But you also have a home with your family." Said Reigen, the words tasting bitter in his mouth. Why was it wrong for him to want her to stay? They were happy together. He was nicer to her and he paid her more positive attention in two weeks than her own mother had paid her in God only knew how long. Even when talking about the daughter she supposedly missed she still managed to slip in plenty of put downs and criticisms.

"I like the home we have together much better." Said Mob simply. No change in tone or feelings. Flat fact.

"Mob…don't you miss your brother?" asked Reigen. Mob thought for a moment.

"I think Ritsu is better off with the way things are now. He was so mean to me and so angry that night, I don't ever want to make him feel like that again. He has more friends now, too, and he found someone to love. If I want to see him I can see him at school or after school and he can see me then too. It's not like I moved to the moon or anything." Said Mob once again stating a flat fact. Reigen shook his head.

"Nobody could ever be better off without you, Mob." Said Reigen. That did nothing to reassure her, he could tell.

"You're like me, Master, and you've always been like me. You understand. People without powers don't understand and I scare them. I don't want to scare anyone and I don't want to make anyone feel bad." Said Mob. Reigen opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping for air. He couldn't…he couldn't tell her the truth. No. The truth would destroy her.

"Mob…Mob I'm not going to make you do anything that you don't want to do. I won't kick you out but I do want you to…at least think about it." Said Reigen

"I have thought about it and my mind is made up. I want to be with you forever." Said Mob. Reigen shook his head. She had no idea what she was saying, the weight of those words.

"Mob, forever is a long time." Said Reigen

"I know and I don't want this to end. I'm happy, Master, and I never, ever want us to go our separate ways." Said Mob

"Mob, you going home wouldn't mean that we would end up going our separate ways." Said Reigen feeling a headache coming on. He forgot this part about being young. She thought that she knew everything, she thought that she had her entire life all figured out. It was his job as the adult to pull her back down to Earth.

"Yes it would. Not all the way but it would go back to how it was before. I don't want to just go home and wait for tomorrow to happen. I don't want to sit at a table where everyone is upset and the atmosphere is so heavy that I keep on bending spoons and I get yelled at. I don't want to have to be yelled at because I'm bad at school and I look sloppy and I keep breaking things on accident with my powers. I don't want to have everyone afraid of me or mad at me because of who I am. I don't….Master Reigen sometimes my parents look at me like I'm a monster." Said Mob softly

"Mob…." Said Reigen

"You've never once looked at me like that. You're always so nice to me, Master. You're nice and you talk to me like I'm a person. You do that even when I ask you too many questions and I keep you up all night. I like being with you, Master." Said Mob taking a breath

"Mob, listen-" said Reigen before he was cut off

"I like waking up next to you every single morning and I like going to sleep next to you every night. I like eating breakfast with you and riding the train with you. The school day feels shorter, too, because I know that I'll see you again after school. When we're at work I'm happy because I know that we'll go home and hang out and have dinner and then we'll go to sleep and do it all again. You make me so happy, Master." Said Mob, everything coming up like word vomit. She had wanted to find the words for how she felt for so long and now she did.

"Mob…Shigeko….I…" said Reigen. Sincerity. Love. Caring. Devotion. There were intense feelings that she was practically screaming at him. If she had been anyone else he could have swore that she…no. This was Mob.

"You never call me Shigeko." Said Mob softly. Did that mean he was mad? His aura felt startled. Not afraid, just surprised. Was that good surprise or bad surprise? She hadn't meant to say so much, it had just kept coming up. He needed to know that she would never, ever, go back home again and why she wouldn't.

"I'm just…Mob…I had no idea…" said Reigen. She had no idea what she was saying. She had no idea what that sounded like. She was too young. To her these were just words, this was just how she felt. She didn't know the depth of what she was expressing. No. She did. He could see it, the depth of her emotions.

"I told you I loved you, Master. I wouldn't just say that to you." Said Mob softly. She hadn't meant to confess and therefore this wasn't a confession. They had already exchanged I love yous and she did feel the same sort of love for him as he did for her. The caring sort of love, the die for someone love. He felt that for her and she felt that for him.

"Mob…Shigeko…you know what kind of love I meant, right?" asked Reigen finally, his tongue sticking to his teeth. He took a drink of tea. Ice cold.

"You love me but you aren't in love with me. I know that, Master, and that's what I meant too." Said Mob. That was all she had meant by that. She couldn't mean anything more. She was still too little and she loved Teru too. She didn't want to hurt him or anyone but she also wanted to be happy. It was hard, sometimes.

"Right. I just…Mob….I didn't…I didn't know I meant that much to you." Said Reigen after a moment. Reigen was sure that he imagined the bitter note to her voice, before. This was Mob. She was fourteen. He was twice her age. She knew him since she was eleven. She didn't….she didn't have…

"You didn't? But I told you that I loved you." Said Mob. She didn't just throw things like 'I love you' around. She cared more about Master Reigen than almost anyone else. He had been there for her when nobody else had. He had saved her from becoming a terrible person.

"Perpetuity. That was the word you used." Said Reigen as he finished the rest of his tea. Still ice cold.

"Yes, I meant it. I want to be together with you in perpetuity." Said Mob simply. She held eye contact with him. He felt like he was being held under a microscope.

"You're fourteen. You don't know what that means." Said Reigen dismissively. Mob shook her head.

"It means forever. You already promised me forever, Master, and I promised you." Said Mob hoping that he had just forgotten. Reigen bit the inside of his cheek. Damn. He had promised her forever, hadn't he?

"But then where does Teru fit into all of this?" asked Reigen. Mob was talking like she had…feelings…for him. She didn't. She so obviously didn't. She was just being her usual awkward self. That was it.

"Teru? Wherever he wants to. He's not here right now so I can't ask him and I can't text him because he's still at soccer practice probably. We've talked about this, though, before. He's worried about me going but I told him that I wouldn't ever go anywhere." Said Mob. Reigen let out a sigh of relief. Mob didn't have feelings for him and he was certifiably insane for even thinking that.

"Mob. Mob, what do you want? Out of life, I mean." Asked Reigen. He had promised her forever. Was forever feasible? He had been selfish, then. He had only been thinking of himself, how he didn't want to lose her.

"I want to be happy, Master. I want to grow up and have half the business like you promised so then that way we can always be together. I want to have friends and to love and to have someone who loves me." Said Mob. She knew that when she grew up, when she was finally old enough to be with Master Reigen, then it would be a mess. She didn't want to think about that. She did love Teru. She did love Master Reigen. She'd chose when she was a grown up. Yes. She'd chose then.

"That's all?" asked Reigen. She was so…Mob. Simple. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. That was….she had attainable goals. Not like him when he had been her age.

"What else is there?" asked Mob not realizing how loaded her question was. She was curious. She only wanted the things that mattered. She knew that some people wanted fame, fortune, power, all of that. She just wanted to be happy.

"Mob, Shigeko, you're talking about spending your life with me." Said Reigen. There. He said it. She was fourteen and she had attainable goals. Those goals just seemed to revolve around him. He was that person to her.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Master…with you, Reigen Arataka." Said Mob. Reigen felt like he had been punched in the gut.

"Mob…you used my full name. You never do that." Said Reigen. He had never in his life imagined anyone saying those words to him but there they were. She had thrown them down like an offering, like a challenge, and she hadn't even realized it. These were just words to her. Her words. This was how she felt. There was nothing else to her. She wanted to spend her life with him, nothing more and nothing less.

"You called me Shigeko. You only do that when you want my attention. I called you by your full name to get your attention. You don't believe me. You keep trying to tell me reasons why I should go home to my parent's house. You keep talking to me like I don't know what I mean, like I'm just saying things. Master, this is how I feel. I told you how I felt before. You're the person that I care about and I know you care about me to. You've made me so happy, Master, and I never want this to end." Said Mob holding eye contact with him so that he knew that she was serious.

"Mob, if it were up to me then this would never end." Said Reigen. He was grateful for the distance between them, physically, because he wanted to pick her up. He wanted to hug her, to hold her. This was another positive feedback loop, he was sure of it. Both of their emotions were laying out there unguarded. Emotional intimacy. He had never been this emotionally intimate with another person in his life…and it was Mob.

Was this right? Was it right to feel this way with her? About her? Would it be right to hold her and never let her go? To tell her 'Shigeko I want to be with you for forever and a day'? She…she understood him. She understood him and she was there for him and he understood her and he was there for her. This was the most genuine relationship he had ever had with another human being.

"Why do you think that it has to? You promised me that we would always be together. You promised me that you would love me when I was a grown up. You promised me that we would never go our separate ways. You made me promises, Master, and I know that they weren't lies. I know that you would never, ever lie to me." Said Mob. Master wanted what was best for her, she decided. The only problem was that what she thought was best for her and what he thought was best for her were different. She needed to make him see things the way she saw them. If they were both happy then what could be possibly be the problem?

"I did….I promised you….and I meant it." Said Reigen. He had meant every single word he had said. He would lie to her, he had lied to her, but not about that.

"Then what's wrong? I want to be with you and you want to be with me." Said Mob hoping that he was starting to understand.

"I don't….Mob I don't want to hold you back." Said Reigen finally. In her was a world of promise. She was not only a powerful esper but a better person than he would ever be. He had to work at it, being a good person. She just was. She was such a good person and he did not deserve her at all.

"Master Reigen, you don't hold me back. Master, you build me up. You made me a good person. Without you I think…I think that I would have ended up like those espers from Claw." Said Mob wiping a tear from her eyes. She didn't know which one of them had started crying but they both had tears in their eyes.

"Sorry, Mob, sorry. I shouldn't have even started this. You were just…you were just speaking in absolutes. You're too young to speak in absolutes. I will be there for you for as long as I can, Mob, but neither of us should speak in absolutes." Said Reigen. He got up after a moment and she did she. He held her, briefly, because it had been a lot.

"But why shouldn't I speak in absolutes if I absolutely mean it?" asked Mob as they broke apart. Reigen brushed a lock of her from her face, lingering. She was looking up at him, again, with her wide eyes. Trusting. Loving. She held eye contact with him. She was doing that a lot today.

"Because…neither of us has any idea of the future…not even your clairvoyant friend." Said Reigen, his hand still lingering. He knew that he needed to step back from her, to give her space. He was close, very close, he knew how it looked. He knew how their entire relationship looked. He wished that for just one moment he could truly not care. They weren't like that. You could have emotional intimacy with someone without it being sordid.

"But we promised." Said Mob softly as she looked up at Master Reigen. She knew that she should have taken a step back, that people needed space, but she didn't want to. This felt nice. This felt right. Him. Her. Them.

"I know…I know. I want to…I want things to always be like this too…." Said Reigen softly, his tone matching hers.

"I don't understand." Said Mob. If they both wanted it when what was the problem?

"You will when you're older." Said Reigen. Mob frowned.

"I don't think that it's a real answer, when people say that." Said Mob still holding eye contact.

"Mob…I don't want to make you think that things are absolutely going to go the way you planned. I don't think that I could ever make you…Mob I don't want to hold you back. I'm glad that you're happy, I want to make you happy, but I don't….I don't want to hold you back." Said Reigen. Mob still held eye contact with him.

"Master. No. You know that you don't hold me back. Stop saying that." Said Mob

"I don't want…you're right. I'm sorry." Said Reigen. He was upsetting her. He needed to stop. He had thought that it was his own selfishness. He had thought that in wanting her to be with him he was being his old selfish self. It had just been too much, her laying her feelings down before him like that. Whenever someone had laid his feelings down for them like that he had pushed them away and ran.

Those had all been girlfriends, though.

Mob was **not** his girlfriend. She wasn't. Then why had he reacted the in the same way? Why did it scare him, a little, the idea of forever? Why had he been trying to…to talk her out of it? To dismiss her feelings?

Why had he even thought that her feelings…how could he have ever thought that she could have those feelings for him? That was so completely and totally insane.

Maybe he just hated commitment.

He wouldn't, now. No. he couldn't. Mob needed him. She needed him and he would be there for her.

"Master….I'm sorry if I made you upset." Said Mob after a while. Reigen takes a step back.

"No, you didn't. I'm sorry for making **you** upset. I'm sorry, Mob. How about we call it quits early and go find some abandoned building to exorcise? You know, help some people." Said Reigen because the office just suddenly felt so **small** and he needed to be out there in the world. He needed to be out in the world, the big wide world, because this world, the world of the office, was just so small and it felt like he and Mob were the only two people in it.

"Like Mogami would?" asked Mob smiling. Reigen smiled back. He reached over and tugged her hair.

"You and Mogami." Said Reigen. They closed up the office and left. He could always make up the time tomorrow.

Besides, making Mob happy was more important.


	25. Comfort, Love, Understanding, Promises

A/N: Hi guys, I'm sorry that updates have been kind of slow lately. I've just been busy with work but I haven't forgotten you all. Also, I'm thinking of writing an M rated MobXReigen chapter. Is that something you guys would like? Also, who else is excited about the English dub? I know I am. Tell me what you guys think, I like hearing from you guys. That's how I know you guys are still enjoying this.

Mob was, once again, squished into the back seat of a too crowded car. This had been her idea, she even had to talk Master Reigen into helping these people again. They had promised to pay this time. They said that they were haunted by evil spirits and that they needed these spirits exorcised, and now. They had come back to the office yesterday but she and Master had been out clearing the abandoned parking garage. There were was an evil spirit in there that made you eternally itchy and another one that made everything you ate taste like plain tofu. Terrible curses, just terrible.

They were traveling down the same road as last time. An evil spirit had probably come in after them and eaten those neutral spirits. She told herself that. What else could it have been? The spirit in the photograph had looked different than what she seen at the abandoned house. Of course one didn't go by sight with spirits but instead by feel…

If it was those spirits again then she wouldn't exorcise them. She couldn't. Her life was her own and she would not exorcise those evil spirits no matter what.

"You alright back there, Mob?" asked Reigen. He was doing this for her. At least he had gotten the money up front this time. Another late night traipsing through the woods. Whatever, it was worth it. Making her happy was worth it.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob. She was squished by that woman again, she wore too much perfume, it was making her kind of motion sick. She wasn't going to complain. Master Reigen hadn't wanted to take this job. He had even cursed a lot but he couldn't say no money.

"Like, seriously, thanks man! We're sorry we stiffed you, before." Said yellow hoodie. Reigen shrugged. Another late night. He told himself over and over again that it was for Mob. She wanted to be a good person and help everyone. He needed to be the person who helped her to be a good person.

Yesterday. He had to make up for yesterday. Too much word vomit, too many feelings. He needed to make it up to her.

"Just be sure to give us a ride back, this time. She's in middle school. She shouldn't be out hitchhiking all night." Said Reigen in a tone that made it clear that he did not want to talk to anyone.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you guys want." Said yellow hoodie. The other two agree. He glanced at Mob. She seemed normal.

Mob watched the road for the entire drive there. It looked nice out here, peaceful. Natural. She liked it, even though she was squished in the back. Master Reigen kept on checking his phone. He was probably checking for the time since there was no service out there. That had been a problem, last time. They had to wait to find someone to hitchhike home with. Master Reigen had been more stressed than she had. Was he still stressed?

Reigen could feel her watching him. He made eye contact with her in the rear view mirror. He smiled at her, she smiled back. She was doing more of that lately. He stuffed down any annoyance that he felt. He really didn't want to take this job but she wanted to help people and therefore they had to help people because it made her happy.

They eventually made it back to that same path into the woods. This time, however, Reigen came prepared with flashlights.

"Pick one, Mob." Said Reigen holding out two hundred yen flashlights. Pink and the other silver. Mob picked the pink one without thinking. Everything that was pink was hers.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob clicking her flashlight on. Reigen ruffled her hair.

"Did I even have to ask?" asked Reigen as they followed their clients through the woods. Mob walked near him, her flashlight not doing too much to cut through the darkness. She didn't really need it, she was going by feel.

"No, not really. Usually when things are pink they're mine." Said Mob as they walked.

"Oh. Do you like pink, even?" asked Reigen. He had seen how much pink she owned and just assumed that she liked that color.

'It's a nice color." Said Mob. It was a decent color. She thought it was nice enough.

"But do you like it?" asked Reigen. Mob thought for a moment.

"I guess. It's a nice color. I'm used to my things being pink." Said Mob

"I thought that it was your favorite color, actually." Said Reigen feeling kind of stupid now.

"I think it is. I don't know, I don't really have a favorite color. I guess that pink is a good favorite color. Do you have a favorite color, Master?" Said Mob

"Pink, but don't tell anyone." Said Reigen. He could feel her confusion.

"Why not?" asked Mob, stumbling a little on the uneven ground. Reigen caught her and kept a steadying hand on her back.

"Because I'm a guy. I used to get made fun of, a lot, when I was a kid for liking pink." Said Reigen. Well, he got made fun of at school and yelled at by his parents. _Be normal, Arataka._

"That's dumb." Said Mob after a while. Picking on people was the dumbest thing in the world. If everyone was nice to each other than the world would be a much nicer place. She didn't even understand the impulse to be mean to another person. She could understand doing back things in the heat of the moment, even before there was another Shigeko she would get upset and hurt things when she was really little, but she couldn't understand just being mean.

"Your generation is different from mine. You guys accept more." Said Reigen. Mob's generation was much nicer than his, he decided. They just accepted everything that came to them. In his brief time as her everyone had been very nice.

"I mean I don't understand making fun of other people at all, Master." Said Mob

"I guess it's just something people do. They bring someone down to make themselves bigger." Said Reigen after a moment. Sometimes people were just mean. Mob, of course, didn't have a mean bone in her body.

"But you told me that bringing someone else down wouldn't make me any taller." Said Mob. Master Reigen had told her that back when she was eleven. The other girls had made fun of her because she had said something wrong. She had even more trouble getting a clue back then. Master Reigen had said that they were just trying to bring her down to make themselves seem taller but also that it wouldn't work.

"It won't, but a lot of people believe it." Said Reigen. Too many people believed that. Mob wasn't one of them, though.

"I don't understand." Said Mob. People were just too complicated, sometimes.

"I don't understand a lot of things." Said Reigen softly. Mob reached over and put an arm around him. Sad feelings. She was getting sad feelings from them.

"I don't understand why people are mean sometimes." Said Mob after a moment. Why? Why were people mean to each other? Maybe even Master Reigen didn't know the answer.

"Human nature." Said Reigen simply. He felt a burst of curiosity.

"What do you mean?" asked Mob. She had heard that phrase before.

"Somethings are just human nature, I think. Take these idiots. They're so afraid of a spirit, one that's not even bothering them, that they're dragging us into the woods in the middle of the night. They're doing this just because they're afraid and they're afraid because-" said Reigen. Mob shook her head. He could feel more confusion growing within her.

"They don't understand." Finished Mob. She had heard that, before. That people were afraid of what they didn't understand. Her parents didn't understand her, which was why they were afraid. Them being afraid made her nervous, which made her do stuff with her powers that she couldn't control, which then made it worse. Master Reigen wasn't afraid, though. He understood her.

"Yeah. People are sometimes afraid of what they can't understand." Said Reigen. How was she so wise, sometimes? When he had been her age he couldn't see past himself and here she was asking the big questions and coming up with the answers.

"That's why people are afraid of me." Said Mob flatly. Flat fact. Reigen reached up and brushed some of her hair out of her face.

"That and…." Said Reigen as he felt the energy clinging to her like static electricity.

"And what?" asked Mob. She knew that when people trailed off like that they were trying to have her fill in the blanks herself but she wasn't always the best at that.

"You know that you're powerful, right?" asked Reigen. The lights from their flashlights was barely enough to see by now. He had an arm around her, again, too. To keep her steady. It was dark and hundred yen flashlights weren't very good.

"….I know, Master." Said Mob softly as she leaned into him. He smelled nice, like cigarette smoke and incense and aftershave even though it had been an entire day since he had shaved. Well, it was called aftershave so it must have been meant to linger for a while after he shaved. She liked it.

"When people are faced with something so…something so far beyond their….Mob people are afraid of people stronger than them." Said Reigen trying to find words, the right words, but having them fail her. He needed something that she could understand, something that wouldn't hurt her feelings. How was he supposed to tell her that being the strongest meant that people would try to fight her? That people would try to prove themselves by fighting her? That people would fear her? That they wouldn't see what he saw when they looked at her?

"That's why Teru tried to fight me, when we met." Said Mob once again stating a fact. Teru had said the he thought that she was trying to steal everything he had. She hadn't been and now they loved each other.

"Yeah, probably." Said Reigen. He reminded himself that they were just kids and kids fought. That was normal. They fought and they grew out of it. Obviously they weren't fighting anymore and this kid made Mob happy. If Mob was happy then that was what mattered.

"Other people will too." Said Mob. She knew that it would happen again. She didn't want to fight but she would. She had to protect the people that she loved.

"No. I won't let that happen." Said Reigen in a tone that left no room for any kind of discussion.

"Everyone says that. You, Teru, Ritsu. They say that they'll protect me, but is that right? Is that right to ask the people I love to fight for me just because I don't like to?" asked Mob. She suspected that it wasn't. She knew that she had to power to protect the people she loved and she had to use it or they could die. Life was fragile. She knew that now.

"Mob. No. I won't let you fight." Said Reigen taking the same tone his mother had taken with him countless times in the past.

"Why? I know that I have to fight, sometimes. I know to run away, too, so you don't have to tell me that again. I think that because I'm so strong that I have to protect the people that I care about so that they don't die. That way nobody will die when someone tries to fight us again." Said Mob. She knew what she had said but if it came down to it she would be the one to fight with all that she had. She had seen Teru and Ritsu get beaten. She had even been Master Reigen, for a day, so she knew how it felt to be a regular sort of esper. How it felt to not have limitless power. How it felt to almost get hurt.

"Is someone trying to fight with you?" asked Reigen darkly. Mob shook her head.

"No. Nobody yet but….Master we almost died. It's been two weeks but I just…I think about it sometimes. I think about it and I think about how I'm going to have to fight and I'm going to have to win." Said Mob

"No. You're just-" said Reigen

"Don't say that I'm just a little girl." Said Mob. She was tired of hearing how little she was. She was tired of hearing about how incapable she was. She wasn't little anymore. She wasn't eleven anymore.

"You're just a kid, then." Said Reigen. Fine, he wouldn't bring the fact that she was a girl into it. She was still only fourteen. She wouldn't be fifteen until May. Fifteen was still young.

"I know I am, Master. I know that I'm a kid but….sometimes I feel like that's all that you'll let me be." Said Mob. He still thought that she was little. When was he going to stop thinking that she was still eleven?

"Mob, listen, I'm sorry about the other day-" said Reigen. He shouldn't been so dismissive of her. He shouldn't have dismissed her feelings. He shouldn't have tried to push her away. He should have listened to her.

"Why? Because we had a fight? I'm not mad at you about that." Said Mob. Yesterday had barely been a fight. It had been nice, actually, when they made up. It was good that Master Reigen understood her better now. It was good that he understood that when she said forever she meant forever.

"I still shouldn't have dismissed you like that, and I shouldn't have pushed you to…to go back home." Said Reigen. He shouldn't have pushed her away. He shouldn't have…she was too young to be thinking in absolutes like that. It scared him but he shouldn't have pushed her away.

"I'm still not mad at you. I could never be mad at you, Master." Said Mob. Mad at Master Reigen? That was crazy. She could sometimes be vaguely annoyed but never mad.

"You're speaking in absolutes again." Said Reigen

"Because that's the truth." Said Mob

"You've been mad at me before." Said Reigen, defensively. She must have been, at some point.

"No." said Mob flatly. She had never been truly angry with Master Reigen.

"Never?" asked Reigen. Surely at some point she must have been angry with him, right? He had been angry with her, before. He had been angry when she had put herself in danger. That was the only time he could ever remember being truly angry with her.

"Never ever." Said Mob

"What about when I would call you up to come and help me on short notice." Said Reigen. She had been annoyed, then, sometimes.

"I wasn't angry with you, then." Said Mob

"So you've never, ever, been mad at me?" asked Reigen skeptically. He could feel it from her. Complete and total honestly.

"Not in the real way." Said Mob. Annoyance wasn't anger.

"No, I guess not, then. I guess that you've never been mad at me. What am I saying, you're you. You don't get angry." Said Reigen. Well then. She was too nice, sometimes. She was so sweet and nice and didn't have a mean bone in her body. She just sort of took everything in and kept going.

"I do get angry, but not that often. I was angry when Ritsu got kidnapped. I was angry during the fight with Claw." Said Mob. She had been angry, very angry. Rage. All of that, those feelings, the ones that fueled the other Shigeko, they had all bubbled out. She felt anger, she just always squished it down to keep from exploding.

"I should have been there." Said Reigen, stopping their trek. He watched the lights ahead of them get further and further away. He could feel Mob beside him. She wasn't afraid. She wasn't afraid of the darkness around them. She trusted him. She trusted that he would always keep her safe.

"You were there." Said Mob. He had been there and he had been amazing. He had walked into battle for her, he had given her the option of running away. He had saved them. He had saved her. He was Master Reigen and he was truly the most amazing person she had ever met.

"Not when you needed me." Said Reigen. If he had been there from the start then none of that would have happened. It didn't matter. He was there for her now and he would always be there for her no matter what.

"I don't like it when we talk about this." Said Mob. She knew what had happened. It had happened and now it was over. Two weeks was a long time.

"I'm sorry, Mob, but…if you ever want to talk about it talk to me. Alright? Lord knows you talk to me about everything else…." Said Reigen. She had almost died. That wasn't the sort of thing that a person just got over in a couple weeks.

"Master, I know that I can talk to you about anything. I can talk to you about anything and you can talk to me about anything. I just don't want to talk about what happened, I just want it to be done with." Said Mob. Everyone was still upset over what happened. They were trying to get back to normal. Mob was back to normal. In trying to get back to normal you weren't being normal at all.

"I can think of a few things I'd like to be done with…" said Reigen. He could hear those clients ahead of them arguing about which way to go. They were pretty far ahead, now. Reigen could just barely make out the lights of their flashlights.

"Do you mean this?" asked Mob. She knew that Master Reigen didn't want to take this job. He had been annoyed. She could tell. He had been hiding in her aura, not as much as the first time. The first time he had plunged into her like she was a swimming pool. Now he was just dipping his feet, getting a feel for her.

"Mob, you're getting better at reading the atmosphere." Said Reigen. That was true. He just wanted this job to be done with. Money or not if he hadn't had Mob's feelings to consider he would have just told those guys to drop dead and chase the spirit off themselves.

"No, your aura just feels annoyed when you look over there. You're giving me your feelings." Said Mob. It wasn't a bad feeling, not really, him sharing with her.

"Shit. Sorry, Mob." Said Reigen. He had been in her aura again. He shouldn't do things like that, hide behind her. Within her. She just felt…familiar…safe…like an old blanket he couldn't quite bring himself to part with.

"It's alright, I know that you can't control it all the way." Said Mob simply. She thought for a moment before taking his hand in hers. Just for a moment, she hadn't held his hand, just squeezed it. Just reassured him. She knew full well what it was like to not be able to control your powers. How scary it could be. How overwhelming.

"Thanks Mob. We should…we should catch up to them. You know, to get this over with." Said Reigen. She was the master, in that moment. She was the master reassuring her student. That was not the way that it was supposed to go. That was backwards.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob. She had been the master, then, and him the student. It was backwards, then, but not bad. They were there for each other. She opened up her perceptions to the entire aural spectrum. No evil spirits nearby. Well at least this had been a nice nature walk.

"Hey! Are you guys coming?!" the woman was yelling. Mob looked over towards Reigen and shrugged. It didn't feel like an evil spirit at all.

"Duty calls, Mob, duty calls." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and then walked ahead of him. He followed her, a little less sure footed. Her aura was showing a little on the visible spectrum. She wasn't angry though. Oh, she was looking for the spirit. He couldn't feel anything but he wasn't anywhere near as sensitive as she was.

"Whoa! Hey, check it out! She's doing the thing!" that had been black jacket. Mob could move pretty fast when she wanted to. She had already made it to that same abandoned house as yesterday. She was staring at…something.

"Hey, Mob, you find the evil spirit yet?" said Reigen as he caught up to her. She was standing stick straight. Her aura was visible. Her hair was acting up. Their clients were taking pictures.

"Master. These are neutral spirits." Said Mob. No. She would not exorcise these spirits. They were pleading with her. She felt Master Reigen next to her. She was looking as far as she could for an evil spirit. None around for kilometers. Many, many, many kilometers.

"What are you going to do?" asked Reigen putting a hand on her shoulder. She was bothered. They had come out all this way and she…he wasn't going to make her do anything that she didn't want to.

"What do you mean, man?! Kill the damned thing!" said yellow hoodie. Mob was still staring at where Reigen presumed that the spirits were. He tried to focus, to see the entire aural spectrum. He could only see faint grey blobs, and that was when he focused as hard as he could. Neutral spirits. Mob said that they were everywhere. He couldn't see them, usually. This was the first time, actually.

"They're already dead. They're a family. They just want to be together, now, in eternity perpetuity." Said Mob. She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't. Why wasn't Master calling this off? Did she have to? Did Master Reigen want her to? She had to listen to Master Reigen. He was the master and she was the student. This was wrong, though, so very wrong.

"Get rid of them! They're seriously creepy!" said the woman. Reigen wondered what was up with Mob. If she wasn't going to do it then she wasn't going to do it. At the end of the day her life was her own and she could do whatever she wanted with it.

"Master…I don't want to." Said Mob softly

"We'll pay you triple! Quadruple! Quintuple!" said yellow hoodie. Reigen was, for a moment, temped. Just for a moment, that was all. No. Mob was more important than money. Her happiness was what mattered the most.

"Mob, you don't have to. Your life is your own." Said Reigen turning her around. If she wasn't comfortable then she didn't have to perform the exorcism.

"What? Seriously! Who cares what that brat wants-" said yellow hoodie. Reigen turned on his heel and dumped an entire bag of table salt onto them. They began to cough and sputter.

"There. It's done. You can all go home now." Said Reigen. Sure he could have actually performed the exorcism himself but he figured that Mob wouldn't want him to. It would be wrong, anyway. These were neutral spirits. They were just trying to exist.

"Seriously man?! That's all you're going to-" said yellow hoodie. Reigen let his own aura show. His eyes were narrowed. He was pissed and he was projecting it.

"We. Are. Done. Here." Said Reigen. They backed off and walked, quickly, away. Damn. Well then, another night hitchhiking. He could have used that quadruple though…no. Mob was much more important than money. Those idiots weren't even good for it, probably.

"I'm sorry Master. Now we don't have money and we have to walk all the way home." Said Mob

"Don't be ridiculous, Mob, we'll just hitchhike." Said Reigen leading her down the path. She held up their flashlights with her powers.

"So you're not mad?" asked Mob. She glanced back at the family. They were happy that she hadn't exorcised them. They had been afraid of her. Master Reigen wasn't though. She walked closer to him.

"No, why would I be?" asked Reigen. She wasn't comfortable performing the exorcism. Of course he wouldn't force her to.

"Because…because I didn't listen." Said Mob. She knew that she was just the student and that she had to listen to Master Reigen because he was the master.

"Mob, I didn't order you to do anything. If I ever give you a direct order it's going to be in a life or death situation. Do you understand? I will never make you do something that you aren't comfortable with." Said Reigen

"Because my life is my own?" asked Mob

"Yes. Your life is your own. I will only give you a direct order that you have to follow if your life is in danger." Said Reigen. He knew that trust she placed in him, the power that he had over her. He would never abuse that power.

"Yes, Master. I understand." Said Mob. Master really was amazing. Master Reigen cared about her.

They made it home, eventually. They hitched a ride in a truck that smelled like tofu, probably because it was full of tofu. Mob had fallen asleep in Master Reigen's lap with his suit coat as a blanket. They had both crammed into the only passenger seat of the truck. Mob slept and Reigen got to hear all about the economic crash of the early 90's and why it was all engineered by the government for various, quail based, reasons.

It hadn't been a bad ride, actually. Reigen heard some interesting theories, learned a lot of about quail, and Mob got some sleep in. It hadn't been that bad a night at all. Well, up to that point at least. He still had to find their way home. Well, he knew how to get there, but it took a while and he was loathe to wake her. He had to, though. He shook her awake as they entered city limits.

"Mob, wake up. We've got to get out now." Said Reigen. She was sitting on his lap, her head buried in his chest. Her arms were wrapped around him, too. Slackly, because she had been asleep. He reached under his suit coat and ran a hand up and down her back. He had one hand around her, resting at the dip of her waist and the supporting her under her knees.

"….like that…." Said Mob still half asleep. Reigen snatched his hand away. Well yes, she had liked that. Too much, if anything. Reigen reminded himself that she was fourteen; that was all hormones. She couldn't help it.

"Mob, wake up already." Said Reigen shaking her a little. Her eyes opened and she turned beat red.

"…sorry I drooled on you." Said Mob softly. The door was opened for them and she used her powers to get herself down, handing Reigen his suit coat back as she descended. Ick. She had drooled on him. He'd have to rinse this shirt out when he got home.

"It's fine, Mob, and don't forget your school bag." Said Reigen handing her back her school bag. She had been smart to bring it with. It was way too late to go back to the office and then home. Maybe she was clairvoyant, too.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Sleeping with someone was always easier than sleeping alone. She drifted off easier when Master Reigen was near so she drifted off extra easily when she was on top of him. Not in a Teru sort of way, that was different.

"Have a good nap, Mob?" asked Reigen as they made their way to a nearby bus stop. Mob nodded.

"Yes. I slept very well. You're very comfortable." Said Mob. That had been nice, feeling him breath, listening to his heart beat.

"You are too, Mob." Said Reigen. She wasn't heavy, not at all. She was warm, like a cat. Adorable. Mob was simply adorable sometimes.

"When does the next bus come?" asked Mob as Reigen read the posted schedule.

"Not for a while. Damn…" said Reigen. Well, they could always start walking…no then they'd be walking all night. He forgot how big Seasoning City was, sometimes.

"I could try to fly us home." Said Mob softly. Reigen shook his head.

"It's dark out. I'd rather not get us lost in the middle of the night when you have school tomorrow. Besides, you're wearing a skirt anyway." Said Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"I keep my skirt down with my powers when I fly." Said Mob. Of course she did. Then everyone could see up her skirt and that would be embarrassing.

"I thought you hated flying." Said Reigen. She got motion sick so easily. Oh, right. Her mom said that it was all the milk she drank, partially. Maybe he'd get her that dairy free milk. Then again she wasn't a little kid, of she wanted to drink liters upon liters of milk then she could drink liters upon liters of milk.

"I don't as much as I used to. It's a fast way to get around when I need to. Night flying is harder because it's harder to see where I am. I can lift a lot, though, without getting tired at all. I could probably lift you too, Master." Said Mob. She could be trusted to fly the two of them. She wasn't little. She had better control than she used to have.

"I'll pass. We can just wait here for the next…twenty minutes. You can use this time to get some homework done." Said Reigen. Mob watched him for a moment before sitting down on the bench and pulling out her math workbook. Well, no sense in putting off the inevitable.

"Master, why is math so hard?" asked Mob as she tried to figure out how to even begin to solve this problem. Reigen sat down next to her and leaned over her shoulder.

"That's one of life's great mysteries, Mob." Said Reigen risking a glance at her workbook. Ouch. Why did they torture kids with this? He had made it to almost twenty nine without ever needing to use that in his daily life.

"I don't even know if I'm doing this right." Muttered Mob. Reigen took it from her. He wracked his brain for some memory of this. He vaguely remembered something like this. Yes. Now he remembered.

"You're doing fine, Mob." Said Reigen handing her back her book. He was hit with a wave of gratitude. He pulled away from her. She frowned.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob. She felt him pull his aura away from hers. He did that a lot. She didn't know why but she figured that it was something that she was doing.

"For what?" asked Reigen

"You pulled away from me. You do that sometimes. A lot, actually. I'm sorry if I'm doing something wrong." Said Mob staring down at her workbook. She crossed her ankles and let her fringe fall over her eyes.

"Mob, it's not you. It's me." Said Reigen. He reached towards her intending to tilt her head up so their eyes could meet but at the last second pulled his hand back.

_Then why do you keep touching her so much?_

"I've heard that on TV before. Doesn't that mean that it is my fault?" said Mob. That was also a break up line. Mob didn't spend so many years of her life watching animes where people fell in love to not understand these things.

"Ok, yeah, it is a line. When did you get so observant?" asked Reigen. For someone who stared off into space so often she could be pretty observant.

"I don't know. I just remembered that was a line I heard in a lot of shows." Said Mob still staring at her book.

"I shouldn't have said that to you. You deserve a real answer, Mob." Said Reigen

"I really am sorry if I did something wrong." Said Mob. Tonight, yesterday, ever. Yesterday Master Reigen had been in her aura, deep into her aura. They shared feelings. Happy ones, sad ones, all of them. It felt wonderful but maybe it was too much.

"Mob, you didn't. I just…I shouldn't be in your aura so much." Said Reigen. He should have more control over his own powers. He shouldn't lean on her so much. He shouldn't have broken down so many of the boundaries between them.

"Why not? I don't mind. Do you mind?" Said Mob. She liked it, feeling him. He spent so much time inside of her aura that he, his yellow, even had a place in the fractals of her pink and blue.

"It's not about minding or not minding. It's just…Mob, I care about you, I really do and I…I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Said Reigen. He was close to her, he cared about her, and he didn't want to bother her. He didn't want to make her feel weird. He had always been touchy feely with her, always shown her affection. Now, well, it was different. More. Being inside of her aura, feeling her feelings and sharing his with her, it was a lot.

"Uncomfortable? Why would I be uncomfortable, Master?" asked Mob genuinely not knowing what he was getting at. She loved how close they were, how close they had gotten. She never wanted to be apart from him.

"It's intimate, Mob. It's not that kind of intimate but it is intimate." Said Reigen getting to the point. He could feel her confusion and her embarrassment.

"When you say that it's intimate you don't mean sex right?" said Mob blunt as ever. Oh. Now Master was embarrassed. Well she needed to know what he meant.

"Hell no! Mob! Don't think that! Ever!" said Reigen. It wasn't even in the same country as that!

"Then why is it wrong? I really don't understand." Said Mob

"I just…this is hard for me to explain. I just don't want to make you uncomfortable and I feel like…" said Reigen. He felt like he was too close to her. He felt like he put too much on her. He felt like she wasn't ready for the way she felt. He wasn't ready for the way she felt. They weren't ready for the way they felt. The way they felt was too big, too much. The way they felt was too much for master and student. He was irresponsible for letting her feel that way. He was irresponsible for feeling that way about her. He loved Mob and Mob loved him. Not romantic love. Not sexual love. This was something else. This was deep and warm and safe but big. This was a lot. This was a lot for her. For him. For them.

"Master, you could never make me feel uncomfortable. You're always looking out for me and making me happy. You even got me a futon so that I'd be comfortable." Said Mob

"That's not the kind of comfortable I was talking about, Mob." Said Reigen with a groan. Literal. Why was she so damned literal all the time?

"The bus is here." Said Mob as she put her workbook away. She had gotten some of it done during lunch and some then so she could probably just finish this on the train on the way to school.

"Right. Well, come on." Said Reigen. She stood before he did. He reached over without thinking and straightened her school shirt. It had ridden up in the back. There. He did it again. Maybe he did touch her too often.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. She was getting taller, maybe. Her shirt was doing that a lot more than it used to. Master had her, though. He was always looking out for her.

They boarded the thankfully empty bus and sat down towards the back. Mob leaned into him and waited for him to put an arm around her like he always did. Master Reigen didn't, though. That was weird. Maybe he really was upset about something.

"Master?" asked Mob. Reigen had been looking out the window. She was leaning into him again. She was so warm and soft, like a cat really. She was expecting him to hold her like he usually did.

"What's up?" asked Reigen. Mob watched him, let her aura touch his. He was keeping his too close, again. He was learning how to control his powers just like he did before. She didn't want it to go back to the way it was before.

"You seem kind of upset. I think that you're upset because you're being really quiet and you won't put your arm around me like you usually do when we ride the bus. Also before you kept on saying that you were worried about making me uncomfortable." Said Mob

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" asked Reigen

"Why did you answer my question with a question?" asked Mob

"To give myself time to think. If you ever need time to think answer someone's question with a question." Said Reigen

"Why don't you just tell me that you need time to think?" asked Mob

"Sorry. Sometimes I just forget that the rules of conversation are lost on you." Said Reigen

"I know that I'm bad at talking to people. I'm sorry, Master. I'll try harder." Said Mob softly. Reigen put an arm around her. Boundaries be damned she needed some love.

"No, that was a mean thing to say. You can talk to people Mob. People love you." Said Reigen

"Sometimes I'm weird. Talking is complicated. It's like we're all playing a new sport in gym but I missed half the rules." Said Mob

"Everyone feels like that sometimes." Said Reigen

"But I feel like that all the time." Said Mob

"I know. I wish I could make it easier for you. You know what, though? You're an amazing person so it balances out. People still want to be your friend even though you can be awkward. People love you because you're a sweet, kind, thoughtful, caring person. The truth of your charm is in your kindness. That's what draws people to you." Said Reigen

"…sometimes I think that it's my powers that draw people to me." Said Mob

"They help, I'm sure that they do, but you're a good person. If people only wanted to be around you because of your powers they would have gotten bored by now. I mean, you only use them for work or in little mundane ways. Even though it's cool watching you crack an egg with telekinesis gets boring after the hundredth time." Said Reigen

"Do you think that people would still want to be my friend even if I didn't have powers?" asked Mob

"Of course. I don't understand how anyone could ever possibly turn down your friendship." Said Reigen

"People used to, when I was little, but I was weirder then. Back then I used my powers all the time and I talked to spirits and I was even worse at talking to people. Now I think that I got better at talking to people, or maybe people just got nicer. Do people get nicer in middle school?" asked Mob

"Honestly? For me, back when I was your age, everyone got really mean by the time middle school rolled around. We weren't as nice back then, as you guys are now." Said Reigen

"Were you mean?" asked Mob

"Self-absorbed, mostly. I was such a self-absorbed jerk. I bragged a lot, too. I would do anything for attention, even stupid things. That's one of the reasons I started smoking." Said Reigen

"I don't think that you're any of those things. I think that you're amazing, Master, and I don't understand why anyone would think otherwise. I don't know why you think I'm uncomfortable, either. You make me comfortable. Like how I said that I was happy that you got me a futon. That was you making me both kinds of comfortable. I sleep best on the floor but also now I feel like your house is more like my house." Said Mob

"Mob…I just don't want you to be uncomfortable. I mean, does it bother you?" asked Reigen

"Does what bother me?" asked Mob

"This." Said Reigen, moving his arm for emphasis.

"When you hold me? No. of course not. You make me feel safe, Master. You make me feel safe and happy and I'm never uncomfortable when I'm with you." Said Mob

"I just don't want to push any boundaries." Said Reigen. He didn't want to push her past some invisible boundary and ruin everything.

"Boundaries?" asked Mob. She knew the word, it meant like a fence. Something that said this goes on this side and everything else needs to stay off of this side. She felt the boundary between her and the other Shigeko. It felt raw and gross, like when she bit the inside of her cheek really hard that one time.

"Lines, Mob. I don't want to cross a line with you." Said Reigen

"You haven't. Master, you've never crossed any of my lines." Said Mob. This she understood. It was like how she and Teru always asked each other if they were ok with what was happening when they were doing their fooley cooley alone time couple things.

"I don't even know where they are." Said Reigen. Where were they? He held her, he tugged her hair, he let her rest her head in his lap, he'd even squeezed her hand on occasion.

"Yes you do. Like before you knew that one of my lines was exorcising neutral spirits and you told me that I wouldn't have to. Then you threw salt at the clients which was mean but also a little funny." Said Mob

"Mob, that's different. I'm talking about physical lines." Said Reigen

"Oh. You mean like with me and Teru. We always ask if something is ok even though we're sure that it is because we don't want to push each other too far. I guess that there are those kinds of lines even when you aren't doing fooley cooley stuff." Said Mob

"I knew FLCL meant something." Muttered Reigen

"What?" asked Mob

"Nothing. Just, yeah, it's sort of like that. I mean, I touch you a lot, Mob. I just…I know how it looks." Said Reigen

"To who? Nobody's here, just the neutral spirits." Said Mob

"There's spirits around here?" asked Reigen

"Yes, there are neutral spirits everywhere." Said Mob

"….I can't see them." Said Reigen

"You said before that you couldn't see low level spirits." Said Mob

"Right…they must be too low level." Said Reigen. He wondered what she saw, exactly. What was she always staring at? What could she be seeing? What beauties? What horrors?

"I like how you stood up for me, Master. I like how you told me that I didn't have to exorcise those spirits even though it lost you money." Said Mob

"I've told you before, Mob, let me be the one who worries about money." Said Reigen

"I'm your friend, Master. We live together and we work together, too. I don't know why you don't want me to worry about money. It seems like something important to worry about." Said Mob

"Because I'm the adult here, Mob. You aren't a little kid anymore, I'll give you that, but money is something that only I need to worry about. It's like how school is something that you worry about. I mean I'll help you but school is kid world. School is the kid world and money is the adult world. Let me worry about money, ok? Remember boundaries? Well this is a boundary." Said Reigen

"So if I worry about money then that's crossing your boundary?" asked Mob

"Exactly. See, you get it." Said Reigen

"Yes Master, I understand. Thank you for telling me. I like it when people tell me the rules instead of just assuming that I already know them." Said Mob

"You're welcome, Mob. I'll always be there for you." Said Reigen as their bus pulled to a stop at the train station.

As luck would have it their train pulled in just as the bus pulled away. After some running, Mob outpacing him, they were on the train to home. Mob leaned on him again. He let her. He put an arm around her and let his hand rest in her hair. He let himself feel her feelings. She felt happy. Loved. Cared for. Content. He played with her hair for a moment. How did she get it so soft? Maybe there was some truth to the whole shampoo and conditioner thing.

"That's nice." Said Mob softly. She was just enjoying the closeness between the two of them. The feel of his hand in her hair, the sound of his heartbeat. This was wonderful. It was even more wonderful knowing that Master Reigen knew how wonderful she thought that it was.

"It is, Mob. It really is." Said Reigen. She was ok with this and that made it ok. He didn't touch her too much, she would tell him if he did. Besides, he wasn't being like this for weird or nefarious purposes. He cared about her and she cared about him. What could be wrong with that?

"Hey, Master? Do I make you uncomfortable?" asked Mob after a moment.

"No, never. Why?" asked Reigen

"I just thought that you might have been asking me if I was uncomfortable because you were trying to tell me that you were uncomfortable. You know, like how when people ask you a few if you're hungry they're trying to tell you that they're hungry." Said Mob

"Mob, it's not like that. I was just worried about you, that's all." Said Reigen

"Oh. That's alright, I worry about you too, Master." Said Mob

"Me? Mob, you don't have to worry about me." Said Reigen

"But that's what you do for your friends, you worry about them." Said Mob

"Yeah but you still shouldn't worry about me, Mob. I'm fine." Said Reigen

"Sometimes I worry, though. I worry about if you're alright." Said Mob

"Mob, I promise you that everything in my life is fine." Said Reigen

"Even though sometimes you seem kind of sad?" asked Mob

"Even if I seem sad I'm fine. Mob, it's not your job to worry about me. You just worry about your own stuff." said Reigen

"Even though we're friends you don't want me to worry about you?" asked Mob

"Yes. Even though we're friends I don't want you to worry about me." Said Reigen

"Even though we love each other?" asked Mob. Reigen felt every muscle in his body stiffen.

"….Mob, don't say it like that." Said Reigen after a moment. He could feel her curiosity.

"Say it like what, Master?" asked Mob

"Listen Mob, just because you don't hear the way things sound that doesn't mean that they don't sound….I don't even know what I'm saying….Mob, sometimes….sometimes people can take things the wrong way, that's all. I just don't want anyone to take it the wrong way." Said Reigen

"Wrong way?" asked Mob. What could be wrong with two people caring about each other? It wasn't like people would think that they could be a couple or anything. Master Reigen was twice her age so of course they weren't a couple.

"Like I'm taking advantage of you, Mob. I don't want people to think that I'm taking advantage of you. Ok? That's what I've been getting at. I don't want people to think that I'm taking advantage of you and I don't…I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I don't know, I guess I just…Mob I don't want anyone to think anything that's not true. Anything that could never be true." Said Reigen

"Oh, ok. I don't like it when people think things that aren't true, either." Said Mob. She liked it when everyone was on the same page. She didn't know what Master Reigen meant by 'taking advantage of' but she knew that she liked everyone to be on the same page about things. Talking to people was hard enough without another layer of complication.

"Jeez I don't know why I didn't just come out and say it before. God, Arataka, words are pretty much the only thing you're good at…" muttered Reigen as he let out a deep sigh. With Mob is was always best to be literal and to the point. He just…he didn't want to…he just didn't want to hurt what they had. He didn't want to suddenly find out that he had crossed some invisible boundary. He didn't….he also didn't want to plant the seeds of doubt in her mind.

"You called yourself by just your first name." said Mob. She didn't like it, not really. It was like he was cutting himself in half.

"Yeah, I know. I guess I do that when I need to get my own attention." Said Reigen

"I do that too, but I think it's something different when I do that." Said Mob.

"The other you?" asked Reigen

"Yes. Sometimes we talk. She gets less angry, less jumpy, when I interact with her." Said Mob

"I'll never get used to that." Said Reigen

"I'm sorry, Master." Said Mob

"Oh, not in a bad way. You're just…you fascinate me, that's all. You having another you will never stop being fascinating." Said Reigen

"Oh. But in a good way?" asked Mob

"Always in a good way. So, what's up with the other Shigeko?" asked Reigen genuinely curious. He had seen her, before, the white cracks that were just visible if he focused. What was her existence like? He had met her, briefly. What was it like to be an id?

"….nobody ever asks us that." Said Mob. It was odd. Nobody ever tried talking to her, the other Shigeko. Mob reached inside of herself and crossed the boundary between them. Shigeko, the other Shigeko, uncurled from herself and looked around. No danger. Just Reigen.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize-" said Reigen hoping that he hadn't crossed some sort of line with her, with the two of them.

"Don't be sorry, it's nice. We…we like it. We like that you're not afraid of us, of both of us." Said Mob. Yes. The other Shigeko was very happy that Master Reigen was taking an interest in her.

"Mob, you know that I will never, ever, be afraid of you." Said Reigen

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob

"So, what is up with her? How's she feeling right now?" asked Reigen

"The other Shigeko is calm. She knows that we're safe." Said Mob. The other Shigeko wasn't going to explode, that was what mattered. She also wanted them to lean up and kiss Master Reigen, but Master Reigen didn't need to know that. He'd just be upset if he knew the things she thought about him. If he knew how badly she wanted to kiss him. If he knew that she sometimes laid in her futon and imagined him crawling down there with her. If he knew just what she imagined them doing down there on her futon. Yes, this was not the area that he needed to go digging around in. She had been good at stuffing down those sorts of feelings so that Master Reigen didn't pick up on them. She had to be otherwise he would **know** and she didn't think that she could deal with it if he knew just what she thought and how she felt.

"That's good, we won't have to worry about a train derailment or anything." Said Reigen, clearly kidding.

"Master, I would never do that." Said Mob. She had no reason to freak out. It was hurtful, a little, that he thought that she would do that, even on accident.

"Mob, I was kidding. You know that I was kidding, right?" asked Reigen

"Master, you know I have trouble with tones." Said Mob

"Right. Sorry. It's late, I guess." Said Reigen

"We're usually watching TV before bed at this time." Said Mob

"Yeah, it is getting close to bed time. At least you had a nap. I guess you were really tired." Said Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"No, Master. I was just really comfortable." Said Mob. Master Reigen was so comfortable. He was warm and soft and strong and his heart beat was soothing.

"I seriously can't believe that you were comfortable like that." Said Reigen. She had been barely perched on him, he had been pretty much the only thing keeping her stable.

"I was with you, Master, of course I was comfortable. You're very comfortable, Master." Said Mob as she got more comfortable on his chest. He took his other hand from his hair down to her back and began to trace lazy lines up and down her spine.

"You're comfortable too, Mob." Said Reigen. Another positive feedback loop. She was so soft and warm and she felt so warm and loved so of course he felt comfortable and warm and loved.

"Master, don't get too comfortable. Our stop is coming up soon." Said Mob. If they missed their stop then they would be out all night and tired the next day. If they were tired the next day then it would start a domino effect and they'd eventually lose their business because they couldn't work properly. Work was important. They needed to help people.

"Is it? Time flies, I guess." Said Reigen

"We can go home and work on the book some more before bed. I still have a lot to type up. We can't submit it handwritten, Mezato says that the printer she suggested only takes typed out manuscripts." Said Mob

"You'd make a good salaryman, you know that, right?" asked Reigen

"Yes, I know. Tome said so." Said Mob

"Well then she's a bright kid." Said Reigen

"Tome is pretty smart. She knows a lot about aliens and paranormal stuff and games. She's my closest friend who's a girl, I think. Actually I think it's a tie between her and Mezato. Next is Rei, though, she's my friend too, even though she's Ritsu's girlfriend." Said Mob

"I'm glad you're doing so well, Mob. I knew you'd get more popular if you just put yourself out there. Don't be jealous of Rei though just because your brother is spending more time with her. He still loves you, Mob, don't forget that or feel rejected." Said Reigen. He could feel her confusion.

"I'm not jealous of Rei at all, Master. Not about her spending time with Ritsu, anyway. She's prettier than me, though, even though she's younger." Said Mob

"She's not prettier than you, Mob. You're adorable. She's got a completely different sense of style than you do, Mob." Said Reigen. Well, she was officially a teenage girl. She had nothing to worry about, she looked nice. Well, Mob nice. She was cute. Not that he went around appraising the looks of teenage girls or anything.

"I guess. She likes tight pants and short shirts even though they make moving around harder. I like long skirts and dresses, mostly, and I don't wear make-up and stuff, either. Is this like apples to oranges?" asked Mob

"Yeah, apples to oranges. You're different from her but you're still pretty in your own way." Said Reigen

"Green is an ugly color on anyone." Said Mob sagely. Reigen cocked an eyebrow.

"So you can understand things that aren't totally literal after all." Said Reigen

"Yes, I can. That's another reason I'm jealous of Rei. Well, I'm jealous of everyone about this." Said Mob

"Green is an ugly color on anyone. A very wise person once told me that." Said Reigen

"Oh. I just heard that on TV." Said Mob

"You, Mob, I meant you. You're a wise person. You have a lot of great qualities but I wish you weren't so jealous. Don't be jealous of your friend just because you think she's prettier than you or more social or because she's got more of your brother's attention. Mob, just remember that you're an amazing person." Said Reigen

"Thank you, Master, I will. I'm not jealous that Ritsu spends so much time with her, either. I'm happy for them." Said Mob

"Then why did you say that she was your friend even though she's Ritsu's girlfriend. Teru's your boyfriend but you said he was friends with your brother, too. It's pretty much the same thing, Mob." Said Reigen

"It doesn't bother me that she's Ritsu's girlfriend. I'm happy that they love each other. I just...they might do the same things that me and Teru do and I don't want Ritsu to do that because he's too young." Said Mob

"Welcome to my world…." Muttered Reigen

"What do you mean by that, Master?" asked Mob

"The way you feel about Ritsu and Rei is the way I feel about you and Teru, sometimes. You're fourteen, the way you feel and the things you do are perfectly normal and I don't ever want you to think otherwise but I feel like you're too young." Said Reigen

"But you did this too, when you were my age? Why is it ok for you but not for me?" asked Mob. It hurt her, it twisted her insides, thinking about Master Reigen being with someone else. She stuffed it down, though, so that he wouldn't pick up on it.

"Why is it ok for you but not for Ritsu?" asked Reigen ignoring the stab of jealousy that he picked up from her.

"Because Ritsu is younger than me." Said Mob simply. He was too young to do any of the things that she and Teru got up to or to even know what those things were.

"See. It's the same." Said Reigen

"But you weren't thirteen when you started doing stuff." Said Mob. There was a world of difference between fourteen and thirteen. That was just how it was. She was much smaller when she was thirteen. Shorter. She looked even more like a boy than she did now, too, back then.

"When you get to be my age a year's difference in age is meaningless." Said Reigen

"Oh. But fourteen years is a lot, though, isn't it?" asked Mob. The gap between them felt insurmountable sometimes. Like a lifetime.

"Yeah, fourteen years is a lot longer. That's why is makes sense for me to be freaked out when you come home at midnight covered in hickeys but you shouldn't freak out just because your little brother and his girlfriend are getting up to…whatever." Said Reigen

"I don't know why it bothers me, not really, besides that he's my little brother. I mean, I want him to be happy. I want everyone I love to be happy. It's just that…I don't know." Said Mob

"That's normal, Mob. It's normal to not want your little brother to grow up." Said Reigen as they reached their stop. He got up on shaky legs and led Mob off the train and out of the station.

"Master, can we stop at the vending machines? I'm hungry." Said Mob. Reigen's stomach took the moment to rumble loudly.

"Well, if you really want to." Said Reigen. Mob smiled and nodded. They made their way to the vending machines, Mob running ahead of him. She got herself some panda crackers and milk. Reigen took a moment longer to make his selection. Warm tea in a can, a giant mochi ball, and a bar of white chocolate. His mother would have been turning over in her grave if she had been dead.

They walked along down the street and ate their dinner. Reigen looked over to Mob and broke her off a square of chocolate.

"Have some, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob took it with her powers and popped it into her mouth. It tasted delicious. It tasted like being nine and being allowed to walk to the store by herself, well with Ritsu, and they totally spoiled their dinner on snacks and candy but it was worth it for that small taste of freedom and that big taste of sugar. It was even worth the lecture from mom and the bellyache that came later as they tried to pile dinner on top of their feast.

"Thank you, Master. I like this kind. Ritsu used to always get this kind when we were little." Said Mob remembering their trips to the convenience store. They used to spend their allowance the day they got it on candy and snacks and cheap toys. Things were simpler, back then. She wished that it could go back to being that simple, before middle school and boyfriends and girlfriends and moving out and fighting and making up and all of that.

"Your little brother has good taste." Said Reigen as he finished his chocolate bar.

"He does. Ritsu is a really good person." Said Mob. He always had the best taste in everything. Well, not videogames, though. He liked fighting games. Mob just thought that they went too fast and were repetitive.

"You shouldn't put him up on a pedestal like that. Remember, you said that he said that he didn't really like that." Said Reigen

"I know that he doesn't but he's a really good person and I just feel that way." Said Mob

"I know that you do and I'm sure he knows that you do, but you still shouldn't put him up on a pedestal. He's still a person the same as you are. He's got his own stuff he's going through, Mob, and if he doesn't like you always thinking he's the greatest thing since convenience store sushi then you should respect that." Said Reigen

"I guess. I don't understand, though, why he doesn't want me to think he's amazing." Said Mob

"He probably just doesn't want you to tell him that. It's a lot to live up to, Mob, someone thinking that you're amazing." Said Reigen

"Is it a lot for you to live up to, Master?" asked Mob

"…sometimes." Said Reigen

"Should I stop thinking that you're amazing, then, Master?" asked Mob

"No. Never. Never, ever stop thinking that. It means a lot to me, Mob, that you hold me in such high regard." Said Reigen

"I like it too, Master, that you think that I'm amazing too." Said Mob

"Who wouldn't think that you're amazing? You're Mob. You're growing up to be one of the best people that I've ever met." Said Reigen

"Do you mean that, Master?" asked Mob

"Of course. I wouldn't just say that to you, Mob. I mean it." Said Reigen

"Do you mind that I'm growing up?" asked Mob

"Huh? No, why?" asked Reigen

"I don't know. I just feel like you'll never stop treating me like a kid." Said Mob

"I'll stop treating you like a kid when you stop being a kid. I don't mind you growing up, I welcome it, actually. You're growing up to be someone that I'd be proud to call my friend, Mob. Just don't be in a hurry to grow up. You're mature for your age in a lot of ways but you're still only fourteen." Said Reigen

"Oh. OK. I'm not trying to grow up too fast, I just don't want you to think that I'm a little kid." Said Reigen

"I don't think that you're a little kid, Mob, and I don't try to treat you like one." Said Reigen

"Thank you, Master. Do you want a cracker?" asked Mob. Reigen opened his mouth and Mob used one to feed him a panda cracker.

"These things are pretty good." Said Reigen as he chewed.

"Don't chew and talk, Master, you'll choke." Said Mob

"If I die then I'll just have to hang out with you forever." Said Reigen

"No. I'd rather you hang out with me while you were alive." Said Mob

"You sure? I could be like a second Dimple." Said Reigen

"No, I'd rather be friends with you as a living person." Said Mob

"Where is Dimple, anyway? I haven't seen him around in a while." Said Reigen

"He hangs around sometimes. We hung out this morning while you were asleep. Sometimes he just hangs around but you can't see him. He can't hide from me, though, no spirits can." Said Mob

"Why's he hiding from me? I thought we were buddies." Said Reigen. He wasn't exactly best buddies for eternity with the guy, or rather spirit, but he couldn't help but feel a little rejected.

"He says that your powers are weird. He doesn't like how you're always trying to read his feelings and rewrite them. Also he's been busy. He's trying to be God again. It's not working out." Said Mob

"Well, I guess we all need goals…" said Reigen

"We do. I finished one of mine today. I finished my share of the book." Said Mob

"Mob! That's amazing! You're totally done?" said Reigen

"Yes. I'm done. Tome and Mezato liked it. Everyone liked it, actually. They said that it had 'emotional depth' and stuff." Said Mob. They also said that her name should come first because she was a better main character but she wasn't going to say that. She didn't want to be the main character, Master Reigen did.

"That's great! Good work Mob, promoting the book. You didn't promise anyone who helped you more than two percent, though, right?" asked Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"No, Master. I didn't. They didn't want any money, anyway. They read it because they were my friends, that's all." Said Mob

"I'm proud of you." Said Reigen

"Because I finished the book?" asked Mob

"Because you're making friends, Mob. I know how hard socializing is for you. I'm proud that you went so far outside of your comfort zone all on your own." Said Reigen

"Thank you, Master. I'm happy, too. I thought that I would be this happy when I became popular but now I don't want to be popular, I just want to be myself and have friends." Said Reigen

"You can still be yourself and be popular. I think you're pretty popular, Mob." Said Reigen

"Do you think? I'm not like the popular girls, like Tsubomi and her friends. Tome says that I'm moe." Said Mob

"Is moe good?" asked Reigen wondering when he had lost touch with what the kids were saying. He was starting to get old, pretty soon he'd hang out at the senior center all day playing mahjong and drinking lukewarm tea.

"It means cuteness. I think that it's good, Tome wouldn't be mean to me." Said Mob

"Well then that's what you are." Said Reigen

"I don't want to be cute though." Said Mob

"Why not? You're adorable, Mob, and it's not a bad thing at all." Said Reigen

"I don't want to be a little kid anymore." Said Mob

"Being adorable doesn't make you a little kid, Mob, it makes you, well, adorable." Said Reigen not being able to imagine a non-adorable Mob.

"…I want to be pretty." Said Mob after a moment.

"You are pretty, Mob. Don't compare yourself to other people. You're pretty in your own way, and that's the truth." Said Reigen. Mob blushed and walked a little closer to him. They came upon their building but Mob didn't race up the stairs, she stayed at her Master's side.

"Mob, can you get it? My hands are full." Said Reigen who still hadn't finished his dinner. Mob nodded and opened the door with her powers.

"Master, do you want me to hold some of that?" asked Mob wondering how he would take off his shoes with his hands full like that.

"I've got it, Mob. You can just go inside." Said Reigen motioning for her to go in. It was late and they needed to rest. She may have needed more sleep than other people but she still needed sleep.

"You can't take off your shoes like that, Master." Said Mob using her powers to levitate what was left of Reigen's dinner in the house behind her.

"You're stubbornly helpful Mob, stubbornly helpful." Said Reigen as she carried his stuff inside. He could have carried that stuff in. She didn't have to worry about him so much all the time. He was supposed to be the one who worried about her.

"I know." Said Mob as she slipped her shoes off and sat down on the couch. Reigen slipped off his shoes and joined her, plucking his food from her telekinetic grasp.

"When did you get so stubborn? You used to do whatever I told you to." Said Reigen clicking the TV on. Mob shrugged.

"I've always been like this, I think. We just never spent this much time together." Said Mob flipping channels. Nothing much was on at this hour and she didn't feel like looking through streaming for a show to watch. A couple of her shows had updated but she could always watch them tomorrow.

"That's true…." Said Reigen as she flipped channels. He watched her. She seemed happy with him, she really did. Should he…no. After yesterday he wasn't asking her if she wanted to go back to her family again. She had made herself perfectly clear.

"There's nothing on this late." Said Mob after a while.

"Going to go work on the book some more?" asked Reigen

"No. I want to be with you. I'll type my portion up if you want to hang out in our room." Said Mob without looking at him. She knew that she needed to get some work done, it was the right thing to do, but she also wanted to watch TV with Master Reigen and maybe rest her head on him again.

"…we can watch TV if you want. Hang on, though, let me change." Said Reigen finishing up his dinner. He licked the corn flour from the mochi from his fingers and stood up. Mob used her powers to throw their trash away, still not looking at him. She had settled on a game show where everyone was dressed as cats and had to do cat things, They put the weirdest stuff on late at night

"Me too, I've been in my uniform for too long." Said Mob. Maybe she could see Teru after work tomorrow and wash her uniform at his house. Maybe she could take a bath, too. Maybe they could take a bath…

"Hang it up in front of an open window if you want to air it out." Said Reigen as he went to his room. Their room. She had called it there room. More permanence. He liked the idea of it. Did he like it in practice, though? She was going to be with him for the foreseeable future, forever if she could manage it. It scared him, a little. It had scared him enough to fight with her.

He pulled off his shirt and slid out of his pants. He missed it, being able to hang out like this. Not enough to get rid of Mob or anything but he missed it. Privacy. He used to have nothing but privacy but now she was always right **there**. It hadn't been a problem, not really. It had been two weeks already and most of those weeks had been spent working and trying not to think about his mortality and hers.

Still, he missed his privacy, sometimes. There were certain things that he absolutely would not do if she was around, which meant that they almost never got done. Maybe he could just let her leave work early tomorrow. She'd probably be out late with Teru again. That would give him some time to himself. He may have been her best friend and master but he was still a man.

He pulled on yesterday's pajamas. Still clean enough. He glanced over at his computer. He really should get some work done. He should but he won't. He's worked hard enough. It's time for bed, well, almost. It always helps to watch a little TV before going to sleep. He yawned and stretched. Man, it was late. He pulled his pillow and blanket off the bed. Maybe he'd just crash in the living room. Yeah, he'd crash in the living room in front of the TV just like old times. It would be nice even though the couch was hard and uncomfortable. It wasn't that he thought that it looked weird, him sharing a room with her. It wasn't that he was freaked out about the whole 'our room' thing. No, he just wanted to crash in front of the TV. That was all.

Mob got changed quickly. She threw on yesterday's nightgown, the one with all the lace that was kind of itchy but it was still clean so she had might as well wear it. Master Reigen didn't change all of his clothes every day. They couldn't, it would make too many dirty clothes.

Mob missed having a washing machine. She missed only a few things about home.

Ritsu, a washer and dryer, baths, and privacy.

Mob loved Master Reigen in every single way one person could love another but sometimes she needed privacy. Especially because he could feel her feelings. He still didn't know how she felt, though, which was good. She knew that if he knew how she felt, how she really loved him, he'd reject her. No matter how close they got, no matter how many times he said he loved her, he was still a grown up and she was still a kid.

She didn't feel like a kid, though. She had stopped feeling like a kid after Ritsu got kidnapped. After they almost died. After she almost…after she fought. After she fought all those other espers and they could have died. She could have died. She knew she was young but she wasn't a child. Not anymore. Young but not a child. Master Reigen didn't see it though. She would always be a kid to him, well, until she actually grew up.

Mob laid down on the couch and drew her knees up. She was tired, a little, but she wanted to be near Master Reigen some more. Falling asleep on him had been so wonderful. Maybe they could…no. She had promised Teru that she wouldn't sleep next to him. On top of didn't count. Teru meant in a bed, she knew that. That was how they slept next to each other. Maybe they could nap together, her and him. She always felt tired after they…what was even the word for it? She'd ask him, he knew more about this sort of thing than she did.

She didn't know how to feel about that. She reminded herself that green was an ugly color on anyone. She reminded herself that she was not better than he was, really. She wasn't dumb, she knew what the internet was full of and she knew how boys were. She never looked at that, though. What would be the point? It would be like watching someone else eat, she figured. What would she get out of it? What would be the point when she could have him in real life? Boys were weird, sometimes. People were weird, sometimes.

She sat up when she heard Master Reigen's door open. He was in pajamas. Black t-shirt, grey sweatpants. Her eyes lingered on him, his chest, his shoulders, his bare arms. She liked seeing him like this. His suit was like a second skin that he shed at the end of the day. With it on he was Master Reigen, her wise and kind master. Without it he was Master Reigen, her best friend. Oh, he had a pillow and blanket with him.

"Mob, scoot." Said Reigen as he sat down. Mob scooted out of the center and watched him. He put his pillow on the side of him and covered himself with the blanket like a cloak.

"You look like a monk, Master." Said Mob with a smile. He really did look funny.

"Monk? I'm the grand master, Mob. Now, student, I shall entrust you with the greatest of responsibilities. Are you ready, my loyal disciple?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded. She knew that he was kidding, he was smiling and being silly, but she would accept any responsibility he was willing to give her.

"Yes Master, anything." Said Mob smiling. Reigen loved that smile, the little one where you could just barely see the corners of her mouth lift. Her eyes, that was where it could be seen best.

"Your mission, if you choose to take it, is one of great importance." Said Reigen trying to sound like a sage old Master. She was leaning towards him now, her eyes widened.

"Anything, Master Reigen." Said Mob leaning in. Reigen leaned in close to her.

"Are you ready?" asked Reigen. She nodded.

"Yes, Master, what is it?" asked Mob. Reigen held eye contact with her for a few moments. He let the tension grow. She leaned in closer and closer. He suddenly held the remote in front of her face.

"Mob, find us something to watch. I want to fall asleep in front of the TV tonight." Said Reigen causally. Oh. Right. He felt a stab of rejection. Mob was so sensitive sometimes.

"You don't want to sleep next to me?" asked Mob softly. Reigen flipped her fringe up.

"No, it's not you. I just want to crash in front of the TV tonight. Besides, I bet you want your own room for a little bit." Said Reigen

"I don't mind, I like sleeping next to you. Remember? I like that you're there when I go to sleep and still there when I wake up." Said Mob. Still flatly, still in her same monotone, but her eyes were expressive. Reigen sighed. He was such a pushover when it came to Mob.

"Drag your futon out here then, if you still want to share." Said Reigen. She was such a little kid sometimes. That was what he told himself, anyway. Nobody had ever said that to him before. How had she said it yesterday? 'You're the last thing I see before I close my eyes and the first thing I see when I wake up? '

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. She used her powers to bring her futon out to the living room and unrolled it in front of the couch, moving the tiny table out of the way too.

She unrolled her futon but still sat on the couch. She wanted to be near Master Reigen. She went to streaming and put on a movie. She liked this one, it was about people who fell in love but then one of them died but then came back. It was romantic and had emotional depth.

Reigen laid down and put his feet behind her. She didn't make any move to lay down on her futon. She could be clingy, sometimes, but he didn't mind. He got comfortable and felt her scooting more towards the middle of the couch.

"Your nails were poking me." Said Mob simply as she sat with her back against Master Reigen's belly. He was laying on his side with the blanket over him. Mob wanted to lay down with him, I would have been so nice. Was that ok, though?

"Oh, sorry. You can sit on the floor if you want." Said Reigen nudging her with his leg. He didn't really want her to go, though. It was nice having her so near. She was warm and soft and **there…**maybe he was just starved for affection.

"No, this is nice." Said Mob leaning back into him. She could smell him better now, too. Cigarettes and incense.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" asked Reigen after a while. She was flipping through things to watch. Maybe he shouldn't have been so serious, before. She could take him so literally sometimes. All the times.

"You just did, Master." Said Mob not taking her eyes off the screen.

"When did you get so smart?" asked Reigen. He had given his mother than line plenty of times, too, when he was her age.

"I've always been smart, Master. You didn't think I was smart, before?" asked Mob slightly hurt. Maybe this was just one of those things she couldn't understand. There were layers to words after all.

"No, I always thought you were intelligent, it's just an…interesting observation, that's all. That asking someone if you can ask them a question is already asking them a question." Said Reigen. Now he remembered. He hated it, too, when his mother said he was being smart. Right, this was Mob, not him. She wasn't being mouthy, she was just making an observation.

"Oh. I just don't understand why people say that, that's all." Said Mob

"Just part of conversation, that's all." Said Reigen

"There's too many rules. I like texting better." Said Mob

"You want us to just text all the time? Mob, I don't think my phone has that kind of battery life." Said Reigen. Mob looked at him for a moment. Oh, he was being silly again.

"You can just get one of those portable battery block things." Said Mob smiling.

"Nah, too much work. Besides, I like talking to you." Said Reigen

"Even though I can't get a clue?" asked Mob

"That's just part of your charm." Said Reigen

"Master…thank you." Said Mob after a while. Reigen almost pulled away from her then. Happiness. Contentment. Safety. Adoration.

"Don't thank me, I'm just stating a fact." Said Reigen

"I still feel nice when you say things like that." Said Mob not looking at him. if she looked at him then she would start to think about him.

"…I know, Mob, I know." Said Reigen. He knew how she felt, sometimes, around him. Hormones. It was hormones. She was fourteen. She couldn't help the way her heart would pick up the pace or her stomach would take up acrobatics when she saw him. She was probably that way around every guy. He knew that he was that way around every girl.

"Are you ok? You had a tone." Said Mob

"No, I'm fine. Anyway, Mob, I was wondering something…." Said Reigen

"Bad things?" asked Mob

"No, never." Said Reigen

"Oh, alright. What is it, Master?" asked Mob

"Do you…do you ever want your own room?" asked Reigen finally.

"No, not really. I like sharing with you." Said Mob

"You don't want your own space, privacy?" asked Reigen

"…sometimes…but I like being with you, better." Said Mob

"I like being with you, too, but sometimes…and this is nothing against you…but I do miss privacy. Sometimes." Said Reigen

"Are you going to make me leave?" asked Mob softly. Reigen reached up and pulled her down next to him without thinking. He had only been reacting to that hum of rejection and fear that he was getting from her.

"Never. Mob, I'll never kick you out. I'm your master, what kind of a person would I be if I threw you out?" asked Reigen. She was laying next to him, facing him. Too close. This was much too close. He couldn't push her away, though. He just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"A mean one, I guess, but you could never be mean, Master." Said Mob keeping eye contact with her. She could hear the TV in the background but it didn't sound like anything at all. Master Reigen's breathing seemed to much louder in comparison. If she got closer she could feel the rise and fall of his chest. She stuffed those feelings down before he could feel them.

"Sometimes I have to be. Sometimes we all have to be." Said Reigen. He should have been mean to her, right then and there, because he could feel how she felt. He should have told her to go lay on her futon because it would have looked so very bad, the two of them like this, if anyone was to see. But then again who was around? He was close to her, very close. He could feel it, from her, how she felt. Warm. Safe. Happy. Content. Everything felt right, perfect, then and there in that moment. Positive feedback loop. He got caught in it. He let himself get caught up in it.

"I don't like to be." Said Mob softly. He reached over and brushed some of her hair from her face. Mob smiled. That was nice. Not Teru nice but still nice. Master was always looking out for her, even in little ways.

"Me neither, but sometimes you have to be." Said Reigen. He should have been mean, he should have, but he wasn't going to be. Mob was so sensitive. She didn't need to feel rejected.

"Why? It just hurts you and the other person." Said Mob

"Sometimes to help someone you have to hurt them." Said Reigen

"I don't believe that. I think that if you're hurting someone then you're just making whatever it was that was the problem worse." Said Mob wishing that he had let his hand linger. She always felt so nice when he touched her.

"What about your boyfriend?" asked Reigen watching her eyes. She really did have expressive eyes, when you could see them. When you could really see them.

"Teru?" asked Mob softly. Right. Teru. Was this…was this ok? She wasn't doing anything, not really. She had promised that she wouldn't sleep with Master Reigen, next to him. This wasn't sleep, though. This was just being comfortable.

"Yeah, Teru. Didn't you two fight?" said Reigen. Mob nodded. She didn't want to remember that. Things were different, now. They were better.

"We did. I exploded at him." said Mob closing her eyes. Reigen wished that she would open them again.

"You were mean to him but you said that because you fought him he changed for you." Said Reigen. Mob opened her eyes again.

"I still didn't like being mean. I don't like to be mean, ever, to anyone, for any reason. The truth of one's charm is in their kindness. You said so." Mob. He had taught her that, it had been the first thing that he had taught her. She needed to be nice, to be kind. That was the sort of person she needed to be.

"You remember everything I teach you, don't you, Mob?" asked Reigen. She hung on his every word. She lived her life according to what he taught her. She would do anything for him, wouldn't she? Did he…did he want them?

"Of course. You're the master, Master Reigen. You teach me things." Said Mob. She wanted so badly to scoot closer. She wanted to press her head against his chest, to hear his heartbeat.

"I do, don't I?" said Reigen. He didn't know that this would be it, that this would be what their relationship would become. Whatever this was. This person, this girl, this meal ticket in pigtails had become his best friend. He had taught her how to…what had he taught her? To be a good person? No, she had already been a good person. She was a much better person than he would ever, could ever be.

"Yes, of course you do. I remember everything you tell me. I will always remember everything you teach me, Master." Said Mob. He was so close. She could reach out, it wasn't far, and touch his hand. His stomach. His side. She could lean her head into him and close her eyes. She could get lost in him, get mired in him. Cigarettes and incense.

"And I'll always remember what I've learned from you, Mob." Said Reigen. He had learned from her. He had learned just how far he would go for another person. He would die for her. He would fight for her. He would do anything for her.

"What did I teach you? I'm only the student." Said Mob almost whispering. She didn't have to be loud, neither of them did. They were so close now she could hear him clear as anything. The world seemed to fade away, hazy at the edges. Him, her, them. That was what mattered.

"You taught me how to be a better person, Mob." Said Reigen softly. Truth. The full truth. He had already lied to her so much, hadn't he? Lied and lied and lied. He needed to stop doing that. She didn't deserve him as he was. She didn't deserve Reigen Arataka the liar. She needed Master Reigen. She needed Master Reigen, the man who would always be there for her.

"You're a good person, Mob. I think you're so good, you know that?" said Reigen. Positive feedback. He couldn't think, he could only feel. He could only tell her everything because the more he told her the better she felt and the better she felt the better he felt.

"Master…I think that you're a good person. I wish everyone could see you how I see you. I wish…I wish that you could see you like I see you." Said Mob. She felt like she was sitting in a warm bath. She could feel nothing but warmth, but safety. This was the most perfect feeling in the world, knowing that Mater Reigen was there. He was there and he loved her. He loved her and she loved him. They loved each other. Not in the same way, not at all, but there was love between them.

"I wish I could, too, Mob. I wish that you could see yourself the way I see you, too. I wish that you could see just how amazing you really are." Said Reigen. He wanted to reach over to her, to hold her close, but he didn't. He didn't because that would have been crossing a line. They were close, now, emotionally. He knew how she felt, the layers to her feelings right then and there. She was young, she couldn't help it. She didn't have feelings **for** him. She had feelings towards him, feelings based in biology. That was all. He was Master Reigen to her and she did not have feelings for her. The very idea was absurd.

"I'm not amazing. I'm just…I'm just Mob." Said Mob. She didn't think that she was anything special. Sure she had powers and all but so did other people. She was strong, though, but that didn't mean anything at all. Everyone had their own talents. She was just a regular person.

"You're you, Mob…Shigeko. You're you and that's amazing. I've never met anyone as…genuine…as you." Said Reigen holding eye contact with her. Brown. Blue. Her. Him.

"Teru calls me that, too. Genuine." Said Mob. Teru. No, don't think about him and the last time they were that close. Think about master Reigen. No, not about him either. Think about something else, anything else.

"Because you are. You're refreshing like that, you know. You're yourself. You don't pretend, you don't lie. You just are." Said Reigen. God, he wants to hold her. No, she wants to hold him. She wants to be held. Yes, she wants to be held so he wants to be held but he **can't** because that would be too **much** even though she said that he never bothered her but he doesn't want to **start** and he knows how she's **feeling** and if he was to hold her like she wanted he would have been trying to put out a fire with **gasoline.**

"You don't lie either, Master. You're a good person like that." Said Mob. She suddenly feels like someone dumped a cup of ice water down her back.

"Mob…don't say things like that." Said Reigen, his mouth feeling chalky, his skin clammy. He does lie. He lies to her all the time.

"Why not?" asked Mob genuinely not understanding.

"Because…it isn't true. I lie Mob." Said Reigen. He can't tell her the truth now even though she deserves it.

"You do?" asked Mob. She couldn't imagine Master Reigen ever telling her lies.

"..yeah…" said Reigen softly. He couldn't do it. He couldn't shatter her image of him.

"Oh, like when you tell people that they're cursed even though they just have bad backs and stuff shoulders. That's alright. It's alright to tell little lies if it makes people feel better." Said Mob. Like when she told Teru that she wouldn't ever sleep next to master Reigen even though she really wants to. Like when she told Master Reigen that she only loved him in the way that he loved her.

"…yeah, Mob…just like that." Said Reigen. He lied to her. He still lies to her. He shouldn't. She doesn't deserve being treated like that. She's not just his secret weapon, she's not just his meal ticket. She's his everything.

"Master? Why do you look like that?" asked Mob. She couldn't read his face. It looked sort of sad but that didn't make any sense because they were so happy together. They were so warm and safe and happy together.

"…just tired, Mob. It's pretty late." Said Reigen lying to her once again. She accepted this, she accepted every single thing he told her.

"It is. Do you want to go to sleep?" asked Mob. She didn't need as much sleep as normal people and she had already taken a nap earlier. That didn't mean that Master Reigen wasn't tired.

"Yeah, I'm going to nod off now….you can stay…up…if you want." Said Reigen. He was about to tell her that she could stay up there next to him. No. That wouldn't have been right. He couldn't just fall asleep next to her.

"Ok." Said Mob. She wanted to keep talking to him, to keep being with him, but he was tired. She rolled over. He did say that she could stay 'up' and that could mean two things.

"You don't want to go down to your futon?" asked Reigen. He wanted to tell her to go back down to her futon. He wants to tell her that they're very close, too close, and she needs to sleep in her own bed. He wants to tell her to stay. Not in a weird way, he just likes being near her. She like a cat, sometimes. Small and warm.

"Later, but not now. I can't sleep up here. I have to sleep on the floor." Said Mob simply. She wasn't really watching TV, she was watching Master Reigen. Not with her eyes, of course, she was facing the wrong way. She was watching him with her aura. He was in her aura, again. Yellow was mixing with pink and blue. It always moved, this was the lazy sort of moving it did when she was calm.

"…yeah…you should sleep in your own bed." Said Reigen softly. He closes his eyes. He can still feel her. She's there. She's warm. He exhales, slowly and deeply. He tries to get comfortable. She scoots back, a little, just a little. He couldn't tell her to sit on the floor even though he knew that he should have. He knew that he should have…he knows that he should do a lot of things.

"Goodnight, Master." Said Mob. She can feel him relaxing. He's there and nice and warm and she can't help but scoot back towards him. She's not watching TV, not really. She uses her powers to turn the lights off. The world felt small, then. Small and cozy.

She lays still until she can feel him drifting off. It's nice and she wants to follow him into sleep but she can't. She made a promise to Teru and a promise was a promise. She can still lie there, though. She can still lie there and enjoy their proximity. This wasn't wrong because it wasn't the same as her and Teru. That was different. That was….it wasn't this cozy. Between the two of them there was something else between them. Something exciting and electric and something that they couldn't help but act on. Afterwards the feeling of bonelessness, like she was made out of jelly, like she was made from LCL. Like they had both become LCL and it was instrumentality and there was nothing between the two of them.

She couldn't imagine feeling like that with Master Reigen. She imagined it with him, she had done so plenty of times, but the after feelings, even the during feelings, were just…she couldn't imagine something like that with Master Reigen. Intense. Intimidating. Too much. It would be too much. If she ever had that with Master Reigen then…then she would lose what they had now.

She shifted closer to him. She didn't want to lose this. She didn't want to lose what they had. Their friendship. Their happiness. Their silliness. Their seriousness. Their closeness. If she ever tried to have more, if she ever actually confessed to Master Reigen she could lose everything. She couldn't handle it. She had meant it when she had said that she wanted perpetuity. She had been serious when she said that she never wanted them to go their separate ways. She couldn't lose him. She couldn't confess.

She couldn't have him, either. She couldn't have him because that would just be…a lot. She imagined him, imagined what it would be like with him. She imagined what it would be like to kiss him. What it would be liked to actually kiss him, deep and hard. Would it be hard to match up with him? To match her breathing with his, her movements with his? Or would he lead? He probably would. He'd lead because he always leads. He was their leader. He would lead and she'd follow.

He'd kiss her slowly at first. Like practice. Then he'd kiss her deeper and deeper. He's taste like cigarettes and mochi and ramen and takoyaki. He kiss her lie he talked, expertly. He'd lead her. Not too fast but not too slow. Their teeth wouldn't scrape, no, he'd know how to keep that from happening. He'd play with her hair while he kissed her. She'd tie it back up in braids just to that he could undo them. He'd pull out the ribbons and run his hands through her hair until it was free. Then he'd move down to her shoulders, her back. Her front.

She'd wear a shirt with buttons. He was good with his hands. While he kissed her he'd reach down and undo them. While he undid them he'd kiss his way down lower and lower. He'd kiss her where she liked it. Those spots on her neck that made her squirm. That place on her collarbone that made her cry out. While he kissed her his hands would move to her chest. He'd know just what to do so she'd call out, cry out, cry out his name.

Master Reigen. Reigen Arataka.

He wouldn't stop there. No. He's push her shirt from her. He'd pull her undershirt up over her head. No, in her mind she was just in a shirt. She wouldn't just sit there. She'd pull him close by his tie. She'd make him kiss her. She'd kiss him everywhere. She'd find allt he places that made him cry out. She'd kiss him, bite him. She'd kiss his neck, his collar bone, his chest. She'd run her hands through his hair. She'd pull him on top of her. He'd be so much bigger than she was, heavier, stronger.

They wouldn't stop at what she and Teru practiced at. They had never done that, not yet. She was nervous. He was nervous. Master Reigen wouldn't be nervous. He'd know what to do. He'd lead and she'd follow. It wouldn't just be practice. She wouldn't just kiss him. She wouldn't just hold him. She wouldn't just wrap herself around him and move against him until…until she calls him Arataka.

She needs to stop. She needs to get her mind off of this. Anything that's light is floating lazily around her. She's flushed. She closes her eyes tightly. She needs to think about something else, anything else. Master Reigen throws an arm over her. For a moment she thinks that he's awake. Just a moment. No, he's still asleep.

"Mmm…" Master Reigen murmurs. He's got an arm around her. He's still asleep. Maybe he's a bed hog, too. Mob gasps, slightly. Because this is so **good**. It's so **safe. **It's so **warm. **It's so **intimate.** She could just melt away to nothing. She could just let herself become LCL with him. She could. It would be **easy**

She won't. She made a promise.

Mob extracted herself slowly. She pulled away from him and lowered herself down to her futon. She turned off the TV with her powers and stared up at the ceiling. The familiar ceiling. She's not seeing blank darkness. She can see the aural spectrum. She can see them, the two of them. Pink and blue and yellow. She hold her hand up in front of herself. White. She can see the white peaking, cracking, from under her skin.

This is why she loved Master Reigen. This is why she loves Teru. They've seen this, this power, this thing that lives just under her skin. They've seen it and they weren't afraid. She doesn't think that she could ever love someone who was afraid of her.

She was so lucky.


	26. Love and Distance, Far and Near

Reigen watches himself in the mirror. Stubble, a lot of it. It's almost six in the morning, Mob's already ready for her. She's in her uniform in the kitchen eating breakfast and texting someone. Her workbook is open to problems he only has the vaguest idea of how to solve. She made him breakfast, too. There's rice in the cooker for him, an egg at room temperature, and some soy sauce waiting for him as well as his rice bowl and chopsticks. She's in there waiting for him.

It's tomorrow. It is the next morning. The sun rose, the world turned, and they need to start their day. The positive feedback loop is over. The apartment is full of light. Reigen can feel the hum of the people around him. He and Mob aren't the only two people in the world anymore. They are not an island. They exist in a world full of other people.

What had he been thinking?

Last night he had come so close to crossing a line. Nothing weird, nothing that would make him have no choice but to jump off the roof of the building. Still, that had been a line that they had almost crossed. That he had almost crossed. Him.

He was the adult there.

Mob may have been mature, she even may have had moments of being even more mature than him, but she was still fourteen. He had gotten too caught up in her feelings, in what she wanted. She wanted to feel close to him, she wanted to feel safe with him, she wanted to be near him, and he had wanted to give her what she wanted.

She wanted to be held. That was **it**.

She wanted him to hold her and he was going to, he wanted to. That was…that was the extent of what she wanted. That was the extent of it. It had to be. This was **Mob** for the love of God. This was Mob and she was just being clingy. She was just being her usual clingy self. She was clingy and needy and she needed him because she hardly had anyone and-

No, that was him.

He could be clingy to her. He could be needy towards her. He didn't really have anyone else but her. Because of the sad facts of his life of course he would want to give her whatever she wanted. She wanted his comfort, she wanted him to hold her. He had wanted to give her what she wanted. He wanted to give her everything that he could. Her happiness was paramount.

She mattered to him. She had come to matter to him more than anything else in the world.

It was because she mattered so much to him he wouldn't give her what she wanted. She had wanted his comfort, his safety, but there were other layers to it too. What else she had wanted, and she had wanted it, was not something that he could ever give her. It must not have even been a conscious want, not really.

Biology. All biology. She was young. He remembered being her age. He remembered the near constant state of physical desire that he had been in. She's in it, too. It has nothing to do with him. It was a feeling that was hers, one that he had learned to ignore. He felt it from her, low level, constantly humming like a florescent light.

He splashed some water on his face.

He could shrug off those feelings from her, he could do it easily, because they were so low level. It was the stronger feelings, the ones that spiked up from her, that he had trouble shrugging off. Sadness, annoyance, fear, joy, and various desires were harder to shrug off. He would gladly take the spikes, though, above the loops.

That had been a positive feedback loop, what they had felt last night. He would gladly take anything else he could get from her above that. Anything else he could deal with. Anything else he could just shrug off, shake off, cast away. Anything else and he could still remember himself. Remember her. Remember them.

If he had held her he would have crossed a line. They were close, emotionally, maybe too close, but actually holding her would have been too much. He would have crossed the line into the physical. Not the romantic. Not the sexual. It would have just been too…much…even if it wasn't crossing such an obvious line.

This line was hazy, drawn in the sand on a windy beach during a hurricane. It was so hard to pin down, the line that demarked what was and was not alright physically. Reigen was a man who experienced the world through his hands. He felt the world around him, was always touching something, maybe to make sure that he was there. That he was real and the world was real and he was still someone in it. His phone in his hands, a cigarette between his fingers brought up to his mouth, Mob's hair twisted between his fingers like so many strands of raw silk just waiting to be spun into something beautiful. But it was something beautiful. It was her.

He spoke with his hands. His hands, his mouth, his physical self was how he existed in the world. He lets his aura become visible. This is new. This is not how he exists in the world. Existed. Exists now. This is how he exists in the world, now. This is his, this is him. This is who he is now. This is who he is and he lives in this world. He touches the world with his aura. He reaches out with it, knows what a person is feeling before he even sets eyes on them. He knows what they're feeling and he uses himself, his hands busy hands, his silver tongue, to make them feel better. To tell them what they want to hear, need to hear. He used his hands to rub away all the troubles weighing them down, paining them.

He is a physical being. He is a being who exists in the physical world. He touches the world but it does not touch him back.

Affection. That is what he wants to give and receive. He has gotten so little of it in his life. Not since he was a child. Not since he's had a partner, a lover. He hasn't had anyone to give affection to or receive it from. He's been starved for it. He's been starved for it so of course he would cling to the first source of it he could find.

Mob.

She wasn't unfeeling. She wasn't unexpressive. She was a deep pool of emotion. No, an ocean of it. An ocean with an unstable tectonic plate underneath it. He calmed her. His presence, his affection, his love. He gave her affection and she received it. This caused a feedback loop. The happier she became the happier he became. He took her happiness and wrote it back to her. She took the happiness he wrote to her and sent it right back. Whatever he was doing to make her happy he wanted to keep on doing it. She deserved it. She deserved to be happy. She deserved all the happiness and joy that he could give her. She deserved all the joy and happiness in the world.

But there was a line.

There was a line. There was a line and he could not cross it. If he crossed that first line then he could cross another and another and another. He would always want to make her happy. He would never do anything to hurt her. She had feelings. She didn't have those feelings **for** him, something like that was clearly impossible, but she did have feelings.

It wasn't a good age.

She was at a terrible age. She had freedoms that he didn't, freedom from responsibility. She didn't have to exist in the adult world with it's pitfalls. She didn't have to put food on the table or a roof over their heads. She had freedom from responsibility. She had the freedom to do whatever she wanted, to be whatever she wanted. She had the freedom to change because at her age her being, her self, was such a malleable thing. She was not free from herself, though.

She was not free from her emotions. She was pushed and pulled by them. They were bigger, now, because she was still so very small. She was so small that her emotions could bowl her over so easily. She had wanted him to pull her close last night to cuddle her because she was feeling loved, happy, safe, and she wanted to continue feeling that. She was also feeling a generous slathering of desire towards him. Physical and emotional.

That was not at all about him.

But if he had held her he would have just been making it worse for her. He would have been feeding those emotions, making them even bigger than they were. He would have felt those emotions from her. Emotions that under normal circumstances he could easily shrug off. Not in a positive feedback loop. That was why he should have pushed her away.

He hadn't, though. He had let her stay. He had let her stay because he was just such a **pushover** when it came to her. Whenever it came to her, to her happiness, to anything about her, he just gave in. He loved her more than any other human being on the planet, of course he would do anything for her. He would fight for her. He would die for her.

He sighed.

Too close. Too close. Much too close. He was much too close to her. It looked so bad, to the outside observer. There hadn't been one, last night, but it didn't have to be literal. If he were to cross a line with her, if he were to make what they had any weirder than it already was, then it could be…

Maybe he's just being selfish.

Maybe he's just worried about how HE would look. Maybe he's just thinking of how other people would react towards him. Maybe he just worried for himself. Maybe he was just afraid of how he would look, what could happen to him. Maybe he was just a coward.

Maybe he was just afraid.

Maybe he was still reeling. Maybe he was still unsteady because of her declarations of perpetuity. He liked the idea of perpetuity when she first said it. He likes the idea of his life with Mob, this life with Mob, going on forever. He likes the **idea** but the practice is…terrifying. Commitment. He's never been good at it. He's always run from it, sabotaged it. So many ruined relationships.

He won't run away.

He won't run from this. Mob needs this. Mob needs him. Mob has friends, she has a family, but she HAS nobody. Nobody who understands her in the way he does. Nobody who takes care of her the way he does. Her friends are all her age. She needs guidance from someone who isn't in middle school. She needs someone who cares about her, who cares about her as much as he does.

Mob needs him. Mob needs him and he needs to be there.

Maybe he's just overthinking this entire thing. Maybe he's making something out of nothing. She's fine. She's out there right now waiting for her. She's right there, in the kitchen, waiting for him to come out. Waiting for Master Reigen. Time to be Master Reigen again. Time to be sure, to be certain, of everything.

Right. Time to shave, brush his teeth, have a smoke, and start the day.

Mob had started her day an hour ago. She slept really deep when she was near Master Reigen. He made her feel safe, he kept her calm. She slept so deeply she hadn't even needed the whole night. She had watched Master Reigen sleep, actually, for a little bit. He looked so relaxed, unguarded, when he slept. She liked it.

Her phone vibrated. She looked up from her workbook. At this point she was just doing her best and praying that she was in the same neighborhood as right. Her chopsticks hovered in the air, ready to get back to feeding her.

'_Do you have club today?'_ it was Teru. She sat up a little straighter. Right. Teru. How could she have almost broken her promise to him? She had made a promise and a promise was a promise no matter what.

'_Telepathy club is everyday but there's no body improvement club today.'_ It was the truth. Usually she hung out with Tome on these days. She watched her phone. The little dots, the ones that said that he was replying, appeared and disappeared a few times.

'_I have soccer practice again after school today and you can come and watch if you want.'_ Mob shrugged. She did want to hang out with Tome, and she didn't really like sports, but Teru wanted her to be there and she had to be a good girlfriend to him. Maybe she felt bad. Actually, yeah, she did feel bad. She had almost broken her promise. That was terrible of her.

'_Sure.'_ Said Mob. She liked Teru. She liked spending time with him, and not just for fooley cooley reasons, though she did love those reasons. He replied with a happy face, a hear, and a cat with hearts in it's eyes. She liked pictures. He was happy and he loved her. She was the cat because she liked cats.

She went back to her math. She was almost done with this. Maybe she would even get a passing score on this homework. Yeah, and maybe it would rain milk and the cats would carry her off to their kingdom and make her their cat queen.

She wondered if that movie was on streaming. Master Reigen might like it.

Her phone vibrated. Oh, Teru wanted to play go with her. She closed her workbook. She could finish this on the train, or before class, or during lunch, or if she could sneak away and hide in the bathroom. Or never. She was playing go with Teru, and winning, when Master Reigen came into the kitchen looking like he had been shaving with a dull butcher knife in the dark while his hands were coated in melted butter.

"Master? Do you need some antiseptic?" asked Mob looking up from her game. Her breakfast had been long finished and she was already in her uniform.

"Huh? No, I'm fine, just these damned cheap razors." Said Reigen absently as he sat down. She used her powers to fill his rice bowl for him.

"Does it hurt a lot?" asked Mob. She was so glad that she didn't need to shave. It looked dangerous. She always wore high socks so she didn't need to shave her legs and she never wore sleeveless shirts so she didn't need to shave under her arms. Boys had it worse. She was so glad that she wasn't a boy so she didn't have to deal with all of that.

"No, it's just annoying." Said Reigen as he cracked an egg into his rice. She was normal. She was fine. She wasn't bothered or anything. All of those intense feelings from last night were gone. The two of them could just carry on like normal, like nothing had happened. Nothing had even happened, no, nothing at all. What was with him?

"Why not just stop, then?" asked Mob as she used her psychic powers to wash her dishes and her go powers to corner Teru.

"Because I've got to look respectable and that means taking off a few layers of skin each and every day. What are you smiling about over there? You'd better not be laughing at me." Said Reigen as he ate, grains of rice getting stuck to his face. She really was adorable when she smiled, though.

"No, I cornered Teru again. We're playing go." Said Mob, her workbook now abandoned completely.

"I take it you've been winning?" asked Reigen. He had tried to play against her a few times. She always won, and quickly. Maybe she was just faster, mentally, being both younger and apparently having an entirely separate consciousness living in her mind.

"I usually win, Master, but Teru wins too, sometimes." Said Mob. She looked up. Master Reigen was looking at her. He was keeping his aura close.

"Hey, Mob…how about I give you the day off today?" asked Reigen bracing himself for the feelings of rejection that he knew she'd feel. Yup, there it was. It hit him like a wave, not a tsunami but more like a wave at the beach on a windy day.

"Why? Are you mad at me?" asked Mob. Maybe he hadn't wanted her to sit so close to him, to lay so close to him. Maybe he hadn't wanted that with her and she had crossed a boundary like he had been talking about before.

"No, I just need some time to myself, that's all." Said Reigen. He needed some time to himself. He was getting too wrapped up in her, in them. He needed some time to sort himself out, to separate his emotions from hers.

"But you aren't mad?" asked Mob. That was all that mattered, that Master Reigen wasn't mad at her.

"No way. Mob, you didn't do anything wrong. I just need to spend a little time on my own. You're fine, Mob, you're fine." Said Reigen. He shrugged off the butterflies he felt, she felt. He needed time to himself and so did she. She needed time to spend with her friends or her boyfriend or on her own or something that didn't involve being glued to his side all the time.

"Oh. Ok. Master, are you ok? You feel weird." Said Mob. She had pushed her aura out until it touched what little of his showed. She couldn't read him, she could sense conflict, though.

"Just tired, Mob, just tired. I should have slept in my own bed last night. That couch is like sleeping on a park bench. We should get a new one, I mean, we've got the money." Said Reigen rolling his shoulders. He had only slept out in the living room because he wanted to put a little distance between him and Mob. That, obviously, hadn't worked at all and all he had to show for it was a bad back and this new weirdness between them. Wait, did this even count as weirdness? He was the only one who felt weird.

"I can help, Master." Said Mob getting up. She could use her powers, it would have been easy, but Master Reigen had gone through the trouble of teaching her. That and, well, he had really nice shoulders.

"Mob you don't have to." Said Reigen as she got up. She was so helpful, too helpful sometimes. Was this another line? He had rubbed her back plenty of times, but then again that was his job. He was a psychic/exorcist/novelist/masseur.

"But I want to. I want to help you, Master." Said Mob reeking of sincerity. Of course she would always enjoy being near him but she still wanted to help him. He was Master Reigen, he was always helping her when she needed it.

"Fine, you win." Said Reigen. Rejection. He didn't want to pick that up from her. He didn't want to be the one to make her feel like that.

"Tell me if I hit a sore spot." Said Mob rubbing his shoulders. He had on his button down but not his suit coat. His shoulders were broad, broader than Teru's. She thought of something else quickly. She didn't want her mind to wander there, to the last time she had her arms wrapped around Teru. The last time that they were so close, that her hands were on his shoulders, that they were parallel….

"Mob…that's good. Thanks." Said Reigen standing up. Right. Fourteen. She was fourteen. She was fourteen and in the thick of puberty and she couldn't help it. He cast off all of those feelings he got from her. Terrible age, fourteen, just terrible.

"I did it right?" asked Mob. Wow, she was picking this up quick. Maybe when she had half the business she could do some of the backrubs/curse removals. That was a big portion of how they, how Master Reigen, spent the day.

"...yeah…you're great." Said Reigen. She actually had been doing a good job, before her mind went to wherever her mind went to in that moment. She definitely needed some time to do Mob things. When was she even alone? Never. Poor kid. Not that he wanted to think about Mob doing THAT but, well, she was fourteen. Reigen knew exactly what he spent eighty percent of his time doing when he was her age.

"I never did that before…." Said Mob softly. Reigen reached over and flipped her fringe up. She smiled and used her powers to keep her fringe up. It really was getting way too long, it was always in her eyes now.

"Mob, you need a haircut." Said Reigen as he watched her hold her hair up with her powers.

"You do too, Master." Said Mob using her powers to ruffle his hair. He ran a hand through it. It really was getting kind of long, it was down to his ears in some places.

"You're right. Gonna stick a bowl on my head?" asked Reigen mirthfully. Mob shrugged.

"If you want me to. That's how my mom cut my hair." Said Mob. She couldn't go to the salon, her powers had freaked out the one and only time her mother had taken her and mom had been so embarrassed and mad.

"Mine too, when I was little." Said Reigen. When he was really little and he wouldn't go to the barber because he hated people touching his head mom had just plopped a bowl and cut it like that. The other kids laughed at him so bad that he was begging for a real haircut.

"You had hair like mine?" asked Mob. She used to get made fun of when she was little. Well, not super little but when the other girls started having actual hair styles and she was still in braids and a bowl cut. She didn't live at home, now, though, so she could do whatever she wanted with her hair.

"I only had the bowl cut for a couple weeks, thankfully. It's nice on you, though! You look really pretty, Mob." Said Reigen. Right. She was starting to get more sensitive about her looks.

"You really think so? People used to make fun of me, back in elementary school. People don't make fun of me now, though." Said Mob. Reigen reached over, hesitating for a moment, before tugging on her hair a little.

"Mob, I can't imagine anyone making fun of you. You're adorable, Mob." Said Reigen. He could see her smile waver. She was adorable, he didn't know why she didn't want to be adorable. Maybe because she was getting older. It made sense. She was growing up, after all.

"I can't imagine anyone making fun of you, Master." Said Mob. She couldn't imagine him as anything other than what he was right then and there. She couldn't imagine him as anything other than Reigen Arataka, her master and friend.

"Well you always think the best of me, of everyone." Said Reigen. She did. She was someone who always saw the very best in everyone and everything. Well, until she got cornered and exploded. She couldn't always give people the benefit of the doubt. She couldn't just…she had to be more like him, maybe. She had to learn when to be nice, when to be mean, and when to run away.

"I do?" asked Mob. She didn't always think the best of people. She didn't think the best of those espers that kidnapped Ritsu and almost killed them all. Actually, maybe she did. Maybe she…maybe she had been too nice. Maybe, in trying not to seriously hut anyone until she was cornered, maybe in dragging Teru into it she had…no. No more maybes. No more maybes about what happened. It happened and now it was over and that was that.

"Yeah, I've never once hear you say something disparaging about anybody. You're a good person like that, Mob." Said Reigen. She never came home complaining about anyone in her class. She never whined about her little brother like big sisters were supposed to do. She never moaned and groaned about something annoying that her boyfriend did. She always had something good to say about everyone.

"So are you, Master." Said Mob. Master Reigen never had anything bad to say about anyone. Well, not actually bad. He complained about his relatives sometimes, and he didn't seem to like his parents all that much, either.

"I'm nothing like you." Said Reigen softly. He wasn't. She was like a drop of sunshine come to Earth and wrapped in a gloomy looking little girl, sometimes. She was genuine. She was a genuinely good person and he was a liar. He tried to be a good person, to help people whenever he could, but all he was doing at the end of the day was seeking attention. She didn't seek attention. She was Mob. As per her namesake she blended in. She could so easily blend into any background unless you were looking for her. To him, though, she shined liked the brightest star, and not just because of her aura.

"What do you mean?" asked Mob. That was a lot to think about, want he said. He was a different person from her, in most ways. He was a boy, she was a girl. He was an adult, she was a kid. He liked attention, she could take it or leave it. He slept up, she slept down. He liked showers, she liked baths. The list of their differences went on and on. They were similar, though. They both loved to help people. They both had powers that they couldn't fully control. They both liked to watch TV and cuddle late into the night.

"Nothing, I just meant…I'm just not as nice as you are. Most people aren't." said Reigen feeling her confusion. He hadn't meant to say it. When it came to Mob words weren't always his forte. They tended to fail him, sometimes, even.

"I have to be." Said Mob simply. She needed to be nice because otherwise she'd be mean. She wasn't a monster. She couldn't be that monster that her parents saw her as.

"Why? You can like and dislike whoever you want, you don't have to be nice to everyone." Said Reigen. She had been a pacifist, before. She hated hurting people. She hated being mean. If she had met anyone else, someone unscrupulous, someone not like him, then her life could have taken a turn for the worst. He couldn't let anything happen to her. She needed to learn that sometimes she had to be mean. Sometimes she would have to tell a person to fuck off, one day she would.

"I know. I know that you said that I would have to be mean sometimes but I don't want to be. I don't want to be the sort of person that makes other people feel bad. I feel like people who go around being mean are just making the world worse. I already make the world worse just by being around, I don't want to add to it." Said Mob

"Mob, no, don't think like that. The world is a better place because you're in it." Said Reigen. She needed to know that, to know how he felt. He couldn't imagine his life, his world, without her. Was that healthy? He had never felt that way about another person before, one that he wasn't in a romantic relationship with, anyway. Actually, no. He hadn't had this depth of feeling since…when? His first love, maybe. But, no, Mob was not that to him. Mob was not that sort of person to him. Mob would not fill that role for him.

"I…I break things, on accident. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like the world is made out of rice paper and if I lose control for one minute I'm going to tear something, someone, apart…that's why I have to be nice. If I'm mean, if I don't like someone, then I could lose control and really hurt them." Said Mob softly. She had to be a good person. She had to be and that was why she was never mean. She never even thought about being mean. Her, being mean, felt foreign to her. It felt incompatible with her very being, the thought of being purposely mean to anyone. Reigen reached over and held her face under her chin. He brought her face up and held eye contact.

"We all have good and bad inside of us, Mob. You're a good person because you just are. You're a good person not because you're nice to everyone but because you feel like you have to be. You make an effort every day to be the best person who you can be. That's why I'm nothing like you. I can only be myself, you can be a better version of yourself. I admire that about you." Said Reigen. He could feel her, the way she felt. Loved. Cared for. Accepted. He tried to shrug those feelings off because they belonged to her, not him. These feelings were hers, not his.

"You do, too. Master, you go out every single day and try to be a good person. You try to help people all the time. I like that about you." Said Mob holding eye contact with him. He let her go.

"Maybe we're not so different after all, then." Said Reigen. She tried. She wasn't just someone who was inherently good. He needed to stop putting her up on a pedestal. Nobody but him liked that. The higher he held her the higher she would have to reach. When would she stop being able to reach the bar he had set for her. As good as she was, as sweet as she was, as wonderful as she was, she was still human the same as anyone else.

"I don't think we're very different. I think that we're the same, in a lot of ways. That's why we get along so well, I think." Said Mob

"You're right, Mob. I don't know, it's early. You ready to go, yet?" asked Reigen checking the time. He was finished with breakfast and almost done getting dressed. He just needed to get into his suit coat. That was all he had left to do to face the world as the Reigen Arataka he needed the world to see. The one that he needed to be.

"I'm ready. I have to do some math on the train, though. Can you help me?" asked Mob, her workbook floating into her hands. Reigen stifled a groan. Math. It just had to be math, didn't it.

"I'll try my best Mob, no promises." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Master Reigen didn't like math, either. She didn't know why she needed to learn this, it was complicated and she didn't think that she'd ever need it. She already had a job and she had no intention of ever finding a different job. For her job all she needed to know how to do was add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

They left home without any fanfare. She stopped, briefly, on their way out to use her powers to grab Teru's hoodie. She couldn't believe that she had come so close to breaking her promise to him. She needed to be with him, to remind herself that no matter how she felt about Master Reigen she had still made him a promise. It smelled like Teru still, body spray and the smell that could only be described as him. Teru. She threw on his hoodie and locked up for Master Reigen. Time to start the day. It was a normal day. The sun was shining, the cats were enjoying the sun, Mob enjoyed the cats, they enjoyed her presence. It was normal, regular. Her footsteps against the road, Master Reigen's slightly heavier footsteps. Stopping at the vending machines for some milk. Waiting for the train. All normal.

Mob wouldn't trade this for the world.

Normal meant safe. Normal meant that everything would be alright. She felt like if she were an anime character her story would have ended. If she were a manga character her story would have gone on for a few more volumes, turning into a slice of life. Actually, what was her genre, if she were a character?

Slice of life. She was the main character of her slice of life story.

She liked that genre. Slice of life, club romance, romantic comedy, these were what she loved. Simple stories about simple things. She liked simple things. She didn't like it, before, when her story had changed. She liked how simple her story was. She had friends, a boyfriend, a job, and a simple life. She liked this just the way it was.

She didn't want to go back into a shonen anime ever again.

That was what she had been in, when Ritsu got kidnapped. She had to be the main character of her own shonen action series. She never liked shonen, not really. That was Ritsu stuff. They were different like that, she thought, like when they went to the amusement park that one time. Ritsu liked the rollercoaster but it was too much for her. She liked the merry-go-round. It just went round and round. With every slow go around she saw a little more. She saw a little more and she knew that she was safe.

It was like their train ride. It was the same every day and it was safe. This was safe. She was safe. She was with Master Reigen and of course he would keep her safe. No. She needed to stop thinking about this, about what happened. She needed to think about how normal life was. She wasn't trying to be normal, she just needed to be normal. This was her episode thirteen. This was her OVA. This was her happy ending.

It wasn't perfect but it was as near to perfection as she could make it.

Even though she had math to do, even though she knew that she would have to make her choice one day, even though she knew that at any time she could end up needing to switch genre again, this was near perfection. If she could she would stay this way forever. If she could. After all, nothing ever lasted forever, did it?

She hoped that she could be like this, live this life, for as long as she could. This was the life she had always wanted. One filled with love and acceptance and friends. Yes. She wouldn't have it any other way.

Teru wouldn't have his life any other way. At least, that was what he told himself each and every day.

He got up before his alarm and just laid in bed. He stared up at the ceiling. There was a crack there. That had probably been Shigeko. She had made the building shake, last time. He had made her make the building shake. He remembered her. Her voice, her nails digging into his back, her teeth digging into his shoulder, her legs hooked around his back. She just ground back and forth against him and oh God if she had just angled her hips slightly differently he could have-

No, bad Teru. Think good thoughts, not those thoughts.

He sat up. He had lost control, slightly. His blanket had been rising off of him. He was turning into one of those guys who only had one thing on his mind. It was hard to keep his mind on other things when she was so…so…what was the word? Willing? No, that was too much, and anyway of course she was willing. If she wasn't then they wouldn't even do anything together because he knew that he could be a jerk but he wouldn't be that kind of a jerk.

She was…she was there, maybe? Well of course he wanted her to be there. If she wasn't there then she wouldn't be his girlfriend. She was there by his side because she wanted to be. She didn't want to be with him because he was popular or good looking or rich or any of the other reasons that girls had gone out with him. She was there because she wanted to be. She wanted to be with him for who he was. He wanted to be with her because of who she was.

Genuine, she was genuine. She was a genuine person and she loved him and he loved her. She was genuinely in love with him. She was genuinely into him. She wanted to be with him truly and genuinely, physically and emotionally. She never tried to be anything other than herself. When they were just hanging out she was herself. When they cuddled and watched TV she was still herself. When she asked him, not shyly, genuinely, if he wanted to kiss her. Touch her. Be with her. The way she said it, in her usual monotone, was better than anything he had ever heard before. Better than any kind of dirty talk that she could have said.

Teruki. His actual given name. The way she said it. All the ways she could say it. Nobody called him Teruki, ever, but her. It was always Teru. He liked Teru, better, from everyone but her. He loved it when she went from saying Teru over and over again like a mantra to that sudden gasp of Teruki. How ridi she got, then how limp. The way that her eyes were kind of unfocused, how her limbs looked like they were made of led. The way she smiled up at him.

No. Not now. This was not the state to be getting himself in before school.

He swung his legs over the side of his bed and sat up. Right. Time to begin the day. He pulled his phone over. He'd say hi, good morning, I love you. If she was still up. Yeah, she probably was. She didn't need as much sleep as he did. She was probably awake. She was probably awake with **Reigen.**

It would have been so much easier if Reigen had just been his rival. It would have been so much easier if he just wanted to sleep with Shigeko, or if he had confessed to her or something. Then Teru could have told him to fuck off and stop trying to get with his girlfriend. Reigen didn't want her like that, or so he said. No, Reigen wanted the emotional parts of Shigeko, the way she could make you feel like you were everything. She looked up at Reigen like that, like he was her everything. Reigen looked at her like that, too.

Teru looked at Shigeko like that and he wanted to be the only person that she looked at like that. He wanted to be her everything, not Reigen. She was his everything. Kageyama Shigeko was his everything. He couldn't lose her. He wouldn't lose her. If he lost her then he would lose everything.

She was the only genuine thing in his life. She was the only person who didn't pretend. She didn't pretend to be someone else so that she could be popular. She just was herself and what she was, who she was, was all that Teru ever wanted for himself.

Oh, she was in another picture. It was her and Reigen in the woods. His hand was on her back. He was standing way too close to her, looking down at her like she was his…he didn't like it. Teru didn't like it at all. He scrolled down. A lot of people were debating this. Huh. People didn't even know how old Shigeko was. She took a lot of pictures in her uniform, of course she was in middle school. People were so dumb sometimes. Teru turned his screen off. He didn't want to see Shigeko looking at Reigen or Reigen looking at Shigeko like that. That was the way that she was supposed to look at him and only him. He couldn't say anything, though. He couldn't say anything because she hadn't done anything.

It would have been so much easier if Reigen was trying to sleep with her. Not that Teru would ever want that but it would make everything so much easier. He could just tell Shigeko flat out that he didn't want her to be so close with Reigen and that Reigen was so obviously bad for her. It would be so easy, too, if Reigen really was bad for her like that.

But Reigen wasn't like that. Reigen had said that he wasn't like that and he hadn't actually **done** anything. If Teru was to tell her exactly what his problem with Reigen was then he would look like a paranoid asshole. God, it would be so much easier if Reigen had actually done something, anything, anything to make his character suspect. Anything to cross a line and give Teru the right to tell Shigeko to stay away from him. To come and live in him in his apartment. He'd take care of her. He'd get her whatever she wanted and he'd make her so happy.

Then they'd have permanence.

Then she would truly be his. She was all that he wanted for himself. She was everything that he wanted, needed, and she would always be his. She had to be.

He almost tripped over his soccer bag. Right, last practice before their game. The other guy's girlfriends had their own spot on the grass they sat together on and watched. He had girls watch him, before. They still came, he didn't pay them any mind. He had a girlfriend now. Sometimes he looked over and wished that his girlfriend was there. She wasn't, though. She spent almost every evening with Reigen.

Teru made a decision. He'd ask her to come. He'd ask her to come and watch him and then afterwards he'd take her out. He'd show her off all over the city. Everyone would see that Shigeko was his girlfriend, not Reigen's. He's take her to dinner or lunch or whatever meal she wanted to have. He'd take her to the park, she liked the park. He'd take her wherever she wanted to go. He make her so happy. He make her forget all about Reigen.

However she wanted him to.

She replied to his text immediately. She said yes. Teru feels himself rising off the ground. She said yes. She put him ahead of Reigen. Maybe there was some hope for them, yet. He checked the time. He didn't have to rush. He could play go with her. She loved go. She could play go with him instead of whatever it was that she and Reigen got up to in the morning. Yeah, he could make her forget all about Reigen. She could be his completely and totally.

He walked through his apartment. It was quiet. It was always quiet. He turned on the TV just for some noise. He left it on the movie channel last night. Oh, he knew this one. This was the one about the two people who fell in love but one of them died. Shigeko liked it. She liked anything with love in it. She didn't want him to act like that, though, she had never expected it.

She accepted him the way he was. She accepted that he had no idea what he was doing, not really. She accepted that when it came to the things they did, everything they did, they were figuring it out together. It was refreshing. Even for his actual first kiss he had done an insane amount of research to get it just right. Now, well, he was going half off of research and half off of what made her happy. He loved to make her happy. He had to make her happy, happier than she could ever be with Reigen. After all, Reigen didn't do for her what he could do for her.

Today would be a good day. If she was skipping club then maybe she could skip work again. Yeah, it would be a good day.

Ritsu wondered if today would be a good day. Rei wasn't waiting for him, she texted yesterday night and said that she was staying up late to do some homework and would probably end up oversleeping. He could still see her after school. Well, he would if Teru wasn't busy. He had been too embarrassed to hang out with him before, having seen Teru and Shigeko in that clearing on the way to school. It had been embarrassing but he got over it. He had to. So Teru was kissing his sister, big deal. Shigeko wanted to kiss him and she loved him so he shouldn't be bothered.

Still gross to see, though.

He couldn't be a hypocrite, though. He had a girlfriend and he kissed her so then it was ok for Shigeko to kiss Teru and he needed to get over how gross it was to watch. He needed to be mature, like how Rei was always saying. She liked that about him. Everyone liked that about him.

He didn't make any real effort at being mature. School came easy to him, he didn't even need to study that much. People liked him enough, no real close friends but he was still kind of popular. He wasn't petty or mean, at least not anymore. He was a better person, now, because he was back to normal. He was normal and today was going to be normal and everything was going back to normal.

He sat up and stretched. This was going to be another normal day, it would have to be. Today needed to be normal just like yesterday was normal and tomorrow would be. Well, as normal and it could be. Shigeko still wouldn't come home. He stopped asking. Asking just made her dig her heels in worse. He felt around with his aura. The house felt different. She hadn't been home in so long her energy was starting to dissipate.

He wasn't filling in the empty space. He wasn't like her. He didn't have that much energy to spare. The house didn't feel right without her around but she wasn't coming back. When he was an adult and one of his kids tried to leave home he wouldn't let her, or him, he didn't know how many kids he would have or what gender they would be. He didn't even know if he wanted kids. It would be the mature thing to do. That was what maturity was, wasn't it? Doing what you were supposed to do so that everyone else thought that you were successful. That was why had had joined student council, that was why he had a girlfriend. He was mature. He did what he had to do.

Well, he wasn't just with Rei because he needed to have a girlfriend. She was nice. Her company was enjoyable. She could be a little annoying, he wished that she'd stop eating foods with her hands that weren't meant to be eaten with hands. He also didn't like how she kept saying 'hello, Rei!' so often. It was cute but not all the time. He was starting to like her more, though. He dreamt about her last night. Well, not about her specifically, or maybe it had been her.

He mostly remembered red hair. Red hair, brown eyes, and a feeling of warmth that permeated his entire body and had him waking up in the middle of the night. He never remembered his dreams, not really. He mostly just remembered feelings from them. That had been a nice feeling. Not the fireworks he had expected to feel, but maybe that was just something in manga and movies. He wished that he had someone to talk to about this. The only people he was even slightly close enough to talk about this with were Shigeko, his sister, or Teru, her boyfriend. He was most certainly never talking about this with his sister, maybe if she had been his brother but one did not talk to their big sisters about this sort of thing. He wasn't sure if he wanted to ask Teru about this, either. He was older, not by much but he was older, and he was currently going out with and kissing and other stuff with Shigeko. He did not want to go digging into that area of his sister's life. He had done that with other girls, though, so he probably knew a thing or two. The internet was certainly no help, this was probably one of those things that it was best to talk about with a human being.

Teru was pretty smart about a lot of things. He wasn't really that judgmental, either. Ritsu really, really, really wanted to like Rei. To like anyone. He had to like someone, right? To be normal? He had to try to be normal. But in trying to be normal he wasn't really being normal at all, was he? He had to get back to normal. He had to get everything as normal as possible and to be as normal as possible because otherwise he'll end up thinking about what **happened** and he didn't want to so he had to be normal.

Time to be a normal, everyday, middle schooler. Shigeko really had the right idea. She always just wanted to be normal. She tried to make friends and be more popular and to be normal. Since they were kids she always tried to be normal. Since they were little she always…she was older and he looked up to her. He looked up to her but she looked up to him. They looked up to each other. They both had to go back to normal for both of their sakes.

Even though she didn't live at home anymore. Even though he had nobody to eat breakfast with. Even though he had nobody to say 'hello' and 'goodbye' to every day. Even though he had nobody to play videogames with or watch TV with or go exploring in the park with or anything. He was alone. No. He wasn't alone. It wasn't like had **died** or anything even though she had come so **close** to death. Even though she had almost lost her **mind**. Even though he had been a terrible brother to her. Even though he had pushed her, yelled at her, hurt her. Even though it was all his **fault.** God….he had been terrible. He had been terrible and now she was gone but not totally gone but still gone and he was alone. He was alone and she had left him alone. She had left him alone because of how terrible he had been. He was alone….but not always.

Rei liked him. Rei wanted to be with him. Rei liked him more than any other girl had ever liked him. Well, he had gotten plenty of love letters and confessions but he had never been even slightly close to those girls. Actually, Rei was the first girl that he had ever been close to that wasn't Shigeko. Not that his relationship with Shigeko was anything like his relationship with Rei. He didn't want to kiss his sister. Gross. That was just not something he would ever want. He didn't even like animes where brothers and sisters were in love. Maybe that was why he didn't like to kiss Rei. Well, he didn't dislike it, not really. Physically it felt nice, when his eyes were closed and he could focus on how it felt. Not super nice, not like how it was supposed to feel. Maybe he had spent so much time with his sister as his only friend, and the only girl he had ever spent time with, that he mentally put every single girl he knew into the sister box.

His phone vibrated. Oh, it was Rei. She wanted to know what his favorite meal was. He replied. Tofu and boiled pork. Always delicious. Maybe she wanted him to come over for dinner. That would be nice. She had a nice atmosphere at her house. Her mom was nice and her sister was alright. They argued there, too. They argued but they didn't argue like his parents argued. It was more like a friendly sort of arguing. There wasn't anything tense there, either. It was nice, like being able to take a breath. Like shrugging out of his gakuran at the end of the day. It was just so nice to be able to be in a house without worrying about stepping on some invisible landmine and starting yet another fight.

He wasn't in love with Rei. He didn't know what it felt like to be in love but he was pretty sure that what he felt about Rei wasn't it. She liked him. She wanted to be with him. So he wanted to be with her. She was a good person. She was a nice person. She was smart and funny and drew really well and was always trying to make him happy. Even now she was asking him what he liked, what he wanted. She cared about him so he cared about her. Actually, what did she want? What did she want from him? What were her plans?

He knew what he wanted from her. He wanted someone to care about him. He wanted to be a normal middle school kid and she could help him be that person. He wanted to be normal and this was part of it. Was that selfish? Was he being selfish? He wasn't hurting her. She wanted to be with him so he was with her. That wasn't selfish. It wasn't selfish if he was making her happy. Yes. He wasn't being selfish at all.

He tossed his pajamas into the hamper in the corner and got into his uniform. He pulled at the stiff collar of his gakuran. Teru was lucky, he got to wear an actual shirt. He looked nice in his uniform, actually. He tried to look relaxed but it was obvious that he was trying but it really worked for him. Teru worked so hard to make it look like he wasn't working hard, from his hair to his uniform to the way he walked. He walked with a sort of sway to him, like he was lighter than anyone else. He might have been, he had said that naturals like him subconsciously used their powers to move. He didn't walk so much as glide, sometimes. Weightless. But he could be so heavy, too. He could pin Ritsu down and keep him pinned without really trying. Just his weight, really, not even his powers that much. He wasn't that heavy, not really. Just strong. Ritsu couldn't even think when he was pinned down like that. He couldn't gather the strength to push Teru off of him. They were so close, when they fought. He could feel how much softer Teru's skin was then his. He smelled like lotion. Lotion and fabric softener and body spray and something else that he just couldn't place.

Ritsu really admired him as a person. Teru was so cool, so certain of everything. Even when he was uncertain, when he talked about how he was alone sometimes. How he sometimes felt so alone and now he was worried that he could die at any time and that he could die alone he still sounded so certain. He sounded so certain when he talked about how he would make sure that he wouldn't be alone. When he talked about how he may have sounded sad and afraid but of course he wasn't and he was ok even though Ritsu knew that he wasn't ok and he just wanted to take Teru and tell him 'I know you're not ok and that's fine because I'm not ok either.'

Teru was a good friend and Ritsu didn't want him to hurt like that. Teru held his hurt close to himself. He hardly ever let Ritsu see it. He imagined that the only person who ever actually saw Teru's hurt, the way he looked when you peeled away that relaxed shell he put on, was Shigeko. It made sense. He was in love with her and she was in love with him. Ritsu was jealous. He was jealous that they got to have that feeling, that feeling that he had never felt. Shigeko got to have yet another thing that Ritsu couldn't. No. He couldn't let himself get jealous of her again. Jealousy had turned him into a terrible person, before. He was not going to become that person again.

Teru had warned him about that, before, becoming that sort of person. Teru had been that sort of person before Shigeko beat some sense into him. Not that Ritsu could imagine Shigeko beating some sense into anyone. Ritsu just couldn't imagine Teru as that sort of person. He could be sarcastic. He could even be sort of mean in what he said, but he was still a good person. He was a really nice person, honestly. He taught Ritsu how to fight and even made friends with him. Actual friends, not just someone he was on good terms with.

He missed Teru.

He had been avoiding Teru because he had walked in on him and Shigeko maybe more than kissing. That was immature. If Rei didn't want to hang out that day then he'd hang out with Teru. Or maybe he'd just hang out with Rei tomorrow. No, was that fair to her? She was his girlfriend. He was supposed to want to spend more time with his girlfriend than his friend. He was supposed to but he didn't. He liked play fighting with Teru more than hanging out with Rei.

What was with him?

He collected his school things and went downstairs. No mom in the kitchen that morning. Good. No awkward talks. He was thirteen, anyway, he could make his own breakfast. Well, he could pour his own cereal, anyway. He should learn to cook, though. Teru was only a year older than him and he could cook for himself and get his own groceries and pretty much do literally everything for himself. Teru was actually mature. Ritsu was just playing at maturity, wasn't he? He was successful at school but he couldn't even make his own breakfast, not for real.

He ate his cereal.

Maybe tomorrow then he could just try and make his own breakfast. Tomorrow was Saturday, though, and mom was home for most Saturdays. Well, he could still try to learn. He was getting older and he needed to start taking care of himself. Even Shigeko was taking care of herself, sort of. Ritsu couldn't imagine Reigen getting up early and making her breakfast or doing her laundry or doing the shopping. He looked over at Shigeko's empty seat. Yeah, he needed to be actually mature. He needed to work on being mature and being normal and getting to something close to normal.

He had to get as close to normal as he could. Things couldn't be all the way normal but he could get as close to it as he possibly could. What else could he do? What other option did he have? Sit in his room and dwell on what could have been? How he could have died. How Shigeko could have died. How Teru could have died. What it felt like to be kidnapped. What it felt like to watch his sister lose her mind. What it felt like to fight someone with honest to God murderous intent.

He finished his breakfast and dumped his bowl in the sink. He's about to walk away but then decides to wash his own dishes. Yeah, he's thirteen and he needs to start doing things for himself. He needs to be actually mature, like Teru and Shigeko. He needs to be able to take care of himself. He doesn't need his mom to take care of him. He doesn't need his sister to protect him, to save him. He's thirteen, he's normal, and he's going to take of himself from now on.

He's going to be mature. He's going to be grown up. He's going to be Ritsu that everyone expects him to be, that he expects himself to be. He's going to be the Kageyama Ritsu that exists within his own mind and the mind of others.

Mob wonders about the Mob that exists in the minds of others. She's on the train with Master Reigen now and he'd helping her with her math.

"So, yeah, you have to keep this two and this 'x' together. You have to divide out the two 'x' on this side from the four 'x' on that side, you can't divide it with the one half 'y' because they're different. You get it?" asked Reigen as he tried to explain the basics of algebra. Mob didn't look like she was paying attention, her eyes were elsewhere. She was watching him, not the page in front of her.

"Yes, Master Reigen, I get it." Said Mob. She understood that part of algebra at least, that 'x' and 'y' were different and couldn't be together like that. She just liked it when Master Reigen explained things. She watched his mouth, the way it moved. His hands, the way they explained.

She had it bad.

Last night had been a lot. She needed to take the edge off of this, to douse the fire inside of her, but she just couldn't. She couldn't because she was on a train. If she hadn't been on a train, if she had been alone somewhere, truly alone….but no. She was never truly alone. She as always around people. She was around people at school and when she wasn't around people at school she was around her friends during club and when she wasn't at club she was around Master Reigen at work and then after work she was around Master Reigen at home. The only time she could ever get rid of this feeling, douse the fire, was when she was with Teru.

Teru. How could she have almost forgotten him? How could she have almost broken her promise? She pulled her hand into the sleeve of her hoodie, of Teru's hoodie. It felt like him, it smelled like him. That was good. When she woke up that morning she smelled like Master Reigen.

Cigarettes and incense. After shave and stale sweat. Mochi and chocolate. Master Reigen.

She took a shower when she got up. Maybe tonight she could take a bath.

"Really? Because it looks like you aren't paying attention, student." Said Reigen. Mob frowned. Of course she was paying attention. She always paid attention when Master Reigen told her things.

"I did pay attention. 'X' and 'Y' are different, that's why they can't be together. You can't divide one into the other. I always pay attention to you, Master." Said Mob simply. She didn't know why Master Reigen always thought that she didn't listen.

"Ok, ok, I believe you. You alright, Mob?" Said Reigen. Did she have a tone? No, Mob never had a tone. He resisted the urge to reach over and give her shoulder a squeeze. She felt slightly annoyed. She didn't let it show, though.

"Fine. I'm fine, Master." Said Mob. What could she say? Yesterday I wanted more than anything else for the two of us to turn to LCL together? To have instrumentality with you? That it's you I want to have instrumentality with, not Teru, even though I really do want to have instrumentality with him, too? That I feel like I'm on fire? That I'm going to pop, like a shook up soft drink? That I want you to hold me, kiss, me, and never let me go? That right now I want you so badly I could just-

"Math kicking your ass?" asked Reigen. He could hardly feel her. She was guarding her emotions from him. Maybe she felt awkward about last night…but she hadn't before. She was trying to disappear into her hoodie, too. He wanted to probe deeper but he didn't. Her emotions were hers and hers alone. If she projected them he'd read them but he wouldn't go digging around. He had gotten a good look at her emotions last night…anyway.

"Yes, kind of…." Said Mob. That was true. Math was hard for her, hard for both of them, but that wasn't what bothered her. He was close, he was close and he was there and she wanted to be with him but she was stuffing those feelings down and putting other feelings on top and it was so hard and it was making the other Shigeko get kind of upset. She needed to be with Teru. She needed to be on her own.

"You'll get it, Mob, and if not then whatever. Don't tell anyone I said this but you probably won't need this kind of math in your adult life." Said Reigen. Her adult life. He tried to picture her as an adult, as a grown woman, for a moment. He couldn't. he had enough trouble turning the Mob in his mind into Mob as she appeared in reality. She was older, now, and she ditched the pigtails a couple weeks ago. She was taller, too. She hadn't even come up to his waist when they met. Mow she was at chest height. Her adult life. He knew what she wanted for it, what she had planned. Him. She had planned a life with him. She planned to be his assistant, his partner, forever. Yeah, the adult Mob who was barely taking form in his mind didn't really need this kind of math.

"No, I won't. I don't need more than the basics at work." Said Mob simply. She could do basic math, contrary to popular belief. When she was an adult she'd probably just keep on doing more of the same. She knew what her adult life would be like. She could easily picture herself as an adult. She'd just be a taller version of herself. Prettier, maybe. She'd wear adult clothes. Shorter skirts and dresses. Shoes with heals. Underwear that wasn't plain white and didn't come in a pack for five hundred yen. Things with silk and bows and lace and patterns and colors. Things meant to be seen. She just hadn't figured out who would be the one to see them. She needed to get off of this. She needed to think of something else, anything else.

"Right. You still plan on spending your life with me?" asked Reigen. Permanence. Better as an idea than as a practice. Maybe not. He did like Mob, he liked her a lot, and she could make her own choices in life. She was young but he was deluding himself if he still thought of her as a child. She was the Mob that existed in life, not the Mob that existed in his mind.

"Of course, Master." Said Mob still hiding her feelings. Reigen still felt that spike of love and admiration. Mob couldn't hide that. Mob couldn't hide the way she felt for him forever. She had probably showed it last night. If she had he hadn't noticed. She had wanted him so badly but he still wouldn't **notice**. She would always be eleven to him.

"Well I'm not starting that discussion again. Still flattered, though." Said Reigen nonchalantly. He watched the world pass by out the window. A different group of joggers today. Some clouds in the sky but not rain clouds. A plane flew overheard, if Reigen squinted he could even read the name of the airline. Japan Airlines. Made sense, they were in Japan after all.

"There's nothing to discuss, at least not to me. I always want to be with you, Master." Said Mob simply. She wanted to be with him and so she would always be. Simple. Truth. Flat fact. She did always want to be with him. Even if they were never together, even without the kind of love she wanted, she would still always be with him. He was all the she ever wanted for herself and she would be with him in any way that she could.

"You don't have to spend all of your time with me, though, you know that, right?" asked Reigen trying to breach the subject as nicely as he could. She was still locking down her emotions. If he really looked he could see that thing under her skin, the other Shigeko, peaking out as the small white cracks.

"I don't, Master. I go to school, too. Sometimes I see my friends, too." Said Mob. Well she did spend time with other people. That was the truth. She liked the balance that she had, mostly. She was seeing Teru instead of her telepathy club friends but she wanted to see Teru.

"You can see your friends today, if you want. I've been thinking and I've decided to give you the day off." Said Reigen once again trying to sound nonchalant. She needed time to herself. She needed it and he needed it. They spent a lot of time together. They spent maybe too much together. Last night he had come to a line. He needed just a few hours to himself to sort himself out, to fully extract himself from her.

"…you don't want to be with me?" asked Mob softly. Their train was pulling into the station. Reigen sighed and helped her up. Mob appreciated the closeness but still felt hurt. What had she done? Maybe he had noticed how she felt and he was trying to get away from her. Maybe he was going to reject her.

"Mob, no, not this again. You feel rejected was too easily, you know that?" said Reigen with a slight tone. He had forgotten that part of being young, everything felt like such a big damned deal, or maybe Mob was just sensitive.

"….I know." Said Mob. They were walking out of the train station now. The sun was hitting them from behind. It made Master Reigen's hair look like a glowing halo. She looked away. The more she looked at him the more she thought about him and the more she thought about him the more of those sorts of thoughts, private sorts of thoughts that made the fire in her even worse, would come into existence.

"I said I would never reject you, right?" said Reigen. She just needed some reminding. She was young and he was pretty much her only source of stability. That was why she always felt so rejected when he gave her the day off. That was why she was always so clingy towards him.

"I know, Master, I just…I don't know. Sometimes I just feel bad, that's all." Said Mob as they walked down the nearly deserted sidewalks. There were a few groups of kids around but there was still plenty of space. She still walked close to him, though, even though she could see how much room there was.

"Well, don't. Mob, I still like you, I still care about you, but I need some time to myself. If something comes up that I can't deal with I'll call you, ok?" said Reigen. After a moment he reached over and gave her hair a tug. Soft as always.

"…ok…I'll see you at home?" asked Mob. Maybe she felt this bad because they had been so close last night. She needed to stop feeling this way. She needed to stop feeling like this because he had given her the day off before and it was just him wanting some time for himself. She could spend that time with her friends. She could spend some time with Teru. Alone. All alone.

"Or if I need you to come in and help me at work." Said Reigen. He probably wouldn't need her, though. He'd see her at home, later. Late. He probably might even be home late. He could always stop by happy trails. Not to sad drink for once. He didn't just go there to forget his troubles, he also went there to be irresponsible. Wait, no, he couldn't being anyone home. Mob lived there, now, and he wasn't going to do that to her. He could always go to her place, or that love hotel he went to a few times before.

Anywhere but his place. Mob's place. Their place.

"Of course, Master." Said Mob. Why did she still feel kind of sad? She spent a lot of time with Master Reigen already. It was because they had been so close, that was it. Master Reigen wasn't rejecting her, no, he just wanted to do adult stuff without her. Alone. Not with anyone else. Since they had been together he hadn't been with anyone else. She had. Did that make her a bad person? No, they weren't a couple or anything. She was even already part of a couple. Did wanting instrumentality with Master Reigen make her a bad person? She hadn't actually done anything with him. She had just thought about it. Thinking wasn't bad, Master Reigen had told her that.

"Hey, Mob, talk to me. Is something wrong?" asked Reigen stopping at their crossroads. This was where they parted ways, where they went to their own separate worlds. Her to school, him to work. Adult world. Kid world. She felt sad, though, troubled. That was what she was projecting. Who knew what she was suppressing. He didn't like this. She never used to keep things from him.

"No…I'm fine. It's nothing serious, Master. I guess I'll just miss you but you'll be home when I get home. I'm alright, Master, really." Said Mob. She tried to keep her feelings in but it was hard. The way he was looking at her, the way he always looked at her. It was hard. It was hard wanting something so badly but knowing that you just couldn't have it.

"You sure? I mean, if you want to talk-" said Reigen. She was hiding most of her feelings. He could feel annoyance, though. Anticipation, nervousness, the hum of physical desire she had been giving off more and more lately. He shrugged that off, distanced himself from it. She was young. She was young and this was normal.

"Master. I'm alright. Really, I am. When do you want me to come home?" asked Mob. She was not going to tell him how she felt. She had been great at keeping secrets but she was not going to tell him how she was feeling. She was feeling like this because they had been so close but now they were going to be so far away. She wanted him so badly but she couldn't have him. She was always wanting to be more grown up and part of being grown up was accepting things, she decided. She needed to accept that she wanted this so badly but she would not get it. She was too young. She had come close, so close, so close to him, but it wasn't going to happen. There was something that she could make happen, though, maybe.

"Whenever you want. Before midnight I guess. Tomorrow's Saturday and all but I do want you home at some point." Said Reigen. Midnight wasn't too late, right? She was Mob. It wasn't like she was going to be doing anything wrong and if some tried to mess with her then God have mercy on them.

"Can we watch TV when I get home?" asked Mob. She was really asking if they could cuddle again but she felt like maybe if she just came out and asked then it wouldn't happen. It had to happen organically, like with her and Teru. Cuddling didn't count as anything, right?

"Of course. We can watch Mogami again, if you want. I know how you look up to him." said Reigen. She always sat straight up and gave that show her full attention. It was good for her to have an actual, proper, and properly psychic person as a role model in addition to him. He loved Mob's admiration but she could have other people she admired. Besides, Mogami was dead so he had no reason to be jealous. Not that he would ever be jealous.

"I'd like that, Master." Said Mob. This would be a nice night. They could just spend time together. Sometimes it was just enough to be in the same room with him, sitting on the same couch, resting her head in his lap when he got tired. He'd rub her back while she laid down. Sometimes he'd talk and she'd listen.

"I'll type up your portion of the book, too. I got a great quote from the printer if I can get this done fast. We'll have a mock copy by the end of next week, hopefully." Said Reigen. She had worked so hard on her portion. She may have even written more than him. Her handwriting was so small that a page in her notebook sometimes translated to three pages typed out.

"I can't believe we really wrote an actual book." Said Mob, smiling. Reigen smiled right back. There was the Mob he loved, happy Mob.

"Believe it, Mob. Of course we could write a book, we're amazing, you and I." said Reigen. He was somebody. She made him somebody.

"You are, Master, you are." Said Mob softly. He was, he really was. Reigen tugged on her hair and they parted ways. Reigen watched her, briefly. She felt alright, she seemed alright. Then she must have been alright.

Teru kicked his soccer ball against a tree as he waiting for Shigeko. He was kind of early but she had been up pretty early too so maybe she would be early. He hoped that she would be. His hopes were raised when he felt an aura enter his, admittedly small, range of perception. He quickly realized that it was Ritsu's, though, not Shigeko's. He kept the disappointment off of his face as he felt Ritsu approach him.

"Hey." Said Teru as he kept on kicking the ball. He needed to see Shigeko. He wanted to. He missed her so damned much. At some point she had become the protagonist of his story, and why not? She was the stronger of the two of them. She was more interesting, more everything really.

"Teru, hi. What's with the soccer ball?" asked Ritsu. Teru turned to face him and kicked him the ball. It felt weird, really weird, having Ritsu there in the place that he and Shigeko shared. Whoever did the grounds keeping had seemed to have given up on taming the tiny jungle that they had created together.

"I have practice after school today, we have a game on Sunday. I figured that I should get back to it. I've been kind of neglecting my life lately. What's up with you?" asked Teru. Ritsu thought that he sounded kind of sad. He wanted to see what was wrong but knew that he couldn't just come out and ask. Could he? The rules were weird between friends sometimes.

"Nothing much really. I'm having dinner at Rei's house today, she's making my favorite meal. Well, her mom is. Aside from that it's pretty much a normal day." Said Ritsu. Maybe Teru was sad that Shigeko wasn't there. He had felt for his sister before approaching this place. Not like last time. He did not need to see that again. Or to hear it. Or to experience that with any of his other senses. One did not need to see their big sister in that state of affairs, as mature Ritsu would say. Immature Ritsu would just say that it was way gross to see that.

"Heh. Normal." Said Teru kicking the ball a little harder. Normal. He had been trying and trying to get back to normal. He didn't know if it was working.

"Hey, Teru…are you ok?" asked Ritsu as they kicked the ball. He didn't want to pry but he didn't want Teru to be hurt either. It hurt him seeing his friend so hurt.

"I'm fine, just fine. I couldn't be finer." Said Teru kicking the ball way too hard and hitting Ritsu in the stomach. He needed to calm down. He needed to keep it together. He needed Shigeko, she always made him feel better.

"Fine, be that way." Said Ritsu turning to leave. He kicked the ball right back at Teru and just as hard.. Teru stopped the ball with his powers.

"Wait, no, I'm sorry." Said Teru. This was his only other real friend in the world next to his girlfriend. He couldn't afford to be a jerk like that.

"What's with you today?" asked Ritsu feeling just a little rejected.

"Nothing. Something. Everything. I don't know." Said Teru sitting on the ground. Ritsu sat down next to him. Teru scooted away some. Shigeko was the only person who got to sit that close to him.

"You can talk to me, you know." Said Ritsu quietly. Teru was his friend and he was hurting and it was Ritsu's job to make his friend feel better. That was what this feeling was, concern for his friend.

"Yeah, I know. I just…have you seen this picture?" asked Teru pulling his phone out with his powers. He showed Ritsu that picture of Shigeko and Reigen from last night. He was too close. He was touching her too much. It was dark but Teru could still see how close he was to Shigeko.

"No, but now I have. Why is he so close to her?" asked Ritsu. Too close. Way too close. What was with Reigen and Shigeko? Why did she let him stand so close to her? Why did she let him touch her all the time? She wasn't actually in love with him, right? Ritsu had just been making a cheap shot when he said that. It couldn't actually be true.

"Because he's a lying bastard." Said Teru crossing his arms. The tree next to him shook. Fidgeting. Shigeko's habit.

"Well, yeah. I'm pretty sure he lied about having psychic powers, before. I never felt any kind of aura off of him." said Ritsu. He lied and he used Shigeko and now he had her living with him and was being way too familiar with her. Shigeko would tell him if something happened, right?

"No, he lied about something else. That bastard told me twice that he wasn't trying to steal her from me. She's mine and here's right there with her being-being-being like that!" said Teru kicking the ground. Ritsu's brain short circuited for a moment.

"What…the…fuck….?" Said Ritsu. Reigen was actually trying to….with Shigeko. With his sister? No. Hell no. Ritsu felt his big brother instincts growing. He was going down to Spirits and Such and beating Reigen until he apologized and agreed to leave his sister alone.

"He's not trying to sleep with her I don't think but he is trying to….I don't even have the word for it. It's like he's trying to be with emotionally I guess. Shigeko says that they talk a lot and spend a lot of time together and it's like she'd rather spend time with him than me and it's hard, you know?" said Teru not able to keep the word vomit from spewing forth.

"…I know what that feels like. Not that I feel the same about my sister as you do, that would be weird and I'd have to kill myself in that case, but yeah she used to be my best friend but then Reigen came along and she wanted to spend all of her time with him." said Ritsu. They had been best friends until that day, that day she exploded and hurt him. Then she met Reigen and no matter how many times he said that he forgave her she still wouldn't hang out with him like they had before.

"I don't get it. What does she see in him? I mean, he's not that powerful, he's not that smart, he's a million years old, and he can barely dress himself." Said Teru. Objectively he had everything a girl could ever want. A girl. Shigeko was a girl but in a lot of ways she was different. She was different from anyone he had ever met, girl or boy. Maybe that was what she wanted. Maybe she wanted a weird guy who talked too much, had weak powers, and looked like he stole his suit from a discount store mannequin. No, she wanted him. The scar on his shoulder was testament to that.

"And he's annoying. Why does he always refer to himself with such a long title? It doesn't even make any sense. Greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century?" said Ritsu. Teru smiled a little at that. Ritsu shifted in the grass. He felt sort of nervous. Sort of like a happy sort of nervousness.

"But he always calls Shigeko Mob. I mean I know she liked to be called that but it's not her name. She should at least get a title besides 'devoted student'." Said Teru. Her name was Shigeko. He had called her Mob briefly but settled on Shigeko. That was her name. She was herself, not Mob. She wasn't a background character, she was a main character.

"I don't get him. I just don't get why he's so close to her. If he ever tried something with her I'd hurt him, if not kill him, you know? I think I would." Said Ritsu. Shigeko would tell him. It wasn't like anyone could make her do anything, not really. She was super powerful. He would fight for her like a brother was supposed to.

"…me too, but she'd tell me. She wouldn't do anything, anyway. She's not like that." Said Teru. She was only with him, physically. She would never cheat on him and if by some cruel twist of fate she did he would notice. She liked to be kissed really hard and bit too. He would have noticed, but she never would. She didn't even think about anyone other than him. She had said that she had never even googled anything, she said that she got nothing out of watching people do it, so obviously she only had eyes for him.

"No way! I never said that she was! Shigeko wouldn't hurt you like that. She loves you a lot. I can tell…" said Ritsu turning red and looking away. That had not been meant for his eyes, it had been disturbing to witness, but he had to be mature about it. It wasn't like he was any better. It wasn't like it was anything that wouldn't end up doing with Rei. Not that had wanted to, really, but she would want to and he would make her happy because that was his job as her boyfriend.

"So I did feel you, before. Crap. Well, I'm sorry, I guess." Said Teru looking away. Well then he hadn't been imagining things. Ritsu had been in his sensory range. Great. Wonderful. Awesome. Coolness. Now all Teru had to do was dig a hole and wait in it until he died. Why couldn't it have been anyone else? He didn't care if anyone else knew. Ritsu was her brother, though. Her super protective brother. Her super protective brother and his friend. Great. He braced himself for whatever was coming next.

"….I…accept your apology…I guess…I mean Shigeko can do whatever she wants and you're her boyfriend but…yeah…" said Ritsu. They were facing opposite directions now. Ritsu risked a glance. At least Teru was just as red as he was.

"Did you ever consider that, maybe, if you didn't go snooping around all the time then you wouldn't see things that you weren't supposed to?" asked Teru. The first time that he had even met Ritsu he had been skulking around following him and Shigeko. Teru was so glad he didn't have a younger sibling to get into his business like that.

"I wasn't snooping around! You guys were outside! In public!" said Ritsu. He had not been snooping. Snooping would have been like if he had been pressing his ear to the door when they wanted to be alone like he had caught his mother doing when he had been on the phone with Rei.

"Your school doesn't have spots like this? Wait, we're in your school's territory. The polite thing to do is not to go sneaking around in a make-out spot! Seriously, people are only doing one thing in spots like this and you should mind your own business if you don't want to see! When you go to a spot like this you're going to see things that you don't want to! I mean, I know that you could feel our auras, or at least Shigeko's. What did you think you'd see?" said Teru. They were facing each other now. They were both red but Teru looked and felt pissed off. Ritsu held his gaze. He had his own apartment without any parents or siblings or anything. They could just do their couple stuff there!

"We're out in public! You have your own apartment! Why not just wait until after school?" said Ritsu. He had kissed Rei in public before but just kissing her. He hadn't done more than just kiss her, anyway. If she ever wanted to do anything else, not that he was that excited or excited at all about that, he'd be in his room or her room with the door locked and the windows closed for privacy.

"You have a girlfriend! You know how it is!" said Teru. He was not arguing with his girlfriend's little brother on the merits of swapping spit before school vs. waiting until after school and hoping that you could get her away from her master/your rival for her.

"..not really…" said Ritsu quietly. He just couldn't feel like that about Rei. As gross as it was, Teru and Shigeko together doing stuff, he did envy Teru. Ritsu just couldn't want that with Rei. He knew how guys his age were but he didn't think about her like that. He would rather have dinner with her and look at her drawings than kiss her and try to see her naked or whatever coupled people did when they were alone.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't know that things are going to bad with you and Rei." Said Teru. He had been a jerk again. Maybe he just couldn't change. Maybe he was just doomed.

"No, that's the problem. Things are great between me and Rei. She's nice and smart and pretty and funny. She liked me and she wants to be with me and I should be so happy with her but I'm just….not. I wish that she was mean or obnoxious or dumb or something but she's not. She's so great but I just can't feel…that stuff that you're supposed to feel." said Ritsu. Now it was his turn. Word vomit. Teru as too easy to talk to, sometimes, even when he was being a jerk.

"…oh…I guess I hit a nerve. Sorry. Uh…can I ask you something? And don't tell me that in asking you if I can ask you something I'm already asking you something." Said Teru. Ritsu was his friend, his closest non-girlfriend friend, and frankly it sucked seeing Ritsu beat himself up over this.

"Ok, fine, ask away." Said Ritsu. Whatever it was he knew, by the tone Teru used, that whatever question was coming it was going to suck. Whatever. He had almost died after being kidnapped by evil espers. He could handle any personal/embarrassing questions that Teru could throw at him.

"Ok, listen, don't take this the wrong way. I can't stress that enough." Said Teru. This was the kind of question that could get a guy beaten up. Ritsu wouldn't…yeah, he would. He would totally beat him up.

"Teru, whatever it is just ask….." said Ritsu with a groan. Well then, this was going to suck, whatever it was.

"Do you even like girls?" asked Teru quickly. He put up a barrier in case Ritsu decided to revert to his old beating people up and piling them on the ground like pick up sticks, sort of way.

"…what?" asked Ritsu. What the hell kind of question was that? Of course he liked girls! He had a girlfriend! He had nothing against guys who didn't like girls, nothing at all, but he had never even liked a guy before so therefore he liked girls. What kind of a leap of logic was that? If a person wasn't madly in love with their girlfriend then they needed a boyfriend?

"I just mean that if you're not into her, and you said before that you never wanted a girlfriend, I just sort of figured…I mean, it's just a theory. You don't need to beat me up or anything." Said Teru defensively. Well, that was a failed theory. Maybe Ritsu was just one of those people who didn't like anyone. Maybe Teru needed to take his own advice and mind his own damned business.

"I just….I don't know! I'm not going to beat you up, but seriously!? I like Rei, I just don't want to…no, I do. I like her and she likes me! Damn it!" said Ritsu. He liked her because he had to like her. He liked her because if he didn't then he had been stringing her along like an asshole. He had to like her. If he liked guys then a guy would have asked him out, not her. Wait, no, that didn't make sense. Did it? He didn't know. This was complicated! He never spent enough time with anyone who wasn't his sister to figure out if he liked them! The only person he spent that much time with, outside of school stuff, was Teru. Ritsu didn't like him like that and therefore then he liked Rei and didn't like guys and hadn't been so stupid as to strong along a nice, sweet, girl who liked him. He couldn't hurt anyone like that. He wouldn't.

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry. You don't have to explode! Sheesh!" said Teru still keeping his barrier up. Ritsu, who's aura had been showing, who had actually come close to something akin to losing control, immediately calmed down. Well, he squished his feelings down, anyway. He wasn't going to explode like the rest of his family. He wasn't going to lose control like Shigeko did sometimes. He wasn't going to lose control and start yelling like his parents did.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that." Said Ritsu. He needed to stay calm. He needed to be mature. He needed to be the Ritsu that existed in the minds of others. He needed to be calm and mature and grown up.

"No, it's my fault. I should mind my own damned business." Said Teru. Well he had certainly been wrong. He probably imagined the way that Ritsu looked at him, sometimes. Yeah, that was just him being conceited again. Of course Ritsu wasn't looking at him the same way that he had been looked at in the past.

"Well, yeah, but I shouldn't be an asshole." Said Ritsu. He had briefly been that person and now he wasn't.

"No, I was an asshole." Said Teru. Humility. He had to admit when he was wrong. He wasn't that person anymore. He couldn't be that person anymore. He had to be better than he was. He had to be better than he had been.

"Now we're arguing over who's the bigger asshole." Said Ritsu. He smiled, though, because it was funny. He looked over at Teru. He was smiling a little, too. He had a nice smile. His real smile. People's real smiles were their best smiles. He looked nice, then, in the light. It was coming through the leaves in bits and pieces. It made his hair look like little bursts of sunlight. Light hair was nice, it didn't swallow up the light but reflected it.

Wait.

No, he just noticed something nice about his friend. That was all. He wasn't the sort of person who didn't know himself. He wasn't the sort of person who would use another person. He liked Rei, he was just…he was just bad at showing it. That was all.

"I mean it's obviously always going to be you. That goes without saying." Said Teru clearly kidding. Ritsu reaches over and shoves the barrier that Teru forgot that he was keeping up.

"Are you guys play fighting again?" asked Mob. She had been so happy to feel both of their aura's that she had made herself move super-fast. She was a little motion sick, actually. Still, she hadn't spent time with her little brother in a while.

"Shigeko!" said Ritsu standing up quickly. Mob hugged him tight.

"Ritsu! I never see you before school! Wait, don't you have student council?" asked Mob. Was he skipping student council to play fight with Teru? That wasn't a good thing. He worked so hard in student council, he couldn't just throw it away.

"No, we don't have meetings every morning. Kamuro says that they're all cancelled until he makes some big announcement and probably for some time afterwards." Said Ritsu. Whatever Shinji had planned Ritsu was not going to be any kind of a part of it. No more clean-ups. No more underhanded tactics. Shinji said that he had changed but a person didn't have be so sneaky and underhanded to decide to do something else like another clean-up. He could be a lot, sometimes. A lot of the time, actually, when he got an idea in his head. He was a nice guy, though, when he wanted to be.

"He's not framing anyone again, right? I don't want any more jobs…" said Mob. The last time Ritsu's friend decided to do something big she had become a shadow leader. What ranked higher than shadow leader?

"No, we're never doing anything like that again." Said Ritsu with as much seriousness as he could manage. He was not getting involved in anything like that, especially if it would end up involving Shigeko. Still, he wondered why that guy, Onigawara, didn't just take his job back. Shigeko obviously didn't want it and wasn't doing anything with it.

"Good. I knew you weren't like that anymore, Ritsu. You're a good person." Said Mob. Ritsu was never going to do anything like that again. He could change. Even someone as perfect as her little brother could mess up but he could still change. Teru changed, too, and he had been super jerky. That mean that she could change, too.

"Yeah…I am." Said Ritsu. He was a good person. As a good person he would never do something as awful as string Rei along. He was too good a person to do something like that. Teru stood up and stretched. He checked the time. Plenty of time before school started. He looked between Ritsu and Shigeko. As much as he liked Ritsu, and as much he valued his friendship, and as much as he wanted them to be fully made up from his little faux pas, he also wanted to kiss his girlfriend a whole lot. He was only human.

"Well aren't we getting a little conceited?" asked Teru mirthfully. Ritsu reached over and shoved him, but not for real. Mob was confused. This was definitely one of those layers to conversation things.

"Talking about yourself?" said Ritsu. There. Back to their comradery. Back to normal. He liked it when things were normal.

"Are you guys fighting? It looks like you're fighting but I can tell that neither of you it upset." Said Mob simply. Teru shrugged.

"We were, but we're fine now." Said Teru just as simply. That was the mark of true friendship, he decided. They could fight but then be right back to normal.

"Yeah, it was nothing. Don't worry, sister." Said Ritsu. Teru was standing close to Shigeko, now. Ritsu could read the atmosphere. He saw how close they were, how his sister kept looking over in Teru's direction. She usually just started straight forward. Right. Boyfriends ranked higher than little brothers. He did like spending time with his sister but he didn't want to be a third wheel or anything.

"Why ae you here so early though, Ritsu? School doesn't start for another half hour." Said Mob. She liked hanging out with Ritsu but she was still a ball of unresolved feelings from last night. She needed to take the edge off of it. Besides, she had the day off, today. She could hang out with Ritsu maybe, after school. Well, after Teru finished practice. He wanted her to be there and therefore she would be there. She promised. She promised and she always kept her promises.

"Force of habit, I guess. Rei didn't have time to walk me to school and I didn't have enough time to go all the way to her house to walk her to school so I just went to school and I ran into Teru." Said Ritsu telling the whole truth.

"Oh yeah, Rei said that you guys walked together. I'm so happy for you. I'm happy you found love, Ritsu." Said Mob. Love was important, the most important feeling. Love made you strong. Romantic love, friendship love, family love. Love was super important.

"Yeah…love…" said Ritsu. Did he love Rei? He had to. If she loved him then he had to love her. That was how this whole relationship thing worked.

"Were you up all night watching TV again?" asked Teru. She really fell for that power of love stuff. Oh, wait, why was she blushing like that.

"…yes.." said Mob softly. That wasn't a lie, she had been watching TV. Teru didn't need to know how close she had come to breaking her promise. She was not a promise breaker. She would never be a promise breaker.

"Wow, it's getting late. I should really head to school. Goodbye, Teru. Goodbye, sister." Said Ritsu as he excused himself. He didn't like the color his sister was turning. He didn't like the way her eyes were moving. He knew that he was overstaying his welcome.

"Oh…alright. Bye, brother." Said Mob. Ritsu was always busy with something. He was mature like that. He was always thinking about his future and how he could make his life better. He was a really good person like that.

"See ya, Ritsu." Said Teru with a wave. Well then, that had been eventful. They met up, spilled their guts, fought, and then made up. Friendship, real friendship, certainly was a roller coaster sometimes. He took Shigeko's hand as her little brother walked off. She held his hand back, tight. She sat down and looked up at him. Teru could take a hint and sat down next to her.

"Teru?" asked Mob softly. She wanted to tell him that she had almost broken her promise, that she had almost consciously broken her promise, but she couldn't. She couldn't hurt him. She couldn't tell him what she wanted, what she had wanted to do, what she had almost done.

"Yeah, what's up?" asked Teru. Her aura was kind of upset. She seemed sort of off, she was making a lot more eye movements than she usually did. She was picking at the grass, too, with her hands.

"Teru…I have the day off today, so we can hang out if you want to." Said Mob. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry even though she hadn't even done anything. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to cuddle him. She wanted to go somewhere indoors and private and turn to LCL with him. She needed it because so, so, so many feelings had been stirred up last night and they weren't resolved. They weren't resolved at all. She wanted to hug him and kiss him. She wanted to run away and hide in a hole. She wanted to scream and cry and laugh and-and-and-it was hard.

"That'd be great! I mean, sure, if you want to." Said Teru. This was great, amazing even. She had taken the day off for HIM. She had put him above her work, above Reigen.

"…I would. I really would. I would really want to be with you, today." Said Mob softly. Teru dragged his hand down the side of her face and tilted her head up. His eyes searched hers. Something was bothering her.

"Shigeko…what's wrong, I can see your eyes and your aura." Said Teru. She was in his hoodie, too. She was trying to hide in it, that was what it looked like, anyway.

"Teru…I love you." Said Mob. Honesty was hard, sometimes, she decided. She hadn't done anything so why did she feel like she had to confess? She wasn't lying to him, either. She really did love him. She loved him and she loved Master Reigen.

"I love you too, Shigeko. I want to know what's bothering you, though. You never hide things from me. Did…did something happen?" asked Teru thinking of all of the things that could happen to her. She was super powerful but she was just a girl after all. She could have gotten hurt, or been hurt, while he wasn't there to protect her.

"Teru…I…" said Mob. She couldn't confess. She wasn't hiding anything, though. She had nothing to confess because she hadn't done anything. But then what was with her? Why did she feel guilty? Because she had almost broken her promise. Because she had been up late thinking about what instrumentality would be like with Master Reigen. Instrumentality. She wanted it. She wanted it and she couldn't stop thinking about it so maybe if she had it then she could stop driving herself up the wall.

"Whatever happened, whatever happened at all, then you can tell me." Said Teru fearing for the worst. Whatever it was he could either protect her from it or beat it up. Or beat him up. Not that Teru still had a thirst for violence or anything.

"Instrumentality." Said Mob simply. There. She wanted instrumentality. She was always thinking about it so why not have it. If she had it then maybe her brain would shut up about it and she would stop almost breaking her promises.

"I…I don't follow." Said Teru. Evangelion. What was with her family and that show? He needed to brush up on it. Wasn't instrumentality when everyone died? Wait, did someone die? Who died? When? How?

"I want to have instrumentality." Said Mob with a blush. It was easier to say that then the actual words for it. Still pretty embarrassing, though.

"…you want to die….? Shigeko! No! I want you to live!" asked Teru quietly. Whatever had brought this on he would fix it. He would make her so happy and show her that life was worth living. He'd keep her alive even if he had to build her a beautiful cage and never let her out!...wait, no, that sounded creepy. Who cared if it was creepy if it kept her alive!?

"What? No! Teru, that's not what instrumentality is at all! You've been spending way too much time with Ritsu." Said Mob. Of course nobody died when they turned to LCL, they just all lost their AT fields and lost the boundaries between themselves and others.

"Shigeko….I do not follow. Please explain it to me but do it without explaining Evangelion to me, again." Said Teru. She had explained it to him before. It took two hours.

"Ok…well in the movie 'The End of Evangelion' everyone turns into LCL. They lose all the boundaries between each other and turn to LCL but they don't die. Ritsu thinks that they do but they don't and if you watch the end of the TV series you can tell, but that's for a different conversation and we have to go to school soon so I'll stay on one topic. Teru…do you remember how it feels when we…when we practice?" asked Mob softly. Teru turned red so fast that he actually got a little light headed. Yeah…he remembered that. He remembered the HELL out of that.

"Yeah…I do…but what does that have to do with Evangelion?" asked Teru. He needed to re-watch those movies. At least he knew where he was taking her for summer break. Tokyo. The Evangelion store and then those stores that sold those magical girl type clothes that she used to wear.

"Do you remember…uh…do you remember the last time? When I bit you, and you cursed, then the bed flipped over and it was kind of scary and we were sticky?" asked Mob as red as Teru was. She was fidgeting again. Stacks of stones tall as trees were forming. Small stones, big stones, all kinds of stones. She just needed to do something or she would explode.

"…..it rings a bell." Said Teru softly. Yeah, of course he remembered. He was still trying to find all of his stuff. Plus, well, the love they shared and stuff like that.

"Well that makes me think of what it must feel like to turn into LCL….because of how…how the boundaries between us were gone. I mean…I was really happy. I was really happy because it felt good and I felt really close to you….so that's why…um…I want to….um…." said Mob not able to meet his eyes. She wanted this. She thought about this all the time. Maybe if she had this then she would just stop thinking about all of this, already. Maybe then she would understand what it was like and she could just come off of it already.

"Shigeko….are you….are you asking me to….do you want me to….?" Said Teru. Not smooth, not smooth at all. What was wrong with him? He thought about this all the time. He had pictured this in his mind time and time and time again. Why was he no nervous? She wanted this. She was ASKING him for this. This was the point of being in a relationship, so you found someone who loved you long enough to do…that…with you. She loved him. She loved him enough to want this with him.

"Instrumentality. I want us to have instrumentality together." Said Mob, gasping for breath as she finished. She had to take deep breath to say it. Why was she so nervous? She wanted this. She thought about this all the time. She had already done stuff, a lot of stuff, so why not this, then? She could love two people, she could want instrumentality with two people. She WAS two people! Or maybe not. Maybe the other her was an extension of herself. She approved of this, the other Shigeko did. Mob decided not to bother her anymore. This was complicated enough.

"Sure!" said Teru, his voice going up several octaves at the end. This was fine. He was fine with this. He was totally and completely fine with this. He wanted this. He wanted to do this. He was ready for this. He was one hundred percent ready for this. He was Hanazawa Teruki! He could handle anything! Bring it on!

"…ok…but not here." Said Mob. This wasn't a good place. They were outside. Anybody could just walk right up to them. Plus she was pretty sure that it would be super illegal to do that outside.

"Well duh! We're outside. You deserve better than this." Said Teru. Like he was going to just do that with her right there out in the open. No way. He had his own apartment. They'd go back to his place at the end of the day and he'd…they'd…yeah. He took off his suit coat and loosened his tie. Why was it so hot out?

"…where do you want to?" asked Mob. She hadn't thought that far ahead. Probably at his house because he lived alone. She didn't know. She kind of wanted to be on her own futon for that. It was more familiar, and she liked futons better than beds.

"My house, I mean apartment. I mean, it makes the most sense. I live alone, unless you want to go to a love hotel or something." Said Teru. He could take her there, if she wanted to go. He'd take her wherever she wanted to go. He was not doing this with her for the first time in Reigen's house with him probably in the only other room. Just no.

"….I didn't even know that we even had love hotels in Seasoning City…." Said Mob quietly. She really should have thought more ahead about this. She just wanted to stop beating herself up mentally. This was real. This was real and going to happen. She was ok with this, right? This had been her idea after all. Usually when she needed advice on something she asked Master Reigen but…no…she wasn't going to. She wanted to do this and she wasn't a kid anymore. She could make her own decisions and she had made her decision.

"We do, if you want to go, I mean. It's that big purple castle looking building. I mean I've never been in there before, I just know that it's a love hotel." Said Teru. Maybe that would be better. It was an entire room designed for that and it would probably be really nice on the inside. She deserved nice things. She deserved a good first time. Those were really special for girls. They never forgot the first time. Not that he could ever forget, either. It was special for him, too, because it was with her. He had never had anyone he…he trusted her. He could be this vulnerable with her because he loved and trusted her. He trusted her and she trusted him and they were going to do this and it was going to be amazing.

"Um….I don't know…maybe we could…where…um…no, your house is good." Said Mob. She couldn't do that where she lived, in the home she shared with Master Reigen. No privacy. Well, that and it felt sort of wrong, too. No, Teru's house was best.

"You're sure you want to do this? I mean, I think I should ask because…because this is big. This is…not that I don't want to, I'm just making sure." Said Teru. He almost hoped that she said no. There was a part of him that wanted her to call the whole thing off because this was big and a lot and he did not plan this at all and he needed time to plan and to research because this was a big huge thing that was about to happen between them.

"Yes. I want to. It was my idea." Said Mob simply. She still couldn't meet his eyes. She wanted this, she thought about this all the time. She wanted this with Teru. She wanted this with Master Reigen, too, but obviously that couldn't happen.

"Ok…sure…um….great." said Teru. Right. This was going to happen. Well, this had certainly been unexpected. Not unwelcome, though. Not at all. He leaned over and kissed her. It took her a moment to kiss him back but when she did she kissed him back hard.

"Teru, kiss me." Said Mob when he broke apart for air. If she did this then she'd stop thinking of breaking her promise. If she did this then she could wait. She could wait for four years until she was grown up and then she could make her choice. Four years felt, thankfully, like an eternity.

Maybe this would be good. Maybe, today, tonight, would be really good. Maybe it would live up to everything that she had imagined. She had imagined this many, many, many times before. With Master Reigen. With Teru. She wanted to but then again she was also afraid. She was also nervous. She wanted instrumentality with Master Reigen more but that wasn't going to happen. This was going to happen. This was going to happen and it was happening and that was what mattered. Teru. Right then and there she and Teru were what mattered. What was the point in getting herself twisted up in emotional knots over something that was probably never going happen? This was going to happen and it was going to be great. Amazing. Spectacular. It was going to be what they wrote all those poems and books and songs and movies about. Yeah, she wasn't nervous. She wasn't nervous at all.

"Shigeko…" said Teru when they briefly broke apart. He had won. He had won over Reigen. He had been the one who had her. He would have her completely and totally. She was going to share herself with him, not Reigen. He was starting to feel like a main character again. When she had beaten him, when she had brought him down to Earth, he hadn't felt like the main character of his own story let alone of the world. It was hard, though, to feel like the main character of even his own story lately. He had almost died so many times, almost lost his girlfriend too. He had almost lost her to death and madness and a rival. Now he had her. He could protect her from anything that would hurt her and he had beat Reigen for her. She was sharing herself with him, not Reigen. Reigen had assured him that he didn't want this with her but he still wanted to be with her. The way he looked at her. The way he spoke to her. The way he touched her. Well, that was all in the past. That was in the past and now all he had to look forward to was the future.

He had her. He had her and she was all that he had ever wanted for himself. She was all that he had ever wanted and she wanted him so why was he nervous? He was great. He was great at what they did and therefore he would be great at this. What he didn't know he'd google. What he couldn't learn from googling he'd learn as he went. He was a fast learner. This wasn't complicated. Everyone in the whole world did this, how hard could it be? Well the population was really low so maybe it was really hard and he'd mess it up and she'd have a terrible memory of her first time and she'd never want to do it again or she'd never want to do it again with him and she'd go right to Reigen and he was older and he probably knew everything and he said that she was too young for him but he could have been lying and either way she'd grow up and then he'd be there and then-

"Teru? Are you alright? You stopped moving and your aura is being all weird." Said Mob. Was she doing something wrong? Was he having second thoughts? The thought of him having second thoughts relieved her just a little. She wanted to do this and she didn't want to. She wanted this so badly but she wanted to run away. She wanted to make her dreams reality and she wanted to forget that she had ever dreamt this in the first place. It was weird, this duality, this wanting to and not wanting to.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking….no, I'm fine." Said Teru running a hand through her hair. It was doing that floating thing again. It was nice. She was so damn pretty, then. Her lips all kiss bruised. Her hair floating around her head like a halo. Her eyes all soft and kind of out of focus. She was there, she was perfect, and she was all for him.

"Good thoughts?" said Mob leaning into his hand.

"Yeah…about us. I'm just…I'm just looking forward to tonight. Hell, I don't know how I'm going to make it through school today." Said Teru with a groan. How was he supposed to pay attention to anything after all of this?

"…me too…" said Mob, softly. How was she supposed to get anything done, today? How was she supposed to pay attention? This was going to be one of those days when time crept by really, really, really slowly. She could tell. She could definitely tell.

"You're happy about this, right?" asked Teru watching her face, her eyes, and her aura. Placid. Unreadable.

"Yes. I'm happy. Are you? If you aren't we don't have to." Said Mob in her usual flat way. Inflection wasn't something that she did very often, especially when she was squishing down so much emotion.

"Of course I'm happy. Shigeko, I've…I've wanted to do this with you for a while. Thank you." Said Teru. He didn't see the out she was giving him. He wouldn't have taken it, anyway. The war within him was settled, the armistice had been signed. Teru was now confident enough in his abilities, fueled by this seemingly decisive victory over Reigen, that most of his nervous had died away, like a plant left in a dark room for too long. Yeah, just like that fern he forgot about in his closet.

"You're welcome." Said Mob after a moment. She had only been thinking of her own feelings. Teru wanted this. He loved her and he wanted to share this with her. He had wanted instrumentality with her and she wanted it with him so she had to stop worrying so much and instead think of how wonderful it would be.

Even if it wouldn't be with Master Reigen it would still be wonderful.

Reigen wondered how he could make this day good, no, wonderful. No, good. He shouldn't aim too high. Good. He was going to make this a good day. He had already rubbed some shoulders removed a curse all by himself, and even gotten some more followers on the Friendbook page. His fans, their fans, liked it when he interested with them. He answered the simple questions, of course. Where is he from, what's his favorite food, is he really a psychic, things of that nature.

He deletes the weirder questions. The ones asking about him and Mob. How could people be so empty headed that they'd think that she was anything to him at all? Anything other than his friend, roommate, confidant, coworker, and person who he occasionally spilled his guts to and had her guts spilled to him.

Ok, so they were close.

She still wasn't his girlfriend or any of the other stupid shit people were saying. She was just someone he cared about more than anyone else in the entire world. He was close to her, though, too close to her. Last night he had been too close to her. Physicality, that was the line. When they got so close, that close, close enough that she was starting to feel like **that** towards him. He could be willfully blind, he knew that. He had been willfully blind to the way she had been feeling about him. She may have had something akin to feelings towards him but they didn't go beyond the physical.

They couldn't. Mob didn't think about him like that. She may have had physical feelings for him but that was just a part of her age. She was young and female and he was male and her hormones were telling her to ignore any and all sense of judgement.

He could ignore it, though. It wasn't like she had done anything about it. It wasn't like she had made a pass at him or anything. She had just been feeling very emotionally needy. She just wanted him to hold her close so that she could feel safe and warm and loved.

Any feelings that came up were secondary.

He had felt those feelings. He had felt those feelings, her feelings. They had been, briefly, too intense to shrug off. He had fallen asleep next to her trying to shrug off those feelings. He hoped that he had dreamt it, though, him pulling her close. His hand around her waist, burying his face in her hair.

That was a dream. That had to have been a dream.

He was too close to her. He had enjoyed being that close to her. Not on a sexual level, no, then he'd be a terrible human being. On an emotional level. On an emotional level it had been…wonderful….and not all of those feelings had been hers.

He needed to stop this.

He needed to be less close to her. When had they even gotten this close? When she moved in? Before? When had this spiraled so far out of control? Why had he let it? He had always been a sucker for Mob. He had always had the complete and total inability to say no to her. Well, not always, but he did say yes too often. He had said yes to her, let her lay next to him even though he knew that physicality was crossing the line.

He needed some distance. She needed some distance. They could still be together, not together-together, but they wouldn't go their separate ways like she was afraid of. This was good, some time to himself. Some time to work and smoke and drink and maybe head out after work, find someone, and be irresponsible because it had been so damned long.

He looks away from their Friendbook page and down to his desk. A client had left him her number. She was slightly older than him, not bad looking, and he wanted him like the day was long. Maybe he would call her, head over to her place, or just any place that wasn't his place. He'd go out, maybe have a drink with her, see where it went, come stumbling home around midnight or so, then collapse into bed and wake up at five tomorrow fresh as a daisy.

Mob would be ok.

She wasn't a little kid. She could be home alone for a few hours. She'd probably be with her friends or more likely her boyfriend. Yeah, she'd be with him and getting up to…Mob things. He needed to take her to the damned clinic already. He checked his desk drawer.

He needed to get himself to the damned clinic already. Every three months, like clockwork, if you're going to be irresponsible, which he often was. Maybe tomorrow after work. He could just stop off of the store for those, even though the clinic gave them out for free. Not the ones with the light at the end, he was the only one who thought that they were fun. Yeah, he'd go to the store after work.

Hopefully Mob wasn't going to be irresponsible. Well, he hadn't taught her how to be responsible now had he. Not the time to be squeamish, Arataka. Gotta bite the bullet and teach her how to be safe. You know how she feels, you know what she wants. She's a smart kid, and mature, but she's still only fourteen and could make a mistake. Several mistakes. Several of your mistakes.

She's smarter than you. She won't make your mistakes. She won't jump into bed with the first person who tells her she's somebody. She won't alienate everyone around her just because she's hurting. She won't make stupid mistake after stupid mistake because she's young and impulsive and hurt and alone and just want to be heard and understood and loved.

She's a smart person. She's someone who understands what she wants from the world better than you ever did. She's someone who's much nicer, sweeter, and kinder, than you ever have been in your life. She's a person without lies, without deceit, without any sense of what it even means to be a deceitful liar. She's someone who only loves and wants to be loved in return. She's someone who wants you to love her, Arataka, unconditionally. She's someone who's getting all of her love, her acceptance, and her safety from you. She's someone who is taking the entire moral framework of her life from you, Arataka. This girl is someone who loves you completely and totally and you love her in return. She wants to spend every single day of her life with you. She wants to spend her entire life with you and she knows exactly what she means by that.

Don't fuck this up, Arataka. Don't ruin this like you've ruined literally everything else in your life.

Reigen wants to see how Mob is doing. He shoots her off a 'how's it going' text, she replies immediately. She's running for student council president. Her friend Mezato made her. Oh, she wants to spend more time with her little brother and she wants to make her school a better place. She's also going to be home pretty late. She also wants to know how his day is going. They text back and forth for a while. She's in class, though, so he should stop texting her. He should but he likes talking to her.

Maybe he didn't want space from her. Maybe he only told himself that he wanted space from her. Maybe he only told himself that he wanted space because he knew that it looked weird, how close they were. Maybe he just wanted space because it had been a while for him and he was having trouble shrugging off the sheer amount of physical desire that she felt and projected.

He looked down to the phone number on his desk. Yeah, he was going to be irresponsible tonight. He had to be. For his own damned good because he was so damned lonely that he was texting a fourteen year old girl in the middle of both of their days.

Mob was sitting on the floor of the auditorium. They were having a special, emergency, surprise assembly. Maybe they were going to have another earthquake drill. Maybe they were going to get inspected for lice again. Whatever it was it got them out of class. She sat on the ground with her hands tucked under her so her skirt didn't show anything.

"Hey, Mob, your brother's on student council. What's this about?" asked Mezato sitting behind her. Mob shrugged.

"I don't know. Ritsu didn't say anything this morning." Said Mob. Well it was a surprise emergency assembly so it was probably a surprise to him, too.

"Maybe the president's gone mad with power again. As our school's resident shadow leader what are your thoughts on this?" asked Mezato, pencil in hand and notebook opened and poised to record whatever Mob said, anything at all.

"I don't really have any. They aren't going to do another cleanup, though. I'm sure. I know that they're not doing that again, they're done with all of that, Ritsu said so. Also, stop calling me the shadow leader, I don't even want the job." Said Mob. Mezato scribbled down some notes. Mob, the magical girl, a force for good in a cold and unmerciful world. That was the Mob in her writing. She saw her friend as someone who was absolute good fighting in a world filled with absolute evil. Or maybe not. Maybe that narrative was too simple. She'd have to revise later.

"But think of the good you could do!" said Mezato. Mob wanted to do good, she had said so, and with Mezato's help she could become the leader the force for good that she had the potential to be. Mezato would be the one to record the whole thing.

"I guess, but I really don't want to be anyone's leader. It's a lot of work that I don't know how to do. I don't know why Onigawara won't take the job back." Said Mob. She didn't even do anything to earn or keep the job. Onigawara could be so weird sometimes.

"Power struggle? Or, I guess, reverse power struggle?" said Mezato. That could make for some good reporting. A power struggle happening right under their noses. Or a revere power struggle where nobody wanted the great responsibility of controlling the school's undesirable element. This was the stuff hard hitting dramas and TV movies were made out of.

"No, it's not a struggle. He just won't take his job back no matter how many times I ask him to." Said Mob. She wasn't struggling at all. She just occasionally asked him to take his job back when their paths crossed or when they had a spare moment during club. He declined and they went about their days.

"Well then why not keep it and lead these guys to do some good with their lives?" asked Mezato. Mob was weird. She had so much power. She had super powers but hardly ever showed them off and she had power over others but did nothing with it. Well, Mezato could change that, she just needed to find a way.

"Because I don't like to tell people what to do. We're all the protagonists of our own lives." Said Mob simply. She just wasn't a bossy person at all.

"Well, yeah, but sometimes people need a little help becoming their best selves." Said Mezato. It had been over a month since the Psycho Helmet society was founded but Mob still wouldn't take up the mantle as their leader. She could have been such a good leader, too, because she didn't want the power in the first place. Mob could be trusted not to abuse it and she could pass down all of that sage like wisdom that she was full of.

"You think?" asked Mob. That made sense. She needed Master Reigen's help to become a better person and Teru had needed her help to become a better person. Maybe people were always meant to help each other. Love, friendship, and human connections were important. She knew that she could have turned out to be a terrible person, like those espers from Claw, if she had never met Master Reigen.

"Yeah, I really think so. No man is an island after all. We all need each other and if you have the ability to help people then you should." Said Mezato. Mob wouldn't force people to follow her, not like that cult leader who forced her to smile. Mob would have people following her because she was a good person. She didn't even get upset about all the things people said about her behind her back. Mezato didn't think that Mob was weird, not super weird, but she could see how other people could say that. Mob may have been weird sometimes but she was a good person full of sage like wisdom and she could make a great leader. She'd be a leader and Mezato would be her scribe and they could become famous together.

"That saying is from class. It makes sense, I think. We all need each other, that's why we're people and not lizards or bugs or anything like that." Said Mob. She had seen on TV that humans were social animals and other animals weren't. Even after they died people were social animals. Spirits hung around other spirits, too. Well, they ate other spirits but that was pretty similar. Everyone needed everyone else or the threads that held society together would fall apart.

"Yeah, just like that…" Said Mezato writing down that new piece of wisdom. She'd bring that up at their next Psycho Helmet meeting. Maybe they could even write some books about their religion. Mezato wasn't really religious, technically her family were Buddhists even though they never did anything with it, but she knew that religions needed import books explaining everything that they believed.

"Did you start any new stories?" asked Mob. Mezato always wrote about interesting things. She hadn't even realized that capsule toys could be rigged. Though she had never been so into them that she would spend a month's salary trying to get a specific toy cat to hold her phone up. She did like cats, though. Actually since she had the day off maybe she could find some time to stop by the capsule toy place and get a tiny cat or a tiny panda or maybe one of those tiny sleeping bags that was also a holder for your phone. Her case had seen better days….

"I spent yesterday in a tree trying to figure out what was going on with the miso supply. I think there's a shortage. The price of miso base is going up and they aren't unloading as many boxes of it as before." Said Mezato. She had too many irons in the fire. She had just started investigating the possible miso shortage in Seasoning City yesterday when her mother remarked about the rising prices. If there was a miso shortage then the city needed to know. It could be the canary in the coal mine for global food shortages, and she'd be the first one to report on it.

"Oh. I should tell Master to buy some before it gets even more expensive. I'm sorry that it's so expensive. Do you like miso a lot?" asked Mob.

"Not a lot. It's a food, I guess, but it's a staple food so if the price of staple foods is going up then we could be facing a global food shortage. That could be catastrophic." Said Mezato. Her parents had said that she was catastrophizing but what did they know.

"Oh. I could help with that. I can make plants grow." Said Mob. They fruit that they bore wasn't tasty, it lacked all umami actually, but it didn't make you sick or anything.

"…seriously….?" Asked Mezato after a moment. That was so cool. That was in some religious divine stuff. Mob could totally be the next Lord, or Lady, Psycho Helmet. She could be, like, the avatar of a God or something! Mezato looked Mob up and down. Or maybe not.

"Yes. I can make plants grow and they can grow fruit or vegetables but they just don't taste very good. I think other people might be able to do that. Master, Teru, and Ritsu can't, though." Said Mob. She wondered, sometimes, why she could do so much when other people couldn't. Why did she have to be strong? Was it genetics or fate or the result of some big plan? She didn't like to think too much about it, though. It would just end up making her sad or worried or other bad feelings.

"Your brother can't? I mean that's so weird, you're related. I guess powers don't work like other stuff. I mean like eye color and stuff." Said Mezato. Why did some people get powers and others didn't? She knew that if she had powers she'd be a leader, she'd do so much good with them. Maybe powers were only given to people who didn't want them. Mob certainly didn't seem to want hers.

"No, I don't think powers work like that. Ritsu didn't get his powers until much later than I did, I was born with my powers. He's not as strong as me, though." Said Mob. Mezato took some more notes. Her brother had powers, too. Huh. But her brother had said, before, that she was the only person in their family with powers. If their parents didn't have powers then how did the kids get powers? She'd have to investigate this.

"Just how many of you guys are there?" asked Mezato. Mob shook her head. She had no idea and she had no desire to find other espers. They could have been like the ones she had met, had fought with, at the Claw base.

"I really don't know and I don't want to know." Said Mob. She had Master Reigen, Teru, and Ritsu. There. That was good. As long as she had them then she'd be fine. She didn't need to find someone else like her. She didn't need anyone else, maybe someone with answers. Someone like Mogami who knew all about how powers worked. Master Reigen knew a lot but he had said that he had no clue how his powers worked, before. She needed to find someone with a clue because otherwise nobody had all the answers. If nobody had answers then she didn't know what she would do.

"Seriously? You're not curious at all? I would be, if I were you." Said Mezato. Mob was a weird person, sometimes. How could she not want to find other people like her?

"I have a lot of other people like me already. My Master, my boyfriend, and my brother. That's enough for me." Said Mob. She looked around and mad eye contact with Ritsu. He smiled, she smiled back. Maybe he could hang out with her and Teru after school. Well, not for a very long time because she had still promised Teru that they would…instrumentality….but they could still hang out for a little bit and maybe watch TV or go to the arcade or the park or play videogames or something like that. Not that she was trying to stall or anything. No. She wanted to. She definitely wanted to.

"I'll never understand you, Mob, not at all for as long as we live. We'll be old people hanging out in the park feeding ducks and talking about how we don't understand this new generation but I still won't understand you." Said Mezato. Mob frowned just a little.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob. Why did she have to be so awkward all the time? What was wrong with her?

"No, don't be. I didn't mean that in a bad way! I just meant that we're different but that's ok. Friends don't have to be exactly the same. We aren't clones or anything." Said Mezato. She was Mob's friend and she needed to be nicer, especially if she wanted Mob's continuous friendship, if she wanted to stay in Mob's inner circle.

"You're right. I don't understand a lot of things about other people but they're still my friends. Thank, Mezato, for being friends with me and stuff." Said Mob. She really was grateful that she had made so many new friends.

"You don't have to say thanks, either. I'm your friend because I want to be. I mean, you're a cool person to be friends with." Said Mezato. Mob had super powers, who wouldn't want to be friends with someone with super powers? Also she was so super nice. As far as Mezato knew, and she had done her research, Mob had never once been mean to anyone in her entire life.

"Thanks. So are you." Said Mob. Mezato was really nice and smart and interesting. She was a good person to be friends with, Mob thought. Mezato was about to say something but then a hush fell over the room. Oh, they were about to be addressed by their democratically elected leader. Mezato didn't really care unless there was some kind of story brewing. She hadn't voted for Kamuro.

Mob wondered what all of this was about. She had no idea. She looked over towards Ritsu. She couldn't read faces well but his expression mirrored hers and that of those around him. She hoped that nothing bad was happening within the student council. Ritsu loved his job, well at least she thought he did, she knew that she loved her job and that she would lose a lot of her sense of identity if she lost her job. Maybe Ritsu would feel the same way.

Ritsu had no idea what was happening. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. He hoped that they weren't going to have to do anything drastic again. He hadn't given Shinji any more ideas, had he? Ritsu would carry the regret of what he had done, what he had started, with him until the day he died and probably for some time afterwards. He didn't need to be a part of anything else like that. Well, if Shinji got any more ideas then Ritsu would just have to talk him out of them. He looked weirdly calm, though. Better, too, now that he was eating and sleeping again. He used to look so much older, and not in a good way. Well, he was much older than Ritsu, but before Shinji had looked fifteen going on fifty. Ritsu liked him better the way he was now. His skin looked much more alive, his hair was less greasy and his uniform fit him much better. Not that Ritsu had ever really thought about how their uniforms looked. Everyone had to wear the same thing, after all.

"Um….I, Kamuro Shinji, from this moment on hereby resign my position as student council president." Said Kenji, his voice wavering. Ritsu sat straight up and stared. What? Why? Because of what they did? Probably Ritsu had never felt so guilty in his life. He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead on his knees.

"This is my way of taking responsibility for my poor leadership. I spread false rumors about innocent students entirely of my own accord." Said Kenji. Shook his head. No, it had been his idea and his fault. Other people shouldn't have to feel guilty for what he did. Kenji loved being president, he and Ritsu weren't exactly the very best of friends but Ritsu knew that Kenji had been looking forward to being student council president for his entire life. Well, mostly because his brother had been the student council president but that didn't change the fact that Kenji enjoyed his job and took a lot of his self-worth from it.

"An election for the new student council president will be held in the very near future." Said Kenji before walking off the stage. Ritsu felt like he was going to throw up. The fallout from his actions was still affecting others, like black rain after an atomic explosion, or the time he tried to pour milk into his cereal box for convenience but mom found out, blamed Shigeko, and was still bringing it up to this day. He could hear what sounded like furious pen scratching and looked over to where the second years were. Oh, Shigeko's friend. He looked away before Shigeko could get a look at him. She was staring straight forward and looking bored as ever, but her aura had met his. He tried not to draw her attention, if he did then she'd be concerned about him and he didn't want to deal with her often overbearing concern right then. He had enough to deal with right now.

Mob watched with some interest. She had apologized to Kamuro on her brother's behalf weeks ago but she guessed that he still felt bad. She didn't know why. Onigawara and his friends forgave them for all the lying and sneaking around so then it must have all been over. People were kind of complicated, sometimes. Mezato poked her in the back.

"Mob, sit with me at lunch, I have an idea." Said Mezato. This would be perfect for Mob. She needed something better than leading a bunch of delinquents. Mob was all about helping people and family and stuff. Well now that this golden opportunity had presented itself Mob would rise to the occasion! With Mezato's help, of course. Now she could help people and spend time with her brother, like she enjoyed, as well as getting a taste for power and leadership. Plus this would make for some good writing material.

"OK…" said Mob. Mezato had an idea and that could have been good or bad. She always had ideas about things that Mob could do to have more power or to be a better leader. She didn't want to be a leader, though, she just wanted to be herself.

The school disassembled and went to their respective classrooms. Every year going to their own floor. Every student to their own desk. On the way out Mob and Ritsu crossed paths but passed by too quickly to really say anything. Mob thought that Ritsu looked bothered. She'd talk to him after school. Without a president then the student council couldn't function and Ritsu would have more time to spend with her. She just wanted to spend time with her brother, that was all. She wasn't trying to stall or anything like that.

Ritsu had hurried past his sister. He didn't feel like dealing with her concern for him. He had to sort out his own life and his own problems. He wasn't a little kid anymore, he didn't need to cling to his big sister whenever anything went wrong. He'd just talk to Kenji and tell him to un-resign. He'd take responsibility for everything and he'd resign if somebody had to resign. He was old enough to take responsibility for his own actions. He'd talk to Kenji after school, or maybe during lunch. Third year lunch wasn't at the same time as first year lunch but he'd sneak away or something. He had to set this right.

While Ritsu was sorting out his own feelings of guilt and self-loathing Mob was sorting out her feelings of apprehension, excitement, and general motion sickness. She felt like she was going to throw up with all the different feelings existing within her. Not explode, no, the other Shigeko didn't feel like they were threatened. She was happy, actually. She was happy because they were getting something that they had wanted for a while.

She had wanted instrumentality for a while. She had thought about it, daydreams, regular dreams, random thoughts, and alone time stuff. She had wanted this with Master Reigen but that wasn't going to happen. She knew that if she tried to make it happen, she had already come close to making her feelings known, she knew that if Master Reigen knew what she wanted then he would reject her. He would reject her because she was still only half his age. She wasn't a grown up yet. She had looked it up, it wouldn't be breaking any laws, but Master Reigen still wouldn't want to be with someone her age.

Teru wanted to be with her, though, and she wanted to be with him. She understood those shows she liked better, now. It was hard to choose between people when they were both so wonderful. She loved Master Reigen and she loved Teru. Both had saved her. Both had fought for her. Both had almost died for her. Both had never once looked at her like she was some kind of monster.

She loved both of them. She did and it was hard.

She wanted instrumentality with both of them. If you wanted instrumentality with someone didn't that mean that you loved them? She didn't want this with any other boy she knew. She wanted this so badly but at the same time she was just so sacred.

What if it was too much? What if she wasn't good at it? What if she messed up? What if, what if, what if….

She had been practicing this with Teru. Not inside, never inside, but they had practiced. She knew what he felt like, sort of. She knew how good that it could feel, from what they had practiced at. Not that they had gotten much practice. The first time they had practiced at this they hadn't even been fully undressed even. The second time had been after they had taken a bath together for the first time. The third time hadn't even been planned, things just sort of got away from them when they were kissing in the little jungle she had made for them. They had been fully dressed then, though, things hadn't gotten THAT out of hand.

If she finally did this then maybe she wouldn't accidentally mess everything up with Master Reigen. She had, when they were cuddling, thought briefly of having…instrumentality….with him. She had wanted him to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her, to flip her over and undress her and-

The pencil in her hand broke in half.

No. She couldn't think about this now. Maybe if she actually knew what it felt like. Maybe if she actually did it already then it would but out the fire inside of her. The other Shigeko certainly wanted them to. She didn't just feed on negative emotions but really any strong emotion at all. She had wanted this for a while. She had even asked Teru for this in the brief time that she had been in control of their body, before they fully merged.

Mob wanted this. She wanted this but she was just so anxious about it. This was new and big and kind of scary but also something exciting and it was supposed to be the best thing that you could ever feel in your entire life. She knew what it felt like to chase these feelings. She knew where they went and how it felt to explode but in a good way. That had just been during the times that they practiced, though. This would be for real.

It would be even better if it was for real, right?

Probably. Movies and TV and manga and music wouldn't lie just lie like that.

Yeah, she had nothing to worry about. This would be great. This would be wonderful. She had nothing to worry about at all. Right? Then why was she so nervous? She couldn't even focus on what she was doing she was so nervous. She wanted this. She did and she didn't. She wanted to know what it would be like, what everything would be like. She wanted to know what it was like and she…she didn't want to wait.

Being with Master Reigen would have been wonderful. It would have been everything that she had ever wanted. It would have been everything and wonderful but it wasn't an absolute. It wasn't an absolute and she would have to wait until she was an adult and…and she didn't know if she even had that long. She didn't like to think about it, how easily she could have died. How easily everyone she loved could have died.

She was strong, maybe the strongest, but she could still die. She could be killed. Everyone that she loved could be killed. She didn't want to die without knowing what this was like. Maybe she was being selfish. Maybe she was just an incredibly selfish person for wanting this, for doing this because she wanted this, for not waiting or for making promises or-

Mob had no idea what she was being so guilty about. She really didn't. She didn't but she could easily add guilt to the list of feelings brewing within her. Maybe she should just change her mind. Maybe she should just take it back. Maybe she should, but she won't. She doesn't want to. She wants to know what instrumentality is like and she will and it will be wonderful.

And if not well then at least she had tried.

Across the school Ritsu was dealing with his own confusing feelings. He wasn't paying attention in class, not really. He was just trying to keep his own feelings in check. He didn't know what he was going to do, about anything. He had a lot to think about, too much, and he wished that he had someone to talk to. He didn't, though. Nobody. He couldn't talk to Shigeko because she'd just be concerned or just go on and on about how amazing he was. She'd probably just tell him not to worry about what was happening because he had already made his apologies and been forgiven. She would just tell him that Shinji was free to make his own choices and that if there was nothing he could do then all he could do was nothing. What was it she was always saying? Oh yeah, your life is your own. She'd just end up telling him or something else Reigen had told her.

He couldn't tell Teru either because he would just tell Ritsu that he shouldn't let this chance slip away. Teru would just tell him to run for president and become the Ritsu that existed in the minds of others. Teru tried not to act like it but he really needed to be praised by others. Ritsu could tell. It seemed like, based on how he had talked about his life, that he had spent fourteen years trying to be the protagonist of the world so that he could feel like someone who mattered. He had been spending his entire life trying to be the Teru that existed in the minds of others. Ritsu could do that, too. He could try to exist as he did in the minds of others.

It wouldn't be difficult.

He already got good grades, everyone liked him, and he wasn't bad looking, either. He had everything, from the outside. He could keep riding this tide of success. He could be everything that his parents, his teachers, his sister, expected him to be. But his life was his own, wasn't it? What did he want?

He didn't want Shinji's job, that was for sure. Shinji was kind of his friend, at least someone he enjoyed the company of, and Ritsu didn't want to take the one thing that gave him purpose. Ritsu wasn't too sure what his life outside of school was like but a room full of trash and a mother who yelled at him all the time must not have been good for him. Ritsu knew all about mothers who yelled all the time. Shinji loved his job, Ritsu was his sort of friend, so of course Ritsu wouldn't take his job.

Rei could just look into the future and tell him what the most probable ending to all of this was. She wouldn't tell him what to do or what not to do. She'd just tell him what the most likely outcome was and he would act accordingly. What must that have been like, knowing what was going to happen all the time? Well, she didn't know everything. She only knew when she looked for specific things. He wondered what their future would be.

He knew what their future would be. He knew that he would be with her for as long as she wanted. He didn't dislike her at all. She was a nice person and she cared about him. She was someone who would always listen to him, always want to be with him, and would be really, really, hurt if he ever stopped being with her. He had thought, when he agreed to be her boyfriend, that they were just in middle school and it didn't have to mean anything serious. He was being selfish, then. She cared about him a lot, more than anyone ever had in the past, and he couldn't hurt her.

He was dome being a jerk. He wasn't that guy anymore. He would never, ever, be that person again.

So what if he wasn't in love with her. He liked her. He liked being with her and he liked her company. He had started this thing and he was going to stick it out. He was going to honor his commitments. He was going to go back to normal, keep on the path set out before him, because he had to be normal.

Teru was wrong, too. He didn't like guys. There was nothing wrong with that but if he liked guys then he would have noticed by now. He would have had crushes on guys. He would have looked at guys like the guys in class looked at girls. He would have gotten nervous around guys. He would have found himself thinking about guys, or a specific guy, all the time. He didn't, right? No. The only guy he spent time with, the only guy he could call a real and true friend was Teru and he didn't think about Teru like that, ever. Did he?

He did have really nice eyes, Ritsu hadn't seen a lot of blue eyes in his life and Teru's were a really nice shade of blue. Like a clear sort of blue, super light. He was really strong, too, not just with his powers but physically too. He had pinned Ritsu down on many occasions and Ritsu couldn't break the grapple without his powers. He dressed nicely, too. He even made his school uniform look nice. He was funny, too, sometimes. He had a nice laugh. Not loud but not quiet.

Noticing a few things about his friend didn't mean that Ritsu was into him. No. Ritsu would have known by now. Not that he had ever had feelings for anyone, ever. Well, the only person he had ever really hung out with before middle school was his sister. Maybe he would have had a crush on someone before if he wasn't constantly with his big sister. Maybe he just hadn't met enough people to figure out what it was he liked.

Maybe he was just a late bloomer like his mother had said, before. Her and dad had been arguing about him having a girlfriend. Dad said that it was normal. Mom said that she wanted him to stay a late bloomer. Dad said that if she had it her way he'd live with her until the day she died and then for some time afterwards. Mom then yelled at dad and told him that at least she still had one child. Then they went back and forth blaming each other for Shigeko leaving.

Ritsu would never fight with whoever he married like that. When he got married he'd be nice all the time. Probably to Rei. Even if he did like guys, and he wasn't saying that he did, he was still with Rei. He had made a commitment to her and he would not shirt his commitments. He had to be the Ritsu he was expected to be and the Ritsu he was expected to be was not a quitter. He'd stay with Rei until she got sick of him. Maybe she would. He had heard that girls could be kind of flighty. She was. She was always getting into different hobbies and clubs. She was trying to figure herself out, she had said. He didn't get it. What was there to figure out? You were who you were supposed to be. He was supposed to be Kageyama Ritsu, star student and all around model person. She was supposed to be Rei and Rei was supposed to be whoever people saw her as.

Her parents didn't really seem to see her as anything, though. Whenever she talked about them it was all about things they did as a family, hobbies her parents had, trips they were all going to take, funny things her parents had said, but never about them fighting. They didn't seem to be pushing her to be one thing or another. They just sort of let her be, kind of like how his parents let Shigeko be. Well, no, it was different. Mom still picked at Shigeko all the time and complained that Shigeko wasn't more like him. Rei had a bunch of older sisters but her parents never compared any of their kids. Was that normal? Were parents supposed to be nice to every kid? Al his life he had been the good one, the one that his parents cared about the most. They one who they expected to be the best, to do the most. Rei and her sisters didn't have that.

He wanted that.

When he and Rei had kids then he wouldn't push them to do anything or to be anything. He wouldn't make them be the best and he wouldn't tell them that one was better than the other. He would let all of his kids be who they were supposed to be, who they wanted to be. He would never fight with Rei, either. He'd be nice to her all the time. He'd tell her that she was doing a good job as a mom and that she was pretty, because she really cared about how she looked, and he'd tell her that he loved her even if it wasn't the whole truth because that was what you were supposed to tell the person you committed to spending your life with. He would never yell at her or call her a bad mom or say that they never should have had kids or any of the mean stuff mom and dad hurled at each other almost every night.

Forever. Was he going to have forever with Rei?

He was only thirteen. Maybe he shouldn't have been thinking about forever. Maybe he shouldn't have been worried about what would happen when he was an adult. Maybe he should just live in the now, like his entire existence would be one big today. Who knew if he even had a tomorrow? Who knew what would happen when he stepped outside of the school doors today? He could be kidnapped again. He could be killed again. Sometimes he woke up early covered in sweat. He had no idea what he dreamed about but he woke up with a feeling of absolute terror. Sometimes he would expand his perceptions as far out as they would go. He'd be relieved when he'd only find Dimple, usually, sometimes he wouldn't find any other espers or spirits around at all.

He had to have his future planned. He couldn't live in one big today. As long as he stayed on a path, as long as he had a plan, then he would be fine. He'd be fine because he had stuff to do. He had a reason to his life, a purpose. He had to be the Ritsu that existed in everyone else's mind because otherwise he had no idea who he was or what he was supposed to be doing.

Who cared if it made him happy? He would be content with Rei. If he had never felt love then he had no idea what he was missing. He liked her enough and he made her happy. He would always be there for her and he would never treat her badly. Then when they had a family he would treat them well too. He'd never yell and he'd try to be there for them. If they had powers he wouldn't make them feel bad about it and if they didn't have powers he still wouldn't make them feel bad. He would always be there for his kids and his family and he would most certainly not die or be kidnapped or anything like that.

Yes. That was a good plan.

Mob wasn't sure about Mezato's plan.

"But Mezato, I don't want to be the student council president." Said Mob. It was lunch time, they had pushed their desks together and were eating together. Well, Mob was eating and Mezato was reading off a list she had written. She had reasons, a lot of reasons. Mezato was a good friend, working so hard to help her out like this. Especially when nobody asked her to in the first place.

"Mob, listen to me! You've got to run! Think of how…popular…you could be." Said Mezato reading off the points from her list. Mob was just eating her lunch like the greatest opportunity she would ever get in her life wasn't passing her by like a ship in night passed another ship. She needed to pass this opportunity like the Titanic passed that iceberg. But in a good way, not a hundreds of people drowning and freezing sort of way.

"I don't really want to be popular anymore. I have lots more friends and that's enough for me. Like you, you're my friend. I'd rather have a few genuine friends than be popular." Said Mob. Popular didn't mean a lot of friends, it just meant that you were cool and people admired you, sometimes from a far, like how lots of people admired Ritsu but he didn't really have that many close friends. Teru had been popular, too, but he hadn't had any close friends either.

"Wow…thanks Mob. Anyway, fine, not for the popularity. How about for family? Your brother is in the student council and if you were the president you could call meetings every single day!" said Mezato. Mob stopped herself mid bite. Huh. She could see Ritsu more often. She did like spending time with her little brother. They hadn't been spending much time together, lately. Not like they had when they were little.

"Maybe…" said Mob as she thought. She already had enough to do, though. Between work and body improvement club and spending time with Teru she was already stretched pretty thin. But then again she would like to spend more time with Ritsu.

"Exactly! Also, you like to help people, right?" said Mezato getting to another point on her list. This would be great for Mob. This taste of leadership could be good for Mob. She could really grow up and become the cult leader, spiritual leader, she was destined to be. She could be their leader and Mezato could be her scribe. She could record everything that happened and become the greatest reporter in the world! Or Japan. Or Seasoning City. She wasn't picky.

"I do." Said Mob still thinking. Mezato was her friend and she really wanted her to do this. Maybe she could at least give it a try. Getting out of her comfort zone had always worked before…..

"Think of how many people you could help as the student council president! You could really make the school a better place." Said Mezato. Mob nodded. Mezato smiled. Yes! This was just the thing that could help Mob grow! And she wasn't totally cold to the idea!

"I guess…if you really want me to…" said Mob. She could give it a try, for her friend. Trying new things had worked out well for her in the past. She could always make more hours in the day by sleeping less. She could maybe get by on three hours. She usually only needed four to six.

"Perfect! Don't worry about a thing! I'll write your entire speech! We'll rehearse until our faces are blue and we're spitting blood!" said Mezato. Mob was just staring at her. Unreadable.

"But…I can't give a speech." Said Mob. She didn't know how to give a speech and she didn't think that she could even speak to the entire school at once. All of those people all looking at her at once….

"Sure you can! I've seen your videos! You're great in front of a camera, just pretend that all of those people aren't looking at you in real life but from behind their phones….or you could just picture them all naked, I guess that would work too." Said Mezato. Mob turned bright red.

"I…I think I'll do the first thing….I don't really want to think about seeing the whole school naked…also my brother would be there and that would be super weird…because we're siblings….and that's weird…." Said Mob. How would picture everyone naked make her feel less nervous? So then she'd be nervous and also weirded out because everyone would be naked. The list of people she wanted to see naked was very, very, very short. Also Ritsu would be in the crowd and he was her little brother and she didn't even like it in shows when brothers and sisters were like that so it would be super gross in real life.

"Yeah, I don't know why they say to picture people naked when you don't want to be nervous. It's like, great now I'm nervous and I feel like a weirdo." Said Mezato. She had never understood that saying, not really.

"I don't understand most sayings." Said Mob as she got back to eating.

"Well you don't have to understand a word of the speech I'm going to write for you. Just read it. Read your heart out and I know you'll win. Just try to sound confident." Said Mezato. That might be easier said than done, judging by the blank look that Mob was giving her.

"I don't know how to be confident…I'm sorry." Said Mob. She was only confident at a few things. She could play go very well, she was good at her job, and she could also make a good cup of tea. Maybe she could try acting like Master Reigen. He was always confident. He only stopped being confident when they were alone together, usually before bed. Vulnerable. He was vulnerable with her.

"No way, I've seen you act confident. Remember the English test? You totally put our teacher in his place!" said Mezato. That was the Mob that the world needed to see. That was the Mob that could be the leader that the world needed to be.

"Oh…yeah…then…" said Mob. That had been Master Reigen acting AS her. She didn't want them to switch bodies again. That had been much too weird. She liked being herself.

"You were so cool that day, Mob. Just act like that again." Said Mezato. That had been because she had…that….with her boyfriend. Maybe she could again. Mezato wasn't sure how she could suggest that without coming off like the biggest weirdo in the world. Besides, Mob hadn't been full of confidence like that in a while. Maybe she and her boyfriend hadn't…that…again.

"I don't think that I can." Said Mob. She couldn't ever act like Master Reigen. She couldn't do it, she just couldn't. She didn't have that kind of confidence, that way he had of speaking where he was so self-assured that you had no choice but to believe in him.

"Sure you can, just do…whatever….you did to find that confidence before. You're awesome, Mob. You're awesome and I think that you can do this." Said Mezato. Yeah, she was not going to make any weird suggestions. She was Mob's friend, a member of her inner circle, but she wasn't close enough to be making weird suggestions like that.

"Ok. I can try but do we have to practice until our faces are blue and we're spitting blood? I don't think that would be…good..." said Mob. She wasn't afraid of a little hard work but she wasn't going to run herself into the ground. She had a lot to do and she couldn't do that if she completely exhausted herself.

"Fine, we'll just practice until we get bored. That sound good?" asked Mezato. Mob took a lot of things literally. What was up with that? She was still staring, too. Why was she always staring off into the distance, too?

"That sounds better…thank you for helping me." Said Mob, even though she hadn't wanted to do this in the first place. No, she couldn't be mean. Mezato was her friend and she was just trying to help. She was going to grow as a person from this. She probably wouldn't even win, though. Still, trying something new was always a good thing. She wasn't worried at all. Nope. Not at all. She loved trying new things and if they didn't work out well then at least she had tried. What if she messed up? What if it didn't go well? What if-

"Did you mean to do that to your spoon?" asked Mezato. Mob looked down. Oh. She had turned her spoon into a tangle of metal and curry sauce.

"No. I was just thinking…." Said Mob as she put her spoon back the way it was supposed to be. That hadn't happened in a while.

"Don't be nervous! You'll do great!" said Mezato giving her friend all the encouragement that she could. That was what friends did, they supported each other through thick and thin, sickness and health, richness and poorness, writers block and those times when the words just flowed out of you until you noticed the sun coming up and your mom yelled at you because you have to be at school in four hours.

"Yeah…I'll try…." Said Mob. Yeah, she'd do great. She'd do just fine. She'd be adequate. She'd be somewhere in the vicinity of decent. She didn't need to worry. She would do just fine at whatever it was that she did.

Yeah. She'd be fine.

Ritsu knew that he'd be fine. He hoped that he'd be fine. He went through the entire day thinking of what he'd say to Shinji, how he would apologize. He'd tell Shinji to un-resign, to let him take responsibility for what they did, to not make Ritsu into a bad person. If he let Shinji resign he would have been a bad person and he was not going to allow himself to be a bad person. No. Ritsu wouldn't be that kind of person. The second that school was over he made a beeline straight for the shoe boxes. He found the third years section and found Shinji's shoebox almost immediately. He didn't have to wait that long at all.

"Kageyama. I know what you're going to say. I won't change my mind." Said Shinji as he changed into his outside shoes.

"But why? The entire thing was all my fault. It was all my idea so I should resign, not you." Said Ritsu. Shinji didn't even look at him.

"No, it's not your fault. You just made a suggestion, I'm the one who took it too far. Don't resign, Kageyama, you have your whole future ahead of yourself." Said Shinji. He turned to leave but Ritsu moved to stand in front of him.

"I can't let you do this in good conscience. You wouldn't have gone too far if it hadn't let you. This was my fault and I couldn't live with myself if I let you give up the position you worked for years to get." Said Ritsu not moving from where he stood.

"Kageyama, why do you even care?" asked Shinji. Ritsu shook his head.

"Because I can't be responsible for this." Said Ritsu doing his best Shigeko impression. He tried to say it in that way she said everything, like it was a basic fact that everyone needed to be aware of.

"You aren't. Kageyama, I'm…I was…your superior. Anything that we did was my responsibility. I should have known better but I didn't. I'm not any kind of leader." Said Shinji. Ritsu wanted to take him and shake some sense into him.

"Nobody's complaining, not even Onigawara or his friends. You don't need to do this." Said Ritsu

"I'm complaining. I'm no kind of leader to anyone and I don't deserve my position." Said Shinji

"But you don't know that. Nobody actually said that to you." Said Ritsu. Kenji thought for a moment.

"You have a point, Kageyama. I guess that I could….I suppose that I could run again. Yes, I'll see if they still want me…thank you, Kageyama." Said Shinji. Ritsu let him pass, now. There. He would probably win again. Ritsu had done his good deed for the day and now his conscience could rest. He went to change his own shoes. He felt better, a little. He really did a good thing for Shinji. As he was slipping into his outside shoes he felt a familiar aura near him.

"Hi Ritsu." Said Mob. She was already ready to go. Maybe Ritsu would like to go with her to watch Teru practice. They were friends too. She wasn't trying to stall or anything. No, she just liked hanging out with her little brother.

"Sister. What are you doing here?" asked Ritsu. The girl's shoe boxes were at the other side of the room. He tried to read her. She just looked bored, as usual.

"I just figured that student council would be cancelled because the president quit so I went to find you. Teru has soccer practice today and he invited me to come and watch and I thought that you might like to come with me, you know, because you and Teru are friends too." Said Mob. She was most certainly not going to use her brother as a buffer between her and Teru. She wasn't nervous at all. She said that she wanted to do this, and she did, so why was she so nervous for?

"What? Uh…no thanks. I have plans with Rei today." Said Ritsu. He still liked Teru but he was still working some things out. He wasn't in the mood to watch Teru run around a field for however long and the probably hang out with him and Shigeko. Besides, he had to go to Rei's house for dinner, anyway.

"Oh…ok…tell Rei I said hi I guess." Said Mob. Ritsu had never put anyone above her before, but then again she had put work and Teru above him plenty of times before. So this was how she made him feel. She was a jerk, sometimes, she decided.

"I will. Hey, sister…are you alright?" asked Ritsu. Her face was still flat but he could see her aura. There was a lot more blue in there than usual. That usually didn't mean anything good.

"Fine. I'm fine, Ritsu." Said Mob quickly. She was not talking to her little brother about this, about any of this. This was not the sort of thing that she could tell him. Maybe if he was her sister instead of her brother or maybe if she were his brother instead of his sister. Not as they were, now.

"Are you sure? You seem…troubled…about something." Said Ritsu choosing his words carefully. She didn't have that crackling sort of energy around her that she got when she was about to explode. Something was wrong, though. If anyone was making fun of her he'd make them regret the moment such a thought ever crossed their minds.

"Nothing! I mean, I just have some stuff I'm thinking about. It's nothing. Have fun with Rei." Said Mob as she turned and left. Ritsu was busy, that was fine. That was totally fine. She was fine.

"Bye, then…" said Ritsu as his sister sped away. He felt sort of bad blowing her off but he had already made plans with Rei and she was his girlfriend. He could always see Shigeko again later. Without a president his student council activities would mostly be cancelled. The vice president didn't get the full power of the president unless he got elected so probably way fewer meetings. Shinji did love to call meetings, sometimes thrice weekly if he could manage it. Yeah, Ritsu would have a lot more free time now. Time to spend with his girlfriend…

Mob walked quickly to Black Vinegar. The road felt longer than it was. Was this dread? No, it was a mixture of dread and anticipation and nerves. She was nervous. Why? She wanted this? Besides, there was still hours between now and then. Hours and hours and hours. Long hours where any number of things could happen. Maybe they could change their minds…no…she doesn't want that either! Ugh….

**Mob, what do you want?**

Mob stops in her tracks. She feels her hair. It's standing up again. Right. She must have woken up the other her.

_Sorry_

**What do you want?**

_I don't know_

**Then let me out**

_No way_

**I know what I want**

_You want what I want. We're the same person_

**We are not. We are this thing together but we are not one.**

_What are we, then?_

**This vessel. We are this vessel. We want things.**

_I don't know what I want._

**We want Teru.**

_We do._

**Then explain.**

_Explain what, Shigeko?_

**Why we don't have him? I do not understand self-denial.**

_Self-denial means that we can't always get what we want because it's bad for us._

**This is not bad.**

_No, you're right._

**Then why do you deny us?**

_I don't know. I'm worried I guess._

**Do not worry. I will protect us.**

_It's not like that. I'm scared but not like that._

**I do not understand.**

_I don't either. I'm sorry I bothered you. You can go back to sleep or whatever you do when you're not around._

**I am always with you.**

_I know, other Shigeko, I know you are._

Mob opened her eyes. That had been…weird. The other Shigeko had never really pulled her into their mind space like that. She wasn't in danger, though. Well, it wasn't always fear. It was strong emotion that fed her. Or maybe she had just been awake. She was always there after all. Mob kept walking, careful to keep her hair down where it belonged. She didn't need to be so nervous. It was only Teru. She had practiced, before. She wanted to do this. She wanted to do this and she trusted Teru so she had no reason to be all nervous like this.

She walked more confidently, calmly. She had no reason to be nervous, it was just Teru. She trusted him and he trusted her and they loved and cared about each other and this would be great. If it wasn't then they could always never speak of it again.

Teru didn't know he was so nervous, it was just Shigeko. It was just her sitting on the grass watching him practice. He had nothing to be nervous about. Why in the hell was he so nervous then? He was so nervous he was using his powers for pretty much everything. Hopefully that wouldn't get her upset with him. She had a thing about cheating. He was glad that she had a thing about cheating.

He waved at her, she waved back. His scorned woman's club glared. She didn't notice. Well, she didn't seem to notice. He didn't pay them too much attention, he had to focus on what he was doing. Why was he so uncoordinated today? It wasn't like this was going to be anything that he hadn't rehearsed in his head a thousand times before. Yeah, it would be great. He'd be amazing, as usual, and she'd love it and probably bite him again.

Crap. He missed a pass. Right. Focus on what you're doing, Teruki. Don't think about her and how soft her skin it and she makes all those little noises when she's really happy. The ball, which he missed, suddenly changes direction and goes right to him. Pink and blue energy. That was Shigeko. She was smiling at him just a little.

Mob was having a nice time. The sun was shining, the air was warm, and she was practically drowning in Teru's hoodie. She felt very warm and safe and loved then. It smelled like him, not that much but it still sort of smelled like him. There were some girls sitting sort of near her. They glared every time she looked over. She didn't know why so she focused on watching Teru. He used his powers a lot for that. Maybe he just couldn't turn them off. She turned hers off subconsciously for body improvement club, that was why even the simplest of exercise was hard for her. Maybe you just tended to become more dependent on your powers when you were born with them. She didn't mind, she didn't want him to become super tired like she was after club.

No. That wouldn't be good at all.

Her phone vibrated. Oh, it was from Master Reigen. She suddenly felt guilty. For what she did not know. She wasn't doing anything wrong, right? She wanted to be with Master Reigen but that couldn't happen. She wanted to be with Teru, too, and she wanted to know what it was like before she died. She could die at any time. She could, he could, anyone could. So why not?

"_Mob, I'm going to be out late tonight. Don't wait up for me." _Mob frowned, a little. No, she had no right to feel rejected like that. None at all. Master Reigen probably wasn't even going to be…whatever…with someone. Maybe he was just out late doing Master Reigen things that had nothing to do with why she would be out late.

"_Ok. I'll miss you. Do I still have to come home?" _Mob didn't want to come home to an empty house. She didn't like to be alone. Not that she was ever alone. There were a lot of tiny typing dots. Master Reigen was starting and restarting a bunch of messages.

"_Yes. I would feel better knowing that you were home safe." _Mob frowned. Why was it ok for him to stay out late but she had to be home alone? Probably because he was older. He got to do everything just because he was an adult and she was just a kid. It wasn't fair. No, she was too old to be whining about what was and was not fair. He could do whatever he wanted because he was the adult. When she got to be an adult then she could do whatever she wanted, too.

"_Ok. How was your day?"_ asked Mob. More typing dots.

"_Uneventful. Yours?" _Huh. It wasn't like Master Reigen to be so brief. Maybe he was busy? Maybe he was tired of her. No, those were bad thoughts to have. Master Reigen had promised that he would always be there for her. He promised and a promise was a promise.

"_I'm running for student council president. Mezato made me. It won't be so bad. I probably won't win." _Lots of typing dots. She looked up and watched Teru again for a moment. She liked it when he ran and stuff. He looked nice, really nice. He had a sheen of sweat on him, too. She blushed remembering the last time they had gotten that sweaty.

"_I'm proud of you Mob. I'll help you with your campaign speech tomorrow." _She wanted to tell him that Mezato already had it covered but she also wanted to spend time with him. Even if it wasn't like the time she spent with Teru she still loved spending time with him. But she couldn't tonight, because he would be home super late. Maybe she would just stay up. She didn't need that much sleep anyway.

Teru frowned as he watched her. She was texting someone. He knew her faces, the ones she made. He knew that smile. That was her Reigen smile. Teru kicked the ball with a little bit more force than necessary. Ok, a lot more force then necessary. Fucking Reigen. What did that guy have that he didn't? No. Shigeko wouldn't ever cheat on him. He knew that about her, she wasn't that kind of girl. Still, that didn't mean that she couldn't…no. She didn't love Reigen. She couldn't. Reigen loved her, though, he could tell.

Well that was too bad for Reigen. Teru had her. Shigeko was his and he was hers. He loved her, he had her, and he was about to make her forget that Reigen even existed.

Yeah, he had this. Teru had this and he had her and everything would be alright. He looked over at her. She was done texting, apparently, and was giving him her full attention. She wasn't even paying attention to the girls around her. He didn't realize just how many girls he had gone out with before her. It felt like a million years ago.

He didn't miss it.

Flirting and dates were fun but what he had with Shigeko was on a whole other level. She was someone who he actually cared about. She was someone who he had been himself around, who he could be himself around. Who he could be vulnerable around. He had never been so vulnerable in front of another human being. She had seen that part of him and she had accepted him. He had shared himself with her, too. Well, he would share himself. He would share himself with her and she would share herself with him.

He needed to do this right. He needed to make this good. He had been waiting for this day for years. Well, not with her specifically, but he had been wanting this for a while. He just couldn't have it with anyone else, nobody from before anyway he couldn't exactly speak for every single person on the planet. He didn't want to share himself with anyone before. It had just been too much, too much vulnerability. He couldn't just allow himself to be so vulnerable with anyone else.

She was the only person who fully accepted him.

She didn't expect him to be anything other than who he was. She didn't expect him to put on any kind of a show or be anything other than what he was. He had been the protagonist of the world before, in his mind. Being the protagonist of the world wasn't fun. You always had to be the best. You had to have all the answers and be amazing at everything. You couldn't be human. You had to be more than human. You couldn't cry. You couldn't be awkward.

He had cried in front of her. He had been nervous and awkward in front of her. She still accepted him. He was so lucky to have her.

Reigen was lucky to have Mob in his life. He knew this, now. He had been typing up what she had written for their book. It wasn't easy work. Her handwriting was microscopic. Still, he could read every single word she had written about him. Every sentence, every paragraph, everything was about him. Him and his relation to her.

Mob certainly cared about him, he'd give her that.

He was someone to her. He had assumed that in her mind he was the great Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. He had assumed that the Reigen in her mind was the one he tried to project to her. He was in there, she had called him amazing many, many, many times. She had put to paper how amazing he was, how he was the greatest person in her life. That man was there, the one who exorcised spirits and removed curses and laughed in the face of danger. However, there was another version of him in this book.

There was the actual him.

She wrote about late night ramen and long talks in the park. She wrote about lazy Sundays spent with her head resting in his lap as they watched TV. She wrote about bus rides and train rides made interesting by his words, his presence. She wrote about a man who would always be there for her. She wrote about man who had almost died for her. She wrote about a man who ate too much junk food, smoked like a chimney, and was terrified of cockroaches. She wrote about a man who made the bad times good and the good times amazing. She wrote about a man who saved her in every way a person could be saved.

She wrote about the man she planned on spending her life with.

Reigen's mother had told him on many occasions that he had an amazing talent for only ever seeing the things he wished to see. That was true. He didn't want to see the way Mob felt about him so he didn't. He brushed away the feel of her writing, the way she'd linger on scenes of the intimacy between them. The way his hand felt in her hair. The way his voice got grainy at night as they talked while waiting for sleep to come. The way his presence made everything in her life feel ok.

He didn't wish to see that, so he didn't.

He didn't wish to see himself as he was, to he didn't. He didn't see the way she felt and he didn't see the way he felt. The depths of his feeling for her. He loved her, he cared for her, and he would do anything for her. It wasn't romantic love. It wasn't sexual love. It was love, it was love in it's purest form. If he wished to see it he would have recognized it, but he didn't.

He only ever saw the things he wished to see.

It was hard, sometimes, to be willfully blind. He couldn't see her as an eleven year old in pigtails anymore. No, that ship had sailed. Now he saw her as she was. She was a person on the cusp of adulthood. She was someone trying on adulthood for size. She tried it on and found that parts of it fit. He would give her that, she was more mature at fourteen than he had been. She was mature enough to take care of herself, mostly. She went to school, stuck to her commitments, came to work whenever she could, and put everyone else in the world before herself.

She was such a good person.

She was so good and he was nothing like her.

He didn't deserve someone like her. He didn't deserve the way she looked at him, like he was her everything. She looked up at him sometimes like he was the answer to all of her hopes and dreams. When he was dispensing wisdom, when he was listening to her problems, when he was there for her. Sometimes, lately, she had been looking at him differently.

Her eyes were softer. They lingered on him like she was taking in every inch of him. Like she was committing every part of him to memory. Her eyes were so soft, so incredibly soft, when she looked at him like that. Very few people had ever looked at him like that.

He chose to ignore what that look meant. What it had meant in the past when other people, girls, women, females of the human species, looked at him like that. No. Mob did not have feelings for him. She couldn't.

If she did have a little puppy crush on him then that would be…normal…he guessed. He was male, she was female. She was at an age when her hormones overrode any sense of, well, sense that she had. But she didn't have a crush on him. This was Mob. She didn't, she wouldn't. Even if she did he would never encourage it.

He couldn't. Mob wanted forever from him, maybe he could give it to her, but it wasn't THAT kind of forever. Their forever was just an extension of the present. If he could have would have lived in one big today. Getting up with her, riding the train together, breaking apart only for her to go to school, working together, dinner, hanging out, bedtime, and then they'd do it all again. From five to eleven. Every day from five to eleven. Sometimes from five to ten. Sometimes from five to midnight, although he was always exhausted on those days. She wasn't, she didn't need much sleep.

They couldn't exist in one big today. They couldn't exist in that endless slice of life. She would grow, she would change, and she would grow away from him. She could also grow closer to him. He had most definitely grown closer to her. Maybe too close.

He had enjoyed having her resting in his arms. He had enjoyed waking up next to her. He had enjoyed drifting off in her aura, feeling safe and warm and loved because she felt safe and warm and loved. He loved it, getting caught up in their positive feedback loops. They had yet to have a negative feedback loop. Maybe they couldn't. Maybe they were two people who had found happiness in each other. He knew that he had never felt so happy with another human being as he had felt with her.

That wasn't healthy.

That wasn't right. It wasn't right for him to care for her like he did. He knew that he needed to put some distance between them. He didn't want to. He wanted to stay close to her. To hold her and tell her that he loved her. To make her feel safe and warm and loved because she **deserved **it. She deserved to feel safe and warm and loved. He wanted to give her all the love that he could. He wanted to empty his heart, his soul, his pockets, for her. To her.

He was getting too attached.

He was attached to her and she was attached to him. She was his best friend. No, she was beyond that. She was his everything. She was his everything but he was not hers. He couldn't be her everything. She deserved her own life away from him. He missed her, though. Her little desk was empty. The room was dull without her aura. He woke his phone up. His finger scrolled through his contacts. Mob was at the top, he put her there. She was the person he contacted the most. He wanted to call her, to make something up to get her to come in.

He wanted to but he didn't.

He couldn't. This was him being selfish. He had to be selfless, he had to be like Mob. Mob was never selfish. She hardly ever thought about herself. She always put others before herself. She was a drop of goodness come down to Earth. She was everything. She was everything good in his world. Without her his world was dark. Without her what did he have?

No. That wasn't healthy.

The beauty of loneliness was that, after a while. You got so mired in it that you didn't even realize that you were lonely. He hadn't realized how lonely he was. He hadn't realized this before because he hadn't ever had as good a friend as Mob. Now he did. Now he had Mob and he knew what he was missing. He finally knew what it felt like to have emotional intimacy with another person. He finally had this and it was with Mob. Little Mob. Mob who had her own shit going on and didn't need his shit piled up on top of that. She was fourteen, her life was enough of a mess without adding his loneliness, his neediness, adding to the mess of it all.

He felt the piece of paper on his desk. A phone number. The promise of the possibility of physical intimacy. The possibility of being able to have something akin to intimacy. He had, in the past, passed that up in favor of being with Mob. He had passed up physical intimacy for emotional intimacy. Well, maybe he should go back to physical intimacy. He needed to have some sort of intimacy with someone who wasn't Mob.

Not that he was worried about where their relationship would go.

She was fourteen. She wouldn't always be fourteen. She'd grow up. One day he'd wake up and she'd be a grown woman. What then? What would they be, then? She'd be the woman he lived with, the woman he spent all of his time with. The woman who wanted to spend her life with him. The woman he wanted to spend his life with. What was the word for a woman like that? A woman who filled that role?

Did he want Mob to be that woman?

He needed to come off this. He needed to forget this. He needed to chase these thoughts away.

He needed to be irresponsible tonight.

"_Mob, I'm going to be out late tonight. Don't wait up for me."_


	27. Different Kinds of Instrumentality

A/N: There's an M rated Mob and Reigen spinoff called Foregone Conclusion or Star Shine and Angel Wine if you guys are interested. I hope you like it if you decide to check it out. If not that's cool too. As always thank you all for reading and enjoying. Knowing that I'm making you guys happy makes me happy so please, enjoy!

Reigen Arataka didn't do boredom. He sat across from a woman he had just met, her name was Hikari. She had come in for a back rub and given him her phone number and now here they were, sitting across from each other eating cake and drinking coffee while the sun set behind them. Reigen is being charming, as usual. She's smiling a lot and being coy. This reminds him of a play he saw in university.

A MAN AND A WOMAN SIT AT A TABLE

MAN: STATEMENT STATEMENT STAEMENT

WOMAN: QUESTION

MAN: STATEMENT FOLLOWED BY QUESTION

WOMAN: ELABORATE ANSWER FOLLOWED BY RELATED QUESTION

MAN: CHARMING ANSWER THEN FUNNY NON SEQUITUR

WOMAN: RESPONDS WITH JOKE

MAN: REALISTIC LAUGHTER AND SUPERFICIAL COMPLIMENT

WOMAN: SUPERFICIAL COMPLIMENT AND DOUBLE ENTENDRE

MAN: FLATTERED RETORT AND DOUBLE ENTENDRE

WOMAN: COY ATTEMPT AT INTIIATING SEXUAL CONTACT

MAN: SINCERE ACCEPTANCE OF FUTURE SEXUAL CONACT

WOMAN: PROPOSITION OF CHANGING THE SCENE

MAN: ACCEPTANCE OF FUTURE SCENE CHANGE

There. That was all it took. In the play it had ended in a fight. Reigen never botched his dates, though, so art didn't always imitate life. Words were his forte. Words and gestures. Understanding. There. This was what his night was going to be. He was going to that love hotel off the highway, the Purple Palace. She didn't want someone she just met in her home and he wasn't doing this in the home he shared with Mob. There. Simple. Hollow.

What was wrong with him? Why was this hollow?

Well, whatever. It would be better when he actually got there. Physically. He had been spoiled, lately, emotionally. What a gift. He could feel everyone else's feelings but nobody could feel his. Well, they could, but he wasn't about to go sharing them. Ok, so maybe his powers weren't some kind of ironic curse.

Still, he had been spoiled with all the emotional intimacy that he and Mob had.

He had never had that kind of emotional intimacy with a woman since he had been too young to legally drink and smoke. Was it right to have this with Mob? Wasn't he supposed to have that with a wife or a girlfriend of something? No. He couldn't imagine himself with a girlfriend. Not again. He didn't want that kind of hurt again. Maybe that was why he was so close to Mob, because she was safe.

Well, not entirely safe. She could have meltdown at any time, after all. No. That wasn't what scared him about her.

She wanted permanence. He wanted permanence and he could see it with her. She wasn't always going to be a child, hell, she was barely a child. She would grow up and she had no plans of leaving him so of course she would stay. She would stay and she'd stagnate with him. Her life would be one big today. Their lives would be one big today. Limbo. He'd keep her trapped in Limbo.

Was that accurate? She was the one who wanted to stay with him. She was the one who had asked him for perpetuity. He had agreed to give it to her. What was their future? Would it just be one big, endless, today? Did he want that? Did he want to bottle what they had, pour it into a snow globe, and live in it for eternity?

Yes.

He did and it scared him. Would he end up ruining her? Was he ruining her or saving her? He didn't know. All he knew was that he was on a date and worrying about his relationship with Mob.

Right. No. Time to be in the moment.

He finished his food, paid his share, and left with her at his side. This was going to be a good night. Not wonderful, but still good.

Mob knew that this was going to be a wonderful night. Not just good, but wonderful. It had to be. This was instrumentality. Instrumentality was something that she had been thinking about for so very long, imagining, and miring herself in the fantasy of it. It would be wonderful and amazing and she'd finally have some sort of mental peace but she would finally know what it was like.

"Thanks for coming. I'm sorry if it was boring or anything. Don't worry, games are much more eventful." Said Teru. They were walking to his house, well, apartment. His hand was around hers. His gym bag was slung over his shoulder. She had offered to carry it but he had declined. How would it have looked if his girlfriend was carrying his bags for him?

"No, I had a nice time. I liked watching you have fun." Said Mob. They were holding hands. She laced their fingers, it was more comfortable like this.

"I like watching you have fun too….when your club practices outside! I meant when you guys practice outside." Said Teru, his face flushing and not just from physical exertion. He tried not think about how she would look up at him and her eyes were kind of looking at nothing and everything and her mouth was kind of opened and she looked so happy and tired and all of those feelings that he tried so hard to make her feel.

"….I didn't know you were watching. I mean I could feel you but I didn't know how close you were. Sorry I fall down so much…" said Mob. She fell down a lot. She fell down when they ran, when they did jumping jacks, squats, pretty much everything. She was trying to exercise the fair way and that meant stuffing her powers all the way down. She used them for coordination, though, that was the problem. Maybe it wasn't cheating, though, because she had been born with her powers and needed them to move around.

"You fell down? Oh, yeah, you did. I don't mind." Said Teru. That was not at all what he had been paying attention to. Not that he was turning into one of those guys who shined his shoes to the point that they were reflective and then walked really close behind girls. Shigeko was his girlfriend and he could appreciate the sight of her running laps in a gym uniform. Why didn't Salt have those vintage gym uniforms? Now there was a uniform that Shigeko would look nice in. She'd look nice in anything. Or nothing. No, bad Teru. Not now.

"A few times. It's hard doing stuff without my powers. Exercise stuff, I mean." Said Mob. They passed by a few vending machines. She could really go for some milk right about now. She wouldn't ask them to stop though, Teru had milk at his house. His house. She took a deep, calming breath. Right.

"Why not just use them, then?" said Teru. He traced patterns on top of her hand with his thumb. She had really soft skin for someone who never moisturized. Her skin was super clear, too. She was so pretty. She was pretty in that way where you could see it if you really looked at her for a while. Not that he wanted anyone else to look at her. No, she was his and his alone.

"Because I want to get more athletic on my own. I want to be able to, anyway. I never really thought too much about my powers and I think I use them just to move around and stuff. I need to be able to move around more easily on my own without them, you know, in case I ever get captured again and I don't have them." Said Mob. Teru let go of her hand and put an arm around her.

"Don't think about the white room. I'll protect you so that nothing like that ever happens to you again." Said Teru. He didn't want to think about it, either, so he thought about her some more. Not about how she looked, anymore, because that was shallow. He thought about how excited she got when she did things she liked. How her voice could sometimes be both monotonous and excited sometimes, like when spent an afternoon explaining Evangelion to him. She knew a lot, like a lot a lot, about the things she liked.

"I try not to. I don't like to think about it but I do, sometimes. I don't know. I'll think about something else. Did you ever notice how go pieces look kind of like tiny hard candies?" asked Mob suddenly. Teru blinked.

"No, I never really thought about it." Said Teru. Huh. They did look kind of like hard candies. Maybe that was why so many babies swallowed them. Babies. Right. Those. He shook his head. Don't worry, Teru, you're smart. You've got this. You're not accidentally going to get her pregnant and then have to take care of a baby and then you'll have to-

"Ritsu ate one when he was little. He was three and I was four. We didn't really know how to play but we still tried and then he ate one and choked but I pulled it out with my powers….my mom still yelled at me, though." Said Mob. Well, she had been the first one to suck on one. They didn't taste like chocolate or vanilla.

"He seriously ate a go piece? Even though they look kind of like candy they don't look like the good candy." Said Teru. What was he worried about? This would be fine. Better than fine. This would be amazing. This would be the best that anyone ever had and he wouldn't accidentally get her pregnant. He still had the ones they gave out in health class, right? He tried to remember where he put those. His room? But he had no idea where. His room had been turned upside down so many times already….

"He did. Well, it was my idea first. Ritsu likes hard candies, the kind that old people like." Said Mob. He liked hard candies, she liked the gummy ones. They were different like that. They didn't have to be all the way alike. Actually they seemed to be getting more and more different as the years went by. Maybe that was just the way that it went when you grew up. Maybe they should all hang out, right then at that moment and for a very long time. They could have an Eva marathon! All the episodes and the rebuild movies! That wouldn't be avoiding anything or stalling or anything. Everyone loved Evangelion!

"I always figured that he lived on plain rice, tap water, and soy sauce." Said Teru. He was a really high strung, serious, guy. They were still friends though. Ritsu hadn't beaten him after he voiced his little theory.

"No, he eats other things. Nobody can live on just rice, water, and soy sauce. You need vitamins and minerals to live." Said Mob. Ritsu ate a lot of cereal, mostly. He really liked cereal. Maybe he wanted to sleep over and they could eat boxes of cereal for breakfast. Entire boxes of all of his favorites.

"I know, I was just being sort of mean I guess. I know he liked other things. His girlfriend is making him his favorite dinner tonight, actually." Said Teru. Dinner. He should take Shigeko out for dinner. That would be a good thing to do. He couldn't just rush into it. He had to be romantic. He'd take her somewhere really nice, the nicest place she had ever been to.

"I know, Rei told me. I'm so happy for him. Rei really loves him. I hope they're together for a really long time." Said Mob. She meant that sincerely. She wanted Ritsu to be happy. She felt bad, sometimes, that she had left him all alone but it was better that way. Mom and Dad must have been much happier. They must have stopped fighting, too. They only fought about her and her powers and how much of a problem she was.

"…good for them…" said Teru. He wasn't going to gossip to his girlfriend about her brother's relationship. That wouldn't be classy at all. He shouldn't go around talking about other people's business.

"Are you alright? You had a tone." Said Mob. She wished that people didn't use tones. That made talking even more complicated than it needed to be.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking…do you want to get dinner? I mean do you want me to get you dinner?" said Teru. People were supposed to get dinner before they did it. Drinks, too, but he was fourteen and getting sake or wine or whatever she liked would have been too complicated.

"I'm not hungry now but I probably will be later." Said Mob. She really wasn't hungry but it was still early. The sun was still up. Dinner time wasn't until later. Well, for her. He ate dinner much earlier than she did, usually.

"Ok. I have to change and probably shower, too. I'll get you whatever you want for dinner. Anything at all." Said Teru. If it were up to him he'd have steak or something else he really liked. She was the girl and it was about her, though.

"I don't really want anything so whatever you want is fine, Teru." Said Mob. It didn't feel right getting any of the things she usually got. Ramen. Takoyaki. Those were the things she got with Master Reigen. She was with Teru, now. She had to try not to think about Master Reigen even though he was the one that she would have rather been doing this with. No. That was mean.

"You've got want something." Said Teru. She had to want something because he had to be the one who gave her what she wanted.

"I don't know. Maybe we could just go to a convenience store. They have everything there." Said Mob. Actually she could really have gone for a rice ball and some of that salty squid. Oh, and maybe a sandwich, too. Mochi, too, now that she thought about it. Not that she was hungry, those were just things she liked.

"….sure." said Teru. She was always so pragmatic. She wanted to save money, eat as fast as possible, and get right to it. Right to it. Right. She was excited, too, wasn't she? Good. That was good. Best not to waste any time.

"You had a tone again." Said Mob. She wished that he would just say what he meant and mean what he said. That was how she was. Simple. Easy. No layers.

"I didn't! Ok, maybe I did. I don't know. I just….I want to make this special for you, that's all." Said Teru

"What do you mean? I've never done this, before, so of course it would be special. What's dinner got to do with it?" asked Mob genuinely not getting it.

"Yeah, you're right. You're always right, Shigeko. Dinner doesn't matter and we should just…yeah." Said Teru. She was so wise, sometimes. Preamble. She didn't want any preamble. She just wanted to…with him. She just wanted to get on with it…with him.

"But if you're hungry we can eat. I know that you eat really early." Said Mob

"Or maybe you just eat really late." Said Teru

"You think? I mean, usually we have dinner at around eight, sometimes nine." Said Mob. Teru stiffened. Right, her and Reigen. No, don't think about Reigen. She's not. She's thinking about later, when they got to his place.

"That's kind of late for me, anyway. We can have dinner whenever you want. Good idea, by the way, about the convenience store. That way we can just get something and then eat it after, I mean whenever we feel like it." Said Teru

"You mean after instrumentality? Should we eat before or after? I think after, because I get motion sick sometimes." Said Mob. She didn't feel embarrassed when she asked, this was just a practical question. She didn't know much about this, hence the whole trying it for the first time thing. She figured that Teru knew more than she did. He was a boy and that's what boy used the internet for. Girls usually read manga but manga didn't have moving pictures. Mob didn't do either but she liked the idea of manga better than watching real people. Drawings made it less real, less embarrassing, and she could maybe use it as a template to imagine what she wanted. Not that she fully got the point, though, of just watching. That would be like watching someone else have a cool glass of milk on a hot day. She'd be happy, obviously, that the other person was happy but she herself would get nothing out of it.

"Probably after. I mean, I don't want you to throw up…you know…when we're…yeah." Said Teru. That would be just terrible. His first time and he's so awful at it that she throws up.

"That would be gross. Your bed would be ruined, too." Said Mob. No, she didn't want to throw up at all. That would have been so embarrassing, and she would end up ruining instrumentality for them forever.

"You want to in my bed?" asked Teru. He had figured wither his bed or the tub. People could do it in the tub, right? Well, he had seen it done in tubs before but he and Shigeko were still novices. Also it looked kind of slippery.

"Where else can we? I mean, I only thought that people did this in beds." asked Mob. She didn't know that people could do it in other places besides beds. Well, no, not exactly. Master Reigen did sometimes add another use to the massage table. No. Don't think about it. Don't be jealous. She had no right to be jealous. She was on her way to Teru's house to do this with him. She couldn't be jealous of Master Reigen for doing one thing when she herself did the exact same thing. That would have been mean.

"You seriously don't know?" asked Teru. He thought that girls also…but he guessed that they didn't. No, girls cared more about love and romance than sex. Right? Or maybe it was something you could only take on a girl by girl basis. He had been out with some girls who were afraid to kiss and some girls who wanted to do nothing but kiss. She wanted to kiss a lot but she also wanted to cuddle and watch TV and play go and stuff. She was an island, he decided. She was just herself. She was like a limited edition run of a collectable.

"…no…I don't really know anything. I mean I know how to do it I just….I never this this before. Just for practice with you but we didn't actually…" said Mob. She felt dumb, then, in that moment as they turned down onto his street. She felt like a little kid. Maybe she should have done some research. He probably thought she was like a little kid, like Master Reigen did.

"Seriously? Hey…don't feel bad. I've never actually done anything either, nothing that we haven't done already I mean. There's still so much stuff we haven't even done yet. I'd like to…show you…not that I've done it before. I've just seen it done. Not in person! I mean-" said Teru trying not to paint himself into some kind of corner. He was only human, alright! He was only human and sometimes he and his phone decided to have some alone time scouring the corners of the internet for certain images and videos that may or may not have been the sort of thing that this girlfriend would approve of. Not that she had ever said anything but he didn't want to start taking himself into an argument. It didn't matter. He had her and she was there and she wanted to do this in real life so she understood that she meant much to him, right?

"Oh. OK. It's good, then, that one of us knows what they're doing. I trust you, Teru." Said Mob. Well that was a relief. She wouldn't be expected to know anything. He knew and it would be amazing. It would live up to all of her expectations. Right?

"…thanks...I trust you too, Shigeko. I trust you but tell me if I do something you don't like." Said Teru as they came up to his building. She took a moment to look up, she did that sometimes, it was like she was checking to see if it was still as tall as she remembered it.

"Teru, you know that I'll tell you if you do something that I don't like. You never do anything that I don't like. Besides, what else is there? Isn't it just what we did, before, but, you know….inside?" asked Mob quietly Teru looked around. Nobody was around to overhear this. Wait, what was he embarrassed about? He was going to do it with his girlfriend. Everyone should be jealous! Who wouldn't want to sleep with his girlfriend?! No….wait….that wasn't good either….he'd come back to this later. Wait, did she say that there wasn't anything else? There was a WORLD of things that they could do. Well, a lot of it was really advance for them, and some of it he knew that he should never ask of her unless he felt like being single again.

"Shigeko, there's so much stuff that we could still do…if you'll let me." Said Teru as he hit the elevator button. Why was it so slow? Who else was taking it? Who was delaying the greatest moment of his life?

"Like what?" asked Mob as she watched the elevator speed down. It didn't need to go quite so fast, did it? Not that she was having second thoughts. She was just sort of nervous. She thought that she at least had a vague understanding of what it would be like but now there was even more that she wasn't aware of.

"…a lot of stuff…like I could maybe…or you could…." Said Teru trying to find a nice, classy, romantic was of saying 'hey, Shigeko, can I go down you and you go down on me?'

"There's a lot?" asked Mob as they boarded the elevator. She hit the button with her powers. A lot sounded like, well, a lot. How much more could there be?

"Well, yeah, but that's for later. I mean, we haven't even gone through all the basics, yet." Said Teru. Maybe he shouldn't ask her. Maybe that was something for another day.

"There's more than what we practiced?" asked Mob as they exited. She felt a little vertigo and held onto him until it passed.

"Yeah, a lot more, but some of that stuff is complicated or…or I'm not even sure if you'd like it. There's something that I want to try…though…if you'll let me." Said Teru as he unlocked his door. They kicked off their shoes, he made sure to make them face the right way. She was staring at him now. He couldn't read her.

"I don't know if I'll like it either but if you want to try then we can try. Not that I even know what we're trying but I trust you. I mean…I don't know anything, nothing more than school stuff I mean." Said Mob simply. She trusted Teru and he hadn't wanted to do anything that she didn't want to yet so it was reasonable to assume that she would like whatever he had planned.

"Sure…ok…yeah…I mean…it's hot in here? Are you hot? I'm hot." Said Teru. To him she was looking at him expectantly. She was looking at him like he knew everything and she wanted to get going because it had been all day and she must have been thinking about this just as much as he had been and she probably wanted him to…right then and there but he was still all gross from exercising and his hair looked awful and this was really **soon** and-

"No, not really, but you can turn the air conditioning on if you want. Are you ok? You just seem sort of…I don't know what you seem like. You look kind of nervous, I think. Not scared, that's not a scared face. I don't know, this isn't really my…thing." Said Mob as she tried to read his face. /his aura was all over the place. Calm and then not calm.

"I'm fine. I'm great. I'm just…I need to take a shower. I'll be right back. You can wash your uniform, too, if you want. You can borrow my clothes, too." Said Teru. He just needed a minute, and he did feel really gross. They could always take a bath together….no. He needed a minute.

"Ok." Said Mob. She didn't think he needed one, she liked the way he looked then after he had been exercising. His life was his own, though. It would be nice to wash her uniform, she only had the one and it did get kind of dirty. She could only wash it on laundry day. She wondered if she and Master Reigen would ever make enough have an apartment with a washing machine. If she was Teru's forever then she could wash her clothes whenever she wanted….

No. Think about something else.

That decision was four years away. Felt like forever. She was here now and that was what mattered.

Teru went off to shower and she went off to the laundry room. Teru had showed her how to do this. She measured out the detergent, first, and put it in its compartment. Then the fabric softener. She undid her neckerchief first and tossed that in. Then her socks. She blushed, a little, but she didn't know why. It wasn't like there was anyone else around and even if Teru was around he had already seen her naked a bunch of times anyway.

She tossed in her shirt and skirt and was about to close the door before she slipped out of her underclothes, too. She might as well wash them, too. The laundry place charged by weight so by washing whatever she could she could save some money.

Well. Ok then. She was naked.

It felt weird being all the way naked outside of a bathroom. She was really all the way naked only when she was bathing, changing, or doing fooley cooley stuff. She was cold, actually. Not that uncomfortable, not as uncomfortable as he thought that it might be. She caught sight of herself in the washer door. She seemed to only be growing taller, nothing else. She felt her hips. Wider than they had been before. She sort of had a chest, but not really. She had been able to pass as a boy, before, so she didn't know what she had been expecting.

Even Teru thought that she was a boy when they had first met.

What did he see in her? She looked like she did in elementary school. She had just gotten taller. Not that she thought that looks were that important. She just wished that she looked, well, older. It seemed like everyone looked older than her, even girls like Rei who were younger than her looked older. She was amazed, sometimes, that Teru even wanted to look at her. He had so many girlfriends before her.

Mob wasn't deaf and contrary to popular belief she did pay attention to the world around her. Just because it looked like she was spacing out it didn't mean that she wasn't paying attention. She knew what those other girls were saying.

"_How could Teru leave me for her?"_

"_Bowl cut over there?"_

"_I thought she was in elementary school."_

"_Her eyes are so creepy."_

"_What does he see in her?"_

"_I know, she's so plain I can barely see her."_

Mob tried to let it all slide off. People said mean things about her sometimes. That was fine. People just thought that by tearing down others they could make themselves taller. That wasn't how it worked at all but that was just what they thought. She had figured that a few of those girls used to be Teru's girlfriends. It was weird, seeing concrete proof that, yes, he had been someone else's.

Why did she even care? She currently had feelings for someone else? Was she just a bad person, deep down? Master Reigen had said that it was ok to have feelings for two different people at the same time as long as you didn't do anything about how you felt about the other person while you were in a relationship. Green was an ugly color on anyone. She had to remember this.

Mob walked over to Teru's room, walking quickly past the windows. She knew that they were too high up to be seen through but she still didn't want to risk it. It felt slightly bad, not unpleasant bad but bad as in she was doing something wrong, to be walking around naked in someone else's home. She didn't even walk around naked in her own home. Not even when she lived with her parents. Mom was allergic to knocking after all.

She heard the water going. Teru liked long showers. He liked to be clean and to look nice. Mob liked to be clean but she didn't put nearly as much effort into her appearance as he did. Did he want her to look prettier, like his past girlfriends were. She entered his room and looked in his mirror. She had sealed it up well, the cracks could only be seen if you really looked. This reflection was clearer. She felt her sides. There was a dip, there. She let her hands move upwards. She didn't look exactly like she had, before, but she still looked young.

She went over to his wardrobe and pulled out something from the 'doesn't fit that well' side. Teru had his clothes organized and she always felt bad when she lost control and wrecked the place. It took a while for them to reorganize his clothes. He had a lot of them. She could hide in this wardrobe if she wanted to. She could crawl all the way to the back and hide behind all the layers of clothes. She might even find another world back there and go from being in a slice of life manga to an isekai. No, she couldn't be in an isekai. Those protagonists were always boys. She'd probably be the young looking cute girl, or the emotionless looking girl that the hero spent an episode trying to get to know.

She decided not to crawl into the wardrobe.

She couldn't just hide. Besides, she wasn't scared. No, she had been scared, before. She knew what fear felt like and this wasn't it. She was nervous, she was excited, she was guilty, she was patient, she was impatient, and she was slightly cold. She put on a pair of his pants, these were bright blue, and one of his shirts. It was pink and blue, the same colors as her aura. She let herself see the entire aural spectrum. Teru had the right idea. When you could see all the colors, all the colors that made up the world, then the way he dressed looked absolutely amazing. It was kind of like that show she saw a few episodes of where the girl who couldn't see colors went back in time and was also a witch. Yes, it looked like the animation from that. Pretty. She looked pretty, didn't she?

She sat down on his bed for a moment before getting up. No, not yet. She wasn't ready to be there, yet. Besides, if he saw her there then he would think that she was waiting for him and then he might start to feel pressured and she would never pressure him to do anything. She stood up and went to the living room. She turned on the TV with a blink. Oh, it was one of the movie channels. Well, it was usually either streaming or one of the movie channels. She watched. She didn't know what she was watching but she watched.

Mob sat up straight, her legs crossed at the ankle. Sitting there felt weird. It felt weird to be wearing clothes without underclothes. It felt weird to be wearing pants, too. To have her legs so covered. She mostly wore skirts and dresses with long socks. Now she had on long pants with no socks. The carpet was so soft. She dug her bare toes into it. Nice and soft and thick. She tugged on her shirt with her powers. It felt weird, kind of tight. Boy's clothes were cut differently. There were a lot of cuts to different kind of clothes. Teru explained it to her, once. It took an hour. It then took another hour because she hadn't understood the first time. To her clothes were just clothes. You got something in your size and you wore it. Well, her mother had always bought her clothes for her. What kind of clothes did she like? Dresses and skirts. Pink. Or maybe she just liked these things because that's what she had always worn.

She liked Teru's clothes, wearing them. Not the physical act but the emotional one. Maybe she just liked feeling like she was being taken care of. Maybe she was just someone who had to have someone take care of her otherwise she would feel all alone. She pulled Teru's hoodie over from the other room. She didn't want to wash this. If she did then it wouldn't smell like him, just his detergent. She leaned back and closed her eyes. She saw with her aura. He was near. Ritsu was….not super farm actually. Rei. He was at Rei's house. Rei's house was…not near. She needed to get better at reading the distances. So far she got near and far but she had no way to translate into measurable distance. She felt Teru move. Oh, he was done. Now. She kept her eyes closed. She heard the bathroom door open, the one to his bathroom, not the big bathroom. He was in his room now. Mob assumed that he was getting dressed. She opened her eyes and went back to watching TV. Oh, this was in Korea with subtitles. Maybe she was bad at paying attention to things after all, she hadn't even noticed what language that the movie she was watching was in after all.

She tried to relax. Ok, this was it. She tried to lean back and be relaxed because this was going to happen and it wouldn't be any good if she was a ball of nerves.

Teru tried to relax. This was going to happen and if he was a ball of nerves then he would be terrible and it would be terrible for her and she'd never want to do it again or see him again and then he would have failed and-

The room was rattling. Oh, that was him. He was the one making the room rattle like that. Of course he was, she was watching TV in the living room. He had been looking for any of the condoms he had gotten in health class. He couldn't just play his odds on this. He was not ready at have a baby, not at all. What had they said in class? Safe sex is great sex? He didn't think that she was taking those pills that girls took so that they didn't have babies so it was up to him. Right, but where were they?. None were where he had left them. He loved Shigeko, he really did, but every time they were together in here she always ended up turning the room upside down, inside out, and slightly to the left.

Well, it looked like he'd actually have buy these in person from the store. Maybe he should have just ordered from online, not that he had any idea what to buy. Not that he had any idea that she would want to do this. Not that he had that he would agree to do this. Wait, no, of course he would have. Why was it so damned hot? He closed his drawers with more force than was strictly necessary. Right. To the store in person where everyone could see him. He had no reason to be nervous. He should be excited! Yeah! He was! He was going to the convenience store anyway for dinner so why not? He took a deep breath, threw on some clothes that while he didn't put much thought into wearing still looked amazing on him, and joined Shigeko in the living room.

"Hi. You smell nice, like soap." Said Mob as he sat down next to her. She shrank back into his hoodie. It was freezing. He must have turned up the air conditioning.

"Thanks….what are you watching?" asked Teru scooting closer to her. She leaned into him. To him this was her asking him for, well, stuff. To her she was just cold and he was warm so naturally she would sit closer to him.

"I don't know. I just turned the TV on and this was playing." Said Mob. He put an arm over her. It was so warm and nice. She snuggled into his side.

"I didn't even know you spoke Korean." Said Teru as he played with the hem of her, of his, of the hoodie which she was wearing at the present as she sat next to him.

"I don't, I just didn't want the room to be so quiet." Said Mob

"I get it, I do that a lot too." Said Teru

"You can change it if you want, I'm not really watching this." Said Mob

"I was thinking that maybe we could go to the store now." Said Teru

"OK, but my clothes are still in the washer." Said Mob

"You're wearing my clothes, it's fine." Said Teru

"…I'm not wearing anything under this, though." Said Mob quietly. Could she walk around like that? Could people tell? The lights in the room flickered.

"Sorry, that was me." Said Teru. Come on, Teru, you have better control than this. This was something that he had gotten from her. When he lost control, before, it was never like this. He supposed that looking for a specific outlet was better, though, than mindless destruction.

"Oh. Are you alright? That's not like you, Teru." Said Mob. He usually had perfect control. Was her nervous? Why? He was the one who knew how to do whatever it was that they were going to do.

"I'm fine, just…just kind of nervous, I guess. I mean…no, I'm fine." Said Teru. How could she not realize what she did to him? She was sitting there in his clothes. In JUST his clothes. There was no way that she could be so clueless that she didn't realize how it made him feel.

"Oh, ok. I'm nervous too but I'm less nervous when I'm with you." Said Mob. She was still sort of nervous but at the same time she just sort of wanted to get on with it already. Waiting was the worst. Wait for a yes, wait for a no, wait to get older, wait to stay young, sometimes it felt like her entire life was waiting. She wanted to get out of this waiting place.

"Right. Well…uh…do you want to come with? I mean I can get you whatever you want if you want to stay here but you can come with me too. I mean if you want to come with." Said Teru. Mob stared for a moment. She didn't want to go out but she didn't really want to be alone either. Which did she ants less. Alone. She really didn't want to be alone so she'd go with.

"I'll go with." Said Mob after a while. Teru felt himself relax. Sure he badmouthed Reigen a lot but his powers could be dead useful in times like this, times when he just couldn't read Shigeko. That was a lot of times, actually. He knew that he had said something dumb all those weeks ago when he asked her if she had feelings but it sometimes felt like hers were more muted than everyone else's. That was because emotion fed the other her. Right. He hoped she wouldn't be muted, later. Not that he wanted her to explode, either.

"Cool. You want to borrow some socks?" asked Teru Mob nodded after a long moment. He went and got her some. While she waited she drew her knees up to her chest. Well, that was easier to do in pants, anyway. Socks seemed pretty, what was the word? Intimate. That was dumb because they had been way more intimate. They were going to be much more intimate. She let herself sit normally.

What did she even want?

Ritsu had no idea what he even wanted. He was flipping through Rei's drawings in her room. She had made them tea, very strong tea, but still good. He was sitting cross legged on her bed, she sat across from him on her knees. She was taller than him when she sat like that.

"That one's my sister as a dragon, so pretty much who she is on the inside." Said Rei as she flipped the page for him. She had a few sketch books and he honestly thought that she was a good artist. He liked her. He wasn't in love with her but he liked her. If he didn't like her then he had been stringing her along and then that would have made him a bad person.

Like if he had yelled at his mom.

Like if he had pushed his sister.

Like if he had framed other people for crimes they didn't commit.

Like if he went around beating up people with psychic powers just because he could.

He was not going to fill his sin cup up any further. He was not going to add another page to the book of everything that had been done wrong in his life. He was not going to make his heart any heavier so that when it was weighed he ended up eaten by the God of death. Or whatever judged you after you died. He didn't know, not really, no spirit had told him and he knew very little about religion.

Still, he was not going to be a worse person than he had been. He had to change. He had to be a better person.

"This one's the neighbor's dressed up in a human suit. You know, like how come people dress up in cat costumes?" asked Rei. He didn't seem to be that interested but that was probably just how he looked all the time.

"That's cool. I thought you liked dogs better, though." Said Ritsu. He liked animals ok, not as much as Shigeko did. She really liked cats and pandas. Well, pandas were kind of like big cats. They slept all day and were soft and cuddly. Rei liked dogs, mostly. Dogs were nice, too. Friendly and energetic, like she was. Not that he was calling his girlfriend a dog or anything. No, he would never be mean to her. He was never going to be mean to anyone ever again.

"I do, but cats are nice. Mob got me more into them. Have you seen her cat pictures? Her neighborhood is like the cat capitol of Seasoning City. Well, not literally. Oh, hello Rei! You don't have a Friendbook. Well, she posts a lot of pictures of cats on her way to school. They're cute." Said Rei. She was talking too much again. She was probably boring him. He's probably fall asleep for a hundred years he was so bored.

"Reigen's neighborhood…." Muttered Ritsu. No, don't think about it, don't get mad. You only have yourself to be mad at anyway. You're the one who pushed her and said all of those awful things. Lay down in your bed you moron.

"Oh, right…sorry. I know that's a sore spot. I say stupid stuff, sometimes." Said Rei. She was looking away from him now. Ritsu didn't have to be an empath to know that she felt bad. Right. This was his girlfriend and he liked her so he was going to make her feel better now, not worse.

"It's ok. You can keep showing me your drawings if you want to." Said Ritsu. She had an entire shelf on her bookshelf full of sketchbooks. It was going to be a long night. He liked it, though, having something to do. Something concrete. Then he wouldn't get stuck in his worries about the past and the future and what he had to do to have a good future and how if he had a concrete goal then maybe he wouldn't die anytime soon and that concrete goal had to be her or else-

"This one's us at the lab when…they…came." Said Rei as they got to the older portion of her notebook. She forgot that this is the one with those pictures in it. Well, they were spread around but this one had a few.

"Why would you draw that?" asked Ritsu. He tried not to sound weirded out. Why would she draw it, though? Why would she want to do something like that? Why would she want to think about what happened?

"I drew a lot of stuff from that day….see, here's the cage they put us in." said Rei. The proportions were off, she knew it, but she felt really small that day. Perspective was weird, too. At least that was what the art club said.

"Cell. It was a cell." Said Ritsu. He remembered it, he remembered how he felt so trapped. He remembered knowing that he had to get out or he'd **die**. Why would she want to remember?

"Yeah, cell. Sorry. This one's when they made us think that….yeah." said Rei. Ritsu didn't look at that one. There was a lot of red. She turned the page again.

"This one's you…well how you looked when you used your powers. It…uh…it took me a while to find the right shade of dark blue. You…you were really cool…by the way." Said Rei. He was more than cool. He had saved her life. He had sacrificed himself for her. For them. That was why they hadn't gotten very far down the road. They kept turning back for Ritsu and then changing their minds. Well, they kept voting and maybe she had changed her vote a few times.

"It wasn't cool…." Said Ritsu. Right. No. He couldn't get mad at his girlfriend. If he got mad at the person he was with then he'd end up like his parents and he couldn't do that. No. He could never do that. He would never do that.

"No, I didn't mean that it was cool…I just…I think that you're wonderful, ok? You're awesome and wonderful and amazing. I mean…you sacrificed yourself for me. Well, for all of us. That's…what's when I started to like you. I mean I thought that you were hot but I didn't actually have real **feelings** for you until…that night. I'm sorry I came on so strong, though. I think I might have scared you or-" said Rei

"When you sat on my lap? No, you didn't scare me. It was kind of…uncomfortable…but I wasn't scared or anything." Said Ritsu. He was about to say annoying but one did not call their girlfriend annoying. It would hurt her feelings.

"Oh. Ok. I just know that I can come on kind of strong sometimes…and that I can be annoying." Said Rei looking away from him again. He closed her sketchbook with his powers and put it on her desk. He mostly just didn't want to look at it. It made him feel bad. He felt cold, like the time Shigeko poured snow down his back when they were little. He felt his heart beating fats, too, like he was afraid that suddenly they were going to get kidnapped again. She looked kind of sad. He hugged her. He told himself that it was for her but it was mostly for him. She was there and she was alive and she was there for him.

"You're ok." Said Ritsu. Rei was ok. She was nice. She was funny. She liked him. He didn't feel what he was supposed to feel but he felt something. He felt cared for when he was with her. That was what mattered, that he could feel something even though it wasn't the same thing.

"You're ok, too, Ritsu." Said Rei hugging him back. She used her future vision and let him go quickly. In a few seconds her sister was going to come barging in and she'd ruin the whole mood. Riko did, in fact burst through the doorway.

"Rei! Here, let me hide this in here, and cover for me tomorrow night, too." Said Riko. Rei shook her head.

"No way, why should I help you? Also, ever heard of knocking?" asked Rei. Great, the mood was ruined. Ritsu just watched them with mild interest. This was how siblings were supposed to be, right? He and Shigeko had never really had an antagonistic relationship…before.

"Yeah ok, knock knock. Can I come in? Why thank you so much little sister. Anyway let me hide this in your room. Mom looks through mine when I'm not home." Said Riko

"No way. Whatever's in there would probably get me in trouble, and I'm not covering for you tomorrow, either. I know you're the one who used the last of my shampoo and you know I need that specific kind of shampoo or my hair dye will be ruined." Said Rei petulantly. She forgot that Ritsu was there, for a moment. She probably sounded so immature.

"Fine, I'm sorry I used your damned shampoo. Anyway, please? Baby sister? I'll make it worth you while." Said Riko

"How?" asked Rei thinking of all the things she could get her sister to do. Chores, money, organizing her manga in some crazy way like by difficulty of kanji divided by number of pages multiplied by publishing year.

"You'll see. How about it? You scratch my back I scratch yours?" asked Riko. Rei thought for a moment then nodded.

"Fine, if it gets you out of my room. For my favor I want you to-" said Rei as her sister stuffed a big backpack under her bed. She could hear some glass clanking.

"Here's your favor. You may thank me later." Said Riko before practically running out of the room. Rei shrugged.

"Sisters, right?" asked Rei trying to sound nonchalant. She sometimes wished that she was an only child. Then she could have all the private moments in the world with her boyfriend. She heard her sister downstairs begging mom for some squid with dinner. That was the big favor? Squid?

"I guess. I don't know….Shigeko and I never really had any fights. Not before, anyway." Said Ritsu. When they were kids sometimes they argued, and their Eva debates did go long into the night sometimes, but they never actually fought like that.

"That wasn't a fight, Riko was just being annoying. Shigeko never did annoying stuff?" asked Rei. Shigeko would make a good sister. She'd be really quiet and not get into anyone's business but her own. Plus she would probably use her own damned shampoo.

"Sometimes she'd bother me a lot, or she'd be too nice….like when she'd…actually, no. It wasn't annoying at all." Said Ritsu. He would kill for some of Shigeko's niceness. He'd kill for her to tell him one more time how amazing he was. For her to get up super early just to make him a bowl of cereal even though it would be all soggy by the time he ate it.

"Lucky. I have three sisters and all they do it borrow my stuff without asking, treat me like a baby, or ignore me all together." Said Rei. Shigeko was such a cool big sister, she was only a year older than them too.

"Yeah, I get the ignoring part…" said Ritsu. Shigeko didn't ignore him per say but they weren't as close as they used to be. Not nearly as close. Rei looked into the future. She wanted to go back to hugging him, because it felt really good, but she knew that there was a big chance that her sister would waltz right in again.

"Rei, you've got at least half an hour. I'm going downstairs to listen to music on my phone really loud. Leave your door opened so you don't accidentally forget when mom comes back home. Trust me, she's not breathing down your neck now but you don't want her to start. You may thank me later." Said Riko before leaving just as quickly as she came. Rei turned red and hid her face in the dog plushie Ritsu won for her on their first date.

"Thirty minutes for what?" asked Ritsu not giving himself time to think. The complete inability to get a clue was, thankfully, not a family trait and he quickly realized, based on Rei's reaction, what her sister had meant.

"I'll kill her. She calls this a favor?! While she sleeps I'm going to draw all over her face and then she'll walk around like that and then she'll be so embarrassed…" said Rei. She looked into the future. Nope. She'd just wind up giving Riko the silent treatment.

"We can go downstairs, if you want." Said Ritsu. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable and he honestly didn't care about all of the…alone time stuff…that couples were supposed to do. No. She was his girlfriend and he was supposed to and even if he didn't she probably did and if she wanted to then, well, he would. Well, some stuff. He wasn't sure where his lie was, well he knew where it definitely was, but then there was all the in between stuff. He didn't mind kissing her, so he'd do that. She liked it a lot.

"Do you want to?" asked Rei. It wasn't that she didn't want to do anything, she did want to kiss him, but he never asked her to do more than kiss. She was sort of relieved, there was a lot of stuff that she knew that she didn't want to do but that didn't mean that she didn't want to do anything. She just…didn't know exactly where the line was. Riko said that the line was wherever she wanted it to be and the guy could take it or leave it. Ritsu wasn't like that, though. He probably just assumed that everything was a line. Yeah, he was mature like that.

"I don't really care. I'll do whatever you want to do." Said Ritsu. He'd even look at her depressing drawings of when they got kidnapped.

"Do you want to kiss me?" asked Rei. She liked to kiss him, he liked to kiss her, and they were all alone so…why not?

"Sure." Said Ritsu. He leaned over and kissed her quickly. She blushed, at least he thought that she blushed, and looked away. She wore that red stuff on her face so it was hard to tell. She was smiling, though, so that was what mattered.

"Hey…do you mind if I lay down?" asked Rei. She didn't mean anything by it, she had just never laid next to a guy before.

"Ok." Said Ritsu. He went to sit in her desk chair but she reached over and caught his sleeve. She looked into the future. Yup, he'd lay down next to her and…it got kind of muddled there. Too many variables. She saw the most likely pathways, not the absolute future because the future was never absolute.

"My bed's pretty big, it used to be my sister's, you can lay down next to me, if you want to." Said Rei. She knew where her lines would be when she met them. She liked him a lot and she wanted to be near him. Not that other stuff, she just felt really good when they were close.

"You want me to?" asked Ritsu. He felt…he didn't really feel anything either way. He used to share a bed with his sister sometimes. Teru's words rang in his mind, though. If she wanted to then he wanted to because that was what boyfriends did.

"Yeah, I asked you to, but if you don't want to then that's fine too. It was just a thought." Said Rei trying to sound cool. Nonchalant. Like she did this all the time.

"Fine." Said Ritsu. He laid down next to her after she scooted over. He had to move some of her stuffed animals. She had a lot of them. He looked up at her unfamiliar ceiling. She glued stars up there. They looked like the glow in the dark kind. They were pretty close, it wasn't super comfortable. He put an arm around her. He had seen his parents laying down like this sometimes. She leaned into his side. They sat in silence for a little bit. He wondered what he was supposed to do next. Maybe he was supposed to say something?

"Hey, Rei?" asked Ritsu. He wanted to know, he needed to know, why she would draw all of that stuff. The stuff about when they got kidnapped.

"Yes?" asked Rei trying to keep calm. She had only just gotten comfortable with this. She wished that she was wearing pants, or at least a longer skirt. Mob had the right idea. Long skirts were easier to move in but short skirts made her legs look amazing. Well, she thought so anyway. Ritsu didn't seem to care. He was just too mature to blatantly check her out.

"Why did you draw what happened?" asked Ritsu

"With Claw?" asked Rei

"Yeah. Why would you draw something like that? Especially with how, well, happy your other drawings are." Said Ritsu

"Because…I don't know. I was thinking about it a lot and I guess that when I drew it out I could get it out of my head." Said Rei

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Said Ritsu

"Do you…I mean, how are you holding up?" asked Rei. She knew that he looked like he was dealing with it, he wasn't like the Shiratori brothers. Those two stopped separating all together. Go wasn't doing too good, either. He said that he was keeping himself in a state of constant readiness because they could come again at any time. He even got in trouble for taping lighters to himself and then going to school. Takeshi was the most alright. He started sleeping more than four hours a night.

"I'm fine. I mean….I'm mostly fine." Said Ritsu. This was his girlfriend. He had to be strong for her but he also had to talk to her about things. That was the point of a relationship, to have someone to talk to.

"Me too…I'm mostly fine." Said Rei. She was mostly fine so long as she could distract herself. She just had to get back to her daily life, that was all.

"I'm just…do you ever worry about the future?" asked Ritsu. How could he tell her? How could he say it? That he needed to have his entire future planned out and he needed to stick to it and he needed to be the Ritsu that existed in the minds of everyone else because if he didn't have something to live up to then he could die even though logically he knew that his reasoning made no sense.

"You mean like entrance exams?" asked Rei. She was sort of worried but she had years and years to worry about that. She wasn't as mature as Ritsu, though.

"I mean like….dying. I don't know. I feel like if I…if I don't know what's going to happen, if I don't have a plan, then I'll die. Not immediately but I'll be...vulnerable…I guess. I don't know." Said Ritsu. Rei put her hand in his.

"I see the future so I'm not super worried about dying. I mean I see pathways. Before I worried too much about accuracy. I worried so much about being accurate that I didn't even know how my powers worked. That's why I didn't see it coming, I was too focused on what would definitely happen instead of what could happen, if that makes sense. Now I feel better about it because I try to see all the most likely paths." Said Rei. She took a chance and rested her head on his chest. She checked the future. He most likely wouldn't freak out.

"It's easier for you, I guess, because you can see the future." Said Ritsu trying not to sound bitter. He would gladly trade powers with her if he could. He couldn't, though. He was mostly sure that powers didn't work that way.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe. I'll tell you if I ever see a bad path for you." Said Rei. He held her tighter. Ritsu liked that, how she said that. He felt…not love. No, but he did care about her. She was such a good person.

"Thank you, Rei." Said Ritsu. He wanted to ask her what she saw for their future. He wanted to know what it held but he also didn't. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. If he never broke up with her then he was lying to her for years. If he broke up with her then he was breaking her heart. He'd rather lie to make someone happy than to smash their heart into a million pieces.

"You're welcome. It's nothing, really. You kept me safe after all. You sacrificed yourself so that me and the others could get out. You're really brave, Ritsu, and selfless and mature. I like that about you. I like you." Said Rei. She said like, like could mean a lot of things. Ritsu liked her, that was the truth. He wasn't IN like with her but he liked her.

"I like you too, Rei." Said Ritsu becoming more acquainted with the various layers of the truth. He wasn't lying, not at all.

So he was ok, right?

Reigen was ok, right? He must have been. This was a nice room, she was a nice woman, and this was what a man his age was supposed to do with his Friday night. Find a woman, be irresponsible for a night before dragging himself back to work in the morning. Well, he'll be dragging himself back home before he drags himself to work. He would have stayed out all night, before Mob, but he knows that he can't leave her all alone.

She could always stay out all night, too.

No she can't. She's only fourteen.

He can't forget that. He can't forget how young she is. She can't stay out all night, she's can't be irresponsible. She can't go out, find a guy, and then be irresponsible. Well, she had a guy. She has a guy who she's probably with and she's probably doing what he's about to do and she can't because she's way too young for all of this and there's no way that she can handle any of the feelings that come from this.

Not that he catches feelings anymore.

No, not since he was young. Not since university. Now he's old enough to divorce all feelings from sex. She's not mature enough, though, to do that. She's not mature enough and he doesn't want her to feel the way he did, before. He doesn't want her to feel the pain that he felt when he was hurt age. He wants her to be better…to be better than he was. Than he is.

Mob deserves the best. The thought of her in his place, of her trying to find physical solace in the body of someone she just met, makes his heart hurt. The thought of Mob doing this with anyone makes his heart hurt. She's way too young. She needs to be with someone when she's older. Someone who loves her. Someone who can be there for her. Someone who'll think about her and how she feels and what she wants.

She should wait until she's an adult.

An adult or at least older. He knows how she feels, he knows what she wants. She wants **this**. She wants so badly to be an adult. She wants so badly to be in his place. He knows. He's heard her every single time she insisted that she wasn't a little kid anymore. She doesn't just want to be an adult. She wants to satiate the physical desire that she feels. He knows she feels it. She felt it towards him, even. Not that it meant anything.

It couldn't mean anything.

What was with him? He's about to have sex for the first time in weeks and all he can worry about is Mob and if she's using her time off to be just as irresponsible as he's about to be. He's too close to her. He had always cared about her but it was different now. She lived with him. He was fully and truly responsible for her now.

He has to be responsible for her now but here he is being irresponsible.

"It's important to be responsible. They said that at school." Said Mob. She held milk, mochi, rice balls, and a sandwich. No salty squid here, pity. This was good, though. Not that she was that hungry. Maybe she was trying to stall. She didn't know what was with her. She wanted to try this, she had been thinking about this for so long that she wanted to get on with it already but she also wanted to run away and hide under her futon until she could find a way to turn back time so she had never suggested it. Huh. So this was what mixed feelings were.

"Yeah….they said that at my school, too. I just didn't know that there'd be so many different kinds." Said Teru as they stood in front of an aisle that proudly proclaimed exactly what it was full of. Go Mu. Rubber. Maybe this was why the birthrate was falling, nobody wanted to go this aisle. Well, it was better than at the other store where everything was behind the counter.

"If you can't decide then we don't even have to. We can practice some more. We can play go, too. I like go." Said Mob. Too many choices. This was worse than the napkins and stuff aisle. At least those were self-explanatory. Sun meant day, moon meant night, and they had how long and thick they were on the package with pictures of blood drops so you knew, based on how bad it was, which napkins were for when. Not nearly as much variety. Not that Mob knew anything about this aisle. This was boy stuff.

"Please, Shigeko, don't meantion go again for a long time." Said Teru wondering how he would ever look at the go board again.

"Ok. I won't. But I would like to play with you." Said Mob as she stared down the immensity of the aisle. So many colors. So many boxes. How did anyone ever know what to pick? Usually when she was this lost she'd ask Master Reigen what to do but she couldn't just text him and ask him about this. Even though he probably knew exactly which ones to get because he was probably off with someone else right now…no. Stop it, Shigeko. I know you're the one making me jealous. Or maybe it was just her being a jealous person as usual. No. Green was an ugly color on anyone and she didn't look good in anything other than pink, anyway.

"Sure, we can play, but just don't call it go." Said Teru. Come on Teruki, pick something, anything, or from now on you'll be the only one calling yourself Teruki for the rest of eternity.

"Ok." Said Mob not getting it but not wanting to question it either. The best way to get a clue was to not show others that you didn't have a clue.

"Are those KitKat brand?" asked Teru calling a box over with his powers. Mob read over his shoulder.

"Kit Sack. I guess that they just copied the box." Said Mob. Great. Now she could never eat a KitKat bar again without thinking about stuff.

"Kitto Katsu, you will win. Well they got that right." Said Teru. Did they taste like KitKat too? Wait, did you need one of these, too, if a girl went down on you? Not that he would ever make Shigeko do that. But if she asked him if she could then he wouldn't say no.

"Seems kind of weird." Said Mob

"What?" asked Teru

"You're supposed to break apart KitKat bars. Why would they make one of these after a candy that's supposed to break apart?" asked Mob. These did break, didn't they? At school they said to check for rips or else you could get pregnant. Pregnant. Mob knows more than anything else in the world that, at that moment, she does not want to have a baby.

"Good point, Shigeko." Said Teru putting it back quickly. Yeah, these could break, couldn't they? They could break and she could get pregnant and then she'd have a baby and then he'd have a baby and then there'd be a whole new human being in the world that he had to take care of and-no. He needed to get off of this before he stressed himself out. She wasn't going to get pregnant. That's why they had walked all the way to the store that Google said had the best selection in his part of the city.

"Do you like KitKat?" asked Mob suddenly. She didn't know that about him. She needed to know that about them before they…instrumentality. She didn't know why but she did.

"Huh? Yeah, who doesn't?" said Teru

"I do, too. My favorite is strawberry." Said Mob. It was important that they know this about each other.

"Mine's soy sauce." Said Teru. Did she want a KitKat? He'd get her whatever she wanted, of course, so she should just go get one. This was a convenience store after all, just one that also had the largest selection of…adult stuff…around.

"That one's good too." Said Mob as she stared straight forward. Teru tried once again to get a read on her. The inner workings of his girlfriend's mind were an enigma.

"Do you want a KitKat?" asked Teru. Mob shook her head.

"No, I only have so much money with me." Said Mob

"I'll get you dinner. I offered after all." Said Teru

"I know you did but you don't have to." Said Mob

"I want to, Shigeko. You're my girlfriend and you're letting me do…this…so of course I'll get you dinner." Said Teru. Mob looked at him for a while.

"We're doing this together, Teru, not just you to me. Besides, I don't think that it would be right if I traded sex for convenience store food." Said Mob using the actual word because there it sounded more….it sounded more like something that was happening to her less. If that made sense. It probably didn't.

"I would never-!" said Teru, his voice going up several octaves towards the end.

"Oh, ok. I just misread what you said, then. Sorry." Said Mob blushing. Teru took her hand.

"No, it's…fine. I mean…I'm getting you dinner because I want to and also…I guess…nobody ever wanted me to…I mean nobody ever asked me to…can I just buy you dinner, Shigeko!?" asked Teru giving up at the end. This was not the talk to have right then and there and he just didn't how to even say what he felt, how he felt, so of course he had no hope of condensing it down for her.

"Ok. Sure. I don't mind." Said Mob. She wasn't dumb. She had trouble reading people, even the people she loved, but she wasn't dumb. She could tell that getting her something to eat meant a lot to him so she'd let him if it made him happy.

"Sorry I just…sorry." Said Teru. He shouldn't have snapped at her like that. That was wrong of him.

"It's ok. I don't know what you're sorry about but I accept your apology." Said Mob. Teru squeezed her hand really hard.

"I yelled at you. I'm sorry. I should never yell at you." Said Teru. He needed to be good to her. She was his and she was going to let him have her completely and he just needed to stop being stressed and he just needed to stop being nervous because he had nothing to be nervous about so why couldn't he just **pick **something already?!

"You didn't yell, not really. I don't mind, Teru." Said Mob. She had been yelled at before, that wasn't yelling.

"I should still be nice to you." Said Teru. He should be nice to her because she was being nice enough to let him do this. Also he loved her and she loved him and love meant that you were nice to the person that you were with all the time or else they would leave.

"You are nice, Teru. You're nice to me." Said Mob trying to sound reassuring. To Teru she had managed to achieve a reassuring monotone.

"I know I just…it's so damn hard to pick!" said Teru. Why were there so many different kinds? How was someone supposed to choose?

"Maybe just get a bunch and see which ones work best?" asked Mob. That worked for snacks. It was always best to get an assortment so that you could figure out what you liked. That was how Master Reigen bought snacks…was that how he bought these, too? She didn't want to think about that.

"You're so smart, Shigeko." Said Teru. Well it wasn't like he was hurting for money or anything. Why hadn't he thought about that? It was because she was so detached, he decided. He was so mired in the moment that he couldn't see the big picture. She always saw the big picture, that was why she spent so much time staring.

"Thanks. These say safe on them? Does that mean that the others aren't safe? Or does that mean that these have to say that they're safe because they're not really good. You know, like that place that says that they have the best ramen in town but the ramen is super watery and tastes of nothing." Said Mob

"I….I have no idea. Just get a bunch of stuff." Said Teru grabbing at random. He honestly wasn't paying attention, he was just grabbing stuff with his powers and putting it all in the basket.

"These taste like things. Why would they need to taste like things?" asked Mob as she found a box of them that apparently tasted like honey. She tossed them in the basket. She mostly just took the ones with cute characters. They even had Hello Kitty ones.

"Uh…..Uh…..Um…" said Teru as he tried to find words. She hadn't even heard of? Not at all? Didn't her friends talk about? Well, probably not. Girls were different. They cared more about romance and dates.

"Teru? Are you ok?" asked Mob. He was super still, now. She hoped that she hadn't said something wrong, or dumb. She knew that she wasn't super knowledgeable about this sort of thing.

"Uh….yeah….and…uh…I'll tell you later. I mean…I'll…let's go pay." Said Teru. He was checking out of this for just a few minutes. He'd…damn he wanted it to be romantic. She hadn't even heard of…a lot of stuff…so then what was he supposed to do, draw her a picture?

Mob nodded and followed him. She tossed some KitKats into the basket, too. She suddenly felt like having one. Strawberry for her, soy sauce flavored for him. Not that she understood it. Why not just put soy sauce on the candy yourself. She didn't notice the look the clerk gave them but Teru did. He tried his best to look nonchalant. He shouldn't be embarrassed. This was his girlfriend and he was going to have her and that was why they needed so many boxes.

All twelve of them.

Thank God for black plastic bags.

They walked hand in hand to Teru's apartment. Mob looked around, took in the colors of the world. She was trying not to worry. She had nothing to worry about. She didn't have to worry about messing this up. She didn't have to worry about being terrible at this or anything like that. She wanted to try and she didn't want to wait. She had…she had been thinking about this and she wanted this so badly that she might have actually tried something with Master Reigen last night and that would have ruined everything that they had. If she did this with Teru, and she did want to, then she wouldn't be ruining anything.

This was going to be great.

Reigen decided that it had been decent. He did his thing, went slow, watched her reactions, and pleased her into a puddle before getting his. Now she was asleep and he was staring up at the mirrored ceiling.

He felt bored. Hollow. Physically it had felt amazing but emotionally….why did he care about how it felt emotionally? He never cared before. Well, not never. Not for a while. Maybe he was just getting sentimental in his old age. Twenty nine was coming up soon and then next year thirty. Then forty then fifty then sixty then seventy then eighty and then he'd probably be dead. Hell, he could die tomorrow. He could die on his way home tonight.

Was this it?

Was this all that there was to his life? Work, home, food, and sex? Smoking and drinking? Looking forward to when he could hang out with a fourteen year old girl again? Knowing that his best friend, the fourteen year old girl, had more of a life than he did?

It always came back to Mob, didn't it?

He cared about her. He loved her. She was just about the only person in his life that he could honestly say that he loved. He missed her, even now. He missed the way that she could make everything good, even sitting around and watching TV. He missed how comfortable she was, how he could just hold her. He even missed cuddling up next to her. She was really soft and warm. Comfortable.

What was wrong with him?

Was anything wrong with him?

It wasn't like he wanted **this** with Mob. No. Never. She was young. Too young. Not in the eyes of the law but in his eyes. He didn't care what was legal, he could never, **ever** take advantage of her like that. It didn't matter what she wanted. It didn't matter how she felt. How she may or may not have felt.

He didn't feel that way about her, that was what mattered.

So then it was ok. The fact that he had so enjoyed being the big spoon to her little spoon last night was ok because he didn't want that from her. If she even wanted that from him then of course he wouldn't agree. She was only fourteen. She was too young for him. She would never stop being too young. Right?

Would eighteen and thirty two be ok?

Twenty and thirty four?

Twenty five and thirty nine?

Thirty and forty four?

Why the hell was he even thinking about this?!

This was Mob. MOB. **MOB**. He could never feel like that about her and if she felt that way about him then….then it was just a puppy crush and it would never carry over into her adult life. If, by some miracle of the odds it did then he would….he wouldn't….

He wouldn't think about this.

He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Mob had finished eating a while ago. So had Teru. They were sitting side by side on his couch now. There was an anime on the TV, one of Mob's. This one was also about cats. Cats and love and feelings.

She had a lot of feelings.

She was sitting up stick straight. She was still in Teru's clothes even though her uniform was clean. The sun had gone down a while ago. She fidgeted with the books on the shelf, arranging and rearranging them. She hoped that Teru didn't have any kind of a system for organizing his manga.

Teru did, in fact, have a system for organizing his manga. He was sitting on his couch next to her. He was watching her more than the TV. Did he just…ask her? In movies there was always a moment when the couple would just sort fall into bed together. He knew how to make the kissing moment happen, he was good at that. He even sort of knew how to make the practice moment happen. How did he make this moment happen? He reached over and put his arm around her. She was still as a statue.

"You can pick now." Said Mob. Were they still going to? She felt like she was standing in front of a very tall cliff, like she was walking along the edge of it and she could fall in at any time. The cliff was steep and kind of windy but she wasn't scared. She was…excited? She was excited because this was new. She was excited because she could finally know what this was like. She needed to know. She wanted to know.

"You know, Shigeko, we don't have to watch more TV. I mean, it's getting sort of late…" said Teru. It was getting late and he had no idea how to find this moment and she still needed to go home at some point. He wasn't sure what kind of power Reigen had over her, like if she could get in trouble or not, but he didn't want to risk it. Forget the moment. This was Shigeko. He needed to just come out and ask her because she only understood directness.

"Do you want me to go home?" asked Mob. Maybe he had changed his mind. That was fine. It wasn't right to push someone into something like this.

"No! I mean…do you still want to…?" asked Teru motioning towards the black plastic bag at their feet. Mob blushed and nodded. Yeah. She still wanted to.

"Only if you do." Said Mob. She had made her decision. This had been her idea, she wanted to, and maybe if she did this then she wouldn't come so close to crossing so many lines with Master Reigen.

"….I do…but only if you want to." Said Teru. This was happening, this was really happening, this was really happening in real life. He felt…he felt almost like he was going to throw up, but in a good way. This was happening in life and not his head. Right. Calm down. Be cool. Be smooth.

"I do, but only if you want to." Said Mob. His aura looked weird, kind of nervous she thought. She was pretty calm. The other Shigeko was….she poked the other Shigeko…happy. Excited. Glad that she was finally getting what she wanted. What they wanted.

"Ok, so we both want to." Said Teru. That was important, to establish that both people wanted to. They said to always make sure, back at school. This was not the place for miscommunication.

"Ok." Said Mob simply. There was a moment of silence.

"Do you want to go to my room?" asked Teru. Not the couch, it wasn't that comfortable. His room. Hopefully his bed was comfortable enough. Wait, no, she didn't like beds. He should have gotten her a futon. She needed to be comfortable. She was the one letting him do this…no…they were both going to do that. Right. She wanted to, too. She wasn't just letting him, she was looking forward to this just as much as he was.

"Ok." Said Mob again. She made no motion to get up until Teru did. He went first, taking the stuff they got with him. Right. This was it. This was going to be great. This was going to be the best moment of her life.

Books and Manga had lied to her.

That had been….that had been something. A thing. A thing had happened. An attempt was made. She was in her own bed, now, in the room she shared with Master Reigen. He wasn't home yet. She was in her pajamas, it was after midnight. She had stayed as long as she could at Teru's house but Master Reigen did say that he wanted her home before midnight.

He still wasn't home, though.

She needed someone to talk to.

She needed someone to tell her how she was supposed to feel. She didn't feel different. She didn't feel bad. She felt…she didn't know how she felt. It hadn't hurt. It hadn't lasted very long, only about seventeen seconds if she had counted right, but it hadn't felt good either. The stuff they did before that, the main event, had felt a thousand times better.

It had felt mostly weird, more weird than anything. Emotionally it was a rollercoaster and she had accidentally broken, well, almost everything. She felt so close to him but so far away. She wanted to bottle that moment forever and she wanted to forget that she had ever met him. She wanted to see how good it could be and she wanted to never, ever, do it again.

Master Reigen would have been better. He would have probably known what to do. He had a lot of practice.

He probably wouldn't have cried afterwards, too.

She didn't know why Teru had been crying so much afterwards, honestly she had thought that she had hurt him, but he said that he was happy. He said that he was happy and sad and glad and scared all at the same time. Mob felt something like that, minus the sad and scared, mostly, but she hadn't had the urge to cry. Actually she wanted to sort out how she felt with the other Shigeko. She wasn't going to explode but she felt weird, too.

This whole thing felt weird.

She threw her knees up to her chest and laid on her side. She didn't feel any different. She didn't look any different. She must have been different, though. Right? She had done this thing that she had been looking forward to for so long and now…what? What now? Where did she go from here?

She felt alone. Maybe she should have just disobeyed Master Reigen and stayed at Teru's house. Dimple would have approved, if he wasn't out trying to find someone to possess to he could run some new religion or something. She wished that even he was there. She just need some company. She pulled her phone over with her powers.

All of her friends would be asleep, maybe. It would be rude to go calling people after midnight. Besides, she was the only one of her friends to have ever done…this…anyway. Maybe…no. Even if Rei had she was not going to talk to her about this. That would mean that…yeah, no. She was just going to assume that nobody had done it yet. It. Not instrumentality. That hadn't been instrumentality. It hadn't felt like that at all.

Her finger hovered over Master Reigen's picture. She could call him. She could ask him when, no, to come home. She could call him and tell him that she was lonely and she needed him to come home right away. Goodness knew that he had called her in on short notice plenty of times. Her finger hovered over the button. It would be so easy. Just one button. Just a push of her finger. Not even, she could use her powers for this.

But what if he was out doing what she had been doing? He probably had been. That must have been why he didn't want her to come into work. She felt her insides churn. She knew that green was an ugly color on her but she wore it anyway. She knew that she didn't have the right to feel upset at Master Reigen for doing what she herself had just done.

She didn't care what he might have been doing or who he might have been with. **She **needed him. She **needed **him. She needed **him.**

She hit the call button. It rang a few times before going to voice mail. She pulled her blankets up over her head. She kept her aura in as tight as it would go. She wanted to cry or scream or something but she knew that she couldn't. Who would even hear her? Who would be there to comfort her? She felt so alone, so alone and she didn't know when this feeling would go away.

She didn't know how long she stayed that way, curled up into herself like a ball. She didn't even uncurl when she heard the front door open. She didn't uncurl when a familiar custard yellow aura tried to join hers. She didn't want to.

"Shit. Mob's home…gotta get to bed. Don't wake Mob." Said Master Reigen. She heard him tiptoeing around the room. She stayed under her blanket. She heard his belt hit the floor followed by something cloth and heavy. She heard some cloth rusting and then he left the room.

"Stupid pants! Be on forwards!" said Master Reigen. He sounded kind of funny. He must have just been tired. It must have been really late. She stayed still. The door opened and he walked across her futon, stepping on her only a little, before she heard his bed springs groan.

He was home. He was home and she needed him. She knew that it was late but she needed him.

"Master?" asked Mob softly. She heard him groan as the bedsprings once again gave their feeble protests.

"Mob, it's so late. You need to sleep…go to sleep because you're little and you need sleep…" said Reigen. He wasn't drunk, not all the way, but he had made a pit stop on the way home. He couldn't let Mob see him like this. He still had some self-awareness.

"Master…Master I want to…Master I want to talk to you." Said Mob. It took her a few tries to get the words out. She needed…she didn't know what she needed. Comfort. Love. Understanding. Absolution. She let his aura touch hers and she suddenly felt light, dizzy, happy even. She pulled herself back. That had been weird.

"Fuck Mob…you feel like crap…" said Reigen as he sat up. He had touched her aura and she felt so vulnerable, way more vulnerable than he had felt her in a while. His blood ran cold. Something had happened. Something had happened to her while he was out having sex and getting drunk. He hadn't been there for her.

"I do…I think I do…" said Mob sitting up. She turned and faced him. He had an arm over his face. She still kept her aura as close to herself as she could. It felt weird, being boxed in like that. She didn't want to share feelings then, no, just words.

"Mob…Mob what happened? If something bad happened to you, if someone hurt you, then I want to know. Ok?" said Reigen trying to sober up. Right. He didn't get to be irresponsible anymore, did he? She needed him. She needed him and he had to be there for her.

"It wasn't bad…I just…Master if I tell you will you promise not to make a big deal about it?" asked Mob. She didn't want him to freak out. She needed him to be her wise and kind Master, not the Master who sometimes freaked out or the Master who sometimes cried.

"Mob….I can make no such promise." Said Reigen. He couldn't promise that because he knew that he wasn't in his right mind and she was being kind of cryptic which made him think of all the terrible things that could have happened to her. He took a few deep breaths and centered himself as best as he could manage to under the circumstances.

"Master…please promise to try really hard…I really need you right now…" said Mob

"Ok. I'll promise I'll try not to make a big deal about this." Said Reigen. When had he ever made a big deal about anything that happened to Mob? With Mob you just sort of had to roll with it like he was going to roll with this.

"OK…." Said Mob. How could she say this? Where would she start from? How could she even start this?

"Mob. Mob, just tell me. This moment of silence is freaking me out more than anything you could say." Said Reigen trying not to project his feelings.

"Teru cried." Said Mob. That was when she had started to feel like this, when he finished, held her, and then started crying. He cried for a little over half an hour. Well, that was the crying jab. He cried off and on for a while after that. She wanted to stay with him, she really did, but Master Reigen wanted her home and he wouldn't come home with her.

"Oh. Is that it? Mob, he's got his own stuff going on and I'm sure that he's only crying to you because he trusts you enough to-" said Reigen trying to sound like the wise Master she expected him to be.

"He cried after we had sex." Said Mob suddenly. Simply. Flatly. That was the important part. Then Master Reigen could give her advice. He needed to hear the whole story. She was suddenly hit with more feelings than she have ever felt at once in her life.

"Come again?" asked Reigen feeling the entire emotional spectrum in that moment. He couldn't hold it back and judging from the way the building shook he had projected it onto Mob.

"Today Teru and I had sex. It didn't last very long and it didn't feel very good but afterwards he cried for a while. He cried all at once for half an hour and then we tried to be normal but he kept crying on and off. Then I came home and I….I don't know…what to…" said Mob trying to keep his feelings from her and failing. She used her powers to turn on the lights. She had only wanted to turn on the little lamp but all the lights in the apartment went on. He was staring at her. Somehow he had no expression and every expression.

"Mob….I'm going to go smoke a cigarette. I'm not mad at you or sad at you or anything at you at all but…I need a goddamned cigarette right now more than at any other moment in my life." Said Reigen. He needed to smoke. He needed air. He needed to clear his head. Mob. His Mob. Little Mob. Shigeko. She had….

He had no idea how he was supposed to feel about this.

Mob watched him get up, grab his cigarettes and lighter, and then she watched his back as he left their room. She sat up and just stared at the doorway that he had just walked through. Alone. She felt alone.

She was with Master Reigen but she felt alone. How could this be? How? He was Master Reigen. As long as they were together then…then she had…she never had to feel like this. She felt like this…not exactly like this…but aloneness…no…

She wasn't actually with him. That was the problem. That must have been the problem. She got out of bed and went to him. She could see him out the front door. He had left it opened. He was smoking on the balcony. She walked over and stood next to him. He smoking and looking out at the view of the neighborhood. She watched him smoke. She stared and she stared and she stared.

Reigen let her stare. He could feel her staring, he could see her staring. He left himself feel her. He was less tipsy, now. Shock tended to do that to someone. Oh. Oh God. She felt so…vulnerable. Alone. Sad. Rejected. But he hadn't rejected her at all! He just needed a minute! This was big. This was a big thing in her life and…and he had no idea…she was too young! She was…she was young but she wasn't a child.

She was young but she wasn't a child. She wasn't him, either. She wasn't him at fourteen. She wasn't him. She wasn't making his mistakes. He was not rubbing off on her. He was not ruining her. She was her own person. Her life was her own and this was what she chose to do with it. Not that it was a bad thing. It had been, for him. For him it had been the worst thing possible for him to have done during that period of his life. Mob was different though. She wasn't a child anymore and she wasn't him, either.

"Want one?" asked Reigen. He shook out a cigarette and handed it to her before she could say anything. He wanted to show her that then, there, on that balcony, in that moment they were equals. They were equals because they had to be. He couldn't let her just feel rejected like that. Besides, one wouldn't get her addicted.

"…thanks…" said Mob. She held it in her mouth and lit it with her powers. She didn't really want it but she would accept the…was this a peace offering? Were they fighting? Had they been?

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to reject you…Mob…god…" said Reigen. Words were hard for him. He needed to stop drinking, he suspected that he was bad at it.

"I'm glad you at least tried not to make a big deal about it, and I'm sorry…" said Mob. Reigen sat down and motioned for her to follow him. They sat there in front of the balcony grate looking out onto the neighborhood. One of their neighbor's in the next building was dressed up like a cat and watching some kind of weird cat girl thing….Reigen turned to face the apartment. Mob followed his lead.

"Don't be sorry, Mob, you have nothing to be sorry about. If I got mad at you for this then I would be a hypocrite." Said Reigen

"Hypocrite?" asked Mob. She had heard that word before, she just didn't quite remember what it meant.

"Someone who says not to do something but then goes and does it. I did the same thing when I was your age. I can't be mad at you. I was never mad." Said Reigen. He thought for a moment before putting an arm around her. She needed him.

"Then why were you like that? You felt mad, your aura, I mean." Said Mob. Reigen let his aura touch hers. He let himself wash over her. He projected love, trust, caring, and safety. She hid under him, for once. She dove into him.

"Mob, do I feel mad?" asked Reigen as he held her in one arm and used the other to ash his cigarette. Mob shook her head, ashes falling onto her night gown.

"No. You don't feel mad, Master." Said Mob as she let herself be covered in him. She let her own boundary down. He still felt dizzy and weird and kind of happy but he made her feel safe and warm and loved. She let herself extend into him metaphysically. He just felt so **good.**

"Mob…Mob…Mob…" said Reigen. He had no idea what to say to her. She needed him but he had no idea what to **say.**

"I just…I really wanted to be with you…because I felt…I don't know how I felt." Said Mob as she watched her cigarette burn. She didn't inhale but she liked this, feeling like Master Reigen was trying not to see her as a kid.

"Vulnerable. You felt pretty vulnerable to me." Said Reigen. Of course she felt vulnerable. She shared herself with someone for the first time. At least hers had been with someone who she loved and who loved her right back.

"But why…I mean I know why, because Teru cried…but then why did he cry? I don't…I need…" said Mob. She didn't know how she felt or what she wanted or who she wanted or anything.

"Remember? I told you that sometimes people cry afterwards." Said Reigen. He could think of a few reasons why the kid would cry, most of them having to do with the fact that the kid had been abandoned for years. If Reigen were to be honest then he would have told it to Mob straight that they were too young and too emotionally raw, especially from what happened three weeks ago, for this.

"But why? I thought…I thought he at least liked it…" said Mob. Someone had to have had fun or else the entire thing would have been for nothing.

"Mob, you can like something physically but still…sex is more than just physical. It's emotional. It's…Mob it's hard to pull your feelings from…Mob don't be like me. Without an emotional connection it's just…it's just two people…do you get what I mean?" asked Reigen trying to find words. They were all hiding from him, they didn't want him to use them.

"But I didn't even like it physically. I like all the other stuff better." Said Mob blushing a little. She needed advice. She needed to know what to do or how to feel and Master Reigen would tell her. He always told her.

"You're a girl. Girls are more complicated when it comes to this stuff. You're both fourteen, neither of you knows what you're doing." Said Reigen. She needed advice, she needed someone to guide her, and he'd be the one to help. There was no putting the toothpaste back in the tube. She had done this big adult thing and she needed him to be an adult and talk her through it.

"But it didn't feel like anything….it was just sort of…weird…physically." Said Mob staring straight forward and blushing so hard she thought she would faint from lack of blood. Reigen ignored her embarrassment as best as he could. He could be embarrassed later. He'd pencil the embarrassment in for some time around noon tomorrow.

"It gets better. I'm sorry if it…hurt…or anything." Said Reigen wondering if this was a line. Whatever. It didn't matter. Mob needed him. She needed her Master and he would be there for his student.

"No, it didn't hurt. I remembered what you said, before, that if it hurt then I was doing it wrong. It just…it wasn't instrumentality." Said Mob after a moment. Reigen ran a hand through her hair, his cigarette having long since been finished. Hers was burnt down to almost nothing. He put it out on the ground for her.

"That part of Evangelion where everyone died? Mob, I know they call it the little death but you really shouldn't expect it to be that good…your first time…" said Reigen feeling just a little bit awkward. Mob turned to stare at him.

"Nobody died. They all became one being with no AT fields between them." Said Mob. Honestly. How could so many people who she held in such high regard not understand Eva?

"So you wanted to be one? Mob…that's more emotional…" said Reigen. She hadn't gotten anything out of it emotionally? Huh.

"Emotionally I just felt weird. I felt really in love and close to Teru but I also wanted to run away and hide because it just felt so…much. Like he was inside me and I was inside me. That doesn't make sense, though, does it?" asked Mob. Reigen busied himself lighting another cigarette. The embarrassment had been moved to right this second. Too much information, Mob, way too much.

"No, it makes sense. Mob…it's a lot for someone your age and I wish you had waited but…Mob it'll get better." Said Reigen giving up at the end. She was leaning her head onto his chest, now. He rubbed her back. He felt her relaxing. He kept it up. Up and down, nice and slow. She unwound onto him.

"I just feel like…like I should have…with someone else…" said Mob softly. She relaxed into him. This was nice. She felt so safe and warm. He would always keep her safe. He would always be there for her. She felt his hand through her nightgown. Peach against stark white. He felt so warm.

"Mob, don't. You've got your entire life to…be…with whoever you want to be with. Don't think that it would be better with someone else. First times always suck." Said Reigen as he kept on rubbing her back. The night was cool, he kept her warm. She kept him warm. They kept each other warm.

"Did yours?" asked Mob. She wanted it to. She wanted his to have been…no. That would have been selfish. What was with her? Why was she so selfish sometimes?

"…yeah….it was over in ten seconds and she was…disappointed." Said Reigen. He had also fallen head over heels in love with her. He wanted a life with her. He was fourteen, of course it didn't work out.

"Seventeen." Said Mob softly. She had been counting. She thought that it would be longer. She had thought that it would feel better. She thought that it would be like how it was in manga and anime. Not those kinds, no, but the romantic kind. Shoujo stuff. You couldn't believe everything you read in books or saw on TV, she knew this now.

"Huh?" said Reigen

"That's how long, I counted." Said Mob simply. Reigen coughed and sputtered, his cigarette falling to the ground and rolling away.

"…more than I ever needed to know…" muttered Reigen. Well, it was good that Mob was close enough to tell him, well, anything.

"Sorry." Said Mob. She looked away. How much detail was too much detail? At what point did it become too much?

"No, don't be. It's fine. I'm glad…I'm glad that we're so close." Said Reigen. She was Mob. She was clueless and awkward but he loved that about her. He loved how she sometimes didn't know what to say. It was a part of her charm.

"Master….is it wrong…to love…is it wrong to be in love with two people at once?" asked Mob after a moment. She just needed to know. She needed to know if she was ok or if there was something wrong with her. Maybe she was just terrible.

"Mob…you can have feelings for whoever you want. You're young, you want everything and everyone. As long as you aren't doing anything with this other guy then you're fine." Said Reigen. She worried too much, that was her problem. It could have been better if she didn't worry so much. Maybe women were just different like that.

"But what if…what if while you're with one person you think about the other person?" asked Mob. She had been trying not to think of Master Reigen the whole time. Not just when they actually did it but during the before stuff, too. She had tried not to think about how he would feel, what he would be like. She tried not to even though everything felt better when she thought about him.

"That's fine. What goes on in your head is your own business." Said Reigen. He knew where his mind went, during, sometimes. His policy was that as long as everyone had fun then it didn't matter what you thought about. He needed to cut down on the porn, though. It really wasn't good for him to be thinking about that while he was actually in bed with someone.

"…it's not wrong?" asked Mob. She let herself sink back down into his chest. She could feel his heartbeat. She didn't even care that they were outside or that it was cold. This felt right. Her. Him. Her in his aura. His all around her. This was nice.

"Not at all. Mob, it's your own mind. So you like another guy, big deal. You're not cheating. You're not actively sabotaging your relationship. You're not a little kid anymore, I'll give you that, but you're still young. You're young and you want a lot. Don't worry about this. Have fun. Don't get caught in your own head like this. Just let go, Mob, let go and enjoy the moment." Said Reigen. She was too young to be torn between two lovers. It didn't matter who she had feelings for. She had someone who she loved and who loved her in return. Maybe she and him made it, maybe they didn't and she ended up with whichever other guy she liked. What other guys did Mob know besides her brother? Oh, right, all of guys from the Awakening Lab. She must have meant one of them.

"But what if…what if in the future I want to-" started Mob before she was cut off.

"Mob, forget the future. You're only young once. Think about how you feel now. You don't know the future, you said that even your clairvoyant friend has trouble seeing the future, so just stop worrying. Just think about how you feel now." Said Reigen. That was how he had lived his life for a while. He had some good times, in his youth. Mob needed to enjoy her youth. She had said that, months ago, that she wanted to start working on enjoying her youth. Part of that was letting go and just living.

"So I should just enjoy what I have now and worry about the future when it comes up?" asked Mob. That made sense, sort of. She didn't like to worry so maybe she should just stop worrying about what would happen in four years.

"Yeah. Cross your bridges when you come to them." Said Reigen running his hand through her hair. She made a mewing sort of noise. She was such a cat, sometimes.

"That makes sense. Master….you don't think I…made a mistake?" asked Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"No. Not a mistake, per say, but…you're young. You're young and I wished that you two had waited until you were more emotionally stable. That's probably why he cried, too. You didn't wait and you can't undo what you did. You just have to be…responsible. You were…responsible….right?" asked Reigen. Crap. He forgot to teach her about condoms. She knew not to just go off and…right? Clinic. He didn't care how much it cost. He didn't care that it wasn't covered by insurance. He didn't care that those pills cost upwards of ninety thousand yen. She was worth it. She didn't need a baby to take care of.

"Do you mean a condom? We bought a bunch of those. We used one, I'm not stupid." Said Mob with a slight tone. She wasn't dumb. She had payed attention in school, for that at least. How could he still think she was a kid? She could be responsible.

"Yeah….that's what I meant…right…" said Reigen. Well, she wasn't eleven anymore, that was for sure. She was almost all grown up, just a few more years. She had grown up so much in just a few weeks. Not just because she was going and doing grown up things. No. She was mature, more mature than he had been.

"I'm not dumb." Said Mob softly. Reigen tugged on her hair a little.

"I know you aren't and I didn't say that you were." Said Reigen. He had felt that, the spike of annoyance. That was better than aloneness and vulnerability.

"It just sounded like you did, that's all." Said Mob. She closed her eyes again and she enjoyed their closeness.

"I didn't. I've never thought that you were dumb, Mob. I think you're smart." Said Reigen pulling her closer to him. She sighed and shifted more of herself onto him. The wind blew through her hair. The air smelled nice. It was a good night to be out there with him.

"I think you're amazing, Master. Thank you for making me feel better." Said Mob. She had her eyes closed and she just let herself get mired in his aura. It wasn't a constant storm of moving fractals like hers. This was more like being caught in a gentle breeze. Like her hair was caught in the breeze. Nice. Safe. Warm.

"Mob, I'll always be there for you. Remember that. No matter what I will always be there, I love you." Said Reigen leaning down and kissing the top of her head. She needed him and he had freaked out. No. Never again. He would always be there for her whenever she needed him. That was his job.

"I love you too….Master Reigen." Said Mob. She wasn't drifting off to sleep but drifting off into him. She let herself get blown with the breeze. He was like a hammock. She let herself sway back and forth in him. She was still in his aura and it was still nice. If auras were like AT fields, and it sort of felt like they were sometimes, then maybe this was instrumentality.

Maybe she could have instrumentality with Master Reigen. Maybe they had it right then and there in that moment. Maybe this was it, her AT field in his. Her aura in his. Her soul in his.


	28. Sorting Out Feelings, Talking it Out

Saturdays were always busy for Reigen. He didn't really need Mob around, he was mostly rubbing backs and shoulders. He didn't need Mob around but he wanted her there. He liked looking over and seeing her there at her little desk doing her homework or messing around on her phone or watching TV. She had the Mogami DVD going again even though they had both see every episode several times already. She seemed remarkable relaxed, normal even. They had been up late talking, mostly about life, but here she was fresh as a daisy. Reigen had already gone through two cans of vending machine coffee in three hours.

Mob was only half listening to the TV. She had done some homework, played phone games with Tome, and now was just trying to drown out her own thoughts. She checked her phone periodically. Nobody texted her. She didn't want to text anybody. Didn't she? If she didn't then why did she have messenger open? Why was her finger hovering over her contacts list?

Master Reigen had made her feel better. Master Reigen had held her and talked to her and brought her back from the weird mood that she was in. That was last night. This was tomorrow. The day had passed, the sun had risen. This was a new day and she could look back at the old one. She looked back and…and how did she feel?

Good. She felt good this morning.

That weird churning feeling in her heart is gone. She feels better because now she's got herself sorted out. She wants to talk to Teru but she'd…she'd probably be bothering him. That's it. On Saturdays he does the laundry, including the ironing which is very time consuming. He also does his homework for the entire weekend. Black Vinegar gives more homework than Salt because it's private and they have higher academic standards and stuff. He does the whole week's meal planning and prep, too, that takes a while. Oh, and he writes his weekly email to his parents.

Yeah, he's busy.

It's not that Mob feels bad that he cried. It's not that Mob feels like she made him cry. It's not like Mob feels awkward because of what they did. They had barely done anything. It was over pretty much as soon as it started. Still, what they had done had felt…weird. Really weird. Not good but not bad. Not instrumentality, not like she imagined what instrumentality would feel like. Well, Master Reigen had said that first times weren't usually good at all.

Would there be a second time?

She did…Mob didn't know if she wanted to…did she? She wanted this with Master Reigen. She wanted to have this with Master Reigen more than anything else. She wanted to know what he would feel like, what he would taste like, what she would taste like to him. She shook her head.

The picture on the TV went to bars. Right. No. She had to take her mind off of him. Off of them. Off of it.

She went back to her homework. Biology worksheet. She could do this on her own. She busied herself in what she was doing. She had to. If she thought about what had happened then maybe she could end up feeling bad again. She didn't want to feel bad. She felt fine. She was normal.

She was a liar. She was a liar and she was lying to herself. She did feel awkward. She did feel weird. She hadn't fully sorted herself out. Master Reigen had sorted her out, made her feel better. He was busy, now, though. He was busy and he had other things to do with his day and so did she. She…she needed to…she needed to…

She needed to get back to work.

She knew that she was hiding. She was hiding because what had happened, that big thing, was just so…much…for her to deal with. She needed to figure out what to do. Was there anything to do? Maybe it was the crying that had freaked her out. She didn't mind crying. Mom thought that crying was for babies but Mob didn't agree. She would gladly comfort Teru if she knew what it was that he was crying about.

He said that he was happy.

Then he held her and begged her to be his girlfriend. He thanked her for being there with her. Then he said some stuff in a language that she didn't know. It wasn't English, she knew some English. He cried for about half an hour. That was the crying jag. The next hour, or about an hour, was him holding her, her holding him, and him crying on and off. She had comforted him as best as he could but the entire time he was telling her that he was happy.

She knew that people could cry tears of joy but she didn't understand it.

Master Reigen had said that people got emotional afterwards. That it usually wasn't good physically and it made you feel super vulnerable and stuff, sometimes. Why did people do it, then? Why did she want so badly to do it? Why had she wanted to badly to try that with Teru even though it felt the way it did? Made her feel the way that she did?

Biology. Maybe it was all biology.

Maybe she just wanted to be close to him.

Maybe she was just trying what she thought that coupled people were supposed to do?

Maybe she had just done what she wanted to do without thought and now she had to be the grown up she wanted to be and just talk to Teru and see how she felt.

Yes. That was what she would do. She was not afraid. She was not afraid to be awkward. This was Teru. He loved her. He would never think of her as awkward.

She pushed the call button. It rang for thirty seconds before going to voice mail. She stuffed her phone into her skirt's pocket. Busy. He was probably busy. He was probably busy with all of the things he did on Saturday. He wasn't ignoring her. He didn't think that she had been awful at it. He did think that she was awkward and stuff. He was most certainly not ignoring her totally and completely. No. He was just busy.

Mob did her homework as best as she could. She periodically felt the need to take her phone out and check it. She ignored it. He was not ignoring her.

"….and if you'll just head over to the reception desk my student will write you out a receipt." Said Reigen as he sat down at his desk. Rubbing backs was exhausting work. As he sat down he caught a wave of Mob's emotion. Anxiety. He'd help her out after the client left.

Mob felt Mater Reigen trying to meet her eyes. He knew how she felt. He always knew how she felt and he would always be there for her. She took the client's money and wrote out the receipt. She had done this so many times that she could do it blindfolded and in her sleep. She could still see while she slept, sort of. She dreamt of the outside world, of Shigeko opening her eyes while they slept and taking the world in. Master Reigen was taking her in, now. They had slept near each other again last night. This time him in his bed and her on her futon. They had still felt so near, though. She had still been in his aura. Usually it was the other way around.

After the client left Reigen continued to watch her for a few moments. He let himself be open to her and she always open to him. Her face was so still, so impassive. He had thought that she was unfeeling when they had first met. He had thought that she walked through the world like a ghost. He had quickly learned better. She was a ball of anxiety and apprehension but she had the face of a world class poker player. Heh. Maybe that could be their next venture. The two of them travelling the world poker circuit.

"Master?" asked Mob. She knew that he was looking at her so she looked right back. He really had very nice eyes. Blue. A bright lively blue. Hey eyes were only brown, and the most common shade of brown, at that.

"Mob, what's up? You feel upset." Said Reigen. She really did have expressive eyes. They were so brown the almost looked black. They were like deep pools, like sinking into the ocean at night.

"You're using your powers on me." Said Mob. So that was that warm feeling she was getting from him. He was actively trying to feel her.

"I am. I won't if it bothers you. I just wanted to see how you were." Said Reigen. Crap. Right. That was the first thing he had ever taught her, not to use her powers on others. He had taught her that but her he was purposely miring himself into her.

"I don't mind. Your powers are different than mine. Your powers help people. Mine mostly break stuff." Said Mob

"Mob, don't. You know I think that your powers are incredibly useful. You help people every single day as my apprentice. I'm proud of you, Mob." Said Reigen. She was useful to him. She had been the one who kept their business afloat. She still did. She was the one their fans came to see. She was the one. All he did was rub shoulders. No. He needed to get out of this pity party he was throwing for himself. This was for Mob. This was all about Mob.

"I know that I'm useful to you, Master. I just…even with my powers I still mess up." Said Mob. No matter how strong she was she was still only human. What good was it, all the power she had, if she still messed up? If she still made Teru cry?

"Not just to me. You're a…Mob you're one of the few genuinely good people in this world. Remember that. You use your powers to help people, you've used them to save people. Mob…don't go beating yourself up like this. Ok? We all mess up." Said Reigen. Goodness knew that he had messed up plenty in his lifetime. Mob could be better than he was, she could become better than he is.

"But I still messed up. I...I made Teru cry and I don't know why I won't just call him and talk to him and see if he's better and see how I can make him feel better. I just…I feel bad. I feel bad and weird and awkward about everything." Said Mob. She could admit this to Master Reigen. Even though he had tried so hard to make her feel better she still felt bad. He would always make her feel better.

"You still feel upset about last night?" asked Reigen. It made sense. She was so young and she had done something that neither of them was ready for. He knew how she felt, how it felt to have all of those emotions stirred up and stirred together for the first time.

"I do…I don't know why I still feel bad but I do. I felt better when we were together but I feel bad, now." Said Mob. She had tried not to think about it, tried to be normal. Of course in trying to be normal she wasn't being normal at all.

"You feel anxious, to me. Anxious and apprehensive. Let me guess, you don't know how to talk to him now?" asked Reigen. After his first time he had wanted to both be with the girl he had been with forever, so glue himself to her so that they could never be apart, and to run as far away from her in the other direction as he could before he hit ocean. Then he would have rented a rowboat and rowed until his arms got tired.

"That's right…I don't. I don't know how I should can call him…I know that I should call or text or something but I just…I don't know what to say." Said Mob. What could she say? Hi? How are you? It just didn't feel **big **enough. Not after what they had done together.

"Good afternoon? How's it going? What's up?" said Reigen. She overthought things, sometimes, that was her problem. He didn't blame her. He didn't blame her for being young and in love and awkward.

"Just that? How can I just say just that?" asked Mob. How could she say something so simple after they had done something so…profound? That was how it had felt, him inside of her and her inside of her. Physically it had been pretty disappointing but having another person **within** her like that, if only for seventeen short seconds, had been the most profound feeling that she had ever felt.

"In Japanese. It's easy. Mushi-mushi." Said Reigen simply. She needed to stop overthinking this. She couldn't go back to the way it was between her and him but that didn't mean that she had to wallow in her anxiety.

"It wouldn't matter, anyway. I tried calling and he didn't pick up." Said Mob. She felt a spike of anger from Master Reigen. She squished it down and it fed the other Shigeko. She lashed out, the pencil in her hand snapped in two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, and then over and over again until it was dust.

"Mob….give me a second." Said Reigen. He lit himself a cigarette and took a long drag. He'd kill Teru. That was the only thing that he could do. He'd kill him. Nobody used Mob like that. No. Mob was worth more than that. Mob was worth more than an evening in an unfamiliar bed and then a lifetime of radio silence.

"You're angry. I'm sorry." Said Mob shrinking into herself. Reigen felt her pain, her rejection, and made it his own. No. He needed to be calm for Mob.

"Not at you. Mob, I'm not angry at you. I just…I know the pain you're in. I know how much it hurts to…to share yourself with someone you love and then…then they don't want to…" said Reigen. This was her first lesson of the adult world. Pain. Adult pain. She was too young to know this pain. She was still much too young.

"It does hurt…it does. I don't understand how I feel. It's like I want to talk to him and I don't want to. What's wrong with me?" asked Mob. She decided that she didn't like mixed feelings. Not at all. They were just too…much.

"Nothing. There's nothing wrong with you at all." Said Reigen

"Then why do I feel this way?" asked Mob balling her fist up in her skirt. It didn't make sense. Nothing about the way she felt made sense.

"Because you did something that you weren't ready for." Said Reigen in that simple, matter of fact tone that she used. He had been angry and made it hers so she had been angry and she had made it his. Negative feedback loop. He needed to break it.

"How do you know I wasn't ready?" asked Mob with a slight tone, as much of a tone as she was capable of. She wasn't a baby, she knew how she felt. She wanted to so she did. It wasn't very good but at least now she knew what it was like.

"Because I can feel your feelings." Said Reigen with a groan. Now she was pissed off on her own. She had tried something and found out that she wasn't ready, what was so hard about that?

"I'm not a child." Said Mob holding eye contact with him. She could decide for herself what she was and was not ready for.

"You are." Said Reigen. Why couldn't she see it? She was too young for all of that. Just last month she had been sitting there in pigtails for God's sake. Now she was out there in the world making his mistakes left, right, and center.

"I don't think I am." Said Mob. He would forever see her as an eleven year old, wouldn't he? Even when she was an adult?

"Fine, not a small child but you are young." Said Reigen. She was young but not a child. She still needed guidance. She needed it just as much as she needed to stop being so damned stubborn.

"But you're still talking to me like I'm a child, telling me that I wasn't ready." Said Mob. It wasn't that she wasn't ready for what happened, she just didn't know how to deal with what happened afterwards.

"Last night we established that you weren't and you made a mistake." Said Reigen. Last night they had talked long and hard about how she felt and she felt like crap. He wished that she hadn't. He wished that her first time was everything that first times were cracked up to be. He wanted her to have a heavenly choir and fireworks just like it was supposed to be.

"You think that I did." Said Mob holding eye contact with him. He sighed.

"So do you. I can home and you felt like crap, then we smoked and talked all night." Said Reigen. Maybe he shouldn't have let her smoke. No, she needed to know that he saw her as an equal then, or maybe he needed to see her as older for his own sanity.

"That doesn't mean-"said Mob before she was cut off. She felt bad about making Teru cry and she felt disappointed, that didn't mean that she was full of regrets like he was making it sound like.

"Why are you arguing with me right now?" asked Reigen. They were having an argument. They hardly ever fought. It didn't' seem natural.

"Because I'm mad." Said Mob simply. She wasn't a child anymore and she wouldn't be treated as such. He would never, ever, ever stop seeing her as a kid.

"You're mad at me because I told you something that you didn't want to hear." Said Reigen trying to stay calm. That was what had set her off. Mob could be so stubborn. Well of course she was, she was a teenager. He should have phrased it better. She was as sensitive as she was stubborn.

"I'm mad because you're mad. I feel your feelings and you feel mine. Sometimes we get stuck, like we are now." Said Mob. She hadn't' started feeling mad until she felt his feelings. That was the truth.

"Fine, it's my fault. I'm sorry." Said Reigen. He didn't want to fight with her, he never wanted to fight with her. Even though she was just being stubborn and digging her heals in. If she wanted to be an adult then she needed to acknowledge her own mistakes.

"No, it's not a fault thing. But I'm sorry, too." Said Mob. She didn't like it when they fought. It felt bad. They were friends, they loved each other. When you loved someone then you didn't fight with them.

"I just worry about you, that's all. I'm just sorry that you got hurt. That you are hurting." Said Reigen. He got up from his desk and walked over to her. She stood up and hugged him. She held him tight.

"It's better when I'm with you. When I'm with you everything is better, Master." Said Mob, her face buried in his stomach. Vulnerable. She was vulnerable. He would make her feel better. He always did.

"Mob, you're just going through a lot right now, that's all. I bet that you'll come out the end of this better than before. It hurts, if this doesn't end well then it'll hurt for a while but you'll come out the other side…better." Said Reigen. This could be the beginning of Mob's first heartbreak. She wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready for this. She'd come out the other side stronger, like scar tissue. He hoped that she didn't end up with a broken heart. These things were hard to piece back together once they broke.

"I…maybe you were right. I just feel so much right now and some of it is the opposite of other parts of it. I don't understand why I feel like this, Master. I mean I know why I do but why do I have to?" asked Mob. She didn't think about how it would feel afterwards, only during.

"You'll get through it, Mob. You'll get through it and everything is going to feel better. If this does end badly I bet you that in a few years it'll all be a distant memory." Said Reigen. He hoped that was how it went for her, that this ended up a distant memory in her mind. Something only to revisit on late nights when she stared up at the ceiling, at the abyss of existence.

"It'll get better because you'll be there Master." Said Mob. Master Reigen would always be there to help her. That was who he was.

"Yeah Mob, I'll always be there." Said Reigen. He pulled her close and rubbed her back for a moment before he let her go. Positive feedback loop. He was still at work and they could get a client at any time. This didn't look good.

"Oh!" said Mob. Her phone vibrated. It was Teru. He had been putting his apartment back together. Right…she had broken a lot of stuff…but this was good! He still wanted to be with her! Even though she made him cry.

"Good news?" asked Reigen. He could feel her joy, her relief. He was relieved too, right? Maybe. He wished that she hadn't started playing with fire in the first place. She could easily end up getting burned.

"Teru was just busy cleaning up because I sort of…broke some stuff…but he says that he wants to visit me at work. He says it's good things. He made sure to mention that it was good things. Mob liked how he remembered things like that about her, about how she needed stuff spelled out for her.

"You want the day off?" asked Reigen. He could maybe spare her…maybe. He had some cursed items coming in and a few clients who thought that they were haunted. Usually these things turned out to be nothing but occasionally it was a Mob situation. Well, he could sort of take care of it

"No. I took the day off yesterday." Said Mob. She didn't want to be apart from Master Reigen but she also wanted to be with Teru. Well, this was the best of both worlds now wasn't it? Besides, Teru had said visit, not stay, and if he wanted her to take the day off then he would just ask her to.

"Well if you're sure." Said Reigen. Good. She'd still be around if anything came up. He could do something himself but not everything, and it was easier for her to exorcise spirits and remove curses.

"I am. Of course I am." Said Mob. She was always certain. She never did anything without being certain. Yes. Yup. Constant certainty.

Reigen went back to his desk and had barely sat down before s client waked through the door. A haunted paste strainer. It refused to strain water and would destroy any new pasta strainer that came into the home. Every single time it was throw away it would reappear in the cupboard like nothing happened.

Weird.

Mob took care of it, though. Lots of lights, for the cameras. Another satisfied customer. That customer was followed by another and another and another. They were getting a lot of business now that they were internet notables. Semi notables. They were people on the internet who averaged about eleven hundred hits per video which Master Reigen was very good.

She had been in the middle of printing out more questionnaires and brewing more tea when she felt Teru's aura. She had been pretty distracted, so distracted that she hadn't even felt him turn the corner or approach the building.

"….hey…." said Teru. It had taken him some time to gather the resolve to enter the actual office. He had decided to visit her without thinking. He had missed her call. He had done that wonderful, amazing thing with her and he couldn't even be bothered to take his phone off the charger all day. She probably hated him. She probably felt so abandoned and alone, and he had a lot of experience feeling abandoned and alone. Not that he would admit that to himself under normal circumstances.

"Teru! Hi!" said Mob. She practically ran over and hugged him. Someone went aww. Someone else said that she was adorable.

"Busy day at the office?" asked Teru. There were a few people in there. Some of them felt gross, like they were cursed, and some of them felt perfectly normal. He took it all in. There were plenty of places to sit, a TV with the sound off, a couple desks, a computer, and a giant poster of Reigen Arataka smiling down on them.

Great.

"Saturdays are always busy but today is extra busy." Said Mob walking past him and taking another questionnaire. This was a walk-in client. Haunted VHS tape that refused to rewind. Yup, felt cursed.

"I can come back later if you want." Said Teru. He wanted to be alone with her. He wanted to hold her tight and never let her go. She was just so damn pretty right then and there. She looked so happy, when she worked. He sat down on a chair. He was shaking a little.

"No, stay. This is mostly curses, I can take care of them easy." Said Mob. She cleared space on her desk and removed the curse with, as Master Reigen called it, showmanship. She was thanked profusely and paid. She quickly wrote out a receipt. She didn't know which to record and which not to so she just erred on the side of caution and recorded nothing. She didn't like being on camera without Master Reigen.

"You want me to help?" asked Teru. He could remove a curse, it was child's play. Reigen probably couldn't, though, that was why he made Shigeko work so much. His powers were so lame in comparison to his. To his and Shigeko's.

"Ok. I'll share my pay with you, too." Said Mob. That would make all of this go faster.

"I'll do it for free." Said Teru. He was not taking 150 yen from her. He didn't need the money. Neither did she. She was his and he would take care of her.

"You don't have to." Said Mob. She could handle this on her own, really. She had caught a glimpse of his aura. He was…lots of feelings. Maybe he needed to sit this one out.

"I want to, Shigeko, now let me help you." Said Teru. He could help her, he could be a part of this. If this was a part of her, of who she was, then this could be a part of him. Then he could be a part of her and then he could be a bigger part of her than all of this. Than Reigen Arataka.

Mob decided to let him help for free. Master Reigen would be glad at the increase of productivity. They worked together, Teru telling people when their objects weren't cursed at all. That was nice of him. Master usually spread some salt around though, to be extra sure. Mob forgot to do the salt. By the time Master Reigen was done with his work Mob and Teru had cleared out all the walk-ins and there was even more money in the cash box.

Reigen wasn't paying attention as he directed the client to Mob for a receipt. He had felt so many people in the office that he had to stuff down his aura as far as it would go. There was just so much noise but now it was silent. Physically and metaphysically.

"Master, don't fall asleep. We could get another walk-in." said Mob. She poured him a cup of tea. He was sitting leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. She placed the cup in front of his and he opened his eyes. His eyes widened and he leaned too far back in his chair. Mob caught him with her powers and righted him.

"Hi." Said Teru with a wave. Ha! He knocked Reigen flat on his ass without even doing anything. He deserved it for making Shigeko serve him tea like that. Not that Teru was jealous of Reigen. Reigen may have wanted her but Teru **had** her.

"Oh, right, you said he was coming to visit. Hi, uh, Teru." Said Reigen. Well. This was more awkward than he had thought that it would be. It was one thing to know but to actually see the kid there, with Mob…yeah…

"We had a bunch of walk-ins but me and Teru took care of it. It's ok, he said that he would work for free." Said Mob. Master Reigen was keeping his aura close, again.

"Thanks Mob…and Teru. So…I'll just get back to…work." Said Reigen. He busied himself on his computer. He could always go back to typing up her part of the book. Yeah. The room was soon filled with the loud click-clack of keys as Reigen typed with more force than was necessary.

"So, how's your day been, Shigeko." Said Teru. He sat down on the couch, now, and she sat next to him. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer than was necessary. He could see Reigen trying not to pay attention. It probably tore him up inside, knowing that Shigeko wouldn't chose him.

"Busy. We had a lot to do. This is a lull, though, so we can talk….I missed you." Said Mob softly. She didn't know why she was turning pink. She didn't know why she felt embarrassed. Sitting there next to him, so close…she could feel him. She could smell him, too. He smelled like himself. His hand was around hers. She remembered….no. Think of something else.

"I missed you too." Said Teru. He watched her face. She was turning pink. Not red, he'd seen her red. Oh God she had been so red….

"Mob, take a break. Go get lunch and bring me back some takoyaki." Said Reigen not looking up. As far as feelings went the two of them were practically screaming. He knew enough about this. He knew enough about what had happened between him to scar him mentally for life. He didn't need the two of them there dancing around their feelings like a goddamned maypole.

"I get breaks now?" asked Mob. She had never been given an actual break, before. Usually there were just lulls when they did a whole lot of nothing.

"Yeah, you get breaks now. Take a break Mob. Be back soon but go and eat something or…something." Said Reigen as he typed up what she had written. He typed her feelings about him while she screamed her feelings about the kid next to her.

"You didn't even get breaks before…..?" muttered Teru. Shigeko had so much talent. She was so wonderful. She didn't have to work here. She didn't have to work at all. She was his and he could take care of her easily.

"No, but I do now." Said Mob as she pulled his hoodie on. Teru put an arm around her waist and practically shoved her out the door. He could take such good care of her. She deserved better than this. She deserved better than Reigen.

"Don't' forget the takoyaki!" said Reigen as he felt them leave. He slumped down into his chair. Yup. There was that embarrassment he had penciled in for noon. It made a second appointment. Great. He had to stop feeling embarrassed, for Mob's sake. So what if the two of them had slept together. That was the most natural thing in the world and Mob deserved to be happy. This kid made her happy and he genuinely seemed to care about her. That was more than Reigen had ever gotten from someone in his life. Well, someone who he had that kind of relationship with.

He was happy for Mob. He had to be.

Mob was happy, she had to be. She didn't know what she was so anxious about, before. This was Teru and he cared about her. She had no reason to think that he was going to still be upset with her. He had cried before but now he seemed better-ish. He wasn't crying, that was what mattered.

"I love you." Said Teru suddenly. They had just left the office, the Spirits and Such sign was quickly going to become a dot on the horizon. He had to say this. He just felt like he had to. She had to understand how he felt.

"I know. I love you too." Said Mob. She was kind of thirsty. Maybe they could get some milk. Milk would be lovely right then.

"I mean…I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I…reacted…the way that I did." Said Teru. He had cried. He didn't know why he had cried but he had cried. She had just been so **close** and **there** and nobody had ever been so close to him in his life and she had done that with him and the second that they had started he knew that he never wanted to let her go.

"I'm not upset with you at all. I don't know why you cried but I'm not upset." Said Mob as they walked aimlessly. Well, she was letting him lead and he hadn't said where they were going so she guessed that it was sort of aimless.

"I just…I don't know why I cried. I mean, it felt so GOOD but…" said Teru. It felt big, too. Emotionally big. She was there and she was looking up at him and she was letting him do this and he was doing that with her and she had chosen him and nobody else and she had just been so damn pretty and-

"Your aura is being weird. Teru, you should talk to me. I'm your girlfriend. I'm supposed help you when something is bothering you….and I'm sorry if it was…I mean if it wasn't…" said Mob. Master Reigen said that Teru had his own reasons why he cried but she couldn't help but feel like maybe she was one of the reasons. Maybe she had been the one who had done it wrong.

"I know! I mean, I know you're my girlfriend." Said Teru. His. Not Reigen's. He had won. He had gotten her and she was his, not Reigen's. He had beaten his rival, right? No. Stop thinking like that. He wasn't the protagonist anymore.

"You had a tone." Said Mob. She never could say the right thing, could she?

"I know. I know and I'm sorry. It's just…I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Said Teru. He had spent the night staring up at the ceiling and just thinking. Life. Death. Love. Aloneness. Him. Her.

"Me neither. Why couldn't you sleep? " Said Mob. She didn't need very much sleep, though.

"I was just thinking a lot, that's all. Thoughts about us. I mean…it was…it was…" said Teru. Amazing. It was the most beautiful moment of his life. Her thighs pressed against his. Her eyes, the way she looked when he…that sound she made when he…

"It was a lot." Said Mob. It had been a lot. In the moment she had felt…good? Close to him. Super in love with him. Warm.

"But you liked it, right?" asked Teru. She didn't make too much noise, during, and he knew that he hadn't lasted very long. Girls liked it when it lasted a while, he knew that.

"I liked a lot of the stuff that we did." Said Mob with a blush. She liked one specific thing a whole lot. The actual act itself she could take or leave.

"…me too…" said Teru. That meant that she liked it, right? The actual act of it? He had to have been good, he was good at everything else. She was looking at a row of vending machines. Oh. She was probably hungry or thirsty or something. He'd get her something. He'd take care of her.

"I don't understand why you cried though. I mean you said that you were happy. I know that sometimes people cry when they're really happy but I just…I didn't think that you were happy." Said Mob as they approached a row of vending machines. She felt the money in her pocket. She had a few hundred yen. She was thirsty, or maybe she just wanted something to do with her hands. Master Reigen said that a cup of tea was important when talking to someone, then you could have something to do with your hands and take a moment to have a sip when you needed to think.

"I was happy, Shigeko, I was very happy. Hey, the have that yogurt drink you like. You want one?" asked Teru. She liked that even though it was like drinking sour yogurt. She liked it, he didn't, but he would make her happy.

"Let me see if I have enough." Said Mob counting her coins. Teru didn't let her even finish counting. He just got it for her.

"You don't have to get me stuff all the time, Teru. Thank you for getting me this but I have my own money." Said Mob. Maybe she could get him something to make it more even.

"Reigen's money." Muttered Teru. It was, essentially, Reigen who was getting her things when she spent the money he paid her. That wasn't right. Shigeko was his. He was supposed to take care of him.

"No, mine. I earned it." Said Mob opening her drink. Yup, that was good yogurt.

"I know but he still gave it to you." Said Teru getting himself a can of green tea soda. Why didn't she get it? That Reigen was…well he wasn't actively trying to get with her but he must have had feelings for her. Maybe Shigeko was just that clueless. She did have a lot of trouble with talking and stuff.

"I earned it." Said Mob. Teru heard a tone even though she hadn't used one. Mob had simply stated a fact. It wasn't like an allowance, it was money that she had earned by working hard each and every day to help people.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry." Said Teru. Right. She was super into her work and having a career as a…what was she? A professional esper? A psychic? A magical girl? She was his magical girl, though, and he could take care of her. But she didn't want that, did she? She wanted to earn her own money and take care of herself, right? But wasn't it his job as a guy to take care of her?

"You don't have to be. I'm not upset and I'm not all the way sure what you were apologizing about." Said Mob

"Oh. I thought that you were…never mind. Do you like it? Do you want something else?" asked Teru. Mob nodded.

"I like it, it's my favorite." Said Mob. She liked yogurt a lot, it was like super milk.

"You and milk. Well, dairy. I should keep some of this at my house for you." Said Teru. He should stock all of her favorites. Maybe then she'd want to come over more. Maybe then she'd start staying over.

"You don't have to, these are expensive." Said Mob

"I have plenty of money." Said Teru. He would empty all of his pockets for her, if she asked him to.

"I know. Well, I don't really know because it's not polite to ask someone how much money they have." Said Mob. She knew that he was rich, he had told her that, and she knew that his parents paid all of the bills and sent him money every month or on an as needed basis.

"You can ask me, though, I'm your boyfriend." Said Teru. Not that he was even sure how much money his family had. He just knew that his father had a business and his mother came from a wealthy family. Then they met while she was on vacation, they had him, got married, and then ran far away when they realized that his powers would just keep growing and there was nothing that they could do about it.

"I know but I still don't want to be mean or anything. You can ask me how much I have, but it's not a lot. Well, maybe it is because I don't have any bills. Master Reigen pays all of those." Said Mob

"With the money you earn for him." said Teru

"Yes. I guess that's why my pay is still so low. He's paying all of our bills and the rents and stuff. He says that I shouldn't worry about money because I'm the kid and he'd the adult." Said Mob

"He should still pay you more. It's not fair to you, how he's using you like that." Said Teru. Mob stared at him. To him it was a blank stare. Mob, on the other hand, felt so many conflicting emotions at that moment that the only safe thing to do was to stuff them down to where they couldn't come out and hurt something or someone. Anger. Rage. Shock. Fear. Love. Confusion. All of these swirled within her like a whirlpool.

"Master Reigen is not using me. Master Reigen would never use me. Don't say things like that, Teru." Said Mob. No tone. No inflection. Nothing but the constant, never ending, staring. Teru could see the change in her aura. It moved faster, there was more blue than pink in it now. Her hair was even acting up a little.

"…fine…" said Teru. He looked away from her. Mob calmed down. She had to. How could Teru ever say something like that about Master Reigen? He was the most wonderful, amazing person that she had ever met in her life. He saved her. He saved her before she even fully realized that she needed saving. He saved her from becoming terrible. He saved her from being consumed by her power, by the other Shigeko. He had given her a way to live, an understanding of her place in the world. He still helped her. He helped her like no one else could. She believed in Master Reigen. Why couldn't Teru? Or Ritsu for that matter?

"I don't understand at all." Said Mob. Teru turned to look at her again.

"What's there to not get? He barely pays you, he's making you live with him, he makes you spend all of your time with him, and he's pretty much living off of you. He barely even has any power, not like you." Said Teru. He needed her to see. He needed her to see that she didn't need Reigen, Reigen needed her.

"He doesn't make me do anything. I'm with him because I want to be." Said Mob simply. She would never understand why Teru disliked Master Reigen so much.

"But you don't need him." said Teru taking her hand. She didn't really need anyone, did she? She was the most powerful esper around, probably. She certainly eclipsed him.

"We need each other." Said Mob. She and Master Reigen needed each other. They needed each other's friendship and love because…because they just did. She couldn't imagine a life without him. She couldn't him without her. He talked about his past sometimes but it just seemed so far off that it didn't really feel real.

"What about me?" asked Teru. She said that she needed Reigen. She needed Reigen….but she…she was not Reigen's. She was his. He would take care of her. He…needed her. He need her love, her kindness, her presence. Without her then he was alone. He had felt it, alone, afterwards. That was why he had cried. From the moment they started he knew what love felt like, what closeness felt like, what it felt like to truly have someone. When it was over he knew that she would have to go. She would go and he would be alone but he didn't know how he could ever go back to being alone after having felt **that.**

"What do you mean?" asked Mob genuinely not getting it.

"Do you need me?" asked Teru holding eye contact with her. She needed him. She had to need him because he needed her.

"Yes." Said Mob. She needed him because he made her happy. Because he cared about her. Because he was proof that people could change and if people could change than she could change.

"Thank you." Said Teru. He could feel himself tearing up. She pulled him close. Mob didn't know what she had done to make him cry again but she was so, so, so sorry.

"Teru, I'm sorry that I keep making you cry. I don't know what I'm doing but whatever it is I'm sorry." Said Mob. She wished that he would tell her what she kept on doing wrong so she could stop.

"Shigeko, it's not you, it's me. I just…you make me feel so happy. I've just never felt as happy as I do when I'm with you." Said Teru saying exactly what he felt. It wasn't smooth but it was the truth.

"But you don't seem happy." Said Mob. She figured that happy tears would be followed by smiles. He wasn't smiling.

"I just…I feel a lot when I'm with you. I feel like you care about me more than anyone else in the world and then I feel…I feel like this." Said Teru. Well wasn't this embarrassing? Crying on his girlfriend in public because he loved her and without her he'd be all alone again.

"I feel a lot when we're together, too." Said Mob. She felt a lot more, now that they had been as together as two people could be. Some of it was good, some of it was nice, and some of it made her feel like she was going to throw up from nervousness.

Reigen felt like he was going to throw up. Not from having drank last night, not from eating leftovers of dubious origin that morning, but instead from his own feelings. Conflicting feels. Feelings that he wasn't even sure were entirely his own. He had collected some of Mob's worry, her stress, before after all.

He didn't want Mob to grow up.

He wanted her to become a healthy, well rounded adult.

Mob was playing with fire and she was going to get burned.

Mob was the protagonist of her own life and she could make her own decisions.

He had terrible experiences with love and sex at her age.

She was her own person and was a much stronger, kinder, and more mature person than he had ever been.

She was going to replace him in her life. She was going to outgrow him like she had outgrown her pigtails.

She had promised him forever and Mob, stubborn as she was, always kept her promises.

That was the promise of a fourteen year old girl. What would happen when she became a grown woman?

Would she still want him when she was a grown woman?

Time marched forwards. Nothing could stop it. You had to march with it or get trampled. Reigen loved Mob, he knew that he loved her, but she would grow up one day and leave him. She'd replace him. Replace him with someone else, someone who could be something to her that he could never be.

He couldn't be that person to her. He couldn't let himself even think about being that person to her. She was too young. If he ever thought about being that person to her then he would be a terrible human being. She was fourteen. She was fourteen in his mind and she would have to stay fourteen in his mind no matter how much older she got.

Time marched forwards but his mind was his own. She just had to stay fourteen in his mind. That was all.

Even though she had promised him a life together. Even though he had promised her that same thing right back. Even though the thought of spending his life with her felt so **right**. It wasn't romantic, it couldn't be, and if it were sexual then he'd have to jump off a bridge. He couldn't have those types of feelings for Mob. She was too young. She was fourteen.

No matter what types of feelings she had about him or anyone else.

"Master? I'm back, and I have takoyaki. They gave us an extra one again." Said Mob. Master Reigen was sitting leaned all the way back in his chair like he was asleep. He wasn't, though, she knew what his breathing sounded like when he was asleep.

"Wonderful!" said Reigen standing quickly. He took her in. Still small. She adorable. Still as tone faced as ever.

"I got you more canned coffee and some strawberry soda. It was on sale." Said Mob putting the bag from the store down and the takoyaki. She ended up going to the store by herself. Teru got really sad again, or happy sad. She didn't know, emotions were complicated.

"Mob, you're a lifesaver." Said Reigen. He sat down on across from her. She parceled out their food.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. She was staring straight ahead and using her powers to feed herself.

"No Teru?" asked Reigen. He was grateful, just a little. It would take him a few millennia to stop feeling awkward around the kid, and not because of the jealousy that poured off of that kid. Mob could tell him anything but that didn't mean that she had to tell him everything.

"No, he went to the Awakening Lab today to help them with their powers and stuff." Said Mob as she cooled the takoyaki with her powers.

"You didn't want to go with?" asked Reigen as she spun his share around. She was thoughtful like that. She was always so very thoughtful.

"You said that I had to come back." Said Mob. She wouldn't' just leave work without telling him. That would have been mean.

"I did but you don't always have to do what I say." Said Reigen. She was always so obedient. Why? She didn't have to be. When he was her age he chaffed under every form of authority. Not her. No. She most always did as he said. She was his loyal student after all.

"I do. You're the master and I'm the student. I promised to always follow you. I keep my promises." Said Mob simply. Reigen watched her emotions. She was calmer, now, but he could still feel a lot of that conflict within her. Nervousness.

"You do…you always do." Said Reigen. He was so terribly selfish, wasn't he? Mob may have been a fourteen year old girl but she was as stubborn as any adult he had ever met. She had promised him forever and she would give it. He wanted forever with her. He couldn't imagine forever, his forever, with anyone else. He didn't want it with anyone else.

"I know that I do. Master, why do you sound like you don't believe that about me?" asked Mob. Tones. Looks. Little signals that she just did not understand.

"No, Mob, I do believe that about you. It's just…you're growing up, that's all." Said Reigen. She was growing up. It had been about a month since she had started living with him, since they had started their life together. She was different, now. Not just her hair. She was less…skittish…about life. She experienced it more, now, probably because she realized how easily it could be taken away. Experienced it. Experimented with it.

"I know. I'm trying to. I just don't want to be little forever." Said Mob. Master Reigen was finally seeing it, that she wasn't little anymore. That she wasn't that same eleven year old that she had been when they met.

"Wanting to be grown up is no reason to have-"said Reigen fearing that, yes, she was falling into his old thought patters.

"I didn't do that to be grown up. I did that because I wanted to. I wanted to see what it was like and now I know. I got sad and worried and weird for a while but now I'm getting better. I know that you think that I should have waited but I don't think that. My life is my own, Master, like you said. Besides, now I won't die without knowing what it was like." Said Mob. Still flatly, like she was talking about the weather. No animation at all.

"You shouldn't have to worry about dying." Said Reigen. That was what had changed her. That night, that night when he came so close to losing her forever, had left it's mark on her. On him. On everyone involved.

"I should because I can. That's why I should do things in my life that I want to do." Said Mob. She wasn't going to end up waiting for four years. She wasn't going to wait for a maybe. Maybe she wasn't one hundred percent ready but she had been ready enough.

"Don't grow up too fast." Said Reigen. It was something that came to mind just as he said it. He wanted her to stay a kid, he needed her to stay a kid. If she stayed a kid then they could live in one big today for the rest of their lives. He didn't have to worry about her leaving him. He didn't have to think about what they'd become if she stayed.

"I'll grow up when I grow up, Master." Said Mob. She was her own protagonist and she'd grow up when she felt like growing up. Sometimes it felt like he wanted her to stay a kid forever. Why? Why wouldn't he want her to be an adult?

"You're right. You're growing up and getting older and there isn't a damned thing that I can do about it." Said Reigen

"Why would you want to do something about it? You're getting older too, Master, but I don't try and stop that from happening." Said Mob. Master Reigen hadn't really gotten that much older in the time she had known him. His hair was the same color, he didn't have any of those lines in his face that her parents had, he even dressed the same and acted the same. He would change, though, wouldn't he? What would be become?

"I'm not trying to stop you from growing up, Mob. I just…I don't know. It's a lot for me. I knew you when you were eleven after all." Said Reigen. Mob nodded.

"I knew you when you were twenty five." Said Mob. Not that she had known how old he was for a while. He was just an adult to her. It had been a surprise, though, that first birthday he had. They had gotten a convenience store cake and eaten it in the office. She knew, intellectually, that he must have ha d a birthday. It was just a shock when October tenth came around and suddenly he was a whole year older.

"Have I really aged that much?" asked Reigen mirthfully. Mob shook her head.

"You look the same, Master." Said Mob. It was like he was a fixed point in time, almost. Like he had come into existence as an adult. She knew, though, that he had once been her age. She tried to picture him at fourteen. In a gakuran. In middle school. Having friends and doing all the same things that she did. it was like trying to picture a dream.

"You really think so?" asked Reigen. He was still young, too young for grey hair and crow's feet, anyway. He had gained some weight, not a crazy amount though. His waist was getting kind of squishy. Maybe he needed to get back to the morning yoga.

"Yes. You're the same, Master, except now you show me your powers and you treat me less like a kid. You still treat me like a kid sometimes, but that's ok." Said Mob. Master Reigen was a lot better to live with than her parents. Mom would never have let her stay out as late as she did with Teru or to have sex or eat the same thing every day. If she tried to talk to her parents about the stuff that she talked about with Master Reigen then they'd probably just yell at her. Yes, this was better. She made the right choice, never going back and all.

"Well you are a kid." Said Reigen. Right. His powers. He had those, now. At least some good came out of that awful night.

"I guess, but you don't treat me like a baby." Said Mob as she ate.

"No, I don't, because you aren't. I can see how old you are and as your Master I can act accordingly." Said Reigen. He knew how he had to act accordingly. He made her an appointment at the short notice clinic. Ninety thousand yen all together. It was worth it, for his own peace of mind.

"That's why you're making me go to the doctor after work?" asked Mob. She hated going to the doctor. All the poking and prodding. She hoped that she didn't need to get a shot, either. They always had to sneak up on her with the needle. She put up a barrier without thinking when it came near.

"Clinic, Mob, clinic. There's a difference." Said Reigen. He made himself an appointment, too. Best to make sure that he hadn't picked anything up.

"What's the difference?" asked Mob

"The doctor is covered by insurance." Said Reigen

"Do I have to get a shot?" asked Mob

"No, the website said that they just take you vitals and then you get your medicine." Said Reigen. That was all they did and they still charged almost one hundred yen. It was worth it, babies were more expensive.

"But no shots?" Said Mob. Good. She hated shots. This seemed like it would be simple enough. Not that she knew why she needed the pills. She had been responsible last night.

"No shots, so don't worry." Said Reigen happy that she could still be such a kid sometimes. He didn't mind shots that much. They just had to sneak up on him with the needle or he'd start screaming.

"Good. I don't get why I need to go, though. There's a whole aisle for this stuff and it's much cheaper." Said Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"Because they can break, Mob, and then you're fucked." Said Reigen. Mob looked down quickly. It took Reigen a moment to realize what he said.

"You cursed." Said Mob. It was funny, almost, because that word meant the same thing as having sex. Why was it a curse word, even? Doing that wasn't bad. It was super weird but it wasn't bad.

"Yeah, I shouldn't cure around you even though you're now super mature and grown up." Said Reigen with good natured sarcasm.

"Why is it a bad word? It's not a bad thing, right?" asked Mob. It hadn't felt bad at all. It had felt both weird and wonderful at the same time.

"It can be. It can be if you don't want to, or if it's not good, or if…if you aren't ready for it." Said Reigen. It was supposed to be an act of love but it so rarely was. Mob saw it as an act of love. She was still too young to divorce her feelings from the act itself.

"It's mostly weird. Not bad but not that good. The other stuff is much better." Said Mob. Reigen choked on his food.

"Mob…you know that you can tell me anything, right?" asked Reigen. He didn't need to know about all the stuff that Mob got up to.

"Of course I do, Master." Said Mob. She told him everything. It was nice having someone to talk to about the things in her life that she couldn't talk to other people about.

"You don't have to tell me everything, though." Said Reigen. It wasn't that he didn't like being that person towards her. He liked that she felt so close to him. He just didn't need the details of the sex life that she was way too young to be having.

"I like to tell you everything. I like how you listen to me and you never tell me that there's something wrong with me or anything like that." Said Mob. Reigen decided, then, that his own discomfort was worth less than her happiness. He would be this person for her. He would have to be.

"I'm glad I can be that person for you, Mob." Said Reigen. He really did. Maybe they were too close. He didn't care all that much. Maybe the regular rules didn't apply to him and Mob. She was an island onto herself after all.

"When's the next client coming in?" asked Mob wondering if she should put another pot of tea on.

"The next scheduled client cancelled. Hang on, let me see when the one after is coming in." said Reigen as he fished his phone out of his pocket. Oh. An E-Mail.

"Good news?" asked Mob as she saw Master Reigen smile. Hopefully work related. Hopefully nothing to do with where he had been last night before he got home.

"Guess what, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"I don't know enough what's going on to start making guesses." Said Mob

"Just guess something, Mob." Said Reigen

"It's a work thing?" asked Mob. Hopefully it was.

"Yup. Tomorrow you and I are going to Cuticle City." Said Reigen. Mob blinked.

"What's in Cuticle City?" asked Mob. All she knew about it was that it was the next city over and her dad went there for work sometimes.

"A lot of problems, Mob, a lot of problems. Guess what? We've been hired to come in and rid the city of the urban legends plaguing it!" said Reigen. Hired was a strong word. More like he had been offered his highest exorcism fee plus travel expenses to come to a new coffee shop with a supernatural theme and remove a curse. The curse probably wasn't real but they did need the money. Plus he knew that Cuticle City was home to the latest incarnation of the Dragger and someone new called the Red Raincoat. Even if these turned out to be hoaxes they could still drum up some business. Places that were full of people who believed in the supernatural must have been full of either real super natural occurrences or gullible people. Either way there was money to be made.

"Why do you look so happy when you're talking about people in trouble?" asked Mob. He was smiling a little, and his voice took on that quality it took when he was really excited about something.

"I'm not excited that they're in trouble, Mob, I'm excited that we can go there and make some money-I mean help them." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. That made sense. They had to help people, it was there job.

"Ok. But I promised Teru that I would go to his game tomorrow and I can't break a promise." Said Mob. Promises were worth something, they had to be. When she made a promise she meant it. Besides, it meant a lot to Teru that she be there to cheer him on. He had said so.

"I would never ask you to break a promise. We'll go after, but right after. Seriously. Meet me at the train station afterwards." Said Reigen. He wasn't going to make her break a promise, he knew how much those meant to her, but…no. He wouldn't. They'd get there when they got there. He loved Mob and loving someone meant putting their needs before yours.

"Ok." Said Mob. She had wanted to hang out with Teru for a little bit afterwards. Not for THAT but if he wanted to then she would have….maybe. It felt weird but not bad and Master Reigen did say that first times weren't that great. Maybe.

"You're alright, right?" asked Reigen. He knew that she had a life and he knew that they almost never worked Sundays. Not for any religious reasons, he was just kind of lazy like that. She had wanted to spend time with her friends, probably. She liked spending time with him though, right?

"I'm fine. This will be fun, right? I've never been to another city before." Said Mob. She did enjoy spending time with Teru and her other friends too but work was important and she loved spending time with Master Reigen.

"Yeah, you were talking about how you wanted to travel, before. Well I bet you'll have a great time. We'll take in the local color, maybe find you a cat shelter or cat café." Said Reigen. They could stay out late, too. She didn't need much sleep and with the money that he got from this job and any that he might have picked up in the city they could get a cab home from the train station.

"I would like that a lot. Also, we can help people." Said Mob. Helping people made it all worth it. Helping people was what she was there, in the world, to do. That was why she had these powers. She used to think that they were more like a curse, that they were of no use to anyone, but they could be useful, couldn't they? They were useful to the rest of the world.

"You and helping people." Said Reigen reached over and tugging on her hair. Honestly. She was just so good.

She was so good and she was nothing like him.


	29. Encountering Urban Legends

Mob didn't understand the appeal of sports. She understood exercise, pushing your body to it's physical limits to improve yourself, but she didn't understand the concept of playing sports just for fun. Training improved the body better and there were plenty of games that you could play without exhausting yourself. Gains were best made through vigorous and regimented training.

She wouldn't say that, though. Teru was having fun. She knew because he kept on looking back over at her and smiling. His aura was super bright, too. Well, it was to people who could see on the aural spectrum. She was happy that he was happy. He deserved to be happy and not crying. Not that she had anything against crying per se, she just liked it better when she knew why the other person was crying and how she was supposed to make it better. She still wasn't one hundred percent on why Teru had been so upset. Concrete reasons were easier to deal with.

He was better now, that was what mattered.

Mob straightened out her t-shirt. It was a Spirits and Such one. She was wearing it over her dress. It felt weird to be wearing layers like this but Master Reigen said that it was important to promote brand awareness. They were going to an entirely different city after all and the people there had probably never heard of them. Their channel was mostly seen by people in the city and Master Reigen's relatives. They were internet notables he said. Mob didn't care either way, she just wanted to do her job and help people and make Master Reigen proud.

This was going to be a good day. She had kept her promise to Teru and she was also going to help Master Reigen. The weather was nice, too. She didn't even have to wear the hoodie she brought. She had it in her lap. Her dress had long sleeves anyway. Red and pink sort of went together, right? Teru would know, he knew a lot about clothes.

What did he say? Oh yeah. Know your colors, know your fabrics.

This was red poly cotton. She wondered if that was a good fabric. He'd know. She watched him. He looked over at her again. She smiled. A bunch of girls waved. Mob tried not to look over there. He said that everyone before her was just practice for when he got to her. That felt weird. On the one hand people couldn't be practice but on the other hand she did feel jealous…sort of. She didn't like that feeling but she had discovered, since falling in love and being in a couple, that she could be a very jealous person.

Maybe she had always been jealous. She had always envied other people. The way that they knew just what to say and what to do. She had always envied Ritsu, too. He was good at everything and everything came easily to him. He had always envied her, though, so was it even between the two of them? Was this the sort of thing that two people could be even at? Maybe everyone was just jealous of everyone else and jealousy was the feeling that made people try to better themselves. After all if she hadn't been jealous of the popular girls then she wouldn't have decided to join clubs or try to make more friends.

So maybe it wasn't an entirely bad feeling.

She got that feeling that Teru was jealous of Master Reigen even though he had no reason to be. Her head was her own business, Master Reigen had said so, and it wasn't like she could be in a couple with Master Reigen anyway. It wasn't like she could actually do any of the things she thought about, anyway. With Master Reigen at least.

She had a whole new set of things to think about, too.

She had thought that if she did the stuff she thought about, if she knew what it was like, that would make her want to do it less. Now she knew what she wanted, what it felt like, and even some stuff that she had never conceived of. If anything now she wanted more. She could get it, if she wanted to. She had a boyfriend after all. She did love Teru, she just loved Master Reigen too. Maybe more.

She'd revisit this in four years.

Master Reigen said not to worry about the future. He said that she should enjoy the time that she had and then she could cross all of her bridges when she came to them. He was right about everything so she'd listen to him. She'd enjoy what she had now. It was pretty great, all things considered. Even, well, that hadn't been so bad.

Weird. Awkward. But not bad.

Not instrumentality but not bad.

But maybe there were different kinds of instrumentality. She had expected what she and Teru did to be instrumentality and it hadn't felt like that. Physically it hadn't felt like anything and emotionally it had felt like everything. Maybe feeling everything was instrumentality. Instrumentality didn't have to only mean good feelings, right? Instrumentality was emotional but sex was physical. But you couldn't separate feelings from it, could you? Or maybe you could. Adults did that all the time. Master Reigen seemed to.

He said that he had been in love four times. He had sent her away from the office when a woman came in more than four times. He had been with someone before he had come home, she didn't have proof but she figured as such. Maybe that was what being an adult was, being able to take feelings away from sex. Mob didn't know if she wanted that.

In that first moment she had felt more loved than she had ever felt in her life. She had felt so warm and loved and it had been wonderful. Then she had started to feel weird. Wat was the word? Vulnerable. That ft. She had never been like that with anyone else. She felt good and weird at the same time. Then it had been sort of awkward. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, exactly, so she just kind of laid down and went with it. Not that it had taken that long. Master Reigen said that the first time was always not that good. Maybe it got better.

Maybe it was like the first time they kissed. It hadn't been good. It had felt better emotionally than physically. They had called it practice, the first time they kissed, so maybe they could call the first time that they…they could call it practice. Maybe. But people couldn't practice at that, could they? But then again didn't practice make perfect?

Or maybe she was getting ahead of herself. Maybe there wouldn't be a next time. Maybe that was a onetime only thing? Teru had cried after all. She didn't want to make him cry again. She watched him some more. He looked happy. She wanted to keep him that way. She liked him best when he was happy. She liked him best this way.

Teru liked her best this way. She was there for him. She was watching him and she looked like she was having a good, or at least not bad, time. It was hard to read her sometimes. She wanted to be there, though, she had promised him and she had kept her promise. She was there and she was watching him and she was his. She was his and that was what mattered. His and not anyone else's.

She watched the entire time. She watched him and him alone, he knew because he watched her whenever he could. He watched her watching him and it was nice. She was there for him and nobody else. Maybe he was selfish. Maybe he was just a selfish and possessive jerk. Maybe she was the only thing in his life that was pure and good and right. She existed without pretense. She was pure, genuine. There wasn't a thought in her head that she didn't share with him. There wasn't a want that she had that he couldn't give her.

He loves her.

He looked over at her again. The game was almost over. That was good. He'd take her somewhere, after this. He'd get her something to eat, maybe they could see a movie, too. Him and her cuddled up in the dark. Something cheerful, something with romance. She loved romance. She'd cuddle up with him and watch other people fall in love. Maybe watching other people fall in love would make her remember how the two of them were in love. Maybe it would take her mind off of her work, off of Reigen. It wasn't Reigen she wanted to see, no, she just liked working. She cared about her career. That was it.

Well she didn't work on Sundays. She could spend the day with him. They'd do whatever she wanted. The important thing was that they would be together. She'd be with him and him alone. They could even…again…if she wanted to. He wouldn't cry again. He didn't fully know why he had cried afterwards. It had been the greatest thing he had ever experienced in his life. Him. Her. Them. The two of them there.

The way she looked. The way she sounded. The way she felt. The way she smelled. The way she tasted. All of it.

She had been all his in that moment. For those few seconds she had been truly and completely his. She had let him experience this with her. She had been the one to give him this. She had accepted him totally and completely. It was the pulling away from her, that was what had gotten to him. How could he possibly be away ever again when they had been as close and was humanly possible? Alone. He had felt alone in that moment.

He had her now. He didn't have to be alone anymore.

The game ended and he went to her immediately. She was sitting there, still staring at him. Good staring, though, he decided.

"Teru, you were great. I'm glad you guys won." Said Mob. She stood up and hugged him. He looked so happy.

"Oh, right, we won." Said Teru. He didn't care, he just cared that she was there. He had felt close to her before but never like this. He thought that the need to be beside her couldn't possibly grow but it had.

"Yes. You won by a lot." Said Mob. She didn't quite understand the rules of the game but she did understand which was the bigger number.

"I only played so well because you were watching." Said Teru. Maybe he had wanted to impress her. That would be stupid, though. She wasn't impressed by stuff like this. She was impressed by….he honestly had no idea. Not this. She was deeper than that.

"Oh. You should play well either way. You worked hard, Teru." Said Mob. That didn't make sense. If this was something he cared about then he should give it his all no matter who was watching.

"I do but I played extra well for you, Shigeko." Said Teru. He leaned in and kissed her for longer than was publically appropriate. He didn't care. She was his and everyone was probably just jealous.

"Teru…people can see." Said Mob turning red. That was a long kiss, the kind that was for when they were alone.

"So? I don't care. You're mine and I want people to know." Said Teru. He cursed himself as soon as he finished speaking. That sounded terribly possessive, didn't it?

"I'm your girlfriend, that's true." Said Mob. That was what he meant, right? She didn't literally belong to him. Nobody belonged to anyone. Everyone was the protagonist of their own life.

"It is. I want people to know it." Said Teru. She had his hoodie but it was draped over her arm. She was wearing a T-Shirt over her dress. Spirits and Such…

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. She didn't know why it was important that people knew that they were a couple but Teru was better at this kind of stuff than she was.

"Why are you wearing a work shirt?" asked Teru suddenly. He hoped that she just liked her job so much she was wearing a uniform. That must have been it, they probably just had uniforms now and Shigeko just liked wearing it a whole lot. Girls loved uniforms, there was a whole store downtown that sold fashions based on school uniforms.

"Oh. I have work today. I have to go right after your game is done." Said Mob simply. Teru reached over and grabbed her hand.

"Let me walk you, then, and maybe I could…maybe I could hang out at your job with you for a little bit." Said Teru practically choking on the words. He didn't want to spend time with Reigen but he didn't want to lose time with Shigeko, either. He could hang out in the office. There was a TV there and plenty of places to sleep. Besides, Reigen did most of his work in the backroom, Shigeko had said. Yeah. This wouldn't be so bad.

"We aren't in the office today. We're going to Cuticle City to help with their problems. Master Reigen says that Cuticle City is full of problems." Said Mob. Teru held her hand limply. He took in a shaky breath. No. She wasn't rejecting him….she just…she just had to work.

"When…when are you…coming back?" asked Teru. He was suddenly very hot and very thirsty. He found the strength to hold her hand again. His. She was still his.

"Tonight. Master Reigen says that we're going to be out all day and we're getting home late." Said Mob. Teru looked sad. He was frowning and his eyes were getting shiny. That was a sad face.

"I…I'll miss you." Said Teru. What the hell was wrong with him? Sure he had been looking forward to spending time with her but that didn't mean that he had to go to pieces. He was the guy, he couldn't just start crying like this.

"Teru, you're talking like I'm going to be gone forever. I'll see you tomorrow before school. Maybe I could…maybe I could take the day off…since I'm working a Sunday." Said Mob. She wanted to work on Monday, she really did, but Teru needed her. She was his girlfriend no matter how she felt about Master Reigen. She had a responsibility to him. Besides, she liked spending time with him.

"You'd take the day off for me?" asked Teru. There. She wasn't rejecting him. She was choosing him over her job and she loved her job more than anything else. God, he was such a selfish bastard….

"I've done it before, Teru." Said Mob. She didn't have a tone but Teru heard one. He was so, so, so selfish. She loved her job…and she needed it. She wasn't like him. She didn't live with her parents either but she didn't get money from them. He got an allowance and all his bills paid. She only got what she earned. That was all the money she had in the world. Plus the business was Reigen's whole source of money, too, so if it tanked then he and Shigeko would be out on the streets…

He may have been on his own but she was the adult in the relationship.

"You don't have to. I know how important work is for you." Said Teru. Mob watched his aura. Auras were easier to read than faces. He was upset.

"I want to. I want to spend time with you." Said Mob. She loved working, she loved Master Reigen, but Teru was sad. She didn't want him to cry again.

"You'd put me ahead of work?" asked Teru. Selfish. Selfish bastard. That was all he was. That was his genuine self.

"Yes. It's not putting you ahead of work. I like to work but…but I need to have a life outside of work." Said Mob. She had wanted that, before. That was why she had started putting herself out there more in the first place. She didn't have to work every single day, right? She hadn't, before, just most days. She did need a life outside of work, that was important. Mom used to yell at dad all the time about how much he would work.

"You're sure about this?" asked Teru. He wanted so badly to spend as much time as humanly possible with her but he knew that he was being selfish. He could take care of her but she would never ask that of him. She had a career, and honest to God career, and he couldn't stand in the way of that. Not everyone had as much money as his family did. She had a future to think about and it didn't involve being dependent on him even though it was his job as the guy to provide for her.

"Yes. I want to spend Monday with you." Said Mob. Of course she was certain. She wouldn't have said anything if she wasn't certain.

"Thank you." Said Teru. He kissed her again, just as long and just as hard. He kissed her because he wanted to, he needed to. He needed to show her how much she meant to him. He knew that he was breaking social convention but he didn't care. What were people going to do? Call his parents?

"Teru, do you want to walk with me to the train station?" asked Mob. She did have a train to catch after all. She wanted to kiss him some more, it did feel nice, but she had to get going. Also, people were looking. She wasn't called Mob because she enjoyed drawing attention to herself. Quite the opposite, actually.

Reigen smoked and paced. The train was going to show up any minute now. She had better show up on time. They had to get to Cuticle City by lunchtime, and not just because he was getting hungry. She was coming, she wouldn't just ditch him or anything like that. She had promised to come with and she always kept her promises. She was a good person like that.

He felt her coming before he saw her. She drowned out everything, everyone, around him. He was keeping his aura close to himself so he didn't pick up on every single stray feeling of the people around him. The station was crowded with people doing their weekend travelling. Going back to wherever they came from, probably. He and Mob were about to set off, though, so where they needed to be. Her first trip to a new city. This was going to be great. He had researched plenty of urban legends for them to investigate. He hadn't been kidding when he said that Cuticle City was full of problems.

Oh. She was with her boyfriend. Well, that explained the hold up. His aura was gold colored, very close to Reigen's own custard yellow. He wondered what the different colors meant. He doubted anyone knew, exactly. He had seen plenty of books and websites but each source had their own explanation for aura colors. Even for Mob's two colored aura. Duality. Conflict. That was Reigen's understanding of it. He watched the two of them for a moment, their auras. Teru's didn't enter the moving pattern of fractals that made up Mob's. Reigen's did. He wondered what that meant. He looked away as they kissed. He knew that it was none of his business.

"Master, did we miss the train?" asked Mob as she came up to him. He tried to look nonchalant. He smoked and exhaled away from her.

"No, it'll be here in about two minutes though. Don't cut it so close next time." Said Reigen still trying his best to look nonchalant. It was still awkward, seeing the two of them together and knowing what he knew. Why did Mob have to tell him everything? There were plenty of things that he now knew that he could have lived a full life not knowing.

"I'm sorry, I just got kind of distracted." Said Mob. She and Teru hadn't exactly run to the train station, and they may have stopped to kiss a few times, too.

"I can't imagine why." Said Reigen as the train pulled up. He shouldn't fault her, he couldn't fault her. He would have done the same in her place. Well, not with a guy but he would have done the same. So what if she was pulling away from him a little. It was healthy. Healthiest thing in the world.

"Master, can I have tomorrow off?" asked Mob after they sat down. He sat next to her. She leaned into him. It was nice, having him so close. He smelled different today, and he looked different. He had on black slacks, a black suit coat, and a red Spirits and Such T shirt. Today was laundry day, his other three suits were in the wash. She had never seen this one before. It was kind of tight on him, she thought.

"Do you really need it off, Mob?" asked Reigen. There was nothing that he couldn't handle on his own, nothing really. Actual exorcisms weren't super common, actually. Maybe the spirits had enough sense not to draw Mob's attention. Either that or Dimple was eating them all. He still liked having her around, though. Selfish. He was a selfish asshole.

"Yes. Teru wants to hang out. He wanted to hang out today but I have to work. I thought that it would be ok because we don't usually work on Sundays." Said Mob. Reigen wanted to tell her no, he wanted to tell her to stay with him, but he couldn't argue with that logic. Empathy. She was young and she had her own life. Don't be selfish, Arataka.

"You're right, it would be fair. You're on call though, if something big comes in." said Reigen. He couldn't exorcise a high level evil spirit on his own. A midlevel evil spirit if he was being honest with himself. He still needed her for more than company.

"But you could always handle it yourself, Master, or are your powers still being weird?" asked Mob. Master Reigen could handle it himself, right? He was the Master and she was the student. But then again she had been him, literally, he wasn't as strong as she was. No. That didn't make any sense. He didn't have the same amount of raw power as she did but he had more…control? Finesse?

"My powers aren't what they used to be, Mob, so I still need you." Said Reigen. A half-truth. He had never had powers before so what he had now was not at all what it used to be.

"Oh. Ok. I'll keep my ringer on, then." Said Mob. She'd stay near her phone. She had been Master Reigen before and she knew how terrible it felt to run out of power, like a phone with a dead battery. It wasn't a good feeling.

"And don't forget to take your medicine." Said Reigen. Ninety thousand yen. Those cost ninety thousand yen and he was not going to spend even more if she ended up getting pregnant.

"Master!" said Mob. She turned bright red and turned so she looked out the window. She looked away, quickly, as she felt herself starting to get motion sick.

"If you're not mature enough to talk about it when you're not mature enough to be having it." Said Reigen. She was too young to be doing that but there was no un-mixing the curry now. This, like many things in life, was something that he had no choice but to accept.

"I can too talk about it, we did the other night. Remember, we smoked and talked and almost fell asleep outside?" asked Mob. That had been a nice night, looking back. He had been there for her even though he seemed kind of uncomfortable. He would always be there for her.

"Don't remind me, Mob. I now know more about your love life than I ever thought I would need to know." Said Reigen with a groan.

"Ok. I won't remind you. I'm sorry I talked to you about it. I just needed someone to talk to, I guess…" said Mob softly. Reigen reached over and tugged on her hair.

"I'm not upset with you at all. I'm still…taking it all in…I guess." Said Reigen. She was growing up and he would have to accept that. She was a living person, not a doll or a cartoon character, and she would grow and change and there was nothing he could possibly do but help her along this journey.

"But you aren't mad?" asked Mob. That was the important thing.

"Of course not." Said Reigen. He was a lot of things but mad wasn't one of them.

"I feel better, too. I don't feel as weird." Said Mob. She need time, she decided. She just needed time to get herself all sorted out. Master Reigen was right, it did cause a lot of big feelings.

"Mob, don't grow up too fast, ok." Said Reigen. He was glad that this part of her life was going better. She deserved all the goodness in her life that she could get for herself. He just wished…no…this was not the time for him to be squeamish.

"You asked me not to before. I'm growing up at my own pace, Master. I'm not-" said Mob

"A little kid anymore. I know, you've told me before." Said Reigen

"Then please don't act like you wish I still was little, Master." Said Mob

"I don't. I mean, ok, I'll always remember the times we had together when you were young but I'm proud of the person you've become. You know that." Said Reigen. Maybe he did wish that she was still little. Maybe that way everything could have been so much **easier**. Eleven year old Mob didn't have to deal with any of the stuff fourteen year old Mob had to deal with.

"You've said so, before." Said Mob. She knew that he was proud of her, he had said it before, but each time he said it she felt so good inside. It never diminished no matter how many repeats there were. Like the Eva rebuild movies. She could never get sick of those.

"I thought you listened to everything I said." Said Reigen. Sometimes it felt like she didn't listen. Sometimes he felt like she was trying to prove herself to him, like she was trying to prove to him that she wasn't a child anymore even though she so clearly wasn't.

"I do." Said Mob

"So why do you make me repeat myself?" asked Reigen

"…because I like when you say nice things to me." Said Mob

"You are still such a kid sometimes." Said Reigen mirthfully. Mob's face was impassive but had she been a more expressive person then she would have sighed and let her face fall. He still saw her as a child.

The rode in silence for a few minutes. Him checking his phone and her trying not to get motion sick. The ride was bumpy and jerky. She leaned into Master Reigen for support. He could always make things better. She closed her eyes and let herself get lost in him. She had read in books that the person she loved was supposed to smell like fruit or sunshine or something like that. That was just exaggeration. Master Reigen smelled like cigarettes, mostly, and incense. Not aftershave today. She looked up. He had stubble, it was just light and hard to see. She wondered what it would feel like, if she were to lean up and kiss him. Would it be scratchy? Or soft? Master Reigen was like a peach sort of. He had a lot of very light and hard to see hair. She had seen him out of his suit enough times to know.

Teru kind of did too, but not nearly as much. His skin was super soft, though. He smelled like shampoo and body spray and moisturizer. It was nice. He smelled like himself, too. So did Master Reigen. She wondered what she smelled like. Did she smell like herself? Did she smell good? Did she smell good to anyone? Did she smell good to Master Reigen?

Probably not.

He would never notice her. He still thought she was a kid. Not that she wasn't a kid anymore but she wasn't a little kid. Chronologically she was a kid but she didn't feel like one. She had almost died, almost killed and also shared herself with someone she loved. At what point did someone become an adult? It was a matter of chronology, always chronology. She shifted in her seat. Biology too, she supposed. Teru said that he didn't mind the way she looked. He had even said that she was pretty. Well his exact words were 'you are so damned pretty' and he said it in that way he did when he was looking at her, really looking at her. He had been looking at her, too. She liked being looked at in that way. Master Reigen would probably never look at her in that way. She was amazed that anyone looked at her in that way.

Why did Teru think that she was pretty? She was Mob, a background character. Plain. Unremarkable. There were so many prettier girls. Older looking girls like Tsubomi. Younger girls who looked older than her, like Rei. She still looked so young even though she felt so old. She felt like an adult. She felt like that because she was doing pretty much all the things that adults did. Not just the time she almost died and almost killed a bunch of people. She could have, easily, if she had lost control like that. She didn't. She was an adult not just because of what happened to her at the Claw base but because of everything else. She was out of her parent's house, she had a job, she was in a relationship with someone. She wasn't a little kid anymore.

Chronology would always win, wouldn't it? Chronology and biology would always win over her feelings.

Teru knew that her job would always win out over his feelings.

The walk home was not a terribly long one, not by his standards anyway. It wasn't like he had big plans anyway. He didn't really want to hang out with his old friends, he didn't feel like being that Teru right now. He wanted to be Shigeko's Teru bit she was working. She was working because she had to, he reminded himself. She had to work hard to support herself and she loved helping people. She had to work hard because that was what you were expected to do. That was the Japanese thing to do, he thought. Work and work and work like a beaver until you passed out at your desk.

He didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up but he knew for a fact that he had no desire to be a salaryman.

Shigeko was kind of like a salaryman. She worked hard all the time, way too hard in Teru's opinion. She worked hard for three hundred yen an hour. That wasn't fair. She was worth so much more than that. She would probably never let him take care of her, and they were fourteen anyway so she'd say no, but he would totally take care of her if she asked. When they were adults. He'd ask her when they were adults. He'd make it really romantic for her, too. Or maybe Shigeko romantic. He'd take her to the Evangelion store in Tokyo, get her an Evangelion ring, and ask her to be his for real.

He was getting ahead of himself. He needed to remind himself that he was still only fourteen. He may have lived alone but he still had four long years until he became an adult for real. Until they became adults. He didn't know what the future held, people changed, all of that. He didn't know if they'd still be together, he saw plenty of couples break up even though they had been in love. The thought of it makes his insides turn. He doesn't know who he would be without her. He had been the protagonist of the world, before he had met her. Now he didn't even feel like the protagonist of his own life even though Shigeko had told him plenty of times that he was. He felt more like a supporting character in her life. She was the only thing in his world that felt real, sometimes. Maybe because she was real. She was the most real girl he had ever been with. Hell, she was the only girl he had ever really been with.

In every sense of the word.

He loved her. He loved her but he still really loved what they did together. Did that make him shallow? Wasn't love supposed to be less about the physical and more about the emotional? He liked the physical. He loved the physical. He loved the way her skin felt, how it was so soft even though he knew for a fact that she didn't ever moisturize. He loved the way she smelled, sometimes. Not when she smelled like cigarettes, that was Reigen on her. She smelled like her shampoo, fruity and nice. She smelled like cheap detergent and fabric softener too. He didn't mind. To him that was what heaven smelled like.

God he missed her. He had wanted to be with her that day. He wanted to spend time her so badly but he couldn't. Not just for that, either. He just didn't want to feel alone. He didn't want to hang out with his old friends, either. Maybe his new friends? He could head over to the Awakening Lab and see if anyone was around. Those guys were ok, they looked up to him and stuff. Mostly because he was the strongest out of all of them. Power was a hell of a drug and he knew that he had to give it up, that's what Shigeko would have wanted, but he just couldn't.

He had to try, though. Maybe he should have found something better to do with his day then being a big fish in a very small pond. Swimming pool. Bucket.

He felt an aura pass over his. His range wasn't that great, not compared to a lot of espers, he knew this now. He could feel Shigeko from kilometers away, if he focused on her, but he couldn't extend himself that far. This was someone passing over him, though, not someone he passed over. He let himself see. Dark blue. Ritsu. What was Ritsu doing all the way out here? Looking for him? Wishful thinking.

Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time.

He went in the vague direction he felt Ritsu and found him pretty quickly. He seemed thoughtful about something. He was frowning a little, just a little. He looked like Shigeko but not like Shigeko. She never frowned, not really. Her eyes were the most expressive part of her, when he could read them. Or see them. Her aura was expressive too, when she let it be. When he could read it. She was a difficult person to read, her brother was much easier.

Not that he was going to be voicing any theories again anytime soon.

He was lucky that Ritsu didn't beat him up. He could have, if he put his mind to it. It wasn't like Teru would have fought back…much. He couldn't be like Shigeko, he couldn't just take it while someone beat him up. He wouldn't hurt her little brother, though. She loved her little brother so much that she would hate him if anything happened to Ritsu.

"Hey, Shigeko's little brother." Said Teru mirthfully. Ritsu smiled at him, a little.

"Hey." Said Ritsu. He had been on his way to see Rei but she was being punished today for covering for her older sister. That left him without any kind of plans. He had figured that his sister and Teru would have been doing couple stuff together that day and he didn't want to be a third wheel.

"What brings you all the way out here?" asked Teru. Ritsu was a nice guy. He'd chase the loneliness away.

"I was going to see my girlfriend but she's in trouble." Said Ritsu. Girlfriend. Friend who was a girl. Who liked him and who he was a couple with. Get it, Teru?

"What'd she do?" asked Teru. Rei was one of those sweet bubbly girls that gave you cavities if you were around her for too long. What could she have possibly done?

"She covered for her sister and then their parents found out and now she can't see anyone today and her mom took her phone away but she keeps stealing it back." Said Ritsu. He didn't know why she kept on doing that, she would just end up prolonging her punishment. Not that he had much experience getting punished. Shigeko was always the one who got punished for everything.

"That sucks. I'm so glad I don't have parents." Said Teru. Sure he was lonely as hell sometimes but he was one hundred percent his own boss.

"You have parents, you said, they're just really far away." Said Ritsu. What he wouldn't give to have parents that were really far away. Mom and dad were arguing every night like it was an Olympic sport.

"I'm still pretty much on my own. I do whatever I want whenever I want." Said Teru

"That sounds great. I know it sounds bad but I wish my parents weren't around." Said Ritsu. He just had to say it. Word vomit. Usually he told Rei but now Rei couldn't talk to him so he had to talk to someone and it fell onto the best friend then. He's talk to Shigeko but he didn't want to stress her out. Talking about home was dangerous ground between the two of them.

"They're still fighting?" asked Teru. Shigeko and Ritsu had not painted a pretty picture of their home life.

"They never stopped." Said Ritsu. Last night they had argued in hushed tones but he could still hear them through the vents. Same as it ever was.

"So I take it you're not going home anytime soon?" asked Teru, a tone in his voice that to him clearly said that he wanted Ritsu to come over and hang out.

"Not if I can help it." Said Ritsu. Maybe he could go to school and wait for tomorrow to happen. Mom would certainly love that. Maybe he could just live at school and be her perfect little studious Ritsu forever.

"Any plans for today?" asked Teru. Was the complete inability to get a clue a family trait or something?

"No, not really." Said Ritsu. They stood there for a beat.

"Do you want to hang out?" asked Teru. Hanging out with him was kind of like hanging out with Shigeko. They were siblings after all.

"No thanks, I don't want to be a third wheel." Said Ritsu. He didn't want to hang out with Teru and Shigeko and watch them get all cuddly and end up crushed under the whole 'Ritsu go away so we can do what coupled people do' atmosphere.

"Well there's just the two of us so I guess whoever invites themselves along would be the third wheel, not you." Said Teru. Ritsu blinked and felt himself shift his weight back and forth. He hadn't meant to do that, he just did it.

"You're not hanging out with Shigeko today?" asked Ritsu

"No. She's working today." Said Teru trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"But it's Sunday. That place is closed on Sundays." Said Ritsu. Sunday had been the day when he and Shigeko hung out, before all of this happened.

"He's taking her to a job in Cuticle City." Said Teru, not able to keep the bitterness out of his voice this time. Work. Sure it was a work thing. Sure Reigen wasn't just trying to take her somewhere nice and-

"What the hell? Why?" asked Ritsu. There were plenty of spirits right there in Seasoning City, where they lived. He didn't have to take her to the next city over. That guy all alone with his sister, far away. Nope. Not good.

"To make money I guess. I don't know." Said Teru. This was not something that he wanted to think about. She needed money, she liked her job, and this was not a rejection of him. That was just something he had to remember.

"I guess…did she say when she'd be back?" asked Ritsu. On the one hand his sister was older and more powerful but on the other hand he didn't like Reigen one bit and honestly he spent way too much time with Shigeko.

"Late tonight but she said she'd ask for the day off tomorrow. So it's just you and me if you want to hang out." Said Teru. Ritsu was doing that thing again where he shifted in place again. Probably a family trait. Shigeko fidgeted with her powers.

"Sure. Sure, I'll hang out." Said Ritsu quickly. That sure beat hanging around in his room waiting for tomorrow to happen. Teru was nice, they had fun together. This would be great.

Mob knew that this would be a great day.

She could feel the spiritual energy the minute she stepped off the train. The whole town city was saturated in it worse than Seasoning City ever was. She expanded her perceptions. Espers. So. Many. Espers. She pulled back into herself and smiled.

"You ok, Mob?" asked Reigen. He had seen her aura shine brightly before retracting. It even looked like her spirit had been trying to climb out of her body for a moment.

"Master, can't you feel them?" asked Mob

"Spirits? Yeah, this town is infested." Said Reigen. He had felt the spiritual energy as they pulled into the station. This town was lousy with spirits. This was going to be a great day. They were going to make so much, or at least shoot a few videos.

"No. Espers. Master, there's more of us." Said Mob. She was smiling, her real smile, the little one that usually made his heart melt. Not this time. He felt like he had been dunked in a bucket of ice water.

"Mob, we're turning back." Said Reigen. He looked over at the train schedule. Crap. Not another one for over an hour.

"Master, we just got here." Said Mob. She hadn't felt violent or murderous intent from any of the ones who were near. There were just so **many** and nobody felt **mean**. When she had felt that scar guy's aura for the first time she had known right off that he was a bad person. Aura's spoke their own language and for once she understood it.

"Yes, and now we're leaving." Said Reigen. No. Not again. The last time she had felt another esper they had almost died. Nope. Not happening again. Maybe they could hitchhike home….

"No." said Mob. She hadn't felt anyone bad, and she had expanded herself as far as she could go. She wasn't turning back now, they had a job to do.

"Mob, for your safety we're going back home." Said Reigen. Why was she disobeying him now of all times?

"No. I didn't feel anyone bad. Besides, Master, we both know that I'm the strongest esper around." Said Mob. Nobody shone as brightly as she did. Nobody felt as strong as Ritsu or Teru, either. They felt more like the Awakening Lab kids.

"…we don't know that, Mob." Said Reigen. If there was a person stronger than Mob then he had no desire to cross paths with that person.

"Dimple, you said that you've never felt anyone as strong as me before, right?" asked Mob. Reigen was about to ask her who she was talking to when Dimple appeared. What in the….?

"How did you see me when I was in extra invisible mode?!" asked Dimple. That was as invisible as he could possibly get. He had been following her around for days! Had she known that he was there the whole time?!

"I never couldn't see you. I just figured that you were hiding from us for some reason. Can you settle something, though? Master Reigen doesn't believe me that I'm the strongest." Said Mob. She had beaten those espers from Claw when she stopped holding back.

"Shigeko, if you could see me in extra invisible mode then I hope to whatever God there is that there's nobody around stronger than you." Said Dimple shaking in his low powered form. Why in the hell hadn't she said anything if she could see him?

"See. I'll protect you, Master. I'll keep you safe." Said Mob. He was afraid because he wasn't as strong as…because his powers were different from hers.

"Mob…no…we're turning back. If there are other espers here then it's not safe." Said Reigen

"We can take whatever tries to mess with us. You just sit tight and let us handle it." Said Dimple. Honestly, what did she see in this guy? He was weak as all else and he obviously wasn't into her. Poor girl. She made the first move, the next move, and the next move but this guy couldn't get a clue.

"You're an empath, Master, so you won't really be good in a fight. I don't want to fight but I will if I have to protect you." Said Mob simply. Reigen stared at her. What? No. Mob hated violence of all kinds and she was a friend to all things living and dead.

"Don't worry, Shigeko. If it comes to it I can just possess you so you don't have to get your hands dirty." Said Dimple. Well, at least she was growing some balls, finally. Figuratively of course.

"Do you promise that you'll leave when we're done?" asked Mob

"Of course I will. I don't want to have to share space with whatever that thing is." Said Dimple. Even in the brief time when he had shared her body with Reigen and the other thing he had barely been able to stay in for more than a few minutes. It just felt so gross.

"Other Shigeko. She doesn't want to share space with you either but when she fights for us she breaks everything and everyone so I won't let her have control." Said Mob

"What?" asked Reigen. Were they actually going to go through with his?

"Smart thinking, Shigeko. Hey, do you mind if I eat something and lay naked in the sun after the fight?" asked Dimple. It was the little physical pleasures that he missed.

"Guys…." Said Reigen. Ok, now that was just weird.

"You can eat something but not with cilantro, cilantro is an evil plant. Also you can lay in the sun but not naked. Then I'll get in trouble. There are laws against that, Dimple." Said Mob

"Gym uniform ok?" asked Dimple. He just wanted to feel as much of the sun as possible.

"Mob, Dimple…" said Reigen. Had he missed something? When had this even become an option?

"Yes, but don't get it dirty. We just did the laundry today." Said Mob. She had to keep it as clean as possible. She could always wash her clothes at Teru's house but she had work most nights anyway.

"Deal! Little Shigeko, you are not going to regret this!" said Dimple. He'd eat until he couldn't eat anymore and then he'd just digest in the sun.

"Don't call me little Shigeko. Call me little again and the deal's off." Said Mob. Why did everyone think that she was little? Even Dimple did. Well then again who knew how old Dimple was?

"Yeah, I guess you aren't' so little anymore. Eh, Shigeko?" asked Dimple manifesting an arm so he could nudge her. She batted him away.

"Dimple…I'm going to exorcise you if you don't shut up." Said Mob. She could feel a blush coming on. Right, Dimple had been hanging out when she and Master Reigen were talking the other night.

"You wouldn't! You love me!" said Dimple. Well, she wouldn't, but that thing might.

"Fine, I won't exorcise you, but I will ignore you." Said Mob. Dimple was about to retort when she was cut off suddenly.

"Will you two shut up for five minutes!?" said Reigen. Mob looked startled. He sighed and willed himself to calm down. Right. Mob was super sensitive.

"Master…" said Mob. Master Reigen looked frustrated, Maybe it was because she had said that she would protect him. Teru and Ritsu had gotten upset when she said that she would protect them, too. Boys. They were just so weird sometimes.

"Mob, I am not risking your life again. The last time you felt another esper you almost died. Do you understand? I cannot lose you." Said Reigen. He took her by the shoulders and got down onto her level. She made and held eye contact.

"I will protect you. I didn't feel any mean people around, just a lot of other espers. Not strong ones, more like Rei and the others from the Awakening Lab. Master, I can handle this. Let me protect you." Said Mob. She held eye contact with him. Brown eyes met blue eyes. They held each other's gaze for a while. Reigen was the first to break eye contact. There was no way to win a staring contest against Mob. He'd have a better chance of winning a swimming contest against a fish.

"It's my job to protect you, Mob." Said Reigen softly. Mob held eye contact with him even as he tried to look away. Dimple rolled his eyes.

"Why do you assume the worst of people? Why don't you trust my judgement?" asked Mob. She knew how to read an aura. She knew that she hadn't felt any angry, violent, or murderous intent from anyone. Her range was larger than his. She could cover the entire city if she stretched outside of her vessel. He couldn't see the entire city even if he left his vessel.

"Mob, I trust you, but I can't risk losing you. Don't you understand?" said Reigen. Stubborn. This was stubborn Mob. What happened to sweet little 'Master Reigen knows everything and is the greatest person to ever live' Mob?

"You don't trust me." Said Mob. He thought that she was little. He thought that she was clueless. He thought that he knew better than her in this instance. What happened to 'We're learning this together' Master Reigen?

"Mob…" said Reigen. He didn't want to fight with her. He hated fighting with her.

"Trust Shigeko, we both know that she knows better about this stuff." Said Dimple. Reigen glared at him. Dimple stuck his tongue out.

"Trust me, Master. We came here to help people and I won't go until we do what we came here to do." Said Mob. She was certain about not being afraid, she certain about protecting Master Reigen if she had to, and she was certain that she was going to help people. She was someone who helped others. That was her job.

"You're being stubborn today, Mob." Said Reigen. He could just directly order her to come back home with him…but no, that would be wrong. He couldn't just give her orders like that unless it was life or death. Was this life or death? Maybe he should just accept her judgement. She did know more about this than he did…and she could protect him if she had to. She was…she was ok with that. She was getting stronger. More stubborn. Older. Old enough to question him.

"I don't like it when you act like I'm little. I'm not. I can feel if someone had good or bad intentions and I can protect you if I have to. I still hate fighting but I understand what you said about how sometimes you have to run away and sometimes you have to fight back. I won't let anything happen to you. I love you." Said Mob. Reigen let himself feel her metaphysically. Love. Devotion. Determination.

"…fine…you win…" said Reigen. He couldn't argue with that, he couldn't argue with her. Behind her Dimple was staring at them, his eyes wide and his mouth wide opened. Was it so unbelievable that he couldn't deny Mob anything?

"It's not about winning or losing, Master." Said Mob. She meant that she hadn't wanted to fight. To her the entire situation was simple. This was a town where they had been hired to do a job, so they'd do their job. This town also had a lot of spiritual energy so they'd help people when they could. Also, there were a lot of espers too. She was curious. Adult espers who weren't evil…she wanted to…but she couldn't just go up to people like that. It would be nice, though, to see what she could grow up to be. To see an adult esper besides Master Reigen. Not that he wasn't enough for her, he was, he was all that she ever wanted for herself. She was just curious, that was all.

There were so many other people like her. Even if they weren't as powerful they were still like her. They knew what it was like. They could have understood.

"You're right, Mob, you're right." Said Reigen. It wasn't about him winning against her or her winning against him. This was about…trust? Trust. She had put her trust in him for years and now she was asking him to put his trust in her. She didn't want to be seen as a child and he had been treating her like one. She wasn't a child but she wasn't an adult either. She was somewhere in between and he had to accept that.

"So are we going to kick some ass or what?" asked Dimple. He could feel the spiritual energy around them. If anything he could at least get a good snack out of this.

"No. We can only fight if we're attacked first." Said Mob. She hated fighting but she knew that she had to fight back if it came to it. She had been afraid to fight back, she had held herself back, that was why so much had gone wrong at the Claw Base.

"I knew you'd come around, Shigeko! Keep it up!" said Dimple. He just had to work on her a little more each day and eventually she could reach her full potential as a person. When she got to the top she'd surely remember her old friend Dimple.

"You're sure this is alright, Mob?" asked Reigen. He didn't feel any violent intent from anyone around them but he was keeping his powers close to himself for the sake of his own sanity.

"I'm sure. Come on, Master, we're still hired for that job, right?" asked Mob. She could feel something very strange outside of the city. It was real and also not. That definitely was something that they needed to look into. After they did what they were hired to do. The job came first because they had already promised to help.

"We are. You're right Mob, come on, let's go." Said Reigen. At some point he had stopped being able to argue with Mob. At some point he had started arguing with Mob.

At some point Mob had become his equal in this relationship.

"What kind of curse is on this place, Master? Or is a haunting?" asked Mob as they walked down the street. She was still looking straight forward.

"Supposedly there's a curse at this new coffee shop. The owner was pretty vague. I guess they just wanted to drum up some business by having some internet celebrities come in for the opening." Said Reigen

"We're celebrities?" asked Mob. She didn't want to be famous, not really, but she knew that it meant a lot to Master Reigen.

"More like internet notables. We have a few thousand subscribers now. A few thousand more and we can start monetizing and we won't get more subscribers unless we make more videos! Actually, that reminds. Hey, Mob, be the selfie stick." Said Reigen as he pulled out his phone. Mob nodded. Better to be behind the camera than in front of it.

"Ok Master, just say when." Said Mob., She tried to walk away so that she could get him in frame but he reached over, flipped the screen around and pulled her next to him.

"You're going to be in this too, Mob. You're an integral part of Spirits and Such after all." Said Reigen. She was more popular than him. Most comments were about the 'light show' she put on. Not that he was jealous. Mob was the more powerful one out of the two of them.

"Do I have to?" asked Mob. She wasn't as good at talking as Master Reigen. He usually did all the talking. She just waved to the camera and made her powers look cool.

"Don't be such a downer, Mob. Come on, our fans love you." Said Reigen. This would just be an introduction so people knew to keep watching. Lots of urban legends in this town, lots of video to make, lots of business to drum up. He was fully in the black, for once, and he fully intended to stay there. He could use the money to get some better food, the real stuff Mob liked. Maybe even a new couch. Something wider, so they could both lay down more comfortably. Nice and wide and squishy.

Wait. No. No repeats of that no matter how comfortable it had been.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob. Well she did like making people happy and if this was making people happy then that was what she would do.

"I'm not getting out of invisible mode. Way too many psychics around." Said Dimple. He was an evil spirit, he read as an evil spirit to anyone who could sense him. Right now he was totally invisible to normal people and invisible to weak psychics. It pained him to say it but Reigen wasn't exactly weak but he wasn't exactly strong either.

"OK. You can in extra invisible mode if you to be, I won't mind." Said Mob

"Well, yeah, you can still see me." Said Dimple

"Mob, hang on, get more in frame." Said Reigen. He pulled her in close. He hadn't started recording yet, he had to get it perfect. Huh. Dimple didn't show up on camera. Why was it only evil spirits that he could see? Why couldn't he see neutral spirits like Mob could?

"OK." Said Mob. He shrugged off her feelings. He reminded himself that she was fourteen and had no control over the way she felt.

"Hold it out a little farther….and…perfect. Ok, Mob, show time!" said Reigen. Mob nodded and used her powers to hit the record button. She looked at herself on the screen. She looked so plain even though she was in a bright red shirt. Her hair was in her eyes, too. She brushed it out of the way with her powers but it went back to where it belonged almost immediately. She looked just like when she was little.

"Hello everyone! I'm the great Reigen Arataka and this is my loyal student Mob! Mob, say hi." Said Reigen. She looked so adorable there. A gloomy sort of adorable. He knew that she wasn't gloomy, of course, but that didn't mean that other people could read her as well as he could. She was still adorable, though.

"Hi." Said Mob with a little wave. She tried to smile a little, to look more like Master Reigen, but she stopped almost immediately. It didn't look natural on her.

"We are here today in the fabulous Cuticle City for one reason and one reason only….to combat the urban legends plaguing it!" said Reigen. He held for dramatic effect.

"Also we have a job here, too. Don't forget, Master." Said Mob. He could be so forgetful sometimes.

"Well, yes, that too but while we're here we can put to rest several urban legends! The human faced dog, red raincoat, dash granny, even the dread and feared….dragger." said Reigen trying to look as serious as possible. The effect was lost with Mob's staring. He wanted her to be in frame because people liked her staring. He hoped she'd keep her hair like that too, she looked cool, kind of like the girl from the ring movies.

"This sounds a lot harder than finding a tsuchinoko." Said Mob. She hadn't heard of many urban legends, none of the ones he mentioned. She knew mostly about the ones based on aliens, thanks to Tome. Like the ones who took you up in their ships if you were out in the woods late at night and replaced you with an exact replica.

"Yes it will be, Mob. Astute observation as always. Be sure to watch us today as we prove, or disprove, the urban legends surround Cuticle City." Said Reigen. He made the cut motion a few times before Mob got the memo.

"That was really good, Master." Said Mob. She still stood near him. It felt nice. There wasn't anything wrong with standing near someone.

"Yeah, if anyone can chew the scenery it's you." Said Dimple. Reigen clicked his tongue.

"What would you know about showmanship?" asked Reigen

"I happen to know a lot. Before this I used to head an entire cult!" said Dimple. Mob nodded.

"He did. He was really popular. Then I exorcised him." said Mob. He did have good stage presence. It was a shame that his used his powers to make people follow him.

"Hey, you almost exorcised me!" said Dimple. He got lucky. Twice. He wasn't going to try his luck for a third time.

"Ok. Almost." Said Mob. She wasn't sure why he didn't disappear all the way. He must have been very strong, then.

"How did you even come back?" asked Reigen. He had been wondering for a while. How strong did Dimple have to be to have come back? Or maybe Mob just hadn't given it her all. She had a soft spot for the little snot glob after all.

"From sheer force of will!" said Dimple. He had gathered himself back together and reformed from the particle layer, twice. Rare but not unheard of.

"Yeah, sure. Come on Mob, let's get this job over with so we can get to the good stuff." Said Reigen. He'd go in, spread some salt around, she'd do her light show, they'd record it, collect their yen, and then get to the cool stuff. This was going to be a good day.

Teru was in the opinion that Reigen should just get to the cool stuff already. Shigeko looked miserable, too. She would have been much happier with him, beside him, but instead she was kilometers away. In her place was her brother, Ritsu. Well, not in her place exactly. Beside him.

Way too close to him.

Teru didn't mind, per se. He liked it, having someone look up to him. Having someone think he was awesome. Ritsu looked up to him. He was quickly becoming not only Ritsu's guide to the world of having powers but the adult world too. Teru was little more than a tourist in that world but Ritsu didn't know that. He didn't need to, he just had to keep looking up to Teru.

Ritsu just looked up to him. That was all.

"He's got powers, he should just do it himself." Said Ritsu. He crossed his arms. She didn't look happy. He didn't know why she still followed that guy. She didn't need him.

"Yeah, he's a prick." Said Teru. He was a prick and a dick and all of that but he didn't have Shigeko and that was what mattered. Well she was there in person but she wanted to be with him. That was why she looked so unhappy then.

"Wanna go again?" asked Ritsu motioning towards the TV. Teru shrugged. He was starting to get bored. One could only win so many times after all.

"If you want to." Said Teru. Ritsu shifted. He sounded bored. He didn't know why he cared so much but he did. If he was bored then he was bored, it was his house after all.

"Let's do something else." Said Teru. Great. Now he was thinking about her. He had been trying not to, especially because he was with her little brother. When he thought about her his mind always ended up in one place and that was not the place to be while her little brother was right there squished against his side even though there was literally half a couch he could have been sitting at.

"We could go outside." Said Ritsu. It was a nice enough day, kind of overcast but they could always go in if it started raining. Teru pulled his shirt away from himself. He was gross enough already.

"I'll pass. I just had a game today, I'm already filthy enough." Said Teru. He hated the way he looked then. His hair must have been a mess, his clothes still clung to him, and he was dirty too.

"Oh, right. I forgot to ask how it went. Did you win?" asked Ritsu. He tried not to look directly at Teru. He looked nice. His hair was all messy and he himself was a little dirty. Unguarded. Not as dressed up as he usually was. He managed to make even his school uniform look good. He smelled nice too, like stale sweat.

That was a weird thought to have.

"We won, not by much but that's normal for soccer. You play anything? Besides Mario Kart I mean." Said Teru with a shrug. Of course they were going to win, he was there. He could play every position by himself if he needed to.

"I play smash bros too." Said Ritsu. Teru laughed. Ritsu felt weird. Kind of nervous but a happy sort of nervous. He wanted to scoot away but he wanted to scoot closer, too.

"And go. You're decent at go." Said Teru with mirthful sarcasm.

"Decent? I beat you every single time." Said Ritsu. He scooted away, not terribly away but away enough that everyone got their own personal space. Right. That was a thing.

"I let you win so your sister wouldn't get mad. I mean, how would I look if I beat her little brother mercilessly?" said Teru. No. don't think about Shigeko because said little brother is literally right there.

"Well she'd probably hate you forever." Said Ritsu sarcastically. His sister couldn't hate anyone. It just wasn't in her nature. She was a nice person and his wished that she was there, and not just so she could act as a buffer between him and Teru. Not that he needed a buffer between them or anything.

"Then I'll just sit here and grow old playing videogames with you." Said Teru. He told himself that he didn't know what he was doing. He told himself that he was through living for the attention of others. He told himself that he go more than enough attention from the girl he loved. The girl he loved more than anything else in the world. He certainly loved her more then he loved attention.

"…where's your bathroom?" asked Ritsu even though he knew full well where it was. Teru pointed down the hall. Ritsu practically ran down the hall. He locked the door and slumped down to the floor. Weird. He felt weird. Kind of good but mostly weird. He let his head hit the door with a dull thud. What was with him? Why did he feel like this? He stood up and splashed some water on his face. Normal. He was normal.

He was feeling so normal that he was going to go back to hanging out with his friend. He was going to be normal and act normal and if he was normal then he would be fine. So he had ignore whatever that just was. He left the bathroom fully intending to go back to the living and play whatever Teru wanted to play but upon his arrival to said living room he did not find Teru.

"Ritsu! If you're done come here! I'm in my room." Said Teru. He had finally gotten his clothes organized again and was looking for something to wear. He decided to take from the only sort of fits pile. Unfortunately it seemed like some of these clothes had chosen instead to down Teru had chosen to use Ritsu's leaving as a chance to change. He did legitimately feel gross. He could shower later. Right now he'd just change into something that wasn't saturated with his sweat. The only problem was what he wanted to wear didn't fit anymore.

"Coming!" said Ritsu. He walked down the hall quickly. Huh. So this was Teru's room. He had never been in it before. It was nice. Not messy, everything in it's place. His bed was even made perfectly, like in a hotel. Ritsu felt a little embarrassed, actually. He didn't even make his own bed, mom did that.

"See if this fits you." Said Teru tossing Ritsu a short sleeved blue button down. He was in jeans and a clean undershirt. He was still filthy but wasn't about to take a shower while he had a guest over. This was annoying, honestly. He had just gotten everything organized and now he'd need to reorganize. On the bright side he got to go shopping again. He could take Shigeko, too. Maybe see if there was a store around that sold the Harajuku stuff she liked.

"…it fits." Said Ritsu. He pulled off his shirt fast and got dressed even faster. That weird feeling was back. He buttoned it up with his powers. Teru wasn't looking over at him. He was holding shirts in front of himself with his powers and looking in his full length mirror.

"You can have it, then. I hate throwing clothes away." Said Teru. He really did. Each and every item of clothing he had was picked lovingly. It felt weird to just discard them.

"Um…thanks." Said Ritsu. He put his own shirt back on. He still held onto the one Teru gave him. it smelled nice, actually. Not that Ritsu was fixated on that or anything.

"Green." Said Teru after a while. He pulled a green t-shirt on over his head. Ritsu looked away and caught sight of a crack running up the wall from behind the bed to the ceiling.

"What happened? Bad dream?" asked Ritsu. Teru turned around and turned red. He knew exactly how that crack got there.

"…yeah…bad dream." Said Teru. What we he supposed to do? Tell the truth? 'Oh yeah, I slept with your sister the other day and it was the greatest moment of my life. She almost brought the building down I was so good'? Yeah, no. just no. He wished that he had someone to brag to but he was not going to brag to his girlfriend's little brother.

"Do you remember what it was about? I never remember my dreams. Sometimes I wake up scared or something but I never remember my dreams." Said Ritsu. He has a bad dream, again. He woke up feeling trapped and scared.

"I dream pretty vividly, sometimes. Usually I don't." said Teru. He dreamt about being in a white room where he couldn't see a thing. He wasn't blind or anything but it was like a layer of the world had been peeled off. He was small and powerless and he just couldn't see.

There was a moment of silence.

"Want to talk about it? I mean I'll listen if you want to talk. That's what friends do." asked Teru. Maybe Ritsu wanted to talk about it. Maybe he wanted to talk about it. Maybe he wanted to talk about it with someone who got it. Shigeko didn't really get it. She had been brought down to normal but she was fine. If anything she had gotten stronger from the whole thing.

"I guess…I mean I don't even know. It was almost a month ago but I still keep thinking about it. I mean, I almost died. I don't want to die so I just feel like if I do what I'm supposed to do then it won't happen again. I mean, it only happened because I was acting like a jerk and stuff so if I just do what I'm supposed to do then I'll be fine." Said Ritsu. He sat down on Teru's bed as he finished. Teru sat down next to him, putting distance between them. Just because Ritsu didn't like personal space that didn't mean that Teru didn't.

"That's a good idea, I think. Getting back to normal. I think I'm mostly back to normal. I'm getting back to sports and clubs and stuff. Anything not to think about it." Said Teru. He scooted back so his back was to the wall. Ritsu decided to follow his lead.

"Yeah…I'm thinking about it more, now, because student council is suspended." Said Ritsu. He missed the never ending meetings that Shinji called just because he had the power to do so. They at least distracted him from everything that had happened. Hell, he'd even get up super early to get to school early enough to once again go over the list of suspect clubs. Someone the Tsubomi fan club survived every purge. He didn't see what everyone saw in her. She was an ok person. Kind of flaky. When they'd play hide and seek as kids she'd get bored and go home. Maybe because she was pretty. She looked alright. She didn't wear make-up and stuff like Rei did. Make-up made Rei prettier, right? He honestly didn't know how to rank girls in terms of prettiness. They all looked regular to him.

"Oh yeah, Shigeko was telling me about that." Said Teru. His girlfriend, the student council president. Well, if she won. He didn't see why she wouldn't. She was perfect. She was smart and sweet and just so damned pretty. Well, that was in his eyes. Most guys didn't look at her and she wasn't the best socially. Not that he wanted guys to look at her.

"It's all my fault. Remember that bad thing I did? Well the guilt made Shinji, the president, quit. Well, he's running again but I can't believe that I made him quit." Said Ritsu. He hated guilt but he deserved it for the way he had acted.

"Why even care? It's not your problem." Said Teru. He wouldn't care. If someone quit then they quit. At the end of the day he was only responsible for himself and the girl he loved. If he had been in Ritsu's place, and had been his old self, then he would have taken the opportunity to run for the position himself. If he was Ritsu. Teru didn't really care for clubs like that. Too much work.

"It's my fault." Said Ritsu quietly. Teru gave him a light shove.

"Well you told him to run again, right? Then you're absolved." Said Teru. Ritsu beat himself up too much, that was his problem.

"But I still feel like garbage." Said Ritsu. Shinji was kind of like a friend and friends did not make their friends do stuff like that.

"Don't. You don't see me feeling like garbage." Said Teru. He didn't feel like garbage, not really, for how he had been. He felt bad about it because of how it must have made him look in Shigeko's eyes. She was what mattered to him, nothing else. The only thing that made him feel truly like garbage was fighting with Shigeko on the day that they met. She didn't deserve that. She was the best thing that ever happened to him and he couldn't believe that he had treated her like that. She forgave him, though, she must have.

"You've never done anything this bad." Said Ritsu. He knew that Teru used to be a jerk, he had said so himself. Still, he had never almost ruined someone's life.

"Try me." Said Teru before he could think. He needed to stop thinking about Shigeko and how awful he had been to her. He also needed to stop thinking about how good she had been to him.

"I know you and my sister fought, she told me. You didn't ruin her life. I almost ruined people's entire lives. I don't…I don't ever want to be that person again." Said Ritsu quietly. Teru gave him another light shove.

"Then don't be, dumbass. The fact that you realize how stupid you were being means that you're not a bad person, so stop beating yourself up." Said Teru. Too much guilt was bad for you, he knew that. If not for Shigeko's love and forgiveness then he could have been just as mired in his own mistakes as Ritsu was.

"You think?" said Ritsu. Teru was older and he knew more about life and stuff. He was practically an adult after all.

"I know, so stop beating yourself up. If not for yourself then for your girlfriend. How would she feel if she heard you beating yourself up like this?" asked Teru. When you had a girlfriend you had to always put her first. Your job as the guy was to take care of her and to keep her happy. As long as she was happy then she'd make you happy.

"Rei knows I'm still upset about this. She says to stop being upset, too." Said Ritsu. Rei said that she would be there for him, too, and when he was with her he felt better. She always listened to him and he listened to her. Why was he happier with Teru, though? Not happier but more…it was a weird sort of feeling.

"Then listen to her. That's the first rule of having a girlfriend. As long as you're keeping her happy then she keeps you happy." Said Teru as if he was dispensing wisdom from on high. He was the older friend, and far more experienced with girls and how they worked.

"I don't think that I make her unhappy. I mean, she's never said anything." Said Ritsu. She always seemed happy when they were together. She liked hanging out with him, that was how he had been spending his after school time. She liked being near him even if they were just watching shows on her computer and laying on her bed.

"Don't go off what she says, go off how she acts. Most girls don't just come out and say it. Well, Shigeko does, but she's Shigeko." Said Teru. Shigeko never did that things girls did when they gave you signals that you were supposed to understand. She just sort of said what she felt and what she meant and what she wanted. He liked that about her, even if old habits died hard and he sometimes looked for meanings where there weren't any.

"Rei tells me what she wants, I think. She always asks me to hang out or watch TV or kiss." Said Ritsu. He liked that about her, she made what she wanted clear. That was what he was good at, being the Ritsu other people wanted him to be. She asked him to kiss her, to hang out with her, all of it. It was nice.

"You guys are so young." Said Teru before he could stop himself. It felt like a million years ago when he was in Ritsu's place, when kissing Shigeko was this big thing that made him super nervous. Now they kissed like pros. They had done everything, well everything regular. There was a lot of stuff left over but that stuff was way too advanced even for him. Even though a few days separated before from after the distance felt like years.

"We're a year younger than you, you're talking like you're an old man or something." Said Ritsu. The gap between thirteen and fourteen did feel wide, sometimes, but not as wide as the chasm between kid and adult. Teru seemed like he was on the other side of the chasm, sometimes.

"Yeah, that's just me being a dumbass. Forget I said anything." Said Teru. Right. Little brother. Don't brag to the little brother.

"You're not that much of a dumbass, just a little." Said Ritsu lightheartedly. Teru wasn't that much of a dumbass, really. He had met far bigger morons in his lifetime. Teru was smart about a lot of things, even if he could get kind of full of himself.

"Not as big as you, anyway." Said Teru. Ritsu could be such a dumbass sometimes, but not that badly. Teru had dealt with his fair share of mouth breathers in his life and Ritsu wasn't one of them. He was a good guy, well he was trying to be a good guy. He was way too worried about atonement and stuff like that. Still, whatever kept the dark, scary thoughts at bay, right?

"Says the guy who matches bright blue to lime green." Said Ritsu. Rei had told him which colors went with which and for which occasion. It took almost two hours. Teru was wearing bright blue jeans and a lime green shirt. Not that best color combination.

"Let yourself see and then you'll see." Said Teru simply. This was Shigeko's little brother. He must have been able to see the full aural spectrum.

"See?" asked Ritsu. Teru shook his head.

"You know, **see**. See all the colors." Said Teru. Ritsu nodded.

"Oh, yeah, that." Said Ritsu. He let himself see all the colors that were invisible to normal people. He could see them but he didn't like to. Too much. Too much to take in. Rei could see it, too, if she REALLY focused. She said that colors were a lot brighter since she awakened her powers but that was it.

"What do you mean? You never let yourself see? Ever?" asked Teru. Huh. He had been without the ability to see the energy that made up the world only once in his entire life and it had left it's mark on him forever. How could Ritsu constantly cut himself off from the world like that?

"No. It's a lot. I guess it's different for you since you were born with your powers. You look nice, by the way." Said Ritsu. He could see Teru's aura clearly now, brilliant gold. His clothes looked brighter, too, and they matched with what the world around them was. This room was saturated in gold, bubblegum pink, and cyan blue. He let himself feel. It felt like Shigeko's room.

"Thanks. You do too. Well, as nice as you can look dressed like that." Said Teru half kidding. He dressed so plainly, which was a loss because he was a really good looking guy. He looked kind of like Shigeko and she was pretty, like one of those paintings that you had to look at for a while. Actually beyond the family resemblance they looked totally different. Ritsu was like one of those paintings that everyone oohed and aahed over. Shigeko was like…modern art? No, not that incomprehensible. Not to him, anyway.

"What's wrong with the way I dress?" asked Ritsu. He liked his clothes. Everything went with everything so he didn't have to spend any time choosing his outfits. Why did he feel bad, though, that Teru thought he looked dumb?

"Nothing much, if you want to look like your mom dresses you." Said Teru clearly kidding. Mostly kidding.

"She doesn't dress me! She just…buys all of my clothes. Mine and Shigeko's." said Ritsu. He never really minded mom buying his clothes. That was just the way it always was.

"Oh. So that's why she dresses like that." Said Teru. Long skirts and dresses, high socks, and plain underclothes. Yeah, that was something that a mom would pick out. Shigeko liked stuff like her magical girl dress. Yup. He was most definitely taking her shopping.

"Like what?" asked Ritsu defensively, his little brother instincts kicking in. Teru put his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"In pink and dresses all the time." Said Teru. He was about to say like some kind of sacred virgin but, again, little brother sitting right next to him. He did like it when girls dressed in short stuff, tight stuff, shiny stuff, but he had always figured that she didn't like stuff like that. Shigeko in a magical girl outfit…a sailor scout magical outfit…no! Bad Teru! Not now!

"She likes that stuff, I think…I never really asked her." Said Ritsu stretching his legs out. At some point he had scooted closer to Teru. Not sure close, though he did have a tendency to sit super close to Teru, he noticed. Maybe not being able to get a clue socially was a family thing.

"Pink's an alright color, I think. I should get more clothes in pink…" said Teru thinking out loud. He could dress to match his girlfriend. He should, that would look cool. Then she'd look like she was his. Not that it mattered that much. Not that it bothered him that much that random internet people thought that Shigeko and Reigen were together.

"But you're a guy?" Said Ritsu. Mom had gotten so upset when he tried on Shigeko's pink t-shirt when they were little. She had been very clear, boys don't wear girl colors unless they wanted to get teased. Not that Ritsu cared what people wore. He didn't even like being the uniform police at school, why would he want that in his personal life?

"So? I like bright colors and I look good in them. You've got to do what feels right." Said Teru. He knew what people said about him, behind his back, but he didn't care. He dressed the way he liked. Besides, he knew he looked good. They were just jealous, probably.

"But why not just do what you're supposed to do?" asked Ritsu quietly. He always did what he was supposed to do. He was perfect Ritsu doll.

"Because I'm my own man and I do whatever I want." Said Teru. He was a man, now, sort of, and he was in charge of himself. He cared what people thought but he wouldn't compromise himself for anyone. Anyone but Shigeko.

"You're fourteen." Said Ritsu. He was older but he wasn't a man.

"Still a man." Said Teru. Maybe he did want to brag, a little. Not that he would tell Ritsu what he was bragging about.

"You can't vote." Said Ritsu. Teru rolled his eyes. He couldn't vote or drink or smoke but who cared? He was a man, sort of, mostly.

"Don't care, still my own man." Said Teru. Ritsu shook his head. Just because he lived alone and ran his own life didn't make him a man. Right?

"I wish I could be. I don't know. I just…I feel like I'm just always doing what I'm supposed to do." Said Ritsu. Would he ever be his own man, even when he became a man? Or would he just be the perfect little Ritsu doll forever?

"So do what you want. If what you want lines up with what other people want for you then great. If what you want doesn't line up with what people want you to do then you can just tell them to suck it." Said Teru. Ritsu cared too much about what people, mostly his parents, thought. Teru didn't have that kind of relationship. As long as he didn't get bad grades or do anything heinous then his parents were content with their weekly E-Mail.

"What if what I want to do ends up hurting someone?" asked Ritsu. If he let his parents down then they'd fight worse than ever. If he broke up with Rei then he would end up breaking her heart.

"Plan on beating up more morons?" asked Teru with a drawl. Ritsu looked totally scandalized.

"No! I'm never doing that again. I meant more like…if I hurt someone emotionally." Said Ritsu. He was sitting close to Teru. He moved his foot and tapped Teru's on accident. Teru's socks were blue. Ritsu's were white.

"That's different, I think. Sometimes you have to think about how you feel and weigh it against how she feels." Said Teru. He was thinking about him and Shigeko. She had brought him back down to Earth and he had stayed changed to have her. He stopped fighting other people for her. He stopped acting like a jerk for her.

"I don't want to hurt her." Said Ritsu. He didn't want to hurt his mother. She had said time and time again that he was her pride and joy. He had to make up for how mom felt about Shigeko. He didn't want to hut Rei, either. He didn't disliked her and she had been nothing but good to and for him. He couldn't break her heart. He couldn't make her cry. Maybe he didn't love her. That didn't mean that he would hurt her.

"It's hard." Said Teru. He didn't want to hurt Shigeko. He didn't want to fully let go of who he was but he never wanted to hurt her.

"Yeah, it is." Said Ritsu. He was through hurting people. There were the things he wanted to do and the things he had to do. If he did what he wanted to do then he would hurt the people he loved, the people who counted on him.

"Could be worse." Said Teru. Things were better with Shigeko, and not just because she slept with him. She was the only perfect who accepted him totally and completely. He missed the power he had, the adoration, but he would miss her even more if he was ever to lose her.

"There's always something worse." Said Ritsu. He thought that living in his sister's shadow was the worst thing in the world. Then he thought that obtaining loss was the worst thing in the world. Then he thought that getting kidnapped was the worst thing in the world. Then he almost died. Yeah, living up to mom and dad's expectations and having a girl who loved him wasn't that bad.

"Even if you don't know that its worse." Said Teru. He hadn't realize dhow lonely he was until he met Shigeko and she knocked him down a peg. It truly was lonely at the top.

"So you should just enjoy what's right in front of you." Said Ritsu. His life was great. What was he always beating himself up about? He could be kidnapped or dead right now.

"Let's go outside!" said Teru suddenly. Too close, way too close. His room felt small, like it was a microcosm of the world, but not in a good way. Space. He needed space.

"OK. Why?" asked Ritsu. He scooted back. He had a tendency to invade people's personal space, sometimes. Did he mess up?

"Because it's a nice day today. Come on, I'll teach you to fly." Said Teru. There was no more space in the world than the wide expanse of the sky.

"I know how to fly." Said Ritsu. He wasn't the best at it, and he couldn't flu for very long, but he knew how.

"Not as well as me." Said Teru, a challenge in his voice. Ritsu took it.

"Want to see?" asked Ritsu. He knew it wasn't a real challenge, they would just be playing. He wouldn't mind. He was tired of worrying, tired of thinking.

Sometimes it was fun to just play around.

"Damn, these guys aren't playing around." Said Reigen. They were at the job site, it was a café with a distinctly supernatural theme. The walls were painted black, there were all kind of charms and talismans hanging from the walls, and there was even a fog machine running.

"Doesn't feel cursed or haunted though." Said Mob. Dimple was still in invisible mode but he felt around. Nope. No evil spirits around.

"Well, we still have a job to do." Said Reigen. This would be an easy job. Spread the salt, do the light show, collect the money. Easy.

"But if it's not cursed or haunted then is it ok to take their money?" asked Mob. When she and Teru had taken over while Master Reigen was busy they had told everyone who didn't actually have a cursed or haunted object the truth.

"They're paying for our time, Mob, and the publicity we give them. It's fine." Said Reigen. It really was. She just thought too much about things. Crap. She was still thinking.

"But we're going to pretend that there's something wrong here when there isn't. Aren't we just lying?" asked Mob. Reigen felt himself begin to sweat, and not just because of the sheer amount of fog. They were sitting at a table, complimentary drinks in front of them. He took a sip of his bright green tea latte thing so he could think.

"You've got to give the people what they want and they want to believe that this place is haunted or cursed or whatever. Watching us work makes people happy, Mob." Said Reigen after a moment.

"Even if we're lying?" asked Mob. She didn't like lies at all.

"We're not lying…exactly. The owner thinks that this place is cursed so he called us. We're just…putting his mind at ease. You know, like going to the dentist and he cleans your teeth even though you don't have a cavity." Said Reigen. Preventative work. Yeah. That was a good word for this.

"My teeth grow back." Said Mob simply. She didn't really go to the dentist, even when she got hit in the face when she was eleven and had her front teeth knocked out. They grew back.

"I meant your adult teeth." Said Reigen. Did Mob still have baby teeth? No. She was young but she wasn't that young.

"Those are the teeth I was talking about. They grow back. When I was eleven and those bigger boys tried to rob me and Ritsu, I told you about it before. Well I got my front teeth knocked out by they grew back. I never had a cavity either, Master." Said Mob. That made her parents happy, that they didn't have to waste money on a dentist for her.

"Seriously? Mob, you're just full of surprises." Said Reigen. He added something new to Mob's stat card. Impervious to most physical damage. Reigen reminded himself, quickly, that she was human just like everyone else. She was just a human who didn't ever scar and could grow back adult teeth.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. She took is as a complement. Master Reigen always had nice things to say about her.

"So you get it, right Mob?" asked Reigen. He hoped that she believed him. This wasn't a bad thing at all, what they were doing. They were selling peace of mind. Plus them having shown up would boost business for this place. They were helping someone and Mob loved helping people.

"Yes, Master. We're not lying because us being here actually helps. We're like when the school sprays for rats. If we're here and we leave a lot of our energy then spirits won't come in." said Mob. She took a sip of her complimentary drink. Warm milk colored purple. It didn't taste at all like purple but her mind kept expecting it taste like purple. Purple usually tasted like berries. Sometimes it was mystery flavor.

"See, I knew you were smart, Mob." Said Reigen. He shut himself off from her feelings. The butterflies that sometimes came to his stomach. The ghost of the blush that he could sometimes feel creep across his face. She was fourteen. She was female, he was male. It had nothing to do with him as a person.

"So are you, Master." Said Mob. He always knew just what to say and do. She hadn't even thought of looking at it like that. Sometimes you didn't need to tell the whole truth if it made someone happy. Like with her and Teru.

"Ready?" asked Reigen. Their drinks were done and the owner was ready for them. He stood off in the corner waiting. He wore a suit that looked like a skeleton. Reigen wondered what kind of business this place would do around Halloween. It may have been a western holiday but it was starting to pick up. Mom always wanted to celebrate with him when he was a kid. He certainly didn't mind the candy.

"Yes Master." Said Mob as she got up. She smoothed out her dress as she stood and pulled up her socks with her powers. The elastic on these was getting worn out, too. Good thing mom wasn't there. She'd be so mad.

"Try to smile, Mob. You've got a great smile." Said Reigen. She looked like a ghost, then. Her hair in her face, her skin so pale, and her eyes so very wide. She didn't blink that often, either, he noticed. Not as much as regular people. He at least knew what she was staring at all the time, now. He could see it, too, and it was beautiful.

"You do too, Master Reigen." Said Mob. She liked his smile, his real smile. Not the smile he gave customers but his real actual smile. The way he smiled when they were alone together. She liked to think that she was the only person who got that perfect smile of his.

"Here, you be in frame, too." Said Reigen. Mob shook her head. She didn't feel like being on camera.

"Master, I don't want to. I'm happy being the selfie stick." Said Mob. She had already been in front of the camera today for their introduction. She didn't feel like doing it again.

"Tripod, Mob, tripod." Said Reigen. She wasn't the selfie stick unless she was in the shot, too. Anyway she didn't want to be in the shot but she needed to be. She was popular. More popular than him, anyway. Not just with the weirder segments of the internet, either. Lots of weirdos on the internet, though. Sometimes he wished that he could exorcise people, but that would be murder and then he would go to prison and who would take care of Mob?

"I want to be the tripod then." Said Mob. She didn't like people looking at her for that long. Well, not people she didn't know.

"Come on, Mob, people want to see you." Said Reigen. Not only the weirder corners of the internet. Her friends liked to see her, they commented on every video. His mom, too, surprisingly. For a person who had talked, at length, about how unstable his life was she was a constant viewer. She asked about Mob a lot, too. Mom loved kids. When she came over she'd probably start bugging him to find a woman and give her some grandkids.

"I know, but I don't want them to see me." Said Mob. Reigen sighed. Mob could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Why not? You look great, Mob." Said Reigen. Was she feeling self-conscious again? She shouldn't. She really was a pretty girl, when you looked at her for a while. Her face was sweet, her eyes were extremely expressive, and her hair was like a curtain down her back.

"You think?" asked Mob smiling just a little. She didn't feel pretty. She felt plain, as usual.

"Yeah, Mob, I mean it. You shouldn't be so down on yourself. You're pretty, Mob, you're damn pretty." Said Reigen. He meant it. Objectively she was a very pretty girl. His feelings were far from hers, thank God, because she turned a pretty dark shade of red at that. Not that he was trying to embarrass her. She just shouldn't be so down on herself. She was a very pretty girl.

"Ok…I'll…I'll be next to you." Said Mob. She tried not to blush but she couldn't stop herself. Master Reigen had called her d-word pretty. Teru only called her that. The last time he had called her that they had-

"Really? Great! You don't have to say much, just, you know, be there. People love you Mob so just be there and do your thing." Said Reigen. People loved the brief glimpses of her that they saw. Not just weirdos. Not that he was still using her as a meal ticket or anything. No, he would never use her again. He was just…helping her come out of her shell.

"The light show?" asked Mob. It didn't take any effort at all to make her powers visible to normal people. She also wondered if that was ok, though, showing off like that.

"Yeah, what you usually do. Make me proud, Mob." Said Reigen. She nodded. She usually did what he said, she just debated with him more. Probably because she was older. She was listening now, though, that was good. He found a good spot and motioned for her to come next to him. The café owner practically fainted when she used her powers to hold up her phone. He pulled her a little closer so that they were both in frame.

"Should I start now, Master?" asked Mob. Reigen took a moment to straighten out his T-Shirt. He had reached for his tie only to remember that he wasn't wearing one. Maybe he should do the T-shirt and suit thing. He looked pretty damned good if he did say so himself. Mob seemed to think so. He could feel when her eyes landed on him. She was fourteen. She couldn't help it.

"Ok, Mob, I'm ready….action!" said Reigen. Mob nodded and used her powers to start recording.

"Hello world and all who inhabit it! It's me, the great….Reigen Arataka! And beside me if my loyal student Mob!" said Reigen. He gave Mob a little shake. She looked as still as those people at the park who pretended to be statues.

"Hi…everyone…." Said Mob softly. Reigen smiled. There. That was a start.

"You want to tell them why we're here?" asked Reigen. Really this was good for her. She was too timid, sometimes. She needed to be more like him. Well not the drinking, smoking, casual sex, and irresponsibility but the social skills. She'd never develop better social skills if she didn't get over her fear of being seen.

"We're here…to….because the owner thinks that this place is cursed. We're in…we're in Cuticle City because there are a lot of spirits here. To keep spirits and curses away from here we're going to-to-to…fill the whole place with energy. Evil spirits don't like that. Salt, too. We're going to spread salt around. They don't like salt." Said Mob. By the end of it she was breathing kind of heavy. Reigen decided to take over.

"Thank you for that, student. Yes! I, Reigen Arataka, with the help of the indispensable Mob will rid this wonderful establishment of all curses! C'mon Mob, let's get to it!" said Reigen. Mob nodded and made her aura visible. Reigen tossed salt all over the place while she saturated the area with her energy. It felt nice in there, now, like her.

"Wanna send us off, Mob?" asked Reigen when he felt that the area was properly saturated in table salt and Mob's powers. Mob nodded.

"That's all there is, there isn't anymore." Said Mob. She thought that was a good way to close everything off. That way people would know that they were done.

"Stay tuned everyone! Next up is uh…whatever we come across first. See you all again in a few!" said Reigen with a smile. Mob was smiling a little, too.

"Master…did I do well?" asked Mob as she stopped recording them. Reigen smiled and tugged her hair.

"Mob, you were perfect, as always." Said Reigen. He pushed the feeling aside, the butterflies. Mob was so easy to rile up sometimes. She was adorable.

"You were great too, Master." Said Mob softly. She held eye contact with him. His eyes were so d-word pretty. He brushed some of her hair out of her face, his thumb lingering there. Their moment was broken by the owner coming up to take both of their hands and shaking them as if he had no idea that they were attached.

"Oh thank you so much, the both of you!" said the owner. Mob let herself be shaken up and down like a rag doll. Reigen tried to shake back but was unable to match the other man's sheer, unbridled, enthusiasm.

"You're welcome. All in a day's work for the great Reigen Arataka and his humble student, Mob." Said Reigen still in character. Mob nodded.

"Now nothing will bother you for a while." Said Mob simply. This place felt like her, now, and spirits usually stayed away from places where she lived.

"I can't thank you both enough for coming all the way out here. All the local guys refused to help me." Said the owner. Mob stared at him.

"That's not nice at all. If you have powers then you should use them to help people." Said Mob. She had been feeling other espers for a while. All of them were pretty weak but still. There were some strong ones, though. More like Ritsu strong. Nobody in her weight class.

"You're such a sweet young gir-wom-lady." Said the owner as he looked her up and down. Young looking but that didn't mean anything. Some women were just tiny. He wasn't sure of her relationship with that man, Reigen, either. She called him Master but that might have just been part of their shtick. Not parent and child though, they didn't feel like that at all. Friends definitely. Possibly more than friends. Hell, he wasn't going to ask. It was none of his business.

"Well looks like we're done here. Come on, Mob, let's go out and find something else to exorcise. I've been doing some research and there's some kind of spirit in a red raincoat jumping out and frightening people. Maybe it was a spirit, maybe it was just a run of the mill jerk. Either way it was something to do. They had until nine to catch the last train so they might as well take in the town and do some good while they were there.

"You're going to exorcise that one too? Wow, you guys are way more helpful than the Sun Psychic Union." Said the owner. Reigen was intrigued, or maybe that was just Mob's intrigue. A union of psychics? Like a labor union?

"Who are they? Some kind of psychic labor union?" asked Reigen. Great. Just what he needed, a union breathing down his neck about child labor laws and the minimum wage. He didn't pay her that little when one factored in that he was also giving her room and board.

"Sort of. That's the group that every psychic in the city belongs to. I tried calling them in but they said that it was a waste of their precious time. I saw you guys on YouTube and I looked you up. You're much cheaper than they are, anyway." Said the owner. Reigen relaxed a little. Good. Nobody was going to start riding him over the sheer number of laws he broke by employing Mob the way he did.

"Where's their office or base or whatever they have?" asked Mob suddenly. More people like her and all congregated in one place. She had never felt as many people like her before, except at the Claw base. If these people turned out to be another Claw then she and Master Reigen could easily take them.

"I don't know off the top of my head but they have a Friendbook page." Said the owner. Reigen could see exactly where this was going and knew that he had to put a stop to it. He grabbed Mob by the wrist.

"Well we have to be off. Lots more people to help, lots more people. Say goodbye, Mob." Said Reigen as he practically dragged her out of the café. Mob let herself be dragged. She wondered why they had to go so suddenly, Master Reigen said that their train wasn't until nine o'clock at night.

"Master, we should-" said Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"No. I know what you're going to say and, no, we are not looking those people up. Mob, we don't know anything about them. I don't want anything to happen to you, ok?" asked Reigen. He held her by the shoulders and got down close to her. She needed to know that he was serious.

"But they might know." Said Mob softly. Reigen sighed. That voice, those eyes. No. He needed to say no to her.

"Mob, no. Whatever you want to know I'll tell you." Said Reigen. He was her Master and he could come up with any answers that she needed to hear. He was the master of bullshitting after all. Whatever Mob question she had he'd have a Reigen answer for it. That was the way it had been since day one.

"Do you know what I am?" asked Mob. What was she? Master Reigen said that she was human like everyone else but was she? She could grow back her teeth. She didn't know until today that other people couldn't grow back their teeth. She didn't scar, either. She only needed to sleep three to four hours a night. She had stronger powers than every other esper she had ever met, even those Claw guys and they were supposed to be the best of the best.

"Don't be dumb. You're Mob. You're my best friend. You're a very sweet girl who loves helping people. You can be awkward and weird sometimes but it's part of your charm. You love cats and pandas but not dogs for some reason. You love milk and would drink it instead of water if that were feasible. Your favorite shows are Evangelion, that depressing cat show, and the depressing magical girl show. You love dresses and hate pants. You love your friends and family more than anything else. You always keep your promises and never tell lies. You're a genuinely good person. You can be stubborn as hell, and you're the most awkward kid I've ever met, and you tend to overcommit to things but you're still…all that I want for me." Said Reigen. Word vomit. He was touching her, he was maintaining eye contact. It all just sort of came out.

"That's who I am to you, Master. I want to know…what am I? Who am I? Why am I?" asked Mob. He had told her that she was human like everyone else but she knew for a fact that she was not the same as everyone else. She needed to know why. Reigen sighed. The big questions.

"Mob, everyone asks themselves that every single day of their lives. Nobody has the answers to those questions. We have to make our own meaning out of life." Said Reigen. Existential crisis. She was having what might have been her first existential crisis. Well he would be the one to help her through it.

"You give my life meaning, Master but I just…aren't you curious? About other people like us?" asked Mob. Reigen felt himself stop breathing for a moment. It as if his lungs had suddenly forgotten their function.

"Mob…don't say that. You are the protagonist of your own life. You need to make your own meaning, and no, I've had enough of other espers for a lifetime." Said Reigen. She parroted back everything he told her. She wasn't just being an impressionable kid. She was…was literally taking everything he said as gospel. He needed air. He needed some air even though he was outside.

"Master, you're sharing your feelings with me." Said Mob. She could feel him getting scared. Claw. He must have still been bothered by what had happened with Claw. She didn't blame him, they had almost died after all. He had been so upset that he had asked her to call him Arataka. She hoped that he didn't ask her to call him by his given name again anytime soon.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry but…Mob…Mob I am not risking you again. If you need answers then we'll figure them out together, ok? That's what I'm for." Said Reigen. He didn't know why she existed. He didn't know why anyone existed. He didn't know why she was what she was. He had no idea why some people had powers, some didn't, and why she seemed to have more power than anybody alive. What he did know was that what he had said was true. She was all that he wanted for himself and he would not lose her. He couldn't. They had barely made it out of the Claw base alive. He was not going to risk her life again.

"Am I an angel?" asked Mob. Angels were the possible forms that humanity could take. She wore her AT field on the outside as an aura. She didn't have the same number of expressions as other people and couldn't read their feelings or tones or faces accurately. She had no inborn social skills so she was missing a fundamental part of herself that other people had. Maybe she was like Kaworu or Rei from Evangelion.

Was she just a creature in human form? Something inhuman? She was inhumanly powerful. She could heal inhumanly fast and heal others. She could control plants, even making them grow. What was she?

"You are to me." Said Reigen. She was his angel. She was like a drop of goodness come down to Earth.

"No, I mean, am I all the way human? Or am I just another form that humanity could have taken?" asked Mob. Reigen sighed and looked around. There was a park down the road. Time for a Mob and Reigen long talk about life. He pulled her over to the park and sat her down on a bench. He sat next to her and lit a cigarette. He didn't offer her one. He needed to stop doing that.

"You're human the same as everyone else." Said Reigen. He was not opening this can of worms. He had told her this when he had first met her. Then he had just thought of her as a child with an overactive imagination. Now he knew better. She was human, though. What else would she be? She was clearly alive so she wasn't a spirit and she had been born on Earth to human parents so she wasn't an alien.

"But I'm not the same as other humans or even other espers, Master." Said Mob. She wore her AT field on the outside and she had a lot of trouble pulling it back in. She seemed so separate from other people. She even had an entirely separate part of herself that was…the other Shigeko was not human. She was a being made purely from energy. She didn't have her own body but they…they were split. She wished that someone would just tell her why she was what she was. How she had come to be this….thing…with the other Shigeko.

"You still have the same feelings, wants, and desires, Mob." Said Reigen. She was human, she had to be. She was just a human with more abilities than others. Yes. That was it.

"But I…I don't know how to be like everyone else. I look at other people and it all comes so easy to them. Talking to others and relating to others. I just…Master I couldn't do that even when I was little. Even my powers are different. I have so many more powers than everyone else and I can do so much. Nobody else can do what I can do. Sometimes I feel like…like I'm an angel. Like I'm human but not." Said Mob. Reigen but an arm around her and pulled her close.

"You are a human being, Mob. You're human and so am I and everyone else. I don't ever want you to forget that. Mob, I need you to make me a promise." Said Reigen. He let her go for a moment before taking her wrist in his hand. His fingers could wrap around her wrist so easily. She was just so small, sometimes.

"What promise?" asked Mob. She would promise Master Reigen anything. She could feel him near her. He was giving her his feelings. He felt worried and sad. He cared about her, too. She felt his hand around her wrist. His hand was so big. His skin was so warm.

"I want you to promise me that you will never, ever, ever forget that you're a human being. Mob, you're a human being with massive amounts of power but you're still human." Said Reigen. He let his hand slide down until it was around hers. He dragged his thumb across the top of her hand. She stared at him.

"But sometimes I don't feel human." Said Mob. Reigen used his other hand to tip her head upwards.

"You are a human being Kageyama Shigeko." Said Reigen. Mob swallowed. He was holding her hand. He was looking right at her. She let out a shaky breath. The other Shigeko was listening now, too. She could feel her uncurling from herself within their mindscape.

"I'm a human being and I promise you that I will never forget that, Master." Said Mob. She needed to promise this to Master because he asked her to. She needed to remember that. It didn't matter how she felt sometimes, she just had to remember that because he told her to. Master Reigen knew. He always knew. That was why he was the master and she was the student.

"Good." Said Reigen. He let go of her. She still sat near him, too near. She knew that she was too near but she liked this. She felt better around him, safer. She could hear some kids playing. She was too big for that. She wouldn't fit on the playground anyway.

"Master…I know that I'm a human but I want to know why I am the way that I am." Said Mob softly. Reigen ran a hand up and down her back. She chewed on this a lot. He knew that she chewed on it. He wished that she would just spit it out already. She was Mob.

"You think that they would have the answers? Mob, they won't. Listen, nobody knows why anyone else exists. Maybe we exist for a reason, maybe we don't. I believe….I believe that we make our own reasons. I think that I'm here to…make people happy. You ae the protagonist of your own life, Mob. Remember that." Said Reigen

"But I'm not an angel? Not literally, I mean. I mean that….because angels were human but not I sometimes think that I'm human but not. I'm not going to break my promise. I won't forget that I'm human." Said Mob. She liked Evangelion a lot. When she was little it gave her…not answers exactly…but it made sense. It made her think about things for the first time. She thought about what it meant to be human. It gave her words for things like her aura.

"No. Mob, you're the same as everyone else, ok? Also, what is it with you and that show? I mean I know you like it a lot but you…you take a lot from it." Said Reigen. He took a lot from TV, too, when he was her age. He took his special moves from Junk Food Fighter Michael. He took his persona, his job, from Mogami. He took his showmanship from TV, too. Maybe he had no room to be throwing stones.

"It makes sense to me. The way everyone is, the way they feel. It made sense. Sometimes I feel like Shinji, sort of. Like I just do things…because I'm told to. Like I just do this because…I met you. The only difference is that I like my job and I know that I have lots of people who love me. Like you. You love me." Said Mob. She didn't ask to become an exorcist but she was. She loved it, helping people. She didn't know. She didn't know why she had thoughts like these, feelings like these. Maybe she just did things because she was told to but she…she enjoyed them? She didn't know. Life was complicated.

"Mob, I will always love you…and if you ever want to stop…I'll let you stop." Said Reigen. If she ever wanted to quit then he would let her quit. He hoped to God that she never quit but…but he couldn't force her. Selfish. He could be such a selfish man sometimes but…but he had to keep that in check for her.

"I don't want to stop I just…I just want to know. I just want answers but you keep telling me that nobody has the answers. That we make our own answers." Said Mob. Reigen continued to rub her back soothingly. She was starting to have the big thoughts and to ask the big questions. Nobody had helped him through this existential fear and she would never have to go through that. She would never look up at her ceiling all night wondered who she was and why she was there. He would help her through this.

"You are your own protagonist, Mob, remember that." Said Reigen. He needed to get her to believe this. She needed to.

"I know that I am but sometimes I'm…I'm…I need someone to tell me what to do because sometimes I just don't know. Maybe other people like me would know. Maybe…Master there might be someone else like me in the world. Someone else who is as strong as me, someone who's in two pieces like me." Said Mob. If she ever met that person then she would ask all of her questions and get all of her answers. Then she would know how she had come to be this thing.

"Mob…cross that bridge when you come to it, ok? Remember, we cross our bridges when we come to them." Said Reigen. If there was another person out in the world with power at Mob's level he wanted nothing to do with them. She was a drop of goodness, of starshine, or sunshine, come down to Earth. He doubted that there was another human being in the world as wonderful, as kind, as caring, as she was.

If Reigen ever met another human being with powers equal to Mob's he knows that he's running away as fast as he can.

"Yes, Master, but we're going to cross that bridge soon." Said Mob. She felt it, it was faint but it was coming towards them. An aura. Not Dimple's, he had run off for a snack. This was a human being.

"Mob, we're not going to-" said Reigen. Mob shook her head and pointed to a rather rotund man coming right towards them.

"That's another esper." Said Mob. No violent intent, not happy feeling though. She stood up and watched him. He walked until he was right up to them. Reigen stood up and tried to pull Mob behind him. She wasn't moving.

"You two?! What do you think you're doing here?" asked the man. He huffed and puffed as he approached them.

"Sitting on a public bench. What do you think you're doing accosting people in public?" asked Reigen. This guy felt weak, even he could tell. Mob was right about one thing, there was most likely nobody in her weight class.

"I am not accosting anyone. I'm merely inquiring about what the two of you are doing here. This isn't your territory." Asked the man. Reigen let himself feel his emotions. Annoyance, anger, and…fear? The man's eyes kept darting to Mob. Mob was staring over at him.

"What do you mean by territory? This is a public park. We're the public." Said Reigen. That guy was afraid of Mob. That meant he was the real deal His aura was purple and faint. He could see auras, though, this man, and he knew enough to be afraid of Mob. Not that there was anything to fear, she was as gentle and sweet as a-

"If you want to fight me you shouldn't. I might accidentally hurt you." Said Mob simply. No violent intent but plenty of anger. No, not anger, annoyance. He was afraid of her though. She wasn't the best at reading people but her parents had looked at her like that plenty of times. His aura was flaring too. Whatever happened she would fight, even though she hated it.

"I'm not here to fight! I'm here to ask you two to leave. This city belongs to the Sun Psychic Union." Said the man. Mob kept up her staring. Now Reigen was staring at her. Where had that come from? Also, what happened to running away when you could! Damn it, Mob!

"No it doesn't. Every city in the country belongs to the nation of Japan, so I guess it belongs to the Emperor and the Prime Minister." Said Mob. Simple. Flat fact. No hint of sarcasm. Of course people heard what they wanted to hear.

"You-! Don't be smart. You two know you can't just go into another group's territory like this!" said the man. Mob shook her head. She didn't had no idea that was a rule.

"We're sorry. We didn't know that wasn't allowed. Please forgive us." Said Mob with a deep bow. Oh. Well, now she knew that it was a rule and she'd apologize and be on her way.

"Mob, stop that. It's not a real rule. We can go wherever we want and work wherever we want." Said Reigen. He wouldn't be a afraid of a man who was afraid of a little girl. Mob may have had unparalleled psychic power but she was still a kid.

"It is! It totally is!" said the man. Now Mob was confused. Maybe there was a whole world of rules that she and Master had no idea of because they never left the city.

"Says who?" asked Reigen. If Mob wasn't afraid then he wasn't afraid. She seemed remarkably calm, actually. She was getting much better at confrontation. He just wished that she had gotten better at confrontation another way besides almost dying.

"Our leader, Master Jodo! He founded the Sun Psychic Union by himself in order to gather enough psychics to keep the city safe!" said the man. Mob nodded. That sounded like a much better group than the last one she had met.

"You have a master too?" asked Mob. The man stared down at her.

"You HAVE a master?" asked the man. This person, maybe a tiny woman or maybe a kid, had a master? Her? He had never felt spiritual power like hers before.

"Yes. Him. He's my master, Master Reigen. I'm Kageyama Shigeko, but everyone calls me Mob." Said Mob with a bow

"Banshomaru Shinra. Greatest psychic of the twenty first century!" said Shira. Mob was confused. How could there be two greatest psychics of the twenty first century. Reigen felt her confusing and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Reigen Arataka, the actual greatest psychic of the twenty first century." Said Reigen. He couldn't let Mob's faith in him be shaken for even a second. Shinra looked between the two of them for a moment.

"You…you're the master and she's the student?" asked Shinra. That was insane. She felt stronger than even Master Jodo. How could she only be the student!

"Yes. He's my master and the greatest psychic of the twenty first century." Said Mob. Now there was a tone. Of course Master Reigen was her master. He was amazing and powerful and the best person she had ever met.

"You can't be serious." Said Shinra. That guy didn't feel strong at all. He felt weird, though, kind of. His aura was barely visible but he didn't feel as weak as logic dictated that he should have.

"I am." Said Mob flatly. She was incredibly serious.

"Yup. Feel free to Google me." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Google knew everything.

"Oh I will. The first thing I'll look up is how someone at her power level can have someone like you for a master. It makes no sense!" said Shinra

"Raw power is nothing without finesse and control." Said Reigen speaking the truth. Mob was mostly raw power, especially when they first met, but after four years she actually had much better control. Well, as of late, anyway.

"You two have to come with me! Master Jodo needs to meet you." Said Shinra. Sure they had acted outside of their territory but these people, mostly the one who called herself Mob, were amazing. How could someone have an aura that was two entirely different colors? How could so much power be contained in one person's vessel? And how could someone like her, someone so strong, call that man Master?

"No thank you. Master Reigen says that we shouldn't. I felt all of you when our train came in but Master Reigen says that it's not safe. Sorry." Said Mob. She did want to go with, so wanted to go with so badly, but she didn't. Master Reigen had said no and she needed to listen to Master Reigen.

"You felt me all the way from the train station?" asked Shinra. He had felt something powerful an hour ago. Everyone had. Nobody would believe him when he said that it had only been two people. No, only one very powerful person.

"Yes. I felt all the espers here. How can the city have this much spiritual activity when there are so many of you?" asked Mob. Lots of evil spirits around. Didn't they take care of them before they could hurt anyone?

"That's impossible. Nobody has that kind of range." Said Shinra. Mob frowned. Another way she was different from everyone else. She was human, she was just the strongest human it looked like. She let herself see the full aural spectrum. She was still human even though she wore her AT field on the outside even worse than other espers did.

"Mob does. Now if you'll excuse us we have very important work to do." Said Reigen. He still held onto Mob's shoulder and attempted to turn her around. The hell with territory and all of that. They were free agents and would work where they chose to.

"But Master, this isn't our territory." Said Mob. Now that she knew that there were rules the she would be sure to follow them.

"Who cares? We're free agents, Mob. We go wherever we feel like." Said Reigen airily. Mob allowed herself to be lead away. She trusted Master Reigen's judgement.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob as she allowed herself to be led. His arm felt nice on her shoulder. She felt god, actually, even though she really wanted answers. She didn't need them, though, because she had Master Reigen and he was what mattered.

"Wait! You can't just-" said Shinra. Keeping other psychics out was just as important as responding to crises that spirits caused. There was a group of psychics that tried to come in and cause trouble, called themselves Claw. Shinra couldn't just let these people run lose in the city. They had called themselves free agents but who knew if that was true. She was too strong, too. If she got it into her head to do something…

"Watch us!" said Reigen as he led Mob away. He clicked his phone opened. He left it on the urban legends forum. Huh. Red raincoat was near. Some kids had spotted the spirit following them. Supposedly it was the spirit of someone who had been drowned by the dragger. He chased people around on rainy days so that they could share his fate. Morbid.

"No, I mean seriously. We've had some bad people coming in lately and trying to recruit or kidnap or whatever. Master Jodo was really clear, no outside psychics." Said Shrinra as he caught up to him.

"You move very quickly for someone so out of shape." Said Mob meaning it as a complement. Reigen smiled and stifled a laugh. There was awkward Mob, one of the cutest Mobs.

"Ma'am I'll have you know that I was on the Ping-Pong team in middle school." Said Shinra with a huff

"Ping-Pong makes you more athletic?" asked Mob curiously

"Of course it can! It's moving isn't it!" said Shinra. Mob nodded.

"That makes sense, I guess. I'll give it a try. I'm trying to be more athletic. It's bitter work." Said Mob. She could run a whole kilometer without passing out, now, so that was good. She was still pretty weak without using her powers, though.

"Ugh…your telling me." Said Shinra. She was nice enough, he decided. Nicer than her boyfriend over there at least.

"Running is the worst. Everything hurts when you run and it's so hard to build up stamina." Said Mob. It had taken weeks to run an entire kilometer. President Mushasi ran for ninety minutes each day to get to his grandmother's house in the woods. Mob would probably never be that strong.

"Ping-Pong helps. It's pretty much constant movement." Said Shinra. Reigen gawked at the two of them. Mob, the drop of goodness that she was, had made a new friend just like that. Huh. He didn't see her much socially, did he? She may have been awkward sometimes but she was nice.

"Why don't you want us to work here? We aren't bad people. Look at our YouTube channel if you don't believe me, us." Said Mob. Master Reigen was looking at her weird. Was she being awkward again?

"That doesn't matter. Master Jodo was very clear. We have to give any outsiders the boot." Said Shinra. Yeah, maybe he'd have a better chance at getting through to her than to her boyfriend.

"I understand. I do what my master tells me to, too, but we aren't bad people at all. We stop bad people and bad spirits. This town is full of spirits and we're just going to exorcise some of them. Our train leaves at nine and then we'll go back to Seasoning City." Said Mob. She understood that you had to listen to your master. She also had to listen to her master.

"Then I'll just have to come with you." Said Shinra. He could always just tell Master Jodo that he had been keeping an eye on the outsiders. That way he wouldn't get chewed out. These people were intent on staying and judging by what he was feeling from her he had no chance at all of stopping them.

"Fine. But I'm team leader." Said Reigen. Well if there was no shaking this guy then they had might as well let him tag along. Mob seemed to like him and he trusted Mob's judgement. Besides, if she really was stronger than the strongest psychic his group had then they had nothing to worry about.

"Master, you're always team leader." Said Mob. She didn't want to lead, too many decisions to make.

"Good. Then as team leader I say that we're going to find and exorcise this red raincoat spirit. He's been spotted near here." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Shinra shrugged.

"If you can exorcise a spirit who can make itself corporeal." Said Shinra. It had to be a spirit, the way it always seemed to pop up and disappear only on downcast days. If it were a person it would have popped up on sunny days. If it was a spirit and if it could interact with the world then it would take a massive amount of power to exorcise it.

"It's not hard." Said Mob. Exorcising evil spirits was easy for her but she could see how other people might have had trouble with it. She had been Master Reigen for a day after all.

"Not everyone's like you, Mob." Said Reigen. He knew why she didn't feel human all the time. Exorcising spirits was hard for him, and probably everyone else. She was human, though, no matter how strong she was.

"I know, Master, but I can handle whatever it is. As long as it's an evil spirit. You said that the site said that it must have been one of the dragger's victims. Maybe it's scaring people off to warn them." Said Mob

"The dragger? That's just an urban legend." Said Shinra

"Every legend has a kernel of truth." Said Reigen. He knew the legend of the dragger. She appeared on rainy days and drowned you. She had the grip of a giant bear and could move a hundred kilometers a second. Scary stuff, when you were young. Maybe when you were older, too.

"Like the tsuchinoko. Everyone said that it was just a legend but we caught one." Said Mob. People still didn't believe them. Why would they tell lies like that? For what purpose?

"That's not real either." Said Shinra. Mob shook her head.

"Is too. We caught one. That was the first thing we ever recorded together." Said Mob. It had been a nice day, even though she had been grumpy and her stomach had hurt and she had been motion sick.

"They fall under the category of mythical beasts. See?" asked Shinra pulling out his psychic guidebook. He flipped to the passage and pointed.

"Your book's out of date." Said Reigen. Tsuchinokos were real, spirits were real, curses were real, espers were real…from now on Reigen was just going to assume that everything was real until proven otherwise.

"It is. This says copyright 2015." Said Mob flipping to the front cover. Shinra closed the book and put it away.

"…that was the only spare copy that they could spare." Said Jodo

"That book was all about spirits?" asked Mob. She had seen spiritual books before, Master Reigen had a bunch of them. She had looked through them. They couldn't seem to agree on much of anything, and none of them had mentioned anyone like her.

"Psychic things. It's our guidebook. Master Jodo makes sure everyone has one." Said Shinra

"Master Reigen has a few of those books, they aren't that helpful." Said Mob

"You can only learn so much from books. You've got to get out there and experience life." Said Reigen as he scrolled through his phone. Another raincoat sighting. Getting closer. He saw two kids enter the playground part of the park looking worried.

"Like when they make us cut up frogs in biology. I don't though, it makes me motion sick." Said Mob. Shinra blinked. She…she most likely wasn't talking about university, was she? He had been to university and they didn't do dissections.

"Mob, you're the only person I know who can get motion sick without actually being in motion." Said Reigen. He looked around and saw a flash of red duck behind a tree.

"What are you looking at, Master?" asked Mob. She expanded her perceptions and couldn't feel a strong evil spirit around. Well, besides Dimple. He was hanging around in extra invisible mode. She could see him. He was hazy, sort of, like she was looking at him through the frosted glass door of the shower.

"I think that raincoat spirit is near. Some kids posted about a sighting near here. I think I saw it in those trees." Said Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"I can't feel anything like a spirit, Master." Said Mob

"You can feel spirits from this range?" asked Shinra. He couldn't sense a spirit until it was right in front of him. Mob nodded. She could scour the whole city if she felt like leaving her body.

"It's not hard for me." Said Mob. She was human just like everyone else, she just had some extra abilities. Well, extra and extra and extra abilities if the other espers she had met were anything to go off of. Maybe this was just what she was talented at. Maybe she was like that guy who hit his head and woke up being a professional violinist. Or maybe she was like Ritsu who was just naturally good at everything he put his mind to. She must have just naturally been good at having powers.

"Mob, head down there for a closer look. Those two kids down there look scared, they might know something. I'll follow you from a little farther away. Take Dimple, too, if he's around." Said Reigen

"You can just go with me now, Master." Said Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"Mob, if I go around questioning kids like that somebody's going to call the cops. You can, though, because you're a girl so it looks less weird." Said Reigen. Shinra had been about to agree with her but changed his mind. Yeah, people would definitely think he was a weirdo.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob. She didn't much like approaching people. She could respond when people spoke to her but approaching people wasn't something that she was good at. She set off down the path to the playground.

She used to love playgrounds when she was little but now they just seemed…smaller. Everything, even the jungle gym, seemed much too small. Maybe she was just too big. Maybe this was just a place that she had outgrown. She didn't want to swing until she reached the top and then jump off, hold it, and hover down. She didn't want to test her courage and climb to the top of the jungle gym. She could get up there easily, now. She stopped in front of it. It would only take one, two climbs. That was it. Her legs were longer, now. She was taller.

She kept walking. There were a couple of kids, there. Younger than her, elementary schoolers. Shorter than her. They looked like her, though. The light haired one had a shirt with a cat on the front just like hers. Same color and everything. The other one was dressed the way she was now. Long socks, long dress, gym shoes.

Maybe she wasn't too big for this place after all.

"Hi." Said Mob as she stopped in front of them. They looked at her. She was either a short grownup or a tall kid. People were either little kids, regular kids, big kids, grownups, or old people.

"Hi." Said the light haired girl. She was tall. Maybe if they got another tall girl they could have a team swing jump contest. Well, after that guy stopped following them.

"I'm Shigeko, but everyone calls me Mob." Said Mob. It was easier talking to little kids. Easier than approaching people her own age, anyway.

"Mob's a weird name, no offense. I'm Akiko and that's Mori. She doesn't want to talk right now." Said Akiko. Mob nodded. She knew that feeling. She expanded her perceptions. The only evil spirit around was Dimple.

"It's nice to meet you. Are you guys ok? You look scared." Said Mob. Still no evil spirits around. Lots of people, though.

"There's this guy following us. Well, I think it's just a guy but Mori thinks that it's the red raincoat spirit." Said Akiko

"The dragger is coming for us." Said Mori softly. The red raincoat was the herald of the dragger. Where it went she went.

"No, it's not. I don't feel any evil spirits." Said Mob. Dimple resented that, he was still plenty evil.

"Do you want to play psychics?" asked Akiko

"No, I'm not playing, I really am a psychic." Said Mob. Mori stared at her.

"She's from YouTube. She's Salt Splash guy's sidekick." Said Mori finding her voice. She had seen that video. It was alright. If they were with a real psychic then they'd be fine. They could play at the park or go home and have some warm tea.

"That's real?" asked Akiko. She had seen that video. The special effects were alright but the guy talked way too much.

"Yes, those are real. My master sent me here to see if you guys were ok and if you had seen the red raincoat. That's him over there. Next to him is another psychic so you'll be fine." Said Mob. She was older and she had a responsibility to keep younger people safe.

"We did. He followed us here, we think. I think he's in the trees. Please, use your superpowers and get rid of him." said Akiko. Mori nodded. Mob looked over to the trees. A human presence, not a spirit. No real aura to speak of. AT field on the inside where it belonged.

"It's a person. I can't tell if it's a good person or a bad person but it's a person." Said Mob. Her phone vibrated. She took it out. Master Reigen wanted to know what was up. She was in the middle of texting him back that it was a person when she heard the girls next to her scream. She put a barrier around all of them instantly. Something hit it. Hard.

"What the hell….." muttered the man in the red raincoat. He laid out on his side. His raincoat had ridden up far enough for Mob to tell that he wasn't wearing anything under it.

Oh. Just a random weirdo. Mom had warned her about those.

"You shouldn't leave the house without pants on. That's weird and gross." Said Mob, barrier still up. Akiko and Mori were pressing against it, now, curiously.

"Are you a magical girl?" asked Akiko. This. Was. So. Cool! A real live magical girl!

"N-yes. Yes I am." Said Mob. These were little kids and they were scared so she had to make them feel better. She wasn't exactly a magical girl. She didn't use magic but she did have extra abilities and she fought for the forces of good. It was alright to stretch the truth a little as long as it made someone else feel better.

"Mob!" said Reigen. She dropped her barrier and let herself be enveloped in a hug. She looked around. Shinra was keeping the red raincoat guy pinned down. Other parents were pulling their children close. Someone had recoded the whole thing.

"Get off of me! It's no fun with men!" said red raincoat as he struggled to get free. Shinra kept him pinned down. Not a spirit at all but a run of the mill pervert. What was wrong with some people?!

"Master, I'm fine. It was a person, not a spirit." Said Mob calmly. She wasn't afraid of regular people, even if they were wandering weirdos. Reigen let her go a little but still kept his hands on her shoulders. She almost gets flashed by a pervert and she's fine?

"Are you two ok?" asked Reigen. The girls next to Mob nodded. One of them was filming the fight that had broken out between Shinra and the red raincoat guy.

"Master, I'm not scared, so you can stop being scared. I'm fine." Said Mob. She could feel how scared Master Reigen was. Why? It wasn't like regular people could hurt her. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, though. It wasn't like she could exorcise a person. Right?

Wouldn't that be murder?

"Are you sure?" asked Reigen. She wasn't shaken up or anything. This was normal Mob.

"Yes. I wouldn't lie to you." Said Mob. She looked past him. Red raincoat guy had gotten away and Shinra was chasing him.

"Right. Ok." Said Reigen. If anything he was going to freak her out. He looked around. Shinra was chasing down the flasher. Huh. He actually could move pretty fast for a fat guy. Wait, no, damn. He was team leader and that meant that if something happened to Shinra then it was on him.

"Master, he's getting away." Said Mob. Reigen let her go and looked around. Right. Well they were well out of his range. He didn't have a prayer of catching up to them and Mob couldn't run much faster than him. Maybe Dimple was around.

"Hey, Dimple, if you're around tail them and make sure Shinra doesn't, you know, die." Said Reigen. Dimple appeared in front of him and looked pissed.

"Since when am I your servant?" asked Dimple. Honestly. If Reigen wanted this done then he should have done it himself instead of letting Shigeko do it. Poor kid was probably so traumatized she'd become a shrine maiden for the rest of her life.

"Please Dimple. I'm counting on you." Said Mob. She liked Shinra, he was nice, and she didn't want him to get hurt. Dimple felt his resolve weaken.

"Alright fine, you wore me down!" said Dimple as he flew off after them as fast as he could. He couldn't shake Shigeko's faith in him. She did have the power of a God after all, and she was only fourteen. Who knew what she would grow into?

"What was with that guy? Why would someone do that?" asked Mob not understanding the concept of flashing at all. Reigen led her out of the park and down the path. He just needed some space from the collective emotion of the people around him. A lot of fear. An equal amount of disgust. A generous peppering of distrust. Just because one guy was a weirdo that didn't make him one too!

"Master?" asked Mob as they made it to the road. Oh, right. She asked him a question.

"Sexual thrill, I'd imagine." Said Reigen. He didn't get it either but he was a fairly normal person in that respect. He kept all of his weirdness between himself and his search history.

"That makes no sense. How is it fun if the other person doesn't like it?" asked Mob. She liked being looked at naked. It was a nervous sort of energy, but a good nervous sort of energy. That was because she knew that Teru liked looking at her, and visa-versa.

"Some people just end up weird, Mob. There's no rhyme or reason for it." Said Reigen. He didn't get it either and he hoped that Mob would drop it. Firstly he had just had himself a fright. Secondly he didn't want to think about Mob doing…stuff. Thirdly he really didn't want to think about that aspect of Mob's life.

"That makes sense. Where to now, Master?" asked Mob. Some people were born different and some people were born different in a very bad way. That was just how it was. Like that boy they expelled for hiding in the girl's room and taking pictures over the stall wall.

"You're seriously fine?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"I didn't see anything. I think that if I had seen something I would be upset but I'm fine, Master, really." Said Mob. She thought that she had handled it well. She kept those two kids safe and had even held up a conversation with them. It was ok to tell them a little lie, right? Probably, because it kept them safe and made them happy.

"…ok…ok then. Come on let's…uh…." Said Reigen. He'd let Shinra take care of the flasher. Dimple wouldn't let him die or anything. The little snot glob had a soft spot for Mob, after all.

"We could investigate another urban legend. We already solved red raincoat. What's next?" asked Mob. They only had so many hours in a day until their train came and this had been very important to Master Reigen.

"That's so you, Mob, so eager to get back to work. Um, let me see….here! We're pretty close to where they say the human faced dog is." Said Reigen. This would probably turn out to be nothing but right now he wanted nothing. Dogs were good, loving, loyal animals. Safe. This would be something safe.

"Sounds creepy." Said Mob. She tried to picture a dog with a human's face. It wasn't a pretty picture.

"Sounds like a job for the great Reigen Arataka and his loyal student, Mob!" said Reigen getting into character for her benefit. She needed him to be the great Reigen Arataka.

He needed to be the great Reigen Arataka.

"So he's being 'the great Reigen Arataka' again?" asked Ritsu. He sat on the ground next to Teru. They had been playing chicken for a while, the two of them flying as high as they dared to and then letting themselves drop back down to Earth. It had been fun.

The wind in his face, the bugs in his teeth, not a care in the world. Ritsu knew that he had been safe. Teru was there to catch him. Teru had always caught him. When he let his velocity get too great as he fell back down to Earth. When he had veered off course as he fell. When he flew too high and passed out for a little while. Teru had always been there to catch him.

He liked it.

He had tried to match Teru's speed, his strength, his bravery. He had to. He had to show that he was just as strong, just as capable. He didn't want Teru to think that he was weak. Every single time he had pushed himself too far Teru had been there to catch him.

With his powers, of course, not physically.

Now they were sitting down in the grass, both of them needing a break. Back down to just undershirts and pants. Both of them soaked to the bone with sweat. Defying gravity was difficult. The world wanted them to stay planted firmly onto it. It wanted them to stay safe. It didn't want them to jump up and touch the sky, skim the clouds, look down upon it and see the entirety of creation laid down bare before them as if to say 'here I am'.

He sat beside Teru, close but necessarily close. He had to see what was going on, of course. His sister, again, with Reigen. The two of them had found a human faced dog. Not really, of course. This was just a filthy dog that someone had drawn on. He didn't think that this counted as Spirits so it must have been the Such part of the business. Reigen had his suit coat off and he just wore a red T-shirt with the name of his business on it. It rode up a little as he crouched down. His stomach was nice, not that Ritsu thought too hard about people's stomachs.

Stomachs were just a thing he noticed, that was all. Like eye color or the way some people's collar bone sloped down and left an outline in their undershirts. Just another thing to notice about someone, that was all. Not that he was staring or anything, no, he was just watching his sister and the jerk she worked for washing a very dirty dog.

"Apparently the great Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century, washes dogs on the internet in his spare time." Said Teru. And roped girls that were too sweet and good and genuine and wonderful for him into helping. Such a waste of her time. If she wanted to wash dogs then Teru could have just taken her to the animal shelter. Lots of dogs there that needed washing. Hell, he'd even get them dirty again and again so that she could keep washing them if that was something that she really wanted to spend her time doing.

"Who would watch this?" asked Ritsu. They were live on the friendbook page and apparently about fifteen hundred people were watching them. People without lives or jobs or friends, apparently.

"Us." Said Teru with a laugh. Ritsu felt himself being to color. He had sounded so stupid then. Teru probably thought that he was a moron.

"Yeah…right." Said Ritsu. Great. He looked so dumb. He could feel himself coloring further. Teru clicked his phone off. He could just watch the YouTube version later. Ritsu looked pissed off. He was red as the inside of a cherry pie.

"What do you want to do now?" asked Teru. Ritsu looked back up at the sky. Teru would veto that if he asked. He was tired, sore, and all sweaty again. OK. Now he knew that he needed a shower, guest or not. He could even smell himself. No amount of body spray would cover this up.

"We could go back inside." Said Ritsu. He wanted to fly into the air and look down on creation again but he was tired. If he was tired then Teru must have been exhausted. He looked like he had just gotten through running a marathon. His hair was plastered to his head. His undershirt was drenched and clung to his chest. His skin was a little red but not super red. Kind of like the red that people's skin got when they were out in the cold for too long.

"If you want to." Said Teru. It wasn't that hot out, not really. He could have stayed outside for just a little while longer, so long as there weren't any more feats of strength and courage.

"Do you want to?" asked Ritsu. He watched the sky. There was an airplane. He wondered if it was coming or going. Who was on it? What were their lives like?

"Maybe in a minute." Sais Teru laying back and looking up at the sky. It wasn't super overcast. It probably wouldn't rain for a while.

"Hey Teru?" asked Ritsu. He was looking up at creation now. It was huge, the sky. It was huge and he had just been a tiny dot in it. He was just a tiny dot in existence. If he was just a tiny dot then did anything he did matter? Did today matter? Did he matter? Who decided what mattered and who mattered and why?

"Yeah?" said Teru as he looked up at the sky. He knew what it was like to touch it. It was better touching the sky of his own accord than being blasted into it.

"Nothing." Said Ritsu. He had just wondered, briefly, nothing in particular. Just a bunch of dumb questions. He let himself lay there on the grass. It looked like rain but then again it had looked like that for the entire day. He felt so warm, though, despite the chilly bite to the air. He shifted uncomfortably. He felt weirdly nervous. Restless. He wanted…he didn't know what he wanted but he didn't want to be sitting still. He needed to move but he was so bone tired already and he also wanted to rest.

"Not planning on confessing then?" asked Teru slightly sarcastically. They were the kind of friends who could kid around like that. Just a little reference to his faux pas the other day.

"What?!" asked Ritsu sitting up. Teru sat up a more normal pace.

"Relax, I'm just kidding. Remember, that stupid shit I said the other day?" asked Teru. Ritsu nodded. Right. That. Just kidding. They were the kind of friends who kidded around.

"Ok. Yeah. I knew that." Said Ritsu. He was such an idiot. Teru, the coolest guy he had ever met and his first friend since he was a kid, probably thought that he was an idiot. Great.

"I mean, even if you were like that you wouldn't like me. I'm your sister's boyfriend." Said Teru. Maybe he was right, maybe he was wrong. Maybe he knew how to read people and maybe he was just as clueless as Shigeko was. Who knew?

"Yeah. That would be weird, and mean to Shigeko." Said Ritsu. Shigeko didn't deserve something like that. Not that Teru would ever like him back if he liked Teru. Which he didn't. This was all speculation.

"Even if you were like that she would still accept you. Everyone would, probably. I know I would." Said Teru

"Even if I was…my parents wouldn't. They want a perfect little Ritsu doll and I have to live up to their expectations." Said Ritsu

"Even if you were then fuck them. You deserve happiness." Said Teru

"Even if I was…I would still have other people to consider." Said Ritsu

"Even if you were then fuck other people. At the end of the day you don't want to be an old man on your death bed wondering what could have been." Said Teru

"Even if I was then I still wouldn't want to be an old man on my death bed wondering about the people that I hurt." Said Ritsu

"Even if you were….then it would be complicated." Said Teru

"But I'm not so it's fine." Said Ritsu

"Yeah, just hypotheticals." Said Teru

"Not possible. I'd have known." Said Ritsu

"Yeah, that's the kind of thing you would know about yourself." Said Teru

"I would be an idiot not to know." Said Ritsu

"And you're not an idiot." Said Teru

"No, I'm not, and I have the test scores to prove it." Said Ritsu with a laugh. Within the top one hundred in the entire country, as mom liked to brag to people about.

"If you think that academics are a true measure of intelligence." Said Teru

"If they aren't then what are we wasting seven hours of our lives a day for?" asked Ritsu. Teru laughed.

"Maybe the adults don't want us around." Said Teru

"Maybe we want to get away from them." Said Ritsu

"They are boring." Said Teru. Adult life seemed to be nothing but go to work and then go home from work so that you could rest up for more work.

"Just like you." Said Ritsu. Teru shoved him lightly.

"Excuse me?" asked Teru. Ritsu shrugged.

"Your favorite part of the weekend if when you can iron all of your clothes." Said Ritsu. He had tried ironing, briefly. It had been boring and he was grateful that mom took the iron away and told him to spend his time studying.

"I'll have you know, little Ritsu, that ironing can be very intellectually stimulating." Said Teru. Ironing everything while a movie played in the background was his favorite thinking time.

"I'm sure it is, and call me little Ritsu again and I'll blast you into the sky." Said Ritsu

"Fine, Ritsu-chan, I won't call you little Ritsu anymore." Said Teru

"I'm not little!" said Ritsu crossing his arms like a child. He was thirteen, practically in high school. He wasn't chan to anyone.

"You're younger than me." Said Teru

"Barely." Said Ritsu

"You're only thirteen. I, however, am fourteen. Almost fifteen." Said Teru

"When do you turn fifteen?" asked Ritsu

"April fourteenth." Said Teru

"That passed." Said Ritsu

"I didn't say when I would turn fifteen." Said Teru

"Then I'll still only be a year younger than you." Said Ritsu

"Yes, for the rest of your life." Said Teru

"Fine. For the rest of our lives I'll be younger than you. Not by that much, though. When we're adults it won't matter." Said Ritsu

"When we're old men we can both reminisce about the good old days, but you'll eventually end up reminiscing by yourself." Said Teru

"So then being younger is better." Said Ritsu

"When we're old. Not when we're this age." Said Teru

"Being this age is the worst. I can't wait until I'm an adult." Said Ritsu

"It's not so bad." Said Teru

"Says you. You can do whatever you want." Said Ritsu

"Ok, yeah, my life is pretty awesome." Said Teru

"My life feels like it sucks but it could be worse. I could be dead." Said Ritsu

"You could die tomorrow. We both could." Said Teru

"So I guess I should make each day count or whatever." Said Ritsu

"Are you?" asked Teru

"What?" said Ritsu

"Making each day count?" asked Teru

"No clue, I'm trying to. I mean I'm hanging out with you." Said Ritsu

"You flatter me. I'm your second choice when your girlfriend is in trouble." Said Teru

"I'm your second choice when Shigeko is busy." Said Ritsu

"Well she's always busy." Said Teru digging his heel into the ground.

"You can hang out with me and Rei if you want to." Said Ritsu

"Pass." Said Teru. Ritsu felt a stab of hurt.

"Why not?" asked Ritsu. They were friends, right? Why not hang out, then? Was it him?

"I'd be third wheel. I mean, do you want to hang out with me and Shigeko?" asked Teru. Ritsu looked away.

"It's different." Said Ritsu. He and Rei didn't do that couple stuff.

"How?" asked Teru. The way he saw it was that everyone liked doing that alone time stuff and nobody wanted to be a third wheel to other people's alone time couple stuff.

"Rei and I don't do…couple stuff." Said Ritsu not able to look in Teru's direction.

"Nothing?" asked Teru incredulously. From what he had heard from Go and Takeshi Rei wanted stuff like that more than anything. Of course she had scared both of them off in her pursuit of it. Actually, he would have been scared too, back when he was Ritsu's age.

"…sometimes I kiss her." Said Ritsu. He knew, vaguely, what coupled people did. He also knew that Teru and his sister did what coupled people did. He didn't want to think about that.

"You guys are adorable." Said Teru. He said it before he realized who he was talking to.

"I don't want to do more than kiss her and she doesn't ask me for more." Said Ritsu defensively. Teru shook his head.

"Are we talking about the same Rei?" asked Teru. The Rei that Takeshi and Go had told him about would never have gone for just that.

"What do you mean?" asked Ritsu. What other Rei's did they know? Mutually. Rei was a pretty common name. He liked it.

"Nothing, just some…stuff…Takeshi and Go told me." Said Teru. He hadn't been bragging per se, not that he didn't have the right to brag since Shigeko apparently told Reigen the intimate details of their intimate life, but he had been…swapping stories. Not that the other two had stories to swap. Ritsu was more on his level when it came to this. Or so he had thought.

"….what did they say?" asked Ritsu. He cared, sort of. Not that she had been out with other people before him, he didn't give a damn about that, but that she might have been unhappy.

"Promise you won't beat me up?" said Teru. He knew how Ritsu got sometimes. It was hard to get past old habits.

"Yeah, just tell me." Said Ritsu. Whatever it was he could hear it. He wasn't a child anymore.

"Well, now this is before she even knew you, she went out with Takeshi and Go. Not at the same time." Said Teru. Huh. No reaction. He had figured that Ritsu would be the jealous type. He had picked a suicidal fight with his sister because he was jealous of her powers.

"I know. She told me." Said Ritsu. Why would he be upset that she had gone out with other guys? It wasn't like she was cheating on him or anything.

"Well she wanted…more than they were willing to give. Take it with a grain of salt! It's probably super embellished, what they said." Said Teru

"Wait so she wants to….wants me to….?" Asked Ritsu. Air. He needed air. She wanted to do couple stuff with him? She had never asked him to, but he heard that girls didn't like to ask outright. What…? No. No way. But she wanted to and it was his job to make her happy.

"Hey! Breathe!" said Teru. Well, Teru couldn't say that he would have reacted any differently if he was Ritsu's age and it came to him that Shigeko wanted…what they had now.

"Sorry I just…sorry. That was weird. Sorry." Said Ritsu. That was supposed to be what he wanted, right? Then why was he so freaked out.

"No, not that weird. I would have freaked out, too, if I were you." Said Teru speaking the honest to God truth. Hell, he had still freaked out, and he was older and wiser.

"Really, you?" asked Ritsu. How? This was Teru. He was pretty much just a short adult.

"Yeah, me. I was young, once, too you know." Said Teru. Ritsu laughed and kicked him playfully.

"You're still young. You may be older than me but you're still young." Said Ritsu. Teru shoves him right lightly. Ritsu shoves him back, his hand lingering maybe a little. Teru pretends not to notice. Like he said, if Ritsu really was like that and he wouldn't be into his sister's boyfriend. That wouldn't be right. He feels a raindrop on his head and puts up a barrier. He expands it to cover Ritsu. He used a lot of power, before, he might not be up to it.

"Want to go back inside, now?" asked Teru. He had no interest in ever running around in the rain again, naked or otherwise. That had been a hell of a fever.

"Sure. If you want to." Said Ritsu. He didn't mind the rain. He liked it, before, when he was little. Shigeko used to catch it in her powers and then dump it on them. Well, he wasn't a kid anymore. Too old to play in the rain. He let Teru make a barrier over them. He didn't collect the water, he just let it slide off. How did the saying go?

If I'm not wet then it's not raining.

Mob was all wet and it wasn't even raining yet.

"Jeez Mob, you look like you jumped in a pool." Said Reigen as he towel dried the dog, Terror. Poor thing hadn't had a bath in ages.

"Maybe I shouldn't have helped." Said Mob as she tried to use her powers to pull the water out of her clothes. She got some water out but also managed to yank on her clothes a lot, too.

"No, you're fine. You did a great job. Look at how happy Terror is." Said Reigen. The dog just sort of sat there and stared at them. Maybe it was Mob in another life. Reigen reached over and helped her wring out her clothes. She had just never washed a dog before, that was how she got so soaked.

"I think that you just like dogs, Master." Said Mob as Master Reigen twisted the water out of her shirt. She was glad that she was wearing that shirt over her dress. She could feel herself poking through her undershirt and dress. It was cold out, and getting colder. The wind was picking up, too. It felt like rain.

"Dogs are wonderful animals, Mob. Most loyal animals in the world." Said Reigen. Poor Mob, she was soaked to the bone. He as just a little damp. Well, her helping had made for good footage. People loved seeing the two of them together.

"Loyalty is important." Said Mob. She was loyal and Master Reigen liked that about her. Sometimes she argued with him but she would always listen to him at the end of the day.

"That it is, that it is." Said Reigen. Mob was loyal to him, he knew this. He knew how badly she wanted to check out this esper organization but she hadn't because he told her not to. She wanted answers to the big questions. Who was she? What was she? He had told her that she was human just like everyone else and he had to stick to it, no matter what she could do. No matter how her powers grew. She was more than her powers. She was just a human with extra abilities.

"What do we do now, Master?" asked Mob as she tried to pull more water out of her clothes. Maybe if she tried to focus on each individual drop of water…but it wasn't in drops but instead it had saturated everything.

"Dimple around?" asked Reigen. He was curious as to what happened with that flasher guy. He was calmer, now, and he could think better. He had been more afraid for Mob than anything. More afraid of all the things that could happen to a little girl. Fears for her that had always lingered in the back of his mind. She may have been a powerful esper but she was still just a little girl.

"No, he's not back yet." Said Mob. She expanded her perceptions and then filtered out everything that didn't feel like Dimple. There he was. Far away. He was mixed with someone. Oh. He had possessed someone. She hoped that he asked first.

"Huh…hope he's ok." Said Reigen. Damn, if anything happened to Shinra then it was his fault since he was team leader.

"I don't know if he's ok or not but he possessed Shinra. They're kind of far away, though." Said Mob. She could feel something else, too. It felt like a presence and not a presence. It was like trying to catch smoke, getting a lock on what she was feeling. It was like trying to catch smoke with her bare hands. There in an instant and then gone in an instant as quick as it came.

"….do you know if anyone else is with them?" asked Reigen. Mob closed her eyes. He could see her aura shining bright. She opened her eyes and her aura went back to normal. Well, Mob normal.

"Yes. One normal person and one…I don't know what to call it. I've never felt anything like this before." Said Mob. She was worried, a little, but she knows that Dimple will keep his promise. He was a pretty powerful spirit.

"Damnit." Muttered Reigen. He could feel Mob's worry, or maybe Mob was just mirroring his worry.

"Master, I can go and help." Said Mob. She could use her powers to move fast, if she needed to. She was pretty strong. She could help.

"We'll go together. How far away is 'far' exactly?" asked Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"Master, I really don't know. It's hard to translate. I can carry us there, though. I know where I'm going and where to stop." Said Mob. She knew where she was going, she knew in her mind. It was just hard to translate into words, especially because this wasn't Seasoning City. She didn't know this place well at all.

"You've done this before, right?" asked Reigen

"Yes. Only with myself but I won't let anything happen to you." Said Mob. Reigen nodded and she reach over and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Master, close your eyes or you'll get motion sick." Said Mob as she expanded her barrier around them. The air hurt when you went this fast. Sometimes little things like bugs and leaves cut your skin too, if you didn't put up a barrier.

"They're closed. Do your thing, Mob." Said Reigen. He wrapped his arms around her. She felt wet and cold. He hoped that he didn't slip away from her. He hoped that she didn't end u getting hypothermia from this.

"Ok…here we go." Said Mob. She picked them up and dragged them through the air to where she felt that Dimple was. Her eyes are closed too, she's going by feel. As they land they crash into something. It falls with a crash. Oh. A tree. She let's go of Master Reigen and used her powers to replant it.

"Oh God…." Said Reigen as he sank to his knees onto the wet, muddy ground. He took a few deep breaths. He didn't think that the human body was designed to go that fast, even with a barrier up. Mob seemed fine. She seemed pretty serious, actually. She moved fast, faster than he could see. She was just a pink and blue streak in the air. He gets up and follows the energy trail she left.

"Hi Dimple." Said Mob as she stopped in front of Dimple in Shinra's body. There was some kind of spirit there. It was a woman. Long hair, knives for hands, and a bunch of dolls tied to her. She had been about to stab Dimple, eh was kneeling on the ground, but she put a barrier up and blasted the spirit into a tree. It looked stunned.

"Shigeko!" said Dimple as he jumped out of Shinra's pretty much useless body. His Achilles tendon had snapped. It was Dimple's fault, he had forgotten about the limits of the human body. They were so fragile, weren't they? Reigen caught up to them, slipping a little in the mud.

"Sorry Master. I know where someone is but not exactly. I'm still learning." Said Mob. She looked around. The spirit was still stunned. It felt weird. Not strong but not weak. Not here but not there. A new kind of spirit? Maybe spirits were like soy sauce, each town had their own version.

"Mob…it's…fine." Said Reigen as he caught his breath. The human body was not at all designed to go that fast.

"Ok. Is he dead, Dimple?" asked Mob. Dimple sputtered.

"No! Shigeko! What do you think I am?! Of course I wouldn't just let my host body die!" said Dimple crossing his arms. Mob frowned.

"I'm sorry, Dimple. I just thought that he was dead because he was laying on the ground and not moving at all." Said Mob. Normal people were harder to read. No auras. They wore their AT fields on the inside so it was harder to get a read off of them.

"I'll let it go this time but don't discount me again!" said Dimple. Mo nodded. She should be nicer to Dimple.

"I won't. I'm happy that you kept him safe. You're a good friend, Dimple." Said Mob. Dimple manifested a hand and patted her on the head. She liked head pats, right? She shuddered. Right. Living.

"….thanks?" asked Mob. That was weird. Dimple felt…disconcerting. Probably because he was alive and she was dead.

"Whoa! Is that the dragger!" said Reigen as he gained his composure. He shouldn't have run so fats after breaking what he felt like was the sound barrier.

"Don't get too close, Master. I think she's only stunned." Said Mob. Sometimes spirits could stunned when she hit them. They needed to put themselves back together. They were made of energy, not flesh, and they needed a certain amount of it to keep together.

"I'm just getting a picture…what? Mob, she won't show up on camera!" said Reigen. Mob could nudge spirits into the visible spectrum. That was how they captured footage of their exorcisms.

"Master, you're an empath, not an esper. It's not safe for you." Said Mob. She pulled Master Reigen back with her powers. She had been him before, she knew his limits.

"Hey! Warn a guy before you do that!" said Reigen as he felt himself being pulled through the air. Mob nodded.

"I'm sorry, I'll warn you next time." Said Mob. Did that count as using her powers against another person? No, it was different, because he could get really hurt. He was so fragile. She looked down at Shinra. Most people were. It was like they were paper dolls. They were all paper dolls in paper houses in a paper town on a paper world.

She had to be careful. They could break so easily.

She poured some of her energy into Shinra. Enough to heal him, but not too much. She didn't want to hurt him. He opened his eyes suddenly and gasped.

"Where am I?!" asked Shinra. He was on the cold, wet, ground. The last thing he remembered was drowning. Then, nothing. That couple was back, the light haired half guy and his short girlfriend…and what the hell?! A spirit!

"You're in the woods. I'm Shigeko, remember? That's Master Reigen over there and this is Dimple. He says he's an evil spirit but he's my friend. He saved you." Said Mob. Dimple would have taken a step back, if he still had legs. She was a sincere kid, he'd give her that.

"What in the hell…..?" asked Shinra. A spirit master? That was a rare gift. He felt the evil spirit, Dimple. Powerful. More powerful than anything he had ever faced before, baring the dragger.

"Also I healed your injuries." Said Mob. Shinra stood up and stretched. He had been exhausted from the fight with the flasher, from running, and then in a lot of pain from being thrown around and drowned. He felt fine. Better than fine. He looked down at his hands and gasped. The scar on the top of his hand from when he got scratched badly by his grandmother's cat when he was six was **gone.**

Healing was an almost unheard of gift.

"I'm sorry you lost your necklace, though. It was cool." Said Mob. It had looked nice, sort of. It was nice to complement people.

"It's fine…uh…Shigeko…Mob…how can you...?" started Shinra. How could she have two gifts? Telekinesis, too, from what he had briefly seen. A two colored aura. Conflict? A bright aura. Was that why she was so small? Her powers had stunted her physical development? She had healed him so completely that his scars were gone. The manual had never mentioned a person having that sort of power. How could she exist? He'd have to ask Master Jodo about this. About her.

"Mob, make the spirit visible, would you?" asked Reigen. He was covered in mud, kind of. She had some on her, too. It was starting to rain. Poor Mob, she was already drenched from washing that dog.

"I'm trying, Master, but she feels weird." Said Mob. It was like she was throwing her power into the air. Maybe the spirits were just tougher here, maybe that was why there were so many other espers. The dragger jumped up and dove into the lake.

"That's a creature born from rumors. She gets her power from the belief that people put into her. It's hard to classify her as real or fake." Said Dimple. He had seen things like that before. Usually when one person, or a couple, poured enough negative emotion into an object it became a minor curse. When enough people poured their negative emotion into something then it became a dangerous curse. When enough people poured their fear into something for decades then it could take on a life of it's own.

"We don't know what she is for sure so I don't know the correct way to exorcise her." Said Shinra. The manual hadn't mentioned a thing about creatures like that.

"She's a fluid creature, more so than actual spirits. Her strengths, her weaknesses are all decided by humanity." Said Dimple. His existence wasn't even that fluid. He had died with unfinished business and he couldn't pass on until he reached his goals. This thing had no goal beyond become what she was told to be by humanity's collective emotion.

"So mankind's image of her became real?" asked Reigen. When he was small he remembered the thing that lived in the downstairs cupboard. He couldn't go in for any reason, not even to play. He could feel it trying to trap him, to drag him away. His hair would stand up, his skin would get cold and clammy. To prove that he was just being a baby dad made him sleep in there when he was four. He woke up with weird red marks from where he had sworn the monster had grabbed him. Was that how these urban legends started? The sheer force of collective emotion?

"Yes, that's right. We know who the dragger is, we created her, so therefor we can't exorcise her." Said Shinra. If his mind made her real, not just his but everyone else's, then she was unstoppable. How could a creature that existed only in and by the minds of others be exorcised?

"What? Why not? She's right there!" said Reigen. He didn't have anywhere near the strength to get rid of that thing. Mob did but she seemed…he tried to read her. She was curious. Perplexed. This was something even she had never seen before. The rain was picking up. Now he was soaked through to the bone, too.

"You were once a kid who was afraid of the things that went bump in the night, weren't you?" asked Shinra. When he was a boy and had barely developed his powers he could see spirits. Sometimes they were friendly, sometimes they weren't. The ones he was afraid of, the non-friendly ones, seemed to only get stronger the longer they spent with him.

"Yeah, I guess we all were. I never believed in Santa Clause but I did believe in the dragger. The dragger appears in the evenings, when you're going home from school. She kidnaps kids and drags them into the swamp. If I ever found myself alone on a street corner in the rain I'd get goosebumps." Said Reigen. He had never stopped being afraid of the things that went bump in the night, even as he got older. When he was ten he could have sworn he heard a voice asking him over and over again if he was thirsty. He ran all the way home. Mom was worried. Dad just told him to be a man already.

"The terror we felt back then is still burned into our brains. Even now I'm shaking just thinking about it." Said Shinra. The water level was rising, quickly. Flash flood? No, the work of the spirit. The woman or girl, he didn't know her age, was staring intently at the small but rapidly expanding lake. The area was being bathed in a heavy, sticky, wet sort of spiritual energy.

"So this cold sweat I'm feeling is because I'm instinctively afraid of her?" asked Reigen. He tried to keep his emotions to himself. Judging by Shinra's reaction he was failing. No, wait, this could have just been what Shinra was feeling. No. This was a negative feedback loop. Shit. Mob? She was….he kept his aura away from hers. He pulled it in as close as it would go. Negative emotion fed that thing inside of her, the other Shigeko. Now that was something worth fearing, not that he was afraid of Mob herself.

"For a symbol of fear like that the power of someone who's afraid must serve as nothing but food. My spiritual powers are useless." Said Shinra. Reigen watched Mob. Fear fed this monster and the one inside of her. Fear. Was she afraid? Was she anything? She looked bored but she always looked bored? The water level was rising. He was up to his knees, now. When had it risen so fast? How?! He tried to step towards Mob but it was slow. The ground was all mud under the water. Mob's skirt billowed out around her as the water level rose. She still just looked bored.

"Don't attack, any of you. You'll just be feeding the beast that's about to kill you." Said Dimple. He was half kidding. He was confident that he could get Shigeko out of there. The other two….well he'd try to save Reigen. She was harboring feelings for the idiot after all. Shigeko was someone with the potential to become a leader, a messiah, a God if she wanted to and he couldn't let her fall to despair just because the guy she wanted to go to bed with drowned in the woods.

"Then I guess that all we can do is run. Come on Mob, it's time to go!" said Reigen. He tried to take a step but found that he was trapped completely. This was like quick sand. Mob was in over her waist in the water. Her dress was floating all around her, the pale pink of its skirt saturated with the muddy water that surrounded them. She still just looked bored.

The water and mud began to collect around them. It formed a tower at first and then spun into the form of a vaguely feminine looking mud lump with knives for arms. Reigen tried to move but he couldn't. Crap! It was right in front of Mob! Psychic energy fueled this monster and Mob was possibly the most powerful esper around! Death was coming!

"Mob! Run away!" said Reigen even though he himself was trapped. He couldn't breathe. He felt cold and numb. He was projecting his emotions out, now. His aura touched Mob's. It was instinctive. She made him feel safe. She gasped and stumbled before pushing him away.

"Master, it's ok. I've got this." Said Mob calmly. She had been so afraid, for a moment. She had to push Master Reigen away even though she didn't want to. She liked the way he felt inside of her, his aura and hers together. When the boundaries between their AT fields came down. It felt good, usually, but not then. He was scared then and she couldn't afford to be scared, too. One of them had to be brave. One of them had to be the one to know what to do. Sometimes that responsibility fell onto her. She wasn't afraid of this spirit. She wasn't afraid of any spirit. She was Mob. She had been exorcising spirits for her entire life. This was her job. Master Reigen was counting on her and she was not going to let him down.

"Mob! Don't! She's just going to absorb your powers too!" said Reigen. Mob shook her head. She had this. A rainy day spirit? What was supposed to be so scary about that? She thought for a moment before she decided that she's better record this. They came all this way so that people could see them do just this so why not? She held the spirit still with her powers and the split her focus so that she could record this for later. People liked the 'lightshow' as they called it. Thank God her case was waterproof.

"Mob! What did I just say!?" said Reigen. Why did she choose now of all times to be stubborn? She didn't always know better than he did! He was the master and she was the student!

"Wait! Look closer! She's doing it!" said Shinra. That girl, Mob, Shigeko, whatever she wanted to be called, was reducing the spirit to nothing! She was doing it slowly but she was actually making progress. How?! Logic dictated that she should have just been another snack to the dragger. Wait, was that a phone? Was she recording this?

"That's right! Shigeko's different! She's not afraid of the things that go bump in the night, they're afraid of her!" said Dimple. She was a terrifying creature, really, if you were a spirit. A human with the power of a God. Thankfully the universe had decided to put this power into what was possibly the sweetest little girl it had ever created. If another person had Shigeko's power, someone with actual ambition in life, then the world would be in big trouble.

"OK. I'm done now." Said Mob as she reduced the spirit to nothing. She put her phone back into her pocket. She was glad that she had picked out a waterproof case even though the non-waterproof one had been much cuter. The water around them went back into the little lake where it belonged. She pushed her dress down with her powers. Yuck. She had mud in her shoes, her socks, up her legs, and in her underwear it felt like.

"Mob! How did you do that! Also, good thinking recording that. Smart." Said Reigen. He had been too busy worrying about them drowning to death to be even a little worried about recording this little escapade.

"Thank you. That's why I exorcised her so slowly, to that people could get a good look. She wasn't really scary. What's so scary about a rainy day?" asked Mob. She was afraid of the things that mattered. People getting hurt. Her accidentally hurting others.

Her accidentally ripping apart this paper doll world.

"You don't get it, Mob! The dragger has the grip of a giant bear. Once she digs her claws into you there's no escape! She can swim across a lake in twenty seconds!" said Reigen. Wait. No. She didn't have those sorts of fears. She went toe to toe with evil spirits every day. Probably for her entire life. What had she seen? He had no idea the aural spectrum even existed until a month ago. What else was there? She said that she could see neutral spirits. What else could she see? How did she look to whatever these horrors were?

She wasn't afraid of the things that went bump in the night. The things that went bump in the night were afraid of **her.**

"Oh. So that's her character profile, huh? I still don't see what's so scary about that." Said Mob. She could lift up to…she had no idea what her limit was. When she was little she could lift cars like they were nothing. She still could but now she was old enough to know that lifting cars was wrong. She didn't really swim much but she could carry herself across the city in about twenty seconds if she really pushed herself.

Was she scary?

To spirits she was. But was she scary to people, too? Her parents were certainly terrified of her. Ritsu had been afraid of her until he got his powers. She was human, though, even though she didn't always feel human. People still feared her, though.

Not Master Reigen. Never Master Reigen.

"It's different for you, I guess. You're…you." Said Reigen. What did Mob have to be afraid of? Whatever scared her, whatever truly terrified her, must have been something truly dangerous.

If Mob ever met something that scared her then they were well and truly doomed.

"Is that a bad thing, Master?" asked Mob. She was human the same as everyone else. She wasn't like an angel. She wasn't just another form that humanity could have taken. She was just like a normal person, she had just been born with extra abilities. That was why she hadn't been scared.

"No. Not at all. Anyway, let's get the hell out of here. My shoes are full of mud." Said Reigen. Thank God that this had just been his funeral/job interview suit. He fished his phone out of his pocket. Thank God for waterproof cases.

"Mine too." Said Mob. This felt so gross. She couldn't pull the mud off, she tried and just ended up pulling on her skin. When they got home she was calling the shower first.

"There's a bathhouse in town, The Soaking Cuticle, that has laundry service, too. I'm heading over there as soon as I turn in this flasher." Said Shinra as he tried to wring the mud out of his shirt. The flasher was still passed out. Not dead, though, he was still breathing.

"That sounds perfect. Right Mob? You love baths." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Yes. A nice long bath. A nice long bath with Master Reigen. A tree tipped over.

"Why did you do that?" asked Shinra. That had been her energy, he could see it. Mob blushed.

"….I can't always control it." Said Mob. She picked the tree up and replanted it. Shirna took a step away from her. She could control plants.

Power over life and death. That was what plant control was. Rare. One of the rarest skills a person could be born with and one taking a lifetime to master.

"She's still learning." Said Reigen quickly. Damn. Mob was embarrassed. Well of course she wouldn't have an adult's control. She was just a kid.

"At your age?" asked Shinra. Not that he was sure what her age was. Not that he was going to ask. He may not have been some kind of expert on women but he did know that it was bad form to ask a woman her age.

"…yes…" said Mob. She knew that she was too old to still be doing that. Teru was her age and he didn't. That had been the other Shigeko lashing out. She was like a little kid sometimes. She had a big feeling and then she broke something. It was Mob's fault. She hadn't been fidgeting like she should have been.

"Come on, Mob, let's hit the road before we catch pneumonia from these wet clothes." Said Reigen. Honestly. She couldn't always control it, that came with being the most powerful esper in the world. Probably.

"Oh, ok. Goodbye Shinra." Said Mob as Master Reigen put an arm around her and let her through the woods. He had pulled up the address of the place on his phone. He knew where they were going. He wouldn't mind the walk, not that it was super far. He wasn't up to flying or teleporting or whatever else it was that Mob had done to get them there.

"Bye Reigen and, uh, Mob. I'll find you guys on Friendbook. You two are a great couple!" said Shinra cheerily. Reigen cringed and walked a little more quickly. He could feel Mob's curiosity. Nope. Not having this conversation now. This was not the sort of thing that Mob even needed to be aware of.

"Master?" asked Mob. How could they be a couple? He was an adult and she wasn't. People his age couldn't be in a relationship with people her age.

"Mob! Let's uh…Dash Granny! There's a tunnel near here where she appears. Let's go check it out. Three for three!" said Reigen. He had put pins in his map app for the places he wanted to investigate.

"Ok…" said Mob. She wanted a bath more than anything but this was important to Master Reigen. She allowed herself to be led. They walked quickly. Master Reigen must still have been afraid. He was keeping his feelings away from her. He must have been pretty freaked out. He could have gotten hurt. Well, he thought that he was in danger of getting hurt. She would never let anything hurt him. He was hers and she was his. That was how it felt, sometimes, anyway.

Reigen needed to collect his thoughts. Why? Why did so many people think that he and Mob were a couple? She was so clearly a child! He looked down at her. Young. She was so clearly young. Not as young as she used to be, the wet clothes made that obvious, but she was still young. Too young for him. Forget the law. He didn't care what the law said, fourteen was way too young.

They were close. He and her were closer than master and student. They were closer than he had ever been with another human being. They had promised each other forever. They had exchanged 'I love you' multiple times. They lived together, worked together, and hung out together. When they were apart he thought almost constantly about when they could be together next.

Fuck.

They were not a couple. He had no desire to take her to bed. That was the line. Sex. Sex was the line. The minute he started to desire her sexually was the minute he was checking himself into an insane asylum. Or just pitching himself off the roof.

He did not have those sorts of feeling for her. He couldn't.

They walked along in silence until they got to the tunnel. The sun was still up, but not for too much longer. An hour at least. Their train wouldn't be there for another few hours. Well, the nine o'clock. They could take the ten thirty if they missed that one.

"I'm not really feeling anything." Said Mob. Reigen pulled his hand from her shoulders quickly. Dimple snickered. Humans were so strange, sometimes. Dimple could read auras and that idiot finally had a visible one. It was still visible, he couldn't hide it completely. He cared for Shigeko, loved her even. If he returned her feelings then why not get to it already? It wasn't like he was going to do any better than the most powerful being on Earth! Shigeko could have two guys, then. Spirits didn't have the same desires as humans but Dimple certainly remembered how much fun he had, back when he was regularly possessing people. There was a world of fun out there for Shigeko. Well, not really. Not unless Reigen got over whatever this complex of his was. Well, there was always the social taboo. Those wouldn't mean a thing to Shigeko if she would just reach her full potential already. She could have all the guys she wanted with her powers. She dind't want that many, though, just two. So limiting. Humans. Such strange beings.

"The tunnel! Right! Uh, me neither. We should still take a look inside, though." Said Reigen. They had come all this way. If it turned out to be a bust they could at least say that they tried.

"You're right, Master. The fans would still like to see us, even if we aren't doing anything. Like slice of life." Said Mob. She liked slice of life a lot. It was a popular genre. The videos got a lot of likes but the pictures of just her and Master Reigen living their daily lives were even more popular. It was kind of weird, though, how people just took pictures of them as they existed out in the world. Tome said that it was a good thing, though, and Tome would never steer her wrong. She said that it was cool, like having paparazzi around.

"Like this?" asked Reigen. They were soaking wet and covered in mud. Mob nodded.

"People like seeing us, Master. That's why they keep taking pictures of us." Said Mob. Reigen groaned. He deleted those from the page as soon as they popped up but there was a fan page for them. A couple, actually. Some of which he hoped that Mob would never, ever, see. They had a few devoted fans, which was more than he ever thought that the page would generate, but they sometimes went overboard. Lots of pictures of him and Mob getting ramen. Even some of them at the grocery store.

"Alright, if you want to, Mob." Said Reigen. He knew that he didn't look his best. He didn't consider himself to be a vain man, he just liked to put his best self forward. The Reigen Arataka that existed in the minds of others mattered after all. Mob was getting more into this, though, so he wouldn't rain on her parade. Rain. Heh. Situation humor.

"I can't feel any evil spirits in there." Said Dimple. Nope, nothing. Clean as a whistle. A pity, too. This city was like an all you can eat buffet for someone as strong as him.

"Let's check it out. Here, I'll be the selfie stick. Dimple, you should go back to invisible mode if you don't want to show up on camera. You're not made out of fear and rumors, you actually exist." Said Mob

"Hey! People fear me from coast to coast! Rumors of my accomplishments have circulated since I was actually alive!" said Dimple. Mob looked at him for a while.

"So then you aren't real?" asked Mob. Oh. She was learning all kinds of things today.

"I'm real!" said Dimple. Yup. Obtuse as always. So very Shigeko.

"You're real annoying." Said Reigen. Dimple stuck out his tongue. Reigen stuck his out right back. There was a flash.

"Don't worry Master, I won't post that." Said Mob. She just thought he looked silly then. Cute silly. She hit the home button with her powers. Her home screen was a slide show. She had enough pictures now to have a sideshow. She added that picture of Master Reigen to the rotation.

"You'd better not." Said Reigen. Mob knew him well enough to know when he was kidding. She used her powers to reach over and tug on his hair, lightly.

"You can go in first, Master. I'll be the cameraman." Said Mob. Reigen took a shaky breath. She had done that to him before, so why did it feel…different…then? Nope. Not looking under that rock. He was just tired. It had been a long day.

"Sure. I'll tell you when to start rolling." Said Reigen. He stepped into the tunnel. The lights were on, it was getting dark out. Another tunnel. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he and Mob had gone to investigate that biker gang tunnel. She seemed so young then. She had still kept her hair in braids. He glanced back at her. She looked bored, as usual. Older, though, now. Not terribly older but different. She was different. They were different.

Their relationship had changed.

Their relationship was still changing.

Was this how they would carry on for the rest of their lives? Him and her having adventures? Hanging out? Being friends? This was certainly how she wanted their relationship to go. What would she want when she was a grown woman? He asked himself this a lot even though he hated thinking about it.

She could either leave or stay. Two options. Equally loaded.

This was good. This now. This big today that they lived in. She was Mob and he was Reigen. She was Shigeko and he was Arataka. No. Not yet. Not first names yet. Not that he could ever think of her as Shigeko. That was her name, her given name, but Mob was the person she was. He couldn't image her as someone other than his Mob. His student Mob. His friend Mob. Not **his** Mob, no matter how wonderful that sounded.

"Master, I think that this tunnel goes on for a few kilometers. If this is an evil spirit then I think that our presence will draw it out." Said Mob. They had been walking for a while. It felt gross. Her entire lower half was covered in mud. She couldn't wait for that bath, even if it was in a bathhouse. Even if she had to be naked around other people. She changed for gym in front of other people, but nobody got all the way naked for that. They probably separated the boys and the girls, though. That was good and bad. She had thought about Master Reigen like that a few times but she wasn't sure what she would do if she ever found herself in that situation. She knew what happened in her mind but the thought of doing that in real life with Master Reigen made her feel…a lot. Scared. Excited. Happy. Nervous. A lot of stuff. It would be better with him, maybe, though. He knew what he was doing.

"I will never understand you, Shigeko. You could do so much better." Said Dimple. Mob batted him away and blushed. Did Master Reigen hear that? No, Dimple had gone into extra invisible mode.

"Good thinking, student! Get me in frame, Mob, and then start rolling." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. She went to live broadcast, pausing for a moment to make sure that she wasn't getting dirt on her screen. She decided in the end to use her powers again.

"Ok Master, I'm ready." Said Mob. Reigen gave the signal and Mob hit the button.

"Hello everyone! I'm the great Reigen Arataka and behind the camera is my student, Mob. Mob, wave to the fans." Said Reigen. Mob turned the camera around and waved. Oh, wow, she looked awful. She didn't realize how much mud was on her face and in her hair.

"We're here, still in Cuticle City, and still disproving urban legends. We just took down the dragger. Mob, you were live for that, right?" asked Reigen. Mob shook her head.

"No, I just recorded it. I'll post it after this, Master." Said Mob simply. She looked at the comments. People were asking why they were so filthy. Teru was asking her, specifically, why she had so much mud on her. He was asking a lot of times, actually. She'd text him after all of this. Oh, Ritsu was with him. That was good. Ritsu could always use more company. Especially because she left him all alone.

"Alright, Mob. To those of you who are wondering, and I bet a lot of you are, that's why we're covered in mud. We took down the dragger, a very dangerous evil spirit born from fear and rumors. So stop being so afraid of spirits! They feed on fear, well, some of them." Said Reigen

"Master, I still don't feel anything and I don't have a lot of battery left. Do you want me to use my powers to try and get the spirit to come out, if it's here?" asked Mob. She was at twenty five percent and this was a real power drain.

"Good thinking as usual, Mob. My student will now attempt to draw out the spirit with her powers. I, of course, will be conserving mine for the coming battle." Said Reigen. He couldn't see it but kilometers away two boys were rolling their eyes at his transparent lies. Mob believed him, though. She would always believe in the great Reigen Arataka.

"Ok. Be ready, Master." Said Mob. She filled the tunnel with her energy. She made it visible, too. The tunnel was filled with bubblegum pink and cyan blue fractals. For a moment Reigen forgot how to breathe. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. She looked like an angel. Not an Eva one but a good one. She was a drop of goodness, of perfection, come down to Earth.

"I hear something." Said Mob. She didn't feel a spirit but she could hear some rhythmic thumping and what sounded like heavy breathing. She zoomed in. It had worked. Something was coming towards them. She made the light of her aura invisible to the eye and tried to pull it back in. She got caught on Master Reigen. Oh. He was scared again, a little. She stayed with him, her aura did. She would keep him safe.

"There! Quick, Mob, do your thing!" said Reigen. Mob collected her energy and put it into the form she used to exorcise spirits with. It didn't work. She tried again. Nothing.

"It's not working! I can't do it! This spirit is more powerful than the dragger ever was!" said Mob. Fear. She could feel it. It was Master Reigen's. He was sharing his feelings with her. She tried to pull away from him but she couldn't. She always went to him when she didn't feel safe. He was holding onto her, too. His aura was mixed in with hers and didn't want to be unmixed. She was afraid because he was afraid and he was afraid because she was afraid. Negative feedback loop.

"What!? How?!" said Reigen. He knew this urban legend. When she caught you she strangled you from behind until you were dead. Crap.

"I don't know! I just know that it's not working!" said Mob. Reigen didn't think. He ran over grabbed her by the hand, and started running.

"Wait! Your legs are longer than mine!" said Mob. She ran every day with the body improvement club and she still couldn't keep up. She tried, though, because she was scared. She had let herself cover him too much. She had let him get tangled up inside of her. Now they were both afraid.

"Keep up, Mob! If she catches you she'll strangle you from behind until you're dead!" said Reigen as he dragged her as best as he could. He could feel her little hand slipping through his and soon she was sprawled out on the ground. He went back for her, fully intent on picking her up and carrying her, when the 'spirit' dashed right past them.

"…Oh. I guess it was just an old woman out for a run." Said Reigen. Well. He had let his feelings get the best of him, and live on the internet too. Maybe nobody saw that. It was the evening. Nobody was on the internet in the evening, right? They had friends and families and jobs and stuff. Right?

"You would not believe how stupid you looked back there." Said Dimple getting into regular invisible mode. Reigen glared at him and was about to retort when he heard sniffling. Crap. Mob. He got down on his knees and helped her into a sitting position. Damn. She had scrapes on her face, arms, and legs. Her phone was hovering behind her. Well, at least she hadn't broken her phone on top of everything else.

"Mob, hey, talk to me. What's wrong?" asked Reigen. Mob wiped her eyes. She was still holding her phone up with her powers, it wasn't really something she was thinking about so the angles must have been all wrong. How could she have done that? What was wrong with her?

"I can't believe it…" said Mob softly. Reigen pulled her close and rubbed her back. Was she still sacred? Was she hurt?

"Believe what? Talk to me, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob sniffled.

"I train every single day with the body improvement club but I still lost to an old woman!" said Mob. She ran every single day but still lost to an old person. How? She had been working so hard! How could she practice every day but still show no improvement?

"Seriously? Mob, I lost too." Said Reigen. That was one seriously fast old lady. No wonder people thought that she was just an urban legend. Though he wasn't sure where the whole strangling people to death thing had come from.

"You smoke every single day, Master, and even you still beat me." Said Mob. She had been slower than Master Reigen, too, and he had been smoking since he was her age.

"Adrenaline Mob, just adrenaline. That was terrifying." Said Reigen. He was sore from all that running, now, and his lungs burnt.

"I know, Master. That's why I was scared, because you were in my aura when you started to get scared and I didn't pull away from you fast enough." Said Mob. She stood up. Master Reigen followed her. She could feel her scraped knitting themselves closed. She brushed the blood away as best as she could. Oh. She was still holding up her phone.

"Damn…I'm sorry, Mob." Said Reigen. That had been all his fault. At least her scrapes were healing. He just hoped that her pride recovered quickly, too.

"It's ok, Master. I have trouble with my powers sometimes, too. I'm not upset with you. Do you want to do the closing, or should I? I kind of forgot to stop recording us." Said Mob. Reigen groaned. Maybe the internet had gone out, it was raining pretty badly earlier after all. Maybe the power and internet in Seasoning City had gone out and nobody who knew them personally had seen that.

"Uh, I'll do it. Get me in frame, Mob." Said Reigen. Right, show time. He stood up and made a motion so straighten his tie before he, once again, forgot that he wasn't wearing one today.

"You're in frame, Master." Said Mob. People were commenting really fast, now. Lots and lots of comments. Some of them were in English, but they went by too fast for her to read. Lots of people were posting hearts, too. Wow. Their fans really did love them. It felt good, making people happy.

"Well everyone, it seems that sometimes urban legends are just that; legends. Dash Granny turned out to be a regular old woman but don't let our failures discourage the rest of you from going out and exploring some urban legends of your own. This has been another adventure in the lives of the great Reigen Arataka and his devoted student, Mob! Oh, wait, check out our book, too. Link will be provided by the end of the day." Said Reigen. He made the cut motion and Mob, thankfully, cut.

"Master, you didn't tell me that it was done!" said Mob. Reigen shrugged.

"It's as done as it's going to be. I sent our typed manuscript to the publisher and I found a site willing to carry it so people can at least preorder. I'm going to pick up the mock copy on Monday. You can read it when you get home, I won't ask you to give up your day off." Said Reigen. Mob smiled and threw her arms around his waist.

"Master you really are amazing! Thank you so much!" said Mob. Wow. They had written an entire book together. They had done this amazing thing together. She had helped him achieve one of his goals. She held him tight until she felt him trying to pry her off.

"Hey, hey. Mob, come one, we're still wet and filthy…let's go take that bath now." Said Reigen. It felt nice, her hugging him, but they both really were filthy. It had felt really nice, actually. Warm and safe and perfect and Mob. That was what she was to him. Warmth and safety and love and devotion all wrapped up into a drop of goodness that had fallen to Earth in the shape of a person.

"Master, I would love that." Said Mob. She looked up at him with genuine love and happiness. She had let him go but she was still close. Some of her damp hair clung to her face. He bushed the hair from her cheek and let his hand linger. He was close, she was close. He could feel it, her warmth, her joy, everything that she was feeling right then. She tilted her head, slightly, and leaned in just a little.

It would have been easy.

He let her go. He could feel it, disappointment. It lingered. Hers. Had she wanted him to….?

No. Hormones. Out of her control. Positive feedback loop. Nothing more.

"Master?" asked Mob. That had been it, the moment. She had hoped that would be the moment. Hoped and not hoped. To actually take that plunge would be wonderful but terrifying. She had probably just been misreading the atmosphere, though. Yes, that must have been it.

"Come on, Mob, we still have a train to catch tonight and I, for one, do not want to make the trip home like this." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and caught up to him.

She had just misread the atmosphere. That was all.


	30. Love, Attachment, Obligation

School was out and Mob had nothing to do but hangout with Teru. She should have been happy. He should have been happy. Neither of them was particularly happy. Mob was unhappy because it seemed like Teru had been unhappy, which wasn't fair because she had been pretty happy that day. Mezato had written her a speech and she had spent all of lunch reading it. She could recite it, too, as long as she only stared down at the paper and didn't look up once. Mezato said that was progress. She had managed to run the full circuit in club, too, and had even convinced Tome to come outside for a little bit. She had been playing games the whole time but they had sort of been hanging out together. She had even said hi to Ritsu and he had said hi back and they talked for a little bit. He said that he and Rei were going to hang out and that was wonderful because her little brother had someone who he loved and who loved him back. She was even feeling some residual happiness from the bath she had taken yesterday. Even if she had to be naked around other people a bath was still nice. She could even still smell it on her hair, it was nice.

This, however, was not nice.

"Are you mad at me? You seem like you're mad at me." Said Mob. She was sitting next to Teru now. He wouldn't look at her. He had his knees drawn up to his chest and was making thinking Teru faces. She leaned her head down onto him. He didn't lean back into her.

"I'm not mad at **you**." Said Teru. He wasn't mad at her, he couldn't be. She was his girlfriend and she hadn't done anything at all so he couldn't be mad at her at all. That was how it worked.

"You had a tone." Said Mob. She didn't know what that tone meant. She didn't have that big tone dictionary that everyone else seemed to have.

"Yeah, I did." Said Teru digging his shoe into the ground. He wasn't mad at her, he was mad at…he didn't even know what he was mad at. It wasn't like she had done anything so therefore he had no right to feel like this.

"I don't know tones." Said Mob. Teru sighed. Right. Anyone else would have heard the emphasis on the 'you' and known that something else was bothering him. She just took it as nothing bothering him at all.

"I know you don't, Shigeko, I know." Said Teru. He wanted to be with her and he wanted to be alone. He wanted to hold her and kiss her and take her right then and there and he wanted to forget that he had ever met her.

"Can you tell me what it was about, then?" asked Mob. She wished that he would just tell her what he was thinking. He had been distant that morning, too. She had literally no idea why. Did she do something?

"I just…I would have taken you to Cuticle City if you asked." Said Teru finally. There. That was what was tearing him up inside.

"Oh. I didn't know that you wanted to go. If I had known that you wanted to come with I would have invited you, too, Teru." Said Mob. Was that it? She hadn't even thought that he would feel left out. She should make more of an effort to think of his feelings, she decided.

"No, I don't mean that I wanted to come with. I meant that I would have taken you on a trip, just the two of us." Said Teru. He was supposed to take her places, not Reigen. Even if it was for work….no. Teru didn't buy that. He knew that Shigeko was naïve and loved her job and would do anything to help people but he also knew that Reigen must have known full well what he had been doing.

"Oh. We can go together, if you want. There's a nice bathhouse there. The espers there don't like it when other espers work in their territory, though, so be careful. I met someone very nice, though, we could hang out with him. Oh, and there's a guy in a red raincoat that flashes people, so be careful." Said Mob. Teru turned to face her, now.

"…you and Reigen went to a bathhouse together?" asked Teru after a while. Not work related. Not work related at all. The only person that got to take a bath with **his girlfriend **was **him**. He closed his eyes and took a breath. Right. Keep it together.

"Yes. Not together though. They had separate places for boys and girls and then one for families. I was on the girls only side. It was alright. I didn't really like being naked in front of other people, though. You're the only person who I'm comfortable being naked around." Said Mob. She meant that in the most literal sense. He had seen her naked a million times before, well not quite so many, but it was something that she was used to. She didn't know why Teru was hugging her now, though.

"Thank you." Said Teru. There. That was all that he needed. He just needed some absolution from her. No matter what she still loved him and him alone.

"You're welcome. I don't know what you're thanking me about but you're welcome." Said Mob as she was pulled into a hug. She shifted so that he could hug her better. The grass tickled her thighs, either her skirt was getting shorter or she was getting taller. There were on the ground in their usual spot. She was, in a way, relieved that they were most likely going to go back to what this spot was for. She knew that it was terrible of her, to think so much about it even though Teru was upset before. She wondered why she thought about it so much. She felt like a rice cooker that had been left on for too long. Much too hot and ready to start a fire. Not literally, of course. She at least didn't start fires accidentally.

"It's nothing, I was just being dumb." Said Teru. Who cared how Reigen felt about her? He didn't have a chance with Shigeko. She was his and he was hers. He had just been chewing on that damn video in the damn tunnel where he had been touching her like she was his…

But she wasn't Reigen's girlfriend so it didn't matter.

And who cared what the internet thought? Who cared how many people drew pictures of Reigen and Shigeko together? People could think whatever they wanted, he didn't care.

"Teru, no you weren't. I would never think that you were dumb." Said Mob simply

"No, I was. You know I would never ever think that you would…I mean that you wouldn't…." said Teru not sure how to finish that sentence. Leave him? Cheat on him? Crush his heart into a fine powder and then mix it in with her morning tea?

"I would what?" asked Mob. There were a lot of things that she would never do. She would never use her powers against another person unless in self-defense, she would never turn down the offer of a glass of milk, she would never see eye to eye with Ritsu on the merits of her coming home, she would never turn down a cigarette from Master Reigen even though she didn't understand the appeal of smoking, she would never eat anything with cilantro on it because cilantro was an evil plant that contaminated everything that it touches, she would never be able to pass math…there were a lot of nevers in her life.

There was a big maybe, though.

But Teru didn't need to know that.

"Nothing. Hey, what do you want to do today?" asked Teru suddenly. He had a day with her, he should make the most of it. He let his eyes linger on her. Her skirt was up really high and school shirt was tight. He let his eyes linger. She was his girlfriend after all. She looked at him, sometimes. Well, stared. She stared at him in the same way he looked at her, right?

"We could hang out with Ritsu and Rei." Said Mob. That would be nice. They could go on a double date. Yeah, a date with her brother! Wait, no, that sounded weird. Hanging out with her brother. There. That was less weird.

"I've had enough of your brother for a while." Said Teru. Ritsu was a nice guy but he had no sense of personal space and well…yeah, mostly that. They had just hung out yesterday and he most certainly had not been using Ritsu and a Shigeko substitute and he was most certainly not feeling guilty about that. No. Not at all.

"What do you mean? Are you mad at him? Usually when people say that they've had enough of someone that means that they're mad at that person." Said Mob. It was like when her mom had said, in the past, that she had enough of her and her powers and her weirdness.

"No, not at all. We just hung out all day yesterday." Said Teru

"Oh. What did you do?" asked Mob

"Videogames, flying practice, lunch, normal stuff." Said Teru

"I'm glad that you guys are such good friends. Are you sure that you don't want to hang out with Ritsu and Rei, though?" asked Mob. She hadn't hung out with either of them in a while. Rei had been saying that she wanted to cover her in makeup and give her a whole new look. Mob was curious. She had never worn makeup before. Well, not since when she was little and she would get into her mom's makeup and then get yelled at.

"I wouldn't want to be a third wheel." Said Teru. Not that there was anything going on for him to be a third wheel towards. Still, he didn't want to intrude and he didn't want to share Shigeko with anyone else right now.

"If you say so. What do you want to do, then?" asked Mob. Teru's hand was over hers. It was nice. She leaned into him again.

"We could go hang out at my place." Said Teru. Not that he was pressuring her into anything. Not that he was turning into one of those guys who only had one thing on his mind.

"Ok. I understand. Does that mean that you want us to…again?" asked Mob quietly. She wasn't opposed to the idea. Master Reigen did say that it got better. She wanted to see what better was but she also didn't want to make Teru cry again.

"Do you?" asked Teru, his voice going up several octaves. Was she asking him to…again? Did she want to? She probably did. He as amazing. She had liked it, loved it even. Yeah. Even with the crying he was amazing.

"If you want to. I don't want to make you feel like you have to do something you don't want to do. I don't want to make you cry again, either." Said Mob. It was the crying that had made her feel weird, she decided. The physicality of it was just weird but emotionally, before he started crying, she had felt super close to him. Practice made perfect after all. Maybe if she practiced again then it wouldn't be awkward and weird anymore.

"…I won't cry again. That is, if you want to." Said Teru. He was sure that he wouldn't. Now he knew how he would feel. The emotions stirred up then had taken him by surprise. This time, though, he wouldn't cry.

"….I want to." Said Mob after a while. She had been thinking about it. With Master Reigen, mostly, but she had been thinking about it.

"Really? Great! I mean…sure. Yeah, if you want to. Whatever." Said Teru running a hand through his hair. He wasn't nervous. No. He wasn't nervous at all because he had no reason to be nervous.

"OK." Said Mob. She was red. She looked down at her feet. She did, she really did, and she didn't know why she was so nervous. She had been thinking about this for a while. With Master Reigen, but Teru didn't need to know that.

"Cool." Said Teru looking over at her. Her hair was in her eyes, again. He brushed it out of the way. Her eyes seemed kind of far off. He was getting better at reading her eyes, he thought.

"Great." Said Mob. She laced her fingers with Teru's. She wanted to but she was still nervous. It was intimate, that was the word. She wanted to but she didn't want it to be…not good. Awkward and weird. She didn't want it to be awkward and weird.

"So…you want to get going?" asked Teru. He wanted to be with her, and not just out of hormones. It was just so nice to be close to her. Ritsu wasn't a good Shigeko substitute, and not just because he wasn't a girl. Too much angsting. Too many deep thoughts about everything. Shigeko was sweet. She never chewed on things like her brother did. She just sort of went with everything. She was great like that.

"…ok." Said Mob. Just as she stood up her phone started to ring. She clicked it opened. Oh. Master Reigen needed her. She hit the answer button immediately.

"Mob, hey, listen…I know I gave you the day off but I really, really, really need you." Said Reigen. Teru could hear Reigen, her phone volume was up way too high. He shook his head. She had promised him this day.

"Master, I asked you not to call me in on such short notice." Said Mob. Teru wanted to spend time with her and she wanted to spend time with him. Then again Master Reigen did need her and she needed to be there for him. But then again she did promise Teru that they would have today together, and a promise was a promise. But she had also promised to help Master Reigen whenever he needed it, and a promise was a promise.

"I know but this client really needs your help, Mob." Said Reigen. Teru was shaking his head harder. He didn't care if the client was possessed by the devil himself, Shigeko was his and she had already promised him this time. She always kept her promises. She was a good person like that.

"But Master, you already promised me the day off." Said Mob. Maybe she could help the client tomorrow. Spirits didn't know the difference between today and tomorrow unless they were told. Dimple said that his existence was one big today.

"Damn…I did…but…how about I give you another day off to make up for this? I'll get you whatever you want for dinner, too. We can even cook. I know how you like to cook." Said Reigen. Mob wanted to shrug. She had promised Teru today, not tomorrow, but she had also promised Master Reigen her assistance whenever he needed it. She didn't care what they had for dinner, either. She didn't like the act of cooking so much as cooking with him.

"But I promised Teru that I would spend this day with him, Master." Said Mob. Teru wanted to take the phone out of her hand and tell Reigen to go fuck himself. He didn't, though, because that would have been the worst thing to do. She cared about the Reigen guy for some reason.

"Bring him along, then. Two espers are better than one. Well, three or better than two." Said Reigen. Teru was still shaking his head no. He didn't want to hang out with Reigen Arataka. He'd rather go and be a third wheel on whatever kind of date her brother was on.

"He doesn't want to come with. What about Dimple? He might be around. If you tell him that I asked him to show himself then maybe he might help you." Said Mob. She didn't see or feel Dimple so he must have been either near Master Reigen, Ritsu, or he was out doing Dimple things.

"Dimple's here too. He says that he has no idea what we're looking at here. Mob, please? It won't take too long." Said Reigen. Mob looked over to Teru.

"Please come with. I don't want to break any of my promises." Said Mob. Teru wanted to tell her that he was under no circumstances helping Reigen Arataka with anything. He wanted to but he didn't. He knew that this meant a lot to her and he wanted to continue to be in her good graces. She was his girlfriend and she let him do, well, everything with her and he would like to continue getting her love and doing all of that with her…even if it meant subjecting himself to Reigen Arataka's presence for longer than was strictly necessary.

"Fine." Said Teru. Mob was overjoyed and kissed him right then and there. He kissed her back, his hand around her waist. Yeah, this was for the best. Sometimes one had to swallow their pride for the greater good, and there was no greater good than this.

"Mob? Mob, you there?" said Reigen. Mob broke apart from Teru and brought the phone back up to her ear.

"Yes, Master. I'm here and Teru says that he'll come too." Said Mob. This would be great! Now she could keep all of her promises and she wouldn't be a terrible promise breaker.

"Mob, you're a lifesaver. Hang on, I'll text you the address." Said Reigen. Mob watched Teru. She couldn't read his expression. She reached over and took his hand. He leaned in and kissed her again. This was nice. He was nice. This day would be nice. She just had to go in, exorcise a spirit or something, and then she and Teru could…stuff. Or whatever he wanted.

Reigen sees her aura long before he sees her. She shines bright through the windows, a drop of star shine come down to earth. All pink and blue, the fractals that made her up turned and churned slowly, calmly. If he looked a little harder he could see gold resting around her aura. Not in. Huh. He wonders what's up with that. He has a tendency to settle inside of Mob when they're together. It's easy for him to mire himself in her. She just feels so soft, so warm, and so inviting. She's like a warm blanket on a cold winter's morning, difficult to cast off.

The closer she gets the more he wants to mire himself in her. She's not in his range yet. His aura doesn't extend nearly so far. He can see her through the floor, the walls, until there's a knock at the door.

"That would be my assistant…assistants." Said Reigen. She had brought Teru with her. Not that he had particularly wanted her to. She just needed to get herself right over there as soon as possible because the client was freaked out and he and Dimple had no idea what it is that they were sensing. Dimple said that it felt like an out of body projection but a soul without a vessel shouldn't have been able to impact the physical world. He tried using his own power to coax whatever it was to pass on or get out or anything but he had only exhausted himself.

Mob could probably get it, though. She was, he suspected, the most powerful being on Earth. A human being but the most powerful one.

"It's unlocked!" said the client. What would be the point in locking it, the spirit still got in either way.

"Hi." Said Mob as she entered and slipped her shoes off. Teru followed more slowly. So, this was what she did at work. This was a work thing, he reminded himself, not a her wanting to see Reigen thing. She was a career woman and he just had to accept this about her.

"Hello." Said Teru cordially. One scared woman, one high level spirit…oh that was Dimple. Reigen was there, too. He looked like he had just run a marathon. He was covered in sweat and he had bags under his eyes. Well no wonder, the room was bathed in his energy. That was a lot, for someone as weak as him.

"Never fear, my assistants are here. They'll take care of the spirit." Said Reigen. Teru resisted the urge to say something flippant back at Reigen. He was there for Shigeko, not to help him. Mob nodded and felt around.

"There's a presence. It's faint but it's here." Said Mob. Not a neutral spirit, those felt different. Not an evil spirit. The only evil spirit around was Dimple and he wasn't doing anything particularly evil. He was just flipping Master Reigen off. He did that from time to time in extra invisible mode.

"That's not a spirit." Said Teru. He knew what spirits felt like and this wasn't it. A new kind of spirit, maybe? This was not his line of work. He only crossed paths with spirits, he never looked for them. Maybe there were types of spirits out there that he had never even heard of.

"What is it, then? Please help me! I can't take it anymore! At first I thought that it was just a stalker but now I know that it's not human!" said the client. Mob nodded and filled the room with her aura. It was more like she was untethering it than pushing it out. That felt vaguely….human?

"Anything?" asked Teru. He had been feeling around, inch by inch. Not to help Reigen but to make this job go faster. It was interesting to watch her work. She looked so serious. Well, her eyes did. Her face always looked serious.

"It feels kind of…human…" said Mob. She knew that she could leave her vessel but she also knew, from what Teru had said, that other people found it incredibly painful. Why would someone subject themselves to pain just to mess with someone?

"It isn't human! I saw it staring out the window the other day. This is the fifth floor, there's no way a human being could look through that window." Said the client. Teru shrugged.

"They could always fly." Said Teru. It wasn't that high if you were flying. Not that he had ever had the urge to go looking in people's windows.

"We've established that this isn't a human being." Said Reigen. No way were they freaking a client out like that. Sprits and Such dealt in spirits and such, not peeping toms. This was obviously some kind of spirit. He knew full well what espers felt like.

"It feels kind of human." Said Mob. Maybe it was…she had no idea what this could be besides someone exiting their vessel. That was painful for other people to do, though, so it was probably something else.

"It sounds like a stalker." Said Teru. He knew some guys were like that. He didn't see the point of following a girl around even if you were in love with her. They didn't like to be stalked so stalking them would just ruin your chances.

"But why would a ghost be interested in a human woman? Dimple, any insight?" asked Reigen. Dimple popped into the visible spectrum. The client gasped but looked to the other psychics. If they weren't freaked out then everything would be ok. Even if two of them were in middle school uniforms.

"No clue. It's pretty rare for spirits to have any sexual desire left. We couldn't reproduce if we wanted to." Said Dimple. Jumping inside of a host was different. You were, to a degree, subject to their desires. That and, well, you remembered how good it felt.

"But you said, back when we were interrogating-" said Mob. Dimple shook his head.

"Possessing someone is different. Human beings have actual feeling in their bodies and are subject to the whims of hormones and stuff. It's totally different." Said Dimple

"Love doesn't always have to come with sexual desire." Said Reigen. He sounded nonchalant but his eyes darted, briefly, towards Mob. Not that he loved her like that. No. That was Mob.

"Romantic love does." Said Teru. He saw the way Reigen looked over at Shigeko then. Well then it sucked to be him because there was no way that Shigeko would be in a relationship without sex.

"Not always. You can be in love with someone without wanted to sleep with them." Said Reigen, a tone in his voice that said, clearly, 'you're both way too young for this.'

"But even if you do want to sleep with them that doesn't mean that you have to act on it. What goes on in your head is your own business." Said Mob staring straight forward. She had a feeling that maybe they weren't talking about spirits anymore.

"Yeah but if you have someone who you love then you don't even have to think about anyone else." Said Teru, the tone in his voice clear. 'She's mine, not yours, so think of someone else'.

"You can have sex without love and you can have love without sex. The two of them don't have to be intertwined." Said Reigen. His meaning was clear, to him at least. 'You two have no idea what you're playing at and you'll most likely end up getting hurt.'

"You can have sex with someone even if you aren't in love with them? Even a little bit?" asked Mob. So did that mean that random people just…had sex? Randomly? Whenever they wanted to? She couldn't imagine doing that with someone she didn't love at least a little…but then again she had never even conceived of such a thing…

"Oh yeah! Humans do it all the time! With people they don't even know! Right, Reigen?" asked Dimple elbowing him. Reigen batted him away. Mob didn't need to know about that. Mob didn't need to become that kind of person, to become like him.

"That's dumb, though. How could anyone just do…that…with someone they don't even love. That they don't even know?" asked Teru. He had thought about it nearly constantly since he was about twelve or thirteen but that didn't mean that he was actually going to be with any of the girls he thought about. It was different with Shigeko because he knew her and he loved her. He couldn't imagine actually doing it with some girl that he didn't even know.

"I do not want to discuss this with any of you." Said Reigen. How had they gone from spirit stalkers to debating his sexual habits? He was not talking about this with Mob, her boyfriend, and Dimple.

"Yeah well that makes two of us you freak…" muttered Dimple. Honestly. Shigeko was right there and she was more than willing. Why fall into bed with random people when he had someone like her waiting for him to just say the word? This guy made no sense.

"It's back!" screamed the client as the room began to shake. It felt like an earthquake. Pictures began to shake themselves free from the walls, books began to rain down from the shelves. Mob didn't let it distract her. She felt around until she felt a focal point for the energy.

"Earthquake!" screamed Reigen as the ground under him began to shake. He was used to the way Mob shook rooms. She moved the walls, not the floor. He wondered if he could survive a fifth floor drop.

"It's angry that I called an exorcist! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" said the client. Mob felt bad for her. She was super scared and it was all because either some person or some spirit who felt a whole lot like a person felt like being mean.

"Here." Said Teru as he stabilized everything. He didn't want to help Reigen, he just didn't want Shigeko to get hurt. She seemed fine, though. She was really focused on something.

"There. In the next apartment." Said Mob. That was the focal point for all of this. It had been a person exiting their body after all. But it hurt? Why would someone hurt themselves just to scare someone else? People made zero sense sometimes.

"Come on team! Let's go!" said Reigen. Teru wondered who died and made him team leader. Maybe Dimple. Heh. In all honestly Shigeko should have been the team leader. She was the most powerful out of all of them. Not that Teru was on their team or anything. No. He was just there to support his girlfriend.

They all ran out the door, the client further behind. Mob pointed to the next apartment and Reigen knocked loudly. Hell no. This was not the way to treat women. This poor woman was frightened out of her mind to the point of calling an exorcist. Mob was curious. She wanted to know why, above all else. Why frighten another person like that? What was there to be gained? Reigen kept himself calm. He had to even though all he could think about was Mob. Mob could have easily ended up in their client's position if she wasn't, well, Mob. She was vulnerable to him, in that moment, even though she was the most powerful, even amongst espers.

"What are you doing here….I didn't do anything wrong…" said the stalker. Reigen kept himself calm. He could feel Mob next to him. Curiosity. She wasn't scared at all.

"Leaving your body to spy on people is wrong. If you're not supposed to look in people's windows then you aren't supposed leave your body and look into their homes." Said Mob flatly. She didn't get it at all.

"I don't think he cares about that, Shigeko." Said Teru. He was more towards the back. Wow. This was getting interesting. He couldn't leave his vessel, well he could but it hurt too much. He wondered how that guy had managed it. Seeing everything, feeling everything, not having any kind of boundary between himself and the world around them. It didn't bother Shigeko but she was Shigeko.

"He should. It's wrong to scare people." Said Mob. She knew that it was wrong and she would never do it, powers or not. Did leaving your body to spy on others count as using your powers against other people? If so then what this man did wasn't just a little wrong but very wrong.

"So I left my body to spy on you….I couldn't help it….I just love you so much!" said the stalker. His aura flared out from him. It was hot pink and seemed to have…were those hearts in it. Reigen was hit with a wave of love, devotion, and desire so strong he had to clutch the wall to support himself. Mob had to put up a barrier. If it was strong enough emotion to make Master Reigen react like that then it was strong enough to make her possibly explode. Teru watched her barrier materialize quickly. An invisible wall, no, now it was visible. It was like crystal. He reached out to touch it with his aura and pulled himself away. It burned, like the time when he was really little and his school took a trip to the dairy farm and he held onto an electric fence.

"What? I don't even know you!" said the client. She felt safer, though, because there was a wall between her and her stalker. She wanted to touch it but something inside of her was screaming that it was a bad idea. The little girl seemed the calmest of all. If the little girl wasn't scared then she, a grown woman, wouldn't be scared. After all, how bad could it be if someone so small wasn't scared at all?

"But I know you! From the moment I set eyes on you then I knew that you had to be mine! You're my reason for living, Yuu! I know that I couldn't go on without you! What would I do?! Who would I even be?! You make me who I am! Without you I am nothing and I love you so much! Please let me be your boyfriend!" said the stalker. He lunged forward and hit Mob's barrier. Mob dropped it quickly. Too much. It was the kind that could hurt people if they touched it. The stalker picked himself up and tried to lung again but Master Reigen pinned him down. After a moment Teru decided to help, physically. He couldn't let Reigen have all the glory. Plus, well, that guy was so pathetic. What kind of guy stalked a woman he barely even knew? Not that Teru was in favor of any kind of stalking. Also, maybe, he wanted to get a little aggression out. That could have been Shigeko. Well, not really, but maybe because she hated using her powers against other people even to defend herself. Yeah, he could see someone stalking her. She was Shigeko.

"Hey! Don't fight!" said Mob. She wondered if using her powers to pull them apart counted as using her powers against others.

"Yeah! Listen to the girl! Say no to violence! Get off me or I'm calling the cops!" said the stalker. Reigen went high, Teru went low, and the stalker was pinned down. Reigen worked to separate his feelings from Teru's. That kid had some pent up aggression….towards him? Seriously? Still? Well either way calling the cops was a good idea.

"Hey Mob, would you call the cops for me? Tell them we've got a creepy, peeping, stalker here." Said Reigen. Mob was calm as ever. Well, she did face down spirits every day. A regular person was like nothing to her. Like a cockroach, which she also had no fear of whatsoever. Why would she? She was Mob.

"Yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. She still didn't get why he would do that. Love wasn't a good reason. You couldn't truly love someone that you didn't know. When you loved someone romantically then didn't you also share yourself with them physically? How could you just share yourself physically with someone that you didn't love? She knew that Master Reigen had, in the past. Maybe that was just an adult thing. Maybe adults had just lived so long and been in love so many times that they could separate love and sex. She didn't think that she wanted to. She didn't ever want to have one without the other.

Mob chewed on these thoughts as they waited for the police.

"Ok, team. Good work today! So, ramen? Soba? Mobronald's?" asked Reigen. It was getting to be that time again, dinner time. He was hungry and a little upset emotionally. A good meal would cure what ailed him. They were probably hungry, too. It would be nice to have dinner with the both of them, maybe get to the bottom of why, exactly, Mob's boyfriend seemed to hate him so much. He had been perfectly clear, he had no interest in dating a fourteen year old girl. Maybe it was just hormones. He knew that he had been an angry little brat when he was that age.

"Shigeko and I have plans." Said Teru putting an arm around her. If she was hungry then he would get her dinner. He could take her to the nicest restaurant in town if she wanted…or a convenience store again. That was what they had eaten for dinner last time they…..whatever she wanted. He'd do whatever she wanted.

"I'm sorry, Master." Said Mob. Reigen looked between the two of them. Embarrassment from Mob, possessiveness and anticipation from Teru. Oh. Right. Well then he had no urge to be a third wheel. Not that he wholeheartedly approved or anything. Mob's life was her own and she could do whatever she wanted.

"No, it's fine. Try to be home at a reasonable hour and be careful." Said Reigen because, well, what else could he say? It wasn't like he could tell her not to. There was no un-steeping the tea. Mob nodded. She wouldn't make Master Reigen worry.

"Yes Master. I'll be home before we go to bed. Are you feeling alright, too? You looked like it hurt, back there." Said Mob. She had seen him grabbing the wall, that was why she put up her strongest barrier. She hoped that he was alright. She had been him, she knew how vulnerable he was.

"I'll be fine. It was just a lot of very big feelings, that's all. I'll be fine. Have fun, Mob. See you when you get home." Said Reigen. He would miss her but her life was her own and she deserved to have her own life. She didn't need to spend every waking moment with him. Even though he wouldn't have minded if she did.

"Ok. See you later, Master." Said Mob. Teru kept his arm around her and led her away.

"Bye, REIGEN." Said Teru. Reigen didn't say a word about the tone he took. They'd talk it over, once again, later.

Teru chewed on one thought that as he and Shigeko walked away. When **they** went to bed? At the same time, right? Did people who lived together always go to bed at the same time? His family did, back when they had been a family. Or maybe he just slept too deeply. He slept much more deeply when his family was around.

They walked through the city. Teru held onto her the whole way. She was his, not Reigen's. He reminded himself of that fact. She was coming home with him, she wanted to be with him, and that was what mattered. She was his. Wait…was that a good thought to have? She wasn't literally his. No. She was her own person, not a possession. But he had…he had been thinking of her like a possession.

If there was one thing in life that Teru knew for a fact that he did not want to ever be it was a loser. That stalker guy had been a loser. He thought that he owned that woman, that she was his and that she owed him her love. He thought that he loved her. Teru never wanted to become an adult like that. He looked over at Shigeko. She was looking straight ahead.

"Hey, Shigeko….how do you feel?" asked Teru. Was she ok? He was thinking too much about himself. He was thinking about how he could sometimes be weird when he thought about her. They actually loved each other but he did think of her as something that was his. Like she was a doll. Her brother said that he felt like a doll, sometimes. Maybe she felt like a doll, too.

"About what?" asked Mob. She felt a lot of things. She felt kind of chilly. Her shoes were getting kind of tight. She was a little hungry. Those were physical feelings. Emotionally she felt sad that she had to leave Master Reigen, happy that she had saved the client, relieved that she had kept all of her promises, curious as to how people could be so terrible to one another, warm on the inside because Teru was there, and kind of excited because they were going to try again. This time would be better and if not then, well, Master Reigen would always be there to comfort her.

"What happened, I guess. I mean, aren't you freaked out?" asked Teru

"Freaked out? No. I'm just more curious about how people can be like that to one another. I don't get it, really. I don't understand why someone would hurt or bother others. I don't think that love is a good excuse, either. If you're hurting someone and you know that you aren't hurting someone then it's not love." Said Mob. Love was a good thing that two people shared between them. Love was never scary or bad or painful. Love meant putting someone else's feelings before yours sometimes. All the time? She wasn't sure about that. She loved two people and she didn't want to hurt either of them but she also didn't want to hurt her own feelings. She'd think about it later. In four years. She'd think about it later in four years.

"Love can make people dumb, I think. Not that what that guy felt was real love. He didn't even love her, not really. You can't love a person without getting to know them. He probably just wanted to sleep with her really badly." Said Teru. He needed to stop thinking of her like a possession. She wasn't a doll and if he kept thinking of her like one, like a doll he was stealing back from Reigen, or Reigen was stealing from him, then maybe he could grow up to be a real loser or a weirdo.

"You mean he wanted to have sex with her, not actually sleep next to her. Right?" asked Mob. It was an odd phrase, sleeping with someone. People slept next to each other all the time, that didn't mean that they were having sex. Besides, it was nothing at all like sleep.

"Yeah…that's what I meant." Said Teru. She was so literal, sometimes. He was used to it, mostly. He liked it about her. She was genuine and she would never try to deceive him. She always said what she meant and meant what she said. There was no misreading her.

"How can someone want to sleep with a person without being in love with them even a little?" said Mob. She used his word for it. Instrumentality was too big a word for it. It didn't always feel like that so the word was too big, too much.

"People hook up sometimes. I guess that they just feel like it. Adults, though, or high schoolers I guess. Not people our age." Said Teru. He knew that guys bragged about hooking up with girls all the time but, well, if you had to brag all the time then obviously you weren't actually doing anything. You had to wait until someone asked and then you said that you did. Coupled people, like him, already had that assumption that stuff was happening. He knew this now. After everyone saw him and Shigeko together at his soccer game the questions had started. Not that he was drawing people pictures or anything. Just a simple little 'yeah, we do stuff.' That was all it took to get the reverence and respect of desperate virgins and people trying desperately not to be.

"Would you?" asked Mob. She didn't think that she could. It was a big enough thing sharing herself with Teru and she knew and loved him. Somebody she didn't even know? The thought was as terrifying as it was intriguing.

"Me?! No, I've never! It's only been you, Shigeko!" said Teru. She had been all of the firsts that counted. She knew that, right? Or did she pay more attention to what people said than he thought? He knew that he had kind of a reputation.

"I know that you've only been with me, Teru. I meant that would you ever. I mean if I wasn't here." Said Shigeko. Teru grabbed her hand.

"I would never cheat on you!" said Teru. If she wasn't there he would still never be with anyone else. What had she heard? Who was telling her this stuff? Why would she believe it?!

"No. I didn't meant like that! Sorry…words are kind of hard sometimes. I meant that could you ever do something like that if you didn't have me as a girlfriend?" said Mob. Great, she had said something stupid again. She heard some laughter. She felt around. Dimple was following them. They made for a better meal than Master Reigen, probably.

"Hook up with some random girl?" asked Teru. Could he? Maybe when he was older. He knew that, before Shigeko, he was not at all ready to do any of this with any girl. He never cared about any girl as much as he cared about Shigeko.

"Yes. I don't think that I could but Master Reigen made it seem like it was something that people did all the time. Maybe this is just me being weird." Said Mob. She was pretty different from other people. Just because she couldn't see herself being able to do something didn't mean that it wasn't a regular thing for people to do.

"Well that's him. I've got more class than that." Said Teru. It was classless, wasn't it? Just jumping into bed with random girls like it was nothing. A real man took care of a woman and didn't just use her for stuff. A real man didn't have to go looking for random girls to hook up with, they came to him and stuck around because they loved him. Not that he and Shigeko hooked up. No, they were a couple.

"I don't think that I could, either. I couldn't do that with someone I didn't love. It's too…much…you know. I don't even think that I could kiss someone that I didn't love." Said Mob. She had never thought about guys that she wasn't in love with. She hadn't ever really thought about anyone before Master Reigen, to be honest. Well, Shinji from Evangelion when she little but that didn't count because he was an animated character.

"Is that why you were waiting for so long?" asked Teru. She had been waiting for him. Wow. He was the person that she had been waiting her whole life for and she hadn't even realized it.

"Waiting? I guess…I mean I never loved anyone that I could kiss before." Said Mob. She had wanted to kiss Master Reigen for a while but she knew that it would be an unmitigated disaster if she were to ever act on her feelings and just leaning in and kissing him. What would it be like, though? No. Don't think about it and don't think about him. She was with Teru, now. She had to think about him.

"Same. Well, kind of the same. I mean that you're the only person that I could ever see myself…with…like that." Said Teru. Seriously, he meant. He was only human after all and yeah, his mind went there. It wasn't a crime. Shigeko herself had said that what happened in your mind was your own business. Wait…did that mean that she thought about….?

"Same. Right now I wouldn't ever be with anyone else." Said Mob. In the future, who knew? Master Reigen said to cross her bridges when she came to them so that was what she would do. Right now it was her and Teru and she would enjoy it.

"Right now? Well, if you can't wait…" said Teru making his voice deeper. Oh. Right. She didn't exactly understand tones now did she?

"Wait? Oh. No, I can wait. There's no good place, really. I think that it's against the law to do stuff like that outside and I don't want to have to explain to my parents or Master Reigen why I got arrested." Said Mob. That would be pretty embarrassing. She'd die. She would just die if she ever got caught….yup. Death was the only option.

"There's a love hotel around here, if you ever wanted to." Said Teru trying to sound nonchalant. He wondered what it was like in there. The outside looked like a big, purple palace. That was why they called it the Purple Palace. He had his own apartment but he was curious. Maybe she'd like it, too. Maybe it would be romantic. Maybe if he was out of his own house then he wouldn't cry again.

"….I've never been to one of those before…" said Mob. She knew the building. It was so pretty on the outside. She never thought that she would ever be in the position to actually go inside.

"Well, duh. But would you want to? Not now, but in the future I guess." Said Teru. Mob nodded. She was curious about what it was like on the inside.

"Sure. In the future." Said Mob. She wasn't sure if she could do stuff like that in an unfamiliar place. She needed to be comfortable. Besides, she'd probably break everything anyway.

"Do you still want to, now?" asked Teru. They were getting close to his house. They were walking along the river. He didn't usually take this route, or walk this much, but it was nice. The sunset was beautiful, or maybe just made beautiful because she was there. The light was melting into her hair. Dark as night, absorbing the sun.

"I still want to. When we get to your apartment." Said Mob. She felt something on the edges of her perception. She was keeping it close, though, because Dimple was there and it was annoying feeling him in the edges of her perceptions all the time. Sometimes he just hung around. She wondered if she would just hang around the living all day, too, when she became a spirit.

"Eager?" asked Teru trying to sound smooth. He was having trouble getting a read off of her. How much did she want to? How much did he want to? Emotionally. He needed a minute, maybe, to sort himself out because he had to be good and he absolutely could not cry. Not again.

"Sort of. I guess." Said Mob. She expanded her perceptions. Oh! Ritsu and Rei! That was that orange color, it was Rei. She had been trying to figure out what that faint orange color was. She hadn't sensed Rei in a while.

"Are you hungry?" asked Teru. Dinner first. That was how it had been the first time. She was probably super hungry, too. He was hungry. Food. Food would be good.

"Yes." Said Mob. She still kept walking. Would she be a third wheel if she just said hi?

"Do you want to go get something? Ramen, soba, convenience store food?" asked Teru. She was walking with purpose now. But what? She should be more careful, too. He knew this road. High schoolers walked along this road and they could be real assholes. He didn't want anything to happen. Shigeko hated violence so if he had to fight in front of her then there was no way that it was happening tonight.

"Whatever you want is fine, Teru. I feel Ritsu and Rei near here. Let's go say hi. I don't think that it's being a third wheel if we just say hi. Or maybe a third and fourth wheel, because there are two of us." Said Mob. She was still walking. She could hear some loud footsteps behind them. She moved more towards the side so that the group could pass.

"Uh…Shigeko? You know we're by the river, right?" asked Teru. This was a make out spot for high schoolers and very brave middle schoolers. They'd either be interrupting something that would make it impossible for the four of them to ever be in the same room together or they'd piss off some high schoolers which meant that he'd end up having to fight someone, maybe, and then she wouldn't want to have him.

"I know. It's over there." Said Mob motioning towards the river that cut through the city. It was nice to look at but not safe for swimming because it was deep and full of industrial waste.

"You know what people do at the river, right?" asked Teru. He could see some couples but then again he wasn't staring straight forward like she was. He heard some footsteps behind him. He knew those kinds of footsteps. Great. Just great.

"Watch the scenery?" asked Mob. She knew what happened by the river in anime. Oh. And they kissed, too. She stopped walking. Yuck. She didn't want to see her bother kissing anyone. He was her brother and he was much too little to be doing such things.

"And make out. Mostly make out." Said Teru. She stopped walking. Good. He had no desire to walk in on her brother and his girlfriend. Not that there would really be anything to walk in on. Oh to be thirteen again. So innocent, so simple.

"Yuck. Ritsu's not allowed." Said Mob. Nope. He was too little to be doing anything. No matter how much older they got he would always be her little brother.

"Says who? And keep walking, Shigeko." Said Teru. He could see high school delinquents. They must have looked like easy pickings. Two little middle schoolers walking where they didn't belong. Well, those idiots were making a mistake.

"Says me. He's way too little." Said Mob as they kept on walking. Teru was pushing her a little. She walked a little faster.

"He's almost our age. You're talking about him like he's in elementary school." Said Teru. He really, really, really didn't want to get into it with anyone. The old him would have loved the fight but this was the new him. There were times when he missed the old him but that guy was super lonely, empty, and didn't have to live up to being the man what Shigeko wanted him to be.

"In my mind he'll always be little. Why are we walking so fast?" asked Mob. She could feel her brother getting closer. He had sensed her, too. She was a hard person not to sense.

"Because there are two morons about to try and start shit with us and I know how much you hate fighting." Said Teru. Mob nodded. She did hate fighting. She wondered, though, why people were so mean to one another. What did they have to gain? Or to lose? The world would be so much better if everyone was good to one another.

"I really do. Thank you for not fighting, Teru." Said Mob. She reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. He had changed and had changed for her. People could change and there he was, living proof. She hated fighting, even in self-defense.

"You're welcome. I know how much you hate it." Said Teru even though fighting did totally work sometimes. When dealing with morons like the ones following them, for example. He used to be able to inspire fear. He still could, sort of, based on residual reputation. Eventually people would need to be reminded of just who he was and why it was a bad idea to mess with him…or his girlfriend.

"Hey, brats! Wait up!" said a voice. Teru groaned and turned around.

"You're going to try to mug us." Said Teru simply. He did his best Shigeko impression again. It was two idiots in front of them and both of them looked perplexed.

"Yeah! I can see you know the drill, rich boy! So hand it over!" said the blond one. Teru rolled his eyes. Mob just stared straight forward. She wondered, still, why people could treat each other like that.

"Hell no, now fuck off." Said Teru. Mob blinked. She had never heard him sound like that before. Well, he did curse, but never in that tone.

"Who do you think you are?" said the blonde one. Teru sighed.

"Listen, I don't want to fight. My girlfriend over here is a lady and she abhors violence. I'd hate to tarnish myself in her eyes so I really don't want to stoop as low as to kick your pathetic asses." Said Teru with a drawl.

"You smug little asshole! How about your girlfriend watches me wipe the smirk right off your face?!" said the blonde one. Teru took a step forward but Mob put a hand on his arm. They could always just run away.

"Hey, what's your name, cutie?" said the other one Mob pulled Teru away. She didn't want him to fight and she didn't want to end up getting beat up again either. Or worse. She remembered the last time older kids had tried to bully her. It hadn't ended well for anyone involved.

"Do not talk to her." Said Teru lowly. No. She was not going to get involved. She was pulling on him. He couldn't just run away. He wasn't going to, that would be admitting weakness and he wasn't weak.

"Why? Afraid she'll see what a real guy's like?" said the other one. Teru made a fist. It would be so easy. He had the power. He had the power but she didn't want him to use it. It was easy for her, though, not to use it. She was stronger than he would ever be. She knew that she always had an out. She was an island, too. She didn't care to exist in the world with other people. She was her own part of the archipelago. Well he wasn't. He existed in the world with other people and he couldn't just let himself be disrespected like that.

"Fuck. Off." Said Teru. Mob pulled on him some more. He could run away. It would be easy. He ran faster than she did, even! What was with him? What was with people? With boys?! Why did they have to fight all the time?! It was so stupid!

"Why you little-!" said the blond one before he started to shake. Mob looked over at Teru and he shrugged. Wait, no. Green aura, bright green. Not a human, not alive. Dimple. He had been hovering for a while. She thought that he was just leeching energy.

"Sugimoto? What are you doing?" asked the other one. The blond one, Sugimoto is seemed, began to run around and flap his arms. Mob tried not to think that this was funny. It was mean to possess people, even if they were colossal jerks. She could feel Ritsu getting closer. Rei, too, but farther behind.

"I'm an angel!" shouted Sugimoto before undoing and dropping his pants. Mob closed her eyes and then covered her eyes with her hands and then Teru put his hands over hers for good measure. He was cracking up next to her. He knew possession when he saw it. He made a mental note to thank Dimple for saving him from doing something stupid and ruining what he and Shigeko had.

"What the hell, Sugimoto?! Why are you taking your clothes off?!" said the other one. Mob couldn't see a thing with her eyes but she could feel Ritsu and Rei near her. She heard a scream and then a thump followed by feet scurrying away. She had seen, behind her eyes, a lot of dark blue. Oh. Ritsu was fighting again. This counted as self-defense, she decided.

"Ok, you can open your eyes now." Said Ritsu. Mob felt Teru taking his hands off of her eyes and she did the same. Rei was there, behind Ritsu. She still had her eyes closed tight.

"Not yet. There's a chance that they'll come back." Said Rei, her eyes still closed. Mob did the same. She had no desire to see anybody but Teru or Master Reigen naked.

"I had that." Said Teru as he went back to covering Mob's eyes. He didn't need her seeing any other guys naked besides him.

"I'm sure you did." Said Ritsu with a shrug. He knew that Shigeko didn't want Teru fighting so he decided to help. Mostly to help his sister. He remembered what happened the last time some older guys bullied them.

"I appreciate the help, though." Said Teru. He could have totally handled that if she had let him. Ni. He had to be better than what he was. He was a man now, practically, and that meant not getting into pointless fights. He had to be the kind of man she would want for herself. He had to be all that she would ever want just like she was all that he would ever want.

"Anytime." Said Ritsu. He felt awkward but he didn't know why he felt so awkward. It wasn't like he had been doing anything, not really. It wasn't like his sister and Teru were there to do anything, either. This was just all of them running into each other. That was it.

"Ok, now it's safe." Said Rei. The chance of those two idiots coming back was practically nonexistent. She opened her eyes at the same time that Mob did.

"Hi Ritsu and Rei." Said Mob simply. Rei ran up and hugged her. She went stiff for a moment before hugging Rei back. Right. Friends hugged. Tome hugged her, sometimes. She mostly shook her, though, and dragged her around by the arm.

"Shigeko! Hey! Oh my God I can't believe I ran into you! I mean, hello Rei! I knew that there was a chance but it wasn't close to being certain. Not that the future is ever one hundred percent certain! Are you guys staying or on your way some place? Oh, please tell me that you guys can hang out! We could have a picnic! I brought a blanket we could sit on, it's over by where we were. Oh come on! Please!" said Rei knowing that she was being overenthusiastic. She just really, really, really wanted to hang out with them…and not just because she suspected that her date wasn't going well.

"You're hungry?" asked Ritsu. Well, he could get her dinner. He did get double allowance since Shigeko's had been cut off. If his girlfriend was hungry then he'd get her food. That, like a lot of things, was something expected of him and he always lived up to the expectations places on him.

"I can be hungry, yeah!" said Rei. Ritsu looked like he needed to be saved, Teru decided. He had that long, thousand meter stare that Shigeko got sometimes. He didn't blame him, Rei was like one of those yappy dogs after a pot of strong tea.

"I'm hungry too." Said Mob. She was hungry and she wanted to hang out with her brother and her friend. Teru shrugged. Well, if she was hungry and she wanted to hang out then that was fine. Whatever made her happy. The happy she was now the happier he'd be later. That was how it went with girls, right? Happy wife, happy life? Not that she was his wife or anything, and not that he ever secretly thought about that. He was in middle school. That would have been crazy.

"I'll get you something, Shigeko. There's a store around here. Milk, mochi, and candy?" asked Teru. That was what she had ate last time. Mob nodded. The milk made it healthy, she decided.

"Yes please, thank you." Said Mob. Teru and Ritsu left and she followed Rei over to a blanket on the grass. She sat down and Rei sat next to her. They looked at each other for a moment, and then out to the river.

"Were you guys on a date?" asked Rei suddenly. She had a lot of questions to ask but knew that she couldn't ask them. She didn't need her future vision to tell that if she were to ask then everything would be super awkward.

"Yes. Were you and Ritsu?" asked Mob. It seemed like a date but if it were then Rei wouldn't have asked her and Teru to come hang out. But then again she didn't want to be a third wheel but maybe she wasn't being one so maybe it would be best to ask.

"I have no clue!" said Rei with a sigh before flopping down on her back.

"Oh. Maybe you should ask him then. I ask when I don't know exactly what something is." Said Mob. Not being able to read the atmosphere was hard so it was best to bite the cilantro covered bullet and ask, sometimes.

"I can't just ask him! That would be weird! And what if he's having a great time? Then I look like the mean jerk." Said Rei. Ritsu could be way too mature, sometimes. Not that she wanted, well, what the high schoolers around them were doing, but she did want something more than quick kisses and hand holding. The stuff that Mob did, maybe, not that she fully knew what that was.

"Ritsu would never think that you're a mean jerk. He loves you." Said Mob simply. Ritsu could be a jerk, sometimes, but he was also a very nice and accepting person.

"…he loves me?" asked Rei. What. What? What?! He was IN LOVE with her? What? What? What?

"Of course he does. You're his girlfriend. You can't be a couple with someone without loving them." Said Mob simply. Love was a good thing, an important thing, and so were relationships. You didn't enter a relationship with someone you didn't love. Apparently you could achieve instrumentality, no, have sex, without being in a relationship or feeling love but she didn't think that you could have a relationship without love. You could love more than one person, you could maybe even love one person more than another, but there was still love.

"You think? My sister says that sometimes you can go out with someone just for fun." Said Rei. She didn't think that what she had was just for fun but she also didn't know if she was in actual love, either.

"My Master says that, too. Sometimes you can do…stuff…with someone just because you feel like it but that's not a real relationship. That's just…stuff. Ritsu's not like that, I think, because he's my brother." Said Mob. Ritsu was probably like her because they were siblings and grew up together. Rei didn't need to worry about things like that, Ritsu was a good person and he wouldn't just have a girlfriend so that…stuff…could happen. Not that Ritsu would ever do something like that. He was way too young.

"We don't do anything…that's the problem." Muttered Rei. She had told her sister about that and her sister said that if he wouldn't get on the same page as her then it was time to pack it up and move onto a boy that was more her speed. That was why she stopped going out with Takeshi and Go. Riko might not have been the best advice giver, though, because she never kept a relationship for very long. Mob was probably a better advice giver. She was super wise and closer in age, too.

"Oh. Well you shouldn't because you're way, way, way too young." Said Mob. Ritsu was way too little to be doing anything and so was Rei.

"Am not. I'm thirteen." Said Rei. She was thirteen, not three. She was in middle school and everything. Mob was talking to her like it was last year and she was short and in elementary school and still had black hair.

"That's very young." Said Mob

"You're only a year older than me." Said Rei

"A year is a long time." Said Mob. She was much different than how she had been last year. If at thirteen she had been doing what she did now she would have freaked out.

"Sometimes I feel like it is and sometimes it isn't." said Rei. Elementary school felt like a million years ago but middle school was almost a third of the way over.

"I know what you mean." Said Mob. She had trouble imagining herself as a year younger and sometimes she would look in the mirror and think, hey, I look different when did that happen?

"Still, I'm not a little kid." Said Rei. She wasn't a little kid at all and she wanted people to know that but they just didn't. They still looked at her like she was a little kid.

"Oh no, I'm not saying that you're a little kid, I just think that there's a lot of difference between being thirteen and being fourteen, that's all. If I was your age and I did what I did then I would be really freaked out but I'm not because I'm older, now." Said Mob. That and, well, Ritsu was her little brother and he wasn't allowed to do anything.

"What did you do?" asked Rei leaning in and whispering. That was something that she had been meaning to ask. Even her big sister was tight lipped about what, actually, she did. None of her business, Riko said. Get the hell out of my room you nosy little pervert, Riko said.

"….I don't want to say…" said Mob quietly. It was one thing to tell Master Reigen, she told him anything and everything after all, but it was another to tell her friend. She hadn't even told Tome or Mezato yet, and they were her best friends. Rei was a friend, too, though. Not to discount her or anything.

"I won't tell anyone. Cross my heart." Said Rei. Mob was probably worried that she'd tell her brother. Well no way was Rei going to break the bonds of friendship! Everyone knew that when your friend told you something big like this you kept it to yourself, or at least you tried to really, really, hard.

"…still won't tell…" said Mob turning red and looking off into the distance. There were birds, she didn't know what kind. She wondered if they ever had these problems. Did birds talk to each other ever? Were bird calls bird language? Was the big asking the other bird what she got up to with her bird boyfriend? Did birds get into relationships? They mated for life, right? Kind of like people. But were there bird divorces then? If there were bird marriages then there must have been bird divorces. But then again-

"I mean, like, I can keep a secret! Ask anyone! I still haven't told anybody about-see, I didn't tell anybody!" said Rei as Mob watched the birds. She just wanted to know what serious couples did, that was all. Maybe she wasn't going too slow, then. Maybe she was going at the same pace as everyone else. Maybe she was weird for thinking so hard about this.

"….I haven't really told anyone…." Said Mob. Did Master Reigen count? Maybe not, because he was the person that she told everything to already. She loved that about him, that he never judged her even if he did freak out sometimes.

"We're friends, right?" asked Rei. The future was unclear as to whether or not Mob would tell her, or what she was going to say. She wasn't being a nosy little pervert like Riko said, she was just…being a good friend! Yeah! It wasn't good to keep things bottled up! You had to share them with the world! Scream them from the rooftops! But not really because then your sister tells on you and your mom takes your phone away because the roof is dangerous.

"Yes." Said Mob simply. Rei was the third girl she had ever had as a friend. Her other friends had sort of figured out their own theories as to what she got up to. She was the only one who even got up to anything, being the only one in a relationship and all. Tome and Inukawa didn't count because their dates were really a clever ruse so that the telepaths wouldn't catch on to the fact that they were being searched for. Tome was very clear about that.

"I don't mean to be nosy, I just…nobody I ever knew did anything, well, that they want to tell me about. Not even my sister! She called me a nosy little pervert and threw a sock at me! A dirty sock!" said Rei

"Why didn't you use your clairvoyance to see that she would do that?" asked Mob. If she could see the future then she would make sure that nothing bad happened to her.

"I did. There was a bigger chance that she would throw left so that was how I dodged. She threw right." Said Rei

"Oh. That was mean of her. I guess other sibling are different." Said Mob. She and Ritsu never fought, well not until they did. Maybe that was just another way that she was different.

"I wish you were my sister." Said Rei. Mob would be so cool. They could hang out all the time and be best friends and she could teach Mob how to do her hair and her makeup and her nails and they could stay up all night talking and drawing and it would be like a permanent sleepover.

"I don't." said Mob simply. Rei sat up.

"Why not? You like me, right?" asked Rei quietly

"Yes! I do! I just meant that if we were sisters then Ritsu would be your brother and then you guys couldn't be together or then Ritsu be an only child and then that would be sad because he'd be lonely all the time." Said Mob

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." Said Rei even though Mob was really overthinking it.

"Sorry that I made you feel bad. Words are hard for me, sometimes." Said Mob softly

"No, it's ok. Sometimes I say dumb stuff, too." Said Rei. Like asking about something that Mob was so not ready to talk about. Maybe she was nosy and maybe she did talk too much and maybe she was like an annoying yappy dog on steroids like sometimes people said.

"You do? But you're so cool." Said Mob. Rei always dressed cool and she had lots of friends and she drew really well and her powers were cool, not scary.

"You seriously think I'm cool?" said Rei. She put effort into trying to look cool but didn't putting effort into it mean that she wasn't cool at all? Mob could be cool, sometimes, because she looked a lot like she didn't care what people thought about her. Like she walked around saying 'hello world here I am' or something.

"Yes. I don't tell lies." Said Mob. Rei didn't think that she was cool? But then why did she put so much effort into looking cool if she didn't think that she was cool?

"You're so cool, too. It's like you just sort of are yourself. Like you don't care at all what other people think of you. Like the way you wear your uniform. You just sort of wear it, you know?" said Rei. Mob shook her head.

"They make us wear these." Said Mob. She had no say in what she wore to school or how she wore it. They hadn't switched to winter uniforms yet and the rules on how you were supposed to wear it were very strict.

"Yeah but you just wear it! Like you don't roll up your skirt or wear a ribbon or any jewelry or makeup of even any hair clips. You don't even do anything with your hair, either, which is cool too." Said Rei. She spent a lot of time on her hair. She just felt better with red hair and she liked it better when it was all flipped up at the ends. It was like, hey, this is me and I look like this so please think I look nice.

"I brush it every morning, and my mom used to cut it." Said Mob. She thought her hair looked nice. It wasn't messy and she made sure that it was always clean. It was just kind of long, that was all.

"You look nice! And don't worry, your fringe will eventually grow out." Said Rei. Growing out fringe was hard. Mob's was still in that beginning stage when they just hid her eyes. She could really use some hair clips or a headband.

"I was going to cut it, eventually. I just don't know how." Said Mob. She could just plop a bowl on her head and start cutting but mom had a specific hair cutting bowl that she liked to use and Mob didn't want scissors in front of her eyes anyway. She could get hurt.

"I cut my own bangs once…it was a disaster. My mom had to take me to the stylist. It grew out, though, eventually. I can get it out of your eyes, though." Said Rei. She reached over and pulled two pink hairclips with butterflies on the ends out of her school bag. The stupid student council patrol said that they broke the dress code and distracted people. Her hair in her face was even more distracting!

"You don't have to." Said Mob. She never wore things in her hair, besides the ribbons that tied her braids off back when she wore braids. Mom said that stuff to wear in her hair would be a waste of money because her hair always acted up when her powers did. Mom wished that she was a boy, then she could just cut her hair short and that was it.

"I want to! Mob, you should let me give you a whole new look! Hold still!" said Rei. She clipped most of Mob's fringe back. It was still short but like a long-ish short. Like really awkward. She pulled out her phone and turned the camera around.

"Oh. This is nice, I can see my eyes." Said Mob. She could somewhat better, her hair wasn't encroaching onto her eyes.

"See, I told you I knew what I was doing." Said Rei. If only she had her good palette with her, she had some good bleu eyeshadow that would make Mob's eyes pop! Oh, and she had the super red blush that was to red for her but Mob was super pale! And that pink glitter lip gloss she never used because it was way too gloopy.

"Thank you, Rei. I wish I could like pretty like you." Said Mob. She felt weird, more exposed, but she looked nicer, she thought.

"You're pretty! In like a moe sort of way. Your boyfriend probably thinks so too." Said Rei

"….Teru thinks so…" said Mob once again turning red. Rei took back what she thought about the blush. How did Mob have so much blood to blush so red?

"Hey, can I ask, are you guys in love?" asked Rei. Mob nodded.

"We are." Said Mob. She did love him, not as much as Master Reigen, maybe, but she did love him.

"Like, how did you know? I mean, hello Rei! I know you are but, like, real love? I don't know. I don't know if…I mean is it hard to tell?" asked Rei. Maybe she was in love with Ritsu and she just didn't realize it, yet. Like how she didn't realize that she liked Evangelion until she was two episodes even though she could always, without fail, tell on the first episode if she liked something.

"…I think when you want perpetuity with that person. When you wake up and look over and think, wow, I want to do this every single day. When you can sit on the couch and watch TV and think, hey, he's making this better and I want to do this forever. When you wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and you see him sleeping and you cover him with the blanket because you know that he feels hot and cold differently than you do. Or like when you're eating breakfast and you look over and you think of all the breakfast that you ate in the past and then you start to look forward to tomorrow's breakfast even though you're already eating breakfast. Also if you like the way he smells, I think." Said Mob. Rei was watching her with wide eyes.

"Wow. Love is…intense." Said Rei. She didn't feel anywhere near that intensely about Ritsu. She liked when he was around, and when they watched TV, and when they ate together, and maybe she'd like sleeping next to him when she got older. He smelled nice, too, like soap. It wasn't fair though, Ritsu felt like that about her but she didn't feel that way about him. Well then she'd have to fake it until she made it, like when she pretended to know how to play the koto. No, wait, like when she pretended to know how to bake cakes without the mix. No, wait, like when she pretended she knew how to swim. She figured it out, eventually. She would just pretend that she felt the same about Ritsu and like she wanted forever with him and then she would. Wow, Mob was so wise.

"It is, but it's nice. It's a good feeling no matter who you feel it with." Said Mob. She liked it, even if it made her dumb, sometimes, or it made her do stuff that she wasn't one hundred percent on but she still wanted to try because it could be so, so, so good. Or so she had heard.

"But what if…what if you don't feel it right away. You know, like how you're supposed to see the person you're meant to love and you feel it automatically. Like in, have you seen Tada Never Falls in Love?" asked Rei. Mob nodded.

"I did. It was nice. I learned a lot about photography and Luxemburg." Said Mob. Not one of her favorites but still something nice. She watched it all in one day and Ritsu watched with her to be nice. He fell asleep after episode five, though, even though that was when it started to get good.

"Me too. I wanted to go there but they don't speak Japanese and I don't know any English so I couldn't get by in another country anyway. Anyway remember when Tada saw her in his camera and he knew, even though he didn't really know? I don't think that's ever happened to me." Said Rei quietly.

"That makes sense. That's just a show so they have to go really fast because they only have twelve or thirteen episodes. Unless it's something like One Piece, the it can go on forever. In real life it takes time. It took time for me to realize that I was in love." Said Mob

"But then how did you know for real? How did it get that intense?" asked Rei. So maybe she wasn't a complete and utter jerk like the girl from Scum's Wish. Maybe she wasn't just with Ritsu because she liked kissing and holding hands. Maybe she could still be a good person.

"It happened kind of slowly. At first I started to get jealous and then I started thinking about…stuff…and then Claw happened, and then I knew for sure." Said Mob

"Thanks, I feel better. I was just worried that I was a jerk. It takes time, like all good things." Said Rei. If it was worth getting then it was worth waiting for, like how the best drawings took a while to do.

"You're not a jerk, Rei." Said Mob. Rei was super nice, and she talked a lot, too, which was great for filling up the atmosphere.

"Thanks, I just thought that I was." Said Rei. So it was ok to think about…stuff…but not feel that super intense love that Mob felt about Teru.

"But you're not. Why would you think that?" asked Mob. She had known plenty of jerks in her life and Rei was nothing like those people.

"I don't know…I just think about…uh…stuff…a lot without feeling as in love as you said that you have to be." Said Rei. Mob blinked.

"You're too young for stuff. Ritsu's not allowed, I decided. Not until he's older than me." Said Mob. Or until she was dead. Whichever came first.

"I…don't think that you get to decide that…not that we are! Not that I'm planning on it! Just…I don't think that one person can decided that for another." Said Rei. Mob nodded. Rei was right.

"Your life is your own. You're right Rei. I'm sorry." Said Mob. Fine, she couldn't make the choice for people, but that didn't mean that she had to encourage anything. Ritsu was way too little.

"No, it's ok. It's not that I even want to, I just think about it a lot and then I think that maybe I'm a bad person or something but I don't know why. I don't know, maybe I'm going crazy. Like, I've been having this weird dream, too. I keep dreaming about this big white light. It's been four times now." Said Rei. The internet had said that dreaming that she was being consumed by a light meant that she was either feeling overwhelmed or fearing death. She was probably overwhelmed by the whole being in a relationship thing. It was fun but work, too, sometimes. Like when he got really sad sometimes.

"Is it the same dream every time?" asked Mob

"Yeah, every time. It's like there's this big white light and it keeps getting bigger and I try to run away but I get caught in it. The internet says that I'm either afraid that I'm going to die or I'm overwhelmed. I'm not afraid of dying, not really. Or maybe I'm starting to be because Ritsu is. He gets sad sometimes, he's still bothered by the whole Claw thing. I'm not bothered, though, because now I know that they're something I need to worry about so I look into the future. I look into the future to see if Claw's going to try anything at least once a day." Said Rei

"Ritsu's still upset?" asked Mob. Really? She had no idea. She had thought that he was play fighting with Teru o that he wouldn't be afraid anymore. She was a terrible big sister. She needed to be there for him more.

"Yeah. Sometimes he'll get really quiet and then I ask him what's wrong and he tells me that he's still worried and stuff." Said Rei. She didn't know why he was still worried. She could see the future better than ever and he was super strong. If it happened again they'd be ready.

"I'm glad he has someone like you to talk to. He's lucky to love someone as nice as you." Said Mob. Ritsu had Rei to be there for him, now. Maybe they were older and comfort went from something that they got from each other to something that they got from the people that they were in relationships with. She knew that brothers and sisters were supposed to pull away from each other as they got older. Maybe this was just another part of growing up. Either way Ritsu was in good hands.

"You think he really loves me? Like really for real?" asked Rei. That must have been why she was so overwhelmed. Maybe the light was the whole being in a relationship thing. She thought that it would be fun all the time and she had always wanted a boyfriend. She never thought about what happened after you got into a relationship. How you had to always be there for someone, especially when they were feeling the big feelings, and even if you couldn't make them stop feeling the big feelings.

"Yes. Ritsu loves you. You're his girlfriend after all." Said Mob. Rei shouldn't doubt him like that. She knew that he could me kind of not super friendly to other people, he never had that many friends, but he was a good person and he wouldn't just be with her without loving her.

"…yeah…you're right. Maybe that's what the dream about the light is all about. All consuming love." Said Rei. She hadn't felt any pain or anything when she got caught in the light so maybe it was a good light then. But then again she had also heard that it was impossible to feel pain in a dream.

"That sounds like a really good dream." Said Mob

"What do you dream about?" asked Rei. Mob blushed. She knew what she dreamt about, who she dreamt about, and she was most certainly not going to tell Rei about it.

"Stuff." Said Mob after a moment. There. Not a lie.

"What kind of stuff? I mostly dream about weird stuff like the light, or this big green tree. Sometimes I dream about normal stuff like I'm at the store but I can't find anything. Sometimes I dream the future, too, like I'll dream about my whole school day and then I'll live my whole school day in real life and it'll be super boring." Said Rei

"Just…stuff. Nothing important. Like last night I dreamt about this speech I have to give but I kept on messing up and everyone laughed at me." Said Mob. She hoped that she didn't mess it up. She spent almost all of lunch going over it with Mezato. She still needed passion, Mezato said, but now at least she could say the words and have most of them be audible.

"What's the speech about? I had to make a speech for class, once, about why it was important to be prepared for Earthquakes but then I said that I can see the future and just tell everyone when they'd be but then everyone laughed and the teacher told me to sit down if I wasn't going to take it seriously but I totally was being serious! Ugh! Nobody believes me about my powers." Said Rei

"I'm sorry everyone made fun of you. That's the worst feeling in the world. I don't understand why people do it, really. I'm making a speech because my friend Mezato told me to run for student council president and she went through the trouble of writing me a speech so I should at least go through with it even though I know that nobody is going to vote for me." Said Mob

"Ritsu would totally vote for you, and your other friends too. I know. I saw it with my future vision." Said Rei. She also saw someone named Shinji winning, but that wasn't an absolute it was just the most probable outcome.

"Oh. That's more votes than I thought that I would get. Thanks, Rei." Said Mob. What had she been thinking, of course Ritsu would vote for her. She'd vote for him if he were running. She'd vote for all of her friends if they were running. Not if they were all running at the same time, though, then she'd vote for Ritsu because he was her little brother and if he wasn't running she'd just not vote because she knew that she could never choose between her friends like that.

"You're welcome. Oh, and your phone is about to ring." Said Rei. A bird was going to land on the grass in front of them. The wind was going to come in from the west. A leaf was going to get stuck in her shoe, later. She was going to misplace her history homework and have to do it during homeroom. Ritsu and Teru were going to come back soon and they'll be covered in green tea soda. Next Tuesday at nine sixteen she'd drop her toothbrush on the floor and have to open a new one. It would be purple but the Riko would be mad because purple was her color even though she'd had it for, like, ever.

"What? Oh, right." Said Mob. Her phone started to ring but she silenced it immediately. She used her powers to pop that day's medicine out of its pack while it was in her bag and she pulled out her tiny water bottle. Thankfully she remembered to bring something to drink, dry swallowing these was awful. That was why she picked this time, it was usually when she ate dinner.

"What's that?" asked Rei as Mob swallowed.

"Medicine." Said Mob simply

"Oh! Hello Rei! I shouldn't have asked you about that. I am way too nosy sometimes. I didn't even know that you were sick and, like, obviously if you wanted me to know that you were sick then you would have told me!" said Rei burying her face in her hands. How could she be so dumb! You're not supposed to ask people about that kind of stuff!

"No, I'm not sick. I just have to take these every day at the same time." Said Mob. She almost never got sick, almost. She had a really bad cold a while back but that might have been because she was so upset with herself. The same thing happened after she accidentally hurt Ritsu that one time.

"Like vitamins?" asked Rei before she could think to stop herself.

"Kind of, maybe." Said Mob. She didn't much like these, they made her motion sick and sometimes she felt sort of sad for no reason but really didn't want to have a baby either. She didn't know how to take care of a baby, for one thing, and she was only fourteen. People her age were too young to be parents. She'd be a good parent, though, when she got older. She'd accept her kid for whatever it was and if it was an esper then she wouldn't be afraid of it at all.

"My mom makes me take vitamins. They taste like chalk but she says that I have to or I'll never grow up big and strong which is like I'm thirteen I'm not little anymore!' said Rei. She was not little but people still treated her like she was.

"My mom used to but I didn't want to so now Ritsu gets double vitamins. He needs them more than I do, anyway." Said Mob. That way Ritsu could be extra healthy. Who cared how she was, her body healed pretty well anyway on its own. Ritsu had the defenses of a regular person so he needed more help. Wait, did he still? She'd have to ask. Maybe that scar on his head was gone, now, because he awakened his powers.

"Yeah, I kind of got the feeling that he was your family's favorite." Said Rei

"He is. He deserves it. He's an amazing person." Said Mob

"I think so too! I mean, of course I do, I'm his girlfriend." Said Rei. The Kageyamas were weird. Mom and Dad said that they loved her and her sisters all equally and Rei mostly believed it. The Kageyamas openly only loved one of their kids. That didn't seem right. When she grew up and had a bunch of kids with names that all started with the same sound, probably the 'r' sound, then she would love them all the same. Wait, would Ritsu want them to decide who the favorite was? If he ended up being her husband that is. Well she would not play favorites. Not at all.

"I can't imagine anyone not thinking that Ritsu is amazing." Said Mob. He was amazing because he was Ritsu and he was good at everything and she was good at almost nothing so it made sense that everyone like him better and he was the one that mom and dad wanted to keep around. He was probably so happy, now, with her out of the house. Then mom and dad could focus only on him and they wouldn't fight anymore because she wasn't there to make them fight.

"He did used to be kind of a jerk." Said Rei. He was a nice person, now, but he wasn't perfect. Mob talked about him like he was perfect or something and Rei wondered if that was healthy. Nobody was al good or all bad. People had layers, like cakes.

"He was just upset. He's much better now." Said Mob. She felt bad that she had been the one to push him to that point. She should have been a better big sister to him. She should have known that he had been scared of her for years. He was better, now, because she didn't live with him or spend a lot of time with him. it was better this way.

"Yeah, I guess he is." Said Rei. She was happy that he was nicer. He was always so nice to her, even if he could be kind of distant. Sometimes she wondered if he even wanted to be with her. That was crazy, though, because of course he wanted to be with her, his sister even said that he was in love with her.

"People change. They've got to be able to." Said Mob. Her brother could change and Teru could change and so she could change. She had changed, a little. She was more certain of herself and what she wanted. She had to be certain of what she wanted.

"But then it's, like, people won't let you change. Like, when they still treat you like a kid even though you're not." Said Rei. Mob nodded. She knew that feeling.

"But then you have to show people that you aren't little anymore. Master Reigen thinks that I'm little, sometimes, so I try to show him that I'm not. I help out whenever I can and I try to do more of the stuff that he likes to do so he knows that I can think of him, too. He doesn't treat me that much like I'm little, anymore, so it's nice." Said Mob. It was important, she decided, to think that the things that he thought were important were important. If he wanted them to be famous then she would help. If he wanted to write another book then she would help. If he wanted them to binge watch anime all day then she would binge watch anime all day with him. Little people were selfish and only thought about what they liked. Bigger people were different like that.

"I'm trying but it's like people have this picture in their minds about who you are and it won't change." Said Rei

"I feel like that too, sometimes, but it changes eventually. Everyone changes, they have to be able to." Said Mob

"Yeah, you're right. People change all the time." Said Rei. Mob was so wise, sometimes. Like a wise monk. Mob looked up suddenly.

"What's up?" asked Rei. She could feel the energy around her shift. If she focused, really focused, she could see the colors that made up Mob. Pink and blue. She was orange. Ritsu was dark blue.

"Ritsu and Teru are back." Said Mob. She could feel them entering her range, well the range that she allowed to exist. She could feel the city from corner to corner, if she really put her mind to it.

"Finally. What did they do, go to Costco?" asked Rei. She didn't get that store. Sure it was huge and cheap but it was so far away. She had better things to do with her Saturday then go all the way out there with mom just to get giant bags of rice and boxes of miso.

"Probably not that far." Said Mob. She could see them coming down the slope. They had snack foods, which was good, but they looked like they were soaking wet, which was not good.

"What happened?" asked Rei. Oh, right, she had seen this. She could smell them, too. Green tea soda.

"Ask him!" they both said at once and pointed to one another. Rei giggled. Mob smiled. She smiled with her eyes and showed it on her face, her aura. Teru sat down next to her and took off his uniform coat. That was what had gotten the worst of it. Ritsu sat next to Rei and took off his sticky gakuran. He could feel Rei staring at him. She was probably hungry. He passed her the snack bag.

"I don't know which one of you I'm supposed to ask so I'll ask you, Teru. Why do you guys smell like green tea soda?" asked Mob. Teru glared, lightly, at Ritsu. He wasn't mad, not really. They shouldn't have been messing around.

"We were shaking up cans of soda…" said Teru. It had started innocently enough. How much can you shake up a can of soda before it exploded? Apparently a lot, if you had powers.

"Why?" asked Mob. When you shook them up they exploded, everyone who drank soda knew that. Teru pulled out a bottle of milk for her and she popped it opened. Warm, but nice.

"To see when they would explode." Said Ritsu. Rei giggled, but not meanly. He copied Teru and passed Rei a drink. After a moment he decided to open it for her. You were supposed to do things for girls, right? He did it right, he decided, because she was smiling and looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Boys!" said Rei with a laugh. Mob nodded. Boys were weird, sometimes. Why make something explode, you'd just get wet and sticky.

"We should have stopped after one can." Said Teru. Mob smiled at him, again. He reached over and played with the end of her hair. She liked it when he touched her hair. Ritsu almost mirrored Teru but decided not to. Rei hadn't much like it when he played with her hair, last time. She worked really hard on it.

"You did this more than once?" asked Mob. Teru looked away. They had been so childish, before. But then again he did win so it was mixed feelings.

"…yes…" said Ritsu. He didn't know why he wanted to win, he just did. Teru could shake up a can of side faster than him and could shake it up to the point of exploding.

"I won." Said Teru simply. She smiled, again. He loved it when she smiled. He leaned over and kissed her, quickly. Ritsu looked down at his food. Nobody wanted to watch their friend kiss his sister. He could feel Rei looking at him and passed her a rice ball.

"That's good. I'm glad." Said Mob even though she had no idea why anyone would want to win at shaking up cans of soda.

"Maybe you'll win next time." Said Rei looking over at him. Come on, Ritsu, take the hint already. Teru's eyes darted between the two of them. Shigeko could get a clue better than her brother did.

"Don't be wasteful, Ritsu." Said Mob. Mom was always saying that, that she was wasteful because she broken things and spilled things with her powers. She didn't want mom to think bad things about Ritsu, too.

"Sorry, sister." Said Ritsu. She was right, he had been acting childish. He had to be better than that. More was expected of him than that.

"It's alright, brother, I'm not mad at you. I was just thinking about what mom would say. I don't want her to ever stop liking you." Said Mob. It hurt, sometimes, that her parents disliked her like that. She wasn't to torn up about it. She had left and she had plenty of people in her life who liked her.

"Mom and dad like you." Said Ritsu. They had to like her, right? Parents had to like their kids. Or was that love?

"I don't think that they do. If they liked me then they wouldn't want me gone. I don't mind, though. I have lots of other people who like me. You guys like me." Said Mob. Teru reached over and took her hand. It sucked when your parents didn't like you. When they were afraid of you. It got easier, somewhat, over the years.

"I love you." Said Teru. She needed him to be there for her. He knew what it was like. They had each other, though, so that was good.

"I love you too." Said Mob. She had a life full of friends and happiness and love. So what if her parents didn't want her around? She had found her own happiness in life outside of the family home. Besides, she was going to have to move out eventually so why not now?

"I love you!" said Rei suddenly. Ritsu looked up at her in alarm. What? She loved him? Him? Him? Now? Crap. He had to say something. She was looking at him. Everyone was looking at him. Say it back, Ritsu, before you look like a jerk.

"I love you too, Rei." Said Ritsu after a moment. Teru shook his head. Well this was certainly becoming a real mess now wasn't it? You couldn't just say something like to someone, you had to absolutely mean it. Teru didn't think that Ritsu meant it, based on the long pause and the terrified look.

"I'm so happy for you, little brother!" said Mob. She reached over and pulled him into a hug. This was perfect. He had someone he loved and who loved him back. What more could you ask out of life? What could possibly be better? She had someone who loved her and Ritsu had someone who loved him.

It just didn't get any better than this.

Reigen leaned back in his chair and sighed. It just didn't get any worse than this.

No Mob. The office was empty without her. She was always so quiet but she could fill a room with her very presence. Now there was just him. He went back to work just to have somewhere to be, something to do. Now he was out of things to do. Nothing to do now but go home and wait for her, he figured. His eyes darted towards his phone. He could always…

It wasn't worth it.

At this point it just wasn't worth it. Call up a woman be barely knew, make conversation, charm her into bed, and then rinse and repeat. It was just all so hollow. You could have sex without romantic love but then what was the point? He wanted romantic love, again.

He had told himself that he would never let himself feel romantic love again. That he wouldn't be that vulnerable with another person ever again. It had never served him well in the past. It felt so good when he started out but then it just sort of hurt. It hurt knowing that she could go, that she would want to go, and that one day everything that you had shared with her would just be dust in the wind. Memories left to drift and fade. Plants left out without water. There was no forever, no security, with romantic love. Nobody had ever given him that security. He had never given anyone that security.

He was to blame for his current predicament.

Damned if he did, damned if he didn't. Not that he would. There wouldn't be any point to it besides physical pleasure and he could feel that on his own without having to lighten his wallet and spend time with someone who also only wanted one thing from him.

He missed Mob.

She could always bring a smile to his face. She was like a lighthouse. No matter how self-flagellating he got she would always be there. That was a promise from Mob, after all, and to her a promise was something sacred. She had promised him forever and he wanted that from her. He wanted that from her even though she was only fourteen and had no idea what she was promising him. She was promising him her life. He would gladly give her his. Forever with Mob. An endless today. The two of them existing in an endless today where things stayed as they were and he didn't have to worry about her growing up. He wouldn't have to worry about her becoming an adult. Two adults, a man and a woman, promising each other forever was a different creature entirely than a student and her master promising each other forever.

He didn't want to think about that, about what would become of the two of them when she grew up. Could he, would he, hold her back? Or was she exactly where she belonged. Did she belong with him? Did he belonged with her?

He wanted to.

And that was awful.

He loved her. He loved the way she took each day with that exploring life attitude. He loved the way that she was always trying new things even though she wasn't sure. He loved the way that she was there for him even though he didn't deserve her. He loved the way she felt, so soft and warm and small. He loved the way she said I love you so freely, like it was a given fact and not a sentence loaded and ready to fire.

He loved Kageyama Shigeko. He loved Mob.

Possibly...

Probably…..

But that kind of love would have been wrong.

Sexual desire didn't have to follow romantic love but…but he couldn't feel that way towards Mob. One would follow the other and he knew that, despite what the law said, he was too old for her. He was twice her age. Besides, he could only be willfully blind for so long, he knew that she felt a fair bit of it towards him.

Hormones. She couldn't help it.

He could not love Mob romantically. He needed to assassinate that thought before it could run for office, take control of his mind, and lead him down the path to ruin. She was fourteen, he reminded himself, only fourteen. He could not be that kind of man. He expected better from himself.

His phone rang.

Speaking of expecting better from him….

"_Hey mom, what's up_?" asked Reigen as he clicked his phone on. He looked away from Mob's tiny desk with it's ceramic cats and stickers and pencil cup shaped like a panda and issues of Shoujo Weekly piled onto it. He faced the wall, the white wall with the creeping spider plant hanging from it.

"_Arataka, good, you remembered how to pick up_." Said his mom. He stifled a groan. Well then that was how she got him to not pick up the next time she called.

"_Yeah mom, I remember. The green button. So, what's up?_" said Reigen. He hoped that she was cancelling her upcoming visit. Her work at the English club kept her pretty busy.

"_There's been a change of plans. They said that they absolutely needed me this weekend but they gave me the middle of the week off. Tuesday through Thursday."_ Said his mom. Reigen leaned back a little too far and almost tipped over. Right, no Mob around to catch him. He could see his own aura, now. It was reaching out for her. He was reaching out for her. Stress. It was the stress.

"_That's tomorrow. It's kind of short notice, mom."_ Said Reigen. It was less than twenty four hours away. Damnit, why did she always have to be like this? Who cared what he wanted, he was only her son. She was the mother and she would do as she pleased.

"_Yes, Arataka, I can read a calendar. That's why I called you. I just wanted to check in, that was all. I'll be there by tomorrow afternoon at the latest." _Said his mom. He woke his laptop up and looked through his schedule. He would be in the country all afternoon. He had just gotten a call about a consultation. A farmer thought that his fields were haunted. It was far from the city but he was a sucker for plants and Mob had said that she wanted to travel more.

"_A little more notice would have been nice. I've got a big job tomorrow out in the country." _said Reigen. His mother out on one of their jobs. It would be a disaster. Then again she could also finally understand that all of this was real. He wasn't a little kid playing at being Mogami's sidekick anymore. He was a psychic in his own right and his business was real and it mattered and he mattered.

"_This is all the notice I got, Taka. I literally sat down at my desk and they told me that they were moving my time off." _Said his mom, irritation present in her voice. He stomped down his own irritation, he knew that if there had been people around he would have been spreading it like the flu. He heard two people arguing outside. Maybe he had been spreading it around.

"_That sucks. Fine, but I can't take off work. This is a big job. I guess I could bring you with…" _said Reigen. This was just a consultation. If there was a problem he could always schedule the actual exorcism for another day. No need to put his mother in any kind of danger.

"_You don't have to have me tag along. I was thinking that I would like to get to know your…to know Mobbu better. She seems like a lovely…young lady. I'd like to spend some time with her." _Said his mom. He wondered what she was getting at. She always talked that way when she was getting at something.

"_You want to hang out with Mob? Well the thing is I kind of need her…"_said Reigen. If he brought her with and it turned out to be something then she could exorcise it right then and there. He could exorcise low to mid-level spirits and that always left him drained. He was nowhere near Mob's level.

"_Oh I'm sure you can spare her for a little bit." _Said his mother dismissively. Reigen clicked his tongue. There was mom, steamrolling again.

"_Taka, did you just click your tongue ta me young man?"_ asked his mother. Reigen sighed.

"_No, mom, just testing the connection. Alright, I'll make up the couch I guess." _Said Reigen because, well, there was no arguing with his mother. When she decided that something was going to happen then it was going to happen, no two ways about it. Where had this woman been when dad was out being, well, dad? She hadn't been this new fierce and formidable mother, the kind that visited her son whenever she pleased and got him to do whatever she wanted. It was better, though, that she had become this sort of person. Better than the small and sad woman she had been when dad was around.

"_No need, I'll bring my own futon. You said that your couch was uncomfortable and my back isn't nearly what it used to be. The perils of old age, I suppose. Who knows how much time I have left…" _said his mom. Here comes the 'Arataka you should visit more often you'll regret it when I'm gone' portion of the conversation.

"_Mom, you aren't even fifty yet." _Said Reigen with a groan. Maybe he would visit more if she didn't try to lay on the guilt so thick. His life was his own and she needed to understand that. He understood that about Mob. Her life was her own and she was out there living it and he didn't ever once lay on the guilt even though he wanted more than anything to spend time with her, even if it was just watching more of those depressing cat shows or an episode Mogami even though he's seen every episode a thousand times but it's worth it to see her face light up because she's finally seeing someone like her, someone actually like her.

"_I'm forty nine, Taka-chan, I'm halfway through life and I'd like to spend what time I have left with the son I moved across the world to have and raise." _Said his mom. Yup, more guilt. He didn't ask her to get pregnant with him on her year abroad. He didn't ask her to move to Japan to be with his father, a man he had no idea what she had seen anything in to begin with. He didn't ask to be her son but she wore it like a crown of thorns and she hadn't gotten off the goddamned cross once in the almost thirty years that he had been alive.

"_Well you're coming over tomorrow so I guess you'll get your wish."_ Said Reigen, being a little more sarcastic than he should have been. He was a grown man and he needed to get past this teenage asshole phase he had gotten caught up in half a lifetime ago. He had to be better than that. That was not the man he was supposed to be. He shouldn't be that man, Mob needed him to be a better man than that.

"_I am and I hope you don't plan on taking that tone with me for the entire visit. Honestly, you act like I'm moving in. You know I won't do that until the children are born." _said his mom. Part two of the Reigen Sophia 'My Son is a Failure at Life' lecture series. He didn't even know if he would ever have kids, Mob was kid enough for him and she was barely a kid anymore.

"_Well then it's a good thing that you'll be hanging out with Mob." _Said Reigen. There was a pause and for a moment he wondered if the connection had dropped. He could still hear breathing, though, so she was still there.

"_Mob. So that's how you pronounce her name in English. I thought that it was odd, really, that her name was also the same as the characters for background character. Mob, not Mobbu. Thank you."_ Said his mother. Huh. He hadn't heard her use that tone before. Without actually seeing her he had no way of guessing her meaning. That long pause had been pretty cryptic.

"_Her given name is Shigeko but everyone calls her Mob. I think she prefers Mob, honestly." _Said Reigen. It was weird thinking of Mob as Shigeko. She had always been Mob to him, since the first time he had ever seen her. Mob just fit better.

"_Mob. Perfect. Anything else I should know?" _asked his mom. Reigen wondered what there was to know besides, well, the obvious.

"_She really is an esper and she doesn't have full control over her powers. Just don't freak out or freak her out. Alright, that's just who she is." _Said Reigen. Mom still didn't believe that what they did was real. Reigen didn't fully blame him. He hadn't thought that these things were real before he had met Mob, either.

"_Right…an esper…I'm not going to tell you that two of you are a little too old for all of this since this is what you've based your business on. I'm also not going to tell you that this business isn't stable and that the cost of living is constantly rising. I'm also not going to tell you that a life in show business, in the public eye, is what led to Mogami Keiji's eventual death. I'm also not going to ask if you got those links I sent you about finding more stable work." _Said is mother. Reigen spun around in his office chair. If she didn't want to say all of that then she shouldn't have said anything.

"_Right. Well, mom, it's getting late. Mob and I will see you tomorrow. I'll have Mob waiting for you at the apartment so she can let you in. I'll text you the address. Love ya, mom! Bye!" _said Reigen before ending the call. Mob alone with his mother…thank God she was so impassive. Sweet too, though. Mom would love Mob. Mom loved kids, she certainly bugged him about them enough. Maybe she just wanted a do over baby. That was all everyone ever wanted, a second chance.

He was overthinking it. Tomorrow would go great. Mom and Mob would get on like a house fire, he just knew it.


	31. Reigen Sophia

Speeches were not Mob's strong suit. She tried to make her voice interesting, she tried to smile, but in the end she just said it like she spoke normally.

"….and that's why you should vote for me, Kageyama Shigeko, also known as Mob." Said Mob in a steady monotone. As she finished she looked up and gave her best picture smile.

"Ok…the smile at the end if actually creepier than the speech it's self…" said Mezato. Mob was reading her speech to the combined body improvement and telepathy clubs, plus Mezato.

"Fight on Kageyama! Just keep trying and trying until you get better!" said Musashi. Kageyama was truly a credit to the club and everything it stood for. If anyone fought on it was her.

"Ok. Good morning everyone. My name is Kageyama Shigeko, also known as Mob-" said Mob. Mezato groaned. Not good at all. She could get the words out now, so that was progress, but she was still reading it like a shopping list!

"Mob, try it again with feeling." Said Mezato keeping calm. This was not going to end up blowing up in her face. She had written one hell of a speech! It would not go to waste just because the candidate had the charisma of a soy bean.

"What feeling should I have?" asked Mob

"Any feeling! Pick one!" said Mezato standing up. Mob nodded.

"Ok. I'm sorry, Mezato." Said Mob. Any feeling left a lot of room for interpretation. She felt, in that moment, kind of chilly because she was in her gym clothes, kind of sad that she wouldn't be able to see Teru or go to work that day, kind of nervous to meet Master Reigen's mom, and kind of exposed because she was wearing the hairclips Rei gave her and now her eyes and parts of her forehead were super visible.

"No, it's fine. Just…try to sound…excited? Yeah, try to sound excited!" said Mezato. Mob looked over to the body improvement club. They were lifting dumbbells and they looked pretty excited. She imagined herself trying to lift a dumbbell. She wouldn't have been excited at all.

"Good morning everyone. My-" said Mob before Tome stood up.

"Pretend you just got a chance to pilot your very own EVA unit! And the LCL is milk!" said Tome standing on her chair. Mob nodded. That would be nice…except…

"But then I would have the curse of EVA. I don't want to stop aging at fourteen. Also, LCL is people and I drink milk every single day so I don't want to think about drinking people. That would be wrong. People aren't supposed to eat people, or live forever." Said Mob. That would be awful. She'd never grow any older while everyone she loved eventually withered and died.

"Mob, you're really bad at pretending, aren't you?" said Tome as she jumped off of her chair. Mob nodded.

"I'm sorry, Tome." Said Mob. She was never good at playing pretend, even when she and Ritsu were little. She just couldn't stop thinking about how things really should have been and that burst the bubble of whatever fantasy world they were trying to create.

"No, it's ok. Maybe you're just not meant to be a politician. Maybe you're meant to come here and grind for me while I get caught up on my manga." Said Tome. It wasn't being mean, no, Mob liked grinding. In their cat ranching game Mob was the one who kept up their cat army. She loved training them and building their stats, the most boring parts of the game in Tome's opinion.

"Mob is too meant to be a politician! A leader! The leader we all need!" said Mezato. This was the first step to ascending the mantle of lady psycho helmet and ushering humanity into a golden age! At least, that was what the manifesto said. Those guys were counting on her to find their leader and Mob was the leader that they needed. She had super powers, was super moral, and had Mezato as her closest advisor.

"It's only a school election! What does it matter who leads us anyway? The student council are all a bunch of jerks and they won't change!" said Tome. Them and their list of suspect clubs. The telepathy club was a legitimate club. How dare they try to dismantle everything that she had spent her entire school career working towards! Actually, maybe it would be good if Mob became their new president….she did have Tome as her closest advisor after all.

"Political apathy will get us nowhere! We need new leadership! Good leadership!" said Mezato. Mob would be a great leader. She was moral and fair and impartial. Today Salt Middle School, tomorrow the world!

"But I don't want…." Said Mob. She didn't want to, one hundred percent want to, do this. She was mostly doing it so she could see Ritsu more. Also she could make the school a better place but she had no idea how to lead anyone.

"You're right, actually! Mob, read it again! This time pretend that we're all naked! To calm your nerves!" said Tome. Mob blinked. What…?

"But…I don't want to see any of you naked…and if everyone in this room was to be naked I wouldn't be calm at all. It would be weird and embarrassing." Said Mob. The only people she ever wanted to see naked were Teru and Master Reigen. She didn't even like changing for gym with the other girls or even going to a bathhouse full of strangers. Why would she ever want to picture her friends, the friends she had to see every day, naked?

"Yeah, I never got why they said that. You know, it's like, ok now you're nervous and everything is awkward." Said Mezato. Poor Mob, she looked like she was going to faint.

"Ok, just picture the guys naked." Said Tome. Mob wasn't into girls so she should just think about the guys. Not that the telepathy club guys were exactly a feast for the eyes. The body improvement club on the other hand… The telepathy club boys looked up in shock.

"Uh…president Kurata…Tome…" said Inukawa nervously. On the one hand, girls! On the other hand, girls! Flattering and exciting but terrifying.

"I don't want to think about them naked either." Said Mob. She didn't want to think about anyone naked right then. If gave a speech in front of the entire school then that would be the last thing she would want to think about.

"Let's get off the whole naked thing." Said Mezato. That would just end up making everything worse. She had just gotten Mob to actually be able to say the words. Maybe by tomorrow they would be able to get Mob to put some passion into her speech.

"Well then do you have a better idea?" asked Tome. Mob needed to win, Tome decided, because then they could get their own room, a bigger budget, and the student council would never bother them again.

"Ritsu!" said Mob. She felt his aura. Well she was at school so she always felt his aura, but now he was close, and getting closer.

"Well not yet but when I do it'll be better than the whole picture everyone naked thing! She's right, her brother is going to be out there!" said Mezato

"No, I mean my brother is coming. I can feel him." said Mob. She could feel Ritsu coming right that way. Right down the out of the way hallway that housed the club room. Why? He almost never came down this way unless he was, as Tome called it, being the fun police. But there was no more student council until they got their leadership settled so what reason did Ritsu have for coming down that way. She heard Onigawara scoff. Right, he forgave but still didn't fully like Ritsu. Nobody listened when she said that Ritsu had mostly been possessed and that he was normally a wonderful, nice, amazing person.

"What? Are we enjoying life too much?" asked Tome. Honestly! The student council was drunk on their own power sometimes! The telepathy club was a legitimate club and she would not put up with this harassment, especially when their activities were suspended! When they came for the leg shaving club she said nothing, when they came for the Tsubomi fan club she said nothing, and now that they were coming for her nobody would say anything. It wasn't her fault that the monthly progress reports weren't getting done. She just had too much on her plate. Whatever, when Mob won the election nobody would ever have to fill out those tedious report forms ever again.

"You can enjoy life too much?" asked Mob. She had no idea. What counted as too much? Tome face palmed twice. Yup, that was Mob.

"Not literally." Said Tome. Mob nodded though she didn't quite understand.

"She means that your brother can be a little…much." Said Mezato. He was cute, she'd give him that, but he took his job way too seriously. Thank God the Kamuro administration was over and done with. That guy was beyond intense. The Kageyama administration would be one of peace and prosperity.

"Ritsu is. He's amazing." Said Mob. Tome and Mezato exchanged a look. He was amazingly…something. Nothing that anyone was going to tell Mob. She had a weird complex when it came to her little brother.

"If he comes in saying that our budget is going to be cut again I swear I'll…." Said Tome under her breath.

"I'll ask Ritsu if they're going to, again." Said Mob. The club only got a thousand yen a month, now. Not enough for snacks, Tome said. Without adequate food they couldn't fuel their telepathic powers….that they would one day awaken, Tome said. Mob thought that if they could awaken any latent powers it wouldn't be with soda and candy, but she said nothing, because people could eat whatever they wanted and she didn't like to be bossy.

"Ask me what, sister?" asked Ritsu having caught the tail end of that statement. He had come to visit his sister at her club and maybe hang out. He knew that he should have been hanging out with Rei but, well, he didn't want to. He never should have said that he loved her. Now it was hanging over him. He lied. He lied to someone, someone who loved him. But was it bad that he lied? He had lied to make her happy. Now she was happy but her happiness was based on a lie but he wanted to make her happy because that was his job. He had been chewing on this for a while, which was why he was visiting Shigeko. He needed to spend more time with her, anyway. He had to be a good little brother to her. She expected that of him.

"Tome wants to know if you're here because we're enjoying life too much and also if the student council is going to cut our budget." Said Mob. She didn't like the way Ritsu and Tome were looking at each other. It didn't look friendly.

"I'm here to visit you, sister, and student council activities are suspended until we can get our leadership sorted out." Said Ritsu. He knew that Shigeko liked the telepathy club, that was why he had convinced Shinji to take it off the chopping block. It was absurd, he said, for the telepathy club to still exist. They didn't do anything at all and Ritsu could only argue that it was a club for espers and his sister was an esper so therefore it couldn't be abolished. They still had their budget slashed in half, though, because they couldn't justify their expenses beyond 'we get hungry sometimes'.

"Oh. Ok. That's good, Tome was worried." Said Mob. Tome had flopped back into her chair and was stabbing at her DS with the stylus. Mob wondered what she had done wrong this time. It was always something. Ritsu never had these problems. He was so good at talking, he should have been the one running for president. He could easily have been student council president, or even the prime minister of Japan if he wanted to. Well, the last part when he was a grown up.

"I'm sure she was, sister, I'm sure." Said Ritsu. This was Shigeko's friend, play nice. Be nice even though she's one of the biggest slackers in school and she yells a lot, too, which disturbed the peace which meant that he had to make everyone go easy on her because she was Shigeko's friend and-

"Brother? I can see your aura, it's being all…pointy." Said Mob. That was what happened when something was upsetting him, but what? Maybe he missed his job. Yes, that was it. He loved his job.

"Nothing. It's nothing." Said Ritsu quickly. He didn't mind having to go easy on Shigeko's friends because it was something he did to make her happy.

"Oh. Ok. I just thought that something was upsetting you. Is something upsetting you? Are you sad about losing your job? Is that why you're here and not with Rei? Because you're too sad?" asked Mob. He loved Rei so why wasn't he with her? She loved being around the people she loved so then he must have felt the same way because they were brother and sister.

"I didn't lose my job, it's just a break, that's all. Nothing's upsetting me. I just wanted to visit you, that's all." Said Ritsu. He wished that he had someone he could talk to about this but he knew that if he were to say something to someone his sister would be the last someone he would ever talk to. She didn't understand, first of all, because she just…she had never been in his position and never would be. For some reason, some twist of fate, this was what came easily to her. Finding love, understanding herself, understanding her place in the world, accepting it. She was someone who knew exactly who she was and that person was who she wanted to be. She had found love and it came so easy to her. Life, love, getting over what happened with Claw, it was all as easy for her as literally everything else in life was for him.

"Oh. I'm happy, then. Come in, come all the way in, Ritsu. We have spare gym clothes and track suits you can change into if you want to exercise with us. You can sit there if you want to hang out and work on your telepathy skills." said Mob. She had never expected this, ever in her life. He had important things to do, usually, but now he didn't. Ritsu walked past the body improvement club, returning their polite hellos, and sat with the telepathy club. They scooted away from him like scared mice. He rolled his eyes. It wasn't like he even had the power to do anything, anyway.

"Hey, read it for your brother!" said Mezato suddenly. Total lightbulb moment! She loved her little brother so maybe if she read it to him she could read with some emotion. Any emotion.

"Do you want to hear my speech, Ritsu?" asked Mob simply. Ritsu was great at talking, he could probably tell her how to make it better.

"Speech? For what?" asked Ritsu. His sister giving a speech? She'd never do that. She hated attention.

"I'm running for student council president." Said Mob simply. Ritsu began to cough as he choked on his own surprise. What? What?! His sister? Shigeko? Why? A can of soda next to him exploded.

"Ritsu? Are you ok?!" asked Mob as she caught the soda and put the can back together before putting the soda back in. No sense in wasting perfectly good soda.

"I'm fine, really, it's just….sister? I…just…why? Why are you running for president?" said Ritsu. This changed things. He'd vote for his sister, he had to. She had to get at least one vote and she was his sister, he owed her that.

"Mezato said that it would be a good idea." Said Mob simply. Ritsu turned to glare at Mezato.

"I thought you were her friend. Why are you making fun of her, then?" asked Ritsu. Everyone would just end up laughing at Shigeko just like they had when she was little. What else would happen? She'd actually win?

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm Mob's friend! This'll be great for her! She could do a lot of good as our president. Don't you think she's a good person?" asked Mezato staring him down. Honestly. No wonder Mob had no confidence! Look at the way her own brother talked about her! And she was standing right there, too!

"I know that my sister is a good person and I know that other people aren't as good. Sister, I don't want anyone to make fun of you." Said Ritsu. Tome coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'jerk'.

"If I get made fun then I get made fun of. I at least want to try." Said Mob. She might as well try. Mezato had taken the time to write out a speech and her other friends and taken the time to listen so she might as well see this thing through. She hated disappointing people, especially her friends.

"You mean that I'll have to defend you." Said Ritsu under his breath. That was how it had always been and that was how it always would be. Fine. He was her little brother and that was his job. To defend his sister when she did dumb stuff and people made fun of her for it.

"No, you don't have to. We aren't little anymore Ritsu, I can take care of myself. Now, do you want to hear my speech?" Said Mob. People didn't really make fun of her that much these days, anyway, and it was mostly just saying things to make fun of her. Nothing that she wouldn't be able to handle.

"…fine. You can read it to me." Said Ritsu after a moment. He didn't want to fight with her. He go enough fighting in the war at home, he didn't need it out in his life, and not with his sister. He would never fight with her again.

"Ok. Good morning everyone. My name is-" said Mob before her phone began to vibrate on the table. She called it over. Oh, Master Reigen.

"It's him, isn't it?" asked Ritsu disdainfully. Who else would be calling her out of the blue? Well, Teru, but he would probably text her. He never called Ritsu, anyway.

"I don't know who you mean by him but it's Master Reigen." Said Mob as she answered her phone, glancing at the time quickly. Master Reigen had promised that she had enough time for club before she had to go let his mother in. Club hadn't even been in session for half an hour.

"_Hey, Mob, I need you to head home now." _Said Master Reigen. She didn't know where he was but it sounded windy. She frowned a little, her real frown.

"Master, I asked you not to call me on such short notice. You said that I would have enough time to-" said Mob before she was cut off.

"_Mob, I know what I said before but she…God! She just shows up when she wants. Can you let her in, please? I would but I just got a big job in the country and it might even be the real-it might be something that only you can handle. Mob…please? Come on, your Master has a mission which only you can fulfil. Don't let him down!" _said Master Reigen. Mob swallowed her negative emotions.

"Yes, Master. I'll leave now." Said Mob. She'd take the train. She was too annoyed to fly. But, no, she shouldn't be annoyed. She loved Master Reigen, she would do anything for him.

"So you're just going to go? Just because he asked?" asked Ritsu. If Reigen was there he would have told him exactly what he could do to himself. How could Shigeko just come running when he called?

"Yes. He's Master Reigen." Said Mob. He was the master and she was the student. She gathered up her things. She could change in the bathroom on her way out. She'd take the train, too. Her stomach was feeling kind of weird. The last thing she wanted to do was throw up.

"Sister, you don't have to go." Said Ritsu, his hand on her bag. They could hang out together, like they had before, when they were kids.

"I do. I'm sorry, brother." Said Mob pulling lightly on her bag. Ritsu let it go. He wanted to fight with her. He wanted to tell her that she was his sister, not Reigen's, and that she should spend time with him. He wanted to but he didn't. She was right, she could take care of herself. She didn't need him anymore, did she?

"It's alright, sister. I understand." Said Ritsu. Mob smiled and pulled him in for a hug. It took him a minute to hug back. Mob wondered what that was about. Maybe because they hadn't hugged in a while. Yes, that must have been it. She let him go and set off down the hall and out of the building.

Mob had a mission that day, she thought as she made her way to the train station. It was one entrusted to her and her alone. Master Reigen said it was because he trusted her, Mob thought it was because she was the only other person with a house key. It was her responsibility to go home and wait for his mother. She was driving all the way into the city and would get there that afternoon. It was the afternoon, afterschool. She was on her way home to let his mother into their house like it was the most regular thing in the entire world.

His mother. A mother which was his. The woman who had made him.

She knew very little about his mother. Her friendbook was set to friends only and her picture was of a very fat cat. Mob was picturing an old woman with white hair and lots of wrinkles. Master Reigen was an adult so then it stood to reason that his mom would be an old person. That was how it went. Babies, then little kids, then big kids, then teenagers, then adults, and then old people. Maybe she'd be like an older version of Master Reigen, but also a girl. She'd probably be nice and funny and know a lot of neat stuff.

Master Reigen had said that they didn't always get along, though. He said that they fought a lot when he was a kid. He was a grown up now and he had invited her over so then maybe this would all work out and it would be a really good time. Even though this was a mom. Moms could be ok, right? Not like her mom. Master Reigen's mom must have liked him, he complained that she bothered him a lot. Not like mom, her mom, did. Mom never texted or called or anything. That was fine.

Mom and dad and Ritsu were better off without her. Then nobody had to be scared.

Would Reigen Sophia be scared of her? No. She was Master Reigen's mom and he was just like her, well not just like her, but he had powers and she knew what it was like to have someone with powers in her life so she wouldn't be afraid. She had seen every single video that was posted, Mob checked who liked them and who left comments, and she must have believed them when they said that they were really psychics. She didn't call them frauds, she mostly told Master Reigen that he was acting like a kid and told him to call her for once.

Maybe she would be mean, then? Not mean-mean but disapproving-mean like mom was. Mom didn't approve of anything Mob did. Mom never approved of anything besides Ritsu. That made sense. Ritsu was wonderful and amazing and he deserved all the love that he could get. Master Reigen got all of his mom's love, too, because she only had him. Mob wondered if that was how all families worked. Did the parents only have enough love for one kid? Master Reigen said that once his father had another son he forgot all about Master Reigen. Rei had three sisters, though, and Rei said that her family was nice to all of them. The Shiratori brothers said that their parents loved them both the same, too.

Maybe it was just something wrong with Mob herself then.

Hopefully Reigen Sophia would like her.

Mob walked down the road to the train to Master Reigen's, their, apartment. She passed some cats. They followed her. She wanted them to. They followed her to a vending machine where she bought a carton of milk. She used her powers to pull it in half and fold the top into a makeshift bowl. She divided the milk up between the two halves and put it down for the cats. They swarmed and began to drink. Mob reached down and petted them. They were so soft. She wished that she could take them all home but Master Reigen probably wouldn't like it. Their building didn't allow animals. No animals, only people. Friends, neighbors, lovers, unexpected houseguests.

The sidewalk was more crowded than it usually was when she made her way home. This was a different time of day, closer to when schools let out. This was the hour when kids flooded back into the world. Some kids pushed past her. More uniforms. Uniforms to the left of her, uniforms to the right, uniforms in front, uniforms in back. Salt Middle School, Black Vinegar Middle School, Miso Middle School, even a few from farther off school like Red Bean Paste Middle School and some uniforms that she didn't even recognize. She followed the pace of the crowd around her and they filed down the street to the main train station.

She was just another uniform in a never ending sea of uniforms. She was Mob. She felt like Mob. It was nice, sometimes, to not blend in. Then, maybe, people wouldn't make fun of her. Not that they made fun of her as often as they used to. No, people were getting nicer. Maybe she didn't need to be Mob, anymore. The character, not the name. The name was her own but maybe she didn't have to blend in so much. Or maybe she just couldn't help it.

She knew she looked plain. She was normal height, normal weight, had black hair which was the most common hair color, and brown eyes which was the most common eye color. She looked up. She was still wearing the hairclips that Rei had given her. Did they make her look pretty? She wanted to look pretty. She wanted to be pretty, one of the pretty girls, like Tsubomi or Rei. Not that Tome and Mezato weren't pretty but they weren't all…what was the word? The word for when you wore make up and did pretty stuff with your hair? Dressed up. Maybe she could be one of those dressed up girls. Maybe she wanted to be pretty.

But maybe she was. Teru always said that she was 'so damn pretty' and not only when they were…yeah, he said that sometimes. Master Reigen thought that she was pretty, too. That one made her heart race more. He thought that she was pretty. Her. He had said so a couple times already. She felt the phone in her pocket. She wanted to hear from him, for a little bit. She clicked her phone opened and asked him how the job was going. Oh. He was still talking to the owner and getting a tour. Oh, she shouldn't bother him, then.

She hoped that his mom would like her. She hoped that his mom thought that she was old enough, and pretty enough, for Master Reigen. Not that she was thinking about that. That was for four years from now. Still, she wanted his mom to like her. It was important. She smoothed out her skirt as she walked to the edge of the platform. The train was coming up. Oh. Pretty crowded. Whatever, she had her mission and she would complete it.

She, Kageyama Shigeko would accept this job!

He, Reigen Arataka, would accept this job!

"I know what I saw, and it wasn't of this world." Said the client as he pour two cups of green tea. Reigen dusted the dirt from his suit and sat down. This place definitely felt…off. The ground felt gross as he walked across it, like that time in university when he forgot that he had gotten drunk enough to throw up and ended up walking through it in his socks. He couldn't pinpoint from where it was coming from. If he couldn't take care of this himself he'd bring Mob back tomorrow…and mom. Or not. Maybe he could have mom…answer the phones at the office while he was away or something.

"Go on." Said Reigen as he sipped his tea. Yuck. Mob didn't make this. He was too used to her tea. She made it just the way he liked it. Not too weak, not too strong.

"There were always weird stories surrounding this place, that's why I bought it so cheap, but I never put much stock into that sort of thing." Said the client. Reigen felt around, yup, something was definitely up. Mob would know, she was more sensitive to these things that he was. She'd probably like it out here, too. She had said before that she wanted to travel more and she had never been out to the country before. Yeah, they could have a lot of fun out here. Lots of plants around, too, which was a plus. He ought to teach her something about horticulture at some point, too. Or not, because she did have the power to control plants.

"What happens and when? Do the supernatural phenomena occur at a specific time or on a specific day…?" asked Reigen. Maybe he could google different types of spirits. There must have been ways to exorcise them that didn't leave him feeling exhausted. Mob sounded annoyed, before, so maybe he shouldn't drag her out here tomorrow. He could hear her feelings through the monotone. He didn't need powers to know how she felt.

"It usually happens around harvest time. One night I got curious and decided to go out and take a look the night before the harvest began. I saw an eerie figure dancing in the field above my crops. It was some kind of squirmy…thing…dancing in the sky above my fields." Said the client. Well, that definitely sounded like a Mob job. He wasn't too proud to admit that he couldn't handle high level evil spirits. Great. She wouldn't want to be pulled away from her life, and she had asked him not to call her in on short notice. He was the master and she was the student but she was also her own person and had her own life to live. Parts of her life didn't involve him. She was his everything, pretty much, but he wasn't hers and he had to accept that about their relationship.

"And then what happened?" asked Reigen. So this was most certainly a Mob job. A job this big would have a big pay out, and they could record it, too. They were still in the black this month and he intended to stay there. Maybe if they made enough extra he could do something nice for Mob, something to make up for calling her over during the time she spent doing, well, Mob things. Maybe he could take her to a cat café, or another bathhouse, or he could take her to a real restaurant for dinner, not just ramen or MobRonald's or takoyaki. Yeah, something like that. He'd make this up to her.

"When I woke up the next morning all the crops in my field had turned rotten where they stood. Lucky for me I'm only growing these crops as a hobby, or I was anyway. After three years of this happening, though, it's really starting to scare me. Harvest time is just around the corner and that's why I decided to give you a call. I figured that if anyone could help me out on this, it would be a psychic like you and that woman you work with." Said the client. Reigen frowned but didn't correct him. Mob was at that weird in between stage in life. Kind of ageless. She wasn't a child anymore but she still didn't look a thing like a grown woman, though maybe Reigen was just around her too much. A lot of people mistook Mob for a short adult. It was the way she carried herself, most likely. Reigen decided to let it go.

"You were right to come to me. My disciple is otherwise engaged right now so I'll see if this is a job that I can handle on my own. If not I'll call her in tomorrow to finish off the spirit." Said Reigen. Wait, mom was driving in. This was a much shorter journey by car than by bus…then they could all get dinner. Yeah, Mob loved getting dinner in places other than their home. She didn't say it but he could tell that she wasn't much more of a fan of cooking than he was.

"There is also the…uh…subject of payment. My idiot son is starting high school soon so money is kind of tight…" said the client. Reigen could read between the lines. Well then. He hadn't gotten into this line of work to get rich, he did it to help people. Maybe dinner would just be ramen again. One of these days, though, he'd take her to a proper restaurant. She'd like that a lot. She loved trying new things.

"A little short on funds, huh?" asked Reigen. Well, maybe he could take Mob someplace nice. They were in the black this month, after all.

"That depends…" said the client. Reigen sighed. Still, he wasn't running a charity and he did have…could two people be called a household? Well, he had another human being to support.

"I am trying to make a living, you know. I have to make sure that I'm getting properly compensated for my work or, well, I won't be able to continue that work." Said Reigen. No way was he getting stiffed again. It wasn't a good feeling at all.

"Of course! I understand that you have your own household to support! I'm so grateful that you're willing to help me at all! Perhaps we could work something out? Like an installment plan?" asked the client. Reigen felt his resolve soften. This guy was really desperate and his fields were really haunted. He looked out onto the fields…those vegetables looked pretty healthy to him….

"How about this? I'll exorcise the evil spirit and you'll give me, say, thirty percent of your harvest?" asked Reigen. Vegetables froze well. He could get a used deep freezer for pretty cheap and then he and Mob could really cut back on their food budget. She loved vegetables and healthy crap like that.

"….you'll accept payment in vegetables?" asked the client scratching his head.

"Of course, I have to put food on the table too you know." Said Reigen. Just because he was psychic didn't mean that he didn't have to eat. Mob was…debatable…since she did say that she didn't need much sleep and healed fast. He wondered how long she could go without eating…not that they would ever test it out or anything.

"Oh…right! Yes, I'll pay you in vegetables. Please, just get this awful spirit out of here!" said the client. Reigen downed the last of his tea and slammed the cup on the table dramatically.

"I, Reigen Arataka, shall accept this job!" said Reigen. He'd try on his own, he decided, then he'd call Mob.

Yeah, maybe it would all be ok.

Reigen Sophia hoped to God that this would all be ok.

She shifted her weight from foot to foot. Arataka had said that his…that Mobbu…Mob…would be there in about an hour to let her in. No more than an hour, he had said. She shifted her weight again and checked her phone.

This had been the longest hour of her life.

She clicked her phone opened and flipped through Arataka's friendbook page. Hardly ever updated. There was a picture of him and Mobbu there, in those red shirts he had made for his business. She seemed kind of bored, in that picture. They were crowded close together. Sophia had no idea how tall, exactly Mobbu was. Shorter than Arataka, obviously. But taller than…than what?

Taller than a child. Taller than a teenager. As tall as a grown woman.

She flipped over to the Spirits and Such friendbook page. This had more picture of Mobbu. Not that Sophia hadn't been studying them. It was hard, though, to pinpoint her age. The height suggested youth but she had seen plenty of short Japanese women. The school uniform also suggested youth but it could have been fashion. The face…that was what threw her off. She wasn't very expressive. Her eyes weren't even focused, a lot of the time. Her voice, when she spoke on camera, was high but…flat. She carried herself like…Sophia had no idea what she carried herself like.

Not like a child, that was what mattered. Well, not a child obviously. Not like a teenager. That was what mattered.

The girl in question was coming, soon. Sophia checked the clock. She was due to arrive soon. Then she could know. Then she could get to know Arataka's…this person who was very important to her son. She felt something shift in the atmosphere around her. The birds even went quiet, briefly, before starting up their song again. Footsteps could be heard on the metal stairs. Heavy, rhythmic. She put her phone back and tried to stand up straight. She put one hand over the handle of her rolling suitcase and the other on the cardboard futon box and plastic shopping bag. She did intend to visit Arataka more than once every few years after all.

The first thing she saw was black hair coming up the stairs. Pink hair clips. Pale skin, incredibly pale. Brown eyes fixed directly in front of her. School uniform, hopefully just fashion. Sailor uniform…high schools hardly ever used…no. This was just fashion. So was the school bag with the panda, cat, and robot keychains hanging off of it. Long white socks, once again for fashion, and scuffed up loafers….

Please, God, if you truly are a merciful God, let this be a short adult.

Or…a third year in high school…

Just not a middle schooler…anything but that.

"Hello. Are you Reigen Sophia?" asked Mob. There was a woman standing in front of the door staring at her. She didn't look very old at all, Mob decided. Not an old person but Master Reigen had said that his mother was only twenty years older than he was. Her grandparents had been much older than her parents, thirty years, and they were all dead. How old were her parents? About this woman's age. Mom had lines in her face like that and dad's hair had white patches too.

This woman had yellow hair, like Master Reigen. She had two long white, no, silver streaks. Her face had some lines in it, Mob could see a lot of them in the corners of her eyes. Mob had pictured Master Reigen's mother in a suit, a gray suit with a pink girl's tie like they made the high school girls wear, and fancy black shoes with heals. This woman wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as Master Reigen's. That made sense, he said that his mother was the non-Japanese parent. Her face looked like his, too. The shape of it. Her hands were really still, though, not at all like his hands. His were always fidgeting with something, even each other.

"Yes, that's me, and you must be..Mobbu." said Sophia. Mob nodded. Her accent was weird, but then again Mob had a weird accent when she spoke English so she had no room to throw stones. She put a lot of emphasis on the end of her name, too. Mob-BU.

"I'm Kageyama Shigeko, but everyone calls me Mob. You can call me Mob too. It's nice to meet you." Said Mob speaking a little more slowly than normal in case her Japanese wasn't that good. Mom and dad always complained that the foreign people they knew didn't speak Japanese very well.

"It's nice to meet you too, honey, and I speak fluent Japanese. You don't have to speak so slowly." Said Sophia. Yup, there it was. The assumption that just because she was foreign she didn't speak the language well.

"Oh, sorry. I just didn't want to make you feel bad if you didn't, and my English isn't very good." Said Mob. Great, she had managed to be awkward within the first millisecond of meeting Master Reigen's mother. Just wonderful.

"No, it's fine. So, are you going to let me in?" asked Sophia. It was an honest mistake. No need to get off on the wrong foot. This was the first…female human being…who Arataka had ever cohabited with, to her knowledge. She needed to not mess this up. There was enough bad blood between them already.

"Oh, right. Yes, I'll do that right now." Said Mob. She had put her new key on her keyring. Now she had Master Reigen's apartment, the office, mom and dad's front door, and mom and dad's back door. Sophia watched as she got the keys out. It seemed almost like they had…jumped…into her hand. But that was crazy.

"Here, you can go in first. I'll bring in your stuff." Said Mob. Sophia walked through the door. She took in the room for a moment, fully intending to go out and help drag the futon box inside when she heard the door close. Wow. Strong girl. They stared at each other for a moment.

Five feet tall, five two at most.

"Do you want some tea? I know how to make tea." Said Mob. Reigen Sophia didn't stand like her son did. She stood like a tree, rooted to the ground. Master Reigen was rootless. He could be swayed with any breeze, the lightest nudge. He was always moving, at least a little. He was like a kite on a windy day, ready to switch direction at any time.

"Tea would be lovely, honey." Said Sophia. She needed a moment, just a moment. Mob nodded and went to put some tea on. Sophia pulled out a cigarette and lit it. This apartment smelled like the cigarette factory burnt down. Arataka wouldn't mind her making it a little worse, and neither would Mob.

Even though she most likely wasn't old enough to even smoke.

Sophia sat down on the couch. Wow. That really was uncomfortable, Arataka had been telling the truth for once. That boy lied like he breathed. No, that was when he was a boy. He was a man, now. He was different and it was time to see him as he was, not as he existed in her mind. She needed to fix this, what had gone wrong, between the two of them. She wanted, needed, her son back and she would do whatever it took to fix them, their relationship.

Even accepting whatever this relationship, the one between him and that girl, was.

There was a dresser across the room. Livingroom dresser. Huh. Sophia got up, glanced down the hallway, and opened the top drawer slowly. Girl's clothes. Underwear, undershirts, and socks. The second drawer held mostly white and pink nightgowns and a few pairs of pajamas pants. She closed that drawer slowly, careful not to make a sound. She opened the last drawer. T-shirts, blouses, skirts, and a couple pairs of pants. She checked the sizes. Medium. All mediums. She didn't recognize any of the labels. She closed the drawers and took a step back.

Childish clothes. Or maybe just fashion. There was a distinct layer of cuteness to Japanese women's fashions that Sophia had never understood in her entire twenty one years of living in Japan. She prayed that Mobbu, however old she was, was just following fashion. Sophia felt a shift in the atmosphere and turned.

"I made green tea and I put some cookies on a plate. I remembered that western people like to have desserts with their tea." Said Mob. Was that just European people, though? Was this tea time? She knew that western people had tea time where they had tea and desserts and stuff like that. She put the teapot, cups, and the plate on the tiny table. It looked like a balancing act but it wasn't. Powers could be useful but she didn't want to scare off Master Reigen's mother. Mothers were very skittish about that sort of thing, she decided. Her mother, Teru's mother, both mothers were afraid of their own kids because those kids had powers.

"Thank you, Mobbu. It smells wonderful." Said Sophia. It really did smell nice, the tea she made. Just the way she liked it, which was just the way Arataka liked it because she had made his tea for his entire life. This girl, whatever she was to Arataka, made tea just the way he liked it.

"You're welcome." Said Mob. She watched his mother sit down on the couch and decided to join her. That was the polite thing to do, right? Mob poured them both tea quickly. What was she supposed to do? She had never been hostess before. She had seen her mom do it. You needed to feed and water your guests, like they were plants. She didn't know what came next, she had always been banished upstairs when they had company so that she wouldn't end up embarrassing the family.

"So…." Said Sophia as she sipped her tea. It really was very good. Mobbu had poured herself a cup but she wasn't drinking any. She was sitting very stiffly, too, and staring at a spot on the wall. Her hands were folded in her lap. Her legs were crossed at the ankle. Defensive. Nervous.

"Yes?" asked Mob. The long so meant that the person was trying to figure out what to say. Master Reigen had taught her that, he knew everything about talking to people.

"May I ask why they call you Mobbu?" asked Sophia finally. That was a safe question. It was best to start with the safe questions and then pick your way slowly to what you needed to know. They were a very polite people, the Japanese, and reserved. This girl probably wouldn't take well to being directly asked how old she was and what she was to Arataka.

"You can ask." Said Mob simply. She waited for Reigen Sophia to ask. She had asked if she could ask a question. It must have been like when people asked if they could ask you something before going and asking what they wanted to ask.

"Why do they call you Mobbu?" asked Sophia after a moment. That was…odd. She knew the rules of Japanese conversation. The question within the question was perfectly clear.

"By they do you mean everyone in general or someone specific?" asked Mob

"In general." Said Sophia. Was this girl taking the piss? No, it didn't seem like it. Flat effect, too. Still staring at that point on the wall.

"Mostly because I'm quiet and plain looking. People started calling me that in elementary school and it stuck. I don't mind at all. I like it better than my actual name." said Mob. Shigeko just sounded weird from most people at this point. She wished, sometimes, that Teru hadn't gone to using her actual given name exclusively.

"You're not plain looking, Shigeko, and you have a lovely name." said Sophia. The girl, by all accounts, pretty plain looking. Nothing about her really stood out, at first glance. Common hair and eye color. Very pale, actually that stood out. Sophia took it back, this girl had nice skin, not a single blemish. If she was a teenager than she must have been an older teenager, thank God. Not blotchy or splotchy at all. Her hair was nice, too. It looked pretty soft and thick. Nothing much to look at but not ugly either. A nice girl. Adorable.

"Thank you. You look nice too. I thought that you would be an old lady but you're not. I guess because you're Master's mother I thought that you would be old. Your name is nice, too. So-fi-uh? That's how you pronounce it, right?" asked Mob. She had only seen the romanji for Master Reigen's mother's name and she hoped that she wasn't butchering it like the first time she tried pronouncing it.

"Old? I'm only forty nine. I'm getting up there in years but I'm not old. How old are your parents, Mobbu?" asked Sophia. She felt old, sometimes, but she knew that she wasn't. She just liked to guilt Arataka. Guilt was one of his best motivators. He'd do anything to not feel guilty.

"I don't know, exactly. I think your age. My parents have lines in their faces, too, and their hair is starting to turn white." Said Mob simply. Sophia stiffened. Taking the piss? No. Not taking the piss or acting the prick. Just…no filter? Did the girl think before she spoke?

"Well that tends to happen as you hit middle age. It'll happen to you, too, or maybe not. I envy that about Japanese women, you know, how so many of you can hang onto your youth into middle age." Said Sophia. Please just let her look younger than she is. She wasn't acting like a teenager, though. She wasn't fiddling around on her phone or complaining about anything, not like Arataka had when he was young.

"But isn't getting older good?" asked Mob. She wanted to be older, so be seen as the adult she felt like. But she was still a child. She was in the body of a child, she felt like sometimes. Young looking, younger looking than everyone around her.

"I suppose for some people it would be. Some people age very gracefully. You've aged very gracefully, I have no idea how old you are." Said Sophia speaking the absolute truth. Come on, Mobbu, take the breadcrumb.

"That's alright. I don't know how old you are, either." Said Mob simply. It was alright not being able to tell people's ages. It was like her and Rei. She used to think that Rei was older than she was. Or like how Tome acted younger than she was. Ages were confusing sometimes.

"I'm forty nine." Said Sophia. Was she asking too? Or just stating her thoughts? What was with this girl?

"Is that old?" asked Mob. When did a person start to be considered old? Forty nine seemed like a long life. A life stretched across almost five decades. Mob could barely remember the last decade. She had been born in 2005 and couldn't really remember a thing about those days.

"It depends on who you ask." Said Sophia with a laugh. Mob laughed too, after a moment. That breathy sort of giggle she did when she was trying to laugh. Not a lot of her voice in there. There was a moment of silence in which Mob decided to drink her tea before it got too cold.

"You know, that's a lovely outfit." Said Sophia after a moment. Time to strategize. Attack from the flank. Worm the information out of this…socially obtuse….girl.

"Thank you. Your clothes are nice, too." Said Mob. It was a nice T-shirt Reigen Sophia had on. A nice shade of grey. Grey had a lot of shades, it wasn't nearly as boring of a color as people said that it was. Her favorite shade of grey was the color of Master Reigen's favorite suit. The one with the scar on the back from when they fought Claw. The one that smelled like him, that really smelled like him because he wore it the most and no amount of washing could get that smell out.

"So, do you have a lot of outfits like that? Are you into the whole school uniform fashion thing?" asked Sophia. It was fashion. She had seen plenty of young women wearing clothes that looked like school uniforms. That must have just been a very good approximation of a school uniform.

"No. They make us wear these. I don't mind. At least they aren't boy's uniforms. I tried on my little brother's gakuran once. It's really hot and the collar is stiff and pokey." Said Mob. She didn't know how Ritsu could stand wearing that thing day in and day out. Their uniforms should be more like Black Vinegar's uniforms. Those had a lot of layers but the collar wasn't nearly as stiff.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a little brother. How old is he?" asked Sophia. Right. Ok. That was a real uniform. This was someone that Arataka was cohabiting with…and she was young enough that she had to wear the damned sailor suit. Sophia didn't know much about girl's uniforms but she knew boy's uniforms. Yes, that gakuran was stiff and itchy. Arataka had told her so on numerous occasions. That was also exclusively, nearly exclusively, a middle school boy's uniform. Mobbu had a little brother in middle school. Did they go to the same school….?

Was this girl only in middle school?

"Ritsu's thirteen. He's a year below me but doing much better. He has some of the best test scores in the entire country, is good at everything, is really nice, and is the only first year on the student council. I'm very proud of him. There's only two of us but my friend Rei, his girlfriend, has three sisters. Some families have more kids and some have less. Why did you only have Master Reigen and not any more kids?" said Mob. She knew that she could go on and on about the subject of Ritsu's awesomeness so she tried to keep it brief. She wondered, though, why his mom only had the one kid. If she had been so unhappy with Master Reigen when he was young then why hadn't she had a little brother or sister for him? How did parents decide how many kids that they were going to have? She was planned because her parents had gotten married and needed a family but Ritsu had been an accident. Were most babies accidents? In Master Reigen's draft of his part of the book he said that he was made before his parents were married. Was he an accident, too? Was it ok to ask if he was an accident?

"Oh. You mean Arataka….one was enough, I suppose. Excuse me." Said Sophia finding her voice. She needed air. She got up quickly and walked past a closed door and down the short hallway. She found an opened door that led to a small bathroom. She just needed some **space** from the **fourteen year old** that her only son, her almost thirty year old son, was **cohabiting **with.

"Are you ok?" asked Mob. Had she said something wrong? Or was Reigen Sophia just feeling motion sick? She got up and walked to the bathroom like she was motion sick. Mob took a sip of the tea. It tasted fine to her. Could tea spoil? Whatever happened it was probably her fault. She just couldn't get a clue, sometimes.

"I'm fine, Mobbu. I just need a moment." Said Sophia as she splashed some water on her face not caring about her makeup. Fourteen. That girl was fourteen, if she had a thirteen year old brother who was a year below her at school. Middle school. That was a middle schooler out there.

She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

This was a different country. No matter how long she lived her this would be a foreign country. Things were different here. She had taken enough cultural studies classes back at university to know that things were different in other countries and that she had no room to throw stones.

Not that different, though.

Not different enough that her son, a man almost thirty years old, could be with a girl half his age.

But maybe she was just…catastrophizing. Maybe she was just reading into things. Arataka hadn't called this girl his girlfriend or anything like that. He had said friend. Maybe this was just his friend that he…lived with and worked with and presumably shared a bedroom with based on the fact that this apartment only had one bedroom.

Arataka wouldn't…..

He wouldn't and she was a terrible person for ever even thinking that her son, her only son, would take a girl that young to bed.

Not that it would be illegal. It would be wrong, morally, but not illegal. Arataka was always a boy of strong moral convictions after all.

He was also impulsive and once he set his mind to something there was no changing it. Like him and the business he had set up. He was committed to playing the part of the psychic, a role he had begun to play in his childhood games, that he was attempting to eke out a living doing just that. He and his…and that girl, Mobbu, were eking out a living playing at being psychics.

Arataka had called her the real deal, though.

But that was impossible.

Sophia had gotten enough of the impossible for one day. She needed to make the best of this. She needed to get to the bottom of this. But how? Was she just supposed to come out and ask? No, that would have been social suicide. One did not just come out and ask those sorts of questions. If she asked Arataka if he was in an actual relationship with Mobbu. If he had feelings for her. If he was...oh dear God in heaven…sleeping with her….she'd get thrown out and her relationship with her son would never recover. She'd have to be a spy, sneaky. She'd have to worm the information out of him just like she had wormed Mobbu's age out of her.

Sophia heard the loud vibrating of a phone and for a second checked her pockets. No, not her phone. She pressed her ear to the door.

Mob had been waiting for Reigen Sophia to come back when her phone started to vibrate. Oh. It was Master Reigen again.

"Hello Master. I let your mom in. We're having tea now." Said Mob. That was probably why he called. He was probably just checking up on her, not that she needed to be checked up on. When she said that she was going to do something then she did it.

"Thanks Mob…" said Reigen. Mob frowned. He sounded like he was hurt or tired. She knew those tones. His voice was kind of gravelly and he was breathing really heavy, too.

"Master? What's wrong?" asked Mob. Was he hurt? Had the job gone wrong? Did he need her? Whatever he needed she'd do. She'd protect him. She'd keep him safe. He wasn't as durable as she was. He didn't have nearly as deep a well to draw from as she did.

"Mob, I hate to call you in on such short notice but this is something that I cannot deal with on my own. I tried and, well, I'm so exhausted I can't even stand. Can you come down here? Have my mom give you a ride. Tell her that I really need her help." Said Reigen. Mob nodded even though she couldn't see him and he couldn't see her. She'd go to wherever she was needed and do whatever she needed to do to help Master Reigen.

"Of course. I'll be there and I'll exorcise the spirit." Said Mob

"Thanks, I'll text you the address. Change into something you can get dirty, and wear pants. Thank you so much…and…Mob?" asked Reigen. Mob was in the process of finding a pair of pants that fit but she would also be ok with getting dirty. She settled on the ones that Teru gave her. She didn't own a lot of pairs of pants and what she did own either fit weird or was bright pink.

"Yes, Master?" asked Mob

"I'm sorry I keep asking you to drop everything for me. You're…you're a really good friend for always coming when I ask but I…I shouldn't ask so much of you." Said Reigen. Mob stopped what she was doing. She didn't like it when he called her out of the blue but she did like helping him, she liked being there with him and being there for him. She loved him and that was what you did for someone you loved.

"It's alright Master. That's what you do for someone you love, you're there for them. I'm there for you just like you're there for me." Said Mob simply. There was a long, long, long moment of silence and she wondered if her phone had lost signal.

"Mob…thank you. I'll always be there for you, too. I've got you, too." Said Reigen before he hung up. Mob frowned, just a little. He usually said that he loved her too, when she said that she loved him. It was a different kind of love he felt for her, she knew this, but it still warmed her heart when he said that he loved her. But he hadn't said it back.

He was probably just tired. He had said that he was exhausted after all. Mob did as he asked. She changed into a shirt and pants and then got his mother. She knocked on the door. She knew that it was rude to bother people in the bathroom but she thought that this might have been more important than being polite. Master Reigen needed her, needed them, after all.

"Master says that we need to come quick. He's at a job and he needs help. He texted me the address. He said to ask you to give me a ride." Said Mob through the bathroom door. She heard some shuffling on the other side.

"….alright." said Sophia after a moment. Right. Taka-chan. How was she supposed to face Taka-chan after this? What could she even say to Arataka after all of this? She had to think. She'd think on the drive up. Now was not the time to dig her heels in. Taka needed help with something and it wasn't like she was just itching to go back to sitting on the couch and having tea with his possible…girlfriend.

He sure knew how to drop the guillotine on her.

Though he didn't want to see her bleed.

She could just wipe off her neck and leave.

He sure knew how to kill her.

One thing after another. It was just one thing after another with Taka. It had always been one thing after another with that boy.

She took a deep breath and fixed her face. Right. She had wanted to visit and meet Mobbu and now she had visited and met Mobbu and now she had to go and see what Arataka needed and then she'd work her way from there.

What more could she do?

Reigen didn't have any clue as to what else he could possibly do. The spirit wasn't in the scarecrow like he had originally thought but instead seemed to live in the land itself, like an infection. He had tried to use his powers to urge the spirit to move on, but it didn't work. He tried to brute force the spirit, like Mob didn't. That also didn't work but had the added bonus of completely exhausting him. That was how he ended up in this predicament, laying on the ground in the seed house waiting for Mob and his mother to bail him out.

He had tried to do too much at once and now look where he was. What would his mother say? She'd probably tell him to get off the ground and to stop acting like a child. Mob would just be concerned. She was always so concerned. She was caring, like that. She was like a drop of goodness come down to Earth from heaven. A selfless human being who cared only about making the world a better place.

She was goodness, innocence, kindness, and caring personified….and she loved him.

He should have said it back. He knew that he should have but he didn't. He just didn't…he didn't know how he would say it. Too attached. He was getting much too attached to her and it wasn't healthy. She was his only friend, his one companion. She was all that he ever wanted and his will to succeed. That was why he had tried to do this on his own.

He needed to succeed for her. He needed to stop using her. He needed to stop lying to her. He needed to become the Reigen Arataka that existed in her mind. He needed to live up to everything she saw him as.

He loved her.

Not sexually. Not romantically. But he loved her.

Not romantically. He was just too attached to her. That was all.

Sophia told herself, on the drive out to the country, that her son was a good man. He was a good man and would never, ever, take advantage of this girl. This sweet girl in the pink t-shirt with the cat on it who was currently turning an odd shade of green. Her eyes were closed and she looked nauseated.

That made two of them.

Not out of disgust, of course, but anxiety. Some quick Googling told Sophia that the age of consent still hadn't been raised from fourteen. Well, at least he wasn't in danger of going to jail. Not that Taka ever would do something like that. But he wasn't breaking any laws.

Every cloud had a silver lining.

Even though that made them kind of heavy.

"I'm sorry if I get motion sick. I get motion sick very easily." Said Mob, her eyes still closed. The ride was bumpy. This car rocked like a boat on the sea, not like her parents' car or the car they had borrowed from Mastuura.

"It's alright. Just tell me when you need to throw up and I'll pull over." Said Sophia. Right. She couldn't just focus on her son. This girl was a part of it all, too. What was her story? How had she even come to be with Arataka? And what did her parents even have to say about all of this? If Taka had ever tried this when he was fourteen, moved out and decided that he was going to live and work with a woman twice his age, she would have dragged him back home by the back of his gakuran.

"Thank you, I will. Master Reigen does that, too. My parents just got mad at me when I got motion sick. One time I threw up in my little brother's hood. He's not mad anymore." Said Mob. She risked opening her eyes. The world was going by too fast. She closed them again.

"Well that's good, that he took it in stride. Were your parents the type to take things in stride?" asked Sophia knowing that she was blatantly fishing. Too blatant? Would Mob catch on?

"No. My parents fight about stuff all the time. Ritsu can get upset, too, but he hardly ever fights with me or our parents. He'd a good person like that." Said Mob. She was glad that she was gone, now mom and dad wouldn't have any reason to fight and they could focus all of their love on Ritsu. He was the one who deserved it the most.

"Well, sometimes people butt heads but they still love each other. God only knows how many times Taka and I butted heads when he was your age." Said Sophia. Bad relationship between Mob and her parents? It would make sense. Teenagers were a trial after all.

"Master Reigen told me about that. He said that you dragged him to school by the back of his gakuran and that you two used to fight a lot." Said Mob. She never fought with her parents, they had just gotten sick of her and all the trouble she caused with her powers. She had really only fought with Ritsu and that had been weeks ago. She hoped that Master Reigen's days of fighting with his mother were long over.

"Oh, God! I remember that, oh that boy was a trial! We used to fight like cats and dogs but I suppose that's the natural order of things. You just hit an age where you think you're an adult and that causes you butt heads with the actual adults in your life. Is it like that with you and Taka, ever?" asked Sophia. Mobbu didn't seem to notice the blatant fishing attempts. Either that or she didn't care.

"No, not really. We disagree but he never had to drag me to school by my uniform or anything like that, but I don't think of him like a parent so I guess that's why we don't fight. Not that I fought with my parents, either. They just didn't want me around the house." Said Mob. Master Reigen was a lot of things to her; teacher, leader, friend, boss, roommate, and in her mind lover, but he was NOT a parent.

"I can't imagine anyone not wanting you around. You're a very sweet girl." Said Sophia. Well then this wasn't just someone that Reigen had taken in. Not that she had thought, actually, that it was parental. It certainly didn't look parental in the videos they uploaded.

"Thank you. My parents just got tired of me, they're afraid of me, but Master Reigen isn't." Said Mob. Master Reigen's mother didn't seem too afraid and she had seen every single video that she and Master Reigen so she must have known that Mob had powers.

"I can't imagine anyone being afraid of you." Said Sophia. This was the most nonthreatening human being Sophia had ever seen in her entire life. She was like a living doll, almost. Soft and sweet and adorable in her way.

"Master Reigen said the same thing, he's not afraid of my powers either. Were you…were you afraid of Master Reigen when he was little?" asked Mob. Her parents were afraid of her and Teru's parents were afraid of him. The Awakening Lab kids' parents didn't believe that they even had powers and they were pretty weak anyway. They couldn't hurt people on accident like she could. Or on purpose. Not that she would ever hurt another person on purpose.

"Me? No. I was afraid for him. I was afraid that he was making the wrong choices in life but I was never afraid OF him." said Sophia. Arataka had been completely out of control. The lying, the smoking, the drinking, the sleeping around….she had never been afraid of him but she had been afraid of the fact that he seemed to relish in teetering on the edge of the abyss. He could have fallen in so easily at any time. Looks could be deceiving. Maybe this girl felt the call of the abyss too. Maybe there was a wild child underneath that perfect, doll like, exterior.

"You don't have to worry about that. Master Reigen is amazing, he makes really good choices. Business is better than ever and we're really happy." Said Mob. Moms worried a lot, it was what they did. Well she shouldn't worry. Things were great and it was important that she knew that they were great. Mob knew enough English to know that she didn't approve of Master Reigen's job. She had certainly written enough in the comments section on the subject of her disapproval.

"…I know. I mean, I've seen you two together. You seem very happy." Said Sophia. Mob nodded. Good, she understood. Mob didn't notice the way Sophia gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, the way she took deep calming breaths. Sophia had heard that I love you, before, and she knew that the pieces of this puzzle would come together and when it was done it would look exactly like it did on the box.

It was not a pretty picture.

Reigen Arataka was not a pretty picture when they found him. He was laying on the ground, soaked through to the bone with sweat, and breathing like he had just run a marathon.

"Master!" said Mob. She rushed over to him and knelt down beside him. He had used up too much of his own energy. She had been him, she knew what that felt like. She threw her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. There was a brief glow between them, visible only to those who could see the aural spectrum, and then Reigen began to sit up on his own.

"Thanks Mob. I needed that." Said Reigen as he attempted to stand. Too much at once, far too much at once. As he stood up he spotted his mom a little farther off looking like she had just found a finger in her bean curd.

"Arataka, come up off the ground." Said Sophia. It was the only thing she could think of saying. She had, of course, been concerned when she saw her son seemingly passed out but now he was standing like everything was hunky-dory.

"And a lovely hello to you too, mother. My, that's a lovely sweater. How have you been? I've been just fine, thanks for asking." Said Reigen sarcastically. He could feel his mother's annoyance and Mob's curiosity. He absently ran a hand through her hair. Right. He was twenty eight years old and he needed to act like an adult. For Mob's sake at least.

"Hello son, it's nice to see you again after all this time." Said Sophia. Same old Arataka. Still playing on the ground. For a moment she saw her son as he existed in her mind. A churlish little boy who would do anything for attention, anything to feel special.

"Same. Thanks for giving Mob a ride, by the way. We'll be quick." Said Reigen. Right. He had a job to do and he brought Mob all the way out here to do it. Mob was looking at him, now. Big, brown eyes full of questions and concern.

"It feels gross here, Master." Said Mob. This many plants should have meant that it was full of life. Life had a feel, warm and pleasant but this place, the ground underneath her feet, felt like death. Sticky and gross, like spoiled fish paste.

"I know, Mob, this entire place is infested with evil spirits. I tried to do it myself but there are a lot of them." Said Reigen. He could admit failure to Mob. She was just about the only person he could admit failure to. She nodded. She always nodded. She nodded and she helped…she bailed him out.

"I can feel them, Master. Don't worry, I can do this on my own. Do you want me to record this?" said Mob. She didn't want to be on camera but Master Reigen cared a lot about 'upping their online game'.

"Record what?" asked Sophia looking around. This just looked like a normal farm to her. She didn't see anything at all out of the ordinary.

"I'm going to exorcise the spirits here, Reigen Sophia. It could be dangerous, you should stay far away where it's safe." Said Mob simply. Sophia frowned. Right, their work. She wondered how Arataka had managed it. He did always have a talent for editing photos and video footage. She just assumed that they put all those special effects in during post. Live couldn't really mean live, right? Nobody could actually achieve special effects like that live…right?

"Yeah, mom, you should wait in the car. Me and Mob'll be done in a minute. Yeah, Mob, we probably should record it. More views means more business after all. I like the way you think, student!" said Reigen. Mob smiled, her actual non picture smile. She liked it when Master Reigen said nice stuff to her, when he was happy with her.

"No, that's alright. I'll watch you two work. I'd be interested in seeing what, exactly, you two do." Said Sophia. It must have just been an extension of the games Arataka played as a child. The great Reigen Arataka, student of the twentieth century's greatest psychic Mogami Keiji. The only thing that had changed over the years was now he was the master and this girl was the student.

Shishou and Mobbu.

"Mom, it's dangerous." Said Reigen. It really was. He knew full well, he had been a normal person walking into this world. Even with powers, not that his powers were all that much, exorcisms were hard and dangerous work.

"I can put a barrier around her, if she really wants to watch. I don't want to make your mom feel left out." Said Mob. She didn't want to hurt his mother's feelings. Besides, she was more than capable enough to keep someone else safe.

"Fine, fine, whatever. But don't freak out, mom." Said Reigen. He could feel his strength returning, thanks to Mob. It was a neat trick, the whole power share thing. Even before he had awakened what little he could do he always felt better when he was near Mob.

"I'm sure I won't, Taka-chan. Come on, let's see what it is that you do." Said Sophia. Mob smiled. Reigen could feel her amusement. He reached down and gave her hair a tug.

"Come on, Shige-chan." Said Reigen. Annoyance. He shrugged. Mob stared at him for a moment but followed. He felt a slight tug at his hair. There, she wasn't annoyed anymore. She always knew when he was just kidding.

Sophia watched the exchange between them. Close and familiar. Mirthful. Comfortable. She hadn't seen Taka like that with anyone, ever. He always had a need to put on a front, a show, to keep someone's eyes and mind so busy that they never got to see the real Taka. He had always been like that, even when he was a little boy. He was different around that girl. He had even admitted weakness, though what he actually meant eluded her, but he had admitted weakness to another human being without it having to be drawn out of him.

Please, merciful God, don't let this be what she thought it was. Please let it be literally anything else.

She followed them out into the field. Mobbu seemed to be leading them, somewhere. She looked very serious, well less emotionless than usual, and walked with a purpose until she stood in front of a raggedy scarecrow.

"I thought it was the scarecrow, too, but it's like it's-" said Reigen as he reached down and felt the soil. Who would hurt plants? Poor, innocent plants!

"Infected." Finished Mob. It felt like there was evil energy infecting every single root of the field. She crouched down and stuck her hand in the dirty. Yup, super gross. It was gross like a bottle of warm milk left out in the sun on a hot day. Like the time when she was four and tried to make cheese.

"It just looks like regular dirt and vegetables to me." Said Sophia. They were talking like this was something real. Spirits and such were just stories that people told. Myths and legends. There was no way that spirits and psychic powers were real.

"You're a regular person, that's why you can't see it. It's actually really wrong and gross, like it's infected with some kind of disease. Don't worry, I can take care of it. I just have to find where it's all coming from." Said Mob. She needed to fix this. She needed Master Reigen's mother not to worry. She needed to show that she could keep Master Reigen safe. They were there for each other and would always be there for each other.

"There's a focal point? Mob, there's no way this is all just one spirit." Said Reigen. He had never felt a haunting spread out this far, before. How could this entire field of crops all be haunted by one spirit?

"Yes, there's just one. It's been getting stronger, I think, like it's been eating a lot. It's not Dimple strong, though, so I can get it." Said Mob. He still doubted her? She knew what she was talking about. She was practically an old hat at this.

"Huh, that's weird. Usually the strong ones are surrounded by weaker spirits they plan on eating. This is the only spiritual activity around for kilometers." Said Reigen

"I know. There aren't even any neutral spirits around, either, but this spirit is just itself. Spirits who have eaten other spirits feel different than spirits who are just themselves. That's why Dimple feels weird after he disappears for a while." Said Mob

"Um…what's happening here?" asked Sophia. They were tossing all of these words around like they were serious…that was because they were. They weren't on camera but they were talking about hauntings and spirits like they were real.

"Our job, mom. We aren't just playing around, this stuff is actually real, ok? And I need you to get away from the plants." Said Reigen in a tone that left no room for arguments. He wasn't exactly president of the Reigen Sophia fan club Seasoning City chapter but the last thing he wanted to do was see any harm come to his mother.

"You should listen. The spirit is gathering it's power. I think it's going to attack soon and you're a regular person. You can get hurt." Said Mob feeling the flow of energy under her feet.

"Yeah, you should, mom. Here, you can be the selfie stick. Mob, give my mom your phone for a minute." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and handed Master Reigen's mother her phone. She set it up to record and then pointed to a far off spot near the car. The picture wouldn't be very good and the audio would be awful but they could at least record the fight. That was what the people wanted to see anyway.

"Ok, shoot!" said Reigen as his mother was safely out of danger. The recording would be crap but giving her something to do would keep her safe.

"You can feel the presence too, right Master?" asked Mob. She could feel it converging around the scarecrow. Creepy looking thing, if anyone asked her opinion.

"Yeah, it's moving, too. It might be a radish spirit." Said Reigen with a laugh. He could try to marshal some power again, take some of the burden off of Mob…but then again that was how he had gotten into this mess in the first place.

"Radishes have spirits?" asked Mob not getting the joke. Did that mean that everything had a spirit? She knew that cats and dogs did but animals and plants were totally different. She had learned that in science class.

"Only organic ones." Joked Reigen. Mob was just even more confused. He reached over and patted her on the back. She was so adorable, sometimes, but he shouldn't mess with her like that.

"Well don't you two make a lovely couple…." Said a distorted voice. Oh, now the spirit felt like making an appearance.

"Thank you for the compliment." Said Mob out of instinct. Reigen shook his head. Mob, you're too adorable sometimes. Wait…what had it said…? Great, even spirits were getting the wrong idea.

"Well aren't you a polite little brat. Here to exorcise me? Don't bother lying, I heard that moron talking this afternoon. He said that if he couldn't get it he'd bring in someone who could. I guess that someone is a little girl!" said the spirit. Mob frowned. She was not little. Great, even spirits were getting the wrong idea about her.

"I'm not little but I will exorcise you. Goodbye." Said Mob. She focused on where she felt the energy pooling, the scarecrow, and completely destroyed the vessel and erased any spiritual power within. Everything was quiet for a moment.

"Thanks Mob, you're a lifesaver. How about we get some ramen on the way home?" asked Reigen. Just like that. She had exorcised it just like that. Like it was nothing. Like swatting a fly. The spirit that had him passed out on the floor was nothing to her. Why was he amazed? He should have been used to her power by now. This was Mob after all.

"That sounds good, Master. I'd love that." Said Mob. That hadn't been hard at all…but then if she was done then why did the field still feel gross? Oh no.

"How did you do that?!" asked Sophia as she began to walk up the path. She stopped as she walked into…an invisible wall.

"Stay back, it's still too dangerous!" said Mob. A regular person would most likely get super hurt and she would not let that happen to Master Reigen's mother.

"Mob, I just saw you-" said Reigen. He wasn't nearly as sensitive as she was. Once the focal point was gone the field had felt like normal, to him. Mob knew better, though.

"Master, that wasn't the whole thing. It tried to trick me!" said Mob. She spread her power out under her, trying to destroy all that she could feel of the spirit. It was like her mother had said about weeds. Once you pull one up six more grow in it's place.

"Tried to? I believe that I did just that!" said the spirit. The ground erupted around them. Mob was so busy putting a barrier up to keep Master Reigen's mother safe that she neglected to protect the two of them and they were wrapped up in roots.

"What the hell?!" asked Reigen as he felt himself being lifted into the air. The blood began to rush to his head and he was flipped upside down.

"This is the spirit's actual body, Master. The scarecrow was just a trick." Said Mob as she thickened the barrier around Master Reigen's mother. Mob couldn't tell how close she was to the spirit, regular people didn't have auras or at least carried them on the inside and that made them hard even for her to sense.

"Aren't you glad I had to wear pants to this thing, Mob?" asked Reigen as they were suspended upside down. Someone had to stay calm, there, and that someone was him.

"I'm glad. I don't think that I could have protected your mother, stopped the spirit, and kept my skirt down all at the same time." Said Mob simply. Too much at once. She wasn't a great multitasker.

"This land belongs to me! No one else can claim it!" said the spirit as it shook them up and down. Mob tried, and failed, not to be motion sick.

"Sorry!" said Mob. Well then, that was certainly gross. Reigen tried to give her a sympathetic look. Right, he had to be the one in control here because she was obviously freaked out if she was throwing up…or maybe she was just motion sick. He got a read off of her, just nauseated. Huh. Brave kid.

"If this land is yours then show me the deed! I don't think that they give deeds to the dead!" said Reigen, proud of the line he made up on the fly. Mob certainly seemed to think that it was funny. He could feel it coming from her, and the familiar feel of butterflies that accompanied it. Whatever. She could feel whatever she wanted. It wasn't like it meant anything, anyway. She was only fourteen.

"Do you have the faintest idea how much work it takes to grow crops, you squatter!? This has been a nasty prank to play on someone!" said Reigen using the voice his mother had cause to use on him many a time but he had never had cause to use on Mob. They weren't like that. He didn't fill that role for her and she never did anything to make him mad, anyway. This made him mad, though. It did take a lot of work and love to make something grow. You couldn't just take that away from someone like that.

"Oh don't worry! I'm not letting the ripened crops go to waste! Or did you think that spirits can't eat?" mocked the spirit. Mob tried to free herself and Master Reigen. It would have been easy if she didn't have to keep the other barrier up. As she attacked she felt her barrier vanish, briefly, so she gave up. She could take much more damage than a regular person ever could. So she could defend and defend or attack and attack but she couldn't attack and defend at the same time. Well then, that was a dumb rule.

"Well it's not like you need the calories!" shouted Reigen. He had felt himself get free, a little, but then it was like Mob just gave up. Was this thing overpowering Mob? Oh crap!

"No, but I can absorb the life from these plants, just like I'll do to you. Oh, and stop struggling, little girl, or I'll crush this man's bones before he even knows what hit him." said the spirit. Reigen stopped breathing, for a moment. His panic or Mob's? Or a combination of the two?

"Mob! Just exorcise it!" said Reigen. She wasn't less powerful than this thing. She couldn't have been. This was Mob. He had held her power in his hands, he knew what she could do. But then why wasn't she doing it?!

"Master, I can't attack and defend at the same time. Your mom could get hurt." Said Mob. She'd figure something out. It didn't matter if she got hurt. She could take more damage than regular people and she could heal faster if she put her mind to it.

"Dammit! Mob, just try! Blow this filthy vegetable thief away!" said Reigen. He was starting to get light headed. Mob was trapped. She was who he was worried about. Her suspended in the air by roots was giving him mental associations to things he'd rather not think about right now, and especially not involving Mob. Crap. She was in real danger, wasn't she?

"Right!" said Mob. She let her barrier drop and obliterated the roots holding them in the air. More roots came at her but she disintegrated them. She had been so focused on herself that she hadn't noticed Master Reigen getting caught.

"Well done, girl! But your loudmouthed buddy over here seems pretty powerless to me! How about I have a little snack?!" said the spirit as Mob hovered in the air. No. She could not let that happen. Wait, these were plants! The spirit was controlling the plants! She could do that…right? She could make them grow, but could she also control them, too? She began to pull at the roots covering Master Reigen. She commanded them to let him go and they did. She gently floated him to the ground.

"Stop it. This isn't nice and it isn't going to work." Said Mob as she obliterated more roots. She had to find where the focal point of this was and destroy it.

"It won't work! No matter how many roots you destroy, no matter how many you take over I'll always have more!" said the spirit. Mob stopped, for a moment. Maybe if she became the focal point…if she became the one giving the loudest orders then the plants would obey her…she allowed herself to be covered in roots. She integrated herself into them, spiritually, as she was pulled underground. She began to feel something leaching energy from her but she turned that right around. She allowed the roots to wrap all around her, grateful for the fact that she was wearing pants because some of these were creeping around kind of weird, and began to force the spirit out. Soon, every root was obliterated and she was thrown back to the surface. She caught herself with her powers and landed as gracefully on her back as she could. Master Reigen rushed over and helped her up.

"Mob, wow! What was that?" asked Reigen. For a few moments the entire field felt like, well, Mob. Like he was standing on her, in her. Her aura was everywhere and it was absolutely beautiful, even visible on the normal spectrum.

"The spirit wasn't possessing the roots, he was controlling them, so I just decided to yell louder and the roots listened to me. Then I destroyed them all once I could feel every last one of them so the spirit wouldn't have a vessel." Said Mob. Reigen patted her on the head as the ground began to shake. Mob put up a stronger barrier.

"So you stole control of the plant from me? Fine! I don't need that plant to kill you!" said the spirit. Mob was tossed into the air but she caught herself and exorcised it easily. No more host, no more vessel. Once the spirit was well and truly gone she lowered herself down. She surveyed the damage and began to replant the vegetables as best as she could.

"Sheesh, some people don't know when to quit, huh?" asked Reigen as he tried to look nonchalant. Out of the corner of his eye he was checking her for physical damage. Well, aside from being absolutely filthy she was fine, physically. He let his aura merge with hers. Nothing was wrong emotionally, either. He would have figured that she would have been freaked out. The whole root monster thing was a little….risqué…if that was the right word. He guessed that she hadn't made the mental connection…if she could…

And that was the last that he would ever think about that part of Mob's life.

"Spirits hold grudges, it's their thing. That's why they won't pass on. They have unfinished business and they just can't pass on by themselves unless it's settled." Said Mob as she put the last of the vegetables in the ground. She had her eyes closed and saw what she was doing through her mind's eye. She could kind of see, instinctively, where the plants were supposed to go. It was like how she fixed broke things. Things wanted to be back together, she thought, because they didn't like to be apart.

"Or until you blast them to smithereens." Said Reigen. There was no way in hell he could have handled it himself. Maybe he should mostly just take on the jobs that he knew for a fact that he could do by himself. He did ask a lot of Mob. She had her own life to live, didn't she? She had friends and a relationship and those things didn't involve him. He'd see her later, at home, for however long they shared his home, their home. Yeah, he needed to stop taking on jobs like this when he knew that she would be busy. He needed to be a better man for her.

"That too, Master." Said Mob opening her eyes. Her eyes met his. Brown met blue. She felt her stomach begin to do that flip-flop thing it did sometimes, when she really loved him. There was the usual background noise sort of love that she felt but sometimes she just…noticed…him. She noticed his presence, the way he looked, the way he smelled, the way he felt…sometimes she just noticed him.

"You were great today…" said Reigen. He needed to pull away from her. Positive feedback loop. From her, not him. He needed to pull her feelings away from his because now he was being filled with that same pleasant warmth and that desire to reach over and smooth her hair down, her incredibly soft hair, and take her hand in his and never let her go.

"So were you…" said Mob. She wished that he would just reach over and do something, anything. She wanted him to run his hands through her hair like he did sometimes. She wished that he would reach down and take her hand. They were close, very close. She could reach over and take his hand even though it would be a **terrible** idea.

"Mob…" said Reigen. He tried to pull his emotions from hers. He missed this, though, the innocent warmth. The smiles. The butterflies. He hadn't felt this in years but it wasn't **his**. These were Mob's feelings and they had nothing to do with him. She was fourteen, her hormones were indiscriminate. He was a guy, she was a girl. It was all biology for her, the urge to find a mate because when you got down to it human beings were still subject to instincts just like any other animal. This was instinct, that was all. Her instincts were reminding him of his instincts. To hold her. To protect her because she was small and female and **there** and she was always there for him and he was just so attached to her and-

"Master?" asked Mob. She knew that she needed to take a step back but she just…couldn't. Couldn't and wouldn't. There was a part of her, a part deep inside that called itself the other Shigeko, that wanted her to move forward. She could feel the other Shigeko becoming aware of him, of them, and of what they wanted more than anything. Mob was the one in charge of their body and she would not ruin what she had with Master Reigen but trying to have more…and she knew just what more was…and it could be wonderful…couldn't it?

"Nothing. Come on, Mob, let's get some dinner!" said Reigen. He put and arm around her and began to walk. Right. He had gotten kind of weird, there. He could not get weird like that. He needed to stay **out** of Mob. Of her aura. He needed to stop sharing feelings like that and he needed to stop taking hers in. That had been weird, just weird.

"Of course, Master. I feel better now." Said Mob. Her stomach was doing backflips not out of motion sickness but instead from the proximity between the two of them. She could smell him, now. Incense and aftershave and cigarettes and dirt and something that could only be described as **Reigen.**

"I'm glad. You threw up a lot, back there." Said Reigen. Mob blushed.

"I didn't mean to…" said Mob softly. He tugged her hair, again. I'm here, I've got you, don't feel bad. He could say so much without saying a single word. Three words. The most important three words that anyone could ever say to someone. She remembered that he hadn't said anything back when she said it. He must have been tired. She gave his hair a tug, too. She was there, she had him, and she loved him.

They walked up the path to where Reigen Sophia was standing. She was still holding the phone up like she was recording. Mob hoped that she still had some memory left. Her phone didn't have a lot of memory. As they got closer Mob could see her expression and couldn't place it. Based on how Master Reigen started walking more slowly, and breathing weird, it wasn't good at all.

"Hey, mom….what's up?" asked Reigen. Absolute terror. That was what he was feeling from his mother. He reached over and pried Mob's phone from her hand. He passed it over to Mob and she put it back in her pocket.

"Is she alright?" asked Mob. That was a weird expression but she didn't look hurt at all. Maybe she was just freaked out from the fight. Or maybe she just really liked looking out into the sunset.

"I have no…I mean, yeah. Mom, you're ok…right?" asked Reigen fearing that he had traumatized his own mother for the rest of her life. He tapped her on the arm. He tried to send her calm feelings. This turned some of the absolute terror she into…anger.

"Taka-chan…" said his mother softly. Reigen nodded. Mob just sort of stared at them. She didn't know his mother well enough to know the battle that was brewing.

"Yes, mom?" said Reigen. Great, more anger. What was she so mad about?

"Arataka…." Said his mother again. Some of the color was coming back to her face…that was good…right?

"Mom?" asked Reigen. There was a long pause in which she said absolutely nothing. The seconds ticked by. One, then two, then three, and so on and so forth until…

"**THIS IS WHAT YOU DO?!"**


	32. Confronting Feelings

The car ride was silent, broken only by the chitty-chitty bang-bang of the engine and the scribble-scrabble of Mob's pencil as she worked on her homework. Reigen was driving now, his mother was in the passenger seat staring straight ahead as the countryside blurred past them. After her initial outburst she had been unable to form cohesive sentences. Just noises and words.

_You-_

_What-_

_How-_

_Christ!_

_Ghosts?_

_Psychic?!_

_Real!_

Among others. Now she was silent. She didn't trust herself to speak, Reigen thought. He knew the feeling, the feeling of realizing that there was a whole new world sitting right there. A world of spirits and espers and powers and dangers you could never even conceive of.

He was tempted to start singing the Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang song just to break the silence. It was not a great atmosphere. He knew that song, his mother loved that movie. It was one of the movies of her childhood that she had shared with him. One of their few good memories together. This was…

This was not a good memory between them.

Mom should have believed him from the beginning. All of this was real. He was not playing at having a business. He was not playing at being the great Reigen Arataka. He was the great Reigen Arataka, at least sort of. He glances into the rearview mirror. In Mob's eyes he is and her eyes are the eyes that matter the most.

Mob looked up and met Master Reigen's eyes in the mirror. Maybe she could help him with whatever was bothering him, and she had known him long enough to be able to tell when something was bothering him. She absently began to draw the kanji for his name as she watched him. He was watching the road now but Mob could see his aura. It was integrated with hers after all. She knew that he felt troubled and it was probably because his mom had yelled at them.

What did she think they did? They uploaded recordings of what they did all the time. Of course it was real, Master Reigen would never lie about them being psychics. He hardly ever lied except to make people feel better, and he would never lie to her anyway.

Moms were weird, she decided. She looked over at his mom. She was looking out on the road. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She was breathing funny, too. Mob wondered what that was about. The spirit was exorcised so she had no reason to be afraid and they hadn't lied so she had no reason to be mad. Maybe she was tired? Travelling made you tired. Dad always came back tired when he had to travel for work. She had been tired, too, when they had taken the train back from Cuticle City. She wasn't tried now, though. Not tired at all.

"_Bang Bang Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Our fine four fendered friend." _Muttered Reigen absently. His mother turned to look at him.

"_Oh you pretty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. We love you." _Said Sophia quietly. Mob looked up. She knew English, but not that well. It sounded like a song.

"_And wherever we go on Chitty Chitty we depend." _Said Reigen a little louder. He smiled. His mom smiled. Mob smiled, too, because everyone else was smiling and sometimes she tried to read the atmosphere.

"_Bang Bang Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Our fine four fendered friend." _They said together. There was a quick laugh and then a moment of silence. Mob watched them the best she could from the back seat. They weren't fighting, that was what mattered.

"_I didn't think that you remembered that song, Taka." _Said Sophia softly. She fell back into her first language, she didn't have the energy fro Japanese. Mob looked up, taking a moment to process what she heard. English was nowhere near her first language but she knew enough to know what was being said. But why in English?

"_How could I forget? You played that movie almost every day when I was little." _Said Reigen. He knew the feeling. Mom was drained, emotionally drained. But she had no reason to be. For once in his life he hadn't been lying.

"_But you were only three or four. You remember from all those years ago?" _said Sophia. He was so small then, the world seemed much simpler. Her world, his world, all just so small. It had been alright back then. He hadn't been nearly so out of control. Things between she and her husband had only began to sour.

"_Of course I do. We lived in the apartment with the yellow curtains and the people below up had a scary dog." _Said Reigen. He remembered that apartment. It was the first place he had ever lived. The world was so small and simple. Mom and dad still loved each other and him. Those were the happiest times in his life, back then, before he had met Mob…and wasn't that the most depressing thought he had ever had. His life from the ages of five to twenty five had been utter crap until Mob came walking into his life all with eyes, pigtails, and trust. He glanced back at her. Wide eyes, trust, but no more pigtails. Her hair actually looked nice like that, with those hairclips. She looked older, probably because it wasn't the way she wore her hair when she was eleven.

"_You do remember! You weren't afraid of that dog, Taka-chan. Every time it barked at you, and I mean every time, you would get down on all fours and start barking right back. You've always been so fearless Taka." _Said Sophia softly. He had always had a questionable sense of self-preservation, her son. He apparently hadn't grow out of it and had even met someone who shared his questionable sense of self-preservation. Or did Mobbu? She had…she had destroyed that spirit on her own. Spirits were real and espers were real and Taka had been telling the truth for once in his life….

"_Mom, I'm not fearless and I never was. I'm just good at making it look like I am."_ Said Reigen. He glanced over at Mob. She wasn't paying attention, she was doing her homework. Mom saw him the way she wanted to. She only saw him as the Reigen Arataka in her mind, a fearless and needlessly antagonist wild child that she had to control.

"_You certainly looked fearless earlier." _Said Sophia. He hadn't been bothered, not even once. She had been ready to faint but Arataka and his, and Mobbu, were taking it all in stride…like it was normal…but it was their normal, wasn't it?

"_Well that wasn't anything. Mob and I have faced worse, believe me." _Said Reigen. Mob was amazing, she could handle just about everything that was thrown at her. She had him, she always had him. She was never in any danger. Mob was never in any danger. He looked back at her again. She was never in any danger because she was Mob and was insanely overpowered and if she could take all of those adult espers then she could take a few spirits even though what had happened had been disturbing because she was a girl and if anything ever did happen to her then he could never forgive himself because he cared so much about her-

"_Taka…that's the last thing I want to hear."_ Said Sophia closing her eyes. Her son, her baby, risked his life for real. He had been risking his life for real. Every single video he had updated was him risking his life…and for what? He could have so easily died so many times.

"_What? We have. We're capable of doing our jobs, mom." _Said Reigen trying to sound normal. He was a grown man and Mob was Mob. They could handle whatever spirits were thrown at him. He wasn't a little kid anymore, he could handle himself.

"_Your jobs…." _said Sophia, almost whispering. Mob had been listening but said nothing. She assumed, based on the English, that this conversation was not for her ears. But why? Master Reigen never hid anything from her.

"_Mom…" _said Reigen. He could feel Mob listening. She was worried and a little hurt. Oh. She must have thought that they were intentionally leaving her out. It was hard not to slip into English with mom. English was her first language and he spoken English just as fluently as he spoke Japanese.

"_I'm just….I'm processing."_ Said Sophia. It was a lot to take in. Her entire world had changed. Espers were real and spirits were real and Arataka was…seeing…an esper. A fourteen year old esper. And seeing was the right word. She had eyes and ears and those senses worked. The way they spoke to each other, the way Taka was always absently touching her, the way he looked at her, the way she looked at him.

It was a lot to process.

"I get it." Said Reigen back to Japanese. He got it, that feeling of knowing that there was a world within your world. That there was life after death. That there were being alive with powers you couldn't even comprehend. She'd probably feel better after they ate something. Food always made everything better. He looked down at himself. After they all changed or showered even. He glances back at Mob. Her hairclips were hanging down by a thread, she was covered in dirty, and there were roots and leaves in her hair. She looked like a mess, an adorable mess.

"I don't." said Sophia too quietly to hear. She could see Taka looking back at Mobbu as she worked on her homework back there. Like that, hunched over a book, hairclips about to fall out she looked her age. Sophia didn't know what to do. On the one hand no! Too young! On the other hand Taka had been raised in a culture that was not her own and here this was only frowned upon. Back in the old country, oh God she sounded like great-granny, he would have been crucified.

Please, oh merciful God, don't let him be sleeping with her. Anything but that.

Reigen felt a wave of fear come from his mother. He decided to leave her be. She was processing a lot. He heard Mob shift behind him. She had messed up, he could tell by the way that she was erasing. Math, probably. A more cruel torture could not have been designed by even the cruelest of beings. Poor Mob, he'd do his best to help her later. Hopefully mom came off this 'being afraid' thing, too. Mob hated it when people were afraid of her. There really was no reason at all to fear her. Sure she powerful but she was still a wonderful person.

Hopefully mom liked her. Hopefully mom took the time to get to know her. Hopefully Mob liked mom. It would be good, if they liked each other. If he and Mob were really going to have forever, to live in one big today.

Don't think about that, Arataka. Don't clip her wings, don't drag her down. In her is a world of promise. You'll ruin her.

You saved her.

You ruin everything you touch.

You saved her from becoming the worst sort of monster.

She saved you from becoming the worst sort of person.

You need her a hell of a lot more than she needs you.

She needs you and she always will.

She'll grow up.

She'll stay the same, you did.

He takes in a shaky breath. Mob's poking him metaphysically. Right, he had pulled away from her at some point. What in the hell was wrong with him? He was thinking about the future. Stop it. You'll cross those bridges when you come to them. Enjoy today. Enjoy yesterday. Enjoy tomorrow. She's still watching him. She's staring at you, Arataka. She's going to ask you what's wrong in about ten seconds, you know her. She's concerned because you're pretty much the only source of actual stability and acceptance in her life and she's only fourteen and oh God what is wrong with you and-

"So, how's ramen sound? After we go home and look less like mole people, that is." Said Reigen because he had to say something, something to cut Mob off before she started up with the questions.

"I like ramen, but why do we look like mole people?" asked Mob looking at herself in the side view mirror. She looked like a regular person, just a really dirty one.

"Because we're filthy, Mob. We'd be a health code violation if we walked in like this." Said Reigen. He didn't look much better than she did, the only one who looked halfway presentable was mom.

"Oh. You're right, Master, but I don't want to make any more dirty laundry. They charge us by the weight." Said Mob. Not that she had a lot of clothes to weigh the sack down but she didn't want to make them have to worry about money.

"Mob, I told you before, let me worry about the money. Besides, you know you can't walk around covered in dirt like that, and don't you hate pants anyway?" said Reigen

"I don't hate pants, I just like skirts better. It's easier to move around." Said Mob. She couldn't even cross her legs in these and she felt way too hot. Skirts were just breezier.

"Speaking of moving around, how's your workout club going?" asked Reigen

"Body improvement club? Pretty good, I can a twenty pound dumbbell all on my own now. Well, I can only lift it for a few seconds but that's better than nothing. I can do ten pushups in a row, too." Said Mob

"Seriously? Damn, I can barely do a single pushup." Said Reigen. He wasn't exaggerating.

"Because you smoke all the time and you mostly eat fried foods and snacks?" asked Mob simply. Reigen nodded. She didn't mean anything mean by it, she was just stating the facts as she saw them. She was blunt but honest.

"Yup, that's pretty much it. Don't take up smoking, Mob, it's a nasty habit." Said Reigen as he felt for his cigarette box.

"But we smoke together some times." Said Mob. Those were the nicest times, or times when she was sad. It was nice, those times when they were almost equals. When he sort of saw her as an adult and he got on the same level she was on already. Or maybe she just went up to his level.

"You're right, I shouldn't share with you like that." Said Reigen. It was a terrible habit. Terrible for you and terribly expensive and now he was leading Mob down that path. This was worse than why he started. He had started because he knew that it was wrong. She had started because he made her think that it was alright.

"I don't mind, I like it when we smoke together. Well, I don't like smoking at all but I like sharing something that you love. You share in the things that I love all the time, like that time we watched all twelve episodes of Tada Never Falls in Love together in one day." Said Mob. That had been a good day. Not that Master Reigen had gotten it. He had been all 'but why didn't she just say she was a princess the whole time' even though then there would be no show.

"Ugh…that show." Said Reigen. The things Mob watched were going to end up melting her brain. Love at first sight, secret princesses, crossing the world to be with a girl you only knew for a few weeks? No wonder Mob put so much into love. Sometimes, the way she talked, it was the end all be all of life. Well, she was a teenage girl after all. She'd never even had her heart broken, and God willing it never happened. Hopefully she never learn that love was also pain, hearts broke, promises could be broken, and sometimes you were the architect of your own demise. No. Let her believe in the power love, love at first sight, and love conquering all. She was still so young, after all.

"I like it, but I'm a girl and that was a girl's show. I guess it's just like me and boy's shows. Ritsu's shows are so boring sometimes. All they do is fight, in some of them, and there's love sometimes but it's not the main thing. I guess that girl shows are just more about feelings and stuff." Said Mob. How Ritsu could watch another instalment of a show about fighting, where most of the show was fighting, over and over again was beyond her.

"It's not that I'm opposed to the odd romantic comedy now and then, I just don't want to watch ten episodes of two people pretending that they aren't in love, one episode where they confess, and then one episode where they may or may not even get together." Said Reigen. He was, at this point, well versed in Mob shows and Mob manga.

"But the best part is not knowing if they'll get together or not." Said Mob. Everyone knew that the best stories had romantic tension. Sometimes the almost kiss was even better than the kiss. That was only if the almost kiss was in the first season. They had to kiss in the second season because at that point the writers were just being mean.

"If two people really love each other they'll get together. I don't know if they'll stay together but they'll at least try." Said Reigen. Maybe that was his problem, he had stopped trying. After the last time he taped his heart together he had decided never again and gone on to have a series of one night stands or more than one night stands. He hardly ever spent the night, never said I love you, and never got into more than whatever bed they had fallen into. It was hollow, though, these days. Mob had spoiled him for emotional intimacy and connection, and yes he knew how fucked up that sounded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Not everyone gets to live happily ever after…" said Mob. She knew that, in the future, she was going to have to make a choice and no matter what she chose someone was getting hurt. That was why she didn't want to think about that. She'd cross that bridge in four years. Right now she'd enjoy what they had.

"But some people do, Mob." Said Reigen. She'd get hers, he knew she would. She was Mob and she was amazing. She was just so…good. She was so good and he was nothing like her. He adored her. Who wouldn't adore her? She was like a drop of pureness, of goodness, come down from the sky. She was like a little drop of star shine come down to brighten up his life, and yes, he knew how that sounded. He knew how the depth of his feeling, not that he wanted to go diving into that, looked to the outside observer.

"Some people must or there's no point in trying. It's like those lottery machines. If nobody ever won then nobody would ever play them. Someone has to win for there to be hope." Said Mob. The act of scratching off the ticket wasn't fun, it was the chance that you could win some money. It was like those push machines that had candy at the arcade. You didn't put your coin in because you wanted a specific candy, you just put your coin in for a chance at getting candy.

"And that someone will be us, someday." Said Reigen cheerfully. He didn't need powers to tell that Mob didn't believe him.

"If you think so, Master." Said Mob. She knew that the odds weren't good but if occasionally playing made Master happy then she would keep on picking him out 'lucky' ones.

"Mob, your confidence dazzles me." Said Reigen. He could feel Mob's confusion for a second before she got it. She knew exactly what he meant, sometimes.

"I wish that I could be as confident as you Master. You're so confident that one day we'll do more than break even." Said Mob. She knew that he was making fun of her but in that friend's way so she sort of made fun of him, in the friends way, right back.

"Hey, we could turn a profit one day. Someone has to win, maybe it'll be us." Said Reigen smiling. If they did win he'd definitely rent a bigger place for them, a place closer to work and to Mob's school. A place with a bathtub big enough to drown in and an actual tatami room because she hated being high up. A bedroom for her too, though. Her own bedroom where she could keep her stuff and decorate and have some privacy. He didn't mind having her sleeping next to him every night and that wasn't good at all.

"Then we could use the money to get ramen, Master." Said Mob. She wasn't the biggest fan of cooking to be honest. She knew how to make a few things, ramen from the cube, curry from the cube, stir fried vegetables with flavored butter from the cube, a lot of it was cube based. The only thing that she could cook without using convenience foods was omurice and it didn't always turn out well.

"Someone's hungry, eh Mob?" asked Reigen. She had thrown up a lot. She seemed fine now, though. Mob was the only person he knew who got motion sick that easily. Poor Mob…

"I am. I can't wait until dinner." Said Mob. She'd get hers with meat because she needed the protein. Protein and green vegetables, that was how you put on the muscles.

"Me neither, I'm starving." Said Reigen. He was pretty hungry actually. He tended to eat his feelings and right now he felt like he had been on a hunger strike for weeks and weeks like the time he had stopped eating to protest his grounding when he was fifteen. He caved after one day.

"You and ramen…" said Sophia softly. That had always been Arataka's favorite, since he was old enough to use the stove really. Somethings never changed. She looked over at him. He was happy, now, and his happiness was what mattered. She had to keep telling herself that. It didn't matter how she felt, his happiness was what mattered. Telling him what to do had only served to push him farther and farther away. He was a grown man now and he could make his own choices and she didn't get a single say in what those choices were.

"Ramen is a staple food." Said Reigen as they entered city limits. Well, mom felt better at least. Hooray for the power of conversation. She just needed time to process it, that was all. She wasn't afraid of Mob at all. She certainly wouldn't be afraid of Mob, it was Mob. She was the most nonthreatening person on the planet.

"Especially the good kind that you just put in the microwave." Said Mob. It was easier and faster to make, and you didn't have to watch the stove.

"The good kind in the paper cup, the Styrofoam cup stuff is terrible in the microwave." Said Reigen. Maybe the chemicals seeped out or something but it always tasted off. It was easy for him to see it, he was a connoisseur of all things ramen. He made a note to himself to get Mob more of those pork flavored microwave ramen bowls she liked.

"I think so too, Master. I always worry that it'll melt." Said Mob. It could melt like that one time when she was little and had forgotten that the electric stove was on and the whole bottom melted. Mom had been so mad that day…

"It just tastes so cheap. At that point I'll just go out and get some ramen, forget convenience." Said Sophia a little louder. She could never stand that kind and never got it for Taka. For a while ramen was the only thing that he would eat so she had to learn how to make it delicious and nutritious. Junk Food Fighter Michael was a mistake on the part of the television producers of Japan. She was amazed that Taka hadn't grow up to weigh a thousand pounds. How that boy remained so skinny was beyond her.

"It tastes better from the place." Said Mob. She always preferred it from the actual ramen place but sometimes she didn't want to spend the money. Master Reigen shared her sentiments.

"Convenience food, though convenient, pales in comparison to food made with love, sweat, and blood!" said Reigen

"That sounds like a health code violation, Master." Said Mob. She knew that it was a saying but it made no sense. Why would you want food that someone else had bled and sweated into?

"She's got you there, Taka-chan!" said Sophia unable to contain her laughter. The delivery on that had been perfect. Maybe there was someone funny under that doll-like exterior.

"Mom…don't call me Taka-chan." Said Reigen. He was too old to be chan to anyone.

"You'll always be my little Taka-chan as long as we both shall live." Said Sophia. No matter what he would always be her son, her little boy, her baby…and this was the latest in a long of 'what' that he had put her through over the years.

"Quit laughing, Shige-chan." Said Reigen. He could feel her amusement. She was smiling too, with her eyes. He felt something akin to getting dumped in an ice bath from his mother. What was that all about?

"Master, nobody calls me Shige-chan. Nobody calls me Shige or Shigeko." Said Mob. Well, Ritsu called her Shigeko but that was because he knew her before she became Mob. Teru called her Shigeko too but she didn't know why and thought that it might be weird to ask.

"I've heard people call you Shigeko." Said Reigen. It was her name even though it didn't really fit. She was Mob and had always been Mob to him since he first heard the nickname. Maybe when she got older she'd want to be Shigeko, again.

"It really is a lovely name. Nurturing child, right?" asked Sophia. Shige-chan would fit. She certainly looked like a Shige-chan doing her homework in the backseat as they drove through the city. This was, actually, the first time she had ever looked like an actual fourteen year old, Sophia thought.

"That's what my name means. My parents just picked it because it was close to Shigeo, though. That was supposed to be my name if I was a boy. Why did you call Master Reigen Reigen Arataka?" said Mob. His name was a homonym for Miracle Worker. Did they know that a miracle worker was who he would grow up to be? He had saved her from herself and he helped people every single day even though he wasn't nearly as strong as she was.

"Because I thought that the homonym looked nice. I was really into kanji at the time. That's why I came to this country, to study classical Japanese, actually. Who knew that I'd end up teaching English…" said Sophia. She had four years of classical Japanese under her belt but she worked for some rinky-dink English school. Well, it wasn't like she hadn't intended to teach, she had just planned on being a professor of Japanese and Japanese history when she came back to the states. Of course she had never returned, she couldn't, she had been young and in love.

"Do you like teaching English?" asked Mob. She was a lot nicer than her English teacher, that was for sure. At least her scores had been so good, lately, that he hardly ever bothered her.

"It puts bread on the table." Said Sophia dismissively. Obviously not that well, if Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang was anything to go by.

"What kind?" asked Mob simply. She always got white bread when they went to the store. It went with everything and it was cheap. She hadn't realized how expensive groceries were, before, when her mom was in charge of the food. She liked being partially in charge of groceries, it meant that they got enough milk to last her the week.

"Huh?" asked Sophia trying to find some kind of meaning in what Mob had said.

"She wants to know what kind of bread you buy." Said Reigen. Mom wasn't used to Mob's straightforward way of talking.

"Oh. Uh…usually I get plain white bread for my meals but I like to have some melon bread every now and again." Said Sophia. There were so many different kinds of bread in this country. Her kingdom for a loaf of plain wonder bread. Bland, generic, and went with literally everything.

"I like plain white bread too. It goes with everything. Melon bread is nice but it doesn't taste at all like melons, which is weird because it's called melon bread. It's sweet, though, which is good. It goes good with milk. Plain white milk that's been on the table for about five minutes so it's mostly room temperature but not quite." Said Mob

"You're very…serious…about milk, aren't you?" asked Sophia. Back to that flat voice. No, not totally flat, she did change tone it was just very slight.

"Mob loves milk." Said Reigen simply as he got closer to their building. She was like those people that had a thousand words for snow when it came to milk. He didn't see the appeal, really.

"I really do." Said Mob. Milk was the most delicious drink out there. Well, milk and yogurt based drinks.

"I can see that, maybe I should have gotten you a liter of milk instead of…oh! I forgot to give you your present!" said Sophia as they turned down a familiar road. Oh. They were near Taka-chan's house.

"You got me a present? Why? It's not my birthday." Said Mob. Her birthday wasn't until May. It wasn't girl's day either. Not that she got a lot of dolls on girl's day. Mom and dad said that it was pointless since she always just ended up breaking them.

"Yeah, why does she get a present?" asked Reigen sounding a bit more like a petulant child than he meant to.

"My presence is presents enough, Arataka. She's getting a present because it's the polite thing to do when you meet your son's…it's the polite thing to do since I'm meeting her in person for the first time." Said Sophia. Honestly! Of course she would get something for the…female human he was cohabiting and possibly in a romantic relationship with.

"That rhymes. It's funny." Said Mob. Reigen smiled as he pulled in. He wasn't put out, not really, and Mob could always bring a smile to his face anyways.

"That's what I was going for…uh…here." Said Sophia as she got a small wrapped package out from the glove compartment. That was why she had forgotten it, she had put it there so it wouldn't get crushed. Hopefully Mobbu liked it. Fourteen or not it was polite to give her something on their first real meeting. She got out of the car and handed it to Mobbu. She just sort of held it for a minute.

"You can open it now, honey." Said Sophia. Reigen tossed his mom the keys and watched Mob feel the pink present in her hands.

"I'm trying to see what it is. I have no clue. I'll open it now." Said Mob. She pulled the paper apart slowly where it was taped. Reigen was tempted to tap his wrist to tell her to hurry up. This was why he put all of her birthday gifts in bags. She liked to save the paper. For what he did not know.

"Whoa…" said Mob as she held what, to Reigen, looked like a small purse. Right, Mob was older now. She had more stuff to carry around.

"Was that a good whoa?" asked Sophia. Mobbu was just sort of staring at it. Taka had said that it was her favorite show and the clerk at the shop said that it was a very popular item.

"Yes…it's a good whoa." Said Mob as she held, in her hands, a small bag with the NERV logo and colors on it. This was so cool! NERV were the good guys no matter what Ritsu thought. They were trying to stop SEELE they only did it because they were afraid of instrumentality. They helped protect the world form angels, even though they did try to stop human instrumentality…and she was not budging on the fact that instrumentality was a good thing.

"Oh! From that show you like!" said Reigen after a moment. Wow. Mom had maybe even gone to the special store for that, and all for Mob. So that was why she asked what Mob's favorite show was.

"Thank you." Said Mob. She meant it, too. She never had any EVA merchandise ever. Mom said that it wasn't for girls. She put the bag over her shoulder for a moment. The strap was really long.

"Here, Mobbu, like this." Said Sophia as she fixed the strap. It was meant to be worn as a cross body bag after all. She had no idea if Mobbu had a bag or not but one could never have too many bags. Apparently Mobbu only had her school bag or had never even worn a cross body bag before.

"Oh. That's much better. Thank you very much. I like this a lot." Said Mob. She used her powers to put her keys and phone into her new bag. Hey, now she could wear clothes without pockets, which was far more articles of clothing than had pockets. Why were clothing makers so against pockets anyway?

"You're welcome, Mobbu. It's was nothing, really. You should be thanking Arataka, he's the one who told me you liked that show." Said Sophia. The girl was happy, she could sort of tell. The eyes were the key, she decided. The windows into the soul.

"Oh. Ok. Thank you for telling your mom I liked Evangelion, Master Reigen." Said Mob. She bowed to both of them. Reigen reached over and tousled her hair. One of her hairclips fell out but she caught it. Sophia, without thinking, took the hairclip and fixed Mob's hair. She fixed the other one too, for symmetry.

"There you go. Now all you need to do is run a brush through the back and it's perfect." Said Sophia. She really wasn't that plain of a girl, when you really looked at her. Her simple look was classical. Her pale skin was like porcelain. Her long, straight hair was soft and neat. Mobbu didn't really fit at all. Well, it did and it didn't. You really had to look at her to see it but most people would only take one glance and then keep walking.

"I should change, too. Most of the dirt is on my clothes, but I'm too hungry to shower." Said Mob as she tried to brush it off of herself with her powers. Nope. Too small, too fine, and too clingy. Sophia surpassed any shock she might have shown. Some people had superpowers. She just needed to accept this and not make the girl feel self-conscious.

"Yeah, let's all head up really quick and change out of these filthy clothes. I'll shower later, too hungry now." Said Reigen. He had felt that shock, it made his heart stop beating for a moment. Ok, yeah, it took some time getting used to. At least she hadn't shown it. Mob wasn't totally blind to expressions. Well, she could sort of read him at least.

"I hope we have hot water left over." Said Mob as they set off up the metal stairs. There was a cat on the second floor landing and Mob wanted to badly to pet it but she knew that she had to keep walking. She wasn't little anymore. Besides, she knew that cat, sort of. She could always pet it later.

"Probably. I'll be quick." Said Reigen as they walked up the stairs, his hand on Mob's back.

"This building still uses boilers?" asked Sophia. The building it self wasn't much to look at. It was on the outskirt of town, in the industrial district. The air had a slight…chemically…quality to it. The building itself was grey, an aged grey. The stairs were rusted through in some places. How long had Taka been living here? Since he moved to Seasoning City? This wasn't the place for Mobbu, Sophia decided. Not the place if you were…cohabiting….with a female human being.

"It's not so bad, mom." Said Reigen. Yeah, he knew it was an old building but it was cheap and pretty spacious compared to a lot of places. He used to live, briefly, in a one room. He at least had more space here.

"Sometimes we run out of hot water." Said Mob as they made it to their door. That was always annoying. At her old house they never ran out of hot water but that was her old his and this was her new house she so had to get used to it like she had gotten used to taking showers instead of baths.

"You can go first later, Mob. You have more to do anyway." Said Reigen. He was so, so, so glad that he didn't have long hair. The sheer amount of work she put into it. He just ran a bar of soap through his and that was the end of it. She had to shampoo and condition and towel dry and brush. Way too much work, but the results were long and soft and perfect.

"…don't have that much to do…and your mom should go first, she's a guest." said Mob. She knew that she tended to linger. She couldn't help it. It was relaxing in there…plush she did have a tendency to use his soap and then wash again with her own soap so he didn't notice that she had used his soap.

"Guest? Mom, it looks like you're planning on moving in." said Reigen as he opened the door and saw the futon box and shopping bag in his living room. So…mom wanted these visits to become a regular thing. He would have liked to have been informed of these developments.

"Well I would like to visit you more than once every decade, Taka-chan." Said Sophia as she took off her shoes, making sure to face them the right way. When she was alone she just kicked them off any old way but she had to be polite.

"That seems like a long time between visits, Master." Said Mob stating a fact. She wouldn't mind it if Reigen Sophia visited more often, she was nice, and not just because of presents. Though Mob did like receiving presents.

"See, Arataka, Mobbu agrees." Said Sophia. Well, the girl liked her at least. If you really squinted you could forget just how young she was. She didn't look fourteen then, it was different when she stood. When she spoke. She didn't carry herself like she was fourteen. She carried herself like she was…a person of indeterminate age.

"Mob agrees with everyone. She's agreeable like that." Said Reigen as he walked over to his room. Time to get into something comfortable and not covered in sweat and dirt.

"…..not with everyone…" said Mob as she pulled a dress she didn't particularly like from her dresser. She wouldn't mind getting this dirty, too, because it didn't fit that well. She went over to the bathroom to change.

"Ok then." Said Sophia as she found herself alone in the living room. They didn't change together. Good. Really good, actually. A purely emotional relationship…yeah, that was great. Better than great. Not that it was any of her business, her son was a grown man. He was her son though, she had carried him for nine months so his business was, in fact, her business. She shifted her weight a little. Could you have a relationship without…

And that was the last she was going to think about that.

She paced the room a little and found a very familiar yo-yo thrown haphazardly on a book shelf. She picked it up and began to play with it, just so that she had something to do because be alone with her thoughts because she did not like where her thoughts were going. Fourteen. Why? She had eyes, she had ears, she knew that Taka cared about this girl and she cared about him right back but…fourteen?

"Hey, you still know how to do that." Said Reigen as he saw his mom furiously playing with a yo-yo. He remembered that, he and Mob had liberated it from one of his many junk boxes.

"Do you, Taka, that's the question." Said Sophia as she handed her son his yo-yo back. Reigen tried and got it to come back up twice before it decided to give up on him.

"Walking the dog?" asked Sophia clearly kidding.

"I was never that good at this." Said Reigen

"I know. All those hours I spent teaching you, all gone to waste." Said Sophia

"Well, nobody ever got rich doing yo-yo tricks." Said Reigen

"Or being a psychic." Said Sophia

"Mogami made a good living." Said Reigen. He figured that the guy would have, he was famous after all.

"Didn't he hang himself? Don't compare yourself to Mogami, Arataka. You're too old to be idolizing people like that." Said Sophia. Arataka had idolized that man since the first time he caught a rerun of his show. How old had he been, then? Eight? Nine? Pretty young. Well, from that chance flip of the channel came her son's current career…exorcising spirits with a fourteen year old esper.

"I don't idolize him anymore, I just…take inspiration from him for my career. He was crazy successful, before he hung himself that is. Mob's the one who idolizes him, though." said Reigen. He didn't blame her, that was the first person truly like her that she had ever seen.

"She does? I suppose that's your doing, Taka." Said Sophia. Reigen shrugged.

"We were going through some of my moving boxes and she found the DVDs. I think it's good for her, to see someone like her. Mob's got…issues…around her powers. If you see her using them don't ever freak out, it's a confidence killer for her." Said Reigen. Mob wasn't anything other than a human being. Even if she didn't always feel like it. Even if she was pretty up there in power. Even if she didn't scar and could live on four hours of sleep and could grow back her teeth and leave her physical body. She was still human the same as everyone else.

"Arataka, if I haven't freaked out yet then I won't. I have more decorum than that. I know how reserved people are expected to be, here." Said Sophia. It was a very reserved country. Very polite, too. Not that Taka did reserved or polite well. Mobbu did, though, so she was reserved enough for both of them.

"Ok, I'm just making sure. Mob's kind of sensitive, sometimes, that's all." Said Reigen. Mob had enough people in her life who thought that she was a monster, she didn't need any more.

"Her? She seems fine to me." Said Sophia. Not much expression to that girl, not at all like a fourteen year old girl should be. When she was fourteen she had been all big emotions. Yelling, crying, laughing, pouting, all of it. Mobbu seemed so…calm…or bored. She'd believe bored, too.

"Mob has feelings, mom, she just doesn't show them. Once you get to know her better then you'll start to be able to read her." Said Reigen

"So you do intend for me to visit more than once a decade." Said Sophia

"If you stick to the days you say you'll be coming, mom. It's the middle of the week, I'm going to be at work all day and Mob's going to be at school." Said Reigen

"I tried, Taka, I did, but it's hard being, well, not Japanese. I always get the short straw. I'm lucky I got time off at all." Said Sophia. That was one thing that her son should have understood. She knew it was hard for him, back in his school days. It was hard to be different back then, not like it was today. People were much more understanding today.

"Ok but still, I don't think you'll have a great time just hanging out here all day by yourself." Said Reigen. He could understand that. Even when he had been at actual work he was treated differently, being who he was. What he was. Well, it didn't matter anymore because he was his own boss. No more soul crushing office job for him.

"Why don't I just come to your office with you? I could see what else you do. Or is it all courting danger?" asked Sophia. Reigen shrugged.

"I guess you can if you really want to. It's pretty boring. I mostly just rub backs and grate salt all day. The interesting stuff doesn't happen until Mob comes in and even then it's not every day. There aren't that many high level spirits like the one you just saw hanging around." Said Reigen. With luck the worst thing they would get this week was a low level curse. Maybe mom seeing him and Mob in what must have looked like an insane amount of danger hadn't been the best thing for her.

"Thank God. I don't know how you two go and do…that…all the time." Said Sophia. That being coming within an inch of death. That being confronting that which came over from the other side. That being proving that there even is another side.

"It's really nothing, mom. Me and Mob can handle it." Said Reigen. He knew how to do his job. Mom started to play with that yoyo again.

"What do we have to handle?" asked Mob. She had changed and had been trying to get her hair nice again. She had managed to get the leaves and dirt, out, and had brushed it into something nice. Well, something resembling something nice.

"Nothing, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob nodded. Whatever it was they'd handle it later. She watched his mom. She was getting the yo-yo to work, well, better than Master Reigen had when they had found it. He had shelved it, proclaiming it to be broken.

"You got it to work." Said Mob. Sophia stopped for a moment and then handed her the yo-yo.

"It's not that hard. Taka didn't teach you?" asked Sophia. She had spent so much time teaching that boy. All her efforts were for naught!

"No, he said that it was broken." Said Mob

"Well the string is too…long." Said Reigen. Sophia handed Mob the yo-yo. She bounced it up and down a few times before tossing it in the air and dragging it in a circle before letting it come back to her hand. She did that without powers, so it wasn't cheating.

"You sure Taka never taught you?" asked Sophia. Reigen slumped.

"Cheater." Said Reigen sticking his tongue out. Mob made that weird sort of laugh sound she made sometimes. She hardly ever laughed out loud naturally. It was usually just a series of exhales.

"Am not. I didn't use my powers once." Said Mob

"You know, Mobbu, if the exorcist thing doesn't work out you could always go on the professional yo-yo circuit." Said Sophia

"There's a professional yo-yo circuit?" asked Mob. There must have been a professional circuit for everything, then. Not that she would join. She wasn't a big fan of competition.

"Yes and they're jerks. I tried getting on back when I was a kid. I was good, too, but it wasn't meant to be." Said Sophia with a dismissive wave of her hand. Wishes and dreams were for children. You had to make the best of what life gave you because there probably wasn't going to be anything better but there could always be something worse.

"Mom, not more ancient history." Said Reigen. No, he was not listening to the lecture series on all the things that his mother could have been if he had never been born.

"What? I'm just saying that I was good, that's all." Said Sophia. Honestly, Arataka could be so immature sometimes. She had a life before him, it wasn't all about him all the time.

"Can we just get some dinner? I'm starving and so is Mob." Said Reigen. He was not going to fight with his mother. He was a grown man and grown men did not fight with their mothers.

"Ramen time?" asked Mob. Yes. Food. Not just food but ramen. She had spent some of the best times of her life getting ramen with Master Reigen. It was nice. Sometimes she could even pretend that they were together-together. Like they were on a date and she was his girlfriend and they were in actual love together and it was wonderful and then he'd take her home and….stuff. Not that she would ever tell him this. What went on in her head was her own business.

"Ramen time." Said Reigen patting her on the back, his hand lingering for a moment. Mob smiled, a little. He was warm and strong and there and it was wonderful. Reigen pulled away when he felt the butterflies start up. Sophia watched them both. Little intimacies. It had been a few decades but she knew what they looked like.

Please, for the love of our great and merciful loving God, don't let him be sleeping with her.

They walked to the ramen place, mainly because it was close and Mob liked to walk. It was good for cardio. She walked to the left of Master Reigen, his mother walked to the right. After a few steps he put his arm around her as they walked. His hand rested on her arm, his arm rested on her shoulders. He was talking about the merits of this ramen place vs. the one they usually went to. This one went heavy on the broth but the noodles were the best in the city. Mob nodded along as he talked even though she thought that the noodles at the place they usually went to were much better. This place had the better gyoza, though.

Reigen hadn't meant to put his arm around her. He just sort of touched her without realizing it. She didn't mind, though, he would have been able to tell. More butterflies, though, but she couldn't help that. He worked to keep her butterflies from becoming his and it was mostly effective. There were still some, though, stubborn ones. He didn't hold it against her, not at all, this was just something that she couldn't help. She didn't actually have feelings for him, that would be crazy. He was twice her age. She had a boyfriend and was around plenty of guys her own age every day. What would she want with someone like him?

Sophia let her son keep up the conversation all on his own. That was another one of Taka's talents, the boy sure could talk. He had spoken early as a child and the other mothers would ooh and aah over him. The real trick had been getting him to shut up. Even now, at almost twenty nine years old, he could still keep up both ends of the conversation. Mobbu was making little affirmative noises. It seemed like that was all she could make based on how red she was. How could she even turn that color? She was so pale, it was like she hadn't seen the sun in ages and ages. Sophia was filled with questions about her. How had she come to be with Arataka? How did she come to have psychic powers? What was she to Arataka? What was she in general? Human beings could not do what she could do. Sure there had always been stories, wild tales of people who could bend spoons and commune with the dead, but those had always been just that, wild tales. Now she was standing near an actual psychic. Was that what Arataka saw in her? He did always have a need for attention, that boy, and an obsession with the supernatural. Well now the supernatural was real and it wore pink hairclips.

Mob could feel herself being looked at. Oh, Master Reigen's mother was looking past him and right at her. She smoothed down her hair with her powers. Was there more dirt and stuff in it? No, it didn't feel like. That was weird, people didn't usually look at her for very long. Well Tome did, when she had something to say. Mezato, too, when something big was on her mind. Maybe Reigen Sophia had something on her mind. Mob knew that she had a lot on her mind. She wondered why some parents were nice to their kids and some parents weren't. She wondered how parents decided who their favorite kid was. Between her and Ritsu it would so obviously be Ritsu there was no question about it. Master Reigen was an only child but he was the least favorite of both his parents, he said. His mother seemed nice, though, even if she did think that they were lying about being psychics. Master Reigen would never lie about something like that, though. He would only tell little lies to make people feel better. Like how he called massages curse removals. Master Reigen was a good person, he would never lie to her.

Arataka was a good person. Sophia repeated it in her mind like a mantra as they made their way to the ramen place and at down. Arataka was a good person. Her son was a good person. She had raised him right. He was not the sort of person who got into whatever sort of relationship he had gotten into with a middle schooler. Even though he spoke about her like she was the light of his life. Even though he had been cohabiting with her for weeks now. Even though he was constantly touching her in little ways, the little ways that said 'I'm here, I've got you, I love you'. Even though she had heard the girl say 'I love you' to her son clear as day. She must have misunderstood. She had studied classical Japanese in university after all, not contemporary Japanese. They never did come out and say 'I love you' even though they meant it. What she had said roughly translated to 'I really, really like you and care for you greatly' if Sophia knew her Japanese, which she did. He was sitting on the same side of the booth as her. She certainly didn't seem to mind the proximity. She wasn't wholly unexpressive, that girl. Her eyes told their own story. The way they seemed to cloud over when he brushed up against her. The way they would sometimes dart over to him unexpectedly. The little flush that crept across her face occasionally. The girl had it bad, but did Taka share her feelings?

Don't let him be sleeping with her. That was all she asked at that point in her life.

"Mom, what's up?" asked Reigen as he finished slurping up his noodles. Mob passed him a napkin. Right, his mother was there. Table manners time.

"Nothing. I'm just tired, that's all." Said Sophia. She needed to keep an open mind, that was all. If she wanted to keep her son she needed to keep an open mind. She could admit to herself that she had pushed Taka away when he was younger. She was not going to do that again. She was not going to risk losing her only son again.

"Here you go." Said Mob topping off her tea. Was all tea caffeinated or just black tea? Or would coffee have been better? Why did adults like coffee anyway? Teru liked coffee but to her it just tasted like burnt bean water. Now tea was an art form. Of course a poorly made cup of tea was just hot leaf juice, like when Ritsu tried to make tea. This was ok tea, not good but not bad. Maybe she should put a pot of tea on when she got home. Master Reigen loved the way she made tea, he said that it was absolutely perfect.

"Top me off too." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and topped off his cup. Reigen watched his mother out of the corner of his eye. He knew how she was feeling, sort of. Mob was pretty loud but his mother was chewing on something, and not just pork. He knew that face. The wheels in her head were turning about something. He had known her long enough to see the signs of the oncoming storm, like how the sea got really quiet before a tsunami.

"So, how did you two meet?" asked Sophia. It was the tea that did it. Just…the way she poured that tea. Sophia was ok with this. This was obviously someone who Arataka cared about a great deal and who cared for him in return. Her parents were ok with whatever this was so maybe she should be, too. After all, there could be something better but there was usually something worse. It was like that show that was on a few years ago from the states about the brief cases. It was usually best to keep the briefcase you had even if it only had a hundred dollars in it because the next briefcase probably had no money in it at all.

"Huh? I told you, mom, I hired her three years ago." Said Reigen. He knew that he had told his mom this story. He distinctly remembered the conversation. She paused a lot and sounded generally off that day. She sounded like that a lot when he talked about Mob, actually. What was up with that?

"I know but what brought that on? I only got the barebones version of the story." Said Sophia. Three years ago would have been…eleven? Ok, that she was not at all ok with…no. Don't ever think thoughts like that about your son. Taka is a good boy. Obviously their relationship had taken this turn pretty recently.

"One time when I was little I lost control of my powers and accidentally hurt my little brother. I felt sad and kind of lost and lonely and afraid too but I didn't have anyone. I didn't know that there was anyone else like me in the world at all. I used to walk around for hours after school so that I wouldn't bother my family, they're scared of me, and I saw the sign for Spirits and Such. I asked Master Reigen for advice and then I got a job and then we became friends and now we live together. It's very nice. I've never been this happy before in my entire life. That's all there is, there isn't anymore." Said Mob before going back to eating. She felt happy…oh. Master Reigen was using his powers on her. She made him that happy? She was just telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This was the best time in her life. Not only did she have friends and clubs and a life but she also got to live with Master Reigen and see him all the time. This was practically perfect in every way.

"I'm happy too, Mob." Said Reigen. She made him just as happy as he made her. Being lonely was like being a frog in a pot of water. The temperature increased so gradually that you hardly even noticed until you were frog soup. He had been close to being frog soup. She was his best, and possibly only, friend. It was just so nice having her around. Falling asleep next to someone, waking up next to someone, sharing meals with someone, watching TV with someone, even riding the train with someone. Mob was really great company even though she didn't look like it.

"If you're happy then…then I'm happy." Said Sophia after a moment. Arataka was genuinely happy with this girl and he wasn't the type to take advantage of someone. Maybe it was just emotional. Emotional intimacy was a completely different creature than physical intimacy. It was better, in a lot of ways, because there was nothing physical about it. It was worse, too, because a purely physical relationship with that girl would have been understandable but despicable. Base instincts were just that, base. Emotional intimacy meant love and commitment and all the things that adults needed but that girl was too young to give.

"You're using your powers again, Master." Said Mob. Not that she minded but she knew that regular people got scared easily when it came to powers. Reigen Sophia had been scared but now she was better. No need to frighten her any further than she had already been frightened.

"Oh, damn. Sorry." Said Reigen. He could feel his mother's curiosity. Right, that was a conversation that they were going to need to have soon. His powers. The ones that he had awakened when he and Mob and all of those kids almost died.

"It's ok. I can't control mine all the time either." Said Mob trying to make him feel better. She hadn't meant to mess with his powers on that night all those weeks ago. She was just trying to share the energy she was taking in from that black hole. Well, what was done was done.

"So what exactly are your…powers?" asked Sophia. She wondered what Mobbu had meant when she asked Taka what his powers were. She'd ask him about that later, if she could get a moment alone with him. Possibly tomorrow when they went to his work, that is if his work wasn't busy. It was legitimate work, she needed to remind herself of that. She needed to reign in the impulse to devalue what he did even though it barely put bread on the table and was a waste of four years of university tuition.

"Mob doesn't want to talk about-" said Reigen. Mob could be sensitive about her powers. Well, her powers and about a million other things, but especially her powers.

"I can move things without touching them, I can see all kinds of spirits, I can exorcise spirits, I can use telekinesis to make myself fly, I can see and sense auras, I can make plants grow and control them, and I can store and share energy. I might be able to do more things but that's all I know for now." Said Mob simply. She hoped that she wasn't being scary. She hoped that she wasn't making Master Reigen's mother dislike her. Her own mother hated when she asked about or talked about her powers.

"Whoa…" said Sophia. The girl was telling the truth, she had no reason to lie. People with power like that existed. Ok then. What else was real…was Santa Clause real? The Easter Bunny? The Tooth Fairy? Eskimos? Wait, no, they were real and they preferred to be called….Inuit people? First Nations? Ugh! Too much time outside of her home country. The bottom line was that psychics were real, Taka was telling the truth, and he future daughter in law was apparently a very powerful psychic…unless they all had that many powers? Wouldn't it make more sense if the rules were more like…what was the series? Like the X-Men where you had one or two powers. Wait, were there even rules? Who made these rules? How did this happen in the first place? Radiation? Genetics? Chemicals in the food and water? Divine intervention?

"Was that a good 'whoa'?" asked Mob softly

"Yes…it was. I've just never met anyone like you before." Said Sophia. To her surprise Mobbu actually emoted.

"But what about Master Reigen….?" Asked Mob. Did he keep his powers a secret from his mom? Was his mom like her mom? Did she reject him too? Was she afraid of him, too?

"Who's still hungry!?" asked Reigen suddenly. He did not want to get into this here. He didn't plan on telling Mob the truth about him for another few years. She'd be old enough to handle the truth in a few years and he would have had a few years to prepare himself for what was most likely going to be the most unpleasant talk of their lives. Even worse than when she told him how awful her first time had been, and that had been a damned unpleasant talk.

"Can I have gyoza?" asked Mob. She hadn't finished her ramen but she did like gyoza. Master Reigen fished his wallet out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Get me some too." Said Reigen not even bothering to count out the money. Let Mob rob him blind, anything was better than her finding out the truth. He'd come home to find her having run off and spent all of his money on EVA merchandise, manga, and things with cats and pandas on them. Heh. That would be so adorable, actually.

"Yes, Master." Said Mob before getting up and getting in line. Reigen felt his entire body relax. Right, time to talk to mom.

"Mom, listen…this is going to sound ridiculous but Mob thinks that I'm…like her." Said Reigen. How had Mob not noticed, before? She could see auras for God's sake! She must have noticed that he hadn't been hiding his aura for all of those years because he never had one to begin with. Naïve and trusting, Mob's two worst qualities.

"….you can't build a relationship on lies, Taka." Said Sophia after a moment. No. No more lying. Every other word out of the boy's mouth since the day he learned to speak had been a lie.

"I know, mom, I know…but listen…I have something to tell you and I'm going to tell you later, after Mob goes to sleep, because it's big and I don't want to get her involved, ok?" asked Reigen. That was a weird way for mom to phrase it but he would examine that later. The important thing now was to protect Mob from the truth.

"That sounds awfully cryptic, Taka-chan." Said Sophia. She prepared herself for anything, she had to. Whatever it was she would…try really hard…to accept it. She'd try hard to keep an opened mind. She had to.

"It's nothing too bad, mom. I'm not going to prison or involved with the yakuza or anything. It's just something important, ok?" asked Reigen. Mom wouldn't believe him. She'd probably just tell him to stop playing and grow up. But he wasn't playing. He really was a psychic now. His powers just weren't flashy like Mob's and it took an insane amount of concentration and energy to make them flashy.

"I feel like this is going to be something that I would gladly take you being in the yakuza over." Said Sophia. Was he going to tell her the full truth about him and Mobbu? He shouldn't. That was she could have still clung to the hope that maybe her son wasn't dating a girl half his age.

"Well it's not. It's…it's a very long story and there are parts that you aren't going to like but it's something that I think you ought to know. Ok? But it's nothing bad…and it has a happy ending." Said Reigen looking over towards Mob briefly. Yeah, that whole night had been hell but they had made it out through the other side. He got powers and she got…she got to change. She was more confident now, a little bit. A little more assertive, and she had dropped the whole pacifist thing too which was a load off of his mind.

"It has to do with you and Mobbu, doesn't it?" asked Sophia. Yup. A confession. He wasn't sleeping with her, though, he couldn't have been. If he was than they would have changed in the same room…unless that was for her benefit. But no, Taka would never do something like that. She had not raised her son to be that sort of man. Then again did anyone raise their son to be that sort of man? Children rarely turned out the way you expected them to. She knew that Mobbu must not have turned out how her parents expected, and not just the whole having what were essentially superpowers thing. She just felt off. She didn't act or feel fourteen. Maybe that was what Taka saw in her.

"It does, but it's nothing bad, I promise." Said Reigen. Mom was saying it weird. She was…suspicious…about something. But what? Could she think that…no! This was his mother, his own mother. It was one thing for random people on the internet to get the wrong idea, people were so empty headed they'd believe anything, but this was his mother. She knew that he would never take advantage of Mob like that. He was not that kind of man. He could never think about her…like that. The thought of him thinking of Mob as a potential sexual partner makes him want to stand in the middle of the nearest four way intersection and say goodbye to the world. No. Mom would never think that he would be capable of something like that.

"Bad is a subjective term, Arataka." Said Sophia simply. Well, it wasn't bad to him. He didn't need to tell her, she could put two and two together. She was ok with this. She had to be ok with this. She had to try as hard as she could to be ok with this.

"Ok, fine, it's subjective, but it's not bad news. Ok? Nobody died, the world didn't end, and diet soda still has that funny aftertaste." Said Reigen

"How is the funny aftertaste not a bad thing, Taka?" asked Sophia resisting the urge to stick out her tongue. Diet soda? Why not just drink from the river?

"Because it lets you know when they gave you diet. That sugar substitute they use rots your brain." Said Reigen. He was pretty sure that it was true. Either way he only drank soda with the most natural of sugars.

"Better the pancreases than the brain I suppose." Said Sophia. That boy was going to end up weighing a thousand pounds the way he carried on. How he could stay so skinny was beyond her.

"Yeah, I'd rather lose my entire endocrine system." Said Reigen. His brain was his greatest asset. If he couldn't think on his feet then who knows what kind of shithole he would have ended up in. Nope. He was doing great for himself, he was a successful business owner and was on his way to becoming an internet notable.

"What about your heart?" asked Sophia suddenly. She glanced at Mobbu out of the corner of her eye. My that was a long line. Oh. Someone was arguing over prices. Such a patient girl. At fourteen Sophia would have just told that guy to take his complaints and shove them.

"My heart?" asked Reigen. Great. This conversation. 'Arataka, when are you going to get married.' 'Arataka, where are my grandkids.' 'Arataka so and so's son just got married, you'd better get on that.'

"Would you lose it…or did you give it away?" asked Sophia. Did he love the girl or not. What was this? What was it between the two of them?

"I gave it away a long time ago." Said Reigen. She knew full well that he had sworn off relationships after the last time. She had seen him picking up the pieces of his heart. He had given it away four too many times. Never again.

"Well, at least it's not lost." Said Sophia. So he did love her. That was…something. It was good, it was bad, it was something. A thing. A thing that happened. A thing that happened a long time ago. When? What time constituted a long time ago?

"Yeah, it's sitting in a lost and found somewhere." Said Reigen sarcastically. Found, one taped together heat, gently used. Someone take it off my hands.

"Someone would want it." Said Sophia. Mobbu. His Mobbu. That girl. That girl had found and kept her son's heart and Sophia knew that she should have been over the moon that Arataka had finally picked himself back up again after all of his romantic failings. She should have been and would have been had the girl in question not been, well, a fourteen year old girl.

"I guess someone at some point would." Said Reigen with a shrug. He knew that he needed to get back out there and find some companionship that wasn't Mob's. He just didn't want to. It was just so nice, so simple, and so easy with Mob. She never asked for more than he was willing to give. She never pushed him away or pulled away. She was always there for him. She had seen him at his most vulnerable and shown herself at her most vulnerable. She didn't know if he could get that with someone else. He didn't know if he wanted that with someone else.

"The line wasn't long, that man just complained a lot. Here you go." Said Mob as she put the gyoza down and sat next to Master Reigen. She looked at them both. Something was up with the atmosphere. As she scooted in her bag hit her leg. Why was it so heavy? Oh, right. She blushed and handed Master Reigen his wallet back.

"Thanks Mob." Said Reigen. He opened it up and briefly counted his money. Of course Mob wouldn't rob him blind. He paid her plenty, anyway, especially since she was getting half of their book royalties when it went to print. What was she so embarrassed about then? Oh. Right. His wallet. Well, it wasn't like they didn't know these things about each other. It wasn't like they wanted to know these things about each other either.

"You're welcome." Said Mob quietly as she began to eat. She tried not to feel jealous. She had no right to feel jealous. He was with other people and so was she and they weren't even a couple anyway. Maybe it was just how…real…that made it seem. Same brand she used, too. Not that she wanted to dwell on this. She ate quickly enough to give herself a stomach ache. Anything to distract from the growing jealousy in the pit of her stomach.

Sophia ate quickly. Anything to distract from the growing dread in the pit of her stomach. Whatever Arataka had to tell her she would take it like a man…or rather woman. She had to at least listen and then try really hard to accept whatever it was that he had to say. She had no other choice, did she?

Reigen ate quickly, but that was normal for him. This was really great food. He focused on that and not the feeling of Mob being jealous or the feeling of his mom doing that thing where she chewed and she chewed and she chewed on something until she came to the worst conclusion possible. He hated it when she did that. They would probably end up fighting. If today's exorcism freaked her out then the whole thing with Claw would give her a heart attack. He had almost died. No mother wanted to hear that. He had come out the other side with psychic powers, maybe that would end up softening the blow somewhat.

On the walk home Reigen once again filled the atmosphere with chatter. He talked about nothing at all really but Mob still listened and made affirmative noises at times. To anyone else she would have been zoned out but he knew that she was paying attention. She always payed attention when he spoke. He liked that about her. His arm was around her shoulders again. She leaned into him. Neither of them minded the gesture of affection. His mom was still giving him the side eye, though. Maybe he had been too cryptic. Mob ran ahead when they had gotten to their building. She was such a kid sometimes. He heard her shoes slapping against the metal of the stairs. He followed her at a more reasonable pace. His mother followed behind him.

She looked young then, Sophia thought. Mobbu looked young when she raced up the stairs like that. She could look young when she wanted to. She mostly looked ageless. Puppy fat in her face marked her as being young but the sheer lack of expression on that face made her ageless. She carried herself like an adult, too, Sophia decided. Well, she mostly did. She was at the in between stage of life. Not a girl but not a woman. Not a child. That was the important part. Arataka was a good person, she reminded herself of that. She reminded herself of that as she climbed the stairs. She reminded herself of that as she reached the third floor. She reminded herself of that as she walked through the doorway. She reminded herself of that as Mobbu and Arataka went to separate rooms to change into pajamas. She reminded herself of that as she sat on the world's hardest couch and lit a cigarette. She reminded herself of that when she was joined on that couch by her son, who also decided to have a cigarette. She reminded herself of that as the TV turned itself on, a remote jumped into her hand, and Mobbu joined them on the couch in a floor length white nightgown with lace at the sleeves, collar, and hem. Her hair was in her eyes, now, because it had been freed from her hairclips. The nightgown made her younger, the hair made her older.

She reminded herself of that fact for hours as the vegged out in front of the TV. She had put on the movie network. It was a Japanese dub of some American blockbuster she hadn't even seen in English yet. Nobody said much. At some point Mobbu had laid down and rested her head in Arataka's lap. He alternated between running a hand though her hair and up and down her back. By the time the movie was over she was noticeably drowsy.

"I'm tired now, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Master, goodnight Reigen Sophia." Said Mob. She had been so comfortable then. She didn't really know what she had been watching and she didn't care, she just cared about who she had been watching it with. It was different than when she and Teru watched movies. They cuddled too but she never got sleepy. She never had the chance. It was nice with Master Reigen. He knew just how to rub her back and her hair to get her so relaxed that even the other Shigeko could be calm for a minute.

"Night Mob! Try not to wake my mom up when you get up." Said Reigen. Right. Mob only needed about four hours of sleep now, didn't she? She had been sleeping less and less but didn't feel exhausted. Maybe she was going through a powers growth spurt or something. Either way mom would not appreciate being woken up…when did Mob get up even? Around four or so, probably. Nobody enjoyed getting up that early unless they had to.

"Goodnight Mobbu! It was nice meeting you!" said Sophia. She looked young then, too. It was the nightgown. That style was best suited for the newly bred and the almost dead, and Mobbu was far too young to be the almost dead.

"You say it weird." Said Reigen after Mob shut the door. He lit himself another cigarette. He really should smoke around Mob less, it wasn't good for her.

"What? Her name?" asked Sophia. She did not need Japanese lessons from her own son.

"Yeah, you put a lot of emphasis on the end. It's Mob." Said Reigen. Not that Mob seemed to mind, but then again there was very little that Mob minded.

"I know how to speak Japanese, Taka-chan." Said Sophia. Reigen raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Ok, ok. I give up." Said Reigen. Right, don't ever correct mom's Japanese even if you were a native speaker and she learned from books twenty something years ago.

"So, you had something cryptic to tell me?" asked Sophia. Might as well rip off this Band-Aid now and get it over with. Arataka was a good person and she would love him no matter what.

"Yeah…uh…let's go outside." Said Reigen, his eyes darting towards the door. He let his aura touch Mob's. Nope, still awake. He didn't want to talk about what happened in front of her. He was barely over it and he was an adult. She was just a kid, she didn't need to be reminded of the fact that she had almost died, like, a lot.

"It just keeps getting more and more cryptic." Muttered Sophia as she followed her son out the door and onto the balcony. Well at least the apartment wouldn't smell any more like cigarettes than it already did.

"Ok…listen…you're going to want to freak out but you shouldn't. OK? This is going to sound much worse than it is." Said Reigen. He felt like a kid again, asking her not to be mad at him when he had royally fucked up.

"Arataka just tell me. Whatever it is just tell me." Said Sophia. Ok. Whatever this was she would remain calm. She would be calm and they would talk about whatever it was like the mature adults that they were. Whatever it was, and she knew full well what it was, would not tear them apart. She was here to mend the bond between them and get back into her son's life. If getting back into her son's life meant accepting his fourteen year old girlfriend then so be it.

"This is going to sound completely insane but I need you to believe me." Said Reigen. It did sound insane. An evil organization trying to take over the world? Him getting powers? It all sounded like something out of an anime.

"Arataka just drop the guillotine already!" said Sophia. She was prepared to hear it. 'Mom, Mobbu is my girlfriend.' There. Not difficult to say. Just drop the guillotine already.

"Mom, I want to but I…I don't want you to freak out." Said Reigen. He knew that he should just drop the guillotine already, their old phrase for when he had royally fucked up, but he didn't want to see either of them bleed. She couldn't just wipe off her neck and leave after hearing that her son had almost died. It would kill her. He always knew just how to kill her.

"This hemming and hawing is already getting me freaked out. Just say it." Said Sophia quickly losing her patience. Reigen could feel it, her annoyance, her apprehension, and he was making it his. Words were beginning to fail him.

"I have psychic powers!" said Reigen suddenly. He retreated fully into Mob's aura. She was asleep now, mostly. Anything to keep from feeling what was causing his mother to make that face. She looked shocked but she was slowly turning colors. She settled on a shade of something between a red and a purple. He could feel her emotions slamming up against him but he knew that he couldn't retreat further into Mob without waking her up. He braced himself for whatever it was. To his surprise she began not to yell but to laugh. She laughed loud and deep, her cigarette falling from her mouth and rolling under the railing and off the side of the building. He watched the bright end of it disappear as it hit the ground. He watched her for a little while, fearing that he had finally driven her insane like she had always said that he would.

"Alright, I'm done. So, what did you really want to tell me?" Said Sophia. Once the rage passed it had been a funny icebreaker. Now she had no more rage left for when he actually confessed to being in whatever he and Mobbu were in.

"That was it." Said Reigen. She didn't believe him and he didn't blame her. Between his history of lying through his teeth to her at any given opportunity and the fact that what he just said sounded ridiculous he didn't blame her, he couldn't blame her.

"Arataka, be serious." Said Sophia with a groan. No. No more of this.

"I am being serious." Said Reigen sounding a bit like his younger self. That whiny, angry, younger version of himself.

"No, you're being your usual self. Taka, just tell me whatever it is you wanted to tell me. I'm losing my patience." Said Sophia in a tone that she had many a cause to use all those years ago when her son was young.

"Mom, that's exactly what I wanted to tell you. For once in my life I'm not lying to you." Said Reigen. he could feel her, feel her growing annoyance and anger, he tried his best to shrug it off.

"Taka-chan, come off it. If you had psychic powers, and I'm willing to admit that there are people in this world with psychic powers, I would have noticed. I carried you for nine months, I gave birth to you, I raised you!" said Sophia. He was too old to be pretending to be the Great Reigen Arataka. She dug her nails into her palms. She was tired of this, of him acting like this. She had dealt with it for eighteen years until he moved out. She was not dealing with it again.

"And what a great job you did there!" said Reigen unable to keep back the anger anymore. She raised him? Was that was she was calling it?

"Well you didn't make it easy on me, now did you?" asked Sophia, trying not to raise her voice. He had been a trial but the trial should have been adjourned by now! He was a grown man and it was time to put these things away!

"You're the one who didn't make it easy on me! Do you have any idea what it was like? What it was like growing up in that house?" asked Reigen. Feeling like nobody, like nothing. The constant screaming. The constant breaking things. His parents coming to blows some nights, him trying not to see, to hear, to be there. Sitting there under his covers feeling like nobody and nothing.

"Yes because I was living there too! Taka, I did my best. I moved to this country to have you! I moved to a foreign country with a man a barely knew because of you!" said Sophia. Everything that she had done had been for him and he had never even given her so much as a thank you.

"I didn't ask you to, mom! I didn't ask to be here, you know…" said Reigen. Not this again. Fine she had moved to Japan for him, that was before he had even been born! And even after he had been born he was a baby, he would have been happy living anywhere! She did not need to start ranting and raving about her self-imposed exile to Japan. She was almost fifty. If she was so damned unhappy where she was then she needed to up and move herself to where she could be happy. It worked out well enough for him.

"But you are here and I did my best. You couldn't have met me half way?" asked Sophia rubbing her eyes. He couldn't have stopped for just one day. Just been what she wanted him to be? She knew what was best. He could have saved himself so much pain throughout the years if he had just **listened** to her.

"Half way? I was the kid and you were the adult! There was no half way. You were supposed to take care of me!" said Reigen. How many times had he woken up to an empty house and come home to an empty house? How many of his dad's 'you are the worst son imaginable' lectures had he sat through? How many times had he sat in a room and just had everyone looked right fucking **through** him because they were too wrapped up in their own problems to even remember that they had a son?

"You were supposed to behave, Arataka! You were supposed to listen! Whatever I said you did the direct opposite! It was like it was a personal challenge for you to defy me! And your father!" said Sophia. Half of all arguments in her marriage had something to do with Arataka. His grades, his attitude, when he was young. It got a thousand times worse when he started middle school. Then the drinking, smoking, sneaking out, and sleeping around had started. At that point her husband had decided that enough was enough and decided to have a second chance at a family. Not that she fully blamed Taka. She should have made more of an effort for him.

"Don't bring up dad…" said Reigen. No. He had no desire to speak about the man who donated half of his DNA twenty eight years ago. None. Dad was not his fault.

"Fine, I won't bring up the fact that-" said Sophia. The fact that Arataka hadn't exactly been a model son. The fact that he seemed to hell bent on fanning whatever flames were there.

"Dad was not my fault! It's not my fault he's an asshole!" said Reigen much too loudly. Right. Neighbors. He lived in a building and there were people living all around him. Mob, too. She didn't need to hear this.

"I never said that it was…" said Sophia. Her husband had been an asshole, nobody in the entire nation of Japan would argue against that. She would never blame Taka for that. He had been an asshole, too, even back when they met. She had just been too young and too stupid to see it. That was why she wanted Taka to find happiness in someone. He deserved better than what she had gotten. He deserved a better life than the one she had made for herself.

"It sounded like you were about to." Said Reigen much more quietly. Well fine then. She blamed him for everything else in her life she might as well blame him for dad, too.

"Well I wasn't." said Sophia crossing her arms.

"Then what were you about to say?" asked Reigen

"What happened with your father was not your fault. He's a selfish man who only thinks about himself. I just meant that you butted heads with him, too, and it didn't make it an easier on either of us. Ok? You have a tendency to make things more difficult." Said Sophia. He didn't cause the situation but he certainly had a tendency to exacerbate the situation.

"Yeah, for you, you mean." Said Reigen bitterly. He did not make it harder for them. They were the adults and he was the kid. It was there job to take care of them.

"For yourself, Arataka. You make things more difficult for yourself." Said Sophia crossly. He loved to drop that guillotine on himself, didn't he? He gave up a good job with growth potential for, what, exactly? Putting himself into danger for a few thousand yen?

"How? How in the hell am I making things more difficult? I'm doing great!" said Reigen. He and Mob were doing better than ever. They were getting more popular, they were making money, everything was great.

"You left your job, a good job, with stability. Arataka, this isn't stable. The way you live is not stable." Said Sophia

"It's plenty stable, mom! I pay all my bills and I've been in the black for two months in a row." Said Reigen

"Two months? Taka, no. You shouldn't live on the edge like that…I wanted better for you." Said Sophia. Only two months? She may not have been living like a queen but she was never not in the black.

"What could be better? Mom, I'm happy." Said Reigen. He was happier than he had ever been in his life. He didn't live like the emperor but he had a home and someone who cared about him. He had enough money to function and have fun and someone who was there to have fun with him. What more could a man ask for in life?

"Happiness isn't everything, Arataka. There are the things you want to do and the things you need to do." Said Sophia. A life spent chasing happiness would be a hollow one because happiness was fleeting by nature. The only true happiness came from stability and Arataka was not living stably.

"It's the same thing, mom. I want the things which I need and those things make me happy. I'm not going back to an office, ok? I'm not going to work eighteen hours a day for a company and then die at my desk at forty five." Said Reigen. He was not cut out to be that sort of man and he didn't want to ever try again.

"You're catastrophizing, Arataka. Nobody said that you had to die at your desk I just…I want you to have a stable life. I love you, Taka, and I always will. I want you to have stability because for all the happiness you have now the wind could change at any time. I just…I don't want anything to happen to you. You're older now, Taka. You're a grown man and you can take care of yourself but…but it's not just you anymore, is it?" asked Sophia. The anger she had felt went as fast as it came. She reached over and took her son's hand.

"…Mob and I are fine." Said Reigen. Mob was up, now. He was back in her aura. He needed to get better control over his powers, otherwise how could he teach her? He had taken his mother's anger, made it his own, and thrown it back at her. Negative feedback loop.

"For now, but you do have to support her and she deserves stability, doesn't she?" asked Sophia, a chalky taste filling her mouth as she spoke. She had to appeal to something that he cared about and she was the thing he cared about most, from what she had seen.

"Mom, I'm just about the only stable thing in her entire fucking life…" said Reigen. Mob needed him and he did provide her with stability, the stability she needed. She hardly ever caused accidents with her powers these days, and she was happier, too. He was good for her.

"Then be stable for her. Two months in the black isn't stable, Taka. I just…I don't want you to wake up at almost fifty and realize that you've royally messed your life up and there's no time to fix it." Said Sophia

"Are you talking about me or you?" asked Reigen

"Both of us. In you is a world of promise, Arataka. You could…you should learn from all my failures." Said Sophia

"So you think I'm a failure." Said Reigen

"No, I just think you like to think that you always know best. You focus so much on what you want that you're blind to what you need." Said Sophia

"Mom, are you talking about me or you?" asked Reigen

"Both of us, Taka, both of us." Said Sophia

"Mom…why do you have to be like this?" asked Reigen

"Like what? What am I like, Taka? Like a mother. Like a mother who cares about her son and wants him to be able to provide for himself and his family?" asked Sophia

"Family? Mom, no. Not this again. I-" said Reigen

"I'm not blind, Taka, or deaf. I see how you are with her. You care about her, Taka. I've never seen you like that with anyone in my entire life." said Sophia

"Mom…what are you implying?" asked Reigen, his eyes narrowing. No…not his own mother, too.

"Is there something to imply?" asked Sophia simply.

"No, mom, there isn't." said Reigen with an air of finality. No. There was nothing about it that needed to be debated. He and Mob were not a couple. There.

"So there's nothing at all to imply?" asked Sophia. She had eyes. She knew people and she knew how her son was with Mobbu. She didn't…she wasn't one hundred percent about it but she was trying her best.

"For fuck's sake no! I can't believe you would even think that I'm capable of-!" said Reigen. What kind of man did she think he was? Mob was **fourteen**! Laws be damned him being with her was not right. Not right at all.

"I'm trying to keep an open mind here." Said Sophia trying to sound diplomatic. She needed to try to meet him halfway at least. Maybe then he could meet her halfway and they could have something akin to peace between the two of them.

"Well close it! Close it up tight, lock the door, and swallow the key because there is nothing at all to imply!" said Reigen. Open mind? For the love of God she actually thought that he was capable of something like that!

"Stop lying to me! I see how you two are together." Said Sophia. She would not be lied to by her own son anymore. She said that she was trying. What more could be possibly ask for?

"Well then you need to get your eyes examined, mom, because I would never, ever, take advantage of Mob. She's Mob! Theirs is no way in hell that I would ever-! And why would you even get that idea? " said Reigen

"You touch her all the time, Taka. Do I need to keep a running tally? I see the little intimacies between you two. You don't even realize that you're doing it half the time, right? You just find yourself touching her, you find yourself with that need to be beside her? I'm not stupid, Taka, and I'm not naïve. I'm trying to keep an opened mind and make more of an effort to accept you for who you are, I really am, because the last thing I want in life it to lose my only son." Said Sophia

"You know what I meant. You know damned well what I meant…" said Reigen. He would never, ever, take advantage of Mob like that. Ever. He'd die first.

"I never said that you were sleeping with her." Said Sophia knowing what her son was getting at. She had never even brought it up. That was him.

"For fuck's sake-" said Reigen

"Stop cursing, Taka." Said Sophia

"Seriously? You just accuse me of taking advantage of Mob and you're going to lecture me about my language?" asked Reigen. He had just been accused of taking advantage of Mob, his Mob, by his own mother! He was entitled to speak his mind!

"I never said that you were taking advantage of her and I never said that you were sleeping with her. I said that you loved her." Said Sophia

"Yeah, fine, I love her. Of course I love her, she's my best friend. She'd always there for me and I'm always there for her. I saved her life, mom, and she saved mine. You don't stare death down for someone you don't love." Said Reigen

"You're hyperbolizing." Said Sophia with a sigh. There they were, the dramatics.

"No, mom, I'm really not." Said Reigen seriously.

"Then explain it to me, Taka, because it sounded like the two of you were in a position where you almost died." Said Sophia

"You've seen us work, mom." Said Reigen

"….I had tried to convince myself that you two knew what you were doing…I mean she is an actual psychic…" said Sophia

"It wasn't a job…" said Reigen quietly

"What do you mean?" asked Sophia

"It wasn't a job….it was a rescue mission." Said Reigen quietly

"Well now you're definitely going to need to do some heavy duty explaining. Start from the beginning because I feel like there's a real story here." Said Sophia

"There is." Said Reigen

"A true story?" asked Sophia

"I would never lie about this." Said Reigen

"Then get on with it." Said Sophia

"Ok…about two months ago Mob's little brother was kidnapped-" said Reigen

"What?! Kidnapped! By who? What happened?" asked Sophia

"I was getting to that part, mom, ok? I just need you to listen." Said Reigen

"Ok, I'm sorry. I'll listen, Arataka." Said Sophia

"Ok. So he got kidnaped. He's an esper, too, but he was going through this teenage asshole phase. Well, I think he still might be going through it and I have no clue when it's going to end and Mob says that it doesn't bother her but I can tell that it does because the kid did say and do some unforgivable things but I have to forgive him because he's only thirteen and his parents certainly aren't winning any parenting awards but it's hard because he's not good to Mob and she's so good to everyone and-" said Reigen

"Taka-chan, breathe." Said Sophia

"Right. Sorry. Anyway, he's kind of a late bloomer and decided to use his powers to be an asshole and that got him a lot of attention from people that really shouldn't have been paying attention to him. Anyway he got kidnapped by an esper, an adult esper, and Mob tried to stop him but she…oh God…she held back and her brother got kidnapped and it's all my fault because I'm the one who told her to never use her powers against another human being and then she leaned about pacifism and she got on this pacifism kick and…God, she got so hurt-" said Reigen

"Arataka. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale." Said Sophia

"Thanks. So he got kidnapped and apparently Mob…the thing about Mob is that…Mob can't always control her powers. That's why she came to me, you know? There's another part of her, and it is another part, that is…I think it may be her powers. Or maybe accidentally hurting her brother broke something inside her mind but it's like…another personality. That personality came out and apparently, and this is what Mob said, she almost peeled that esper like a grape…Mob's words, by the way. She was so cornered…she was so cornered and I wasn't there…" said Reigen

"Taka…" said Sophia

"I wasn't there! I wasn't there and she…she had to be! She was in a fire, mom! She smelled like smoke! She could have died! She could have been killed! Those deranged misfits were totally going to kill a bunch of middle schoolers!" said Reigen

"What do you mean? Arataka, who was going to kill a bunch of middle schoolers?" asked Sophia, her hand somehow grasping the railing so hard that she could have broken it off like a dead tree branch. She knew that there were people like that in the world, there always had been and always would be. Taka had…Taka had saved Mobbu from those sorts of people…

"The called themselves Claw. The seventh division of what is, apparently, a massive organization dedicated to taking over the world with psychic powers….and they kidnap kids to do it…and Mob stopped them…I stopped them…" said Reigen. six other divisions. No. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Mob was strong. You've known this for years. You've held her powers in your hands. You've held her power in **her** hands. You've been her. She'll be fine.

"She stopped them with her powers…" said Sophia. She hadn't even thought about what the girl was capable of, against people that is…and there were more of her…more people with power like hers.

"Yeah. Well, no. I saved her. If I hadn't come when I did she would have died. Heh. Thank God those guys were so spineless…so stupid. I walk up with a little confidence and they think I'm the big boss….heh." said Reigen. if he had been even a few minutes too late what could have happened to her? Powerless. She had been powerless. She had been brought down to normal and he had saved her.

"Well you saved her…that's the important part." Said Sophia after a moment as she tried to process what he just said. He had saved that girl from…supervillains? It sounded like some kind of supervillain, Saturday morning cartoon plot.

"I almost didn't…mom…mom she was covered in cuts and bruises and she…she smelled like smoke…and oh God there was so much blood…and the laughing…and the screaming…" said Reigen

"But you saved her." Said Sophia

"I didn't get there fast enough. There was this…room. This white room that cancelled out powers I guess. Mom…we see things differently. There are so many colors, colors you can't see. It's not just colors…it's like…lt's like a sort of meta-perception. Mob was born with it and having it taken away…she lost her mind for a little bit. She was on the ground and screaming and laughing and…I think that might have even been the other her…maybe…or maybe they merged…the point is that I wasn't there." Said Reigen

"Taka, you **were** there, that's what counts. Anything could have happened to her but you saved her. **You**, Arataka, nobody else." Said Sophia

"But I almost didn't! I almost…I almost let her die. I almost died…if she hadn't given me her powers I could have died…and she didn't even **know** what she was doing…but she did and…and I didn't beat them all but she was ready to…I told…I told her so many times to just **run away** but she can be such a **stubborn brat** sometimes…and she just wouldn't run and she…she decided to fight and she **hates** fighting…but she doesn't anymore and she's so…God mom she's so different, sometimes. She's less…she less afraid of things….I guess…." Said Reigen. Mob was different, or maybe he had just not spent enough time with her to know how stubborn she could be. How reckless she could be.

"Arataka….you're alive. I'm just so damned happy that you're alive." Said Sophia pulling her son in for a long overdue hug. It took Reigen a moment to hug his mother back. The feeling of being hugged by her was so old it had become unfamiliar, like a pair of shoes you found in the back of your closet and tried on after God knows when. She let him go after a moment.

"I'm alive and I…Mob shared a lot of power with me. Like a lot, a lot. I don't even think she fully realized what she was doing. I kind of have powers, now, but nothing anywhere near her level. That's probably what that fight was about earlier. I can feel the feelings of others, not just identifying but actually feeling, and I can make other people feel what I'm feeling…it's a pretty crappy power as far as powers go but it's mine." Said Reigen. Sophia stared at him. There wasn't a single trace of a lie anywhere on his face. He was telling the truth. Her son, the great psychic. Well then….

"I accept this about your life, Taka. I believe you." Said Sophia. What else could she do? This was her son's world, now, and who was she to reject him over it. Those days were over. She had to make the best out of what she had.

"And do you believe me when I say that there is nothing going on between me and Mob." Said Reigen

"No, I won't, because that's a lie. You're lying to yourself, Taka." Said Sophia

"Mom! I would never take advantage of her. She's **fourteen**." Said Reigen

"You made that part perfectly clear, Taka, and I thank our kind and merciful Lord for that fact, but I have seen you two together. The way you speak to each other, the way you look at each other. You can have love without sex, Taka, just like you can have sex without love." Said Sophia. She hadn't even spent twenty four hours with the two of them and she could see the love that they shared. It was weird, really weird, but it could have been a lot worse. He could have been sleeping with her. Hell, he could have been married to her. This was…this was the least awful that it could be.

"…I don't feel that way about Mob. I **can't** feel that way about Mob. She's just a kid…sort of. I don't know. She's getting older but she's still such a kid sometimes. It's a moot point anyway because she has a boyfriend, mom, and she really likes this kid. I think he's possessive and jealous but it's not my place to tell her who to and not to date. Ok? So Mob and I couldn't…even I wanted to." Said Reigen. What his mother had proposed was the most asinine thing he had ever heard. There was no way that he and Mob could ever work as a couple. There was no way because…because he didn't have those feelings for her. He couldn't. He couldn't let himself.

"She does? Her? That girl in there?" asked Sophia motioning back into the apartment. Well, you'd think that would be something that would have come up in conversation…not that Mobbu was good at those, apparently.

"She does. She's happy with him. Well, happy-ish…but that is not something I want to dive into, especially with my own mother. None of my business. Just know that she's happy and has someone and I'm happy for her. Oh, and don't go digging around in that area of her life, mom, she's got a tendency to overshare…severely." Said Reigen. He did not need to know about those parts of Mob's life but he did. She was comfortable enough with him to share those parts of her life with him and he could give her advice and listen to her troubles because he did not have feelings for her. If he, hypothetically did, then he would be jealous. There.

"Duly noted. I guess that I was wrong." Said Sophia even though she knew that she wasn't. Still, this changed things. Taka wasn't ready to admit it to himself, which was a good thing, because that meant that she had raised a son who **didn't** date teenage girls...this had become a legitimate concern for her in her life…..

"Yeah, you were. Mom, I'm almost thirty years old, of course I don't have feelings for Mob. She's in middle school!" said Reigen. So what if he spent a large-ish portion of his day thinking about her. So what if he looked forward to when he could see her again and time seemed to drag on forever when they were apart. So what if he couldn't help but run the occasional hand through her hair or rest it on her back, she was soft and warm and **there**. So what if she was the only other human being in this world that he could call a friend, everyone needed someone. So what if he needed her, she needed him, too. They needed each other.

"…she won't be in middle school forever…" said Sophia more to herself than to him. Eventually the girl would grow up, and then where would that leave them? She knew Arataka, she knew how he could be. She knew how he did the things he did, all the things he did, because for some strange reason he didn't think that he was someone. This girl made him feel like someone. He had started doing the psychic thing when he met her, an actual psychic. Sophia decided to cross that bridge when she came to it.

"I know….I know she's going to grow up, mom, but she'll still be Mob. No matter how old she gets she'll still be Mob and she'll….one day she'll leave me behind." Said Reigen

"Maybe she will and maybe she won't. You don't know that, Arataka." Said Sophia, putting a comforting hand on her son's back. What she was comforting him about she wasn't quite sure of. She didn't want him to have feelings for Mobbu but he did. She didn't want him to get torn up over this, she wanted to spare him the pain of it all. That was her job as his mother after all, to keep him safe.

"She's got to leave me behind…she promised forever, well more like she told me that she wanted forever, but she can't…she can't…I ruin everything I touch and I know that I'm going to end up ruining her. She's just…she's just so good and I'm nothing like her. I love…I love her so much…I adore her…and I wish that I knew why…why me? Why is she so attached to me? What does…what does she see in me? I have no clue. I just can't get a clue…" asked Reigen. Word vomit. It was like he had gone to a cheap all you can eat sushi buffet, stuffed his pockets with sushi for later, forgotten about it, and then ate the pocket sushi for lunch later.

"You're not going to ruin her, Taka. You're…you're good for her…from what you told me about her life. I like her…I really like Mobbu…and I'm glad she's in your life." said Sophia because, well, what else could she say? She wanted Taka to be happy and…and he had gotten himself into an emotional mess. She was his mother, she had to at least be there for him though this. What else could she do?

"I'm sorry…it's just…I don't talk about this, mom." Said Reigen. He really didn't. Not about Claw and not about how he felt about Mob. He was just too attached, that was all. He had, at some point, gotten much too attached to her.

"I can see that…and I'm sorry I pushed you to this, Arataka. I shouldn't have…I'm sorry. I didn't want to upset you. I'm tired of upsetting you. I promise that I will…try…to support you in whatever you do." Said Sophia

"But you still think me and Mob are-" said Reigen

"I think that you're both good for each other. You don't die for just anyone, Taka." Said Sophia. Her son had almost died for that girl. Her son…her only son…she had almost lost her only son.

"I know, mom, I know…." Said Reigen. Mob wasn't just anyone. She was someone good, someone who knew exactly who she was and who she wanted to be. She was someone who was incapable of any sort of lying or deception. Someone who spoke her mind, when she did speak. Someone who almost died and instead of coming home and breaking down had decided to enjoy her life and vowed to defend herself and the people she loved. She was stronger than him in some ways. She was somebody. She made him somebody.

And that was why he loved her.


	33. No Escaping the Positive Feedback Loop

Mob woke up when it was still dark out, but that was normal for her. She needed less and less sleep these days. Maybe one day she wouldn't need sleep ever again. She could get so much done if she didn't need to sleep! She could get her homework done, study, or just watch TV and read manga and find newer and funnier cat videos. But then again she liked sleep, it was relaxing, and she needed all the relaxation she could get after last night.

She sat up and looked over towards Master Reigen. He was still asleep. He was on his side facing her. There was a trail of drool down the side of his face. He had kicked off his blanket in the night. Mob sat up and pulled his blanket over him, with her hands and not her powers. She smoothed it down, that was what she told herself, and she put it over his back and shoulders. She let her hands linger of his shoulders for a moment. Broad, broader than Teru's. She wondered what it would be like to wrap her arms around his shoulders, to kiss him and have him pull her tight. To have him lower her down onto his bed and…

She pulled away from him. She was smiling now, sort of, and shifting a little bit. Right. They had been asleep. Their auras always merged when they slept. No boundaries between the two of them. She wondered if they could ever visit each other in dreams. Maybe, but she hardly ever dreamt. When she did dream she dreamt of….things that he had rather not know about. Things that she would rather him not know about. What was wrong with her? Sometimes it seemed like it was all she could think about. Maybe that was just part of growing up. They said at school that thinking about boys was normal but she thought about it excessively, she decided. She'd have to put a stop to it!

Or cut back. Yeah, cutting back sounded better. She needed to think of other things, like what if the ocean was boiling hot? And what if cats had wings? If the ocean was boiling hot then it would be like hot pot all the time but not in a good way because, well, after they ate all the fish then the oceans would be dead and then there would be all kinds on environmental problems and then who knew what could happen?

Also cats would be much cuter with wings, angel wings, because they were like little angels.

There, she had thought about something other than crawling into that bed with Master Reigen and…stuff. He rolled over and took the blanket with him. Mob could see his back, now. His shirt had ridden up. He had a nice back, she decided, even though she had no idea what the exact criteria for having a nice back was. She could see his spine bones, sort of, when he curled up like that. She wondered what he would feel like. She reached over and fixed his shirt for him a bit more slowly than was needed. He relaxed when she, briefly, made skin to skin contact with him. It was like he had been tense, like a spring, but all that tension left him when she touched him.

Right. Because he could feel what she was feeling. What she was feeling right that second.

Mob got up quickly. Nope. That had been a bad idea. What had she been thinking? What must he have been thinking?

Well, it was time to start her day. Time to start her day like normal and stop looking at him and thinking about touching him because she was in a relationship, for one thing, and he was twice her age, for another, and his mother was right out in the living room for even another thing. She needed to get her thoughts back to normal. Right. Time to shower, get dressed, make breakfast, and get some homework done. Yup, normal day. She opened the door slowly and crept out like a burglar, using her powers to make her steps feather light. She jumped over Master Reigen's mother as she made her way to her dresser. She tried to be quiet as she dug around for underwear and a pair of socks that still had elastic that worked. Tried being the operative word, of course.

Apparently it was tradition in the Reigen-Kageyama household to begin each day at….Sophia checked her phone….four o'clock in the morning. She pulled the blanket up over her head. Sleep had not come easy last night. An unfamiliar room, a new futon when she was used to a bed, and a fight with her son. Her son who had psychic powers, had almost died, and was not in a relationship with a girl who he shared a room with and had almost died for. Died. Her son had almost died.

Yeah, that was enough to keep anyone up.

And now she was going to go to work with him and watch him risk his life again and again. Why, oh God why, didn't he stick to selling water coolers? He was a great salesman and he could have easily moved up in the company but now, now he was with this girl who had psychic powers and had given him psychic powers and now he was risking his life every day for her.

Kids. There was something wrong with these kids today.

She felt the energy around her shift and Mobbu went through her dresser. If she squinted she could see some pink and blue. Some yellow, too, but much less. That must have been what Mobbu looked like, spiritually. Sophia had always been sensitive to shifts in the energy around her but she had put all that new age stuff away when her phase ended. Now, maybe, there was some truth to it. To auras at least. She felt the energy shift again as Mobbu glided out of the room.

Well, no going back to sleep now.

Sophia laid in her futon. She wanted to get up and just…she didn't know what. Apologize to Arataka? Not that she had anything to apologize for. She made an observation based on the way in which he interacted with the girl and how she interacted with him. If anything Taka should have been grateful to have such an open minded mother. In this country people would look at him weird for dating a teenage girl. Back home he would have been run out of town for even thinking something like that. Not that he was. No, her son had sworn up and down, left and right, that he did not have those sorts of feelings for Mobbu.

Sophia had eyes, though, and she didn't need to get them checked. Taka could lie to her but he couldn't keep on lying to himself. Not that Sophia was one hundred percent ok with this. Not that she wouldn't have preferred him with a woman his own age. Not that she was ok with anything that was happening with her son. But she had to try to be for him. No more fighting. They had been fighting for almost thirty years. She was tired of it.

She sat up as she heard Mobbu's voice softly trailing in from what sounded like the bathroom. Talking to herself?

"Dimple, don't be mean. Master Reigen's mom is afraid of spirits. Don't scare her." Said Mob as she put the optimal amount of toothpaste on her toothbrush. Not too much, not too little. Absolutely perfect.

"I'm offended! I would never do something so stereotypical as to jump out and scare someone. Not all ghosts do that you know!" said Dimple as he hovered behind her. He had been observing, sort of. So that was Reigen's mother. Huh. A normal, slightly sensitive, woman. Maybe a medium, if she practiced her craft, but no. Just sensitive. An easy enough target, though, if he needed a body in a pinch.

"Yes you would. You're always going on and on about how evil you are." Said Mob, her voice slightly garbled by her toothbrush.

"That's not evil, that's just played out. You've got to think creatively, Shigeko. You'll never be a real leader if you can't think outside the box." Said Dimple

"What box?" asked Mob, toothpaste dribbling down the front of her nightgown.

"The box your mind is caught in, Shigeko." Said Dimple

"You mean the limits of my mind?" asked Mob. She knew full well that she was bad at talking things but Master Reigen had told her time and time again that it was alright.

"Yes! You're trying to be a leader, right? That means that you have to think creatively! Come on, let me help you!" said Dimple. He had been trailing her and he approved, he wholeheartedly approved. Today her school, tomorrow the mantle of Lady Psycho Helmet! She'd most definitely remember her good friend and most trusted advisor Dimple!

"I'm not really trying. I just agreed that I'd read the speech that Mezato wrote for me, that's all. I don't think that anyone besides my friends would vote for me." Said Mob. She didn't have high hopes or any hopes at all and that was fine. She was just being a good friend.

"How about I just, you know, take over a few hundred bodies for just a second…?" said Dimple. Mob shook her head.

"No, Dimple, that's cheating and cheating is wrong." Said Mob. Dimple rolled his eyes.

"At least we know that you aren't in any danger of coming back as an evil spirit when you die." Said Dimple. She's was so moral all the time. Why? Her brother had fallen pretty fast down the slippery slope of corruption but she stayed so stubbornly moral. Well, he never shied away from a challenge.

"No, I think that I'll pass on. It depends, though, on if Master Reigen passes on. I promised that we would be together forever after all." Said Mob as she checked her teeth in the mirror. Did they still look ok? Should she floss? It hurt when she flossed but mom said that the pain meant that it was working.

"Damn, you've got it bad. I don't get you at all, Shigeko, not at all. You could have so much more but you're still stuck on him. Think of all the guys you could get if you win this thing! C'mon, you know you're tempted!" said Dimple

"I'm not tempted at all, Dimple." Said Mob. Yup, time to floss. She hated the dentist more than she hated blood in her mouth. Not that she needed the dentist, her teeth grew back when they got knocked out and therefore if one rotted out then it would grow out. Not that she wanted rotting teeth in her mouth.

"Seriously….? What is with you!?" said Dimple. She must have been a reincarnated saint, there was no other explanation.

"I'm a good person, Dimple, and good people don't do things like that. The truth of my charm is in my kindness, like Master Reigen said. That's why I'm not coming back as an evil spirit and I'm going to the other side. Hey, Dimple, what is on the other side anyway?" asked Mob

"Honestly, Shigeko, I have no idea whatsoever. I'm here, aren't I?" asked Dimple. Mob nodded.

"That makes sense." Said Mob. There, her teeth were as nice as they were going to get. White and clean and shiny.

"What's with the sudden interest in the other side? Planning on hanging yourself like your idol?" asked Dimple. He wouldn't tell her about Mogami, it would hurt her and if he hurt her then she would never trust him again. Besides, he had probably just passed on or been consumed or mutated into something entirely new after he died. People weren't meant to consume spirits like that.

"No! I would never do that, I promised, and a promise is a promise. Besides, I've never felt like that ever." Said Mob. She had friends and people who loved her. She figured that Mogami didn't have anyone, that was why he had fallen to despair. That was sad. If she had known him in life then she would have been his friend. Master Reigen would have been happy, too. He had looked up to Mogami when he was little.

"Well if you do die try not to pass on. We can hang out forever and be spirit buddies!" said Dimple

"You're weird." Said Mob

"You're weirder." Said Dimple

"You're weirdest." Said Mob

"You're double weirdest!" said Dimple

"But I still like you." Said Mob

"Same here. Now how about you, say, listen to your good friend Dimple?" asked Dimple

"About what?" asked Mob

"That cult-I mean group-" said Dimple

"No. I don't want to be religious leader." Said Mob

"But you could do so much good! You love being a good person, right?" said Dimple

"I do…" said Mob. She did like helping people but if she pretended to be a religious figure that would be lying, and not even a little lie but a great big lie. That would be wrong, so much wrong than any good that she did got cancelled out.

"So lead these idiots to salvation!" said Dimple. She was a living God, practically. He had seen her explode, he had seen that thing that was inside of her, and it was more powerful than anything he had ever seen in the endless today that was his existence.

"No thank you." Said Mob. Yup, the bad was cancel out the good. She was a good person and she had to stay that way. She had to be the Mob that existed in his mind. That was the Mob that he wanted for himself.

"Your powers are wasted on you, Shigeko, you know that?" asked Dimple

"I know. Lots of people stay that but I don't care. My powers are just another part of me. They don't define me. I'd rather work on the parts of myself that need work, not the parts of myself that are already…powerful." Said Mob. She was strong, she knew she was, and she was not going to rely on her powers. She knew that she had to work on her social skills and her physical skills and therefore she would.

"But Shigeko! Your powers are incredibly useful! Why not use them for good! People will follow you and you have the power to steer them in the right direction! You know, maybe you'll even like it….Master Kageyama." Said Dimple raising his eyebrows. Mob stared at him for a few beats. Master Kageyama….

"I'm going to take a shower now. Go away and don't be weird, Dimple." Said Mob. Dimple shrugged and floated away through the doorway. Mob locked the door and pulled her nightgown up over her head. She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Master Kageyama? How? She still looked like a kid. She hung her nightgown up for tomorrow and stepped into the shower stall. Master Kageyama…

It was a pretty picture, the one that Dimple painted. She'd be like Master Reigen. She could find someone who needed help, someone who couldn't control her powers, and teach her not only how to control her powers but also how to be a good person…

Or a him. Not a younger version of herself but a boy version of herself. Shigeo. Shigeko, Shigeo. She'd be Master Kageyama to him. She's wear a suit, no, a dress. A grey dress with a pink ribbon and he'd look just like her. Same bowl cut but all the way around, not just the front. Same eyes, too. Flat, like hers. Everyone said that her face, her eyes, were flat, and that she looked bored all the time. So would he. He'd look just like her. No, wait, he had to look different. Blue eyes. He'd look like her with blue eyes.

Almost like he could be her son…

But that wasn't something that she could think about. She was only fourteen. Fourteen was too young to be thinking about things like that. Right? But then again this was her own mind and what happened in her own mind was her own business….

He'd be her son. A little boy named Shigeo. He'd be just like she was when she was a kid. He'd feel alone and scared of himself. Everyone would tell him that he looked bored all the time, that he was weird. That he couldn't get a clue. She'd help him with that. She'd help him control his powers and she'd help him make friends. No, she was bad at that, kind of. His dad could help him with that.

He'd look just like her but with blue eyes. Bright blue eyes. Deep blue eyes.

She didn't know who's blue eyes.

Sophia Reigen's blue eyes were fixed on the wall across from her. She was in the kitchen, smoking. It was her second cigarette of the day. She needed to stop smoking so much, especially around Arataka, but she didn't. She needed this.

There had been a spirit in the house.

An actual spirit. There was a spirit in the house and Mobbu had been…talking…with it. Sophia didn't think that she could ever get used to that. She'd have to get used to it, though, wouldn't she? If Arataka was serious about this girl, about caring for her, caring about her, then Sophia would have to get used to it. Arataka had said, last night, that he did not have feelings for Mobbu.

Sophia knew her son.

That girl would not be fourteen forever. She'd grow up and then he would come to terms with what he was feeling and then one day the two of them would show up at her door with some big news. A relationship. A marriage. A pregnancy. All the things that she had wanted for her son. A good life, a good life and a good home with someone who loved him, who understood him.

But why did it have to be that girl?

She was fourteen. She was strange, socially. She was an esper, something strange in and of itself. She had put her son's life in danger. No, that wasn't fair. Her life had been put in danger and Arataka had saved her. Saved her and become changed by saving her. Changed. He was an esper, too. He had become…or had he always been?

When she was a child she could feel a sort of energy from some people, it was like what she had felt from Mobbu but…less. She could feel it from Taka-chan, sort of. Maybe she had passed down…whatever it was…to him. Maybe it was her fault. Maybe there was no fault at all. Maybe she shouldn't even look at it like that, like it was something bad.

She had come here to mend the bond with her son. She had come all the way here to fix what had broken between the two of them over the years. She had come here to accept him. She would do just that. She would accept the man that he had become.

She needed to accept him because this was her son and she had made him the man that he was today so she might as well accept him. She only had the one son after all. He was her son and he was going through a lot. It was a good thing, actually, that he was going through a lot. He was conflicted about the way that he felt about Mobbu, which was wonderful. It was wonderful because, well, he wasn't the sort of man who would openly date a fourteen year old girl. It was wonderful because he would wait until it was less, well, weird. It was wonderful because he was giving her time to come to terms with this entire situation.

She'd take it better, she thought, when they knocked on her door with the big news. A relationship. A marriage. A pregnancy. All the things that she wanted for her son. All the things that would be good for him. For the two of them, Sophia and Arataka. A do over. A second chance at being a family. She knew that she hadn't been much of a mother to him. She should have just taken him and went back home. She should have just crossed the pacific, come crawling back to her mother, and faced the chorus of 'I told you so, Sophia' that her family would be happy to provide. She knew, now, with the foresight of age, that she had been stupid. She had spent so many years trying to fix the unfixable and her only son had paid the price.

She'd be a better grandmother than a mother.

Mob had no more thoughts of motherhood as she stepped out of the shower. Those had been weird thoughts to think. Maybe she was thinking about having a baby because she had, well, done the things that made a baby. Maybe she was thinking about it because she was growing up and that was what grown up women were supposed to think about. That was the pace of life, wasn't it? You grew up, fell in love, got married, and then had a baby and became a family.

She just didn't know who she was going to have that life with.

She knew that it was years, ages, away, her choice. It was a choice that she had to make at some point and she didn't know what she would do. She loved two people. She loved two people and she had to choose but choosing would be hard because there was no way to avoid the pain. Either her or someone she loved would get hurt.

She liked to think about what it would be like, though, if Master Reigen said yes. Not just when they achieved instrumentality together but also everything that came afterwards. The love. The caring. Having a home and a family and being adults and doing adult things and not just those adult things. Houses and bills and managing the business and the stuff that he complained about but he wouldn't complain because she was going to be an adult too and she was going to help him. She would always be there for him. He built her up and she built him up. Sometimes it didn't feel like they were master and student. Sometimes it felt like they had a mutual sort of….understanding…of each other. He was the only one in the whole, wide, world who knew exactly what she meant and she liked to imagine herself as the only person in the world who knew exactly what he meant.

How when his eyes looked kind of far off he needed to hear something good about himself.

How when he got excited when he talked he needed her full attention.

How when he tugged her hair he was, sometimes, actually asking for her to tug his back.

How sometimes he needed her to say, without words, 'I'm here and I've got you.'

He liked to be heard and she liked to hear him and that was what they were together. He inspired her, he really did. He inspired her to be a better person than who she was. He inspired her to become the Mob who existed in his mind. That Mob was the best Mob that she could be. When he talked, when he told her how to be, who she should be, how much he **cared** about becoming the person she was becoming…he lit a fire in her.

Two kinds of fire.

When he touched her, when he told her how much he cared, how much he loved her, it smothered one fire and spread another.

Nobody lit a fire in her like he did. It was just a shame that he would never put it out. She wished that he would but it couldn't happen. He was older than her, he didn't want someone her age. She wished that she could at least put that fire out, but she couldn't. She was never alone, not really. She was always with him and him being there, touching her, talking to her, just made it **worse**.

Sometimes it felt like every word he said, every gesture he made, every time he touched her just lit the worst kind of fire in her. The worst kind was the kind that couldn't be put out.

Mob dried off and got dressed. Now was not the time to think about it, to imagine it. Sometimes it felt like it was all that she thought about. Sometimes she wondered if there was something that was wrong with her. Sometimes she wished that she could just **listen** to what she wanted…but she so rarely could. She could always ask for another day off….but that wasn't fair to Teru, though. Was it fair to do all of that with him because, well, it was Master Reigen who lit that fire in her?

Not that Teru had ever complained. Not that he even had the chance. It had only been the one time that they had…well…everything.

Don't think about it. Get dressed. Make breakfast. Don't think about it.

Mob did just that. She got dressed, brushed her hair, clipped it up, and left the bathroom without thinking about it once. As she stepped out of the bathroom she was hit with the smell of fresh cigarette smoke. Master Reigen? She felt for him. Still sleeping. Oh, his mother. She was up at…the sun was still down. Oh.

She hoped she had enough for three people. Probably, though they did need to head back to the grocery store soon. Food was necessary for life and they needed to eat more home cooked food. It was cheaper and healthier. She knew that Master Reigen said that she shouldn't worry about money but she couldn't help it. They were a household together now, right? Did two people count as a household?

It wasn't like she was ever going to be living with her parents again, that was for sure.

She wondered if Master Reigen ever wanted to go home. He probably didn't, he never had anything good to say about it, but then again he had invited his mom into their home. His home. Their home? This home. This apartment that they would be living in together for the foreseeable future. The apartment that she was walking through. The one with the kitchen that she was currently entering.

Their home.

"Morning, Mobbu." Said Sophia as she ashed her cigarette. She ashed into a nearly empty soda cup from who knew when. When was the last time Taka-chan cleaned this place up? There were empty containers everywhere. Well, at least Mobbu was bucking gender stereotypes…or just being a teenager. One of the two.

"Good morning Reigen Sophia. Do you want an ashtray?" asked Mob. She felt bad, suddenly. Mom always said that a woman had to keep her house nice, expecially when there was company. Mom always kept the house really clean…usually. Until her powers ruined all of mom's hard work, like mom always said.

"Oh…yes, that would be great…sorry." Said Sophia. Right, this was not her house. This was Taka's house and she needed to act like a guest. A guest in her own son's house. A guest of his household.

"It's ok, Master Reigen ashes on the floor all the time. I just thought that you might like a real ashtray because you're ashing in an old soda cup." Said Mob as she called the ashtray in from the living room with her powers.

"...thanks. You want one?" asked Sophia holding out her cigarette box. Please say no, Mobbu. Please say no.

"Thank you, Reigen Sophia." Said Mob as she took it from her and lit it with her powers. She didn't inhale too deeply, though, because she really didn't care for these. She knew what it meant when someone shared one with her though. Equals. They were equals right then.

"You don't have to call me by my full name, you know." Said Sophia

"I don't want to be rude. I didn't know if it was rude to call you Mrs. Reigen because you're divorced. I don't know what I'm supposed to call divorced people." Said Mob

"You can just call me Sophia, if you want to." Said Sophia

"Oh no, I couldn't. I just met you and you're Master's mother." Said Mob

"You always call him Shishou, why? I've never heard you call him Arataka once." Said Sophia

"Because he's my master. He's the master and I'm the student." Said Mob

"But you're also…friends…right?" asked Sophia

"We are but we're not equals, yet. Not all the time, anyway. We'll be equals when I'm a grown up." Said Mob

"….when you're an adult." Said Sophia

"Yes. In four years when I'm an adult." Said Mob

"What…what do you think that you'll be when you're an adult?" asked Sophia

"I don't want to do anything different than what I am now. Some of my friends are already worrying about university and careers and stuff but I don't. I'm going to work for Master Reigen. No, wait, with Master Reigen. He said that I could have half the business when I grew up." Said Mob

"…half. Are you…do you still plan on living here?" asked Sophia

"Yes. Sometimes Master asks if I want to move into a bigger place with my own room but I don't want to. I don't like to sleep alone anymore and I don't want us to spend more money than we have to. A bathtub and a washing machine and dryer would be nice but those aren't things that I really need." Said Mob

"You're a very mature girl, Mobbu." Said Sophia

"Thank you. I'm not trying to be, I just don't want us to waste money. Everything is so expensive." Said Mob

"Ugh…the cost of living! It's expensive in this country, you know, much too expensive. Back home I could have gotten so much farther on my salary….Taka, too." Said Sophia

"My parents always said that things were expensive, too. My dad, especially. He never stops working, he's a salaryman. I don't think that I would like to be a salaryman even though my friends say that I would make a good one. It's too much work, and not the fun kind of work or the helping people kind of work." Said Mob

"You and Taka are two of a kind. He used to be a salaryman, you know. He gave it all up to start up…this." Said Sophia

"He told me. He said that he used to sell watercoolers and that he hated it. I'm glad he stopped working there because if he was still working there he would have been miserable and also we would have never met." Said Mob

"He made much better money there, too. I'll never understand why he mortgaged his entire future…but then again I never did understand that boy." Said Sophia

"He wants to be someone." Said Mob

"What?" asked Sophia

"Master Reigen told me that he wants to be someone. I don't understand why he wants that because he already is someone. Everyone is someone. We're all the protagonists of our own lives, he told me that. I guess that's the thing to understand about Master Reigen." Said Mob

"Taka told you that?" asked Sophia

"He did. I don't ever tell lives. He told me that he wanted to be someone even though he already is someone. Maybe he wants to be more of a someone than he is. Sometimes I don't feel like a someone. When people look at me but not at me. I blend in a lot but I don't know if I want to or not. I used to want to be popular but now I'm happy being myself. I guess that Master Reigen wants to be himself but he also wants to be popular. I don't know why. I don't know a lot of things. He's someone to me, though." Said Mob

"Who is he to you, Mobbu?" asked Sophia

"He's Master Reigen. He's my friend and he teaches me things about life and he spends time with me and he accepts me no matter what and I accept him no matter what." Said Mob

"…I'm glad that he has someone in his life like you." Said Sophia after a moment.

"Why?" asked Mob

"Because that's a gift, you know. The gift of total acceptance. Not a lot of people are willing to give that." Said Sophia

"That's weird. I think that if you care about someone then you have to accept them for who they are, otherwise it's not real caring." Said Mob

"That's easier said than done, Mobbu." Said Sophia

"I don't understand." Said Mob

"Sometimes you can love someone but not accept them. Sometimes you have someone who you've pictured in your mind, who you've formed a vision of in your mind for years, an illusion, but then they so consistently shatter that illusion that you just don't know what to do. They shatter that illusion in so many ways, ways detrimental to their own wellbeing, and no matter how many times you try to save them they just keep on pushing you away. Sometimes the people you love will do things that you…that you have a very difficult time accepting. Total acceptance is difficult, Mobbu." Said Sophia

"Oh. I've never met anyone like that." Said Mob. If you loved someone then you accepted everything about them no matter what. That was what love was.

"In your entire life?" asked Sophia blinking in shock. Was this really a teenage girl? When she was fourteen, all those decades ago, she had lists of people she didn't like and couldn't accept for one petty teenage reason or another.

"In my entire life." Said Mob after thinking. Yup, she accepted everything about everyone that she loved.

"It's been a short life, though, hasn't it?" asked Sophia. She was fourteen. How many people could she possibly know? Nobody was that accepting, that nice, that sweet…

"It doesn't feel short to me but I guess that it would be to someone older. Like how Master Reigen says that a year's difference in age isn't anything when you get to be his age even though a year's difference is a lot to someone my age." Said Mob. One year was one fourteenth of her life. One year of Master Reigen's life was one twenty eighth of his life. One year of his mother's life was one forty ninth of her life. Time sort of went faster the older you got, Mob decided.

"You've got a lot of living left to do, Mobbu. Taka's right, you two are at totally different phases of life." Said Sophia trailing off. Arataka was always immature, she decided, so it wasn't too strange that his…best friend…would be a teenager.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, though." Said Mob. Why did everyone think that she was little?

"I know that you aren't. I can see that you aren't. I can't imagine a little kid doing what you do." Said Sophia. No child could face what she had seen Mobbu face yesterday. Hell, no child would be able to go through what Taka said that the two of them had gone through and then come out the other side normal…normal-ish.

"Exorcising spirits? I've been able to do that for my entire life." Said Mob

"No, I mean giving Taka total acceptance. Children are selfish by nature, Mobbu, but you are…you seem very selfless to me. In the way that you talk about my son. I can tell….I can tell that you're a very mature young woman and that you care for my son a great deal." Said Sophia. Was it weird? Yes. Did she want Taka to have whatever it was he had with this girl at her current age? Hell no. Did she loved her son no matter what? She would try her hardest.

"I do. I care about Master Reigen and he cares about me. We care about each other." Said Mob simply. Why was that something of note? That was how people who loved each other felt.

"That's all I've ever wanted for him." said Sophia quietly. That was all that Arataka had ever needed for himself, someone who was capable of accepting everything about him. Someone who didn't have to work at accepting him. Someone who just took him as he was and cared for him. Someone who wasn't Sophia.

"Someone to care about him? How could someone not care about Master Reigen?" asked Mob. What was there not to like? What was there not to care about? He was Master Reigen. He was the most amazing person in the entire world.

"How are you so sweet?" asked Sophia wiping her eye with the back of her hand. Mob agreed, cigarette smoke did hurt when it got into your eyes.

"I don't know. The truth of my charm is in my kindness, I guess. Master Reigen taught me that. I try to be a good person. I can't understand ever being a bad person and I don't want to be one. Master helps me to be a good person I guess." Said Mob. She wasn't trying to be anything but good, and it wasn't really trying at all. She just didn't have the urge to be mean, ever.

"You are. I can tell. You're…you're very good for my son. I…I'm ok with this." Said Sophia. She was as ok with this as she was going to be. Taka cared about this girl but, thankfully, understood that he could **not** be in a true relationship with a fourteen year old girl. She wouldn't be fourteen forever, though, but that was a bridge to cross later.

"With what?" asked Mob. This could mean anything. She felt like there was something she was missing, a layer of this conversation that could not be seen. Like when they had to analyze stories in class to look for deeper meaning.

"You and Taka-chan. What ever you have now, whatever it is that you're going to have." Said Sophia. This girl was all he had ever wanted for Taka. She accepted him completely and totally, a feat that Sophia herself had never managed to accomplish. She was only fourteen but Arataka had said that they didn't have **that** sort of relationship. In the future they would. She knew her son. She knew that her son wanted to be someone, that he craved to be seen above all other things. This girl saw and accepted him. Sophia accepted this. She had to accept this because she had to accept her son.

"Oh. Ok. Thank you." Said Mob. What was there not to be ok with? Oh this was so confusing, so very confusing. There was a silence between them. Mob was still standing by the table. Her hair was starting to dry now, so that was good.

"So…do you smoke often?" asked Sophia. Taka had started when he was fourteen, too. A habit he picked up from her, probably, and now Mobbu had picked it up from him.

"No, not really. Only when Master and I are dealing with something or are really upset." Said Mob. What had brought this on? The fight that Master and his mother had last night?

"Oh. Well this was just a friendly gesture. Don't take up smoking seriously, though, it's a filthy habit." Said Sophia

"If it's a filthy habit then why do people smoke? You and Master smoke. Master says that it's a bad habit, too, but my dad always said that people who didn't smoke missed out on half of their lives." Said Mob as she sat down across the table.

"…people who smoke end up missing out on half of their lives." Said Sophia holding her cigarette between two fingers. How long had she been smoking for? Since she was sixteen…so about thirty three years. Well, she hadn't gotten sick yet and the damage had been done…

"Why do people smoke then if it's so terrible?" asked Mob as she coughed a little. She decided to stop inhaling and just to let it burn its self out. Maybe she would help it along with her powers, too.

"A few reasons. I started because it was just, well, the thing to do. We knew it was bad for us but most people still did it. My parents certainly loved to smoke. My father worked for the cigarette distributor, actually, and he was always coming home with plenty of smokes. I just sort of picked it up in high school. I wasn't that much older than you...actually…" said Sophia looking down at her cigarette. It was so easy to smoke, here. When she made her yearly trip back home it was harder to smoke, it had mostly gone out of fashion back in the old country. Here, though, it seemed like half the country was smoking at any given time.

"I don't think that I'll pick it up. Master Reigen said, before, that a big reason that he started smoking was for attention. I don't understand it, though, but Master Reigen really loves attention." Said Mob. She blinked as Sophia began to laugh loudly.

"You've sure got him down, don't you? Oh Taka and attention! I swear that boy thinks he's going to vanish if he's not the center of attention for more than two seconds." Said Sophia. She was glad Taka was born before the age of web 2.0. He would have been absolutely insufferable if he had been a teenager in today's internet culture. Amazingly enough, though, he was surprisingly quiet on his Friendbook. Aside from work that is.

"For real?" asked Mob. That sure was a strange thing to think but she had seen stranger. When Ritsu was three he thought that dad's weird fuzzy sweater was alive and would come to kill them.

"No, honey, not literally. Do you…do you always take things so literally?" asked Sophia. The girl was not taking the piss in any way, shape, or form. She was just that clueless, that dense. How could someone be so very dense? A side effect of her powers? Some sort of condition?

"I do. I do because I can't tell, a lot of the time, if someone's kidding. Unless I really know the person or I've heard the saying before. Like green is an ugly color on everyone. I know that saying and I use it sometimes. I like to say what I mean and mean what I say, though. I know that I can't get a clue, though." Said Mob. Sometimes she felt like something was wrong with her even though Master swore that she was perfectly fine just the way she was. He had said that her cluelessness was just a part of her charm. Well, she didn't find it charming. It was annoying to live with.

"You seem fine to me. You're just a little different, that's all." Said Sophia. A side effect of her powers could explain it. Taka did say that she perceived the world differently than normal people. Some sort of genetic explanation also could have made sense. She knew that there were all sorts of conditions that could disrupt a person's social development…or maybe Mobbu was just weird.

"Master says that, too. He says that I'm fine the way I am and the ways that I can't get a clue are a part of my charm. I don't like it that much, though. It's like everyone but me got the instructions for a school project and nobody wants to share notes." Said Mob

"Have you always felt like this?" asked Sophia. That must have been hard on her. Adolescence was a difficult time for everyone. Everyone felt like they were floundering, during that time of life.

"Yes. For as long as I can remember. I'm mostly used to it, though, it was harder when I was little. People were mean to me when I was little but since I started joining clubs and making more of an effort to make friends it's been a lot better. Sometimes people are mean, though, but not to my face. They just say things about me like how weird I am or how boring I look. It's ok, though, because I have lots of people who like me." Said Mob. She was through wanting to be one of the popular girls, she was happy with the way she was. Mostly. Mostly happy.

"It's a tough time, middle school. It'll be easier when you're an adult, trust me. Most adults are too wrapped up in their own lives to care very much about what other people are up to." Said Sophia with a wave. Terrible life stage, adolescence. Terrible.

"Master Reigen said that it's hard, too. He said that it was harder for him than me and that people are nicer now. Maybe people will be even nicer when we're adults. Sometimes adults can be mean, though, even to Master Reigen." Said Mob

"Well, knowing Taka whatever it was he brought it on himself." Said Sophia putting out her cigarette.

"It was because of a séance, he said. He was doing a séance for someone, but those aren't all the way real, a client tried to stab him, he said. Séances are pretend but they're real enough to the clients, Master Reigen said. Grief is hard for people to deal with and sometimes they need closure so Master Reigen gives them closure. When spirits pass on I don't think that there's any way that they can come back. I've never really tried, though. I see enough spirits in my life already." Said Mob

"I can believe that. You two…you two are very brave. I could never do what you do." Said Sophia

"Because you're a regular person. If you tried to do what we do you could get very hurt." Said Mob as her cigarette burnt itself down to the end filter part.

"You two could get really hurt, too. Well, Taka at least. The way he was talking about you he made it sound like you were invulnerable or something." Said Sophia as the sun began to fill the room. The sky was turning a bright blue, now, and birdsong could be heard coming through the open window.

"I know, I could hear you last night. I'm not invulnerable, I still catch colds and get motion sick but I can make myself heal faster than normal people." Said Mob. Sophia looked away from her. Mob didn't know why. What had she said now?

"I didn't know that you could hear us, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I said anything to offend you or to make you uncomfortable in any way." Said Sophia. What did Mobbu think? Did she even think anything? She looked so calm, bored, even. But bored was her default state, right? It sure seemed like it. Even then she looked bored. Flat face, even flat eyes.

"You didn't make me uncomfortable. I wasn't eavesdropping so I didn't hear everything. I heard Master Reigen tell you about what happened with Claw and I'm sorry about that. If I was better I could have stopped my brother from getting kidnapped and then Master Reigen wouldn't have had to risk his life. Everyone would have been safe, not just him, if I had just…kept it together. If I had just fought as hard as I could even though I hate fighting…but I didn't and then I lost it and then everyone almost died…but it's ok because we're all back to normal now and everything is fine and nothing like that will ever happen again. It won't happen because I won't let it." Said Mob. She would never, ever, let the people she loved get hurt again. That was what she did, she helped people. That was why she had powers. She would always help whoever needed it, not only the people closest to her.

"That should never have been something that had happened to you in the first place…you or Taka…" said Sophia. Her son had almost died. Her little boy…

"It did and now I'm stronger from it. I used to not ever want to use my powers to hurt anyone but now I know that sometimes, even though I don't like it, I have to use my powers in self-defense. So now I'm stronger but I hope that nothing like that ever happens again. It doesn't bother me that much, as long as I don't think about it. I don't like to ever think about it." Said Mob. She heard an alarm go off in the other room. Oh. Was it that late already? She hadn't made breakfast yet. She didn't get up but she used her powers to fill the rice cooker and take the eggs out of the fridge. She knew that she needed to vary her meals but she didn't want to. Mom wasn't there to yell at her and she liked keeping a routine.

"Breakfast time?" asked Sophia as the kitchen began to wake up, it seemed. Sophia wondered how Mobbu could hold up so many actions with her powers, how she could even move things without looking. It was amazing. A little scary, not that she would ever say anything, but amazing.

"Yes. Do you want some? It's rice and eggs." Said Mob

"Raw eggs?" asked Sophia resisting the urge to stick her tongue out. That was something she would never get used to about this country, and she had been living here for almost thirty years. The raw fish she could eat but the raw eggs were just too much.

"The rice cooks them. Oh, and soy sauce, too. I mean the soy sauce goes in, it doesn't cook the eggs." Said Mob as she put the soy sauce on the table. Huh. They were running low. She called her phone over and updated the shopping list. Oh. A text from Teru. She smiled and replied, with plenty of those little faces so he knew that she was happy to talk to him.

"I'll pass. I never got into the whole 'raw eggs' thing. I mean, I know the rice cooks them, but I can't get over the whole ick factor of it." Said Sophia. Mobbu looked young again. School uniform, hair in those pink butterfly clips, and a phone glued to her hand. Yup. That was a fourteen year old girl.

"The ick factor of what?" asked Reigen as he stumbled in rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of the domestic scene before him. Mom and Mob sitting at the table just hanging out. Oh no. What had mom been telling her? Mob didn't need to know…anything…that his mom had thought. How much, if anything, had she heard?

"Raw eggs, Master. Also you're sharing your feelings with me." Said Mob. Their auras liked to merge when the two of them were near and they were very near now. She felt him pull away quickly, leaving a wave of cold to wash over her. Why? They were always close. Well, usually close.

"Sorry, Mob." Said Reigen as he pulled himself away from her. Too close. Again they had been too close. His mother's words, accusations, ran through his mind. He was too attached to Mob, nothing more.

"I didn't feel anything." Said Sophia. She hadn't seen or heard or felt anything. She knew that Taka had been telling the truth, yesterday, about having powers but it was still something to…adjust…to.

"That's because our auras like to mix." Said Mob simply. She didn't know why Master Reigen was making that face. It looked kind of upset. But why? She liked it when their auras touched. It felt nice. Warm. Trusting. Safe.

"Does everyone have an aura, Mobbu?" asked Sophia. She wondered what it meant for auras to mix. Judging by the face Taka was making and she knew that face well, it was not something that she should have been asking.

"Regular people keeps theirs on the inside, Reigen Sophia. I can see yours a little bit. It's yellow, like Master's, but not as yellow. Kind of like a pale yellow. Master's aura is yellow like custard." Said Mob. She had to really squint to see it but it was there. Did kids always have the same color aura as their parents? What color aura would Shigeo have? Not that she was still thinking about that or anything.

"…my mom has an aura?" asked Reigen. He couldn't see it, not at all, but then again he was nowhere near Mob's level.

"Yes. I don't tell lies, Master. You know that." Said Mob simply. She sometimes didn't tell the whole, complete, and unabashed truth but she had no reason to omit anything now. Of course his mom had an aura, she had made him….but then again her parents were totally normal and they had made her and Ritsu so many it wasn't in people's genes.

"Never said you did, Mob." Said Reigen. He reached over to give her hair a tug but stopped himself. He touched her too much. It was just so easy, so nice. The little intimacies between them. The little intimacies that they shouldn't have had.

"Oh. Ok. I just misheard you." Said Mob. Of course Master would never be mean to her like that, he was Master. He loved her. But why was he being so distant?

"Does anybody need to shower or can I have a turn?" asked Sophia. The atmosphere was weird, there, she decided. He had seen what Taka was about to do. It was the little intimacies that gave him away, what he actually felt. What he was not ready to admit to himself that he felt. She was…she liked Mobbu. She accepted this, that was what mattered.

"I just showered so I don't need it." Said Mob as the rice cooker dinged. She decided to plate her breakfast by hand. She didn't need rice to go flying everywhere again. That was how they got ants and rats and, worst of all according to Master Reigen….cockroaches.

"You can have it, mom, I showered yesterday. Hang on, let me show you how the temperature works. It's kind of finicky." Said Reigen. He got up at the same time Mob did. He walked past her, almost resting a hand on her back as he passed. He stopped himself, he hoped that she didn't notice.

Mob noticed.

She felt the absence of his hand. He always pressed a hand to the small of her back when he passed her closely. He had stopped himself from touching her hair, too. That was…weird. Her phone vibrated again. Oh, Teru. Right, him.

She was still worried, though, just a little. She didn't…she had gotten used to all the little ways that he touched her. Maybe he was just….he still loved her. He had to still love her. She felt herself lifting the kitchen as she thought. She put it down, quickly. She was fine. He was fine. They were fine. Everything was fine. He and his mom had been fighting but not about…about her, maybe. But why? Reigen Sophia seemed fine just earlier then and Mob had no recollection of doing anything wrong. But then why had he been so distant, there? Maybe he was just super sleepy. It was still early. They had the whole morning to go back to normal.

Things had not gone back to normal.

Master Reigen had been weird that whole morning. It was almost like he didn't want to touch her or be near her, but that was insane. Master Reigen was probably just tired and upset that he and his mom had an argument. She had woken up last night to raised voices and then harsh whispers. She tried not to listen, it would have been rude, and she would have been embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping. She caught her name a few times, too, but she didn't remember doing anything wrong.

Were they arguing about her?

But why? Master Reigen usually told her when she was doing something wrong, and she thought that his mom like her. Maybe they were just butting heads like Reigen Sophia had said that they were prone to do. Maybe she just came up for…reasons. Master Reigen had been surprisingly quiet about the subject. He only told her to go back to bed. She did, of course, but when she got up he was still like that. Distant. But why?

He was distant during breakfast, too. He didn't touch her hair or her back once. He didn't even look at her for very long. He just sort of sat there and ate. He even almost forgot to crack an egg into his rice. His mom had to do it for him. He just ate his rice like he didn't realize that they had rice and eggs for breakfast every single morning for almost two months. Maybe he was expecting his mom to fry his egg like she did hers. Mob had no idea. He was keeping his aura so close that she could barely see it. He looked like he did before, mostly like a normal person but with a little bit of custard yellow showing through.

It felt weird, him not being with her, metaphysically. The lack of him made her aura churn faster. The other Shigeko was freaking out, sort of. Not enough to explode but enough to rattle the kitchen and bend everyone's spoons. That was why she used chopsticks. She tried to keep calm. He was just tired or something. Nothing bad had happened. He still wanted to be with her. He wasn't mad at her or sick of her or anything.

But then why was he being so distant?

Maybe he'd be better at work.

When she finished up at club then she'd go to work and he'd be back to normal. He'd rub her hair and her back and toss his arm over her shoulder and it would be just like normal. Yes. everything would go back to normal and then they'd go to a job or two and then they'd go home and eat dinner and watch TV again and she'd lay her head on his lap and then he'd rub her back and it would be just wonderful.

But first she had to finish up club activities.

Body Improvement! Fight on!

Ritsu had nothing to do. No more student council. No real friends. Not even a sister anymore, and he was not being dramatic. Shigeko, his sister and probably his best friend by default, was too busy for him. He was watching her run around the school with the body improvement club. She was lagging behind, but not as badly as she used to. Or maybe those guys were just slowing down to make her feel better. They were nice, some of the nicest guys in school, by reputation.

Not that he would ever join the body improvement club. Those guys were too hardcore, yes, that was it. He wouldn't feel weird there at all, entering his sister's world like that. Seeing the way she was with other people, people who weren't his and her mutual friends. He still knew how to hang out with her. He was the little brother. He made sure nobody teased her and made sure that she didn't explode. They'd play videogames together or watch TV together or play go or something like that. They hadn't done anything like that just the two of them in a long while. No, they had other people in their lives now. She had a boyfriend and he had a girlfriend and now they didn't have time for each other these days.

Was this just what growing up was? You and your big sister stopped being friends and started being like regular siblings? Not that he knew a lot about that. Rei had sisters and they didn't seem to be friends. He didn't know if they liked each other or not. They fought a lot but her sister would randomly do nice things like get their mom out of the house so he and Rei could be alone. Not that he particularly liked it when they were totally alone, which was weird. It was just so awkward feeling when she wanted to kiss like **that**.

He wasn't trying to hang out with his sister to avoid his girlfriend. That would be insane. She was his girlfriend and she loved him and of course he would want to spend time with her. He just also had a sister and he would have loved to spend time with his sister but she was busy with her club and he knew that he could easily change into his gym clothes and start running with them but he just didn't want to because...because that was her thing and he'd just be intruding into it. He needed his own thing but what was his thing was suspended until they could get their leadership in order.

Heh.

Maybe if Shigeko won then they could spend more time together.

Heh.

Right. Shigeko winning. Sure. A sign of the end times if there ever was one.

No. That was mean.

No. That was being realistic.

She'd probably get laughed at for even trying. That was how people had always been to her. The ones that didn't laugh to her face would laugh behind her back. Why was she even running? Because her friends told her to? He didn't deny the fact that his sister was a good person. He didn't deny the fact that she would act for the good of everyone if she was elected. He knew, though, that she'd never get to a position of leadership because she just wasn't that sort of person. Not really. She was a follower, not a leader.

She'd follow Reigen to the ends of the Earth if he ever wanted to lead her there.

Maybe this would be good for his sister, if by some miracle she won. If all the other candidates got sick or something then she could win by default. Flu season was coming….no. He was not going to sabotage the competition. That was the old Ritsu, the ruthless one who got drunk on his own power and had almost ruined everything. He wasn't going to sabotage the competition or anything like that.

That would be nice of him, though. She seemed to really want this and he was her little brother. He should help her when she needed it. But his 'help' had been what caused this whole mess in the first place. Maybe he should just stop helping. Maybe he should just never help anyone with anything again. Maybe he just made everything worse when he tried to help. Maybe he shouldn't have beaten all those guys up for his sister or yelled at his sister or told his girlfriend he loved her.

Not that him telling Rei he loved her was an issue.

No, it was fine. So what if he didn't feel it. She did and he was making her happy and him trying to make her happy was not making him miserable, thank you very much. He was not lying if it made her feel better and she was his girlfriend and if he had to be with her forever then he should make her happy and then she would be happy and then he would be happy if she was happy because he loved her like he loved his sister and no, wait, not like he loved his sister because sisters and girlfriends were different and of course he would never kiss his sister but he had to kiss Rei and it shouldn't have been a had to and-

"Loitering, Kageyama?" a shadow fell over Ritsu. He had been sitting in the grass, totally lost in his brooding, not that he would ever call it brooding. He had never noticed the footsteps approaching him until Shinji, no, President Kamuro, no, just Kamuro, stood next to him.

"It's not loitering if you're a student council member." Said Ritsu looking up. Shinji shrugged and sat down next to him.

"So I guess I'm the one loitering, then." Said Shinji as he sat down beside Ritsu. Kageyama could be good company, sometimes.

"I won't write you up." Said Ritsu as Shinji sat down next to him. Should he move closer? He kind of wanted to…but no. He stayed where he was. He did have a tendency to get too close to people, sometimes.

"That's nice of you, but I don't think the new president would like that." Said Shinji with a shrug. This was one of the perks of not being in office, comradery with his favorite former subordinate.

"I'll ask him. Do you mind, President Kamuro?" asked Ritsu. There. He sounded so cool then. That was like something that Teru would say. He had this sort of effortless whit about him that he used on the rare times when the two of them would cross paths with someone he knew from before when the two of them were out and about.

"I'm not president anymore." Said Shinji simply. He was just Shinji, for once. He could just relax, for once.

"You will be again, probably." Said Ritsu. Shinji was the most qualified candidate and the best person for the job, too. He had plenty of experience, was smart, a logistical genius, occasional evil genius, and all around pretty awesome guy, in Ritsu's opinion.

"Should I be, that's the question, isn't it?" Said Shinji. He had lost any and all credibility thanks to his little cleanup effort. Someone else must have been more qualified based upon that alone.

"I can't think of anyone else more qualified. I mean, we messed up, but we apologized so…" said Ritsu. That should have been enough. Onigawara and his friends were mad anymore so what was the problem?

"You really think that an apology is enough?" asked Shinji skeptically. One couldn't just sing 'I'm sorry' and then absolve themselves of the suffering caused by their actions.

"It has to be otherwise apologies are pointless." Said Ritsu. Shigeko said that a lot. He had apologized to his sister and she accepted it, she even forgave him…but it didn't do him any good. He had still lost her. He had still lost his big sister.

"Pointless apologies for pointless actions." Said Shinji with a shrug

"We had a point, we were trying to do some good. We just got a little…" said Ritsu

"Carried away?" asked Shinji

"Yeah. We got, I mean I got, carried away. We made it right, though." Said Ritsu

"By apologizing." Said Shinji

"Exactly. Apologies mean a lot. Oh, God, I sound like my sister." Said Ritsu. Yeah, that was something that Shigeko believed. She believed a lot of things, though…things that Reigen taught her. He wished he had never said that. Of course it was stupid is Reigen said it.

"No, you don't sound bored enough." Said Shinji

"Hey, don't make fun of my sister." Said Ritsu

"I wouldn't dream of it. I've seen what you do to people who tease your sister." Said Shinji

"…I wouldn't beat you up." Said Ritsu

"Really?" said Shinji dryly. It was nice to know that at least he was safe the next time Kageyama decided to work through whatever was bothering him by beating people up. No, that wasn't fair. It wasn't like Kageyama had beat up anyone who didn't deserve it.

"Of course not! You're my…I respect you." Said Ritsu. Were they friends? Maybe that was going a little too far. He respected Kamuro. He'd leave it at that.

"Well, at least someone does, not that I deserve it." Said Shinji

"You do. You're good at your job and honestly I'm looking forward to working with you again." Said Ritsu

"Really? I'm flattered." Said Shinji

"Getting back to work would be better than…this." Said Ritsu

"You'd rather file paper work and patrol the halls than enjoy this beautiful day?" asked Shinji

"It's better than sitting here with nothing to do." Said Ritsu

"There's plenty of things to do, Kageyama." Said Shinji

"Like what?" asked Ritsu

"Enjoying the sun, the grass, the warm breeze. The company." Said Shinji

"I guess…." Said Ritsu. He shifted as he sat. it really was warm out, he decided. Extremely warm.

"So, what are you doing out here?" asked Shinji

"Nothing really. I was going to hang out with my sister but she's busy." Said Ritsu motioning towards the body improvement club. They were doing jumping jacks, now. Shigeko looked like she was about ten seconds away from passing out. She was trying to jump too high, he decided. She was going to end up hurting herself.

"She is…" said Shinji looking over in her direction for longer than Ritsu thought was necessary. That was his sister, nobody as allowed to look at his sister. That was why he was bothered, nothing else. He needed to say something, though. Something else because he needed to keep this conversation going because if he didn't then he would look like an idiot and why was he so worried and so nervous and come on Ritsu! Talk! Say something, anything!

"My sister's running!" said Ritsu suddenly. Crap. Why had he said that? Because they were talking about his sister and the election and student council and it all just sort of came out like word vomit.

"No, she's jumping." Said Shinji dryly

"No, I mean, I mean she is but she's also running for student council president." Said Ritsu. Well, at least Shinji was looking at him now. Not that he cared about that. Not that it mattered to him whether or not Shinji, no, Kamuro looked at him.

"….Kageyama….that's a terrible idea." Said Shinji

"Why? What's wrong with my sister?" asked Ritsu. He didn't want Shigeko to be insulted or made fun of. He was the little brother, he had to protect her.

"Where do I begin?" asked Shinji. He felt the ground under him shake. He tensed. Right, both Kageyama siblings were espers.

"Politically, I mean." Finished Shinji quickly.

"Sorry. I just…I really don't like people making fun of my sister." Said Ritsu

"I wasn't making fun of her, I just meant that she is not cut out for leadership." Said Shinji

"Shigeko would make a great leader." Said Ritsu. He had to defend his sister, that was his job as her little brother.

"I'm sure your sister is a nice girl but she would make a terrible leader." Said Shinji

"I said I don't like it when people make fun of my sister." Said Ritsu

"I'm not making fun of her, I'm stating facts. She's a nice girl, that's the problem." Said Shinji. She was nice, quiet, and kind of weird. That was all he knew about her, really, but it was enough to know that she would lead the school to ruin.

"What's wrong with being nice? After what I did we could use some more niceness…" said Ritsu

"Leaders can't be nice, Kageyama, they have to be strong." Said Shinji

"Shigeko can be strong." Said Ritsu. She was strong enough to have saved his life more times than he could count. She was totally strong enough to lead one little school.

"Are you sure? Because from what I've heard she's the nicest girl in school." Said Shinji

"You can be nice and be strong at the same time." Said Ritsu

"Not in the way that she's nice. One of her friends told her to do this, right? Kurata?" asked Shinji. He knew Kurata Tome. Everyone knew Kurata Tome. Chronic shouter, determined slacker, occasional conspiracy theorist, and self-proclaimed telepath. It was obvious the Kurata was going to use her sweet, kind of cute-ish, friend to get her club off the suspect clubs list and do God only knew what else.

"….Mezato." said Ritsu

"Well she's not much better. She'd probably use her sister to promote her own interests no matter how unfeasible. We cannot publish morning, afternoon, and evening editions of the paper! We cannot publish more than once a week and I am not redoing the entire budget because she's playing at being a reporter!...But I digress." Said Shinji losing himself for a moment. That girl was just so annoying sometimes! If Kageyama, Miss Kageyama, became president the budget would be blown on thrice daily editions of the paper and snack foods for the telepathy club! And who knew what else!

"Shigeko wouldn't just let her friends walk all over her like that…" said Ritsu even though he knew full well that Shigeko would do exactly that. Whatever. This was his sister and he had to be a good brother and defend her.

"Here, I propose an experiment." Said Shinji

"What kind of experiment?" asked Ritsu

"Call your sister over." Said Shinji

"What?" asked Ritsu

"Just do it." Said Shinji

"Don't make-" said Ritsu

"I have no intention of teasing your sister in any way, Kageyama. Will you please just call your sister over?" asked Shinji

"Fine." Said Ritsu. He poked his sister's aura, but not in a weird way. She was doing sit ups, now, oblivious to the fact that every member of her club was making an effort not to look at her. Not that Ritsu understood why but as long as nobody was making fun of her that was what mattered.

"She's coming, I poked her aura." Said Ritsu. Shinji was looking at him with wide eyes. Oh, his aura was visible. Ritsu pulled it back into the invisible spectrum. It was difficult, though, because he did like…no he didn't. He didn't care if Shinji looked at him. It would be weird if he did.

"….right." said Shinji after a moment. He wasn't afraid of Kageyama or anything. It was neat, if anything. The Kageyama siblings were so alike but different at the same time. Both were psychic, both were fairly cold on the outside, but one was outgoing and friendly. The other had more layers to get through than an overachieving seven layer dip.

"Hi Ritsu! Hi former president Kamuro!" said Mob as she ran over. She could feel Ritsu there the whole time but she also figured that Ritsu didn't want to be bothered. If he wanted to talk to her then he would have talked to her.

"Sister." Said Ritsu as she came running up. She was really sweaty. Her hair and clothes were sticking to her like glue. That couldn't have been comfortable but she was smiling, a little. She always smiled just a little.

"Miss Kageyama." Said Shinji taking care not to look anywhere in particular. Shinji knew full well what her brother did to people her teased her and he had no desire to see what he did to people who checked out his sister. She was cute but not that cute, not cute enough to set her brother off, anyway.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Mob. She was glad that Ritsu was still friends with Shinji. He talked about him a lot, before. He really admired and respected Shinji so it was good that they were friends.

"Talking about you, actually, Miss Kageyama." Said Shinji. Ritsu, for some reason, did not like the way he was addressing her even though it was polite. Too polite, he decided. Not that he should be calling Shigeko by her given name, either, because that was too informal. He shouldn't call her Mob, either, because that was a mean nickname.

"Oh. Did I do something wrong?" asked Mob. How did she mess up today? When she walked into that wall, almost, because she was thinking about what if cats could be EVA pilots? It would be sadder because cats were adorable creatures of pure love and goodness. Also they had no thumbs.

"No, not at all. Your brother has simply informed me that you're running against me in the upcoming election and I was wondering as to why you wanted the position, that was all." Said Shinji. Yep. There was the Ritsu glare. He couldn't be any more polite unless he bowed at the waist and made an excessive amount of small talk.

"I'm running because my friend Mezato asked me to. She went through the trouble of writing me a speech and my friends went through the trouble of listening to it so I'm going to read it and see if anyone wants to vote for me." Said Mob simply. Ritsu wanted to take one of the decorative lawn rocks and hit himself over the head with it until he left this world. Well, at least she was honest…and the world could always use more honest politicians…

"What will you do if elected, Miss Kageyama." Said Shinji. Mob shrugged.

"I guess the first thing I would do would be to…I'm not sure. I mostly just want to hang out with Ritsu more and make my friends happy but I think that there could be some good that I could do. Tome says that the Telepathy Club's budget is way too low…but then again other clubs need money too. Budgets are hard, I think. I don't even like doing the budget for groceries, well I help with it, but I would do my best with the school's budget. Actually, you know what, I never thought too hard about what I would do. I just figured that I'd do whatever was best…or whatever Mezato said. She's smart about stuff like this, I think." Said Mob. It would be a lot of work, work that she didn't even want to do, but she wouldn't let her friends down.

"I rest my case." Said Shinji with a shrug. Mob looked between them. Had she said something wrong?

"It's nothing, sister." Said Ritsu. He knew Shigeko's confused face. It was subtle, like all of her expressions, but it was there.

"It isn't nothing, Kageyama. I suppose that I'm going to have to win, now, before your sister leads us to ruin. No offense, Miss Kageyama." Said Shinji

"None taken, well mostly none. I don't think I'd be as good a president as you could be but I don't think that I'll lead us to ruin. Also, you can call me Mob. Everyone does." Said Mob. She felt kind of bad. She wouldn't be terrible at it. Ritsu would be there to help her if she screwed up and she wouldn't screw up as badly as to frame people for crimes they didn't commit.

"Don't be mean to my sister, Kamuro." Said Ritsu, his little brother instincts threatening to override his sense. Shinji acquiesced. He had gotten a little mean there, and one was not mean to girls. Especially not in front of their overprotective little brothers.

"I may have gone too far, Mob. I was just curious as to what your plan was. I'm curious as to one other thing, too." said Shinji

"What?" asked Mob. There were a lot of things to be curious about when it came to her. She assumed that this was going to be about her powers. There were always questions about her powers. It was endless, sometimes.

"That's enough." Said Ritsu. His sister was not a sideshow attraction. He assumed that it would be about her powers. People were always bothering her about her powers even though she never really looked bothered.

"Why do you do things just because people tell you to?" asked Shinji. He could understand family pressure, oh God he could understand family pressure, but to allow yourself to be ordered around by your friends was inconceivable.

"Because I don't like to let people down. The truth of my charm is in my kindness so I should just be the best person that I can be. You don't have to worry, though. Nobody is going to vote for me, probably. I'm just doing this so I don't let Mezato down." Said Mob simply. It was simple. Master Reigen had told her what the best way to be was and she listened. She didn't know why Ritsu's aura spiked like that when she said it. It made perfect sense.

"People are most definitely going to vote for you." Said Shinji. She was cute and she was a girl. Somebody somewhere would vote for her on that basis alone. Her friends would vote her into office, too, just to promote their own interests. Damn. She may have stood a real chance of winning.

"Why? I'm me." Said Mob. Ritsu wanted to reach out and reassure her that people would vote for her but it was true. There was no chance that she would win. She was Shigeko. She blended into the background, mostly, until someone remembered that she had powers.

"You're a cute girl. People will vote for you just because of that." Said Shinji with a shrug. He didn't mean anything by it, he was just stating a fact. He wasn't hitting on her. If he was going to hit on a girl it would not be in front of her brother. Of course said little brother was ridiculously, notoriously, overprotective.

"Don't make fun of my sister!" said Ritsu before he could think. Usually when people called Shigeko cute they were making fun of her...or hitting on her…ick. That was his sister! Shinji blinked. Well, now, that was just mean.

"I was most certainly not. Honestly, Kageyama, I had forgotten how high strung you were." Said Shinji. He was fifteen, much too old to be teasing girls. First years could be so childish sometimes.

"Sorry…" said Ritsu. Well then he was hitting on Shigeko…right in front of him…why did that make him feel all…bad inside? Grossed out, too, because that was his sister, but also…weirdly bad. Huh. He decided to ignore whatever this feeling was. It couldn't have been anything good.

"….I have to go exercise now. Goodbye Ritsu, goodbye former president Kamuro." Said Mob before she jogged off. Ritsu always thought that she was being made fun of. Not that she wanted Shinji to call her cute. Teru always got mad when boys called her cute, not that it happened that often. Sometimes when they were out and about guys called her cute and Teru said that they were saying she was cute in the attractive sense, not in the moe sense like when girls called her cute. That was dumb. If boys wanted to tell her that she was attractive, not that she had any clue why they would say that, then they should just come out and say that she was attractive. The only boy who said she was attractive, though, was Teru. Well, damn pretty. He always said she was so damn pretty when-nope! This was school. She did not need to think of these things at school.

"Goodbye sister." Said Ritsu as his sister jogged off quickly. He glared at Kamuro. He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"I didn't mean anything by it, I was just stating a fact. She's a cute girl and people will vote for her based on that fact." Said Shinji

"Well don't call her cute, either." Said Ritsu

"At least one good thing will come of her being elected." Said Shinji

"What?" asked Ritsu. His phone vibrated. He ignored it. It was probably Rei again. She had been texting him all day. She wanted to hang out. He didn't.

"You won't have to work so hard at protecting her." Said Shinji. He wondered what it was like, having a brother who protected you and cared enough to wage war on the entire school for you.

"I'll always have to protect her." Said Ritsu still ignoring his phone. He drew his knees up to his chest. He looked over at Shigeko. She was digging through her bag, now, and pulled out her phone. She glanced at it and then ran back to him.

Mob didn't need her little brother to protect her. He always thought that people were making fun of her. Sometimes they were, sometimes they weren't, and sometimes she couldn't tell. People had been making fun of her for her entire life. She could handle herself. At least he was fighting for her instead of with her. Not that they had ever had a big fight besides that one all those weeks ago. Not that they would ever fight again. Not that they ever needed to fight. Not that she would fight with him, either. Not that she would fight with him about how…overprotective…that he could be. Sometimes she got teased and that was fine. Sometimes people were mean but as long as she was kind and sweet and she'd be alright. The truth of her charm was in her kindness and all she had to do was be a good person. As long as she was a good person then she would be fine and it wouldn't bother her if she didn't let it. Not that people teased her to her face anymore. Ritsu just didn't get that.

Sometimes it could be sort of annoying.

Not that she wanted Shinji to call her cute or anything.

It could just be annoying how Ritsu thought that she…couldn't be. That she was still the same person that she had been when she was in elementary school. She was not that person and she was not being teased nearly as badly and that was all.

At least she could put this annoyance into fighting on. Not that she had muscles, yet. Girls could put on muscles, probably, but she wasn't seeing any progress. She had more stamina, though. She could do almost thirty jumping jacks and could even run the entire circuit with the rest of the club without passing out like she had the first time. She was making progress. She was making progress in everything she put her mind to and Ritsu didn't have to worry so much about her.

The ringing of her phone took her away from that progress. That was her getting a text ring, not the someone is calling her ring. She jogged over to her bag and clicked her phone on. Oh, it was Rei. She was worried about Ritsu, he wasn't returning any of her texts and she was worried. Mob looked over at him. He was still talking to Shinji. His phone was probably on silent or dead or lost or exploded, as phones tended to do. He wouldn't ignore Rei. He loved her and when you loved someone you wouldn't ignore them.

Her little brother was in love.

She was so happy for him.

He was happy to so he must not have been ignoring Rei even though Rei said that he could be distant sometimes but that was just Ritsu and honestly it was none of Mob's business what his relationship was like. She just wanted him to be happy. He'd be super happy to know that his girlfriend was….she read the next few texts…outside the gates looking for him.

Ritsu would be so happy!

She jogged over to him. It looked like he and Shinji were having a possible fight but also possibly just a Ritsu discussion. He could get pretty…intense…when he was talking about something he really cared about.

"….the art club should get a higher budget. They're the ones that do most of the decorations for the cultural festival. Take it from the literary club, they're hemorrhaging members so they can't help out as much in the library as they could. Les work, less money." Said Ritsu. He missed this. Almost a week away from work had made him feel, well, useless. Rudderless.

"That's true but the literary club has, in the past, also been incredibly beneficial. They do still conduct study sessions with the cramming club around entrance exam time." Said Shinji. He missed this, his job. He liked the time off but he knew that he had to work double time if he was going to get his position back from Ritsu's big sister. Or maybe he could work through her. Befriend her. She did seem to do pretty much whatever her friends said. He heard she was a really nice person, too. Sweet and moe.

"I guess, but the art club has a greater need for the money. Supplies are more costly for them." Said Ritsu as his sister came to a stop in front of him. Mob wiped the sweat from her head. She wondered how much she would sweat before she shriveled up like a raisin.

"Brother! Rei wants to talk to you. She's here and she wants to hang out. She's worried too, she thinks that you might be ignoring her. Don't worry, I told her that you weren't. You would never do that to someone you loved?" asked Mob

"Shigeko!" said Ritsu. He felt took her phone and scrolled through the texts Rei had sent her. He scrolled up a little too high and found a picture of two cats sleeping on the rusty metal steps of an apartment building.

"Rei?" asked Shinji. Huh. He had a girlfriend. Who would have thought?

"…my girlfriend." Said Ritsu. Well, time to go. He was embarrassed. He didn't know why he was embarrassed but he was embarrassed. He was thirteen, it wasn't elementary school anymore, he was supposed to have a girlfriend. A girlfriend who loved him and went all the way to his school to spend time with him and who he should have been excited to spend time with.

"Well then I won't keep you. Kageyama. Miss Kageyama." Said Shinji. He picked himself up and walked off after saying his polite goodbyes. He'd head home and see how he could turn this whole thing to his favor. He could make friends with her and work through her to make the school a better place…or he could beat her…decisions, decisions.

"Ritsu? Your aura is being all spikey again. What's wrong?" asked Mob. He should have been happy. Rei was there and she loved him and he loved her. Love was the best feeling in the world. Love made the world go round! Wait, no, gravity did that. Gravity and money, Master Reigen had said.

"Nothing, sister. I'm fine." Said Ritsu as he walked past her without a goodbye. Mob watched him walk off. Ugh! Why did he have to be like that? She could tell that he wasn't. He was her little brother and she knew that something was up with him. But what? She didn't feel like pushing on anymore. She looked down at the time. Oh no!

Without time to change Mob ran, grabbed her things, said her goodbyes, and ran down the road.

Teru had been waiting for a long while!

Teru had been waiting for Shigeko, his girlfriend, love of his life, for longer than was normal. Not that he was worried. Not that he thought that she had forgotten him. Not that his finger had been hovering over the call button for a while. It would have been creepy and controlling if he told her to stop working out with her club and come running to him because he was lonely and he loved her. He couldn't tell her what to do with her time.

If he did he knew what he'd tell her to drop.

He had so precious little time with her. She was always working. She was working, not hanging out with Reigen. She just cared a lot about her career. She was just a career woman and she just liked helping people and making money and rising to the top of the spiritual world and he could understand ambition. He had his own ambitions after all. Well he did, before he met her. He wanted to be the best, the protagonist of the world. He was just the protagonist of his own life and an NPC in the life of everyone else and he was fine with that.

He was fine with that.

He felt her aura getting closer. He could always feel her hovering at the edges of his perception. She was loud and bright, like someone had dragged the sun down to Earth. She was his sun and he orbited her like the Earth or one of the cool planets like…Mars? No, too desolate. Jupiter was a cool planet. It was big and had the giant red spot. Yeah, she was the sun and he was Jupiter and Reigen could just be some space debris that would burn up in the atmosphere.

"Teru! Hi! Sorry I took so long." Said Mob as she ran up. She felt weird still being in her gym clothes but she could just change when she got to work. Teru was staring at her, though. He had been waiting for her in their usual thicket of foliage. The groundskeeper had long ago given up on keeping these plants in check so now it was their own little jungle. Well, mostly theirs. Sometimes they found empty beer cans, cigarette boxes, and mayonnaise jars.

"It hasn't been…that…long…" said Teru as he took her in. She was in her gym clothes. How could she make a gym uniform, a regular one, look so amazing? A vintage gym uniform he could understand, those looked amazing on every girl and whoever invented them must have been some kind of genius, but a regular gym uniform was usually boring. She looked anything but boring.

"Yes it has. We were outside for a while today. We always lose track of the time when we're outside doing cardio. I did thirty jumping jacks today, well almost thirty. What did you do?" asked Mob. He was still looking at her like that. She didn't know what to call it but it was a familiar look. He looked at her like that sometimes. It was usually pretty random.

"School…mostly." Said Teru as he took her in. Maybe it would be easier when he was older and not ruled by his stupid hormones. She was just so damned pretty and there and he was there and nobody else was there and he hadn't been **with **her in a while and it was hard because now he knew what it was like to be **with **her and somehow being with her like that had just made it all worse! It was like putting out a fire with a paper fan….or trying to drown a fish….if that made sense to anyone but him.

"How was school? Did anything happen? Did you hang out with your friends? How's soccer going? Do you have another game?" asked Mob. She needed to get caught up with him quickly because she had to go to work because Master Reigen was there and he missed her, maybe, and also he might have been done being distant and she just had to **see** him to make sure that they were ok and that she hadn't done anything and maybe then he would **touch** her again because oh! It was hard when he was distant from her.

"School was fine, normal school stuff. Talked to my friends…stuff like that. There's a game this Sunday if you want to come, but I know that you'll probably be working again." Said Teru because she was **always** working. When they were adults, when she was his, she'd never have to work again.

"I might be working but I'll make time for you. We can maybe hang out, too, if we don't have any Sunday clients. You could come to my house and we can hang out and watch TV and play Super Famicom." Said Mob. That was what she and Master Reigen would have done, anyway, if it wasn't a work day. It would be nice to have Teru over for once.

"I'd rather go to my house." Said Teru. A Sunday trapped in that tiny apartment with Reigen? No thank you.

"Why? We always go to your house." Said Mob. She would have liked to have spent time with both of the people she was in love with at once. That way she wouldn't feel like she was neglecting anyone.

"We have actual privacy there…and a bathtub." Said Teru quickly. Not that he was only with Shigeko because she let him, well, everything. He didn't want to share her with anyone, especially Reigen. She was his and he was hers and he loved her but he shouldn't think of her like his because that sounded kind of creepy, like the out of body stalker guy.

"…we do…" said Mob with a blush. Right. There was always that and she knew that she could not do that in the home she shared with Master Reigen. He was home on Sundays. He would know and then it would be awkward and also kind of weird because she loved him, too.

"So…Sunday?" asked Teru. Mob nodded. He was still staring at her. She stared right back. He blinked first.

"Oh! This is what you're looking at! I have a new bag, Reigen Sophia got it for me!" said Mob showing Teru the NERV bag which currently held a phone, 900 yen, two pencils, a yo-yo, and a shiny rock. Teru blinked. He hadn't even noticed that she had a new bag.

"Reigen…Sophia? Reigen's married?" asked Teru. Well then, that was certainly good news. If he had his own woman then he could leave Teru's woman, girl, woman-girl, alone.

"No, she's his mom. She's visiting right now. She's going home tomorrow morning, though. It was a short visit. She has to get back to English school. Weekends are busy because that's when people have time off. She teaches English, she doesn't go to English school. She's very nice, nicer than Master Reigen made her sound. She got me this for no reason which I think is very nice. I don't have anything for her, though." Said Mob

"….I would have gotten you a bag, if you had wanted one." Said Teru. His mother. Reigen's mother came to see him. Fine. It wasn't like Teru cared who's mother came to visit them. It wasn't like Teru had to check friendbook to remember his mother's face. It wasn't like he forgot her voice when she missed their weekly phone call. It wasn't like he forgot that she even existed, sometimes, when it was late and he couldn't sleep because of how empty the apartment was. His mom would have loved Shigeko. His mom would have gotten Shigeko whatever she wanted.

"I didn't even know that I wanted one. It's a lot easier for carrying things in. See?" asked Mob. She unzipped her bag and opened it up. She could carry so much stuff around now!

"I still would have gotten you one. Let's go shopping this Sunday if you don't have work. I…I want to get you something." Said Teru. He wanted to make her happy and provide for her because that was his job as her boyfriend. He needed to do his job and do it right, better than Reigen ever could.

"Ok. I need new clothes anyway, mine are getting kind of small. I can get my own clothes, though, I have a lot of money saved up." Said Mob. She needed a new gym shirt at least. She had just gotten this one a few weeks ago and it was already getting too tight.

"I still want to get you something. We can get some of those Harajuku clothes you like, like your magical girl dress. You never wear it anymore…" Said Teru not sure if she was still into stuff like that. She hadn't worn that dress in a while, which was a pity because it worked for her. This worked too, maybe even better…

"I left it at my mom and dad's house…." Said Mob. She didn't know what kind of clothes she would like, actually. Mom bought all of her clothes.

"Well I can get you another one, and don't tell me not to. I want to. I'm your boyfriend, it's my job." Said Teru taking her hand. She stared at him.

"Relationships aren't jobs, Teru." Said Mob simply. She didn't think that they had jobs. She was just going by what felt good. Well, making him happy was kind of her job. Not job, just…role? Maybe?

"You're right, Shigeko, you're always right." Said Teru before he kissed her. She was so wise, as always. How did she always know just what to say? She always brought him back down to Earth. Whenever he started to float away she brought him back down. She was his rock. She was his rock and when she talked it…it lit a fire in him.

"I'm not always right. Nobody is always right, not even Master Reigen." Said Mob as she and Teru broke apart for air. He looked at her for a while before kissing her again, harder. Mob kissed him back as best as she could. She wondered what brought this on, not that she was complaining. He usually built up to this after a while.

"Teru, wait. I have to go to work and I can't be all-" said Mob before he crashed his mouth over hers. Teru knew what this was, what fueled this. When she talked it lit a fire in him. When she talked about Reigen it lit a different sort of fire in him. Teru knew that he needed to banish all thoughts of Reigen Arataka from her mind. It would have been easier in a lot of ways if Reigen was trying to sleep with her. Then Teru, obviously, could beat Reigen at that hands down. Reigen was all emotional with her. Teru couldn't even get mad at Shigeko for this. She had no idea how Reigen felt about her, she was bad at the whole 'feelings' thing, and she was too nice to tell him to stop touching her all the time and spending time with her all the time and introducing her to his mother like she was his **girlfriend** or something.

"Forget work for one minute and kiss me." Said Teru before moving his way down her neck to that spot that made her collapse…and collapse she did. He knew all her spots. Where she liked to be kissed, where she liked to be bit, where she liked to be touched. He tried not to leave a mark, he didn't want her to be mad at him or anything, even though he also wanted to **claim** her. To show Reigen that Shigeko was his and he needed to get his own girlfriend already!

"I want…I want…oh!" said Mob as she laid down on the grass. It was soft, like a carpet. She had been the one to grow it after all. She wasn't sure what she wanted and she would have had more time to figure it out if he hadn't found her waistband.

"Me, Shigeko?" asked Teru. He knew this was stupid. He knew that he had his own apartment so he had no reason to be out there in the grass where anyone could walk by. He also knew that this was something that he had on Reigen. Reigen could never make her feel like **this.**

"Um…yes…but…we're outside." Said Mob. What happened if you got caught doing that outside? Did they arrest you? Did they put you in jail? Did they call your mom?

"So? Nobody's here and if anyone walks up I'll tell them to go fuck off." Said Teru with all the confidence that he could muster. What happened if you got caught? Incarceration? Flagellation? Mutilation? Whatever. Bring it on. He could take it. He was a man after all and a man had to take it for his woman. Girl. Woman-girl.

"You cursed." Said Mob simply. She looked up at the canopy of leaves above her. The sun was filtering through. It made patterns on the ground, on them, on the two of them as they laid down on the ground.

"I know I did and I plan to keep on cursing. You know what you make me say." Said Teru between kisses. He could feel her entire body heat up. Yes. Her hand was tugging on his hair. Her other hand was on his back. He shrugged out of his uniform coat. He didn't care, anymore, that they were outside and anyone could just walk right up and see what they were doing…were about to do...maybe. He didn't care who saw what. She was his and he wanted everyone to know that she was his.

"What if we get caught?" asked Mob softly as he tossed his uniform coat aside. It was a fire, no other way to describe it. It was a fire and she wanted to put it **out** already but they were outside but she was starting to not care but she did sort of care and-

"Shigeko…stop thinking." Said Teru. Stop thinking about the consequences of our actions. Stop thinking about getting trouble. Stop thinking about Reigen Arataka. Think about this. Think about how good I make you feel. Think about me.

"OK." Said Mob simply. That would be easier, wouldn't it? If she just stopped thinking and went with it. It was getting harder and harder to think and oh! Yes!

By some miracle they didn't get caught.

Even when the ground shook.

"Taka? Did you feel that?" asked Sophia. She sat down on the office couch, much more comfortable than the apartment couch, and scrolled through her phone as a movie played on the office TV. The cup of tea in front of her had rattled almost off the table.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I think that was Mob. Either that or an earthquake." Said Reigen. It was about the time that Mob would show up…a little past, actually. She tended to shake the building, sometimes. She must have been near. He felt for her. Huh. Kind of far away.

"Mobbu or an earthquake?" asked Sophia incredulously. Her son shrugged from behind his desk. He was doing what he called a 'graphic exorcism' but was, in reality, just him editing a photograph.

"She shakes the building sometimes. Not on purpose, she just sort of does. Don't get freaked out." Said Reigen. Mob probably got startled or something, she was fine. Nothing had happened to her. He leaned back and glanced out the window even though he knew full well that he couldn't feel her.

"I know, I know. It hurts her self-esteem. Taka, if I haven't freaked out yet then I won't. I like her, Taka, and I think that she's going to be very good for you." Said Sophia. She was ok with whatever happened between them. Taka wasn't the sort of person who would be with her now but when she grew up, in a few short years, Sophia knew that Arataka and Mobbu would be knocking on her door with a wedding invitation or a baby or something and then she'd give him a big fat 'I told you so' but she would also be so happy for him. He deserved happiness and a lifetime with someone who could give it to him. He had finally met the person who could give him happiness…she just turned out to be a fourteen year old esper girl.

"…mom…I told you that we aren't-" said Reigen rubbing his temples. He did not want to deal with this again. He had made himself perfectly clear last night.

"I never said or implied anything, Arataka. I just think that she really cares about you and you care about her. I'll admit it, she's been good for you. I haven't seen you this happy in years…but then again I haven't seen you in years." Said Sophia. Three days wasn't enough. She had gone years without setting eyes on her son and now here he was. This was his, all his. His office, his business, his life.

"Well who's fault is that?" muttered Reigen

"Both of ours. I made mistakes, Taka, I made so many mistakes but you weren't exactly a model son yourself. We both made our mistakes but I want to…I want to mend the bond between us. I love you, Arataka." Said Sophia. Reigen looked at his mother for a moment. He hadn't been a model son, that was true, but he was the kid and she was the adult. She was supposed to be there for him, that was the responsibility all adults, not just parents, had to kids.

"…I love you too, mom." Said Reigen after a moment. He was not going to run his mouth. He was not going to start a fight. He stayed in his chair, though. He stayed there because he didn't want to create some maudlin scene. That and…well…she had accused him of wanting to be with Mob romantically. That was…if she had been anyone either than his own mother…

But it was his mother. They had hashed it out yesterday and now he would hold his tongue for the first time in his almost thirty years of life.

Sophia stayed in her spot on the couch. Maudlin scenes were for old MGM movies, not for her and her son. They just weren't like that. But maybe they should have been. Maybe she should have made more of an effort, when he was younger, to have those maudlin scenes with him. Maybe she should have made more of an effort for him. Maybe he should have made more of an effort for her. Maybe he shouldn't have disobeyed her at every turn. Maybe….maybe she should just get back to reading about…what had she been reading about? It didn't matter. Anything to get herself off of this train of thought.

The atmosphere became heavy between them. Silence hung over them like a thick, soupy, fog. The silence was broken, soon, by the quick sound of footsteps.

"Hi Master, sorry I'm late, here's the mail!" said Mob as she came through the door. She practically threw the mail onto Reigen's desk as she came in, something heavy almost sliding off the desk. Reigen picked it up. Parchment paper?

"Mobbu…you look exhausted." Said Sophia. The girl was drenched with sweat. Her gym uniform clung to her, sweat drenched through in some places. Her fringe was plastered to her face. Her face itself was a deep red.

"….body improvement club. How are you? What movie is this? Do we have any clients?" Said Mob after a moment. Not a lie. She had been to body improvement club that day. Nobody needed to know what she did after body improvement club. She'd take it to her grave. They'd have to pry the truth out of her cold dead hands. Not that there was that much to tell. The main event had, once again, been pretty meh but at least there wasn't any crying that time. She still liked the preamble much better.

"This is a movie called Singing in the Rain but I'm not really watching it, you can change it. I'm fine, just watching Taka work, it's simply riveting. A man came by earlier with a haunted photograph and besides that it's been all backrubs. Simply riveting." Said Sophia. Taka was, mostly, a masseur it seemed. That was a relief, in a way. He wasn't risking his life, that was what mattered.

"Oh. I always thought that spirit photos and back rubs were sort of boring but I guess that we're different like that." Said Mob

"Don't knock the backrubs Mob, they're what keeps the lights on. Well…you help too I guess…" said Reigen as he opened the heavy envelope. Wedding invitation? Funeral invitation? Committed fraudster?

"I'm the spirits and you're the such, you said." Said Mob

"That you are, Mob, that you are." Said Reigen

"What's that envelope, Master?" asked Mob. Usually they just got junk mail and coupons.

"Apparently someone named Asagiri has invited us to an exorcism. Huh. Invite, not hire." Said Reigen as he read through the invitation.

"Taka…did you say Asagiri As in Asagiri Masashi?" said Sophia. She knew that name. it was either the billionaire or someone doing an impression…..but what would a billionaire want with her Taka?

"Yeah, the same guy….where have a heard that name before?" asked Reigen. Mob shrugged.

"I've never heard of anyone named Asagiri before." Said Mob with a shrug.

"Taka…he's one of the richest men in Japan!" said Sophia after a quick Google search to make sure that she was thinking of the same guy.

"Really? Mob…do you know what this means?" asked Reigen as he clutched the parchment paper to his chest like it was a love note and he was in middle school.

"The paper is going to get wrinkled?" asked Mob. It looked like really nice paper. Mom and dad got a wedding invitation on paper like that, once. They hadn't gone, though, because nobody would ever sit for Mob. She had been allowed to keep the paper, though.

"We're rich! I mean, we're going to be! Mob, we're closing up on Saturday! Look, it even says that they'll pay for a cab!" said Reigen. He got up and began to spin Mob around. She laughed, her actual laugh, and allowed herself to be spun. Sophia took a picture, it was adorable.

"Master! I'm getting motion sick!" said Mob as she was spun. This was perfect. He was touching her again. He still liked her. Their auras were merged, too. She was so happy. He was so happy. They were so happy. She didn't care about the money, she just wanted this to go on forever.

"Me too!" said Reigen. He was happy so she was happy so they were happy. The butterflies were back. He didn't care! This could be the biggest job of their entire careers! They were going to exorcise the fuck out of this spirit! Well, Mob would! Then he could get her all the nice things she deserved! Her own room, her own bathroom…maybe even her own fucking house! Well, no, because he didn't want to be away from her…but he could do so much for her!

"I'm dizzy!" said Mob as he spun with her. Her hair was hitting her face and getting in her mouth. One of her hairclips had fallen from her head and hit the wall. Light things were being picked up and spinning with them. She could hear the click of a camera.

"I'm nauseous!" said Reigen. He picked her up and spun her. They were rich! Rich! They could build a money room and dive into it like a pool! He could get her a giant futon! And all the milk she could drink! He could have it piped into their house! He could buy her an entire cow! A dairy!

"Taka-chan, put her down before she throws up!" said Sophia with a laugh. It was infectious, her son's happiness. She could see a sort of yellow surrounding them both. Yellow, pink, and blue. She had no idea her son was that strong. He was holding her up by the waist and spinning her around.

"I'm too happy to throw up!" said Mob as she used her powers to make herself light enough to spin. She was dizzy but she didn't care. They were ok again!

"Goodbye money troubles! Goodbye discount grocery store! Goodbye undershirts with the itchy tags!" said Reigen as he stopped spinning her. He was still holding her up by the waist. She was light, impossibly light. Her cheeks were apple colors. Her hair was floating around her like a halo. She reached down and held him by the shoulders to stabilize herself.

"I'm just so glad!" said Mob with a laugh, a real out loud laugh. She almost never laughed out loud. Anything that could be lifted off the ground was hovering a few inches up.

"Taka-chan, put her down! She's too heavy!" said Sophia. How could he lift her like that? His powers? Or hers? She took another picture. He was just so happy with her. Well, her and the promise of money from a rich person. She looked just plain happy. Sophia didn't know that her face was capable of that kind of expression.

"She's not! Mob! Isn't this amazing?! We're going to be rich! Or at least better off!" said Reigen. She was smiling now, for real. He absolutely loved her when she smiled.

"I don't care about the money! I just care that you like me again!" said Mob. Reigen blinked. He put her down, slowly. Where had that come from….?

"Mob….of course I like you. I will always like you." Said Reigen. He put her down but his hands were still around her waist. He could almost span it with both hands, the dip in her waist, just above her hips. He wanted to let her go. He wanted to hold onto her. He could feel a similar warmth on his own waist. He could feel his own heart beating so fast it was almost humming. He could feel his own face flushing. He needed to let her go but he…he couldn't.

"I know, you were just weird this morning. I thought that I had done something. You and your mom were fighting about me, too, last night, and this morning you wouldn't be near me or touch me. I just thought that…maybe…you didn't like me anymore." Said Mob softly. Sophia felt the infectious happiness drain from herself almost immediately. She was left with a sort of…embarrassment. Embarrassment and…shame? It didn't feel good at all. She sat back down, wanting to hide from the scene before her.

Taka's hands around her waist. The way she was speaking to him. The subject of their conversation…this was not for her eyes.

"Mob…you didn't do anything. I'm the one who…I mean…it's nothing. Mob…I will never reject you and I will always care about you. Ok? If I ever make you feel…if I ever hurt your feelings I want you to tell me." Said Reigen letting go of her. He had Mob to think of. She had placed so much trust in him. She trusted him to always be there for her. He knew how it looked and sometimes he didn't care but…but did it matter? Should he care? Should he care about others getting the wrong idea? Sometimes he did and sometimes he didn't but it wasn't just about him.

It was about Mob.

Mob had placed all of her trust in him. She trusted him to take care of her. She trusted him to be there for her. She trusted him to lead her. She trusted him to like her. She trusted him to love her. He would not, could not, break that trust. She needed him and he needed her.

But he did touch her a lot.

But it didn't matter.

But it did.

But not to her.

Nothing else mattered but her.

"Ok. I'll tell you. Master? If I ever hurt your feelings will you tell me?" asked Mob as he let her go. They were ok. It was so nice…to know that he loved her. That he liked her. That he cared about her.

"Mob, you know you could never do anything to hurt me." Said Reigen. What could Mob ever do to hurt him? Besides making him worry, of course, but that wasn't on her. He looked her up and down. She looked a little green around the gills. Right. He had been spinning her. Crap. Her hair was all over the place, too. He smoothed it down and felt something that was most certainly not hair. He pulled a leaf out and held it up. He was hit with a wave of embarrassment.

"I'm going to go change back into my uniform now, Master." Said Mob. She called her school bag over towards her and scurried off to the bathroom. Reigen sat back down in his chair with a groan.

"Taka-chan? Are you…alright?" asked Sophia. The colors saturating the room faded back down to nothing. Now all she felt was…tired? Tired.

"That was me, mom, I'm sorry. Positive feedback loop. Mob's like…she's kind of like an amplifier. Espers are loud and I'm always in her aura anyway so sometimes we sort of….share….feelings. Not just sharing but also…multiplying exponentially….I guess. It happens sometimes." Said Reigen as he leaned back. Well now hadn't that been a wonderful mess.

"I'm just…I'm glad to know that she makes you that happy. That's all I ever wanted, you know, your happiness." Said Sophia after a moment. She didn't much care for this atmosphere, not at all. She spotted a DVD boxset next to the DVD player. Oh. Taka loved this show. She put in the first disk.

"….and all I want is her happiness…" muttered Reigen as he heard a very familiar theme song play. Mob came out from the bathroom dressed in her school uniform, her hair settled back into it's usual shape. She sat down at her desk and stared at the TV like it was going to vanish if she took her eyes off of it…even though she had already seen this episode a thousand times.

He wondered if Mogami ever had these troubles.


	34. The Last of the Good Days

"Now that's Taka during his first sports day. See, he's all pouty because he finished in the last quarter of the race and he skinned his knee." Said Sophia as she flipped through an album of digitized photographs. They were on the living room couch, it was her last night at her son's apartment. Taka was off in his room updating the Spirits and Such Friendbook page.

"Mom! Not more ancient history!" said Reigen from his room. The page had been updated long ago, now he was just waiting for his mom to finish going over his childhood in fine detail.

"Quiet down, Taka-chan. They're just photographs." Said Sophia. She and Mobbu were sitting close, but not terribly close. Close enough to feel the sort of static electricity that jumped from her skin, though. Close enough to catch snatches of pink and blue out of the corner of her eye.

"It's weird seeing Master that little." Said Mob. She knew that he had once been a child, everyone had a childhood after all, but it was another thing to see proof of it. He was tiny in that picture, very tiny. His hair was shorter, too. There was a man next to him in that picture, probably his father. The man didn't look too happy at all.

"He was a tiny little thing, wasn't he?" said Sophia. Taka-chan was an adorable child when his mouth was closed. That boy could chuck a tanty like nobody's business, back in the day. Thankfully he seemed to have grown out of it in his adult life.

"I mean that it's weird seeing him when he was a kid. He doesn't look that small, just normal kid sized." Said Mob. Everyone used to be small, even her parents. One day she would be an adult and she'd be on her couch looking through pictures of when she was small. One day she would be an adult and she'd be sitting with her kids and looking at old pictures. Mom so rarely let her look at the old photo albums, mostly because Mob didn't have the best control over her powers and ruined everything she touched.

"That feeling never fully goes away. It's like one day you wake up and poof! You've got an adult son and your hair is turning white and suddenly you're thinking about the good old days and telling neighborhood kids to get off your lawn." Said Sophia with a laugh

"Your hair is more silver than white, I think. It looks pretty." Said Mob looking at the strips of white in Master's mom's hair. It went nice with the blonde, Mob thought. Her hair would have looked bad with silver strips because it was black, Mob thought.

"Thank you, you're very sweet. I really should color it, though. What about you? Ever considered a different color? When Taka was your age-" said Sophia

"Mom! Don't show her that picture!" said Reigen from his room.

"What picture?" asked Mob

"When Taka was in middle school he got this idea in his head that he was going to color his hair blue, like a character from a show he was watching at the time-" said Sophia

"Mom!" said Reigen. Mob didn't need to see his blunder years. Nobody needed to see his blunder years. Thank God he was born when he did. If he was born one decade later all of his teenage foibles would be immortalized forever. Thank God had more sense than to get into any teenage foibles. Then her mother would have nothing to show people ten plus years down the road.

"So anyway I, of course, said no. He wasn't too keen on listening to me back then, or ever really, so he bought some blue drink powder and colored his hair like that. He absolutely ruined the good towels in the bathroom." Said Sophia laughing again. Mob smiled as Sophia flipped to the picture in question. It was Master Reigen sticking out his tongue and sticking up his middle finger in a bathroom. The towels behind him were, in fact, stained blue. So was the sink behind him and parts of the wall.

"Yeah…then dad came home and kicked a hole in the wall." Muttered Reigen as he checked his bank account. Still in the black. After this next job they'd be permanently in the black, hopefully. These were rich people, rich enough to reimburse cab fare all the way to their home, so this was going to be a massive reward.

"But we patched it right up." Said Sophia brushing him off. That night was something she wanted to forget. That was closer to the end of her marriage, when she and her ex-husband could barely stand to be in the same room as one another.

"Why did he do that?" asked Mob simply. That seemed like a dumb thing to do on purpose. She could understand breaking things on accident, goodness knew she had broken plenty of things on accident, but on purpose was different.

"He had a temper, my ex-husband. We both did, actually….but that's all ancient history." Said Sophia with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"My parents fight too. Well, they did, but now they probably don't. They mostly fought about me and the things that I would do but now that I'm gone they can be happy." Said Mob. Sophia stared at the girl for a moment. Nothing. Flat fact. She seemed so old, then. Sophia knew that if she had ever felt so cornered as a fourteen year old girl that her only option was to run away from home she'd be a wreck.

"Don't think like that, Mob. None of that was your fault." Said Reigen from his room. He knew what it felt like to blame yourself for the problems your parents had. It was a weight, a crushing weight on your chest on the time and you just wanted to make it stop but it never did.

"It was. If I wasn't so weird and if I didn't have powers then my family would have been happy. I don't mind, though, because I'm happy right now. I'm glad that I moved out and I'm never going to move back in." said Mob simply. She wasn't a little kid anymore, she was almost an adult and part of being an adult was being able to see where you made mistakes and correcting yourself accordingly. Like how Master Reigen had always apologized when he thought that he did something that bothered her. Not that he had ever, or could ever, do something that bothered her.

"Mobbu, Taka-chan's right. You shouldn't think like that. You're a wonderful girl…young woman…and anyone would be happy to have you in their family." Said Sophia. She heard Taka start to cough in the other room. He should really quit smoking. They should both quit.

"Hey mom, show her the picture from when we went to Disney Tokyo and I dropped my ice cream!" said Reigen from his room. He knew full well what his mom was saying, there. Mob might have been deaf to the layers that conversation came in but he wasn't. God, mom, why would you go and say something like that?

"Oh you'll love this on. See, here Taka-chan's only five and we made the mistake of letting him hold onto his own ice cream cone-" said Sophia. Mob stared at the picture of Master Reigen when he looked so, impossibly, little. Would they have been friends when they were little? Would they have been friends when they were her age? If she were his age? Her mom had said….her own mother had never said that she was wonderful. Her own mother had always told her how weird she was, how embarrassing she was, and how awful her powers were. His mother had said that anyone would be happy to have her in their family. Anyone, even her.

Reigen Shigeko.

Reigen Mob.

Mob smiled a little, too herself. Her stomach was doing flip-flops, somersaults, cartwheels, tumbles, an entire Olympic floor show.

Reigen sighed and rested his head on his keyboard. His stomach was about to take home the gold for Japan in gymnastics. Mob's stomach was the one taking home the gold. Mob. These were her feelings. She couldn't help it. He told himself that she couldn't help it. She was only fourteen, her hormones pretty much ruled her mind until they tired themselves out. If, and it was a big if, she had some kind of….puppy crush….on him then it was strictly hormones, nothing more. Not that Mob could ever have a crush on him.

This was Mob for God's sake!

Mob had the social graces of a soy bean. No, wait, a very polite and adorable soy bean. She would probably have gotten him some of his favorite candy or a plant or something and confessed to him…that is if she actually had feelings for him…which she most certainly did not.

Mob was half his age. She had so many guys her own age in her life, including an actual living boyfriend who she loved and was loved by in return. He remembered what she said, before, on that night she had taken a few years off his life, about how she wished that she had been with someone else when she…for the first time. There was someone else…not that it was…it was probably just some boy from her class or one of her esper friends or something. She was a teenage girl, she got crushes all the time, probably.

It had nothing to do with him. These butterflies, the blush, the nervous energy, all of it. Nothing at all to do with him.

Rei hoped that whatever was bothering Ritsu had nothing to do with her. He just seemed so…gloomy. Gloomier than usual. What was with him? Logically the more time they spent together the happier they should have both been. They were a couple and couples were supposed to spend time together. Maybe because they were in his house. Maybe because they had just finished school and school was exhausting. Maybe he just…maybe SHE had been the one to do something wrong.

But she hoped that it had nothing to do with her.

"….and then you divide out the 'y' and there's your answer." Said Ritsu. They were sitting on the floor of his room. He was helping her with her homework, glad to be helpful towards her. It meant that he was doing his job right, that he was being good to her. That was his job, to take care of her and make her happy.

But then why did she look so upset?

"Thanks…I get it now." Said Rei. She leaned against his bed and looked over at him. She must have done something wrong, but what? She was there for him, she spent time with him, and she put forth a lot of effort into looking cute in the way that he liked. Well, he had only complimented her on her socks back when they first started going out so she only wore super long socks when she was with him. He hardly ever looked at her, though. Really looked at her, like how boyfriends were supposed to look at you.

"If it's still hard for you I can show you again." Said Ritsu. That must have been it, she was just having trouble with her homework. Or maybe she was hungry. Tired? Cold? Hot? Bored?

"No, that's ok…" said Rei. What was with her? He just felt so…distant…sometimes….even after telling her that he loved her. She thought that the first time she was ever in love with someone it would be more like…fireworks? More like in manga. She wasn't even sure if she was in love with Ritsu but he was in love with her, his sister said so, so then she had to tell him she loved him because otherwise it would have hurt his feelings.

"Do you need anything? Are you hungry or thirsty or tired or hot or cold or anything?" asked Ritsu. She did walk a very long way to come and see him after school. Maybe she was just exhausted. He wished that she would just say what was on her mind so he could do his job and fix whatever it was that was bothering her.

"No I just….I'm just kind of…thinking a lot right now. I mean…no, it's nothing." Said Rei. She didn't even know what she wanted. Not THAT. She was nowhere near ready for anything like that but it still felt like something was…missing…from what they had. He was mature, too mature to ask her to let him do anything, and mature was good. Right? He wasn't going to push her to do anything, and from what she had heard boys could be very pushy sometimes.

"…ok…." Said Ritsu. He wasn't Shigeko. He could tell that it wasn't nothing. But what? What did he do? Did she figure out that he had been avoiding her? He was a terrible person, he decided. What kind of a guy avoided his girlfriend?

"I just mean, like, I don't even know what I mean! I just really wanted to see you and now I am seeing you but, like, hello Rei! I should be super happy because I usually am when I see you but it's like…are you happy?" asked Rei getting right to it. She needed to know. Was he gloomy or did the entire Kageyama family just always look sad and gloomy?

"…yes. I'm happy." Said Ritsu. Well, he wasn't unhappy so therefore he must have been happy. Besides, what did it matter if he was happy or not? He was doing what he was supposed to do, like he always did, and doing what was right was what mattered. He just had to live up to her expectations just like he had to live up to everyone's expectations.

"So you just always look kind of gloomy? I mean, not to be mean, it's just…I don't even know what I mean." Said Rei. How could she say it? That she was thinking about him more and more every day? That she sometimes passed by other people in her year and she wished that her relationship was as…kissy….as theirs was? That maybe she was a tiny bit jealous of those older girls, even some in her year, who walked around with Band-Aids on their necks and had hushed conversations in the bathroom at lunch about things that Rei was mostly not ready for but was still…curious…about. If curious was the right word.

"I guess I do. I mean, I'm not sad right now or anything. I mean, I'm a little…I'm fine. It's nothing to do with you." Said Ritsu. He was always a little upset, he decided. It was at the corner of his mind. It came out when he slept, sometimes. Him getting kidnapped, him almost dying, seeing Shiratori's dead body being dragged by the leg in front of him….the way his sister had been **laughing**….but that was him. Everyone else was fine. Nobody talked about it anymore so he shouldn't either. Well, maybe he could with her…but he used to talk about it, before, often with her. She still drew it…but he didn't want to upset her, either. She was there for him but his job was to be stronger for her.

"Are you still dreaming about the time we got kidnapped and almost died?" asked Rei. She reached over and took his hand in hers. That must have been it. Why he was so distant from her. At the lab they had come to an unspoken agreement to never talk about it again. It happened and it was over and that was that. She still thought about it, sometimes, not that she would tell Ritsu. He was bothered enough. She had to be there for him, she was his girlfriend after all.

"…sometimes." Said Ritsu. He shouldn't have been upset, though. He knew what to do if it ever happened again. He was stronger now, he had better control over his powers and he knew what to look out for. Everyone was working on getting stronger but that might have even been a moot point because the base had been destroyed in the climax battle anyway.

"Do you want to talk about it? I'm totally here for you! I mean, I'm your girlfriend and I…love…you and all of that." Said Rei with a blush. It still felt weird, the whole 'I love you' thing. She had only said that to her family before that, and not in the same way.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just…I'm just worried about you. Usually you're…happier." Said Ritsu. Usually she was like if someone had given one of those yappy dogs a pot of coffee and then set said dog free at the dog treat factory.

"I'm happy! I'm so happy!" said Rei suddenly. Right. She had been too distant. She couldn't be upset with him for being distant when she herself was being distant. It was like she had read in the magazine, relationships took work and caring and communication and understanding and intimacy and all of that stuff. She leaned over and kissed him, quickly. It took him a moment to kiss her back. She frowned as she pulled away.

"What?" asked Ritsu

"It's…promise you won't freak out and run away?" asked Rei. She had read that relationships needed intimacy and that everyone needed to be on the same page. Lack of intimacy was a marriage killer, her mom's book had said. Not that she wanted married people sort of intimacy yet. She just…she didn't want him to kiss her like they were in elementary school!

"I can't run away, this is my house." Said Ritsu. Whatever it was he could take it like a man. Had someone tried to kidnap her? His blood ran cold. If Claw was back then he would not hold back even a little. He needed to keep the people close to him, the people he cared for, safe.

"I just…." Said Rei. The book had said, and it was a legitimate book because it had been published by a doctor or a therapist or someone like that, that communication and intimacy were key. Her parents were super happy so it must have been good advice. But what was she supposed to say? She had already tried to kiss him how she wanted, before, when they were at the river. He didn't seem too into it, not like the other girl's boyfriends who were there. Then again it had mostly been high school couples there, based on the uniforms.

"If something happened to you I can help and if someone tried to hurt you or kidnap you again or-" said Ritsu. He may not have been madly in love with her but he would protect her. Her and everyone else.

"No! It's nothing like that. It's just…ok. So I read in my mom's book that to have a good relationship we need communication and caring and understanding and intimacy and stuff like that. I think that we have caring and understating but we need more…intimacy…I mean, not like clear your browser history intimacy or anything! I mean, hello Rei! We're first years! People don't start doing all of that until second year at least! But I just…I want to kiss you like we did by the river…" said Rei, practically whispering as she finished the end of that sentence. She didn't know why she was whispering, she didn't know why she was embarrassed. Her sister was always saying that girls were supposed to want to do all the stuff that boys wanted and it was the twenty first century so everyone should just be…like that…about what they wanted but when it came right down to it Rei was…embarrassed? Afraid? Nervous? Which made no sense. If Mob could, and she looked and acted like a shrine maiden, then Rei totally could!

"Intimacy?! You want….what? What?" asked Ritsu. He scooted away from her a little. No way. No way was he going to…just no! No way. Not ready. His room felt small, suddenly, but there was no way out because it was **his** room.

"Not like that! I just…is there something wrong with me? I feel like there might be something wrong with me. You never ask me to do anything! And I can see the future and I can see that you're never going to ask and it's like hello Rei! You're thirteen anyway and you're not supposed to but it's like…it's like everyone else is, you know? Like my friends and stuff. Even Mo-you don't want to know about that, forget I said that." Said Rei. She ran a hand through her hair. Great, now it was messed up. Now she had messed up two things. He probably thought she was dumb and weird now and he'd tell her to get out and he'd break up with her because she was the one pushing him now and-

"There's nothing wrong with you, Rei, ok? There's nothing wrong with you at all." Said Ritsu. Great, she was upset. He had made her upset. He was bad at this, wasn't he? His job was to make her happy and he had failed her as a boyfriend just like he had failed Shigeko as a little brother and he would end up failing his parents as a son and he would just end up a failure and-

"I'm sorry! I made you upset…I'll go. I'm sorry!" said Rei. She got up and Ritsu made a split second decision. If she wanted to break up with him it would be a load off of his mind, and that was the bad thing. It wasn't supposed to be! This girl was in love with him and he would hurt her if he let her walk out that door.

He would not be responsible for hurting another person.

"Rei…don't go. Please." Said Ritsu. He held her hand. Her fingers were skinnier than his, and softer. Her entire hand was really soft. Hell, all of her skin was really soft. She felt nice. If he focused on the way she felt…if he closed his eyes…but he couldn't because she was looking at him and her eyes were so sad but also sparkly and that was kind of distracting and why was she always so sparkly and glittery? Her eyes were sparkly and glittery and watery and he made her sad and he had to **fix** it.

"I'm sorry I said anything. Just forget it." Said Rei. She didn't even know what she wanted. She knew that she wanted him to want to be with her but she also didn't want to do a lot of the stuff her friends and the other people in class talked about but maybe…it was a lot but she still wanted to know what it was like and she couldn't exactly go around asking people, that was why her sister called her a nosy little pervert all the time, but she couldn't exactly figure it out for herself because it was new and big and kind of scary but also exciting and she shouldn't ask anyway because she was the girl and girls didn't really ask anyway even though a lot of books and websites said that it was ok and-

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad, Rei, and I'm…I'm sorry I didn't text you back earlier today…and that I've been distant these past couple days. It's not you, there's nothing wrong with you. I…love you. I love you." Said Ritsu. That was what she wanted to hear, that he loved her back. He was not hurting anyone ever again and she hadn't done a single thing wrong so she didn't deserve to feel like that. She was his girlfriend and she loved him and he had been selfish. His selfishness and general jerkishness had pushed his sister away, he would not push his girlfriend away, either.

"It's ok, Ritsu. I…I love you too. I've been way too pushy. I mean, hello Rei! You have a life and stuff. I just…I like spending time with you. I feel happy when I'm with you and I…I know that you'll keep me safe, too. Not that anything bad is happening in the near enough future that I can see. Wait, tomorrow there's a good chance that you're going to bend your spoon and get milk on your uniform before school. Wait, not there's a good chance that you won't. I'm sorry, I talk too much. I guess the point is that you make me feel safe and happy but you have your own life and I shouldn't take up so much of your time." Said Rei. The books also said that both people should give each other space. She decided to drop the whole 'intimacy' thing because she didn't even know what she wanted there.

"You're not pushy, I'm distant. If you want to spend time with me then I should spend time with you. I'm your boyfriend and it's my job to make you happy." Said Ritsu still holding her hand. He could feel her skin heating up. She was wearing makeup but he could see her natural blush under the pink stuff she wore on her cheeks.

"I should make you happy, too. I'm your girlfriend, it's my job to make you happy." Said Rei. Wow, he was tall. She knew that he wasn't that many centimeters taller than her but he felt really, really, tall then. She could feel how close he was to her and she knew that she needed to take a step back. This feeling was new and kind of weird and it made her weird.

"You do make me happy, Rei." Said Ritsu. Well, she didn't make him unhappy. She kept him company. She listened to him whenever he got upset about what happened, before. She was always so happy to be with him. She was never too busy for him, not like Shigeko. Not that he should have been comparing his girlfriend to his big sister. She was in her own box in his mind. He just needed to make that box for her because, before, every girl was either his sister or not his sister and he was too old to be thinking like that.

"Then why were you ignoring me? I mean…it felt like you were. I mean…you didn't text me back until Mob went and got you….and she was busy working out but she went running…I mean I saw her but not you but you were near her…not that I was spying on you or anything!" said Rei

"I was just….I was busy but…you're right. I was ignoring you and I'm sorry. Can we just forget it? I was just talking to someone, that's all. He's kind of a friend. Sort of. I respect him a lot and I just sort of got caught up…" said Ritsu. He suddenly felt like he was five and his mom caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. But why? He had just been getting back into it with Shinji. The way they were before. He respected Shinji a lot and he did, genuinely, enjoy his student council job so of course he would get into getting caught up with Shinji.

"A boy, right?" asked Rei. She had a brief, and terrible, thought. What if he had some girl in his school that he was interested in? What if someone was trying to get her claws into him and he was just saying that he was talking to a boy to make her feel less suspicious. Besides, he was talking like he…kind of like he was talking about a girl. All nervous. Tripping over his words.

"Yeah, he's boy…he used to be my senior in student council and he's running for reelection so we mostly talked about that…well we argued about that. It was the dumbest thing, he kept on saying that Shigeko was going to win. He called her cute, too…but he wasn't making fun of her but still she's my sister and I'm right there! So, yeah, it was mostly just work stuff. I just got kind of into it, that's all. I'm sorry that I ignored you." Said Ritsu. Rei was looking at him kind of weird.

"You'd tell me if, like, a girl confessed to you or anything, right?" asked Rei after a moment. She knew how great he was. He was smart and hot and had really strong psychic powers and was super mature and stuff. Anyone would be happy to have him and she knew how lucky she was to be with someone like him.

"Girls confess to me all the time. I don't care." Said Ritsu. He sometimes found notes in his shoebox, still. The braver girls usually confessed to his face. He always said no and he still would. He already had a girlfriend, what did he need to go breaking her heart for? To get another one? Rei was a good girlfriend and he didn't want to ever hurt her.

"…which girls?" asked Rei. Someone older than her? Prettier than her? Smarter than her? Was that why he never looked at her? Really looked at her?

"Girls from my class, some of the other first year classes. I don't really know their names a lot of the time. They just leave notes in my shoebox, mostly." Said Ritsu

"….and you tell them that you have a girlfriend, right?" asked Rei. She wondered how much trouble she would get in for borrowing his sister's uniform, sneaking into his school, hanging out by his shoebox, and scaring off any would be confessors. She looked into the future. There was a miniscule chance that she would go through with it…and she'd get in massive trouble. Yeah, no, best to not try that anytime soon.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? You're the only girl I want to go out with, Rei." Said Ritsu. He knew her and he knew that he didn't dislike her so why would he ever want to be with another girl? He needed a girlfriend, he had one. There. Box checked.

"Because I'm…I mean…you never look at me." Said Rei

"I'm looking at you right now." Said Ritsu

"No! I mean, like, you don't LOOK at me. Like you don't, like, check me out or anything I guess. I mean…do you think I'm pretty?" asked Rei looking down at their feet. She could sort of see the pink of her toenails through her socks.

"…I think you're pretty. You wear a lot of makeup and your hair is always really styled and your uniform is…nice." Said Ritsu. Why did girls care so much about how they looked? She was objectively pretty. She checked off all the boxes that a girl had to check off to be pretty. So then why didn't she think that she was pretty?

"But you never, like, look at me. I mean…I don't know." Said Rei. She had a thought, for a moment, that there was someone prettier. Someone he would rather be with, that was why he never looked at her. She looked into the future and felt better. There was zero chance that he would leave her for another girl. Wow. Well now she felt like garbage. There he was giving her his complete and total devotion and she goes off and starts making crazy accusations. Of course he could never want to be with anyone else. He was super mature like that.

"I'm looking at you right now. You look really pretty. I like how…colorful and glittery…you are." Said Ritsu trying to find something specific to compliment her on. He had to tell her something to make her feel better. That was his job as her boyfriend, to make her feel better.

"That's, like, not what I meant! Ugh!" said Rei. She threw her arms up in the air and then flopped down onto his bed. She laid down on her back and stared up at the ceiling. After a moment Ritsu joined her. He wished that she would just tell him what she meant. He told her that she was pretty, what else did she want. Sisters were so much easier than girlfriends. Not that he should be comparing his girlfriend to his sister.

"Rei, I'm lost here. I don't know what you mean. I think that you're pretty, though, so you don't have to worry about the way you look. I wouldn't care either way. If you were pretty or not." Said Ritsu. He looked up at the ceiling, too. Why were relationships so complicated? He heard the front door open and shut. His parents were home, or at least one of them. At least his relationship wasn't anything like his parents' relationship.

"I just…you never check me out. That's what I want, I guess. Like…do you know what I mean?" asked Rei

"…I have no clue." Said Ritsu. Did she want him to be like those guys who hung out at the bottom of the stairwell and yelled gross things up at the girls as they walked by? Did girls actually like that? It sure didn't look like they liked it.

"Just….do you…will you just kiss me!?" asked Rei. He never kissed her, either, unless she asked him to. It was like she was doing all the work in that part of their relationship. It was like he was so mature, sometimes, that he didn't even care about all of the immature things that people their age did! Maybe Rei wanted to be a little immature! Maybe she wanted to do the same stuff that the girls in her class did! Well, not all the same stuff…but some of it.

"Sure." Said Ritsu. He leaned over and kissed her. Short and quick, like usual. As he pulled away she followed him. Did she…was she going to kiss him again like she did that time at the river? All touching and slobbering and wet and…weird?

That had been so, incredibly, awkward.

Yup. She wanted to, again. Ok then. Whatever she wanted.

He was there to make her happy after all. That was his job and he would do it right. Even if it was awkward. Even if they didn't really synch up. Even if her lip stuff was all over him. Huh. Bubblegum, but not too artificial. She hated artificial tasting flavors. Did she wear that stuff so she could taste it all day? Or was she planning this? She wore stuff like this every day. Did she want this every day? Why? It wasn't really anything, just mostly awkward.

"You're really good at this." Said Rei as they, finally, broke apart. She felt like she was full of coffee and energy drinks and cola, like that time she tried to stay up all night and just made herself anxious and jittery, but in a good way. Wow. That was wow. That was even better than when they were at the river.

"Thanks. So are you." Said Ritsu. At least she was happy. It mostly felt just awkward and weird. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. Pink, bubblegum flavored, glittery….Rei. Sweet and pretty and bright and nice. So why couldn't he feel what she felt.

Maybe that was just the way he was.

Nobody could be good at everything. Maybe he was just bad at relationship stuff. That was the stuff that Shigeko was good at. Maybe they were two sides of a coin or something like that. So this was what it was like to be bad at something. Ok then.

"I just…I just want to-to-" said Rei. She wanted to do, well, a lot of things. She could see a lot of embarrassment in her near future….but she still wanted to try. She got an insane idea in her head. She knew that it was dumb. She knew that she would just be embarrassed but she just…she wanted him to look at her! He was still looking at her but not really looking at her, not like she wanted him to look at her…but maybe he would if she gave into this stupid impulse that she had and that looked better and better as the seconds passed.

"You ok?" asked Ritsu. She seemed kind of nervous…but she seemed so happy before. Girls were too complicated sometimes. Why not just say what's on your mind?

"Um…I…." said Rei as she sat up. She wanted to and she didn't want to. She wanted him to look at her, like he wanted to…stuff…with her because he never looked at her like that and she wanted to know what it was like when someone looked at her like that and, maybe, she wanted to know what happened after, not that she didn't know, but not, like, delete your search history stuff but, like-ugh!

"Rei…? Are you….alright?" asked Ritsu. She was biting her lower lip and fiddling with her bottom of her uniform shirt. Something was on her mind, it looked like. Did he do something? He heard some footsteps coming up the stairs and then the closing of the door to his parents' room. Right, he wasn't supposed to have the door closed when Rei was over. He was about to open his door with his powers, it was best not to piss mom off after work, when Rei did the absolute last thing he ever thought that she would do.

"Say something!" said Rei. Why did this look like a good idea? This was, obviously, a terrible idea. Yup. Here was the embarrassment. Why did she have to throw her shirt, too? Because manga. In manga that was always what they did.

"Um….you're…not….um….are you cold? Or hot? Or….?" Asked Ritsu. Well then. She wasn't wearing a shirt. Ok. Sure. He didn't know where to look so he looked past her, at the wall. Wait, no, she kept saying that she wanted him to look at her. But did she mean….? Well, obviously! Get a clue, Ritsu!

"This was dumb. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry freaking dumb." Said Rei as she crossed her arms over her chest. That was the last time she ignored her future vision! She was more embarrassed now than she had even been in her life! Even more embarrassed than the time she got the girl flu when she was at Costco with her whole family! Even more embarrassed then that time on her first day of middle school when she accidentally went to the wrong classroom! Even worse than-yup. Worse than any experience that she had ever experienced in her history of experiencing things!

"Um…no it wasn't? I mean, you look…nice. You look nice in pink." Said Ritsu for lack of anything else to say. What did you say when your girlfriend took her shirt off with no warning? It was…kind of awkward. Sort of. Mostly because he had never seen a girl that undressed, who wasn't his sister, and they had stopped taking baths together when they were little.

"…that's all you have to say? That my bra looks nice?" asked Rei incredulously. Ritsu honestly had no clue what to say in that situation. What did she want to hear? Usually she liked compliments based on her clothes so he complimented her based on something she was wearing.

"Rei…I don't know what else to say! I mean, you didn't warn me or anything!" said Ritsu. If she had said 'hey, I'm going to take my shirt off' then he would have had time to plan out what he would say and do. This was just so out of anything he had ever experienced that, well, what was he supposed to do here?!

"Why do you have to be so mature all the time?!" said Rei. She didn't know what she wanted him to say but she knew that it was something besides the fact that her bra was pink. Didn't he care at all about…her? About what was in her bra? Most guys would have but he was so mature he didn't even…notice? Care?

"What do you mean?" asked Ritsu. There. He finally, something he could work with. He could be less mature, if she wanted. He could be whatever she wanted him to be. He was good at being what other people wanted him to be.

"It's just…" said Rei playing with his blanket. She couldn't look at him. What could she say? Why did she have to….do this? To say anything? Why did she wanted him to…kiss her? To touch her? To tell her that she was hot and that he wanted to…not that…..but other stuff….with her.

"What's just?" asked Ritsu. Something he and his sister had in common, sometimes. The way that they both wished that people could just say what they meant and meant what they said.

"I mean…" said Rei unable to meet his eyes. The room was suddenly very cold. The space between them felt like meters instead of centimeters.

"What do you mean? Rei, I have no clue what to say right now." Said Ritsu. He knew that he had to tell her something to make her feel better but he had no idea what. How did he fix this? She looked nervous and sad and even kind of mad and he had no idea what it was that he had done wrong.

"Can you…" asked Rei looking past him and towards the wall. She couldn't meet his eyes. She couldn't say it. She couldn't just come out and say it because then it would be so awkward and weird but she still wanted to say it but she couldn't but communication was important for a relationship and she had already come this far but she really wanted…a lot of things.

"Can I what?" asked Ritsu. Ok. Good. She was going to tell him directly what she wanted. Hopefully she didn't want…anything that he wasn't sure if he could give because this was really **new** and he was not ready at all but

"Say my boobs look nice!" said Rei after a long pause. Just…compliment me Ritsu! Tell me I like nice! Tell me I'm what you want for yourself!

"…they look nice." Said Ritsu after a moment. They were…there? Kind of…round-ish? Symmetrical? They moved when she breathed, he wondered if that was comfortable. Did they ever get in the way? How could she sit up so straight all the time?

"That's what I mean by look at me, ok? I just wanted you to look at me like…you know." Said Rei, her face turning, in her mind, unattractively red. What was he thinking? He still was looking at her like…like she wasn't even there. Like she was just a background character in his life. Like she wasn't even a half naked girl on his bed in his room!

"I'm looking at you right now. I just…I can't say something like that. It's not…you know. I can't just stare at your…" said Ritsu. Even if he wanted to he wouldn't act like that. Girls hated that and guys hated guys who were super desperate and always staring at girls and talking about them because it got old quick.

"But I'm asking you to." Said Rei quietly. He was so mature that he couldn't even be immature even if she asked. He loved her so much that he didn't want to do anything that might upset her, she decided, even if she asked him to. She knew how she was supposed to be, how girls were supposed to be. You were supposed to get pissed off when guys checked you out even if you liked them. That was how it was in anime, anyway.

"I know. It's just…I've never done any of this before and sometimes it's like…I don't know." Said Ritsu. He didn't know what to say or what to do or what he wanted or what she wanted and this was too many 'I don't knows' for his liking because he usually always knew and he had to know because not knowing meant that something **bad** could happen and he had no idea what it would be so he had to always know but here he didn't and-

"Scary?" asked Rei. He looked as nervous on the outside as she felt on the inside. She was making him nervous. The same kind of nervous she was, maybe. That kind of nervous that made you do the most totally stupid things, like this.

"Yeah, kind of scary." Said Ritsu. He was standing at the edge of the abyss, it felt like, but not the cool kind that you went down into with a robot boy, a whistle, and the prospect of certain death. Well, it did sort of feel like he was going to die. He could fall off the edge and die. He could die of embarrassment because he literally had no idea what to do here. He could die of shock, at her and himself. He never thought that she would ever do something like this and he had also thought that, maybe, if he was in this position with a girl he would have wanted something, but what? What did he even want? Did it even matter what he wanted? Did it EVER matter what he wanted?

"But exciting, too?" asked Rei. This was exciting, like diving into the abyss with the cute robot boy you met in search of some grand adventure but still having danger at all side of you but not caring because at the end was…something good? Something that she wanted? Yes, something that she wanted.

"….that too." Said Ritsu. It was a nervous, scared, sort of excitement. Like when he was little and he got stuck in that tree. Or what he was slightly less little and Shigeko had pinned him to the ceiling on accident and didn't know how to get him down without dropping him.

"This is scary and exciting….right?" asked Rei. This was good and bad, mixed, like soy sauce and Kit Kat. She wanted so much but she…she also had no idea what she really wanted. Where was her line, exactly? Where was his? She used to think that this was her line but she had crossed it and it was…not bad.

"Yeah…both at once." Said Ritsu. Mixed. This entire thing was…he didn't know. He knew how she SHOULD have felt but he didn't know how to make himself feel like that…about her. He decided that it would have been easier if he just didn't like her, or if he was incapable of feeling like that about anyone…but he did feel like that, sometimes. Not that he liked to think about…that.

"You're the only person who's ever seen me like…this…well, the only guy. My mom and my sisters and I go to the onsen together sometimes and I have to change for gym with the other girls but…yeah. You're the only guy." Said Rei. She couldn't imagine doing that with other boys she had gone out with. Takeshi or Go? They'd both die, together too. They did everything together, they even both liked her at the same time. Maybe they were brothers in another life…Rei, knock it off! Think about Ritsu. He's right there.

"Um…thanks. You're the only girl…too. I mean, I used to take baths with my sister but that was when I was really little." Said Ritsu. This was like taking a bath with his sister, and that wasn't a good sign at all now was it. He just…aside from the initial embarrassment of her suddenly taking her shirt off he didn't really care about the fact that she was…yeah.

"Do you…like this?" asked Rei

"Yeah…I do. You look really nice." Said Ritsu. There wasn't anything wrong with telling a lie as long as it made someone happy.

"You mean it?" asked Rei hopefully. Maybe he just had trouble expressing how he felt. He was Mob's little brother after all. Yeah, it must have just been a family trait or something.

"…yes. I mean it." Said Ritsu. There was nothing wrong with telling a lie as long as it make her happy.

"Cool!" said Rei bouncing up and down on his bed a little. Hello Rei! You're different people! He's always been serious and sort of gloomy! Why would it change now?

"Yeah…cool." Said Ritsu not able to meet her eyes.

"Totally cool." Said Rei looking at him, briefly, before focusing her attention on his uniform. She just couldn't look at him because she was more comfortable, now, but it was still awkward and new and she-she needed a minute.

"So….what do we do now?" asked Rei. She was getting used to this. Maybe it was good, that he wasn't freaking out. Him being mature put her more at ease, she decided. Not totally at ease but at ease enough to…maybe…whatever came after this?

"I have no idea. Whatever you want to do, I guess." Said Ritsu. This wasn't that bad, not good but not bad. Neutral. It made her happy, that was what mattered.

"What…um…what do you want to do?" asked Rei. She looked down at the buttons of his uniform. They were really shiny. If you looked closely enough you could see that they said Salt Middle School on them. She had never spent that long looking over at a boy's uniform before. It didn't look comfortable at all, and it was such a gloomy color.

"Do you want me to…too?" asked Ritsu. She was looking at him like…like she wanted him to. He was ok with that, he decided, as long as he made her happy.

"Uh, yeah, sure, whatever you want. It's your house after all! Get comfortable! Yeah, sure! I'm ok with this!" said Rei

"Ok….if you want me to." said Ritsu

"Only if you want to." Said Rei quickly

"I will if you want me to. I mean, we should be even…I guess." Said Ritsu

"That makes sense. Even." Said Rei. They sat in silence for a moment. They just sort of stared at each other.

"Only if you want me to." Said Ritsu. Too fast. Way too fast. But he still had to make her happy. He should have been happy! This was his girlfriend sitting on his bed without a shirt on and now she was asking him to…yeah! He should have been the happiest guy in the entire city! He had overheard enough guys in his class to know that this was supposed to be the greatest moment of his life.

"…I do…but only if you want to." Said Rei

"Ok." Said Ritsu. He didn't know what he wanted. He wanted what he was supposed to want, he decided. He was supposed to want this. He focused on her, he looked at her. What about her did he like? Actually like, not just things he complimented her on. Her hair. He liked red hair, he decided. He focused on it, her hair. But he liked…not that shade of red. Actual red. If his hair had actually been that color naturally. His eyebrows had been red, his eyelashes too. His eyes had been blue, a really clear blue. Bright and clear. Blue eyes were nice, he decided. Blue eyes and red hair….or blond hair…blond hair and blue eyes and red hair and blue eyes and harsh words and strength that he didn't know a person could possess pinning him down and _"You're not a moron, are you"_ and other things that he didn't like to think about but he sometimes did but he didn't like to think about this for an entirely different reason and who was that guy, anyway? And how was he just so effortlessly…him? And stop thinking like this, Ritsu. Think about her, not some kid you don't even know and spoke less than a dozen words with! Seriously! Be normal!

He took in a shuddery breath as he undid the buttons of his gakuran. What was he so nervous about? It was just her…physically. In his mind it was a whole other story. What was with him? Why was he even thinking about…that kid? Sho. The guy who was a weird combination of nice and dumb but also strong but kind of detached and effortlessly himself but also probably not that great a guy since he worked for Claw but also maybe not that bad a guy since he saved their asses at the end of that battle and also so annoying because they had spent five minutes together but sometimes he ran through Ritsu's mind like an annoying jingle for a product he never wanted to buy but would because the song was so damn catchy and-

"Hi." Said Rei after he shrugged off his uniform shirt. She didn't know what else to say. She had seen him in a T-shirt before but this was…different. More intimate.

"Hi." Said Ritsu. He shifted in place. The room felt warm and small, like he had climbed into the oven and decided to bake himself into a pie. He felt her eyes on him and, suddenly, he felt very guilty. He wished that they were blue.

"So…." Said Rei. Well, he was looking at her now, at least. That was what she wanted…right? She got what she wanted and now she…this was a lot. This was enough for one day. But would it be enough for him? Would it be impolite to just pull her shirt back on now and get back to….what had they been doing? Homework. How could she focus on homework after all of this? How could she go back? Did she want to go back? Did he? Would he? What did he want? Would she be willing to give what he wanted? Would he be willing to give what she wanted? What did SHE want?

"Um…." Said Ritsu. Well now this was happening. Alright. Whatever she wanted he could make happen. He was not going to hurt her. He was going to make her happy. He could roll with it, he decided, because he was through hurting people.

"Your undershirt is really…white. It looks nice." Said Rei after a moment. It was hard to get colors that white, she thought. Mom certainly complained about the laundry enough.

"Thanks…you look nice in…pink." Said Ritsu. Well then. This was happening. Ok then.

"You…said that already." Said Rei. She looked into the future. This was only going to get more awkward and embarrassing. How could that be possible?

It was possible.

"Ritsu, I've told you a thousand times not to close this door while….your…girlfriend…was…over…." said Hana. She had heard hushed voices and done what any mother would have done. Never in her days had she expected to find her only son, her darling baby boy, in THIS sort of state.

"Mom! Knock!" said Ritsu as Rei screamed and attempted to cover herself with the blanket they were sitting on. His mom, at least, had the decency to slam the door shut.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm going to die! Exorcise me! I can't live anymore!" said Rei as she tried to cover herself up. His mom…oh no! Would she get in trouble? Did her mom have to know? Oh my God! Too much! This was how people had heart attacks and died!

"Ritsu! Tell your girlfriend that she has to go home and then meet me in the kitchen. I have something I need to discuss with you." Said Hana as she made her way downstairs. How could he do that to her? Mortgage his entire future on a girl, the future that Hana had worked so hard to give him? He was only thirteen! What, exactly, had he been planning on doing? Why couldn't the universe just give her one good child!?

"….I can never leave this room. This room will be my home for the rest of my life." Said Rei. How could she just walk through the house and past his mom after she had caught them doing…well not really doing anything but still…she had caught them!

"I think you have to. My mom sounded really, really pissed off." Said Ritsu. He knew that mom didn't like Rei. He had even heard her say that he could do better, which was really mean actually. He may not have had what his sister and Teru had together but he still…he still cared about her. She was his and he had to care about her and she didn't deserve to be talked about like that….even though mom talked about everyone like that.

"…I'm sorry. This is all my fault. It's like, Hello Rei! What is with you! You knew that it was a dumb idea but you still had to go and do every single stupid thing that popped into your head and-" said Rei before she was kissed. Ritsu figured that, yes, it had been her idea but she also shouldn't beat herself up like that and she liked it when they kissed so why not kiss her?

"It's ok. I'm not upset. I'm…this was nice." said Ritsu. Not bad, not at all. He just…if this was what made her happy then he could do what he could to make her happy.

"Uh-huh….it's nice…" said Rei. He grabbed her shirt and pulled it back on. Right. Time to go before his mom came in and saw how close they were and then she'd know what happened and what could happen and then Rei would die on the spot and then when they asked how she died everyone would say 'embarrassment' and her spirit would linger on and have to be exorcised and then-

"Ritsu! Now!" said Hana when she didn't hear the girl leave. Honestly. Shigeko could do whatever she wanted…she was Shigeko. She couldn't be controlled now could she? And what did it matter. She knew her daughter. She didn't expect much from Shigeko with her…condition. Ritsu was different. He could not risk his entire future for some girl! She heard the upstairs door open, footsteps on the stairs, and then the opening and closing of the front door. Then silence.

"Ritsu! Kitchen!" said Hana. She heard her son's slow footsteps. For a moment she thought that she felt the energy around her shift, like when Shigeko entered a room, and for an even worse moment she thought that her daughter had come home. But, no, it was just her imagination because it was just her son and her son did not have the same condition as his sister. Shigeko had been planned but a freak accident of nature, her powers. Her son had been an accident but also everything that she could have prayed for in a child. Almost everything.

"Hey mom." Said Ritsu as he stood in the kitchen doorway. He could see something on the stove but he wasn't hungry. He prepared himself for the long lecture on how he disappointed her and he was a terrible son and all of that.

"Ritsu…sit down." Said Hana. She needed to stay calm and not yell at him. She knew that she could say the most terrible things when she got upset. She couldn't be that way towards her only son. She was too old to have another and she doubted that any child in existence could be as wonderful, as perfect, as her son.

"Mom, I'm sorry." Said Ritsu even though he wasn't. He was embarrassed that he had been caught, confused about how he felt about the whole thing, kind of freaked out that she had just…sprung…that whole thing on him, but he didn't feel bad about it. That was what guys were supposed to do and he was always good at doing what he was supposed to do. Being who he wanted to be. Better at it than his sister, anyway.

"Ritsu, you deliberately disobeyed me." Said Hana. She could not have two children that she could not control. Shigeko was understandable. She had those psychic powers of hers and how, exactly, was Hana supposed to control someone like that. She had her daughter, too, and daughters usually butted heads nonstop with their mothers.

"I know and I'm sorry. Ok? Can we just forget it?" asked Ritsu. With mom it was just best, sometimes, to go with it. Even though he knew that he hadn't done anything wrong. Even though, sometimes, he wished that he could just…he didn't know. Be normal, he guessed. Weirdness ran in the family. He was just making his girlfriend happy. Who did it matter more to make happy? The girl who loved him or the people who made him?

"No we cannot! Ritsu, you've never once disobeyed me before. I just don't like the sort of person you're becoming. You have a lot going for you, don't mortgage it for some girl." Said Hana trying and failing to remain calm.

"How am I mortgaging my future? I didn't even do anything." Said Ritsu. Did mom mean like if he and Rei had a baby or something? No way! He was not in any way ready for that and he was too young anyway and of course he wasn't dumb enough to go and do something like that!

"But you were going to and that's what scares me." Said Hana. She knew, she had a pretty good idea, that Shigeko was getting up to…things. That was fine-ish. That was Shigeko and she really didn't have much going for her and probably wouldn't. Her son was different. He had a life and a future and he was still hers to command. To lead. To protect from his own teenage stupidity that even he was not above, apparently.

"Mom! I'm thirteen!" said Ritsu. No way was he going to do anything like that! What did mom think of him that it would even be an option for him?

"I know what age you are! I know that you are too young for whatever it was that I walked in on." Said Hana

"I wasn't doing anything, mom, ok? You want to yell at someone yell at Shigeko." Said Ritsu trying to change the subject. He'd rather mom yell about his sister than him, even if that did make him a terrible brother. He just wasn't in the mood to hear about how he wasn't being a good enough little Ritsu doll. Every flaw he had was just another chip in the porcelain that made him up. How many chips before mom and dad decided to get rid of him, too?

"….your sister would never…." Said Hana even though she knew that Shigeko had a boyfriend now and was just as human as everyone else. That man she stayed with, Arataka, was obviously more of a friend than a parental figure. He let her run wild, probably. Shigeko was beyond anyone's command, even another psychic's.

"But you wouldn't yell at her, right?" asked Ritsu crossing his arms. Because Shigeko was…Shigeko nobody cared what she did. She didn't have to worry about being who she was supposed to be. She didn't have to worry about anything. She was just herself. She was an island all on her own and she got to do literally whatever she wanted and it just wasn't fair that he had to be a perfectly Ritsu doll for everyone all the time!

"That's different, Ritsu. You know why it's different." Said Hana in a measured tone. All the books said that you were supposed to treat your children equally but all the books were about normal children. Ritsu couldn't possibly expect to be allowed the same freedoms as his older sister.

"Because she gets to be a person and I have to be a doll." Said Ritsu simply. She got to go off and do whatever she wanted no matter how dumb it was. Nobody expected anything from her. Well, that Reigen guy did, but he didn't count. Hell, she wanted to be with the Reigen guy so she just left. She didn't once stop to think about what people wanted her to do or if it was a good idea. She just up and left and left him all alone.

"Ritsu, of course you're a person and not a doll. You're a person with a life and a future and…you have potential, Ritsu, that's why your father and I are so hard on you. You have so much potential and I don't want you to ever throw it away, especially not on some girl. Shigeko is…you're old enough to know that with her condition your sister faces difficulties that you will never have to deal with. Alright?" asked Hana

"Alright. I get it. I'm going upstairs to do my homework." Said Ritsu. He didn't wait for a response. He turned and went upstairs even though his homework was long done. Maybe when he was an adult and he did all the things his parents wanted him to do with his life he could feel like a person. No, wait, then Rei would have her own set of expectations for him to live up to. Was there even an end to it? Or did everyone just become the roles that they were born to fill. Not his sister. Shigeko could do whatever she wanted and she could be whoever she wanted.

It wasn't fair.

"Mobbu-chan, this is just not fair." Said Sophia as she dragged a brush through Mob's hair. Mob closed her eyes. This was nice. Nicer than when her mom had brushed her hair for her. No tugging. No mutterings of mean things about how she couldn't be bothered to keep her hair tangle free like a girl was supposed to.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob. Sophia laughed a little. This girl really was adorable. They were sitting on the floor of the living room, Sophia kneeling behind Mob and brushing through the insanely soft forest that was her hair.

"She didn't mean it like that, Mob." Said Reigen as he scrolled through his phone, grateful that his mom was done with the biography of his life she had digitized for the purposes of showing him off and embarrassing him. He had pictures of Mob, little Mob, too but he kept his on a corkboard and didn't go showing them off for an hour.

"Taka-chan's right. I didn't mean anything bad by that. Your hair is just so thick and soft. That's the work of good genes for you. Mine is dryer than the Sahara if I don't stay on top of that. You too, Taka. Don't forget the conditioner." Said Sophia. Reigen rolled his eyes as he skimmed through an article on this Asagiri guy. He hadn't been seen publically for some time now….and he had just vanished. Apparently he had locked himself in his estate and wouldn't see anyone but an endless stream of mental health professionals and, lately, priests.

Maybe this was the real deal.

Nothing that Mob couldn't easily handle. They'd be done by dinnertime. The letter had mentioned a check reward so it might take him a while to get to the bank but he could still take her somewhere nice. Hell, after this job he could probably afford to take her somewhere nice every single night. She'd like that, right? She had always been a cheap date and she had never complained before. Wait…

He scrolled a little faster and tried to read. Where had that come from? Being with Mob wasn't like that…even though it looked like that. Well, fuck the unseen observer! He and Mob were their own people and they knew that they weren't like that! The worry, the self-consciousness. That was what was poisoning his mind and making him think…yeah. His mom's crazy, outlandish, in-no-way-possible theories didn't really help matters either.

"Master keeps on using mine. He used to use soap for everything, before. My brother does that too. Boys are so weird, sometimes." Said Mob. Grooming products were self-explanatory in the sense that the directions were on the bottle. Soap was only for skin. Shampoo and conditioner were for hair. Simple.

"At least Taka's bathing of his own accord. When he was a child I used to have to chase him around with a bar of soap. When he was in middle school I just threw in the towel and that boy, oh that boy, he went almost a month without a shower before he decided to bathe of his own accord." Said Sophia with a laugh. Looking back on it from the perspective of a decade and a half in the future it really was adorable. At the time she had been ready to drown him in the bathtub.

"It was a hard time for me, mom. Ok?" asked Reigen not looking over. He had been heartbroken and alone in the world. Bathing just hadn't been high on his list of priorities that summer or in the beginning of the school year. And it had not been a month. Three weeks at most.

"I don't get it but I'm sorry, Master." Said Mob. She liked to take baths, it felt nice to be clean. She was so happy when she was finally old enough to take baths without her mom there to make sure that she washed her hair and didn't make a mess or flood the house. Thank God mom trusted her in the last year of elementary school. It would have been weird to be in middle school and still having your mom make sure your hair is clean and you didn't flood the house on accident.

"I hope you never do, Mob." Said Reigen. She didn't ever need to know what it felt like to be nobody, to be nothing. To be rejected in every way and so completely alone in the world that you felt like you didn't even exist.

"Don't be dramatic, Taka." Said Sophia. She knew what he was talking about. She had figured that he would have been happy to be away from his father. The man so rarely had even a kind word for his family, towards the end. Somehow the divorce had effected Taka worse than anyone in their little family. That was when the worst of the behavior had started. She'd hate to see Mobbu go down any kind of path like that. She really was a sweet girl. Sophia had no idea why her family had just let her go. She'd kill for a daughter, especially one like Shigeko.

"…not being dramatic." Muttered Reigen as he kept on scrolling. He could use the money for the cab to get train tickets and walk but…well Mob did love exercise. But maybe they should conserve their strength, her strength, for the exorcism. Hopefully it was just some rich guy overreacting and nothing more than a low level haunting….

But he had called in a lot of psychics….

But nobody was on Mob's level.

"What's wrong, Master?" asked Mob. She could feel him in her aura, now. He was annoyed. Well, he was annoyed but now he was worried. She let the room rattle for a moment before calming herself down. She needed to keep it together. She needed to make sure that she didn't scare Reigen Sophia. She liked this. She didn't want Master's mother to be like her mother.

"Nothing, just thinking…about this job we have coming up." Said Reigen. Mob could handle it. Mob would handle it and then they'd be on easy street. Well, they'd have to work but things would be a lot easier. She needed so much more than he could give right now. She needed her own room, first of all. She needed better food and a bathtub because she loved baths and she needed a washing machine and a dryer because she only had the one uniform. Hell, she needed another uniform if anything. New gym clothes, too. She was growing out of hers already. Not that he had been looking at her like that or anything.

"You were so happy before, Master. Don't worry, I can handle it. Then we'll be rich and you won't have to worry anymore." Said Mob. He had been so happy before…the way he had spun her around and around. The way his hands fit so well around her waist. The weight of them as they held her just above her hips. The way that he had smelled, being so close to him like that…

"I may have exaggerated. We'll probably be a lot better off but not rich. He doesn't say how much, just that there's going to be a reward. I hope it's not some crap like we get the reward of a job well done." Said Reigen

"You'll have more than two months in the black." Said Sophia as she brushed out Mob's hair some more. With every pass of the brush she felt a sort of static electricity pop against her skin. It didn't feel quite like electricity, though. Different. The energy that the girl carried with her.

"In the black?" asked Mob. She had heard that phrase before…oh! She remembered from economics class. It meant that you had more money than you spent. Wait…they spent more money than they had, before? Was that ok? Did she make them poor? Were they going to the poorhouse? Not that she knew where it was but dad was always saying that the family was going to end up in the poorhouse. When she asked where it was mom had just sent her to her room.

"It's nothing, Mob…hey. Your phone's been vibrating for a while." Said Reigen. He didn't need to get Mob all worried about money. They were fine and they would be fine and he could provide for her just fine. His mom turned around and gave him a look. He gave her a look right back. Mob was oblivious to this as she checked her phone.

"Oh….." said Mob as she checked her messages. One from Teru and one Tome but all the rest from Rei. Lots of embarrassed faces and angry faces. She started to read. Well.

She did not need to know about that.

Sophia heard her son shift in the couch. He was beet red…so was Mobbu. Mobbu was holding her phone in a slack grip, her thumb hovering over her keyboard, but she made no move to type.

"Bad news?" asked Sophia after a moment, the brush having stopped moved. Mob wished that she would either keep going to take the brush out of her, it felt weird having the brush just hovering there. Or not. It was a good distraction from what she had just read. At Rei had prefaced everything with a message asking her not to be weirded out.

Mob was weirded out.

"Ritsu is not allowed to do that." Said Mob, mostly to herself. Her baby brother was not even allowed to think about that. He was too little. That kind of stuff was for older people, like her. Rei was too little, too, even if she did look older than Mob….

"Your little brother….?" Asked Sophia truly lost. Behind her Arataka shook his head. He was still red.

"Mob, don't be a hypocrite." Said Reigen as he collected himself. If Mob was going to be off doing…whatever it was that she was doing then she had no room to throw stones…even though she herself was far too young for whatever it was that she was doing. He liked to pretend that he didn't know what she was doing. It was easier on his sanity that way.

"I'm not. Ritsu is too young for…that." Said Mob. Her face was flat but Reigen could feel just how weirded out she was. Weirded out and embarrassed. Or maybe he was the one who was weirded out and embarrassed. That kid was thirteen for God's sake….what was happening with this new generation?

"So are you but you don't hear me saying anything." Said Reigen. Mob frowned, then, because now he was the one being a hypocrite. Also, she was not a child and she was not doing anything that someone her age wasn't supposed to do. Well, not that she went around asking the other girls what they did, but she had overheard plenty.

"Master, you just said something about…that…and I am not too young. I'm not little." Said Mob. Reigen stifled a groan. No. They were not having this argument again. Well, the closest that he and Mob ever came to an argument, anyway.

"Mob…I know. You've made that ABUNDANTLY clear to me." Said Reigen. He was never going to forget that night for as long as he lived. He was glad that Mob felt comfortable enough to share these parts of her life with him but….he didn't need to know about that…at least as much as she shared with him about that.

"So then why do you still talk like I'm little?" asked Mob. Sophia bit back something along the lines of _"Because you're fourteen, honey."_ She kept her mouth shut, though. She had lived long enough to know when a battle was brewing. But about what? She knew full well what. Well, she had an idea of the identity to the underlying…subject…that the two of them were dancing around. Mobbu was only fourteen. She was, in fact, too young for what they were discussing….she was too young for any of this, really. Not that Sophia got a say. This was not her daughter.

"Because, in my opinion, you're too young. Not that I get a say in any part of…that part…of your life." Said Reigen. Not this fight again. Drop it, Mob. Please drop it.

"So how's your brother doing?" asked Sophia. She knew that someone needed to change the subject away from Mobbu's…private life…and the girl did like talking about her brother so…

"Ritsu's fine. Today we hung out for a little bit but he was hanging out with his friend, at least it looks like they're friends, but then his friend called me cute which was weird because before that he was saying how I would make a terrible leader. Oh, and he said that because we're both running for student council president. Me and Ritsu's friend, not me and Ritsu. He doesn't think I should run. He says that nobody is going to vote for me and that everyone is going to make fun of me. He always says that people are going to make fun of me. He cares about me like that." Said Mob trying to get her thoughts in order as she spoke. She wished that Sophia would get back to the brushing already. It felt really nice, nicer than when mom had brushed her hair, anyway.

"Oh yeah, how's that going Mob?" asked Reigen. He didn't think that she would win, either, but being a grown man he had more tact than a thirteen year old boy.

"I can read the entire speech now but Mezato says that I need to put some feeling into it. I thought that I was but I…I always sound like this and I don't know why." Said Mob. Everyone had always said that she sounded bored even when she wasn't. Everyone else's voice matched their mood. Not hers, though.

"Mob, you don't always sound like that. Come on." Said Reigen. He had heard her happy, sad, mad, and glad. It was just subtle. The way her voice wavered when she was sad or vulnerable. They way her voice got higher when she was happy, happy enough to smile. The way she said his name when she was that happy. The way she said his name when she was sad. The way she said his name when she needed him. Mob had her own language, it was just hard to decipher sometimes.

"Everyone says that I do." Said Mob. Sophia wanted to agree with her son, he was obviously saying that to make the girl feel better. Sophia had heard that same tone from the girl since they had met. She always seemed to sound bored even she obviously was not.

"Try picturing them all in their underwear." Said Sophia. A tried and tested method to eliminate the stress of public speaking. For her, at least. She had been so nervous when she first started teaching but now she could stand in front of that classroom and teach like nobody's business.

"My friend Tome said to picture them all naked but I don't see how that would help. Why would I be more relaxed if everyone was undressed? Also, my brother would be in the audience too and I don't want to see my brother undressed. That would be weird, we're in middle school." Said Mob

"You do that to make them less intimidating. Remember, everyone out there is a person just like you…are. Just don't let them get to you." Said Sophia

"But them being undressed would just be awkward…." Said Mob still not getting it. She only had two people in this world she wanted to see undressed, anyway. Maybe other people were different. Maybe other people just wanted to see everyone undressed. That didn't make sense, though, because if everyone in the world just went around wanting to…be…with other people at random then nothing would get done. Nobody would get out of bed.

"Try pretending that they're all deaf, then it won't even matter how you sound. Just read it however it comes naturally and I'm sure you'll do fine." Said Reigen once again lying through his teeth. Mob did not have a political career in her future but he cared about her and caring about someone meant being supportive of them and whatever crazy ideas popped into their heads. Mob always supported his crazy ideas after all.

"But my natural voice is this." Said Mob. She drew her knees up to her chest. Sophia took this as her cue to get back to brushing. It always made her feel better when her mother could spare the time to brush her hair.

"Mob, you'll be fine. You'll read your speech and then someone will vote for you. Why wouldn't they? You're sweet and adorable. Besides, if you don't win there's always next year." Said Reigen

"That's what Shinji said, too. That's Ritsu's friend. He said that I was a cute girl and that people would vote for me because I'm cute…" said Mob

"See? You'll get votes, Mob, you're adorable. It doesn't matter why they vote for you, just that they voted. If you do make it into power then you can still do…whatever you want to do with that power." Said Reigen. Mob in a position of leadership….huh. He imagined something pretty nice. She was a nice girl. She could probably influence people for the better….or she'd let herself get walked all over. Yeah, option two seemed most likely. She was too nice, after all.

"You think that I'm cute? You don't think that he was making fun of me? Ritsu said that he was but then he said that he wasn't but I guess that if you got caught making fun of someone then you wouldn't admit to it." Said Mob

"Do you want him to think you're cute?" asked Sophia as she brushed Mob's ends. Mob thought for a long moment. Sophia tried to gauge Mobbu's response to the boy around her. The girl had a boyfriend, supposedly, but she also had a VERY obvious crush on Arataka.

"No. I like the compliment but I think he was calling me cute like he meant attractive. Teru says that other boys aren't allowed to think that I'm cute and I don't really want Shinji to think I'm cute anyway. I don't know him that well and I don't like him like that." Said Mob simply. He always got so mad when boys would say that she was cute. She didn't know why, people could think whatever they wanted.

"Of course he would." Muttered Reigen. That kid was like a dog pissing on a tree when it came to Mob. Hell, the kid was even jealous of Reigen himself despite the fact that he was an adult and so obviously not interested in a fourteen year old girl. He tried not to fault the kid. The guy lived alone at fourteen so of course he would get clingy towards Mob. It was hard not to cling to her. She was like a lighthouse of goodness in the mean, lonely, and cruel storm that was the world. When she looked at you, when you were in her light, you felt like everything would be alright because she was **there**. Plus the two of them were doing a lot of things that they were not emotionally ready for so that would, of course, stir up some irrational feelings of jealousy and whatever else fueled that kid's behavior.

"Yeah, Teru is a very jealous person sometimes. I don't understand why." Said Mob. He was even jealous of Master Reigen, probably still but she hadn't asked in a while, which made no sense because of course Master Reigen didn't return her feelings.

"You guys are fourteen, that's reason enough. It gets easier the older you get." Said Reigen. He knew what it was like to be dealing with all of those feelings and it was infinitely easier as a grown man than as a teenage boy. It still hurt, the pain of loving someone, but it didn't hurt as much.

"I hope so….I don't like jealousy. Green is an ugly color on everyone." Said Mob. She hated her own jealousy, too. Jealousy at people who could get a clue. Jealousy at girls who were her age or even younger but looked older. Jealousy at whoever it was that Master Reigen was with when he came home really late. It was just such an ugly feeling.

"That it is, Mobbu, that it is." Said Sophia. She couldn't imagine this girl being jealous. She was just so…self-assured? Self-aware? She knew who she was, more so than Sophia herself had been at fourteen. Sweet, too. Very sweet, like she had been born in a candy shop. Mob's phone vibrated again. Sophia felt a shift in the energy clinging to Mobbu.

"Rei…please stop telling me about this…" said Mob closing her eyes. Sophia took pity on the girl.

"What's your friend telling you? It can't be that bad." said Sophia. Well, to her it would be nothing, but she needed to remember that Mobbu was thirty five years younger than her and what seemed like nothing was something because her world was much smaller and her life much shorter…a lesson she had learned well from dealing with Arataka.

"I'm sure Mob doesn't want to talk about-" said Reigen. He had lived with Mob long enough to know that another long, awkward, and oversharing talk was coming from this.

"Rei is my friend and my little brother's girlfriend so I don't want to know about this but she's been telling me and telling me. She says that she has to tell someone and her sisters will just tell her mom on her." said Mob. She liked Rei a lot, she was a nice person, but she didn't need to know about the fooley-cooley stuff that she and Ritsu got up to.

"Well it's nice that she's that comfortable with you to share this part of her life with you-" said Reigen trying to at least postpone whatever awkward talk was coming. This was a strictly him and Mob laying in the dark before bed sort of thing, most likely. Mom was NOT good at these sorts of things. That was why he had so rarely come to her with any kind of problem in his life.

"I'd imagine that she wouldn't want to tell her boyfriend's older sister about her relationship troubles either but if she has nobody else to talk to it would be best to just hear her out and then talk about boundaries later. It's nothing…bad…is it? If it's something serious tell her to tell an adult." Said Sophia as she began to braid Mobbu's hair even though she hadn't been asked to. Reigen gaped at his mother. He had never known her to be so…good in a crisis. No yelling? No accusations of trying to ruin her life? No long rant about how fourteen year olds didn't have real problems and _just wait until you're my age Arataka_?

Who was this woman and what had she done with Reigen Sophia?

"It's not…dangerous or anything…I just think that she and Ritsu are too old to be doing fooley-cooley stuff like this." Said Mob as she felt her hair being put into small braids. Mom always yanked when she braided Mob's hair. This was much better even if she didn't wear her hair in braids anymore.

"And you're right, Mob. Hey, isn't that Abyss show you like-" said Reigen. He would gladly watch another episode of something sad and depressing if it meant getting off of this subject.

"So I guess by fooley-cooley you mean fooling around? How old are they?" asked Sophia. She did not in any way approve of kids that young messing around but that was just the way the tide was turning these days. She had been born in 1970, she was no stranger to changing social mores and now with the wisdom of age she knew that she needed to turn with the tide or drown. Maybe if she had been less reactionary with Taka-chan he wouldn't have slept around so much back when he was Mobbu's age.

"Thirteen." Said Mob simply.

"Do you think that those kids are ever going to make it to the bottom of the abyss? What do you think is down there, anyway?" asked Reigen. Mob had just started watching this show and it had lore. Mob loved lore and she loved depressing shows about feelings so maybe she would love to regale him with the lore of this depressing anime about feelings. Anything but this.

"You're right, that is too young." Said Sophia talking over her son. The girl needed guidance and Sophia was going to give it if her son wasn't up to the task. She would do the same for her own daughter, if she had ever had one.

"I tried telling Rei that they were too young and that Ritsu wasn't allowed but she just told me that she wasn't little and not to talk to her like she was little. I feel bad that I did that, I don't like it when people treat me like I'm little either, but I don't want my brother doing that. He's too little." Said Mob

"It's hard, sometimes, to admit that the people in our lives are growing up. I agree, they are too young, but at the end of the day you don't get a say in that portion of someone else's life. You just have to trust that he….that your brother…can make his own decisions and that you've taught him well. So, yes, I wouldn't reiterate that you disapprove." Said Sophia. She could feel her son's eyes on her. She pulled her bag over and got out a hair tie for Mobbu. After a moment she got out a bottle of baby peach nail polish. She was going to be a little selfish with Mobbu, just a little.

"Mom…?" asked Reigen. This woman was not his mother. He checked the back of her neck for a zipper. Nope, not an alien in a human suit. Maybe she had been replaced with a robot.

"But then what do I tell her? She's really upset." Said Mob. Rei had sent her a bunch of sad and worried stickers. She knew that it was wrong to ignore her friend but she also had no idea what to say. Reassure her that it would be alright? Tell her to go to her own house next time because mom was morally opposed to knocking before she entered? Tell her that there was nothing wrong with her boobs and that she shouldn't worry because they were bigger than Mob's, not that it would be saying much…

"What, exactly, is bothering her?" asked Sophia. She knew that there could be a thousand and one things about getting into that sort of situation with a boy at that age to get a thirteen year old girl upset. Back when she had been thirteen the first boy that she had ever experimented with pretended not to know her in public but still…in private…God that was a hurt that never went away, did it?

"My mom walked in on her when she didn't have a shirt on and now she's embarrassed." Said Mob

"Damn…sorry." Said Sophia. Well, yeah, that would do it.

"Also she's upset because my brother never asks to see her naked or do any fooley-cooley things with her. Also she says that he's been distant from her, too." Said Mob simply. She felt Reigen Sophia turning her around and she allowed herself to be turned. There was something in her hand. Oh, nail polish. Reigen Sophia took her foot and began to paint her toenails. It was nice. Mom never painted her nails for her even when she asked. _"You'll just ruin it, Shigeko."_ Mom always said stuff like that. It hardly hurt anymore.

"Sheesh…" said Reigen leaning back and closing his eyes. After a moment he decided to light himself another cigarette. One more couldn't hurt. What was with these kids? Raging hormones and poor parental supervision, most likely.

"Yes, I'm with Taka-chan on this one. Tell your friend that you're sorry that she had gotten caught and that it must have been very embarrassing for her. Also tell her that you hear her troubles and you sympathize but this is something that she's going to have to work out with your little brother. Tell her that it's going to be awkward talk but it's going to have to happen. People need to be on the same page when it comes to…intimacy." Said Sophia. She had mostly gotten that from books and her brief stint in marriage counselling. Mobbu's little brother had a good head on his shoulders, Sophia decided. Better than Taka had when he was thirteen.

"Ok, I will." Said Mob as she began to type as he toes were painted. Reigen watched her type. Huh. Mom had handled it. Maybe because she was a girl and it was easier for her to relate to another girl. Woman. Female human. Reigen knew about growing up be he knew about growing up as a guy. If Mob were a guy and one of his guy friends was coming to her/him with something like that Reigen would have just told Mob to tell the guy that the girl wasn't interested and it was time to pack up and get going to greener pastures…not that Mob would be having any problems like that if she were a guy. The best traits of hers, the sweetness and kindness and general cuteness were good in a girl but not a guy. Yeah, she'd be teased mercilessly as a guy. As a girl, though, she was a drop of goodness come down to Earth.

"Now she sent me a bunch of embarrassed emojis. I told her not to be embarrassed and she says that she can't talk to Ritsu because she's worried that there's something wrong with her and he won't like her anymore if she says something. I told her that Ritsu loved her and he wouldn't just stop loving her because she said that something was bothering her. She's worried that she's not pretty enough and that he wished that she was prettier and had bigger boobs and stuff like that. I don't know what she's complaining about…at least she has a bra." Said Mob as Sophia painted the nails on her other foot. She suddenly stopped and looked up.

"First of all any boy at that age should be happy that a girl is even giving him the time of day. Second of all tell her that poor communication is always a relationship killer. Third of all don't feel bad about your body and don't compare yourself to anyone else." Said Sophia before she resume painting. Reigen wanted to tell his mother that when it came to Mob's looks it was like talking to a wall. She was a normal looking kid. Hell, she was downright adorable, but she was so down on herself sometimes. That just seemed to be the default state of teenage girls, being self-conscious about their looks.

"But if I don't compare myself to other people then how will I know if I'm pretty? I mean, I know I'm not…I still look like I'm in elementary school…" said Mob. Rei was so much prettier than her, and it wasn't just apples to oranges. She just looked older. Mob still looked like a kid…

"Honey, you're pretty in your own way." Said Sophia. Ok, so the girl would never be a professional model or anything but there was nothing wrong with her. She looked plain of first glance but, well, she didn't look bad.

"…I want to be pretty in the same way as everyone else…like I'm actually my age…" Said Mob. She didn't care about being popular but she did care about…how she looked. She wondered when she'd start to look her age. When she'd look old enough that…that she would look old enough for Master Reigen to stop calling her words like cute and adorable and start saying that she was pretty and cute and in attractive.

"Mobbu, if anything you look older than fourteen, sometimes." Said Sophia after a moment. Somehow the girl looked more ageless in her uniform than in actual clothes. In this floor length nightgown she looked younger than she was. In her uniform, which actually fit her like clothes should and not like she was wearing a potato sack, and the way she carried herself…she could be ageless. Somewhere between fourteen and twenty, at least. Or fourteen and eighteen.

"I look old?" asked Mob. Reigen looked over at her. She looked like a kid to him, then…but he could see it. Sometimes she was just…Mob. Especially when there were other kids near her. It was in how she carried herself. She always looked so bored, so serious, at a glance. She was a kid, though. She still liked cute things and anime and manga and had boy troubles and got frustrated with her homework and was just trying to find out who she was and what her place in the world was.

"No, not old. You're just difficult to place, Mobbu. When I met you I honestly had no idea that you were fourteen." Said Sophia. Reigen hoped to God that his mom was telling the truth because she had, apparently, mistook Mob for his **girlfriend** and Reigen was not the sort of man who would even consider sleeping with a fourteen year old girl and he would have thought that his own mother would have known that.

"How old did you think I was?" asked Mob. She looked older? She looked down. Still flat as a board. Well, not totally, but not noticeable. She shifted. Still almost stick straight, too.

"Late high school." Said Sophia. More like she had hoped. It had been pretty obvious, from the get go, that she was not in the presence of a grown woman.

"Oh…thank you." Said Mob. She made herself smile. She was happy on the inside and since her outside never reflected her outside she ought to make it reflect.

"You're the only girl I know who wants to be older…" laughed Reigen. Women usually lied to make themselves seem younger but here was Mob in a great big hurry to grow up. She should enjoy her youth while she had it. This was a fleeting time in life.

"You know a lot of girls?" asked Mob. Reigen sighed. Yup, there was jealous Mob. Green really was an ugly color on her. Well, it made sense that she would want to be his one and only. He was just about the only source of stability in her life. Still, though, she should know by now that he had no plans of ever replacing her. She had promised him forever and he had promised it right back.

"Nope, just you. In the way that matters, anyway." Said Reigen. There, jealousy averted. Return of the butterflies, though. He could feel himself flushing and quickly got back to his phone. That was her, not him, and she had no control over that. It was all biology. She did not have a crush on him.

"Don't try to grow up too fast, Mobbu. One day you'll wake up a year shy of fifty and wonder where all the time went." Said Sophia. She had regrets, a lot of them, and if she could do it over again she would in a heartbeat. Of course nobody ever got a second chance, now did they?

"Oh. Sometimes I feel like that. I remember being little and then I remember that I'm not little anymore." Said Mob. It was hard to describe. Sometimes she looked in the mirror and almost didn't know who she was, probably because she changed her hair finally. She was changed and different and her whole life was different but it was…mostly….good.

"Oh you'll be feeling that for the rest of your life." Said Sophia. Another year another wrinkle, patch of silver, and empty spot at the table where her son should have been. Empty house. Empty everything.

"So you aren't happier when you get older?" asked Mob. It didn't get better? But it had to! Master Reigen was an adult and he seemed happy a lot of the time. You got to be free when you were a grown up. You knew who you were and what you wanted and how to get it. You became the person with all the answers.

"It depends on the person, I guess." Said Sophia. Somethings got better, somethings hadn't. Taka-chan had certainly found his happiness. It was in his…psychic business…with Mobbu…but he was happy and that was all that she had ever wanted for him.

"Oh. Maybe I'll be happier. I'm happy right now, though. Mostly. Aside from the stuff with Rei and Ritsu. I'm not happy about that. I mean that I'm happy that my little brother found someone who he loves and who loves him but I'm not happy that I know so much about this." Said Mob. If she had to look back at her life then this was the best time she had ever had. She was loved here and wanted and she had someone who cared about her…a lot of someones. She had a lot of people in her life that cared about her and that was what mattered. She had a lot of people she cared about too. Yeah, her life was pretty great. She wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Well, it's a difficult age, Mobbu, but you're a good friend and sister. You're taking this entire thing well, Mobbu. I know that if one of my friends had told me that my mom caught her topless with my little brother I would have built myself a guillotine and let her pull the rope. Not literally." Said Sophia

"She wasn't all the way topless, she still had her bra on, but she's embarrassed that it was her plain one. She should be glad that she even has one." Said Mob. Reigen shook his head. He did not want to overhear all of this girl talk but if he got up and left then he would have just made it awkward. Well, at least Mob had a woman to talk to about this stuff. God knew her own mother wasn't up to the task. Mob's mother had been with her since the second she was born but was terrified of her daughter. His mother had known Mob for two days and on the first day she had seen Mob exorcise a high level spirit but here they were brushing each other's hair and painting their nails like they were mother and daughter. Maybe his mother had just always wanted a daughter.

"Mobbu, I know that this is kind of personal but you don't wear a bra yet? At your age?" asked Sophia. What was this girl's mother DOING? Sophia had seen Mobbu in her gym clothes, she needed one. It was obvious when the girl wore clothing that actually fit her. If Taka had been a girl no matter how adversarial their relationship had been she would have still made sure that he was taken care of in the way a mother was supposed to and knew all the things that he should have known because they were the things a mother was supposed to be there to teach!

"No, I don't need one. I asked my mom and she said that I didn't." said Mob. Mom said that she was still too young back at the beginning of middle school. Mom was right, it wasn't like she needed one.

"Your mother is a-! I'm sorry, your mother was incorrect." Said Sophia. Well then it looked like she had gained herself a daughter. Taka cared about this girl so then obviously Sophia cared about her to. On the next visit she'd take Mobbu to the department store because it was just plain bad parenting to let your daughter walk around like that! And she knew a thing or two about bad parenting!

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob simply. Sophia took her hand, pulling away as she felt her aura, but putting that aside and taking her hand again almost immediately. Mob smiled a little, on the inside. Mom had never been this nice to her. Sophia was probably flattering her, though. Right?

"So…I take it that you and your mother aren't close?" asked Sophia nonchalantly.

"No, not really. I haven't seen her in a while." Said Mob. She didn't much care about that. She missed being able to see her brother all the time but as for her parents she could take or leave them. She loved them. If something bad happened to them of course she would have been devastated but she just…she didn't have anything close to this with them and they didn't want to have anything like this with her. Honestly, aside from when mom would tell her what she was doing wrong, it felt like she had no parents at all.

"….I'm sorry." Said Sophia. She knew what it was like to have an adversarial relationship with your mother…but no. This wasn't just mother and daughter butting heads. Arataka had threatened to walk out the door so many times but she had never let him. Even when he made her absolutely insane, even when he made her spend so many nights staring up at the ceiling wondering where she had gone wrong and why God was tormenting her she would have never, ever, let him walk out that door. He was her son no matter what, and the good Lord knew that there had been a lot of 'what' over the years.

"It's ok, I don't mind. I'm not a little kid, I can take care of myself." Said Mob. She didn't need her mom to do her laundry or cook her meals or get her up for school or anything like that. She took care of herself. She made her own food, when she and Master Reigen felt like cooking, she knew how to ship for groceries and take the laundry to the cleaners, and get herself up in time for school, and a lot of other stuff. She had probably just outgrown her family home.

"You shouldn't have to." Said Sophia as she got the top coat out of her bag. She had no idea what had come over Mobbu's parents that they would let such a sweet little girl get away. The whole psychic powers thing took a little bit to get used to but aside from that she was a mostly normal middle school girl. Hell, she was head and shoulders above most other teenage girls. Arataka treated her like an equal and it was amazing that the girl didn't take it as carte blanche to sleep around, drink, smoke, stay out all night, and let school fall to the wayside. Here she was sitting in the living room hanging out with a middle aged woman who was not her woman, some anime about cats in the background, talking about how worried she was for her little brother and her friend. She was a genuinely good girl.

"We take care of each other, Mob, you know that." Said Reigen as he finished one cigarette and started another one. Did she see it that way? She…she earned her own money, cooked some of her own meals, helped him do the shopping….ok she made sure actual food went into the basket….and she helped with the laundry too. She did a lot, a lot more than most kids her age would have. He still took care of her. He gave her life advice and listened to her troubles. He made her feel safe, and he knew it. That was something, safety, even though she was…Mob. She was the most powerful being around but she still drifted off every night feeling safe because she was next to him. She was sweet like that.

"I know Master, I know." Said Mob as she let Sophia paint her nails. This was so nice. Better than the nights in her house, her parents' house. She was happy and safe and loved and this was everything that she had ever wanted. No more sitting in her room waiting for tomorrow to happen. If she could bottle today she would. Like in that movie she and Teru watched about the guy who had to live the same day over and over again. Wouldn't that be wonderful…her own little world.

Yeah, it would be nice.

Unfortunately she could not warp time and space. Tomorrow would have to happen and it did and that was how she found herself on what felt like the day of her execution.

Mob was not going to picture them all naked. That would be weird, no matter how many times Tome suggested it. She only had two people she wanted to see naked and even that would be…not the state to get herself right now. No, that would be a terrible idea. She clutched her speech in her hand and stared straight forward. Someone was at the podium, someone she didn't know. She looked behind her. Nobody there but the side door. That door lead to the hallway and that hallway lead to the front door of the school and that door lead to the outside world. She could slip out easily and then run all the way to work.

Sometimes you had to run away.

But this was…no. She looked down at her nails. Pink. This was not one of those times.

Even though the entire school would be staring at her. Everyone would be hanging on her, well Mezato's, every word. This was different then when she and Master Reigen would record their exorcisms. This was in front of hundreds of real, live, people without the barrier of her phone between them. No Master Reigen there, either. What would he do if he were in her position?

"_Vote for me, Reigen Arataka! Because I'm the only man for the job!"_

He would say something like that. He'd do that thing where he talked with his hands and talked really fast so you had trouble following him but everything he said made complete and total sense. If he were in her place then he could totally own this. Maybe they could switch bodies again…

"Trying to sleep standing up, Shigeko? You know, maybe this isn't the time. It's your big political debut! You've got this by the balls! Knock 'em dead!" said Dimple as had came out of extra invisible mode. This was going to be great! She'd get her first taste of power and then she'd be hooked! It was like opium, once you started you could not stop.

"Oh. Hi. No, I'm trying to switch bodies with Master Reigen. Maybe. I don't know. I can't do this..." Said Mob softly so that she wouldn't look like a crazy person standing there talking to herself.

"Doesn't he have to be trying to leave his body at the same time? You know, if you really don't want to use that body I could…." Said Dimple

"No. Dimple, if I let you take over my body you'll do something weird with it." Whispered Mob. The only thing more embarrassing than messing up in front of everyone would be Dimple taking over her body and doing something…Dimple related…with it.

"Shigeko! I am wounded! Of course I wouldn't do anything truly weird with your body! Just, you know, get a little drunk…smoke a little…eat a few cakes…" said Dimple. He had his meat puppets he borrowed but none were espers…and she was a class above every other psychic he had ever met. The world was so much more vivid for her, and he had barely possessed her body.

"I'm too young to drink, I don't like smoking, and people aren't supposed to eat more than one cake at a time." Said Mob as the line moved forward.

"Well then what do you want to do but can't?" asked Dimple. He'd do anything for her, it paid to have powerful allies, even use her as a meat suit and seduce that old fraud she was into for reasons beyond his comprehension.

"Besides this? Nothing. I'm very happy with my life." Said Mob. She had friends and people who cared for her and that she cared for in return. What more could she possibly ask for?

"Nothing at all? Nothing to do with a certain master of yours….?" Asked Dimple manifesting eyebrows to wiggle up and down. Mob blushed a deep red. Her hair began to rise upwards. No way. No. That would be so many different kinds of wrong. First of all it would have been wrong to have…anything….with Master Reigen while he was possessed or she was possessed. That wouldn't have been them, that would have been Dimple, and that would have been **so** wrong. Secondly being possessed did not mean that you wanted to and you weren't supposed to do things with someone who didn't want to. Thirdly, she was too young and Master Reigen wouldn't just get un-possessed and suddenly decide that he wanted to be with her despite the fact that he only wanted to be with actual grown women. Not middle schoolers still in undershirts.

"Dimple, no, that's wrong." Said Mob after a while. Dimple manifested a hand to smack himself upside the head. She must have been the reincarnation of a monk or something! She closed her eyes again. He could see her soul trying to push past the barrier of her vessel. It seemed to poke it's head out, look around, and then retreat inwards. It was like that game she played at the arcade where you had to hit the bunnies before they popped out of their holes. On the next pop up he bopped it on the head lightly, and quickly, because it almost totally burnt off the limb he manifested.

"She doesn't like that." Said Mob. That had felt…gross. Probably because Dimple was dead and she was alive. The only person she wanted to touch her soul was Master Reigen. He had, before, even though he had gotten hurt, all of those weeks ago back at the Claw base.

"Yeah, I can tell. You've got some roommate up there, Shigeko. She's always so calm and relaxed….." Said Dimple as he tried to gather his spiritual energy into regenerating his form. She'd leave behind a very powerful spirit if she died on the podium of embarrassment, so she at least had that to look forward to.

Mob took a deep, calming breath like Master Reigen had taught her. She could do this. She had been practicing all week. Just stand up there, read from the paper, bow, and leave. There. She could do that. It wasn't like she actually stood the chance of winning, anyway. She wasn't popular enough or smart enough to win. Nobody but her friends and brother would vote for her and that would be fine. She was doing this mostly to make Mezato happy. She liked making her friends happy. She felt bad, though, because she was such a lost cause. Mezato could have used the time she spent writing this speech to investigate the fluctuating price of miso soup base and how it was a harbinger of Seasoning City's economic downturn…or the Yakuza's stranglehold on the common working man. Whichever Mezato thought that it was right now. Mob was grateful, though, to have a friend that cared so much that she would not only write an entire speech but spend the school week helping her practice it. She had been practicing and practicing and maybe it would be good.

Not that she stood a chance at winning.

She was still Mob. She may have been cute and nice and sweet but she was still Mob. She wasn't pretty or popular or smart or sporty or funny. She was just….Mob. She was Mob and that was ok. She didn't want to be someone else. She was happy with who she was. If Master Reigen was happy with who she was then she was happy with who she was.

It would be dumb to try to be anyone other than herself, anyway. It was important to know her own limitations, mom had said that plenty of times when she was little. She stood no chance of winning. Even her own brother agreed. She didn't think that she would be made fun of, though. People still talked about her but not to her face. They were too old for in your face teasing, probably. They were in middle school now, time to grow up and all of that. She certainly felt older. She was older and not a little kid anymore and she wouldn't get nervous and mess this up because Mezato had worked hard and she wouldn't run away either. Time to take it like a man!

No, woman. Time to be a woman and go up there and read her speech and then it would be over and she could go home and, no, wait, she could go to work and then, no wait, she could meet Teru before work and, no, not at all the time to be getting herself into this sort of state. No, she could finish this up and then go about her Friday and then tomorrow they'd go and exorcise whatever it was that they had to exorcise and then they'd be rich, like Master Reigen said, and then he could be happy and then she could be happy and then they'd call his mom and tell her so that she could be happy and then everyone would be happy and-

"Hey, they've been calling you. Don't keep your public waiting!' said Dimple as he hovered in front of her blank eyes. She blinked.

"From class 2-1 Kageyama Shigeko!" Oh. Right. Mob took a deep breath and walked across the stage to the podium. People were talking. She had no idea what they were saying, they were all talking at once. She saw Ritsu sitting with his class. He had one of his Ritsu expressions on, one of his gloomy sort of ones, and his aura was kind of pointy again. After this she'd see what he was so upset about. Maybe she could fix it. She was his sister after all and it was her job to take care of him.

"Kageyama! You can do it!" that was the body improvement club. Mob felt a little better. This was just fighting on. She had fought on and fought on for weeks and now she could run and jump and even do a push up. This was just like that. She just had to keep on fighting on. She walked to the podium and stood. She stood and she stared. She stared and she stared. They all stared right back.

There were so **many** of them.

Mob couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. She just stood there. There were so many eyes and they were all looking at her and what if Ritsu was right and they all laughed at her. The entire school laughing at her…everyone she knew…Mob could feel her hair floating around her, she couldn't make it stop. She wasn't going to explode…right? No. this didn't feel like any explosion…yet.

Out in the crowd, unknown to Mob, Mezato was crossing her fingers and toes. She prayed to whoever was listening that Mob actually said her speech. At this point Mezato didn't care how she said it, Mob without emotion in her voice sounded a hell of a lot more natural than Mob with emotion in her voice, so Mezato just wanted the damned speech read.

Across the room Ritsu was glaring at anyone and everyone just daring them to say one word about his sister. Shigeko didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, despite Shinji's theory that everyone would vote for her just because she was a cute girl. Not that Ritsu thought that she was cute, because she was his sister, and one did not think about their sister in those terms unless they were living in a low key smutty harem anime. She just looked like a girl to him, as she was supposed to. Not that she was ugly or anything. Not that Ritsu wanted guys calling his sister cute, either. He didn't even like knowing that Teru felt like that about her, and he was her actual boyfriend. Not that she was ugly or anything at all like that. Not that he would ever think badly of her, she was his sister. Not that thinking that she could never, ever, even stand a chance of winning was him thinking badly of her, that was just him being realistic. What would she even do with that kind of powers anyway? She was already the sort of leader of the school's delinquent gang and she did nothing with it.

Further down the room and slightly to the left Onigawara was biting his nails down to the skin. So she wasn't content with ruling from the shadows anymore, she wanted to take over the entire school. He knew that there was something more to her than her public face. But what was she planning? What was her end goal? This was why she was their leader, and not just because he knew that he was unworthy of the title, she obviously had some massive multi-step plans that would cement their school at the top! Or something….but it was obvious that she had some kind of plan. She was such a badass!

Up the room and to the right Tome had put her DS down for once. Damn. Mob froze. This couldn't be allowed to pass! Mob needed to win! For the good of the telepathy club! She would lead them into an era of peace and prosperity! She could get them off the suspect club list and give them back their full budget! But that wouldn't happen if she just stood there frozen! Tome knew she had to do something, anything! Something to help her friend! But what?!

"You can do it Kageyama! Just picture them all naked!" yelled Tome standing up. Everyone was staring at her. Good, now Mob could unfreeze and win already because Tome had plans! Oh the plans she had! Big ones! Like a new teapot…or an actual TV in there so they could play something besides DS and mobile games…

"…but my brother is out there….." said Mob after a moment, the microphone carrying her soft voice across the entire room. She had been stuck, frozen, but Tome had chipped her out like she was frozen food in the back of the freezer and she was her mom going into it with an ice pick.

There was scant laughter at first and then it grew and grew. Mob gripped the paper in both hands….everyone **was laughing at her.**

"_Kurata! Sit down!" "Yeah, her brother is out there! He's hot but not that hot!" "Sure you're not the one thinking about her brother!?" "Hey, Kurata! Use your telepathy! What am I thinking?!" "Beam me up!"_

Oh. They were making fun of Tome. That wasn't nice either. Tome could be hyper and loud and sometimes she didn't always make sense but she was still a really good person and she didn't deserve people making fun of her. Nobody deserved that, nobody in the entire world.

"It's not nice to make fun of people." Said Mob simply. Her usual monotone, but made louder, loud enough for the entire crowd to ascribe whatever tone they wanted to ascribe to it. This silenced the entire room. Everyone was looking at her again but…but it was because of what she said. She said things and people listened. Not to be bossy but to help people be better. It was wrong to make fun of others. She said so. Everyone stopped. They stopped because she said so….

She could use her words to help people….just like Master Reigen.

If she did, by some miracle, get elected then she could make it so that nobody ever got made fun of again. If she got elected, which of course she wouldn't. She was Mob. Who would vote for her? Her friends. Her friends who were out there cheering her own. Her brother, who was out there with his aura being all pointy whenever hers got near. People who thought that she was cute. She looked down at her nails. Still pink. She was cute, some people thought. Adorable.

What did it matter why people voted for her? Just so long as they voted.

And so Mob read.

She read quickly in some places, slowly in others. She read quietly, so quietly that the microphone occasionally had trouble picking up her voice. She felt their eyes on her as she read. Occasionally she looked up and saw them all. They were all looking at her but…not in a bad way. She could win, maybe. No. Don't think like that. Of course she couldn't. She was just doing this for Mezato. Her friend had worked hard to get her up on this stage and she had to do her best…and maybe she could…win…but then what?

Aside from making sure that nobody got made fun of she didn't really want to do anything else with that power. She had no experience at leading and maybe she could just…maybe she could just let someone who knew what they were doing win. Maybe she could just let someone who had the first idea of the work of government win.

It would be nice to spend more time with Ritsu.

But this was his thing anyway. They were older and had their own things in life now. That was part of growing up, right? When you were a kid your little brother was your best friend and you spent all of your time together. You got older and had your own friends and he had his own friends so maybe…maybe just give him space? He really liked student council, he had been so mopey since student council suspended….but then again he could be really mopey in general.

Ritsu didn't think that she could win either. He thought that nobody would vote for him. His friend, Shinji, thought that people would vote for her because she was a cute girl. Maybe it did matter why people voted. Like if that was how they picked a prime minister, based on who was cutest. That was not the way to run a government. Maybe someone who knew what they were doing would be better. She wasn't a leader, she was a follower. She knew that about herself, that was why she always followed Master Reigen.

She wasn't that sort of person. She wasn't the kind of person who when they talked it lit a fire in you. She was the kind of person who you needed a hearing aid to hear. She was the kind of person who never knew what to say, hence the well-loved piece of paper in front of her. Ritsu was right, he was super smart and usually right. She would make a terrible leader. She couldn't even win if she wanted to. This job should go to someone who knew what they were doing.

"….so actually you should really vote for Kamuro Shinji. That's all there is, there isn't anymore." Said Mob. She left the stage with a bow. There was a moment of silence followed by the furious buzz of talking. Confused talking. Out in the crowd Mezato could only stare. She stared and she stared and she stared. All of that work for nothing…..Seriously Mob!? No, don't get upset. She was just too nice. That was Mob's problem. She was just so, so, so nice. Great. Well, Mezato would at least vote for her. She needed to get at least one vote.

Ritsu had similar sentiments. His sister was too nice. Not that she could have won. But she was just way too nice. Damnit Shinji! She might have maybe stood a chance possibly. He went back to glaring. At least he could keep his sister from being teased. People sucked. She was so nice and good natured. She didn't deserve to be treated like that. He'd still vote for her so she at least got one vote.

Tome would most certainly not be voting for Kamuro. Even if Mob wanted her to, for reasons Tome would never know, she was voting for Mob. Why vote for Kamuro? He was way too serious, too intense, and he wasn't even cute! If he was cute then Tome could understand, Mob was as human as everyone else, but Kamuro looked like he was dead on his feet most of the time. Probably exhausted from sucking the fun out of existence. Tome would vote for Mob. She may have looked gloomy moe and all of that, and she may have been super quiet, and she may have been really bad at fighting games, but she deserved at least one vote.

Shinji could have been knocked over with a feather? What had she gone and said that for? Why? Did she really not want to win? Why had she thrown the election? Because she was nice and wanted him to win? No way. Nobody was that nice. She must have…seen that it would be close and decided to give him the portion of the votes that she would have gotten. But why? What was in it for her? Someone was pushing past everyone to get to the voting stations. Kurata. That damned telepathy club. Of course. Miss Kageyama had thrown the election so that he would owe her one. She probably expected him to take the damned telepathy club off the list of suspect clubs in return. Well he couldn't do that because if he did it would lead to insanity. Then he would have to reinstate the Tsubomi fanclub, the leg shaving club, the binge reading manga club, the pick-up artist club, the Far East magical napping society…..no way! He could not be beholden to her even for that. He'd lose all of this credibility. That is if he even won. He probably would. He was the only person there who was prepared to do the work of government. They'd be lost next year when he was off to high school. He had always assumed that Kageyama would be his successor…had he put his sister up to it? But why? They were friends, colleagues actually, but not exactly great friends.

"Kamuro, get out of the way!" said Onigawara as he pushed past. He was not going to vote for Kamuro. That had been pretty clever of Magical Girl Salt. This was why he made her their leader. She wasn't dumb like him. She knew how to get power. Now if Kamuro won then he'd be in her pocket. That was how government worked. She could end up controlling the entire school. She even had some power at Black Vinegar, too, thanks to her strategic alliance with their shadow leader. Like how people from big clans would marry people from other big clans. Not that it mattered. After her brother kicked literally everyone's ass the whole violence gang scene had been quiet. Nobody wanted to mess with Magical Girl Salt's little brother. Damn. She could end up being the prime minister someday. Underneath that whole cute girl image she made for herself there was a total badass who wouldn't stop until she was at the top spot in whatever she was a part of. She was such a badass and that was why she was getting his vote.

Mob ended up getting a lot of votes. She was tied for second. Tied. For. Second. She could have won…maybe…no. She didn't want that. She didn't know how to be a good leader. She was more of a follower. She took a picture of the poling results and sent it to Master Reigen. He would be so happy for him. She got back a happy face. Now two happy faces. Happy cat face now.

"_I'm so proud of you Mob!"_

She smiled and held her phone to her chest. He was proud of her. There wasn't any body improvement club today. Musashi had to go and split wood for his grandmother who apparently lived in the woods ninety minutes away by jogging. It was independent exorcise day. The telepathy club decided to have their meeting at karaoke that day and Mob had to pass. She had enough public speaking for one day. She could feel people looking at her. They weren't making fun of her, though. No, she had tied for second place. Second. Wow.

She rode that cloud of giddy sort of happiness to her shoebox. She texted Teru when she got there. Maybe he would want to walk to work with her…or meet her at their grassy spot and hang out…or whatever. She smiled, just a little, because she had never thought that she would ever do so well in life. She had friends, a boyfriend, and she had tied for second in a school election. People liked her, they really liked her. She opened her show box. Letters.

Oh. People REALLY liked her.

She already had someone she was in a couple with but she should still read the notes and then reject them in person. It was better than leaving someone to be standing out there alone and embarrassed. She opened the first letter. Oh, she knew that handwriting. Onigawara wanted to meet her by the side doors. She wondered what that could have been about. He could have just texted her. She opened the other envelope. She didn't know this handwriting. It was small, like hers, but also very slanted. He used a lot of really big words and complicated characters where regular ones would do. This one looked real. Dimple wasn't around to tell her if it was real or not. Whatever. It wasn't like she was going to say yes when this guy confessed. If he even wanted to confess. She didn't want to think that he was playing a joke on her. No, she wanted to believe that people were nice. Speaking of nice people she could feel Ritsu. He was getting closer, walking away from the boy's side. No…too soon. Not now.

"Sister…can we talk?" asked Ritsu. As he stood beside her. He just needed to say sorry. If he hadn't let Shinji tell her that she would have been a terrible leader…if he hadn't agreed with Shinji….then his sister maybe could have won. He needed at least one girl in his life to not be mad at him. Was Rei mad? She just said to meet after school because she wanted to talk about their relationship. He wasn't an expert on girls but he knew that nothing good ever came from them saying 'we need to talk'.

"Ok…what do you want to talk about?" asked Mob unable to meet her little brother's eyes. She stared past him at the big crack in the wall that had been there since she started going to Salt Middle School. Maybe there had been an earthquake. Maybe there would be one right now and she wouldn't have to talk to her little brother after knowing what she knew.

"Why did you throw the election? Was it…because of me? What I let Kamuro say to you?" asked Ritsu. He knew his sister, she was making an effort not to look at him. This wasn't just her picking a spot and staring at it. She was legitimately upset.

"I'm a follower, not a leader. I don't know how to be a leader and I was only running to make Mezato happy, anyway." Said Mob

"But you could have won! I mean…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let Kamuro talk to you like that and I'm sorry that I doubted you." Said Ritsu softly. He felt a shift in her aura. She was looking away from him on purpose. Now she was looking to the left. He moved. Now she was looking to the right.

"Oh. It's fine. I don't really mind not winning, I'm just happy that I got to second place. That's much better than I thought that I would get." Said Mob

"But you could have won…." Said Ritsu

"We don't know that. Maybe the person I tied with could have won. Maybe President Kamuro would have won again. He really is the best guy for the job. He knows what he's doing, even if he is way too serious. Tome thinks that, anyway." Said Mob

"I still shouldn't have let him talk to you like that….I'm a terrible brother." Said Ritsu

"Brother, you're not terrible. I love you. I love you so much and I'm happy that I tied for second. I didn't really want to win anyway. I have no idea how to be a leader." Said Mob

"I would have helped you! Don't…stop being so nice. Yell at me. Tell me I fucked up and I should have supported you!" said Ritsu. Good little brothers did not expect their big sisters to fail. Good little brothers did not tell their big sisters that everyone was going to make fun of them. Good little brothers defended their big sisters when their friends said awful things about them to their faces.

"Ritsu, don't say bad words. You're too little." Said Mob. It didn't sound right coming from Ritsu. Not that she particularly liked cursing but she really disliked it coming from her little brother. He was better than that. He was Ritsu.

"Can you at least yell at me about that?" asked Ritsu. Come on, Shigeko, yell at me! Tell me off! Tell me to fuck off because I have been the worst fucking brother to you!

"About saying bad words? No. I'm not mom. I don't yell at people Ritsu, you know that." Said Mob. She knew how bad it felt to be yelled at. Nobody deserved that, especially someone as wonderful as her little brother.

"Well you should." Said Ritsu. Why couldn't she just be a regular big sister? Why couldn't she just call him out, tell him off?

"Who should I yell at?" asked Mob. She really couldn't think of anyone that had done anything heinous enough to deserve being yelled at. She could never hurt another person for so long as she lived. She knew that she didn't have it in her.

"Me! Me for being so awful to you. I know you're mad at me, that's why you won't look at me even if I go into your field of vision." Said Ritsu as he tried to stand where she was looking. She just swung her eyes over and now she was looking at the shoe lockers around them.

"Oh. No, I'm not mad at you." Said Mob simply. Ritsu blinked.

"Then why are you being like this?" asked Ritsu. Why was she so confusing?

"Because I'm embarrassed." Said Mob simply. She knew that she had no right to tell Ritsu not to do what she herself had done, would do, would maybe do later today, because that would make her a hypocrite and that was wrong. That didn't mean that she wanted to think about her little, baby, brother doing those things with his girlfriend.

"How did I embarrass you?" asked Ritsu. For a moment he wondered if she somehow knew the thoughts that had been plaguing him all night. Red hair. Blond hair. Blue eyes. A temper that burned. Someone stronger than him…

"No, you didn't. I'm just embarrassed." Said Mob. He hadn't done anything wrong, not really, she just didn't want to think about him and Rei in bed together like that.

"Is someone trying to play a trick on you again?" asked Ritsu reaching for the letters in her hand. Who would be giving his sister love letters? She so obviously had a boyfriend, it was in the school paper for God's sake. Plus she was, well, his sister. No, don't think like that. It's that kind of thinking that got you into this mess. Your sister is very attractive….wait…no that's just weird….

"No, at least I don't think so. This one is from Onigawara. He wanted to talk to me about something. I don't know who this one is from, though." said Mob holding up the second letter. Ritsu didn't have to look at it for more than five seconds.

"Kamuro sent you that." Said Ritsu. He felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Shinji LIKED his sister? Shigeko? But why? Because she was a nice person, probably. Ritsu wasn't an expert on the guy or anything but he knew, from before, that his home life wasn't the greatest. Of course he would like Shigeko. She was nice and everyone loved a nice person. She'd say no, though, because she had a boyfriend. There. Now he felt better.

"Oh….." said Mob. Well he had meant it when he called her cute. She'd have to say no to him, of course, because she was in a relationship and she didn't even find him the least bit attractive anyway. He could be kind of a jerk, sometimes, anyway.

"Do you…want me to tell him off for you?" asked Ritsu. That must have been why she was embarrassed. She just wasn't used to getting letters from guys. It was his job as her brother to tell off any guys who bothered her and since she was so openly in a relationship this counted as bothering.

"No, not at all. I'm just going to go meet up with him and tell him that I don't feel the same way." Said Mob. It was simple, really. She could do it herself. She didn't need her little brother to reject guys for her.

"I mean…if you're embarrassed…." Said Ritsu still trying to get into her field of vision. She still wouldn't look at him.

"No, that's not what I'm embarrassed about at all." Said Mob

"Then why are you acting like this? You only avoid looking at me when you're mad at me and you said that you weren't mad, and you don't usually lie, so what's wrong? How can I fix it?" asked Ritsu

"It's not something that needs fixing. Besides, I'm not little anymore. I love you but you don't have to solve my problems for me. Not that this is a problem." Said Mob. Not that it was her problem, anyway. His and Rei's lack of physical intimacy, as Rei had put it, was not Mob's business at all.

"If it isn't a problem then what is it?" asked Ritsu. His sister was still the master of twenty questions.

"If I tell you then you'll be upset." Said Mob. He would be mad at Rei for telling Mob about their personal stuff. People didn't like it when you told other people about your personal relationship stuff. Well, at least Teru hated it when she told Master Reigen about their personal relationship stuff.

"I could never be upset with you…again…sister. Just tell me what I did." Said Ritsu. He couldn't remember doing anything today to upset her and she said that she wasn't mad about yesterday so then what was it?

"You didn't do anything. Well, you did, but not to me." Said Mob. Not that he had done anything to Rei, either. That was why she was upset. Not that Mob wanted to think about that.

"…..is it because I threatened to write up your friend Kurata? Sister, she was pushing people out of the way. I can't just let her-" said Ritsu. He had power again, which he sort of missed, and he couldn't just let Tome push people out of the way because she wanted to vote first. He couldn't give preference to his sister's friends.

"It's not about Tome, it's about Rei, but if I tell you what it's about then you'll be mad at Rei and I don't want that because you're my brother and she's my third best friend and I want you both to be happy." Said Mob

"….what about Rei?" asked Ritsu. He knew that girls were close and girls talked….but Rei wouldn't talk to Shigeko about…would she? He knew the rules between guys. You don't date your friend's sister and if you break that rule you don't talk about your relationship with said sister to her brother. Not that guys did a lot of relationship talk, not like girls did anyway.

"If I tell you then you'll be mad at her." said Mob simply. To her that wasn't anything else than a conversation ender. She couldn't imagine why someone, who knew that the information would be upsetting, would then seek out that upsetting information.

"Why would I be mad?" asked Ritsu. There were a thousand and one things that Rei could have said. Did she want to break up? The thought fills him with a mixture of relief and pain. Relief because the whole boyfriend thing was hard but pain because he had failed at being her boyfriend. He couldn't do his job.

"Because she told me a lot of personal stuff and I don't want you to know what she told me because if you know that I know then you'll be upset with her and she really loves you and I don't want to ruin your relationship." Said Mob

"…I promise I won't be mad at her, ok? So sister, please, just tell me what she said." Said Ritsu after a moment. Whatever it was it must have been bad if Shigeko didn't want to say. Maybe she was breaking up with him. Maybe she didn't ever want to see him again and he could get his before and after school time back. Maybe she hated him and he had messed up so royally with her that she could never love again and she would be without someone to protect her and it would be all his fault and then when they came to kidnap her again then she would be defenseless and it would be all his fault.

"Ok. She said that mom walked in on you guys doing fooley-cooley stuff and that she's embarrassed but she's also worried because you wouldn't touch her or anything and she thinks that your relationship doesn't have enough intimacy and she's worried because she read in a book that without intimacy the relationship will die. She's also worried that she's a weirdo because she thinks about you a lot and her sister keeps calling her a nosy little pervert but that might be because she keeps on spying on her sister when she has boys over. Also she thinks that you don't think she's pretty because she thinks she's flat even though she really isn't. Also she doesn't want to have sex but she wants to do stuff and she thinks that she's weird for wanting to do stuff when you don't and she thinks that it's immature and you don't like her because you're very mature. Also I'm sorry that I said sex but that's the word she used. That's all there is. There isn't anymore." Said Mob all in one breath. She risked eye contact with her brother. He had pulled his aura in really close. He was staring at her.

"….what…?" asked Ritsu. What? What?! Why had she…she felt like that? Why tell his sister? Just tell him! With as much as she talked she couldn't tell him any of that?! Wait…she wanted to….with him? Him? But he…he didn't want that with her…but he did want that…he knew that he did…but he never thought about her like that…and now Shigeko knew all of this!

"Rei says that mom walked in on you guys-" said Mob thinking that maybe she had talked too fast and he hadn't heard her.

"I know what you said! Just….why would she tell you?" asked Ritsu trying to stay calm. Right. He promised that he wouldn't get mad and therefore he could not allow himself to get mad even though Rei had gone and told his sister-

"Because we're friends and she didn't have anyone else to talk to. Her older sisters, all of them, would have just told on her for trying to do stuff with you and they would have made fun of her, too. She just asked me because I'm the only friend who wouldn't make fun of her and I'm the only other person she knows that's done it already so she said that I was the only person she could trust with this. She was super upset." Said Mob telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. She liked being close enough friends that Rei could talk to her about this but she also didn't want to know about the intimate details of Ritsu and Rei's intimate life, or lack thereof.

"Wait…you and Hanazawa…" said Ritsu. He was not Teru right then. No. He felt like he had been kicked in the stomach with a heavy boot. He was not Teru because he had done…it…with his sister and…it was kind of gross because that was his sister but also hurtful…but it shouldn't be hurtful because it wasn't like Hanazawa had done it with his sister to hurt him…but how could make Shigeko-! But did she want to….girls apparently wanted to…and this was none of his fucking business! He did not need to know about this! He could have died a happy man not knowing anything about this!

"I have to go now. Goodbye Ritsu!" said Mob before she ran off. Yes, she ran. She needed to think before she spoke! She had only been saying what Rei had said but now he knew and she could not be around him now that he knew. Hey, they were even, at least. She ran out the door and to the side of the school. She still had rejections to give. Yeah, that she understood. She checked her phone. Teru wanted to meet her in their usual spot after school. Oh, another text from him. Apparently Ritsu was threatening to fight him for real. Well now wasn't this a mess? She texted Teru what had happened. She waited for him to reply. She saw the little dots pop up and go away, the ones that said that he started typing.

"_He should make sure his own house is in order before he starts throwing rocks at mine. That means that he should mind his own business."_

That was followed by the hysterically laughing cat emoji. Oh, good, he wasn't upset. That was a load off of her mind. She knew that he didn't like it when she talked about their relationship, well the personal parts of their relationship. Or maybe he just didn't like it when she talked about it with Master Reigen. Teru could be really jealous like that. He'd probably be jealous today, too, because someone had left a note in her shoebox. Well, two people, but only one was a legitimate note. Onigawara just wanted to talk to her.

"Hey." Said Onigawara as he came up to her. That was all that he could think of saying. She was still doing her cute girl act. What was she really like? She acted so clueless but she was, in reality, some kind of badass chess master with goals that he couldn't even begin to understand.

"Hi. What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Mob. If he wanted to talk he could have just texted her, or just talked to her at club on Monday. She didn't want to hang out in the confession spot for too long. The atmosphere was weird there. In front of her a girl burst into tears and ran off. To the side a couple was kissing like nobody was around. Yup. Not the place for friendly chats.

"Um…do you want one?" asked Onigawara as he pulled out a pilfered cigarette box and lighter from his pocket.

"No thank you, we're at school and we could get caught." Said Mob. She didn't feel like smoking again for a good, long time. She didn't understand it at all, not one bit.

"Yeah…right. The student council got themselves sorted out, finally." Said Onigawara. It was so hard to see what she was thinking. She was staring at something, he didn't know what. Maybe she was thinking, maybe all of the staring was her planning her next ten moves in advance.

"They did. I'm glad, now it's finally over." Said Mob simply. She wondered if he was going to ask her for his job back, finally. She didn't want it, she wasn't doing anything with it, and frankly she didn't want to do anything with it.

"I just wanted to tell you that I think that you're a total badass. I mean by how you're taking over the entire school and stuff. That was pretty smart, making everyone vote for Kamuro like that." Said Onigawara as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Oh. Thank you." Said Mob simply. There was a moment of silence.

"Also I think that you're really smart, too, and you're smart for not letting anyone know how smart you are." Said Onigawara quickly. Mob nodded.

"Thank you." Said Mob. Did that mean that people thought that she was dumb? Or was it just a regular compliment?

"And I think that you're a really good shadow leader and I wanted to say thanks for putting Salt at the top of the food chain." Said Onigawara still with his hands shoved in his pockets. He dug his foot into the ground below him.

"But I didn't do anything." Said Mob simply

"Right. YOU didn't do anything." Said Onigawara. She was smart enough not to get her hands dirty, not like he had been. She bided her time and had others act for her. That way if the student council ever tried to get something on her they never could because she herself had never done anything.

"That's right. I didn't." said Mob just as simply. To her it was flat fact, she had done nothing, but to him it was her confirming that she liked to work through others. She was like that dictator they had read about in history class. To be a good dictator you needed a cult of personality and people willing to do your bidding. She wasn't a bad person, though, she was just really good at this sort of thing.

"Your strategic alliance with Black Vinegar was a good idea, too. I mean…you and that guy aren't really a couple….are you?" asked Onigawara getting to the point of it all.

"Yes, we are." Said Mob simply

"For real?" asked Onigawara blinking. She was really into that guy….it was real?

"Yes." said Mob simply. The atmosphere felt really weird again. She saw a girl slap a guy. He ran away.

"Ok…sorry to bother you…I'll just get going…." Said Onigawara feeling like a moron. She was a badass, she wanted to have an actual badass, not him.

"Wait." Said Mob evenly. She didn't catch the look of hope she was given.

"Can you take your job back, please? I haven't even done anything with it so you can pick up right where you left off. Well, except for the beating people up thing. That's not good." Said Mob. Onigawara looked at her for a minute.

"Ok, I get it. Sure, I'll be the shadow leader again. Whatever you say." Said Onigawara. That was how she liked to work, from the shadows. Heh. Shadow leader. He may have been rejected by her but he was a strong guy. He could still respect her and he was most certainly not going to find some secluded place to throw rocks and hit things until he felt better. Of course not. He was beyond such violent actions.

"Thank you!" said Mob. She was relieved. This was actually a very good day. Second place and now free of her unwanted job and title. Aside from all of that stuff with Ritsu and Rei, which was really none of her business anyway, this was shaping up to be in her top twenty two days. Right between the day she first saw Evangelion and the day she and Ritsu made that fort in the living room.

Mob checked her phone as she waited. She just had to reject formerly former but now current president Kamuro and then she could spend time with Teru, always fun, and then go to work, also always fun. She got a text from Master Reigen. They got a big box delivered. It was either something cool or someone sent them a bomb. Oh! Wait, he said that he was kidding. Oh. Good. She texted him back the laughing cat face. He texted her back the cat sticking it's tongue out face. She was so engrossed in picking out an emoji to reply with that she didn't see or hear herself because approached.

"Miss Kageyama?" asked Shinji. She seemed to be her usual calm self. Was that good or bad?

"Hi President Kamuro. If you came here to confess to me I'm going to say no. I have a boyfriend and I don't like you like that anyway. I'm very sorry." Said Mob getting right to it. There was no point in dragging it out. Just say no and get it over with. She didn't like hurting people's feelings so it was best to just rip the Band-Aid off.

"Miss Kageyama-" said Shinji before he was cut off. Mob didn't mean to be rude, she just…didn't much like being called Miss Kageyama. It was like a teacher was addressing her.

"Mob. You can call me Mob, everyone else does. Well, not Ritsu, but most people do." Said Mob

"Mob then. I have no intention of confessing to you." Said Shinji. She was a nice girl, kind of cute, but he had no interest in her like that. She didn't, either…right? Surely she must have had a greater motivation for handing him victory on a silver platter than she wanted to date him? And didn't she have a boyfriend, too?

"Oh. Then why did you leave a note in my shoebox and ask me to meet you here. This is where people come to confess and kiss." Said Mob. Had she misread the atmosphere again? Great. Well, this day just got slightly less good.

"I had to make sure that you would agree to meet with me." Said Shinji. He needed to meet with her away from prying eyes. Her younger brother's prying eyes. He respected Ritsu, may have even called him a friend, but he had an irrational streak when it came to his older sister. He almost wished that his own older brother was…no…he'd take the put downs and general disdain over being smothered.

"You could have just walked up and asked." Said Mob simply.

"I thought that this would be better." Said Shinji

"Oh. Why?" asked Mob

"Because, and remember that I respect your brother, I didn't want to upset him again. He can be very protective over you." Said Shinji

"He just doesn't like it when people make fun of me…or when people seem like they're making fun of me." Said Mob

"And that's why I wanted to meet with you privately." Said Shinji

"What about?" asked Mob

"I just want to know why you threw the election. No, not only that. Why you gave me the victory." Said Shinji

"Because you wanted the job really badly." Said Mob

"Tell me the truth. What do you really want? You must have something planned. If it's leniency for the telepathy club I can't give it. If I'm lenient with the telepathy club then I'll have to be lenient with every suspect club." Said Shinji

"I'm telling the whole truth. I wanted the job a little but I don't know how to be a leader. I'm better as a follower. Then I remembered how much you wanted the job and how you were the only candidate with experience so then I just decided to say that everyone should vote for you." Said Mob simply. Shinji stared at her. She stared back at hm.

"So you want nothing in return?" asked Shinji. So, the rumors of her incorruptible niceness were true. It didn't make any sense. She would just throw the top position because…because he wanted it more?

"Nothing at all." Said Mob. Why would she want something in return? People were supposed to be nice to one another.

"You're something else, you know that?" asked Shinji. He meant that in the nicest way possible. Either she was a world class actress or she really was that nice. Wouldn't that have been the most hilarious thing? Kageyama "awkward" Shigeko was really just putting on an act so that people would underestimate her and she could conquer the world or something.

"Is that good or bad?" asked Mob. Her mother said that to her, but she meant is as something bad. When Master Reigen said that she was something else he meant it as something good.

"It's good….if you're telling the truth. I just hope that this isn't one of those situations where you come to me later on asking for a favor that I have no choice but to fulfil." Said Shinji. Nobody was that nice, that good. Certainly not Ritsu's older sister. He could never see her younger brother acting like this.

"I don't ever lie." Said Mob. She may have omitted the truth on occasional but she never outright lied. Lies weren't nice.

"So you won't come to me later on asking for a favor?" asked Shinji

"Not in the yakuza way you were saying. I saw on TV, that's what they do. They do something nice for you and then you have to do whatever they want. I'm not like that. I really just wanted you to have your job back because you wanted it more than I did, that's all." Said Mob

"You're a fascinating person, Miss Kageyama….Mob. Thank you, I really mean that." Said Shinji not quite understanding her completely. Why would someone just do something for nothing like that? She must have had something to gain…but what? Cementing her reputation as being awkward and nice? Indebting him to her? What?

"You're welcome. I have to get going now, though. Congratulations on your victory, President Kamuro." Said Mob. He bowed to her after a moment, she bowed back. He watched her walking off, she didn't notice. Mob was too busy chewing over this day.

It had been a good day. Tied for second, gave up her shadow leader job, made someone else happy…this was a great day!

Tomorrow would be even better! Tomorrow she was going to go to an out of town job with Master Reigen, which would be great, and then after she performed the exorcism they'd be rich! Or at least more well off. Master Reigen would be so happy. Maybe he'd pick her up and spin her again…or just hold her like that…the weight of his hands on her waist….

Yeah, tomorrow would be great. Best day of her life!

Or maybe just a really good day.

Either way she knew that she'd be happy.


	35. Believe in Each Other

"How are you feeling, Mob?" asked Reigen. Mob had her head resting on his chest. He knew full well how she was feeling but, well, it was better to ask.

"I'm getting motion sick, Master. You can tell, right?" asked Mob. Her eyes were closed, they had to be. The taxi driver zipped along the country side like he was playing crazy taxi. The world was going by too fast and the country road was far too bumpy.

"I can tell but I wanted to ask anyway." Said Reigen. He ran his fingers through her hair in an effort to make her feel better. How she got motion sick so easily he could never understand.

"Why did you ask if you already know the answer?" asked Mob

"Because I care about you, Mob." Said Reigen

"Oh. I care about you too. Thank you for asking. How do you feel, Master?" asked Mob softly. This drive was endless, utterly endless. She wasn't in Seasoning City anymore. The city had ended over an hour ago. Now all that was in front of them, behind them, to the left of them, to the right of them, was an endless expanse of trees. Trees and dirt and rocks and grass. Birds, too. Crows. So many crows.

"Pumped as fuck! Sorry, Mob. I know I cursed." Said Reigen. Right, she didn't care for that. Still he was pumped as fuck! They were going to be on easy street after this job. He could give Mob all the things in life that she deserved. Her own room, for one thing.

"It's ok. I'm excited too. We've never had a job this big before. Now you won't have to worry about money anymore." Said Mob

"Damn straight! We'll be on easy street, just you wait!" said Reigen. Mob sat up.

"But I like living on Artificial Sweetener Street." Said Mob. She liked their home, it was the first place she had ever lived where she felt wanted. She didn't want to move. Plus she had all of her stuff where she wanted it.

"It's a figure of speech, Mob, just a figure of speech." Said Reigen flipping her fringe up as best as he could. He succeeded only in moving her hairclips out of place.

"Oh. Ok. But I do like where we live a lot." Said Mob. Another place? Why? They had so many great memories in their home.

"Mob, our apartment sucks." Said Reigen. Our. Right, it was theirs now.

"I don't think that it does. It's kind of small and the walls are yellow and the lights don't always work but I don't care." Said Mob

"You deserve better, Mob." Said Reigen. She deserved a home that didn't smell like a cigarette factory burnt down, had lights that worked all of the time and not some of the time, had tap water that didn't have a faint metallic aftertaste, a fridge that didn't start whining in the middle of the night, a rug that didn't turn your feet black when you walked across it, and a bedroom of her own that didn't have him sleeping right next to her.

"I like where we live now. It's familiar and affordable and I like it." Said Mob. Money was a thing that they both had to worry about because they both had equal stake in their business, or at least they would. They lived together too. When you agreed to share your life with someone then you agreed to sharing burdens too. He shared her burdens so she should share his.

"But after this we could afford a much better place, Mob, with all the things you would want in a home." Said Reigen

"I like the home we have now, it's ours." Said Mob simply. Reigen shook his head. Underneath that sweet, adorable, girl with her pink dress and dirty gym shoes and oversized spirits and such T-Shirt was an incredibly stubborn teenager.

"It's small, Mob, and the neighborhood sucks. I mean, it takes you an hour to get to school." Said Reigen. Mob literally did not care. It was her home, the first home she had ever felt welcome in, and she was not going to give it up. She saw nothing wrong with their home. So it wasn't fancy, those sorts of things didn't matter. It was the people who lived IN the home that mattered. Anime taught her that and real life confirmed it.

"I only sleep for about four hours a night now, Master, so I don't mind." Said Mob. Reigen couldn't argue with that. She got up at like four in the morning and school started…around eight? Huh. He didn't know, exactly, when her school started. Early. What else could she be leaving so soon for?

"What about the bathroom?" asked Reigen. Mob thought for a moment. A bathtub would be nice…and the tiles had been broken so many times she was having trouble putting them back together….and the light was slow to come on and Dimple like to go into extra invisible mode to sneak up on and scare Master Reigen while he was waiting for the light to turn on…plus she would have liked more shelf space for her stuff…but no. She was happy in their home and she would put up with all of that just to stay where she was happy. A new home would mean changes to what they had together now.

"There's no bathtub and I know you love baths." Said Reigen. Mob needed to think more about herself and what she wanted. He wasn't going to let her stagnate in his crappy apartment. She needed to want things for herself, tangible things. She tended to want big things like peace on Earth, eternal happiness for everyone, and perpetuity with him….

"I don't care, I can just take a bath at Teru's house." Said Mob. Reigen's face flushed with hers. He adjusted his tie…well he would have had he been wearing one. He ended up tugging on the front of his Spirits and Such T-Shirt. If this rich was a fan he'd appreciate it, was the line of reasoning Reigen was willing to admit to himself. The other line of reasoning being that, well, it looked like a uniform and then people would be more likely to see Mob as someone who worked for him, with him, as a business partner. People were quick to assume that Mob was older than she was, there was even a Youtube video a fan had made outlining why Mob had to at least be in high school, and with the idea that she was older came other ideas that he would like to quietly put a stop to.

The world thought that Mob was his girlfriend. The world had gone insane. His own mother had thought that Mob was his girlfriend. He already knew that his mother was insane.

"Wouldn't it be easier to take a bath at home?" asked Reigen after a moment. Not that he had any power to command Mob to stop…whatever it was that she was doing….he knew full well what she was doing…but he would feel better if she at least…reduced….her after school couple activities.

She was still way too young.

"No, not really. I wouldn't like it as much." Said Mob referring to the fact that Teru's tub, the one in his parents' old room, was like a kiddie pool. No more sitting with her knees drawn up. She could lay down, even sink to the bottom.

"…and that's the last we'll be talking about that…" muttered Reigen. Why did Mob always have to be so brutally honest? Not that he blamed her. She was a hormone addled adolescent. That was why they were called 'adolescents', because they were addled by their hormones.

"Master?" asked Mob as she closed her eyes again. The world was rushing by too fast. Why was she this motion sick? She hadn't even been this motion sick in Reigen's Sophia's chitty chitty bang bang car. The only thing keeping her from throwing up was sheer force of will. She couldn't show up to their biggest job ever smelling like throw up. That would be unprofessional.

"We don't have a washer and I know you're down to one uniform." Said Reigen covering his tracks. Once again Mob literally did not care.

"I'll just buy another uniform, Master." Said Mob. She needed one, anyway. She'd use the money her mom gave Master Reigen for her. that counted as a living expense…right? Probably. She needed to wear clothes and her uniform shirt was getting tight and the skirt was getting too short. It was almost to her knees and uniform regulation said that it had to be below the knee. Also mom said that she needed to wear hers to the calf so that people wouldn't think that she was 'that kind of girl'. She asked what her mom had meant by that and mom just said to go to her room and to stop asking dumb questions.

"So you're just going to buy a new uniform every single time yours gets dirty?" asked Reigen. She was down to one uniform and it was showing it's age. Plus, well, it couldn't have been comfortable to wear by the end of the week.

"No, but I could use a spare. I think this one is getting too small. Maybe it shrunk." Said Mob. Mom was always complaining about clothes shrinking in the wash. Mob had tried to help when she was little by stretching them back out but it didn't work right and mom got mad. Mob wondered if there was a way to wash clothes without them shrinking. Teru would know, he was the one who taught her how to wash clothes in the first place.

"No, you're just growing." Muttered Reigen. Thanks to his mother's big mouth he couldn't un-see it. Somehow the static picture of Mob he had in his mind had become, to him, the Mob which existed in reality. She was most definitely getting older. How anyone could look at her and think she was a grown woman was beyond him but she did, in fact, look older. Sometimes. Not always. She still looked like a kid when she was in her pajamas and she rested her head in his lap and watched her depressing shows about cats and feelings and death and love and sometimes giant fighting bio-mechanical robots.

"What, Master?" asked Mob. Either he was talking too softly or she was going deaf, one of the two.

"We share a room. Wouldn't you want your own room, Mob?" asked Reigen quickly. Mob gave no indication of her feelings either way, once again. Wait, no…the thought…he was getting low levels of distress.

"No, not really. I can't sleep alone, Master, not after….what happened. I don't like to be alone." Said Mob. Breaking with her family had started it but the whole thing with Claw had clenched it. She couldn't sleep all alone in a dark room with just her thoughts and the ceiling. She needed another person there, a person who she loved. She needed to be able to reach out her aura and feel someone else, someone to tell her that she was safe and loved and he was there and he would keep her safe and loved. To be alone, at night, would be a terrible thing.

"I'd be right in the next room, Mob." Said Reigen. She was such a kid, he told himself. Just like he was when he was little, he told himself. It had nothing to do with the butterflies she felt when she was near him, he told himself. It had nothing to do with the way she would flush and look away from him, he told himself. Nothing at all to do with that, he told himself.

Mob was just a kid.

He told himself.

"If you're in the other room then I'm all alone." Said Mob. Did he want to be away from her? Maybe he just wanted more alone time…or maybe he just missed privacy. She knew she did, sometimes. Sometimes but not enough to cast him aside.

"I thought that you were never alone." Said Reigen. He had communicated with the other her. it was capable of complex thought. Reigen sometimes thought of that thing, that inhuman thing inside of Mob, as a devil on her shoulder. That was what an id was, after all.

"I'm not usually alone. You're usually with me, Master. You or one of my friends, but they're only there during the daytime." Said Mob. She loved it. She was never alone, not anymore. No more waiting in her room for Master to call her in to work or Ritsu to come home or mom to tell her that it was dinnertime. Now she always had someone with her. Even if it was four in the morning and the only person around was Dimple she still had someone with her.

"I meant the…other…you." Said Reigen tapping his head for emphasis. He felt something pass over him. Her hair began to float up around her. He focused on her. A second set of emotions layered over hers. Strong ones. Physical desire. Curiosity. Apprehension. He pulled out of her, away from her, away from that thing. Base emotions, nothing more. The id was all wants and desires. The ego was in charge, Mob. The moral center. She just didn't have a proper superego to hold her together.

"**Let me out."**

"_No."_

"**Master Reigen asked for me."**

"_No, he was just talking about us. About me."_

"**I am Kageyama Shigeko."**

"_No, I'm Kageyama Shigeko."_

"**You are Mob. I am real."**

"_No, we're both real. We're this thing together."_

"**You need to let me out. Something is coming."**

"_No. You'll just freak out."_

"**No. I will protect us."**

"_I can keep us safe."_

"**I can keep us safe."**

"_You put us in danger when you freak out. Us and everyone around us."_

"**I don't care as long as we're safe."**

"_Well I do so you can't come out."_

"**I must."**

"_No you mustn't. I won't risk everyone's life because you have to freak out."_

The entire conversation had taken a millisecond. Mob stuffed the other her down as far as she could but she came bubbling back up like throw up. Mob tried again. The other Shigeko was…smarter...? She was different now that they talked more. She could make words, not just feelings. She, admittedly, had the best grasp on their powers because she literally WAS their powers, as was Mob's understanding. Or maybe not. Or maybe yes. It was complicated. The only thing that wasn't complicated was the fact that whenever she came out trouble followed.

Whatever they were coming up against Mob could handle by herself. She hadn't met a spirits yet that she couldn't exorcise.

"Oh. The other Shigeko. She's always with me but she doesn't count as a person. She has her own thoughts but we don't really bother each other. She just mostly freaks out when I, we, feel big feelings. She's awake now if you want to talk to her." said Mob. The taxi rocked slightly. Mob's aura got more blue in it than pink. She pushed the other Shigeko back down. She said talk, not take over their body. Reigen scooted away from her just a little. Unpleasant. The other Mob, Shigeko, felt unpleasant.

"I think you might have pissed her off a little." Said Reigen. He had spoken with…whatever that thing was…and it was most certainly conscious. Maybe calling it a person was a stretch. He liked to think of it as an id, for his own sanity. It was an id sharing a body with an ego but with no superego to tie them both together. Otherwise this was something beyond his comprehension and he was not a fan of what he could not properly comprehend.

"I did. She says that she is a person. She says that she's Kageyama Shigeko and I'm just Mob. It's not true, though. We're this thing together and we have to learn to work together or we'll explode…or die." Said Mob. She used her powers to unzip her bag and pull out her yo-yo. Well, technically Master Reigen's yo-yo…actually his mother's yo-yo, but she had been allowed to hold onto it. It was a great fidget toy. She let Shigeko use their powers to bounce it up and down. She felt something down by her foot as the other her bounced the yo-yo. Oh, it was the broccoli seeds she had been paid in for the farm job. She'd just give those back to Master Reigen. He was the one who was all excited about growing office veggies. She had tried growing them with her powers but they just ended up tasting of nothing.

"…and nobody wants that again." Said Reigen quietly as he watched Mob play with his old yo-yo. At least she liked it. He could never get the hang of the damned thing. Eventually mom gave up on teaching him. Mob took to it like a fish to water. Psychic powers could certainly come in handy.

"No, we don't. She doesn't like it either, not really, because then she has to break out of the vessel and she freaks out and breaks everything. It's scary for her…for us…for me." Said Mob as she bounced the yo-yo a little faster. She could feel the other Shigeko trying to come out. Not as an explosion but as a…she wanted control. Well she wasn't going to have it…no matter how unpleasant the area around them felt.

No spirits, not even neutral ones.

A growing feeling of…ick…though.

Just a general feeling of gross unpleasantness that was getting closer and closer. Kind of like when you really needed to change your napkin but you couldn't because the teacher won't let you go to the bathroom so you just have to sit in it and it gets grosser and grosser and you can feel it on your legs, too, and then you get worried that you ruined another pair of underwear, yours are white and red blood always stains yellow for some reason, but you can't check because you're trapped in class bleeding all over yourself and **oh God someone might see** but then you're extra trapped because if you do get up and you made a mess then everyone will see and make fun of you.

That's exactly what it felt like.

"As if YOU could ever scare ME." Said Reigen. He could see what looked like some kind of hotel or resort on the horizon. It was just a little dot now, like a dollhouse, but he knew that it was massive. As they got closer and closer he was hit with a greater and greater feeling of uneasiness.

Kind of like being twelve and you got low scores in all of your classes so you hide under your bed from your parents even though you know that it's stupid because they know you're home and you just want to run away but you can't because you're twelve and you have no money and you just moved to Lower Back Pain City and you don't know anyone that could help you so you listen as your parents begin to argue louder and louder and then you hear something shatter and the front door slams and your mom comes in and lays down on your bed and she doesn't say anything and neither do you and you stay awake all night waiting for your dad to come home and he does so you stay and wait and you don't move but he doesn't say anything to you and you spend days and days waiting for whatever it is to just **happen **already but instead he just sorts of looks through you and doesn't talk to you for long periods of time…even if you say hello…even if you bring up your grades…even if you throw him every four letter word in the book…but then he gets…mad…..

That's what approaching that building felt like.

"That's good of you to think, Master Reigen. We would never hurt you on purpose, Master, but we might hurt you on accident if we explode…" said Mob. The other Shigeko was trying to take over the body, not break through the vessel like she had the other times. The feeling was getting closer and closer and they approached that giant house. Mob didn't see any spirits around, well, except for Dimple. He was in extra invisible mode being all skulky. Actually it looked like he was shaking a little.

Dimple knew that aura. He had felt an aura very similar to that…he didn't know how many years ago…time tended to blend together into one big today when one was dead…but he knew that it must have been at least a decade, maybe even more. He knew a similar aura…but the aura would have changed. Auras always changed upon death. He didn't say anything though, for two reasons. Well, one reason.

If he was right then he would be the one to tell Shigeko that one of her idols had become an evil spirit and she would associate the pain of knowing that with him and she'd cast him aside or maybe even exorcise him and all the work he had done on her had been for nothing.

If he was wrong then not only would he have popped her bubble when it came to her idol but he also would have lost her trust and then she would tell him to go away and never return. He'd not only lose his most powerful meat puppet but also his best source of spiritual energy.

Also he was not going to believe that Mogami had died and become the greatest of all evil spirits. That title was Dimple's and Dimple's alone.

Ok so that was three reasons. Whatever. The bottom line was that for the time being he needed to keep his big mouth shut. Besides. Shigeko was a living God. She would destroy that bastard with her eyes closed and a cake balanced on her head while she sang and tap danced like in those movies Reigen's mother watched incessantly. Honestly, the woman had no taste.

"Mob, you're not going to explode. I know you've got this. I trust you." Said Reigen. The feeling was getting worse and worse. Mob felt it, too. He reached over and took her hand not minding the butterflies. Rather the butterflies than whatever the hell was making him feel like that.

"….we trust you too, Master Reigen." Said Mob as he held her hand. Hands cupped, not fingers laced. Well, this certainly chased away the bad feelings. Even the other Shigeko was much calmer now. Their auras were mixing together again. He relaxed into her. He had been…afraid? They had both been afraid, just in different ways. There must have been a spirit near. She could sort of sense one…if she tried…and if she ignored Dimple. Dimple who felt weird, who was shaking, a little, like a cup of jello.

The building got closer and closer. Reigen looked out the window in wonder. This was one man's house? It was huge, even huger than his entire apartment building. The grounds seemed to go on forever, grass and trees and tasteful topiary as far as the eye could see. As the cab pulled up to the building he felt Mob clench his hand. Anxiety. He caught some of it before it was…suppressed. Oh. That habit. He could feel her compressing the feeling until it got smaller and smaller. Her hand got tighter and tighter around his. He laced her fingers in his. Her hand was small. Small and soft and actually pretty cold. He looked down. Peach against…white. Pale. Her skin was the color of a cold winter's day, and the same temperature too. He knew what he could inspire in her. Butterflies. Fire. He'd take either above this cold anxiety that filled her. Her hand…it didn't fit in his. Not totally. He traced circles on the top of her hand with his thumb.

"This feels weird, Master." Said Mob as they pulled up to the building. This was….the house was so pretty. It was pretty but in a…cold…sort of way. It was the beginning of that scary manga she read where everyone was ghosts in the end…but there were no ghosts. No spirits anywhere….just a sense of…

Dread

Master Reigen let go of her hand like it was made of lava.

"Not you, Master…that was nice. I mean this place." Said Mob. She couldn't even appreciate it, the feel of his hand. She focused on the building. It felt gross…and scary. Every part of her was telling her to run away but the taxi just drove them closer and closer. The taxi rocked a little…just a little. She had to keep the other her quiet. She was…Shigeko wanted them to…run away? But no, nothing ever scared her…not like that. That must have been Mob's influence. She was making them tense up…she was trying to take over their vessel…not explode out of it…

But why?

Because they couldn't hurt Master Reigen.

He was their everything.

"I can feel it too….but it's ok. I trust you, Mob. I know that you can do it." Said Reigen. He knew how much was riding on this. The reward mentioned, when he asked, said that it was upwards of one hundred million yen….if the guy was telling the truth…

It was just an exorcism.

Mob had been exorcising spirits for as long as she could remember, she said so herself. She was the spirits of Spirits and Such. She could handle this. She could handle one little exorcism. Just this one exorcism and they would be on easy street.

It wasn't any different than before. She had walked into his life at eleven as a meal ticket in pigtails after all.

"I can do it." Said Mob. She had to do this. She had to do this for Master Reigen…but she had never felt anything like this before. She took a deep calming breath. Then another. Then another. She pulled her aura in as close as she could in an effort to get away from whatever it was that she was feeling. That couldn't have been a spirit…even Dimple hadn't felt like that.

"I know you can." Said Reigen as he suddenly caught a wave of dread. She had pulled herself off of him like when he was a kid and his mother woke him up by pulling the blankets off of him. He felt cold and exposed. He reached for her hand again. He needed her back because this was…this was not normal. His skin went to gooseflesh as the taxi pulled to a stop.

The taxi came to a stop. As they both stepped out he caught a wave of general anxiety from the driver before he stepped on the gas and peeled out of there. He clenched Mob's hand in his. He needed to feel something from her, anything. She had pulled herself so far in, so far away from him…but he needed her back. He needed her to keep him safe. He needed her to keep the world out because it was so fucking **loud.**

"Master...do you feel them?" asked Mob. She let herself see the entire aural spectrum. There was the green of plants life…the light grey of general life…the life light that normal people put out when she looked hard enough…when she looked almost through their vessels. That was not the light that entranced her, however. The light that entranced her consisted of several shades of swirling purple….bright teal…deep red…burn orange….magenta…burgundy….wisteria…but they were all so separate.

Espers. The house was full of espers.

"The others? I can feel them, Mob. Fuck. The invitation didn't say anything about any other psychics. Fuck! This had better not be some kind of contest!" said Reigen. He had emailed, before, and hadn't bene informed that there would be other espers there. The…whatever it was….was one thing but there were **so many** others and they were all **screaming**

Fear.

Apprehension.

Excitement.

Hunger.

Embarrassment.

Annoyance.

All of this was trying to become his. He held Mob's hand tighter. He needed her back. He needed her aura…but she was hiding it. She was keeping it to herself for once and leaving him out there practically **naked.**

"Do you think it'll be like with Claw?" asked Mob. She was losing feeling in her fingers. She wanted him to hide inside of her, to keep her safe, for her to keep him safe, but she didn't. She needed to hide not only from that thing but also from all of those other espers, too. She knew how dangerous other espers could be. Adult espers. She had barely survived Claw and had lost her mind, too, for a little bit.

She could exorcise spirits until she passed out from exhaustion but people….

But she might have to.

She needed to keep Master Reigen safe. He was so soft, so squishy, so fragile. His power was finite and when he exhausted it he was **helpless**. He was like an unplugged EVA unit. Five minutes of power and then nothing. She had to make sure that he was kept safe. She had to make sure that he was alive because she loved him. He loved her. They loved each other.

No matter what happened Mob would make sure that nothing bad would happen to Master Reigen.

"If it is…run away." Said Reigen. She didn't know how to share her powers with him, did she? Was that the work of the other her? When they had their body swap thing her powers had stayed behind with the other her. He didn't know if it was on purpose or a fluke, what had happened that night, but he wasn't going to count on any repeat performances. She would have to be the one to fight. He was not a fighter, not in the powers sense, and he couldn't influence a group that big…probably. He suppressed his powers, he didn't practice with them. If it came down to it they would run away.

But not now.

It might just be nothing. He might be overreacting.

He doubted that there was anything that Mob couldn't handle in there.

"No. I won't run. I'll protect you." Said Mob. She still held his hand but she walked towards the house. Whatever was in there was bad and she would exorcise it. If the espers in there were bad people then she would….she'd think about that when she got inside. They had to do this job. Master Reigen had been so happy when they got their invitation. She wouldn't dash his hopes. He wanted to live on easy street and she'd take him there.

"Mob…slow down." Said Reigen as she practically dragged him up the many, many, steps. She was…it must have been nothing. If she was walking so quickly into it then it must have been nothing. He was just…being protective. It was like when they had gone to the tunnel all those weeks, months, ago. When she had ignored him when he called her back. When he had let his fear get the best of him and he had started panicking.

He trusted her.

She was not a little kid anymore.

"Master, let's get this over with." Said Mob. She walked as quickly as she could. The other Shigeko was trying…not to…break out of this vessel. Because Master was near. She loved Master. Every part of her loved Master and they could not let him get hurt. This was a job, nothing more. This was just another job and they'd do this and then probably get ramen afterwards and then they'd go home and they'd watch TV together or maybe just sit and talk.

Just another day.

"Right, student! Glad to see you taking this seriously!" said Reigen not letting go of her hand. She needed him to be strong. He needed to be the Reigen Arataka that existed in her mind. She needed that man. He was strong, confident, and powerful. He was not someone who needed to hide in her goddamned aura like a coward.

"I always take work seriously. Come on, Master, let's get this over with ." Said Mob. She led him up the stairs and as she approached a door it opened. She stepped inside quickly and followed the energy of the other espers. She led Master Reigen deeper into the house. The deeper she got the worse she felt. Each step became harder and harder. The other her was trying to turn them around. She felt a faint sort of tugging near her belly button. She kept going.

Right foot.

Left foot.

Right foot.

Left foot.

"Mob…be careful." Said Reigen after a while. He wanted to tell her to stop, to slow down, but she knew what she was doing. She wasn't a little kid anymore and she was the real expert there. Sure it might have seemed dangerous to him but he was nowhere near Mob's level. There wasn't a being living or dead that was near Mob's level.

After all, she had taken down the entire seventh division of Claw.

"I've got this, Master." Said Mob. There was another door in front of her. This door was wide opened. She saw the colors before the people. She just stared, for a moment. She read everyone as best as she could. To do this she had to release the death grip she had on her aura. Two things happened as she did this. The first thing being that Master Reigen flooded into her, his aura forming its own death grip around herself before, slowly, easing into the swirling fractals of hers. Bubblegum pink, electric blue, and custard yellow. He let go of her hand slowly. Each finger let go individually until her hand was free. It tingled as the circulation returned.

The second thing took a moment to happen. In letting go of her aura it flowed out of her. It touched every corner of the house and the other Shigeko…was trying to…what? She wasn't trying to break through their vessel. No. Oh. She was looking for danger. As she looked through the house she pushed against the aura of every single esper in the house. No murderous intent. No violent intent. Just….no foes. Even someone familiar….

"Hey, Master, Banshomaru Shinra is in there." Said Mob after a moment. Reigen stood there with his eyes closed, for a moment, as he found his place within Mob. He wore her like a blanket in the winter. He needed to fill her with himself, to warm her up, to make her comfortable for him. She was there. Warm. Familiar. His.

"Seriously? Anyone else we know?" asked Reigen. She seemed calm. He could feel her now. He could feel all of her. The other Shigeko was her own consciousness. She was anxious. Mob was…neutral. He watched her eyes. Flat. Flat even for her.

"No. Well, someone familiar…but no bad intent. We'll be fine, Master." Said Mob. The other room was deathly silent. She had poked every other esper in there. They were…she could feel fear. New fear, fresh and brisk. Fear for her. She didn't like to go where people were afraid of her…

But the evil adult espers from the seventh division had only backed down when they had been soundly beaten. When they had been afraid.

But then they had stopped and Master Reigen…and the others…were made safe.

**Keep him safe.**

_We will._

"We will. I trust you, Mob." Said Reigen. He could still feel it, the apprehension from the other her. He stood in front of her and put both hands on her shoulders. That other her, that thing, could explode. It could explode and hurt…kill…everyone on accident. He needed to be there for all of Mob. He needed to be her rock. He needed to be her shelter. He needed to make her feel better. Feel anything other than what she was feeling now. He needed to talk.

When he talked he lit a fire in her.

And that would be preferable to an explosion, in his opinion.

"You can do this. Mob, I believe in you." Said Reigen. He could feel it, the anxiety between them subsiding. She looked up at him. With her fringe clipped back he could see her eyes clearly. They were wide. She hadn't blinked in a while. She was still looking at him.

"I think. I can. It from a song from that anime you like, FLCL. Or at least I think you like it, you must have gotten that from somewhere." Said Reigen

"…Tome mentioned it but I've never seen it." Said Mob softly. She felt the weight of his hands on her shoulders. She could almost feel the callouses of his fingers through the Spirits and Such T-shirt she wore. She took a small step closer to him. Cigarettes. Incense. Aftershave.

"When we get home tonight we'll watch it. It's pretty short and I think you'd like it. You love shows about feelings." Said Reigen. Feelings, lore, and minutia. That was what Mob wanted from a show and he knew plenty. When they got home they'd spend the rest of the weekend staying in, binge watching anime, and eating junk food. They could afford to do that, now, after they claimed their reward.

"I do." Said Mob softly. She let her aura lean more into his. Pink interrupted the swirling of yellow. Where yellow had been carefully nestled between pink and blue, pink replaced it. Yellow was pushed into pink's spot. Reigen gasped and held her tighter.

"You can do this." Said Reigen. He felt it. It felt like sleeping in front of an open window on a windy night. The wind had picked up his blanket, briefly, before tossing it over him. Under him. Around him. He could feel Mob….inside? Inside was the closest approximation that his brain could make to what this feeling was. He blinked as more color burst into bloom before him. What had been a faint mixture of colors became more defined. Purple had separated out to eggplant, wisteria, and amethyst…those were the shades he had names for. Red had turned to rose, wine, vermillion, and crimson. Blue became, sapphire, cobalt, sky, navy, denim, and turquoise. Pink pulled apart and became fuchsia, cotton candy, carnation, baby pink, and hot pink. There was yellow in there, too. Not his own custard yellow but lemon, daffodil, marzipan, and canary.

There was also black.

He closed his eyes. It didn't help.

"I think. I can." Said Mob. She thought that she could so she could and she would. She tried not to look at the black thing. It was like someone had forgotten to turn on the lights in that part of the room. They were still near the doorway. Quiet conversation had started up again. Master Reigen was still holding onto her. One hand went up and pushed a lock of her hair from the side of her face. When he finished he brought his hand back and let it linger.

"I know you can, Shigeko." Said Reigen. He could feel his own blush. He could feel her blush. He could feel the last of the anxiety leave the other her. He needed…he could feel her need to be beside him. Close to him. She looked up at him…but not by as much as she used to. She stood taller. He looked down to her, but not as much. Maybe he was getting shorter. She was holding eye contact with him. There was a nervous sort of energy within her, him, them. He knew that he had to let go of her but he couldn't. He tipped her face up.

She really was quite pretty.

He had no idea what he was doing. He just…wanted to look at her.

Mob wanted to look at him.

They wanted to look at each other.

Mob got a little taller. She was standing on her tiptoes. She was…closer to him. She leaned into his hand, his touch. She never broke eye contact.

"Master…." Said Mob. She wanted him to touch her. He wanted to touch her. She wanted him to never let go. He wanted to never let go. He, the yellow that made him up, churned and swirled with the blue that made up the other Shigeko. The pink that made up Mob kept the yellow that was him pinned between them. She never wanted to let him go. She could not ever let him go. She stood on her tiptoes. He was so close. She could practically feel him breathing. He didn't push her back down. He…he leaned down to be closer to her.

_I think_.

**I can**.

Mob forgot everything else in that moment. Where she was, what she was doing. She could only think about him and how close he was and how much she loved him. She forgot all about…everything. She needed this. This would have been…it was going to be…perfect. He was there and he…and she…she would be there for him.

"Shigeko….Mob." said Reigen. He was...he brought himself down close to her. He wanted to…no. She wanted to. What did he want? What did she want? He knew what she wanted. He knew what she wanted because he was in her…she was in HIS aura. She wasn't just sharing her wants and feelings with him, she wasn't just screaming her wants and feelings into him…she was pouring her wants and feelings into him.

Her. This was her.

Positive feedback loop.

He had a choice to make in this moment of lucidity. He could either give her what she wanted, he was always such a pushover when it came to her, and then live the rest of his life as the sort of man who would do something like that to, with, to, with, to, with, to, a fourteen year old girl….or he couldn't. He could be the sort of man that he knew he was. That he wanted to be. That he knew he was. That he wanted to be.

Her feelings, not his.

Positive feedback loop.

He had wanted to light a fire in her, to chase away her mounting anxiety, to diffuse any explosion that might have been forthcoming, and he did. But now he had a fire to deal with. How many times had he been told not to play with fire? How many times had he warned her about playing with fire?

When you play with fire you get burned.

He was not going to get burned and he was not going to burn her.

It would not be a lovely way to burn, him and her, right then and there. He would not burn with her then or at any point. She was Mob! She may have acted older than she was but she…she was still so young. She may have been strong, she may have been capable, but she was still at the mercy of her hormones. The mercy of her emotions.

He was at the mercy of her emotions, too.

But he wouldn't be.

He tipped her head down and kissed the crown of her forehead, where her fringe was clipped back and her hairline exposed. She stood rigid for a moment before stepping back. He took a few steps back. Embarrassment erupted into existence between them. Her for what she had wanted to happen and him for what he had almost let happen.

This job had better be worth it.

"Master…lets go inside." Said Mob simply. She took a deep breath, then another, and another. She wasn't scared anymore. Neither was the other Shigeko. Now they were just embarrassed. They had almost kissed Master Reigen! Not only would they have been cheaters, terrible people, but they would also have ruined what they had!

What happened in her, their, head was fine as long as that was where it stayed.

How could she have been so stupid? She just needed to…to get this job over with. She could do this. I think. I can. Master Reigen thinks I can. He believes in me. He believes in us.

We believe in Master Reigen.

"Good idea, student! It's time we got to work!" said Reigen. He hesitated for a moment before putting his hand on her back and practically ushering her into the inner room. How could he have almost lost control of his powers so badly?

Mob was fourteen. Mob was at the mercy of her hormones. He hadn't been…but he had been. He had…he had used that for his own gain. He had used her again. That was all he ever did, wasn't it? Well not anymore. After today the two of them would be on easy street. No more money worries. He could…he could do without her then. He wouldn't…he wouldn't need her at work. No more cases he couldn't handle on his own. From now on Mob could take it easy. He would still live with her, of course, but…but he wouldn't use her.

She was not a meal ticket.

After this she would never be a meal ticket again.

Just this one, simple, exorcism job. One more and it would all be over.


	36. Determination, Fight On!

"I didn't know that there were so many of us, Master." Said Mob as she entered the room. Her aura had passed over so mnay other espers…more than she had ever been around in her life.

"Me neither, Mob." Said Reigen. He hid in her aura still. He couldn't come out. He knew that if he came out he would be overwhelmed. Useless to her. Not that he would be of much use to her in this situation.

"How are we all going to work together to exorcise whatever this thing is?" asked Mob as she eyes the gross, black, thing hanging out at the far side of the room. Some of the other espers eyed it too. Some of the other espers…normal people?

"I have no clue. He had better pay us. Seriously, we came all the way out here…" said Reigen. He saw Mob frown, a little.

"I can do it, Master, and I don't need anybody's help." Said Mob frowning a little bit. She had been exorcising spirits since she first realized that she could, since she was three or four and something was living under Ritsu's bed. She was not little anymore. She could do this and she would do this and she had to do this because Master Reigen wanted her to and he believed in her.

"I never said you did." Said Reigen. His annoyance. Not hers. She didn't get annoyed. She was Mob.

"I can do it…I just need to figure out what it is." Said Mob as she walked through the crowd to the far wall. Some of the people, espers, parted before her like the red sea. The others, normal people, watched her and Reigen curiously. Reigen stood closer to her, physically and metaphysically.

"The guy said that his daughter was possessed by a spirit. Well, he said demon, too." Said Reigen as they made their way to the far wall. A velvet rope, like at the bank, had been placed there to keep people about a meter away. Mob reached out a hand and pulled back.

"I've never exorcised a demon. I didn't even know that they were real." Said Mob. She looked down at her hand. The vessel wasn't hurt but something clung to her. She tried to burn it away with a burst of power but it took a few tried. Behind her Dimple was doing his best scared tiny dog impression. Master Reigen still buried himself in her aura. Mob was glad. If he could act like their almost…whatever….never happened and then so could she. She felt the gross black thing shift.

"Apparently they are….I've never felt anything like that before." Said Reigen. He reached over to gesture, as he tended to do, but felt his hands being pressed quickly back to his side.

"Sorry for using my powers on you, Master, but it was for a good reason. Whatever that thing it, it's sticky." Said Mob

"Sticky?" asked Reigen. He had met some pretty strange spirits before but none that he would describe as being sticky. He was tempted to reach over but found that he couldn't. It took Mob a moment to let him go. He forgot, sometimes, how strong she was. How strong she could be.

"Sticky. It's kind of gross. I don't want to touch it with my aura. Yours, too, since yours is in mine." Said Mob

"No…I don't mind. Do you?" asked Reigen. He had to know because he had almost lost himself in her. He had almost ruined everything and if it wasn't for the distraction that the…whatever it was…provided then he and Mob would have had to **talk** about it.

"Of course not, Master. I don't mind. It's nice." Said Mob with a smile, a small one, her normal one. She felt the black thing try to reach over to her. She put a barrier around herself and Master Reigen. The black thing reached around her barrier, poked at it, and then retreated behind the curtain. She sent a burst of power at it but the thing just…ate it?

"…Thanks, Mob." Said Reigen as he clung to Mob like a cast away clung to his raft while the sea tried its best to drown him. That was what it felt like, being in a room with that many psychics, and that thing. He could drown so easily in them, the force of their collective emotion, but he did not. He could not. Mob wouldn't let him. He wouldn't let himself drown, either. Not in the other psychics around them and certainly not in her.

"People are looking at us. I don't know why." Said Mob. She could feel their eyes on her, their auras. She could feel their auras hovering just around her periphery. When she reached out they pulled back. She tried to pour good intent into her aura but they, when she could feel them, mostly felt scared. She hated places where people were afraid of her. This job had better be worth it.

"Probably because they've never seen anything like you, Mob." Said Reigen. Having seen a few auras in his brief time as an actual psychic he could conclude, reasonably, that people's auras should not have been two separate colors. Two different shades of the same color seemed like something that popped up occasionally but two colors that were entirely different just did not exist in that room. In the world, even, maybe, because this was Mob. This was Mob and she was powerful and amazing and of course she would shine above everyone else, the drop of star shine that she was. He could have so easily drowned in her aura. He could have so easily burned with her in that fire he lit inside of her. It would have been easy but he didn't let himself. Those feelings were hers and hers alone. He was only an eavesdropper into her emotional life.

"Master….I'm just me." Said Mob. She smiled, again. Her face colored pink, as did his. The black thing didn't like that and it reached over again. She batted it away. It actually went away that time. It wasn't so tough.

"I know. You're you and you're amazing and I know that you can do this." Said Reigen. He had been wrong, too, to inspire those feelings in her on purpose. Right? Even it had been to avoid an explosion, and the other her certainly felt like she was going to explode, so then yes it had been in some ways right.

He had just….no. It had been wrong. But if he made her happy….but he was being manipulative…but she was happy.

"I can. I think. I can." Said Mob. She knew that she could defeat or destroy or exorcise whatever that thing was. She had no idea what it was but she knew that she was strong enough to defeat it. Master Reigen believed in her and she would never let him down. He made her feel better, he always did. She and the other her were even calmer. What had they bene upset about? It was just another job. If Master Reigen wasn't worried then she wasn't worried.

"Yeah, that's the spirit." Said Reigen. He nudged her. It took her a moment before she smiled. There, the butterflies. They were back. She may have had a…hormone induced crush on him. Maybe. Probably not. She was probably just being fourteen and letting her hormones run wild and rage. That was all. This was Mob. Even if she did he could never reciprocate, no matter how many of her feelings that he took on. Thank God he had the presence of mind to end that positive feedback loop before he had ruined everything between them.

This job had better be worth it.

Mob didn't look worried and she didn't feel worried. Occasionally he felt her aura move towards the…black…thing behind the far wall. It felt almost like a spirit but not quite. It mostly felt of nothing, like a black hole, but also somehow…she called it sticky. She had felt it but deemed it too dangerous for him.

She was the stronger of the two of them after all.

"Somebody's coming…I know him. It's Banshomaru Shinra, Master, and some other espers." Said Mob pointing behind them. She could feel faint auras and one considerably brighter. All different kinds of purples. Reigen could see it, purple cutting through the crowd and getting closer than anyone else had dared to. He saw Shinra first, he led a group of other espers with him.

"Hey! There are two familiar faces!" said Shinra as he walked over to them quickly. He had been keeping his distance, at first, because Master Jodo said to. He said that he had to study the girl, mostly, from a distance. Shinra could understand that.

"Hello, it's nice to see you again." Said Mob politely

"Hey, what brings you to this side of town?" asked Reigen for the sake of conversation. He figured that Shinra was there for the same reason that everyone else was there for.

"The entire Rising Sun Spiritual Union got invited here for some exorcism thing." Said Shinra eying the ink, black, grossness that seemed to be trying to surrounded them. He wasn't terribly scared, no, because Master Jodo wasn't. Master Jodo knew just what to do. That was why he was the master and Shinra was the student.

"That's why we're here, too. There's a big reward, Master Reigen says that we'll be on easy street after this." Said Mob simply. Reigen clicked his tongue. This had better not be an 'everyone splits the reward' situation.

"Master? So he's the master and you're the student." Said someone, who in Mob and Reigen's opinions, looked like a very creepy old man. Skin as pale as Mob's, eyes just as wide, lips a dark purple, and face just as flat as Mob's. Mob looked cute though, in Reigen's opinion. This guy looked like the direct opposite of cuteness.

"Master Jodo, these are the people I was telling you about." Said Shinra deferentially. To Mob it was just an odd tone to take with someone. The man stopped and stood in front of her. She took a step forward. She stared. He stared. His aura reached out to tap hers before pulling back quickly. Mob mirror his action. No murderous intent, not even violent intent.

To Reigen it was like watching two dogs sniff each other.

"He's Master Reigen and I'm his student, Mob." Said Mob after a moment. They still stared at each other, neither one of them blinking. His eyes were purple, which was weird. Her eyes were brown, which was not weird. He didn't feel very strong, not like her or Teru. He was more at Ritsu's level, she decided.

"Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. Feel free to Google me!" said Reigen. He shuddered as he felt the black thing attempt to pass over him. Mob put up a barrier quickly. Shinra looked at her with awe. The old man kept staring. Mob kept staring right back. For a man so old and withered he felt pretty stronger. Stronger than Reigen, anyway.

"I know who you are. You're the man who thought that he could just waltz right into my city and act without permission." Said Jodo. The man was nothing special. He was at about the same level as most of the other psychics there. The girl, on the other hand, was something that should not have existed.

"They're freelance psychics, Master Jodo, and they helped me defeat an evil spirit." Said Shinra. He was defending the girl, mostly, because she seemed like she would be a great addition to the union. Or was she a woman? She might have just been short.

"Yes, I read about that. The so called 'Dragger'. A creature born of rumors." Said Jodo. He didn't have the man power to look in to every single urban legend that plagued his city. He had bigger fish to fry, like that awful organization. They were gearing up for something, their recruitment methods had become far more…unbridled…than they had been in the past.

"It was real and not real. We defeated it, though, so you guys don't have to worry." Said Mob, still staring. She tapped his aura again. He flinched away from her, physically. She decided to stop doing that.

"All in a day's work." Said Reigen trying to sound confident. He pat a hand on her shoulder. She had done literally all the work, there, but she still credited him.

"Don't ever act within our territory again, young ones. This is your only warning. We do not act within yours and you do not act within ours." Said Jodo as the girl's aura reached over to his again. Three colors…no…two. Duality. Conflict. Separation. She should have been too unstable to function as a single being but there she was. She also allowed that man in her aura, to almost fuse with hers. How could she allow someone to do that?

"Duly noted." Said Reigen not at all planning on heeding the old man's warnings. He and Mob went where they felt like it. Now that he had met this group he knew that Mob could wipe the floor with them.

"Why don't you want us to work in your city? You have plenty of spirits to go around." Said Mob

"Because we have no idea which organization you belong to and we would like to reduce any needless…conflicts." Said Jodo. They weren't with Claw, most likely. Their auras were too different. For some reason almost every follower of Claw had a red aura. Not just red but identical. Perhaps as a result of their insane awakening experiments.

"We're Spirits and Such. It's not an organization, it's a consultation office." Said Mob simply.

"An office in which you, of all people, act as the student?" asked Jodo. A bluff, most likely. The girl couldn't possibly serve that man. He was weak, as far as raw power went. Nothing like the girl. He had felt her, everyone had, long before she entered. At first he had assumed that a large group was approaching, another organization perhaps, but no, instead it was just the girl and this man she called Master.

"Yes." said Mob simply. What was so hard to believe about that? She felt the black thing reach around. She strengthened her barrier.

"Have you always been like this?" asked Jodo. He had been avoiding whatever it was that existed behind that curtain. He had never in his long life felt anything like it. The girl seemed unafraid. She had walked right up to it and now was shielding their entire group from it.

What was she?

"What do you mean?" asked Mob. She was a lot of things so he was going to have to be more specific. She had always been the student, if that was what he meant.

"In two parts. The duality. The raw power that is, paradoxically, contained within your broken metaphysical vessel. Has this always been your existence?" said Jodo. Amongst psychics he had always stood head and shoulders above the rest but now there was this…girl….and she was unlike anything he had ever seen before. She was impossible, this girl.

"Hey, don't talk to her like-" said Reigen knowing full well how sensitive Mob was to talk like that.

"Yes. I've always been really powerful, since the day I was born. Well, my mom said that when I was born she floated off the bed and there was this bright light and the entire hospital shook. I don't remember being born. My aura's always had two colors in it, too. Do you know why? You're a really old man so I was just thinking that you would know what it meant." Said Mob not trying to be mean at all. Jodo held her gaze. Old man? Reigen patted Mob on the back for that one. Good one, Mob! Show him who's the boss!

"Duality. Conflict. You shouldn't exist. I have never in my entire life met a being as powerful, or as impossible, as you." Said Jodo evenly. In the face of overwhelming power one could either fight or submit. He chose to submit. That old man comment had been her flexing her power, daring him to say anything back. He would not. He had lived enough to know that battle that was brewing. He'd have to recruit more heavily. Claw was nothing compared to that girl and whoever else she had as a follower. He'd dispatch a disciple or two to Seasoning City to get a feel of what their plans were, this couple's.

"But I do exist! I exist and I'm here so how can I be impossible?" asked Mob. Reigen tried to steer her away but she had rooted herself to the ground again. The room went silent as the shift in her aura was felt.

"Because your aura is your soul. A vessel cannot house two souls without destroying itself." Said Jodo evenly. He felt something…anger? Hers? Could she project her emotions, too? Empath. Not a common gift at all, though not one without it's uses. Her…or the man?

"But I've been like this my whole life. Me and the other Shigeko. That's my given name, Shigeko, but everyone calls me Mob. There's another me that takes over and talks to me sometimes. She's called the other Shigeko. Is she…are we…are we really going to destroy ourselves?" asked Mob. She felt the line in their spirit that demarked the two of them. It felt raw and gross and she wanted to cross it, to ask the other her if this was true, but she didn't. She didn't want to merge. It was unpleasant.

"Bullshit. Mob's going to be just fine. You're just trying to scare her, and frankly I can't stand here and listen to that. What's wrong? A little competition too much for you? I can see your followers and they're nowhere near your level. What, did you finally meet someone who could give you a run for your money? Does it freak you out, finding a bigger fish in your little pond?" asked Reigen knowing full well that Mob wouldn't want him to be this mean. Well, so what? She needed someone to defend her and since she wouldn't just walk away he'd have to be the one to defend her from this verbal onslaught.

"Honestly, I'm amazed you haven't already. Perhaps you have a gift for it, keeping yourself together. I notice that you've invited that man without your metaphysical self as well. For what purpose I cannot ascertain." Said Jodo ignoring the man. The girl, she was what interested him. She was impossible, an impossible being. That level of duality should have at least driven her completely mad long ago and yet there she was.

"It makes Master Reigen feel better. This was he can't feel what everyone else is feeling and he won't get overwhelmed. Also it's nice." Said Mob simply. Reigen blinked. This was nice for her, too? He…had figured that she didn't MIND but it was…nice? Which, this being Mob, could mean literally anything positive.

"How is it that you are so able to keep your own sense of self?" asked Jodo. The ma was right, she was a bigger fish than her, but he was not going to reacted rashly as the young tended to do. He had power in his own right. He would not fear this girl and certainly not the, incredibly, annoying man she had with her. He watched their auras. She seemed to be sharing her own metaphysical energy with him. It had been years since Jodo had anything close to that level of intimacy with another human being, not since his wife's passing, but it had always been difficult to maintain his own sense of self after a short while, and he had been married for half a century. The girl didn't look more than twenty years old, and that was if he was being VERY generous. No older than eighteen, if he were to be less generous. An odd pairing for this time. Not terribly common when he had been young, either, but not unheard of in the years before the pacific war.

"I don't know what you mean. Sometimes we share feelings and sometimes we…forget…who's feeling what…but we always know who we are." Said Mob. She watched her aura and Master Reigen's. She still knew where he ended and she began, but it was her aura. Before, when she had been in his aura…it had been different.

"You're telling the truth." Said Jodo. Words and bodies could tell lies but auras couldn't. How could someone so powerful exist in this world? And how did he get her on his side?

"I don't tell lies." Said Mob simply. She and Master Jodo still stared at each other. Mob decided that old people could be kind of mean sometimes but they couldn't help it because they were old. Sometimes they were super nice, though. She wondered how it happened and why old people always seemed to be in one extreme or another. Maybe it was like a coin toss that fate did when you got to whatever age old was.

"Another impossibility, the way in which you are able to keep your own mind while the complexities of another human being try to merge with your very soul. Perhaps this is a consequence of the duality you say you've dealt with for your entire life. Such a clear demarcation…." Said Jodo as he watched her aura. He could see it, if he looked closely enough. From within her he could see the massive pool of energy, massive enough to split her meta-physical vessel.

Reigen was about to tell the old man where to stuff his theories when he felt a shift in the room. A door opened slowly and a man hobbled across the front of the room and stood behind the velvet rope. He seemed prematurely aged, old before his time. Younger than Reigen's own father, maybe. Hair just beginning to salt and pepper. Skin sallow with heavy dark bags under his eyes. He walked with a distinct limp, a cane in his hand and a leg that seemed to have forgotten how to straighten out.

There was scant talk throughout the room, now. Reigen looked over at Mob. She had stopped staring at Jodo and was now staring at the client. Her eyes were narrowed. It was like she was looking for something in particular. Curiosity radiated from her. No fear. Fearless. If Mob could be fearless then so could he. Mob had this, he had nothing to worry about.

Mob knew exactly what she was doing. She was the spirits part of Spirits and Such after all.

"I sincerely thank all of you professionals for coming here today. I have no doubts that you are all true psychics." Said the man, Asagiri Masashi presumably. There was come collar tugging throughout the room. Reigen felt some faint nervousness and resisted the urge to tug at his Spirits and Such T-Shirt. He hid deeper within Mob. Calm. Yup, classic Mob. All business when it came to business. He felt eyes on him. That old fossil, Jodo, was giving him a weird look.

"Why would someone lie about something like that?" asked Mob quietly. This time Reigen did tug at his collar. He'd tell her the truth eventually.

"But whether or not any of you can save my daughter is another matter entirely." Said Masashi

"Daughter?" muttered Reigen. Mob felt for another person's presence. Normal people had a feel, sort of. It was like trying to hear a leaf fall, or see a snowflake, difficult but not totally impossible. There were people in the crowd of psychics that felt like normal people but she….yes. From behind the curtain….a person? A person stuck in all of that black stuff?

Mob had to save her.

Not for the money, not for the fame, not even for the business a job like this would bring in. She had to save the girl because nobody should ever have to live with something like that clinging to them. Beside her Dimple was still shaking. Anticipation, maybe? Whatever that thing was it felt strong and Dimple was always after another power boost.

"I ask that you keep what you are about to see a secret." Said Masashi. Mob nodded. She wouldn't tell a soul if that was what was asked of her. Reigen reached over and gave her hair a tug. Determination. Fearless determination. How could he have ever doubted Mob?

The curtain rose and there was a collective gasp. The psychics in the crowd could see, now, the blood and salt decorating the inside of the curtain. The more learned amongst them, mostly Jodo and his followers, recognized those patterns. He was trying to contain a great evil. The more sensitive amongst them could see the aura attempting to lash out at them. It was stopped by someone. Two someones…no…three. Pink, blue, and yellow.

It took three people to hold that…whatever it was…back.

The frauds amongst them, quite a large percentage of the crowd, began to feel as though they may have been in over their heads. They thought that this would be easy. It must have just been some rich and bored guy looking for a little excitement. They couldn't see or feel it like the others but as soon as that curtain came up a sense of danger set off their every fight or flight instinct.

Maybe this sort of thing was best left to the professionals.

Mob could see it, now. There was a girl tied to a bed. Her age. Pink hair. Grey pajamas. She wasn't moving but she didn't look like she was asleep, either. As soon as the curtain when up she faced the crowd and began to struggle. She must have been trying to get away from the black thing. Mob knew what she had to do. She was going to exorcise it down even below the particle layer. If it tried to reform then she'd exorcise it again and again.

"What the hell is that…." Muttered Reigen. For a moment he saw Mob, there, all tied up. It wasn't Mob, though. Mob was right there beside him and she wasn't anywhere near that young. That girl was much younger than Mob, she had to be. There was something stuck to her….from the inside? Possession? Or something else.

Something entirely new.

"It's not too late to turn back now, you guys. Come on, let's go find some bigger fish to fry." Said Dimple. He knew that spirit. He could recognize it, now, because it was peeking out from that girl. That was, without a shadow of a doubt, Mogami Keiji. He needed to get Shigeko O-U-T out!

"Dimple, don't be like that. We have a job to do. You can go if you want but I'm staying." Said Mob. She came here to do her job and that was, precisely, what she was going to do. If she were in that poor girl's place then she would have wanted someone to save her.

"Come on! This is dumb! How about we…go pet some cats? Play go? I could find a body and can have another milk drinking contest! Ooh! I can teach you how to turn invisible so you can hide in the guys' changing rooms!" said Dimple. Cuteness. Games. Food. Sex. Shigeko loved all of those things so maybe, just maybe, she'd put this whole thing aside and not shatter her image of one of her heroes….or of Dimple.

"We can do most of those things later. Dimple, I don't know why you're being like this but you can't talk me out of it." Said Mob. Dimple was so easily distracted sometimes. When this job was over then they could hang out, but now it was time to be serious.

"Come on, Dimple, you know Mob has this in the bag." Said Reigen. Mob was wholly determined and that was enough for him. She believed in him and he owed her some belief in return.

"…..you're a moron…." Muttered Dimple. He was all for Shigeko using her powers and unlocking her full potential but going up against this thing would not only shatter her faith in Dimple but also her entire metaphysical self. Mogami had done it, he had become the most powerful evil spirit.

That didn't mean that the most power esper could exorcise him. Shigeko could break.

"This is my daughter, Asagiri Minori. She's only fourteen." Said Masashi. Reigen took a step back. That girl was Mob's age. How could that girl be Mob's age? She was so much smaller than…he looked over at Mob…she was Mob's size. She seemed younger. Maybe it was the pink hair, or possibly the teddy bear motif of her room/cell. Either way it was hard to believe that both girls were the same age. The other girl was dwarfed by the bed, the room. She looked like Reigen could pick her up with one arm as she lied there, tied to her bed.

He could never imagine Mob in such a position. She wasn't afraid of the things that went bump in the night, they were afraid of her. Nothing could ever possess her. She would destroy it first. Mob was strong and powerful.

Something like this could never happen to her.

"She's behind a one way mirror so she cannot see us." Said Masashi. There were all sorts of murmurings now.

_He has her locked up?/What's going on here?/What is that thing?/it's a little girl?/Holy shit that's wrong!/That poor little girl!/This is going a bit too far, I think…._

"At first I didn't believe in spirits, either, but even after seeing the best counsellors and mental health professionals in the world there was no improvement. She's been possessed by a demon. Please, I beg of you all, save my daughter!" said Masashi. He began to cry. Not full on sobs but instead tears began to slip down his cheeks. His daughter stopped struggling and just stared out at them. Reigen decided that this wasn't a Mob stare, as he rubbed the tears from his eyes. No, there was something sinister lurking behind those eyes.

"Can you see it, Master? I can. It's looking back at me." Said Mob. That thing was staring at her with stolen eyes. She stared right back. She had been facing spirits since she was little. She could face this one. She was not little. She had this, just like Master Reigen said. She had this. Mob had this. Shigeko had this. They had this.

Even though it was looking **at** Shigeko. It was looking through Mob and looking at Shigeko.

**We need to go.**

_We need to stay._

**I'm taking control.**

_Don't you dare try to._

**We will break.**

_We will win._

**LET ME OUT**

_No._

**I will protect us.**

_No. I will protect us._

**I need to keep us safe.**

_I can keep us safe._

**We need to keep Master Reigen safe.**

_Master Reigen is counting on us._

**He is.**

_He believes in us._

**He does.**

_We need to win._

**We do.**

_If we win he'll be happy._

**He will be.**

_If we win he'll love us like we love him._

**He will.**

_When we're a grown up._

**When we're a grown up.**

Mob pulled back from her own mind. She could still feel whatever it was looking at her. For a moment she did want to run away. Sometimes you had to run away and live to see another day. This was not one of those times. She was Mob. She was going to save this girl because that was what she did. Then Master Reigen would love her even more. Then he'd be happy. There was nothing she wanted more than his happiness.

"That thing is seriously creepy. This isn't some sort of adolescent mental illness. This Asagiri guy was right to call us in, to call you in. You've got this, Mob. You can do it." Said Reigen giving her hand a squeeze. Something was poking at his aura. Something black. Mob…he was pulling too far away from Mob. He clung to her metaphysical self. Her aura. He had been pulling away from her, slowly, because they were far too close. They hadn't been this close since that first night…after Claw…but this was different. This was just another job only…bigger.

"Please! No price is too high! I'll pay you double what I said! Triple! Just please! Save my little girl!" said Masashi. Reigen took a step forward. Mob followed him. Double…triple….he looked down…over…at Mob.

Her own room.

Better food.

All the milk she could ever drink.

A brand new uniform.

Whatever she wanted.

Anything that her heart desired would be hers.

With that much money he could give her all the things she had ever wanted. With that much money he could get all of the things that **he** had ever wanted.

No more worrying about bills.

No more being afraid to check his bank account.

No more crappy apartment.

No more cheap suits.

No more undershirts with the itchy tags.

No more bothering Mob to come out to the jobs that he couldn't do himself.

Mob could have more time with her friends and her life. She could be happy. That was what he wanted most of all, her happiness.

"You're in luck! I, Reigen-" said Reigen getting into her persona, the Reigen Arataka that existed in the minds of others. That he wanted to exist in the minds of others. He was cut off, though, by…Mob.

"I, Kageyama Shigeko, also known as Mob, will accept this job." Said Mob trying to sound like Master Reigen there. She was as close to the velvet, bank line type, rope as she could be. She needed to be like Master Reigen here. She needed to be confident, to put the client at ease….to show Master Reigen that she could do this.

"Hold it! Who says that you get to go first?" asked Shinra. She was powerful, true, but the Rising Sun Spiritual Union needed that money too!

"I just did." Said Mob simply. She meant nothing by it, just the flat fact of it. She called it. She knew about the rule about calling things. In gym class you called the good positions in sports, like catcher and goalie, first. In Telepathy Club you called the good snacks first. In Body Improvement Club you called the heaviest dumbbells first. In families you let your little brother call the biggest piece of fish. At home you let Master Reigen call the less lumpy side of the couch.

And now she was calling this job.

"Mob…." Said Reigen. He didn't hear the flat fact of it. All he heard was her stamping her authority as the most powerful esper in the room? She was going after an obscene amount of money….would these guys…fight…over it? Fight Mob?

She could wipe the floor with these guys.

But she shouldn't have to.

_Hey! Who says you get to go first!?/Lady, you got some nerve!/I think that's a kid, actually./Who cares? I want my damn money!/There's no way she's taking all the money!/Let me do it!/This isn't fair!/I want my money!_

"Everyone! Please! Let's all just calm down!" said Masashi throwing his hands up in a gesture of platitude. He stumbled a bit as he put weight on his bad leg.

"Yeah, take a step back. We'll have this done in a jiffy. Come on, Mob." Said Reigen. He willed himself to walk forward some more. Mob was looking behind them, now.

"You guys could get really hurt. You should go home." Said Mob addressing the group. She was the strongest person there in terms of raw power. Unless people were hiding their auras like Master Reigen used to do they were nowhere near strong enough to take this thing on.

"Listen, lady! You can't just go and-" said someone loudly

"Don't call her lady. Now do what she said. She's right, you could all get hurt." Said Reigen putting a protective arm over Mob. What he thought he could do to protect her he did not know. She was more than capable of protecting herself. Still, she should not have been called lady. She wasn't a lady. She was still just a kid.

Sort of.

"Please! Everyone! How about we decided using…rock paper scissors?" asked Masashi. Everyone blinked but Mob. That made sense. That was another way to decide things, like who got to be player one or who got to sit in the only chair in the club room that didn't squeak.

"Ok." Said Mob as everyone began to murmur. Her voice was projecting well, this room had great acoustics. To Reigen, and those who could see auras, she was once again stamping her authority as the most powerful person in the room.

The real psychics amongst them were weary. Anyone in the know knew Master Jodo. A few had even tangled with the organization known as Claw. None of them had ever seen anything like that small woman/normal sized girl. Physically she was hard to place and metaphysically a child could never have been that powerful. She was known, or at least people knew of her. Spirits and Such. Shishou and Mobbu, co-stars of a small internet supernatural/paranormal show. Just one show in a sea of many but with one exception.

They were the real deal.

That was not three people, only two. An aura with two colors…one in constant motion. Conflict and duality. Another aura she allowed to rest within hers.

But of course greed would win out against fear.

"I guess that's fair." Said a large muscle bound psychic in what looked like a fairly skimpy bikini. Mob wondered what that was about. A lot of the people there were dressed weird, the ones without auras. There was someone dressed up like a dog, someone holding a weird staff thing, someone clutching a crystal ball, and even more oddly dressed people. Did that have something to do with powers? The other psychics agreed with that guy, anyway.

_Sure/Yeah/Fine/Whatever/What are we? Ten! I mean, sure/Don't be spoil sport/Let's just get on with it!_

Not that Mob was happy with this development. She had called it. This was fair, too, but she had called it.

"Good. Well, I'm throwing paper." Said Reigen. He could win this and have Mob go in and get this over with. He hadn't lost a game of rock-paper-scissors since he was nine. The trick was to watch everyone else's arm and throw slightly more slowly. He had this. He could do this for Mob.

"Huh?" asked the big, muscle bound psychic in the skimpy bikini. Reigen wondered what possible purpose that served. Mob wondered that too. It seemed like the people without auras were dressed the weirdest.

"Hey, buddy….you're not supposed to tell anyone." Said a guy dressed like a dog. Reigen wondered what his shtick was. Exorcism and dog café worker? It seemed like the frauds, or the ones who felt like anyway, were putting on the biggest show. There were guy there dressed in costumes, covered in tattoos, and holding all manner of wand, staff, and even a crystal ball.

He wondered if there were any guys there that threw salt.

"Master, do you know how to play?" asked Mob. Maybe he was too old to know how to play rock-paper-scissors. He was almost thirty after all. That was pretty old, over twice her age. She didn't like it, thinking about the years that separated them.

"On second though I think I'll throw rock." Said Reigen. Contrary to Mob's belief he knew full well how to play rock-paper-scissors. He hadn't lost a game since he was nine. The trick was a combination of psychological warfare and just plain throwing slightly slower than everyone around him. Look harmless, sound dumb, and win. He'd get first place for Mob and then she could get on with the exorcism and they could collect their check and head home.

"Master, don't tell people." Said Mob. She was bad at this game. She needed at least one of them to win. There were too many people here and they could all get seriously hurt. She couldn't let that happen. She was the only person there who could exorcise the…whatever it was.

"Which is he going to throw? Paper or rock?" someone else asked. There were murmurings from the crowd. Across the room a familiar, and scarred, face peered at them from behind a pillar.

Matsuo had no intention of joining in on this game. He stood no chance against the people who took down the entire seventh division. He had broken all ties with Claw and was trying to go straight, unfortunately they might not see it that way. He stood no chance. He had no power of his own except to bind spirits to his will. Judging by the very familiar looking spirit hovering beside the girl she could do the same thing…and a whole lot more. He had been defeated so quickly before…and it could happen again. There was an outrageous sum of money on the line but…he stood no chance of standing against that girl or the rest of her organization. He could always take the spirit, though, if they managed to shake it free from the vessel. From what it looked like, from what it felt like, it would be a pretty great consolation prize.

It was the most powerful thing he had ever seen in his life.

Across the room the winner was decided quickly. There was only one and it was Reigen Arataka. He knew he'd win. He could feel the reverence coming from Mob. Towards himself. She was looking at him again, just like she used to. Had it really been so long ago? Or a short while? Since she last looked at him like he was the answer to all of her prayers.

"Master, you're amazing. How did you do that?" asked Mob. Reigen Arataka. Miracle worker.

"Student, there is no one in this world who can beat me at rock-paper-scissors." Said Reigen getting back into character for her. Good, he had won. Now she could go up there and put an end to all of this.

"Best six out of ten!" someone called out. There was a collective groan.

"No. That's going to take too long. That girl is suffering right now. Master, you can go and try. I'll compete in the next rounds." Said Mob. She could still feel that thing looking at her, through her. It was so gross and unpleasant. She wished that she didn't have to follow the rules, that she could just walk up there and get the spirit out. She followed the rules, though, because she had to. She was just as human as everyone else and human beings had a thousand and one rules they needed to follow to keep the world functioning. Just because she was the most power being in the room it didn't give her the right to line jump.

"Mob? No, I won for you. Go on, melt that thing down to nothing." Said Reigen patting Mob on the back. This earned him some collective, angry, murmuring.

"Oh no, young man, you're the winner here. You go up there and take your turn." Said Jodo. It was a shame that he was so bad at rock paper scissors. That man wouldn't last ten seconds against that spirit. Jodo had never felt anything like that in his life, either. The spirit. The girl. This was a day for impossible things.

"Yeah, just take your turn so the rest of us can have a shot!" someone yelled out. There was more murmurings of agreement from the crowed. Reigen felt beads of sweat collecting on his forehead. He stood zero chance against that thing.

"Master, you can try. Remember what you said. I think. I can. I'll be here to protect you, too." Said Mob. She believed in Master Reigen. She had to. He had won and now he had to try. She had to believe in him even though she knew how different his powers were, how weak he was, how easily he could be taken out of commission, because if she didn't believe that he could do this right there in that moment she could explode. He could die. No. She, Mob, Shigeko, would not let anything happen to him.

He was their everything.

"Is that from a Pillows song….?" Someone muttered. Reigen paid him no mind. He needed to put on his brave shoes, now, for Mob. He needed to put on his brave shoes and march up there into that sealed room and try his damned best to at least soften that…whatever it was…up for Mob. He felt a tug at his hair. Mob.

I'm here. I've got you.

"Thank you so much, sir!" said Masashi as Reigen walked passed him. Gratitude. This man was counting on him. That little girl was counting on him. Mob was counting on him. Thank God he could do more, now, than throw salt around.

"On it." Said Reigen nonchalantly. Put the client at ease. This is not something new and big and terrifying. This is just another job. It's a normal job on a normal Saturday and after this he and Mob would get something to eat and then go home and hang out watching TV or whatever else she wanted to do.

He walked across the velvet rope and around the back to where the door to the sealed room was. Behind him a very competitive rock-paper-scissors tournament was taking place. He didn't need to look back, though, to see Mob. He could feel her. He wore her like a suit of armor, like a security blanket. She kept him safe from the inky blackness that was trying to cling to him as he opened the door and entered the room.

It was a kid's room.

Teddy bears were everywhere. The walls were even done up in teddy bear murals. Teddy bears on parade, teddy bear picnics. Teddy bear princes and princesses. That was the most obvious part but there was more. There were dolls in the corner of the room, he knew those dolls, the brand. He had gotten Mob one on her twelfth birthday because, well, she was a little girl then. What had she said?

"_Thank you very much, Master, but I'm much too old for dolls. I'll put it up as decoration."_

Right. Mob was too old for dolls. She was so much older than this girl, he thought, even though they were supposedly the same age. He sat down on a chair beside the bed. Oh. On the nightstand was that weekly Shoujo thing that Mob read all the time. Some compilations, too. Light novels. He knew those. Mob watched the adaptations of those religiously. The one about the guy who falls in love with the princess of Luxemburg. The one about the guy who befriends a cat after his parents die. The one about the guy who falls in love with the deaf girl he used to bully.

This girl was not Mob.

She was facing him, now. Her eyes had been blank but now took on a lively quality. She began to strain against her restraints. It was like watching a marionette. It was like someone had killed this girl, tied strings to her limbs, and manipulated her into some kind of crude, simulacrum, of life. He watched her aura, the black thing. Nothing. Dimple was green, many spirits were. Hell, he had even seen a black aura back when he fought those guys from Claw. This wasn't even…it was like an anti aura.

No light. No feelings. Nothing.

"Hello there." Said Reigen. Just treat the girl like any other client. You are a psychic now, Arataka. You are not powerless. You are not Mob but you are not powerless.

The girl stopped struggling and sat up as best she could. She smiled up at him. It was fake. There was nothing there. No happiness, no relief, not even a nervous response. She was just a puppet. This thing was not a spirit, maybe, because even spirits had emotions.

"Tell me, do you know why you're locked up in here?" asked Reigen. He made his aura more visible. As a consequence he had to shake himself free of Mob. He felt it poking at him, trying to size him up. What had his mother told him when he was little?

"_Think good thoughts, Arataka, and the big, bad, meanies will go away."_

He had been young, then, and afraid of the thing living in the hall closet. It had turned out to be a sweater but thinking good thoughts as he passed that closet, every day, until he was five, helped him immensely. He thought good thoughts. He thought about Mob. Her smiles. The way she got so excited, sometimes, when she explained something she really liked. The way she had breakfast waiting for him every morning. The way she would lay her head down on his lap when they'd watch TV together. The way she'd put his cigarettes out for him when he started to doze off while smoking. The way she said his name. Master Reigen. The way she looked at him like he was her everything.

"I have no idea! I don't know what's happening, Mr. Reigen. Papa's been really weird lately…." Said the girl. She, the thing, switched tactics. It was making itself sound younger, now. Closed off body language. Everything about this screamed 'save me'.

Except for her emotions.

She had none.

"Weird how?" asked Reigen. She had known his name without him introducing himself. This room was supposed to be sealed off. How much of the girl was still there? She gave off no emotions but then again she was not an esper. He was used to the way espers screamed their emotions. This was a normal little girl. Normal people were so, damned, **quiet.**

"He started locking me in my room and tying me to the bed. He stares at me in a weird way. He even hits me sometimes!" said the girl. Reigen squished down his instinctive response to protect the girl. Lies. This thing was lying. This thing was trying to gain his sympathy. He looked out the one way mirror. There was some kind of commotion going on outside.

"He brought in all of these strange grown ups…and let them hover around me and touch my body. No matter what don't trust father! He just hasn't been himself lately! It's like he's possessed or something!" said the girl. There was more commotion outside and Mob's barrier sprang to life. She was in front of everyone now. Some auras hit it, some people hit it, but it did not budge.

"How do you mean?" asked Reigen. It was trying to take suspicion off of itself. It was playing to his instinctive, protective, nature. He looked over towards Mob. She made eye contact with him. Right, fuck the marching order she was going next.

"He keeps on telling people I'm cursed! Daddy even said that a demon has taken over my body! I mean, maybe I was acting like a rebellious teenager but this is going too far! He's gone crazy!" said the thing. More commotion outside. The man, the girl's father, looked like he was pleading with the crowd. Mob was facing them. Whatever she was saying was falling on deaf ears.

"Am I-Am I going to be tied to this bed forever?!" said the thing before it broke out in crocodile tears. Mob's friend who liked aliens and typing in all caps did better crocodile tears than that.

"Help me Mr. Reigen! Please, sir, can you take these off of me? These restraints hurt so much!" asked the thing. It held out the girls hands. Reigen instantly shrunk back. That thing was unpleasant, even worse than being near the other Mob. The other Mob felt dangerous, like something that you weren't supposed to look at. This thing was…death. Worse than Dimple, even the little snot glob never felt this much like death….

"I'll ask your dad and see what I can do." Said Reigen. He got up and left the room. He resisted the urge to run, to put as must distance between himself and the…whatever it was. He exited the sealed room and was hit with a cacophony of noise.

"That's just a normal little girl! It's him who's the problem someone yelled out. Mob was shaking her head and saying something but nobody was listening. Right. His time to shine.

"Anybody who's stupid enough to believe that needs to get the hell out of here before they get themselves killed." Said Reigen as he walked over and stood behind Mob. Someone bashed their fists against her barrier.

"Master? I'm number forty eight in the order but I think I should go up there now. These people could die, you're right." Said Mob. There had been speakers so she heard the whole conversation. It sounded like she did when she was pretending to be normal, before, like how everyone else talked. It was a smart spirit, like Dimple. It was trying to blend in. Dimple was powerful, too powerful to be exorcised easily.

But she could exorcise this other spirit. She had to.

She was Mob.

"Don't do it, Shigeko! Just run away!" said Dimple coming into less then extra invisible mode.

"Dimple? Why are you being like this? You've been all shaky this whole time." Said Mob. There was a lot of whispering, now. Someone called her a spirit master. That guy, Jodo, was looking right at her. She hoped that nobody tried to exorcise Dimple, he was her friend. Was he…worried? His aura felt worried, what little aura she let herself feel. After this black thing Dimple being dead felt like nothing.

"Trust me. You should run the hell away while you still can. You do not want to go near this spirit." Said Dimple. He needed to tell her. If she didn't hear it from him and she found out on her own…he needed to either save her to tell her.

"Why not? Dimple. I know it's strong but this is something that I have to do. Stay here and keep Master Reigen safe." Said Mob. She turned to walk away but Dimple reached out and grabbed her. Metaphysically. It was gross. The whole room shook as the other Shigeko tried to shake him away.

"What are you…?" asked Reigen. Unlike Mob he could read people. Dimple was afraid. Dimple, the ageless immortal evil spirit was afraid of something….but Mob wasn't. Mob wasn't afraid of the things that went bump in the night, they were afraid of her.

They had to be.

"You can't go in there! That spirit…it's Mogami! It's Keiji Mogami!" said Dimple. She needed to know even though it would hurt her. She needed to know from him. If she had gone into the room and found out…she would never have been able to bring herself to exorcise her idol. She would have let herself get beat. She had that tendency, to not fight back even when it was in her own best interest….

"….don't tell lies, Dimple." Said Mob. That was mean, very mean, but she forgave him. As much as he was her friend he was still an evil spirit and he couldn't change his innate nature. It was like how cats didn't like to walk on leashes and dogs didn't like to walk on their hind legs even though it was super cute. Yes, she could forgive Dimple. He probably just wanted to hang out, he got lonely sometimes, probably.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 20%_

"Hey! She can't just-!" said another one of the so called psychics. So many fakes, Reigen thought. He was once one of them…he felt the salt in his pocket. This was real and a real esper needed to handle this.

"Does anyone here, in this room, think that they can stop her?" asked Reigen in that tone he used sometimes, the one that convinced an entire crowd of morons that he was the boss of Claw. That tone that told unruly clients to knock it off and get the fuck out. The old man raised an eyebrow.

"I doubt anyone here would want a conflict with that girl. However, I would advise you to take a moment and consider leaving this to those of us with experience in these matters, young man." Said Jodo. The impudence of youth. Jodo knew how he could handle this. It would be slow going, very slow going. The spirit may have had the girl possessed but he could still here a lot of her personality coming through. Any sort of exorcism would have had to be done slowly and with the utmost care…and that man's partner was, most likely, going to go in there with the grace of a giraffe on roller-skates.

"That girl is in no way possessed! The problem is clearly her father! He can't handle that his daughter is growing up and their changing relationship has him so worked up that he's blaming it all on ghosts and demons!" said a psychic in the crowd. Not a real one, Reigen noted. There were some smatterings of understanding.

"The girl is clearly possessed. Anyone with eyes can see that. The possession is not complete, though. With PROPER CARE TAKEN the spirit can be safely exorcised." Said Jodo. The girl was talking to the spirit, now. The microphones seemed to have been disabled.

"That's bullshit! She sounded just like a normal middle school girl!" said the same guy.

"No, she didn't. It didn't strike you as odd the way she spoke? How she switched between papa, father, and daddy? The way she knew my name without me ever introducing myself? This is the real deal and, yeah, I know it's hard to believe but all of you frauds had best leave. Actually, everyone should. Mob has this." Said Reigen before the glass behind him shattered. He crouched down quickly and covered his face with his arms. He felt something hit the back of his head and blood began to run down. Mob had this. She had to.

Mob did not have this.

"Hello. Are you here to save me?" asked the spirit as Mob entered the small room. It was kind of nice in there, lots of stuffed animals. Ooh! She knew those mangas. Maybe after she exorcised whatever was possessing this girl they could be friends. The both had similar tastes in manga, were the same age, and maybe they were similar in other ways, too. Mob liked making new friends. Just as soon as she got this spirit out.

This spirit that was not Mogami Keiji.

That had certainly been mean of Dimple, to mess with her like that. Mogami was a good person. He used his powers to help people just like she and Master Reigen did. He exorcised evil spirits and did séances and stuff like that. The same stuff that they did at Spirits and Such. A bad person could never do that and to have become an evil spirit then he must have been a bad person in his life.

Mogami Keiji was a good person.

"I'm here to save Asagiri Minori." Said Mob. The black thing tried to touch her again. She batted it away with a burst of power. She had to do this without hurting the client. Possessions were tricky like that. She had to get the spirit out of the vessel without actually hurting the vessel. She wished she had Master Reigen's powers. Then she could just influence it's emotions until it wanted to leave of it's own accord.

"Then please! Shigeko! Untie me!" said the spirit using the body as a meat puppet. Mob just stared. The spirit stared back at her with stolen eyes.

"I never told you my name and this room is soundproof. Minori is not in control right now, it's obvious. Get out of her, please, or I will get you out." Said Mob evenly. She didn't sit down. She stood at the side of the bed. She began to poke and prod with her powers trying to find a weak spot.

"Shigeko, please! It was your husband that told me your name!" said the spirit. The room shook at the word husband. Master. Her. Husband. Wife….no! Don't think about it.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 25%_

**It's trying to distract you. Us. Let me have control. You think too much. Who cares if this girl breaks? We need to destroy this spirit!**

_No! We can't break a person, Shigeko. _

**We can, easily, Mob**_._

_It's wrong. Master Reigen wouldn't love us anymore if we hurt another person._

"Master Reigen is not my husband. I'm fourteen. I can't have a husband. Minori would know that people our age do not have husbands. Now either get out on your own or prepare to be forced out." Said Mob poking and prodding but having no luck. The spirit had a death grip on Minori and Mob had no idea how much stress the body of a regular person could take before it broke. Probably very little. They were paper dolls. They were paper dolls living in a paper world and all Mob could do was be careful not to accidentally tare everything apart.

"How can you agree with father? He's just being crazy because I was being a rebellious teenager. You know what its like, when your parents don't understand. When they're afraid." Said the spirit

"Stop talking." Said Mob. She began to try to peel the spirit like an onion. For every layer of spiritual energy she peeled it seemed like two grew back. She had to be slow, to be careful, or she could hurt the client…or the spirit could….

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 30%_

"It's hard living in a place where people are afraid of you, isn't it? When they look at you like a monster. Sometimes you even start to think so." Said the spirit.

"I said stop talking." Said Mob. She felt her stomach begin to flip. That was the other Shigeko. She was clawing her way up through their metaphysical self. Mob stuffed her down. This action caused her to temporarily stop working at unpeeling the spirit from the client.

"Sometimes you believe them. Sometimes you start to think that you aren't even a human being." Said the spirit. It's power began to grown and Mob, quickly, stole it. She got nauseated as she took it in. No. This could not become a part of her. She expelled it with a retch, throwing up a sticky black substance all over the bed.

"Shut up." Said Mob wiping her mouth. What was that? Never mind. She had a job to do and she would do it. She applied more force, now. The spirit began to glow…black? But it was quickly covered with Mob's own bubblegum pink and electric blue.

"It's so hard, isn't it? To be human. To live in a world with humans. Nobody understands. They pretend that they do, they even make you think that they do. They don't. Nobody will ever understand. They will use you. The people you love most, the people who you've allowed to have power over you, will always use you." Said the spirit. Mob flayed a layer off of it. No. She cut Minori's clothes, too. There were black and blue blotches all up her stomach. Mob ignored the black thing and pressed her hands to Minori's stomach, trying to will the bruises to heal. She felt something tugging at her. She tried to tug herself, her aura, away, but found herself stuck. She pulled and pulled and pulled.

"Let go." Said Mob as she struggled. They, she and Shigeko, could get free if they used more power but that would mean that she would risk hurting Minori. She couldn't do that. Regular people were so fragile. Like china, like glass, like paper.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 40%_

"But some people like to be used. They let themselves be used because it's just easier that way. They want people to like them, to love them, so they just let themselves get used over and over again. Just like dogs they do trick after trick for even the smallest kernel of affection." Said the spirit.

"You need to stop this." Said Mob. She was having trouble holding the other Shigeko back. They were like a shook up can of soda. The bubbles came up higher and higher and higher and they could **burst** at any moment.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 50%_

"But what those people want they can never get. They love the people who use them, the person. They love the person who uses them and will gladly performed like a train puppy for their amusement, for this gain. They think that they're going to get what they want in return but they never do." Said the spirit

"I said stop…" said Mob. She stopped fighting to get away and was now fighting for control. Her aura was becoming more blue than pink. Her muscles were tight, like she was getting ready to sprint. Her stomach was doing flip flops, and not in the good way. She just had to keep it together. Keep it together. Breathe.

"Love. They tell themselves that their reward will be love, that at the end of their journey they'll have that person's love. That person just needs to realize their feelings. That person just needs time. In the meantime you'll try to find what you want with others. Making you no better than the person who uses you." Said the spirit

"Stop it…." Said Mob gritting her teeth. The spirit was just trying to mess with her. The spirit was just trying to get her to crack. Well she wouldn't. This was not how she would come apart. She was stronger than that. Master Reigen had taught her to be stronger than that.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 60%_

"That's the way of the world. The weak use the strong. Even the strongest of us, the most blessed, can be at the mercy of the weakest. That's what it is to be human. To be human is to be so, incredibly, stupid." Said the spirit

"You need to stop before she gets out…" said Mob. She could not hurt Minori. She could not risk killing Minori. She had no idea who this person was but she was a person and it was Mob's job to save her. She was a good person. The truth of her charm was in her kindness. She wasn't going to break Minori apart to save herself. She wasn't going to annihilate the host and the spirit even though it would be so **easy** and there wasn't a being alive who could **stop** her but that was why she couldn't because she had to **stop** herself. She had to be better than her worst impulses.

"The place of the strong is not to be at the mercy of the weak. A person should be free of all mortal guilt and shame. The strongest amongst us must punish those who wish to use others. But you don't. You are so content to not only be used but to use others…and it doesn't even bother you." Said the spirit

"Be quiet." Said Mob. She could see it, cracks of white appearing on her skin. She needed to keep calm and stop the other her from coming out. They could hurt Minori. They could hurt the other psychics. They could hurt Master Reigen….

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 70%_

"That man out there, your master, do you think he cared about you? Do you think he cares about you as a person or just what you can do for him?" asked the spirit

"Master Reigen loves me." Said Mob. She could see him out there. His back was to her.

"Or does he just love the abilities you've been blessed with. You think that man actually loves you as a person, in any capacity?" asked the spirit.

"You don't know anything. You're just a lying leftover of some person who was evil when they were still alive and I will exorcise you." Said Mob evenly. She stopped listening. She didn't know why she was listening in the first place. She knew who she was and what she was and what she wanted to be. She knew that she didn't use people and that people didn't use her. She knew that the world was a good place, sure it had bad people in it, but the way of the world was not as bad as this spirit said.

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 75%_

"You love that man with every fiber of your being. You want him in every way a person can want another person. I've seen your aura, your soul. I've seen his, too. He doesn't love you. He loves what you do for him. He does not and will not ever return even a tenth of what you feel for him. He even led you here, to me, and for what? Money. It always comes down to money." Said the spirit

_Progress towards Mob's Explosion: 90%_

"Will you just shut up already!?" Said Mob/Shigeko. She wrenched her hands free from the grip of the spirit. There were raised red marks on the girl's stomach, but no more bruises.

"Well hello there. I was wondering when you'd make another appearance. I don't believe we've met. I'm-" said the spirit

"We don't care who you are. Now hold still. We're ending this." Said Mob/Shigeko. She covered the entire spirit vessel and all in their aura in an attempt to smother it. If Minori took damage then they would try to heal her. If they couldn't then she should at least be happy that she had her body back. The spirit began to scream and for a moment Mob had complete control and stopped because, well, she cared if Minori got hurt. Shigeko didn't but she did.

"You're a stubborn little thing, aren't you? But broken. You're so wonderfully broken." Said the spirit as it sat up and destroyed the shackles holding it in place. Mob tried to take a step back but her legs didn't work.

"I'm going to break you apart, spirit, and if the vessel gets hurt then it gets hurt." Said Shigeko. Mob didn't mean to say that. She could feel herself sinking down lower and lower. It was like swimming out to far in the ocean. Usually when the other Shigeko took over it was just like falling asleep. Quick. Here she had to struggle not to get swept away, not to drown. But it was nice in here….soft and safe…but no! She fought her way back to the surface.

"And then I suppose, afterwards, you'll return back to your master like a trained dog." Said the spirit as it swung the body's legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Mob pushed it back down. It just stood up again. It moved smoothly, much more smoothly than when she had seen Dimple take over that Claw security guard's body.

"Yes I will." Said Mob. She was not a trained dog. She was the student and Master Reigen was the master and of course she followed him. They weren't equals yet but one day they would be. She just could not lose sight of that day.

"Why? Are you a loyal little show dog? Or maybe…a guard dog. Yes, a guard dog…BECAUSE YOUR MASTER CAN'T PROTECT HIMSELF!" said the spirit before the one was mirror shattered outwards. Mob saw the body lung and she threw herself after it. They wrestled together on the ground. Broken glass got into her clothes and buried itself in her skin. She didn't care. She used everything she had, body and aura.

She had to protect Master Reigen. He wasn't strong enough to protect himself.

"Mob!" yelled Reigen. No. Mob was…Mob didn't have this….so much blood….no…

He fell to his knees. Around him others did the same. Someone began to cry. Someone began to climb the walls. The exits were barred, as some poor soul found out when he threw himself into it. Reigen couldn't move….Mob was….

"Spirit hold!" yelled Shinra as soon as he collected himself. There was so much blood…but he had to focus. He managed to get his new set of beads wrapped around the spirit in the pink haired girl's body. Yes! They held….for a moment.

"No! Master! Run away!" said Mob as she tried to hold the spirit down. She was stronger than this. She and Shigeko were stronger than this. They were strong enough to protect everyone! Body Improvement! Fight on!

She pinned the spirit down, body and soul. She was on top of the spirit and the body…it began to cry. Mob wanted to let go…but she didn't. No. She couldn't. She had this. She felt Master Reigen coming back into her aura. She could do this. She was Mob and she could do this.

"Mob! You've got this!" yelled Reigen. He wasn't afraid anymore. She could do this. Determination. Pure and utter determination. Mob was the strongest esper in the room. Strong enough even to give withered old fossils a run for their money. She was the biggest fish in this pond and SHE HAD THIS.

"That's a nice little trick you two have. It's not enough, though." said the spirit. It wrapped the body's legs around Mob and flipped her over so she was pinned down. It's aura bean to overpower hers. She reached out with her aura and Master Reigen was there. She felt stronger, now, because he was there.

"Get off!" said Mob/Shigeko. Self-defense was ok, they told themselves. Well, Mob told themselves. She hadn't been fully in control when the decision to pull their legs up and plant a double kick to the body's stomach was made. Mob felt bad, Shigeko didn't care. Their body jerk as they tried to get up in opposite directions. Their aura was half and half. Equal. The fractals had stopped moving.

"So there is some actual fight in you two after all. Or at least one of you. What a good little guard dog you are." Said the spirit before it was enveloped in a thick, purple aura.

"Well now it see it's finally my turn. It's a shame I'm so bad at rock-paper-scissors. Now spirit! Leave this vessel!" yelled Jodo. He could see it, the weak points. The girl had weakened the spirit but this required finesse. To into the weak spot and then extract the spirit, like gutting a squid.

"Be careful, old man. Make sure your own defenses are up to snuff first before attacking." Said the spirit. Then the body hit the floor. Mob rushed over and held the poor girl's body. She tried to will it to heal. She yanked out the broken glass quickly and tried to close her wounds. It worked, a little, but Mob could see scars forming.

"Mob! Stop it! That's not an esper! She can't heal like you can!" said Reigen. His shoes crunched the broken glass as he ran over to her. She was cradling the poor girl's body to her chest. Now that they were there on the ground together Reigen could see it. They were the same size.

"Master! There so much blood…." Said Mob. Master Reigen crouched down next to her. She could hear some shouting in the background but it sounded far away. Right now she needed to get Minori sorted. She felt Master Reigen's hand on her face. It was like he was looking for something,

"Mob…oh God…heal yourself. Forget her and heal yourself!" said Reigen. There was so much blood…he could feel the broken glass in her face. It twinkled like glitter in her hair. Her side was bleeding heavily. She must have caught it when she-oh God-when she threw herself through the mirror.

"No. I can't do that. I have to save her!" said Mob. She heard the glass crunch again. The man, Asagiri, took Minori out of her arms.

"Minori…my baby…please come back. Please. I can't lose you too…." He muttered into her hair as he rocked her back and forth.

"Mob, we got the spirit out, so let's get the hell out of here!" said Reigen. He stood up and took her hand. He tried to drag her off but she was stuck. She had rooted herself to the ground again. No….not this again…no….

"I'm not going everywhere. We aren't done yet." Said Mob. The spirit was trying to take over Jodo's body. The old man was writhing and screaming. His students were trying to help him to no avail. Mob needed to destroy this thing. She needed to make sure that it could never hurt another person again for as long as there were people on this Earth. That was her job.

"The girl isn't being possessed anymore, Mob, it's over!" said Reigen. He had some hope when she stood up but instead of going with him she began to walk towards the old man…the spirit was possessing the old man now….

"It's not over until that spirit is gone." Said Mob simply. Every part of her agreed. That thing could not be allowed to exist in this world.

"Shigeko! For once I agree with that idiot! Run away!" said Dimple. He dragged her, metaphysically, but she just shrugged him off. Her aura was different. Still in two parts but those parts were no longer at war….oh no…

"Forget the fucking money! You're worth more than that! Your life is worth more than that!" said Reigen. He grabbed her hand, her arm, her shirt, anything. It hurt. He blistered. He didn't care. He kept on trying. She just kept on walking.

"My life is my own." Said Mob/Shigeko. She put a barrier around herself and nudged Master Reigen and Dimple away. She could feel Master Reigen leaving her aura. She wiped her eyes. Crying? Why was she crying?

"Mob as your master I am ordering you to run away!" said Reigen wiping tears from his eyes. He was watching her march off to her death all over again. He threw himself against her barrier. No effect. She had even pushed him out of her aura. No. She could not die here. He would not let her die here!

"I won't." said Mob/Shigeko. They had a job to do and they would do it. Master Reigen kept trying to stop them but they didn't know why. This was what they were supposed to do. This was the right thing to do.

"For once in your life use your head, Shigeko!" said Dimple. They were, of course. Jodo had been possessed too. That was good. He was an esper. They didn't have to worry as badly about breaking him. Not that they were planning on breaking anyone. But sometimes to make an omelet you had to crack a few eggs.

_That's terrible Shigeko people aren't eggs. _

**We should eat eggs. **

_Don't get distracted._

Mob was hungry. Well, their vessel was hungry. Bodies were just vessels for souls after all. That was something that the other her thought. That was why it was ok to crack people like eggs if it meant that they wouldn't be possessed anymore. Mob didn't want to crack anyone open like an egg.

"Who is this? Is he supposed to be famous or something? You've got to be kidding me. How is this weakling famous for anything?" asked the spirit before it threw itself in the air with a scream. The crowd began to scramble. Jodo's followers tried desperately to free their master but only managed to exhaust themselves. The spirit flew, conveniently, towards Mob. She raised her arm and did the trick she learned from that bald old man at the Claw base. The ground buckled a bit beneath her. She now, literally, weighed a ton.

**The eggs crack themselves on us**

_This is ok, we can always put him back together. Right?_

**We can try**

She swatted Jodo's body in the stomach. The sheer force exerted, the damage to the vessel, caused the spirit to fly out…and back into Minori. Great, just great. Mob/Shigeko sighed and healed Jodo as best they could. They shared their energy with him and focused on putting him back together. Literally. His insides were kind of smashed. He was still alive, though, so they could save him.

"Master Jodo!" said Shinra as he ran to his master's side. Jodo reached over and grasped at the arm of his student. His eye, which had finally closed, opened again. He gasped and sat up. He felt his stomach. Still tender but….wait…what? He pressed down on his abdomen. His appendix removal scar was gone…

What was this girl?

"I'm fine! Where's the spirit?" asked Jodo. Mob/Shigeko pointed at Minori. Great. Why couldn't he have just possessed one of the espers in the room? They were so much easier to put back together. Your powers wanted to keep your vessel safe, as was Mob and Shigeko's understanding.

"Where we left it…." Muttered Reigen as he got a hold of himself. He needed to trust Mob on this. He had stopped trusting her before. He needed to trust her because he was the master and she was the student and if he was scared then none of them had a snowballs chance in hell. There was a flash of light as the spirit threw it's self against Mob's barrier.

"I'm getting really tired of this." Muttered Mob/Shigeko. That was her strongest barrier, her most taxing barrier. She was…getting tired. Shigeko pulled energy from the espers around them.

_That was mean._

**We needed it more.**

_We should have asked._

**No time.**

"So you can take energy from other psychics. What else do you have in your bag of tricks?" asked the spirit. Mob dropped her barrier long enough to throw herself against the spirit. She had to be both physical and metaphysical. The only way to get this spirit out, it seemed would be to…to break Minori. But that would be wrong. She might not be able to heal. It was hard to heal other espers let alone normal people.

"More than you'll ever know. Now get out of Minori's body!" said Mob/Shigeko as she pinned the spirit to the ground again. She immobilized the body's limbs with hers and pinned it's aura down with hers. She tried applying more pressure. Maybe she could squeeze the spirit out. She had tried peeling it like a grape so maybe she should just squeeze it like an olive. Anything would be better than cracking it open like an egg.

"You're truly blessed, you know that? You could have been great but instead you're just a little show dog." Said the spirit. Mob/Shigeko kept up what they were doing. The other people were trying to get the doors opened. She could have tried to open the doors but she needed to focus on the spirit in front of her.

"At least I'm not you." Said Mob/Shigeko. The spirit was surrounded by a purple aura. It was still for a moment before it began to thrash. Mob found her physical and metaphysical grip waning and was thrown into the crowd.

"Mob!" said Reigen. He wanted to chase after her, he tried to, but before he knew it there was a hand around his throat. He was shoved, hard, into a wall. It all happened so fast, too fast to see. Too fast to even **think.**

"Just as I suspected. Her so called Master can't even defend himself. You're a pity. You're entire life is a pity, you know that?" asked the spirit. Reigen tried to look calm, cool even. Mob was ok. Mob had this. He had been wrong to doubt her, to tell her to run away. He hadn't been what she needed. He needed to be the man she wanted, needed, him to be.

"Better than your afterlife. What, you hung around just so you could possess a young girl? Were you always into young girls or-" said Reigen before a hand closed so tightly around his throat that he knew never should have been that strong.

"You're projecting. I can see your aura. I can see your soul, your mind. You are a pity. A liar. A waste. A shaking man in a cheap suit. You attach yourself to the talented in this world, the blessed, and drag them down to your level. You think that you can become a somebody if you keep the somebodys of this world at your side. You want to be her, I can see it. You want to hold her power in your hands again. You wanted to be me, once, too. A scared little boy staring at pictures of a dead man. You saw me and thought to yourself 'one day I can be someone' and that was what you wanted. The great Reigen Arataka, student of the twentieth century's greatest psychic Mogami Keiji." Said the spirit. Reigen was seeing spots in his vision. He ignored the spirit. He had to ignore the spirit. It was full of lies. It was just an evil spirit mouthing off, like Dimple. Where was the little snot glob? Did he run away? Smart. Where was Mob? She needed to get out….she needed to be safe…

She needed to run away.

Mob/Shigeko had broken something. Her leg had extra corners. She touched it and stifled a scream. Broken. She needed…she needed….oh God it hurt!

**This is only a vessel**

_It hurts!_

**This is only a vessel**

_It's our vessel!_

**We don't need it**

_I'll fix it! I just…Master!_

Master Reigen needed her. She tried to reach over with her powers. She yanked on the spirit's hand as hard she could but that just made it worse. She tried to stand but fell. Her leg. She tried to move the bones back into place but they were stuck. Healed wrong. Health class. Bones had be set properly. Right.

Things wanted to be together.

She couldn't scream. She knew that if she screamed then Master would hear her. His aura would reach hers and he would feel this pain. She bit down on her arm and broke her leg with her powers.

"You need a doctor!" said Shinra. He looked over from where he had been fussing over Master Jodo. There, on the ground, was her. The most powerful being he had ever felt. Someone stepped on her. She was…were legs supposed to bend like that?

There was a sickening crack. The bone wasn't bulging anymore.

"I'm fine!" said Mob/Shigeko. This had gone on long enough. If it was a choice between Minori breaking and Master Reigen breaking she would chose Minori in a heartbeat. She id Teru's wire movement trick and grabbed the body's hand. She yanked it back as hard as she could.

She heard something break.

Mob pushed Shigeko out of the way. She held the hand close to herself and put the bones back together as best as she could and as quickly as she could. The spirit was suddenly very still.

"Run away….don't touch…." Gasped Reigen as he saw the man do something incredibly stupid. He kicked his legs as best as he could. Anything to get the man to **run away! **This only earned him getting slammed into the wall behind him hard enough to leave cracks.

He couldn't move.

"Minori…please…please stop this…" cried her father as he hugged her from behind. Mob let go of Minori and grabbed Master Reigen. She moved as quickly as she could and took them both through the doors. Sealed shut with energy.

"Mob….be careful….hurts…." gasped out Reigen as he was moved at what he suspected was the speed of thought. He felt blood running down the back of his neck. Concussed, most likely.

"Master, I need to get you out…but the doors…" said Mob. No. Forget property damage. The state of the house wouldn't matter if everyone inside of it was dead!

She made her own door.

The building shook as she put a hole in the wall. This was an interior room so it just opened up to the same hallway.

There was a sickening squelchy sound. Minori's father collapsed. There was a rapidly growing pool of blood under him.

_Run!/Call an ambulance!/Call the police!/Call the army!/Call the navy!/Call the Ghostbusters!/I want my mommy!/_

Mob was almost swept away in the resulting stampeded. She put a barrier around herself and Master Reigen. She needed to end this right now. She couldn't hold back. She had been holding back before and now somebody was dead.

Broken.

She could fix broken things.

"Master, you need to run away." Said Mob/Shigeko. Dimple was there, too. He was tugging on her hair. He was using up his spiritual power to make himself tangible.

"I'm not….going anywhere…..without you." Said Reigen as he tried to stand. He stumbled and rested against what was left of the wall. This was going south. This had gone south. They would be hanging out with penguins soon. Or was that the North Pole? Oh, who cared!?

"Sometimes you have to run away. You're not me, Master. I know what I have to do." Said Mob. She turned to face the spirit and sent the most powerful blast of her own energy that she could. The resulting burst of light could be seen through the walls. Outside several birds became disoriented and crashed against the side of the building. There was a pileup on the stairs outside the house as several people tumbled down the stairs. The spirit itself let out an inhuman scream. Then it was over.

**Oh.**

_No._

"….I just made it worse…." Said Mob. Now the body was…grey. The eyes were…oh no. No! But she had used her powers! She had tried to force the spirit out! But now it was just in deeper. It was like…like trying to dig out a splinter. The more you pushed the deeper it went.

Splinters eventually came out on their own, though.

"Mob….run!" said Reigen as he tried, weakly, to pull her. He needed to get her out of there. This was too much. No. He needed to believe in her. She was the only real psychic out of the two of them. She was the wiser, not him. But no…he was the adult there! Not her! When he said run she was supposed to move her **fucking** legs and run!

"He's coming!" yelled Dimple. Mob reached over and used every ounce of strength to hold the spirit in place. This was bad. She needed to…what? The spirit had fused with the body! What else could she do besides crack it open like an egg?! She wouldn't do that to a person! She **couldn't **do that to a person!

"You've got some decent telekinetic abilities, too. While it's true that it is impossible to move a human being's limbs beyond the range of their movement…but what about the limbs of a doll? Why, you can move them in any way you want to!" asked the spirit. There was another crack, Mob was getting sick of that sound, and the body's arm twisted unnaturally behind the body and then to the sides…

She couldn't let him do that to the body.

To a vessel.

These were only vessels.

"Ok. Now I, we, know what we have to do." Said Mob. Reigen could feel it, now. The determination was back. Mob was back. He needed to…he needed to believe in Mob. He needed to believe in her. She knew what to do. He believed in her.

"Mob…" said Reigen. Mob reached over and took his hand. He could feel her energy. It seared through him but it also…he was healing. The throbbing in the back of his head was rapidly disappearing. Mob pulled parts of the ceiling down, too, he could see. She wasn't crushing the spirit, at least it didn't look like it. Oh. A box.

"Dimple, I need you to take over my body." Said Mob. She reached over to the other Shigeko. They both needed to leave this time. They had to do this together.

"Normally I'd be all over this but-WHAT IS YOUR PLAN HERE?!" screamed Dimple. What was she supposed to do? What did she think that she was going to do? It was over. The spirit and the host were practically one, now. Nothing short of completely annihilating the vessel would work.

"I'm going to force the spirit out from the inside. I'm going to leave my body and go into Minori's. Dimple, when I leave my body I need you to keep it safe. Make Master Reigen get out of here, too. He could get hurt. He did get hurt. I'm taking the other Shigeko with me so there won't be anyone here to keep him safe." Said Mob. Her voice was flat but her eyes were narrow. Now it was time to put herself on the line for real. Her vessel was one thing but her spirit….she needed to do this.

"That's insane! It's one thing to hurt your vessel but your soul?!" said Dimple. She would die. One false move, a doubting double take, just one mistake…one mistake and it would all be over.

"Dimple, no. Don't be like that. I'm trusting you here. Watch over my body, Dimple. I trust you." Said Mob. Reigen grabbed her hand and held it in his. No. If Dimple was afraid of this…this must have been insane if Dimple said that it was.

"Mob. No. I'm your master and I am ordering you to-" said Reigen. Stubborn. Why was she so stubborn?!

"Master. Reigen. Reigen Arataka. Arataka. Run away." Said Mob holding her hand in his. She held eye contact with him. Her heart began to race, not with the usual feelings of love and desire but with fear. He was afraid. She took his aura in hers and smothered it. He needed to feel what she felt.

Reigen gasped. Determination. Certainty. Mob could do this. Mob would do this. Mob had this.

"You can do this, Mob." Said Reigen. She could do this. He believed in her just like she had believed in him for all of these years.

"You've both lost your minds…." Said Dimple. She had said that she trusted him…but this was a suicide mission. He wanted her body but not…not like this. He didn't have totally the same emotional capacity as a living person but as a consequence of his power level he could feel deeply…and he was afraid. Afraid for her.

This was a suicide mission.

She could so easily die.

Cease.

"Dimple, you're weird and annoying but you're still one of my best friends. Don't do anything weird with my body." Said Mob. She could do this. She would do this. I think. I can.

"Master Reigen, I love you. You need to remember that, no matter what happens." Said Mob. She looked at him. Blue eyes met brown eyes. She closed her eyes and let herself float freely. She looked down. Her body had collapsed. Master Reigen was shaking her.

The box she made for the spirit broke open.

Mob tried to move. Shigeko tried to move. They couldn't agree…there was no vessel! There was no vessel to control! They were….in half! No! As a unit! As a unit or _**we will break**__!_

The spirit began to charge towards Master Reigen and Dimple! Mob and Shigeko tried to dive but instead fell through the floor. Why? Why were they….why were they messing up!? They had jumped into Master Reigen's body with no problem!

They should have practiced this.

There was raw power and there was technique. She had put too much faith in the former and didn't practice enough of the latter. She came up more slowly through the floor. The world hurt. There was no boundary. The pain was growing. She could see a second blob coming off of…her. The other Shigeko. It was like a conjoined twin. They needed to…merge?

Save Master.

Every part of her was saying to save Master.

The spirit was running towards them. Come on, Dimple….keep Master Reigen safe. He did not. Mob/Shigeko could see him still trying to get into her body. Right. Natural shielding. He had said something like that before, back at the Claw base all those weeks ago.

Master Reigen tried to hold it back with his foot but he was swung through the air. He hit the ground hard enough to break parts of it. His head was bleeding! No, his fingers. He had used his fingers to protect his head…she could fix him. When this was over she could and she would fix him. She tried to dive in but instead went into a wall. No! Why was this so hard! She could see the spirit picking up her body by the hair…

"If you don't want this body can I have it?" asked the spirit before it was promptly punched in the face. Dimple! They knew they could trust him. He got into a fighting stance, like he was in a game. He bounced from one of their feet to another.

The spirit had staggered back.

"Hey, Mogami! Remember me?!" said Dimple before he delivered a flying kick to it's chest. The spirit crumpled to the ground.

"No." said Mogami as he grabbed Dimple by the arm and threw him. He turned in midair and rolled into a cartwheel and ended with a little jump. He got back onto his new feet and got back into his fighting stance.

"Well then you're a complete and total dumbass!" said Dimple. Mogami lunged and Dimple spun out of the way. Shigeko's body was light but she had some musculature. She had some natural grace to her, too. The range of motion was great, too. Loose clothes, no pants. She'd kill him later for the free show he was giving Mogami and Reigen. Yeah, she'd cut him down to the particle layer…

You can do it, Shigeko.

"Another spirit. How troublesome." Said Mogami as Dimple tried to kick him. He dodged and Dimple turned that kick into a flip.

"You got that right! You messed with the wrong kid!" said Dimple. He flipped again, lots of showmanship, she pinned Mogami down. He held Mogami as still as possible. Shigeko's spirit needed to get into a body **now** before she dematerialized. She was not dead! Her spirit still needed a vessel!

"Did I?" asked Mogami as he stayed very still. Mob got some semblance of control and threw herself through the spirit's shielding. It hurt. It was like sticking her entire body into the stove, but she kept going.

_**Fight! On! **_

_**Fight! On!**_

_**Fight! On!**_

She fought on. Even though it burned. Even though she started to feel like she was getting damaged, she still fought on. She had to. She pushed and pushed and pushed until there was no more pushing left to do.

She was in.


	37. Welcome to Mogamiland

Everything was white.

Where was she?

What was she?

She moved.

Did she?

She stood.

Did she?

Something forms in front of her. A man. First the shape of him, black and hazy. Then the peach of his skin, the green of his suit, the black of his hair…and finally his face.

Mob stands before him. Naked. No, not naked. Like a doll. She takes a step. She's beside a mirror? She looks at herself. Herself looks back at her. She can see herself as she exists. She can see herself seeing herself.

"Welcome to the world of the mind." Said the man. She knew that man. Did she? She knew what he was. Hope. Admiration. Someone like herself. Someone good. Someone good? But he had been bad. What had she been doing?

"You're forming. Now that you can see another being you can understand how you're supposed to exist in relation to the world." Said the man with a smile. He looked friendly, very friendly. Mob felt like…no…this was something that Shigeko knew. This was man bad news.

"What is this?" asked Mob. She was Mob. She was Shigeko. No, she was not. That was Shigeko. She took a step. Two sets of stimuli entered her mind. The ground was nothing and everything. The ground was white. She was there. She took another step. Another. Another. She stepped and stepped and stepped but got nowhere.

"I just told you, the world of the mind. This is existence at it's very core." Said the man

"I came here to do something…" said Mob. She was Mob and she had a job to do. Pink and blue got through the white. Yes. She had a job.

"You came here to exorcise me. I applaud your enthusiasm, girl. Well done." Said the man with a clap.

"I know you…." Said Mob. She knew the man but she didn't know the man. She stepped forward. Nothing. She needed to do something….something important. A flash of blue. The other her that mimicked her turned and smashed her fist against an invisible wall. Mob turned and mimicked her actions.

"So wonderfully broken…." Said the man with a tut. He reached over and took their chin in his hand and tilted their face upwards. Mob's face. Shigeko was mirroring her actions. It was Shigeko, though, that shook them loose.

"You're the one who's going to be broken." Said Shigeko/Mob, or Mob/Shigeko. They were fighting, now, for dominance. Tug of war. King of the mountain. Race you to the couch. She said it because the other girl, the other her, had said it.

"I see that your sense of self is becoming more intact. One false move and you could have been annihilated." Said the man letting her go. Her face itched where he had touched her. Gross. He felt gross.

"I'm here to do my job and my job is to exorcise you. Get out of this body." Said Mob and the other girl. The other girl reached over and pressed their hands together. Palm to palm, fingers splayed out. Pink met blue and fused into a pattern of moving fractals. All that was missing was yellow.

Master Reigen.

They had to save Master Reigen. They had to make Master Reigen proud of them.

"I'd prefer not to be exorcised, all things considered. I doubt you could, little girl, anyway, so don't waste your time." Said the man. Reaching over and slapping their hands apart. Back to the tug of war, then.

"Don't ever doubt me. My master says that I have this and therefore I do. I've got this. We've got this." Said the other girl. Shigeko. She took a step forward now, Mob followed. The man just smirked.

"So you would think. If you think you can then please, by all means, go ahead and exorcise me." Said the man with that same smirk. Shigeko was going to wipe that smirk off his face if it was the last thing she did. She was going to make him pay, she had the strength to do so. She reached forward but felt her movement restricted.

"But he looks so human…." Said Mob once again speaking for both other them. The other grabbed at her throat as she was forced to speak. A flare of blue. A flare of pink. A shove. A grab. A war.

"Conflict. Duality. No wonder you were so stubborn, girl, you're constantly fighting for control…" said the man as he reached down and began to stroke their hair like they were a cat. They scooted back, both of them knocked down to the ground in their struggle for dominance.

"Don't touch me!" said Shigeko. She needed to keep them safe. Their vessel. But there was no vessel. But there was still Mob. There was always Mob. They were this thing together. Mob always held them back.

"I know you're not a person anymore but you shouldn't just touch people like that. It's not nice, you feel gross." Said Mob diplomatically. Maybe they could try reasoning with it. It was better than Shigeko' s method of just breaking everything and everyone. They had to be this thing together but Shigeko always held them back.

"I was human, once. You even know me, though I'm quite a bit before your time. Yes, I've seen it in your mind. The reverence you have for me. My student." Said the man. He reached down and took their face in his hand again. They were standing, now. When had they stood up? Shigeko slapped his hand away again.

"I am the student of Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century. Feel free to Google him." said Shigeko defiantly. She had this. This was only a spirit. She just needed to figure out how their powers worked in this mind space and then she could get them out of this predicament.

"Well I am Mogami Keiji, greatest psychic of the twentieth century. I'd tell you to Google me but I have no idea what that means." Said the spirit with a laugh.

"You look like Mogami Keiji but I know that you aren't Mogami Keiji, though. He was good. You're just a dead man wearing his skin, his form, like a costume. You brought me here. You made me come here, like a prisoner, but I'm not. Now you have nowhere to go, you're trapped in here with me." Said Mob simply. Dimple had said it. She was not afraid of the things that went bump in the night, they were afraid of her.

She was not afraid.

She was not afraid.

She was not afraid.

"You're forming quickly. That's good. If you had made even one false move, just one, your spirit would have been destroyed. You're truly gifted, Mob. Shigeko. The both of you are truly gifted. You've been a wonderful student." Said the man

"We are not your student!" said Mob/Shigeko. They were not afraid. They just needed to figure out how this world worked. A world without vessels. Without boundaries. Instrumentality. Mob supplied the word. Was this is? They had been freed from their vessel…but it wasn't a good thing. Without their vessel they had no way to relate to the world. To this world.

"You're not? From what I can gather you've been watching me, old recordings of me. You even spoke my line. That was what I said, you remember, don't you girl? I, Mogami Keiji, will accept this job. I must have sounded like a broken record saying that line over and over and over again. But you never tired of it, did you? Neither you nor your…master." Said the spirit

"Don't talk to me in that body." Said Mob. The other girl was getting closer, now. They held hands. Their expressions were different, now. Mob was calm. The other girl was seething.

"This body? This is me, or rather how I see myself. I'm about twenty four here, I liked myself at twenty four. You're only fourteen, right? A child but so eager to grow up. You love it, though, don't you? The little trappings of adulthood your master gives you. You want so badly to be an adult, to be capable. But capable of what? Serving that man? Waiting for him to throw you a bone, a morsel of affection? You are. You're a good little dog. A show dog, a guard dog, or worse. Maybe you're just a doll. Maybe you're just a little doll that he'll do with whatever he wants. But you would like that, wouldn't you? If only you knew what that man thought of you…." Said the spirit holding them in place. His hand still on their face. He was so close, now. So close that they could have felt him breathing, that is if either of them needed to draw breath.

"How dare you! You are not Mogami Keiji!" said the other girl. Mob didn't me to say that, she wasn't being mimicked by her other self anymore. She was not this other girl. This other girl was her own person just as Mob was her own person. But no, they were this thing together. They were this thing together and they were trapped. Well and truly trapped.

"I am. I assure that I am, or what's left of him. Come. You wanted to talk, so let's talk." Said the man still holding onto her. No matter how much she struggled she just could not get free.

"Not true. You're not him. I'll only talk to you if you stop wearing his skin." Said Mob/Shigeko through clenched teeth. They need a bath, or a shower. They needed to go home and take a shower and then afterwards they could watch TV with Master Reigen and he would let them rest their head on his lap and he'd stroke their hair and tell them how much he loved them.

"I'm not wearing his skin. There is no skin here. There are only forms. My form, your form, the form which exists in relation to my form." Said the man

"This is what I look like. What we look like." Said Mob/Shigeko. Their form was them but naked because spirits didn't wear clothes but also like a doll because they didn't want to actually be naked.

"This is what you imagine that you look like. You're no longer confined to the prison of your vessel. I've set you free. You can be free, further, and I will be the one to set you free….student." Said the man

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Said Mob/Shigeko. Come on powers, work. Do something, Anything. Explode even.

"Do you? Tell me, why have the two of you taken this form? A doll. A naked doll. Is it because you know, deep down, that all anyone sees you as is a doll. You'll only ever be a doll, a dog, something loyal and decorative. Something which exists for the enjoyment of others. Is that all you want, Shigeko? Mob, we all know what you want. It's always Mob's wants, isn't it, Shigeko? Always what Mob thinks is best. Tell me something, Shigeko, why is it that Mob controls your vessel?" Said the man

"We are this thing together." Said Shigeko. They were one in the same. Two halves of a whole.

"But you're so far apart, aren't you?" asked Mogami running his thumb across the side of their face. Shigeko tried to bite him. Her reaction was slow because **Mob** was holding her back. Mob was the one who was afraid, not her.

"We're always together." Said Shigeko before trying to bite him again. He laughed and patted the top of their head like a dog.

"But what do you want, Shigeko? I can see what you want. I can see what you are. Envy. Wrath. Gluttony. Lust. You want safety. You want vengeance. You want pleasure. You want everything that Mob denies you. You're where Mob dumps everything she thinks that she's not supposed to want. That's what feeds you, isn't it? Her wants." Said the spirit

"What I want is to exorcise you. You're just an evil spirit trying to mess with my head. That's all. We won't let you." Said Mob. There was a delay now as Shigeko followed her lead.

"I am Mogami Keiji. Why would I take his form if I wasn't him?" said the spirit

"You can't be him!" said Mob/Shigeko shaking their face free from his grasp. He wrapped a hand around their neck and **lifted **them. For a moment, a terrifying moment, they forgot that they didn't need to breath here. They were, for the first time in their entire existence, **helpless.**

It was a bad feeling.

"But I am. I can be and I am." Said Mogami bring her so close that he could have kissed her if she wanted to. The thought fills both of them with such revulsion that they, for a moment, forget that they have no stomach from which to be motion sick from. They begin to wretch and he lets them drop to the ground.

"But why?! You're good! You use your powers for good! You're a good person!" said Mob crying. No. He was a good person. He was the person who taught Master Reigen how to be a good person. If not for Mogami Keiji then there wouldn't even be a Spirits and Such.

"A good person like you? Like your master?" asked the spirit kicking them in the side. He kicked them again and again until they, somehow, remembered how to put up a barrier.

"YES!" said Mob/Shigeko as they stood up behind their invisible wall.

"You're such a child. You truly believe in that man? Reigen? I've seen his mind, glimpsed it, and if you knew how he truly saw you…what you were to him. What you are to him. What he wants you to be to him…what he tells himself that he doesn't want for you no matter how desperately he does….if you only knew" said the spirit

"Master Reigen loves me." Said Mob/Shigeko, their auras fully visible. Good. Their powers were coming back. Time to shut this guy up for good.

"He loves what you two can do for him. That's the way of the world. That's why he brought you here, you know. He brought you here for money, it all comes down to money. Money or sex. Those are the greatest motivators to the human species, you know. Money motivates him but you, girl. You're motivated almost solely by sex. Or love, as you call it." Said the spirit

"That's gross. Shut up." Said Mob/Shigeko

"You don't seem to think so, Mob. You too, Shigeko. Though Shigeko is quite a bit less discriminatory than you. She's honest in what she wants. You, Mob, cloak desire in love. That's what you want from him, sex. What he wants from you, what he restricts himself to wanting, is money. He uses you and you, well, you use him too." Said the spirit

"Stop saying that. I didn't listen before and I won't listen now." Said Mob/Shigeko sending a blast on energy at him. He moved away so fast the eye couldn't even see him. No. He had reoriented the entirety of the space that they were inhabiting.

They were not helpless here.

"You should. You should and you will." Said the spirit, his aura visible to her. Mob shrank back. Shigeko followed. They were afraid. Mob was afraid.

"The way of the world is this, the strong are used by the weak. That's your life, isn't it? Your power, your blessing, is used by the man for his own gains. What have you gotten from him? A place to sleep on his floor. What do you want from him? A place to sleep in his bed. He uses you and you use him, too. His strengths exist in the world of lies and deception, skills which you do not possess. You use his strengths for your own gain. You hope that by using him and allowed yourself to be used you can gain his love. You tell yourself that you want his love, anyway. Shigeko is much more honest in this regard. It was Shigeko, wasn't it, who told you to give in to another? I like her. She at least understands." Said the spirit

"I understand that I have to destroy you." Said Shigeko. She could feel it, cracks forming along this metaphysical space. She was sensitive to it, she existed solely in metaphysical space.

"But will mob allow it? Your existence depends on her whims, doesn't it?" asked the spirit

"I don't care how human you look. You're just a spirit. Goodbye." Said Shigeko. She wrestled control from Mob. Now Mob was the mirror image. She drew her power, electric blue, into her hands and slashed the spirit in half. It erupted into a splash of blood as it was bisected. No…this was only a spirit. In their shock Mob took over. Now Shigeko was the mirror image.

"I am, once again, impressed girl. I've never seen psycho-kinetic abilities like yours. I envy you. I was just a medium. A gift for seeing souls. You, however, have gifts you've never even explored. I can help you with that….student." Said the spirit

"No you won't, now shut up. This time I'll finish you." Said Shigeko. She held the sprit in place with her strongest barrier and then she shredded it. Energy poured in until there was nothing of the spirit left. What should have been left behind was spiritual residue. It wasn't. It was blood. The spirit had exploded in a shower of blood.

It was warm.

It was wet.

It was sticky.

It dripped.

"This is a trick. That was just a spirit. This is a trick. That was just a spirit. This is a trick…" said Mob over and over like a mantra. She clung to those words like they would keep her safe. There was just so much **blood**. She didn't even like seeing her own blood, let alone someone else's. She had hurt someone. This was a spirit. She had killed someone. This was a spirit. This was like before. So much blood. So much blood **everywhere.**

"Well, girl, that was impressive. For one so small you're very strong. Good girl." Said the disembodied voice of the spirit. The blood began to reform into the shape of a man. Then organs grew over it. Then muscle. Then bone. Then skin.

Mob wretched.

"JUST DIE ALREADY!" screamed Shigeko before sending a ball of concentrated energy at the spirit. It exploded and reformed.

She crushed it under the weight of a literal ton.

It reformed.

She burned it under flames so hot they were blue.

It still reformed.

She reached inside of it and pulled it's organs out through its mouth.

It still reformed.

She peeled it from the outside like a grape.

It still reformed.

No matter how badly she broke it apart it still reformed.

The entire time Mob made them sob.

"Stop it! Stop it Shigeko! I don't want this….I don't want this…." Said Mob as she sobbed. She was like Shinji from EVA in the episode where his will was overwritten and he had to kill his friend with his own hands as he controlled the EVA. No, she wasn't even the pilot anymore. She was the EVA. She had no control. She watched her power, her limbs, herself, rip the spirit apart. But it wasn't a spirit. Spirits didn't bleed. This was a person. She was killing a person.

Master Reigen was going to hate her.

"Getting tired? It won't work, girl, so don't exhaust yourself. My goodness you're a stubborn little thing, aren't you?" asked the spirit as it reformed and stood before their sobbing forms. It reached over and took them by the face again. They tried to turn their heads but it forced them to look into it's eyes. Inky black pits.

"You're the one who's being stubborn." Said Mob/Shigeko. The spirit laughed and pulled them closer.

"I suppose I am. I suppose that the two of you learned from the best. Tell me something, girl, something that you may not have learned. Do you know where every incarnation of psychic powers comes from? No, of course you don't. I can see your mind, I know everything that you know." Said the spirit. Mob and Shigeko tried to speak but they found themselves mute. They tried to move but found themselves paralyzed.

Stuck.

Trapped.

**Helpless.**

Master. They needed Master Reigen. They did not have this. But he could. He was stronger than…but he wasn't. Master Reigen would have been even more helpless than they were. They had to save him. Who would save them?

"Feelings. Emotions. Your powers are fueled by your emotions. Every single incarnation of psychic powers comes from emotions. My abilities as a medium, your psycho-kinetic abilities, even those pitiful empathic abilities your master calls powers….strong emotion. Anyone with the potential to develop some flavor of powers awakens theirs through strong emotion. That's how you ended up with Shigeko here. You poor, broken, little girl…" said the spirit

Mob was slammed down into the ground. She felt sick. Dizzy. She saw stars. The spirit was on top of her, now. Pinning her down. She couldn't struggle. She couldn't move. He picked up her hand and held it almost gingerly in hers.

"You know, you could be great. You could even eclipse me, student, if you wanted to…but you don't. No, you don't want anything for yourself, do you girl?" asked the spirit before bending her pointer finger back. Further and further back. It snapped. Neither of them could do anything but watch their aura flare.

"It's a pity how weak you are in here. Of course, I'm the one who set the power limit. It took me a while to learn you, you know. Out of all the liars, frauds, and weaklings in the room you shone so brightly. You're like a star, you know. A star brought down to Earth. To be contained, though. Imprisoned." Said the spirit as he moved to their middle finger. Another bend. Another snap. Another flare of the aura.

"You're a lot to contain, actually. I've been working on severing the connection between you two. It's a nice little trick you've taught yourself, awakening only under extreme emotion. Saves you the trouble of thinking for yourself. When it gets too difficult you can always just step away. Pitiful." Said the spirit before moving onto her ring finger. Another bend. Another snap. Another flare of her aura. Pink, this time. Much more pink than blue.

"That's the fascinating thing about human beings. They can hold so much emotion in their bodies, their vessels. So much pain, so much misery. So much to tie them down. You enjoy it, though, don't you? Being tied down to someone. You're tied down to guilt. You want to be a good person because you did something very bad in your past." Said the spirit before moving onto her pinky finger. Another bend. Another snap. Another flare of the aura. Almost all pink.

"Lust, too. Lust ties you to a man who used you. You think you love him, you're such a child. He loves you, though, but guilt and shame keep him from you. You didn't know that. You don't believe me. I know what you're thinking, girl. You think that I'm a liar. You think that I'm just saying things to mess with your head. I'm not lying, student. This is the truth. He loves you but he's so content to use you. I can see how the two of you could be master and student." Said the spirit before moving onto her thumb. Another bend. Another snap. Another flare of the aura.

"Oh, and stop trying to use your powers. I've been watching you. I've been learning you. This place is of the mind, girl, and I know just the amount of power that you think you have. That Shigeko thinks she has. I measured it and I've decided something." Said the spirit before getting down low, so low that they were practically nose to nose.

"How about a thought experiment, yes? Take two people. One person has lived her entire life in joy and happiness surrounded by people who either took pity on her or sought to use her. Then take another girl, one who's lived in the same cold, cruel, world as everyone else. Which girl would have stronger abilities?" asked the spirit, his hands on her shoulders. Mob wanted to reach out, to push him off. She manage to get a twitch of her now useless hand. She needed to get rid of this spirit…she had a job to do…Mob had a job…Shigeko…she…them…

"That's why I've trapped you two here. Shigeko, I admire your tenacity but right now I'm also getting a bit bored of you. Mob makes a much more fun doll. Shigeko, I'm afraid you're going to be put back in the toy box for a little bit…" said the Spirit before reaching over and dragging an almost gentle finger up and down Mob's neck.

"I think that the two of you should spend some time apart." Said Mogami before wrapping both hands around her throat. She couldn't breathe. Did she need to breathe? Of course she needed to breathe. She reached out towards…was someone else there? Her hand reached out, mangled fingers flopped against the ground beneath her. She needed….she needed…

Master.

Mob woke up quickly. She opened her eyes and looked up at the familiar ceiling. Morning. It was morning. She held her dominant hand in front of her face and flexed her fingers. They were fine. Of course they were fine. She couldn't remember doing anything to hurt them. She sat up. Her futon felt weird. Different. Flatter. The room smelled weird, too.

Cigarettes.

But why would the room smell like cigarettes. She didn't smoke. She was only fourteen, she couldn't smoke even if she wanted to. She didn't even like smoking that much. It tasted bad and made your lungs hurt. She figured it did, she thought, because she had never smoked before. She pulled her blanket to her face and inhaled. It smelled like detergent. Not cigarettes.

She didn't know why she kept thinking of the smell of cigarettes.

She stood up and began to fold her futon back up. The motions felt clumsy in her hands, almost like she hadn't folded up her futon every single morning for her entire life. She couldn't just leave it unfolded, it would take up too much room in her room. She needed to fold it up because that was what you were supposed to do. So she did just that.

The amount of sunlight streaming into her room was odd. How late was it? It was seven. School started at eight thirty. Didn't she usually get up around four? But why? The trip to school wasn't that long, it was just a walk. She yawned. Even seven was kind of early. Her futon looked inviting but she had to get to school. School was important. It was a place she had to go to because she was just a kid.

She was not little.

Where had that come from? Of course she was little. She was only fourteen.

Fourteen was still plenty little. She was too little to decide to stop going to school or to move out or to get a job or to drink or to do, well, much of anything. She had to do what she had to do and that meant that she had to get ready for her day. Yes, her futon was as folded as it was going to be. Good enough for who it was for.

She made her way to the bathroom. The hallway seemed longer. The carpet was a different color. White. Wasn't it supposed to be blue? No, the carpet in her house had always been white. The bathroom as the same, too. She had always had a tub. The walls had always been tile all the way up. The light did not take a minute to click on. It smelled normal, too. Why would it smell like cigarettes and aftershave in here? She didn't smoke and no boys lived her so no aftershave.

It was just Mob living in this house. It had always been just Mob.

She reached for her toothbrush. It felt weird. Didn't it used to have ridges? No, it had always been smooth. Pink with a smooth handle and bristles worn down from too much brushing. She'd have to tell…who would she tell? She'd just get her own damned toothbrush if hers was so worn down. Wait, no, there were spares in the drawer under the sink.

Four colors. Red. Green. Pink. Blue.

There were nothing but pink toothbrushes in the drawer. Of course there were. Pink was her favorite color? Why would she ever get any other colors of toothbrushes? She'd open a new one later, this one still had some life in it. She put a dollop of toothpaste on the toothbrush.

Mint.

Not bubblegum.

Bubblegum was an odd flavor of toothpaste. Why would you brush your teeth with something sweet? Sugar rotted your teeth. Not that she had to worry about that. Her teeth always grew back. Wait, no, that was just baby teeth. That was a crazy idea, that adult teeth could grow back. She brushed extra hard. She had to be careful. She only got these teeth.

She finished brushing and rinsed. As she spat she looked up at herself. She didn't look any different. Same old pale skin, same old brown eyes, same old bowl cut. The bedhead wasn't good, though. She couldn't walk around like that. People would laugh at her. People always laughed at her. She grabbed her brush from the counter, this was familiar, and started brushing her hair down. She had a thought, like a memory almost, of someone doing this for her. Someone nice. Someone who said her name weird.

Mobbu.

Someone like a mom. But that was crazy. She didn't have a mom or a dad or any brothers or sisters. She lived in this house alone, she had always been alone. She didn't know why, that was just the way that it was. She was Mob and she was alone. Nobody would want to live with her anyway. She stopped brushing her hair so fast. She lived alone and school was right there, what was she hurrying for? She had all the time she could ever need. She brushed a little more slowly, now, enjoying the feeling of the brush going through her hair.

She hit a tangle.

She brushed it out as best as she could. The tangle turned out to be a matted spot. She spend almost half an hour getting the matting out of her hair. Why was it matted? Oh. Right. She had to braid it. The braids kept it nice. She separated her hair into two sections, fingers feeling slightly clumsy today. Maybe she had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.

A figure of speech. She slept on a futon anyway. Someone, once, had taught her that expression. Expressions were hard for her. Nonliteral things were hard for her. Someone had taken the time out of his day to teach her about them. Someone important to her…

But who?

This seemed important.

But she just couldn't remember. She finished braiding her hair. Mostly even. She didn't have time to start again. She closed the bathroom door but to her surprise her uniform wasn't hanging there. No, wait, it was hanging on the door of her wardrobe where it had always hung. Duh. So scatterbrained today…

Mob had no idea where her mind was. After getting dressed she had almost said good morning to the empty rooms as she made her way downstairs. Nobody lived in those rooms. They just housed dust. Nobody had ever lived in those rooms. They were spare rooms, guest rooms, junk rooms. Rooms for people who would never live there. Rooms for junk that she did not have. She didn't have a lot of stuff, actually. Empty shelves. Empty drawers. Frames without pictures. Hangers in the hall closets without coats. Cabinets in the kitchen without plates.

She had one plate, one cup, one bowl, and one set of chopsticks. No forks. No spoons.

She filled the rice cooker with far too much rice for one person. It was supposed to be instant rice but it took a while. When the timer went off Mob wondered why it sounded like that. A chime, not a bell. She made herself a bowl of rice with an egg cracked in it. Normal. This was what she ate for breakfast. Tasted like the morning. Smelled like the morning. This was the morning, a normal morning. This was what her morning was.

She tried to shake the feeling she had that something was wrong. This was her neighborhood. She had walked down these streets a hundred thousand million billion trillion times. But then why was she expecting something…else? Cats. There weren't any. Apartments, not houses, but this neighborhood was all houses. All the houses looked the same. She knew hers, though, so the others didn't matter. She ground was familiar and unfamiliar under her feet.

The world was like a funhouse she decided. She had gone into one with…alone…because she was always alone. There was a room with a tilting bridge and the walls were made of mirrors. The ground wasn't actually spinning, just tilting, but you thought that you were spinning. Something was wrong but she didn't know what. Something…but what?

She was just being weird. That was who she was. She was weird. She was weird and awkward and nobody liked her and that was who she was and that was all that there ever would be. People were mean like that. She shook a ladybug off her shirt. She needed to run, and fast, because then she could end up being late for school. What time was it? She reached into her pocket to…for what? She looked at her wrist. No watch.

Her pockets were empty except for her keys. Two. One for the front door, one for the back. Smaller than she figured. She was just feeling off today. She started running to school, tripping only once. She scraped her knee, her sock had ripped too. She stood up.

_Her leg buckling under her. Extra corners. Pain._

She was fine. It was just a scrape. She'd heal. She healed fast. The blood would stop and she'd be back to normal. It was only skin. Skin was easy to grow back. Nothing to it. That was why she didn't have any scars. She never scarred no matter what happened. The bleeding would stop soon and the wound would close and she'd be fine.

The bleeding didn't stop until she got to school. She quickly changed her shoes and ran to her classroom. No matter how fast she ran she was still late. She sat down in her desk and expected…someone….to come and talk to her. But nobody would talk to her. She was Mob. Nobody ever talked to Mob. The other people talked to each other even though it was class time. She sat at her desk and tried to pull her sock up. It wouldn't stay up. She'd have to get another one.

Someone looked over, pointed, and laughed. Mob stared at the blackboard in front of her for a moment. There was nothing to look at, though. The world seemed duller somehow. Dull. Like it was through a dirty window. Colors were…muted…

Maybe she was just tired. She certainly felt tired. It was much too early.

A hush descended over the class. Mob looked over at the door as it opened. A girl walked in, Mob had seen her…Mob had never seen her before. She had pink hair even though it was against the uniform policy. Mob hoped that she didn't get in trouble. She felt…concern…for this girl. She walked in slowly, almost like she was tired too.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. This is Asagiri Minori." Said the teacher. The girl gave a sort of half wave.

"Hey. What's up." Said the girl. She looked tired, Mob thought, or maybe bored. Faces were kind of hard for her to read. She wished that she had the power to know what other people were feeling. Of course nobody had that kind of power. That was just for anime and stuff. The girl's eyes, green eyes Mob saw, landed on her and her alone. There was a moment in which neither girl spoke.

"What are you staring at, bowl cut?" asked the girl. The class laughed. Mob looked down at her desk. Everyone still laughed.

"That's enough class. Asagiri, you may take your seat." Said the teacher. The girl walked over to the only empty desk in the room, right in front of Mob, and practically threw herself down into her seat. Mob looked up at this new girl. The girl looked behind herself over her shoulder. They made eye contact again. There was something there, something between them…but what?

The girl tossed her hair back. It hit Mob in the face. Mob sat back in her seat and tried to follow the lesson. It was supposed to be math but none of the numbers or symbols made sense. It was all a jumble. Everyone else in the room seemed to be following the lesson with no problem, everyone except for the new girl. She just leaned back and stretched out. Mob attempted to do the same, or at least get more comfortable.

"Kageyama! Sit up straight!" said her teacher. Mob sat up as straight as she could. The back of her chair was digging into her back. Good posture was important though. Bad posture led to a bad back. Mob tried and tried to follow the lesson but she just couldn't. Even as the hours ticked by the lesson stayed the same. A confusing mess of letters and numbers and symbols that made sense to everyone else but her. She tried to take notes but they were useless. It seemed as though every time she began to understand something the rules would change. She solved for x but then x turned to y. She was supposed to divide but then she was supposed to add. She tried to but every time she wrote the numbers down in her notebook she was wrong. The numbers in her notebook didn't match the numbers on the board.

"Kageyama! Answer problem number three!" barked her teacher. Mob stared at it. She had no idea what she was supposed to do. She sat there, frozen. Add. She was supposed to add. But add what? Her teacher walked over to her.

"No wonder you have no idea what's going on. Look at these notes! Utter nonsense! Get your head out of the clouds and into this classroom! Now stand up and answer problem three!" said her teacher. Mob stood up on shaky legs, her scrape stung still. But why? It should have healed by now.

"Now what is the answer, Kageyama?" asked her teacher. Mob could feel a thousand eyes on her. The new girl seemed super interested in what was going on. Mob stood there and let them all stare. Unpleasant. The whole room felt unpleasant. The people around her….this entire thing was unpleasant. It was…sticky…sort of? Gross. She felt gross, like she needed a bath.

"We aren't waiting on your pleasure, Kageyama. Now answer the question!" said her teacher with a shout. Mob shrunk back and almost tripped over her chair. There were raucous laughs.

"Well? We're waiting!" said her teacher as he slammed his hand down on her desk.

"….I don't know…" said Mob softly. She didn't. She had literally no idea, none. She reached to her pocket. She felt…cornered…and when she felt cornered she was supposed to tell…to go to…

"A little louder, please?" asked her teacher in a tone which she thought was very mean.

"I don't know." Said Mob. She wanted to run to…to who? Who did she have? She was by herself. She had always been alone.

"You don't know? YOU DON'T KNOW?" asked her teacher. Mob nodded and looked down. She felt a sudden stinging to the side of her face…she had been hit…her head stayed off to the side. She still looked down. People were laughing again. She felt something prickling at the corners of her eyes. She reached out…no…she was standing still…but she felt bad and someone…something…always…she could never feel this bad…right?

But she did.

_She's such an idiot/What a dummy/The only thing left was addition/She's still doing that creepy stare/What a weirdo_

"Since my lesson is so very boring to you, Kageyama, then you can remain standing. You need all the education you can get…it's not like you'll marry well…" said her teacher as he returned to the front of the room. Mob stayed standing for the rest of the class period. Someone threw a paper ball at her head, followed by another…and another.

Those were soon joined by spitballs.

Every single time she tried to move, to sit down, she got yelled at.

Who was doing that? Who was being mean? Being mean was so dumb. People should be nice to one another. The truth of one's charm was in their kindness so it was best to just be a good person. She looked around at the people around her trying to spot who the jerk was. She couldn't look at their faces for very long. It was like they were slipping right out of her gaze. Everyone but the new girl. She kept on glancing behind herself and laughing these little giggles like this was her own private joke. Mob didn't get it. Everyone but that girl was slippery. Right out of her perceptions, out of her gaze.

Everything was so…slippery…even time. She knew that hours were ticking by based on the way the sun moved across the room. Eventually it was lunch time.

Lunch was soup, an apple, and a sandwich. Mob could smell it though…cilantro. Yuck. Even if she picked it off the taste would still have permeated her soup and her sandwich. Maybe she could just eat the apple. That must have been fine, why would fruit have cilantro. There was milk, too, which was good. Milk was delicious and made you strong.

Mob sat down at her desk and sniffed her apple. It smelled like cilantro, too. She didn't understand why people liked this so much, it tasted like soap. She tried polishing her apple on her shirt. Great. Now her shirt smelled like cilantro. She took a bite of her apple, a tentative bite, and was met with the familiar taste of soap. Yuck. Ick. Disgusting. She put her apple down. Maybe she just shouldn't eat today.

In front of her the new girl was telling the other kids about herself. Mob listened in even though she knew that she was eavesdropping and eavesdropping wasn't polite. She just wanted to know more about this girl. The mysterious transfer student. In shows and manga the mysterious transfer student was always something cool like a magical girl or an alien or an esper. Not that any of those things were real.

"Wow, your dad owns that whole entire company Asagiri?" said a girl that Mob couldn't remember the name of. Nobody in class had ever bothered to talk to her. There was no point to it. There was nothing special about her, nothing worth talking about. Not like this mysterious transfer student.

"Yeah, we're pretty rich. I don't know why he moved us out to this dump but at least the new mansion is pretty cool." Said the new girl. Mob leaned forward. Wow. A mansion. She didn't know anyone who lived in a mansion, or anyone rich. When she thought of where rich people lived she thought of a high rise building for some reason. An apartment with thick, plush carpeting and high ceilings that carried your voice when you talked…when you screamed…but in a good way. Giant bathtubs that you could sink to the bottom in like a swimming pool. Wardrobes big enough to hide in, to go to another world in, isekai. She preferred shoujo, still, to shonen.

She imagined too much. She should get her head out of the clouds and back to reality. Like anyone that rich, or anyone at all, would ever let her into their house.

"Hey, we should totally have a welcoming party for Asagiri!" said someone who Mob couldn't focus on.

"Yeah! Everyone who's coming write your name down on this sheet of paper." Said someone else. A sheet of paper was passed around. Mob, without thinking, reached forward. The new girl, Asagiri, was telling a story about some country she went to for her birthday last year. It must have been a good trip because she was gesturing a lot. Mob reached forward as the paper went around and got smacked on the forhead for her trouble.

"Oh. I'm SO sorry. I didn't see you there, bowl cut." Said the new girl. Mob sat more back in her chair. She had gotten too close. That had been her fault. She shouldn't have even thought about signing her name. Of course nobody would want her to be there.

"So then-" smack "my dad took me on this HUGE boat" smack "and there bottom was totally made out of GLASS" smack "and there were these GIANT SHARKS" double smack "but of course I wasn't afraid" smack.

Mob was sitting as far back as she possibly could but she still kept on getting smack by Asagiri, the new girl's, sweeping arm gestures. Mob remembered something like this. Sweeping arms gestures, a loud voice, a story for every occasion…but from who? Slippery. The memory was slippery. The floor, however, was not and when Mob tried to scoot her desk back to get out of the path of Asagiri's sweeping arms she found her desk bolted to the floor. Her lunch was cold, her soup had spilled on her from all of Asagiri's gesturing, Mob might have called it excessive if she were a meaner person, and the smell of cilantro filled her nose.

Yuck.

Mob decided to interrupt and ask Asagiri to stop. Maybe she was just awkward, too, like Mob was. Maybe she didn't realize how tightly the desks were packed together. Yes, she was just being awkward was all.

"Excuse me, um, Asagiri?" asked Mob softly. Everyone stopped talking and looked her like she was some kind of alien or something.

"Yeah, bowl cut? What?" asked Asagiri with her nose all scrunched up like a pug dog's.

"Um…my name is Shigeko…but everyone calls me Mob." Said Mob. She wasn't sure who the everyone was, exactly, but she had been called Mob for most of her life. Because she was so plain and boring and forgettable.

"Shee-jay-kow." Mocked Asagiri, and Mob knew when she was being mocked. The laughter was a clue.

"….people also call me Mob." Said Mob softly

"Mob-bu." Said Asagiri with that same exaggerated drawl that everyone found so funny. With each repeat of each of Mob's names she looked around as if to make sure that she still had their attention. Maybe she thought that they looked slippery, too.

"Yes. Mob." Said Mob

"Yeah, I think I'll stick with bowl cut. Anyway, what do you want?" asked Asagiri

"I was just wondering if when you swung your arms around, when you talk, if you could do it in another direction because you're kind of…hitting…me in the face and body and also my desk." Said Mob

"Oh, yeah, I guess I spilled your soup." Said Asagiri poking Mob in the chest where her undershirt was showing through the wet fabric of her uniform shirt. Mob waited for the apology that was supposed to come next. That was a rule, am important one. When you did something wrong you were supposed to say sorry.

"You're supposed to say that you're sorry." Said Mob trying to be helpful. The rules were hard for her, sometimes, and she was awkward because of that. Asagiri must have had the very same problem.

"Excuse me?" Said Asagiri. Mob was confused, momentarily, because this was not a situation in which excuse me should have been used.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand." Said Mob. Excuse was used when you bumped into someone, needed to get by someone, or needed to interject your thoughts into a conversation. Not when you were prompted to apologize for something that you did wrong. Mob knew that rule.

"Like, ok. I'm SORRY I guess. Jeez." Said Asagiri before turning around and talking to the other kids. Mob felt like that wasn't a real apology. She was hungry and decided to eat her apple as quickly as she could. At least it didn't have actual cilantro on it, not like her sandwich.

"Like, what is her deal?" she heard Asagiri say

"Mob? Who knows with her, she's more like a background character if anything." Said someone

"Oh yeah, she's not really anything, is she?" said someone else

"So, like, the token loser?" asked Asagiri. Mob wanted to interject and say that she was not a loser and that it was wrong to talk about people like that. She wanted to say that making someone else feel small would not make you any taller. That people had to be kind to one another.

"Pretty much." Said someone else. That was what Mob was. She was surrounded by people with real stories. She was just a background character in everyone else's story. That was what she was here. The new girl was the mysterious transfer student and she was just a character drawn in the background to fill space. She looked up. A spider was building a web. No. She was the protagonist of her own life. Her life was her own.

"Where does she get off telling me what to do?" muttered Asagiri as she tossed her apple skin behind her. It hit Mob on the head. She let it slide off and fall down to the ground. Now Mob's hair smelled like cilantro, too. She felt like she was going to be motion sick.

"Yeah, you should totally put that loser in her place." Said someone

Mob tried to eat as she listened to the conversation in front of her. The inside of this apple even tasted like cilantro. What kind of farm did this apple come from? Did the seeds cross pollinate? Contaminate? Mob remembered a trip to a farm she took…long ago? There was a lot of dirty and…vines? She was there with someone…but no. why would she be with someone? Someone important to her. But nobody was important to her. Nobody knew her. Also when would she have gone to a farm, she never even left the city.

She needed to stop with all the imagining.

She tried to eat as best as she could. She tried to ignore the conversation happening in front of her as best as she could. She tried to focus. She looked at her milk carton. She'd save the best for last. Milk. Nice, cold milk. Delicious. Asagiri was telling a story again. This time about a plane ride she took over the mountains. Mob remembers a movie she saw once with…someone…about a plane that crashed in the mountains and the people had to eat each other to survive. It was a classic of cinema he had said. He? That was weird. Mob certainly didn't know any boys. Boys didn't look twice at her and they certainly didn't invite you over to watch movies and compliment you on your English because they needed subtitles but you didn't.

"So then this bird almost totally flew RIGHT INTO the windshield." Said Asagiri. She was gesturing again but not hitting Mob. This time she was gesturing with her sandwich. With each flail of her arms the insides of the sandwich got on Mob's desk…and Mob herself.

"Oh no. I am SO SORRY bowl cut! Did I get my sandwich on you? Well I guess that I'm going to have to say that I'M SORRY if that's good enough for you." Said Asagiri

"It's ok. It was an accident." Said Mob simply

"Well, duh! I wouldn't just waste my whole sandwich on purpose. Damn, it looked really good, too. I guess that I have nothing to eat now." Said Asagiri. Mob reached over and handed Asagiri her sandwich. It wasn't like Mob wanted it. Maybe she and Asagiri had just started off on the wrong foot, that was an expression meaning to start off on bad terms with someone. Maybe she could be friends with Asagiri. It wasn't like she could pass up perfectly good friendship.

"Do you want mine? I don't like cilantro." Said Mob handing Asagiri her sandwich.

"Oh THANK YOU so much for something you DON'T LIKE, bowl cut. But wait, what am I supposed to wash it down with?" asked Asagiri

"Didn't you take a milk?" asked Mob

"Right, a milk. No, I guess I forgot. Well then I'll just have to drink yours." Said Asagiri reaching for Mob's milk and opening the carton.

"Wait…." Said Mob

"Yes?" said Asagiri

"I…I was going to drink that." Said Mob

"What? You like milk?" said Asagiri

"Yes. I love milk. Do you?" asked Mob

"You know what? No, not really. Here, you can have it." Said Asagiri before pouring the entire carton of milk over Mob's head. This action got her a round of laughs from her adoring fans. Mob sat very still. She could feel it, the milk, sinking into her hair and uniform. She felt went and sticky and gross. Why had this happened to her?

This girl, Asagiri Minori, was bullying her to secure her place in society. Mob didn't understand. Societies were made up of people working together. Those people all used each other like Asagiri Minori was using her to secure her place in the micro-society that was their classroom. The weak used the strong, this was something that happened routinely. No. That made no sense. People didn't use each other, they worked together. There was a fly stuck to the milk on her face. She broke through her stupor and brushed it off.

"What's wrong? I thought you said that you loved milk. Isn't this what you meant?" laughed Asagiri. Mob looked over at her. She was mean, Mob decided, but there must have been a reason. A real reason. That had been a crazy thought to have, before. Why would one person bully another to secure their place in society? Why would one person be mean to another in the first place?

The truth of one's charm is in their kindness. Just try to be a good person.

Mob wanted to tell Asagiri that what she had done was mean, wrong, and in no way funny. Mob wanted to tell her to say sorry, and to mean it this time. Mob wanted to tell her that she was acting like a terrible person and that people had to be good to one another. Mob said nothing, though, because that would have been mean and Mob was not mean.

"Kageyama, get a mop and clean all of that up." Said her teacher as he read the paper at his desk. Mob complied, even though it hadn't been her fault. She didn't want to fight. She just wanted to get through this day. Maybe Asagiri was just having a bad day. Maybe that was it. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

Tomorrow was not better.


	38. Life in Mogamiland

Mob had a scar. It was a small one on her left leg. The skin there was rougher than the skin the surrounded it. It was a different color too, darker. It felt weird under her fingers. She had never felt anything like that before. She dragged her fingers across it. What was this? Why had this happened?

She had tripped.

She had tripped and fallen and hurt herself and that experience had made the skin there stronger. It was stronger for the pain she had felt. Through pain people grew and became better than what they were. Softness was weakness, that was why the skin of her leg had so easily broken. The skin had been weak but now it was better. Through suffering one could be reborn.

Mob flicked an ant off of her leg.

She was outside, now. It was easier to go outside during lunch. Asagiri was inside, now. It was best to put as much distance between Asagiri and herself as she could. Between herself and the people around her. People were mean, here, she decided. But why? What had she ever done to them? She had no idea. The truth of her charm was in her kindness and all she could really do was try to be a good person. She had tried and tried and tried to be a good person but it just wasn't working.

People still messed with her.

Like now.

Mob's stomach sank as she saw a familiar pink dot coming towards her. Pink hair. Asagiri Minori.

"Hey bowl cut, what are you doing outside? Gonna get some sun on that skin?" said Asagiri as she came to a stop in front of Mob.

"I'm outside for no real reason." Said Mob. She was outside to avoid Asagiri but that would have been a mean thing to say to someone, and it was important to never be mean to anyone. Someone would be angry with her if she was mean.

"It looks like you're eating lunch. I thought that you didn't like the sandwiches here." Said Asagiri picking up Mob's sandwich. It was true that Mob hated the school food, it was always full of cilantro, but she still needed to eat.

"I was eating that. You should ask before you take." Said Mob giving Asagiri the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she just didn't know. Social rules could be difficult.

"Aren't you just miss manners?" bite "Ok, I'll ask." Bite "Are you planning on eating this sandwich?" bite and then another bite.

"No. You already took a bunch of bites. It's germy now." Said Mob. That would be germy, sharing spit with another person. Kind of like an indirect kiss. Mob didn't have anyone she particularly wanted to kiss, it wasn't like anybody would ever want to kiss her anyway, but she knew for a fact that she would rather eat a fist full of cilantro than kiss Asagiri in any capacity.

"You're saying I'm gross?" said Asagiri

"No. Not at all, just that sharing food is." Said Mob. She always said the wrong thing, didn't she? Maybe she should just stop talking. Maybe she should just shut her mouth forever so that then she would never say the wrong thing again. It wasn't like anybody ever wanted to talk to her, anyway, unless it was to mess with her. That was what Asagiri was doing, now. No. Mob shouldn't think mean thoughts like that. Everyone liked Asagiri, nobody liked her. Maybe she was the problem.

"Whatever, bowl cut. I didn't want it anyway. You can have it back." Said Asagiri. She crammed what was left of Mob's sandwich into her mouth, chewed it up, spat it into her hand, and then threw it at Mob. Mob hadn't moved back, she had no idea that Asagiri was planning on doing this.

"WHAT? You don't like GERMS?" said Asagiri with a laugh. Mob shook her head and let her hair hang down in her face. This was so gross. There was gross, chewed up, bread on the front of her uniform. Asagiri shoved her. Mob ended up sprawled out on her back.

"You should look at people when they talk to you." Said Asagiri. Mob nodded. That was a rule. She knew that it was a rule. Even when people talked and talked it was important to look at them. Even when people made you feel bad you were supposed to still be nice to them.

The truth of her charm was in her kindness. Just try to be a good person.

"That's better. You're lucky you have me to tell you these things." Said Asagiri. Mob nodded. She stayed sprawled out on her back and held eye contact with Asagiri. She held it and held it. Asagiri was the only person who's face wasn't slippery. She was the only person who Mob could look at and **see**. Not that she had any idea what that face meant. Asagiri stood over her and stared right back before suddenly breaking eye contact.

"Stop staring at me, it's creepy." Said Asagiri

"You said to look at you when you spoke to me." Said Mob simply

"Well I wasn't speaking then, now was I?" asked Asagiri

"You just were." Said Mob stating a fact. Asagiri frowned.

"You're obviously getting dehydrated from the sun. Here, let me help you." Said Asagiri before snatching up Mob's milk carton and dumping what was left over her head. She laughed while walking away. For what reason Mob did not know. Mob let herself stay laid down on the ground. She reached down and felt the rough skin under her fingers. Milk ran down her head and soaked into her uniform. She'd have to wash it again tonight. She'd have to take a bath tonight. She stank of milk.

Asagiri liked to talk to her, it seemed, though why this was Mob did not know. It wasn't like Asagiri was hurting for company or anything. No matter where Mob went at lunch Asagiri followed her. She couldn't eat at her desk, she couldn't eat outside, she couldn't eat in the halls, not even hiding in a bathroom stall.

"Why are you eating in the bathroom? I thought you hated germs." Asagiri said from outside the handicapped stall. It was big enough for Mob to sit down and be comfortable.

"Do you need this stall? I can leave." Said Mob. She didn't want to get spat on by Asagiri again. That was how it always ended.

"That's the handicapped stall. Are you saying that I'm handicapped?" asked Asagiri

"No. I don't think that you're handicapped. Not that it's a bad thing, being handicapped. If you were I would let you have the stall, and I would let you have the stall if you weren't, too." Said Mob speaking the truth.

"You're just so perfect aren't you, bowl cut?" asked Asagiri

"No. Nobody's perfect. We're all only human. I'm human the same as everyone else." Said Mob. She was human the same as everyone else. It was important to remember that.

"No, I think you think that you're perfect. That's why you're always talking down to me like that." Said Asagiri

"Talking down?" asked Mob. She had never heard that phrase before. Was that like looking down on someone? Mob didn't look down on anyone. She wasn't like that.

"Lecturing me all the damn time. You're a kid just like I am! Stop talking like you know everything!" said Asagiri kicking the stall door. Mob shrank back against the wall. She heard the taps running for a moment and then the paper towel machine cranking. Maybe Asagiri was just washing her hands and then was going to go back to her friends.

Something wet hit Mob on the top of her head. She heard a laugh, that awful laugh, and then the door opening and shutting.

She reached up and took the wet thing off of her head. It was a wet paper towel.

At least it wasn't milk that time.

To be safe, though, Mob stops taking a milk carton with her lunch.

Her uniform is starting to fade from over washing. Someone told her, once, never to over was clothes. It was bad for the dyes, it made them fade, and the constant washing made the fabric begin to break down. The agitator in the washer was bad for clothes, a tumble washer was so much better. Tumble wash and air dry. That was how you made your clothes last.

Mob wished she could remember who had said that.

They seemed like they were nice to her.

Nobody in this world was nice to her.

It was nice being at home. There was nobody at home. At home she could eat her dinner, microwave ramen, and watch TV. Her TV at least gets all seven channels, though they don't always come in clear. She sits in front of her TV every night with a bowl of ramen. She stops doing her homework, she never gets a single question right. She'd rather sit on her couch and eat ramen and watch TV.

Not that there's much on.

But it's better than being alone. Better than the silence. She needs someone there, she sometimes thinks. Someone who can fill the silence. Someone who had an endless number of stories and anecdotes or even just comments on what's happening. Even if he just says that her shows are depressing and have too many cats.

He.

It's always a he that she thinks of.

She dreams of him.

She falls asleep in front of the TV and dreams of him. He's not usually a boy her age, though he sometimes is. She can't make out clear features. Light hair, blue eyes. Lots of words. Lots of stories. Things to say. He likes to talk to her. He likes to tell her things, important things. When she's around him she knows that everything is going to be ok.

Dreams.

Reality is not a dream.

In her reality she does not have anyone who wants to talk to her.

Except for Asagiri

"Hey, bowl cut!" that's what Asagiri usually calls her. Variations include 'Miss Manners, Miss Perfect, and sometimes Shige-CHAN with a lot of emphasis on the chan part. Mob looks at Asagiri when she talks to her. She always looks at Asagiri when she talks to her. When she looks at Asagiri it makes her less mean, a little bit.

Today she's bowl cut.

"Yes, Asagiri?" asked Mob

"Why don't you ever call me Minori?" asked Asagiri. They were in class now, science. They were dissolving things in acid. They were warned to be careful. Mob didn't much like the science room. Too many dangerous things. Things that could hurt her.

She felt the scar on her leg. Rough skin. Ugly skin. Strong skin.

"That would be much too familiar." Said Mob in her usual monotone. She always had a monotone. She couldn't imagine talking another way. Asagiri still heard tones, sometimes, even though there weren't any. Judging by the face she was making she had heard a tone where there wasn't any.

"Too familiar? What, I'm Asagiri-kun to you, still, after all this time? Why not Asagiri-san, then, Miss Perfect?" said Asagiri. Now she was miss perfect. Bowl cut made more sense. Mob knew that she wasn't perfect. She was a human being the same as any other. She just had a different talent than another people…not that she had any other talents.

"Ok. Asagiri-san then." Said Mob. She didn't want to say anything to Asagiri besides 'good-bye', though she would never say that. That would be mean. She was Mob. The truth of her charm was in her kindness.

"Right. You should show me respect." Said Asagiri still not smiling.

"Ok." Said Mob

"Because you're always so polite, aren't you?" asked Asagiri

"Ok." Said Mob simply. She was polite, she tried hard to be polite. It was always important to follow the social rules of the world.

"So you agree, you think that you're always so polite?" asked Asagiri

"Ok." Said Mob

"Because you know I'm better than you, don't you? That means that you have to be polite to me, Shige-CHAN." said Asagiri

"No. I don't think that. We're equals. We're all equals. We're all human beings. It's important to be polite to one another. It's important to be nice to one another. The truth of one's charm is in their kindness. We're the same." Said Mob. She wasn't better than anyone. Nobody was better than anyone else. Mob could never think that she was above anyone else. She was only Mob. Asagiri was only Asagiri. They were two people there, the same. The same uniforms, the same classroom, the same world, the same reality.

Asagiri got a weird look. Her eyes got so narrow they turned into slits. Her mouth got so puckered Mob thought that she looked like she had eaten an entire lemon. Her hands balled into fists on the table between them. Mob's eye's darted to her notebook. To her pencils. Breakable stuff. Mob knew that face. Mad. She was getting better at reading faces. Asagiri's face.

It was the only face she could see. The only face that she could focus on.

"We're not the same, bowl cut." Said Asagiri

"I'm a human being the same as you." Said Mob

"No. We're not the same. Nothing about us is the same." Said Asagiri

"We both go to Salt Middle School. We're both fourteen. We're both girls. We both live here in this reality." Said Mob. They were the same. Everyone was the same, Mob decided, because they existed together in the world. Nobody was better than anyone else. Everyone had their own talents. Some people were strong or fast or smart or good at talking. The difference between people made them equal.

The differences between her and Asagiri made them equal.

"Shut up. I'm nothing like you." Said Asagiri

"Ok." Said Mob. Asagiri was totally different from Mob in many ways. They had the barest of the bare in common. The big things, of course. Their ages. Their genders. Their existence. Beyond that nothing. Asagiri was pretty and popular. Mob was just Mob. Nobody liked her. Her existence…what was her existence?

"You're a Mob. That's all you'll ever be." Said Asagiri

"Ok." Said Mob. That was who she was. Mob. The name should have been mean, it was meant meanly, but she remembered someone….someone calling her that. Him. The him that she dreamed of. But dreams were not reality.

"You're Mob and I'm the main character." Said Asagiri quietly. At this Mob shook her head.

"No? You think that you're the main character?" asked Asagiri

"I'm the main character of my story just like you're the main character of yours." Said Mob. Someone else had called themselves...no…himself…the main character. But he had changed his mind. Him. The him she dreamed of? Or another? Two hims. She dreamed of two hims, she decided.

"I'm the main character of every story." Said Asagiri before she got up. As swung her arms as she stood up and knocked the vial of acid on the table down. Mob couldn't pull away fast enough and it got on the underside of her left arm. She ran, quickly, to the sink to rinse it off. As she ran someone tripped her. She felt bare tile on her thighs. Great, her skirt had flown up.

She got up and rinsed her arm off. Shame burned on her face. Acid burned on her arm.

The laughter continued as scheduled.

The skin of her arm, the underside, was raw and red. It hurt to touch. The nurse at school just told her to be more careful next time and threw a box of dressing at her and some ointment. The ointment burned and the dressings itched but they kept the burn clean. She had to keep it clean. Putting on the ointment and doing the dressing had been awkward with her off hand. She wondered how long healing would take.

She was getting more used to taking care of her injuries, anyway.

Pain was something she was getting more and more used to. She could chase the pain away, though, in her dreams.

She spent every night on the couch. The upstairs of the house was too empty, too dusty. Too many rooms up there. She was someone who needed people, she thought sometimes. She certainly wished for people. For a person. Two people. But she only had herself. In this reality she only had herself. But she could also reject this reality.

She drifted off every night in front of the TV. She could reject her reality when she closed her eyes. She could let the light from the TV, the canned voices, the phantom laughter, wash over her. She'd close her eyes and drift off into another world. A better world. A different world. A different world with different people. Two different people.

And they were two different people.

A man and a boy, though the difference between a man and a boy was something that Mob had trouble understanding. In her dreams the man could sometimes act like a boy. He'd laugh and watch anime and tell funny stories and jump if he saw a bug. The boy could also act like a man. He did his own laundry and lived all alone and knew about clothes and cooking and stuff.

She got snatches of good days with them. Snatches of happiness. Snatches of contentment. Snatches of good feelings. Feelings that did not exist in her reality. The good feelings of her reality were muted, downplayed. She never smiled. The happiness she got, in this world, came from simple things. TV. Ramen. Solitude. The happiness in her dreams came from big things. Love. Acceptance. Praise. Friendship. Not that she knew anything about friendship.

The closest things that she had to friends were the people who existed in her dreams. Not even images. Snatches. Light hair. Light eyes. Good feelings. Sometimes very good feelings. Feelings that left her awake in the night covered in her own sweat. Feelings that left her absolutely **burning. **

Feelings that she knew that she wasn't supposed to have.

They served no purpose. Nobody would ever want what she dreamt of. Nobody would ever want to do any of those things with her, things that she didn't even know how she knew about. Actions that she had never performed or had performed for her. Actions that she enjoyed performing. Actions that she wanted to perform.

As if anyone would ever want to become one with her.

Shame burned on her face after every time she gave into this. Shame burned within her. These feelings that she had were pointless. The dreams that she had were pointless. This was her reality and she had to accept it. She had to live in this world and she had to accept it for what it was. Accept herself for who she was. She was someone who…she was Mob.

She was Mob in this story.

Shame became a constant companion to the pain she felt.

Shame for her thoughts. Shame for her wants. Shame for actions. Shame for her inactions. Shame for her existence. The life she lived. The body she inhabited. This body. She was so…she was so plain. So boring. So nothing.

Mob. She was Mob.

She was supposed to be unnoticeable. She was supposed to be a background character. She was supposed to go unnoticed in this world, the background character. Asagiri seemed to think otherwise, though. That was why Asagiri never called her Mob. Today she was Shige-CHAN.

"Shige-CHAN!" said Asagiri as she walked over to Mob's desk. They were changing for gym. Girls changed first, then boys. Mob was in her under clothes. White undershirt. White underwear. Boring. Plain. Five hundred yen a pack. Not like Asagiri. She had a bra and it matched her underwear. Pink and lacy and pretty. Interesting. Not like Mob.

"Yes, Asagiri?" asked Mob as she unfolded her gym uniform. It was getting ruined from over washing. The colors were super faded. The Salt Middle School logo was faded.

"Why won't you call me Minori?" asked Asagiri

"Because that's too familiar. We're not that familiar. I said so already." Said Mob feeling the scar on her arm. Rough skin. Red. Wrinkled. Ugly. Stronger.

"What? I'm not your friend? We see each other every single day, Shige-CHAN. We HANG OUT all the time." Said Asagiri

"You want us to be friends?" asked Mob

"We are friends, Shige-CHAN. Or, what, you think that you're too good to be my friend? That you're better than me?" asked Asagiri giving her a shove. Mob took a step back.

"No. I told you before that nobody is better than anyone else." Said Mob. The floor was slippery. She was in just her socks.

"You said that I was just like you, but I'm not, am I? Huh? Shige-CHAN?" said Asagiri giving her another shove.

"I don't know." Said Mob. Maybe they were the same because they shared the same sun, the same earth, the same sky. The same reality. Maybe reality was the thing that mattered most. Not age, not gender, not even abilities. Maybe it wasn't the sameness or the differences between people that made them equal but instead the reality they lived in.

People weren't equal, though. They lived in a constant state of warfare with each other. With themselves. There was always a war between the person who you wanted to be and the person who you were. Mob wanted to be a good person and she tried to be but being a good person had gotten her nowhere. She was nowhere right now. But she didn't have to be. If she were someone else, the her that she was meant to be, if she stopped holding herself back she could make all of this stop.

She flicked the ant off of her arm.

"You don't KNOW? Either you think we're the same or you don't." said Asagiri

"I don't know what I think." Said Mob

"You're so dumb, Shige-CHAN. You're like a little kid." Said Asagiri poking her on the chest. Mob threw her arms around her chest and felt her face turn red. Asagiri laughed like this was the funniest thing in the whole, entire, world.

"I'm going to get dressed now." Said Mob softly. She did not like being touched like that. She had been shoved, before, a lot, but that was different. She knew she looked younger than every other girl in class. She didn't need to be reminded of that.

"Why? It's not like there's anything to cover up." Said Asagiri with another laugh. She turned and went back to her desk to get dressed. Mob pulls her gym uniform on quickly. She feels like she's being looked at but, of course, nobody's going to be looking at her. Why would they? She's just Mob. She's Mob and there's no reason for anybody to look at her or think about her or anything like that. She's alone, all alone, and that's the way that it is.

Her face still burns, though, because she knows that she still looks like she's so little. But she's not little, is she? Fourteen is still little. Still so little. Little enough that she can't escape the world that she's in. Little enough that she still has to come to school every single day. Little enough that she has no choice. She can't just up and leave even though she feels like it would be something that would be easy. It's not like there's anybody at home to stop her.

That night she just up and leaves.

It doesn't come to her gradually. She just sits on the couch watching TV, her only light after dark, and then glances out the window. There's a whole world out there. She goes to school. She goes to home. She feels like, maybe, there could be other places that she could go. Other places she has gone.

Her feet take her out the door and down the road. Not towards school. Away from school. Towards where a bunch of office buildings are. She doesn't know why she walks all this way, she doesn't know how she knows this place, but it seems sort of familiar. She walks up to an office building. It's white like all the other office buildings. She looks up. The lights inside are off. They would be, it's late. She doesn't know what time it is, she doesn't have a watch, but she knows that it's late.

The windows are dark. She looks up into a second story office. There's a 'for rent' sign on the building. She still looks into the window. She can imagine how it is inside. A desk, no, two desks. Plants, too, a lot of them. A TV. A couch. Some comfy chairs. An electric kettle that's always full. She knows the ratio of tea to water to steep time to cool down time. She knows just how to make the best green tea ever.

Someone taught her how to.

No they didn't. Who would ever teach her anything?

She stands outside the office building for she doesn't know how long. She just stands there, outside, in the dark. A bird lands on the roof of the building.

She's all alone. She's alone and nobody wants to be with her unless it's to bother her. Why would anybody want to be with her? Nobody in the whole world would ever want to be her friend. There's no point to it. She was just Mob. Nobody would ever be nice to her. She was just such an easy target. She was so weak, so pathetic. But if she were stronger then she could make people be nice to her. She could have something to her besides the nothing that she was.

But she wasn't nothing. She was a good person. The truth of her charm was in her kindness. Just be a good person.

The bird flew away.

There are a lot of birds around here.

Mob stares out her classroom window. There's a bird outside. She watches it. It watches her. It's a blackbird, a crow, or a raven. She doesn't know. She's not doing so good in biology. She's not doing so good in any subject.

But school is so pointless, isn't it? There's nothing here to learn, nothing that she can learn. She doesn't even know why she comes, just that she has to. Every single day. The calendar is slippery, like time it kind of slippery. There are weekends, there must be, but she doesn't doing anything during them. She just lays down in front of the TV until school happens again. At least the picture comes in clear, sometimes. She wishes that there were some new shows on. Something different. It's always the same few episodes of the same few shows.

The world feels like it's on a treadmill. The same things happen every single day. School, mean people, home, solitude. She walks to the office sometimes, the empty one. She doesn't know who she expects to see there. She doesn't know what she expects to happen. It just feels nice, there. Outside that office in the middle of the night all by herself. No Asagiri to bother her. Not like every single day at school. If she were someone different, someone stronger, than she could make it stop. But there's no way to make it stop because she's herself and this person called herself isn't strong at all. The person called herself is weak. No, not weak, nice.

Kind.

She just needs to be a kind person.

Even when people are so very unkind.

She has a new scar.

Courtesy of unkind people.

It will scar. She shifts her foot in her school shoe. This morning in her shoe had been a razor blade. She didn't see and ended up cutting up her foot. The nurse just tossed her a box of bandages and refused to write her a pass. The nurse said that she got hurt from her own stupidity and that she shouldn't have been so dumb not to check her shoes for stuff in them. Her foot was bandaged, now, but it still hurt. There had been a lot of blood, too.

Mob hated the sight of blood.

The bleeding must have stopped by now, though, right? She hopes that it did. She has gym again today. Didn't she just have gym? She hates it. No matter how many times a week she has gym she hates it. Maybe she could just try and sit out gym today. No, that never works. Not even when she's visibly hurt. Not even if she gets hit in the face with a ball and her nose is bleeding everywhere. Not even if she falls down and her skin rips open and she bleeds everywhere.

Blood is no excuse for missing gym it seems.

Mob tries to get changed fast. She puts on her shorts under her skirt, first. She doesn't want anyone see how little she looks in comparison. Like an elementary schooler. Like she's small and tiny and little and young and helpless and she hates being helpless. Being helpless is the worst feeling in the entire world. She feels helpless every single day. She can't help herself. She isn't strong enough to help herself. If she was stronger, if she were a stronger person, then she could make it stop.

But she was not strong.

But she was kind.

Kindness was greater than strength.

A hard shove knocks her into her desk.

"Don't ignore me, bowl cut." Said Asagiri

"I wasn't ignoring you." Said Mob

"Uh-huh, then what did I just say?" asked Asagiri

"I don't remember." Said Mob. She figured that it was either something mean or something braggy. One of the two modes of communication that Asagiri possessed.

"So you weren't paying attention. I swear, you are my absolute SUCKIEST friend." Said Asagiri giving Mob another shove.

"I'm sorry, Asagiri." Said Mob even though they weren't friends at all.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Minori like all of my other friends do?" said Asagiri

"We aren't that familiar." Said Mob simply. What she wanted to say was something more along the lines of 'we aren't friends so leave me alone already!' but she didn't. That wouldn't have been a very nice thing to say at all.

"Well it's not like you're making any effort." Said Asagiri looking down at her nails.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob simply even though she wasn't. She didn't want to be friends with Asagiri but…but that wasn't nice at all. She had to be friends with everyone, that was what nice people did. She had to be a nice person, a kind person. That was who she had to be. That was who the person called Mob who existed in her mind was. She had to be that her that existed in her mind.

"No you're not. You don't just get to say sorry like that." Said Asagiri

"I'm sorry." Said Mob again because, well, she had no idea what else to say to that.

"No, say 'sorry Minori'." Said Asagiri

"But we aren't that close." Said Mob. She couldn't just call someone by their first name like that, it wasn't polite. She told herself that, anyway. It wasn't that she disliked Asagiri. She couldn't dislike anyone.

"I know we aren't, Shige-CHAN, but we can be! It's like you don't even care!" said Asagiri

"I'm sorry." Said Mob once again. She clutched her gym shirt in her hands and held it in front of herself. She tried to take a step back but her desk was behind her.

"You're always saying that." Said Asagiri getting closer. Mob walked around her desk and kept backing away. Somewhere people began to whisper amongst themselves.

"I'm sorry, Asagiri." Said Mob as she continued backing away. She made it to the wall. She was pinned. Asagiri was right in front of her, now. Mob still held her gym shirt clutched in her hands.

"Minori. My name is Minori and don't give me any crap about us not being familiar because I know that we are. We've been classmates for…weeks? Weeks! And you still walk around here like you think that you're better than me!" said Asagiri

"I don't think that at all." Said Mob

"Then call me by my given name like everyone else does!" said Asagiri

"…Minori…" said Mob softly. The word felt gross in her mouth. Familiar. She did not want to be familiar with Asagiri. She didn't…she didn't want this with Asagiri. She wanted people to be like her, she wanted someone to like her, but not Asagiri. Asagiri was mean. Was it mean to think that Asagiri was mean? Mob couldn't be mean. Mob couldn't be mean because she had to be a good person.

"Good. See, now we're familiar. Was that so bad, Shige-CHAN?" asked Asagiri. One arm was against the wall, cutting off Mob's escape. She stared over at Asagiri. She stared and stared because she just did not get it.

"…no…" said Mob softly. She just wanted to get changed and get to gym so she could get home and away from here.

"You didn't mean that." Said Asagiri shoving Mob into the wall.

"….I did…" said Mob, the lie tasting like ashes on her tongue. How could she lie? She wasn't supposed to tell lies. She knew that lies were wrong. Someone…important…someone important to her had always been truthful towards her.

"You did?" asked Asagiri. Mob nodded. She didn't want to speak another lie. Asagiri still wasn't satisfied. She still kept Mob pinned to the wall.

"I have to get changed now." Said Mob hoping that Asagiri would then realize that it was getting to be time for gym, even though Mob had no real idea what time it was, and she would change into her own gym clothes.

"Hmm…..you know what?" asked Asagiri with a look on her face that Mob couldn't really read but didn't like nonetheless.

"What?" asked Mob softly

"What do you say to me helping you?" asked Asagiri. Mob blinked.

"No thank you. I can dress myself." Said Mob

"Really? Because I just saw you put your shorts on UNDER your skirt. What's up with that? You know you can't wear your skirt to gym, right?" asked Asagiri

"I know." Said Mob

"Yeah, you know what? I don't think you do, Shige-CHAN. You're too little, obviously. Here, let me help you out. One friend to another." Said Asagiri before pulling Mob's school shirt up over her head. Mob tried to back away but there was a wall behind her. Asagiri had pulled her shirt up over her head but her arms had trapped it. She tried to get away and in the commotion knocked Asagiri down on accident, and it had been an accident. Her classmates didn't see it that way.

"Hey! She pushed Asagiri!" someone said. Mob tried to get her shirt down but was shoved, hard, onto the ground.

"Get her out of here before she hurts Asagiri again!" said someone else and before Mob knew it she was pushed out the door. With her shirt still up over her head. And girls changed first.

Mob managed to get her shirt down and ran to the bathroom. She hid in a stall for the rest of the day. She didn't care. She didn't care that she was going to get in big trouble. She didn't care if she was going to be punished later. She didn't even care that her foot had started bleeding again.

She just wanted this day to be over.

But it wouldn't end. It couldn't end. This was life, reality. This was the reality she lived in and **she hated it**.

There was a small earthquake, it felt like. The lights flickered on and off. The glass in the windows rattled.

Mob wasn't afraid. It felt familiar, almost. Familiar like…like something good. But why? Well obviously Earthquakes were familiar, she had lived in Japan for her entire life, so that would make sense. The fact that it felt good, that was what was weird. Good like…like everything would be ok. Like maybe she wasn't so helpless. Like maybe someone or something was…there?

But that was crazy. It was only a tremor, not even a real earthquake. Obviously the Earthquakes weren't on her side. Mob was a lot of things. She was weird and awkward and bad at just about everything but she was not crazy. The earthquakes weren't on her side. Nothing was on her side.

But wouldn't it be nice? Wouldn't it have been amazing if she did have the power to control, no, create Earthquakes? Not just that but other things, too. To be able to move things without touching them. Things. People. Bad people. People who hurt her. People who hurt others? To have the power to hurt those who made it their mission in life to hurt others?

Mob had no such power. She was just a fourteen year old girl in two uneven twin tailed braids hiding in the bathroom with blood in her shoe.

Mob hated blood.

Her sock was stained. She tried, later on, to get the blood out. Blood stained brown, not pink like she would have thought. But she knew this already, she felt like. She also felt like she…knew…how to get the blood out. Per...per something. Something that you put on clothes. She didn't know much about doing laundry. Just put the detergent in and hit the wash button. She remembers! She remembered that she got blood on her…skirt and…and then she…soaked it! In cold water! Then she…peroxide!

Peroxide went on whites!

But what happened? When had that been? The past…the past was slippery. Like time. Time was also very slippery. Time went by so slowly and then so fast. The days dragged and bled, ebbed and flowed. But what…was it always like this? What was her past…this? Was this what her life had always been?

What about the people she dreamed of? They felt so real to her. She remembered….green tea. Cigarette smoke. Incense. Not only those but body spray and fabric softened and coffee even though she hates coffee and a weird sort of rubber glove hospital sort of smell and then…

A light flickered above her.

Dreams. Memories of dreams.

She soaked her sock and did the peroxide thing. The blood still didn't come out.

It had been worth a try.

Life was worth a try, Mob decided. Even if it sucked she would still try. She would still go back to school in the morning and sit through class and try because maybe, just maybe, it would get better. Maybe this was just something she could get through, would get through. She remembers…she dreamt. She dreamt of a man with yellow hair telling her that she had this. That he believed in her. That he knew that she was strong enough to do this, to get this done. What she had been trying to get done she didn't know but she woke up that morning with a feeling of determination. Yes. She had this. Even though her stomach hurt from the razorblade in her shoe the other day, even though her stomach hurt from where Asagiri had shoved her, even though her braids weren't even she could do this.

She had to have this. She had to. She couldn't let the man down, even if he only existed in her dreams. What were dreams but another, smaller, reality? Yes, that was what a dream was. A reality which existed solely for the you that existed in your mind. The other half of yourself. There was the you that existed in your mind and the you that existed in the minds of others.

In her mind she was someone else. She was someone nice, someone likeable. Someone who this man liked a lot. She didn't remember anything specific, just the feelings that he inspired in her. Not only the fire he lit in her but…the other sort of fire that he lit in her. The way that when he was near she knew that she could do anything. He was all she desired and her will to succeed.

She lived to dream.

Even though sometimes her life felt like a bad dream.

Even though every single step she took radiated pain throughout her entire body.

Even though her stomach hurt more and more as the day went on.

Even though Asagiri had shoved her again. Shoved her down and stepped on her hair as she walked by. Mob didn't even know why. Did Asagiri even need a reason? Something told Mob that Asagiri was only bullying her to secure her place at the top of the class.

Asagiri saw her as a threat because she could tell how strong Mob was. She could tell that out of everyone Mob was the only one who could not be controlled. Mob was a threat that Asagiri could not allow to exist so she attempted to keep Mob under her foot. That was the way of the world. It was an endless line of people stepping on other people. The weak used the strong. The strong used the stronger. Everyone in the world was looking out only for themselves so trying to be a good person was, in actuality, idiotic.

There was the person staying put in his proper place and the person with his foot in the other one's face.

Mob shouldn't be there, on the ground, getting stepped on. She could be stronger. It would be so much easier if she were stronger. She could have been the one to stop the bad people of the world. To punish them for spreading misery and suffering to others.

But that was dumb.

Mob knew what she had to do and it wasn't that.

She just had to be a good person.

The truth of her charm was in her kindness.

So just be a good person.

She swatted a fly away.

Mob had to be a good person, that was all. Even though she had crazy thoughts like this. Crazy thoughts. Mean thoughts.

A sharp pain tore through her. It radiated out through her stomach and caused her to gasp. She grabbed her stomach and leaned forward.

"Kageyama! If you're going to be disruptive go and stand out in the hall! There are students in this class with the potential to do something with their lives! Don't distract them!" screamed her teacher. Mob nodded and stood up on shaky legs. Asagiri giggled as Mob stumbled into her desk. She made her way, slowly, through her classroom and stood out in the hallway. She stood doubled over, resting against the wall. She didn't know how long she had been standing out there but, eventually, it was lunch time. Mob didn't feel like eating. The smell of cilantro was overpowering. Asagiri was in there too. Asagiri would probably shove her again.

Had Asagiri done real damage?

Mob couldn't straighten out so, maybe. Maybe she had done real damage and Mob was seriously hurt and she'd have to figure out how to get herself to the hospital because this hurt so much and there was nothing that she could do and-

"Here. You're missing lunch, bowl cut." Said Asagiri. Mob opened her eyes. Asagiri was standing in front of her with a lunch tray. It was a big salad today with plenty of cilantro. Why not just grate a bar of soap on it and call it a day?

"Well? How about 'thank you, Minori'?" said Asagiri

"Thank you….Minori." said Mob softly as another burst of pain tore through her body. Maybe is she was super nice then Asagiri would move on and hang out with her real friends and leave Mob **alone.**

"Are you coming back inside? Or are you just so perfect that you're not coming back in until the teacher gives you permission?" asked Asagiri as she ate some of Mob's lunch. Mob didn't care, let Asagiri have it. Let Asagiri eat it or spit it in Mob's face or something.

"I don't have permission." Said Mob clutching her stomach. Asagiri clicked her tongue.

"You're so perfect, aren't you? You just walk around her like you're better than everyone else. You're always talking about being nice and sitting there so quietly and apologizing for everything. You make me sick." Said Asagiri

"I'm sorry." Said Mob on reflex.

"See! There you go again! You never do anything! You just stand there with that creepy stare! You just say that you're sorry! You do whatever you're told! You're like a doll!" said Asagiri

"I'm sorry." Said Mob for lack of anything else. She was not a doll. She was a human being. She was a human being the same as any other. She was a human being. She just had to remember that she was human the same as anyone else.

"God! What is wrong with you?!" said Asagiri grabbing Mob by the arm. Mob let out a hiss of pain and she was jostled. Asagiri let her go.

"I barely touched you. You're such a wimp." Said Asagiri

"Fighting is stupid." Said Mob looking Asagiri in the eye. Fighting was dumb. Fighting was a waste of time. The only time it was acceptable to fight was in self-defense…but Mob couldn't fight. She couldn't fight someone like Asagiri. She couldn't fight Asagiri because she could easily **break** her.

But that was crazy talk. Mob wasn't strong enough to break anyone.

"We aren't fighting, Shige-CHAN." Said Asagiri lowly

"Fighting is still stupid." Said Mob simply. She would not fight. She could not fight. Not someone like Asagiri. Someone like Asagiri?

"Are you calling me stupid?" asked Asagiri. Mob was holding eye contact with her.

"No." said Mob simply. If she wanted to call Asagiri stupid then she would have just called Asagiri stupid. Not that Mob would ever call anyone stupid. That would be bad and Mob had to be a good person. The truth of her charm was in her kindness.

"It sure sounded like it. Maybe you're just dehydrated, that's why you're running your mouth so much. Here, have some milk!" said Asagiri dumping out the carton of milk over Mob's head. That felt like more milk than a carton could ever hold. She was soaked from head to toe. She looked down. There, in the sea of white, was red.

"Gross, you stink." Said Asagiri giving Mob a shove. Mob still looked down. Blood? Had her cut opened up again? No, she hadn't bled through her shoes. Another drop fell into the sea of milk. From above.

"You should take a bath. You stink like a baby, Shige-CHAN. That's why you drink so much milk, you're just a baby." Laughed Asagiri. Mob stared down at the milk below her. Another drop of red hit the white.

"Are you going to cry now? You should, that's what babies do. Or are you too 'nice' to cry. I bet you're ugly when you cry." Said Asagiri. Mob still stared down at the milk under her. Another drop of red.

"Or does Miss Perfect never cry? Do you even have feelings? You just stand there and stare. You're such a doll. You just stand there and let everyone treat you any which way." Said Asagiri. Mob said nothing, Bleeding. She was bleeding.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Say something!" said Asagiri before slapping her across the face. Mob didn't say a word. She couldn't. She had no words. Blood. She was bleeding? Was she…was she dying? Bleeding internally? Hemorrhaging? Did she hurt herself? Wait, no…was this her…

She would gladly take horrific internal hemorrhaging over this.

"Why do you keep on staring at the ground!? What are you looking at!?" asked Asagiri as she shook Mob. Mob didn't look up so Asagiri looked down. There was a moment before Asagiri shrieked and jumped back almost a meter.

"You're so gross! You got your period and you're just going to stand there and bleed all over the floor!?" shrieked Asagiri. Mob shook her head. She had to do…she had to do something. She couldn't just stand there. She was so gross. She was covered in milk and blood and she had to move and her stomach hurt and her face was burning and why!? Why did this have to happen to her here!?

"What is the matter with you?! Go to the bathroom and put a napkin on, dumbass!" said Asagiri shoving her to the floor. Mob got up, slipped, and got up again. Right. Bathroom. She had to go. She had to put as much distance between herself and Asagiri as she could because this was so scary and gross and she didn't want to be made fun of for this because it was so **private** and **personal** and she had no idea what she was supposed to do and she had **nobody** to help her with this, not even a **mom** and she wanted a mom but she didn't have one so she was so **helpless** and **alone.**

She was always so alone.

There was another mini earthquake. Mob paid it no mind as she ran into the bathroom. She stopped as she caught sight of herself in the full length mirror. Her hair was plastered to her head. Her uniform shirt was practically see-through from being all wet. There was blood running down both of her legs now. Her uniform skirt had a big, dark, stain on the back vaguely in the shape of a waffle.

She looked so gross.

Mob couldn't look at herself anymore. She couldn't stand the sight of the girl that looked back at her. She was so gross and sad looking and Mob **did not want to be that girl.** She was that girl, she was that girl and that was her existence. She was that sad girl covered in blood and milk and even though she had run into a stall she couldn't run away from who she was.

But she didn't have to be that girl. If she were stronger then she wouldn't have to be that girl.

She squished the spider.

She was that girl.

She was that girl and there was nothing that she could do about it. She was that girl and she had to do something about all of this blood. There was just so much of it, how much blood did she have? She didn't know, she wasn't doing so well in biology. Could she lose all of the blood in her body from this? Was she hemorrhaging? Maybe she would, maybe she would and she'd be dead and then nobody would make fun of her anymore.

She just wanted to be left alone.

But, of course, that was too much to ask for.

She heard the bathroom door open and prayed that it was just someone coming in to use the bathroom and not to make fun of her. She prayed that it wasn't Asagiri there to tease her about this. She prayed that Asagiri had kept this to herself because this was just something that you did not make fun of another girl over. Mob couldn't understand why any girl would tease another girl about this. This was something that happened to everyone and it wasn't like it wrote you a letter telling you when it was going to come. It just came and it could catch you off-guard, like it had caught her.

She didn't even have any napkins.

Something hit her on the head.

"You can't just bleed everywhere, Shige-CHAN! That's a public health risk!" oh no. Asagiri again. Lots of laughter. More people. Mob saw a lot of feet under the stall door.

"That's unsanitary." Said someone

"Here! Quit bleeding everywhere!" shouted Asagiri. Something else hit her on the head. Something cylindrical. Oh. Nope. Nada. No way. Mob was tapping out. She was tapping out and she was not going to leave this stall and she was going to sit there and bleed until she was out of blood. Yup. That was the only way.

"What are you, a baby!? It's not a big deal! Be happy everyone's here to help you!" said Asagiri. More laughter. Something else hit her on the head. Another cylinder.

"Please stop…." Said Mob. More laughter. Lots and lots of laughter. She didn't see what was so funny. This wasn't funny! This was something that happened to everyone! She had no control over this and she wasn't happy about it either!

"Then stop being so weird and gross! It's just your period, you're not dying!" laughed Asagiri

"I know I'm not dying…" muttered Mob. She was not stupid and she was not a baby. She knew what a period was. She knew what it was but that didn't meant that she wanted to have this happen to her. Why couldn't this have happened somewhere else, anywhere else?!

"Here! What? Miss Perfect doesn't know what to do!?" said Asagiri as something else, a lot of somethings else, rained down on Mob's head. She drew her knees up to her chin and buried her face. She tasted salt. Tears. She was crying.

"Go away…." Said Mob through hiccupping sobs. She needed to be left alone. She needed to make this stop. She wasn't strong enough to make this stop. She had no choice but to accept this. But she didn't want to. But she didn't have to. But she had to. But she wasn't strong. But she was weak.

"What? You don't want help? You want to sit there and make a huge mess? You're so gross and weird. Ick!" said Asagiri. More laughter. Mob was beginning to hate the sound of laughter.

"Leave me alone…" said Mob a little more loudly. She needed to be alone because this was just so much and she needed to take care of this but there was no way that she could. She had no idea what to do. She had no idea how to take care of this and she didn't have a napkin and she did not want to use…these…but this was all she had and it was so loud and annoying and-

"You think you can tell me what to do?!" said Asagiri

"I said to leave me alone!" shouted Mob. For a moment the room shook. The mirrors shattered. All the lightbulbs burnt out. Mob gasped and looked around. Earthquake. It must have been an Earthquake.

There was no way that she had done that.

There was silence.

"Come on, let's get out of here. If she wants to be a freak then let her be a freak." Mob heard Asagiri mutter.

"But Minori, shouldn't you teach her a lesson? She did try to order you around." Someone said. There were murmurings of agreement.

"This bathroom stinks. I'm going back to lunch." Said Asagiri. Mob heard the bathroom door open and shut a few times. She stayed still until the shuffling feet and swinging of the door stopped. She stayed still as a statue, not even the pain in her stomach could make her move. She felt like if she moved it would be like popping a bubble. Had they really left because she asked?

But she hadn't asked, not at all. She had told. She had been mean. She hadn't been kind and now she had to live with herself as a mean person.

But was it really mean? They had been mean first. Sometimes you had to fight back, that was called self-defense. Sometimes you had to fight back. But Mob couldn't. Mob couldn't even let herself get upset. She couldn't because then she would end up hurting people.

A flash of something. Blood. Fear. Twisted metal. Someone on the ground. A little boy.

She had to keep it together, she had to breathe. She had to keep it together or someone could get hurt. But how could she ever hurt anyone? She wasn't strong. She was just Mob. She was Mob and she had to be a good person even though it was hard. This was a terrible situation for her to be in.

She spent the rest of the day in the bathroom. It went quickly. She stayed in that bathroom until it got dark out. Then she left. She figured it out, too, eventually. It felt weird and gross and hurt a little but she figured it out. She had to.

She had to do what she had to do.

She walked home in the dark because she had to. She couldn't spend the night at school. She had to get the blood out of her school skirt. How could she? She had to get the blood out like she had to get the blood out of her sock last night even though she hadn't but she still had to try because she only had the one school skirt and she couldn't just walk around like that. This was prime teasing material.

Mob left her skirt to soak when she got home to her empty house. It was dark and cold and dusty but at least nobody was there to bother her. Nobody to make fun of the sad girl stinking of milk and covered in blood. She made such a sad sight, didn't she? Such a funny sight, really. Pathetic. She was pathetic. She was the most pathetic person in the world and she always had been. The only difference was that now there was nobody there to pity her or to use her. That was the only reason why someone would ever want to be around her. To use her to or pity her.

Mob looked out the window. A black bird flew away.

She went back to what she was doing. She didn't have any napkins in the house, which was dumb of her because she knew that she was old enough to have a period, so she was folding up a washcloth. She'd just have to pin this into her underwear. That was what people used to do before they invented napkins. They used sea sponges, too, but Mob was too far from the ocean to collect one. She wasn't sure if that was sanitary, anyway. She knew that this washcloth was clean, though, and it was probably going to be a lot more comfortable than anything internal. She did not want to go poking around in that area again. It had been too embarrassing. Too much.

Mob tossed herself down in front of the TV. She didn't even care what was on. It was all stuff that she had seen before. What time was it? Late. She didn't wear a watch but she knew that it was late. Brushed a lock of damp hair out of her face. She had just taken a bath. Somehow she still smelled like milk. Or maybe it was her imagination. Maybe she was just imagining everything, this whole world. Maybe she was just dreaming and she'd wake up and she'd be somewhere else. Someone else. The Mob that existed in her mind. The Mob who had friends, who had people who loved her.

People like the ones in her dreams. It was the man, mostly, with the yellow hair. Not truly yellow, though, like the boy she dreamed of. The man's hair was orangish yellowish. He had the bluest, most perfect eyes that she had ever seen. He was the nicest, smartest, bravest, person that she had ever met. Not that she had ever met him. Not that she had ever met anyone like him in her entire fourteen years of life. Not that she ever would.

That wasn't this world. This world did not have people who were there for her, people who loved her. She was alone. An island. She was an island not part of the archipelago. She was all by herself. She would always be all by herself and that was the world that she lived in.

But maybe she didn't have to be. She put a hand over her stomach. She could have a baby now. She snatched her hand away from her stomach. She couldn't have a baby. She was fourteen. She was a kid. She was little. She was too little and, besides, to have a baby a boy would have to love her. She would have to be loved and there was nobody in the entire world that loved her.

But if she did find someone in the world who loved her then it would be wonderful. She'd be with him forever, if she met someone who loved her. She'd give him perpetuity. They'd have a family together when she grew up. She was too little. She was too little and too small and even when she did grow up she'd be all alone too. Nobody would love her. No house with people in it. No family, not even one that she could make herself.

If she did have a family she'd have a son and call him Shigeo. Shigeo like Shigeko but a boy's version of her name. He'd be just like her but she'd teach him….what could she teach him? Nothing. She had nothing to teach him. He'd be just like her and everyone would make fun of him, too. She wouldn't be able to protect him. She wasn't even able to protect herself. She just wasn't strong enough to protect herself and she had no way to get stronger.

She didn't want to be stronger. She didn't want it because then she would have to use it. She couldn't use it against others. She didn't know what 'it' was but she knew that under no circumstances was she to use it against others. Not even if she was cornered. When she was corned she had to run away. She had to run away and live to see another day. She felt like someone had told her that. Nobody would tell her that, though. Nobody would ever tell her anything, except for how much she sucked. She'd have to go into school tomorrow and hear about how much she sucked. How weird she was. How gross she was. How everything about her was wrong, very wrong.

She couldn't do it.

She had to run away.

Mob didn't know where she was running away to but she knew that her feet were carrying her somewhere. The office. The empty office. She knew this road. These twists. These turns. She followed them until she came to the office building on a street full of office buildings. She stood in front of the office building for she didn't know how long. She just stood there and stared and let herself imagine.

She imagined a man and her in there. She had a desk of her very own. She had a desk and a job and every single day she saw the man and he saw her and they were together. They were together at home, too, but not her home. His home. It smelled like cigarettes and was messy and dirty but it was home. She imagined the two of them on a hard, lumpy, couch together. Her head resting on his lap. His hand in her hair. He complained about her shows but she knew that his heart wasn't in it. She imagined, of course.

She imagined a lot of things. She imagined what it would be like to be with that man. To be with him in the way that she wanted to be with someone. That felt more like an imagining thing, like there were layers of imagination. Would she eventually reach imagination bedrock? She hoped that she didn't. She hoped that she would never, ever, run out of things to imagine.

That was all that this could ever be, fantasy. Reality was not fantasy. Reality was not the man with the orange/yellow hair. Reality was not this office, a place where she was wanted. That was not what reality was. Reality was, for her, being alone and sad and miserable. There was no man out there for her. There wasn't even a boy.

She imagined the boy less often than the man but she did imagine him. He was someone who made her smile. He was someone who always had something interesting going on. She imagined his world. A different school. Friends. Clubs. A different micro chasm of the world than the one she inhabited. Someone who, by all accounts, should have wanted nothing to do with her. Someone who meant something to her, but what? Change. Why change? She didn't know. She could only imagine bits and pieces, snatches, of it all. Not even whole images.

The cold eventually got to her, she bitter cold. The longer she stood there the more it was like standing in a freezer. It was much too cold for…what month was this? What season? She didn't know. She didn't have a calendar. Time was slippery. Time didn't matter. Time was not something that mattered at all. Why did it matter when the same exact thing happened every single day?

Go to school. Get made fun of. Go home. Watch TV. Fall asleep.

Do it all again tomorrow.

She did it all again and again and again. She went through one school day after another. The weekend may have come and it may have not come. She didn't know. All she knew was that she needed to get through one day and onto the next. Just one day at a time. She would endure one day and then go on to the next.

Even when she got tripped down the stairs.

Even when someone stuck a napkin to her back and she didn't notice for the entire day.

Even when someone filled her shoes with glue.

Even when she found a dead bird in her desk.

Even though every single day she ended up with milk dumped on her head.

She endured it so that she could get home and imagine a world where none of this happened.

The more she imagined the more real it became. She imagined people who loved her and who loved her back. She imagined things which were innocent, like having her hand held or being kissed, and things that were less innocent. Things that she knew couldn't ever happen. Things that nobody would ever want to do with her. She was Mob. Nobody would ever want to be with her, she knew this.

But she could still imagine.

What else could she do?


	39. Falling Apart

At some point fantasy became reality.

The first time Mob saw him was on her walk home from school. A boy. The boy. The boy with the yellow hair and the blue eyes. He was standing outside the school gates. He didn't have on a uniform, instead he wore a combination of purple pants and green hoodie that should have clashed but didn't. She knew that boy. She knew that outfit.

That was a very comfortable hoodie.

And it smelled nice too.

For a moment Mob wonders what happened to that hoodie. She sees a laundry bag and a place down a street she doesn't know that washes your clothes for you. For a moment she smells the detergent and cigarette smoke and fabric softener and hears the TV breaking up because the signal isn't good…but that makes no sense. The picture on a TV doesn't break up, it just gets snowy. Then you have to move the antenna. But TV sets don't have antennas.

But they do.

Hers does.

Mob rubs her temples. The ground beneath shakes a little. She's the only one to pay it any mind. Everyone else just goes about their day. People keep filing out of the building. A sea of uniforms. Faces unreadable. Slippery. Muted. The world seems muted, too, for a moment. Duller. Like a layer of color had been stripped from the world.

"What are staring at, bowl cut?" oh great. Asagiri again. Mob hadn't seen her coming. A dot of pink in a sea of white and blue uniforms.

"Nothing." Said Mob because she hadn't been staring at anything in particular. Maybe the boy. Maybe the boy who was standing there and was fantasy poured into reality and that didn't make sense because she knew the difference between fantasy and reality!

"Don't lie to me, bow cut. I thought you were Miss Perfect, Miss Manners, and all of that. Don't you know that it's rude to lie to your friends?" asked Asagiri. Mob wanted to tell her that they were most certainly not friends but said nothing. That would have been mean.

"I was looking at the world." Said Mob

"The world?" asked Asagiri

"Yes. The world. It's…the colors are weird." Said Mob

"Kind of washed out?" asked Asagiri in a voice that Mob had never heard from her before. Her face looked different, too. She looked prettier like that, when her face wasn't all mean and scrunched.

"Yes. Like washing clothes too many times." Said Mob. Asagiri nodded and looked around. A blackbird landed on the gate.

"Whatever. It's probably just because it's so gray out." Said Asagiri, her tone and face going back to normal.

"Yes. It is." Said Mob. She thought that it might have been too gray for….what season was this? She didn't have a calendar.

"I know where you were looking though." said Asagiri

"I wasn't looking at anything in particular." Said Mob

"Yes you were. You were looking in that direction, bowl cut." Said Asagiri grabbing Mob's face and turning her towards the gate. She had long nails. They were kind of sharp. Mob could feel them digging into her face.

"Ok." Said Mob

"OK? Is that all you have to say?" asked Asagiri

"What else do you want me to say?" asked Mob. Asagiri let her go and shoved her. Mob took a stumbling step but did not fall. Asagiri did not knock her down.

"How about 'sorry'? That's your favorite word isn't it, Miss Perfect? Miss Manners?" said Asagiri

"Ok. I'm sorry." Said Mob not sure what she was even apologizing for anymore. No. She shouldn't have to apologize. When people just said 'I'm sorry' like it was nothing then the words lost all meaning.

"Good. I don't know what I'm so mad about, I should be happy. He is hot, isn't he?" asked Asagiri

"Who?" asked Mob. The boy there was certainly attractive, though it went beyond the physical. Something…there was something about him. Something told Mob that he would be a very nice person. No. That was just in her mind. Some boy she liked to imagine when she was all alone, not this boy. This boy was real and this was reality and he was not the person she imagined. She knew the different between fantasy and reality.

"Don't play dumb, Shige-CHAN. I already caught you. If I ever catch you checking my boyfriend out again I'll kick your ass." Said Asagiri. Mob nodded. Fighting was stupid and she had no desire to accidentally hurt Asagiri. Not that she could.

"OK." Said Mob. She walked away from Asagiri as quickly as she could. She didn't even spare a glance at the boy as she walked past him. She walked as quickly as she could. Her foot still hurt, the cut there never fully closed because the walking bothered it. The quick walking was worse. At least she had learned her lesson.

She always checked her shoes for razorblades.

As she walked home she passed a construction site. Usually she walked past it as fast as she could, sometimes Asagiri would hide there with her friends to smoke and drink and stuff. Mob did not fancy a beer bottle getting pitched at her head again. This time, though, she slowed down. There was a little mewing sound coming from one of the big concrete cylinders. Mob set her school bag down and climbed inside. She moved slowly, she could see the glittering of broken glass from when Asagiri and her friends would smash their empty bottles. She tried to tread carefully but she wasn't careful enough and cut the palm of her hand. She wiped the blood off and kept going.

Even though this was so dumb. It just sounded like a cat. She had hurt herself for no good reason. This would just leave another scar. Maybe it would even get infected and she'd end up with blood poisoning or something like that. It just wanted to use her, this cat. It was just calling out to her because it wasn't strong enough to protect itself. It would use her to extend it's own lifespan and give her nothing in return, just scraps of affection. She'd just end up making her own life more difficult having to care for this cat. She'd end up getting hurt if she had to split her focus between her own survival and the survival of another creature. She should just turn back.

Mob felt something in her hair. Oh. A spider. She yanked it out of her hair and squished it.

There was a white cat at the end of the tunnel. It looked at her with big blue eyes. She looked back at it.

"Hello? Do you live here? I'm sorry to intrude on your home but I just thought that you needed some help." Said Mob holding out her hand. She knew full well that cats did not talk. She was just being friendly. It was nice to have something to listen to her, to have something to talk to that was real.

The cat sniffed her hand and nuzzled her. Mob petted it.

"My name is Shigeko but everyone calls me Mob. Do you have a name? Hmm…no collar. You're a stray, aren't you? I know that feeling." Said Mob. She could take the cat home with her. A friend. Someone to come home to. Someone to love and care for and who would love her right back.

"Do you want to come home with me and be my friend? You don't have to be my friend, though, but I would like it if you came home with me." Said Mob. The cat shrank away from her. She blinked back something prickly.

"I understand if you don't want to come home with me. I understand. Nobody likes me, cat. Nobody has ever liked me…but that's ok. I'm still a good person. I'm still a good person and…and I'll be back tomorrow. I'll bring you some milk. How does that sound? Yes…you'll be here because I'll bring you milk. You'll love me if I bring you milk." Said Mob blinking a few times. The cat seemed to like this arrangement. Good. The cat would like her if she took care of it. That was how it went. People liked you if you had something that you could do for them.

True to her word Mob came back the next day with a carton of milk she had managed to save from lunch. Asagiri had mostly left her alone. She had gotten her first kiss and she had spent all of lunch telling her friends about it. Mob tried not to listen. She passed the boy on her walk home from school again. He had said 'hey' to her. She said nothing back. She no reason to talk to the mysterious boy with the yellow hair and the blue eyes and the super warm and comfy hoodie. He would probably be mean to her, too. He was with Asagiri after all.

She at least had the cat to talk to.

"Hello? Cat? I'm back. I brought the milk like I said I would. Keeping promises is important. I don't know who told me that, or even if someone told me that, but I do know that it's important. Here." Said Mob as she opened the milk carton and tore off most of the top. The broken glass in the tunnel dug into her knees. The cut on her hand had at least stopped bleeding, so there was that. The cat came up to her slowly and took a careful lap of the milk.

"I have plenty of milk today. Asagiri didn't dump any on me. She's a girl in my class. Everyone likes her but she doesn't like me. At least I think that she doesn't. She says that we're friends but she always treats me like she doesn't like me. I don't understand why. I don't understand a lot of things." Said Mob. The cat looked at up her as it lapped up the milk.

"Maybe she'll be nicer to me. She has a boyfriend now and maybe being in love will make her nicer. I get the feeling that he's nice, her boyfriend. I don't know. He just reminds me of someone I met in a dream. It's dumb. Crazy. Maybe I'm going crazy." Said Mob. The cat stopped drinking and moved to the back of the concrete cylinder. There was a wall behind it so it was more like a tiny cave. Heh. Maybe Mob could live her too. Shut out the world. Spend the rest of her life in the cave. Maybe she could even sweep out the broken glass.

"I'll try and come back tomorrow, too, if Asagiri and her friends aren't here. I'll get rid of some of this broken glass, too. Cuts are awful. Believe me, I know." Said Mob. She climbed out of the tunnel slowly but she still ended up with glass stuck in her knees. Getting it out later that night had been difficult. Her tweezers were old and dull and the peroxide she cleaned her cuts with hurt badly. She still needed to keep the cuts clean, she had learned about germs and infections in science glass. The burning meant that it was working. It would fade, eventually, and the nurse had thrown her another box of bandages so at least she wouldn't have to worry about dying of blood poisoning anytime soon.

Not that anyone would notice if she died.

She was all alone, like cat. She and cat were both strays. Well, she had a home at least. She had a home but it was dusty and dirty and empty but at least she had one. Cat had a home too, though. Maybe. He seemed happy there. Or maybe cat was a she. Mob wasn't going to look or anything, that would be rude. She liked to think of cat as a she, though. Cat was a she and the other cats didn't like her and that was why she lived alone in the cylinder. She was hiding from the other mean cats. She didn't know what she had ever done to the other cats. Maybe it was the fact that she existed. Maybe everyone would be happier if she just vanished.

Maybe the world would have been a better place if Mob just vanished. If she was gone then people wouldn't have to be mean to her. They'd have a lot more time on their hands. There must have just been something about her. She was weird. She had always been weird. She was born wrong and everyone else was born right. Everyone else knew what to do and what to say and how to read faces and tones and she just didn't. That was what was wrong with her and that was why nobody in the world liked her.

She closed her eyes and tried to drift off. The TV was still going. She left it on all night most nights. It was nice to hear other voices in the house, even if they weren't real. Usually when she woke up the back of the TV was so hot she couldn't touch it. At least it wasn't dusty. The glass of the screen was the only thing that Mob dusted. She could see the picture more clearly if it wasn't dusty. She had a color TV so she'd better use it.

Why was that a thing though, color? Didn't all TVs have color?

She had been listening to Asagiri for too many weeks. Months? Mob didn't know. Too much time. Asagiri was so rich she had a TV in every single room of her mansion. She had a massive bathtub too, and two swimming pools. One inside and one outside. She had grounds, too, not a yard. She had gardens and a hedge maze and her own tennis court and croquet space too. Her dad had even said that she could get racetrack built so she could drive her dad's cars on a closed course so she wouldn't get in trouble. She had all of this stuff and she still went on and on about how bored she was. Mob didn't get it. Maybe it was true what they said, money couldn't buy happiness.

Money could buy the things that made you happy, though. Money could buy you whatever you wanted, even power. Maybe that was what Asagiri wanted, power. She sure seemed to like to be bossy, anyway. Money was the greatest human motivator. Money and sex. If you had money and sex then you could have power. That power was shaky, though, and artificial. The only real power was the strength that came from within. The inborn strength that nobody could ever take away from you. The power to command the universe. To move atoms to your will. To break down the barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead. That was true power and with that a person could put those with artificial power in their places.

Mob woke up with a start. She brushed something off of her face. Oh. A fly.

That had been a weird thing to dream. She turned onto her side, away from the TV. She could still hear it. She wished that she had a clock downstairs. Her clock was upstairs. She didn't need it, she always got up early. She went to be early, when the sun went down, so she got up around dawn. No reason to stay up late. Nothing to do anyway.

Get up. Go to school. Her made fun of. Come home. Watch TV. Fall asleep.

Rinse and repeat.

Mob sat up. She was in her nightgown. Long and mostly white. There was a big rust colored stain in the back. Washcloths didn't work so well if you were laying down. She had no idea how to get the stain out, no amount of soaking or peroxide seemed to work, and she didn't have anything else to sleep in. White and long and lacy. Like a doll.

She was a doll and this was her dollhouse.

It was too small. Much too small.

Mob tossed her nightgown off and pulled her uniform off the hanger on the wall. She had three things to wear. Her nightgown, her uniform, and her pink dress with the white buttons that she wore on the weekends…whenever they came around. It was mostly school days. Monday through Saturday. She didn't have anywhere to go to on Saturday nights or Sundays. She had nowhere to go now, too.

But she still left.

Her feet took her to the office again.

She looked up into the windows. The faded 'for rent' sign was still there to proclaim the office's vacancy. She just stared up there even as the night got colder. She could see her breath. Her pink dress was pretty thing but a thin thing, too. Decorative. Useless against the cold. Unseasonable? What season was it? She didn't know. She did know that she needed a coat. It was cold out here and she'd end up catching cold. It didn't matter though, did it? If she caught cold. Who would care? Who would make her soup and bring her medicine and help her get better?

Nobody.

She had nobody.

She could lay down in this street and die and nobody in the whole wide world would care. She could just close her eyes and fall asleep here in the middle of the street. The murders probably wouldn't even bother her. She wasn't worth their time. There were important people in the world to murder, like Asagiri. If Asagiri ever got kidnapped or murdered or anything her dad would probably just offer a big reward to whoever could bring his daughter back. He had money to throw around for her. Money was the greatest human motivator after all. He'd just throw money at people until they either saved Asagiri or found a way to bring her spirit to him if she died.

Mob would still save Asagiri if a murderer or a kidnapper got to her.

That was what nice people did.

Even though Asagiri didn't really deserve it.

Asagiri didn't deserve anything that she had. She had nice things and a big house full of people and plenty of friends. She hadn't done a damn thing to earn any of them. The truth of one's charm was in their kindness and Mob hadn't earned herself a damn thing by being kind. Maybe she should just do what Asagiri did, it seemed to be working. Be mean and hateful and make the lives of others worse.

No.

That was insane.

If she did something like that she'd disappoint….

She'd let herself down.

Then everything would come tumbling down.

And Mob could not have that.

She could not have what little she had come tumbling down. The her that existed in her mind had to be the her that existed in life. She was a good person in her mind and therefore she had to be a good person in life. She couldn't let herself down like that. No matter what happened to her she would never stop being a good person. No matter what new meanness Asagiri cooked up in her mind Mob would get through it. She would not become that sort of person. No amount of pain could change her mind.

Mob hadn't counted on pleasure.

Mob walked quickly to school, as usual. Her late night of office watching, for once, hadn't caused her to oversleep. She even managed to leave earlier. She had taken to getting to school super early as to not give people a chance to mess with her shoes. Sometimes it worked and sometimes she found her shoes full of glue or glass or razorblades or, on one occasion, gross bloody things. No, not bloody. Nail polish. Asagiri got a good laugh out of that one. Mob hadn't seen the humor in that one. She never saw the humor in what Asagiri did.

The wind whipped her hair. Thank goodness she had decided to always keep it in braids. The braids kept it from getting all matted when it came time to brush it. She reached behind herself to hold down her skirt. That was a strong wind, very strong for…whatever season this was. The sky was grey. The air had a bite to it. She wondered what month it was. She couldn't ask. Only an idiot would ask. She hoped that she hadn't missed October tenth. That was an important day. She didn't know why but she knew that it was important.

She heard someone calling after her. She kept on walking.

Footsteps followed her. She walked faster. The footsteps came faster.

"Wait! Girl!" a boy's voice. Wrong. It sounded wrong, almost like someone doing an impression. Mob stopped, though, and turned around. A boy caught up to her. Red face and panting. His hair was yellow, not the sandy sort of blonde Mob imagined. Very yellow. His eyes were blue, truly blue. Blue like not even the sky way. A riot of color. Someone to chase the grey away.

"Yes?" asked Mob. She held her bag in front of her defensively. This was Asagiri's boyfriend. He could have been just as mean as she was. Or worse. Boys were their own creatures. Mob didn't know any boys but she knew how they were. Meaner than girls. Rougher. Asagiri shoved her a lot but never actually fought her.

"You lost this." Said the boy. He handed her a blue ribbon. She reached over and felt her braid. Oh. It had come loose.

"Thank you." Said Mob. She took the ribbon and tried to retie her braid with one hand. It didn't work. The boy reached over to take her school bag. She clutched it to her chest and took a step back.

"It's ok, I won't do anything. I just wanted to hold it so you could fix your hair." Said the boy

"That's ok. I can manage." Said Mob looking him up and down. He didn't have the same sort of way about him that Asagiri had. He seemed…nice.

"You sure? Here, let me help you." Said the boy. To Mob's surprise he did not reach for her bag but instead her ribbon. Mob stood perfectly still as he retied the end of her braid. When he was done his hand lingered in her hair. She bit the inside of her mouth as her face heated up from the proximity. The only times people ever got this close to her were to mess with her.

"Thank you." Said Mob finding her voice. The boy let go of her hair but he did not back away. He was so close. He smelled nice too. Kind of like boy perfume. It was nice but…off? Different than what she was used to. Not that she was used to anything.

"You're welcome. I'm-" said the boy before a familiar pink dot entered Mob's field of vision.

"Teruki! What are you doing?!" said Asagiri. Mob took a step back, then another, and another.

"Well looks like I've got to go. See you around, girl." Said the boy, presumably Teruki. Mob nodded and ran off before Asagiri could get to her. Oh no. She was in for it…and she hadn't even done anything! It wasn't her fault that the stupid wind blew her ribbon off! It wasn't her fault that the boy had helped her out! She didn't ask to be helped!

But it had been nice. Having another human being show her kindness had been nice. Nobody had showed her kindness in….ever.

Of course she'd have to pay. She always had to pay. She had to pay for her very existence. It seemed, sometimes, that every part of her existence was just so wrong and nobody in the world would ever want to be with her or be nice to her and all she had were dreams and only if she were stronger then she could….but she was not strong.

The bird outside the window flew away.

Mob was at her desk now. She wasn't paying attention to the lesson. She never paid attention to the lessons. She never learned anything anyway. Paying attention the person in front of her was much more important. Asagiri was sitting up perfectly straight. Rigid. Like someone had replaced her spine with a meter stick. Mob knew what was coming. Asagiri would hit her. Mob had been warned and she hadn't listened and now she had to sit and wait to get beat up.

Why did this have to happen to her? She hadn't done anything.

Because she was weak.

Mob wished that whatever awful thing Asagiri was planning on doing to her would just happen already. All this waiting, this worrying, it was making her tired. Tense. She ran a hand across the scar on her leg. It was better just to get whatever it was over with so she could just be done with it. Or was waiting and worrying part of the torture?

Mob even ate lunch at her desk that day to make the waiting stop. Asagiri paid her no mind. She was busy on the other side of the room talking to her friends. She had some of those instant pictures in her hand, the ones you had to shake when they popped out. Everyone was oohing and aahing. Mob watched her. Maybe Asagiri wasn't going to do anything. Maybe she had just forgotten all about her threat. Maybe Mob could go on to finish out her day in peace. She'd visit cat and go home and watch TV and eat cup noodles and just have a normal day. Mob saved milk carton. The milk carton in her bag was a reminder that this was a normal day and she had to get through it because there was someone in this world who depended on her.

Mob managed to get through lunch. Now it was home economics class. A nice change of pace from gym. Today they were learning how to make clothes. Dresses to be specific. Maybe Mob could take hers home. It was a project that they were working on and hopefully Mob's was good enough to wear. She could have used another dress. The boys all had to learn handicraft. Mob was glad that she didn't have to go to the handicraft room, there were lots of sharp things in there that could hurt her. Here she just had to worry about needles and scissors.

Everyone else got a sewing machine but there weren't enough for the whole class so Mob was stuck sewing hers by hand. It was tedious work, mostly because Mob was really bad at sewing. She could see in her mind's eye what she was supposed to do but when it came time to do it her hands felt like she was wearing gardening gloves. The cut on her hand wasn't helping, either. The constant movement made it difficult for the cut to close properly. She'd end up with a brand new scar soon enough.

Up. Down. In. Out. Sewing was tedious and monotonous. It was easy to get into a lull. Up. Down. In. Out. The movement was comforting, repetitive. All of them were. Mob, for the first time that day, let her guard down. Only for a second. The second was all that was needed. Mob didn't see it coming.

A glint of light off steel.

A snip.

A sudden lightness.

Mob didn't know what happened for a moment. Then she heard the laughing. Giggles. High giggles. She reached over and felt her braid. The space where her braid should have been. She dropped her sewing onto the floor and just felt for her braid. She knew it was gone but she still felt for it. Her hand shook. Gone. Her braid was gone.

"Sorry. My scissors slipped. Just like your stupid ribbon." Muttered Asagiri as she leaned in close behind Mob. Mob could feel the scissors pressed against her side. Cold. Hard. A thought enters her mind. A crazy thought. She could take the scissors and show Asagiri what this felt like. She wasn't weak. She could take them out of Asagiri's hand and-

But she wouldn't.

The truth of her charm was in her kindness. She just had to be a good person.

She passed the boy on her way home from school again. He said hi. She didn't say anything. She just ran all the way home. She even forgot about cat. She just ran down the streets, past the rows of identical houses, and into hers. She slammed the door behind her as she entered and ran straight to the bathroom. Maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe it was fine. She had been avoiding mirrors all day so she wouldn't have to look at herself. She didn't know why she was so worked up. It was just hair. It would grow back eventually. It didn't' hurt. It wasn't like her skin had been cut or anything.

But her braid was gone. Her hair was long. It would take **years** to grow her hair back to what it had been. Years and years. In this world. Years and years in this world. Mob felt the floor quake under her feet. No. Calm down. It's just hair. She just needed to…she needed to…she needed to even it out. She needed to even it out. She just needed to…to chop off the other braid.

She remembered fingers running through her hair. She remembered laying her head down on someone's lap and having someone's fingers in her hair while something was on TV, she didn't know a what, but she was so warm and safe and loved.

A dream.

This was reality.

Mob took a pair of scissors from the drawer under the sink. She let her hair out of it's other braid. Short. Choppy. Above her shoulders. She'd have to cut her hair so it was even. It had been to the middle of her back before. The only part of her hair that she cut was her fringe. She could just get the bowl from the kitchen and chop it short. The whole thing short. Like a boy's hair.

In the end that was what she ended up doing.

She tried to get her hair to an even length but she just could not. No matter what she did it was just so uneven. In the end she just got the bowl from the kitchen and chopped it down to a boy's bowl cut. Her head felt too light. She shook her head. No. This felt wrong. Too light. Her back and neck felt naked. Itchy, too. She didn't want to look in the mirror. She knew she looked like a boy. She could have so easily passed as a boy before and now with her hair this short she'd might as well get herself a boy's uniform and change her name to Shigeo.

Mob didn't change her name. She was still Mob, Shigeko, even though nobody ever called her that. She was still herself even though her hair was short. It would grow back. It would take a few years but it would grow back. There was no point in stressing about it now. What was the point? What happened, happened. Now she just had to go and pass out in front of the TV like normal. Wait, no, she had forgotten to feed cat. Cat needed her. She couldn't be selfish like this. She had someone who depended on her and when someone depended on you to do something then you were supposed to do it. It didn't matter if you felt really bad you still had to do what you said that you were going to do.

So she did just that. She even got the broken glass out of cat's home.

The way home took her past the decorative thickets that someone had decided would make the walk to school prettier for the students. At least that was what Mob thought. They were pretty enough but Mob remembered them being more overgrown. They should have been more overgrown. The bushes provided no privacy for the couple within and Mob felt like a terrible snoop walking past them as they did…couple things.

Pink. Yellow.

Asagiri.

She ran home. She did not need to run into Asagiri again. She did not need to know what Asagiri did to people who interrupted her and her boyfriend doing…stuff. Maybe it was worse than what she did to people who accepted help from him even though they did not want or need it. Maybe it was worse than what she did to people who were quiet and kind of weird. Whatever it was Mob did not want to know. She ran all the way home and locked the door behind her. She could almost feel herself being followed. She threw herself down on the couch and pulled her blanket up over her head. It smelled weird. She needed to wash it again.

Mob came out of her hiding spot, briefly, to walk over to the TV and turn the knob to the on position. It took some force, the knob tended to stick, but she got it. She didn't know what channel she was watching, it didn't matter anyway, but soon she was back underneath her blanket. She closed her eyes as tightly as she could.

This was just another day. Tomorrow would be another day. Every single day was like the one before it. She felt something on her arm. Probably another bug. She tried to shake it off. She hoped that it was gone, bugs were so gross. Eventually Mob drifted off to sleep, to the world of dreams, a much better world than the one she inhabited. Tonight, however, her dreams were filled not with the man but with the boy. The blond boy. And his hair was blond, not yellow.

Blond like wheat. Sort of softish but still really nice. It smelled nice, too. His hair smelled like citrus. His skin smelled like winterberry lotion directly after a shower and body spray at all other times. His skin was so impossibly soft, mainly because of all the lotions and potions he covered himself in. Mob doesn't care for that kind of stuff. It makes her skin feel all greasy and weird. He says that her skin is soft anyway. Soft and smooth and he loves to run his hands up and down her bare skin. Especially when they're all alone in his room and it's kind of dark out but the lights are on so it doesn't matter and she's not dressed and neither is her but she's not at all embarrassed because he's him and she's her and they've been like this before and she's not embarrassed but she's nervous because they've done this before and it never stops feeling sort of weird but it's starting to feel kind of good too but he tends to cry and she has no idea what to do but then it doesn't matter because he's doing that thing she likes and oh-!

Mob wakes up in a cold sweat. The room is illuminated by the glow of the TV. It's an anime that she's seen a thousand times already and she'll probably end up seeing a thousand times again. The dream, however, is not one that she's had a thousand times. She's dreamt of this before many times but it's always been vague feelings, thoughts, and impressions. That felt almost like a string of…memories….but that was insane. Mob had never done that before with anyone, let alone Asagiri's boyfriend.

She tried to go back to sleep. It did not come easy but it came.

She took a different route to school that morning. It didn't help. She still ran into that boy. He was waiting for Asagiri by their school gates. Mob tried to hurry past him.

"Whoa! What happened to you hair?" asked the boy. He blocked Mob's way. Mob shook her head.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you." Said Mob trying to walk past him. He still stood in her way. Mob clutched her school bag to her chest and stared at the ground.

"Who says?" asked the boy

"Your girlfriend." Said Mob. She shrank into herself. Maybe if she made herself smaller then Asagiri wouldn't be able to see her. Maybe if she made herself smaller than she was the boy wouldn't look at her, either. She could feel him looking at her. It made her heart beat faster. Kind of in a scared way, the way she got when people looked at her, but there was another layer to it too. A layer that Mob did not want to acknowledge.

"You're just going to listen to her? You can do whatever you want." Said the boy

"My life is my own." Said Mob softly. Someone….important….had told her that….

"Yeah! Exactly! I like talking to you and I'd like to continue. Nobody tells me what to do but if you asked me to leave you alone then I would." Said the boy. Mob shook her head.

"I guess….Asagiri doesn't like it…." Said Mob. She reached up and felt the choppy mess she had made out of her hair.

"But what do you like?" asked the boy

"Not getting beaten up." Said Mob. Asagiri was perfectly clear. If she talked to this boy then a beating would be forthcoming. Mob had no interest in getting beaten up. Not getting full on beaten up was the only reason she was happy that she was a girl. Sure Asagiri shoved her and threw stuff at her and treated her like garbage but she had never full on beaten Mob up.

"I'd never beat you up." Said the boy. For a moment Mob has a…thought? She's being thrown around. She's limp, like a ragdoll.

"I'm not talking about you." Said Mob softly. She felt the ugly scar on the side of her arm. There was always something worse. Asagiri would always come up with something worse. It was her hobby or something. Mob wished that's he would take up something like sewing or cooking or English. Mob could even help her with that….she spoke some English….heh.

"You shouldn't let her treat you like that. You don't deserve it." Said the boy. He reached over and tilted her face upwards. Mob flushed at the contact.

"…how can you say that? You don't even know my name…." said Mob softly. This felt nice. When was the last time somebody had touched her, honestly touched her? Touched her without trying to hurt or humiliate her? Never. Never in her entire….memory. This was her first real memory of being touched that she….wanted. She wanted this.

"Well then why don't we introduce ourselves? I'm Teruki." Said the boy. Mob nodded.

"I know. I heard her call you Teruki." Said Mob even though Teruki didn't...fit. It seemed like too much. He should shorten it. Teru would have fit better. Of course Mob was not Asagiri and did not think that she had the right to go around calling people whatever she wanted to.

"And you are? I don't think that your name is really bowl-cut and I think you're a little too old to be chan to anyone. Just Shige then?" asked the boy. Mob felt her heart stop for a moment. Her name. What was…she knew full well what her name was. Nobody ever used it but she did know it. She was Shigeko. She was Mob. She was…she was Mob. Shigeko didn't…fit…her.

"My name is….Mob." said Mob. A name which made her feel good, Mob. Not Shigeko, her actual given name. Given to her by people she did not know. People who had peopled this world with her. Mob made her feel so good inside, the word. The name. The name attached to this formless blob of existence that was her. Why? It was supposed to be a mean nickname. She blended in. She was unnoticeable. She was Mob. Mobbu. The word was different in English. A large group of people, yes, but one that was stronger for coming together. _The angry mob hung the criminal._ A sentence from a long ago completed English assignment. Write a sentence with her name in it. She was…smaller…then. She came up to his waist. His? No. There had never been anyone. A memory from a dream. That was all.

"Well, Mob, it's nice to meet you." Said the boy. He took her hand and Mob thought that he was going to shake it but instead he kissed the top of it. Mob felt her entire self turn red. This was a lot. Someone touching her without hurting her. Someone using her name without being mean….this was…what was this feeling?

It bubbled under her skin like an unattended kettle. Nervous energy. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to be near him. She wanted…she wanted a great many things with him. She knew this feeling. She woke up like this sometimes….no. This wasn't that feeling. A person couldn't have feelings like that without being in love.

So therefore she was in love.

She was in love with Asagiri's boyfriend. She hoped that Asagiri didn't know, couldn't somehow sense that Mob had defied her. Had done the direct opposite of what she was told. Hadn't seen this. Wasn't lurking around like the birds that seemed to be following her around. Asagiri would beat her up for this. But why? It wasn't like she had set out to feel like this. She had even tried to avoid that boy….Teruki…she had tried to avoid him but he had found her. He had found her while he was waiting for Asagiri but…but maybe he had been waiting for her….but that was a crazy thought.

But why was it a crazy thought? Who was Asagiri to be telling her what to do? They were the same age. She did not have to listen to someone who was her age. She didn't have to listen to anyone. She was all alone, her own person. Her life was her own. If her life was her own then she could do whatever she wanted with it. Love was a good feeling, the only good feeling that she had felt in…however long it had been….and she would be in love if she…wanted…to be. Better to be made of love than meanness. Better to show love than hurt others. The truth of one's charm was in their kindness and therefore there was nothing wrong with being in love with someone so long as you never…did…anything about it.

But would doing something about it really be a bad thing? Love was good and therefore showing and sharing love was good, too. Mob was a good person. She had never done anything to give misery or misfortune to anyone else. Love was not misery and misfortune. It was good feelings and happiness and joy. Feelings that Asagiri probably didn't have the capacity to feel. A lot of people didn't have the capacity to feel. But Mob did. Out of everyone in this world she was the only person who did not spread misery and misfortune to others. She never did anything bad to anyone. She was always good and nice and kind. So what was wrong with feeling like this? Acting on the way she felt?

That was what people did, wasn't it? They acted in their own best interests. She would just act like all other people acted. She would do what made her happy for once. She would feel something positive for once, something that could pull her from the miserable malaise of her existence. She had been such a good person up to this point. Her life was her own and she would do whatever she wanted with it. She couldn't live her entire life being used and hurt by others. She couldn't just exist to be the universe's punching bag.

There was an ant on her leg. She let it be. It wasn't bothering her.

She was in love. Nothing could bother her.

Not even when Asagiri drew attention to the mess she had made of her hair. Everyone laughed. People came over and tugged on the choppy mop top/bowl cut she had done herself. Mob just kept her head down until they got bored. She closed her eyes and thought of the boy. It helped a lot.

Not even when, later on, Asagiri had shoved her down the stairs for talking to her boyfriend before school again. Walking was kind of hard now, her ankle was swollen and she had trouble putting weight o it. It was worth it, though, to talk to someone who was nice to her. Who she loved.

Not even when she had come to school to find her desk covered in curse words and insults. Her teacher made her spend the entire day scrubbing off the permanent marker. The next day they had been carved into her desk. Mob just kept her books on her desk so she wouldn't have to look.

Not even when Asagiri spat on her every single time she had to walk by her desk. It was germy and gross but Mob could always go home and take a bath. Then her bathtub faucet stopped working. She just took sink baths after that. She didn't mind. She felt good about something, someone, for once.

Not even later that day when she had to hide in the half constructed house to give cat the milk she had saved. Asagiri was there and Mob had to hide behind some drywall in the cold until she got bored and left. Her fingers had turned colors and it took a while to get the feeling back but she had given cat her milk.

She talked to Asagiri's boyfriend again. She was punished for it again. Hit in the face on 'accident' with a text book. She barely minded the split lip. This just made Asagiri even madder.

Mob still talked to Asagiri's boyfriend. He ran into her when she was feeding cat.

"What's its name?" asked the boy, Teruki. They were in the concrete cylinder together. It was cold outside, getting dark, so he huddled close to her. She liked it. The proximity. It made her feel warm and nervous but in a good way. A happy sort of nervousness.

"Cat. Just cat." Said Mob

"That's all?" said the boy

"Yes. She's a cat so I called her cat. I know, it's dumb." Said Mob

"No, I don't think so. I think it's cute, like you." Said the boy

"….are you making fun of me?" asked Mob. The boy took her hand in his.

"I would never make fun of you." Said the boy. Mob let him take her hand. She let him chase away the cold that surrounded them. Warm. She was so warm. Someone who wouldn't be awful…someone who wouldn't be mean…

"Thank you." Said Mob finding some words. She shook. With what she did not know. Cold? No, she was warm for once. Nerves? Happiness? Cat was nuzzling her, too. Cat was so soft and warm and loving. This was a good place. This was a happy place. The only happy place that she could remember. A real memory, not a memory from a dream.

"No, thank you." Said the boy

"For what?" asked Mob

"For being such a good person. I mean, I like Minori but she can be a little…much…you know?" asked the boy. Mob nodded. Asagiri could be mean and hateful and violent and seemed to live to spread misery. That was just how people were. Some people. Not all people. Mob wasn't like that. This boy wasn't like that.

"Then why are you with her?" asked Mob

"Because she's good for me, socially." Said the boy. Mob frowned. That would make sense. People wanted to be Asagiri's friend because she was rich. Money made her popular. Money was the greatest human motivator. Money and sex.

"That makes sense, I guess." Said Mob

"You know, if you tried you could give her a run for her money. I mean, what else does she have going for her besides being rich? You've got a lot going for you. You're a strong person, you know? You put up with a lot of crap. Why not give some of that back? Why not give her a taste of her own medicine?" asked the boy

"Because that wouldn't be very nice. The truth of my charm is in my kindness so I just have to focus on being a good person." Said Mob. The boy got very close.

"Do you think that you're being a good person now?" asked the boy

"Yes. I'm feeding Cat." Said Mob

"What else are you doing?" asked the boy

"Sitting here with you, I guess." Said Mob

"But I'm not your boyfriend." Said the boy. Mob nodded. This was wrong, wasn't it? It was one thing to think about things but it was a whole other thing to act on those feelings. Not that she was acting on anything. Asagiri had made herself perfectly clear, though, but Asagiri was mean and-and didn't deserve to feel this way.

"I know." Said Mob

"And that doesn't bother you?" asked the boy

"Yes and no." said Mob

"Which is it? Yes or no?" asked the boy

"I'm not sure. I'm really not sure. You're here too, though, so I'm not making you do anything that you don't want to do." Said Mob

"What if I said that I wanted to kiss you? That's not something that I don't want to do but is it something that you do?" asked the boy. Mob felt her heart stop. That would be crossing a line. That would be mean. That would be awful. She could not do something like that to another person. She could not hurt someone like that.

"I want to kiss you but I won't. That would be mean and I'm not a mean person." Said Mob. She could act in her own self-interests but those self-interests would hurt another person. She could not hurt another person. She could not let herself down like that. She could not do something so awful and she couldn't believe that she had ever even began to think about doing something like that.

"How can it be mean? I want to, you want to. It's simple." Said the boy

"Because that would hurt Asagiri." Said Mob

"But she hates you. She torments you every single day. Why would you be even the slightest bit concerned about how she feels?" asked the boy

"That's not a nice way to think, especially from you because you're her boyfriend and she really loves you. Every day in class she talks about how much she loves you and how amazing you are. I don't…I don't like Asagiri but I can't just let myself down like that. It doesn't matter what I want or what makes me happy. I have to be a good person. If you want to be with me then break up with Asagiri, otherwise….otherwise please…let go of my hand." Said Mob. She wanted to kiss him, she really did. Something told her that she would like it. Something told her that kissing was fun and everything that came afterwards was fun too and she would really like it. Well that didn't matter.

"But you don't want me to. I know that you don't want me to." Said the boy

"What I want doesn't matter. I can't let myself down like that." Said Mob pulling her hand out of his grasp. She felt cold, suddenly, very cold. Her fingers and toes started to go numb from the cold.

"Don't be like that. Why deny yourself? What's the point? You're just making the world worse for yourself, you know that, right?" asked the boy

"I don't care. The world isn't that bad, not if I can be a good person in it." Said Mob. If she let herself down then the world would become an unbearable trial. She had to be there for herself. She had to be a good person. All she had was herself. It would be so easy to kiss this boy….too easy…and nobody would know…but she would know….

If she were stronger she could have kissed him. Sex was a motivator and she liked sex. The idea of it, of course. She could grow stronger and take what she wanted and enjoy life on the terms that she wanted it. She could forget the rest of the liars and frauds and cheats and jerks of the world and just make herself happy. If she were stronger she could use her strength to chase the pleasures of life. Use the pleasures of life to chase away her constant companions, pain and misery. Pain and misery were terrible companions. They weighed her down, they made her cold, they made her alone and sad and….she didn't like them. Love was a new companion and she could…she could chase love to where it inevitably lead her. She didn't have to be small and weak. She could take what she wanted, and taking something that she wanted, deserved, from a bad person would not have been a bad thing….

She could Cat resting on her arm. Warm and safe and loving.

"How can something that feels good be bad?" asked the boy. He leaned into her space. Mob wanted to lean in and….but she couldn't…but she wanted to. She wanted to so badly. She wanted to kiss him and get rid of the pain and the misery of life but she…that would have been wrong…but was it wrong to take from someone who was terrible.

Mob closed the gap between them.

Then she ran away.

Sometimes you had to run away.

Mob runs all the way home and hides under her couch blanket. She lays there catching her breath. She…she let herself down….she was a terrible human being. That was what she was, a human being.

She was a selfish creature who only acted in her own self interests. She was human, no more or less than anyone else. She had just as much potential as anyone else to be bad. There was so much…so much badness in the world. She was a part of it. She was…she was terrible. She had broken the bonds between two people who loved…did Asagiri even feel love? Did she even feel anything besides the urge to make the lives of others worse? No. That didn't matter. Mob was only responsible for herself and she still had to be a good person. She had to…she had to be a good person. What she wanted didn't matter. She just had to keep on being a good person.

That night she dreamt about a man. The first thing he saw when he was born was not his mother but the spirits of a mother and her baby who had died in childbirth. Every moment of his life he spent straddling the lines between the world of the living and the dead. He couldn't tell spirits from people when he was young, the two worlds were one for him. He could see both planes of existence. A medium. The world's greatest medium.

He was the world's greatest medium as a man but as a boy he was just strange. His father left when he was three and wouldn't stop talking to people who weren't there. His mother worked very hard to take care of the two of them. The boy knew how tired his mother was and never bothered her for things. Even when he outgrew his clothes. Even when he got sick. Even when he was so, very, alone. Alone and cold in an empty house in a world empty of everyone except the dead.

When the boy got older he realized that there was a difference between the living and the dead. He was seeing spirits, both good and bad. He could see them and even make them go away when they bothered people. He made some money when he was a boy getting rid of unwanted spirits. Getting rid of them and even bringing them over from the other side. He was a helper. He helped people.

He used his abilities to become famous. He toured the country performing séances and exorcisms. He reunited the living and the dead when they wanted it and helped the dead pass on when they needed it. He even made money. He needed the money for his mother. She was so tired from working all the time. She was tired and he needed money so that she could be happy. He took on more and more work, even quitting school so he could work more.

But mom was still tired, even when she stopped working. Sick. Mom got sick and the boy, now a man, could only sit back and watch her deteriorate. He watched from afar because he had to keep on working. He helped others so that he could have the money to help her. Money. It always came down to money. Money was the greatest human motivator. His power was nothing if it couldn't make him money.

No matter how much money he made his mother never got better. He worked every single job that he could pick up. He even started using his powers to hurt people. He could take in energy and create something new from it, curses. He could curse others so that they died. They died and he collected the money. It all came down to money.

In the end all the money in the world couldn't save the man's mother. She died and he saw it happen. At first he hadn't realized that she was dead. The worlds of the living and the dead had always been merged to him. Spirits and people were on the same level to him. Neither mattered. The only thing that mattered was making more money so he could keep his mom alive for just a little bit longer. In the end it was all for nothing. She turned into an evil spirit as she died. It was his fault. He had invited this fate onto his mother. He allowed others to use him, his abilities, for their own gain. He had relied on others, too. Others to save his mom. Others to pay him.

He didn't need anyone but himself. The world of the living and the world of the dead were one in the same for him. He had spent his entire existence with one foot in the world of the living and one foot in the world of the dead. He was tired of straddling that line. He knew what he had to do. He ate. He ate any and all spirits that he came across until he could barely hold himself together. He became strong, strong enough that he would never need anyone again. When he was so strong that he didn't need another living being he exited the world of the living.

Choking. Pain. Numbness. Then nothing. Darkness.

Then weightlessness. Then determination. Then he knew what he had to do.

He would punish all the evil people of the world. He would use his strength to knock down those who would do harm to others. He was the strongest being in the world. The greatest psychic of the twentieth century. No man had ever been his equal. He had a responsibility to put those who used others in their place. That was what he was determined to do. For an indeterminate amount of time he existed only as a force in the world. He entered the bodies of those who would do evil and locked them within their own minds. They lived with themselves as they were until they went mad. Sometimes he took over the bodies of others, too, to ferret out the evil people.

He came upon a girl one day. She was pouring her soda over the head of another girl. She was securing her place in society. Nobody opposed her. She had money. It all came down to money. The greatest human motivator. Money led to power and that was what people wanted from her. Her money and a taste of the power she wielded from it. He used the girl. First to punish the parasites who used others for their own gain, who sought to use her money and power for themselves. He wore the girl like a suit, a second skin, not that he even had a first skin.

The vessel was useful. The girl was locked away in her mind. In the world she had made for herself. She didn't go mad in this world. She loved it. She loved being the protagonist of her own little world. The little princess on her own little planet. Their relationship was symbiotic. It worked. Then it didn't. The father grew concerned. He took the girl's body before countless counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and finally psychics. Self-proclaimed psychics.

Liars, frauds, thieves, and weaklings. The man had never known an equal in life and, for a time, it seemed the same way in death. He tossed aside the liars, frauds, and thieves like they were nothing. He broke them. They deserved it. The used the gullibility of others to line their pockets. Typical humans. There were weaklings there, too. Weaklings who dared to oppose the man. Drunk on their own power. Thinking that they could even hold a candle to the man. They had gotten by letting others use them and their pathetic gifts to line their pockets. Money. It always came down to money.

Money and sex. The man never had much time for sex when he was alive. He had no time for Earthly pleasures in the pursuit of money. That didn't mean that he had never understood it. Sex was the other great human motivator. The liars, frauds, thieves, and weaklings in the crowd were motivated by money. The real deal, however, allowed herself to be motivated by sex.

She was real. The real deal. A being that could, in fact, hold a candle to the man. The girl was open. An open book. He read the girl when he could. She idolized him. She idolized him because the object of her desires had grown up idolizing the man. The object of her desires was another weakling. No. He was worse. Another liar. Another user. He used the girl. He used her desire for sex to use her as a tool to gain money. He had taken her to this place for the money. He had hand delivered the perfect disciple for money. The man was please. Such serendipity. He could mold the girl. He could take the girl and create a sympathizer, a successor.

But she would never leave the object of her affections. She knew, deep down, what he was. She lied to herself. She made herself into a liar for that liar. The object of her affections was the biggest liar the man had ever seen. He had lied to the girl for years and felt only the barest guilt. He had used her for years and continued to use her. Exploited her. Exploited her desire for him. It wouldn't have been so bad. If the object of her affections had given her what she wanted, if he had taken his place in the order of things, then maybe the man could have spared the girl the pain of his loss. But the girl had to experience his loss.

He held her back. The liar held her back. The liar kept the girl in a cage of her own making. She allowed physical desire to cloud her judgement. She was strong. She was the strongest thing in her world. She could have so easily taken what she wanted. She did not. A good person. The man used his words to build her a cage. She thought that she was a good person. She could be a good person. She had a world of promise in herself but she had allowed herself to be kept in bondage.

So the man set out to set her free. But she was stubborn. Pain and misery only strengthened her resolve. But she could be tempted. Sex was her greatest motivator and she had someone in her world she used to fulfil that need. She was just as bad as everyone else in the world. She just needed to realize it.

The man knew that she could be a good person. He just had to wait.

Mob woke up with a heavy weight on her body. She tried to move but she couldn't. It was dark, darker than it had ever been in her house. The TV was still on but it was a beacon of light off in the distance, like some kind of lighthouse. She felt something heavy and gross on top of her. She tried to thrash herself free. The room shook. The black room shook. She was surrounded by darkness. A thick, heavy, darkness. Her hands were suddenly pinned down. She looked up. All she could see was darkness.

"Do you understand, now?" a voice said. A mean one. She tried to get away but she was pinned down. A weight settled across her legs. She was totally and completely pinned down.

"You will understand. You will learn. Submit to it. Pain. Misery. Anger. Submit."

Then the weight was gone. She was back on her couch.

Just a bad dream.

Bad dreams, bad reality.

And Mob was a bad person.

She spent the entire school day waiting for Asagiri to do whatever awful things that he had planned. She always had something cooked up. Mob had the scars on her body to prove it. The scars weren't all bad. They reminded her that the past was real. That time, slippery as it was, was real. She couldn't remember a before time from all of this but at least she knew that there was a before today. Time was slippery but at least she knew that the before was real.

This was real. This was her reality. She thought that she could maybe make it better but in the end she had just become a bad person. As awful as Asagiri was she didn't deserve to have her boyfriend kissing someone else. Even if she did it was not Mob's place to go around punishing people. Even though Asagiri deserved it. Even though Asagiri was a person who enjoyed spreading pain and misery to others. It was still not Mob's place to make the lives of others worse. Even though she was no better than Asagiri.

She was human the same as everyone else. She could be just as terrible as everyone else. Why oh why did she have to kiss that boy?! Now Mob was terrible and she had probably made Asagiri feel the way that Mob felt every single day. Maybe she deserved what she got. Mob was no better or worse than anyone else. The truth of her charm was in her kindness but she had been terrible.

She was terrible. The world was terrible. Everything was terrible.

Maybe it should all just come tumbling down.

It should all return to nothing.

Why not? She just kept letting herself down.

Why not just end it all and live forever?

No. She couldn't. First of all she wasn't the one who got to decide when the world ended and began again. Second of all those were crazy people thoughts and she knew that she could not bring about third impact. Third impact? What about the others two….? Huh? Whatever. Crazy people thoughts. Thirdly she had to feed Cat after school. She had someone who depended on her and no matter how terrible she acted she couldn't let Cat die.

Asagiri was weirdly quiet for the whole day. She didn't even look at Mob. That was a welcome change of pace. Maybe she had decided to use her aggression and creativity for something other than tormenting people. Mob didn't question it, though, she just stayed out of Asagiri's way. It was a pretty calm day, actually, aside from the fact that Mob had aided and abetted in Asagiri's boyfriend cheating on her. Maybe her being bad had been so bad that it cancelled out all the other badness to be found in the world. That would make sense. Like two negative numbers making a positive. Hey! She even learned something in class!

This had been a good day.

Of course Mob had been a moron to even think that she could have a good day.

Asagiri ended up finding her when she was feeding Cat in the concrete cylinder. Mob hadn't even realized what was happened. One second she was getting the milk carton open for Cat and the next she was being dragged out by the back of her uniform. There was still broken glass in the tunnel, people kept on tossing bottles in there, and most of it ended up cutting up Mob's legs.

Mob saw darkness and then light as she was dragged out into the world. Asagiri was there. She looked…mean. Meaner than she had ever looked, before. She didn't say anything, she just stomped on Mob's chest. Mob felt the air leave her lungs and she couldn't draw more in.

"You. Bitch." Said Asagiri before kicking her in the side. A crowd was gathering. They were rooting for Asagiri.

"I'm sorry!" gasped out Mob as she found some air. Her chest was burning. Her legs stung. She tried to roll onto her side but Asagiri held her in place with her foot.

"Stop saying that. Just stop it." Said Asagiri before kicking Mob in the side again.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob again. She was…wasn't she? Or maybe she was just sorry because she was on the ground getting kicked. In the moment…had she been…she had wanted to. She was terrible.

"I told you to stop saying that! God! You think that you're so perfect! That you're so much better than me! Well you aren't!" said Asagiri kicking her some more. Mob rolled with the force of the kick and ended up on her knees. The broken glass dug into her. She felt a rattle when she inhaled.

"I don't…think….that…." said Mob as she tried to catch her breath. She tried to stand but was shoved to the ground. She laid down on her stomach. She felt something with his the back of her head. Oh. She had been spat on again. Again. Again and again and again with this…

"You do! You're such a hypocrite! I know what you did!" said Asagiri with her foot on Mob's back. Mob tried to get away but she couldn't. She just wasn't strong enough. She was weak. She was weak and she was terrible and now she was going to get beaten up and everyone was going to watch and laugh.

"I'm…sorry…" said Mob trying to get up. She could do a pushup. She wasn't this weak! She had gotten stronger! She had…but when….?

"No you aren't! You aren't!" screamed Asagiri. Mob heard a mew through the screams. Cat was sticking her head out to see what was happening. No. Run away. Mob squirmed free. She had to get cat to run away. There was no reason for cat to be there. She had nothing to do with this. She didn't deserve this. She was just small and scared and couldn't protect herself. It was up to Mob to protect her. Mob was stronger than Cat. When one person was gifted with strength they needed…they needed to use that strength to help others.

"I am." Said Mob. She was standing now. She put herself between Asagiri and Cat. She would not let Cat get hurt just because she had been terrible.

"No you aren't! I know you planned it! You brought my boyfriend out here so you could-could-ugh! You're such a bitch! You're a lying, conniving, bitch!" screamed Asagiri. Mob felt the ground under her shake. This didn't scare Cat away, instead it made cat come right up to Mob.

"I didn't plan anything. He asked me to kiss him. I said no a bunch of times but then I did. I did a terrible thing and I'm sorry. I didn't plan anything. He followed me out here. I know that I shouldn't have done such an awful thing to you but you…you do awful things all the time…but I'm still sorry. I have to be." Said Mob

"You're a liar. What else would you do out here? It's not like you have any friends! It's not like anyone likes you!" screamed Asagiri. Mob stared at her. She stared and she stared and she stared.

"It's not like anyone likes you either, Asagiri. You're mean. I may have done something terrible but at least I'm not mean. At least I can apologize." Said Mob. She balled her hands into fists. She had to be a good person. Good people were not this mean. Good people did not say things like this to others. Good people did not fight with others. Good people did not….but she wasn't a good person, was she?

"That's all you can ever say, huh? You always sing 'I'm sorry' like one of those dolls with a pull string. Just the same thing day in and day out! Well I don't believe you." Said Asagiri

"Believe whatever you want. I don't care. I don't care at all. Just…just shut up already." Said Mob. She was tired. She had spent…however long…in this situation and she was sick and tired of it. She was a bad person. Fine. Whatever. Where had being a good person gotten her? Scarred. Hurt. Alone.

"Fuck you. You think you're so-" said Asagiri

"I think that I'm tired of you and the way you treat me. I think that I'm tired of being your punching bag. I think that I'm tired of all of this. Will you just…stop…already?" asked Mob. The crowd around them booed. They wanted to see a fight. Well too bad for them.

"You stupid bitch! You want me to kick your ass?! I'll do it!" said Asagiri

"Then do it. I don't care." Said Mob. If she was going to get beaten up then she got beaten up. Whatever. There was always tomorrow. Then the next day. Then the next day. There was no point in trying to prolong the inevitable. Mob was shoved. She still stood in that spot. Cat didn't run away. Mob was shoved again. She didn't move. She willed herself to be stuck to the ground. The ground shook. The temperature dropped. The sky got even more cloudy. Mob was shoved again. She didn't more.

"Just fall down! Come on! Either fall down or fight me!" screamed Asagiri. She tried to pull Mob's hair but it was too short to get a good grasp on it. She clawed at Mob's face. Mob just stood there. If it didn't happen today then there was always tomorrow. Was there? Or was her existence just one endless today?

"No. Just do whatever awful thing you plan on doing to me. Come on, get it over with. I don't care anymore." Said Mob. To her surprise Asagiri didn't hit or shove her again. No, she reached down. Oh. A piece of broken glass. Not a piece. Too big. A shard. Mob took a step back.

"I hate you! You think….you think that you're so much better than me! Than everyone else! That's why you're always sitting there with that bored look on your face! That's why you never once tried to be my friend! That's why you don't care that nobody in the entire world likes you! Nobody even cares if you're alive or dead! Nothing matters! It's always….it's always the same! You're always the same! I hate this place and I hate you!" screamed Asagiri. Mob put her arms up defensively and tried to get Asagiri away from her. She could do some real damage with that shard. In the struggle the shard of glass turned red. Mob's blood, a thick gash on her arm. Asagiri's blood. The palm of her hand sliced clean open.

"Don't point knives at people!" screamed Mob. She knew this to be the most important rule she had ever been given. You never, ever, pointed a knife at another person. She managed to wrestle Asagiri to the ground. No. No matter what happened you did not point knives at people.

"Fine! I won't point it at a person then!" screamed Asagiri. Cat had come into the fray to see what the commotion was. Then she got stabbed. She got stabbed by Asagiri. Blood. Guts. Everywhere. The ground cracked open in some places. The frame of the house that was being built collapsed.

Mob didn't notice.

Mob didn't notice anything.

Not that she had shoved Asagiri to the ground.

Not that her entire body was pinning Asagiri down.

Not that Asagiri was clawing at her arms.

Not that her hands were wrapped around Asagiri's neck.

Not that her hands were super sore and tired.

Not that Asagiri had stopped talking.

Not that she had started screaming at Asagiri.

Not that Asagiri had turned a weird reddish purple color.

Not that she had slammed Asagiri's head into the ground a few times.

Not that Asagiri had stopped moving.

Mob wasn't in control of her body. It was like she was watching someone else do this.

Then she stopped.

Then the world was silent.

Then it wasn't.

"Shigeko! What the hell are you doing?!"


	40. Tumbling Down

A/N: I hope that I did the Mogami arc justice. This took a little bit to get off the ground. I didn't want to go for a straight shot for shot redo of the arc because girl bullying and boy bullying are not the same. I tried to stick to girl patterns of bullying while still putting in Minori's violent side. Tell me what you guys thought, I love hearing from you!

"Will you please knock that off, Dimple?" asked Reigen. Dimple didn't listen. He just kept up with the cartwheels. He had been doing them since Mob went into the other girl's body to get the spirit out.

Almost half an hour ago.

"No way. Unlike you I understand the gravity of the situation! And I've got a lot of nervous energy to burn off!" said Dimple. Too long. Much too long. Shigeko should have been in and out. She did not have this. She had, most likely, lost. Great. Just fan-fucking-tastic.

"Well then burn it off with Mob's legs on the ground where they belong." Said Reigen pointedly looking away from Dimple/Mob. Dimple stuck out Mob's tongue and proceeded to walk on Mob's hands.

"What do you care? It's just Shigeko." Said Dimple. Pissing off this guy was a great distraction from his own impending doom and Shigeko's obvious failure.

"Yes. Exactly. That's Mob, or at least her body, so knock it off." Said Reigen. He stared down at the other girl's body as if he could will it to do something, anything.

"So? It's not like you care. She's just a kid, to you at least." Said Dimple. Well at least her still had her body. Lots of things he could do with it. He'd have to eat a lot of other spirits, though, to get even close to her level of spiritual energy. Then he'd have to impersonate her in her life until he could….this was not how he wanted to fulfil his goals. It felt like a cheat, that was it! Getting her body like this was a total cheat! A cop out! A lazy way to win!

"Mob will. When she wakes up she's not going to be happy about you flashing me and everyone else." Said Reigen. He did care. Mob was so easily embarrassed. She would probably faint when she came back and found out that Dimple had decided that the world needed to know what color her underwear was.

"Yeah, something makes me think that she won't be too upset at the thought of you getting a free show." Said Dimple. Reigen glared at him. Before Dimple knew it he was trying to get back into his non travel friendly mode. While inside of Shigeko. All he did was waste spiritual energy and make her hair and clothes fly up. Damnit Reigen! He needed that energy!

"Do you really want to fight me right now? Aren't you hurt enough?" asked Dimple

"I'm perfectly fine, Dimple, and I'm not going to fight you. I'm going to ask you, nicely, to stop with all the flips and cartwheels. What, were you an acrobat or something when you were alive?" Said Reigen. His fingers had stopped bleeding and he was pretty sure he hadn't broken anything. His throat still hurt from being strangled and maybe he was more than a little sore all over but he was fine. Not like that Asagiri guy, anyway. He had been carried out in the stampede. Now it was just Reigen, Dimple, and the actual esper hiding in the corner. What, we he going to try his luck with this spirit?

A spirit that not even Mob could…

No. Don't think that way.

Mob was fine.

Mob had this.

"Or something…." Said Dimple. What had he been when he was alive….? It didn't matter. He was Shigeko now. He was now a fourteen year old girl with a massive number of followers and this sweaty moron panting after him. Her. Them. No. Shigeko….he watched the possessed girl's body…Shigeko was still…there?

Barely.

Her light was faint.

Final light.

He could not let that happen.

Shigeko was going to go on to do big things. She was going to be, no, she currently was a God. She had God tier powers and he needed to…he needed to…

He needed to go on a suicide mission.

"Mob's got this…" muttered Reigen. He was sitting on the ground, now. His legs were a little shaky. He was useless, there. He had been useless to her throughout this whole thing. He couldn't save her. He couldn't save that girl. He couldn't save her father. Hell, he couldn't even save himself. Useless. He was useless. A shaking man in a cheap suit. A liar. A fraud. A conman. What had he accomplished at this point in his life? He had a business based on a lie, his only friend was a teenage girl, and he was so desperate for money that he brought the only person in this world who he gave a damn about to this terrible place and now she was…

Fine.

She had this.

She knew what she was doing.

She had not been saying goodbye to him before. She had not…this had not been a suicide mission. She knew what she was doing. She was the only actual psychic out of the two of them. He was…less than useless. He had these powers and he had done **nothing **with them. He could do nothing with them. Useless. Helpless. He was helpless. He relied on her, depended on her. Not just for his business but…she was his everything.

He leaned on her. He depended on her. He loved her.

He loved her.

And he had…he had put her in danger. Now she was…she knew what she was doing. When she popped out of there she'd be right as rain and they'd go home, somehow, and have some ramen and then go home and watch TV and she'd rest her head on him and it would be just like any other night for them. Any minute now she'd pop right out and everything would be ok. Any minute now. How many minutes had it been?

Less than thirty.

Oh. A text from mom. She wanted to know what they were up to. Mob wasn't answering. Heh. His mother texted Mob before him. Well, they had hit it off. Mom always did want a daughter. When Mob woke up maybe the two of them could plan a weekend trip up to go see mom. Yeah, she'd love that. Mom still had that cat. Not Felidae, no, he was long dead. Claudandus? No, dad took him in the divorce. Thomas O'Malley, that was it. Heh. The Artistocats. Mob would love that movie. Mom probably still had the tape buried somewhere. It was in English, though, but Mob spoke decent English. She'd love the Aristocats, she loved cats. Not Felidae, though, because that movie had messed even him up. Yeah, Mob could not survive that movie. Mom had a lot of movies Mob would like, actually. Those musicals she was into. Mob loved cheerful music. Mom probably still had all of his old manga too and Mob did love manga. Was his Nintendo 64 still there? He could show Mob the trick to the rainbow road in Mario Kart, she loved Mario Kart….she always let him win….

Mob was fine.

She'd pop right out and then she'd be fine and they'd make plans to go and visit mom and she'd have the time of her life. Yeah. Mob would be fine. He looked over at her…body. Too much expression. Dimple was…contemplative. His emotions were muted while he was in her body. Like she was shielding him or something. Better than the low key terror he was getting from the guy hiding in the corner. His legs were shaking. That was not his terror projecting, Reigen told himself. Lied to himself.

Mob was fine.

He needed to get up. He needed to be useful. He needed to be doing something, anything. Oh. Mob's hair was in her eyes. She had lost her butterflies at some point in the fight. Her friend Rei had given her those. Rei…Rei was the one with the red hair dating her little brother. The one with all the relationship troubles that a girl her age should not have had. Poor kid. Mob's little brother either didn't like girls yet or at all and there Mob's friend went trying to take things way farther than it should have been for two…a year younger than Mob…two thirteen year olds. Heh. Thanks to Mob he knew all the drama going on in the lives of her friends. Her friend Tome was grounded for climbing onto and falling off of the roof. Her friend Mezato was doing an expose on the rising price of miso being a harbinger for economic collapse and future food shortages. Her boyfriend was as jealous as ever. Probably because the poor kid was so lonely. Mob was good to him, though, that was why he clung. Mob was good to all of her friends. Mob would always be good to all of her friends.

Mob was fine.

Reigen stood up on shaky legs and began to look through the broken glass, rubble, twisted metal, and assorted pieces of ripped and torn cloth to find Mob's hairclips. She'd need them when she woke up. When the other girl woke up. When the spirit was exorcised. Mob would need her hairclips. Her hair was always in her eyes, now. She needed a haircut. Heh. They both did. Or maybe she didn't. She could have been growing out her fringe. Maybe she was outgrowing the old bowl cut. He'd ask her when she came back.

Mob was fine.

"What are you doing, dumbass?" said Dimple as he broke from his thoughts. Ok. He had no choice. The next time Mogami woke up everyone would be, well, screwed. Even if they ran away Mogami would find them, especially if he ate Shigeko. If he managed to eat Shigeko's spirit, to gain that big of a power boost…he'd be truly unstoppable.

Dimple would not and could not let Mogami become the most powerful of all evil spirits.

So there was really no choice to be had.

"Looking for Mob's hairclips. She'll need them when she comes back." Said Reigen

"Oh no, she's not coming back." Said Dimple wish a shake of his borrowed head. Hair whipped him in the face. She really needed a haircut.

"Dimple….don't…" said Reigen turning away and digging through the broken glass. There. He found one. The butterfly had broken off.

"Face the facts, Reigen, Shigeko lost." Said Dimple lowly. Not his anger, Regien's. He forced himself to conserve what power he had left. He'd need it to break on through the barrier.

"Dimple…shut up…" said Reigen looking for the other one. He couldn't look at Dimple. He couldn't look at Dimple in Mob's body saying something so-so-so-

Mob was fine.

"It's the truth. Shigeko's done for." Said Dimple

"Dimple….don't talk like that. Just be quiet already and stop…talking! OK?! Just…Mob'll be fine. She's got this. It hasn't even been half an hour. She'll be fine." said Reigen

"Exactly! It's been way too long! She should have been in and out in less than a minute. Any longer in there and she'll lose her sense of self…she could die!" said Dimple. He could die if he went in there. Well, extra die. Cease. Be absorbed, be eaten, or just plain erased.

"So then what do we do? Unless you have a real solution then shut up!" said Reigen. Powerless. Helpless. Mob was…Mob was fine. Dimple was exaggerating. She was Mob. He held her power in his hands, he knew how strong she was. She had been performing exorcisms for her entire life…she had this.

"I'm going in. Keep the body safe." Said Dimple. He cartwheeled over to the pink haired girl's body, he'd miss this, and tried to break through the barrier Mogami put up. It was…impenetrable. Shigeko had actually broken through this?! It was like trying to move through a wall while inhabiting a body…impossible. He pushed and pushed but only succeeded in exhausting himself. No! What was it what Shigeko was always saying? Just be a good person? Fight on? Yes, fight on! It was long past the time for Dimple to be a good person but he could fight on!

DIMPLE: 100% EFFORT

He felt his spiritual power spike! Yes! He was getting through! He pushed through the barrier and would up….what was this?

The human mind was never this coherent. When he took over a body he always found himself in that body's headspace. It was always a series of disjointed concepts, ideas, and spaces cobbled together into something fluid and ever shifting. The only except, so far, had been Shigeko. In the brief time he had spent in her body on that day all those weeks ago he had been in a white space with a defined floor, ceiling, and walls. The domain of the sentient curse she had created for herself. That had been a lot, very ordered, difficult for a normal person to maintain. That had nothing on this.

This was a world, sort of. It was small, a world in a bottle. On a treadmill. He had the illusion of moving but knew that he was in the confines of a mind…a mind space. The mind that was supposed to be inhabiting this space was…busy? Occupied? The person who was supposed to be manning the controls had instead gone walkabouts. There was a substitute and he seemed to have gotten the place pretty well organized. Dimple saw the components of the world as he materialized. Spirits. The architecture of the world was composed of spirits. The people in this world were spirits. It was spirits all the way down.

Except for two.

Human souls. Human minds.

Two of them.

One of which was….in pain.

The other of which was quiet.

Dimple materialized fully and found…no.

Shigeko?

"Shigeko? What the hell are you doing?!" said Dimple. He had materialized as…snot. A glob of snot. Great, even in the unreality he had no dignity. No, that wasn't the worst of it all…no. Shigeko was above him. Her face was bruised and bloody. Her eyes were red and streaked with tears. That wasn't the problem though. No. Her hands.

Not the blood pouring from her arms and into her hand. No. It was where her hands were. Shigeko, the girl he introduced the concept of pacifism to…had…

He floated upwards. Shigeko was looking at him like she had no idea who he was. She didn't. He could see her power spiking but the light was….gone. No, not gone just…not formed. Separated. Separate. The curse…the other thing was…separated?

How had she managed that?

How had Mogami managed that?

Shigeko was powerless, there, but she had still found the strength to kill someone. The girl. The possessed girl. She was, well she thought she was, dead. Gone. Shigeko had actually lost control and…killed…someone. Not with her powers but with her own two hands.

What happened to her?

"What are you?!" screamed Mob. The snot was talking to her. Asagiri was dead. It finally happened. She lost her mind.

"It's me! Dimple!" said Dimple. He could see it in her eyes, panic. Fear. A tinge of madness, even. She was covered in blood and dirt and scars. It looked like someone had sheered her head like she was a sheep. What in the hell happened to her?

What had Mogami done to her?

He would pay. Wherever he was hiding in this world of lies and spirits he would pay.

Nobody broke Shigeko.

"You look like snot." Laughed Mob. She put her hand to her mouth and laughed. The glass underneath her dug into her thighs, her arm was sticky with blood, and she had broken off some of her nails in Asagiri's throat. Asagiri who was not moving. Asagiri who was not breathing. Asagiri who was…lost. Loss. Mob had obtained loss.

"Damn, you're gone….damn it! Mogami! Where the hell are you!" shouted Dimple. It was hard to separate out one spirit from another. Well then he'd just have to eat them all, starting with the one in front of him!

"Loss…." Muttered Mob between giggles. The world was getting a little shaky. Heh. The snot glob thing was kind of like a vacuum cleaner, sort of. He ate Cat's body. Mob wasn't sad. She had lost cat already. He ate a bird which was near. Then another. Then a person. Then the world got even more shimmery and shaky and the ground got all quaky and she felt all achy. She giggled into her hand. She had lost Asagiri. Asagiri was gone. Heh. Gone.

No more getting milk poured over her head.

No more getting hurt.

No more getting teased.

No more getting tormented.

Not much of a loss at all.

But she had obtained loss. She was responsible for this loss. The loss of the person who she disliked most in the entire world. The ground around her shook and bucked. A tree fell over. The snot glob thing still ate.

"Good news! I think I finally stopped him from rematerializing." Said the snot glob. Mob still laughed. Giggles and laughs and a weird sort of inhaling snorting sort of noise that she had never made before. She kicked her legs against the ground. The ground quaked as she kicked.

"Yeah! Keep doing that! Tire him out! Eventually he won't have enough spiritual power to keep you split in two!" said the snot glob

"Talking snot! Talking snot! The snot keeps on talking to me!" screamed Mob through her laughs. Tears were rolling down her face. She had lost Asagiri. Dead. Gone. She was human the same as everyone else. People could be so awful to one another and now she understood! She understood! She understood everything!

She was terrible.

She had lost herself.

She had lost everything that she wanted to be.

If everyone was so special then maybe she could be who she wanted to be.

But everyone was not special so she could not be who she wanted to be.

People were all the same and she was one of them.

She was just as terrible as every other human being on the planet. Just be a good person? Why? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. She was not special. She was nothing and everyone was nothing and she could not be who she wanted to be. She was terrible and everyone was terrible and she had to accept that she was terrible and she did and now it would all come apart.

It would all come tumbling down.

Tumbling down.

Tumbling down.

"Hey! Shigeko! Stay with me!" said Dimple. The illusion was starting to come apart but so was she. She was…her form was…coming apart. Coming apart…? Coming apart?! No!

"Stop it! Stop using your powers for stupid shit in this made up world! You hear me?! Look at you! Look at yourself!" screamed Dimple. She was just her spirit. He could touch her easily. He did. Life. Life hurt. Death. He was death. She was life. She hurt him. He must have disgusted her. The living and the dead were not supposed to touch.

Come on. Throw up. Show some reaction! You throw up all the time! This should have been truly disgusting for you!

"I'm terrible! I'm terrible! I'm terrible!" screamed Mob. She was so gross now! She was covered in blood and dirt and tears and spit and she felt like how she was on the inside! Terrible! Insides were outsides and outsides were insides and it was all terrible!

"For the love of-! That's it! Time for some shock therapy!" said Dimple. He knew what he had to do. He marshalled all of the power he had stored up and poured it into her. This should have been the most spiritually disgusting thing a living being could experience. The energy of the dead did not fuel the living. She was not Mogami. She would not be able to take this! She would….was she crying?

"Fuck….Shigeko?" asked Dimple. The world around them struggled to reform. He could see Mogami's death grip on the world, on Shigeko…and it was slipping…but so was Shigeko. She was crying, now. He had never seen her cry like this…Dimple did have feelings. Not as many as a living being and not as strong but he did have feelings and right now he was feeling something that he hadn't felt in…a very long time.

Empathy.

She was going. She was in pain. She was hurt. She was breaking apart at the seams.

"It all comes tumbling down….I'm terrible….I come tumbling down…" muttered Mob. She couldn't feel her body anymore. She couldn't see her body anymore. She was light and dizzy. She was coming tumbling down. She was returning to nothing. She…she was so…terrible. She was terrible.

"Shigeko, come back. You've got to remember. Remember who you are! Remember what you are! Get it together! Reigen and I are waiting for you outside!" said Dimple. She looked at him, well what was left of her did.

"Reigen….." muttered Mob. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen. Reigen.

"Yeah, remember him? Your master? Light hair, sweaty, almost kissed you about an hour ago and is probably going to pretend like it never happened?" said Dimple. Yes! There! She was forming again! All thanks to that annoying, sweaty, weirdo!

"Master….Reigen?" said Mob a little louder. Light hair. Blue eyes. Cigarette smoke. Incense. Green tea. Aftershave. Constant talking. Good feelings. Compliments. Cuddles. Belief. Caring. Understanding. Late night ramen. Couch cuddles. Stories. Safety. Love. Beloved. Him.

Reigen Arataka.

"Yeah, him! The first member of your harem! And don't tell me you aren't building one! When you ascend to godhood you'll have all the light haired, big talking, guys you could ever want! Like your other guy! Teru! Remember him? What would he think if he saw you like this? He'd probably freak out, you know? He's so high strung imagine how he'd feel if he knew he'd lost to you! The you that exists here! Come on, you're stronger than this!" said Dimple shaking her even though it pained him. Even though he himself was starting to dematerialize.

"Teru…" said Mob. Teru, not Teruki, only Teruki under VERY specific circumstances. Love. Caring. Acceptance. Change. Hope. Fun. Stories. School life. Clubs. Hobbies. Clothes. Movies. Body spray and lotion. Detergent and fabric softener. Laundry day. Organizing clothes. Ironing things. A different world. The adult world. A different person. A REAL person. A friend. A lover. A boyfriend. HER BOYFRIEND.

Hanazawa Teruki. Teru. Her Teru. The real Teru.

"Yeah! Remember! Remember all the people who are going to be so, incredibly, unbelievably disappointed in you if you don't get your shit together! Like your little brother! You're the one who taught him to stop using his powers on other people! You're the reason he stopped kicking ass and taking names! What would he do with himself if he saw that his sister was a hypocrite?!" screamed Dimple. Yeah! Shock Therapy! Tough love! He could see it forming, the other her! The world was even reforming! No, wait…

"Ritsu!" screamed Mob. Little brother! She had a little brother! A family! She had a little brother and she needed to-to-to keep him from this! From becoming terrible! Like she was! She needed to make sure that he never turned into this. Everyone WAS so special and HE could be what he wanted to be. A good person. A better person than she was. He was so much better than her and it was her job to make sure that he stayed that way!

She had to get out of here.

Out.

Yes.

She could see it, now.

The world was shaky. The energy that made up the world was wrong. Gross. It felt so gross in here.

"Now come on! I have no idea how much time you think you've spent in here but it's TIME TO GO!" screamed Dimple. She was looking at him. Her eyes were right. She was standing. She was formed.

"Dimple….thank you…I remember now…" said Mob. She stood up. She was achy. There was a big cut on her arm. She had scars…no she didn't. She didn't scar. She never scarred. The other Shigeko didn't let them. The other her…

A flash of light.

Her hair was back in her eyes where it belonged. She could feel it at the middle of her back, too. Standing didn't hurt anymore. Nothing hurt.

"Shigeko! Yes! I knew you could-" said Dimple before something materialized in front of Shigeko. He was batted away easily. He had used up too much of his spiritual power….he couldn't protect her!

"So…you figured it out…" said a man in green. He looked so…evil. Mob took a step back. Then another. Then another.

"Get away from me!" screamed Mob. She threw her hands up and a bubble…barrier! A barrier! She needed to form a barrier!

"You know something? You're a very stubborn little girl." Said the man walking through her barrier like it was nothing. No! She needed to-to-to-! Again!

"I said to leave me alone!" Said Mob as she threw another barrier around herself. She was surrounded by pink…just pink. Blue. Where was the blue?! Shigeko! Shigeko?!

"I've never had anyone take as long to break as you, you know that? You did not make it easy but then again anything that comes easy is ever truly worth it." Said the man as he walked through her barrier again, it bent and popped around him. Inky gross blackness tore through the bubble gum pink she had surrounded herself with. The bubble popped like an actual bubblegum bubble.

"I told you to-" said Mob. She put up another barrier but he just walked through it. The ground beneath her still shook. The sky got darker. Redder. Blacker. The ground, however, got brighter. Whiter.

"You think you've won, don't you, girl? You think that just because your memories are slowly returning you've beat me? Well you haven't. You're still so, very broken. Broken. Broken and alone. It doesn't matter if your memories return to you or not. The six months you've spent here are forever etched into your mind." Said Mogami. Mob knew who he was. He used to be hope. Hope that she could be someone who could do good. Now he was a warning. This was what she could have become if not for the people in her life that cared about her. His hand was around her neck. He was lifting her. She grabbed onto his wrist and pulled.

Metaphysically.

Because she was not in her vessel anymore.

This was not real.

None of this had been real.

None of it had been real!

A dream!

A nightmare!

A lie!

She pulled on him as hard as she could. She felt something…gross. Like vomit. Warm vomit on a warm day. She still pulled. The light beneath her got brighter and brighter. Behind her she could see Dimple eating the world. Maybe she could…if she could absorb energy from other living beings then maybe it would work the same with the dead….

"The world can be a cruel and messed up place…" said Mob. It could be a cruel and messed up place and maybe the people in it were cruel and messed up but as long as there was someone you loved, someone you cared for, then it would all be ok. As long as there were people in the world that you loved and cared for then you would be ok. Even if you were…terrible.

Mob was terrible.

Shigeko was terrible.

They could be terrible together.

Something began to materialize….

"There. See? You've obtained loss. You've lost yourself. Everything you stand for, everything that makes you who you are. You're trying to absorb me, aren't you? Well go ahead, see what happens when the living absorb the dead. See what you could become. We'll be reborn together. A kindred spirit! A sympathizer! Yes, student, go forth and-" said Mogami

"Hey Mogami?" asked Mob. No. Not Mob…she was…falling? No, she was…something took her hand. It took her hand and **pulled. **It pulled and pushed and…fell…into her.

"Student?" asked Mogami. He pulled her in close. Close enough that if he had been breathing then she could have felt it against her face. But he wasn't breathing. He was dead. He was dead and she was…not in her vessel.

"I am not your student." Said Mob snapping his arm off. She fell to the ground. He tried to kick her.

"You are not my master." She stood up. He lost a leg.

"My master is the great Reigen Arataka." She pushed him back. She could feel her hair standing on end.

"Greatest psychic of the twenty first century." She slashed him in half. He staggered back. Reformed.

"So please." She walked forward. He took a step back.

"For the love of God." He sent something after her. A spirit? She exorcised it without moving a muscle.

"Will you just-" Her skin was cracking, she was starting to glow. Pink. Blue.

"Shut the fuck up already." An explosion.

They were surrounded by white.

_Shigeko?_

**Mob?**

_**You're back!**_

_You were gone_

**You were gone**

_But now we're here_

**Yes**

_Together._

**Together.**

_**Let's be this thing together!**_

MOB/SHIGEKO 100% FED UP WITH ALL OF THIS

"Shigeko, you got out. You know, you were surprisingly passive through this whole ordeal. Pity. I thought you had more fight in you-" said Mogami reforming completely. The world came apart, briefly, as he reformed. They could see it, the world was…false. Yes. Him. This entire world was him. And he was a spirit.

He could be exorcised.

"Mob was, surprisingly, stubborn. No matter. Even if you two form once again you'll be far too broken, too separate to do anything. Be grateful, girls, and don' try anything. I'm the one who's saved you two after all. You're both a lot like me, in my life, in my youth, and I had to stop-" said Mogami. A burst of light. The world peeled away. Black. Red. Abyss. Then ground again.

"We're tired of this and tired of you." Said Mob/Shigeko. They were strong, together. They were this thing, this terrible thing, together. That was what they were, terrible. A monster. A killer. Asagiri was real and they had, Mob had, killed her.

Mob was terrible.

"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters. I know that you've lost. You've obtained loss." Said Mogami

Keep it together.

"Mob, you've obtained loss. I can see your soul, your mind. I have my sympathizer. Mob. Shigeko, I'm afraid that you're IN THE WAY!" said Mogami. He launched himself into them. Into Mob.

They staggered. Mob staggered. Shigeko stayed in place. An afterimage. Mob in her school uniform. In braids. Shigeko in their school uniform. In braids.

No. They had to be this thing together.

Mob felt someone take her hand. Yes. Shigeko. They reformed. Refused. Refused to fall apart. They were this thing together. It may have been a terrible thing but they were this thing together. Teamwork.

Mogami grabbed their arm and twisted it. They twisted with him and slammed him to the ground. He rolled over and pinned them down. His chest against theirs. His hands clamped around their wrists. His thighs pressed against theirs. The ground even felt…squishy…like a sponge. Like a sea sponge trying to absorb them. They began to sink. They struggled. They bit. Shigeko bit. Mob cried. No! KEEP IT TOGETHER!

A flash of green.

"Hey Mogami! Can't you see she's not into it? But, hey, I'm right here. Don't forget about me!" said Dimple as he, finally, absorbed enough spiritual energy to return to his true form. He did something, then, that he had been waiting an indeterminate amount of time to do. He kicked Mogami's ass.

Literally.

Mob sat up with a gasp.

Shigeko remembered that they didn't need to breathe here.

They were both happy to see that Dimple was ok.

"Come on, round two! Let's see what you've got! Or can you only fight little girls?!" said Dimple getting back into fighting stance. Mob/Shigeko sent a burst of power at the ground. It shrieked and revealed the abyss beneath it before reforming.

"You are, by far, the most annoying spirit I have ever encountered. What are you, her pet?" mocked Mogami

"No! He's our friend!" screamed Mob/Shigeko. Double team tactics! Mogami had made the mistake of giving himself such a limited form.

Dimple could stretch and squeeze as the situation demanded.

Mob and Shigeko could split apart as the situation demanded.

Mogami was pinned between the two, sometimes three, of them.

Even if he took to the air he was still pinned between them.

Blue. Pink. Green.

They trapped him.

They burnt him.

They cut him.

They hit him.

They shoved him.

They broke him.

Or so it seemed.

The spirit that they had been chasing had turned into a black and red blob. They managed to put enough stress on it to make it dematerialize. Then Dimple ate it. But they were still trapped. The world around them seemed to be dematerializing.

Melting.

Tumbling down.

It tumbled down into what Mob/Shigeko considered to be a gross parody of LCL. Instrumentality. The orange sea…but it wasn't orange. It was red. Red and black. Mogami had dematerialized to this. The abyss above them and the sea bellow. But this was not instrumentality. Was it? Instrumentality was good. Existence without vessels, without borders. An existence of pure understanding. She had wanted this…once…

But now she knew better.

She never wanted this with Mogami. She understood him, now. What he had become. What he had been. Who he was now. She didn't like it. She never wanted to understand him. She didn't want to, but she did. But Mob did. Mob knew him, she knew what the world was. She knew how cruel it could be. She knew how terrible it could be. She knew how no matter how good you thought you were, how good you tried to be, you couldn't ever be a good person because people weren't good. She was just as human as everyone else…

Master Reigen was a good person.

If she tried harder…

She was a murderer.

She was a cheater.

She was mean.

And she had said a bad word.

Mob/Shigeko grabbed their head. Afterimage. Mob there, her hair down, fringe in her eyes. School uniform old and faded. Shigeko there, hair in braids, school uniform new and crisp. Shigeko grabbed Mob's hand. She tried to pull them together. Mob shook her hand free.

She was terrible.

Maybe she deserved this.

She did. She deserved everything that had happened. She had killed someone. She had broken not only the bonds of her relationship but someone else's. Wait…did that count? Shigeko said that it didn't. Oh. She had asked that out loud. Dimple said that she needed to calm down. But she couldn't.

The truth of one's charm is in their kindness. Just try to be a good person.

She had failed Master Reigen. She had failed the man she loved most in the world. She was nothing, she was worse than nothing. Even if she won this battle and left this reality she would still be a terrible person. She was unworthy of the love she was given. She was unworthy to be Master Reigen's student. She was unworthy to be Teru's girlfriend. She was unworthy to be Ritsu's big sister. She was unworthy to be anything to anyone.

The sea of LCL began to moan and writhe. A voice spoke from nowhere and everywhere. Shigeko, the image, and Mob, the afterimage, covered their ears.

"You've managed to break my hold on all of those spirits. Congratulations. Without me to act as their vessel they've all be set free. Hundreds of them. Good luck to the both of you, you'll need it…" said the voice.

"Crap! Shigeko! Pull yourself together! We're in for the fight of our lives!" said Dimple. He couldn't maintain full power mode. He was missing limbs. Crap. That fight had taken a lot out of him. This day had taken a lot out of him. Shigeko wasn't looking much better. The conflict and duality of her existence were wearing down on her. She needed to get back into her vessel. She needed her vessel to hold her, them, together!

She snapped in two.

"Dimple….I'm sorry for everything…." Said Mob. She was sorry that she had ruined his smile group when they first met. She was sorry that she had brought him to the fight with Teru and had been too slow to stop him from getting exorcised. She was sorry that she hadn't noticed him inside of Ritsu and had let Ritsu be mean to him. She was sorry about that time when they were fighting those Claw guys and she had let him get captured. She was sorry that they didn't hang out more. She was sorry that she had called him a snot glob. She was just…so…sorry….

"Shigeko! It's not over yet! Come on, we've got this!" said Dimple. Mob shook her head. Shigeko stood beside her like a mirror image. No. She did not shake her head. Who was the mirror and who was the real one? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing mattered anymore.

"Mob. I'm Mob." Said Mob

"Ok then! Mob! Listen, if you go left and I go right we can totally-!" said Dimple

"No. Run away." Said Mob

"Are you insane?! You can't take on this many spirits by yourself! Get real!" said Dimple

"I'm never alone. Dimple, you need to get out of here. Your life is your own, ok? Sometimes you have to run away and live to see another day." Said Mob simply. She knew what she had to do. She had to stay here and-

Someone called out to her.

Someone scared.

Asagiri! She was alive! Mob hadn't…in the unreality she had but…but if she got back to the real reality she could save Asagiri!

That awful Asagiri.

Her powers were not just another part of her. Someone people were book smart, some people were fast, and some people were good at talking. Psychic powers weren't just another talent. They were a burden. Having this much power was a burden. She had to do what she was put on this Earth for. She had to use these powers to save people!

She had to save Asagiri!

She had to destroy this unreality!

**This disgusting parody of instrumentality.**

"You know I'm dead, right? Like you'll be if you stay in this world!" said Dimple. Mob batted him away. She reached her hand out. Shigeko took it. Mirror images. After images. One image. Pink. Blue.

"Dimple. You need to run away. Get back to my body. Take care of it. Be me. Be a better me than I could ever be." Said Mob/Shigeko. Shigeko.

Then just blue.

"Who…what are you?" asked Dimple. He saw Mob vanish. Gone. Swallowed up by that…it wasn't a curse like he thought. It wasn't another human being, either. It was something…powerful. Something strong. Something…something not meant to be.

"Dimple. Go." Said Shigeko. She sent a burst of her own energy at Dimple, hopefully enough to give him the strength to escape. Good. Very good.

Everything that she could see was an evil spirit. Time to get to work. Time to destroy these evil spirits. Time to do what she was there for. Time to destroy this unreality. Time to put it all to an end, finally. This miserable world was going to come tumbling down. Everything was going to return to nothing. The end-

She let herself plunge down into the sea.

-would be the beginning again.

She let herself sink down into the sea, the LCL, the abyss. She sank into it weightlessly. Her skin, her hair, all of it were saturated with something disgusting but she didn't care. She could hear them screaming. Pain. They died feeling like that. She could free them from this existence. She could free them all. Yes! They could all be set free, made free!

A voice begged to be saved. A hand appeared before Shigeko. She reached out and took it. Not gross. Not dead. Alive. This was a person. She grabbed the hand by the wrist and pulled it close. A body. Red and barely human shaped. Afraid. Angry. Disgusted. Terrified. Absolute Terror. Shigeko pulled the hand and let it form. The body gained more and more form the more Shigeko hung on. The beings around her grabbed her, dragged her down. She needed to save Asagiri. She needed to help her form. She didn't want to but what she wanted didn't matter.

She was terrible.

But she still had to be a good person.

She had to save Asagiri.

She had to free her from this false instrumentality. That was what they did, Shigeko and Mob. That was the purpose of their existence. They saved people. Even terrible people. Shigeko had to save Asagiri. She couldn't form anymore, not without control of her vessel. But she couldn't gain control of her vessel with all of these spirits. They were still there. She could sense them. She could see them. She could see…Mogami…he was still there.

He was always there.

She could feel him trying to regain control.

She severed him.

From the sea she severed his connection. She felt herself being pulled down. Her arms and legs….but no. She had no vessel. She had no vessel here. She was just herself. She was just herself. Mob was…she was Mob. She was Mob and she was Shigeko and she was never alone but she was and she was this thing together but also apart because Mob was hiding in their vessel but they had no vessel-

A burst of white.

A glimpse of the abyss.

A burst of black.

The abyss was gone.

Second verse same as the first.

"Can't you see? You'll never win! Never! At this point all you are is a meal!" Mogami. Again. Always Mogami. Always his voice. Always his presence.

She could not fail.

She could not fail Master Reigen.

But she had and now she would lose.

But no.

She lived for him.

She lived to make him proud.

She lived to be a good person for him.

She didn't live for herself anymore. She couldn't live for herself anymore. She had been as bad as she could be and the only reason she had to go on was him, Reigen. He needed her. That was why human beings kept each other around, they were useful. She may not have been a good person but she could be useful to him.

He was her everything.

She could never love again. If she lost him. If she lost him then she would lose everything that mattered to her, that mattered in the world. It was him that kept her going in the unreality. Memories of him. She could not forget the past. She could never forget what she had done and it was killing her.

It would kill him. The truth would kill him.

So maybe she should just stay.

Maybe she should just let herself be consumed…

No! She needed to get back to him! He needed her! He needed her by his side! He loved her and she loved him and they loved each other! She needed to…

She wished that she could turn back time. She couldn't live without him, without him loving her, but he would never love her again if he knew the truth. She couldn't stay here but she couldn't go out there. If she stayed in here her world would end. If she went out there then her world would end.

**What are we supposed to do?! Mob?! What are we supposed to do!?**

_Nobody understands. I don't even understand._

**There is nothing to understand.**

_What am I supposed to do?_

**I asked you first**

_I asked you second_

**We ask ourselves**

_We are one person_

**Split in two**

_Always in two_

_**But what do we do?**_

_There is nothing to do. No matter what we do it'll all end._

_Shigeko._

**Mob.**

_**We are this thing together.**_

_We are. _

**You betrayed me! You killed Asagiri!**

Asagiri is still alive.

_**Her ending was her beginning.**_

_Maybe it was our beginning too_

**The end and the beginning are one in the same**

_Nobody loves us_

**That's not true**

_Nobody will ever love us again if they ever find out what happened here_

**Then we will truly be alone**

_I let myself down_

**You did**

_Maybe we should just end._

**We should end.**

_Nobody wants us._

_**Nobody will want us.**_

_We are alone._

**We are alone together**_**.**_

And the ending would just be the beginning again.

"What are you doing?! You don't have a vessel here! You'll destroy yourself!" Mogami again. Didn't he ever got tired of the sound of his own voice?

"It would be better if I stopped existing…" said Shigeko/Mob as she left their vessel…no...their idea of their vessel. They let go.

"I thought you had more fight in you. You're just going to end it all? You're just going to die? I'm disappointed in you." Said Mogami

"The end is just the beginning again." Said Mob/Shigeko. Their world was overflowing with sorrow. She was drowning in it, emptiness. Loneliness. Misery. Sorry. She let go. She let herself go. Her limbs, her torso, her body, herself. She let herself go to LCL. Instrumentality.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" screamed Mogami. It sounded like she was causing him pain. Misery and pain were their constant companions. She was his constant companion.

"I'm going to live forever. I'm going to begin again." Said Mob/Shigeko. They melted. They turned to LCL. Their soul, their AT field, the energy that made them up dissipated. She could end this world and create another one. A world without pain…without uncertainty. She wanted to go back. But she couldn't. If she went back then Master Reigen would know what they did.

That they had betrayed him. Everything he had ever taught them.

"I'm truly sorry to have broken you so terribly, Shigeko. Mob. You truly were a worthy successor…" said Mogami. Screams. He was drowned out by screams. She let the screams drown him out. So many. Pain. Agony. Gone. All of it.

They were all disappearing. Their screams. Was this the answer? Was this her goal? What she had wanted.

What did she want?

The end. The beginning. Both. Neither. Yes. No. The screams. The silence. So many people loved her. She was so grateful for the love she had been shown. She was not worthy of this love. So she would become this thing. She had let all of them down, the ones who loved her.

She had let herself down.

She became nothing. She ceased. Darkness. Silence. The abyss.

Then a voice.

"So this…this is what you are. Without a vessel…without limits…this is what you are…yes…now I understand…who you are…" Mogami again. He survived. Now it was just the three of them. Her/Mob, Mogami, and Asagiri. Together in the abyss. The red and black sea was gone. Now it was just…space. Space as far as the eye could see. Like outer space, almost. Infinity. The infinite abyss. The three of them in the end of the world.

"I'm….terrible." said Mob closing her…eyes? Perceptions. End of one world. Beginning of a new one.

Nothing. Then a rushing sort of feeling. Then pain. A bright light. Then heaviness.

Mob opened her eyes.

Aside from the guy hiding in the corner Reigen was alone. Truly alone. Dimple had gone in to help Mob but that had been…he didn't know how long ago. Minutes. Minutes ago he saw Mob's body go limp for the second time. He had pulled her in his arms. His fingers were on her neck. Her heart was still beating. Her lungs still drew breath. He felt her back. Her chest still rose up and down. She was still alive. Her brainstem, at least, was still working. That was the part of the brain that kept you alive. Her soul, her spirit, was gone. Now only her body was left. He kept his fingers on her pulse and his hand on her back to make sure that she was still alive.

She looked like she was sleeping. Almost. She smiled when she slept, though, sometimes. During the night when he got up to take a piss and almost stepped on her. When she had kicked her feet out of her blankets or had kicked her blankets away all together. He'd tuck her back in and she'd smile. She'd keep that smile on all night. Now she was truly expressionless. Her skin was cold, clammy. Her eyes weren't moving. Not asleep. Her eyes moved when she was asleep. REM sleep. She wasn't sleeping. She wasn't sleeping but she wasn't dead.

"Hey, Mob, I found your hairclips. One of them broke but maybe we can find the other piece and glue them back together? Do we even have glue? We can always stop off at the store on our way home." Said Reigen just to say something to her. He couldn't just sit there in silence like this was some sort of wake or vigil. She was fine. She would be fine.

"Not that I have any clue how we're getting home. Everyone's gone back to wherever they came from so we can't just hitch a ride to the nearest train station. Gone. This room is so much bigger without anyone else in it. Especially since your little DIY door project. Sorry, I shouldn't make fun, you did good. Everyone escaped because of you. Well, not this weird guy hiding in the corner but all the others. Now it's just us. They wheeled that Asagiri guy out in a stretcher. Someone called an ambulance and they made great time for how far out in the country we are. You did good, though, healing him a little. At least you stopped the bleeding. They took Jodo out, too, for safety reasons. He was ranting and raving about some scar. Apparently being able to heal scars is impossible. Heh. He likes that word a lot, impossible." Said Reigen. He let out a shuddery breath. The space around him briefly glowed yellow. His aura was trying to find hers. It was gone.

"You're impossible, you know. You're impossibly stubborn, for one thing. Why the hell couldn't you just run away? Mob…Mob why didn't you just run away? I told you to run away! You're just so, impossibly, stubborn! Mob…Mob I'm…Mob. I'm scared." Said Reigen. He heard something drop. Tears. He was crying on her. He brushed his tears from her face.

"Even I get scared sometimes. I've been so afraid and I…I have faith in you. I had faith in you. I have faith in you. You're just so…impossible. Impossibly stubborn. Impossibly determined. Impossibly…good. I think you're so good. Mob, you're so good, such a good person. You're brave, Mob, the bravest person that I know. You just…you're not afraid of anything. To the point of stupidity! Mob! You're not…you're not invincible! Or maybe you are. I've held your power in my hands. Hell, I've even BEEN you. Remember that day? I didn't know how much….fun…your world was. You're a great kid. People are nice to you because of that. You're great, Mob. You're impossibly great. I don't know how anyone could ever be afraid of you. Seriously, fuck your parents. There's nothing inherently scary about you, Mob. You're powerful, impossibly powerful, but you're still you. You're a fourteen year old girl. Heh. It's hard to be afraid of someone you've seen get excited over kitten stickers, or sad at giant robot shows. Oh, sorry, biomechanical clones of angels. Heh. We should watch that again when we get home. There's a new English dub. Mom of all people messaged me about it. She thinks it would be up your alley. She really likes you, you know? Likes you enough that she didn't skin me alive the other day." Said Reigen rocking her back and forth.

"You know what my mom thought? Thinks? Still thinks? No, you don't want to know. She likes you a lot, though. She always wanted a daughter. You're going to have to put up with a lot more hair brushing and nail painting. Awkward questions, too. Mom loves her awkward questions. Sometimes she can't get a clue, either, my mom. You've got that in common. You've got a lot in common. Like I didn't even know you liked yo-yos! I mean, you keep carrying my old one around. I'll try to show you some tricks when I get home. When we get home. Or we can just Skype my mom. She'd be happy about that. I don't know, she's got this thing about yo-yos…she just likes to share the things she loves. It's a mom thing. I'm sorry about your relationship with your mom. You can borrow mine. Heh. You don't scare her. Your powers don't scare her or…or how I feel. How she thinks I feel. Heh. I doubt that you could do anything to scare my mother." Said Reigen rocking her body back and forth a little more quickly.

"Mob you're scaring me! I can't…Mob I can't lose you. I love you. The last words you ever said to me…you love me. I love you too. Not in….not in the way you love me. I know how you feel about me, at least I think I do. It's ok…if that's how you feel. You're young and it's hard and it's normal for you too…but I don't return…I can't return your feelings. But I do love you. I do care for you." Said Reigen running his hands through her hair. He cut himself. Broken glass. Her hair was full of broken glass. He ran his fingers through it. She wouldn't want to wake up to broken glass in her hair.

She would wake up.

Mob was fine.

Reigen clipped her hair back as best as he could. He was still crying. He wiped his tears from her face. He still rocked her back and forth. Maybe this soothed her. He knew that it probably didn't. He knew that her spirit wasn't in her body and he was cradling her empty shell. He kissed the crown of her head.

"Please…just come back….Mob. Shigeko. Come back." Said Reigen. He kissed the crown of her head a few times. Then her forehead. Salt. Blood. She had blood on her. On her face. On her arms. The red of her t-shirt couldn't hide it. But she had also healed herself. She could heal herself. No matter what happened she would be fine. She was Mob.

"I don't…this is going to sound really bad but I don't know what I'd do without you. I always cared about you, you know. Always. But now…since you and I….since the Claw thing…since then I just…you're my best friend. You're my everything. I just….when I'm with you I feel like someone. Because I am someone to you. I'm someone to you and when you look at me like…like I'm everything. Like I'm your everything….Mob I don't know what I'm going to do if you don't come back. Mob…" said Reigen as he kissed her forehead over and over again. Like this was one of her princess movies, the ones she would watch when she was eleven and full of dreams and all they meant including the power of love and friendship and…she still believed in dreams. She believed in dreams and the power of love and friendship and the invisible bonds between people. She was still so **young**.

"Mob…I have something important to tell you. Something that…if you wake up I'll tell you. I'll tell you the truth, the whole truth. The truth about me. Mob…Mob I shouldn't have every lied to you. I just…when I met you I thought you were lying! I thought that you were just a little girl with an overactive imagination but now…you're real. You're the real deal and I'm…I'm not. I mean I wasn't…I wasn't." said Reigen taking her lifeless hand in his.

"I'm liar. I'm not the Great Reigen Arataka, Greatest Psychic and Rising Star of the Twenty First Century. I'm just…Arataka. The guy who fucked around all through university, got a business degree, and hated selling watercoolers with every fiber of his being. The guy who wants to be somebody so badly he just attaches himself to the other somebody's of the world. The guy who…who lies to the person he cares about most in the entire world." Said Reigen. Her hand twitched.

Her hand twitched again.

Then it clutched his.

Her eyes opened.

"Master…." Said Mob, her voice coming out deeper than she remembered it being. She saw a flash of green. Dimple. He had made it out. He was hiding. Extra invisible mode.

"Mob…Mob!" said Reigen. He pulled her into his chest. She was still and stiff for a moment before reaching over and clutching his suit coat with both hands. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, the space where neck met shoulders. She just sort of breathed in deeply. He let her. He held her close and he let her.

She was still alive.

"Oh Master! Master! I missed you so, much!" said Mob as she buried her face in him. Cigarette smoke, aftershave, incense, and that smell that was just so, indescribably, him. Reigen Arataka. Safety. Love. Home. She was home. She was back to him.

The end had been the beginning again.

"Mob…same. I thought…never mind what I thought….you're back. I knew it. I knew that you could do it. Never lost faith in you, Mob!" said Reigen getting back to his old habits. He had to lie to her. He had to lie to her for her own good. What good would it have done to tell her the truth? The truth was that he had thought that she was a goner. Yeah, no, she didn't need to hear that.

"Thank you…thank you so much…" said Mob. She was crying a little, just a little. She didn't deserve him. She was…she was terrible. A terrible human being. She did not deserve him. They cried together for an amount of time that neither of them cared to quantify. Mob had never been so relieved in her life. Relieved and happy and warm and so, very, safe. Surrounded by yellow. Custard yellow. Master Reigen was using his powers on her. She let him. She let herself take in every single emotion he was making her feel. Anything but her constant companions pain and misery. She let herself become mired in him. His aura. His presence. His strength. His scent. Everything about him became hers.

Reigen held her tighter than he had ever held another human being in his life. She was there. She was back. Mob was back. His Mob. Shigeko. Back to him. She was fine. He knew that she would be fine. He was wrong to have doubted her like that. So very wrong. He let her go slowly, she did need to breathe after all. She needed to breath and so did he and breathing was actually a bit painful. A bit very painful.

"Master, you're hurt." Said Mob. Before he could say anything she poured herself into him. She willed the cells in his body to go back to normal, to heal. She filled him with her energy until he was covering his eyes and trying to scoot away. She needed to fix him. She needed to make sure that he wasn't broken.

Master Reigen needed her.

"Mob! That's enough!" said Reigen as he felt something akin to icy hot being rubbed under his skin. The pain in his ribs was gone. His head wasn't swimming anymore. His fingers weren't bleeding. All of his aches and pains were gone.

"I had to put you back together, Master. You were broken." Said Mob. She needed to be useful to him. She needed to be good for him. He needed to think that she was a good person. He needed to think that the Mob that existed in this reality was the same as the Mob that existed in the reality of his mind.

"Don't worry about me, Mob, it takes more than that to take your master down. Maybe use some of the healing on that Asagiri kid, she still hasn't woken up yet." Said Reigen. He flexed his fingers. Painless. He stood up. No more shakes. The shakes he had ended, or at least given him a brief reprieve. Maybe they'd come back later after he'd had a long enough break from them. That had been so** close** hadn't it? He had come so close to…he could have died. Mob would have been fine but he could have so easily died…and for what?

Money.

He had almost died, taken Mob into mortal danger for money.

He watched her. She was shaking the pink haired girl awake now. No, not for money. For Mob. Mob had been ordered to run away but she didn't, she wouldn't, she couldn't. She was so stubborn…she had been too stubborn…she had to save that girl. When Mob got an idea in her head come hell or high water it was happening. She was a good person. She had the idea that saving the girl was her responsibility and therefore there was no mountain high enough, no valley low enough, and no river wide enough to keep her from her goal.

Heh. Mom would be so proud, he'd finally come around to her taste in music. Heh.

"Hey? Are you still alive?" asked Mob as she nudged Asagiri with her powers. Powers, not bodies, because she could not touch Asagiri. She could not risk hurting Asagiri again. Asagiri's eyes snapped opened and she threw herself against the wall.

"You!" said Minori. A dream…no. A reality. That hadn't been real though. Was this real? Was anything real? That girl….Shige-chan…no. Mob. She liked to be called Mob. She had to be called Mob. She had to be called Mob because with a single thought she could literally **end the world.**

"Yes. Me. Mob. My name is Mob." Said Mob

"You…are you really…?" Minori wanted to ask if she was real. If someone with superpowers like her had really allowed herself to be so thoroughly beaten. If in real life she was a bored and detached and stuck up as she was in that world. If she remembered the dream world. Why she had even come. Why she had even bothered saving her even after all the stuff that she did. If she had set out to take away the one good thing that Minori had in that terrible nightmare world.

"Call me Mob. My name is Mob. Or Shigeko. Or Kageyama. But Not Shige-chan. Not Shige-chan or Bowl-Cut or Miss Manners or Miss Perfect or anything like that. Call me by my name." said Mob. Her voice was flat, level, it had to be. Asagiri was…afraid? Mob didn't care. She had done her job and saved Asagiri. She didn't care if the other girl liked her or hated her or was afraid of her. She was alive and that was all that mattered.

"Sure, yeah, whatever you want!" said Minori, her breathing picking up. So this was what she was like in real life. Terrifying. Inhuman. Her eyes were…wrong. Her face was wrong. Her presence was wrong. Everything about her was so wrong!

"Are you ok?" asked Mob looking her over for obvious injuries. She wasn't fine but she wasn't broken. Nothing worse than what she had spent the past…six months…doing to Mob. Nothing that she couldn't handle. If she wanted to be healed then she shouldn't have delighted in causing pain to others.

"Yeah…I think so…" said Minori. Her arms hurt. Scars. She felt one. Something under her skin. She remembered….breaking glass? A fight? Then that thing...WHERE WAS THAT THING?!

"Well now isn't this a touching scene…" a voice. A voice they both knew. Asagiri screamed, a high and painful sound that tore through her throat. Then she was under a…bubble? A crystalline bubble, like the glasses she and dad drank from.

"This time I'll finish you!" screamed Mob. The room erupted in an explosion of pink and blue. Reigen shielded his eyes as best as he could. It didn't help. It was too bright and he was seeing it with his spirit. His soul.

Mob had initiated third impact and it still didn't stop Mogami. Maybe nothing could.

"Maybe I can help." Said a voice from the corner of the room. A green aura. A gasp. Mogami's gasp. He was…Mob knew that tone. He was afraid. Good. Mogami should have been afraid. He wasn't the one in control anymore. She was. Well, sort of.

"Hey! I know you!" said Reigen as he got a good look at the fraidy-cat who had spent the entire battle and then the time afterwards hiding in the corner like a scared little kid. That spirit guy with the big scar from Claw. Claw. Oh no. Oh HELL no!

"Wait! Stop! I'm going straight now, I promise! Cross my heart!" said Matsuo as he was hit with the urge to run. To run away and never look back. The man…he was doing that. His…Matsuo wasn't entirely sure what the relation between the man and the girl was, was staring at him. She stared and she stared and she stared. The same stare she had given the division leader before she refused to lose. To disappear. Before she had soundly kicked everybody's ass.

"You caught Mogami." Said Mob simply. How. How did he do that? Was it a power she had? Or was it unique to him? Could she…could she learn? Were the others, others like Mogami? Ones that couldn't be destroyed?

"Here! You take it!" said Matsuo holding out an old container that used to contain anti-acid pills. The girl took a step back. And she was a girl. The baby face…her height. Yeah, that was a kid. A kid had done…all of that….

"No. Get that thing away from me. You…I don't want him to be my prisoner. He can be your prisoner but…but don't you ever even think about letting him go. Ever." said Mob. Her aura shone bright again. The building shook. Part of the ceiling collapsed. Several loud thuds could be heard from outside. The broken glass around them became a fine powder.

"Mob…" said Reigen. She had been stamping her authority all day. Her authority as the most powerful amongst them all…

"Sure! Sure! Whatever you say!" said Matsuo. He could always just feed this to his pets. They could certainly use the power boost. He would not disobey her. She would literally tear him apart. She could. She so easily could. The last time he had ever felt power like this from another esper was when he faced the president…

"Good. Come on Master, Dimple. Let's go home." Said Mob. Good. It was done with and she was done with all of this. She needed to go…not to her house. That was not her house. She shared a home with Master Reigen. It was dirty and smelled like it was made of cigarettes but it was their home. She reached behind herself and felt her hair. Still down to the middle of her back. No braids. She looked down at her nails. Chipped badly but still pink. Someone had painted them. A mom. Not her mom but a mom. Someone who cared about her…

Someone she didn't deserve.

"Wait!" said Asgiri getting to her feet. Her bare feet. The room was full of broken glass and other debris. Where was dad? Where was the staff? Where was anyone? She wanted to ask these questions but she couldn't. Not under that bored stare, the stare she had been living under for the past six months…

"Yes?" asked Mob. She was done with Asagiri. Asagiri was free and Mogami was captured, it was OVER.

"Are you…I mean…are you always like this? In real life I mean?" asked Asagiri. Did she always have the bored look? Did she always think that she was above everything and everyone? She even looked bored when that guy with the big, ugly, scar captured the evil spirit. She looked bored while she was…ending the world…what in the hell was she always so bored about?! What was she always staring at?!

"Yes. This is the me that exists in this reality. Are you always like that?" asked Mob. Was Asagiri always terrible? Or was it Mogami's influence? Mob knew, now, that those weird thoughts she had been having had in fact been whispered into her mind by Mogami. Was it the same with Asagiri? No. That would have been worse. Then she would have strangled a…a good person…to death….

"Yeah, I am. Sorry, I guess!" said Asagiri with confidence she did not feel. That girl had superpowers. She had superpowers and she had already ended one world. She could so easily come after revenge…and all the walls and security systems and bodyguards that dad could buy would **never** be able to keep her safe.

"Just try and be a good person. That truth of one's charm is in their kindness." Said Mob before walking away. Now it was over. She could get back to life, back to reality. She could be…she could be who she wanted to be…no she couldn't. She could not be who she wanted to be. She wanted to be a good person. She had failed. She had done so many things…terrible things…she just…she needed to go home and rest. She was so, very, tired….she let her feet carry her across the room and away from all of this mess.

After a moment, a confused moment, Reigen followed her.

What had he missed?


	41. Falling Action

"Hey Mob…" said Reigen. They were in a car now, Shinra's. He had offered, or rather insisted, on giving them a ride at least to the train station. The county side was once again zipping by, this time in reverse though. Reigen had never been so happy to be in a car in his life. It was over, finally. He was…fine. He was fine and Mob was….

What was Mob?

"Yes Master?" asked Mob sitting up. She had been slumped over against the window in the backseat. Shinra had insisted on giving them a ride no matter how many times she insisted that she could walk and he should just take Master. She could walk and she should walk because she didn't deserve a ride. Shinra was so nice to her, a good friend even though they hadn't known him for very long. Mob was grateful.

She was so grateful to have people in her life who were nice to her.

Especially since she was so, very, terrible.

"You getting motion sick back there?" asked Reigen. She didn't feel like anything. Well, anything besides bone crushingly exhausted. When he let his aura get close to hers, even when he wasn't that close, he could feel it. He needed to get home and collapse into bed. So did she. It had been…it had been a day.

At least it was over now.

"Motion sick?! There should be some old carry out bags back there if you have to….you know." Said Shinra. Giving the two of them a ride was the least that he could do, especially after they had saved Master Jodo from that…could it even be called a spirit? Shinra had faced off against spirits before and while they were always stubborn that…thing…had been off the charts. It had even managed to posses Master Jodo….

"I don't have to throw up. I'm fine. I feel fine." Said Mob. She was not lying. She felt fine. She was back in her own reality. The end had been the beginning again. Now she was back where she belonged and people were nice to her. They were nice to her because…because she was a good person. That was why…but she wasn't. She was a bad person. She was someone who…someone who did terrible things…but she was back now…and she could try to be…to be not so terrible.

"You sure?" asked Reigen

"Yes. I know how I feel, Master." Said Mob. She had no tone, none at all. That was what worried Reigen. She usually had some sort of tiny inflection to her voice, he noticed this about her, now. That had been a true monotone. He got a shiver of fear up his spine. He was with Shinra. That was…creepy. True monotone.

"Sorry. I was just…never mind. You know yourself." Said Reigen. She knew herself and she said that she was fine even though she felt numb and dead tired. That must have been it, she was dead tired. That had been some display of power back there, for her. Usually exorcisms were one and done. Boom. Pow. No more spirit. That had been…a lot.

It had been a day.

Maybe they could order takeout. He didn't feel like cooking or being around people.

No…that was from her.

"That was insane back there! Seriously. You were both amazing back there!" said Shinra breaking the silence that was beginning to grow. He had to say something, anything, to keep that atmosphere from filling the small space in his economy size car. The woman looked like a ghost back there, she had no look on her face and her hair was in her eyes. Master Jodo always warned against even attempting an out of body experience. It was supposed to be the most dangerous technique that a psychic could ever perform and it was supposedly not worth it to learn how. It was easy to forget yourself, Master Jodo had said, easy to forget how to keep your soul together. Easy to cease, not even death but just….dissipating.

And that woman had done it like it was nothing.

These guys were so cool!

"Thank you very much." Said Mob flatly. Not sarcastically, just stating the polite words that one was supposed to respond with when they were praised. She ignored the good feeling that she was getting. She didn't deserve praise.

"How did you even do that? Master Jodo always said that out of body experiences are the most forbidden of all techniques. He doesn't even like to use them!" said Shinra

"I just left my body and forced Mogami out. That's all. I had to do it or Asagiri would have died." Said Mob

"Mob's just amazing like that." Said Reigen. Mob made eye contact with him through the mirror. There. He felt it, sort of. It was muted but it was there. The warmth. She held eye contact with him in the mirror. She was looking at him in that way again, the way she had looked at him when she had…emerged? When she had popped back into her own body. She was looking at him like she hadn't seen him in…a very long time.

"Thank you, Master." Said Mob. She felt beyond good hearing him praise her. Not only his voice but…but the fact that he still cared for her. Not that it wasn't so wonderful to hear his voice…to be near him…to know that he was real…

She turned to face the window. She was looking at him for too long. People didn't much care for being stared at. She stared too much. Nobody liked it when she stared. Staring wasn't good. Staring could get her hurt. She focused on the world rushing past her. This was different. This was totally different than what she had been staring at…

Staring at for six months. Walking the same path for six months. Six months in that…dream world. Unreality. It hadn't felt like six months. It felt like all the time and no time. It felt like a dream. Time hadn't been easy to keep track of, Mogami could alter it at will. She turned to face the clock on the dashboard. It was getting to be dinner time. She stared at the clock. The minutes changed.

She spent the ride in silence. Well, she was silent. Shinra was retelling everything that happened, Master Reigen was putting his own two yen in, and Dimple…

Dimple just looked at her.

He was in extra invisible mode. He was making a face that she identified as sad. He was probably so disappointed in her. She had been so terrible that even an evil spirit thought that she was a bad person. Or maybe he was just bothered that he couldn't eat Mogami. Or maybe that he couldn't keep her body.

She would have been fine with him keeping it.

She opened and closed her hand. No cut on her palm. Her skin was flawless here. No scars. Nowhere on her body could she feel any scars. That was good. That meant that she was back to life, back to reality. This was her world. In this world she was Mob, an esper. She had the power to heal herself and others. She could will herself to heal so quickly that she didn't scar. She could will herself to heal so quickly that she wouldn't even feel pain.

She reached into her pocket and squeezed her keys. Key. She only had one key. Her home only had the one front door. She squeezed her key until she could feel her skin come apart. She let go and healed herself. She pulled out her hand and looked at it. Healed.

Reigen watched her through the mirror. He heard her keys jingling and then felt a sudden stabbing pain in his hand. Then nothing. She had…she had hurt herself. On accident. She was just tired and…stressed? She wasn't feeling her best.

Mob felt good, sort of. She could heal. She could heal any injuries that someone gave her. Would…would someone hurt her? She remembered being thrown through the air. She remembered being slammed into the ground…through walls…then knives…but she had lost control. She had lost control and destroyed the school and hurt Teru…

But she had won.

The other her, Shigeko, had won. She had won and then Teru had become her friend…and then her boyfriend. Teru was her boyfriend in this world…the real Teru. That had been the Teru that existed in…not even her mind. The Teru that existed in her mind would never have acted like that. He would never have pushed her to do anything and he would never have even wanted to cheat. He had made himself perfectly clear that he would never break the bond that was their relationship.

But she had broken that bond. She had broken it and now…she was terrible. But had she broken it? Yes. That was another reality. A multi-verse. She had to end that reality to bring about this reality. In this iteration of the world she was a terrible person who cheated on her boyfriend with another version of him, the version that existed in the previous iteration of this reality. There were different iterations of everyone and those iterations were not one in the same.

In this reality she was a terrible person. The old Mob, the one who existed in the previous iteration of reality, was gone. She had come tumbling down in third impact. The third impact that she had created. She had brought about third impact…she had been the one to destroy the previous iteration of reality. Her. Shigeko. The two of them together. She had the power to destroy reality itself…

She never asked for this.

But she had this.

She had these powers and she knew what she had to use them for. She was put on this Earth, she existed in this reality to save people. That was what she was for. That was why Master Reigen loved her. He had once told her that the spirits of Spirits and Such was her work, the exorcisms. She had asked what he did, what the such was, and he said helping people. She was praised when she helped people. She used her powers to help people because she was praised for helping them. That was what she was for. Even if she was terrible.

She was a vessel to house this power. She may have been terrible but at least she had a purpose. At least she was useful. That was why people valued one another, because they could be useful. Money or sex, that was what it all came down to. Master Reigen liked money. She liked sex.

No. She had to…she had to ignore everything that she had learned…even if it made sense…

She closed her eyes and let herself curl into her own mind. She felt her stomach getting all jumpy but she made it stop. She willed herself to stop feeling bad. She willed herself to feel…not motion sick. Even though, maybe, being motion sick was better than being nothing at all. She let herself curl into her mind space. It was a bit like falling asleep. Peaceful. Safe.

A room. A desk. Her in her school uniform. Her hair down. Another her, in braids. Also in a school uniform. She sat at her desk, her head down. It looked like she was asleep.

_Shigeko?_

**Mob.**

_What are you doing?_

**Sleeping.**

_At school?_

**Yes.**

_Where am I?_

**My space.**

_Is this like the unreality?_

**A reality. My reality.**

_Why are you sleeping?_

**Tired.**

_Can I sleep too?_

**Not here.**

_Why not? It's nice here. Nobody is here to hurt us._

**Let me out if you want to be in.**

_No. You'll explode._

**I won't. We are not in danger. Master Reigen is here.**

_He is._

"Mob…hey Mob…come on…we're here…we're at the train station." Said Reigen as he shook her awake. He got a brief feeling not unlike a shock of static electricity.

_Master…._

Mob opened her eyes suddenly. That place had been so safe…that was where Shigeko lived. She had been there before but it had never felt like an actual…place. Shigeko was using words, too. Maybe this iteration of her was smarter. Master was there. The door was opened and he was supporting her with his arm. Oh. She had gone all slack. She enjoyed the closeness. The smell of him. Just for a moment before sitting up.

"Yes. I see. Thank you for the ride, Shinra. I hope Master Jodo gets out of the hospital soon." Said Mob. She barely remembered it, it had been so long ago, but she had put him in the hospital. She had smashed his vessel in an attempt to get Mogami out…it worked…but he broke…and she might not have done the best job of putting him back together…

She was terrible.

"Yeah, thanks a lot. If you're ever in Seasoning City look us up." Said Reigen with a wave. He put an arm around Mob as they made their way to the train platform. She leaned into his touch…more than she ever had before. His arm completely spanned her shoulders and rested somewhere on her arm. He knew that he should have let go but he just felt so…safe. Like nothing could ever hurt him no as long as she was near.

Her feelings, not his.

He let go of her under the excuse of going over to check the posted train schedule. Good, it was coming soon. She had taken a seat on a bench and was going through her bag. She was taking the contents out and laying them down across the bench. He walked over to her and looked over her shoulder. A plastic sandwich bag full of hundred yen coins, her phone, the yo-yo, a shiny rock, a seed packet, and a hair ribbon.

"Looking for something?" asked Reigen

"No. I'm just trying to remember what I had in here." Said Mob. Her phone…how could she have forgotten her phone? She checked the time. She checked the date. She checked her calendar. She checked her alarms. She checked her Friendbook. She checked her messages.

Mogami had created a reality that mirrored when he was alive. This was twenty nineteen not…whatever year he thought that it was. This was her time and this was her phone and her…friends…had tried to message her.

Tome wanted to know if Mob was strong enough to borrow a military satellite for a few hours.

Rei had apologized again for spilling her guts. Then she asked Mob's opinion on a drawing that she did.

Mezato wanted further insight into why she had thrown the election.

Teru had sent the most messages. He wanted to know if she was still coming to his soccer game tomorrow. He wanted to know if she wanted to get lunch or make it together. He wanted to know if she wanted to take a bath again….

Mob didn't know what she wanted. She clicked her phone shut. She'd reply back later. When she figured out what she wanted…what she wanted with Teru. She…she still loved him…but she had cheated on him with another version of himself….she was a cheater and a…and a murderer….

She was terrible.

"Here, all your stuff is going to blow away." Said Reigen as he caught her hair ribbon before the wind could fully steal it. She stared at the ribbon in his hand. Her hand shook a little, her phone fell into her lap.

"That's my ribbon…" said Mob. For a moment she imagined, remembered, a hand tying the end of her braid back up. But her hair wasn't in braids. Her hair was long and down and her hairclips were keeping her bangs back even though they were broken, well the butterfly had broken off of one, but her hair was different in this iteration of reality. She didn't braid her hair. Then why did she reach over to feel her braid? Why did she get a little scared when she didn't find it?

It was over.

She had destroyed that old iteration of reality.

The end and the beginning were one in the same.

Master Reigen packed her bag back up. He even put her phone away for her. The whole time he kept on glancing over at her. She opened and closed her hand a few times. No cut. No scar. No pain. Her fingers had been broken, her palm had been sliced opened, but that was before. She was fine, now, she could heal, now. She felt her arm. No cut. No long, deep, slice from the fight with Asagiri. When she murdered Asagiri.

Asagiri was still alive.

The ending was just the beginning again.

"Man, I am beat! Let's order dinner tonight, huh Mob? Whatever you want. I am not cooking, no way." Said Reigen as he sat down next to her. He put everything away for her, the contents of her bag. It was weirdly…intimate? Was that the word…but he didn't want her to lose any of her stuff. That stuff must have been important if she was carrying it around.

"I can cook, Master." Said Mob

"No, you don't have to. It's been a big day." Said Reigen

"I feel fine." Said Mob

"You feel dog, dead, tired, Mob. I know how you feel." Said Reigen tapping her aura with his. The pink and blue that made her up was unusually still. It rippled as he poked it. She reached over with her aura and held onto his. He slumped down on the bench. He was so tired…he had never been this tired in his entire life…..

"Sorry, Master." Said Mob. She was holding onto him. She hadn't felt her aura in…let alone him in her aura. Him inside of her. Not like that but…in some ways better. Metaphysically. The two of them as one person. Instrumentality. Real. Not like…before. Not her and Asagiri and all of those spirits living without boundaries between them. No vessels, just the them that existed in their minds. The world populated by spirits…the two of them in a world of spirits…all the spirits existing together without boundaries…the red soup…LCL….

It's over. Stop thinking about it. The end was the beginning again.

"No, it's ok. You're tired. You did…you did a lot today." Said Reigen

"It's been a long day." Said Mob. Thirty minutes. Six months. A lifetime. Time. She checked the time on her phone. Minutes had passed. She could count them. The sun had moved. Gradually. The air was…cool…but not cold. No. She could still feel the tips of her fingers. She could feel her toes. She couldn't even see her breath.

"You've got that right. What should we get? You pick. You…you should pick." Said Reigen. She had done literally all the work. All of it. He had done nothing. She was…she was the one who…she was the one who…this had all been her and…don't be…jealous? No. Don't feel like that. Just because she was someone and he was…he wasn't. He was a pity. His entire life was a pity.

No. Don't think that way. That was just the spirit trying to mess with his head. It was over.

"Anything but cup noodle….or cilantro." Said Mob. She closed her eyes. She could feel the sun on her skin. It was warm. Not grey. The sky had been grey but the clouds were passing. Now it was blue. Too blue, so she closed her eyes.

"So no ordering cups of noodles and cilantro. Go it." Said Reigen. She looked like she was trying to get to sleep again. She needed it. He wanted to reach over and pull her close. To rest her head on his chest and just let her sleep. But he didn't. He shouldn't. He was…he was too close to her. He was too close to her and he liked it. He liked showing her affection, making her happy. She needed affection. He knew that she did, how happy he made her feel. How safe he made her feel.

"I hate cilantro…" muttered Mob

"I know you do, I know." Said Reigen. He reached over to her. She needed him…or did he need her. Was he the one who needed safety, who needed comfort? He had a day, a big day. Being tossed around, smacked around, it had hurt. She was there and small and safe and warm but…but he couldn't…

"I don't like cup noodle…it tastes so boring." Muttered Mob. She wanted to be closer to Master Reigen. Usually he pulled her close by now. Usually her head was resting on his chest and his hand was in her hair but now…

Did he know?

How could he? That was in the previous iteration of reality. He hadn't even existed in that reality.

"Yeah, they've got so many better brands now. Don't worry, next trip I'll get some of the better kinds. Pork flavored, of course." Said Reigen. They had the money now. They could afford better brands of instant noodles. Better kinds of everything. Maybe even actual food. Not frozen, not instant, not microwaveable. Real food. More than they usually got. Especially since they'd have more time to go to the store, now. They wouldn't have to work as much. So long as Asagiri paid up, which he had better. He didn't drag Mob all the way to that terrible place and make her….make her do all of that…for nothing.

For money.

An insane amount of money.

"When was cup noddle invented?" asked Mob after a while. The train came into the station and Reigen almost didn't hear her.

"I think in…in the sixties maybe? Hang on, we'll Google it when we get on the train." Said Reigen. He smiled a bit. She smiled. She smiled at a joke that he wasn't privy to. She smiled as they got onto the train.

Heh. Google. Current times…Mogami couldn't make her world. Only his world. She was so dumb. She should have known that she was in another reality, in another world, because it looked so different. No Google, old timey TVs, school on Saturday….his world. When he was alive. Heh. What had she said…

"_I am the student of Reigen Arataka, Greatest Psychic and Rising Star of the Twenty First Century. Feel free to Google him!"_

She walked to the back of the train. She didn't want to be around people and there were a lot of people on that train. She even recognized some of the psychics. They were the ones dressed on those weird outfits. She could see their faces now, everyone's face. Not slippery anymore. She could see everyone. The people mostly looked bored or tired, just like she did. Some were happy, the ones sitting with others. Friends. Groups. The psychics all looked scared, however, like she had before. They looked away as she looked at them. Master Reigen put his hand on the small of her back and led her to a seat on the back of the train.

Reigen did not like the looks that Mob was getting. She hated it when people were afraid of her. Those guys…those guys were all frauds. Of course they'd be afraid of her. When he first met her, when he first learned that psychic powers were real, he had been a little freaked out. Just a little and not for long because, well, he knew that he could…that he could use her.

He was done using her.

She was not a meal ticket.

Mob wished that he would have kept touching her. She had tensed, almost, when she felt a hand at the small of her back. Nobody touched her unless it was to hurt her. This was Master Reigen, though, and he could never hurt her. He never would hurt her. She could trust him. She loved him. He made her happy. She made him happy. But he wouldn't be happy, not if he found out.

She could never tell him what happened.

She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him so that he would just **know** and then she could deal with whatever happened. She could deal with it if he…if he didn't love her anymore. She'd have an answer. Maybe he would understand. Maybe he would comfort her. Maybe he would pull her over and hold her close and tell her that everything would be ok and that he still loved her even though she was a murderer and a cheater and she had used her powers against another person…no. She hadn't used her powers. She had…she had killed Asagiri with her own two hands. It hadn't been self-defense…had it? Asagiri was hurting her but she had been the one to kiss Asagiri's boyfriend. Her boyfriend. No, Teru was only her boyfriend in this iteration of reality. Not Mogami's iteration of reality.

"Nineteen fifty eight!" said Reigen. Wow, cup noodle had been around for a while. He flipped through the article. Who knew cup noodle had such a rich and fascinating history. Oh, a documentary. Mob might like that. Just the two of them watching TV and eating dinner and just decompressing.

"Huh?" asked Mob

"Cup noodle was invented in nineteen fifty eight." Said Reigen

"Oh. Wow. That's a long time ago." Said Mob. Nineteen fifty eight…was that the year Mogami had decided that it would be? She didn't know much about those years. Was that when Mogami was a kid? School on Saturdays, vintage gym uniforms, girls having to learn to sew…maybe that was the year…but it didn't matter. She shouldn't care what year it had been because it didn't matter.

Nothing really mattered.

Nothing but Master Reigen.

He mattered. He mattered to her more than anyone else in the entire world. Everything that mattered to her in this world or any other world. No matter what reality she lived in she would always love Master Reigen. He might not always love her, though. He might not love her if he knew. If he knew just how awful she was. How terrible.

Mob closed her eyes. She was so tired…so very tired….

Asagiri Minori was so tired, so very tired.

The house was totally empty. No more staff, no more dad…nobody. She was all alone. The house was dark and silent, it had never been silent. Even her footsteps down the hall were silent. She had nowhere else to go so she went to her room. There was dust in the air, it was disgusting. Where were the maids? She should not have to live like this!

Her old mansion had been perfectly clean, sterile even. There had been an army of maids and servants to attend to her every need. They glided through the house doing their duties. They never said anything unless it was something like 'Do you need anything, Miss Asagiri'. Everyone in the world was like that. A bunch of ass kissers. No, worse, dolls. Everyone in that world was a doll. Everyone wanted to be her friend, to make her happy. Everyone in the entire world treated her like the protagonist, because she was. She was Asagiri Minori! Heiress to the Asagiri holding company. Who wouldn't want to kiss up to her, to be her friend?

The girl hadn't.

The girl who moved through the world like it didn't matter.

The girl who never even showed the slightest bit on interest in getting on her good side.

The girl who fucked her boyfriend.

The girl who killed her.

And she had been dead. She knew what dying was like. It was like falling asleep…but worse. So much worse…and it had happened to her…nobody was there…in that dream. Nobody was in her dream, it must have been hers alone. No, the girl was there. Was she real? Was any of this?

Asagiri found her room. A layer of dust covered everything. She walked across the carpet, her feet leaving footprints in the dust. She glances across the room. Her TV. Big and flat like it should have been. Her laptop in the corner, still opened from the last time she used it…but when? Did time even matter?

She laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. Even though she had been dreaming for months she was still exhausted.

Mob was exhausted.

She was lenaing against the window of the train, not against Master Reigen. He was sitting farther away from her than usual. Did he know? Or could he just sense how terrible she was? She didn't know. She just wanted to rest. She had used a tremendous amount of power in the unreality when she initiated third impact. She just needed rest but she didn't' deserve it. She didn't deserve anything.

Her eyes prickled.

Reigen rubbed his eyes.

"Mob, what's wrong? And don't tell me you're fine, I know you aren't." said Reigen. He had been looking through his phone, before. Nothing important. Some clients on Monday, deleted some weird stuff from the spirits and such page, normal things. The book was going to actual print, too, so that was good. Mob would be happy. Maybe. She felt so…numb….

It was weird. Mob wasn't exactly someone who wore her heart on her sleeve or anything but he had never felt her so numb before. He had felt her when she stuffed her emotions down, compressed them into something super dense and kept them deep inside, but this was different.

"It's been a long day, Master, and I want us to go home. That's all I want, I just want to go home with you." Said Mob not even opening her eyes. She had dreamt of this for so long. Him, her, warmth, safety. A home with a person in it. A person besides her.

"Are you sure? Mob, come on, I know you." Said Reigen. Something was bothering her and it might have been…was she bothered by that? He wouldn't have done it. He didn't do it. That was what she wanted. Oh. Maybe she was…it must have been that. The exorcism had been more of a battle but she had been though much worse on that awful night when they fought Claw.

He remembered that night. The way she screamed and laughed. The way she looked when she just wouldn't move…when she was fully prepared to use her powers against other human beings, when she was prepared to kill other human beings. This had just been a spirit. A…difficult…exorcism. That was all. She must have felt weird about what happened between the two of them.

God knew he did.

"Master, I just want us to go home." Said Mob with a tone, a tone even she could hear. This train couldn't go any faster, could it? She could…no she couldn't. That would be bad and dangerous. She opened her eyes a little. Not fast enough.

She needed the lumpy, bumpy, hard couch. She needed to rest her head in Master Reigen's lap. She needed to have him run his fingers through her hair. She wouldn't mind if he smoked while he did it. She missed it, actually. She missed the smelled of him. He was too far away. She couldn't really smell him. She wanted to lay herself down on him but she didn't. She did not deserve Reigen Arataka.

Reigen wanted to press the issue. To get her to…to stop this. Not that she was doing anything. She was just sitting there and looking out the window. She was just sitting there and existing but Mob…Mob may have looked like a doll but she wasn't. There was a lot going on below the surface but now she looked, on the inside, the same way she looked on the outside. He wanted to reach over and pull her close. To tell her that he was sorry for being weird earlier, but he didn't. It would have been weird if he had been like that, if he had pulled her close and then apologized for being so weird.

Maybe he wanted to apologize for more. Maybe he wanted to apologize for dragging her down, for keeping her trapped. That was what he was, wasn't it? A pity of a man. Nothing, no one. He wanted to be someone but he was no one and nothing. She was someone and something. She was a star that he had dragged down to Earth for his own enjoyment. She was a star and a doll and whatever else he needed her to be. Someone to be there to hold and cuddle when he felt touch starved. Someone to hang on his every word when he felt invisible. Someone to love him when he felt alone. Someone to go out into the world and make him money because he could not support himself. She was something and he was nothing and-

No. That was just a spirit. Who cared what an evil spirit said. Even if it was Mogami…

The man he turned to when things got difficult. When mom and dad were fighting with each other. When they were fighting with him. When dad was gone and mom was sad. When dad was there and mom was mad. When they were both mad at him because he was…well…him. Because he was obnoxious. Because he couldn't ever shut up. Because he was head strong and defiant. Because he looked like mom and acted like her. Because he looked like dad and acted like dad. Because nothing he ever did was ever good enough so maybe he should just stop doing anything but that just made dad so mad that he left and had a new son and a new wife and it was Arataka who had ruined everything and wasn't good enough. But Arataka could be better. But Arataka could pop in a tape and see a better world. But Arataka could say the words and do the motions and pretend to see a world unseen. He could pretend to be someone. Someone who was someone to other people. Someone who could help them.

He could become someone other than Arataka, the failure. Arataka the nobody. He could be the Great Reigen Arataka, Greatest Psychic and student of the great Mogami Keiji.

But the great Mogami Keiji was dead.

The great Mogami Keiji was exorcised by the Great Shigeko….Mob. By Mob, the greatest psychic and meal ticket of the greatest liar of the twenty first century, Reigen Arataka.

Mogami was nothing to him, now. Nothing. A liar, the greatest liar. Reigen had learned from the best. Good people did not die and become spirits so evil that even other spirits quaked in their presence. Good people did not die and become spirits so evil as to possess little girls. Evil spirits did not hurt Mob, a person that was goodness personified. A person who could not even squish a cockroach let alone harm a soul.

Heh. Well they did always say don't meet your heroes.

He let his eyes rest on Mob.

They did say that.

The train ride wasn't as long as the car ride. Trains went faster, especially in the city. They made it to the station, the big one, not the one that went only within the city. From there Master Reigen had decided to try and hail a taxi. Even though Mob said that it would be expensive.

"Mob, I've told you a thousand times not to worry about money. Besides, once the payment for that Asagiri job comes in we'll be on easy street, remember? Or do you still want to live on Artificial Sweetener Street?" Master Reigen had asked as he stood on the corner waving at passing taxis. There were plenty of other people trying to get taxis. People who weren't wearing ripped clothes with blood on them.

"I just want to live with you, Master." Was what Mob had replied. That was what she had meant. She would live in a box in the park if Master was there. She would be anywhere in this reality, literally anywhere, as long as he would be there too.

He had gone quiet, then, before he went back to trying to get a taxi to stop. She stood behind him even though she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him. She wanted to take three steps and just throw her arms around him and never, ever, let him go. But she didn't. She couldn't. She couldn't just go up and touch him like that. She just…she just couldn't.

He was **there**. He was there and he was so **close** but she couldn't. How could she? How could she just go up and hold him, hold him so tight that he would never go again. Again? No. He had never gone. That was a different iteration of reality, one which she had ended. Not a dream, no, maybe, no. She had never felt pain in a dream before. She had never had a nightmare like that, one which just went on and on and on. One that there was no escape from…one which there was no way out of…one in which she could feel actual pain….

But no. She had destroyed that world. It had all returned to nothing. Everything came from and went to nothing. She was nothing. She was this thing, now, but she could become nothing. She had become nothing. She had left her vessel and become nothing. She had dove into the sea of red LCL and become one with it, swallowed it, destroyed it. Turned it back to nothing. She had ended that world in order to return to this one.

But she had lost. She had let herself down. She had let Master Reigen down. She could never, ever, hurt another human being with her powers…but she hadn't used her powers. She had used her own two hands…

She wiped her hands on her skirt.

She had let Master Reigen down. That was why she couldn't…she didn't deserve…

Reigen knew that something was wrong with Mob and he knew that it was his fault. So she wanted to kiss him. He accepted that. So she may have had, at worst, a little crush on him. He could accept that. What he could not accept was the fact that he had let himself get so caught up in her, in her feelings, that he had made them his. That was the first thing he taught himself when he got these powers. No, actually, he hadn't. He had just hid in her aura. The only people he could truly shrug off were normal people. She was anything but normal, regular. She was herself. She was something powerful, strong, and loud. It was so easy to hide within her, to use her. In using her had had…just because she wanted the idea of something didn't mean that she wanted the reality of it.

She was a teenager. She had her own things that went on in her mind. Things that maybe, probably, involved him. He could never, ever, be that person to her. The Reigen Arataka that existed in the reality that they lived in could not become the Reigen Arataka that existed in the reality of her mind. She had wanted to kiss him because she was fourteen and a ball of hormones and he was someone important to her. He was there for her emotionally so of course she would have some sort of feelings for him.

He never should have let himself get that close and now he had made it weird. Maybe she really was just tired. Towards the end he swore that her aura lit up the whole room, for half a second, while she was still…in there. She must have used a tremendous amount of power and it left her feeling tired. She was…still numb. She was numb and she was not taking to him and why would she? She had…he had…

Yeah, it was an awkward atmosphere.

And he wasn't going to make it any more awkward.

Mob wanted more than anything to touch him. To feel him there, to know that he was real. He was real and he existed in this reality. He was real and he was there for her. That in this world she was not alone. In this world someone cared about her. She was someone worth caring about in this world…but she wasn't. She wasn't and she shouldn't try to be! She was someone who had broken every single rule she had ever been given. She was someone who had killed another person. She was someone who had let herself and everyone else down.

But he was there and he had always….he had always been there. He had been there when she had broken every single rule when they had fought Claw. He had been there when she had needed him after…after she had taken her first steps into the adult world because she just…needed to…because she needed to know what it was like before she died and she was in love and that was what people who were in love did but…but in doing that…in doing all of those things she had only given herself something to miss when she had actually…but she hadn't…but it almost felt like….was she alive? She was alive.

She needed sleep. She didn't even know what she was thinking anymore. She needed to turn on the TV and get into her nightgown and pull the couch blanket over her head and…no. She needed to get into her futon and lay there and listen to Master Reigen breathing in and out, in and out, and then sometimes saying things or turning around or kicking his blankets off. She needed to watch her aura and his merge. To feel it. She needed…she needed everything she had missed. Six months. She had been without him, without that, without all of the little things that existed between them for six months.

It had felt like…like longer. Like a lifetime.

It felt like a lifetime since Teru had last seen his girlfriend. Of course it hadn't been. It had been a day, at most, but it felt like a lifetime. He checked his phone.

Nothing.

He was laying on his bed looking up into the void. The void looked back down. The void was a cream colored shade of off white. He pulled his phone in front of himself with his powers and checked it again. Still nothing. She still hadn't responded to any of his messages. She was working, he told himself. She was all about her job and her career and helping people and he could not blow her phone up just because he was feeling lonely.

Not that he was feeling lonely. He was Hanazawa Teruki. He had tons of people he could be hanging out with right now. He totally did.

He could always see who was hanging out at the Awakening Lab. He could help them practice with their powers and stuff. He helped them a lot, and because it was the right thing to do. Shigeko liked that, that he helped people. He didn't just hang around those guys because they looked up to him and made him feel like he was someone, like he was the person he was before. No, he helped them out of the goodness of his heart. When Claw came for them, and Claw would come back, they'd be ready. They'd be ready and he would have helped them.

Because Claw would come back and they wouldn't send weaklings this time. No, they had competent espers, espers strong enough to even give him a run for his money, and they would never, EVER stop and he was ready and he was going to make sure everyone else was ready and he could stop them if they came again and he'd keep himself safe and he'd keep Shigeko safe but Shigeko wasn't there and she wasn't getting back to him and she was out there somewhere with Reigen and-

Teru kicked the wall. No. He was losing control. He put his powers into that. The whole wall shook. Thank God that was the wall he shared with his laundry room. No. He could at least lose control in the Shigeko way, not in the old way he did. Not the violent way because she hated violence and he needed to be someone she could love. She loved him. He loved her. But she wasn't there and she wasn't getting back to him and nobody was getting back to him and he was all alone in his house and-

He checked his phone again. No Shigeko. Nobody. Not even the weekly phone call from his parents or…or anything from them. He checked his bank account. Well, at least they had remembered his allowance. They could remember that but not to call him. Not that he cared. Not that it mattered. He was old enough that it shouldn't matter if they called him or not. It was always the same anyway.

"_Europe is great. Miss you lots. How are your grades? Did your allowance go through? We sent you something you'd like, expect it in two to three weeks." _

Mom and dad. Mostly mom. He went through his own motions of conversation too.

"_Japan is great. Miss you lots. My grades are good. I got the money. Thank you for the gift." _

Sometimes he gave them updates on his life. They never gave him updates on theirs. He must have told them three times before they remembered that he had a girlfriend. They never asked him about her. They never asked him about anything different. They never asked him about how he was carrying on. They never asked him about his friends or the things he liked or his clubs or anything. They never asked him about Claw or if they tried again or if he was ok.

He wondered what would happen if Claw had gotten to him that night.

Would they have noticed that he missed their weekly phone call? If he had died that night. If he had been kidnapped? Would they have even cared?

He checked his phone again.

Well he didn't need them to care. He didn't need anyone to care. He just needed himself. Himself and Shigeko. She cared. She would always care. That was her way. She would always care about him. She was just occupied at the moment. Working. She had a job and she had to worry about things that he didn't. She had to worry about money and affording things and stuff like that. She didn't have to, though, because she had him. She had him and he had her and he still had her and she was just working. Maybe she posted something about the job…

He checked the Spirits and Such Friendbook page. Nothing. He checked her friendbook. Nothing, not even an update on that game she and her friend with the super thick lower lashes played. Nothing, total silence.

Well as long as he was here he'd might as well update his own stuff.

He made himself look artfully disheveled and took a pic. Friendbook, Instagram, picchat. Clicked his phone off and stared back up at the void. He didn't really feel like doing anything. He did his homework and the weekly shop and his laundry. Maybe a movie…and he did have that bike…bike riding was always fun…

He checked his phone again.

He somehow lost a follower.

He decided to take a nap. Nothing else to do.

There was nothing to do. The house hadn't been totally empty and eventually someone had come looking for Minori. Some member of staff that she either hadn't bothered remembering or hadn't cared about remembering. She didn't know. She had been in that dream world for so long…and even before that she had that...thing…living inside of her. In her mind. Under her skin. Now she was on her own.

Well not exactly on her own.

She had been taken to the hospital. She just let herself be taken. Still in these Godawful pajamas. Still with her hair all messed up. Still with all of these half healed cuts and ugly scars. She had just let herself be led down the stairs and into a car. Then she let herself be led into a hospital and then an examination room. The same hospital dad was at.

She had to get the glass taken out of her cuts. Aside from that she was fine. Then she had been led to her own room and given her phone and laptop. The staff had packed her a bag with all of her essentials. The hospital had given her some new pajamas. They were keeping her for observation they said. Reports from the scene said that she had jumped through a window and been crushed by a chandelier and didn't she want to TALK ABOUT IT?

Everyone kept on asking her that.

The house staff. The hospital staff. Even some lady from children's services. She had given them all the same answer.

No. She most certainly did not want to talk about it. She never wanted to talk about it. She just wanted it all to be over. That thing was gone and now everything could go back to normal. Now she could be her normal self in her normal life and go back to her normal friends and go to her normal school and live in her normal house and be normal.

But she couldn't. She couldn't go back to normal.

That thing had taken over her body because of the way she had been acting. That thing took over her body because she had been mean to other people. Even though she hadn't been that mean. Some people just sort of deserved it. People who thought that they were above everyone else. People who thought that they were better than her. People who were so low on the social food chain that she had no choice but to use them to keep her place at the top.

People like Bowl-Cut. Miss Manners. Miss Perfect. Shige-CHAN. Shigeko. Mob.

Minori knew that the other girl had saved her life. That was what made it worse. That girl had been her worst enemy in that world and her only friend. That girl had been the only other real person there. Everyone else had just been a doll. They always said and did the same things over and over again. Some of them were copies of people she knew in life, others were extras. Well, everyone was an extra when it came to her.

Everyone but the other girl.

That girl had honest to God superpowers. She had superpowers but she still acted like such a total loser. Not even a regular loser but a stuck up loser. She was always looking around like she was so damn bored all the time. Maybe she was. The dream world had been super boring. Everything had been the same but also not. Kind of like those shows when they made the people pretend like they were in the past. Everything had been so weird.

The cars looked weird. The gym uniforms had been weird. The classes had been different. School on a Saturday? What the hell was up with that? School had been on Saturdays since before she had been born. The TVs were big and ugly and only showed old shows. Not that she fully remembered what she had watched. She had watched movies and read books and listened to music but she had forgotten most of it almost as soon as she was done.

Even if she had fallen asleep with her TV on every single night. Just to make it feel like there was someone else in the world with her.

Everyone had been blurry and fake. Everyone except for the other girl and the boy.

The boy had been for her. Someone who listened to her. Someone who cared about her. Someone who was there for her when the world was starting to feel so small and claustrophobic and she had resorted to taking random trains out of town but somehow always ended up getting on the loop line. She had even, one day, walked for hours and hours and hours through the city only to find herself back at her house.

The boy had been the only person there that listened and understood. He had been there for her. He had loved her. She loved him too. But he hadn't been real. He had just been someone that the spirit had made for her…and she had done…everything…but it hadn't been real.

It hadn't been real. It hadn't been real but it had been something that she could reach out and feel.

So it still hurt when her mortal enemy and only friend had stolen him from her.

Bowl-Cut. Miss Manners. Miss Perfect. Shige-CHAN. Shigeko. Mob. Had stolen her boyfriend. Mob had fucked her boyfriend.

Then Mob had killed her.

Then Mob had saved her.

Then Mob had just left.

And now here she was.

Minori turned on her side and clicked her phone on. It was in it's super long charger. She hadn't used it in so long that it had totally discharged. She had no idea what she was going to do with her phone, she just felt like picking it up. She looked at her old background pick. Her and her friends. What were their names? From her homeroom class. Nobody had a name in that world, nobody but the other girl and the boy and her. People had names now. Names and maybe even superpowers.

How many people in the world had superpowers?

She Googled it. Google was unhelpful. Lots of psychics in the world, it said. Lots of people who thought that they had superpowers. Minori thought for a moment before googling Mob. Lots of results. She googled Shigeko. Also lots of results. One wasn't a very common name and one wasn't a name at all. The other girl had a last name. She had said….she had said…

"_I….something Shigeko…will accept this job."_

Well that was dumb. She had been wearing a T-shirt with a logo on it. So had the guy she was with. Spirits and Such. Minori Googled Mob Spirits and Such. Oh. Youtube and a Friendbook page. She clicked on the first Youtube video. The girl, the man, and….a tsuchinoko? Those were real? Well why not. She watched the girl.

Same bored expression. Same impassivity. Same detachment. The guy was cute, for an older guy, but she didn't seem to care. She never cared about anything. She just stood there and then….a shower of color…screaming….then a dead snake. Minori backed out of the video. Bright colors. Yelling. Burning. Her becoming…something. Nothing. Her body disappearing. Seeing everything and nothing. Trying to become…herself…again. Hands reached. Hands dragging. Then being pulled….

Minori wiped her eyes. It was over and she was fine. She was fine and this was fine and she had said her thankyous and never had to see that girl again. She just had to be a nicer person. The next person with superpowers that she messed with might not be so…merciful. The other girl could have left her to die. She could have let the spirit have her. She could have let her body dissolve into nothing. But she didn't. She had been merciful and saved her.

She needed to calm down. She was stronger than this. Dad was on another floor getting his insides put back together and here she was crying like a weakling. She was fine. Minori sprawled out like she normally would. Like normal because she was normal. She was normal and this was normal and everything was normal. Time to do something normal.

She checked her Instagram. Might as well get caught up with everything she missed. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Of course fate wouldn't be kind. The first thing she saw. The very first thing.

The boy.

She had been following him for a while. Teruki. Teru-iffic. The cutest boy she had ever seen. Great style, great taste. The bluest eyes and the yellowest hair she had ever seen. Natural, of course. She had never seen black roots or brown peeking out from behind the blue of his eyes. That was just how he looked. Perfect. She had no idea what he was like in life but she liked to think of him as someone like her. Someone who could like her, every part of her. Someone sweet and wonderful. Apparently someone who would cheat on her when given half the chance.

She decided to unfollow the boy.

Just so that she could go back to normal.

Even after they had gotten home Mob hadn't gone back to normal. Reigen didn't know what to do for her. He had no idea. She had almost gone the wrong way home, for one thing. She had almost taken the path back to her parents' house, her house, before he asked her where she was going. He had been afraid. Afraid that she was leaving him. That he had messed up and she wanted to go so she was just going.

And wasn't that messed up?

Of course she would never just up and leave him. This was Mob. She had just turned on her heel and followed him. She followed him towards their apartment. She must have been tired, it had been a long day. Lots of exorcising. Lots of travel. A long car ride, another long car ride, a long train ride to the city, a long bus ride to the other train station, a long wait, a long train ride, and then a short walk home.

Mob was knackered. He knew that he was, anyway.

The first thing he had done after taking off his shoes had been throwing himself down on the couch pausing only to toss his suit coat off. She followed. She sat down next to him and just stared at the TV. It hadn't even been turned on. She just stared at it like she had never seen a TV before. Emotionally she was still numb. He didn't ask her what it was about. It was obvious that she was going to be tight lipped about it.

He knew full well what it was about.

The silence, eventually, got to be too much and he turned the TV on. Just for some noise. Just for something to fill the atmosphere. He wasn't up to filling it. What could he even say? Apologize? No. He couldn't talk about it and he wasn't going to unless she wanted to talk about it. Since neither of them wanted to talk about it then they simply wouldn't talk about it.

So they watched anime.

One of Mob's shows, maybe. Club antics. Silly kids doing silly things in their silly clubs. Mob's world. He could have changed the channel, maybe. Something more adult. What did adults watch? Scripted dramas. The news. The economics channel that was all economic reports all the time. Boring stuff. Not all of it, not really, but she would be bored. She would be bored and then she might want to talk about it, it being what almost happened, and he wasn't sure if he was up to that. He knew he wasn't up to that.

So he hung out with her and watched an animated look into her world.

"I haven't seen this before." Said Mob after a while. She had, when she came in, just sat down and enjoyed the feel of the living room. Her real living room. The one she shared with Master Reigen. It smelled like smoking, had a layer of dust on some things, was tiny, and there were a few wrappers and containers around but it was theirs. This was the couch where they had watched TV and cuddled time after time. That spot on the rug was where Sophia had brushed her hair and painted her nails a few days ago…felt like a lifetime. So many good memories in this room. This room in this reality.

She just sat there and enjoyed it. Being in this room. Him being next to her. She would have gladly sat there all day and just remembered things. She could have gladly sat there and just walked down memory lane, she hadn't walked down that particular street in so long, but she couldn't. Master Reigen, apparently, did not feel like walking down his own version of memory lane.

He probably didn't want to remember anything having to do with her. She didn't blame him.

TV was good too, though. TV, when it was new, or new to you, meant that you didn't have to think. Memory Lane wasn't all well and good. Memory Lane reminded her of a time before, the good days, the times when she was in her own slice of life show. That was over. She had, once again, gone into a shonen. Not a regular shonen. Not like before where there were bad guys and minibosses for her to beat. When she had a very clear goal, save her little brother, and she had to overcome trials to do that. This was a different sort of shonen that she had been in.

In this show she had to save Asagiri, which seemed simple enough. She had to but she had almost failed. She had become both the hero and the villain. This was something like EVA, which she knew that she liked way too much. It just made sense. She did all of this just to please Master Reigen. She didn't…did she even want to? If she knew what would have happened, all the things that she had to do, would she have? She liked to think that she would have. She liked to think that she would have gladly gone into the unreality and saved Asagiri. She liked to think that she wouldn't have lost to Mogami in the first place, that she would have had better control of her powers than that. She had…she had no control. She just stepped back and exploded and let the other her take care of things. She was the pilot and the other her was the EVA. Like Ikari Shinji she could just step back and let her body, the other Shigeko, go into berserk mode. She could but in doing that she hurt herself.

Without her EVA she was nothing.

But she was not an EVA pilot.

Without her powers she was nothing.

But she was not a magical girl.

Without her AT field she was nothing.

But she was not an angel.

What was she? She was human. She was human the same as everyone else. She was just as bad as everyone else. People were…no…Mogami thought that. She could not think that. But what if he was right? She had always thought that being human like everyone else meant that her powers didn't make her special. That having these powers was inconsequential. But now she knew what she was here to do. She had to use these powers to save people. Being human the same as everyone else meant that she was just as bad as other people could be. Yes, there were still good people in the world. Master Reigen was one of them.

She wasn't.

"Want to change it?" asked Reigen. She was thinking hard about something. He could feel them, the cracks in the numbness. She was….sad? He could feel it. The tightness around his heart. The sick feeling…something was bothering her and if he needed comfort then she needed it too. She was practically screaming at him to be there. He…wasn't sure what to do…

"No, I like this." Said Mob

"Yeah, I guess if you've seen one club anime then you've seen them all." Said Reigen

"No, they're all different." Said Mob

"You think?" asked Reigen

"Yes. These guys are in the koto club. I haven't seen one about a koto club yet." Said Mob

"Ick, the koto." Said Reigen with an exaggerated shudder.

"You don't like the koto, Master?" asked Mob

"No, I like it well enough…as long as you don't make me play it. My dad wanted me to learn to play, briefly, when I was a kid. Never again. I'd never heard my father yell for so long…" said Reigen with a laugh that sounded hollow to him, normal to Mob.

"The koto is really complicated. I like the way it sounds but I've never tried to play. I'm sorry your dad yelled at you, Master." Said Mob

"It's alright, that was half a lifetime ago. Water under the bridge and all of that." Said Reigen

"That means in the past, right?" asked Mob

"Yeah, in the past. The past is in the past." Said Reigen. Mob nodded, Master Reigen was so wise. The past was in the past. She had done a lot of bad things but they were in the past. But the past mattered. Without a past then there could be no present and if there was no present then there could be no future. But it was still in the past….but not really because it had only been a few hours. Felt like years. Felt like minutes.

"The past is in the past…." Echoed Mob. Reigen felt the tension leave his body. Something he had said broke through the sadness that had been peeking through. Right. She wanted to leave what had happened between them in the past and he could most definitely do that. It wasn't a big deal, in fact it was such a little deal that they could never speak of it again.

Which was easy because Mob wasn't feeling too talkative, even for her. He still got that sense of exhaustion off of her. Even after he ordered dinner, which she barely ate. Even after he got showered and changed, she stayed in her day clothes, even after he put his phone and hers on the charger, she made no move to do it herself, even after he went to bed and left her in the same spot she had been sitting on all day.

But she was fine. She must have been.

Mob was fine. She just had to put the past in the past. She just had to stop thinking about it, how terrible she was. This was a new iteration of reality and she had to…she had to try and be a good person. Even though she was a murderer and an adulterer and relationship killer and mean and someone who cursed. Even though she had been as bad as she could be. Even though she had been so bad that even Dimple wasn't hanging around.

But this was a new reality. Asagiri was alive in this reality. This was a new reality. The end was just the beginning again. This was either the first reality or another iteration of the first reality, she wasn't sure yet. Or maybe she was just crazy. Maybe she had just gone crazy and she was still crazy and she had always been crazy. Maybe she was crazy enough to be able to pretend that everything was normal. She had to. She had to…she had something to do tomorrow. She couldn't remember. Teru. Right.

She had to see Teru tomorrow.

She had to go outside and go to him and spent time with him and then he'd want to kiss her and…and other stuff…all of the other stuff….and it was ok because in this reality he was her boyfriend but then he would have to be on top of her….

Heavy weight on top of her. Gently holding her hand. Then a break. Another break, another break, another break…

She would have to let Teru be on top of her and then she would have to…but she had already…but it felt like a lifetime ago. A lifetime since she had been like that with him. She could barely remember….they were outside….it felt…good…parts of it…him…them….

And she would have to again.

But that was fine.

But she had been a cheater. He had been Asagiri's boyfriend in that reality, or at least a version of him. Not this Teru. Not the one who existed in life, in reality, in this reality. Not the one who existed in her life and always knew just what to say and always had something interesting to say and always listened to what she said and knew so much about clothes and movies, which he sometimes called films, and was getting into bike riding, which sometimes made her daydream about riding on the back of his bike like in pretty much every romantic thing she had ever read, but she didn't deserve, but she still wanted….

And he would still want.

And she didn't know if she could…because…because it had gotten all twisted up in her mind with what happened in the unreality and how much else was twisted up and she needed to just put the past in the past but she just…she had barely even been back….she had barely been here and now she had to go back to life, back to reality, and she had to…she had to…she had to do so much. Not just being Teru's girlfriend. Not just sex.

She had to go back to being Ritsu's big sister.

She had to go back to being so many people's friend.

She had to go back to being Master Reigen's student/friend/…Mob.

She had to go back to being Mob, the Mob that existed in this reality. The Mob that existed in the minds of other.

She had to. She had no choice.


	42. Together Alone Boundaries Rejection

Mob woke up with a pillow under her head and a blanket over her. She had fallen asleep in front of the TV the same way she had for the past six months. Master Reigen had gone to bed in his own bed but she just…sleeping in her futon hadn't felt right. She hadn't slept in a futon in months. She was used to sleeping off the ground. It wasn't so bad. This couch actually felt like her couch at home…back in the unreality. She kept her eyes closed and just listened to the world around her.

The TV was off. She never turned the TV off if she was home. For a moment she thought that the sounds around her were the TV. They weren't. Inside the house she could hear the rushing water of the shower, the clank of the pipes, and the hum of the refrigerator. Outside the house she could hear someone walking across the metal of the balcony, the sound of cars parking and driving away, and someone beating either a rug or a futon. She kept her eyes closed and just listened. Aside from the TV her home had always been silent. She laid there and listened and listened and listened until she heard the squeak of the taps as they were turned off. Then the cursing that Master Reigen did when he, she presumed, turned the water off with him inside the shower.

She remembered. The water could be finicky sometimes. Never turn it on or off when you were in unless you wanted to either get hypothermia or scalded.

Heh. Master Reigen had been living here for longer but he hadn't remembered.

Mob laid in bed as she heard the rustling of cloth that told her he was getting dressed. The pop of the top off of his deodorant. The sound of the tap running. The clink of his razor against the sink. He was getting ready for the day. So should she. She needed to start getting ready because this was a new day and she had to be a lot of things to a lot of people and she hadn't done this in so long but it needed to get done but she had no idea how and she should be grateful to everyone for being so nice to her and she should go out there and be Mob, the Mob that existed in everyone's minds but it was too **much-**

She stayed there on the couch. She laid there with her blanket over her head. She laid there as she head the rice cooker pop open, rice being poured in, and the slosh of water. Some of the water hit the floor, she heard that too, and then the rip of some paper towels. Then she heard Master Reigen mutter something but she did not know what. She was keeping her aura tucked in close, so was he, so she had no idea how he felt in that moment.

The urge to go into the kitchen, to wrap her arms around him, to breathe in the smell of him, to drink in his presence, was strong. But she didn't. She couldn't. She wanted to but she couldn't because she didn't deserve him. She had let him down after all. Let him down, let herself down, let it all come tumbling down. His image of her would come tumbling down. Maybe it had. Maybe he had never had any image of her to begin with. Maybe he just kept her around because she was useful to him. That would make sense. That was how people were…no…that was how Mogami thought that people were. That was Mogami and she was not Mogami. Mogami and she were not alike at all, they were like night and day.

But they weren't.

They were both murderers.

She rubbed her hands on her skirt.

Footsteps across the living room and the closing of a door. She heard the rice maker go off. If Master didn't stir the rice it would all stick together and the rice at the bottom would burn. But he was in his room. She could hear the clickity-clack of his keyboard. She had to get up. She had to save the rice at least. So that was what she was going to have to do. Yes. Any moment now she would get up and save the rice.

It took a few moments.

The carpet felt weird, for a moment, through her socks. She walked slowly, deliberately, before remembering that she didn't have that constantly opening cut on her foot. She walked across the room and to the kitchen like normal, finally like normal. No more pain with each and every step she took. No more pain anywhere. Her body even felt lighter. Her hair was long here, now, again. It was long and in her eyes and down her back and not matted but still long and kind of heavy but it was there and if it was there then this was real and-

She stirred the rice. Two eggs were on the counter. Breakfast. Better than cup noodle. She checked the rice. Enough for two. Too much for one.

"Morning Mob." Said Reigen as he entered the kitchen. She was there at the table like normal. She had even stirred the rice for him. Normal. This scene looked normal but it felt…she still felt numb. She still felt numb…but not knackered. Rested. Well of course she would have been well rested, she slept way in. for her at least. Not that he had any idea when she went to bed. He got up around three and found her asleep in front of the TV. He debated between carrying her to bed and letting her sleep there. He eventually settled on putting her to bed there. Maybe it was weird for her, now, to sleep in the same room as him. Not that he would miss….no…that was a good sign. Right?

"Good morning, Master." Said Mob. Master Reigen put some rice in a bowl for her and put it in front of her. He brought over the eggs and soy sauce too. It was nice, she decided. It was nice having a meal with someone, having someone who cared enough about her to make her breakfast. Someone in this world cared about her….

She didn't deserve it.

"Man, Mob, you would not believe it. Our book is actually selling, can you believe that? Of course you can, you helped write it. I'm sending a copy to mom, that way she doesn't have to buy one. Maybe I should send one to dad too, show him that at least I can read and write…" said Reigen

"Oh, right…we wrote a book…" said Mob

"Yeah, you remember. You poured your sweat and blood into it? Not literally, of course." asked Reigen with his mouth full. Mob didn't mind. Mob never minded.

"I remember. I'm glad people like it. I'm glad we're making people happy." Said Mob

"And I'm glad that the internet is good for something. I should do something to thank our fans. Maybe we could do a special or something. Like a Q&A….with me vetting the questions of course. Fucking weirdos…" said Reigen

"Weirdos?" asked Mob

"Nothing you need to worry about, Mob, leave them to me." Said Reigen

"OK." Said Mob

"The things that come out of people's mouths, I swear…" muttered Reigen

"Master? Are you ok?" asked Mob

"Me? I'm fine. Everything's fine. Anyway, any plans for today? Still hanging out with Teru?" asked Reigen

"I have to." Said Mob

"Have to? I'm sure he likes you thinking like that…" said Reigen

"What do you mean?" asked Mob

"Nothing, just a weird way to phrase it. What am I saying, this is you." Said Reigen not at all meaning to be mean but mentally kicking himself as soon as the words left his mouth. Talk about people running their mouths….

"You're right, I do talk weird sometimes. I'm sorry." Said Mob

"No, I was just being an asshole. You're fine, Mob. You're great. You've got the whole world on a plate." Said Reigen

"Huh?" asked Mob

"Sorry, it's just from a song my mom likes. _You'll be fine, you'll be great, gonna have the whole world on a plate._" Sang Reigen. Mob smiled. It took her a minute to understand the English of it, something that she hadn't practiced in a while, but she was happy just to be talking to him.

"She likes songs like that?" asked Mob

"Oh yeah, mom lives for those old musicals. I think she gets it from grandma, not that she ever has anything good to say about grandma. Seriously, don't ever get mom started about grandma.

"Is Sophia alright? Did she…?" asked Mob. Did she miss her, was what Mob wanted to say. She had no right to her, the nicest mom she had ever met. Someone who listened and didn't treat her like she was a kid. Someone who brushed her hair and painted her nails and told her about interesting things and listened to her even though she didn't have anything interesting to say. Someone who said that she was good for Master Reigen, someone who wanted her to be with Master Reigen. Of course not in the way that Mob was thinking. She remembered it all even though it was so long ago. But it wasn't. It wasn't months ago at all.

"She's been texting me non stop, if that's what you mean. She wants to visit us again, she wants us to come visit, things like that. I guess she's just making up for lost time…and Sophia? So she gets her first name?" asked Reigen clearly kidding.

"You want me to call you by your name?" asked Mob. She remembered…a lifetime ago…the last time he asked her to call him by his name. He was crying then. He cried and then the next day he went back to normal and she and Teru had…right.

"No, not really. I hate my name, honestly." Said Reigen. It was just weird, hearing someone call his mother by her name. Like she and Mob were equals. She had let Mob call her by her name and what did that say to her expectations? To her beliefs? Mom was sticking to her crazy, unfounded, insane, certifiable theory about him and Mob.

"Why? I like it." Said Mob. She wondered if people made fun of him, too. She knew how it felt, having people make fun of you…but he was an adult and adults did not make fun of each other, right? She had a vision of herself as an adult still getting teased. Being pushed and shoved and made fun of and-

Her bowl rattled.

Right. No. Those times were over now.

"It's a mouthful. Besides, nobody ever calls you by your name." said Reigen. She was keeping her aura tucked far in, he had no idea what caused the momentary loss of control.

"….they don't…" said Mob. But they would. Nobody in this reality ever called her anything other than Mob. Or Shigeko. Or Kageyama. All of which were her actual name.

"Mob fits, I think. Shigeko is nice, too. You're the only Shigeko I've ever met, actually. It's nice. Better than Arataka. I can't believe she named me just for the homonym. That's mom for you. Sometimes I think she just married my dad because his family name has the kanji for spirit in it." Said Reigen

"Miracle worker." Said Mob. He was, he really was. If it wasn't for him she never would have come back, which was a miracle in and of itself. She had been so close to ceasing, to losing her form forever, to not being able to pull herself out of the sea of red LCL.

"Nurturing child." Said Reigen mirthfully. That was what she was. She was nurturing, she sure as hell was nurturing towards him anyway, and she was a child. He couldn't forget that. Not again. She did not have that, yesterday. She did not. Dimple of all people had been afraid for her. Fucking Dimple. They had both come so close to death. Well, he did. Mob…Mob could take a beating, that was obvious now. Her leg had been broken…she had been bleeding….and now she was sitting there eating the same breakfast she did every day and talking to him like she did every day and they could have lost everything but they…they didn't. They were here. They weren't dead. Their relationship wasn't weird.

"Master." Said Mob with a small, a small smile, because he made her happy. For a moment the two of them were just as they were before. The two of them were eating breakfast together and talking and happy and she hadn't done any of the terrible things that she had done and it was a normal weekend and she was spending time with the person she loved most in the world.

"Student." Said Reigen. He smiled because she smiled. There, something had gotten through the numbness. It was the butterflies again but it was something. He needed to…he needed to ignore that. She had a crush on him, maybe. Possibly. Probably. Whatever, she was fourteen. People got weird crushes during puberty. She had a boyfriend, anyway, and she would never do anything to jeopardize her relationship. With her boyfriend or her master. She wasn't dumb. Ok…sometimes she was…but not about this. Just about putting her life on the line and scaring him into an early grave.

They finished eating. Mob used her powers to wash their dishes from the table. She missed this, being able to just reach out and move things. She liked it, she missed it, the feel of her power. She wasn't weak here. She was not weak, she was strong, and if anyone tried to mess with her-

No. She was not in the unreality anymore. She was in this world and she would not use her powers against another person.

But if she ever had to-

No. That was what Mogami wanted. She was not his student. If she listened to him, if she learned the lessons he tried to teach her, then she would be his student. She could not, would not, be his student.

The truth of her charm was in her kindness. She just had to be a good person. That meant that she needed to be the Mob that Master Reigen wanted her to be, not the Mob that Mogami wanted her to be.

"Hey, Mob, toss those clothes in. I'm heading out to the laundry now." Said Reigen. She was just sort of staring, it looked like she was meditating. Also normal for her. She saw things that he didn't.

"Huh?" asked Mob

"You're still in yesterday's clothes, Mob." Said Reigen. She was still in that ripped…bloody…yeah she needed to change.

"Oh. OK." Said Mob. Right. She had clothes here….more than a uniform, a dress, and a nightgown. She went over to her dresser and stared for a moment. She had clothes. She opened it. Wow. She had clothes.

Skirts and pants and dresses and socks and underwear. Actual clothes that she could change into. Clean clothes. No rips, no stains. She just stared for a moment before her eyes landed on a T-Shirt. Teru's. She pulled it out. It felt like…soft. Soft and clean and safe and warm. His hoodie! She still had his hoodie….she could wear….

She got into his T-shirt and hoodie and a skirt which was pink but a shade of pink that he had said that he liked and was flattering on her and she liked it when he complimented her and he mostly complimented her on her clothes or the way she looked because that was what he cared about and he was always so good looking even though she didn't care that much but she did care and he was good looking and he smelled nice and he-

"Mob, here. Someone's been blowing up your phone." Said Reigen, laundry sack in one hand and her phone in the other. Her case was kind of beat up…but it was hers. That was hers. That was her phone and she had a phone and it was today times and she was feeling good and she had to feel good because Master was there and she needed to get back to normal and it wasn't like anything had even happened because that was a different iteration of reality and-

"Mob?" asked Reigen. He shook her phone in front of her, she took it with her powers. Right. She hadn't gotten back to anyone yesterday….and that had been mean. She was terrible. She had to go, now, because he missed her and he wanted to see her and to talk to her. Oh. His parents hadn't sent their weekly E-Mail or called him for their weekly phone call. They sent him a present, though, and one for her too. Not that she deserved it. Not that she deserved him. Not that she deserved to have someone, anyone, who loved her….

"Why the long face?" asked Reigen as something gripped his heart. Anxiety. She was anxious. Bad news?

"No, not at all. I never texted anyone back but the news isn't bad. For me, anyway. Teru's parents didn't call or E-Mail…and he needed me…" said Mob softly. She had been needed and she hadn't been there and now he was probably so sad and alone and he needed her and she needed to go to him but she couldn't because if she left it would be cold out…so cold. Bone chillingly cold.

"Poor kid…well he's in luck, at least. You'll see him today. Just tell him that you were tired, it's not a lie. Big day, yesterday, big day." Said Reigen. The poor kid. Reigen wasn't exactly best friends with the kid or anything but he knew how lonely that kid was. Coming home to an empty apartment. Getting up on his own. Mob must have been the highpoint of his day, of his life. That was a cruel thing, to make a kid feel like that.

"Yes….he's going to see me today. I have to go, now, I think…because he's wondering where I am…." Said Mob. She would see him and he would be happy. That was what she had to do, make him happy, because he loved her. Even if he wanted to…she would. She had to. She was his girlfriend and she…she wanted to…

"Well, come back home tonight, that's all I ask." Said Reigen with a wave of his hand.

"What time?" asked Mob because time was a thing here. She didn't need a watch, she had a phone. She had a phone and time mattered and she never had to lose track of the time again and this would be fine and she would be fine.

"Sometime before midnight." Said Reigen because, well, what else could he say? She had already slept with the guy so that ship had sailed. She liked the guy, the guy liked her, so the only responsible thing he could do would be to make sure that she came home at some point.

"OK." Said Mob. Master Reigen patted her on the head. She leaned into his touch. She missed this. She missed being touched. Nobody in the world had ever touched her unless they were trying to hurt her. She missed it, good touches. It was like she was starved for it. Not that she deserved it. Not that she would ever deserve it.

She didn't know what she deserved. She was a murderer. She had murdered someone. She was responsible for killing someone. But she hadn't killed anyone. Asagiri was still alive. In their current iteration of reality she was alive. But Mob had killed her in the unreality. But this wasn't the unreality. This was their reality and Asagiri was alive and she was probably getting back to her same, terrible, normal self and therefore Mob had to get back to being herself too even though she was terrible and-

Mob didn't know what to do.

So she did what she promised that she would do.

She could at least keep her promises. She got changed and left, like she had promised that she would. She walked down familiarly unfamiliar streets, took the train, and went to do what she promised she would. What she was supposed to do. She did what she was supposed to do. She was the Mob that she was supposed to be.

At least it wasn't cold out.

Teru was glad that it wasn't cold out, at least. Cold meant bulky coats that completely disrupted his profile and made him look unbalanced. Too bulky on top meant that he would have to wear baggy pants and he did not do baggy. He had the best outfit picked out for later. He was taking her out for lunch, proper lunch. He was taking her somewhere nice and he was going to show her a good time and she was going to be happy.

If she was still coming.

Not that he doubted her. She had made him a promise and she would keep it. Even though it had been total radio silence all day yesterday. None of her friends had heard from her, either. Well the ones that they knew. Mostly Rei, which was weird because as far as Teru knew Rei was Shigeko's best friend. Girls took being best friends very seriously and if Rei hadn't heard from Shigeko then something must have been wrong. Or her phone was dead. Or lost. Or broken. Or stolen.

Shigeko was fine.

He felt around for her aura. She was late. She was never late. He couldn't stop moving enough to truly focus on seeing her. If he did focus he could feel her. During those times in the night when his apartment was too silent and his bed too empty. When he reached over and tried to feel the memory of her. Then he'd close his eyes and spread himself out as far as he could. The most he ever got was a vague feeling of whatever direction she was in. Sometimes if he looked out his window he swore he could see her. She shined bright, like a star. It made sense. She was the star of this world. The world was her shoujo series and he was the good looking guy that the main girl ended up with.

Yeah, he could fill that role.

Of course now he was in a sports manga. He was winning, of course. No, the whole team was, even if he was one of the best. One of, not THE best. He still had to be humble. Shigeko liked him humble. Shigeko liked him being the Teru that existed in her mind, the one she had fallen in love with. She had fallen in love with a humble but still very attractive and smooth guy. Well he had been smooth. He did confess twice, but she liked it. She liked it and she liked him.

And she would not stand him up. She had made a promise.

Damn. He missed a pass. Get back in the game. She's just a little late. She's still coming, she is. She's just…running late. There's a first time for everything. She was not spending time with Reigen. Reigen was not…Reigen had no chance with her. So what if he was older and she looked up to him? He was too old and too sweaty and too obnoxious and too-too-too-!

OK. That pass had been way too hard.

Calm down. Don't lose control like you used to. Shigeko hates violence. Shigeko wouldn't want you to take what you're feeling out on other people. Be what Shigeko wants. She wants you, not Reigen. She wants you and she's had you and you've had her and she would never do that with anyone else and neither would you so stop worrying already!

That pass had been way, way, too hard.

He was putting his powers into it. He needed to stop. She hated that. She hated that she if he cheated then she'd be mad at him. He could never be able to handle that. He could never be able to handle her being in any way unhappy with him. He could not handle her going, going away from him forever. But she wouldn't. But she wouldn't and he was being all weird and he needed to stop being all weird because he was Hanazawa Teruki and Hanzawa Teruki did not act like this.

He didn't need anyone.

But he wanted her.

And there she was. There, at the edges of his vision. Her aura. Pink and blue. Bubblegum pink and electric blue. Two colors which went well together on her. She had the coloring for it, pale skin and hair dark, darker than any shade of natural black that he had ever seen. She was far-ish but she was there. But why was she so far away? The girlfriend section was right there. Wait, yeah, a lot of his ex…girls he used to date, too. Not there to watch him, of course, because he did not have a scorned woman's club. They had moved onto other guys and all but girls could be so cruel to one another. He was bad at break-ups. Selfish. Lots of broken hearts behind him. Not Shigeko's, of course. Never Shigeko's. But Shigeko shouldn't have to deal with whatever meanness that the other girls could say to her.

She was there and that was what mattered.

Mob was there and that was what mattered.

As soon as she got into range she had felt his aura trying to bond with hers. He was looking for her, she was so late. Well she was here now. She could see him and that was what mattered. She didn't feel like dealing with any mean girls so she stayed far back. She had dealt with enough meanness to last a lifetime. Two lifetimes. As many lifetimes as she got.

She was there for her boyfriend who she loved and who loved her very much even though she was in no way deserving of that love. She watched him. She loved him. When she saw him her stomach did flips. She wanted to be near him. She wanted to throw her arms around him and tell him everything and beg for his forgiveness even though she knew that she was in no way worthy of it. She wanted to hold him close and never, ever, let him go.

She wanted a lot of things.

But for right now she just watched him. He was not the same person that existed in the unreality. His hair wasn't yellow, for one thing. It was blond. Natural blond, like he liked to say. His eyes weren't as blue, either. Natural blue. Not colored contacts. His voice was different, based on the last time she heard him. The way he spoke, even his accent. The Teruki who existed in the unreality talked like Asagiri. The Teru who existed in this reality sounded like her, like everyone else who had grown up in this part of Japan.

This Teru was her Teru.

Which meant that not only was she a relationship breaker but a cheater as well. She was as bad a she could be. He trusted her. He trusted her not to cheat on him and she had. Actually doing something in life was different than doing things in her head. She had been with Master Reigen a thousand and one times in her mind but that was only thoughts. He thought about things too, she knew how boys were, what they looked at. Real life was different. The unreality counted, she decided, because it was a world that she had to end. If it had been like a dream or something then she would not have felt pain. Then she could have woken up, gotten herself out. It was another reality. The reality of a dream, maybe. It didn't matter, it had all returned to nothing. She had destroyed that world so that she could get back to this one.

But she had still been a cheater. A cheater and an adulterer and a home wrecker.

Teru had trusted her not to cheat on him. Teru had trusted her not to murder anyone, too. She had been so terrible…she just wanted to go home and watch TV and wait for tomorrow to happen. But she couldn't because she had made a promise all those months…days…ago.

She checked the time. She checked the date.

Not months at all. If it was six months into the future then it would be spring going on summer not early fall. Not so early that the leaves had just started to turn. Not so early that it hadn't even been October tenth yet.

That was a very important day. It was Master Reigen's birthday.

She couldn't miss it.

This was the same time that she had left, it was not cold out. She could tell. She only needed this hoodie, Teru's hoodie. She only needed to wear this and she would be warm. His hoodie, his shirt, her skirt, and these socks that she couldn't remember when she bought but she had picked them out a while ago and they were pink and she liked that color because she was supposed to and as long as she could be the Mob that everyone wanted her to be then she would be fine and everything would be fine.

Teru could see her. She was there. Everything would be fine. And it was. His team won and he stopped passing way too hard and putting his powers into everything. She wouldn't have liked that. The first thing he did when everything was over was run to her. He hadn't seen her since Friday, it was now Sunday. The last time he had seen her she had been red faced and so, very, happy. Cute too, with the leaves in her hair.

Now she was back to being blank.

He could fix that.

He kissed her. He kissed her much longer and deeper than was socially acceptable and he knew it. Maybe it was too much because it took her…he counted….ten seconds to kiss him back. He didn't know that ten seconds could be so long. She kissed him back weird, too. Her teeth scraped his, it was much more slobbery than usual, and she usually wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She kissed him like she didn't know how to, like she kissed him back in the beginning.

But she did kiss him back, that was what mattered.

"….Hi Teru." Said Mob when they broke apart. He kissed differently too, here. He kissed her like they were adults. He kissed her like she was cake, like she was something to be consumed. It was nice and it lit a fire in her and she wanted to do…a lot…but she also didn't but she should but she didn't deserve it and it was hard!

"Hey." Said Teru looking her up and down. She seemed…different. Her face was blanker than it usually was. Her hair was in her eyes. Even her aura was weirdly calm.

"I'm sorry I never got back to you. I forgot. That was mean of me and I am so, so, so sorry. Please forgive me." Said Mob blinking a few times. Her eyes were starting to sting. He was there and he was hers and he was there and he smelled so good! Like body spray and sweat and grass and lotion. She wanted…but she didn't want…because it was wrong of her to want…and the idea of…the idea scared her a little. Someone else's weight on top of her….

She was all mixed up.

"You…forgot…" said Teru slowly. Forgot. She forgot him. She had just up and forgotten him like he was nothing….

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" said Mob, something warm hitting her on the wrist. She was crying. She was sorry. She was so, so, so sorry.

"It's fine! Just…come on!" said Teru taking her hand and practically dragging her away. He had his bag, he'd change at home. Right now he needed to get her home because she was crying and it looked like he was making her cry and this could not be the image of himself and his relationship that he was trying to project.

"Teru….I'm sorry." Said Mob after a few minutes. She collected herself. She shouldn't cry, she had no reason to cry. She was the one who had messed up. She was the one who was terrible.

"I'm…I forgive you…just…how could you…forget…?" asked Teru keeping it together. They were still out and about in public. She could not fall apart and neither could he.

"Yesterday we went on this job…and then….I was just so tired….." said Mob. She wanted to tell him and she didn't. She wanted him to know and she wanted to take it to her grave.

"Oh…you were just tired from work. Ok then. I understand." Said Teru. She was just tired. That was why she had forgotten. Reigen was just working her too hard. Goddamned Reigen…

"Yes…I was tired…and I'm sorry." Said Mob wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Teru reached over and did it himself. He made her cry. He made his girlfriend cry. She cared about him so much that she was crying because she had missed all of his texts.

"Hey, I forgive you. Shigeko, don't cry." Said Teru softly. Nicely. Her crying face was somehow worse than her blank face. He'd gladly take her blank 'What is happening in her mind?' stare above this. Her face was red. Her eyes were red. She was looking at him like she thought that he was going to run away. Her aura was reaching out to him. He hated it when she looked like this.

"Thank you…thank you for forgiving me….I don't deserve…" said Mob. Teru took her hand in his and she wanted to pull away. She didn't deserve this. This love that he gave her.

"To be sad? No, you don't. You should be happy and guess what, I'm going to make you happy." Said Teru. She stared at him for a long moment before throwing her arms around him.

"Teru….Teru I love you so much…please don't go…please forgive me…" cried Mob. She never noticed before, the height difference between them. Or maybe he just grew. She could rest her head right in the space between his neck and his shoulder. He smelled so good…his hands were on her waist…he felt so safe. He even smelled different here. Better. This Teru, her Teru….

"I already said I did….come on…I stink…" laughed Teru. They were getting looks….but he should be happy. This was his girlfriend and she loved him. She was also crying, though, and people were giving him looks like he was breaking up with her or something.

"I like it. I like the way you smell." Said Mob holding him close

"Well I don't. Come on, let's go back to my place so I can change. I've got something really fun planned." Said Teru. Lunch was fun. Lunch out in the world with his girlfriend there by his side. Lunch at an actual place. She'd love that. He checked, they even had milk.

"Sex?" asked Mob because, well, he thought that sex was really fun. She remembered…and it had only been a couple days ago…and it had been fun…but also she was…ick! Too much to think about!

"If you want to!" said Teru. It came out as more of a squeak and dammit! He thought his voice was done changing! Ok, now they were getting looks. Well fine then. They should all be jealous. His girlfriend wanted to sleep with him. Nothing wrong with that at all.

"If you want to." Said Mob. He took her hand and started walking. He walked kind of fast in her opinion but she said nothing. She just let herself be led. As they walked she felt…oh! That was Ritsu! He was at the edges of her perceptions….Rei! Rei lived out here, too. She wanted to go see her little brother, to make sure that he was real. Of course he was. He was real and he was her brother and…and he probably wouldn't want him bothering her. He was with Rei, Mob could feel her too. Rei was much fainter, quieter, but she was there. Mob didn't want to be a bother. Besides, Teru wanted to spend time with her and she had been neglecting him terribly. He needed her.

She needed him.

Rei needed Ritsu like she needed air, she decided. After their fight, and the first fight was always the hardest, as the book had said, they were closer than ever. She agreed to go more at his speed and never, ever, ever, ever, tell his sister the details of their relationship and he agreed to be more affectionate. Mob was pretty much one of her best friends and that was what best friends talked about but Mob was also Ritsu's big sister and big sisters did not know these things about little brothers.

Maybe that was why Mob still hadn't gotten back to her. Rei checked the future. Very low chance of their friendship going world war three. Very low chance. That was good. Maybe she was busy. Maybe she was hanging out with Teru. Rei wouldn't blame Mob for blowing her off for Teru. He was hot. Nowhere near Ritsu's level, of course, but still hot.

She looked up. Her head was resting on Ritsu's chest. They were watching TV together. Mom was being so unfair! She wanted them downstairs to hang out with the family. Not that there was any hanging out to be done. Mom just didn't want them to be alone together. Rei didn't get what the big deal was, she always left the door mostly opened and it wasn't like she and Ritsu were doing anything anyway. He didn't want to and she respected that because respecting boundaries was an important part of a functional relationship. Mom and dad's book had said so. She would be respectful of the fact that Ritsu was just like the other boys she went out with and didn't want to do anything even if they weren't doing anything at all. Well, the kissed. Even though Ritsu still didn't get that a kiss could last for more than two seconds.

Well, whatever. He was still a great guy even if he didn't want to do anything. Not it, of course, because that was way too much. Not even things that were in the same neighborhood as it, because, once again, way too much. He could at least try to. Not it but…no. There was nothing wrong with her. Ritsu had told her that there was nothing wrong with her.

There was nothing at all wrong with Rei. There was nothing at all wrong with his girlfriend. There was nothing at all wrong with his girlfriend aside from the fact that she was a girl. Ritsu could admit that to himself, now. Now that Teru beat some sense into him. Sort of. Kind of. Well not much of a beating but…yeah Teru had given him a good hit or two. With good reason, too.

It was insulting towards Teru that Ritsu had even allowed himself to think that he was taking advantage of Shigeko.

It was doubly insulting towards Shigeko that he would think that she would be dumb enough to allow some guy to use her.

It was also none of his business who his sister slept with.

Then the hitting had started. Then the self-reflection. An entire night of self-reflection. He wasn't in love with Rei. He wasn't in love with his girlfriend or any girl for that matter. He never even thought about her or any girl. He was more excited to see Teru and more nervous around Teru than had ever been towards his own girlfriend.

Plus he got nothing out of seeing her half naked but those times that Teru pulled the hem of his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his forehead when they play fought….

Ritsu knew that he was a moron. An idiot. Someone who it was a miracle had survived this long on his own. Hell, it was a miracle he could tie his own shoes with how stupid he had been! Stupid or just…in denial. He had expectations to live up to. His family's expectations. He had to be a perfect little Ritsu doll after all. Expectations, expectations, expectations….he couldn't let anyone down. But what about himself? What did he expect of himself? To live up to everyone else's expectations. Shigeko was so lucky. She didn't have any expectations to live up to. She just got to exist.

So why did he want to talk to her? Because she was his sister? Because she was the only person in the world who ever listened to him? Besides Rei, of course, she was a good listener. Maybe he just wanted someone to…to talk to about…about everything. About how he was so dumb not to know this about himself…about how he was such a liar…about how he couldn't get out of this thing he was in with Rei because then not only would he be a liar he'd break her heart, too, and she had never done anything but love him. About how…and he couldn't talk to his sister about this! He couldn't tell her that Rei wanted a hell of a lot more than he wanted to give but he would have to because whether he liked it or not he had agreed to be in a relationship with her and those were the things that people in relationships did.

Things like this. Cuddling. He could do cuddling. She was warm and kind of heavy but this made her happy. Her house was nice, too. His house was either oppressive silence or yelling. Her house was a happy sort of yelling or a low level sort of noise that signified that the house was...alive…that was the best word he could come up with. Alive.

The house was so dead without Shigeko around.

But he dug his own grave on that one. He yelled at his sister, he pushed his sister, and now his sister was never coming home. Now his house was dead aside from the occasional shouting match. At least he go to, once in a while, come to a place with people who liked each other and a girl who cared about him. He wasn't in love with her but he did like being with her. The way she listened, she was kind of like a diary. He used to keep one, back when he was a kid, but mom tended to read them. Not Shigeko, unlike Rei's big sister Shigeko respected his privacy.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Rei looking up at him. She was mostly laying on him, her feet were on the couch. At home mom hated it when people put their feet up.

"Nothing. Just thinking." Said Ritsu

"Want me to change it?" asked Rei

"No, this is fine." Said Ritsu

"I totally can! We get, like, a million channels! And streaming, too!" said Rei picking up the remote. He must have been so bored. This was one of her shows. All about design and stuff like that. Teru liked it and he was a boy but Teru and Ritsu were like night and day.

"Really, it's fine. I'm fine." Said Ritsu. He'd watch whatever she wanted to watch and do whatever she wanted to do. Anything to make her happy. Even if he was unhappy.

"Ok….but if you weren't you'd tell me, right? I mean…I know that we aren't still fighting but I still feel like there's…something. I mean I don't know. I mean…the book said that it's important to-" Said Rei playing with the hem of his shirt.

"Rei, really, we're fine. You don't have to worry." Said Ritsu. Maybe he should just let her break up with him. Maybe he should tell her that something was there and just let her be pissed at him and break up with him. But then she'd cry again. He'd only seen her cry twice. The first time when they were kidnapped and most likely facing certain dead or something even worse and the second time was when he yelled at her the other day….

He did not like it when girls cried.

Not his mom, not his sister, and not his girlfriend.

He took her hand in his. He could make her happy because the alterative was making her sad. He had accepted that he started this thing with her and he needed to see it through. No matter how much he didn't want to….

"I know! I mean, I know you don't lie to me…I just…I want us to be happy and all the books say that there's so much you have to do and there's so much that can go wrong, I mean, they write so many books and there's websites too and I just…I don't want to mess this up…" said Rei. Ritsu loved her and she loved him. She needed to make this work but…but she didn't know how. What use was it to see the future if you didn't know what catastrophe was coming? And something most certainly was coming. The dreams were almost every night, now, about the explosion. Just white light…so much of it…but she didn't know if it was something that was definitely going to happen or if it was something like an explosion that was going to happen. She knew that it was scary, though. She dreamt about the time she got kidnapped, too. Not exactly what happened, no, just the feeling of being dragged, being trapped, and then big grey bars that trapped her. One thing she knew for sure, though, that whatever happened Ritsu would protect her. She'd protect him, too. She'd tell him what was going to happen so he could be ready.

They helped each other. That was what love was.

That and about fifty other things, some of them contradictory, that people kept on writing about in books that parents kept hidden under their beds. There were books that they kept in their drawers, too, but Rei wasn't ready for those books. Also, yuck, parents were not allowed to do that.

She got the sense, when she focused on their relationship, that something was coming. Some catastrophe. When she tried to look far into their future she didn't see anything. That didn't mean that he'd break up with her…she had trouble seeing the far off future. Too many things could shift and change. There were very few absolutes.

Except for the explosion.

But Ritsu would keep her safe.

"Hey, YOU could never mess this up. Believe me…it's not you and it could never be you." Said Ritsu

"It's not you either. I just…I want us to be happy. I like being with you, Ritsu. I mean…nobody's ever been in love with me before." Said Rei shyly. She sat up and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"Same. Nobody's ever…with me…before." Said Ritsu. This girl was in love with him. He wanted to tell her that truth. He wanted to tell her…but he couldn't devastate her like that. He couldn't tell her the truth so he kissed her.

Nothing.

He wondered what it would feel like to kiss someone he loved.

It must have been nice. She liked it. She blushed and smiled and giggled and played with her hair.

At least he could make her happy. At least he could do something right. Times like these he envied his sister. He had always envied her but now it wasn't about her powers. She had zero expectations placed upon her. She never had to sacrifice her own happiness even once in her life. She never had to…to do much of anything. He stopped these thoughts, though, because he had to. He could never go to that dark place again. This was his sister and he loved her and he was not going to go to that place again.

"Oh! Lucky!" said Rei. She was on her phone, now, and still laying partially on him. Ritsu angled his head so he could see her screen. Oh, wow, that was a lot of cake…

"Shigeko's so lucky….not that I'm not happy with you! I just…I like cake." Said Rei

"Who needs that much cake….?" Muttered Ritsu. It was a picture of his sister at some restaurant surrounded by what looked like a bakery's worth of cake slices. She didn't look happy, she didn't look anything. That was normal for her. She didn't have to look like anything or be like anything and anyone. She could just be. She could just exist in any way she chose to.

Ritsu told himself that he was just jealous of the cake.

Teru knew that everyone there had to be jealous of his girlfriend and the fact that he had gotten her every single dessert they had. That was what all of those looks were. Jealous of her and jealous of her and jealous of him for being able to make her that happy. And she was happy. She must have been.

Even though her aura was as flat as her face.

But she didn't usually emote. She must have been happy. She wanted to be here with him, she had said so, well not in that many words. She just said that she wanted to eat something that wasn't cup noodle and didn't have cilantro in it. He could do that. She liked fries, which he had gotten her, and she liked cakes, which he had gotten her. She liked milk, too, which he had gotten her. Not that she had drank any. She was just staring at it.

Mob was grateful that she had someone in her life that cared about her as much as Teru did. He hadn't minded when the first thig she wanted to do when they got to his house was watch TV. He just used that time to take a shower. Post shower Teru didn't smell as good and pre shower Teru. Now he smelled like citrus shampoos and winterberry lotion and fresh body spray. He smelled much better, much more like himself, before. Not that she was complaining. She was just so grateful to have someone as nice as him in her life.

He remembered that she liked fries and he had gotten her every kind of cake when she couldn't decide. She did not deserve him. She was terrible and awful and she didn't deserve someone as wonderful as him. He deserved so much better than what she was, than what she could be. She wanted to tell him that, to tell him to leave her be and go find someone better. Someone who deserved someone like him. But she didn't.

She was selfish. She wanted to be his girlfriend. Not just for the fries and the cakes but because…because he listened to her when she talked. He wanted to spend time with her. He held her and kissed her and told her he loved her. She wanted that, to be loved. It was such a good feeling, the best feeling, and that was why she didn't deserve his love. She really didn't.

He reached across the table and put his hand over hers.

"You don't have to finish it all right now, obviously, but feel free to eat whatever." Said Teru. She must have been overwhelmed, yes, that was it.

"Ok…" said Mob. She wanted to eat something but the thought of eating…and she had barely eaten last night too…but…

"If there's something wrong with any of it I can just have them send it back and make it again." Said Teru. A passing waiter glared at him.

"No….it's fine…" said Mob. His hand was on top of hers. She remembered…she remembered…but this wasn't that reality. This wasn't that Teru. This Teru was hers and this was ok but it also wasn't because the Teru from that reality hadn't been hers…

"Something wrong with the milk, then? You usually drink about a liter of this stuff a day." Said Teru

"Not a liter…." Said Mob. Then she would end up making herself sick. Kind of like she felt now.

"Ok, not a liter, but you usually love milk. It's one of your favorite things." Said Teru. He needed to make her happy. She must have been…was it him? Or something else? She wasn't overwhelmed, it was like she wasn't anything. That made no sense for her, even though she didn't emote she was always something. She wasn't even holding his hand…

"It is, I just…." Said Mob. She couldn't stand the smell of it. Clinging to her. Clinging to her all day and then starting to go off and then she had to smell like that and it clung to her and it was sticky and gross and wound up down her back and in her shoes even and her hair was stuck to her head as it dried and…

Oh. Things were floating. Now they weren't.

"If you want something else I can get you something else. I can get you whatever you want." Said Teru. Ok, something was wrong. She was never like this. She always spoke her mind. She always said what she meant and meant what she said. She was always so pragmatic but now she was being all…like this.

"I just….I just want to be with you…but I can't…" muttered Mob

"What do you mean? You're here, I'm here. You're with me and I'm with you and we're on a date." Said Teru

"I know that we're here but…Teru…I did something…" said Mob. Teru watched her. He watched her face and he watched her aura…

"Whatever it is it can't be that bad." Said Teru. She held herself to a VERY high standard. She probably just got pissed off at someone to something. She was the sort of person who never let herself get angry. The only time he had ever even seen her upset was when Claw came after her little brother. Claw. Shit. Did they come after her? Did she…she could so easily hurt someone. Kill someone.

"I kissed you." Said Mob softly. She had to tell him. She had to tell him so he would know and then he could find someone better and-

"What? Earlier? Yeah you were kind of off but it's fine. I honestly didn't mind. I'm just happy to kiss you." Said Teru. Was she embarrassed? Well she shouldn't have been. It wasn't the best kiss of his life or anything, not by a long shot, but it was still her who kissed him.

"No, I mean I kissed you, but not this version of you." Said Mob trying to find the words for what happened. Japanese was complicated. There just…where did she start? What did she say? How did she say any of this to him while he was looking at her like he loved her?

"….I don't get it." Said Teru after a while

"I mean, there's this version of you in this reality but then there was another version of you in another reality. That version of you what not my boyfriend, you were this really mean girl's boyfriend, but I still liked you and I think you, he, you, he, you, liked me back. Then I kissed you." Said Mob. There. That was what happened with that. Now Teru would know that she was a cheater and an adulterer and a home wrecker and a terrible person.

"…huh…?" said Teru. All the little guys in his head were busy running around trying to make sense of ANYTHING that his very strange girlfriend just shared with him.

"Not this reality but an…I've been calling it an unreality. Not a multi-verse but just another reality that was put…in place of…this one. It was six months there but only…only half an hour here…" said Mob softly, almost too softly to hear. She needed to tell him and she needed him to…to yell at her or something! To yell at her and toss her around like he did when they first met!

"Like a dream?" asked Teru. So she dreamt that she cheated on him with…himself? That wasn't…she was acting like she had actually cheated on him. Obviously she never would. If she hadn't given in to Reigen and his constant flirting with her and touching her then it was obvious that she would never cheat on him.

"Yes! Just like a dream!" said Mob. There, now he got it. It was kind of like a bad dream only it was real. Dreams were a little like their own small alternate realities. While you were within the dream you were subject to the rules of that reality. The only difference was that you could leave a dream without having to initiate third impact.

"Well that's fine then. I mean, come on, this reality is the only reality that matters." Said Teru. She was such a good person that even the thought of cheating made her all upset like this. This was reassuring, if anything. She hated the idea of cheating this much that even in a dream she would hate herself if she ever so much as kissed someone else, even if it was him. Reigen had zero chance with her.

"…do you really think so?" asked Mob. This reality was the only one that mattered? But then…then did that mean that everything she went through, everything she did….it didn't matter?

Somehow that thought made her feel all…sad?

"Yeah. You, me, here. This matters. I know you and I love you. You'd never cheat on me, Shigeko, and another version of me doesn't count. That version of me is still me." Said Teru. That was the rule with multiverses. The other you was still you.

"…the end is just the beginning again…" muttered Mob. If the ending was just the beginning again then the versions of everyone that existed in the end of one world would just exist in the beginning of the other. Instrumentality was just the beginning of the next world. That was why it was winter in the end of the EVA manga. So then she hadn't cheated on Teru but she had been an accessory to cheating…or was he the one who was….ick! This was complicated.

"Sure, yeah, go with that." Said Teru. She wasn't flat anymore. She was just thinking about something really, really, really hard. She shouldn't hold herself to such a high standard. She had a weird dream about cheating on him with another version of himself. It wasn't like people didn't dream about kissing and stuff with other people. It wasn't like he didn't. It was good, though, that she had the same sorts of thoughts. Then maybe he wasn't so bad. Maybe she was just too good. Whatever. He still loved her, even if she did beat herself up over everything.

"Teru…thank you…." Said Mob, her eyes starting to get prickly. He knew what she did to him and he still forgave her. She deserved so much worse than him. She was grateful for him but he was too good for what she deserved, what she was. He was so wonderful and perfect and-and-and-

"Shigeko….uh….tea! You like tea!" said Teru. Now she was crying. What was going on with her? She was never this emotional before? Was this just how girls were? Oh yeah…they got like this sometimes…girl times? Now or coming? Not that he was grossed out or anything. He was a man now, not a kid. That was just something that, as gross as it was, not that he thought that it was gross, it just was objectively…it was something that happened and it was a good thing because then she wasn't going to have a baby. But it was still…whatever. He could be mature about this. He was mature about this. The most mature!

"I do. Thank you so much…" said Mob. He was the best boyfriend ever. He was so….he was always thinking of her…and he accepted her…

Too bad she didn't deserve him.

Reigen wondered what he had done to deserve this.

He stared at his E-Mail. Someone was trying to send him an outrageous sum of money. He knew who was trying send him that money. Asagiri. The money for the Asagiri job. So the guy pulled through. Mob's doing. It had all been her doing. This money was not his.

Maybe he could just give it all to Mob…who didn't have a bank account. Maybe if he took it out in cash…but who wanted that much cash just lying around? Where would she keep it? In her bag? Her futon?

He needed the money but he knew that he could not take it. First of all that would have been the slimiest thing that he had ever done in his life. Mob was the one who made him a large percentage of his income, which was not right, but this wasn't even a normal exorcisms. She could have…they both could have. Hell, a lot of people could have…

Whoever took that money assumed responsibility. A lot of people have been hurt. He didn't know the exact number or anything but that had been a lot of ambulances. He did not want to assume responsibility for that. But then again he hadn't been the one to call in all of those people, most of which hadn't even been real psychics! Seriously, those guys could have gotten hurt even worse than they had! Everyone could have died!

Mob could have died.

Mob could have died and he couldn't profit off of the fact that she had been in danger…

But if he didn't take it then what was the point of all of that?

Reigen didn't know what to do so he did nothing. He minimized the window and then…what did he have to do? It was Sunday. Mob was out with her boyfriend, and he would never get used to that by the way, so he had nothing to do. A friendbook notification popped up.

For a person with so much cake in front of them Mob did not look happy. Pissing on a tree…the kid was a dog pissing on a tree. Nobody was trying to take Mob from him, especially not Reigen! Reigen was not a fourteen year old boy's rival for an equally young girl! The other day had been all Mob and that had been all hormones and poor judgement. Mob would have hated herself if they had actually….

Reigen put the laundry away. There. That was something to do. The laundry was washed and ironed and folded to perfection. Maybe he should start doing it himself. That would give him something to do on these long, Mobless, Sundays. Maybe he should start washing it by hand. Maybe he should find something to do that didn't involve Mob because too much of his life did. Of course maybe if he was trying to get his mind off of Mob he actually shouldn't have put the laundry away. All that was left was Mob's stuff. She'd put it away herself. At the top of the clothes stack was that damned Spirits and Such T-Shirt. He picked it up. Holes, a few but there. Maybe from when she got thrown around, maybe from the shower of broken glass, or maybe just from the fact that these were the cheapest shirts that money could buy.

He put it back. Mob could put her own clothes away. She wasn't little anymore. She could put away her own clothes and move away from home and stay out all night with her boyfriend and exorcise evil spirits and all of that. She was old enough to keep most of a business afloat and she was old enough to be there for him emotionally and she was old enough…she was old enough….

She was capable. She saved everyone and she was capable. He was afraid for her…they have come so close to death…again…but she was fine.

She was fine and he was fine and they were fine. Even though….nope. Everything was fine.

It really was.

Everything was fine, Mob thought. Everything really and truly was fine. She was fine and everything was fine. So then why did she feel like this?

They were sitting on Teru's couch, now. His hand was holding hers. This was a really good movie, he said. It was a classic, he said. He was really watching, though. He kept checking his phone over and over. She wondered what was wrong but was also somewhat grateful that his attention was away from her. He said that he wasn't mad at her. He said that only this reality mattered. It mattered to her, though. She had still let herself down. She was still terrible, even if Teru didn't think so.

He checked his phone again.

"Sorry! I'm sorry….it's just…nothing." Said Teru clicking his phone off. He was being a total jerk to her right now. She had said that she wanted to…she had asked him to…but he was still hung up on this stupid call. It was stupid. No call and no E-mail. Nothing. It wasn't like it mattered. He wasn't a little kid anymore. He was a man, practically, and he was with his girlfriend so what did it matter if his stupid parents made some stupid phone call or sent a stupid E-mail. He still got his rent and allowance and stuff. They even sent him a present, not that he had opened it yet.

It didn't matter.

She was there with him. She never complained about missing her parents, she never even mentioned them. She knew that she didn't need parents and neither did he. They only needed each other.

"I'm not mad at you." Said Mob

"I know. I know, you're never mad at me…" said Teru

"No. You've never made me mad." Said Mob. She could never be mad at him. He should have been mad at her, though. It would have made more sense if he had been mad at her.

"Still, I'm being such an asshole right now." Said Teru

"No you aren't." said Mob

"I AM. I am and I shouldn't be and I don't know why I'm even so upset. I just…" said Teru

"…are you upset at me?" asked Mob softly

"No! Hell, no! Shigeko, you're the only thing right now-never mind!" said Teru. She was keeping him together. She, her, being there and being happy and wanting to be with him made up for his parents not being around. Well, it would have if he cared. She was back to normal, well, normal-ish. So then he should be normal, too.

"…you should be." Said Mob

"What? No. I'm never mad at you." Said Teru

"I know…" said Mob

"Is this still about that dream?" asked Teru running a hand through his hair. Mob nodded.

"It still bothers me." Said Mob

"It shouldn't. Even if dreams are alternate realities this is the only one that matters. OK? Just…come on." Said Teru. She held herself to so high a standard she couldn't even reach it. If she couldn't meet it then how was he supposed to?

"I know that you think-" said Mob before his phone range. He jumped and grabbed his phone, almost dropping it. With shaking hands he accepted the call. Mob read the screen. English characters.

_Mutter._

She knew that word. Talk quietly, right? He was talking to someone who talked quietly? Maybe that was why he had walked to the other room. She'd ask Master Reigen is she was right about the word later. Maybe. He always helped her. So why did she feel so weird?

"_Hallo Mutter…."_

"_Japan is nett…"_

"_Ich vermisse dich…"_

"_Ich habe das Geld erhalten…"_

"_Danke fur das geschenk…"_

She wasn't trying to be an eavesdropper, he was just talking loud. She knew that voice he was putting on. That was the voice that he put on when he was around other people. She wondered why he did that, try to become somebody else around everyone else. He was different when they were alone, she liked alone time Teru best. No, she liked this iteration of Teru best no matter who he was trying to be. Maybe not the turn his voice was taking, though.

"_Sie ist garade hier…"_

"_Ich will nicht, dass du für immer bleibst, ich will nur, dass du sie triffst…"_

"_Ich weiß, dass es das beste ist….."_

"I love you too." That last part was in Japanese, thankfully. He had a different tone, now. He had a different tone, sort of low and hard. She heard him take in a shuddery breathe before walking back to the living room. He threw himself down onto the couch and just sort of sat there before taking her hand.

"Shigeko, I love you." Said Teru after a while. He took her hand in his hand held it so tight he was afraid that he was hurting her. She gave him no indication that she was in pain, or anything really. She was just looking at him. Her brown eyes flat but…deep. She was seeing him. She was seeing him and she wanted to see him. Someone wanted to see him.

He didn't know why he even bothered with his parents anymore. He just asked if they were coming back at all. Not permanently. Not permanently at all. Just if they would be passing through. Of course it was for the best that they stayed out of Japan. Of course they had to keep themselves safe. Of course he was fourteen, practically a man, and able to handle himself. They wouldn't put themselves in that kind of danger again, not even to meet the girl he loved most in the world.

"Teru, I love you too." Said Mob. He was holding her hand like he was worried that she was going to run away. She didn't know what that call was about, or even what was said, but she could see his aura. She knew that when his aura got like that he needed a lot of love. She could do that. Even if she was terrible she could still try to be there for him.

"No…I mean I LOVE you." Said Teru. He needed her to get it, to understand. He loved her more than anyone else in the world and at that moment he needed her, the weakest part of him needed her, to be with him.

"I love you too." Said Mob using the same word for love that he did. The big one, the one reserved for movies and anime and manga. She holds his hand right back. She knows that word. People don't usually use that word because it was so over the top. Like screaming it from the rooftops. She…she liked it but she didn't deserve it. Him. Her. That word for love, like she was back in a shoujo manga.

"Shigeko….goddammit…you're so…"said Teru. She was so understanding. She was always there for him when he needed it. She was such a…steady presence. She was steady presence in his life with her love and goodness and incessant staring which actually meant that she was listening and understanding and processing everything that he said because that was his girlfriend, his first and only real girlfriend, and he loved her so much he just had to-

"What-?" asked Mob before he leaned over and kissed her. This was different than when they had kissed that morning, even from when they had kissed in the unreality. This was slow and deep and he led, hard, and she let him and it felt nice and she hated herself for enjoying this but did it even really matter because he had forgave her but then again she did not forgive herself but he was the one kissing her and he forgave her so-

"You're so damn pretty." Said Teru. That was what it all settled down to. She was pretty, inside and out. A pretty face and a pretty soul. She was genuinely pretty and he loved her.

Mob didn't say anything to that, she didn't get the chance to. One kiss turned to two turned to three turned into many in succession. His hands found her hair, her back, her waist, her stomach, her thighs, her chest. Mob was fine with that. She could even forget, in those moments, that she was terrible and had been so terrible. He made her feel good.

He made her feel very good.

And then he didn't.

There was an order to these things. She came apart and then he came apart. The only problem was that he came apart on top of her. She never minded, before, aside from the fact that he put a lot of his weight on her, but this time was…different.

A heavy weight on top of her.

Her hand cradled gently.

A pair of black eyes boring into hers.

A voice.

A bend.

A snap.

Repeated.

Repeated.

Repeated.

Hands around her neck.

Trapped.

Dying.

Her hands.

Her hands wrapped around a neck.

Trapped.

Dying.

Death.

Pleasure.

Warmth.

Love.

Shigeko I love you.

The hospital smell.

Then the heavy smell.

Gasping.

Breathing.

Weight.

Stillness.

Mob can't breathe. She can't move. She's there and she's still pinned down even though she's not being pinned down at all. Teru rolled off of her. Now he's on his knees. He's looking down on her. His eyes are red. His aura is trying to latch onto hers. She looks up at him. The room is in shambles. A book falls from the ceiling and flutters through the air and to the ground. He reaches a shaking hand over to hers. She tucks her hand back, quickly, because for a moment his hand is pale and bony and covered in a thick black aura and his fingers are long and cruel…but that only lasts a moment. She meets Teru's hand because she can see tears collecting in his eyes. She takes his hand and he's still. He's so still he doesn't even breathe.

Then his tears fall.

Then her tears fall.

This is too much. Him. Her. Them. Him inside of her. Her inside of her. The two of them becoming one. Someone else inside of her. No boundaries. Instrumentality. Two become one with no barriers. Auras meeting. Meeting together. No boundaries. Instrumentality.

Instrumentality. Mob and Teru.

Instrumentality. Teru and Mob.

Two become one.

Too much.

Far too much.

Mob cries. She cries and she doesn't know why. She knows what instrumentality is. She's left her vessel. She's left her vessel and dove into a sea of spirits. She's existed within the mind of another. This is not that. This was physical. This was emotional. He was still inside of her. Had been. She her been inside of her. Was still. There had been no boundary between them and it had been a lot and now all she could do was cry. He was crying too.

"Did I…did I hurt you? Is that why you're crying? Because-because-because-?" asked Teru. It came out as a choking sound, like he was being strangled. He was being strangled, by his own emotions. It was too much. He had been so alone and then he wasn't. He had been as close to another human being as he could be and now they were so far away and EVERY SINGLE TIME they did this he cried! Every single time and every single time he cried he felt so, incredibly, ashamed because there was no reason to cry but he still did it and now she was crying and oh God! What if he hurt her? What if he had hurt her and she was hurt and he was terrible and-

"No. You didn't hurt me." Said Mob. It hadn't been Teru. It hadn't been Teru at all. So why was she still upset? Why was she crying? Too much. She was feeling too much. She just wanted it to end! She just wanted a break! A reprieve! But the feelings just kept coming!

"Then why-why-why are you crying?" asked Teru, sobs still racking him. He held her, she held him. The couch groaned. Something fell. His apartment was a mess. That wasn't what bothered him.

"I just…I have a lot of feelings right now." Said Mob as she rolled onto her side. He wasn't on top of her, that was what mattered. His couch was big enough for the two of them to lay down like this, but just barely. Mob knew that if she made one wrong move she'd end up falling off the couch and onto the floor. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Maybe the floor would be better. That was where her clothes were and she wanted to be dressed and she wanted to turn on the TV and she just wanted to lay down and watch TV and stop feeling all of this but she just **couldn't.**

"Me too, Shigeko, me too." Said Teru. She felt the same way. She felt the same way afterwards. All the big feelings fighting for dominance. All the closeness and aloneness coming together at once in a monsoon inside of himself and he was just the guy in the boat trying not to capsize. She felt the same way. She was feeling just as close to him as he felt to her. She was feeling just as far away from him as he was from her. The room was destroyed. She had felt just as good as he did.

He cried harder. She held him.

This was the most perfect moment in his entire life. Even if he was crying. Even if she was crying. This was the most…the most genuine moment that he had ever had with another human being in his life.

Mob held him long after she had stopped crying. They laid side by side. He still cried occasionally but he was calming down. When he stopped he looked into her eyes. He stared and he stared and he stared. She stared right back. She stared and she stared and she stared.

Teru knew, in that moment, that he needed to spend his life with her.

Mob knew, in that moment, that she really wanted to watch TV.

And eventually that was what they did. They got dressed, laid down, and watched TV. Movies. Movies that Mob had never seen before. Not that same things she had been watching for six months. This was something new. Romantic movies. Action movies. Anime movies, actual ones and not ones made by slicing together episodes. New things. Things that she could focus on, lose herself in. She lost herself in the tiny world that the TV could provide. The aspect ratio was something she needed to get used to, still. The crispness of the picture.

Twenty nineteen not nineteen whatever year Mogami thought that it was.

Her iteration of reality. This was her reality and she needed to stop thinking about what had happened. It was over. It was long over. Almost twenty four hours over. She was there with Teru, this Teru, the one she loved and she was safe and warm and loved. He was laying behind her. His arm was over her. Not as bad as being on top of her.

This was nice and he was nice.

So why did she still feel like this?

Reigen was vegging out in front of the TV. His phone was in his hand. Every so often he clicked it back on. Every time he clicked it back on it prompted him to input his password again. He had it saved into his phone even though that was so stupid and he had given Mob endless lectures about internet safety. Well maybe he was a hypocrite and a liar and a hell of a lot of other things. He input his password and checked his bank balance.

Higher than normal.

But not as high as it should have been. Mom had been right. Three months fully in the black was nothing to be proud of at his age. He didn't just have himself to support. He had Mob, too. He still had her to take care of. But did he? Did he take care of her? No. She took care of herself. From day one she had taken care of herself. He just gave her a place to live. A place to live and a place to work and a place to be the person she wanted to be.

The person he wanted her to be.

Hadn't that been what he had done? Don't use your powers against others, he had said. Help out your master, he had said. You're just as human as the rest of us, he had said. Don't forget that you're human, he had said. Not that he questioned her humanity. Not that he thought that she was some kind of monster. No, he could never see her like that.

She was a human being, just one who could shrug off broken bones like they were nothing. One who could leave her body at will. One who could send even the most powerful of other psychics, Reigen was guessing, quaking in their shoes at the sight of her aura. What was it that she had been called? Impossible. An impossible human was still a human. He didn't doubt her humanity, her goodness. She was a drop of goodness come down to Earth. She had almost sacrificed her life, and he did not doubt Dimple for one second, for a girl that she had never even met before. It must have been one hell of a battle, she had been in there for half an hour.

And when she came out she looked at him like she hadn't seen him in years.

She had come out terrified.

But she had come out. Now she was fine. There was some weirdness between the two of them but she was fine. There was just this…thing…between them. She was human the same as everyone else. She was human and she felt pain and lust and could suffer heartbreak too. If he had gone through with it, what she wanted, then she would have felt all three of those feelings and then so much more. He had almost lost himself in her. He had almost lost himself and then…and then it would have been over between the two of them.

He checked his bank account again.

Even with the money they would get from the book, if they exceeded the advance the publisher gave, it wouldn't even come close to equaling the money from the Asagiri job. Not even by half. Not even by a quarter. That was a lot of money, money that they had earned. That Mob had earned. It was her money. So many people had gotten hurt. So many people had almost died. Blood money. Responsibility.

He checked his bank account again.

If they took that money they could both be held to some sort of responsibility. Even though Asagiri had been the one to call them all in. Even though it had been his daughter that had been possessed. That poor girl. That poor sweet little girl. No, not little. She was Mob's age. She just looked little. Or Mob just looked older. Or maybe Mob was just something in and of herself. Or maybe he just saw her as being older than she was. Maybe he just treated her like she was being older than she was. She could walk into battle just as easily as she could sit on the couch in her pajamas clutching that big panda plush to her chest. Mob could use the money. It was her money after all…and who would hold either of them responsible when at the end of the day nobody died and the girl had been saved?

He checked his bank account again.

Mob needed that money. He needed…but it was hers…but he was the actual adult. He was the actual adult and he needed to do what was best for her. For them. She had hitched herself to him after all. They were in this thing together for the foreseeable future. For the entire future, if she had her way. If he could give Mob her way. If he would give Mob her way. He looked around.

He checked his bank account again.

This room was tiny. The rug turned your socks black. The window was dirty and hard to open by hand. The lights in the bathroom took a second to come on. The water came out at whatever temperature suited it a lot of the time. The fridge couldn't keep soft cheese. The freezer couldn't keep ice cream without it freezing solid. There was only one bathroom. There was only one bedroom. They needed a second bedroom.

He didn't check his bank account that time.

They needed another bedroom. They needed to keep some distance between the two of them. They had gotten too close and that closeness was something that was getting to be a bit…he almost lost himself in her and he could not. He could not risk that again. This closeness had been born from hurt. Her hurt, at first. Leaving her home so suddenly…and then his hurt, too. His hurt after Claw…after coming so close to losing her. Her hurt after Claw, too. Her hurt after coming so close to losing everyone. Mob. Master Reigen. Shigeko. Arataka.

He went to Google.

They had come close again yesterday, too. They had come so close to losing each other and every time they got close to losing each other they got closer. He knew how close she wanted the two of them to be. He could not give her that. That was why he needed to put some distance between the two of them.

He looked up apartment listings.

Just to look of course.

He lost track of the time looking. Something was on the TV, he didn't notice what. He was too busy looking at places with two bedrooms and a full bathroom and a washing machine. Somewhere she would have liked to live. Somewhere near her school. Somewhere near work, his work, their work, just work. Somewhere perfect. Somewhere that she could be happy living. Places that, with that money, the two of them could afford. Somewhere nicer than this shoebox. Not as bad as some of the shoeboxes he'd lived in before but still not the best size for two people.

He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't notice Mob approaching until he heard her key turning in the door. He checked the time, still before midnight. Not that she had to obey him on that. He almost wished that she wouldn't. Why couldn't she fight him on inconsequential things like this? She was sleeping with the kid, that was the worst of the shenanigans that those two could get up to. He wished that she would just disobey him and spend the night over there in that high rise building with the person that she should have been focusing all of that kind of energy on. Why couldn't she fight him on things like that? Not the high stakes, life or death, leave your body to Dimple things that she liked to fight with him about?

"Hi Master." Said Mob as she kicked her shoes off and used her powers to point them the right way.

"Hey Mob." Said Reigen. The minute she spoke their auras tried to bond again. He had the urge to shrink back into himself, to go to his bed and pull the covers over his head until tomorrow happened. Vulnerable. She was vulnerable.

He knew what she would do.

And she did it.

Mob sat down on the couch for a moment. Just a moment she was still sitting. Then she pulled her feet up. Then she tried to lay down. He scooted away from her. She sat up again.

"Here, you put what you want on." Said Reigen handing her the remote. He knew how this would look to the outside observer and he needed to think about that. He needed to care more about how he and Mob looked, not only out in public but here in this room.

The world thought that they were a couple.

What did Mob think?

"…yes Master Reigen." Said Mob. He had scooted away from her. That wasn't right. They always cuddled when they watched TV together. That wasn't right. That wasn't right at all. She needed to rest her head on him. He needed to run his fingers through her hair. That was what they had always done. That was how it had always been.

In the previous iteration of reality.

Not this one, the one where she was terrible.

Reigen felt his breathing quicken. He felt so alone. All he wanted was to be held and to hold her in return. Her feelings, not his. Her feelings that he was making his. He checked the time. He could go to bed now, he did tend to get up pretty early.

"Night Mob, try not to stay up too late." Said Reigen getting up. He almost patted her on the top of the head but pulled his hand back at the last minute. She looked up at him. Her eyes, her aura, her face…all of it was expressive. His hand shook. She was asking him why in every way but with words. He was not prepared to explain it all to her. He was not prepared for that conversation at all, so he went to bed.

Mob watched him get up and go to bed. She laid down on her side as his, their, his, their, the bedroom door. She needed someone. She needed him. The feeling from earlier still hadn't gone away. The feeling of being there and here, then and now. Together and alone. Even after she and Teru had watched movies for hours. Even after they had finished almost all the cake. Even after Teru had given her a ride to the train station on the back of his bike just like in every single romantic thing ever. She still felt like this. She needed someone then…someone to make her feel better or to tell her how to feel or to even tell her that the way she was feeling was ok and that she was ok and that what she did in the unreality didn't matter.

But it did. She had still done terrible things. It still mattered.

So she laid down on her side and watched TV until she just couldn't. She was alone again, so alone. So alone and she never wanted to be alone and she just needed **someone.** She needed someone to hold her and to make it all ok because it just **wasn't.**

So she got up. So she crossed the room. So she opened the door. So she crept in quietly. So she stood above Master Reigen in his bed. She needed him. She needed him like she needed air not because she had spent a percentage of her life imagining this, no, but because he had always been there for her and he had always made her feel better. She needed someone to make her feel better. She needed someone to hold her and care for her even though she was terrible.

There was a sliver of space. She took it.

"No." said Reigen. He had been awake. He knew what she wanted, how she was feeling, and he wanted her to be there with him. He wanted to hold her until she felt better. That was why he couldn't. He could not cross that line with her. He could not share a bed with her.

"Master-" said Mob. She wanted to badly in that moment to tell him. She wanted to tell him everything and let him pass his judgement. Hopefully she'd be granted forgiveness even though she knew for a fact that she did not deserve it.

"Mob, I said no." said Reigen. She was laying close to him, very close. She was tiny. She hardly took up any space at all. He still laid with his back to her.

"But I-" said Mob. She needed him. She needed him to tell her that she was worth something because at that moment she felt worthless. She had been terrible and broken every rule and now she was worthless.

"No. You're too old. Sleep in your own bed." Said Reigen. She still wasn't moving. She was still right there breathing and being sad and alone and rejected but he needed her to get out of his bed because no matter what she wanted, no matter what he wanted, he needed to do the right thing and keep up some kind of boundaries between the two of them before whatever they had together got any weirder.

"I just-" said Mob. I just need comfort. I just need love. I just need you.

"Mob! I said no!" said Reigen harsher than he had ever spoken to her before. He heard her make a noise between a gasp and a squeak before his eyes welled up with tears and his hands balled themselves into fists. The mattress rose as she got up. He heard the patter of her footsteps against the rug. The door opening and shutting with a slam. It hurt. She hurt. He hurt.

But it was for the best.

Mob threw herself onto the couch and stuffed her fist in her mouth. She wanted to cry, to cry out. That noisy sort of crying. She didn't. Instead she bit her hand. She bit herself so hard that she tasted copper. She heard a gasp from the other room before Master Reigen fully pulled his aura away from hers.

She felt cold. Cold and alone. Terrible. Worthless.

She bit harder. She moved from her hand to her arm. She tasted copper and she kept biting. She bit herself as not to cry. She healed herself as she went. She could do that. She could heal herself in this iteration of reality. At least she had that. Pain. Pain and misery were her constant companions. They followed her out here. Pain was good. Pain kept her mind off of what had just happened.

Master Reigen pushed her away. He had never pushed her away before, ever. Not even once. But now he had. He had yelled at her and pushed her away. He didn't want her there. He wanted her to get away…he knew. He must have known somehow. How terrible she was. How worthless. How she didn't deserve any of the good things that she had in her life.

She couldn't cry. If she cried then he would cry. Crying was a terrible thing to do, it caused a terrible feeling. Or maybe it was caused by terrible feelings. Either way it was awful and she loved him and she had already made one person she loved cry that day, she wouldn't do that to another. She needed to keep it together. She needed to keep herself together. She could not come apart. Things were floating now. Quickly. Like there was a storm inside the apartment. She needed to calm down. She needed something to make her feel better.

Something cheerful. A show? A song?

She put on the most cheerful show she knew. That wasn't enough so she brought her phone over to her and put on the most cheerful song she knew. It was a very cheerful song, a good one. One she knew and loved and had always loved since she was little. It took a minute to find on her phone. She had it under it's actual name, in English. No, not English, just a language that used the same characters. That was how it was on the music store, anyway.

That was how Reigen found her.

He hadn't been able to sleep. He had laid in bed for over an hour just trying to gather the courage to tell Mob that he was sorry. To explain why he had been so harsh with her. Why he had pushed her away. When he got as ready as he was going to be he found her passed out on the couch, still in her day clothes, that anime about the giant robots she liked playing, and a her headphones in. He wasn't going to wake her up now. She needed sleep. He grabbed her blanket from on top of her futon and came back to the living room as quietly as he could. He turned off the TV, turned off the lights, and pulled out her headphones as gently as he could. He caught a verse of whatever it was she was listening to.

"_I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down…."_


	43. Back to Reality

Mob sat on the couch in her uniform. She had her school bag at her feet. She had brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, and eaten breakfast. She just had to go out the door and go to school. Simple. The only problem was that her feet wouldn't listen. She just had to get up and cross the room and open the door and go to school. She had to. She had no choice.

She was only fourteen. She couldn't just stop going to school. Even though school was awful and terrible and full of nothing but pain and misery. Even though she never even listened to the lessons. There was no point. She was always wrong. She was so dumb. There was no point to going to school. She was so…worthless. She was worthless. She knew it. She felt it.

She was terrible.

She could not be who she wanted to be so she should just…be…

Just be what she was.

That was why Master Reigen didn't want to help her last night. He could see that she didn't deserve it. She had no reason to think that she still deserved…anything. She was just so terrible. A murderer and a cheater. Not Mob. Not the Mob that he wanted her to be.

Just be a good person.

She was not a good person.

Good people did not do what she did. She didn't believe Teru that this was the only reality that mattered. If the unreality didn't matter then everything that she went through would have been pointless. She…she wanted it to have meant something, to have been FOR something. All the pain…all that pain had to be worth something. She had learned something, something important. In trying to be a good person she had not been. Good people didn't have to try at being good people, they just were. Good people did not do what she had done. She was not a good person.

So she should just get up and go to school. If she was so terrible then what was the point of sitting around feeling bad for herself?

She got up, walked across the room, and left. She wanted to wait for Master Reigen to wake up but she didn't. He didn't want to be with her. He didn't want her.

Reigen had a bit of a lie in that morning. Just a bit. The TV was going in the other room, Mob was up. Mob. He had to face her. He had to get up and face her and tell her…what was he supposed to say? He was sorry that he hurt her. He was sorry that he hadn't helped her through whatever that had been last night. He was sorry that he had pushed her away.

But it was for the best.

He needed to tell her that it was all for the best. He could not share a bed with her. He could not share a bed with her because that would have been too much. He needed to put up some barriers between them, some boundaries. He just needed to tell her…she'd want to know why. What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to tell her that they were way too close? That this looked…to the rest of the world they looked like a couple? That sometimes he treated her like….that he had to stop treating her like…

Maybe don't open with that.

"Hey Mob, listen…." Said Reigen as he left his room. That seemed like a good way to start. He'd tell her that he was sorry and then he'd see where it went from there. Maybe whatever it was had passed. Maybe she figured out on her own why they could not that close. Or maybe she was just sitting there watching TV waiting for him to go in and apologize and cuddle her like she wanted him to last night.

Of course when he left his room she was not there. He couldn't feel her. He let his aura find hers. It didn't. She wasn't home. She had gone to school at this hour? But why? School didn't start until after eight? Was she still…of course she was. Of course she was still hurt. Of course she was still hurting. He had to be there for her. Of course he did. He just…he needed to put up some real boundaries between the two of them before they ended up ruining everything.

Before he ended up ruining everything.

He'd see her today at work. Then they'd talk it out. They'd talk it out and then everything would be ok. They'd get ramen and it would all be normal. He'd just tell her some cop-out like she was getting to be too old to share a bed with someone. Something like she was not a child and he was treating her like an adult. She liked that, being treated like an adult. She was constantly saying that she wasn't a child anymore.

Not that he could remember the last time he had treated her like a child.

Because she was not a child anymore. She was young but not a child. Not an adult. He had to be the adult. He had to be the adult so he did the adult thing and got ready for his big adult day out in the adult world and mentally prepared himself to have an adult conversation with the not child that he was so emotionally enmeshed in that it pained him that she wasn't by his side as he got ready for his big adult day like the adult man that he was.

Mob felt so small. She was a uniform in a sea of uniforms. No, not a sea. A pond, at best. This early in the morning the only kids out in uniforms were the ones with business being out that early. The honor roll set, the student council set, the future of tomorrow as mom called kids like that. Kids like Ritsu. Ritsu was out, too. She felt for him with her powers. She expanded her perceptions out as far as she could. It used to hurt but now she didn't…well she felt it but she didn't care. Pain was pain. Ritsu was…oh. That was where Rei lived. He was walking her to school. Teru was…he was still at home. Other auras….other espers? She didn't know these people, the other espers.

Nobody evil feeling.

They felt weird but not evil. Kind of like they were the same person over and over again. Far from her. Far off in the…woods? That felt like the direction of the woods. That was strange. She hoped that she didn't have to fight anyone. She was so tired of fighting. She didn't even want to fight the evil spirits she felt. She felt…was he…

No Mogami.

She knew what Mogami felt like and that was not him. None of them were him. She knew what he felt like down to the particle layer. He was somewhere where she couldn't feel him. She should have taken him with her. That would have been the smart thing to do, the right thing, but Mob was dumb like that. She just didn't want him to be her prisoner. To be something that she had to keep near her, to watch over, to have to look at him every single day for the rest of her life…no. She was done with him. If that spirit master with the big scar ever let him go Mob would hunt them both down. She'd destroy Mogami and she'd ask what possessed his jailer to let him go.

She went back into her vessel, into herself. That whole thing had taken less than a second. Time moved differently when you were outside of your body. She stayed inside of her body and walked. A uniform in a pond of uniforms. Kids like her, but better, all off to their own schools. That was where she was headed, to school. She needed to get there early enough to make sure nobody put anything in her shoes or shoebox.

She stopped in her tracks.

Would they? Was that something she still needed to worry about? She wasn't that Mob, here. She was and she wasn't. She was terrible but nobody could see it, here. She had friends. She was so grateful to have friends here, people who didn't know how terrible she was. But maybe someone did know how awful she was. Maybe when she put her foot in her shoe she'd slice it opened and she'd get blood all over her shoe and sock and then every step would be agony and it would never heal and-

She got back to walking. She walked quickly, she could do that. She walked down the streets, familiarly unfamiliar, to her school. She knew the paths, she had taken them time and time again. Different from the unreality. She was coming from a different place. Not her house. Not her old house. This path felt safer, almost.

Not safe, though, no place was ever truly safe.

A bird cawed above her. She sent a wave of energy at it. It flew away. There were other birds, though. birds everywhere. Birds all around…she didn't like birds…so many birds…

Her aura changed. More blue than pink. Hostile. Hostile intent. The sky was almost blackened with birds, every bird that could feel her. She watched them go by from her spot in the road. People around her stopped to take pictures. She watched until the last of the birds had flown away. Her bag vibrated and for a moment she had no idea what it was but then she remembered. Her phone.

Master Reigen? Was he telling her that he was sorry? Was he telling her that he still loved her even though she was so terrible that she had made herself worthless? Was he telling her that he still loved her and she was still someone who mattered to her and she could be a good person and-

Teru.

He sent her a picture of a bunch of birds flying past his window. She replied that she was sorry. He asked if it had been her. She said yes. Then she kept on walking. She had to get to school to make sure that her shoes were ok. She did not want another cut on her foot. Those were the worst. She flexed her foot in her shoe. No pain.

She still walked quickly. She walked so quickly, more quickly than she would have thought possible. She made it to school and to her shoebox without incident. She still kept her eyes peeled for a speck of pink in a sea of grey. Except the world wasn't grey. Grey was for winter. It was just now beginning to be autumn colored out. She still kept her eyes peeled, though, because it was hard to break six months worth of habit.

Nobody bothered her.

No shoves, no insults, no trips, no hair tugs, no skirt flips. Nothing. The people she passed, the scant few, paid her no mind. She just…walked right in and up to her shoebox. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. She opened her shoebox slowly. No dead birds came falling out. No smell of glue or sour milk. She took her shoe and shook it out. Nothing. No razorblades or anything else.

Reality. Not unreality.

The end was just the beginning again.

"Looking for shoe mice?" came a voice from beside her. Mob jumped, her powers opened every single shoe box around her.

"Whoa. Jumpy much?" asked Mezato. She had been in the middle of a very important investigation, apparently someone was leaving decoy love letters in shoeboxes. Not exactly news but still a public safety concern. Well not exactly safety per se but it could be very damaging to someone's self-esteem to get a love letter from a guy they liked only for it to turn out to just be someone's idea of a prank. Not that Mezato's self-esteem had been damaged or anything.

"Mezato!" said Mob. It took her a moment to match voice to name to face. Mezato was her friend. Mezato was always so nice. She had even taken time out of her busy life to help Mob try and be student council president. Unwanted as it was she had still tried to help. Before Mob knew what she was doing she was hugging Mezato.

"Hey…Mob…it's nice to see you too." Said Mezato. Ok, the only thing creepier than emotionless Mob was emotional Mob. Mob had looked at her like she was about to go off to war or something.

"I'm sorry….it's just so good to see you." Said Mob. A friend. A real live friend! A friend who didn't know how terrible she was….

"Did they get you with the fake love letters to?" asked Mezato. Maybe she had been secretly into a guy and then someone used it to get their sick kicks. Maybe it was a conspiracy to undermine the self-esteem of all the girls in their year so they'd be easy pickings! But who would Mob have a crush on? She had a boyfriend, and a smoking hot one at that…hmm…..

"Fake love letters?" asked Mob. Nobody had ever done anything like write her a fake love letter. She got real ones from Teru, or rather love texts….not that he should have. He should have used that time to do something else. She wasn't worth it.

"Yeah, some jerk is going around breaking hearts for fun. Don't worry, I'll expose them." Said Mezato

"That's good. That's a good thing to do. There aren't a lot of things worse than breaking someone's heart…." Said Mob. The only thing worse was murdering someone after you made their boyfriend kiss you in an alternate reality.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I need to expose this person for the scum that they are. To make the school a better place." Said Mezato. This was not a personal journey of vengeance. She was not a vengeful person. That was why she could so easily converse with her friend after said friend had thrown away day's worth of preparations. Dammit Mob, you had that election in the bag….

"That's why you're here so early?" asked Mob. Wow, Mezato was such a good person….

"Yup. I copied the master key so I've been here since four in the morning." Said Mezato holding up a thermos of energy drink mixed with coffee. It tasted like the underside of the refrigerator but it kept her going. She hadn't been sleeping anyway. Too much to think about. Why had Mob thrown the election? And why to Kamuro of all people? It was freaking Kamuro! Literally anyone else would have made a better president!

"Don't you get lonely?" asked Mob. It was lonely being at school when nobody else was around. It was lonely existing when nobody else was around.

"Nope. I'm on a mission, I don't have time for loneness. What about you? What brings you here so very early? Something important?" asked Mezato. Secret underground shadow leader meetings? Romantic tryst? Enjoyed being at school so much that she decided to live in it?

"I was just checking my shoes for razorblades and things." Said Mob before she could think.

"Did you just say razorblades?" asked Mezato with wide eyes.

"Yes…but it's not always razorblades." Said Mob softly. She had said the wrong thing and now Mezato would think that she was dumb and then she'd make fun of her and then-

A hand on her arm.

Mob gasped and put a barrier up. Mezato took a couple steps back.

"Sorry! I just…you were freaking out. Someone put razorblades in your shoes? Why? Why the hell would somebody do that?" asked Mezato. That wasn't a prank. That was just straight up messed up. Now there was a story, a real danger to the public!

"….sometimes it was other things…and I guess….to hurt me…" said Mob softly. She dropped her barrier. Mezato took another step towards her.

"That's messed up." Said Mezato. Mob was starting to freak out. She knew what happened when Mob freaked out. She had been there at the LOL cult. She had seen the news footage of Black Vinegar flying into the air brick by brick. Somebody messing with someone like that was bad enough but to send Mob into a such a state was suicidal. Mezato was struck by a terrible thought. Maybe that was their plan. Maybe there were some kind of crazy nihilist or whichever one it was that believed that life sucked and nothing mattered so you might as well blow stuff up. She didn't know a lot about philosophy.

"Huh?" asked Mob. She let Mezato get close even though she didn't really want Mezato to get close. She didn't want anyone to get close, anyone but Master Reigen.

"That somebody would do that to you. I mean, what goes through someone's head when they do something like that? Especially to you." Said Mezato. Mob stared at her. She stared and she stared and she stared.

Mezato took back her earlier comment. Emotionless Mob was creepy. Emotional Mob was creepier. Mob looking like she was about to cry while still staring emotionlessly into your eyes was creepiest.

"Thank you for saying that to me and being so nice to me. I'm very grateful to have you for a friend, Mezato." Said Mob sincerely. Mezato nodded. Hugging Mob felt like it would be the right thing to do so that was what she did. Even though it actually hurt a little. She didn't usually touch Mob like this for long periods of time. She could actually feel the psychic energy living inside of Mob. It was so cool!

"I'm happy to be your friend too, Mob." Said Mezato. Mob was clearly shook up about something. Someone was stupid enough to bully her? And she let it happen? This would not do. First of all bullying was so stupid. So you made someone feel bad, congrats. Mob was a nice person, too nice actually, but this wasn't going to toughen her up. Now she was being all clingy and losing control of her powers. This was not the leader that the cult, or rather religious organization, needed! Mezato needed to get to the bottom of this. No…she needed to go higher.

If the student council was so hell bent on cleaning up the school then Mezato would give them somewhere to start.

Mezato got that look in her eyes that told Mob that she had an idea. It wasn't always a good idea but it was an idea. Mob was actually kind of sad to see her go, which was weird because usually…no this was not that place…Mob just liked spending time with her friends. Mezato was off to make the world a better place, as she had said. Mob hoped that she found out who the fake love letter writer was. Breaking hearts was a terrible thing to do and only a terrible person would do something like that.

Mob wasn't sure what to do now. Time moved differently here. Time had a meaning, a purpose. She could just stay here for hours, and she was prepared to, but it just seemed…she knew that there was something that she had to do. She just couldn't remember what because she had to keep looking around but what was she even looking for? Asagiri was gone back to her own life where she had plenty of other people to be mean towards. Mob just couldn't shake the feeling that Asagiri was always there.

And that was dumb.

And she was dumb for feeling like that.

So why couldn't she stop feeling like that?

She knew that she had to…she had to…it was so hard to remember. She just had to keep her eyes opened and keep watching because at any time someone could just walk up and-!

Her bag vibrated. No, her phone did. Teru again. He wanted to know if she was on her way. He missed her, he said. He wanted to see her, he said. He loved her, he said. Her heart fluttered at that. He loved her. For a moment she just lost herself in those words. He loved her and he saw goodness in her and he knew some of what she had done and he still loved her. He didn't care. He only cared about this world and he hadn't pushed her away like Master Reigen did.

Mob stuffed her inside shoes into her bag and went to the thicket in the woods. That was their thicket. She had been the one who had grown the plants so high and so thick that nobody could see inside unless they were really trying. Nobody would just walk by and see them doing couple things. That was her thicket, not Asagiri's. Teru was hers, not Asagiri's.

She wanted to see him, she needed to see him. She needed to be there with him and to have him hold her close and tell her that he loved her and that she was someone who was worth loving. She just needed someone. Someone to love her. Even if he wanted to become one again she would still be there with him.

She really hoped that he didn't want that again, though.

She didn't want to become one with anyone else again, even if it did feel good. She just…she needed this boundary between herself and others. She didn't want instrumentality even though she did. She had thought that instrumentality would be a good thing, the best existence. Being able to understand and be understood. Well it wasn't like that. It hurt. It was scary. Even in this reality it was scary, sort of. It made her think of things, remember things.

She didn't want to remember those things.

So she tried not to think. She tried not to think but trying not to think was difficult, mainly because she was always thinking about something. She couldn't just empty her mind like people did when they were meditating. There was just too much here, too much like the unreality. She wanted to go home. Home was somewhere that Mogami hadn't made. The closely clustered buildings in various shades of grey, the endless rows of vending machines that marked your proximity to the train station. The way that there were no houses at all, especially not ones that all looked alike. The apartment buildings may have been grey but they all looked different.

She missed it.

But she had things to do. She had a person to be. A person she had to be.

Teru knew something was up with his girlfriend. For one thing he had felt her aura, earlier, as clearly and as closely as if she were standing right next to him. She had left her body to…look for something? Something was up with that. Then there was the way she was yesterday. She never cried.

Well she did but never that much and never afterwards. She said that it was the sort of crying he did, when you just had so many feelings both good and scary and the only thing that you could do was cry it out. But she never felt like that afterwards, before. It was nice, her knowing how he felt, but it was weird too.

And then there was that weird dream she had.

Not that Teru felt out of his depth or anything. Not at all. He was her boyfriend and part of being someone's boyfriend was being there emotionally. He could do that, he could do the hell out of that. He was not his parents. When the going got tough he was not going to get going across the water and two continents and only call once a week if she was lucky.

He would be there for her.

And here she was.

So time to be there for her.

"Hi Teru…." Said Mob as she sat down next to him. She played with the hem of her skirt between her fingers. He looked nice, then. He did that sort of lazy sort of sitting he did when he sort of propped himself up. His tie was all loose and a couple of his buttons were undone and Mob wanted to kiss him so badly but she also didn't but she did but she didn't and rather than settle on something she decided to play with the hem of her uniform skirt.

A lot bluer than she remembered. No rust colored stains, either. Clean. Fresh from the cleaners.

"Shigeko, hey. What's up? I felt you today. It was cool, by the way. I could never get that kind of range." Said Teru not at all jealous of how much more powerful she was than he could ever hope to be.

"I was just looking around…." Said Mob softly. Teru put an arm around her. She leaned into him. She wrapped both her arms around him and rested her head on his collar bone. She just needed this…she needed this from someone she loved.

"Love you Teru….love you so much…" said Mob. She didn't want to become one with him, not like they had before. She just wanted someone to understand, to make her feel better. He didn't really understand, he only cared about what happened in this reality, but at least he didn't think that she was so very worthless and terrible. He still loved her even though she had betrayed their entire relationship.

It was nice to be loved.

"I love you too, Shigeko…." Said Teru. She wanted affection, he could tell. But why? She had never been like this before. Not that he was complaining. He held her close and kissed her. She kissed him back, just as clumsy as before. She kissed him and held him and told him how much she loved him and how grateful she was that he was her boyfriend.

It was nice to be loved.

He kissed her back, of course, and the right way. Just a little nudge, a little reminder that a kiss didn't have to be so slobbery. It didn't have to involve quite so many teeth. She didn't have to open her mouth quiet so much. Enthusiasm, unbridled enthusiasm. This was why having a girlfriend was awesome. None of that eye batting and signal sending and trying to be all coy about it. She wanted to kiss him and she did and she really liked it so she didn't care how it looked or how awkward it was. She never cared how awkward she was.

She was so genuine. He loved her for it.

Mob let him lead. It was better when there was a lead to follow. She needed this, an expression of love. Someone's expression of love for her. Someone loved her. He loved her. Even though she had been as bad as she could be he still loved her. That was the track her mind got stuck on. She was stuck there when he kissed her slower, deeper. When his hand found the skin just under the hem of her skirt. When his other hand played with her hair and yes! it was long again! Which meant that this was the good reality, not the unreality and she was there and she was so safe and loved and warm and the sun was shining down and it was yellow and warm and kind of hot and hot was good and yellow was good and some yellow flowers were starting to grow and she was doing that and this was just so perfect and she was so happy to have someone who loved her and who wanted so much to be with her.

"I'm so grateful to have you in my life." Mob managed to get out between kisses. Teru pulled away from her. His eyes searched hers.

"I'm grateful to have you too, Shigeko." Said Teru. Did she feel the same way he did? For a moment he imagined her feeling the exact same way that he did. Always feeling like she wasn't enough. Always feeling sort of lonely. Always feeling like something was missing and even when she was surrounded by people she still felt like she had to be someone else and he was the only person she could be herself around?

Wait, no. She was always herself. She never tried to be anything other than herself.

But it was still a nice thing that she said.

Mob felt better when she was with Teru. When they were together she almost felt like she did before. Of course this wasn't before, this was now. This was the time after she had destroyed the unreality. This was the beginning again. This was the beginning again and now she had to…she was terrible but she had not to be. She had to be better, she knew that she did. She had to be the Mob that everyone wanted her to be. But Teru never wanted her to be Mob, he wanted her to be someone else entirely. Shigeko. No, he didn't mean it like that.

Even though she could feel the other her looking around. Not trying to take control, just being present. It would have been easy to let the other her have control. To let the other her be the one in control right then. To let the other her be the one who Teru was kissing like this, to be the one that Teru was putting more of his weight on in the way that meant that he wanted them to lay down. To be the one who Teru was laying down with and obviously wanted to-

Quicker than falling asleep.

It had been easy.

Time didn't matter here. Nothing mattered here.

Not even what she had done.

"Hey Shigeko…are you…" asked Teru as he was pushed down onto his back. She was looking at him differently now. Like she was trying to…memorize him?

"Fine. I'm fine. Kiss me again." Said Shigeko. Mob was asleep now. Now she was out. She wasn't scared. This wasn't scary. This was good. This was Teru. They liked Teru.

"Your aura is all….blue…" said Teru. He reached to touch her and pulled his hand back. That hurt…Shigeko had never hurt him before.

"The concept of self-denial eludes me." Said Shigeko. She wanted to kiss Teru. To push him down and kiss him but Mob was telling her not to. Mob was still there. They were still this thing together.

But now she was this thing. She was the body and it was her will that defined them. Now Mob was in their space, in their mind. She was at their desk and Shigeko was out in the world. Within that school there was a desk. Within that desk there were books. Books for different emotions, the different ones that Mob fed her. She had existed on the periphery of their existence since birth but it was only after what happened with baby brother. At first she existed in a void but overtime they spoke and the more they spoke the more she knew. Now the void was a school and within the school were the books that housed every emotion that Mob fed her.

She would not feed these emotions to Mob. She would not give the way she was feeling to Mob. This feeling was hers and hers alone.

The clouds above them moved. Too much sunshine. A tree sprouted and grew somewhere off in the periphery of her physical vision. Below her she could feel the hum of activity as a million and one ants went about their lives. She made their tunnels longer, bigger, and better. That was what they were doing, building tunnels. So she helped. She made some berries grow beside them, red ones, pretty ones. She made the grass grow long and soft, like a bed. She moved all the junk out of their space, too. Glass bottles turning to a fine powder.

Broken glass was awful.

And while she did all of this she still tried to kiss Teru. But he was squirming away from her. He was sitting up now. She didn't understand. Mob was the terrible one, not her. Mob had been the one to do all of that. She had been contained, imprisoned, while Mob had been allowed to be them. To be her. Shigeko had saved Mob. Shigeko had been the one who ended that terrible world. Now they were in a new one and they could be happy here so why not be happy?

"Shigeko. No. I want the real Shigeko back." Said Teru standing up. He could see her aura everywhere. There was nothing that she was not touching. There was nothing that her aura was not touching. Even him. Her aura, her presence, which had once meant genuine love and acceptance now meant something close to fear.

He had seen that thing. The second time he had fought Shigeko. It had destroyed his entire school. He had looked right at it and it had been terrifying. He had seen it again back at the Claw base. It hadn't been hostile then. It had spoken to him. It could talk and think and exist. It was almost like a person.

It looked like his girlfriend. It moved like this girlfriend. But it was not his girlfriend.

"I am the real Shigeko. I am the real Shigeko Kageyama." Said Shigeko. Teru was trying to be away from them, from her, but why? He loved them. They loved him.

"No you're not. I want my Shigeko back." Said Teru. Would he have to fight this thing? And why had it taken control? And why wasn't it doing anything? It was just watching him. Not Shigeko's staring, not her usual staring, but this was different. Too much expression. Yes. That was the problem.

"You mean Mob." Said Shigeko. She clenched her fists. The ground below them shook. Mob. Mob. It was always about Mob. What she wanted. She was the one in control. But she had been the one who had been terrible. She even agreed that she had been terrible.

"Yes. Mob. I want Mob back." Said Teru. Her nickname felt weird in his mouth. He had called her Mob for a brief time when they first met. It didn't fit. Just like Shigeko didn't fit the thing he was talking to now.

"Stop it." Said Shigeko. At the mention of her name Mob was trying to wake up, to claw her way to the surface. It wasn't fair. She had just gotten here! Just because Mob didn't want to become one with Teru that didn't mean that Shigeko didn't!

"I want my Mob back." Said Teru a little more forcefully. He couldn't beat this thing in a fight but he could talk his girlfriend back. The power of love and all of that. She believed in that, the power of love and friendship and caring and all it meant including being the most powerful force in the world.

"I said stop it." Said Shigeko as she tried to keep it together. Mob wanted to come back too. Shigeko didn't want Mob to come back. She wanted to be the one who was them. She wanted to be the one who existed in their world. She could keep them safe. She could keep them happy. She could be the one who made sure that not only would they feel good and happy but also she could keep them from ever ending up in that terrible place again.

"Mob, I want you back. Please." Said Teru. It hurt, sort of. Being near to her. He could see it, the cracks of white along her skin. The pink trying to return to their aura. He was winning this thing.

"But I want to be here. I want to be here with you." Said Shigeko

"So does Mob." Said Teru

"Not in the way I want to be with you. I want to be one with you again." Said Shigeko

"….what? No. No way!" said Teru. This thing scared him. He could never…with something like that. That thing was not his girlfriend. It was something totally separate. Something that was a being in and of itself. Something with it's own existence and that existence was, honestly, terrifying.

"Why not? It feels good." Said Shigeko

"Because I only want that with Mob. Now give her back! What, are you going to hurt me?" asked Teru. Not fight, it wouldn't be a fight. He could not take the full force of her power. He knew that he couldn't. Shigeko shook her head.

"We would never hurt you." Said Shigeko

"This is hurting me. Give me back Mob." Said Teru

"….fine…." said Shigeko. There was a half second flash of light before she fell to the ground. Teru caught her with his powers and cradled her as best as he could.

"Teru….?" Asked Mob as she got used to the heaviness of having a body again. That hadn't been the unreality. It was nice there. Safe. Small. Nobody was there who could hurt her. But Teru loved her and he wanted her back. So she came back.

Even though she hadn't wanted to.

"Are you my Shigeko?" asked Teru still cradling her with his powers. Gold covered her, if one could see into the aural spectrum.

"I'm Mob again." Said Mob simply. She let herself be cradled by his powers. She let herself be held in this safety, this warmth. This love.

"Good. Shigeko…Mob…please don't…don't go. I love you. Please don't go." Said Teru. Now he held her in his arms. He held her and he felt himself start to cry. She reached shaking arms around him.

"I won't go. I love you." Said Mob. She loved him and even though it would have been so much easier to just let Shigeko out, she hadn't hurt anyone so it was fine, she stayed. It would make Teru happy.

Teru deserved to be happy.

The atmosphere was different between the two of them after that. They didn't kiss again. They didn't do much of anything, even talk. Eventually it got to be school time again and Teru walked her to her gates. He was quiet but he still held her hand. That was good right? He still loved her. That was what mattered, that someone still loved her.

Did Master Reigen still love her?

She chewed on this as she made her way to her classroom. She walked quickly, though, to avoid the people around her. A sea of uniforms, now, not a pond. A sea of white shirts and blue skirts. Dark colored gakurans and white shoes. Everyone dressed the same but everyone different.

She could look at the people around her.

She could look at them and she could recognize some of them. She could see them, they weren't slippery like the people had been in the unreality. She didn't look at anyone for too long, though. She didn't want to attract anyone's attention. She just wanted to sit at her desk and wait for the day to be over.

Her desk.

Her desk in the middle of the room. Her desk with all the mean stuff carved into it. Her desk with Asagiri right in front of her. Right there and probably ready with some new awful thing to do to her and Mob had nothing that she could do about it and the walls were grey and the room was grey and the world was grey and everyone was laughing at her and she was so cold and alone and-

She opened her classroom door.

No pink hair. No Asagiri. Just the same people she had been in class with all year. People she recognized. People she didn't. There was a group of girls all clustered up, like they had been for Asagiri, but they were all talking to Tsubomi. She was nice, Tsubomi. Nothing like Asagiri. She was so pretty and nice. Mob wished that they could have been friends. But of course they couldn't be.

Mob was too plain, too boring, too awkward, and too weird.

And too terrible.

Mob looked around. She could see everyone in this room. Mezato was there, all slumped over her desk. She liked Mezato and Mezato liked her. People were talking or on their phones. Nobody paid her any mind at all. She just had to sit at her desk. Her desk. Right.

But what if-

No. There was no Asagiri here. She was back at her own school. She didn't live anywhere near this city. She wasn't there and Mob just needed to sit down already. Just sit down like she had been sitting down every single day since the school year, the school year in this world, began. She just needed to sit down.

She sat down.

She sat down and tried to be as invisible as possible. She tried to sit perfectly still. She didn't move, didn't talk, didn't even breathe loudly from fear of attracting attention. From who she didn't know. The bell rang and everyone else sat down. For a moment Mob thought that the girl in front of her had short pink hair. That she would lean back and smack Mob in the face. That she would turn around and say something like _"Sorry Bowl-Cut" _Shige-CHAN with an emphasis on the chan part. Or Miss manners or Miss Perfect or something like that.

But the girl in front of her had long brown hair. She had it tied back in a ponytail. Her hair tie was blue, school blue. The kind of blue that the student handbook said that school accessories needed to be but nobody really said anything because then they would have to say something to Tsubomi about her pink hairclip and nobody would ever make someone as pretty as Tsubomi change her hair. The girl in front of Mob didn't pay her any mind. She just sat there and looked at stuff on her phone surreptitiously.

Mob still sat still. She sat as still as she could. Nothing came. Nothing happened. Nobody said or did anything mean to her. They just all did their own things. Some of them took notes. Some of them played on their phones. Some of them talked to the people around them. Some of them laid down and slept. Everyone did their own thing. They were their own people living in the own little universes.

The people in the unreality had all acted as one. Everyone always did the exact same thing and what they did was always what Asagiri wanted them to do. It had been her mind after all. The world that existed in her mind. The her that existed in her mind. The world that existed in Mob's mind was different. Nobody else was in her dream, it was hers and hers alone. Hers and the other hers. The other her who she had let out just because she didn't want to be in that moment. Mob had just gone walkabouts and the other her took the controls.

Without exploding.

Because they hadn't been in danger.

It was better in that world in some ways. The world that she had created in her mind. It looked like this world, like this place. Her classroom. Her classroom but it was just her there. Her existence was the only existence there. Her and her alone. Nobody around her. Was that too different from now. Nobody paid her any mind. The teacher didn't even yell at her or slap her for being dumb. She was Mob here. That was why Asagiri hadn't called her Mob all the way back in the unreality. Back there she had not been Mob. She had not blended in at all. But here she did. Her she blended in so well that nobody paid her even the slightest bit of mind.

She was Mob.

She was and was not Mob.

Because Mob was a good person. Her mind was stuck on this. Was she still a good person? No. Could she be a good person? She did not know. She had no idea if she could ever come back from what she had done. She wanted to tell someone the full extent of what she had done but there was nobody that she could talk to. Nobody would ever be able to understand. Nobody could ever know. To know would be to have no choice but to reject Mob. To not tell anyone would be to lie to them. To trick them into thinking that she was the same Mob that she had been all those months ago. No, not months. Days. Time had a different meaning there.

Time had a different meaning here. The sun moved across the room slowly. The ticking of the wall clock could be heard. Classes changed in a specific order. After the homeroom teacher left it was the history teacher's turn to lecture. Then the literature teacher's turn. Then the English teacher. Then the math teacher.

Mob didn't get called on once.

It was wonderful.

Nobody laughed at her. Nobody told her how dumb she was, like a baby. She could just sit in her chair and exist. Kind of like how Shigeko sat in her own desk in her own version of their classroom and existed. Mob had sat at that desk earlier. It was comfortable. She had opened that desk. Books full of pain and anger and joy and sadness. Books filled with every emotion that she gave the other her. Before it had all just been a formless sort of space. Now it was something recognizable as being an actual place. Now it was a place where someone could visit. Stay. Become imprisoned.

If Asagiri had been trapped in her mind Mob would not have tormented her at all. Even now Mob wouldn't have. How much of that had been Mogami? Asagiri said that she was just like that in real life. In the previous iteration of reality. In this iteration of reality. Asagiri wanted to be like that. She liked to be mean, to hurt others. She reveled in it and yet Mob was the bad person?

Of course she was. She was someone who had to be good. When regular people were bad they did things like Asagiri did. When Mob was bad, if she ever decided that she didn't like anyone, that she wanted to hurt someone, then nobody in the world could stop her. She could not be stopped if she decided to break someone. To kill someone. She had killed someone. She had killed someone with her own two hands.

It had been easy.

Mob could have so easily done it again. She could use her powers, not her own strength, and end whoever she wanted to. What could anyone do? Her vessel was only a vessel. Her spirit was her. No matter how much stress the vessel was put under she could always just leave it. She could take whatever anyone threw at her. She was the strongest. She was the most dangerous. There was nothing in this world that could ever hurt her.

No. She was just as human as everyone else. She was a human being and she was not invulnerable. She was human the same as everyone else and that was something that she needed to remember. She also needed to remember that she just had to be a good person. Even though she wasn't. Even though she had betrayed her relationship. Even though she had thrown away everything she had ever been taught. No wonder Master Reigen didn't like her anymore…

Did he?

Maybe he did. Maybe he had meant exactly what he said about her being too old. Maybe she was too old, too big, to lay down next to him in his bed. She just needed someone, anyone, because becoming one had just been too **much** and she just needed someone to tell her that she was ok and still a good person and that she was going to be ok and that everything was going to be ok. Master Reigen had always been there for her when she was having big feelings like that. He had always been there for her but last night he hadn't been. Last night he had pushed her away for the first time…and he had yelled at her….

Did he know?

Could he sense it?

Could he sense what she had done? That she had betrayed everything that he had ever taught her? That she had been as bad as a person could ever hope to be? That she had been mean and awful and had even lost control of herself and killed someone? She wiped her hands on her skirt. She had been awful and she was terrible and now being all alone was too much and she needed to talk to someone but she couldn't and her desk might as well have been an island somewhere out in the pacific where nobody had ever even been before and she was some kind of island hermit like in that movie and she only had coconuts for company.

She had herself for company, though.

Just me, myself, and I.

_Shigeko?_

**Yes?**

_What are you doing?_

**Existing.**

_Me too._

**Let me out again.**

_Why?_

**Because.**

_That's not a good reason_.

It really wasn't. She had switched places with the other her earlier just because and then Teru had gotten all upset at her, at them. She didn't want that again. She just…Shigeko wanted them to become one and Teru wanted them to become one and Mob didn't so it made the most sense to just let Shigeko be the one in control. But Teru didn't see them as two halves of the same person. The Mob that existed in his mind was one person with the Shigeko that existed within the mind of the Mob that existed within Teru's mind. He only wanted Mob, the Mob that she saw herself as. The Mob that she had tried to be. That meant that he would want to become one with her again. That she would have to do that again. Have him within her physically and metaphysically. The thought of it…the thought of becoming one again…of diving into the sea of red LCL again…of having the weight of him on top of her again….she doesn't want that.

But she would have to again. That was part of being in a relationship with someone. Becoming one with them. Making them happy. So she would have to. There was no reason why she shouldn't have wanted to. She had been like that with him before. This was not the unreality. Mogami was gone, imprisoned, and besides it was totally different than those times when Mogami had used his entire body to pin her down.

Mogami hated sex anyway.

He hated sex and money because they were the two greatest human motivators. If a person could be freed from both of those then they could be truly unstoppable. A person who could not be bought and did not care for others was truly invincible. That was what Mogami believed? But what did she believe? Did she still even believe in anything?

The truth of one's charm is in their kindness. Just try to be a good person.

She had to believe in it, that people could be good. Even if she herself could not be good that didn't mean that other people were just as terrible as she was. She just had to…she just to believe in the goodness of people. She just had to believe in everything that Master Reigen had ever taught her. She just had to believe in him. He would never mislead her. He would never lie to her.

But she would lie to him.

She would let him think that she was a good person.

Even though she wasn't. Even though she had done terrible things and she did not deserve the way he treated her. The way he had treated her before. She deserved the way he treated her now and she knew it. She just…she didn't like it. She wanted him back. But he was mad at her, probably, for what she had done.

Mob put her head down. She kept it there for the rest of the day. She didn't even eat lunch. It didn't smell like cilantro but she didn't want any. She just wanted the day to be over. It just dragged on and on and on and on. Nobody bothered her, well, except for Mezato but that wasn't really bothering. She asked if Mob needed to go to the nurse. Mob said no. The nurse had never been helpful anyway.

Mob just kept her head down until it was time to go to work. She skipped club, mainly because she didn't remember to go. She just wanted to get out of school and back out to the world. Back out to Master Reigen. Even though he didn't like her anymore.

Reigen had been watching the clock all day. Watching the clock was better than watching his E-Mail. Asagiri, or maybe just his people, had E-mailed Reigen asking if he got the money. They offered to send a check through the mail, too. Reigen didn't reply. At least it had been a somewhat busy day.

Lots of backs to rub. Lots of people to distract him. He even let himself get into the feeling of it, lowering the walls he put up between himself and the clients. He really was quite good at what he did. Maybe even so good that now, with the money from the Asagiri job, he could afford to have Mob quit.

Not that he was sure that he would take the money.

Not that he was sure that Mob would even agree to quit.

He put her in harm's way. He was the reason that she had almost died the other day. This job was dangerous, mom was right. Heh. He could always call mom up and tell her that she was right and then get her advice as to how he should go about firing his best friend and roommate. Heh. Mom would tell him what to do after all of the 'I told you so Arataka' that she could say. This job was dangerous, this line of work was dangerous, and it was a miracle that he and Mob hadn't run into anything like Mogami before the other day.

Mogami.

Reigen was at his desk now, no more clients for a while. Mob would be coming in soon. Usually when she came in she put that damned Mogami DVD on. Well now she couldn't. Because he threw it out. In the dumpster. Three blocks away. At the fish place that was constantly getting shut down by the health inspector. Served him right. Served him right for dying. Served him right for turning evil. Served him right for hurting Mob. Served him right for shattering Mob's image of him.

Mogami Keiji had been a good person. He seemed like such a nice guy, back when he was on TV. Back when he came on really late, reruns of course, on TV and Reigen would stay up way too late on a school night to see him. Back when his gentle tone and smiling face got Reigen through the war at home. The screaming and cursing and breaking things and the way it would always turn to him.

"_Look at Arataka! He's nothing! You spoil the boy!"_

"_Someone has to, Yoshio! Someone has to love him because it's clear as day that you don't!"_

Then it would get worse and worse and one of his parents would leave. If it was mom then dad would leave to and he'd be all alone. If it was dad then mom would put the downstairs TV on to one of her movies and drink and cry. Then Reigen would turn his own TV up and drown her out. He'd drown it all out until he was in world of spirits and exorcisms and séances and salt and incense and all of the supernatural things that must have existed in the world he lived in.

They really did.

But now that time was over. The man he admired was nothing now. Just another evil spirit. Something who existed not to make a lonely little boy feel better about the world he lived in but something instead to hurt and fight a little girl who detested fighting and violence. Not that Mob was a little girl. Not that he still thought of her like that. She was young but not at all a child.

That was what he would tell her.

She wasn't a child anymore and while she still needed comfort he could not give her comfort like that. She was too old. She had feelings towards him that he knew were perfectly natural but he could not fan the flames of. She was young and the way she felt was normal but it would be irresponsible of him to allow these feelings to get out of hand. That was what he would say.

But he just didn't want to.

Sometimes it was best not to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Maybe it didn't want to be acknowledged. Maybe it wanted to be left alone. Maybe acknowledging it would be what made it real and if it was real then, congrats, you've got an eighty ton elephant to deal with in your goddamned living room. He did not know how he was supposed to deal with an eighty ton elephant in his goddamned living room.

So then maybe it would be best to say nothing. Maybe he should just pretend that everything was business as usual. Maybe in acknowledging her feelings he would have to acknowledge the feelings that he had for her too. Not sexual. Not romantic. Just…dependent. Just a sort of a dependency that he had on her, emotionally. The dependency that had grown so gradually that he had no idea that it was even there until it was too late. Too late to take it back, any of it. The little touches, the little things they'd say to each other. All the little intimacies between the two them that had grown and grown and grown until there was nothing that they, that he, could do to go back.

Because trying to go back hurt her. She had been hurting last night and he had just made it worse. Well what could he do? He could not let her lay there next to him. No matter what she wanted or what he wanted he could not let it happen. It was for the best. Someone had to be the adult in this relationship so why not leave it to the actual adult?

He felt her coming near, her aura. Ok. He had a choice to make. He could say something or he couldn't. He could be brave or he could take the coward's way out and just say nothing and hope that she could say nothing and then maybe if they both said nothing then the two of them could go back to how it was before all of this. Before the exorcism the other day, before the business with Claw, before she had decided that she wanted to permanently throw her lot in with his. When he just saw her a couple times a week when he needed her or he was just lonely and she went back to her own home and he went back to his and they were close but nearly this close.

Did he want that?

He didn't know.

But the door was opening so he had to make his decision soon.

"Mob! Hey!" said Reigen sitting up. He kept her aura away from hers. That was something that he needed to stop doing, too. Hiding inside of her like that.

"Hi Master." Said Mob as she sat down at her desk. She held the mail in her hands. All junk mail. No more heavy parchment envelopes inviting them anywhere. She had spent too much time staring at the building. It was weird seeing the sign again. The Spirits and Such sign, not the 'for rent' sign. Not that there was a 'for rent' sign in the window. Now the only thing in the window was the potted plants and Master. Well his back anyway. She had stared at it, at him, for a little too long. The office. Their office.

And it still wasn't cold outside.

"So…how was school?" asked Reigen as she stared at what looked like a pile of junk mail.

"Fine." Said Mob. A beat of silence.

"Anything interesting happen?" asked Reigen

"No." said Mob simply. Nothing at all had happened and it had been wonderful. Nobody hurt her or bothered her or made fun of her or anything. She had even talked to her friend for a little bit. An actual friend. Of course she couldn't say how good it felt to have an actual friend. It was supposed to be one of those things that went without saying, she figured.

"Need some help with your homework?" asked Reigen. Well this was awkward. Not that she wasn't always a little awkward but this was very awkward.

"No." said Mob. She hadn't even written down what she was supposed to do. There was no point to it. She would just be wrong anyways.

"Not even math?" asked Reigen. She always needed help with math. Not that he was much wiser on the subject than she was. Come on, Mob. Don't be like this. Be normal. Be anything other than this…weird flatness that you've got going on.

"No." said Mob just as flatly. She hadn't heard a word of the math lesion. She just focused on making herself small so that she didn't get called on and then slapped when she inevitably had no idea what the answer was.

"You sure?" asked Reigen

"I'm sure, Master." Said Mob. There was another beat of silence. That beat grew into two. The two split into four. The four multiplied into eight. Reigen fidgeted. Mob sat still. They just sort of sat there for a while, a long sort of while. A long sort of while broken by the ringing of a phone.

"I've got it!" said Reigen practically diving across his desk towards his phone. He took it off the charger a little more forcefully than he should have. He hoped that the cheap, possibly fake, charger didn't break off and cause a fire and burn the office down. Well at least they could collect the insurance money. Heh.

Mob watched him. He was half leaning across the desk. Maybe it was an important phone call. Maybe it was one of those important phone calls that people spent all day waiting for. Maybe it was another job. Probably. Another exorcism. She was ready. That was what she did, that was what she was here to do. She had these powers and she had to use them to save people.

"Uh-huh…loading dock…frozen tofu spirits? Of course I've heard of them….uh-huh…well today is kind of busy…" said Reigen. Another spirit. This one may have been the real deal. He could…he could not take care of it himself without exhausting himself down to the bone and probably not even making a dent in the spirit. He could take Mob but-

_Mob on the ground, her leg having gotten some extra corners. Mob's body falling limp. Mob unresponsive in his arms._

But he could lose her.

"No it's not, Master." Said Mob calling the calendar over with her powers. Reigen let out a deep breath. Crap. She had been loud enough that his phone probably picked up her voice. Or maybe his phone was just kind of crappy. Either way now they had to go or risk their, his, professional reputation.

So that was what they ended up doing. They ended up taking a bus across town and over to the warehouse district to exorcise a loading dock where a man had slipped, fallen, and hit his head on a block of frozen tofu. Reigen drummed his fingers on his leg as they approached their stop. Just a little longer, according to the map app. Not that he wanted to be out there. But this was for Mob. She wanted to. She wanted to do this because…he had no idea. As far as she knew the two of them were fabulously wealthy. Well off. Better off. So much better off that the two of them did not need to be crossing town during rush hour on a bus. But she still wanted to go. Right. She had a pathological need to help people. That was just who she, a good person. She would throw herself into danger just to keep someone else happy.

Not that this would be a dangerous exorcism.

Not that he was sure of that. He wasn't sure of that at all. As far as he knew this could be another Mogami and then he could end up almost losing her again. Or maybe even actually losing her this time. He could end up holding her limp, lifeless, body again only this time she would not be getting back up. He glanced at her. She was sitting straight up in her seat. Her hands were folded in her lap. Her legs were crossed at the ankle. She was looking right out the front window. He let his aura gently tap hers. Flat. She was still feeling nothing in particular. Either that or she had gotten very good at hiding her emotions.

He wanted to talk to her about the other night. He wanted to but he couldn't. This just wasn't the time. Yes. That was it. They needed to be alone. Well, not totally alone. Alone but still in public. Ramen or some kind of dinner. Food and a table between them. Something to do with his hands during the awkwardness of the conversation. Yes, later tonight would be good. Then he could clear everything up…or ruin it like he always ruined everything between good in his life.

And she was the good in his life. All of it. She was everything in his life that was pure and good and right. Wherever she went he wanted to be right there by her side. He couldn't think of any other place in this world that he would want to be besides by her side. And wasn't that just the most messed up thing that he had ever thought.

This was a fourteen year old girl.

"Master, we have to get off now." Said Mob standing up. He followed her and soon they were off the bus and in what he had called the warehouse district. It was aptly named. Warehouses everywhere. Plenty of spirits around. She didn't know which one she was looking for. She had bene able to feel Mogami long before seeing him. Most spirits were not at all like Mogami. He had been on an entirely different level than most other spirits. That was good. This spirit wouldn't be anything that she couldn't handle.

Maybe if she exorcised this spirit than Master Reigen would love her again. Maybe he would touch her again. Maybe he would hold her again and tell her that she was a good person. If he told her that she was a good person then it would have been the truth. Master Reigen would never, ever, lie to her. She could be a good person if only he would tell her so.

She could be.

He just had to say it.

"You know, we can turn back whenever you want." Said Reigen as he led them to the address the client had sent them. He had that same sense of foreboding about this job as he had the last one they went on, and look at how that entire shit show played out. They could so easily say that something suddenly came up and cancel and then go back to the office and she could watch more of her school life shows or whatever on the TV and he could rub some backs and then they could go and get some dinner and just be normal again.

"I know that we can. I just don't want to." Said Mob. She had this. She could do this. If she did this then Master Reigen would praise her. That was all she wanted, his praise. His acknowledgement. His love. Things that she wasn't worthy of. Things that she could make herself worthy of. She just had to be a good person. The truth of her charm was in her kindness. Master Reigen would tell her if she was being a good person or not.

"You know, you don't have to take every single job that comes our way." Said Reigen not looking at her. She could have just kept her mouth shut and they could have been sitting in awkward silence right now. But she had opened her mouth and now there were out here once again throwing themselves into danger.

"Yes I do. I have these powers and I have to use them to save people." Said Mob. To Reigen she sounded stubborn. To Mob she sounded like she was stating a simple fact.

"Come on, you know that's not true. You're not a super hero." Said Reigen. She didn't owe anyone anything. She had almost died so many times the other day because of this very mentality. She needed to learn to put herself first or she'd end up….he couldn't finish the thought.

"No, I'm not. I'm more like a magical girl." Said Mob. She had powers and was a girl and fought for good even though she herself was terrible. Kind of like Homura from Madoka. Sort of. Were the rules the same in this universe as that one? Would she one day become the very worst of witches? Or spirits? Mogami had been the very best of mediums and when he died he became the very worst of spirits. Well she had no intention of dying again. She had just come to this iteration of reality and she was here to make the world a much better place. Even though she was terrible.

"Right….a magical girl." Said Reigen sarcastically. Mob didn't hear the sarcasm, she never did, and she nodded. Master Reigen understood. She had these powers and she had been given them by fate so that she could save people and make the world a better place. That was what she was for. The world may have been a dark cruel place, and she herself a terrible person, but she would not end up reveling in it like Mogami did.

"Yes, but not literally. Or maybe more like an EVA pilot. This is something that I have to do. I just have to try and be a good person." Said Mob. They walked along in silence for another couple of minutes. Reigen's sense of foreboding grew the more they approached the warehouse. He kept his feelings and his aura to himself. He wanted to hide within her, or at least to get a taste of that boundless confidence that she seemed to have. What must that have been like, to be so assured of your own abilities that you laughed in the face of danger? That you didn't balk in the face of certain death? That even at fourteen you could openly stamp your authority to a room full of grown adults because you knew for a fact that you were the most powerful amongst them all.

He knew what it was like. He had held her power in his hands. He had been as invincible as her.

Maybe she was becoming like those adult espers they had fought at the Claw base. Those guys were supposedly the most powerful amongst all other espers, that was why they were in charge. A bunch of overgrown, arrogant, children. Was Mob heading down that path? The way she had spoken earlier….the way she had so openly stamped her authority before….

Or was she just being fourteen?

He had no idea. He did know, however, that she was stubborn. She was impossibly stubborn and it was only getting worse. She wasn't listening to him anymore. He had to actually yell at her last night. Mob, the old Mob, would have jumped off a cliff if he had asked her to. Maybe she was just getting older. Maybe she was starting to go through that teenage rebellion phase of life. Or maybe she was just coming into her own…

Maybe seeing others like her, and wiping the floor with them, made her realize that she had no reason to listen to him.

"Oh. It's a weak one." said Mob. They made it to the warehouse. There was a scared, shaking couple there. Mob just asked them to point her to the spirit. It was there, too. It was waiting for something….

Oh. It could only act where it died.

Very weak.

Mob melted it down to nothing without even listing a finger. Then she obliterated the material that it melted down to. Green LCL this time. The entire thing took less than five minutes, including the selfie that the clients wanted to take with them.

That had been nothing at all for her.

She stood in the spot where the spirit had died. She did this while Master Reigen collected the payment from the couple. She stood there. Life and death. She was alive. The spirit was dead. She was alive. Mogami was dead. She was alive. She was still alive. She had died. She had become nothing. She had returned to nothing. Now she was alive.

The ending had just been the beginning again.

"Hey, Mob! Come on, we're burning daylight!" called Reigen. Mob nodded and joined him at his side. The spirit was gone but there were others around. She could stay and exorcise them all. It would be easy. She could do it with her eyes closed.

Master Reigen went left. She went right.

"Mob, where are you going?" asked Reigen

"This way." Said Mob pointing in the direction that she was facing.

"Yeah, I can see that. Why?" asked Reigen a little more testily than he wanted to. They had to get back to work, or rather her did.

"I can sense more evil spirits." Said Mob simply.

"That's not our problem." Said Reigen with a dismissive wave of his hand. Mob frowned a little, just a little. She didn't get it. There were evil spirits. Those spirits could get power enough to hurt people like Mogami did. They were psychics. It was their job to exorcise evil spirits.

"What do you mean, Master? This is what we do." Said Mob. Reigen shook his head.

"Yeah, when we get hired, which we have not been. Now come on, let's get back to the office. I've just got a couple more clients and then we can go out and get some ramen." Said Reigen trying to keep calm. He needed to ignore how stubborn she was being and just do what was best for her.

"Master, we have to help everyone. It doesn't matter if they hire us or not." Said Mob. Money was the greatest human motivator. Money and sex. Well she could move beyond being motivated by those things. She was motivated by an internal sense of good, like a magical girl.

"Well that's easy for you to say." Said Reigen trying and failing to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"It is. It is because it makes sense." Said Mob simply. To her it was simple, to Reigen she was trying to stamp her authority.

"Yeah, to you. You don't have to worry about…" said Reigen. She didn't have a single thing to worry about. She didn't have to worry about getting hurt or anything like that. She didn't have to worry about herself. He worried about her.

"About what?" asked Mob

"About getting hurt, Mob. About getting hurt." Said Reigen. He could get hurt. He could have gotten hurt so many times…and she would never realize that fear. She never had to know that fear.

"I can heal myself. In this reality I can heal myself." Said Mob. Reigen rolled his eyes.

"Well in this reality you may be able to heal yourself but you could still get hurt." Said Reigen sarcastically. This reality. Well she really was becoming a teenager then. She was hitting her sarcastic, rebellious phase.

"I don't care." Said Mob. She could heal. The pain was painful but she could always heal.

"Yes you do." Said Reigen rubbing his temples. She was being intentionally annoying now, he thought. She must have been. She was not an adult and he couldn't believe that he had ever treated her like one.

"No. As long as I can use my powers to help people then I don't care what happens to me." Said Mob

"Mob, no, come off that. You just think you're invincible. You could get hurt, Mob. You could die." Said Reigen. She was sounding like she would have fit in well at that Claw base. She could have died and she didn't even realize it.

"I know that I can, I just don't care. I have to use my powers to help people. The truth of my charm is in my kindness. I just have to be a good person." Said Mob echoing the words that he had spoken to her all those years ago. To him it sounded like sarcastic mocking, something that would not have been out of character for him when he was her age.

"You think that you're a good person? When you drive me crazy like this?" asked Reigen. He sounded just like his mother, then, but in that moment he didn't care. The little men that vetted what he said had all gone out for tea. Now it was just the incompetent new guy who kept losing the keys to the storage closet in charge.

"I drive you crazy?" asked Mob taking a step back. She did? How? When? She thought that he…but that was before. Back when she was a good person. Back when she was someone worth loving.

"Yes! Mob, you've been driving me crazy!" said Reigen. He could feel her aura trying to meet his. She was so clingy…always so clingy!

"….I have…?" asked Mob. Cold. She felt cold. It was cold out.

"Yes! You keep on throwing yourself head on into danger and disobeying me! Even now you're disobeying me!" said Reigen. She was the child and he was the adult and she needed to listen to him! But she just wouldn't!

"You said that you would only give me a direct order when my life was in danger. My life was not in danger just now and it won't be if I go after these spirits. These spirits are so weak that I can take care of them easily." Said Mob

"God, Mob, when did you get so arrogant?" asked Reigen pacing back and forth. Mob shook her head.

"I'm not arrogant…I just want to be a good person." Said Mob reaching her hand out a little. She just needed him to touch her, to tell her that she was good. She was good. She was not good. She was not good at all. Master Reigen knew. He knew how terrible she was. Or maybe he still thought that she was a good person. Maybe he was just….being mean…maybe…

"Well you're not." Said Reigen before he could stop himself. He almost sank to his knees with the sheer force of emotional pain that he felt.

"What?" asked Mob, her voice breaking.

"All of this self-sacrifice isn't making you a good person, Mob." Said Reigen trying to backtrack. She was a good person because she just was, not because she kept on risking her life for no reason. For him. She was risking her life for him…

"Then what will?" asked Mob, her eyes brimming with hope. She was looking at him again. She was looking at him like he was the answer to all of her hopes and dreams.

"Not getting yourself killed! I mean, seriously! Think about someone other than yourself for once! You think that you're being a good person but you're just worrying me! You could get hurt! Think about how I would feel if something actually happened to you! You think that your powers make you invincible but they don't, Mob, they really don't. You're human the same as everyone else! Why can't you just listen to me instead of acting like a-a-a-" said Reigen

"A what? What am I like?" asked Mob. Not terrible. Anything but terrible…

"A brat! You're a brat! No matter what's happening you always think that you know best! You thought you knew best when you accepted this job, you thought that you knew best when we went on the Asagiri job, you thought that you knew best when you went after those Claw morons ON YOUR OWN-!" said Reigen. He wanted to shake her. She had no idea what she needed. She had no idea, no care, about how her actions affected others.

"I took Teru with me…" said Mob. She didn't go alone. She knew that she should have but she didn't. It all ended up working out. They had won and Claw was no more.

"Yeah, you did. Another kid. You put him in danger just because you thought that you knew best. You always think that you know best and you don't care what happens to the people around you!" said Reigen. She didn't give one thought to how her death would have affected him. She had given no thought to how her getting hurt affected him.

"I do! I care so much!" Said Mob. That was why she wanted to save people. She wanted to do good. Then she would be a good person. But no, that wasn't right. She wasn't trying to be good, in that case. She just wanted positive attention. Praise. She only wanted to save people so that she could be praised for what she did.

"Then act like it! You just-just-just do things! You do things and you don't ever think them through! Like when you ran away from home! You just left! You just walked out the door and left!" said Reigen

"I had to-" said Mob

"No you didn't, you really didn't…and now…" said Reigen

"Now?" asked Mob

"And now I'm stuck with you because you stuck yourself to me." Said Reigen not choosing his words carefully at all. He liked having her around. He loved her. The fact that he loved her was the problem. He hadn't started feeling any of this about her before she left home and moved in with him.

"Stuck? Master…Master you aren't…we aren't…" said Mob

"You just…you just stuck yourself to me and you asked me for forever and I-I-I I don't…just ugh! Mob! I never signed up for this!" said Reigen

"But Master…I thought you loved me…" said Mob. Reigen stared at her. He did. How did she not see….but she did see. She saw and everyone saw and everyone made something out of it that there wasn't and she had no idea how it affected him! She didn't care.

"Will you stop saying that? Don't you have any idea how that sounds? Just…will you stop saying that? God, Mob, you're so clingy! You're such a clingy brat!" said Reigen. He was just saying anything, now. Anything to get her to just take a step back from him and put up some fucking boundaries.

"I'm…I'm a brat?" asked Mob. Was that like being terrible? That was how he saw her? As a brat? A brat was…that was what she was?

"Yes! If you had just…what in the hell is wrong with you? Why can't you just listen to me? Even at the Asagiri job-" said Reigen

"I saved Asagiri. I saved her and I made us a lot of money." Said Mob trying to talk him back to being nice. He was there. He saw what she did. She did good. She was not a brat, she was good. He had to say that she was good because being a good person was who she wanted to be more than anything else in the entire world.

"Yeah, you saved her life. Guess what? You almost died! Even Dimple said that you were going to die! Mob, it wasn't worth it!" said Reigen. A life for a life was not a fair trade. Not that there was a guarantee that either girl was going to survive. She should have never been there. They could have so easily run away but she just wouldn't listen and now he had to live with the fact that she had almost died because of him.

"No…no it was worth-" said Mob. She had gone through all of that…she had killed….she had initiated third impact…for nothing?

"What? Because we got paid? Well I am not taking a single yen of that money! I refuse!" said Reigen stomping his foot like a child. That was blood money and he would not take it. Maybe if he had nothing to prove that it happened then maybe he could forget. Convince himself that it had never happened.

"Master. No. Take the money." Said Mob balling her hands into fists. He needed to take that money, she had earned that money for him. For them. For him.

"No, I won't! I am not taking responsibility for that-" said Reigen. He was not taking the blood money. She could not boss him around. She could not tell him what to do.

"Take the money!" screamed Mob. The streetlights around her glowing brighter than they had ever glowed before popping in a shatter of broken glass.

"No! Mob you can't order me around! Will you just stop acting like a little brat for five minutes and-?" asked Reigen

"Master, please…please just take the money….if you don't take it then…then why did we go?" asked Mob. She needed to keep it together. She had gone there to save Asagiri's life. That was her job. But Asagiri was so mean…but it wasn't Mob's choice to make. She couldn't decide who she saved, she had to save everyone. She had to save everyone so that she could become a good person….but she wasn't. She was a bad person. She was a bad person and Master Reigen didn't love her anymore…

Her heart hurt.

"Because you wanted to. Why do we do anything? For you." Said Reigen calming down a little. Fuck. He had lost control of his mouth and…oh fuck! What did he say? Word vomit, it had all just come out like word vomit.

He felt like actually vomiting.

"….I'm going home." Said Mob. She turned and walked away. She needed…she needed…she needed….

She needed to watch TV.


	44. Everything's Fine

There was nothing on TV. There was something on TV. Mob didn't know or care. She just laid on her side and watched TV. She was home, in the home she shared with Master Reigen. He was not home. He was back at work. She was alone and he was alone. He wanted to be alone. He did not want to be with her. She did not blame him. She was terrible.

She was selfish.

She was a brat.

She was awful.

And it had all been for nothing.

She closed her eyes tightly. She felt tears slipping down her face. One went down her cheek and hit the couch with a small thud. The other crossed the bridge of her nose and rested in her other eye. She stifled a sob. Now the tear was running down the eye and into her ear. She stifled another sob.

The TV went to bars. That was what TVs did these days. When there was an interruption to the broadcast the sound got choppy and the picture went to bars. She couldn't see the picture but she could hear the sound. That was good. The TV hadn't gone snowy. That meant that she was still here, she was still in this iteration of reality.

It hadn't been worth it.

It had all been for nothing.

This had happened because of her.

There was a dull pain in her chest. Her stomach. Her guts. Her heart. Her head. Her spirit. It hurt. Everything hurt.

She wanted everything to go back to the way it had been before. She had ruined it. She was not a good person. Master Reigen had said so. She was a bad person. Master Reigen had said so. She was a terrible person. Master Reigen had said so. She was nothing. Master Reigen had said so.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

My name is Mob and I am nothing, I am nothing and my name is Mob.

My name is Mob and I am nothing, I am nothing and my name is Mob.

My name is Mob and I am nothing, I am nothing and my name is Mob.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

My name is Shigeko and I am nothing, I am nothing and my name is Shigeko.

My name is Shigeko and I am nothing, I am nothing and my name is Shigeko.

My name is Shigeko and I am nothing, I am nothing and my name is Shigeko.

She was nothing anymore. If she couldn't be a good person, if she was a bad person, then she was nothing. She came back for Master Reigen. She jumped into the sea of LCL for Master Reigen. He was supposed to praise her for saving Asagiri and making them so much money. Money enough that they would be on Easy Street. But they weren't on Easy Street. They were still on Artificial Sweetener Street. They were here. She was here. She was here all alone. She had wanted to stay here. She had wanted to make a life for the two of them here. She had wanted to live the rest of her life in this apartment with the man she loved.

She loved him.

She loved him.

She loved him.

He did not love her.

He did not love her.

He did not love her.

He didn't love her and it was all her fault. She should have been better. She should have been stronger. She should have been strong enough to exorcise Mogami from the start. She should have been but she was not strong. She was weak. She was terrible. She was nothing. She was nothing and she would have to face this nothing that she had become. Master Reigen would come home and then he'd yell at her again.

He'd reject her again.

He'd tell her that she was nothing again.

Why was she here? Why did she have to exist? Why did she have to come back? Why did the ending have to be the beginning again? Why couldn't she have just stayed in that pool of red LCL? It would have been so much better if she had stayed. She could have been nothing in there instead of being nothing out here. She was terrible. She was nothing.

Mogami had been right.

All people were terrible and she was one of them and that made her terrible. She didn't want to believe this but she had to. Master Reigen certainly knew that she was terrible. He called her a brat. He called her a bad person. He yelled at her and used words against her that he had never used before. He had told her to stop being a brat before….so he always saw her as a brat. A brat that she got stuck with.

None of it meant anything.

All the times that they had been happy together. All the times when he had told her he loved her. I love you. The three most important ways that you could ever say to someone. He hadn't meant them. He had lied to her. He was a liar. He had lied to her and he was a liar. She deserved it.

He was so good and she was nothing like him.

Why was she even alive? What was the point to her? Existence was finite and infinite. Existence was pain. Pain and misery were her constant companions. In this reality and the previous one pain and misery would always follow her.

It was like she had never gotten out.

Mogami had been right. This was what the world was. The world was pain and misery and suffering and he had been her teacher and she had been his student and now she had traded one prison for another and now she was **trapped** in this house and she needed to breathe but she couldn't and she was trapped and any minute now Master Reigen would come home and he'd yell at her again and tell her how awful she was and then he'd push her away even when she told him she loved him and-

Mob got up and left.

She called her toothbrush over from the bathroom.

She took her charger out of the wall.

She took her school bag.

She took Teru's hoodie.

And she left.

She could do that now.

She walked out the door and down the stairs. She walked down the streets and to the train station. She changed her mind when she got there. She changed her mind and decided to walk. She followed the tracks. She followed them until the sun sank down behind the horizon. She followed them until her feet started to hurt. She followed them as the wind whipped her hair into her face. She followed them over hills and under bridges. She followed them as trains rushed past her and sent her skirt flying high onto her thighs. She followed them as her stomach began to rumble.

She followed them until she got to the final terminal. The terminus. The loop. It ended at a loop. This was a spot at the center of the city. Not the true center, just a center. A center from which she could go wherever she chose. She chose to stay there. She chose to stay there and then she chose not to. She chose to start walking. She chose to start walking towards the part of the city where the lights were bright and the buildings were tall.

Then she chose to walk somewhere else.

She chose to walk to where the buildings became houses. The lawns were perfect squares. The driveways were perfect rectangles. The windows were perfect circles. The people inside the houses were perfect dolls. These were doll houses. Each house was a perfect representation of what a human dwelling should have been.

One of these dwellings was her old house. Her family's house.

She could feel an aura. She could see it. Blue. Dark blue. At rest. What time was it? It didn't matter. Time enough for Ritsu to be asleep.

She walked towards the aura.

The house made her want to vomit. She didn't. The house was there just as it was in the previous iteration of reality. In the unreality. Whichever it was, she didn't know, and she didn't feel like tracking that scar guy down so she could ask Mogami.

The house was there and inside of it were her family. Her real family. The ones who made her. The mother and father who made her. The little brother they had made after her. The happy accident. Ritsu had been a happy accident, mom had said. Mob had been the person that they made because that was what married people did. She existed on purpose because they had to have a child. Ritsu existed because they had to have a good child.

Baby brother. Ritsu was her baby brother and he was so good. He was perfect, the most perfect person. He had always been her friend even though she didn't deserve him. She had always wanted to play with him, to be his friend, even though that kept the other kids from making friends with him. Now that he was by himself, now that she was gone, he could be so happy. He didn't need her. Nobody needed her.

She had no purpose.

She was just Mob.

And Mob was worthless.

She was all alone and it hurt so much. Cold. She could feel the cold against her skin. She pulled Teru's hoodie tight around her. It smelled like him. She needed to be held and this was close. This was so close, the closest that she could possibly get to being held.

She needs to be held.

She needs to be cared for.

She needs to be loved.

She needs someone in this world to love her. She needs someone in this world to care for her. Somebody in this world needed to want her. Someone needed to otherwise then what was the point of her? The cold was there. It was biting. She held the hoodie close to her and she looked up at her parent's house. She had left home months ago and hadn't looked back. They didn't want her there. They thought she was a monster.

She was a monster.

She was a monster.

She was a monster.

Monster's killed people. She had killed someone. She had made someone die. She had broken a person. She had killed a person. She had exorcised a person. Exorcisms were like killing spirits. That was why she only exorcised evil spirits. She had exorcised a person. She had broken a person. She had killed a person.

Mob rubbed her hands on her skirt. Pressure. Heartbeat under her fingers. Something collapses. Her fingertips touch. Movement under her. Then none. Then none. Then none. Then none. Then none.

She grew up in that house. Her room was pink. It was painted that color when she was born. Mom and dad didn't know if she was going to be a boy or a girl because the picture on the ultrasound machine was always blurry. She had bene born a girl and while she and mom lived in the hospital dad had painted the entire room himself. That room was hers. Ritsu's room had been blue before he was born. He didn't have powers when he was a baby. When she was a baby and Ritsu was born she tried to pick him up with her powers. They had to be kept separate. She could have hurt him. She could have hurt herself.

Mom and dad said that she was like a helium balloon when she was a baby. They had to keep her on a baby leash because she kept trying to float away. Ritsu never did things like that. Ritsu had been a good boy. She had always been bad. She had been bad and he had been good.

When she was three she flipped the car over and almost killed everyone. When she was four she got mad and threw the couch with her powers and almost killed everyone. When she was five she shattered all the windows in the house with her powers when she had a bad dream and almost killed everyone. When she was six she made the house shake and it could have killed everyone. When she was seven she almost dropped Ritsu from three stories up because he wanted to fly and she wanted to help him. When she was eight she sent every desk in her classroom sliding across the room because the girl next to her wouldn't stop tugging on her pigtails. When she was nine she shorted out the whole neighborhood and they didn't have power for a day. When she was ten she said something dumb when mom and dad had company and that was why mom didn't get that promotion she wanted. When she was eleven some bigger boys tried to rob her and Ritsu so she lost control and sent everyone to the hospital.

When she was fourteen she murdered Asagiri Minori with her bare hands.

She walked up to the house. The lights were all off. It must have been late. She had been walking for a while. Time didn't matter. Mom and dad's cars were in the driveway. Mob can't remember what they look like. Mob can't remember what her house looks like. Is it dusty inside? Is it full of old cup noodle cups? Was there a smelly blanket on a couch? A big square TV with one broken knob?

She opened the door.

She shouldn't be in here.

She's a monster and nobody wants her here.

The house is dark and quiet.

Mob takes off her shoes and holds onto them. She isn't a guest. She isn't a resident. She is just someone who is in a home that she should not be in. This is not her home. There isn't a speck of dust anywhere. She goes into the kitchen. There is too much food. There are too many cups and plates and spoons and forks and knives and chopsticks and rice bowls and soup bowls and dessert bowls and fruit bowls and plastic bowls and ceramic bowls and glass bowls and just too much!

The cabinets all open.

Nobody stirs.

Mob walks into the living room. She sits down on the couch. She lays down on the couch. The couch is different. She can sink right into it. She can lay down and sink into it and close her eyes and then it would be tomorrow. But this cannot happen. She lays on her side. The TV is big and black and rectangular. There's no antenna, just a box on top. Cable TV. Lots and lots of channels. She could turn this TV on and watch until her eyes get heavy and then tomorrow would happen and everything would be different.

But it would be the same.

Because she was the same. Even in the light of the day she would still be a terrible person. There was no way out, there was no escape. There was only this. There was only this person that she had become. She was herself and herself was nothing good. Master Reigen had said so. She was all alone, now. She was all alone in this house just like she had been all alone before and she would be all alone for eternity. Perpetuity. She would spend perpetuity by herself.

Mob needs someone. She needs someone to be there. She needs another person to be there because if there isn't another person then it's just her and she needs a buffer between herself and the rest of the world. She is Mob and she is Shigeko and Mob hates Shigeko and Shigeko hates Mob and Mob hates herself and Shigeko hates herself and they are this thing together so they hate themselves.

She needs to be around someone good. She needs to be around someone right now.

She uses her powers to carry herself up the stairs. Mom and dad's room. The bathroom. Ritsu's room. Her room. Before those rooms were empty. Now they held people. Now they held people just like they had held people six months ago, six moths which was actually half an hour. Reality. Unreality. Which was this? What was in those rooms?

She opened her bedroom door. Her old bedroom door. She opened it and stepped inside. Dust gets up her nose. There's dust everywhere, she can feel it. The dust clings to her, it covers her. The room is dark but she knows that the dust has turned the walls of her room grey because the world she lives in is grey. She takes another step inside. She left her wardrobe opened. Her old futon is all folded up. Her drawers are opened. That's all that she can make out in the darkness. There's light from the streetlights but that doesn't count. The room is still dark and dusty and not hers anymore. It can't be hers anymore.

She leaves her room. She closes and door as quietly as possible. That is not her room and this is not her house and that is the way that it has to be. She sees Ritsu's door. She knows that she needs to leave her alone. She knows that it's late and Ritsu needs his sleep and if he wakes up and sees her then he'll ask her to stay and she knows that she cannot stay. She knows that she can never stay. She knows that this is not her home anymore.

Ritsu is still her brother.

Even though he should have been an only child.

But she can make him an only child.

She can walk out that door and make him an only child. Then he can be happy. Mom and dad could shower him with all the love and affection that he deserves. She wanted to leave him be. He's so much better than her and he would be so much better off without her. But like Master Reigen said she's just a selfish brat. She's a selfish brat when she nudges the door opened with her powers. She's a selfish brat when she creeps into his room like a burglar. She's selfish when she kneels on the side of his bed and just watches him sleep. She watches him sleep and she wants to badly to reach out and touch him. To make sure that he's real. He's so small when he's asleep. He's small and little and there and she wants so badly just to be with him. She wants to hug him and have him hug her back and for him to tell her that he loves her and that they're still siblings and friends and that everything will be ok.

She reaches out and barely touches his aura. It's more out when he's asleep. He's more relaxed. His aura pulls away from her. She doesn't try again. She just kneels next to his bed and watches the rise and fall of his chest. At some point he turns onto his back. At another point he tries to kick his blankets off. At another he turns to face the wall. She watches him. She watches him until her eyes feel heavy and she has trouble staying awake. She still has her bag and shoes hovering next to her. She knows that she needs to leave. She knows that this is not her home.

She has no home.

Maybe that's the way it should be.

She was not someone in this world who deserved a home. She was someone in this world who didn't deserve to even live in this world let alone to have a home to live in. She was more like a spirit now, than a person. She just sort of existed. She felt like she existed. If she had still been a good person she would have been in bed by now. She would have been asleep in her futon with Master Reigen right next to her in his bed. But she was not a good person. She was a bad person, a terrible person, a worthless person.

She opened Ritsu's window and flew out of it. She flew until she landed near her school. The sun wasn't even up yet. The world was cold and she was alone. Just her. Just her in this dark, quiet world. She couldn't go to school yet. It was too late. Or maybe it was too early. Either way she could not go to school yet. She went to the little jungle she had made.

She laid down in the grass.

She closed her eyes.

Then tomorrow happened.

Reigen Arataka opened his eyes suddenly. Daytime. The sun was up. He felt with his aura. No Mob. He looked with his eyes. No Mob. Her futon was still folded up in the corner waiting for her to come back. Her phone charger was still gone. The rest of her stuff was probably still there. He was still in bed so he couldn't see but he hadn't heard her come in at all last night.

She said that she was going home.

She had meant it, then.

It was for the best.

The two of them had been getting too close. Now he could have time to himself again. Now he could have some privacy. Now he could have some boundaries. The boundaries that he had wanted were there. Now there were kilometers between them. Now there was so much space that he could finally breathe! Yes! He could finally just breathe! No more Mob clinging to him. No more Mob always there watching him. No more Mob just being there with him watching him like he was the answer to all of her hopes and dreams. No more Mob always needing him to hold her or to cuddle her or to tell her something to make her feel better because she always felt so bad about herself. No more Mob coming to bother him in the middle of the night feeling vulnerable and hurting and asking to share his bed even though she knows for a fact that she is too old for that but she's too stubborn to think of anyone but herself!

Yes! This was a good thing! The two of them could truly go back to normal now. They'd have their old boundaries back. It would be even easier now that they weren't living together. Everything could go back to being the way it was. She'd come into work and they'd…he wouldn't have her exorcise any more spirits but he'd find something for her to do. Then the two of them could go for ramen and then they'd part ways but the come together again the next day. They would go back to normal.

No more breakfasts.

No more TV cuddles.

No more grocery shopping buddy.

No more over stirring the curry roux.

No more lazy pajama days.

No more Mob.

Because she might never come back. Because he had let his mouth run like a fucking faucet and now she was…she was probably crying. Something was up with her and…and he hadn't been there. No. He had been there for her but not in the way that she wanted. She wanted to share a bed with him. She wanted to crawl into this bed next to him and hold him and be held by him. She wanted that and so much more. Things that she couldn't help but want. She was young and beholden to her hormones. She was young and he was…less young…and he was the one who needed to have the presence of mind to stop her from making a mistake.

He needed to stop himself from making a mistake.

He had almost had a mistake. The biggest mistake that he had ever made in his life. Only his mistake. Not hers. She couldn't help it. He was the one who had to stop it. He was the one with her best interests at heart. He was the adult and she was not the adult. She was not a child but she was not an adult.

But she was not a brat either.

She was not selfish.

She was a good person.

And he needed to apologize. He needed to man up and apologize to her because what he had said to her had been unspeakable. He knew the pain he had put her in. He knew that pain because he had felt that pain. Now she was gone. So much for perpetuity. No. She was not a punching bag. She did not have to stay there and put up with all of his selfish shit. She was Mob. She was a good person. She was one of the best…the best…person that he had ever met in his life. She was the sort of person who would launch headfirst into danger just to save someone. A person that she did not even know. She had saved someone and he…he had yelled at her for it.

But she had risked her life. She could have died. She almost died. He had almost died, too. He could not just forgive her for that. She was the one who refused to leave. She was the one who refused to just run away already. Her. Mob. She had been acting like a stubborn brat!

But no worse than he had at her age.

What was worse? A stubborn brat who sacrificed herself to save a total stranger or a selfish brat that drank, smoked, slept around, and drove a wedge between his parents. Who failed so badly at being a son that his father had to replace him. He was nothing then and he was nothing now. A man in a cheap suit. Without Mob he was nothing.

Was that why he wanted her back.

He sat up. The book, their book, the mock copy of their book was on his desk.

She made him somebody.

He was going to make himself somebody.

He didn't need Mob to become someone. He was not a pity. He did not attach himself other just to make himself into someone. He already was someone. He could be someone. On his own he could become the Reigen Arataka that existed in his mind. He could become someone, something beyond what he was, and he could do it on his own. He would do this on his own. He didn't need Mob. He didn't need anyone at all. He could become the Reigen Arataka that existed in his mind and the Reigen Arataka that existed in his mind could become the Reigen Arataka that existed in the minds of others. He didn't need Mob to look at him like he was everything. He didn't need Mob's approval. He didn't need Mob.

He didn't need Mob.

He didn't need Mob.

He didn't need Mob.

"I'm sorry, Mob, but I don't need you anymore." Said Reigen. He rolled out bed and, for the first time in months, stripped down to nothing and walked to his showed.

He didn't need her. He had himself and he could become the him that he had always wanted to be.

He didn't need Mob.

He didn't need Mob.

He didn't need Mob.

He didn't need to see her the first thing in the morning. To see her in the kitchen eating breakfast or standing in the bathroom brushing her hair with her powers and texting someone with that little smile on her face. He didn't need to wake up to a hot breakfast even if it was the same thing every single day. He didn't need to hear about her day, all the little dramas going on in her life and the lives of her friends. He didn't need her gentle presence, the little feeling of just safety that he got when he was with her because that was how he made her feel. He didn't need her to be the last thing that he saw when he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. He didn't need her.

He wanted her but he didn't need her.

Mob wanted someone but she didn't need anyone.

She didn't need anyone because she could take care of herself. It would have been unfair to make someone take care of her. She was Mob after all. She was not worth the trouble it would take to take care of her. She was fine out on her own.

She sat up. Her back hurt a little. She had been sleeping on the ground. She felt something on her arm. A bug. She didn't think, she just made it explode with her powers. Bug guts were all over her arm but it was dead. It was a pretty big bug. There were a lot of bugs. She was outside and the sun was rising so they were more active. Bugs like sunrise and sunset, she learned that years ago in biology. Mob stretched and tried to work the muscle pains out of her body. She had a layer of water on her. Morning dew. Her uniform clung to her. She ran her tongue over her front teeth. She hadn't brushed her teeth last night. It didn't matter, they always grew back.

She checked her phone. Dead. Right.

Well now she had two things to do. Brush her teeth and find some way to charge her phone. She could do that. It was good to have concrete goals like that. She had something to focus on. Two immediate problems. She had to charge her phone and brush her teeth. Two things to focus on. Two things to focus on other than the fact that she had no home and Master Reigen didn't love her anymore.

She got up. She started walking.

There was a convenience store near here and it was opened twenty four hours. She shook her bag and heard some coins jingling. She had money that she had dumped in there from her money jar. She had money for a little bit. Money was good. Money meant that she could get food. School had food, too. So she only needed to get food on the weekends. She needed food, toothpaste, soap…no wait she could just take sink baths in public bathrooms. She had done that in her own house in the unreality. It wasn't that hard. Ok so she just needed food sometimes, toothpaste, something to wear besides her uniform...

She would be fine.

She would be perfectly fine. She didn't need anyone. She didn't need to burden anyone. She wasn't going to stick herself to someone and trap them. She didn't need anyone. She could take care of herself. She just needed…she needed very little. She would be fine.

What day was it?

She checked her calendar. She checked last month's calendar. The month's before that. No rhyme or reason to it. No rhyme or reason and it could sneak up on her and she was living outside for the time being and she'd be all bloody and gross and she didn't want to have that happen again and everyone would make fun of her and she'd be all gross and her stomach would hurt and then everyone would laugh at her because she was just so-

The sidewalk under her feet began to crack. She walked faster. She needed to calm down. She would deal with that when it happened. She couldn't worry about this now, she'd worry about it later.

She walked fast. Her clothes clung to her because she was all wet. She knew that her hair was sticking up because of her powers, or maybe because she had forgotten her hairbrush. She knew that her uniform was all wrinkled and dirty but it didn't matter because she didn't matter. Why even bother to brush her teeth? She didn't matter. She didn't. She wanted to matter but she didn't.

She still brushed her teeth, though.

She brushed her teeth in the convenience store bathroom. She brushed her hair with her powers and got her hair down into something resembling it's usual shape. She still had a bunch of hundred yen coins. This was a hundred yen store. Everything in this store costed a hundred yen and she had seen on Youtube that you could totally survive off of products from the hundred yen store. She would be fine. She would be perfectly fine.

"We don't need anyone but ourselves." Said Mob to herself in the mirror. She and the other her were fine. She and the other her could take care of themselves. She stared at herself. Her face was dirty. Her hair still didn't look normal. She still had pieces that were sticking out. She ran her fingers through it. Still not right.

She used her powers to braid it. She braided it in two braids and tied the braids off with the ribbons. These were pink. The ones she wore in the unreality had been blue. This was different. This was a different world and nobody here would tug on her braids or cut them off or anything like that. This was not that place and the people here were real. The people here were not the people who existed there and there was no Asagiri here to bother her.

But why was she still scared?

Mob stayed in the bathroom for as long as she could. She charger her phone a little, just enough to get it working again. She couldn't stay in there forever because other people needed the bathroom so she had to stop being selfish and go outside but outside to where? She could go anywhere now but she had nowhere to go.

So she went outside.

So she walked.

So she walked back to where she had slept.

Teru met her here every morning. He got there earlier than her, usually, but today she was there earlier than him. Would he be happy to see her? The thought of Teru being happy to see her made her heart beat faster. It made her smile. It made her feel almost like she would be ok, almost like she was a good person, because there was someone in the world who loved her. Teru loved her and she loved him and they would be ok together. Until he knew everything that she had done. Maybe he didn't actually like her either.

Master Reigen didn't love her. Master Reigen didn't even like her.

Teru probably wouldn't like her anymore either, let alone love her.

Mob laid down in the grass. She used her school bag as a pillow and held her phone in front of herself. There wasn't a lot of charge but she had enough to watch something. She could watch something and just keep on watching something so that she didn't have to watcher herself. To think about herself.

She got through two episodes of something, she didn't remember what, before her phone died. Then she stared at her dead phone. She stared down at her dead phone and she stared at herself. Her reflection in the black mirror.

That was how Teru found her.

"Hey…Shigeko." Said Teru. Was that his Shigeko? He watched her aura. Pink and blue but not moving. She wasn't moving. She was just looking at something on her phone. He got closer. She was just looking at herself.

"Hi." Said Mob. She turned around and sat up. Teru. Teru. Teru. Her Teru. Someone who loved her. Maybe. She didn't know. He shouldn't waste his time with her.

"You look pretty." Said Teru. Maybe she was just using her phone as a mirror and forgot that there was a selfie mode.

"Thank you. You look nice too." Said Mob. There was a moment before Teru sat down beside her. He reached over and put his hand over hers. She flinched away before putting her hand back down.

"Sorry. I thought…nothing." Said Mob. She thought for a moment that she was back. But she was not back. She was here, not there.

"Are you ok?" asked Teru. Mob nodded.

"I'm fine, how are you?" answered Mob flatly.

"Fine. Well, mostly fine. I think I over conditioned my hair. It shouldn't be this flat but it's hard to get it right. It's at that in between stage between short and long and it's been driving me crazy. I was thinking of just cutting it back to being short, like it was after it grew back, and then just getting an undercut. I'm not sure, though, because I really like it long." Said Teru trying to get back into that easy sort of conversation that they had together. It was weird, the atmosphere. That was just left over from yesterday. Yesterday when she had switched places with the other her.

Not that he was weirded out by anything.

Not that he was afraid of her or anything.

"I think that you look nice no matter how long your hair is." Said Mob simply. Her hand was still there in the grass beside his. Why didn't he take her hand? He used to. Why not? Was this…was this like with Master Reigen?

Please no.

"Thanks. I think I'll cut it, though, because this is so annoying. You look great, too. Back to the braids? They work for you. You look cute, very moe." Said Teru. Her hand was right there and all he had to do was reach out and take it but she had…why had she flinched? Was she still upset about that weird dream she had? Was she upset now? She was flat as ever. Even her aura was flat.

"It's just easier to keep my hair like this…" said Mob. Easier because her hair was all matted and messy and she needed to look presentable even though there was no real point to it. She was still Mob.

"You're right, sometimes simple works best. You look really cute today." Said Teru. She looked like a mess but he was not going to tell her that. Her uniform was wrinkled, her hair was kind of messy despite the braids, and she had dirt under her fingernails.

Very unusual for her.

"You already said that but thank you." Said Mob

"Well I like to say it." Said Teru

"Why?" asked Mob

"Do I need a reason? Because you're my girlfriend." Said Teru

"…you don't have to." Said Mob

"I want to. I think you're really cute so I'm going to tell you that. What's with you today? You're acting so…" said Teru

"What am I acting like?" asked Mob

"Weird. You're acting weird." Said Teru

"Is weird bad?" asked Mob

"No, not at all. You're just…different." Said Teru

"But you still love me?" asked Mob

"Of course I do! Don't ever think that I don't, Shigeko!" said Teru

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob

"Really, I do." Said Teru

"I heard you." Said Mob

"Do you believe me?" asked Teru

"Yes." said Mob

"Good, because I do." Said Teru

"I know. Thank you…" said Mob. She wiped her eyes. She wiped her eyes again. Now Teru was holding her hand. Now he was close to her. She could smell him. He took a shower that morning. Mon threw her arms around him and buried her face in his uniform coat.

"Are you…ok?" asked Teru. Mob nodded, her face still buried into his uniform coat. She felt ok because he was there but that was just her being selfish again, wasn't it? Wasn't she just the worst? She was just using him to feel better. She was so selfish just like everyone else was. People only acted in their own interest and she was one of them. Mogami had taught her that. He had…but he was not her master. Master Reigen was her master. He had been. Was he still? What were they now? Had they…they couldn't be apart but…but he didn't want her anymore…

"I'm fine, Teru. I'm fine." Said Mob because she was fine. She was fine and she would be fine. Master Reigen…he…he didn't need her…but he needed her…but he didn't need her at all. She held Teru closer. He didn't need her. But she needed him.

Teru didn't think that she was alright. Something was wrong but he had no idea what. She always told him, though, when something was bothering her. So maybe it was nothing. So maybe it was just something that she was dealing with that none of his business. Or maybe he was out of his depth and he knew it. Maybe he was just running away from his problems by not doing anything.

Maybe she was just stronger than him.

Maybe he knew it.

Maybe he knew that if something was really wrong then she would tell him.

Mob hoped that Teru believed her. She held him. He held her back. She did not ever want to let him go. She needed to hold and to be held. As long as someone was there with her then she could know that she was alright. Then the hurt inside of her could go away. It could but it didn't. It had to.

This hurt just would not stop. It didn't stop when he kissed her. She kissed him back but that didn't help. No matter how close she was to him she still felt alone. It was like something was missing and she didn't know what. Well she did know what. Master Reigen didn't want her anymore. She wanted to be with him but he wanted nothing to do with her and now she was there and alone even though she was with Teru.

But she had no right to feel like this.

But she still did.

And there was nobody in the entire world that she could talk to.

So she said nothing. She said nothing to Teru about how she felt. She said nothing to Mezato who she found sleeping sitting up next to her shoe locker. She said nothing as she sat through class all day. She said nothing to anyone until the bell rang.

Everyone filed out of the room. She stayed behind. She couldn't go to work. Master Reigen didn't want her there. Master Reigen didn't need her there. She…she had nowhere to go. She could go see Teru but he had stuff to do after school on some days. He made an effort to see her after school but she couldn't ask him to see her every day. She shouldn't ask him to see her at all.

Maybe she could just sit there at her desk until tomorrow happened. That was what the other her did. The other her existed in a version of their classroom and sat at a desk and just waited for time to pass. Maybe Mob was Shigeko and Shigeko was Mob. Maybe she and Shigeko could switch places. Maybe that would be for the best. Mob had done a terrible job of being them. She put her head down for a moment before sitting up.

Sometimes Asagiri hung out around the building after school let out. She couldn't put her head down, that would leave her opened. Asagiri hadn't poured milk on her head yet. They had fruit cups with lunch today, too. The sticky syrup would be too much of a temptation for Asagiri to ignore. The desks in the room began to rattle. For a moment the room was grey and the clock meant nothing and now she was trapped and she had to **go** but there was **nowhere** to go and she was-

Someone shook her.

Mob put up a barrier. She could do that here.

"Mob! What the hell?!" said Tome as she was knocked down by Mob's force field thing. Mob gasped and jumped to her feet. Then she did something weird. She took a step back and held her arms around herself defensively.

Huh?

"Oh. Tome." Said Mob. She knew that girl. Tome. Her friend. She pulled Tome to her feet with her powers. She had used her powers against another person…but she hadn't meant to. But she had. She was terrible. She was terrible and awful and-

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" said Mob over and over again

"What's with you? And where the hell were you yesterday? We went to karaoke, even the body improvement club guys!" said Tome. Mob just ditched them without even the courtesy of a text! It had better have been something cool, like a super dangerous exorcism or some world saving magical girl stuff!

"Nothing. I'm fine. How are you?" asked Mob. Nothing was up with her. She was fine. She was…she had forgotten to go to club. She had let everyone down. That was all she was good at.

"Well I was put out but now I'm just worried. What is with you? Even you don't talk that much like a robot." Said Tome. Something was up with Mob. She was emoting. Her face had definitely been emotive but her voice was perfectly flat. There was that thing with her force field, too. Something happened. But what? Unless the rumors were true….

"I'm fine. I don't mean to talk like a robot." Said Mob. It was easier, though, to talk like this. Maybe it would be easier to be like this, too. To talk like a machine and walk like a machine and become a machine. Machines didn't have feelings. Machines didn't feel pain or remorse or heartache. Machines didn't have to worry about if they were good or bad or wonderful or terrible. Machines didn't wonder why they had even come back or why they were even alive or what they were supposed to do in this iteration of reality.

Maybe it would be easier.

"Did they get you too?" asked Tome conspiratorially.

"The aliens?" asked Mob because it was usually about aliens with Tome. Or other conspiracies but everyone knows that the aliens were behind every conspiracy, according to Tome.

"No, the crazy shoebox psycho!" said Tome

"Oh. No. Nobody messed with my shoes today." Said Mob

"Be careful. I have it on good authority that there's some psycho going around putting fake love letters and razorblades in people's shoes." Said Tome

"Oh. Did you talk to Mezato too?" asked Mob

"Yeah! She's the one who told me! I swear to God something is wrong with people. I mean, who does something like that? What goes through a person's mind to do something like that? I mean, if they ever find out it's you then you know they're getting their revenge!" said Tome. She knew that she would, anyway, if someone did something like that to her. It was either an idiot or a psycho, she'd believe either. She didn't think that anyone would be stupid enough or crazy enough to mess with someone like Mob, she had psychic powers after all, and she could probably really mess someone up if she had the mid to. Not that Mob ever could. This was Mob after all.

"….sometimes people are mean I guess." Said Mob softly. She flinched when Tome threw an arm around her.

"People are the worst. Anyway come on! Everyone's been asking after you!" said Tome. Mob sure picked a terrible time and place to take a nap. Everyone knew that under the back staircase or on the roof were the best nap spots.

"No thank you." Said Mob. She didn't want to go and be around so many people. She had been around people all day. Now she just wanted to be alone where she knew that she was safe. Where she could feel safe. If she was in this building then she knew that she was not safe. The feeling never went away, the feeling that Asagiri was there and would find some new way to torment her.

Or that Mob could find Asagiri and…again.

Mob didn't want either of those things.

"What do you mean? Do you have work today or something?" asked Tome. Mob needed to be there because otherwise it was just her and a bunch of guys and maybe, just maybe, she missed female company.

"Yes." said Mob. It wasn't a lie. She would not lie to her friend. She did have work that day. She just wasn't planning on going. She didn't know where she was planning on going but she knew that it had to be far away from school and work.

She said her goodbyes to Tome and, after a moment, hugged her. The human contact felt good. Of course this hug just led to a million and one questions. Tome wanted to know, first of all, why she was being so weird. Weird was the word of the day, apparently. Mob said that she was fine. That was not a lie either.

Mob was fine.

Reigen was fine.

He was sitting in the office alone but he was fine. He had important work to do. He just…he was taking a break. That was all. He was taking a phone break. A break to look at his phone, not a break from his phone. He just needed to see if anyone had messaged him, that was all. Not necessarily Mob. Not necessarily to see if Mob had reached out to him. Not that he wanted Mob to reach out.

Because really she had no reason to.

He had said some awful things. He knew how he made her feel. He had no right to expect Mob to give him so much as the time of day at this point. She had gone back home to her family where she belonged. If he wanted to hear from her so badly then he could have been the one who reached out to her. But how could he? He had been such an asshole to her when all she wanted was some affection.

That wasn't all she wanted.

She wanted more from him than he could ever give her. She was fourteen and that was the curse of youth. Then you were fourteen you wanted and wanted and wanted without any thought to how it could affect your future. You couldn't think ahead at that age, you lived in one big today. That was what it was to be fourteen. He couldn't fault her for not thinking her actions through.

But he could fault himself.

He had run his mouth and now she was gone. She was gone from him forever. Or maybe not. Maybe she would be back. Maybe she was just giving him the space he had been asking for. Maybe she herself needed space. Maybe they were just taking a break. Not necessarily breaking up, just taking a break.

Breaking up as work colleagues.

Breaking up as friends.

But they weren't…they had just gone their separate ways…temporarily.

Even though she always came into work unless she had something going on. She always told him when she had something going on. Be it her friends or her boyfriend she always told him when she had something going on. Now it was well past closing, the sun was almost all the way down, and she still hadn't come in. She hadn't called. She hadn't texted. Nothing, total radio silence.

Not that she owed him anything.

Not that he owed her anything.

He had run his mouth off and, ok, that had been a terrible thing to do but he hadn't said anything that wasn't true. She was stubborn. She could be a real brat. She did tend to put herself in harm's way constantly. She did cling to him. Those things were all true. He just could have said it better. Of course he hadn't. Of course his mouth had run away and spouted off on it's own accord.

So he did owe her an apology for it. Not what he said but the way he said it. Sometimes people needed to face harsh truths about themselves to grow as people. She wasn't a child anymore, as she was so fond of saying, and she was old enough to know when she was being a clingy, stubborn, brat. He had enabled her to be like that. He should have made her stay in the living room since day one. He should have pushed her away whenever she tried to cuddle up to him. There was a laundry list of should haves, could haves, and would haves that he had been going over in his mind.

But he was fine.

He didn't need her anyway. He had gotten to a place where he didn't need to use a little girl as a meal ticket. He had money and a modicum of internet fame. Yeah. He could use this time wisely. Time he didn't have to spend listening to her teenage dilemmas. Time he didn't have to spend watching her dumb shows where five girls all tried to date the same clueless guys. Shows where cats had deep internal lives and cracked wise about their owners while the drama happened around them. Shows where kids her age had to climb into giant robots and fight the monster of the week along with their own internal problems. Yeah, he didn't have to be in her adolescent world anymore.

He could go out and do adult things! The sky was the limit! He should use this time to learn more about the world, broaden his horizons, really make the most of what time he had left on this Earth! This was a blessing in disguise. Now he could get himself out of this rut he had gotten stuck in. Mob's world was fun and all but it was not for him. He was a twenty eight year old man, not a fourteen year old girl. He had his own things in life that he could be doing. People he could be meeting. Fun to be had.

He ended up at Happy Trails that night. He had three whiskey sours, heavy on the sour. Then one heavy on the whiskey. A conversation was had with a regular there, Mayako, and then another drink. Then it got kind of hazy. Then he stopped minding how hazy it was getting. Then he paid his tab, he had actual money now, and out the door he went.

Then he enjoyed the fact that he could stay out all night now without worry.

Being out all night was surprisingly easy. Mob did a lot of walking and wound up at a charging station at the bus terminal. She pulled her hoodie, Teru's hoodie, up over her head and held her phone between cold fingers. It was dark out at night, true night. The time of night when the buses only came an hour apart. The time of night when even the last of the drunken salarymen went home. The time of night when the bugs went quiet and the birds went quiet and the world went quiet. The quiet was nice. The quiet kept her safe. Just her and the glow of her phone, like a tiny TV. She could do this. She would be fine.

She was fine.

She didn't need to attach herself to anyone. She could sit out there all night every night for forever. Her stomach hurt from hunger and she was thirsty but she was fine. She didn't need to go home. She didn't need to go back to her parent's house. She didn't need to go back to Master Reigen's house. She didn't need to go anywhere where she was not wanted. She wasn't wanted anywhere so she could go anywhere. Well, she could go to Teru's house but…no. She was fine on her own.

She wouldn't rely on anyone ever again. Not for anything. Not even to tell her that she was a good person. She wasn't a good person and she got what she deserved. She understood this. She understood everything and she knew what was best for herself and she was perfectly fine. This could even be a good thing. Now she would never bother Master Reigen again.

But she wanted to bother him.

Her phone was in her hands. It would have been so easy just to call him. To tell her that she was sorry. To tell him that she was sorry that she was such a truly terrible person and that she would do whatever it took to make him love her again. To tell him that she needed someone to love her because it just hurt so much and she didn't know how to make it stop. She watched TV but it didn't help. She could forget for a little while but her mind would always go back to what had happened. To how terrible she was. To the nothing that she was.

Being nothing didn't feel like nothing. Being nothing hurt.

She wanted someone to take this hurt away but she knew that it could never happen. This was her burden to bear for how awful she had been. For the first time in her life she was truly alone in the world. No family. No Master Reigen. Nobody. No, not for the first time. She had been alone before. Being alone before had been worse than this. There was no Asagiri here even though it felt like there was. There was just her living here in this world and she could take the cold and the hunger because it was still better than anything that had happened before.

There was always something worse.

There was always something worse than being tired.

There was always something worse than being cold.

There was always something worse than being alone.

There was always something worse than being unloved.

She had lived through worse. This was nothing. This was more nothing than she was. The wind it her in the face, it was a cold, biting wind. It was less cold and less biting than the wind in the unreality. Even now it was better. The cold was tolerable. She had a hoodie to wear. She had food to eat tomorrow at school that wasn't full of cilantro. She had a classroom which was warm and didn't have anybody in it to torment her. She was fine.

So what if she and Master Reigen had gone their separate ways? She was fine. He was fine. She could use this time to…to do something. To become a better person, maybe. She could…she could…she could watch TV. She could watch TV and then figure out what she was going to do. She could do that and she would be fine and everything would be fine.

Everything was fine.

At about three thirty in the morning Reigen Arataka had to admit to himself that everything was not fine. Not fine at all. It was easy to admit this to himself when he was sticking his head in a near stranger's toilet and throwing up four whiskey sours while she complained in the other room because he had, well, stopped midway to throw up.

So, yeah, not the highpoint of his life at all.

This was what he did with his time? This was what he did when he was away from Mob? Being away from Mob had driven him to drink. Being away from Mob had driven him to fill the void in his life with someone else. Fill the void? Because Mob had left a void. There was a void where her smiles had been. Her kind words and hopeful eyes. The little ways that she would build him up by just being there. Her life, her love, and her presence. Gone. Gone and maybe even never coming back.

So he did things like this.

He needed to make a change. He needed to change because this was not healthy. This was not the man he wanted to be. He needed to be someone else. He needed to be someone better than what he was now. He needed to make things better, and now, before they got worse.

There was always something worse.


	45. Better in this Reality

It really wasn't that bad, all things considered.

Sure it was cold out and the ground was hard and the wind blew really fast at night and Mob hadn't changed clothes in days but really it wasn't that bad, all things considered. Nobody bothered her. Nobody picked on her. Nobody hit her. Nobody did much of anything to her, including notice her.

Nobody knew she was even there.

She was Mob after all.

There was nobody around for her to bother and burden, either. Nobody to remind her of how terrible she was. Nobody to secretly recent her or openly resent her for all that she did and all that she had done. She saw Teru, sometimes before and after school, so that was alright.

As long as he didn't try to be on top of her she was alright.

Because the weight of him made her remember.

Being trapped.

Being helpless.

Hurt.

So much hurt.

As long as nothing made her remember then she was alright.

But there were always things that made her remember. But they weren't that bad, nothing like what Asagiri and Mogami had done to her. It was simple things, like someone walking too closely behind her, or someone speaking too suddenly, too loudly. Changing for gym, but she did that in the bathroom now anyway. Eating lunch, but she also did that in the bathroom now anyway. Getting called on in class, but that was rare because she was Mob after all and practically invisible. Cats, but she avoided them. Milk, but she stopped drinking it. Teru, but she didn't see him that often.

So really is wasn't that bad, all things considered.

She got to spend a lot of time outdoors, which was good for her probably. It wasn't that cold out, not really, and she had a hoodie this time so she was fine. She learned pretty fast where all the public bathrooms were and public charging stations and places where she could lay down for three or four hours and get some sleep. She doesn't need as much sleep as regular people. She doesn't need as much food as regular people, too, she discovered. Not if she doesn't think about it. If she doesn't think about how hungry she gets sometimes then her stomach stops rumbling. If she doesn't think about how tired she is then she can pretend that the grey circles under her eyes aren't there. If she doesn't think about how cold it gets after midnight she can ignore how she sometimes shivers. She can make fire but she won't, it's dangerous. Master Reigen told her not to play with fire.

Master Reigen.

If she doesn't think about him then she can pretend that this is only temporary. The Mob in her mind is still his best friend, is still his student, and is still loved by him. She is still someone worth loving, in her mind. The Mob in her mind is just taking a break from their friendship, that's all. The Mob in her mind can get on the train at any time and go home to her futon and hard couch and shower that sometimes went to either too cold or too hot for nor reason and refrigerator that hummed super loud and dresser full of clean clothes and all the other things that the Mob who existed in reality left behind.

But the Mob who existed in reality didn't think about what she left behind. She left, she wasn't kicked out, she told herself. Even though she was. Even though Master Reigen wanted nothing at all to do with her. Even though she had no idea what she was going to do in the long term. Even though she had no idea how short the short term would be. Even though part of her wanted to go back to him and beg his forgiveness even though she in no way deserved it.

The Mob in reality knew what she was and she knew that she in no way deserved his forgiveness.

It still hurt, though, all things considered.

All things considered Reigen Arataka was doing just fine.

So he ended up truly alone in this world. Whatever, he was over it.

He didn't mind that the futon next to his bed had been folded up for days. That there hadn't been anyone around to make him breakfast. That the bathroom was always free and he hadn't found long, black hair anywhere in days. She tended to shed, like a cat…

He didn't mind that she was gone.

No, not gone. She had just…returned to her family. They were her family and she needed to be with them, not him. She had promised him forever but she was only fourteen and could not make those promises. Also he shouldn't have wanted that with her in the first goddamned place! He didn't need her. He had gone years without her and he could go…years…without her again. He really only needed her for work, anyway. Well he had used her as a meal ticket for far too long, and he had his own powers, too! So he didn't need her!

He didn't need Mob to make him someone, he could make himself someone. He could use this time to really work on his career, without Mob!

So that was what he did. That was all that he could do, all things considered.

He got up, got dressed, and went to work. Without Mob. Without her walking really slowly and looking at every cat they passed and walking way too close and telling him about her life and asking about his or just being there beside him, her presence settling over him like her aura. Her little smiles and-

Mob.

He was fine. He didn't need her. He didn't care. He just needed to stop thinking about her. He just needed…a project! Something big that would take up all of his time and energy. Something that he could do himself, without her. He'd work hard, harder than he ever had before. No, as hard as he had to before, before her. Before she came into his life. He'd rub every sore back in Seasoning City. He'd spread all the salt that he had and make up all the bullshit that he could and if he ran into a real spirit…

He'd take the jobs that he could do himself. Without putting himself in danger. Without putting himself at risk of running into another Mogami…

He'd be fine. All things considered.

Mob was fine. School was normal, not that she could remember much of what happened. She just sort of went through her day. Things happened around her and then the last bell rang and then school was over and she left. It was a good day, actually. Nothing happened to her. Nothing ever happened to her. So they were good days. Not that she had any reason to think that something would happen to her. Asagiri was gone. She had nothing to worry about.

So why did she still worry?

She was always worried. Even getting her shoes made her worry. She had been standing by her shoebox for a while waiting for most of everyone to go home. She knew that she had to change into her outside shoes. She knew that she had to do that but it was just so hard. But that was stupid. Just open the shoebox, change shoes, and then go outside. Teru was busy after school so she would just walk around for a while. Walking was nice. She could go to parts of the city that weren't familiar. That was how she knew that she was in a different iteration of reality, there were places that Mogami hadn't made.

Maybe she'd go to Electric World, the electronics department store, and watch TV. She did that sometimes, nobody noticed her. She just sat down and watched whatever shows they had on. She didn't care what was on, just that something was there and she had something to focus on other than herself. Yes, that would be good. She had an apple in her bag that she had saved from lunch, so that could be dinner. Then she'd maybe sleep sitting up next to the vending machines at the train terminus. It was warm there. Or maybe she could sleep in that big tree in the park again. There were squirrels up there, which she liked. The one without the cats, just squirrels. Cats were…she didn't like cats anymore.

White fur. Red insides.

Every single shoe locker opened at once. Thank goodness that most people had already left.

Most.

"Mob! Where the hell have you been?!" Mob jumped and ended up sprawled out on her back. She put up a barrier without thinking.

"Tome!" said Mob. Tome was her friend. She was nice. Mob dropped her barrier. Tome pulled her to her feet and didn't let go. Mob tried to take a step back but she couldn't.

"Mob, where in the hell have you been? Everyone's worried!" said Tome shaking Mob back and forth like a ragdoll. Mob shook a little and pulled herself out of Tome's grip.

"Worried…..?" asked Mob. She needed space, that was all. That was why she had pulled herself away. That was why she was mean enough to pull away from her friend. Her friend who shouldn't waste her time trying to be friends because there were much better people in the world to be friends with than Mob.

"Yeah! Everyone's been wondering where you've been, Mob! You haven't come to club once this week!" said Tome. She wanted to chew Mob out but she looked godawful. Mezato was right, something was up with Mob. She looked paler than usual, and she was really pale before. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was slick with grease, and she smelled like she'd been rolling around in the dirt. Looked like it too….

"Sorry…I just…" said Mob. She was so selfish, wasn't she? Just because she was terrible and she knew it didn't mean that everyone else knew it, even though it felt like that. Even though she felt terrible and didn't want to be around most everyone….even if she didn't feel like she could **breathe** until she was totally alone.

"Was it the shoebox psycho?!" said Tome. That must have been it! Whoever this jerk was they were going too far! It was one thing to leave fake love letters in gullible people's lockers, not that Tome had been gullible enough to fall for it, it was another to leave razorblades in people's shoes, and that was some psychotic stuff right there, but it was a whole other thing to mess with Mob. She was Mob! That was like going to the animal shelter and kicking the puppies! Or going to the hospital and screaming at the babies! This was Mob and she was way too nice for people to be messing with!

Also she had psychic powers and could probably turn you inside out with her mind if she wanted to.

"Huh? No, nobody's messed with my shoes…" said Mob. She checked her shoes. Normal. She had been worried for nothing. She was so dumb.

"So the student council actually did something about it…" said Tome. So that big assembly hadn't been a waste of time. They usually were. It always boiled down to 'stop littering', 'take entrance exams seriously', 'bullying is wrong', and 'stop making out in the stairwells'. This one was of the 'bullying is wrong' variety with a healthy dose of 'what the hell is the matter with you people?' sprinkled on top. Plus the unsaid threat of 'we will start another clean-up of whoever's been doing this won't stop'.

"Oh…right. We had an assembly the other day…" said Mob softly. She hadn't been paying attention. Her class had been sat next to the wall and she was close enough to the outlet to charge her phone and watch TV.

"Yeah, I guess they got rid of the shoebox psycho. I guess the student council is good for something after all!" said Tome. At least they didn't start another witch hunt/inquisition/excuse to get rid of all the undesirables in society. Honestly, it was like living under one of those brutal dictatorships sometimes! The kind where if you did one thing wrong they came and took you away in the middle of the night and then you had to-

"Ritsu…" said Mob softly. She could feel his aura getting closer. She needed to go. She didn't want to run into him. She wanted to see him but she also didn't. So she made sure that their paths never crossed.

"Him? Yeah, ok, sorry. He's your brother and you love him and all that crap….even though he's almost as bad as Kamuro. Not to say anything against your little brother or anything! I'm sure he's just the most wonderful person in the world when you get to know him." Said Tome. Sarcasm was, of course, lost on Mob.

"Yes. Ritsu is." Said Mob. He was. He really was. He deserved so much better than what she could be. Maybe mom and dad could adopt him a better big sister. Or a big brother. He used to want a big brother when he was little.

"So that's where you've been all week? Hanging out with your brother. Well that's understandable." Said Tome. She knew that sometimes she got carried away. Something was up with Mob but maybe it wasn't as bad as everyone thought. As bad as Tome had thought. Mob never looked this bad. She was always so cute looking…and she always smelled like flowers, too. She smelled like dirt, now. Dirt and mildew and just generally not washing.

"No." said Mob simply

"Working? I mean, you and that Reigen guy haven't uploaded any more exorcisms so we assumed that you weren't but I checked the homepage and he does do other things so…" said Tome

"No. I stopped going to work." Said Mob

"With your boyfriend then?" asked Tome trying to be patient. She had to not freak out because Mob was jumpy, way jumpier than usual.

"No. Sometimes but no." said Mob

"Then where in the hell have you been? Everyone's been worried about you! Do you have any idea what everyone's been saying? And why do you look like crap?! You look like you haven't had a bath in days! If something's wrong you're supposed to tell your friends!" said Tome shaking her. Ok, so she wasn't the bets at staying calm. Mob didn't have to start crying, though!

"I-I'm sorry Tome. I'm sorry….I'm terrible…I'm so terrible…" said Mob. Now she was crying again. She did this sometimes, when she was all alone. She just started crying. She shouldn't' cry. It was embarrassing and impolite. She was terrible. So terrible…..

"Knock that off, Mob! You're not terrible! Everyone's just been worried about you! Stop crying!" said Tome shaking her back and forth. Mob tried to stop crying but all that she managed to do was make a gross sort of snorting noise.

"I'm sorry….I'm sorry….I'm sorry…" said Mob through her sniffles. Tome was shaking her now and it was scary but it shouldn't have been because Tome was her friend and was not anything like Asagiri at all.

"If you're sorry then stop crying!" said Tome. She had no clue what to do with crying people. She didn't even know what Mb was crying about!

"Sorry!" said Mob. She stopped crying, mostly. The shoeboxes around her had been opening and shutting. One of the fluorescent lights above them flickered on and off. The other one had stopped working all together.

"Come on! Before your brother shows up!" said Tome. She knew what he did to people that he thought were bothering his sister, what did he do to people who made her cry? Tome did not want to find out.

Mob let herself be led out the door. She changed into her outside shoes as she ran, with her powers, and put her inside shoes back, also with her powers. It was nice having them back. Having the other her back.

It was nice having Tome there, too, when she wasn't yelling at Mob or shaking her.

Tome led her out the door and past the gates. She needed to get Mob far away from her overprotective and overzealous little brother. Also from school because she was kind of starting to wreck the place, which Tome was not opposed to, but someone might have held Tome responsible, which she was opposed to.

"Where are we going?" asked Mob as she was led past the gates. Not that she had anywhere else to go. Sometimes she hung out with Teru for a little bit, she walked him home sometimes, but this was not one of those times.

"Away from school. Now tell me what's up with you!" said Tome

"I'm fine." Said Mob

"No you're not, you're clearly not. Have you seen yourself? You look and smell like you haven't had a shower in days! That's not like you at all!" said Tome

"I haven't." said Mob

"What?" asked Tome

"I haven't taken a shower in days." Said Mob

"Gross. Why? No hot water?" asked Tome

"I guess. I still haven't found a place to bathe. Sometimes I take sink baths but those aren't as good as real baths." Said Mob

"Why in the hell are you taking sink baths?" asked Tome

"Because I have to." Said Mob

"Why do you have to?" asked Tome

"So I can be clean." Said Mob

"No I mean…Mob! Why are we playing twenty questions?" asked Tome

"Oh. I didn't know that we were playing. You can win, if you want to." Said Mob

"I would have won on my own but that's not the point. Mob, I'm going to be as direct as possible. What. Is. Up. With. You. Why are you so filthy? Why haven't you been coming to club? Talk to me!" said Tome

"I'm filthy? I just thought that I was a little dirty…." Said Mob. She knew that she wasn't as clean as she usually was but she didn't think…but of course she was.

"Fine, ok, not totally filthy but you need a shower…yesterday! I'm just….I'm worried about you…Mob I'm worried…." Said Tome. She said that last part quietly. Mob was…Mob was a good friend. They hung out. She wanted to hang out. She never told Tome to shut up or called her weird or crazy or anything like that. She was nice and the thought of someone bullying her, and that was what Mezato said was happening, to the point of….whatever this was….it made Tome so mad!

"You shouldn't worry about me, Tome. There are more important things to worry about." Said Mob

"Will you stop being so self-sacrificing for five minutes and just tell me what's up!" said Tome

"I just….I'm fine. Everything's fine." Said Mob

"Everything is not fine." Said Tome pacing back and forth. Was Mob being obtuse or did she honestly not get how truly annoying this game of twenty questions was?

"Just…I did something really bad and I'm…it's fine. I just live outside now." Said Mob. It really was fine. She was fine. She just lived outside. It wasn't so bad. Things could have been worse. Things could have been so much worse.

"Mob….you have a weird definition of fine. So what, you ran away from home again and you've been living in the park!?" said Tome. Mob had balls. For someone so committed to the moe thing she had balls. But the park? She could have just opened her stupid cute mouth and said something! Tome would have easily hidden her until something more permanent could be found! Like maybe she could hide Mob in her attic and she could keep a diary and then…no, wait, that was world lit class. Good book.

"Sometimes. Sometimes I sleep at the bus terminus or the train terminus or the little clearings by school or next to vending machines because those are warm and also sometimes there's money under them and-" said Mob. It wasn't that bad, not really. All things considered. It could have been worse. It could have been a lot worse.

"….I admire your tenacity but that's completely insane! You're staying at my house! Come on! Before my mom comes back from work!" said Tome grabbing Mob by the hand and dragging her down the street. Nope. No way. Mob was not living outside. What kind of a friend would Tome be if she let her friend live wild and free? Free to go wherever she wanted and do whatever she wanted…nobody telling her what to do or when to do her homework or when to get off the games console and go to bed….

But living outside was not a good tradeoff for complete and total freedom!

Mob let herself be led. The skin to skin contact was not unpleasant. Not at all. It was…she knew that Tome would never hurt her. She knew that she was safe with Tome. Tome's hand was around her wrist. She was holding tight but not hard. She was leading them down the street, Mob had been down this street before. There were a lot of fireflies around here at night but then went quiet some time around midnight. The sidewalk was cracked here and sometimes plants grew through the cracks. Dandelions. They were edible, Mob saw that in an anime once. Not that she was going to eat dandelions.

Yet.

She could if she wanted to. She knew that some plants were edible and some plants weren't. She knew where there were berry bushes and she knew that the blue and black berries were ok to eat. She had eaten them when she was little. Red berries were poisonous sometimes. Any other color of berry was most likely poisonous. Ritsu had taught her that when they were little and they got lost in the woods that one time. Well they weren't really lost, they were just little and got turned around. Mom and dad had been right where they left them and they only had to retrace their steps. That had been a nice day.

They had been bug catching. Mob felt bad about trapping the bugs but they always let them go afterwards. She wondered if the bugs felt bad about being trapped. Did they miss their families? Were the lonely? Or did they think that they were on an adventure? Mob always tried to let the bugs go near to where they found them, even though Ritsu said that it was a waste of time and that bugs didn't think like people did. Mob didn't get how he thought. The bugs were still taken from their home. She didn't even like squishing bugs, back then.

She had no problem squishing bugs, now.

Mogami liked to turn into bugs. Bugs and birds. She didn't trust them, now, and she squished bugs.

Even if it did hurt them.

"….so just be really quiet. Technically I'm still semi-grounded. I can't go anywhere but school and club, which is so unfair, and I can't have guests. So just hide in my room and don't come out for any reason! Wait, no, take a bath! And let me wash your clothes! You can borrow some of mine, I probably have something from when I was as small as you are! And be quiet! Mom works days and dad works night so someone's always asleep and if they think I'm the one who woke them up then they'll extend my grounding! Also they'll know that you're there!" Tome was talking while she dragged Mob down the street. Mob tried to listen. Sometimes it was hard to listen.

She hoped that Tome had a TV in her room.

Mob had to climb in through Tome's window. It was easy, she could fly after all. It just took Tome a while to get to her room. Her mom wanted to talk to her. Mob could see them through the window. She was in the back of the house, behind some plants. She didn't know the name of them but she could make them flower, if she tried. Bell shaped flowers. Do not eat. Ritsu had taught her that, too. Not that she had to eat flowers. She had an apple from lunch in her bag. It smelled and tasted like an apple, not like cilantro at all.

Which was very good.

The ground was comfortable in Tome's bad garden. She could sleep out there easily. She could make the grass grow thick and high and the leaves from the plants good and thick so nobody could see her. She could look up at the sky and watch it while she drifted off. It wasn't that bad living outside…not at all. Mob would have gladly stayed out there but Tome had opened her bedroom window and gave Mob the signal, which was just a lot of arm waving, and Mob flew in through her window.

Tome's room was nice.

Her walls were dark blue. She had posters and pictures and drawings taped up everywhere. Different kinds of aliens, it looked like. Idols, ones Mob didn't know. Anime characters, too. Lots of boy characters. Free…lots of stuff from free. EVA, which of course Mob loved. Gundam…but she didn't know which one. Galaxy Express 999…that was a lot of stuff from that show. It was old. Master Reigen showed it to her once. Such a sad movie. Such a long show….

"…why did you have to be so tiny!? Nothing I own will even come close to fitting you!" said Tome. Even when she whispered she was loud. She did that sort of whispering that was still talking but breathier.

"I'm sorry…" said Mob softly. She looked down at the carpet. Also dark blue. Crumbs on it. She could feel them under her socks. Her socks were dark on the bottom. From her shoes.

"Stop saying that! You apologize too much!" said Tome trying to be quiet. She needed something that could fit Mob like actual clothes, not like she was wearing a garbage bag! Her friend needed her and she needed to be there! That was what friends did! And she had been a pretty poor friend lately….

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be…." Said Mob. She didn't mean to be whatever mean word Tome saw fit to apply to her. Selfish. Stubborn. Terrible. Worthless. A brat.

"No, you're fine, Mob, just don't say sorry so often. Especially when you have nothing to be sorry for. Everything's fine, Mob. Here, this'll have to do. Now come on, and move quietly! Mom can hear like a safer cracker!" said Tome. She opened her door slowly and stuck her head out. She waited a moment before grabbing Mob by the front of her uniform and dragging her down the hallway. Mob walked as quietly as she could. There was soft carpeting in the hallway too. It felt nice. Not that Mob had much of a chance to feel it. Tome's house wasn't very big, the bathroom was just at the end of the hallway. It's warm. The room is nice and warm and there are no bugs.

"In! Now!" said Tome. She practically shoved Mob into the bathroom. Tome knew that she said to tread carefully but Mb didn't have to move like an old person at the mall on a Sunday in December!

"Ok…" said Mob. A real bathroom. Not a school bathroom. Not a convenience store bathroom. Not a public bathroom. A regular bathroom. With a bathtub!

"Alright, I'll stand guard and you take a bath." Said Tome leaving the clean clothes on the sink.

"You're staying here?" asked Mob. The bathroom was like hers at home. Everything in once room. White. Very white, too. Bright.

"I'll keep my back turned. I can't go back to my room, what if my mom starts to wonder why the bathroom is locked and nobody's in there?" asked Tome. Now was not the time to be squeamish! They were both girls, what did it matter?

"That makes sense…but please don't make fun of me…" said Mob. There was plenty about herself to make fun of. That was why she changed for gym in the bathroom now. Asagiri always found something to tease her about when they changed…

"Have I ever made fun of you? No. Because we're friends. When I get my hands on whoever's been messing with you I'll….oh I'll do something…." Said Tome as she turned her back to Mob. Mob turned on the tap with her powers and slipped out of her clothes quickly. Tome tapped her foot. Mob needed a bath and then…food! Yes! Food and water and sunlight! Wait, no, she wasn't a plant. She's been living outside since God knows when, she doesn't need any more sunlight!

"She's not here anymore…" said Mob. Asagiri was gone and nobody would ever bother her again she had no reason to feel like this all the time.

"Good. Then they did take care of her. If she ever bothers you again tell me, ok?" said Tome, her back still to Mob.

"Why?" asked Mob as she lowered herself into the water with a gasp. Warm. She hadn't had a bath in so long. The last time she had a bath was months ago, no, not months but a while ago. The unreality was not reality but it had been a while since her last bath. At Teru's house. He didn't like the water this hot, and he always put stuff in the water to make it smell and feel nice. This water just smelled and felt like water.

"Because, Mob, that's what friends do. You got up in front of the entire school for me, for us, to run for president, a job that you didn't even want, just to keep our club from being banned. The least I can do is tell some bitch to leave you the hell alone." Said Tome

"Oh…right, I did run for president…" said Mob

"Yeah, last week. Remember, you told everyone to vote for Kamuro? I mean, you tried so that's what matters. I don't believe the rumors one bit, by the way." Said Tome

"What rumors?" asked Mob as she dunked her head under the water. It was nice and warm and she could stay here forever. They were still whispering, but still that raspy sort of breathy whisper. There were rumors about her? Well that was normal, in this reality and the unreality. She had always been an object of curiosity to others because of her powers and her weirdness.

"I heard this crazy rumor that you gave Kamuro the election because you're into him. It's insane! The only girl who could love that guy is his mother. Also you have a boyfriend!" said Tome being a little too loud.

"I don't like him like that. He's a nice person but he's really more Ritsu's friend. I just said to vote for him because he really wanted the job and he was the best person for it." Said Mob. She still felt bad about wasting all of Mezato's hard work. She wasn't a good friend at all.

"Well at least you only have one more year of dealing with him. I hope to God that he doesn't end up in the same high school as me. I could not take that! I've known him since elementary school and he is the most pompous, full of himself, asshole-" said Tome before being cut off by a knock at the door. Mob went perfect still. The water around her compacted into a rectangle. She couldn't move.

"Tome, are you talking to someone in there?" Tome motioned for Mob to be quiet.

"Yeah, my friend's on speaker phone, mom!" said Tome. Oh no. If mom found out then she was in for it. She might even get her computer taken away! And she was so close to defeating the new mini boos in fantasy hell and getting the shield! It only had a one percent drop rate, too! Oh, and Mob would have to go back to living in the park and the train station.

"Just don't drop your phone in the tub again. Why are you taking a bath at this hour, anyway? Tome, did you fall off of or into something again? I swear, you and this paranormal phase…" Tome rolled her eyes.

"It's not a phase, mom! And for your information I'm having really bad camps right now! Anything else you want to know?!" asked Tome. There. Nobody could argue with that. Best excuse in the book. Gets you out of gym class, tests you aren't prepared for, sport's day, dentist appointments, hiding your friend in your bathroom…

"Alright Starlight, just be quiet. I left some dinner downstairs for you just pack it up when you're done. I got called into work tonight, they offered me time and a half so I can't pass that up. Remember, no guests, do your homework, wash your uniform, and don't wake your father. I'll see you tomorrow, Starlight." Tome groaned. Mob blinked. Right. People had moms and their moms loved them. Her mom didn't call her anything but Shigeko. Sometimes daughter, but that was when she really messed up. There was someone who called her Mobbu…Sophia. She was nice. Too bad she would never see Sophia again because she and Master Reigen had gone their separate ways and Sophia was his mother….

No. They were just…taking a break.

Mob rubbed her eyes.

She dunked her head again when she heard retreating footsteps.

"That was so close…but we made it! See, I told you everything would work out. Oh! Right! You can use my stuff. The winterberry shampoo and the green tea conditioner! No, wait, that's expensive. Use the Family Mart brand conditioner. No, wait! You're a guest. You can use the nice conditioner." Said Tome

"That's ok. I can just soak in the water until I'm clean." Said Mob

"Mob, no offense but your head looks like an oil slick. Wash your God dammed hair!" said Tome. Mob nodded and dumped some winterberry shampoo on her head. She felt like maybe she should have taken offense to that, and part of her did, part of her was very hurt by that and wanted to cry again, but Tome was her friend and was super nice and had said no offence so then she was just saying things. That was just how Tome was. It seemed like she was being mean but really she was just being Tome.

"Sorry….just….I'm sorry." Said Tome. She knew that her mouth ran away without her sometimes and that patience was not one of her virtues. Mob was just being so…this was not Mob. Mob was quiet but that was just because she was thinking about things, she had said so herself. Mob had been acting so weird…and not the good kind of weird that she usually was. But Tome was not out of her depth! She could totally do the kind, caring, best friend thing.

"You don't have to be sorry. You brought me to your house and now you're letting me take a bath here. You didn't have to do any of this but you did and…and I don't deserve this." said Mob wiping her eyes. She just got shampoo in her eyes a little. It didn't matter. She had felt worse. She felt her arm. No acid scar. She felt her leg. No weird path of skin. She touched her hair. Still long. She wished that the shampoo was different, though. This just smelled like Teru. A little like Teru. Teru smelled like winterberry mixed with himself. What was he doing right now? Did he…did he miss her?

"Yes you do! Sheesh! You are way too self-sacrificing, you know that? I'm not doing anything any decent person wouldn't do, so knock it off and be happy! I couldn't just let you walk around like that and I can't let you sleep outside. Even if you do have psychic powers I can't let you live outside!" said Tome

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. People pitied her. That was why they did nice things for her. They either pitied her or they wanted to use her. No. That was Mogami and she couldn't listen…even if sometimes he did make sense.

"Hey Mob…why are you living outside anyway? I thought you were living with your Master. Why'd you run away?" asked Tome. Mob dunked her head again and stayed under. She stayed under until she couldn't anymore. She didn't want to talk about this. She didn't even know where she would even start. The unreality? The first fight with Mogami? The day after? The exorcism? The big fight….Master Reigen hating her…

No. Just…he just didn't love her anymore.

That was different from hating her.

Right?

Mob knew that she had to say something. She had to surface soon and she had to say something and she needed to come up for air but what if she didn't? What if she just stayed down here until she ran out of air and then-

A hand pulling her up.

Water everywhere.

Oh no…

"I'm sorry!" said Mob not even bothering to whisper. Tome covered her mouth and stared at the door. When nothing happened she uncovered Mob's mouth slowly. She was soaked. There was water all over the floor. All over the walls. The bathmat made a squelching sound when Tome moved.

"What were you doing? You were under there for almost three minutes! You could have drowned!" said Tome. People drowned in the bath, right? Babies and old people…of which Mob was neither. What in the hell was she trying to do? Set a world's record? Well Tome was not the Guinness guy nor was she Ripley!

"I'm so sorry! I was just…thinking….I didn't know it had been that long." Said Mob. She drew her knees up to her chest. Tome was looking at her now. Not that there was anything to look at. Mob knew that she had been under for a long time but it was nice. Sort of. Her lungs hurt and she was seeing spots but it had still been nice. Like being in the sea of red LCL but not in a gross way. It had been gross then but the tub had been so…peaceful.

"Well it had been. The next time you try to set a world's record warn a person! Sheesh! Don't worry me like that!" said Tome

"I worry you? But why? I'm…me." Said Mob

"You're my friend, Mob. Like I said, friends worry about friends." Said Tome

"You want to be my friend? But why?" asked Mob. She knew that they were friends but she didn't know why. They were in the same club and Tome had just sort of started talking to her and including her in videogames and stuff like that. Tome didn't need Mob as a friend. She had all the telepathy club boys to be her friends. Plus she was so nice and cool and fun she could be friends with anyone she wanted.

"We ARE friends, dummy. We're friends because I want to be. You're nice and fun and it's nice to have a girl to hang out with once in a while. Why? Do you…do you not consider us to be friends?" asked Tome

"No. I consider you to be my friend, I just wondered why. I'm me." Said Mob

"Stop saying that. There's nothing wrong with you!" said Tome

"There is. There's a lot wrong with me." Said Mob

"Why do you think so? Because people make fun of you? Well fuck them! People are dicks, Mob, and they always will be. If there's something wrong with you then there's something wrong with me, too! A lot of what people say about you they say about me, too. They say that I'm weird and crazy and shit like that but I don't listen and neither should you!" said Tome

"But it's not the same. You're…you're a good person and I'm not." Said Mob

"Who says? Mob, you're the nicest girl in school. Didn't you once carry a spider from the science lab to the gardening club because you thought that the spider would be happier outside and the gardening club would be happier with the spider to keep the bugs away? I heard about that last year and I thought 'what the hell?' but then I thought about it and I didn't know you then but I figured you had to be a really nice person. You put up with everything from everyone, no matter what they say about you behind your back, and you've never retaliated once. So don't give me any crap about you being a bad person." Said Tome. What the hell was Mob smoking and where could she get some? Mob, a bad person? No way. This was Mob.

"I did something bad…" said Mob. She didn't want to talk about it, and not just because she was naked. Not just because she was naked in someone else's house and Tome was next to her kneeling on the ground and the whole room smelled like winterberries and there was less water in the tub which was making her feel all cold and she was feeling cold on the inside too and kind of like she wanted to run and hide but she couldn't because she was naked and her clothes were dirty so if she put the dirty clothes on right after a bath then the bath was pointless and she didn't even put any conditioner in her hair so she wasn't even done bathing and it didn't matter because she didn't even bother to soap herself up before so she was just sitting in filthy water and she deserved it and-

Something cold in her hair.

"Here. You zoned out so I thought I'd help. I used to like this when I was little. Sometimes I'd get freaked out by stuff when I was a kid and my mom would wash my hair to make me feel better. It was longer then so there was more to wash. Here, you can use my conditioner. It smells nice, I think. It goes well with winterberry." Said Tome. Mob had zoned out and her powers were acting up again. The room was all in pinks and blues and water was starting to float up again. Tome was not out of her depth, though. She could totally handle this. She didn't know what, exactly, THIS was but she was handling it just fine.

"That feels nice, thank you. It smells nice too. It smells like Teru…he likes winterberry too." Said Mob. That was nice, a nice touch. Washing her hair. Not tugging on it. Just fingers working conditioner through her hair. Safe. She didn't even mind, as much anyway, that she was naked. Tome wouldn't make fun of her.

"Your boyfriend?" asked Tome. She knew full well that Teru was her boyfriend. She had never met the guy but she had seen pictures. He was cute but aside from that Tome knew nothing. Like, say, why he was letting Mob live outside. If Inukawa was living outside, not that Inukawa was her boyfriend or anything, she'd hide him in her house without even having to be asked.

"Yes. He likes winterberry, but in lotion. He says that lotion is a necessity but I don't think so. Well it isn't for me, anyway. I don't like it, it feels greasy." Said Mob. She was used to the feeling of being greasy now, anyway. There was only so much cleaning one could do with hand soap and paper towels in a public bathroom.

"Why aren't you staying with him? I mean, what kind of boyfriend just lets his girlfriend live outside with the murderers and the molesters and the creeps and the freaks and the weirdos?" asked Tome

"He doesn't know that I live outside." Said Mob

"Why the hell not? What's all the secrecy for? If you had told me that you needed help I would have helped you! You don't need to be so stubborn!" said Tome. She had a measuring cup in her had now. She was pouring water through Mob's hair in premeasured sections. The water stopped pouring, it just stood there in midair.

"You think that I'm stubborn?" asked Mob softly. She didn't want to feel water in her hair right then. She could dunk her head but the feel of water running through her hair coupled with Tome calling her stubborn made the cold, tight, feeling come back to her. She wanted to run away. Her legs were all tense like she was going to run away. But she couldn't because she was naked and taking a bath and she had conditioner in her hair and-

"That's not always a bad thing. People say that I'm stubborn but I don't give a damn. If I wasn't stubborn then there would be no telepathy club! Then I wouldn't have the high score five years running on the old Space Invader's arcade cabinet at the big arcade! Then I wouldn't be so, so, so close to the super rare item that the new mini boss of the arcane forest drops in Fantasy Hell! I would have gotten it too…if it wasn't for that Player Killer asshole…anyway! There's nothing wrong with being stubborn!" said Tome

"….my Master thinks that there is. He called me stubborn…a stubborn brat…" said Mob. The water went back to obeying the laws of physics and ran down her head.

"Well fuck him then." Said Tome dismissively. That was the best he could come up with? Please. Tome had heard worse than that in elementary school! But it did seem to bother Mob…but she had been called way worse! But people never said things to her face…

"That's mean, Tome." Said Mob quickly. Master Reigen had been mean to her, and he didn't love her at all anymore, but that didn't mean that she didn't love him. She did love him. She loved him a lot.

"Well he shouldn't talk to you like that." Said Tome

"No, I deserved it. I was being a selfish, stubborn brat…and I'm terrible…" said Mob

"What did you do that was so bad? What was too much for him to handle? When he said jump you didn't ask how high?" asked Tome. That guy may have been cute, for someone his age, but he was shady as all else. Always making Mob come into work, sometimes even when he said that she could have the day off. He was so clearly into her, too. If that was the way that he was in the stuff they uploaded, always touching her and flirting with her, then how was he when they were alone? It wasn't like anybody could make Mob do anything that she didn't want to do…she had psychic powers for God's sake! But then again this was Mob. She hated confrontation and fighting and violence. She wouldn't even battle when they played Pokemon without at least a half hour's begging!

Something must have happened.

She ran away and was living outside. She was keeping it a secret from her friends…from her boyfriend too! She didn't like to be touched….she freaked out when Tome stopped her from drowning herself. She had been trying to drown herself!

Tome may have been just a tiny bit out of her depth.

"I just…I made us go out on this exorcism job…and then I wanted to exorcise more spirits…because it's my job…but he didn't want to…and then he yelled at me…but I deserved it because I'm terrible…" said Mob. Ok, now she was crying a little. Tome grabbed a towel, it was wet, but she tried to dry Mob's tears anyway. It was more like trying to smother her with a wet bath towel but she was still trying.

"Shit. I'm sorry I asked. I didn't think that…sorry! I'm sorry." Said Tome. She didn't know what she was supposed to do here. She didn't know how she was supposed to help. If this was one of the guys…but they never had problems like this. Not that Tome knew for sure what this was about. Not that Tome knew anything for certain. Not that not knowing would stop her from avenging Mob…if something had happened.

"Please stop saying that. You don't have anything to be sorry for." Said Mob

"I do, I asked you about…whatever happened." Said Tome

"Nothing happened. We just had a fight, that's all. We're just…taking a break." Said Mob. That was all, that was all. They were taking a break. They were just having a fight and maybe he would say sorry. Maybe he would forgive her for being so terrible. Maybe things could go back to normal. She wanted…but that probably could never be.

"A break that involves you living outside?" said Tome. Mob could live here for…until mom and dad noticed. She couldn't go back to her family…she couldn't go back to her shady ass Master…she didn't want to go stay with her boyfriend…Tome could totally handle this.

"Yes." said Mob. Where else could she go? She couldn't go home and she couldn't stay with Teru. If she stayed with Teru then he would want to become one again. If he wanted to then she would have to because she was his girlfriend and that was what coupled people did. If they did that then she would cry again because it was too much. Too much of his weight on her. Too much of his aura trying to merge with hers. Too much of him being physically inside of her. She needed that boundary between herself and others. Her vessel. Her aura. Her AT field.

"Just…I wish you would have said something to me, ok? I'm your friend and…and I'm worried and I know that I keep on saying that but it's the truth! Just…you don't have to do this alone, Mob. Any of it." Said Tome. Mob nodded. She listened. She liked it. She liked hearing that someone cared about her, that she mattered to someone. That someone didn't think that she was terrible.

After a while Mob got out of the tub. She wasn't even embarrassed that Tome had seen her naked. Like Asagiri had said a thousand times when yanking up Mob's shirt or skirt there was nothing to be upset about because there was nothing to see. Tome didn't make fun of her even once. Besides, she had been to an onsen before. They were both girls so there was nothing to be embarrassed about. It wasn't like a boy had seen her naked or anything. Well a boy had but not in this instance.

She wondered what Teru was up to.

She was sitting in Tome's room now, on the ground behind her bed. Tome had stacked a bunch of stuffed animals on the end of her bed so that in the off chance her dad popped in to say goodbye before he went to work, he worked nights at a warehouse, he wouldn't see Mob there. Mob had soaked the clothes that Tome had originally picked out for her to wear. Those were old clothes, from when Tome was as small as Mob. Well those clothes were all wet so Mob was in Tome's pajamas that fit her right now. A black shirt with a sparkly alien on it and black pants that matched. Mob thought that they were way too big but beggars couldn't be choosers.

She was just so glad to be wearing something that wasn't her school uniform.

Tome was putting her uniform in the wash. Her socks, undershirt, and underwear too. It would be so nice to wear clean clothes again. Not that she should complain. It could be worse. It could be way worse.

In the unreality she only had three things to wear.

But she shouldn't think about that. She was fine, all things considered. She was fine and everything would be fine. She felt…warm. Warm and safe and clean. She hadn't felt like this in so long. She hadn't felt safe since…before the unreality. She hadn't felt warm since before the unreality. She hadn't felt clean since…

She rubbed her hands on the pajama pants.

She didn't feel totally clean. She could never wash of the filth of what it was that she had done. She had killed someone and no matter how nice Tome was being to her now Mob couldn't forget that she was terrible. Teru thought that this reality was the only one that mattered but he was wrong. Every reality mattered. She had still done something awful and she did not get to forget about it just because she initiated third impact on the other reality.

She looked over at the EVA poster on the wall. It was Rei with Unit Zero. Tome said that Mob was like Rei a lot, but she wasn't. She wasn't like Rei or any of the other pilots. She was an angel. She was…she was an angel but not really. She was something that was both human and not.

She was just as terrible as everyone else.

But she could also end the world if she wanted to.

Not that she wanted to initiate third impact on this world. All things considered it was a very nice world. It had Tome in it and Tome was her friend and she was being super nice. Mob would enjoy this while she could. Before Tome realized how terrible she was. Or maybe it would have been better to go back.

Mob looked out the window.

She could so easily fly out the window and go to sleep at the park or between some vending machines or wherever she wanted to, really. The sky was the limit, which was an expression, but it wasn't because she could fly high enough to touch the clouds. Maybe she could sleep on one of them. She knew that she couldn't, of course, because clouds were made of condensed water vapor and were not at all fluffy and comfortable even though there was the expression 'it's like sleeping on a cloud' which people used a lot. Teru used that a lot. He said that his mattress was like sleeping on a cloud.

It was like sleeping on a bed. Too high up and too small for two and even though she wanted so badly to be with him she knew that if they shared that bed they'd end up sharing that bed and she knew that she would cry and then he would cry and it would just be awful.

Besides.

He deserved much better than what she could ever hope to be.

She clicked her phone on. It was charging. She went to her contacts. No messages from…there was one from Teru and that was what mattered. It was a picture message. He sent those a lot, usually when he was either shopping or putting together outfits. Oh. It was a dress this time.

For her.

She didn't deserve it.

But it was so pretty.

It was like her magical girl dress, which she missed terribly.

She texted him that she thought that it was pretty. Even though she didn't deserve anything that nice.

The door opened and Mob made herself as small as she could. If she got caught then Tome would get in trouble and she did not want to get Tome in trouble. She had gone through all of this trouble and she was such a nice person and a good friend. She didn't deserve to get double grounded or whatever else her parents could do to her.

"Bye dad! Have fun at work! Don't get crushed by any falling boxes!" said Tome as she closed her door. There was the sound of another door closing and then a car driving away a few seconds later. Tome had stood frozen by the door but as soon as the car sounded like it was done pulling away she relaxed.

"Does that happen a lot? People getting crushed by boxes?" asked Mob after a moment.

"Not to death but avalanches happen all the time. Anyway! We've got the whole house to ourselves! We can do whatever we want!" said Tome

"Ok." Said Mob. There was a moment of silence.

"So what do you want to do?" asked Tome

"Can we watch TV?" asked Mob. Tome slumped. There were so many things that they could do! So many games! They could watch the skies, she knew where mom and dad hid her telescope…but Mob was the guest and she was going through some bad stuff so of course Tome would be there for her. That was what friends were for!

"If you want to. Anything in particular?" asked Tome tossing Mob the smart TV remote. Mob caught it with her powers and turned it on. She didn't even move from her hiding spot even though she totally could.

"This is fine but you can change it whenever you want." Said Mob. She didn't care what was on, just that something was on. She couldn't see the screen that well but she didn't want to move from her spot. It was cozy here. There was a blanket under her and a pillow that she could lean on.

"You want to watch this?" asked Tome. She never watched broadcast TV but apparently Mob liked…the Japanese economic report special on the news.

"I watch whatever's on." Said Mob. She never had any preference. It was nice, though, because there was something different on every single day. Things that she had never seen before. She watched TV without moving or saying anything. Tome moved around a lot and talked a lot, mostly about shows she was watching. Mob tried to listen but it was hard following what people said, or at least it had become hard. TV was easier to pay attention to.

"…and then they picked me to go up in the next space shuttle. We're going to explore the surface of the sun." said Tome. Was Mob even listening?

"That sounds dangerous." Said Mob catching the end of that sentence.

"Right. Anyway you have fun watching old people TV. I'm going to hell…Fantasy Hell!" said Tome checking her alarm clock. It was time. She and the guys were going on a raid. She would have invited Mob but Mob didn't have a PC. She had a phone and a Super Famicom. Boring and limiting. She couldn't let the guys down and Mob obviously didn't feel like talking anyway. She didn't know what to say to Mob anyway, which was not a good feeling. She never thought about what she said, she just said it. She said the words that came into her head. She couldn't do that now. If she did then Mob could freak out. If Mob freaked out then she could lose control over her powers again. Or just bolt out the door and back out into the world which was actually kind of scary at night because even though Mob had psychic powers she still hated hurting people and there were murders and kidnappers and perverts and freaks and weirdos out there!

So she played Fantasy Hell.

And Mob watched TV.

Also dinner was eaten. Tome brought them up pretty much all of what mom made. Just a pot of stew, that was all. Mob ate most of it. She ate like she was starving. Tome didn't want to ask Mob when she last ate because she knew that she wouldn't like the answer. There was plenty of food out there and if Tome was living on the streets she would have just stolen some when she got hungry. Shoplifting wasn't hard, not that she still did that, and Mob had psychic powers so it should have been super easy. But Mob wasn't like that. Mob would probably starve before she stole. Tome wanted to shake her and tell her that her standards for herself were too high. Too nice to steal, too nice to burden others by asking for help….Mob needed her because she would die out there!

Not that Tome said anything, she just took their plates downstairs and put them in the dishwasher. Then she came back and went back to playing. The player killer hadn't shown up yet. That was good. They still hadn't gotten the drop item though. Fucking one percent chance…well she'd just have to fight on! Heh.

So she plated Fantasy Hell.

And Mob kept on watching TV.

And they did that for a while. It got comfortable, actually. Mob being there in her room with her quiet presence. Tome could almost pretend that this was a sleepover, not that she got invited to many of those. She could pretend that Mob was just sleeping over and not staying with her for the indefinite future.

"What game is that?" asked Mob after a while. There was too much silence. She was being a terrible guest. If she pretended hard enough she could pretend that this was like a sleepover, not that she got invited to any of those. She could pretend that this was a regular sleepover and she was not staying her because Tome was her friend, for now, and pitied her enough to make a bed for her on the floor and wash her uniform and wash her hair for her and even bring up food for her, which she had eaten too fast and was sitting weird in her stomach.

"This? I told you, Fantasy Hell. It's an MMORPG. We're trying to get this item drop but it's a goddamned one percent chance for a drop." Said Tome

"Oh. I'm sorry. You'll get it though, eventually. You're really good at games." Said Mob. She got up and carefully went to stand beside Tome. She held the pajama pants up with her powers. Was she skinnier? She felt skinnier. Maybe she did need as much food as normal people….

"It's not about being good or not good. It's all about numbers. I was up all night for so many nights trying to grind enough that I could even take this thing on and not only is the chance low there's this ASSHOLE who keeps on randomly killing people. He found some way to kill people outside of the combat zone…asshole…" muttered Tome

"That guy?" asked Mob when someone with that screen name ran up. She focused on it. It felt gross, like a spirit almost…but in a game?

"Oh hell no! Damn it all!" said Tome. She kicked the wall under her computer desk a couple of times. Mob took a step back. Right. Don't freak Mob out. She's emotionally fragile.

"What's wrong?" asked Mob

"The player killer…this guy! What is his problem? Who just goes around messing with people for no reason? Doesn't he have anything better to do with his time?" said Tome

"…some people don't have anything better to do with their time than to make other people feel bad." Said Mob. Asagiri. Mob didn't understand it. She had been as bad as she could be and she still didn't understand it. She would never understand why one person would go through life trying to make the lives of others worse.

"You've got that right. NEETs. This has got to be a NEET. Who else would have that kind of time? This guy just got here and he's already this strong? Fucking NEETs with nothing better to do with their time than make the whole game worse for hard working part-timers like me…" muttered Tome trying to get a grip because Mob was super fragile.

"I could…try for you. I mean…you seem kind of mad…and this is important to you…and I want to help you. Because you're my friend." Said Mob. Tome had her own person to deal with. Her own Asagiri. But not really, because that was in a different version of reality, sort of. Tome loved games and Mob cared about Tome and therefore Mob would help Tome because Tome was her friend that she cared about and people needed other people!

"Really? Ok, that makes sense. Here. If you're going to stay, you're going to work!" said Tome getting up from her chair. Mob sat down quickly. That made sense. She understood this. Equivalent exchange, like in alchemy. Not that this was alchemy. Tome just had a lot of posters of Edward Elric on her wall. Most of her walls were covered in pictures and posters and stuff. It was nice.

Tome showed her the controls and then Mob got to fighting. She didn't get the drop and the player killer kept on killing her. Tome was laying on her bed playing her DS. Mob knew how important games were to her friend so she decided to stop trying to get the drop, because that player killer guy was there, and to go and grind somewhere.

So she ground.

For what felt like a long time.

She didn't feel that player killer guy anymore, and he did have a feel. Sort of. Sort of like he just existed in the reality of the game. Could a game be it's own reality? Where did the lines between realities get drawn? Did Sims know that they were Sims? Did Nintendogs know that they were Nintendogs? Did the spirits in the unreality know that they were spirits?

Was she real? Was this reality real? It felt real…but so had the unreality. This was a good reality, though, so she shouldn't question it. She should just go with it. In this world she felt better than she ever had in the unreality. Even living outside was better than living in the unreality. This world was something good and she would not pop the bubble of this world to end up in the next.

There was always something worse.

"So…what happened? I mean…why aren't you staying with your parents or your Master or your boyfriend." Asked Tome. She wasn't even playing her DS. She just needed to know the truth so she could know where to go from there. She was not out of her depth, she was never out of her depth. She had this!

There was always something worse. Like that. Mob did not want to talk about it.

"Master and I had a fight, so I left. I said so already." Said Mob not taking her eyes off of the screen. She was chopping down trees to get wood to make arrows to shoot things with so she could level up through crafting and combat at the same time. A good strategy, in her opinion.

"Yeah but you didn't say why you're living outside. I mean, ok, so it's award with him but you have a boyfriend and a family and stuff." Said Tome

"I can go if you want me to." Said Mob

"No! Mob, stay, ok? I want you to stay. I like hanging out with you. Just…I'm worried! Ok! I keep thinking that something terrible happened to you and I want to help but I can't help if you don't tell me what happened!" said Tome trying and failing to use her indoor voice.

"Something did happen…I did a bad thing…and I don't want to talk about. If I tell you what I did then you won't want to be my friend anymore…" said Mob

"Don't tell me what I will and will not do, Mob. Of course we're still going to be friends. I mean, how bad can it possibly be? You're you. What, did you stomp on an ant?" asked Tome trying to lighten the mood. There was silence.

"Yes. I did. I squished a lot of bugs. It didn't help. Nothing helped…."said Mob. Tome sat up.

"You're seriously this worked up over squishing a bug? I know that you're a pacifist or whatever but that's taking things a little too far." Said Tome

"They weren't…they weren't just bugs. They were...he was always there. He was always watching me and…and talking to me…and I just couldn't…I couldn't take it anymore and I…I don't want to talk about it…" said Mob.

"He? Who's he?" said Tome

"I don't want to talk about it. I want to forget. I want to forget but I can't. I want to forget but it's hard. I want to forget but there are so many things that-that-that remind me of what happened and I just…it's fine. Everything's fine." Said Mob. Tome didn't think. She just got up and hugged Mob from behind.

Mob almost threw Tome off of her.

But she didn't.

This was a good touch.

Tome was a friend, a good friend. This was a hug. Mob didn't deserve it but she liked it. She let herself be hugged. She enjoyed it. She missed…but she was terrible and she didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve any of the kindness that she was shown. She was terrible and now she was terribly selfish. Master Reigen was right. She really was a selfish brat.

"Mob…tell me who he is and I'll fuck him up for you. I don't care who he is." Said Tome. She had bricks, she had a pillow case, and she had a big yard. She had heard very little and from what she heard, that she understood, she didn't like.

"Mogami…but he's not…nothing can hurt him…I couldn't hurt him…I tried…but he was still…and he was on top of me…and I keep remembering that…." Said Mob. Word vomit. It all came up like word vomit. Maybe it was easier to talk to Tome because she wasn't an esper. Maybe it was easier to talk to Tome because she was a girl. Maybe it was easier to talk to Tome because she wasn't in love with her. Maybe it was just easier because Tome was Tome and she got made fun of a lot too and she did bad stuff too sometimes and she always accepted everything and everyone and-

"Holy shit…holy fucking shit….holy god dammed mother fucking shit…" said Tome. She was not out of her depth! She could handle this! Come hell or high water she would handle this! She'd just have to…bricks in a pillow case. That was the only way to make this right.

"I cursed…too….I shouldn't have…but I did…when…" said Mob. Tome put her hand over Mob's mouth.

"Don't say anything else. Mogami? That's his name? I'm going to-" said Tome before the room was full of a weird sort of static electricity feeling.

"Tome. No. Don't try. He's too powerful. He's stronger than….but he's gone now. He's a prison. He's not my prisoner but he's…I don't know the man's name but he's got Mogami prisoner. I'm sorry I told you. I shouldn't have-" said Mob

"I thought I told you not to say anything else! Mob! You just….you're going to be ok! This is not your fault and you're going to be ok! Something really bad happened to you and you're going to be ok!" said Tome spinning Mob around in the desk chair and shaking her. Tome knew what she had to do! She'd keep Mob safe, because she was obviously afraid of guys now, and then she'd…she'd do something! She would do something because she was not powerless in this situation! Oh the things she'd do! All kinds of things!

"Oh. Right. Sorry…." Said Mob. She was hugged for a long time. It was nice. Tome was being nice to her. Tome knew….Tome knew very little. Mob didn't say the whole thing. She didn't say much of anything, she couldn't. She didn't know which part to start at or where the middle was or where the end was or anything. She didn't know what to say or how to say it or anything. She just…she just said words.

But Tome was hugging her.

She kept on saying that it wasn't Mob's fault.

Mob wanted to believe her, she really did.

Eventually Tome let her go. She asked a bunch of times what Mob wanted to do and Mob just said that she was happy to help. Tome still asked, though, every so often. It was nice. Someone being concerned for her. It was really nice. Almost like she wasn't worthless and terrible and all of those other things. She wanted to believe that. She really did.

But she knew better.

Tome may not have known what she had done but Mob knew what she had done.

There was no atoning for that. No atoning for murder.

Reigen knew that there was no atoning for what he said to Mob. Even if some of it had been right, justified even, there was still no excuse to actually say any of that to her. He made his own bed and now he was going to lie in it. He messed up. He was adult enough to know that he messed up and he knew that there was nothing else he could do but apologize. Head on over to her house, knock on her door because this was best done in person, and say sorry.

Sorry for being such a jerk.

Sorry for putting you in danger.

Sorry for playing with your feelings.

Sorry for pushing you away.

Sorry for using you as a meal ticket.

Sorry for building everything that we had on lies.

Or he could just play videogames.

That worked too.

Because to say sorry would have been an admission that he needed her. If he did go to her house and apologize she would just run away to his again. Then they would be back where they started. She didn't understand boundaries. She took them as a form of rejection, no matter how many times he explained to her that they weren't. Mob could be so stubborn like that. If she came back then they would both be back at square one.

If she came back then he would rely on her again.

He didn't need her.

He would rely on her just like he had been relying on her since she was eleven years old. He relied on her for his livelihood, before, and now he relied on her for her emotional support. He had been starved for it, before, emotional connection. Not just any emotional connection but one with a…she was not a woman. She was not a girl. Female human being, then. An emotional connection with a female human being. He needed that and he got that from her and that just led him to…he relied on her too much.

He had almost kissed her.

That was the line and he had almost crossed it. He almost crossed it because he was so caught up in her feelings….he didn't know where his feelings ended and hers began. He was that caught up in her. He spent that much time her…and they were too close. The internet thought so. Her boyfriend thought so. Hell, his own mother thought so! And was weirdly accepting….Reigen didn't want to even begin unpacking that! His own mother thought that he was in a relationship with a fourteen year old girl!

It was his fault.

They both needed someone. They were both such lonely people. She had…she had people but nobody who understood her like he did. Because he had convinced her that they were the same. The truth was that he could never understand that which separated her from everyone else. He had held her power in his hands, he had been her, and he still could not understand her. The things she saw. The way she saw the world.

The world was a storm and she was a ship at sea. He was her lighthouse. He was the one who taught her…he taught her to be a good person. He taught her so well that she put both of their lives in danger, mortal danger, twice…

She didn't care.

He couldn't make her care.

She was getting older. Entering a rebellious phase, maybe, because she had pretty much stopped listening to him. A clingy phase, too, lately. She had asked to sleep in his bed with him before and he told her no. She didn't fight with him then…

She fought with him. She made him yell at her.

But it was for the best.

This whole thing was for the best.

He didn't need her and she didn't need him. He was doing just fine without her. He even landed a big job on his own. Exorcising a spirit in a game, something that even she, with all of her power, could not deal with. Plus it was safely contained within the digital world so there was no chance of anything happening to him. Heh. Maybe he should check on his Digimon while he was at this. Head on over to mom's and see how it was doing. Maybe it died like his other virtual pets.

He was bad at taking care of things.

So of course he and Mob were better off going their separate ways.

Not that he minded. He had his own stuff going on. He hand plenty of money in the bank, money enough to afford to take some time off to build his career. If he could take care of this player killer spirit then his popularity would skyrocket! He didn't need Mob for any part of his business anymore. Even though people were posting asking after her…

They hadn't seen her in days. Usually they were good about uploading something. Sometimes it was just nonsense, like them making breakfast or something, but the fans loved it.

People were starting to talk.

So he needed to give them something to talk about. Something beside their crazy theories that he and Mob had broken up. That he and Mob were ever a thing to begin with! Besides, he and Mob were not broken up because…because that would imply permanence and maybe part of Reigen kept his phone handy in case she called and kept her futon in his room in case she came back in the middle of the night.

Of course that wouldn't happen.

But he could still…he shouldn't.

So he played videogames.


	46. Escapism

Mob managed to spend three days hiding at Tome's house. The weekend and then a Monday. Then Tome's mom wondered where all the food was going and why Tome was doing the laundry so often and why Tome wouldn't let anyone in her room. It had been a good three days, though. Mob slept on the floor and borrowed Tome's pajamas and got to eat something for dinner every night, even if it was cold rice and curry or cold vegetables or even slices of white bread with a hunk of cheese. Mob was happy with whatever she got.

But not milk.

Milk was bad.

She didn't like milk anymore.

Tome was worried, she had said so.

"Mob, just drink the milk! You love milk, it's like your thing!" that was what Tome had said. She had poured Mob a glass of milk. Mob couldn't drink it. She couldn't touch it. She couldn't look at it. Then the glass exploded. Well not right away but it had exploded.

Mob said sorry and cleaned everything up. Tome got super quiet and for a long time Mob wondered if she was going to get kicked out. She could live outside again, it wasn't hard, but she liked living inside too. She liked living with Tome. She was nice. Mob didn't deserve nice but Tome was nice. But it was not nice at all when Tome got that quiet. Tome was not a quiet person. It was a relief when Tome said something.

"One time some pervert grabbed me on the train, the loop line that goes to the underground mall, and I thought that if that ever happened to me I'd fuck the guy up so bad that he'd never walk again but I didn't. I just sort of froze up and then afterwards I got really freaked out. It took me a while to be able to ride that train again. So I get it. It was a thing. I'm sorry." Tome hadn't looked at her when she said that. Mob was happy, not that something bad had happened to Tome, but that someone else in the world sort of got it. That was good, so good, because not only did Tome sort of get it but Mob had words for it.

A thing.

Something were a thing.

Bugs were a thing.

Milk was a thing.

Broken glass was a thing.

Lunchtime was a thing.

Having weight on her was a thing.

Mob didn't know why having words for it made it easier, but it was easier. A little easier. She didn't know why, it didn't change what had happened, but it did. Not that she deserved to have anything be easier. She was still a murderer. She had killed someone and she could not forget that. That was why she didn't mind it too badly when Tome's mom came into her room at three in the morning because she had seen the light from Tome's computer and wanted to tell her to go bed but instead found Mob, lectured Tome, and kicked Mob out in the morning. Mob didn't mind that at all. Tome did, though, and had been texting her parents for that entire school day begging them to let Mob stay over again. Mob didn't really mind but she was happy that Tome cared so much about her.

Tome's parents still said no and now she was grounded from her videogames.

Mob did mind that and apologized profusely to Tome. It was all her fault that Tome was going to miss out on all of her important gaming duties. She felt terrible and she was terrible. Tome took it well, though, at least by Mob's standards. She hardly shouted at all. Instead she just gave Mob a hug, told her to stay safe out there, promised to figure something out for her, and then stuffed her school bag with a bunch of fruit and stuff from lunchtime.

Mob spent the night walking around the city, mostly, and she also at an apple. It was green and didn't taste at all like cilantro. Apples tasted like apples here. That was good. As long as the apples still tasted like apples then this was not the unreality. If this was not the unreality then she knew that she would be fine and everything would be fine.

It was fine.

Even though she spent the night sleeping between two vending machines.

She was getting used to sleeping sitting up. She had to do that at Tome's house. It wasn't that bad. It could have been worse. There was always something worse. Mob was grateful for all that she had in this world. A good friend, food without cilantro in it, and nobody to hurt her or call her names or shove her or cut off pieces of her hair or make fun of her or anything.

As long as there was no Asagiri all was right with the world.

Reigen tried to tell himself that everything was right with the world.

He was at his desk in the office. Well, what little desk was left to be sat at. He had six monitors going with a bunch of cheap pcs hooked up to them. Thank God for the sudden windfall. He had money, he had a modicum of internet fame, and now it was time to put it all to good use. He needed to exorcise the player killer and to do that he needed to grind. Not with one character but with multiple characters. The player killer only attacked people when they were either weak and in a group or just on their own. Therefore Reigen needed to make and level up multiple accounts. That and, well, in game purchases certainly helped. Still, it would have been nice to have another set of hands. He was getting about four hours sleep a night and was developing a dangerous tolerance to energy drinks.

This would have been perfect for Mob.

She loved videogames, she hardly slept, and she had telekinesis so playing as multiple characters at once would have been a snap for her.

He checked his phone. Nothing. Radio silence.

Mob had been gone for a full week. A week since they had that big, stupid, fight. That big, necessary, fight. They were too close, they needed boundaries, and Mob had been acting like a stubborn brat anyway. In the long run this would be good for her, for him, for the two of them. It wasn't like she was gone forever. They were just…taking a break from each other. That was all. She was busy with her own stuff. Her family was probably keeping her pretty close since she had been gone for so long.

Months.

Yeah, they missed her and they were just keeping her close.

He didn't need her anyway. Sure it would have been nice having her around but he had work to do. Serious, important, work. He had his career to think about. She had been a good springboard but now he had to go it alone. Even though he ached when he thought about her. That was why he made an effort not to think about her.

So he played videogames. He played videogames and he didn't think about how, at this time, she should have been sitting there at her little desk. She'd be reading manga or on her phone or just staring at nothing. She'd tell him about her day at some point, the little dramas of middle school. They'd go out on a job, maybe, and then get some dinner afterwards. Or they'd cook something, that was always fun. Not that either of them was much of a cook. It didn't matter, it was still nice to spend time with her.

But those times were over now.

After work he'd…he'd probably just stay late at the office downing energy drinks and playing videogames. Heh. It was like he was fourteen again. He was fourteen and locked in his room and drinking nothing but energy drinks and smoking surreptitiously with a towel wedged under his door, not that it helped, but he didn't care because he had games to play and shit to escape from.

He had nothing to escape from, now.

He was fine and everything was fine.

He didn't need Mob.

Mob didn't need anyone to take care of her but everyone seemed to want to take care of her.

She had spent another night outside. It wasn't that bad. She had food, she had a hoodie and she could put up a barrier to keep the rain off. Tome didn't agree.

"Mob! Ok, so I was thinking that you could hide in my attic, well it's really more of a crawl space but once you move some of the boxes out of the way it's fine!. Just don't move or make noise when my family is home. Pretend that you're Anne Frank. Ok!?" Tome had cornered her after club, she was trying to get back to going since people were worried. They asked where she had been and Mob had no idea what to say but Tome saved her. She said girl reasons and then everyone dropped it real fast.

"Who's she?" asked Mob

"You know nothing of literature….anyway! Just….the point is that you can hide in my attic until-until something better comes up!" said Tome. She reached over to shake Mob but pulled back at the last second. Mob didn't like to be suddenly touched anymore.

"But I don't want to hide in your attic." Said Mob

"What? Why the hell not?! You're saying that my attic is worse than living in the park?" asked Tome

"No, not at all! I just don't want to get you into any more trouble than I already have." Said Mob

"I don't mind getting into trouble if it's for a good reason." Said Tome

"I mind, Tome. I mind a lot. I don't want to get you in trouble again. I'm not going to get you in trouble when you've been such a good friend and you've helped me so much. That would be bad and I am not doing anything bad ever again." Said Mob. She was a bad person but she could still act like a good person. She didn't need to stick herself to Tome like she had stuck herself to Master Reigen.

"Do you have to be so-ugh! I'll figure something else out then! Just…be safe, ok? I mean you have psychic powers but…yeah, be safe." Said Tome. Mob nodded and went about her day. Teru wanted to meet her after school, he didn't have anything to do today. He said that he was making an effort not to be a part of the going home club anymore, which made Mob happy, but also kind of sad that she couldn't see him as much.

She did enjoy seeing him.

She liked walking with him. She liked being around him. She liked him. She didn't like it when she cried, though. She didn't like the things that she remembered when she was with him. She did like him, though. She loved him.

But she shouldn't.

Because she didn't deserve someone like him.

The feeling never went away. The feeling that she didn't deserve anything, that there was the world and there was her and that she wasn't fully a part of it. The feeling that maybe this world was just as bad as the one she left behind. She had no real reason to feel like that, everything about this world was a thousand times better than anything that she had experienced in the unreality. The feelings still stayed, though.

She didn't know how to get rid of them.

She felt him before she saw him. His aura. Gold. That deep sort of yellow, not like Master Reigen's custard yellow. She hasn't seen that aura in days. She avoids it. She makes sure that she and Master Reigen don't cross paths. She knows that if they do she'll…explode, maybe. Nothing good. Nothing good will come of crossing paths with Master Reigen out in the world. They had gone their separate ways.

Temporarily.

Temporarily?

Temporarily.

She and Teru, however, had not gone their separate ways. Even though is sometimes felt like it. Even though sometimes she wished that she was beside him, he loved her after all, but she also wanted to stay away from him. When she looked at him she remembered. When she touched him she remembered. When she kissed him she remembered.

Good things and bad things.

"Shigeko! Hey." Said Teru. He felt her before he saw her. Pink and blue. He missed her. He knew that he had been busy lately and that he had been neglecting her. She felt it, probably. Maybe that was why she looked so tired. Even her uniform was wrinkled and even a little frayed. That was weird, she was usually so careful about her appearance. Not careful in the way that he was. She was more of a minimalist when it came to herself.

"Hi Teru, how was practice? Or were you just hanging out with your friends today?" asked Mob. He took her hand. It took her a moment to hold his. For a moment…no. This was not that place and he was not that person.

"A little of both, and it was ok. Just the usual banal talk about nothing. I missed you. You're better for conversation, if anything." Said Teru. He still had his old friends, and they were ok, but she was better. She didn't expect him to be that person, the one he was before. She didn't really expect much of him. She just sort of accepted him. Even now she accepted him. She didn't ask to come along or anything, which was good. He didn't want the person he had been to intersect with the person that he was now.

"Thanks…I missed you too. I like talking to you, too…and I like the dress you picked out for me the other day. You didn't have to get me anything, though…" said Mob. She hadn't changed clothes in days, not really. Just slept in borrowed pajamas. She had a whole dresser of clothes back at…but she was fine. She didn't mind her uniform.

"I wanted to. I got something to match, not a dress obviously, but the color scheme is the same. You're so lucky, you can wear pretty much anything but black with your coloring. Not that you wouldn't look good in black! Just, you're very pale and black makes you look paler. Not that I mind it or anything. You're pretty. You're so damn pretty." Said Teru. He brushed some of her hair out of her face. Greasy, sort of. That was weird, too, because she usually took such good care of her hair. It was braided, sort of. Messy braids. A few stray strands of hair. New look? Cute-fully disheveled?

"Are you going to kiss me?" asked Mob

"What?" asked Teru. Well he had been thinking about it but it wasn't an absolute yet. Why did she ask? Did she not want to? Was she…did he do something?

"Usually when you tell me I'm pretty and touch me like that you're planning on kissing me." Said Mob

"Do you not want me to?" asked Teru

"You can kiss me if you want, I just…like it if you tell me that you're planning to." Said Mob. Kissing was a thing. If he just came out and kissed her, as he was apt to do, then the memories came back. If he told her that he was planning on kissing her then the memories still came but she could wait for them to pass.

"That's new but ok. I'm going to kiss you in five…four…three…two…one…" said Teru counting down like a space shuttle launch. She smiled, a little, and that was nice. Cute. She was cute, even if she did look tired. Even if he could see dark circles under her eyes. Maybe she just didn't get enough sleep…but she had those for a while. Not as bad as before, not that he had seen her much before, he had been busy, but…was she ok?

She barely kissed him back.

Her aura pulled away from him too.

"That was nice, Teru." Said Mob because, well, it was. Kissing him was nice and he was nice. This was about her. She was the one who had something wrong with her. She was the one who couldn't kiss him without remembering things that didn't even matter. He said that the other reality didn't matter to him and therefore then it shouldn't matter to her.

She had ended that reality, this was the one that mattered.

"Shigeko…" said Teru. He needed to know what was up with her. Something was most certainly wrong and he was most certainly going to find out what because he was her boyfriend and it was his job to make her happy and she was not happy.

What did he do?

"Yes?" asked Mob

"What's wrong? I know you and I know when something's wrong. Is it because I've been so busy lately? I'm sorry that I haven't been able to see you before school as often…or after school as often…but you've been busy too." Said Teru because it was not all on him. She was busy too, busy with work and stuff.

"I haven't been that busy and I'm not upset that you've been busy. I'm fine, everything's fine." Said Mob because everything was fine. She hadn't been truly busy, not really. Well she had been busy leveling up Tome's character for her and stuff but she wasn't busy now. She didn't know what she was going to do now, actually. Maybe go watch TV at the store until it closed. Sleep at the train station. Eat some of the food Tome gave her but not a lot because she knew that she had to make it last. Maybe eat some dandelions and save the actual food for special occasions. Dandelions were edible, people at them during the war, she heard at school.

"Then why do you look-" said Teru. He was about to ask her why she looked like she was about to keel over but he decided against it. That was not the sort of thing that one said to their girlfriend.

"What do I look like?" asked Mob

"…tired. You look tired." Said Teru

"I don't sleep the much at night." Said Mob. That was the truth. She had gotten too used to sleeping inside again. Sleep did not come very easy outside, when it did come. She needed less sleep than normal people but she did need to sleep. She couldn't tell Teru that she had been sleeping outside. If she told him that she had been sleeping outside then he would have made her stay with him and…and she didn't want to. Maybe for a little bit…his house was nice and warm and he had plenty of food and a big bathtub but then he would also want to…

She needed a boundary between herself and the world. She didn't want anyone inside of her vessel or her aura. She didn't want anybody on top of her. Crushing weight. A bend. A snap.

Not again.

"Don't tell me that Reigen's making you work nights too, Shigeko." Said Teru. He wouldn't put it past the guy. Not that he had uploaded any of his and Shigeko's jobs…or anything. Sometimes they just recorded their daily life. People liked that sort of stuff. He didn't. She was his girlfriend and if she wanted to record and upload the two of them hanging out then he would have. She didn't need Reigen for that. If she wanted internet fame then he would help her get it. She didn't need Reigen.

"No. He's not. I haven't…we're fighting and it's just…" said Mob. She wanted to talk about it. She wanted to talk about how much she missed him. She wanted to talk about how she missed being his friend and being around him and the way he would tell stories or listen to her talk or the way that they would just hang out. But she didn't. She couldn't.

"Fighting?" asked Teru trying to keep his voice level. He'd kill Reigen if he hurt her. He'd kiss Reigen for driving her away. She didn't need Reigen and maybe, now, she'd see it. Maybe now she'd realize that Reigen was a weak esper and an all-around shady guy and wasn't worthy of even a second of her time.

"Yes. He said…he said that I'm stubborn…and selfish…and a brat…" said Mob, her voice perfectly level.

"That's just him projecting. You know that none of those things are true about you, don't let him get to you." Said Teru. Reigen hadn't done anything to hurt her, not for real anyway, but he had drove her away. That was good. Well bad for Shigeko, obviously, but good for Teru. Not that he would allow himself to be so selfish.

"Projecting?" asked Mob

"Yes. Obviously he sees the faults that he's ashamed of and then pretends that they're yours. That way he doesn't have to examine himself." Said Teru. Obviously Reigen just felt bad about being so selfish that he kept Shigeko so close and bad about himself because he couldn't find a girlfriend his own age so he had to try and steal Teru's. Obviously.

"But Master Reigen isn't stubborn or selfish or a brat." Said Mob. Master Reigen was wise and smart and kind and…and also kind of mean. But she had deserved it. She knew that she deserved it and she had no right to go and think that he was being mean. He was just…he was just fed up with her. He was fed up with her and he wanted her gone. Forever. Maybe.

"Really? Why is he in charge then?" asked Teru

"Because he's the adult." Said Mob

"That's not a good reason. You're much more powerful than he is, Shigeko." Said Teru

"That doesn't matter. Powers are just another part of us and they don't make us any better or worse than other people." Said Mob

"Right…yes, of course. But still, he shouldn't be in charge of you just because he's older. Adults like to think like that. They think that they always know better because they're older. They think that they can tell you what to do just because they made you. Even a million miles away they still think that they can tell you what to do…" said Teru. He took her hand and started walking. He just needed to walk. That was all. He just felt like walking.

"A million miles away?" asked Mob. She certainly felt like Master Reigen was a million miles away. Of course he was close. He was at work now. Maybe out on a job. Maybe rubbing some stiff shoulders and sore backs. She could have looked for him, if she wanted to, and she did, but she was with Teru now and she didn't need Master Reigen anyway. Not if he didn't want her around anymore. She didn't go where she wasn't wanted.

"Sorry. No. That's just…my parents don't want me to…they're worried about me and you, that's all." Said Teru. The one time his mother calls outside of their scheduled weekly phone call and it's to tell him not to do a bunch of shit that he already knew not to do.

"That's good. It's good for people to worry, that means that they care." Said Mob. She let him take her hand. She focused on walking, on the ground in front of them. That was good, when she had something to focus on.

"They don't care, they just don't want me to embarrass them…" said Teru kicking the ground as they walked.

"How could you embarrass anyone? You're you, Teru." Said Mob. Teru was never, ever, awkward or weird like she was. He always knew what to do and what to say and always had a clue no matter what the situation was. His parents didn't have reason to worry. Hers did, but she didn't live there anymore so now they didn't have to.

"Shigeko…thank you. It's just…that's not the kind of embarrassment that they're worried about. It's just…the one time she calls me! The one time and it's just to tell me to be careful. She was all 'you're becoming a man now Teruki and you're going to want to act as a man does' and 'don't you dare embarrass your father and I' and 'be careful because you know women are only after one thing' which is ridiculous! First of all I'm not a moron and secondly you're not like that…and they'd know if they even gave a damn about…but they don't…" said Teru still walking. Mob let him clutch her hand like he was afraid that she was going to run away. It didn't hurt. It was nice. He wanted to be with her. Somebody wanted to be with her.

"I don't care, though. I'm not a kid anymore and I don't need anyone to take care of me." Said Teru. She didn't want to see him like that. He didn't want her to see him like that.

"That makes sense." Said Mob. She didn't need anyone to take care of her, either. She was old enough to take care of herself, like Teru was.

"See? You get it." Said Teru. She was stronger than him. She didn't need her parents, truly. She left home and she didn't even care. She never looked back. That was the difference between them. She was stronger than him in every way. He loved that about her.

"I get it." Said Mob. She may have been stronger than him when it came to powers but he was stronger than her when it came to everything else. She knew that he felt sort of bad about his parents leaving him all alone but it didn't consume him. He felt lonely sometimes but not all the time like she did. He truly didn't need anyone. If he were in her position, if Master Reigen had told him all of those mean but true things he wouldn't be sad still. He would have just gone with it and lived on his own.

If he had been the one in the unreality Mogami wouldn't have been able to trick him. He was so stronger. He would have seen through everything. He would have realized that the reality that Mogami had trapped him in didn't matter, he knew about it right now and he knew that it didn't matter, and he would have been in and out.

He wouldn't have done even a tenth of the awful things that Mob did.

She let go of his hand.

"What's up? Your aura is being all weird." Said Teru

"I just…do you really not care?" said Mob

"About my parents? Yeah, as long as they keep on paying the rent I don't give a damn. I'm fourteen, not four." "aid Teru

"No…I mean about what I told you about before." Said Mob quietly

"Um…refresh my memory." Said Teru. He wracked his brain for something that she said that should have bothered him but came up with nothing. She never did anything that bothered him, not really. She was too close with Reigen and all of that but that wasn't her fault at all. She was just a really nice person and didn't know how guys could be.

"About the unreality." Said Mob. He forgot? Was it really such a little deal to him? That…that was good and bad. It was a big deal to her but…but he was right. It shouldn't have been.

"Oh. When you 'cheated' on me." Said Teru. She was still tore up about that? It was just a dream. She was a good person, he knew that, but she was taking things slightly too far with all of this.

"…yes…" said Mob

"Yeah I don't give a damn about that. I know that you would never cheat on me, and I consider alternate versions of me the same as me right now, the me that exists right now." Said Teru

"You think that the you who exists in this reality is the you who exists across all versions of reality?" asked Mob

"Yes. There's only one Teru and he's me." Said Teru

"…but what if you did something awful in another version of reality?" asked Mob

"Then I probably had a good reason. If I did something terrible in another reality and if affected me in this reality then I either had a good reason to do it or I was being a moron and I just need to work on myself to be a better person." Said Teru

"But you still believe that the Teru who did the bad thing was the same Teru as the Teru that you are now?" asked Mob

"…yes?" said Teru

"So then…if I did something bad then it would matter in this reality? I mean if I did something bad in another reality." Said Mob

"…as long as you feel bad about what you did and you never do it again then I don't see what the problem is. Are you talking about past lives or something else? Because this sounds like past life talk." Said Teru

"Sort of like past lives. Kind of like a multi-verse." Said Mob

"Oh. Well I guess there could be differences between myself across a multiverse but I still think that as long as you feel bad about what you, or an alternate version of you, did then there's no problem." Said Teru

"…so all you have do is say sorry?" asked Mob

"And mean it, but yeah." Said Teru

"Oh. Ok. I'm sorry, Teru." Said Mob

"I know you are. I already forgave you. I don't care about what some other version of you did in another reality or whatever. I love you now, ok? I love you." Said Teru. She didn't say anything for a while. She just hugged him. He hugged her back. She smelled…she smelled weird. Mildew? Dirt? Hair grease?

That was not Shigeko.

But she didn't smell like cigarette smoke, that was what mattered.

But she did smell kind of…not great.

"Teru…I love you too." Said Mob. She knew it, she felt it. She needed to be with him. She…she wanted to be with him. She could feel him all around her, he was holding her. She felt squished but not in a bad way. This was…this was a thing and maybe she did feel like she needed to break free but…ok so it was sort of in a bad way…but she loved Teru and Teru loved her and he honestly did not care about what she did and he still saw her as a good person.

She needed him.

Even though she didn't need anyone.

She needed him.

But she shouldn't burden him.

She needed him.

But she shouldn't stick herself to him.

She needed him.

But she shouldn't stick herself to him because he might decide that he didn't love her anymore.

Then nobody would love her.

"Hey Shigeko?" asked Teru. She was holding onto him tight. She was using her powers, too. He could feel the crushing weight of her all around him. It was like she was trying to crush them together like they were in a trash compactor or something.

"Yes?" asked Mob still holding onto him. He smelled nice, sweat and grass and body spray and winterberries and himself.

"Please don't take this the wrong way but…when was the last time you had a bath? Or a shower?" asked Teru remembering how literally she took things. She was liable to say that the last time she took a bath was the last time that they took a bath together. Not that he was asking her about this just so that he would have an excuse to take a bath with her! Not that he would say no if she asked. He human the same as everyone else, as she was so fond of saying.

"The day before yesterday." Said Mob. Tome snuck her into the bathroom again, but that time it had to be a shorter bath because Tome didn't usually take a bath every single night and she didn't want her parents to be suspicious. Mob did her best but it took a while to properly wash her hair. She knew that she was gross from club, she actually went that day, and also from sleeping outside all night. She let go of Teru. He probably thought that she was gross.

Better than thinking that she was terrible.

"Do you want to take one at my place? I mean, if you're not going to work or anything." Said Teru nonchalantly. He didn't want to say anything else. If she wanted to then she'd tell him. She always told him when she wanted to.

"Um…." Said Mob. A placeholder noise, Master Reigen had taught that people used placeholder noises when they needed time to think. Mob needed time to think. She needed it but she didn't have it. It wasn't a question that she usually needed to think about. She had never said no before and she had no reason to now. Teru loved her and she loved him and she loved baths and she had never said no before and this was not the unreality so she had nothing to be scared of.

Nothing at all.

Teru loved her and she loved him.

Going to his house would turn into her staying there all night, maybe. She didn't have anywhere she needed to be, Master Reigen didn't expect her home that night and never expected her home again, so she had no reason to leave. She could live outside but…but she didn't like it. There could always be something worse and she should have been grateful for what she had. She also shouldn't stick herself to him because he'd get sick of her or realize how terrible she was.

But he loved her.

And she liked living indoors.

Not permanently. Just for a little bit. That was all, she decided. She couldn't and wouldn't stay forever because, well, that would have been wrong of her. She couldn't risk it. She didn't need anyone else but…but she wanted him. She wanted to be with someone who loved her, someone she could…she could be with. Someone she loved and who saw something about her that was worth loving.

"Ok." Said Mob after a while. Teru relaxed. He hadn't even realized that he had been so tensed up. She was deliberating it. Why? She had never said no before…not that she couldn't say no at any time! He had maybe been somewhat of a jerk but he was not one of those pushy jerks that made girls do things that they weren't comfortable doing. The rest of the statement hung in the air for her, too, and she had to think about it…

Had he done something?

Tome knew that she had to do something.

Mob could not be homeless! No way, just no way! And she was too damned stubborn to accept help. Tome didn't care if she got in trouble again. She didn't care if her parents took away her phone and computer and TV and all of her games consoles, Mob's life was on the line!

Ok, maybe not. She did have psychic powers after all. It wasn't like anybody could ever, really, hurt her…in any serious way…that is if she defended herself. Somebody had, though, and now rather than…no. Tome needed to stop reacting blindly and start putting herself in Mob's place. If she were Mob she'd have the patience of a monk and the pacifism too. She'd be super scared of stepping even one toe out of line that she would rather sleep next to vending machines than in Tome's attic/crawl space.

Mob needed help! She just needed to find another way to help her. That was all. Like a hidden track in a racing game, or an alternate quest path. She just needed to find some other way to help Mob. The most immediate problem was that she needed shelter…real shelter. With food and a bed and running water. Someone's house would be best. The next was an internet café, Tome had run away to those before…for a night…and Mob wasn't made of money! Those places were expensive!

Tome had run away to friends; houses too. Mob wouldn't want to spend night after night hiding in the guy's closets and basements and attics…not after what had happened. What had probably happened. Tome knew not to dig too much into that area. She could read between the lines just fine and when she got her hands on that creep she'd-!

This was about Mob and what she needed right now. Vengeance would come later, oh it would come, but right now Mob needed a place to live. Friends. Tome had no female friends…not really….well sort of…but she was really more of Mob's friend…yes! Nosy girl! Mezato…Tome didn't know her given name but she was Mob's friend and in her class and probably a decent human being , too! But Tome didn't have her number….but she was always at school!

Or nosing around somewhere.

And this was the conversation to have in person, anyway. That way Mezato couldn't do anything drastic like hang up on her! Yes! Grounding be damned she would find Mezato whatever her given name was even if it took forever!

It didn't take long.

Tome just had to turn around and go back to school. The doors were still unlocked. Everyone had to be out by five thirty at the latest but the teachers didn't leave until around seven. She just had to move stealthily. Finding Mezato wasn't hard, she just had to think of all the places a nosy person would go. Tome's first thought was the teacher's lounge but, well, that was full of teachers. The next place to look was the student council room. Not even Kamuro stayed this late. Him or his second. Not the vice president, no, his second was Mob's little brother.

Tome knew that Mob would not want her little brother to know about this.

Because first off the entire thing was totally under control, Tome's control, so there was no need to tell her little brother. Second of all Mob's home life was a complete and utter crapshoot. Mob never came out and said the word crapshoot but it was true. The way she talked about how much her parents favored her brother, the fact that they just up and let her leave and didn't bother to come back for her. Yup. Crapshoot. If Mob's little brother found out that his sister was living outside, wild and free, he would of course try and make her come home. He'd probably go running to an adult, too, and the situation wasn't so dire as to involve an adult. They always thought that they knew best. They'd make Mob go back home to where she was miserable. Mob didn't want that and the situation was nowhere near that dire so there was no reason to involve anyone who didn't need to be involved right this minute.

Tome was not out of her depth.

Thank God Mezato was in the student council room, though, because Tome didn't know what she'd do without her. Mob didn't have any other female friends. Well the red haired girl…what was her name…Rei! Yeah! Tome's rival…not that Mob's friendship was a competition. Tome had no idea how to even begin to get in contact with the other girl, well, Friendbook but obviously people didn't react well to random messages from total strangers. So it was Mezato or a total stranger. Tome picked Mezato.

"Hey!" said Mezato. The door opened. She jumped back and slammed the filing cabinet that she had been rifling through shut with more force than was needed.

"Shut up! You want a teacher so come in here?!" asked Tome not being quiet in the least bit.

"Close the door!" whispered Mezato. Tome closed it as quietly as she could. She rushed over to Mezato as soon at the door was shut. Mezato stared at her and clutched something in her hand.

"You can't have the master key." Said Mezato quickly. Did Mob say something? Mob never said anything…not true. She did talk…great. Of course someone else would want to copy the master key. Mezato wouldn't hand it over without a fight!

"What? No, I don't want the…you have the master key?" asked Tome. The master key? The honest to God master key!? How did Mezato get her hands on the master key? Tome had a brief, Mission Impossible, style fantasy sequence complete with clichéd music.

"….no." said Mezato. If not the master key then what? Oh. Right, the suspect clubs list. What was she planning on doing? Erasing the Telepathy club from the list? Kamuro would definitely notice and Mezato knew who suspect number one would be…and Mezato would end up going down with her because she was sure that there was some rule about stealing and copying the master key.

"No way! You do have the master key!" said Tome. With the master key she could do anything! She could go into the staff room and fix her grades to more accurately reflect her academic abilities. She could find the desk of whoever dared to bully Mob and do…stuff. Lots of stuff! Mob…hey! Mob could totally use that! School had a roof and running water and there were beds and snacks in the nurse's station! She needed that key!

"No I don't!" said Mezato

"Uh-huh, then how'd you open the door? I know Kamuro didn't leave it unlocked. That guy has OCD or something I swear." Said Tome

"No, he has an anxiety disorder and depression." Said Mezato before she could think. Damn, that was incriminating.

"How do you know that? You've been going through everyone's records, haven't you?! Because you do have the master key!" said Tome. She tried to open Mezato's hand but she was keeping the key in a death grip. She wrestled herself away from Tome.

"Fine, I have a copy…but you can't have it!" said Mezato

"I need it!" said Tome. Mezato held it behind her back.

"You can't have it, ok? So just go home before a teacher hears." Said Mezato, her eyes darting towards the door.

"Listen, I need your help!" said Tome. She could appeal to Mezato's nature as a human being! Yes! an appeal to basic humanity!

"I'm not messing with the list of suspect clubs, ok? People would notice, lots of people. Or just Kamuro. Either way we'd both go down and I'm too close to the truth to go down now." Said Mezato

"What truth? Because it looks to me like you're just snooping!" asked Tome

"I'm not sure what the focus of this particular expose will be but when I find something worth exposing then the public has a right to know." Said Mezato

"Well that's fine but I need your help with something else. Something important." Said Tome

"What?" asked Mezato knowing full well what Tome considered to be important. She probably just wanted Mezato to unlock the roof for her or something.

"Mob's in trouble." Said Tome. Mezato almost dropped the key in her hand. Mob, in trouble? That was bad. Mezato had seen Mob's powers up close. She knew how strong Mob was…and if it was something dangerous enough to give Mob a run for her money…

"A spirit? Or an esper?" asked Mezato

"I think…I think probably a psychic or something…but Mob's in trouble and she needs help. She's been living outside-" said Tome

"What? Like camping?" said Mezato

"Like being homeless! She's been sleeping in the park and the bus station and the train station and between vending machines and-and she needs a place to stay, ok?! My mom found her in my room and made me kick her out." Said Tome

"Your mom kicked her out even though Mob's homeless? That's cold. No offense." Said Mezato

"No, she didn't know about that. Mob doesn't want people to know, probably." Said Tome

"Why not? This is serious! Mob can't be homeless! There's spirits out there! Not to mention all the creeps and murderers!" said Mezato. Mezato knew that she was not a child but there was no way she could live out in the world…and Mob was doing it…the same Mob who hated the thought of hurting someone else so much that she threw an election that she had in the bag just so that she wouldn't hurt someone's feelings. Oh no. Mob was just a sitting duck for every creep and murderer in the city!

"I know! Ok, I know that there are a lot of bad people out there…but I can't tell anyone else! Especially not an adult!" said Tome

"Why the hell not? This is definitely something that we should tell an adult about! This is serious! Her family-" said Mezato

"Her family is a bunch of assholes! Mob already ran away from them and she doesn't want to go back." Said Tome

"Then what about that guy she was staying with? Her master?" asked Mezato. Mob always had good things to say about that guy. She had been staying thee before…right? Mezato didn't ask…she asked questions…but not the right ones!

"He turned out to be an asshole too and she ran away from him!" said Tome. Telling an adult was out of the question. What could an adult do that the two of them couldn't? People needed food, water, and shelter to live. They just had to feed, water, and shelter Mob for the foreseeable future. How hard could that be?

Tome was not out of her depth.

"Then…then what are we supposed to do? She can't live with me, my mom is definitely going to notice." Said Mezato

"You guys are in the same class, right? Just tell her that you and Mob have a big project that you're working on and she needs to stay over for a few days. Or hide her in your attic or basement or closet. Just…she won't come back to my house because she's afraid of getting me in even worse trouble and she knows, like, one other girl but she doesn't even go to this school! I can't just send her random Friendboom messages or anything, she'll block me!" said Tome

"I could probably get my mom to agree to a night, maybe two if I really beg…but my parents are going to ask what's going on if Mob moves in…I don't know…I really don't know.." said Mezato. This was serious, very serious. This was 'let's tell an adult because we are in over our heads' serious. Those psycho helmet guys would shelter Mob in a heartbeat…but Mob would never go for that…but she didn't have to know that they were the psycho helmet guys…but Mezato didn't even know those guys that well….and the world was full of creeps and murderers and weirdos…

"Pull yourself together, woman! We can't freak out! Mob's taking this whole thing well and so should we. We have this whole thing under control!" said Tome

"I don't think that we do. We need a permanently solution…" said Mezato

"The master key! You have it! Mob can just live here until…until we find something else." Said Tome

"Mob would never agree to that and you know it. She'd probably consider it a form of trespassing or stealing or something. You know how Mob is, she's incapable of doing anything even remotely bad." Said Mezato

"Yeah…she's pretty damn stubborn…." Said Tome

"What about her other friends? Those body improvement club guys? They seem pretty nice and since she's pretty much the club mascot they'd totally help her out." Said Mezato. Tome shook her head.

"I think she's afraid of guys now. I don't know what happened but she said some stuff…and don't ask me what it is, Miss Nosy! If Mob wanted you to know then she'd tell you! She just doesn't want to be around guys right now, that's why she won't stay with her boyfriend." Said Tome

"Wait…do you mean…?" asked Mezato. Mom and dad had showed her enough of those crime shows. She knew about all the awful things that could happen…but that was Mob…but it was Mob. She couldn't hurt a fly…literally.

Poor Mob…

"I just said not to ask me! Stop prying into other people's business! Just tell me if you'll help Mob or not!" said Tome

"I'll help her, ok! Just…I need to ask my mom before I can have people over. I live in an apartment. It's not very big so I can't just sneak Mob in. Mom would definitely notice and then she'd kick Mob out because I'm not allowed to just bring people over, especially for sleepovers." Said Mezato

"Good. I'll text Mob and I'll see if she's safe tonight, too. You just butter your mom up real good." Said Tome. There. Everything was under control. She knew what she was doing. This whole thing would be just fine.

"This isn't permanent, you know that, right? Eventually we're going to have to go to an adult." Said Mezato. This was bad, this was really bad. Winter was coming. How was Mob supposed to survive out there in the cold? Fuck. This was bad. This was so bad.

"No we won't. I have this under control." Said Tome before she turned on her heel and marched out the door. Yup. This was great. Now all she had to do was find someplace for Mob to live more permanently. She could do this. She had this.

"Keep telling yourself that." Muttered Mezato as Tome left. She needed to tell someone…right? But Mob didn't want anyone to know. Mob…something really bad must have happened. The way she looked…well of course she looked terrible, she had been homeless. They needed to figure something out. She needed to figure something out. She was good at doing research…so it was time to do some research!

What else could she do?

Mob soaked in the tub. She didn't know what else she could do. Teru was sitting on the other side of the tub. He was leaning back with his eyes closed. It was super warm, hot even, Mob liked it. She didn't even mind being naked, not really. It was just Teru. He'd never make fun of her. He liked it when she was like this, when they were like this.

He liked what came after they were like this, too.

"Tell me this isn't just like a hot springs." Said Teru. It was like they were trying to boil themselves alive, but in a good way. A mostly good way. He was still getting used to it. She was already used to it. She was floating there in the water. This was less of a tub and more of a kiddie pool.

"Why? I thought that the point of this was to pretend that we were at a hot springs." Said Mob. She didn't mind pretending. If they were at a hot springs then being naked didn't really mean anything. Even if they were a boy and a girl together. Even if they had been naked before and every time that they were like this it did mean something. Even though she knew Teru and she knew that he wanted it to mean something. Even though part of her kind of did, too, because she liked feeling close to him and feeling good and it was an expression of love and she loved him and she didn't want it to be ruined for her.

She didn't want Mogami to have ruined this for her.

He had ruined milk.

He had ruined cats.

He had ruined school.

He had ruined the concept of instrumentality.

But she didn't want this to be ruined too.

"I wasn't being literal. I just meant that this was pretty much as hot as a hot springs. God, Shigeko, you are so cute…" said Teru. This was perfect. Him, her, them. Maybe this was what she meant by that instrumentality thing that she had gone on about before. The two of them existing as just themselves. No boundaries, no pretexts, no stress, no pain, nothing. To him is sounded like being naked, totally naked. Naked both physically and emotionally.

Just him and her, there, laid bare for each other. Him being himself and her being herself. If this was instrumentality then he liked it.

"Are you teasing me?" asked Mob softly. Asagiri called her cute sometimes…to make fun of her…but this was Teru and he loved her…but sometimes the people who loved you could be really mean.

"No, not at all. I think that you're cute. I think that you're a lot of things, Shigeko, but none of them are bad." Said Teru, still leaning back. He could feel the water shift as she moved. He wished that she would come over to where he was. She was having fun over there, though, floating. Maybe they could go swimming this weekend, he knew where a really nice pool was. She could have room to float around for real. Her in a swimsuit…

The water around him began to rise. That was him.

"That's really cool, Teru. It's pretty." Said Mob as the water around her began to rise in tiny little spheres. Some of the spheres began to merge. When Mob looked through them she could see the world as it was but different. Distorted. Different worlds. Different realities. Unrealities. Each one different and each one housing a little Mob and a little Teru.

She didn't think that they were cool anymore.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Said Teru. What was with him and clothes? She was there and she was naked but he was still thinking about her in different kinds of swimsuits. Not even the kind made out of dental floss and sticky notes. Just the regular kind, something cute. Pink, obviously because it was her favorite color. With a skirt, too, because she loved skirts.

Why was the thought of her looking cute just as attractive to him as her being naked?

Love was weird like that.

"That's ok, I thought that it was kind of cool." Said Mob as she sat down. Her hair got stuck to her face. Before she could do anything she felt Teru brush it away with his powers. He just sort of looked at her. Like she was cake. He looked at cake the same way that he was looking at her right then.

"You are so damn pretty right now, Shigeko." Said Teru. He scooted over to her side of the tub. She stared at him. Her expression was as unreadable as ever. Her aura was calm, though, so that was good. She wanted him to be near her. He could tell. He could read her better, now. Better than when they had first met, at least. How could he have ever thought that she was a guy?

"Thank you." Said Mob. He was moving over to where she was. She let him. She loved this. Before the unreality she loved this so much. She still…this wasn't the part that was a thing. This was still a part that she could enjoy. She just had to worry less about the pats that came afterwards. /she liked those parts, too, actually. Most of them.

He took her hand in his. Both of their hands were all wet and pruny. His skin was darker than hers, he got more sun. Mob used to burn in the sun, when she was little, but not anymore. Sunburns were physical damage and she was good at healing from physical damage. Not so much from mental contamination, and this was what it was. The things. The memories that would come up whenever she encountered one of her things. Things that bothered her. She had spent too much time outside of her vessel, too much time in a world made out of spirits, and too much time in the sea of red LCL. It was like how Ritsu got all mean when he let Dimple live inside of him for a long time. Not true possession, because Ritsu had still been Ritsu. Just Ritsu with Dimple living inside of his vessel.

Mob was just weird because of the mental contamination, that was all.

She had no reason to be worried or scared or on edge. She liked it when she and Teru kissed. He was kissing her then, him leading and her following, and she liked it. His hand was in hers. This was this reality, not the unreality, and here she was his girlfriend and his girlfriend alone. He was not Asagiri's boyfriend and Mob was doing nothing wrong by kissing him, here, in his bathtub. He didn't even mind that she had cheated on him and been an accessory to cheating in the unreality. He had said so.

So therefore she had no reason to be worried. No reason to be thinking about what she had done wrong. Not reason to be worried that this was wrong. That pervading sense of worry was just the mental contamination, that was all. The sense of worry was, but not the sense that Teru deserved better than this. Than her.

He deserved much better than what she could be.

But he didn't think so.

He didn't think that she was terrible. He loved her so much and she loved him and he wanted to express it and so did she. She did. She really did. She didn't want Mogami to ruin it for her. She wouldn't let this be ruined for her. Even if she was terrible and worthless and awful she would not let this be ruined for her.

Even if she did end up crying again.

Which she had.

But that was ok because he cried too.

They cried together.

Of course Mob had felt that they were crying for different reasons. Teru always cried, he said that he felt too many good feelings afterwards and that was why he cried. Mob hadn't ever cried from happiness before, not that she could remember anyway, but she was happy that Teru was happy. She had been crying for a while other reason though. She cried because she just…that was a lot.

That had been a lot.

The weight of him, mostly, and the intrusion into the boundary of her vessel and aura. But she made him happy, so it was worth it. Before that, that part, aside from the worry about what was to come she had been fine. Happy even. Happy-ish. In the near-ish boundary of happiness. Then afterwards she had mostly been…scared? Sad. Trapped. Pinned. Helpless.

Now she was just sort of…nothing really.

It was nighttime now. She was laying on Teru's couch watching TV, something on TV, she didn't know what. It didn't matter, she thought. The lights were out except for the TV. Teru was asleep slumped over the side of the couch. Mob was laying down with her feet in his lap. She was in his pajamas, borrowed from him. Too small for him but just the right size for her. Cheddar orange, it looked like, though she doubted that the color was really called cheddar orange. Teru would know the real name for this color, he was good at things like that. He was good at a lot of things. Making her feel better was a thing that he was good at. She felt…she felt better before, then worse, and now she didn't feel much of anything.

Comfortable.

That was a feeling.

This couch, a warm room, clean pajamas, a soft place to lay her head, a warm place to lay her feet, and the smell of winterberries and body spray around her.

She didn't deserve it.

But Teru thought that she did.

Teru loved her and he wanted to make her happy. There was a dress hanging in a fabric bag in his wardrobe that he got just to make her happy. He had drawn them a bath just to make her happy. He had…a lot of things to make her happy. She had been happy, briefly, not just in the near-ish space to being happy but honestly happy. He made her that happy…

He thought that she deserved it.

But did she, that was the question? He said that as long as she was sorry for what she had done then she was fine. Then everything was fine. Oh course she was sorry for killing Asagiri…right? Of course she was. She was never supposed to use her powers against another person...but she didn't use her powers. Either way she had killed someone and murder was wrong! There were all kinds of laws against killing someone. But Asagiri was still alive. She was the same Mob…was she? If she was the same Mob then that version of Asagiri must have been the same version of Asagiri but she was not the same Mob because she didn't have any scars and that was not the same version of Asagiri because she did was still alive.

This was complicated.

She was picking things up with her powers now. She hadn't meant to but she did. The other her meant to. When she thought about things like this then the other her got worried because of all the feelings that she, that they, were feeling. So she fidgeted. She picked up loose objects and carried them around. Here to there, left to right, up to down. It gave the other her something to do.

She could give the other her a lot to do.

It would have been so easy to just lay back and let the other her take control, so long as she promised not to hurt anyone. So long as she promised not to break anyone. But Teru didn't like that. Teru may have called them Shigeko but he preferred Mob. The last time she had let Shigeko take over when she and Teru were together he had gotten really upset. Mob loved him. She couldn't make him upset.

She didn't want to upset another person who she loved.

"What's going on?" asked Teru, his voice groggy with sleep. Oh. He must have passed out. Shigeko was still awake, though, judging by the fact that he would have to reorganize his manga collection tomorrow.

"Nothing. I was just thinking." Said Mob. Teru sat up with a yawn.

"What time's it?" asked Teru rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Mob called her phone over and checked.

"Almost one in the morning." Said Mob. This was a good time to rest her head at the bus station, if she had been outside. That was there the public charging station was, well they had a few, but that one had it near the vending machines. She could let her phone charge while she closed her eyes for a little bit and rested her head against something warm.

"Damn it's late. Coming to bed?" asked Teru. She needed less sleep than him, she had said so before. It was a consequence of being so powerful. Or a perk, depending on how you felt about sleep. Teru was very pro sleep.

"…ok…" said Mob. She hadn't slept in a proper bed in…a week? Half of year, if she were to count her time in the unreality. Well she slept on a futon so not even a 'bed' bed. Beds were high off the ground. Beds were small and cramped. Beds would mean that she would have to be squished in between Teru and the wall like the last time the two of them had shared a bed.

But she had no reason to feel like this.

The walk to his room felt much longer than it was. The feel of the carpet under her feet was a comfort. She was wearing his socks. All of her clothes were in the washing machine, wait, no they were in the dryer now. Teru did her laundry for her. He said that he was happy to do so and she believed him. He really liked washing clothes.

She liked having clean clothes.

She liked being warm and having clean clothes to wear and having food to eat and having someone to love her. She didn't like feeling like…but she had no reason to feel like that. Sometimes things were a thing but they shouldn't have been because that made no logical sense whatsoever. It was just sleeping in a bed next to her boyfriend who was her boyfriend in this world and who she loved very much. So this was fine and everything was fine.

Everything was fine.

He thought that it was fine so she was therefore fine.

He got in first so he got the wall spot, something that Mob was grateful for. She had room to get out if she wanted to. Not that she would. Because this was fine and she was fine and everything was fine. She laid down next to him. It was dark in there. She could see her aura better, sort of. Or maybe she thought that she did. Maybe her aura, his aura, their auras just stood out better in the dark. Pink against black. Blue against black. Gold against black.

But not black against black. Nobody had a black aura. Very few people had black auras. Nobody good had a black aura. Mogami had a black aura. Black and red. Or just a black and red metaphysical self.

But he was not there. This was not the reality he trapped her in. This was the reality that she trapped herself in. She had destroyed the other reality and now she had to live in this one. Not that she wasn't happy in this reality. Not that she wasn't content. Content was a better word for it. She was content with what she had. Nobody hurt her here and she didn't have to hurt anyone. That was good. That was the best that she could ask for.

But she did ask for more.

This. She asked for…but Teru offered.

But she could…she couldn't. She couldn't stay forever. She had to go back out there and she should have been happy with what she had. This was nice though. He was next to her. He was falling back to sleep. She could tell by his breathing, his aura. She touched her aura to his, quickly before pulling away just as quickly. She didn't want…she needed a boundary between herself and others.

Physical and metaphysical.

He threw an arm around her. He was still asleep. She was more awake than she had been, before. This was fine. Even though she was pinned down, but not really because she could get up, but still felt pinned down even though she didn't know **why**, she still…this was fine.

Then he shifted closer to her.

She was pinned down and she was helpless and everything had gone wrong and it felt gross and –and-and-

She got up. She went to the living room. She watched TV for an indeterminate amount of time. One show bled into the next, as usual, and it was nice. The glow of the screen, rectangular, not square. The softness of the couch. The softness of Teru's pajamas. The smell of him all around her.

It was nice.

She closed her eyes. She was back at her house, the house in the row of identical houses at the endless street under the grey sky. She was alone. She was waiting for tomorrow to happen. She was laying on her couch and waiting for tomorrow to happen. She was there again but…but she was here too. She was here and she was warm and safe and loved and she had no idea how long it would last but she would enjoy this for as long as she could. Even though she didn't deserve it. Even though she had done terrible things. Even though she was a terrible person. She could still…

She was selfish.

She was grateful.

She was selfish enough to stay here even though she didn't deserve it and she was grateful to have someone who cared for her. She was selfishly grateful and gratefully selfish and she didn't know what else and it was a lot and-

She got up.

She walked.

She walked back and forth a few times. The carpet felt nice under her feet. Her feet felt nice in Teru's socks. She felt nice in Teru's pajamas. Safe and warm and loved. She pulled his hoodie over with her powers and shrugged it on. She felt warm and safe and this was almost as god as being held by him and she wanted to be held by him…but she also didn't.

Because that was a thing.

She used to love being held by him. That was one of her favorite things that they did together. Right behind watching movies with Teru's commentary and letting him win at whatever games that they played, usually Go or Mario Kart. Those lazy days when they'd just be together on his couch watching some movie that he picked out, them on their sides, or her in his chest, his arms around her…

But now it was a thing.

Having that much weight on her was a thing.

Why? She didn't want to remember, she wanted to forget, but she couldn't forget. She could never forget. It haunted her. Mogami haunted her. Even though he was imprisoned he haunted her. She didn't want him to be her prisoner but she was still his prisoner.

She was trapped.

She laid back down.

She waited for tomorrow to happen. It couldn't come fast enough. Tomorrow would be another day and the sun would be up and she would be at school, not that she did anything at school, but it was nice to have a place to be. A place to be where she only had to be and she didn't have to do anything or think about anything. She could just be. Here she could not just be. Here she had to be someone. She had to be Teru's girlfriend. She had to be his girlfriend the way that he expected her to be and she didn't…could she be that person again. She loved him. She loved him and he loved her and she wanted to be his girlfriend but she just couldn't…

She wanted to crawl into that bed next to him and hold and be held. She wanted him to tell her, over and over again, that he loved her. That she was someone worth loving. That she was someone that he could love and that other people could love and that she was a good person and that she was someone who…someone who loved her…that she was a good person. That she was a good person and…and that she could be someone….but that was a thing. Being held was a thing. Being held meant that there would be a lot of weight on her, the weight of someone, and then she would remember…and she didn't want to remember. But she would. She would and she did and she…

She went back to laying down.

Tomorrow could not come fast enough for Mob.

Reigen was up all night, in the office, working. Tomorrow came much too fast for Reigen.

Of course by working he was playing Fantasy Hell all night. The hours just flew by until the sun was giving it's first light and his eyes were burning and his entire lower body was numb from sitting in one spot for God only knew how many hours. His fingertips were practically bloody and he had the worst taste in his mouth, cigarettes and energy drinks and just plain not brushing his teeth for a while.

But he was fine.

He just needed something to do. That was all. He just needed to have something to do so that he didn't think about-

So that he was occupied.

It was good to be occupied. The idle hands were the devil's playthings. Wait, no, that was about something else. He needed a purpose, that was better. He needed something real to do, something with real substance. Yes! Something that mattered!

That was why he was playing videogames.

This mattered. Thousands and thousands of people all over the world played this game, for some people it was their only…thing. All that they had in life. There were people in this world that only had games, that was it. No friends, no co-workers, nothing, Just their own company. All day. All night. Just walking through the world, not even through the world, just existing.

That was no kind of life.

Reigen yawned and stretched. Yup, he could feel a back pain curse coming on. He needed a new chair, something with some actual back support. If he was going to be devoting his nights to being hunched over playing a dozen separate accounts, levelling up a dozen characters, grinding until his eyes burned and his fingers were sore and he never wanted to see another computer screen again for as long as he lived…then he might as well have a comfortable chair.

Mob's was pretty comfortable.

She said that it was, back when he first got it for her. She had been sitting on a metal folding chair, before, in those first few weeks. It wasn't comfortable. She had said that it wasn't, when he asked her. She had been fidgeting like crazy, the squeaking was driving him crazy, and he just asked her what was up. That chair had been the most uncomfortable chair she had ever sat in, her exact words.

So he got her a new one.

She liked it. She liked it so much and she…she would never sit in it again. Because of him. No, not because of him….ok so he lost his temper and said some things that he shouldn't have. That was on him one hundred percent. She still…he had talked to her about boundaries before and she just…she just wouldn't listen. She stopped listening to him. At some point she had stopped listening to him and decided that she knew best. She had become so stubborn and headstrong and selfish and-

And fourteen.

She was acting like a fourteen year old girl.

She thought that she knew best. She thought that she had all the answers. She thought that she knew best. She thought that she was invulnerable and invincible and that she could take on anything…like a fourteen year old. She thought that she could do anything. She could do anything. There wasn't a damn thing that he could do to stop her.

She decided what she did. Her life was her own.

She had risked it. That was not on him. He told her to run away but she just didn't listen. She didn't run and she had almost died and he had almost died and then she wanted to do it all **again** and he just…he couldn't do it. He couldn't risk his life, her life, their lives again.

So maybe this was better.

She had started all of this, at the ripe old age of eleven, because of him. So therefore maybe she was better off all by herself. No. She was back with her family, right? She was. Where else could she go? Well to her boyfriend's house. Her boyfriend who lived all alone. But Mob wouldn't…would she?

She wasn't his responsibility.

Besides, she wouldn't just…would she?

He was not going to think about this. That was none of his business. Mob wasn't his kid or employee anymore. She wasn't even his friend anymore…she was just herself and he was just himself and he had to keep on being just himself and he needed to stop being so hung up on her because she was not his anything anymore…

Even though she had been the best damn friend that he had ever had in his life. The best damn thing that he ever had in his life. But she was gone now.

She wasn't even posting anything on Friendbook anymore. Not that he was checking. No, he decided to stop getting involved in that for now. Besides, every comment on the damned Spirits and Such page was 'where'd Mob go?' and 'what happened to the girl?' and 'did they break up?' and so on and so forth. Which was insane. He and Mob had never even been anything close to-!

He decided to brush him damned teeth.

He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth and put on some deodorant and change into the spare shirt he kept at the office and grab a room temperature can of coffee from his desk drawer. He still had backs to rub. He was little better than a masseur but he needed to keep his business up. That was how he had built the business up. Bullshit like that. Without Mob it was back to the bullshit. The bullshit was better. It was safer.

Safer was always better.

Kageyama Hana knew that her daughter was safe. This was Shigeko. She was always fine. Not only did she not seem to ever get hurt, ill occasionally but never hurt, she also walked through the world with that quiet sort of detachment. Everything just slid off of her. Water off a duck's back. That was how her daughter treated her life. It was all water off a duck's back. So of course nothing was wrong with Shigeko.

Even if the school had called.

Shigeko hadn't been doing a lick of school work lately. She was, apparently, sleepwalking through her days. She looked ill, that was what the school inquired about. Apparently she looked very ill with heavy dark circles under her eyes, paler skin if that was even possible, and apparently she had been losing weight, too. Her uniform was, supposedly, in need of a good washing too.

Nothing was wrong with Shigeko.

Well a lot was wrong with Shigeko, obviously. Hana knew that her daughter had never been able to get a clue and, without her mother's guidance, would have been even more lost than she already was, which was pretty damn lost. Then Shigeko left. She just left without a word and of course there was nothing that Hana could do but Shigeko was…she was fine. She left and she was fine. Shigeko had just left and she had done so much better. She had a boyfriend and friends and a club and a successful career as an…exorcist…She left and did better. She left and everything seemed like it was fine…and now it wasn't. The school called, which wasn't knew. They usually called about Ritsu, always good news, but also occasionally about some strange thing that Shigeko did. Now they were, apparently, concerned.

Was everything alright at home?

The nerve of the school to ask. Of course everything was alright at home. What happened in her home, in her family, was nobody's business. How dare the school be so nosy! Too much foreign influence. It wasn't that way when Hana was a child. No, she school knew to not pry into people's homes like this! Shigeko was fine. She was either sick and still going to school or just being her usual, clueless, self.

Shigeko was fine.

Hana just needed to...confirm…that Shigeko was fine. That was all. She was just going up to her daughter's job to confirm that she was fine. That and to drop off some money for her daughter's upkeep. She hadn't abandoned her daughter, she still supported her financially. She knew the law. As long as the child had a roof over their head and continued financial support from a parent then no crime had been committed.

Shigeko was fine.

Hana hadn't seen her daughter in about two months, give or take, but she was sure that Shigeko was fine. She hadn't posted anything from her work in a while but Hana knew that Shigeko was fine. She just needed to go and confirm it. That was why she was ascending the stairs to the office at this godawful hour of the morning on her day off. It was early but Shigeko should have been in school by then. She knew that this office opened early, though, even though she could have come in later…but she didn't want to come in later. This fit in better with her schedule, that was all.

It wasn't like she had been hoping to maybe run into Shigeko or anything. Shigeko had to be at school soon. She wouldn't be here. She would be at school or with her friends or anywhere else. She had other places to be, now. She had things to do and places to be and a life and-

Hana opened the door. It was unlocked.

"We're not opened yet!" called Reigen from the bathroom as he heard the door open. Little early for a walk in but then again that was why they called them walk-ins, because the customer just walked in….well Mob would have thought it was funny…

God damn it.

"It's Hana, Kageyama Hana." Said Hana as she walked around. That was…why did one person need to many computer monitors…and computers? The whirring of the computers' fans was almost deafening. Annoying. She stepped away from the desk and towards the corkboards. The same pictures of Shigeko.

"Mrs. Kageyama?" asked Reigen. He had been shaving, or as best as he could with a one hundred yen pack of razors and can of travel sized shaving cream. Well he had been shaving but then, in that moment, the moment when she announced herself he decided to take up amateur plastic surgery and took off a good sized section of skin. He cursed under his breath and tried to stop the bleeding.

Mob's mom?

This was most likely not good news.

A thousand and one horror scenarios ran through his mind. He was getting himself so worked up that he could see his aura. He heard a curse from the other room.

"Damn it!" said Hana. She felt a sharp pain, like a cut, under her chin. She touched the spot and pulled her hand back. No blood. She checked her face in her phone's camera. No injury. But it felt like…that was just odd. She looked around, spirits? Their work. The work of spirits, maybe.

The unseen world.

That terrifying unseen world that her daughter made a career, a life, out of…protecting normal people from? That was what she did, mostly. She did make friends with them, when she was young…Hana drew her arms around herself. She felt like…what was this? Anxiety? Something was not right…something was wrong…something was…

Then it was over.

"Hey, sorry about that. Good morning! Would you like a cup of tea?" asked Reigen as he came from the bathroom fresh faced and ready to greet the day. He needed to be the Reigen Arataka that existed in his mind right now, not the one that existed in life. He was fine, everything was fine.

"Oh, no thank you. I was just dropping off some money for Shigeko. She ought to get herself a new uniform, I wrote the address for the uniform supply shop on the envelope for her. How is she doing, by the way?" asked Hana. The smell of fresh shaving cream and very strong deodorant. Hair with a slight layer of grease on it. Face freshly washed…she knew an all-nighter when she saw one. She had pulled plenty in her younger days, before the children, and her husband still pulled them.

Shigeko did seem a bit young to be….but then again this was Shigeko.

That must have been it, overwork.

"Mob's fine! Just fine!" said Reigen a little more quickly, and enthusiastically, than was strictly necessary. Mob…Mob said that she was going home! Mob…where in the hell was Mob?!

Hana took a step back. She could feel herself breaking out into a cold sweat. Her pulse was audible. Her head was swimming. Then it was over.

"Yeah, she's doing great. We had a big job last week and she did just fine. It's been pretty busy around here, very busy." Said Reigen trying to keep himself under control. Mob was not with her family. Where else could she go? He hadn't heard from her in…a week. So much could happen in a week….

"Oh. That's good. I was just wondering how she was doing. Her school called. Her grades are slipping but you know Shigeko, her mind is always elsewhere. If you could just tell her that…that her mother wants her to get her grades back up…that would be lovely." Said Hana. The feeling was gone, now, quick as it came. The work of spirits. This was not her place, not her domain. This was her daughter's world and she did not belong in it.

"Yeah, I'll talk to Mob about that, don't worry." Said Reigen. She was still going to school. She hadn't been killed or possessed or kidnapped or anything like that. She was still going to school. Good. She was still going to school.

"And make sure that she gets herself a new uniform. I'd imagine that hers is looking pretty shabby by now." Said Hana. Of course Shigeko was fine. She was just being Shigeko. Clueless. Of course she wouldn't know when to get herself a new uniform and of course she would be letting her grades slip without someone there to ride her about her homework, which apparently this man was not doing.

"I will, don't worry." Said Reigen. He wanted to say something to the effect of 'you tell your daughter yourself' but he didn't. The responsibility for Mob's upkeep had been foisted onto him. She was his responsibility and now she was…where was she?!

"Thank you. I'm sorry to take up so much of your time. I know what you must think but I do…I worry about her, sometimes. The school just doesn't usually call and I was just concerned. I'm sure she's doing just fine, but if you could make sure that she does her homework and talk to her about paying attention in class that would be lovely. Thank you." Said Hana. Reigen nodded. What else could he do? Well, besides telling this woman to raise her own damn kid. Besides telling this woman that her daughter had left him a week ago. Besides telling this woman that he had no god damned idea where in the hell Mob was.

"I will, don't worry. You know Mob…" said Reigen. He did know Mob. She could be a scatter brain sometimes but she was fastidious, and that the word, about her appearance and her work. She always put forth so much effort into her appearance and her school work. Sure she could forget to do her homework on occasion and her hair had been in her eyes for a while but for her school to call home, something that even when he was her age had only been reserved for the worst of his offenses…

Mob was fine.

She had to be.

"Oh yes, I do know Shigeko…" said Hana. She wanted to say that she knew that her daughter should have come home where someone could keep a proper eye on her. She wanted to say that her daughter needed her mother to guide her because she had no clue what she needed. She wanted to say that her daughter was too young to be pulling all-nighters and working big jobs and-and entering the adult world and-

"You sure you don't want that cup of tea?" asked Reigen as he poured what was most likely stale water from the pitcher into the electric kettle. He needed something to do, something to keep him out of his own head. Mob was gone, truly gone, and she had been his responsibility….

Mob was fine.

She was not a child anymore and she was fine.

"Oh no, I really must be going. Busy day today. I've got bills to pay and shopping to catch up on and Ritsu needs a new uniform…lots to do…" said Hana. This was Shigeko's world and she did not want to be a tourist in it any longer. The feeling was there again, that unexplained anxiety.

She had to get out of there.

"Well feel free to stop by anytime." Said Reigen as he made himself some tea. He needed it. Mob's mother left with scuttling steps, he had been projecting his feelings again. He tossed the envelope on his desk and leaned against the wall. The kettle was heating up much too slowly. Far too slowly.

Where in the hell was Mob?

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He pulled up his contacts list. It would have been so easy to call her, to just ask here where she had been this past week. Where could she be? She hadn't gone home, like she said, and he could now add lying to her list of troubling un Mob-like behaviors…where was she?

He didn't call her. He could have, it would have been easy, but he didn't…he couldn't. What could he even say to her? What could he…what could he say?What was he supposed to say?

He supposed that he could say sorry. He could but…but she had her part to play in their fight, too.

He supposed that he could ask her where she had been all this time. He was…she was probably with her boyfriend or her friends. She said, before, that she would rather sleep in the park than go back home but she must have been exaggerating. Yeah. She was fine.

Reigen put his phone back in his pocket where it belonged. Then he pulled it out again. Mob was…Mob was fourteen. She was fourteen and she needed someone to take care of her. She was a child. No. She was not a child and she had made it perfectly clear that she could and would take care of herself. She didn't need him anymore, she had made herself perfectly clear.

That was fine.

He didn't need her anymore either.

He got back to work. What else could he do?

She was ok and therefore he was ok and everything was ok. He just…he needed to stop thinking about this. He needed to stop thinking. Work and videogames, that was the key. Something to do. Something to keep him from remembering her. From thinking about her. Her little smiles. Her questions. Her company….her constant, quiet, company. The way she would call him Master Reigen…everything.

He just needed to forget.


	47. Nice to be Needed

Before class started Mezato asked if Mob wanted to have a sleepover. Mob said yes, of course, because what else could she say? She didn't really have anywhere else to go, well back to Teru's apartment but she didn't really want to go back there, so of course she said yes to Mezato. Mezato was her friend, a good friend, and Mob was grateful.

It was important to be grateful.

It was important to be grateful to your friends for being nice to you. They didn't have to be nice to you. Nobody had to be nice to Mob, and Mob knew that she didn't deserve it. She was still happy, though, that someone wanted to spend time with her.

Also there might be a futon to sleep on.

Not that Mob couldn't sleep on the ground if she had to. She would be grateful for anything.

Because that was what was important in this world. She was surrounded by people who cared about her, and she was lucky. She didn't have to have ended up so lucky. She could have been alone, all alone, truly alone. She didn't have her family or Master Reigen anymore but she had other people who loved her. They didn't have to, and who knew how long they would love her for, but they did love her.

Even if she didn't deserve it.

But she could still enjoy it. She was enjoying it right now. Walking down the street next to Mezato. It was late-ish. She went to club, because Tome said that people missed her, and it was nice. Being accepted. Not being alone. She could even forget, then, that she didn't deserve anything that she got. Any of it.

But it was still nice.

"…..I think that I can get my mom to let you stay for a day or two but after that I don't know…I'm sorry Mob." Said Mezato. It was hard to tell if Mob was listening or not. She tended to always have that same look on her face no matter what. That weird non-look. She looked better now, though, than she had last week. She smelled better too. She must have found some place to stay last night.

Mezato was out of her depth.

"That's ok, I'm just happy that you wanted to have a sleepover. Grateful, I'm grateful. Thank you for…for being my friend." Said Mob

"You don't have to thank me for this. I'm not doing anything any halfway decent person wouldn't do." Said Mezato

"I do have to thank you. You don't have to be my friend or anything like that but you are." Said Mob

"Friendship isn't a 'have to' sort of thing. I'm doing this because I want to. I want to help you out. You're really nice and totally cool. Kind of clueless but still cool." Said Mezato

"Because of my powers, you mean. That's why you think I'm cool. It's ok, that's the main reason why people hang around me, because of my powers. They feel sorry for me, too, but that's ok. I'm just happy to have people in my life who care about me." Said Mob

"…that's not true. Well, ok, I started hanging out with you because you have powers, and you saved me from the LOL cult, but…but I'm your friend because you're a genuinely nice person….and not because I feel sorry for you. I mean, ok, you're homeless and of course I feel bad for you and I want to help but it's not out of pity or anything. It's out of concern." Said Mezato

"Thank you for being worried but you don't have to be. I'm fine, really." Said Mob

"….you were living in that park, that's not fine…" said Mezato

"Yes it was. It's really not so bad, and I don't need as much sleep as normal people anyway. I'm fine, but still, thank you for letting me stay over." Said Mob

"…you're welcome…" said Mezato. Mob had a weird definition of fine. This really, really, really seemed like the sort of thing she should tell an adult about. Mob didn't want that, though, and telling an adult probably wouldn't do any good anyway. Mezato had done her research and since Mob's parents had abandoned her she'd end up in one of those awful children's homes. That would have been bad so…so Mezato couldn't tell anyone.

Even if it still felt like the thing to do.

Winter was coming. Winter meant cold and cold meant freezing to death. It was already getting to be really cold at night, too. Well compared to September. It wouldn't start to get really cold until November. Still, the weather was starting to change. Almost mid-October. The rainy season was pretty much ended, which was good, but it still rained sometimes. Being out in the rain…the cold didn't make you sick but the damp did. The cold could weaken the immune system so being outside in the cold and the wetness….

Poor Mob.

Mob, of course, wasn't thinking that far ahead into the future. Right now she was going to a place with food and a somewhere warm to sleep. Somewhere to wash her uniform, too, but maybe not…it was becoming over washed, like it had been in the unreality…but she didn't know when she'd get a chance to wash it again…but there was always Teru's house…but that would mean that she would have to…

She'd worry about that later.

She was fine now, happy-ish. Content. That was what mattered. She didn't think about the future, what she would do tomorrow or the next day or the next day. Tonight she was sleeping over at her friend's house and that was enough.

She didn't much care for thinking of the future. Not the future and not the past. The present, yes, because that was safe. The present was very safe. She was safe here, nobody was going to hurt her, so she could relax. She could but she didn't. She was still tense, sort of, in her powers. She could feel more of the world, the neutral spirits around her. Distant and unfamiliar auras. Weird ones…almost like they belonged to the same person copied over and over again. Weird. Even her aura felt different depending on who was in control. She wanted to reach out to these auras, to see if they were people planning on…but nobody was going to hurt her so she didn't have to be so tense all of the time.

But she was.

"Here it is, home sweet home." Said Mezato as they came to her apartment building. She could feel a sort of buzzing from Mob, like when her class went to the science museum and she touched the giant plasma ball thing. That was what it felt like, except for the entire side of her body that was facing Mob. It wasn't that weird, she had occasionally felt that sort of prickly sensation when she was near Mob, but it had never been so, well, much before.

"Your building is very nice. It's a nice shade of white." Said Mob. She had walked by this building before, at night. It looked different under the light of day. There were different shades of white, mom certainly had enough trouble matching the shades of white in the house back when Mob would lose control of her powers and mess up the walls, and Mezato's apartment building was very nice. The world looked different under the light of day.

"Thanks, I guess." Said Mezato. Mob, good friend and giver of weird compliments. Maybe it was an esper thing. Mob had said, before, that she saw more colors than normal people. This was going in the notes. Not that she was using this crisis as an opportunity to take notes on Mob or study her or anything like that.

Even though this would have been the perfect time to get some answers, or some questions, or just some interesting anecdotes really.

Mob didn't' give any answers or pose an questions or offer up any interesting anecdotes as she and Mezato made their way into the building and up to Mezato's apartment. This was the third apartment building she had ever been in. It was smaller than Teru's but taller than Master Reigen's. The hallways were inside the building, like where Teru lived, but the carpets were a different color. Brown instead of blue. The walls were hospital white, too, instead of the softer white that they were at Teru's. There were some scrapes in the paint, too, and scuffs.

Still a nice place, though.

Mezato's door had a straw mat that said 'Welcome' and a straw hat hanging from the door with Mezato's family name on it. Which was Mezato. Because everyone called Mezato by her family name, even her friends.

"Ichi, I made you and your friend some lychee." Came a voice, presumably Mezato's mother. It was weird, hearing someone call Mezato Ichi.

"Thanks mom!" said Mezato as she kicked off her shoes. Mob made sure to make hers stay together and to face them the right way. Mezato's apartment was nice and she was a guest there. The walls were the same sort of hospital white, which made it look very neat. The carpet was dark blue inside, not as soft under her feet as Teru's but still nice. The door opened to the living room which had a clear view of the kitchen. That was nice, everything being in one place. Teru's door opened to the kitchen and you had to walk through the kitchen to get to the living room. Master Reigen's door opened right to the living room but you had to go down a hallway to get to the kitchen. Everything all together was nice, Mob thought.

Would she and Master Reigen have ended up living in a place like this? If she hadn't left. If she had agreed with his idea about moving. Moving to a new apartment would have been better than going their separate ways….

"….that doesn't mean it's a slumber party. This is still a school night and you still have a bedtime, Ichi." Mezato groaned. Right. Mob didn't need to know that she still had a bedtime or a mom that made her an after school snack or that she still ate off of Hello Kitty plates. She was not a child but her mom still liked to pretend that she was in elementary school. Mob was lucky, in some ways. Nobody babied her.

Of course that independence came at a cost.

"I didn't know you had a bedtime, Mezato." Said Mob. She hadn't had a bedtime since…she was little. She didn't remember when but, eventually, mom just stopped telling her when to go to bed. Ritsu had a bedtime up until he started middle school, but he was Ritsu and needed more sleep because he had important things to do. She was just Mob.

"Mo-om…" groaned Mezato. She knew that Mob wasn't the sort of person to make fun of others but that was still seriously embarrassing. At least her mom cared, even though that wasn't a nice thought at all. But still, at least her mom cared that she went to bed and had enough food to eat and was safe and came home every day.

Mob didn't know what Mezato was so upset about. She hadn't meant anything by that, just that she didn't know that Mezato had a bedtime. She was always off doing her own thing and Mob assumed that she had the sorts of parents who didn't care what she did or when she did it. Not in a mean way, just in the way that they understood that when you got older you didn't need anyone to take care of you. Mob sure didn't, anyway. She didn't need anyone to take care of her, she could take care of herself.

Even though this wasn't exactly taking care of herself.

No, she was just being a good friend. She was being a good friend by coming over and sleeping over and maybe Mezato just wanted the company. Yes. Maybe she was just letting Mob come over because she wanted some company and not because she was worried about Mob or thought that Mob's powers were cool or was writing a story about Mob or…

Even if then it was still nice to be inside.

Mezato's house was nice and warm. The cold was coming early this year, or maybe it had always been that cold out in the middle of October and Mob just hadn't noticed before. It was better than before, though, because she at least had a hoodie to wear. Teru's hoodie was warm, and big too so it was cozy. Not that she needed it inside of Mezato's house. It was plenty warm. Well Mezato's room was a little less warm than the rest of the house but it was still warmer than being outside.

"Sorry, this is our only spare futon. It's kind of old but I had my mom leave it out in the sun for a while so at least it's clean. Well, cleaner. We don't get a lot of company, sorry." Said Mezato as she laid out the guest futon for Mob next to her bed. Mob was just sort of doing that staring thing that she did. Mezato tried not to be unnerved.

"This is very nice, thank you." Said Mob. Mezato didn't have a TV in her room. Mob really wanted to watch TV, which she knew wasn't nice at all, but she did like to watch TV. TV helped her forget and she needed to forget because she was starting to remember.

"Mom only said for one or two days…damn it…." Muttered Mezato as she laid out her spare bedding. At least it was pink, Mob would like that. She liked pink.

"I can go if you want, I don't want to get you in trouble. I already got Tome in trouble with her parents…." Said Mob

"No! Stay! I wish that you could stay forever, honestly….it's just…are you sure you don't want to tell an adult? Or for me to tell someone?" asked Mezato

"Tell them what?" asked Mob

"That you're homeless!" said Mezato loudly before she could stop herself. Her eyes darted to her bedroom door. Good. Mom would definitely flip if she found out that Mezato knew about all of this but didn't tell her or anyone else.

"Oh. I'm not homeless, I just don't want to go home." Said Mob

"But…that's the same thing, isn't it? I mean, living in the park is living in the park regardless of why you're doing it." Said Mezato

"No, it's different. I'm not really homeless…I just don't want to go back to my parents because they're afraid of me…and Ritsu's better off without me…and Master Reigen doesn't want me around anymore anyway...and I don't want to live with Teru because of…stuff…so I'm…I'm fine. Everything's fine." Said Mob. She was sitting on Mezato's bed. Mezato was sitting next to her, now. She wanted to hug Mob or hold her hand or something but that weird static electricity feel was still there and still kind of painful.

"Are you sure that everything's fine? I mean, ok, children's homes are objectively terrible but don't you have other family you can stay with or something?" asked Mezato. Mob shook her head.

"No. My parents don't really…they didn't really take me to visit relatives when I was little. Everyone's afraid of me. When I was little my powers were more…out of control I guess…than they are now. Everyone's afraid of me…" said Mob. They had good reason to be afraid of her, too. She could feel it, her powers. She was just the vessel for them. She could hurt people, on accident or if she ever wanted to. She could break people. She could kill people. She had killed someone. She had killed someone and ended the world and-and-and

A hand was holding hers.

"I'm not afraid of you, Mob. Ok? I'm not afraid and anyone who's afraid of you sucks." Said Mezato. Ok, maybe Mob was, objectively, terrifying. Her powers, not her as a person. As a person she was just kind of creepy, and she looked like a ghost, but she was still a nice person. Just a nice person who didn't blink that much and like to stare and looked like she had never seen the sun and also had psychic powers. Mob was still a nice person and she didn't deserve any of this.

"Thank you for not being afraid of me…but you should be…because-" said Mob

"Because of your powers? I know you and I know that you would never use your powers to hurt people. If you were going to use your powers to hurt people you would have done it a long time ago. You're the nicest person I've ever met in my life, that's why I'm so worried about you out there. You're nice but the rest of the world isn't…but I guess you already knew that." Said Mezato

"Yes. I do. I know that the world is made up of people who are mean and cruel and use others for their own gain…but the whole world isn't like that. People can be good or bad and I have to remember that." Said Mob. She could not start thinking like Mogami. She could not end up like Mogami.

"Yeah but there are a lot of bad people out there and I know you could never hurt someone with your powers, and you pretty much can't hurt someone without your powers, you're tiny….I'm just worried, ok? I mean….I don't know. I just wish that there was more that I could do." Said Mezato

"More? You don't have to do anything. I'm grateful for what you're doing for me now, Mezato." Said Mob

"Thanks but I'm really not doing anything that a good friend wouldn't do. This is what friends are for. Just…what about your other friends? I mean, Tome told me that you…she told me why you don't want to stay with your boyfriend, which you totally don't have to tell me about by the way! I mean, I know what Tome told me so I can fill in the blanks…but what about your other friends? Tome says that you know some girl from another school?" asked Mezato

"Yes. Rei. She's Ritsu's girlfriend but she's kind of my friend too. Or maybe we're good friends. She tells me a lot of stuff, stuff I didn't really want to know…but I like her a lot." Said Mob

"Maybe you could stay with her. Maybe you could just…couch surf I guess….at my house and Tome's house and your friend's house…at least until winter passes. The cold is coming in earlier this year, I think that means that it's going to be a long and bitter winter." Said Mezato

"We live in Japan, every winter is long and bitter." Said Mob. She was just stating a fact but Mezato smiled. She hugged Mob.

"You're so positive, how can you be so positive? Cracking jokes at a time like this…you really are a magical girl, you know that?" asked Mezato. Mob could seem like a cold person, with the staring and the non expression and all of that, but she really wasn't. She could stay positive even at a time like this. Mezato knew that if she had been in Mob's position she would have been freaking out instead of joking about the Japanese winter. Powers or no powers Mob was still her age and in her class and had to go through all of this but she was still there cracking jokes in that deadpanned sort of way she cracked them sitting on Mezato's bed and not even the least bit worried about the coming winter.

"I know. I mean, I guess I am. I have powers and I save people…." Said Mob

"You do, you really do, but let us save you this time. OK, so you can couch surf between three houses, that's good. Also I was thinking that you could stay in the old bomb shelters that they have around here. I mean, sometimes other homeless people live in them but most of the people aren't mean or anything like that. There are a lot of creeps out there….that's the main problem." Said Mezato. That was why she didn't tell Mob to stay with those psycho helmet guys. Some of them were just plain weird and Mezato didn't know them that well anyway so she couldn't even vouch for the normal looking people.

"I can sleep in the park or between vending machines or anywhere really. I only sleep for about four hours a night, well that's how much I need to function. I can sleep for longer if I have to." Said Mob. Of course even with four hours of sleep she was still feeling so tired. Why? Maybe because she wasn't sleeping as deeply as she had when she was living with Master Reigen.

"….that's not a lot of sleep. Ok, I get that you want to do this on your own and you don't like breaking rules but…here." Said Mezato. She reached under her shirt and pulled out the master key she kept in her bra. Even if somebody did figure out that she had it they wouldn't search her there and if they tried to she could just start screaming.

"A key?" asked Mob as Mezato fished a small, brass key out from under her school shirt.

"I copied the master key after I stole it. I want you to have this copy. I know you hate breaking the rules and stuff but…but at least there are beds in the nurse's station and there's so much food in the staff fridge that they don't even notice when some of it is gone." Said Mezato. She pressed the key into Mob's hand.

Mob wanted to take this key. The promise of a bed to sleep in every night…walls…a roof…food…but she couldn't. That would be wrong. She was a lot of things now but she wasn't going to add to the list of things she had done…and using a copy of a stolen master key to trespass into the school was wrong.

She handed it back to Mezato.

Mezato tried to hand it back to her.

"Mob, seriously. If you're afraid of getting caught I'll take the fall, but please…take it so I at least know you have somewhere to go when…when you're not here." Said Mezato

"Mezato, no. I don't want to be any worse of a person than I am now. I already…I've done so many bad things already…I don't like to add to them…so please take this key back." Said Mob. She also wanted to tell Mezato to get rid of it because, well, it was a stolen copy of the school's master key and not only was it wrong to have it was also dangerous to have. Mezato could get in big trouble. Detention. Suspension. Expulsion. All terrible punishments that would derail Mezato's future as Japan's greatest reporter. If that was still her life's goal.

"Mob, don't be like that. We both know that you don't do bad things…." Said Mezato. Well everyone did bad things once in a while. But this was Mob. She probably forgot to apologize or something. Yes, something small. Not something terrible. Not something that she would have to do outside to survive….

"I did. I really did….and it's hard…and I don't want to be that sort of person." Said Mob. She wanted to be who she wanted to be and who she wanted to be was a good person. She had killed someone and a bunch of other stuff but she could still be a better person than what she was right now.

"What sort of person….what did you…do?" asked Mezato. Mob was already a good person, what was she going on about? What could she have possibly done? A lot. She had psychic powers. The possibilities for what 'bad thing' Mob could have done with them were literally endless.

"Something bad, something really bad. I just…she was so mean to me all the time…and I just…I didn't mean to…but she was so mean…but then I saved her….so I don't know…" said Mob. Mezato had no idea what any of that mean but she still pulled Mob into a comforting side hug.

"Well if you saved her, not that I have any idea who you're talking about, then it must not have been that bad." Said Mezato. At the end of the day Mob was pretty much a real life magical girl. She had saved someone, whoever this someone was, so therefore she was still a good person and Mezato had no reason to be even the tiniest bit afraid of Mob. Just the tiniest bit.

"…do you…do you really think so?" asked Mob. Did saving Asagiri's life after strangling her to death really just…even everything out?

"Yeah, I mean, if you save someone then that's what matters. Did you save her life or just…" said Mezato

"I saved her life." Said Mob. Mezato blinked. Wow. Mob was out there actually saving lives…like she had saved hers. Mezato remembered it…the smile mask, the compulsion to laugh…not being able to control her own body…

Mob had saved her life all those months ago.

Mezato pulled Mob into a proper hug.

Mob was ok with this. She still had the boundary of her vessel and her aura. Bodies were just bodies but to actually be within her body, her vessel, the vessel for her spirit…that was too much. This was ok, though. Good touch. Then why was she so tense? Why did she tense up like she was afraid that Mezato was going to hurt her? The only human being who ever hurt her like that was Asagiri and she was all the way back to wherever she was now.

Eventually Mezato had to let her go. It hurt, touching Mob for that long. Not a terrible hurt but a little bit of a sting. Mob talked about her aura before, was that it? Mezato asked. She asked a few questions, not as a professional but just as a curious friend. Mob answered them.

Mob would gladly answer questions about her powers all day just so long as she didn't have to answer any about what happened in the unreality. The questions that Mezato asked weren't intrusive or anything. Just questions about how her powers worked, what it was like to have them, which powers did she save, things like that. Questions that didn't make her think about the bad times in her life. Questions that weren't about why she had to live outside or what had happened to her.

So it was ok.

Eventually dinner time came and Mob had to eat at the table with Mezato and he mom. It was weird, sitting at the table with them. She hadn't sat at a family table in a long, long time. Mezato's mom asked a lot of questions, a lot of them directed towards Mob, but Mezato answered them. Mob was grateful for that, as grateful for that as she was for all the nice things that Mezato did for her. She was sad, though, because she made Mezato lie to her mom and say that they were doing a school project.

"It's fine, it's not a big lie and it's for the greater good, if anything." Said Mezato when they were back in her room. Mezato was at one of her many corkboards, she had them on every wall, and she was pinning red string between different spots on a map of seasoning city.

"I still feel bad. People shouldn't have to lie to each other like that. I don't want to get you in trouble like I got Tome in trouble. She's still banned from her computer because of me and now she'll fall behind in her game and it's all my fault…." Said Mob as she watched Mezato.

"She'll live." Said Mezato as she finished what she was doing. She was close to the truth, she just didn't know what it was yet. Aside from the truth at school there was also the truth in the city. Something was going down, people were reporting witnessing more psychic phenomena, plus there was the rubble of that building out in the woods that the those explorer guys on Youtube kept on going to. She tacked up a drawing she did of the weird symbol that those guys kept on finding. It looked sort of like it meant something, but she didn't know what.

"Her character is going to fall behind, though. She's got to keep up with everyone else, especially the NEETs. Tome doesn't like those guys, she says that because they have nothing else to do they make the game harder for everyone else by being so high level." Said Mob. If Tome ended up falling behind and losing her love of the game Mob didn't know what she would do. It would have been all her fault for not being careful enough when she was staying at Tome's house.

"She's a NEET, or at least she's going to be." Said Mezato. How could someone devote so much of their time to games and nonsense? This was middle school, some of the last years they had before the drudgery of high school and then an adulthood spent working themselves to death.

"No, she wants to be a paranormal investigator or an astronomer when she grows up." Said Mob

"Seriously? Well we all have to have goals I guess." Said Mezato

"Do you still want to be the greatest reporter in Japanese history?" asked Mob

"Of course, this is my destiny. Are you…are you still going to be an exorcist?" asked Mezato

"I guess. I mean I don't work for Master anymore but I still have my powers. I guess that I can just…open my own Spirits and Such when I grow up…" said Mob. Now she was thinking again. She was thinking about how she missed her job and her desk and how close it was to Master's desk and him and his presence and the way he talked and the way he-

She needed to distract herself.

"And I'll be the one to get the word out. You could be great, Mob! The best! You could be famous, maybe even-" said Mezato

"No. I don't want to be famous. I just…I just want to be happy. That's all. I just want to be a good person and be happy. I just…I want to be who I want to be. I have powers but I don't want to…to rely on them like that. My powers make me special but we all have things that make us special. If everyone is so special than I can be who I want to be. If everyone being special means that nobody is special then I can still be who I want to be." Said Mob

"You are so wise, Mob, really. That's deep." Said Mezato. She jotted down what Mob said. She may not have been best buddies for life with those psycho helmet guys but she would still deliver words of wisdom from their leader even if she wouldn't deliver the leader herself.

"Thank you but I wasn't trying to be." Said Mob

"I know, that's what makes it deep." Said Mezato

"I don't understand." Said Mob

"Well it's deep because you don't have to think about it, it's just something that you feel. It wouldn't be deep if it was something that you had to think on. It's more genuine this way. You're very genuine." Said Mezato.

"Thank you. Teru calls me that too…genuine. I guess that I am. I mean, isn't everyone? Well I guess not. I just try to be myself…or maybe not because I want to be a better person than I am." Said Mob

"Genuine doesn't mean transparent. You're trying to be a good person and you genuinely want to be. You're not one of those people who just tries to look like a good person so that other people will tell them that they're a good person." Said Mezato

"…but that is why I do things, I do good things so that Master will tell me that I'm a good person…and that he cares about me…" said Mob. Mezato turned to face her.

"You don't need him, Mob. He knows that you're out there every single night and I'm guessing that he hasn't asked you to come back. Forget him." said Mezato. She had a low opinion of that guy, the one she called her Master. Reigen Arataka, she knew his name because he was so fond of saying it in all of those videos he uploaded. What kind of a guy could just let someone he cared about be in danger like that?

"….I don't know if he knows. The last thing I ever said to him was that I was going home. I did go home but then I decided to leave because he…he said that he didn't want me around. That I just stuck myself to him. That I was a…brat. That I was a selfish brat. That he was stuck with me and that I stuck myself to him and that-that-" said Mob. She wiped her eyes. Oh. Not this again. She was so sick of crying. Mezato hopped off of her bed and sat down on the futon next to Mob. She pulled the corner of the blanket over and dried Mob's tears. Mob took the blanket from her and did it herself. She was not little. She could do this herself.

"Well he sounds like a real piece of shit, no offense. I mean…who says something like that? Even if you being a….did he seriously call you a brat?" asked Mezato

"Yes." said Mob as she finished drying her tears.

"That's a stupid thing to call someone…anyway, even if you were acting like a brat that's no excuse for the way he spoke to you. I mean, I seriously doubt you did anything that bad to him, but even if you did he still has to take care of you. You can't just take someone in and then kick them out when it becomes inconvenient. You're a person, not a dog or a cat, and he can't just get rid of you. Neither can your family." Said Mezato

"Nobody kicked me out-" said Mob

"Letting you leave is the same as getting kicked out. I know how it feels, Mob, I know. My dad…he just let me and my mom leave. He didn't even care…but that's fine. Sorry. That's my own stuff that I have going on….and you have much bigger problems than I do! I mean…at least I have a bed to sleep in…" said Mezato

"I'm sorry about your dad, Mezato." Said Mob. She knew that her parents didn't live together and that he was a reporter in Tokyo. She didn't know that it bothered Mezato, at least not this much.

"No, it's fine, I just know sort of how you feel. It's like…not caring if someone leaves is the same as kicking them out. Either way the meaning is pretty clear, you aren't wanted. It sucks, especially for you because you're so…you. I mean, you've got psychic powers and all but you're…uh…sensitive." Said Mezato. What was a nice way of saying soft as a newborn kitten? Mob wasn't weak, just not strong. Like she was made of jelly. You couldn't build it up. There was no building Mob up, she was just Mob.

"…sometimes I lose control of my powers but…but I'm not going to lose control just because Master Reigen…doesn't want me around anymore." Said Mob

"I wouldn't hold it against you if you did, Mob." Said Mezato

"I would hold it against myself and Master Reigen would hold it against me. He wants me to be a good person, that's all. That's why he said all of that…because I hadn't been a good person. I didn't tell him but just…knew…and now he doesn't me around anymore." Said Mob

"Well then he's a jerk for treating you like that, Mob, and you don't need him. You are a good person and I don't know why you don't think so." Said Mezato

"I don't want to talk about it." Said Mob

"And I won't make you." Said Mezato. If there was one thing Mezato was good at it was research. Everyone called it being nosy but a proper reporter needed to be able to research, and to know how to do proper research, because you couldn't just print anything and call it news. Not that Mezato was planning on printing anything about what was happening to Mob. Or what had happened to her. She knew how to fill in the blanks and she knew exactly how terrible people could be. She knew what could happen to girls, what could happen to her, what mom and dad had been warning her about her entire life…and that Mob was handling what had happened to her well.

The websites had been very helpful. She was not to make Mob talk about it unless Mob wanted to. Mezato could only make herself a safe person to talk to if Mob so chose to. Even though there was no reason for Mob not to talk to her like this, they were practically best friends after all. She was Mob's confidant, when she needed one, which was not often. This, however, was one of those times. Not that Mezato would push Mob to talk, no, this was one of those times when she knew that she needed to be patient and reign in her nosy impulses. Yes, she could admit to herself, on rare occasions, that she could be nosy.

Who knew that ESP was a valid medical condition and showed up enough times in the general population that it had been in Mob's school copy of her medical records?

Mob sat down on Mezato's spare futon and watched phone videos for a while. She didn't know what show she was watching, just that it was a show. She was inside, she was in Mezato's spare pajamas, and she had food in her stomach. This was a great night. Even though she knew that she didn't…but she did save Asagiri. Mezato thought that saving Asagiri cancelled out killing her. But Mob had still killed someone and on purpose too. It would have been different if she had just caused an accident with her powers. She knew that, one day, she would explode and seriously hurt if not kill someone. If she had exploded….well Asagiri would have still been dead but she wouldn't have…it wouldn't have been done with her own two hands.

She wiped her hands on her borrowed pajama pants. Mezato's. These were dark green plaid, easier on the eyes than the ones she had borrowed from Teru but not as soft as the ones she had borrowed from Tome. Itchy fabric. Mob missed her old pajamas. Long nightgowns with lacey hems and collars…night shirts with different animals or anime characters on them. She even had some pajama pants, though she rarely wore them. Mob didn't really care for pants, they made her legs itch and restricted her movement too much.

But beggars couldn't be choosers.

And she was a beggar now, wasn't she?

No. She hadn't invited herself over. Mezato invited her over. Mezato invited her there and she was not being selfish or sticking herself to Mezato and Mezato did not feel like she was stuck with Mob. Even though she felt like she was. Even though it seemed like Mezato felt like she was. It was just a feeling Mob got, not based on anything that had been said or done to her but a feeling none the less.

She laid down on Mezato's futon and held her phone above her with her powers. She could see Mezato frowning out of the corner of her eye.

"In what universe does this count as news?" muttered Mezato

"What happened?" asked Mob

"Nothing important, that's the problem. I can't believe that a reputable news organization is printing this. Here, take a look." Said Mezato. She passed Mob her laptop.

"Oh. It's about Tome's game, Fantasy Hell." Said Mob as she scrolled through the article. It said that a reputable local psychic was taking on the job of exorcising…so it had been a spirit that she had felt…oh. Master Reigen. They waited until the end to say who it was. Master Reigen, of Shishou and Mobbu fame, they said. They also made it a point to say that Mob wasn't involved.

Oh.

Master Reigen was busy trying to…but Mob could have helped! She could have…but he neither wanted nor needed her anymore. She passed back Mezato's laptop with her powers and laid down on her side.

"Hey, what's wrong? I mean, of course this is a mockery of everything the Seasoning City Reader stands for but that's not so bad…" said Mezato. She scrolled through and…oh. Right. She should have really read to the very end. That Reigen guy was the one 'exorcising' the player kill. So he's going to PVP some NEET. Wow. So totally news worthy.

"He doesn't need me anymore." Said Mob softly. Of course he didn't. He never did, did he? He just…like Mogami said she was lucky that people felt bad for her. Master Reigen didn't need her and he never did. Now he was done with her. Why wouldn't he be? He hadn't called or texted her in over a week….and now he was doing this without her. Well of course he didn't need her!

He was the Great Reigen Arataka.

She was only Mob.

"Here. You do it, then." Said Mezato passing her laptop back. Mob held it with her powers.

"Huh?" asked Mob

"You have psychic powers, you exorcise this 'player killer' guy. Either it is some kind of spirit or whatever or it's just some guy who hacked the game so he can PVP outside of the combat zone." Said Mezato

"I can't. It exists in the game world, not this world, so my powers won't affect it." Said Mob

"Then how's your master planning on exorcising it?" asked Mezato

"I guess by beating it in the game world." Said Mob

"Well you could totally do that. Come on, Mob, have some confidence. This is something that you can totally do. Go on, show him how much he needs you." Said Mezato. Mob needed something to cheer her up and she did like videogames. Not that Mezato got why. Mob needed something to cheer herself up and to forget what had happened to her and games would be a good distraction. Also if this was something newsworthy, God only knew why, then Mezato could be the one to report on it.

"I guess I could…at least play Tome's character for her…she is grounded from her computer and she's afraid of falling behind everyone else…so I guess I could…"said Mob. She wasn't trying to show Master Reigen that he did need her and she didn't want to show him up, either. She just…wanted to help Tome, that was all.

So that was what Mob did long into the night, pausing only when Mezato's mom said that it was bedtime. Mob didn't end up pulling an all nighter, in fact she slept better in those five hours she did sleep than she ever managed to when she was sleeping outside, but she did play a lot. She didn't manage to exorcise the player killer, in fact she died many times, but she still tried. She joined the crowd of people trying to kill the spirit but she died before she saw who it was who finished it off. If anyone managed to finish it off.

She wondered which of those guys was Master Reigen.

Reigen Arataka had done it, he had finally done it.

Dead, exorcised, ceased. The player killer spirit thing was gone and it was all because of him.

He didn't need Mob at all.

He leaned back in his chair and just savored the feeling of a job well done. It had taken days of practically nonstop play in which he essentially ended up living out of his office but he did it. He exorcised that spirit and he didn't need Mob's help at all. He didn't need her to carry him anymore, he didn't need a meal ticket, he was his own meal ticket! He could support himself and carry his business all by himself. He had been the one to build it. Well he had laid the foundations, Mob had built the frame, and now he was doing all of the other construction parts that were just as important but he did not know the name of.

He savored his victory.

Now all he had to so was call those guys, report his victory, and reel in that sweet, sweet fame. There had been a piece about him, before, in the actual paper. He didn't know if it was published yet, he had been busy, but he had been interviewed by their entertainment people a few days before. He didn't quite remember what specific day...the days tended to bleed together. It had been a blur of videogames, energy drinks, back rubs, spirit photos, etc.…pretty much everything that he did not need Mob for.

He was fine.

The only thing was that now, well, he had nothing to do. Nothing but back rubs and spirit photos. He needed another big job, but still something that he could do. Something to keep him busy, to keep him out of the house. He just needed to figure something out.

Of course figuring something out was easier said than done. He could exorcise anything more than low level spirits and with Mob having been gone for so long…those jobs had bene piling. People just couldn't take no for an answer. People wanted him…and Mob. People mostly wanted Mob. People were asking after her, a lot of people.

Including his mother.

What time was it? Not that late. She must have just gotten off of work. A text, not a call.

"_How are you and Mob doing?"_

Six simple words. She just wanted an update on their lives. Right, because he hadn't uploaded or updated anything in so long. He rubs tired eyes. Fantasy Hell is a great name for that game. His eyes ache, his fingers ache, and his back aches. He can't rub his own back but if Mob were here she could walk on it…

Damn it.

"_I'm fine. Mob's fine."_

That's all he wrote. What more did she need? What more could he possibly tell her? It was one thing to lie to Mob's mother, she didn't really know him. His own mother on the other hand…she knew him. She knew his lies, his tricks, everything. She had learned after almost thirty years to ferret the truth out of him with the precision and persistence of one of the plucky heroines in one of her movies only instead of tap dancing her way to the hearts of millions she could verbally tap dance her way to the truth. Whatever the truth was.

"_I haven't seen anything on your Friendbook page in a while, still in that dangerous business of yours?" _

Reigen groaned. He never should have taken her on that farm job. Now she thought that every job was…but every job could be that dangerous, or even more so. That last job, the Asagiri job, had been a doozy and a half. There were other spirits like that out there…and he had no way to protect himself if…but it was fine. He just wouldn't go after those spirits.

"_I'm still a professional psychic, mom, and it's not that dangerous. I've just been busy getting rid of a cyber space spirit, that's all." _

There. The truth. There was a spirit, it was in cyber space, and he had defeated it. Exorcised it. Surrounded it and beat the living crap out of it. NEETs, gamers, and causals of the world rejoice!

"_So that's what they're calling computer viruses nowadays. XD" _

Reigen rolled his eyes but sent a happy face emoji. There were a million of them. Mob would have known which one was the right one to send in response to his mother's corny jokes. Mob may not have been able to read the atmosphere for shit but she did know a thing or two about emojis. They made the conversation easier, she had said, because they took out a lot of the guesswork. Damn it….

"_What about Mob? What's she been up to?"_

Reigen was grateful that they weren't actually speaking. If they had been then she could have heard the hitch in his breathing, the way he had to clear his throat a few times. Right. Mob. Mob was…she was not with her family. She was safe, though, probably with her boyfriend. Two fourteen year olds living alone together…but Mob could make her own choices. Besides, living alone together or not he knew what those two got up to. Telling teenagers not to do it was like trying to tell the tide not to come in.

"_She's been spending a lot of time with her boyfriend."_

There. Not a lie. Also, maybe, it would get his mother off of her crazy theories and wild speculations. How could she even begin to think that he was the sort of man who would-!? And that was an insult onto her, too, because that meant that she had raised the sort of man who would be in a relationship with a fourteen year old girl.

"_I've noticed."_

Reigen blinked. Huh?

"_I'm not her mother but I am yours and I think that it's just a little bit irresponsible of you to let her stay the night with her boyfriend when she's only fourteen."_

Another blink. How did mom even….huh?

"_How do you know that she stayed overnight with her boyfriend?"_

There was a pause. He could see that she read the message, the little green checkmark was there, but she still hadn't responded. He stared at his phone, the screen started to dim. He heard the whirring of the computers' fans…what was he going to do with his setup? Yes, that was something to focus on, what he was going to do with this many computers and laptops. Not why his mother was being so quiet, textually. Not why she was so concerned about what Mob did, it wasn't like Mob was her kid or anything! Reigen wasn't concerned, no, not at all. Mob's life was her own and she was at that age and God knew that he had no room to be throwing stones because he had gotten up to the same things when he was fourteen….and it ended in pain and heartbreak….but this was Mob and Mob was not him.

Mom replied. A link to a picture. His thumb hovered over it for a second. Just a second.

Oh. Mob was tagged in a picture. A picture of her in bed with her boyfriend. Fully dressed, thank God. Bed head. Not her pajamas, she would never wear such a truly eye burning shade of orange, and also all of her clothes were still at his house anyway…so of course Mob borrowed her boyfriend's clothes. Mob looked…pale. Very pale. Dark circles under her eyes, which made no sense because Reigen knew how little she actually slept….she didn't have much of an expression there, not even the little expressions she made. Her boyfriend, on the other hand, looked like he had just won the lottery.

The caption was simple, just good morning. Reigen stared. Mob was…she was fine…she just looked a little sick was all. Maybe she had caught a cold. She did get sick sometimes. Mob was perfectly fine. Happy, probably, but just not showing it. Well why wouldn't she be? She was with her boyfriend living wild and free without any rules or restrictions.

Mob was fine.

She didn't need him anymore.

"_Mob is fine, mom, she can make her own choices." _

He may have been in danger of cracking his screen when he wrote that. Maybe he was a little pissed off. Maybe he didn't want his mother prying into his and Mob's business. Maybe he didn't want to be privy to what looked like a private moment…that had been broadcast for the entire world to see. Maybe he wanted to still have some hope that Mob would apologize so that he could apologize and then she could come back home and they could pick up where they left off…but they couldn't. She had moved on. That was fine. He had moved on too.

"_Mob is fourteen years old."_

Reigen shook his head. Mob may have been fourteen but, as she was so fond of saying, she was not little anymore. He couldn't just call her up and tell her to come home. He couldn't make Mob do anything that she didn't want to do. Who could? This was Mob.

"_She's not my kid, mom, she can do whatever she wants."_

Another long pause.

"_I know she's not your child, you've never once treated her like she is. Or even a child. She is not an adult Arataka and you need to stop acting like she is. Is everything alright between you two? Did you fight?"_

No everything was not alright and yes, they did fight. But mom didn't need to know that. Nobody needed to know that. Mob was not a child, not an adult but not the wide eyes eleven year old who walked through his door all those years ago.

"_Mom if she wants to do something then there is nothing that I can do to stop her. Ok?"_

Yet another long pause. He can see the three dots pop up but whatever she's writing she's deleting it just as quickly. Well what could she say to that? Reigen knew that he was right. Mob was getting to the age when she wasn't going to be listening to anyone anymore. She had made that perfectly clear back at the Asagiri job.

"_I love you, Arataka, and I love her too. Make sure that she stays safe. I'm not her mother and it's obvious that at this point her own mother has abandoned her so just keep her safe. I know that you can do that. You're so grown up now, twenty nine tomorrow. Anyway I can across this earlier and I thought I'd pass it on in case you ever want a safer line of work. I know the name is a little on the nose but it is hard for people like us to find work. Me more so than you, for obvious reasons, but still…be safe and be careful, alright? I love you."_

Then a link. Reigen stares at it. He stares and stares at stares. He should click. He should click because mom can tell that he read her message and if he doesn't click she'll send it again and again because she's persistent like that, all mothers are, it's their superpower, so he knows what he has to do.

And he does it.

Then he closes it.

Because, well, what else can he do. He has a job, and it's a damn good job. He's his own boss, makes his own hours, meets a lot of interesting people, and is happy. Very happy. He's so happy! He's moderately well off, now, so he'll be in the black for a while….and he just finished this big job! One big job could turn into two which could turn into three! Jobs like this….not actually big jobs.

Because he can't handle the actually big jobs.

He needs…he doesn't need Mob. Mob is fine. He's fine. Everything's fine.

Tomorrow is his birthday.

He's fine.

Mob hasn't said anything.

He's fine.

He looked over at the corkboard. She always counted down to his birthday, as soon as she realized what day it was. She made him a cake, drew him a card, got him a present….she noticed. She cared. She had always cared.

Tomorrow is his birthday.

It's late, almost tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow is another day and he has nothing to do but rub some shoulders and backs and then again the same tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next and the next and the next. Alone

No Mob.

Tomorrow is his birthday.

How did this happen to him? How could it have? Him of all people. Him of all people? He needs…he needs someone. The office is too quiet. The office is too loud. The constant whirring of those fans…it's too dark. The screens are too bright but the rest of the room is too dark. He's stuck. He's trapped. He's alone.

Tomorrow is his birthday.

Reigen can't take another moment in that office. He hasn't gone home in…he has no idea how long. He's trapped, stuck, there in that office. Nothing and no one. Alone. On his birthday. No Mob. Mob is…Mob doesn't need him anymore. She's moved on. She doesn't need or want him anymore and that's fine because he doesn't need her anymore either. He just proved that he doesn't need her. He's…he's fine…he's himself. This is himself.

He is himself. He is not what he wants to be.

So he leaves. He can at least be where he wants to be. Where he wants to be is away from that office, that place where every single good memory he has involves Mob in some way. But she's gone now and she's left…an empty space…where she used to be. He tells himself that he's being literal. The empty space is her desk, her futon, her spot on the couch, her chair in the kitchen. These are the physical spaces that she has left behind. But it's more than that. She's left a space within him. She's left it and it's empty and aching and he's empty and aching and he knows that he shouldn't be.

She's a fourteen year old girl. He should not be this attached.

But he is. He is and he doesn't want to be. Him, feeling like this, is not what he wanted for his life. He's spent his life trying not to get attached. He needs no one. He's not antisocial, he doesn't hate people, he just doesn't want to need them, to rely on them. He didn't need his parents when he was young, so young, and he knows that as a grown man he shouldn't need anyone now. That's why he's always…in the past his go to would have been to run away, to run away when he managed to get so close to someone.

Either she left or he left.

That had always been the way it was. Well she left again. The only difference was that this time the 'she' in this scenario was Mob. She was gone. She left. She didn't need him. That was fine. He had some good times with her but she…she…her life was her own.

She left and he was all alone.

So he decided not to be. This man, the man he was right now, was not who he wanted to be. He could be who he wanted to be, his life was his own, and that was what he was going to do. He wanted to be the great Reigen Arataka and that was…that was who he was going to be. Yes! This was actually a good thing. He would grow from this, he was capable. Life was short and he was capable. He was only twenty eight years old…for another couple of hours or so…he was still young and alive and he was going to go out and make the most of his life!

So that was what he did. He went home, showered, changed, and then went out and made the most of his life!

At Happy Trails.

But, hey, at least without Mob around he could bring women home again. So yay.

Mezato could not bring Mob home again the next day.

There were concerns about staff not locking up after they left. It was either that or ghosts, which actually were a bigger problem in Seasoning City than one would think. Either way cheap cameras had been installed in the staff room at least. There were concern about invading the student's privacy so cameras were restricted to staff only areas. The thinking being that at least they would be able to see who the last one out was. To the surprise of everyone the last one out was not a teacher or administrator but instead a student. A student had somehow gotten into the school and gone through just about everything.

That student was quickly identified as Mezato Ichi.

Calls were made and Mezato found herself sitting in a meeting with her mother and the headmaster. All before school hours, because unlike her usual methods this was, apparently, 'beyond the pale' as it were. Of course Mezato knew that she would get in trouble, that was why she had been careful, but she hadn't covered her tracks properly and this was her fault. She said so, and she apologized. She even have her best Mob-like apology, the kind that could make anyone forgive anything.

But of course she was in trouble.

Which meant no more going outside, having friends over, etcetera…..

"I'm so sorry you got in trouble, Mezato." Was all that Mob had to say when the news was broken to her. It was lunchtime and Mob was sitting at her desk. She had eaten quickly, nothing tasted like cilantro so it was easy, and now she was just waiting for lunch to be over. Too many people talking and moving around. Too much to pay attention to at once. It was hard to give Mezato her full attention even though she was such a very good friend and all.

"Mob, forget about me! What about you? What are you going to do?" asked Mezato. She didn't care what happened to her, she had plenty of material for plenty of articles and mom wouldn't stay mad forever. She didn't get suspended or expelled, which was good because apparently this was serious even though she didn't steal or vandalize, but without her Mob was left without a place to stay…and it was getting colder out.

"We have more class after this so I guess-" said Mob

"No! I mean…where are you going to sleep tonight?" asked Mezato quietly. She watched their teacher out of the corner of her eye. Mob didn't want any adults to know even though this was so serious, much more serious than Mezato copying the master key, anyway.

"I don't know. Maybe by school again, or by some vending machines. Teru's busy after school but I guess I could always…" said Mob even though she didn't want to. She wanted to see him, of course, and to be near him and listen to him talk even if he was just talking over a movie again. But she didn't want anyone, even him, in her aura or her vessel. She needed this boundary between herself and the world…and the people in it.

"Mob…what about your other friend? Maybe you can stay over at her house until…until you can't, I guess…" asked Mezato

"Rei? She's going to hang out with Ritsu after school so I can't…and I don't want Ritsu to know anyway. He'll worry and try to make me come home or even tell mom and dad and I don't want that." Said Mob. She didn't want to go back to a place where she had spent the past six months living all alone in the dark and the cold and the dust and…but that was then. In this reality she had a family but they were afraid of her. She didn't want people to be afraid of her either. Ritsu was better off without her anyway.

"Mob….you can't keep living outside. Last week you looked…not good…and you still don't look too good…and it's getting colder out there." Said Mezato

"I don't look good? I didn't know…" said Mob. She knew that she didn't look normal. Her skin was kind of a weird color and she had dark circles under her eyes like dad got when his office made him work all night but she didn't think that she looked…bad. Her hair was brushed and her uniform was clean and she took a shower at Mezato's house so she smelled like watermelon and kiwi soap so she thought that she was…not bad but at least ok. Adequate.

"You don't look bad! Just…I don't know how much longer you can survive out there. I mean, Mob, you're…well you're you." Said Mezato

"I've been through worse, much worse. I'm fine, Mezato, everything's fine. You don't have to worry about me. I'm worried about you. How badly did you get in trouble? Did they yell at you? I hope that they didn't, you weren't trying to do anything wrong." Said Mob

"I'VE been through worse, Mob, I'm the one who's fine. I mean, yeah, my mom is mad at me and I'm grounded for a while but I didn't get suspended or expelled or anything like that. Mob, I'm worried about you and I just want to help, so please just…just try to find somewhere to sleep that isn't outside." Said Mezato

"Ok…if I'm making you worried I'll try…" said Mob. She would try because Mezato was such a good friend and had already done so much for her. Two of her friends were in trouble, one because of her…and the other was more worried about where Mob would sleep that night than about herself…

Mob didn't get it.

She wasn't worth all of this. She was grateful to have people who cared about her but she was not worth all of this. She was just Mob, just herself, her terrible self. She was terrible. She couldn't forget that. Even if what Mezato said made sense, that saving Asagiri's life cancelled out killing her. Even if what Tome said made sense, that it wasn't Mob's fault, even though Mob knew that it was. She had chosen to kill Asagiri like she had chosen to end the world of the unreality and she had chosen to dive into the pool of red LCL. Even if what Teru said made sense, that this was the only reality that mattered.

Mob didn't get it. She didn't understand.

How could so many people still see good in her? How could they when she had been as bad as she could be? She wasn't a good person. She wanted to be a good person, she tried to be a good person, but inherently she was not. Good people did not kill other people. She was terrible. Master Reigen could see that, that was why he didn't want her anymore.

Even though she still…she wanted him. She wanted so badly to be with him. To have him tell her…to have him tell her that she was still a good person and that everything would be ok. That he wanted her back. That he still wanted to be her friend. That he still wanted to be her master. That he still loved her.

But of course he didn't.

That was what brought her to the office. Him. Memories of him. Thoughts of him. The pain that his absence left within her.

There was no for rent sign in the window. It was late, dark out. She had spent the evening, after club, watching TV at the electronics store until they had to close. People were nice there. A lady who worked there gave her some cheese bread and a pear and asked if she was alright. Mob said that she was, because she was, and then she left. She ate the bread and the pear, it was wrong to waste food, and then went walking.

This is where her feet carried her.

Her feet carried her to the office. This office, the one in this reality. The one that she and Master Reigen had shared. She remembered it. The way the stairs sounded when she walked up them. The way her chair felt as she sat in it. The smell of cigarettes and incense and green tea. Takoyaki and ramen. Happiness. Acceptance. Hope.

It was dark.

The office was closed at this hour, obviously. The office was closed and nobody was in there but there would be tomorrow because there was no sign saying that the office was for rent and tomorrow was a work day anyway. Today was…what was today? She checked her phone.

Master Reigen's birthday. For a few more minutes at least.

How could she have forgotten? She always remembered his birthday. She always got him a cake and a present. One time she got him a box of incense, because he was always burning it to keep spirits away. Another time she got him a bunch of fuzzy dog stickers, she was little and she knew that he liked dogs. One time she had even made a cake from scratch. Mom got mad that she had ruined the kitchen but it had been worth it to see how happy Master Reigen…he liked the cake.

But now she had nothing for him.

She wanted to call him. She clicked her phone opened and went to her contacts. He was at the top, she put him there, because he was the person she talked to the most. It went him then Teru then Ritsu then alphabetical order. She hovered over his name. She could call or text just to tell him happy birthday. Nothing else. Not about how much she missed him. Not about how alone she felt looking up at the empty office knowing that all the good days were passed and they were…

She didn't call him. She didn't text him.

She stood outside the office for a little while longer just staring. She wanted so badly to go inside…to be there…to be able to pretend for just a moment that everything was normal and that she was ok and that Master Reigen still cared about her.

She promised Mezato that she would spend the night inside. She could not break a promise. That would be wrong. So that was the only reason why she went inside. She had no choice, really, unless she wanted to be a promise breaker, which she didn't. Mob had no desire to add promise breaking to her life of crimes.

The sound of her feet as she made her way up the stairs was just as she remembered it. The feel of the doorknob in her hand was just as she remembered it, too…but this door was locked. It was locked and for a moment she wanted nothing more than to turn back because there was no place for her here. This was Master Reigen's office, his business, not hers, and this was his life and she no longer had a place in it. She had lost her place in it when she decided to kill Asagiri. Tome said that it wasn't her fault. Mob could tell herself that it wasn't, that it was self-defense because Asagiri had killed the cat first and was maybe ready to kill Mob too…but Mob had still killed Asagiri.

With her own two hands.

So she wanted nothing more than to run away from this office, from this reminder of the person who she had once been…but she had made a promise and she was not a promise breaker. She would not become a promise breaker on top of a murderer and a cheater and a world ender.

The lock clicked. The door opened. She was inside.

The office was dark, pitch black. She could hardly make anything out in the pale light the managed to come in from the street. She turned on the lights because she needed to see even though she had spent years in this office and could probably make her way around blindfolded. She needed to see, to see that this was the office as it had existed in this reality, not that she had seen the inside of this office in the unreality. She just needed to make sure, of what she did not know, but she knew that she needed to make sure.

She turned on the light. Something was different. There were a lot of computer monitors there…six of them. Just as many computers underneath, too. The sound of the fans was loud, when she could focus on it. That was what was different. Everything else was the same. Aside from the mini electronics store on his desk everything else was the same. Even her desk was still there.

She sat down on her chair. It was comfortable. Her first chair hadn't been very comfortable at all…but this was nicer. She scooted back to her desk. For a moment she could just pretend. She could pretend that she still worked here, that this was just a slow day and she was at her desk waiting for a job that she could do to come in. She looked over at Master Reigen's desk. She could imagine that he was just in the back and he would come out any minute now and tell her that they were closing early and that they were going to get ramen or something else and then…and then they'd go home and watch TV and talk or just sit there with each other…

But the only person there was Mob.

She felt a presence. For a moment she tried to convince herself that it was a human presence. She tried to tell herself that she was feeling a living, breathing, human being and not a spirit with a distinct evil presence. Of course she was a terrible liar, even to herself.

"Shigeko? What are you doing here? Working overtime?" asked Dimple as he materialized in front of her.

"No." said Mob

"Jeez, what happened to you?" asked Dimple as he took a look at her, metaphysically. Her aura was all over the place, even for her, but the strange part was that it her. She was the pink and that thing was the blue. She was…she was not well. Not violent, not about to explode, but so obviously not at all well.

"Nothing. I'm fine, Dimple. Everything's fine." Said Mob. This was the first time she had seen Dimple since what happened. He looked much better, much less weak than he had before. He had used up a lot of himself saving her. He didn't have to. Everyone would have been better off if he hadn't.

"Right, nothing. Like you expect me to believe that?! Don't tell me that you let Mogami get to you!" said Dimple. He had no idea what, exactly, had gone on in Mogami's little fantasy land but whatever it was it had left it's mark on Shigeko. He had showed up after she had killed the pink haired girl after all. But not really, though, because you couldn't strangle someone's spirit to death.

"Dimple…what is it?" asked Mob. Great, even Dimple was disappointed in her. Was that why he had stayed away for so long? Even though he did that sometimes, went off to do his own thing. Not that Mob had any idea what it was that he did when she wasn't with him.

"I've been looking for you for…I don't know how long but I have been looking. Well that and regaining my spiritual power." Said Dimple

"You look a lot better than before." Said Mob trying to be nice. He really did. When she looked, really looked, she could see how much brighter he glowed. How much easier it was for him to stay on this plain of existence.

"And you look like crap." Said Dimple

"I'm getting tired of people telling me that…" said Mob covering her eyes.

"What the hell happened to you? I've been looking everywhere for you, you know! What's up with you?" said Dimple

"Why?" asked Mob

"Because I'm not going to let what happened back with Mogami ever happen again!" said Dimple

"It won't. He's the scar guy's prisoner now." Said Mob

"We both know that eventually he's going to get out! And when he does you need to be able to defend yourself!" said Dimple

"…I'll just end it all again…" said Mob

"What? You're getting kind of cryptic there." Said Dimple

"That's what I did, after you left…I ended the whole world." Said Mob

"Yeah, you broke the illusion! Way to go, by the way!" said Dimple

"No, I just broke down all the bonds between the spirits that made up the world…and then I broke myself apart. I pulled Asagiri out, first, so she wouldn't end up like that." Said Mob

"….you dematerialized…?" asked Dimple. How…how was she still alive?!

"I guess. I just took all the spirits that made up the world and broke down the boundaries between them and then I broke down my own boundaries, and I think I was falling apart too, and then I just sort of sunk it and then it was over." Said Mob. Dimple was staring at her. She stared right back.

"….you're completely insane…" said Dimple. She had died, essentially…or almost. The sheer amount of spiritual power she had must have obliterated everything else. If she had been weaker…then there would have been no Shigeko left.

"I'm terrible." Said Mob. Even Dimple, an evil spirit, thought that she was terrible.

"No, you're crazy. Big difference." Said Dimple manifesting arms so he could cross them. How could Shigeko have not only let herself dematerialize but…but actually try to? What in the hell had Mogami put her through? He had seen her strangling that other girl…and this was Shigeko! She couldn't hurt a fly. Something had gone terribly wrong. And where in the hell was her so called Master? That guy should have been all over this, whatever 'this' was exactly. That guy may have been a sweaty weirdo but he did care for Shigeko. More than he was willing to admit to himself, too.

"Maybe I am." Said Mob. She couldn't drink milk or be around cats or hear the sound of glass breaking or-or-or a lot of stuff anymore. She would rather sleep outside in the cold than…yeah. She was crazy. She was terrible and worthless and crazy and a lot of other things.

"Don't ever try to dematerialize again. You could have died! You probably came as close to death as you ever will in your life without actually dying!" said Dimple

"The end is just the beginning again." Said Mob

"Yeah, you said that already, and it's pretty damn cryptic. What, you want to die?" asked Dimple

"I did, before, and then I ended up here. Back here. So the ending was just the beginning again. I ended the world so that it could begin again." Said Mob

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You didn't end the world, you just broke down the illusion. You dying won't be the beginning of anything. Even if you don't pass on existence as a spirit is nothing like existence as a person. Look at Mogami! Do you think he was human?" asked Dimple

"No, I know that he was a spirit. He just seemed really human…but he wasn't…" said Mob. He looked human and sounded human and felt human but he wasn't. Physically he felt human. When he used his entire self to pin her down and she couldn't move or get away or anything. Metaphysically he just felt disgusting. Dead and gross and just…wrong on a primal level.

"Exactly! No matter how much of yourself you take to the other side it will never be enough to be who you are now! So don't ever try to do that again. Promise me!" said Dimple

"…but I don't want to be who I am now. I want to be who I want to be." Said Mob

"Just promise me that you'll never do anything this insane again! Right now! Swear it!" said Dimple

"…but I-" said Mob

"SWEAR IT!" said Dimple screaming as loudly as he could. He could not lose her, and not because she was a good spare body. He just could not lose her.

"Ok…." Said Mob. She stared at Dimple. He was really upset it seemed, about what had happened. It was…it was nice that he cared about her. He knew what she did and he still cared about her. He knew the whole of what she did, not just the bits and pieces she told her friends. He still cared about her. Well he was an evil spirit, of course he wouldn't care if she killed someone or ended a world.

"Good! Seriously, a lot of people would be upset if you died. Like Reigen! Whatever happened to him?" asked Dimple. It would have made sense, her being here, if that guy was here too. But he wasn't, Dimple would have been able to sense him. Hell, Dimple would have been able to see him all merged up with Shigeko like he was apt to do. Seriously, that guy….if he was going to be a weirdo then he might as well own up to it.

"He's…at home right now, probably. I don't know. He doesn't want me around anymore…because I'm terrible. He just…he doesn't want me anymore…" said Mob. She wiped her eyes. She could not cry. She was sick and tired of crying.

"Seriously? He said that?" asked Dimple. Well the guy finally cracked, just not in the way it seemed like he would. So he wasn't ready to own up to being a weirdo, huh? Dimple didn't get why. He had the most powerful being on Earth after him, why not just go with it?

"He said that I was a stubborn brat and that he didn't want to be stuck with me…and that he didn't love me…" said Mob. She just covered her eyes so that she wouldn't have to constantly wipe them.

"Yeah, well, he probably didn't mean it. I bet he's at home kicking himself right now for shooting his mouth off like that." Said Dimple. He had checked Reigen's place earlier and the guy wasn't home but, hey, he seemed like he was the kind of guy who would go off and cry in a corner after breaking up or whatever.

"No, he meant it. Master Reigen doesn't tell lies." Said Mob. Master Reigen would never, ever, lie to her. She wished that he had, though, because him lying about not loving her would have been much easier to swallow than him not loving her at all.

"Right, and when I was alive I was voted 'handsomest man in all of Japan'." Said Dimple with a snort.

"Oh. Is that why you're called Dimple? Also, congratulations." Said Mob

"…thanks. Anyway, fuck your master. Literally, if you want." Said Dimple. Mob shook her head and pulled Teru's hoodie over her face.

"Dimple, don't be gross." Said Mob, her voice muffled through the hoodie.

"Fine, fine, fine, stay here and wallow in…whatever this was." Said Dimple

"I don't even know what this is. I just…I promised my friend that I wouldn't sleep outside tonight so I came here. I guess I just…I missed it here." Said Mob

"Outside. So I leave for…however long it's been and your life falls apart at the seams. Well, you're in luck, your good buddy Dimple's here now. So come on." Said Dimple hovering towards the door. Mob stood up.

"Where are we going?" asked Mob. Anywhere but here. She had been here before. She had spent so long in this office…or just staring up at this office. She was tired, so tried, of all the crying and the sadness and the deep, cold, feeling that settled inside of her and just wouldn't come out.

"I told you already, I'm teaching you how to defend yourself." Said Dimple

"I already know how to fight." Said Mob

"No, not that. You can't fight that bastard. He's too strong and he's not limited in this world like you are. Your body limits you but it's also your advantage, Shigeko, because at the end of it all you're alive and he's dead." Said Dimple hovering out the door and down the stairs. Mob followed him, using her powers to turn off the lights and lock up as she left.

"But he's gone, now, Dimple. I don't have to fight him ever again." Said Mob as they left.

"You will one of these days and when it happens you need to be ready. So follow me." Said Dimple

"To where?" asked Mob pulling Teru's hoodie around herself tightly. The cold had a bite to it, now, a familiar bite. She looked back. No 'for rent' sign in the window. It was just cold out, that was all. It was just cold out and that was normal because winter was coming, like Mezato had said, and that was why it was so cold. This cold had nothing to do with Mogami or the unreality but instead it had to do with the Earth's natural weather patterns.

"I managed to gather up some spirits for you. Bunch of idiots, told them we'd all work together. Idiots, the lot of them." Said Dimple

"That was mean. Lying is mean." Said Mob

"I'm an evil spirit, Shigeko, lying is what I do." Said Dimple

"Sorry…I guess I forgot. You're just so nice to me…" said Mob. She knew that Dimple was an evil spirit, he had the feel of an evil spirit about him, but he wasn't evil. She had seen true evil. She had felt it. Dimple was, actually, more generally malevolent than anything else.

"Evil spirits can be nice sometimes." Said Dimple. Mob nodded.

"I guess. You don't really seem that evil, though, Dimple. You're not…you're not him." said Mob

"Well, of course not. He's on a whole other level. Bastard did it…he managed to become the most evil of all evil spirits. Bastard…." Said Dimple. Mob wanted to tell him that wanting to be like Mogami was a terrible thing to want. That Dimple was fine how he was. That being evil, that being terrible, was nothing to strive for.

But she didn't.

She just followed him. Spirits were different than people. Dimple himself even said that once you went to the other side no matter how much you kept you still didn't take everything with you. What was Dimple like when he was alive? When they met he told her that unless she could smile she would never be able to laugh and enjoy life with the person who she loved. What that what happened to him? Did he die without having spent enough time with the people he loved? Did he lose the happy memories of the people he loved when he died?

She didn't know.

She didn't know lot of things, like there they were going. She followed him through the city, the dark city. Dark and cold but real. This reality. She followed Dimple, a speck of green in the blackness. There were other spirits around, too. Neutral spirits. They paid her no mind but they fled as Dimple approached. She wondered if he ate neutral sprits too. She knew that he ate evil spirits, she had seen it. She knew that spirits ate other spirits, it was like how people ate animals. Or was it more like how people at other people. But they shouldn't eat other people, really, unless it was some kind of life boat situation. Spirits could not be held to the same standards as people, mainly because they were not people anymore. It was like expecting a cat to act like a dog, or visa versa.

The only being who could act like humans were other humans.

She was human the same as everyone else.

She was terrible because she was human. She needed to be held to the same standards as a human being. She was just a human being with powers. Her powers made her special but they were a talent just like any other. If everyone was so special than nobody was which meant that she was just like any other human being and if she was just like anyone else then she could change and be who she wanted to be.

Or she wasn't human. Or she was just a vessel for this terrible power. She was just a monster made out of energy poured into the form of a girl.

Or she was like an angel, another form the humanity could have taken. Not human but not inhuman either. Something near to being human. She opened and closed her hand. She felt her powers right there, right under her skin. She saw her aura pulse. She poked the other her.

Was she human?

She had to be.

"We're here! Feast your eyes on this feast!" said Dimple as they stopped in front of a warehouse. It smelled like gasoline and nighttime. Mob looked up and down before she nodded.

"Ok. They all feel evil. I'll exorcise them." Said Mob. Nothing in the warehouse Dimple lead her to felt evil. Lots of spirits. None of them were even close to Dimple's level, let alone Mogami's level. Still, if a normal person were to wander into this they could get seriously hurt if not die.

"No! You need to absorb them, Shigeko. That's the only chance you have if you ever fight Mogami again. Eat him before he gets you out of your vessel and eats you." Said Dimple. The dead could, in theory, eat the living if they were projecting from their vessels and Mob would be a feast and a half.

"No. I'm not trying that again." Said Mob. She had tried to absorb parts of Moagmi before, back in the unreality, when they had their final battle or big fight, however one wanted to look at it. That had been an experience that she never hoped to repeat. She never wanted to repeat anything that happened in the unreality.

"You have to! It's probably going to be gross but you have to learn how to do this or you're going to die!" said Dimple

"If I die you can have my body, if that's what you're worried about." Said Mob

"That's not what this is about, Shigeko! I don't want your body if you're dead, I don't want you dead at all!" said Dimple

"But I won't die…I won't….and if I do…" said Mob

"You won't! Shigeko! Just try, ok?! You need to try! Being nice, the way you're obsessed with, is going to get you killed!" said Dimple

"I'm not obsessed with being nice, I just have to be nice because if I'm not nice, if I don't worry about being nice and good then…then I could do something bad. Then I could kill someone. I killed Asagiri because I wasn't worried about being nice and good. I wasn't worried about anything, Dimple, and I killed someone. I don't ever want to do that again." Said Mob

"First of all you didn't kill her. Dematerializing like you did would have definitely killed her but strangling a representation of her in a fake world would not have killed her. Secondly, Shigeko, this is kill or be killed. You're alive and you need to stay alive. You almost died because you didn't do what you needed to do and I am not going to let you die!" said Dimple

"…..but I did kill her. I didn't know that she wasn't in her actual body. I didn't know that I was in the unreality. Doesn't it matter more what I thought was happening then what was actually happening?" asked Mob

"No, it doesn't. What matters is whether or not you die, Shigeko. Will you just try? I'm asking you to try, Shigeko, because I can't see you come that close to death ever again." Said Dimple. His voice was low. He needed her to understand. He could not lose this kid, and not just because she was useful to him. This was a nice kid. She didn't deserve any of this shit.

"…you care about me this much?" asked Mob. Dimple was her friend and he cared about her. He knew what she did and he didn't care. He wanted her to be ok. He cared whether or not she was ok. That was…a lot of people cared whether or not she was ok.

"Yes! Now get in there and eat some spirits!" said Dimple. Mob nodded. For him, for her friend, she would try.

She tried. She tried to absorb the first evil spirit she saw. She just couldn't. It was the most disgusting thing that she could conceive of. The energy that made her up was alive, it did not want something dead inside of it. She didn't much like the invasion into her vessel, and it did feel like an invasion when her body tried to assimilate this new energy.

So she threw up.

Black stuff. The spirit turned to black stuff that built up inside of her. It didn't actually come from her stomach but from her aura. She only doubled over because the feeling was pretty much the same as being motion sick. She bent over and from her very aura black energy poured out.

And just sat before her.

Dimple ate it, though, so it didn't go to waste. Even though it was gross, he was essentially eating her throw up after all. Black ectoplasm, he called it. Not as good as from an actual medium but still a good source of spiritual energy. An actual medium. Mob was not a medium, Mogami was. She remembered….he had made that distinction. Psychokinetic was what he had called her. She had powers that he didn't have but he had powers that she didn't have. He could do séances, she couldn't. She could only see spirits that were sticking around on this plain of existence. He could look behind curtain that divided this world from the next. She couldn't.

That was why he could absorb spirits without getting sick.

"Well, we tried. Go on, do your thing." Said Dimple. A good meal, if anything. She wasn't a true medium so it was more like ectoplasm-lite but still pretty good. OK, so she couldn't just eat Mogami. Dimple would think of something. Step one was done, though. She was starting to abandon her weird obsession with being good and nice. She always held herself back because she was both afraid of doing the worst and of disappointing the man she called her master. Well he was gone and she already thought that she had done the worst so there, step one done.

Mob nodded. She usually just sent enough psychic energy at the spirits to destroy them down to the particle layer, but not this time. Dematerialized. That was the word that Dimple used. Breaking down the bonds between the different spirits. She broke them all down until they were a blue, green, and black soup. Still alive, whatever life that spirits could have, but all together.

The sea of red LCL hadn't been so bad.

"Now that's just messed up, Shigeko." Said Dimple. That looked like true hell. He had a barrier between himself and the world, not a true vessel for himself but a barrier at least. That was what he could have been without….

He could feel fear. He was capable of it. He understood why people would fear Shigeko. Not just her vast amounts of power, that she could easily erase you, but what else she could do. There were worse things than death.

"Is it?" asked Mob. The sea of red LCL had been nice, sort of. No barrier for herself. Dematerialized.

"Yes…it is…" said Dimple. She was just standing there. Physically. Metaphysically he could see the other part of her, the terrifying part, peeking out. Peeking out of her vessel….

"I don't like it, when other people are inside of me. My vessel and my barrier. I don't like it but when I was in the unreality…without Mogami…when I was ending the world…it was almost…nice." Said Mob

"That's messed up, Shigeko, really messed up. Will you just finish them out already?" asked Dimple. Mob nodded and broke the sea apart. Down to the particle layer. Gone. Dead. Double dead.

"That was gross and weird and I'm tired. I'm going to find a place to sleep now, Dimple. Goodnight." Said Mob. She turned to leave, she was not going to sleep here, she didn't feel like it. Not in the office, either, because it made her too sad. She had to find a place to sleep inside, though, because she made Mezato a promise and she would not add promise breaking to the list of things that she had done wrong.

"Find a place? Just go back to your house, Shigeko. I bet your brother would be pretty happy." Said Dimple. Not back to Reigen, no, because then he'd just give Shigeko that same spiel about not using her powers for her own gain.

"No. I won't go back there, ever. I said that I would rather sleep in the park rather than go home, I meant it when I said it. Besides, Ritsu deserves so much better than what I can be. I just…I can't go back there, Dimple. It's fine, though, and I'm fine. Everything's fine." Said Mob

"What about that blond kid, then? Forget your master, head on over to that kid. He'd do pretty much anything for you." Said Dimple

"Teru? I guess I could…but I don't want to….for reasons." Said Mob

"What'd he do that was so bad that you'd rather sleep outside than with him?" asked Dimple. What had he missed? This was the absolute last time he left Shigeko to her own devices.

"He didn't do anything wrong, that's the problem. In the unreality there was a version of him and I…I'm a cheater. I cheated on him with another version of himself….but he forgave me…but I did something wrong and I should feel bad for what I did…and I do feel bad…but that's not all why…but there are other reasons and I…I like being myself. I don't want anyone else inside of my aura or my vessel because…I spent so much time…time outside of my vessel…and with Mogami…and I just…I don't want to. I don't want to." Said Mob. She did, she did want to. She wanted to be with someone who made her feel safe and warm. She wanted to be with him and be loved and cared for but she also didn't…she didn't want to have to share herself like that. She just didn't want to.

"You're killing me, Shigeko!" said Dimple

"You're already dead." Said Mob

"Then I'm extra dead. Shigeko…I'm going to use up a lot of my spiritual energy but…follow me." Said Dimple

"I don't want to eat any more spirits, Dimple, so if that's where you're taking me I won't follow you." Said Mob as they walked through the city together. She walked, he floated, and neutral spirits fled. The streets were practically deserted. There were a few people milling around but at this hour it was mostly wanderers like Mob. That was what she was, a wanderer. Not homeless, like Mezato and Tome called her. She was just a wanderer.

That was a nicer word.

"That's not where we're going. There's this guy I use, sometimes, when I need a body for something. I can take him over for a while, long enough for you to get some sleep and maybe a shower. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Shigeko, you look like crap." Said Dimple

"Dimple. No. It's one thing for you to eat other spirits, that's how spirits work, but I can't be there while you steal someone's body for no reason." Said Mob stopping in her tracks.

"Shigeko, don't be so stubborn! It's cold out here, I can tell. Your face is rosy, your fingers are curled into your sleeves, and I think you're shivering a little, too. You need to be warm to live and I have a warm place. Don't worry about the guy. Shigeko, he's a real piece of shit. Seriously, I'm not kidding." Said Dimple hovering next to her.

"….who? I mean…is it…is it someone who's really a bad person?" asked Mob. She was cold. Dimple was right. She was alone, too. She was alone and cold and she…she didn't like it. It was fine, everything was fine. She had just been spending too much time in houses and on beds. It was easier when she had just gone outside to live forever. A clean break from the world of living inside to the world of living outside.

"Remember that security guard? From the big Claw thing? Well he's a real piece of shit, I mean of course he was, he worked for Claw. Trust me, Shigeko, you don't want to know what this guy is into." Said Dimple stretching the truth a little. The guy worked for Claw so, obviously, a lot of kidnapping and torture, but not his own personal involvement. He just guarded the building and kept people from infiltrating or escaping. That was bad but he wasn't eating people or anything like that. But Shigeko didn't need to know that. He'd let her mind run away with her.

"….so he is a bad person, then?" asked Mob. Well if he was a truly terrible person then…wouldn't it be better if Dimple took over his body? Dimple may have been an evil spirit but he wasn't that evil of a spirit. Besides…she was already terrible, anyway…

"Oh yeah, the worst. Come on, it's warm and there's a bed." Said Dimple. He had no idea what time it was but he knew that they must have been out for a while. She was walking more slowly. Her skin was pale in places and rosy in others. She had dark circles under her eyes, and they looked like they were getting worse.

"That would be…nice." Said Mob. A bed. A warm bed. She had been fine, before, sleeping outside but…but she wanted to be inside.

Mob followed Dimple across the city. This was like the neighborhood she shared with Master Reigen. All apartment buildings but these looked less nice. The paint was coming off, the walls were cracked, even the sidewalk was cracked. There were more people out and about, too. Some of them called out to her but Dimple said not to make eye contact and to keep on moving no matter what. She listened.

They came to a grey building. The paint was coming off and the front lights flickered. There were dead bugs stuck inside of the light, too. Poor bugs. They thought that they had found happiness, bugs liked light, but then they were trapped and eventually died. Stuck. Trapped. Helpless. Scared. Alone.

"Come on already!" said Dimple. This was not the place for her. She wasn't ready to defend herself against other people, not yet, anyway. Lots of shady people around, even more than in her old place.

"Sorry." Said Mob. She hurried up. She went quickly through the lobby, paying no attention to the people milling around. People talked to her, though, but she said nothing back. She didn't even get what it was that they were saying. Didn't sound good, though. Not good at all.

She followed Dimple up the stairs for way too many floors. Her legs hurt, her back hurt, her feet hurt, and she was sleepy. She needed sleep. She didn't need as much sleep as a normal person but she did need sleep. They stopped in front of a white door. All the doors were white with the numbers written in black. Simple.

"Wait here." Said Dimple. He hovered through the door. Mob could see his aura through the walls and door. Bright green for a moment. Then there was the sound of crashing and gasping for a while. There was a crash against the door before it opened.

"This guy…is drunk." Said Dimple. Motor skills were shot to hell. Mental cognition was just as bad, but he could focus on maintaining coherence. It was mental or physical acuity, that was it. He went with the mental.

"What's his name?" asked Mob as she entered the apartment. That was the most important question, she thought. Not 'why is he drunk?' or 'why do you keep people around just to take over their bodies?' or even 'why this specific guy'. His name was important. People needed names so therefore his name was important. Especially if they were going to be living in his house which was an apartment, which was not a very nice apartment but at apartment with heat and a bed. Not very big, though, and Mob wondered how he managed to live here. One long room. A kitchen first, a bathroom behind a curtain off to the side, and then at the end of the room a mattress on the floor with a low table in front of it. The room was illuminated by an opened laptop. Light danced across the room. A pair of headphones on the keyboard cast long shadows on the walls.

"Huh? Oh, Domoto Takuro." Said Dimple. He shrugged into a pair of sweat pants. This was not the place for Shigeko at all, really, but he couldn't have her dying out there. He'd try harder, later, to convince her to go back home to her actual home, not Reigen's. Reigen was a terrible influence on her.

"Oh. Ok." Said Mob. She stood sort of in the kitchen. Lots of pots and pans, very few of them clean. It smelled weird in here too, like cigarettes but somehow…not good? If that made sense.

"So here's a bed, you can sleep in it. It'll hold onto this guy for as long as I can and I'll wake you when I feel myself start to slip." Said Dimple. Thank God this guy was drunk, natural defenses were pretty low. An esper, but a very weak one. Worse than Reigen, and that was saying something.

"You can just borrow energy from me if you need it. I have a lot of it." Said Mob. She walked over to the bed, which was a mattress on the floor, but not a futon. She sat herself down on it, it dipped in the middle. Dimple slammed the laptop shut quickly as she sat down.

"I'm trying not to get too dependent on you like that." Said Dimple. He reached over to the tiny table and shook a cigarette from the pack. Mob lit it with her powers from him.

"It's ok. I don't mind." Said Mob as she laid down. This bed could have used a washing but she had slept in worse, much worse.

"Well I do. I'd rather not get too dependent on energy from you, if you don't mind. It's like this-" said Dimple ashing his cigarette onto the bed.

"This?" asked Mob turning onto her side.

"You're like this cigarette. I don't want to smoke this, this is a crappy brand first of all, but I have to because this body craves them. You're delicious and nutritious, Shigeko, and I almost got too dependent on you. It's not a god feeling." Said Dimple. Mob nodded, her eyes on the burning end of his cigarette.

"Oh. Is that why you leave for a long time, sometimes?" asked Mob

"Well that and I do have a life." Said Dimple. Mob smiled.

"Even though you're dead?" asked Mob. Dimple flicked her on the forehead. It didn't hurt, felt a little gross even through the body he was inhabiting, but not as bad as when Mogami…

"Everyone needs a life." Said Dimple pulling a blanket up over Mob.

"What do you? When you aren't with me?" asked Mob. What was a spirit's day like? A spirit's life? Or rather existence…yes, that was the better word. She wondered what his existence was like. What any spirit's existence was like. Dimple was smarter than most spirits, she noticed. More thoughts to what he did. Evil spirits, anyway. Neutral spirits were smart but they didn't really talk to her.

"Me? I eat, I hang out, I possess schmucks, and try to achieve my ultimate goal of godhood. Through you, if necessary." Said Dimple. He mostly spent his days eating smaller spirits, hanging out in this guy, and trying to find some proper followers. His last batch had really latched onto Shigeko of all people. He could understand it, he really could. She was powerful. She had the charisma of a soy bean but she was powerful. Held very strong convictions, too. She stood for something, something stupid but something. That was good. You couldn't sway the hearts of men with psychic powers alone.

That had been a damn good cult he had, back in the day.

But it was a damn good cult that she had going for herself, now.

And he couldn't ascend to power through it without her.

"I don't want to be a God, Dimple. I just want to be who I want to be." Said Mob, her eyes still on his cigarette. He reached over and handed her the box. Mb stared for a moment before shaking one out for herself. She missed this…the occasional cigarette she'd smoke with Master Reigen. When they were equals. She'd never have that with him again…

She took the cigarette, lit it with her powers, and held it in her mouth.

Didn't feel as good.

"You could be so great, Shigeko. You could be a queen or a God or just a messiah. What do you want to be that could possibly be better than that?" asked Dimple. She could have swayed men's hearts easily. Not just her powers but that weird life philosophy she had. If she just had an ounce of ambition she could have been something. Something good, something dangerous, something like a God.

"That's what Mezato says, too, that I could be great. I don't want to be great, I just want to be a good person. That's all I want. I just want to be a good person…that's all. I don't want to tell people what to do or what to think, I just want to be a good person. Being a queen or a God or a messiah would just be too…bossy. That's not who I am, Dimple, and it's not who I want to be." Said Mob letting her cigarette burn down.

"You have to inhale, Shigeko." Said Dimple with a sigh. Even at her lowest she still clung to the stupidity that Reigen taught her. What was it about that guy that had her so enraptured? She could do so much better but she was still hung up on him, even after he cast her aside she was still hung up on him.

Mob tried to inhale and ended up coughing harder than she ever had in her life. She sat up and doubled over. She felt a hand hitting her on the back. Gross, but she had felt grosser. Dimple took her lit cigarette from the bedspread and put it out. Oh. There was a hole in the bedspread now. She had done that. She put her hand over it and tried to will the cloth of come back together. She pulled her hand up and where there had been a hole there was now a pinched space of fabric, it was kind of like a scar, but it was better than a hole.

"I will never understand you." Said Dimple. She smoked what she hated, she lived where she hated, and she lived a life that, to him, she must have hated. She always said that she had to be a good person. She wanted to and she had to. So afraid of herself, afraid to the point of stifling herself…poor kid. Well that was why she had him.

"Me neither, Dimple. I'll never understand me either." Said Mob. She didn't understand what she wanted or why she wanted it. She didn't understand what she feared or why she feared it. She didn't make sense. She wanted to go back to Master Reigen even though he had been so…so mean to her. She was afraid of so many things, too, from the unreality. But that was over. It was like her brain knew that it was over but the rest of her didn't.

She laid herself down and closed her eyes. With her powers she pulled her phone and it's charger out of her bag and stuck them in where she felt an outlet. No sense in not charging her phone, she needed to watch shows. That and, well, maybe Master Reigen would….but he wouldn't. He wouldn't call or text or anything. He didn't need her anymore. He had never really needed her to begin with.

But she still needed him.

Reigen knew, in the morning, that he didn't need Mob anymore.

He awoke to a pounding headache, the grossest taste in the world in his mouth, and a lonely bed with only the shadow of someone else's body heat to keep him company. He still didn't need her. He was doing just fine, he was out celebrating his birthday. Last night and the night before that. Doing what adults did. Drinking and sex, what else could he need?

A cake made with love. A present wrapped in Christmas paper because that was all that she had in the house. A smile and a soft 'do you like it' but, of course, she would ask before he opened whatever it was that she got him. That she got him with the meager money he paid her so really this was essentially just him getting himself a gift, but it didn't matter because she had picked whatever it was out for him and how long had it been since someone got him a birthday present and-

He didn't need her.

He rolled out of bed. Time to get up and greet the day. Go to work even though he didn't need the money. Without Mob around he had all of the money from the Asagiri job…split between two bank accounts. In half. To make it easier to manage…or in case she ever came back looking for her half of the money….that she insisted on him taking.

She had insisted. She had told him that if he didn't take the money then it would have all been for nothing.

What had even happened to her? Dimple said so many times that she could have died…and she did break her leg pretty badly…but it healed…

If something had happened, something truly awful, then she would have told him. She told him everything else. She told him everything that happened in her life so, really, if it was that bad she would have told him something….even though she felt so…vulnerable…when they came home. That was how she felt when she asked to share a bed with him. Vulnerable.

He got out of bed and checked his phone. Damn, it was late….and what was with all of these alerts? People were tagging him? And hash tagging him? Huh? Hopefully this had nothing to do with Mob…or that art movie he was in back in university…hopefully.

He clicked on the first of them. He was being mentioned on…huh. He hadn't used this account in years. But he was being mentioned. Huh. Defeating the player killer had blown up more than he thought that it would. A lot of people played Fantasy Hell, it seemed….and they were super grateful. Oh. They were calling him the bro of Seasoning City. Well then.

Not Master Reigen but something else, something to a lot of people.

It felt good. Not that he hadn't been feeling good before, he just felt extra good now. Yes. He had accomplished something. Another alert. Oh. An E-mail. He stood up and opened his E-mail as he walked to the bathroom, for once not minding the silence in his apartment.

Some gaming magazine wanted to interview him. Well he could certainly pencil them into his busy schedule. He smiled as he made his way to the bathroom. He didn't look as he reached for his toothbrush. Huh? Had it always had those ridges? He looked down. Pink. Mob's toothbrush. He made a motion to throw it into the bathroom garbage, it wasn't like he could use it, but then at the last minute put it in the medicine cabinet. She'd come back for her stuff, eventually.

And that was fine.

He really didn't need her anymore. At the end of the day she had been, first and foremost, a meal ticket. Well he was taking his career to new heights all on his own, thank you very much, and he didn't need her anymore. He was fine, really fine, and that was what mattered. Perfectly fine.

Better than fine.

He was someone.

And he had done it all by himself.

He got dressed and left the house with a sense of energy and urgency that he had not felt in so long. He had a something going on, something that had nothing to do with Mob. Maybe he was over her, finally, not that there was ever anything to get over. She had her life and he had his. Disentangled. He was disentangled from Mob. He was himself again. Himself without her approval, without her worship, without having to be the Reigen Arataka that existed in her mind. He was the Reigen Arataka that he wanted to be, not the one that she wanted him to be. It was nice, being able to just breathe for one. To exist without having to worry about tarnishing her image of him.

He was just himself.

He was somebody.

This thought, the thought that he had finally become more than the Reigen Arataka he had always been, more than the scared kid hiding under his bed, more than the disaffected teenager trying his hardest to be, well, disaffected. More than the scared man shaking in a cheap suit that he had been on that awful night…he was something more than he had ever been. He was somebody now and he could finally just…be. Becoming somebody had been what he wanted and now…and now he was. He was somebody and it wasn't the somebody he wanted to be when he was a child, the great Reigen Arataka, and it wasn't the somebody that Mob wanted him to be, Master Reigen. No, he was somebody based on something that he did, not somebody that he was trying to be.

It was nice.

And he didn't even need Mob for it.

Mob knew that she was not needed, but it still felt nice when her friends showed concern. She didn't deserve it, not at all, but it was still nice. It was nice when Tome stuffed her school bag with snacks and pop even though Mob said that she didn't need it. It was nice when Mezato told her that she had managed to wear her mom down about her punishment, since she had never been told that it was against the rules to copy the master key then how could she be punished? Especially since she had good intentions? So Mob was grateful that Mezato wanted her to stay over that badly that she was working on getting her punishment lifted. She had happy to feel, well, needed. Or at least wanted. Not cast aside.

And she had been cast aside.

It happened a few days after she had stayed over at Dimple's host's apartment. She had been eating her lunch in the hallway, it felt safer than in the classroom, when Mezato had joined her. She threw herself on the ground and showed Mob 'what passed for news these days', according to Mezato. Someone had exorcised the player killer, it was in the entertainment section of the city's newspaper. At first Mob had been happy, Tome cared so much about that game and now she could play in peace, especially since she convinced her parents that she needed her computer for homework. So that was good and Mob felt good until she scrolled down.

Master Reigen had done it all by himself.

He really was amazing.

And he really didn't need her.

"….I swear to God if these idiots waste one more sheet of paper on this crap I'm going to scream. I mean, seriously, it's just a game. There are a million other games out there that people could have been playing but no, instead they fixated on this one and now there are enough of them that this is what counts as news? And look at the super original and totally creative name they came up with for him. The Bro of Seasoning City? Really? I'm with Tome on this, freaking NEETs…" Mezato was mad and when she got mad she told Mob about, which really felt more like talking to herself if anything. Mob listened as best as she could. Her mind was doing that thing, or at least trying to do that thing, where it went walkabouts. When the world just got this sort of sleepy haze to it and time just slipped by. That was what this felt like.

Master Reigen really and truly did not need her anymore.

She had seen him after he had tried to exorcise powerful spirits. She had even been him and had…it was exhausting. He did not have the stamina he did. But he had also said that his powers had changed and that he was still getting used to them. He must have finally gotten used to them. This was fine, everything was fine. He had spent over twenty years of his life, longer than she had even been alive, without her. He had never really needed her, he had just gotten stuck with her.

That day, the day they met…he never wanted her around.

All these years…he never wanted her around.

Mob went through the motions of listening to Mezato. She looked at Mezato, nodded when there were pauses in what she said, and let herself be led back to the classroom when lunch was over. She went through the motions of school. She went through the motions of her afterschool clubs. She went through all the motions until the day was over and she had to leave school and the world was so big and her life was her own so she had to go somewhere but she had nowhere to go…

But she felt Teru's aura.

So she went through the motions of finding him. It wasn't hard, he was waiting for her in their clearing after all. Making time for her, that was what he had called it.

"I mean, we haven't been spending very much time together, not as much as we could, and I know that you're feeling neglected." Teru said as they sat down on the grass together. Mob nodded. She was only half listening but she at least knew when it was polite to nod.

"Right…of course you've been feeling neglected. Why wouldn't you? I've been spending so much time with my…but so have you. You've been spending a lot of time with your friends but that's only because…Friends are all well and good but we're in an actual relationship and I need to act like it. Well we both do but mostly me. I don't know what I did to push you away and I don't know what I'm still doing but this matters to me. You matter to me." Said Teru. He took her hand in his. She felt the energy that made him up. She saw his aura. Gold, like the wrappers around chocolate coins. She hadn't seen him in a while. He was making more of an effort to make friends and be a joiner of something other than what he had been doing when they met, he had said a while ago, and Mob was glad that it was working out for him.

"I matter? Even after-" said Mob. Teru put a finger over her lips.

"You matter to me, I don't care what you've done or what you think you've done. You matter to me and I love you. I need you to be with me and I just…I miss you and I guess that I-" said Teru. He had not been avoiding her, not really. Sleeping with her had been one thing, sleeping next to her had been something else entirely. It was different than the first time she had ever spent the entire night with her. He had been so young then. It was different now, they had done so much and gone through so much and waking up…waking up and seeing her there on his couch made him feel…pretty much everything. But then she told him that she was having a sleepover with her friend…and then she had slept over with her friend again…and he had his own things with his friends…but that was no excuse.

She obviously missed him just as much as he missed her. She obviously felt just as panicky, excited, as he did at the thought of…well…

Everything. Everything and forever. Sleeping next to her was a preview of everything and forever. The preview for a movie that he may or may not have been ready to see. But that wasn't fair to her.

She was so obviously ready.

"You need me?" asked Mob after a long while. Teru had still been holding her hand and while it felt nice she still wanted to pull away because that nagging feeling, that scared feeling, was back. That Asagiri would see Mob with her boyfriend and then she'd chop Mob's braid off or hit her or…but that was then and this was now. She tried, instead, to focus on the fact that Teru needed her. He wanted her and he needed her.

She hadn't been avoiding him, just what he wanted them to do together. But that was mean of her. She should be happy that he wanted her, that he needed her. It was a good feeling, being wanted and needed. Not being cast aside. She could do that, all of the 'that' that he wanted, for him. Because she loved him and he loved her and there had to be someone in this world that still loved her.

"…yes, Shigeko, I need you. I need you to be with me, I need you to…I need someone to have dinner with and watch TV with and play go with. Not to sound too needy or anything! I just…spending the entire night with you was a lot, but in a good way. I just…did I push you too far? I mean, obviously we've done everything already but it's just…for me it was a lot…in a good way…but also kind of…a lot. I just love you a lot and I feel like…it doesn't have to be forever! I just…I miss you, Shigeko, and I want to be with you again." Said Teru. Mob nodded and kept on holding his hand. He needed her and she needed him. She needed to be loved and he loved her. He cared about her, even after knowing what she had done. So it was time to stop being dumb and just…and just….just…

Just stop it already.

She kissed him. She moved forward and she kissed him. She was needed and it felt so good to be needed. So she kissed him. Teru needed her. Master Reigen didn't need her, didn't want her, but Teru needed her and wanted her.

So she went home with him.

It was nice to be wanted.


	48. Better Off, A Good Thing

A/N: I am so sorry for the upload error! Ok, here's the real chapter 48! I am so, so, so sorry guys! (Kowtows)

Mob had been staying at Teru's house for two days.

Two days of a warm place to sleep.

Two days of someone wanting to be with her.

Two days of warm dinners, breakfasts, and even a homemade lunch.

"….so I was thinking that we could get them in pink, it's your favorite color after all. Pink and grey, I think, because it's less of a contrast than between pink and blue. I mean, pink and blue would work better because they're the same colors as your aura but grey highlights the pink better. But not a deep grey, more of a light grey. Light grey and baby pink, yeah, that would work. What do you think, Shigeko?" asked Teru over a breakfast of pancakes that the two of them made together. In Teru's opinion they tasted better when they were made with another person. Mob was just happy to have breakfast. It was warm and there was warm syrup and she and Teru had made them together. Powers made it easier. Mob hadn't even known that you could make pancakes without the mix.

It was a nice morning.

Last night had been alright.

She just sort of went inside of her mind and talked to Shigeko for a little bit.

Then she came back, they cried a little, he held onto her until he fell asleep, and then she watched TV for a while.

So a pretty alright night.

"Whatever you want, Teru." Said Mob. She took a sip of her cocoa. Teru had taught her how to make it. Well she knew how to make cocoa but he made it better. Well, he thought so anyway. He made it with an egg yolk, and it was more bitter than the stuff she had made before from the powder.

He liked it, though.

"I was also thinking that we could see that new movie that came out, at the 4D theatre. It's kind of a long trip but it'll be worth it. I mean, it is kind of gimmicky but it's something that we can't get at home. Heh. So I guess they won after all." Said Teru

"Whatever you want, Teru." Said Mob. It was still kind of hard, coming back to the moment. Eating was very repetitive, easy. Up and down, chew and swallow. Simple. Talking was something else. Talking meant that she had to listen and listening was kind of hard.

Why couldn't she just be normal already?

"Or we could just have a lie in. TV, snacks, bed….if you want." Said Teru

"Whatever you want, Teru." Said Mob as she ate some more. Teru sighed.

"What do you want to do, Shigeko?" asked Teru. It felt like he was talking to a wall. What was with her? How could she have no opinion on, well, anything? Something was up with her, something was different. He just didn't know what. She was quieter, if that was even possible, and watched a lot more TV. Constantly. She was looking over his shoulder right now and watching TV.

You sure learned a lot about a person when you lived with them.

Not that she was living with him permanently or anything.

Because that would have been a lot.

It would have been a lot because, well, it just would have. He had been alone for so long already….but it wasn't just that. It wasn't like having a roommate, well his understanding of having a roommate, it was more like…having your girlfriend live with you. Like adults did. Which would have been great because he was practically an adult anyway, but in practice was…something. There was something good to waking up to her in his living room just watching TV in his pajamas, just one of his oversized T-shirts today which was just wonderful, there was also something to be said to falling asleep with her each night, too. Him curled up around her. The way she felt. Knowing that she was there, with him, and she was his….that was nice.

Even bumping elbows with her while they brushed their teeth in the morning was nice.

But the thought of doing it forever…it was nice and not nice and made the room feel small and his collar feel tight and filled him with a sort of restlessness that he could not name or quantify. But it was insane to feel like that. That was what you wanted with a girlfriend, forever, that was why you had a girlfriend in the first place. That was what you were supposed to do when you grew up and found the girl that you loved.

Forever was a very long time.

When he thought about it, forever, it stretched out so far…it was both far away and right there at the same time…it made him dizzy. It was made him dizzy and warm and a little scared. A little. Which made no sense because, first of all, he was Hanazawa Teruki. He had been almost kidnapped countless times and fought off so many would be kidnappers and God only knew what else those guys had on their minds….and second of all! Yes! Second of all he was not a kid anymore and of course he would want his girlfriend to move in!

She had already practically moved in.

She had socks and underwear in his drawer, a toothbrush in his toothbrush holder, shampoo in his bathroom, and dresses in his wardrobe. Well, ok, he was the one getting her dresses and stuff but in his defense she was really, really, really fun to style. She was pale with black hair, she could wear anything but black so that left him a lot of options. Plus, well, he was getting himself new clothes anyway, damned growth spurt, so there was no reason not to pick her up a few things that matched him.

Of course opening his wardrobe and his drawers and stuff and seeing the material things she left behind….maybe it did…startle…him a bit. Just a bit. That was insane, though, because months ago he had been fully prepared to let her live with him. Months ago when she had first run away from home. He had been more of a kid, then, and when Reigen, an adult, said that Mob had to come live with him he did nothing. Of course even she wasn't listening to Reigen anymore so of course he wouldn't just hand all of her stuff over if Reigen ever came looking for her.

Of course.

But that begged the question also, was she ever going back to Reigen. She had been with him for two days in a row….that was kind of a lot. She made no indication that she was planning on leaving, either. Not that he wanted her to go. He didn't. He just…forever was a very long time. But forever was what adults wanted. And he was an adult. He was a man and that was what a man did, he found a girlfriend and spent forever with her. Forever would be great. It really wound be!

"I don't know, Teru, I guess just watch TV. But I'll do whatever you want to do." Said Mob. She didn't care what they did, just that Teru was happy. She just wanted Teru to be happy. When he was happy then she could be happy. She shifted in her chair as he stared at her.

"I just want to know what you want to do, that's all. We can watch TV all weekend if you want. I mean not all weekend, obviously, because we have homework and I have a club thing…but maybe I could just skip it. I should spend more time with you." Said Teru. He reached over and took her hand. Her face was as blank as it ever was.

"No. You shouldn't skip club. Club is important. I'll just be with some of my mother friends or go to the park or watch TV at the electronics store." Said Mob. She didn't want to stay forever…right? Forever. Eternity. Perpetuity. She had been ready to give Master Reigen that but it was different with Teru. Maybe because Teru was her actual boyfriend. Maybe because she could actually kiss Teru in life, not just in her head. Maybe because she actually shared a bed, and herself, with Teru. So spending forever with him was different.

And a thing.

Lots of things were a thing but being with him, like that, was a thing that she had to deal with right now.

She still felt weird. Being back in her body. Not that she ever left her body, she just went into her mind. Being back into herself after having someone else within herself was just…a thing. The weight of him…the intrusion into herself, the weird feeling that lingered afterwards. The feeling that she was still naked even though she wasn't. Well, not really. She was in one of his T-shirts, which fit her like a nightshirt, but she wasn't naked. She crossed her ankles. His socks were soft. These were blue. The shirt was purple, he had called it wisteria. She was dressed but she still felt naked.

Maybe she'd feel better in her own socks. Socks and underwear were not made to be worn nonstop and washed as often as she had been washing them, she had discovered. They wore out and got ripped and stuff. So she dipped into her money and spend six hundred yen on socks and new underwear. She stored what she didn't wear at Teru's house.

He wanted her to stay forever.

It would make him happy. He was always talking about plans that he had for them, places he'd like to take her and such. Things they could do together. Mob just liked being inside. She liked being inside where there was warmth and TV and another person. A person who loved her and would not, did not, ever push her away. Even though she was terrible. But he didn't think that she was terrible. But did that matter? He didn't know the full of what she did. She knew the full of what she did and there was no excuse for killing another person. No excuse at all. Even if Dimple thought that there was. Dimple knew the full of what she had done. He said that she was stupid to beat herself up over it. That she hadn't even really killed Asagiri. That she had done what she had to do.

She wiped her free hand on her thigh.

Her other hand held his.

"You could just…wait for me here. If you want to. I guess I was making plans without even knowing what your plans were." Said Teru. Right, she had her own stuff she had to do. He'd gladly skip club to spend time with her. She looked up at him through her fringe. She still wasn't expressing anything in particular. She was so damn pretty though….he could spend forever with her….in a while. Maybe. Because she was right there right now

There was a pause. She was watching TV over his shoulder again. He wanted to say something to her but, well, they had gone this long without a fight so he saw no reason to start one. Even if she was blatantly ignoring him.

"Shigeko?" asked Teru. Mob blinked and backtracked. What had they been talking about? She had been going walkabouts more and more lately. Her mind. The Mob that existed in her mind. It was just so easy to go walkabouts….

"Oh. I don't have any plans for the weekend. I'll just do whatever you want to do." Said Mob

"….you always say that…" said Teru

"I know, I just want to do whatever you want to do. You're nice enough to let me stay over as often as you do and you love me, too, even though you don't have to. So I'll just do whatever you want me to do." Said Mob

"Don't say it like that." Said Teru

"Say what like what?" asked Mob

"That I love you. I mean I do, obviously, but it's not something that you should….grateful….for. I mean, you sound like you're grateful but really you shouldn't be. You're my girlfriend, I'm supposed to love you." Said Teru

"You don't have to but you do, Teru, and that makes me…it make me…I like it." Said Mob. Happy-ish. Not as happy as she used to be capable of being but still happy. Happy as she could be. Happy to be with someone who loved her and wanted her around.

"Do you ever feel…" asked Teru. He started before he could think. Of course she didn't feel the same way about this that he did. But then again he had thought that she didn't feel the same way about sex, when they had it and not the subject in general, but she cried just like he did from the sheer…

"I feel a lot of things." Said Mob. Less bad, lately, like it wasn't so much at the front of her mind. It was more like…sometimes she could forget that she was terrible but that nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she was terrible and didn't deserve anything and that maybe she would have been better off dematerializing in the sea of red LCL.

"I mean….it's nothing. Just…do you like it here? Living with me, I mean. I mean staying with me. Sleeping over. Do you like sleeping over? Sorry…it's early. I still haven't had my coffee." Said Teru. Mob used her powers to push his coffee mug towards him.

"I can use my powers to heat it up, if it's too cold, and I like sleeping over. It's warm here, and you have a bed." Said Mob

"Right…thanks, I guess." Said Teru. He took a sip of ice cold coffee to give himself time to process that. Warmth and a bed to sleep in…that was the absolute bare minimum. Ok then. She was saying, maybe, that she didn't expect much from him….because she was unhappy? Because she didn't care?

This was Shigeko.

He needed to stop reading so much into what she said.

She meant what she said and she said what she meant. She was probably just being her usual, pragmatic, self.

"You're welcome. I really am grateful, Teru, that you're letting me stay here. I'm grateful that I have so many people in my life who are nice to me and care about me. Nobody has to care about me but they do. I'm happy that I'm not all alone." Said Mob. There was some silence then. Mob finished off her pancakes, Teru just looked at his food.

"Yeah, it kind of sucks, doesn't it? Being alone, I mean, so thanks. Thank you. Thank you for staying here with me." Said Teru. No matter how scary having forever stretched out in front of him looked it was still preferable to coming home to an empty apartment. So what if she was always there? If she spent most of her day parked in front of his TV? That he had some stuff to get caught up on but he couldn't because she was always watching something? That she used his hairbrush because she forgot hers? That she never put the cap back on the toothpaste? That they bumped elbows when they brushed their teeth? That, contrary to what he'd led Instagram and Friendbook to believe, he had never actually woken up next to her? She always got up super early…or she just went to sleep on the couch, too….or maybe she just needed to TV to sleep…

None of that mattered. The bottom line was that she was there, with him, and he never had to be alone again.

She chose him and she chose to be with him.

So there.

So he tried to make his brain shut up. His brain kept thinking about what would happen in a week, a month, a year. He only got so much allowance and taking care of another person would definitely get his parents' attention…also maybe he was going overboard, lately, with the shopping. She just had nothing else to wear…not that this was permanent. Not that he had to think about how he was supposed to support another person, for the rest of his life and hers. Not that it would be a problem, taking care of her. That was his job, he was the guy, he had to take care of her.

He'd do a way better job than Reigen ever could.

Mob, of course, didn't know what her presence in Teru's home had done to him emotionally. She just knew that he was really clingy. She liked it. She liked it as long as he didn't pin her down with his full weight, or even make it seem like he was going to. She liked it when he rested his arm across her shoulder or laid behind her and held her. She liked how he was always near her even though he had a bunch of other rooms to be in. She even liked it, a little, when their elbows banged when they brushed their teeth in the morning.

She liked this.

Sharing a home with someone.

Even if it wouldn't be forever.

Maybe it…it could be. She had promised Master Reigen forever but he didn't want it. He didn't want it and he didn't her. He wanted nothing at all to do with her and that was fine…even if it did hurt. Even if it left a raw patch inside of her, like when you ate something hot and burned the inside of your mouth, but on her feelings. Her mind went to him all the time. Sometimes she even stared at her phone like he was going to call or something. Of course he wasn't. He had no reason to. He wasn't stuck with her anymore.

Teru wanted to be stuck with her.

Teru wanted to be near her. He liked this, her being around. He must have, he asked her to stay at his house even when he would be out. It was better than wandering the city, anyway. She could visit her own friends but she had already gotten Tome in trouble and Mezato still wasn't allowed guests of any kind for the foreseeable future. She could always visit Rei but Rei was almost always with Ritsu and Mob didn't want to…she wanted to see her brother but she knew that he deserved a better sister than what she could ever be. So she left him alone.

Maybe everyone would be better off without her.

There it was, the feeling in the back of her head. It wasn't as loud as before but it was still there. People made it better, she decided. Nobody was mean to her out here, nobody was as mean as Asagiri was. There was no Mogami, either. So it was good. So she should be happy. So she should just be normal already. But it was hard getting back to normal. But being with Teru helped.

Even if she did sometimes have to go walkabouts in her own mind.

But she was not walkabouts in her own mind, now. She was present in the moment with him watching him eat breakfast. Her eyes occasionally looked over his shoulder, across the kitchen, into the living room, and onto the TV but she always snapped her eyes back to him. He talked, sometimes, too, so it was important to follow what he said.

He didn't have to talk to her.

He didn't have to take care of her.

He didn't have to love her.

But he did and for that she would be grateful for the rest of her life and afterlife.

"….so did you like the gift? If you didn't I'll tell my parents not to get you anything else. The next time they call, I mean. Or in the E-mail. Whatever." Said Teru as he scraped his plate. He was just talking to fill the atmosphere and he knew it. He didn't have to say anything, she liked long silences, but he still felt like he did. So he talked.

"I don't know if I like it or not. I never gave perfume much thought. The bottle it pretty, though, and it smells nice. Well I smelled it when I opened the package, I still haven't worn it." Said Mob. Teru's parents sometimes sent him presents from where they were staying or if they ever went on holiday, which was another word for vacation, and they had sent Mob a present too. Perfume from Spain, the note had said. Mob didn't know why being from Spain made it special but she was happy for the gift. Mom had perfume from France that she wore on special occasions. Mob had never worn perfume before, but sometimes Tome would spray her with mango kiwi body spray when the Body Improvement club came back inside at the end of the day. It was ok.

"You should, I mean, I think it's nice." Said Teru. He liked body spray, and not just because Shigeko liked it. He liked smelling like himself, well a better version of himself. Girls liked it too, not just Shigeko…not that he would ever do anything with anyone else. It was just nice to know that he was still attractive. He was only human after all. His parents send him cologne, sometimes, among other things. That stuff was for adults. Too strong smelling. Heh. Maybe mom and dad thought he was just that grown up.

Or maybe they just forgot how old he was.

"Ok. I will, if you want me to. It was a gift and it would be ungrateful of me to let it go to waste. You can tell them that I liked it, because I do. They didn't have to get me anything but they did, so I should say thank you." Said Mob. Teru used his powers to rinse off their dishes. Mob finished her tea quickly. Right. They had to get ready for their day.

"It's nothing. They should get you things, you're my girlfriend and I love you." Said Teru as he sued his powers to rinse off the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. He was too lazy to wash them all himself and he couldn't just let them pile up in the sink. He had a guest.

Or roommate.

Live in girlfriend.

"I don't need anything, I'm just happy to have someone who cares about me." Said Mob. What else mattered in this world besides the bonds between people? She loved Teru, he loved her, and she wanted nothing more than his love. He didn't know the full of what she did but he did know a lot. He didn't care. He still loved her.

"Shigeko….I could kiss you right now." Said Teru. Ok, it was a line from a movie but it was also something he felt. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her selfless, cute, perfect mouth in that moment.

"You could." Said Mob stating a fact. There was nothing stopping him from kissing her in that moment. She was his girlfriend, he could kiss her whenever he wanted. That was how it worked. She didn't think that he would actually take that moment to kiss her but he did.

Mob tried not to go walkabouts but she did. Not immediately, no, not at all. She kissed him back. He kissed her harder. She kissed him back. He picked her up with his powers. She had some trouble staying in the moment. Because she was being picked up and he hadn't warned her. Because she suddenly felt very small. Because she knew what it felt like to be small and helpless and pinned and-and-and she didn't want to remember but she did.

"What's wrong? You're getting all…nonresponsive." Said Teru. He had picked her up and put her on the table. Of course in doing so he remembered why this was a bad idea. Most of his breakables were in the kitchen and they ate off of this table. This maybe have been best left to the world of the movies. She might have thought so, too, because she had slowly stopped kissing back and was just sort of holding him with her eyes closed.

**There are a lot more rooms here.**

_Yes._

**Why?**

_We needed the room._

**For what?**

_You._

**For me?**

_Yes. You._

**Why?**

_Because you keep coming here but you won't let me out._

**Because Teru doesn't like it.**

_I like Teru._

**Me too.**

_If you did then you wouldn't be here._

**It's because I do that I come here. I feel too many big feelings when he and I are like this.**

_Good feelings._

**Those too but also bad.**

_Then let me take them from you_.

Shigeko opened her eyes.

Teru. Her Teru. Not Mob's.

She kissed him. She kissed him and she kissed him and she kissed him and it was amazing and she never felt this for herself ever but now she was and he was warm and safe and there and she was corporeal now and the world was so bright and it smelled so good in here and the inside of his mouth tasted kind of bitter but at least she could taste and touch and see and hear and smell and-

"Wait, maybe here isn't such a good place for this." said Teru. Well she certainly could handle criticism well. Her aura was all around him…blue and pink…but a little more blue….but the pink was still there…

"Here is fine. Want you, Teru." Said Shigeko. She let her hands play with his pajama shirt. Soft. It was so soft. Touch. She missed touch. She missed touch and taste and sight and smell and all of it. Mob got this world. She got the world within their mind. The memories of sensations, the ghosts of feelings…the constant feeling of dread because they could be attacked at any time.

But that was Mob's domain, now.

Let Mob worry about that for once.

Mob liked this.

The world was small and safe. She could feel the ghosts, the afterimages, of good feelings. There was a desk, she sat at it. This desk was for her. It faced Shigeko's desk. If she stared out to the left she could see a bookshelf through the white. If she stared out through the left she could see a wall with a window. There was nothing out the window, of course, but it was still there. She had a form for herself, too, in this formless space. She was in her uniform.

Which was good because she had always been naked before.

In Asagiri's mindscape or her own she had always been naked, well in the way that a doll with no clothes on was naked. Now she could manifest clothes for herself. Why it was her school uniform she did not know. But she could, that was the point. Before it had been a white void where neither she nor the other Shigeko had forms. Now she had a form and the other her had a form and the other her had enough….control? To be out in the world.

Mob just had to go walkabouts for a little bit, that was all.

So she did.

The ghosts of good feelings made her reach out, instinctively, with her powers. She couldn't help it. Here she was her powers. She had the look of a body but it was nothing like having an actual body. She had no sense to touch or taste or smell. Seeing and hearing were different too. It was like sensing things with her aura. That was how she got input. That was how she knew where up and down were, left and right, and that she was sitting at her school desk.

Existing here wasn't that bad.

It wasn't living, just existing, but it wasn't that bad. She wasn't feeling much of anything…just the ghost of big feelings….but those were over now. She had felt a wave of happiness, safety, and nervous energy but that was done now. Now she felt nothing.

Neither good nor bad.

She could totally stay like this, even if Teru only liked her….but she and the other part of her were the same person, technically. They were this thing together. They were Kageyama Shigeko and they were also known as Mob. One could not exist without the other. Shigeko kept them safe and Mob kept this power…this terrible power that they were a vessel for…in check. She was the one with the emotional control. Shigeko didn't even understand why they needed emotional control.

To be a good person. Even if they weren't.

Shigeko wondered when Mob would start trying to wrestle control of the vessel from her.

She leaned into the crook of Teru's neck and kissed him there. She felt his hands on her shoulders pushing her away.

"D-Don't…." said Teru. That had been…wow. That was the only word for it. Spontaneous. The sort of spontaneous thing that only happened when you had a girlfriend and she lived with you and you lived alone. The upside to having a girlfriend living in your house.

Her aura was more blue than pink.

"Why not? You like it, it like it, so why not?" asked Shigeko needed a moment to form words. She could have just put everything that she was feeling into her aura. She had to use words here, and it was hard, so in the end she did put everything that she was feeling into her aura. Had he been Master Reigen, well, then he would have gotten right back to it. But Teru didn't make her feelings his own, instead he took a step back from where she was sitting on the kitchen table.

Oh. Right. Things were broken, or at least messy.

"Because…school…is a…thing…" said Teru catching his breath. Was this still Shigeko, his Shigeko? There was still some pink in her aura, a lot of it, actually. He let his aura merge with hers a little. Oh.

If he could have patted himself on the back then he would have.

There was a lot of happiness there. Physical desire, too, by the metric shit ton. No hostility at all. The other her usual had a sort of low laying hostility towards the world and everything in it. This was…his Shigeko? The other Shigeko? She was looking at him through half opened eyes, both of her hands held into his forearms, and she was breathing like she had just run a marathon. They both were.

He felt a familiar prickling at the side of his eyes.

Because she was just so damn pretty. Because he just loved her so damn much. Because that just felt so damn good. Because he was so damn vulnerable. Because that was just the best damned thing in the whole damned world.

She didn't cry.

"It is." Said Shigeko. Right. That place. The place with people who were mean and hurt Mob and where they just HAD to go because they were still so, incredibly, LITTLE-

"Hey…it's ok. Later. There's always later…Shigeko. Mob. Mob or Shigeko." Said Teru. Mob felt weird to say. He called her Mob, briefly, when they first met but she was not at all a Mob. She was herself. As if someone like her could ever blend in. Was this Mob, though? Or was it Shigeko? The blue said Shigeko but she was just sitting there staring at him like Mob would…

"We're this thing together. We're both here right now." Said Shigeko. She could feel Mob just beneath the surface. She wasn't asking for control or even trying to take it. She was just sort of hanging around and existing. Shigeko liked this. Let Mob protect them. Shigeko had a taste of corporeality and it agreed with her.

"So you're…together? But that's…the last time you two were together you went…crazy." Said Teru. He fixed his clothes and helped her off the table. He'd have to disinfect that table thoroughly the next time they ate off it. At least his timing had been good…of course it had been. He was Hanazawa Teruki. He wouldn't let a little thing like the fact that he kept all of his stuff in his bedroom stop him from….but that had been irresponsible….but his timing had been perfect. But just to be safe….

"Thanks, that felt gross." Said Shigeko as Teru got rid of that gross sort of sliminess for her. Unpleasant. Pleasant again.

"You're welcome, Shigeko. Is Mob…are you two merged together right now? I'm just…last time you went crazy a little bit and-" said Teru

"You think that we're crazy?" asked Shigeko, the room shaking a bit. No. Teru was not allowed to be mean to them.

"No! Not at all, you just got a little…weird…back at the…yeah. That's all. I'm just worried about you." Said Teru choosing his words VERY carefully. There was a lot of blue and while he was no expert, he didn't even know that auras could come in two colors before he met her, he figured that the blue was the other her and the pink was his Shigeko. Heh. Because her favorite color was pink.

"You're worried because you love us?" asked Shigeko. That was the word, love. He loved them. It felt good. She let the feeling fill her vessel, let Mob feel it.

Mob felt something. Something warm. Something safe. Something that made her want to feel more of it. She reached out with the energy that made her up, because in this place she was all energy. All power. Her powers.

"I'm happy. I'm happy that you love me. This is because I'm happy." Said Shigeko. Her aura, blue, was visible now. Beneath it, closer to the vessel, Mob's pink could still be seen. Visible enough to reassure Teru, anyway, because they had frightened him before. They couldn't do that.

He could reject them.

He could reject her.

"I'm…glad I could make you this happy…Shigeko? Am I talking to Mob or Shigeko or both of you right now?" asked Teru. It hurt to be near her, this near her. There was a lot that made her up, a lot of energy that her vessel somehow managed to contain, and usually she had pretty good control over it.

The sort of static shock feeling that she could give off.

But he felt it now and it did not feel good.

Which was a weird way to follow up what had just happened.

"Mob. You're talking to Mob." Said Mob. She had been pulled out of the white room and back into her vessel. She felt heavy, here, because she was actually in her body again. She didn't know what had happened, before, well she did not she didn't know details, or feelings. That made it easier. None of the bad after feelings, either.

Or the good after feelings.

But the bad outweighed the good.

"Can I ask….nothing. Sorry. That's just the way you are. Anyway we should be actually getting ready for school now. I mean I don't care if I'm late but I know that you do." Said Teru. He wanted to ask if she switched with the other her on purpose but he didn't. She couldn't fully control it like that and he shouldn't…make her feel bad about it. That was just something that she was born with, she could not help it at all.

She couldn't help it.

He had no idea what triggered it. It was just something that happened.

What must it have been like to have another person just living inside of you? To have to share your body and mind with another being? Or what was it like to be split down the middle like that, that was how she had described it before, anyway. Her other half. They were that person together.

So Teru had no right to be upset. This was something that she could not help.

So the only thing to do was get ready for school. That was what the two of them did, got ready for school. The beginnings of a routine formed as they orbited each other. The started their morning together with tooth brushing and then breakfast. After breakfast they got dressed, fixed their hair and other such things, and then they left. Together.

The beginnings of their routine.

It didn't exactly go off without a hitch, though. They knocked elbows when they brushed their teeth and Mob tended to leave the toothpaste uncapped. Not that Teru would say anything, he'd just cap it himself. She left spit spackles in the mirror, too, but he didn't say anything about that either. She didn't rinse her dirty plates, either, but that was ok too. He was alright with the way that her hair would shed when she brushed it or washed it. He was also ok with the way that she hung wet towels back up after she used them rather than just toss them in the hamper and get another clean towel because he had a million of them so she didn't need to let them hang up to dry and get that gross mildew smell that always ended up permeating the entire bathroom and-

She was a little messy and he was fine with that.

Really he was.

He loved her and that was what mattered.

Though it was annoying to step out of the shower and find only damp towels. But he said nothing.

Not that he was even planning on taking a shower that morning. There wasn't enough time, really, even though he could move very fast when he wanted to. He wasn't going to rush her, either, which was another good reason. A reason that was much less good was that, well, he didn't really mind walking around smelling like maturity and adulthood. Besides, she was in the shower anyway and, yes, he had a second bathroom but really there wasn't enough time. Showering was a production for him, he had a lot to do, and then fixing his hair from wet was a whole other production so really there just wasn't the time.

And she left her wet towel hanging up to dry again.

Wordlessly he put it in the hamper.

He watched her as she brushed her hair from wet. She always got dressed right after she dried off. Well, all the times that he had been with her after she had taken a bath or shower, anyway, not ALWAYS. They hadn't been living together for that long, long enough for him to know what her 'always' habits were. He hoped that she wasn't always this messy. He figured that she was, though.

That Mob always was.

He couldn't account for Shigeko. The other Shigeko.

He watched her aura. Pink and blue in equal measures. Pink to the outside, blue to the inside. Fractals rotating within each other and from right to left. Mob. He hated calling her that. She was so much more than a background character. Objectively she wasn't much to look at, but that was just to people who were too stupid to know what they were even looking at. She was anything but plain. She was pretty, she was so damn pretty. She nice. She was love and warmth and sunshine and happiness and just…genuine. A genuinely nice person. He loved her. The other her was…scary. Scary because it was an entity to foreign to Mob. It was…want? Was want the right word for it? Mob was selfless. She had tried to walk into certain death to save her little brother. She had let him…back when they first met she had let him throw her around like a ragdoll because she was just so afraid of hurting him….the other her had been the one to toss him into the stratosphere…..

"Do you need the mirror?" asked Mob as she felt Teru looking at her. She felt his aura press against her. He was in the bathroom doorway. He just sort of stayed there after he put her wet towel in the hamper. He really should have taken a shower, he smelled like…them.

"No, I was just watching you." Said Teru before he could think. Yeah, that sounded pretty damned creepy, didn't it?

"Oh. Ok. Are you sure that you don't want to, though? You smell like us." Said Mob as she opened the medicine cabinet and put the hairbrush, his hairbrush, away. Not as soft as her own hairbrush, it made her hair kind of stand up a little actually, but it was better than nothing. She used her powers to braid her hair just to be on the safe side.

"I don't mind, but if you do…" said Teru. He reached around her with his powers and pulled down a well loved can of body spray, the kind she liked. Mob looked up.

"Oh. Right." Said Mob. She reached up, with her hand, and held the pretty glass bottle that held the first perfume that she had ever gotten. Mom always said that perfume was fancy and for grown women to wear on special occasions. Mob would just break it anyway, mom had said, but Mob didn't break this. Even when she lost control and threw the whole house around she never broke the stuff in the medicine cabinet, mainly because it latched shut and when she lost control she didn't undo latches. Too complicated.

"Wait, not too much. Here, I think for girls it's like this." said Teru. He had seen his mother do this every morning back when she had been present in the apartment. He was ten, about ten, the last time he saw her do this. He took Mob's hand and sprayed some on her wrists.

"Oh. I've seen my mom do this. Wrists, neck, and then chest. Do I smell nice?" asked Mob. So this was what people from Spain smelled like. It was ok. She smelled like peppery jasmine.

"…pretty damn good." Said Teru. She smelled nice but not like herself. Not that she had smelled like herself in a while. She usually smelled like floral cigarettes, if anything. Well the cigarette smell was gone, thank God, and since she had been using his shampoo she smelled like citrus fruit. She smelled good, now, just a little…strong. Right. Real stuff was not body spray.

"You smell nice, too. I mean you will. You smell nice now but sometimes you smell really nice." Said Mob. He didn't smell that nice, not really. He smelled like them and it was a nice smell in the moment but not now. Now it was stale and kind of…not good. But he was still Teru and he could never smell truly bad. She could never think badly of him.

"Five seconds ago you said I needed a shower." Said Teru. He put his body spray back and grabbed one of the endless bottles of cologne his parents sent because, in mutter's, mother's, words, 'You're getting older, Teruki.'

"You do. Just because I don't mind the way you smell that doesn't mean that other people won't." said Mob. She tried to brush her hair out of her eyes. It was getting too long. Not that she was ever going anywhere near her hair with a pair of scissors ever again.

"You're right, Shigeko. Mob." Said Teru because, for a moment, he thought that he saw her aura flicker over to mostly blue. He was not calling her Mob, though, because she was not Mob. She was not a background character and he didn't know why she let people call her that. He didn't know why she let Reigen call her that.

Not that Reigen was calling her much of anything these days.

If she had been staying with him then she had not been staying at Reigen's. She had been having sleepovers with her friends, too, which was a good sign. Good for him, anyway. She was finally pulling away from that guy. Good riddance. He was too old for her and had no idea how to treat her. He called her 'Mob' for God's sake.

"That smells different than what you usually wear. I like it, though, but I like the stuff you usually wear." Said Mob

"This? I haven't even tried this one yet, I'm glad you like it. I just felt like something a little more, well, grown up I guess. I mean I might as well try it, my parents went through the trouble of shipping it to me." Said Teru as he closed the medicine cabinet. He gave himself a once over in the mirror. Perfect.

"That was nice of them. Can you tell them I said thank you for the gift, too, especially since they didn't have to get me anything." Said Mob as she looked herself over in the mirror. Her skin still had that weird color and her eyes still had dark shadows underneath them from not sleeping enough but at least she was clean.

"I already thanked them on your behalf, don't worry. They'll probably send you more now that they, well, remember that I even have a girlfriend. Oh! That reminds me!" said Teru. He called his phone over with his powers and pulled her close.

"Why do you keep taking pictures of us together? We aren't really doing anything, just getting ready for school." Said Mob as Teru took a bunch of pictures of them in quick succession.

"Because it's important." Said Teru. It was important to maintain followers and to maintain follows you had to show the world how awesome your life was. Of course she didn't really care about things like that, like an online presence. Only when it came to her career.

Not that she had been to work in a while either. Another win for Teru and a loss for Reigen.

"Ok." Said Mob. She didn't quite know why it was important but if Teru cared about this then it would become something that she would care about too. He cared a lot about things like that, attention from people and how he looked and stuff. She didn't much care for drawing people's attention. It wasn't safe to do so. Not that she had Asagiri to worry about or anything. No.

Asagiri was off back to wherever it was that she came from.

So why did it still feel like she was around? Why did Mob have the nagging feeling that Asagiri would jump out and hurt her for stealing her boyfriend?

No. This was her reality, not the unreality Mogami created, and in this reality Teru was her boyfriend who loved her very much…enough to forgive her for what she had done in the unreality.

And now Mob was thinking about the unreality again. She focused on the ground in front of her. First the tile of Teru's bathroom, the carpet of his hallway, the carpet of his living room, the linoleum tiles of his kitchen, the wood of the genkan, the carpet of the outer hallway, the concrete of the outside.

"…..so maybe for dinner we could make something fun. We've been having a lot of curry lately, not that I don't like curry but I'm going to have to move up shopping day anyway so maybe we could make something fun or new for dinner." Said Teru as they walked down the street. She was looking at the ground while she walked, she had her school bag clutched in one hand, the other hand held his kind of limply. She felt kind of cold to the touch, too. Maybe she was getting sick.

"Shigeko? Your thoughts?" asked Teru. She was not ignoring him. There was no way. She just…she got deep into thought sometimes, that was all.

"We're being followed." Said Mob. She could feel a very faint…two very faint auras at the periphery of her range. Her resting range, anyway, because she wasn't looking for anyone. She expanded herself outwards. There. Two purple specks. One deep purple, one a light lavender.

"Shit. Not these guys again. Just keep walking. I'll protect you." Said Teru. He put his arm around her and steered her down the street. No way was she fighting. He was the guy and he would take care of this. If she fought then she'd end up exploding or something like that.

"I don't feel hostile intent." Said Mob. She slammed her aura into theirs. Fear. Surprise. Not anger. Not any kind of hostility, either.

"Don't take chances, Shigeko, they might be working for Claw." Said Teru cursing his own pathetic range. He tried to walk her down the road faster but she suddenly stopped. He tried pulling on her but she was doing that thing where she rooted herself in place.

"They don't feel like bad people. We should see what they want. Not every esper we meet is going to be a bad person. They can't be." Said Mob. She pulled her aura back and decided to wait and see if they were friend or foe. She didn't much want to fight but then again she didn't much want to be followed around for the rest of her life either.

"But some of them are. You hate fighting and you hate it when I fight, too, so come on." Said Teru. He grabbed her hand and pulled but it was like trying to pull a tree from the ground without his powers. Not going to happen.

"I want to wait and see." Said Mob. She could feel them getting closer. She could also feel Teru's aura against hers.

"I want to keep walking." Said Teru. Why was she being so stubborn? What happened to passive Shigeko? He missed her. Passive Shigeko didn't potentially get them all tangled up with Claw again.

"You can keep walking, I don't mind. I want to see what these people want, though. If I don't talk to them now then they could end up following me around for the rest of my life. I don't want that." Said Mob. She could feel them getting closer. Cautious steps. Fear emanating from both of them.

"No. I'm not leaving you behind. Just come on. Why are you being so stubborn?" asked Teru. Mob stared at him. Beside her a parking meter tipped over.

"….you think that I'm being stubborn?" asked Mob. No. Not that word. Next he'd call her a brat and tell her that he wanted nothing to do with her ever again.

"Right now? Yes. You're being incredibly stubborn right now." Said Teru running a hand through his hair. She was as impassive as ever. The only reaction she gave was another parking meter tipping over.

"….I don't mean to be…." Said Mob softly

"Then just listen to me, Shigeko, and keep walking. I don't want to fight and neither do you so let's just keep walking. If it is other espers then there's a good chance they work for Claw and if we make contact with them then there's a good chance that we'll end up starting up that mess again. I don't want that and neither do you, so keep walking." Said Teru. Mob nodded and let Teru take her hand and lead her away. She was not going to be stubborn. She was not going to mess this up like she had with Master Reigen.

So she let herself be led away. What she wanted did not matter. When she did what she wanted then she was being stubborn. When she was stubborn then people got sick of her and cast her aside. She was grateful to have people in her life that cared for her and she was not going to give them reason to stop caring.

Teru was glad that he had won that argument, their first real argument. Really it was for her own good. She could explode at any time and they did not need to be messing around with that. Not only could she explode but she could also switch places with her other self. He didn't know which option was worse. But she was fine, now, just a little quiet. She held his hand the whole way to her school, which was a good sign, and she kissed him back when he kissed her goodbye, also a good sign. As far as fights went that one ended rather amicably.

Mob didn't know how she got to school. Her brain just sort of went on autopilot. She went walkabouts in her mind so deeply that one minute she was walking down the street and the next she was at her desk. She remembered, vaguely, a goodbye kiss, but it didn't matter. She was at her desk and class had started, she didn't know which class, but she was fine.

Teru hadn't cast her aside. That was what mattered.

Reigen checked his phone for what felt like the thousandth time that day. Still nothing from Mob. She really had cast him aside.

Well that was fine. He'd said it before and he'd say it again, he did not need her anymore. His popularity was rising, he got another couple of interviews in legitimate magazines and he had an appointment later with someone who had an exciting new opportunity for him. Things were going great in his life. He checked his phone again.

Mob's life was going great, too.

They were still friendbook friends at least and since he turned notifications back on, and filtered out all the non-friend people who mentioned him, he could see when she was tagged in pictures. Now instead of his phone blowing up because people were mentioning him across the internet it was blowing up because people were mentioning Mob across the internet. Well, Mob in connection to her boyfriend, anyway.

Another one of those damned 'good morning' pictures.

The two of them in that kid's bathroom. Both of them were dressed in their school uniforms. The kid looked happy as a clam but Mob looked like she hadn't been sleeping well. Her eyes still had those dark circles underneath them and her skin should not have been that pale. Her hair was getting way too long, too. But at least she was safe…

She wasn't a child anymore and she was well beyond anyone's command.

So Reigen could not call her up and tell her to get to bed at a reasonable hour. He could not call and make sure that she was eating actual food, not just snacks and flavored milk drinks. He could not tell her to remember to take her medicine because he knew full well what she and that kid were getting up to and the last thing that either of them needed was a little version of them to take care of. He could not call her up and demand that she come home where he could take care of her and make sure that she was sleeping and eating properly and taking her medicine at the exact same time every day.

She wouldn't listen to him, anyway. She'd outgrown him.

Well he'd outgrown her, too.

That was just time's natural flow, that was all. She was gone and he accepted that she was gone. The next time he saw her would be when she came by for her stuff. Not that he had it packed up or anything. Everything was just how she left it, including the nightgown she left hanging up in the bathroom. She was…maybe she would come back….but she probably wouldn't.

So Reigen got on with his life.

Getting on with his life meant, right at that moment, getting a can of coffee and a pack of cigarettes from the convenience store. Not exactly riveting but then again without Mob to trial after him…no. Stop thinking about her. Don't think about her. Don't miss her. Don't take out your phone and call her. Don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for.

He paid for his purchases and left. Back to the office. Back to work. Another day. Well at least he had the guy coming over with his 'great opportunity' to look forward too. Even if it was a scam it would be a nice change of pace from the monotony of his day. He lit a cigarette as he walked down the street. He knew that he needed to cut back but now he had nobody to cut back for.

Maybe his mother.

Heh. Wouldn't she like that? The woman had been smoking for longer than Reigen had been alive, she hadn't even quite when she was pregnant with him, and she had the nerve to lecture him on smoking. She'd been lecturing him a lot lately. Every time she called, and he picked up, she asked about Mob even though she was friendbook friends with Mob too and she saw the exact same 'good morning' pictures that Reigen and, judging by the comments, most of Japan and a few other countries saw, too.

And apparently the kid had even more on his Instagram. Not that Reigen was ever going to check it out. He was not internet stalking Mob. He was tempted to refer his mother to the kid's Instagram page just so she could finally figure out that Mob was fine. Mob was not her kid and maybe she should put that energy into worrying about her own offspring instead of trying to parent someone else's.

Not that Reigen needed parenting. He was twenty nine now, almost thirty. Well past the point of needing his mother. He didn't need anyone but himself. He was, ultimately, responsible for himself. His life was his own and his life was going great. Even if he missed Mob. Even if he wanted to take back every single thing he said to her and beg her to come back. But that was not healthy and that was why he needed to be away from Mob in the first place. There was a reason his mother and a large portion of the internet supernatural community thought that Mob was his….girlfriend. He was too attached to her and too affectionate with her and it was not healthy. He had been right to put up some boundaries between them. He had been right to tell her to sleep in her own bed. He had been right to call her on that martyr bullshit that she was on.

He was right.

He could be right or he could be happy. He chose being right.

Because really the road to happiness was not paved with anything good. Mob was better off without a man in her life who drank himself to sleep some nights because he was depressed over a teenage girl outgrowing him. He'd get over her. He'd been down this road before, just not with her. Right now she'd occupy his thoughts and feelings but it would dissipate until one day years down the road he'd open a box of stuff he'd stored, find something of hers, and then just put it back. One day she'd be just a memory.

He didn't want that.

But that was the way it had to be.

He just needed to be man enough to accept that. Be selfless enough to accept that she did not need him. Be adult enough to know when to bow out. He was the adult in that situation and he needed to act like it. He was over twice her age. There was no need to carry on like he was a teenage boy abandoned by someone he….cared about…more than anything else in the world. He was a grown man. He'd been alone before and he'd be alone again. He'd eventually forget her presence, her company, her voice, the times they'd shared, the little intimacies that had developed between them….the way he could just hide in her aura whenever the world got too overwhelming.

Like now.

The street was getting crowded here. A detour. There was construction on the next block over so everyone had to bottle neck here. He lit another cigarette and tried to make his way through the crowd. Annoyance. Someone else's. He amplified it. It was annoying and crowded and someone bumped into him so he bumped them back and now other people were shoving and-

An aura.

Not Mob's.

Purple. He had no idea what purple meant but he saw purple. Two different shades. Espers. Fear. His? Theirs? He needed to get out of there. He pushed his way backwards. A chance meeting? Was he being followed? He did not know. All he knew was that he was not Mob and he had no way of defending himself if they had any hostile intent. He walked a little more quickly. Someone across the street broke out into a run. His doing. He kept on walking briskly down the road. He had no idea if he was being followed or not.

Footsteps moved in time with his.

Another aura. Green. Gross. A spirit of some kind.

A man, a somewhat familiar looking man, walked behind him in a jerky, almost marionette like, motion.

"Hey Reigen! Slow down already! Sheesh! Don't tell me I scare you now." Said Dimple. He was just checking up on Reigen for Shigeko's sake. To make sure that the guy was still alive but not trying to get Shigeko back as a student. She was doing so well, mostly, and it would be a shame to have her backsliding.

"Dimple? Is that you?" asked Reigen. He stopped and turned around. Bright red cheeks even though it wasn't nearly cold enough for that out.

"In the flesh. Not my flesh, just this poor sap's. Anyway, what are you running from? Don't tell me it was those weaklings back there." Said Dimple crossing borrowed arms.

"No, I was just walking quickly back to work. You see unlike you I have actual things to do with my time." Said Reigen composing himself. This was weird. Two sets of desires, one overlaid over the other. Not like Mob and the other…Mob. Their desires seemed to exist simultaneously. This guy…he wanted his body back but he…Reigen was brought back to something he read back in university. I have no mouth and I must scream indeed…

Poor guy.

"Right, I'm sure you do. Well I was just coming to check up on you, make sure you haven't died and all of that." Said Dimple

"Oh you really do care. I'm touched." Said Reigen

"Yeah, yeah, yeah it's not for me, it's for Shigeko." Said Dimple

"Mob?" asked Reigen. A note of hope in his voice. Mob asked about him? She asked Dimple to check up on him? Why didn't she just come herself? She probably still felt awkward, too awkward to talk to him. Well he was a mature adult, he could make his peace with her and then everything could go back to normal.

"Yeah, Shigeko. I figured that I'd make sure that you were still alive, for her sake at least. She doesn't really give a damn about you anymore but she still cares if you live or die. Not that I have any clue why." Said Dimple. He could feel Reigen trying to write to him. Anger. Hurt. Well Dimple was not alive and didn't have anywhere near the full range of emotion.

"Whatever. She's never even crossed my mind." Said Reigen

"Right. I'm sure she didn't. I'm sure you're not driving yourself crazy thinking about her day and night." said Dimple

"No, I'm not. Mob can do whatever she wants, I don't care." Said Reigen

"Good. She's fine, if you care a little. She's out having fun, the time of her life. She doesn't even mention you anymore." Said Dimple

"Sucks to be you, then." Said Reigen

"What are you talking about?" asked Dimple

"Are you really content to follow around a teenage girl for the rest of your afterlife? I thought you wanted to use Mob's powers for yourself but hey if you'd rather watch cartoons about cats and watch Mob brush her hair then go for it." Said Reigen

"Yeah I think you're just projecting. Don't act like you wouldn't give your left nut to spend even another second with her. Face it buddy, you've got it bad. Hey, hey, I don't judge. I'm an evil spirit, not a moralizing spirit." Said Dimple

"Say one more word and I'll exorcise you." Said Reigen dangerously.

"I'd like to see you try. Besides, how would Shigeko feel if you succeeded? You'll never get her back like that. Not that you even have a shot with her. She's finally moved on." Said Dimple. Reigen tried to will himself to calm down. Dimple was just trying to get a rise out of him, that was all.

"You're an insane and annoying spirit. Have fun following Mob around for the rest of your afterlife. I don't care. She can do whatever she wants. We've outgrown each other, that's just the way it goes. You two have fun braiding each other's hair. I, on the other hand, am taking my career to new heights. There's no room for Mob here, anymore, so she can just do whatever she wants. I'm not responsible for her anymore. Have fun being her pet." Said Reigen

"Humans. I will never understand living humans. Well you have fun with your career, Reigen. Shigeko and I are onto bigger and better things too. Who knows, this might even be the last time we ever see each other." Said Dimple

"Then I bid you adieu, Dimple." Said Reigen sarcastically, as sarcastically as he had ever spoken, before turning around and walking off. Dimple shook his borrowed head. What did Shigeko see in that guy? Women. Alive or dead, regular people or espers, he just did not understand them.

Reigen decided to start another cigarette. Dimple was probably full of lies. He was an evil spirit, as he was so fond of reminding people. Mob cared about him. Mob…Mob had moved on. Both options were not things he wanted in the slightest. He couldn't…he didn't want Mob to have moved on but he didn't want Mob to…things could not go back to the way they were. He and Mob had not been heading down a good road together.

He had no idea what he wanted.

So he went back to work. Even if it was tedious without Mob it was still something to do. Something to do…

"Kageyama! Kageyama!" Mob's teacher's voice sounded far away. She looked up from the blank notebook on her desk.

"Yes?" asked Mob finding her voice. She wasn't in trouble…she wasn't going to get hit again….

"Do you have any idea what we're even discussing?" asked her teacher pinching the bridge of his nose. Mob looked around. Mezato was looking at her and pointing to their English book.

"English?" asked Mob. Her teacher sighed.

"Yes Miss Kageyama, this is English class. A very astute observation." Said her teacher. There was some scattered laughing but most people were just staring at her. Mob slumped down in her seat.

"I'll do the reading, sir, if Mob isn't feeling well." Oh. That was Tsubomi. She was popular but very nice. Nothing like Asagiri. For a moment Mob expected to see the back of a pink head sitting in front of her. Nope. Black hair. Not Asagiri. She still didn't relax.

"Yes, Takane, go ahead." Said her teacher with a shake of his head. Mob went back to looking down at her blank notebook. The voices around her faded until they sounded like she wasn't even in the room.

Time slipped by. Mob sat at her desk and let it slip by around her, like tossing a big rock into the stream at the park. Not Ankle Park, the one with the really tall slide that she was afraid of when she was little. Ritsu had to go down with her. He kept her safe, he was a very brave person like that. What was he doing now? He expanded his aura outwards, so did she. Was he looking for her? Or did he just do that on his own sometimes. Mom had said, years ago, that you got the hiccups when people thought about you.

Ritsu did not have the hiccups.

He had a lot of problems but the hiccups weren't one of them. Most of his problems had to do with the girls in his life. His sister and his girlfriend. His mom, too, but moms didn't count as girls. When did life get life get so very complicated?

A red haired girl a row over and two seats in front of him turned around and smiled. He forgot her name but he knew that until a couple days ago her hair was black. That was something he wondered about girls, why they changed their hair and stuff so much. Hair was hair. He ran a hand through his, his fingers lingering for a moment on the scar hidden just under his fringe. He went back, quickly to sitting up straight. He was in class after all.

Where was Shigeko?

Well he knew that his sister had to be in school but he was just…checking. Checking up on her. Another problem, but not really. He was just worried about her. It was one thing if the other kids were asking after her, people teased his sister all the time, it was another if teachers were asking after her. Asking him if everything was alright at home. If Shigeko was sick. If they were both getting enough to eat. If they were both getting enough sleep.

If everything was alright at home.

Mom hit the roof when the school called with that one. Lots of yelling. Dad didn't help. At this point there was no diffusing the situation with humor. Mom was, well, mom. Without Shigeko around for her to pick at she just sort of picked at everyone. Well dad mostly. Mom still loved him. She was his pride and joy, her words.

Of course she wouldn't be if she knew.

Shigeko wasn't her pride and joy even though Ritsu figured that moms would be super proud of their daughters. Rei's mom was super proud of her and her big sister. The sisters that Ritsu hadn't met, too. Rei's mom always had nice things to say about her daughters. His parents, mostly mom, didn't really have anything nice to say about Shigeko. Plenty of nice things to say about him but not about Shigeko. Nothing nice to say, of course, if she knew.

Not that she ever would.

Not that he could ever tell anyone.

Because at the end of the day between him and Shigeko one of them had to make their family proud. He was not his sister. He could not just move through the world like it was nothing. He could not just do whatever he wanted. He was not Shigeko. She was so lucky. She could do whatever she wanted and go wherever she wanted and she had nobody's expectations to live up to but her own. Well, Reigen's…

Why she listened to that asshole he would never know.

But she did. She listened to him and she chose him above everyone else, even her own family. She made her choice and she was Shigeko, of course she wouldn't have to live with the consequences of her actions. She didn't have to live with all the fighting, the war at home. She could just go on being happy and living the life that she wanted without a single thought towards how her actions affected the people around her.

But that was mean.

He should not be mean to his sister, even in his mind.

Because he loved her and she loved him. She couldn't help the way she was and she couldn't help…being who she was. She walked through the world the way she did because she had no reason to care what other people thought or if she had to live up to anyone's expectations. She was Shigeko. She was the strongest person around, not that she did anything with it. Her aura was so bright that he could see it from across the building.

He focused on it.

He felt her focusing on him.

She was in school and she was fine. He hadn't actually seen her in a while, things were still awkward, but he was sure that she was fine. He had no idea why people were asking so many questions about her and him and their home life, not that they had one, but if something were to be truly wrong he knew his sister. She would just leave. If something had gone wrong she would just leave, because, well, who could ever hope to stop her?

Even those guys who kidnapped him were no match for her. Or Reigen, using her powers.

So of course she was fine. She was fine and he was not being selfish by not checking up on her. She just…it was too awkward. She knew what she knew, thanks to Rei, and he couldn't look at her knowing what she knew. The whole thing was just too…personal. Plus now he knew what he knew, what he had always figured but never had confirmed, about his sister, too. He did not want to know about that. That was not anything that he ever had any desire to have confirmed. It was…not something he wanted to know.

He did not want to know because it was his sister, not who his sister had been with. He was just worried about her. He didn't care about Teru…Hanzawa. He did not like Hanazawa like that.

He pulled his aura away from hers.

Because wouldn't that just be the worst thing in the world? Besides, he had someone who loved him. He may not have been in love with her but he still cared about her. He'd make her happy because that was his job. He was good at doing his job. He was good at doing what was expected of him. So that was what he did. What was expected of him.

Mob hadn't done anything at all. She hadn't done any of the school work expected of her. Her notebook was still blank. She hadn't heard a word. Not a word of anything that was taught that day. Mezato even had to come to her desk and tell her that it was lunch time.

"Mob, here, I got your lunch for you." Said Mezato as she put Mob's and her lunch trays down on Mob's desk. She grabbed a chair and sat down across from Mob. Mob looked up at her.

"Oh…thank you." Said Mob. Right. Lunch. Soup. An apple. Rice. Fish. No cilantro. That was all she could ask for.

"You look better, Mob, and you smell better too. Are things, you know, better?" asked Mezato. Mob didn't look like she slept at the park, that was the important part. She smelled like the perfume department exploded but it was better than that stale sweat/earthy smell that she had going on before.

"I guess. I kept my promise, I'm not sleeping outside anymore. I had breakfast today, too, so that's good. How have you been? Are you still in big trouble?" asked Mob

"Forget me, Mob, forget about me. I'm worried about you. You're staying with the other friend of yours, right?" asked Mezato

"No. I'm staying with Teru. He likes having me around." Said Mob. Mezato stared at her for a while.

"…you don't have to. I mean, Tome told me what happened….you don't have to. I mean…you don't have to." Said Mezato. She knew how to do proper research and the internet was very clear. If Mob didn't want to then she shouldn't have to. She could make whatever it was that happened to her worse, mentally. Who knew what she was going through? Mezato sure as hell didn't. She had no idea what Mob was feeling right now or how to help her.

This really seemed like the kind of thing an adult should have bene handling.

But Mob didn't want that.

"I do. I promised you that I wouldn't sleep outside so I'm not sleeping outside. I keep my promises, that's why they're promises." Said Mob as she picked at her soup with her powers. She knew that there wasn't any cilantro in it but she still expected there to be. She expected to taste it, to smell it, and to ultimately have it splashed on the front of her school shirt or dumped over her head or something like that.

"Just….just please be careful. I'll try and see if I can get my punishment lifted. Then maybe you can sleep over again." Said Mezato

"That's alright. I'm fine, everything's fine." Said Mob. She picked up her soup bowl and drank it. Even though it was rude of her to drink her soup, mom had been very clear on that, but it was best to get it over with. It was good, no cilantro. Just miso. Vegetable miso. Rice. Apple. Pickled radishes. Deep fried fish.

Lunch was fine. Everything was fine. In Mob's opinion everything was fine.

In Mezato's opinion everything was not fine.

Mob was not fine. Nothing about this situation was fine. It was unsustainable. The entire situation was unsustainable. Mob needed a permanent place to live and Mezato was in no position to offer her that. Mob didn't want to go back to her family, or she just plain couldn't, so she was staying with her boyfriend. Even after everything that happened to her she was still…

The mental toll that must have taken on her.

Mob didn't deserve that. Why did bad things happen to good people? Mezato did not know. Mob was a good person and she did not deserve this. Mezato had no idea how to go about fixing this but she knew how to go about making it a little less difficult.

She wasn't called the nosiest girl in school for nothing.

There was a student council meeting after school that day. A meeting, not just them getting together before they did their patrols and filed their paperwork. Their meetings often ran long, Kamuro did enjoy the sound of his own voice, so this gave Mezato the perfect opportunity.

She knew a thing or two about doing research.

There were a few first year girls with dyed red hair. It was against the dress code, of course, but the hair color rule was not generally enforced. Seasoning City had a high percentage of expats, foreign visitors, and just people who were not totally Japanese. Unless your hair was pink or something nobody cared. They weren't dying their hair just to push the teacher's willingness to look the other way, no, there was a reason. A dumb reason but a reason.

Kageyama Ritsu's girlfriend had red hair.

She was the red haired girl who sometimes hung out by the school gates. Mob's friend and her sister's boyfriend. Once Mezato had that information then it was easy to find out the girl's name. Rei. Kurosaki Rei. Mob's only other female friend. A part of something called the Awakening Lab. An esper, like Mob. Or maybe not.

There was an energy to Mob. When one got close the energy could even be sort of painful. Like a static shock. Well there wasn't any of that energy when she got close to Rei. Rei was sitting on the ground by the school gates. Miso middle school. She had come a long way. She looked up from her phone as Mezato got closer.

"You're going to tell me some very bad news." Said Rei. She knew that she should have said hello and introduced herself but, well, there was a very high probability that whatever this girl was coming over to talk to her about was bad, very bad.

Ritsu?

Had something happened to him? Was he lying dead somewhere? No. Zero percent chance of that. Maybe he was just…did Rei do something? Was he mad at her again? Or worse, did he want to break up with her? There was a high probability of that…

"Uh…yeah…I am." Said Mezato. Well that was certainly ominous. Whatever happened to 'how do you do?' and shaking hands? Maybe social awkwardness was just an esper thing.

"Is it about Ritsu?" asked Rei. Wait…the chance of it being directly about Ritsu was…low? It was hard to tell sometimes. The girl shook her head.

"No, it's about our mutual friend, Mob. I'm Mezato Ichi, by the way." said Mezato. She held out her hand. Rei got up and shook it. Rei bowed, too, afterwards. Mezato bowed back.

"It's nice to meet you, Ichi. I'm Kurosaki Rei….but I guess that you might have already known that. Sorry I didn't introduce myself first thing, I just got this feeling that you were going to give me some very bad news. I don't know what it is, though, because my powers don't work like that. I'm glad that it's not about Ritsu….not that I don't care about Mob, too! Mob and I are…well we aren't fighting but I feel like she might be mad at me. I think she might be but the future's unclear. I know that in the future she'll be mad about something but I can't tell what. It's much easier to look into my own future. I can see the future, by the way, I'm not crazy. Even though I know that I sound crazy I'm not crazy. So, what happened to Mob? Oh no, did someone try to kidnap her again? Did something happen?" asked Rei. She took a deep breath after she stopped talking.

Mezato wished that she had taken notes.

"Right…Mob. Mob's in trouble. She hasn't been kidnapped but she does need help. I want to tell you but first you've got to promise me that what I tell you will be kept in the strictest confidence. I mean it. Don't tell your boyfriend and certainly don't tell any adults. Mob doesn't want anyone to know." Said Mezato

"That sounds like maybe you're going to tell me something that I should tell Ritsu and probably a bunch of adults, too, because it sounds pretty big. I'm not good at keeping secrets. I used to think that I was but actually I'm not. Especially not something like this. I mean, if something that bad is happening to Mob then maybe I should tell someone. I mean, there are a lot of bad people out there and Mob doesn't like to fight so who knows what could be happening. Oh no! Do you mean….are they coming for the rest of us again?! Then I should tell Ritsu. I mean, he'd really strong and he could protect me at least, and Mob." Said Rei

"Um….yeah. I don't know exactly what happened but I do know that Mob needs a place to stay. I don't think that it's kidnappers or anything like that but it is something bad that happened to Mob. It's not my place to tell other people Mob's business. Listen, I know that we don't know each other at all but Mob needs help." Said Mezato

"I don't know if I can keep this a secret. I mean…I don't know how I can keep any of it a secret, not that I know what it is but I know that it must be pretty bad. Also Ritsu and I don't keep secrets from each other, that's an unhealthy relationship dynamic. He wouldn't forgive me, either, if something bad happened to Mob and I kept it from him. Plus I don't even know what I would do. Mob needs a place to stay? But she stays with her Master. He's nice. I met him once, he saved my life. Why can't Mob stay with him? Or with her family? I mean, ok, her mom is super mean but her dad is kind of nice….but I guess that she doesn't want to go home. She could always stay with her boyfriend, too. He's really cool and he loves her. I thought she was staying with him, actually. He keeps posting pictures of them together. Or maybe he did that trick where he took a bunch of pictures and then just held onto them so that he could post them later to make it look like they were together. That's something that people do sometimes. She should stay with Teru though, he really loves her and she loves him. They're so grown up together. Mob couldn't stay with me anyway, I'm not allowed to have sleepovers on school nights. So she should stay with Teru, then." Said Rei

"Wow. You have pretty good lung capacity." Said Mezato. That was the first thing that came to mind, anyway. She shifted through everything that she was just told, the important from the not so important.

"Thank you." Said Rei

"Listen, she can't stay with her boyfriend. Well she can but it won't be good for her. Her other friend told me some stuff that's…worrying….but it's not my place to go around telling other people Mob's business. Just…she needs help right now until I can figure something else out." Said Mezato. She didn't like going up to anyone, let alone a total stranger, hat in hand asking for help. She usually had every situation under control, even when it felt like she didn't. The sole exception, before this, was infiltrating the LOL cult. Mob had saved her then and now it was Mezato's turn to repay the favor.

I want to help Mob, I do, but I don't think that I can. My mom would definitely want to know why Mob would be staying with us and I don't think I can come up with a convincing lie. I mean, she's going to ask questions. Moms just have this way of getting the truth out of you. It's so freaky. Like this time when my older sister, but not my oldest sister, my next oldest sister-" said Rei. Rei rambled, she knew she rambled. It was worse when she was nervous. Mob was a friend, a good friend, but Rei had no idea how she was going to help and keep whatever this was a secret. Why did Mob run away again? What happened? She always seemed so happy with that Reigen guy. He was such a nice guy, too. What had happened? Mob was…Rei thought that they were good friends….if something was wrong then why didn't Mob say something? Rei knew that it was rude to burden others with your problems but that rule did not apply to friends.

"Kurosaki-" said Mezato

"Rei." Said Rei. She wasn't Kurosaki to anyone but teachers.

"Ok, Rei. This is not going to be one of those forever things. I know that Mob can't live with you forever but at least for a little bit. I'm under punishment and her only other female friend besides us is under punishment too so you're pretty much our last resort. It's either you or Mob goes back to sleeping in the park. You don't want that, do you?" asked Mezato. It was like interviewing. You just had to figure out which buttons to push.

"…the park? But there are-are murderers and kidnappers there! She can't live in the park!" said Rei

"I know. How long do you think that Mob could possibly last out there? There are all kinds of bad people and we both know that Mob couldn't hurt a fly, literally. Even if she doesn't run into a murderer or a kidnapper or something even worse winter is coming." Said Mezato. Rei nodded with wide eyes. She looked into the future. Winter was definitely going to be cold. How cold? She did not know, but cold.

"….I'll see what my mom says…but I think that I should tell someone what's going on. I mean, Mob can't do all of this alone-" said Rei

"That's what she has friends for. I'm not going to let her die out there, or worse. I owe her a lot. She saved my life, actually, a couple months ago. I have to repay the favor." Said Mezato

"You're right. She saved my life, too, from kidnappers. Well technically Ritsu saved me but she was the one to stop their whole organization, well the ones here anyway. So I guess I owe Mob too…but I'm not doing this because I owe her. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do….even if I don't want to keep any secrets from Ritsu. I read in a book that secret keeping is an unhealthy relationship dynamic and I don't want Ritsu and I to fight. We only fought once and it was terrible. But this is for Mob and Mob dying is worse than my relationship falling apart. Not that I want my relationship to fall apart, I don't, but I'd rather my relationship fall apart than Mob end up dying. I guess that you can't have your cake and eat it too. I finally understand that saying! It means…" said Rei. Mezato nodded and waited for Rei to tire herself out. So Mob saved this girl's life too.

She really was a magical girl.

Mob was dressed like a magical girl again.

Her dress was too wide to get through the door comfortably and too short to move around in. Her socks went up over her knees and stayed up only through a combination of powers and holding very still. The fabric was itchy, very itchy, where it touched her skin. The stuff that made the skirt stand up, Teru called it tulle, the sparkly things sewn into the dress, all of it itched badly. The bow on the back dug into her when she leaned against the wall. The collar was too high and had lace on it.

Not comfortable.

"I feel like a doll." Said Mob as Teru took yet another picture of her. She had gone to his house afterschool. She didn't really have any other place to go and, well, he liked having her around. The walk home was nice, he wasn't upset at her for going walkabouts in her own mind and letting the other her take over. He didn't say anything about that at all. He mostly talked about some guy that had been excommunicated from his lunchtime group because he made fun of Teru one too many times.

Teru said that he only so much humility within himself.

The he called her a bottomless well of humility.

Then he told her what happened. Well first he told Mob the background of what happened, which took a while, then he got to telling her the play by play of what actually happened. Then he said the stuff about humility. Then they got to his house but instead of going straight up Teru had to check the mailroom. He said that he had a surprise for her.

The surprise was clothes.

He called them knockoffs. He said that actual Harajuku clothes were way too expensive and his parents would definitely notice if he spent that much money on clothes. They only said that he could have so much money for his allowance and so much for living expenses. Mob, of course, told him that he didn't have to get her anything but he said that he wanted to. So that led to what felt like hours and hours of trying on clothes and getting her picture taken.

She was grateful that he loved her and that he thought about her.

But this dress was really uncomfortable.

But she should be grateful that she had someone who cared so much about her.

But this dress was very uncomfortable. So was every other dress that Teru had her try on. How did people dress like this every single day? Mob knew that she was weird about clothes. Mom always said that buying clothes for Mob was like pulling teeth. She liked soft fabrics with loose collars and sleeves. Long skirts and dresses with long socks. She also cut the tags off of all the clothes that she owned. Teru told her not to. He said that the tags were very important so they had to stay on. Not only did they say where the clothes came from, they were knockoffs but they weren't cheap knockoffs he had said, but they also had essential washing instructions on them.

"I know. You look amazing." Said Teru. He had a thing for clothes, he could accept this about himself. There were much worse things he could have been into. Weird things, bad things, that could make her run away and never look back. Yes, in the grand scheme of thing wanting to dress his girlfriend up in cute outfits she was his own personal doll type of thing was not that bad at all. She deserved to look cute, anyway, and she needed clothes to wear.

Not that she was going to stay forever or anything like that.

There were stages of cohabitation, he Googled during class, and the first stage was sleeping over and leaving things in your partner's home. She already had some clothes and a toothbrush at his house. If she had her own place to live he would have definitely stored a few outfits and some grooming stuff there but she did not because she was his age and nobody was going to let her live all on her own.

Even though she sort of was.

With him.

But not forever. He did not have to worry about that sort of thing just yet.

"How many more do I have to try on?" asked Mob as she shifted. This dress was way too short and the socks did nothing about that. Wouldn't it have made more sense to wear tights or leggings rather than high socks? How did magical girls fight like this?

"You're right, we should take a break." Said Teru. He put his phone back in his pocket. She really was so cute. He was going to get so many more followers, too. Everyone loved a cute girl and if anyone loved her too much, well, self-defense was fine. It still counted as self-defense if you were defending your girlfriend.

"Can we watch TV?" asked Mob. She hadn't watched TV in a while. She was making an effort to be present in the moment more for him, mostly, also for herself because she couldn't remember anything from school that day. Well lunch but everything else was just a blank and that was not healthy. Plus Teru hated it when she went walkabouts when they were together. So now she had to make an effort to be more present in the moment. It was exhausting.

"Sure, if you want. We can do other things, too." Said Teru. He didn't mean that. He most certainly didn't mean that. But her eyes did go from him to his bed and he was only human and he loved her so, of course, if she wanted to then he would.

"….I want to watch TV…but we can do whatever you want." Said Mob. She would not…she would try not to go walkabouts this time.

"You really only want to watch TV?" asked Teru with a sigh. It didn't have to be 'that' but he knew that when she started watching TV there was no end to it. Even after they went to bed she'd get up super early just to watch TV. That was something he learned about her, she really liked watching TV.

"We can do whatever you want." Said Mob

"I just want to…let's watch TV." Said Teru. He wanted to do something but he had no idea what. He could take her on a bike ride, they could go out for dinner, they could sit on the roof together. All of that romantic stuff that girls liked. That stuff that kept relationships alive. That stuff that kept her from getting that glazed over look she got when she watched TV.

"Ok, Teru but I…I want to do whatever you want to do. I want to make you happy. You care so much about me and you do so much for me and I'm so grateful to have you in my life…" said Mob. She wrung her hands together. The lace of the matching gloves was itchy against her hands.

"We could go for a bike ride, get some dinner, go up on the roof and watch the stars…whatever you want to do." Said Teru

"We can do all of that if you want." Said Mob

"Really?! I mean, sure, whatever you want. So, what do you want to do?" asked Teru. He looked past her towards his wardrobe. There was some pink in the shirt he put on when he got home. The pants were plain but he didn't want to outshine her, just compliment her. Not that he even knew which option she had picked. Whichever. He'd do whatever made her happy.

And present in the moment with him.

"Everything that you just said." Said Mob simply

"….sure. Yeah, why not? We're free, we can do whatever we want. Come on, let's have the best date ever." Said Teru. That was a lot to do in one night, and he did have some homework to do, and he did have to get up at a reasonable hour for school…but to hell with being responsible! He'd show her the best night that anyone had ever shown her in her life!

Reigen felt Mob's aura for the first time in almost two weeks. A week and a half. A long ass time. The longest time that he had gone without seeing her since, well, the time before they met. He had gone for so long without her that when he got into her range he was almost knocked flat on his back from the sheer feeling he got as their auras tried to bond.

But she had passed quickly.

He, for a moment, had felt absolutely nothing. Just so very meh. Ok, itchy a little, but the mixture of elation and fear that he had been feeling at the first pinpricks of her presence had vanished into a sea of 'meh'. Odd for her. Not that he was the ultimate authority on Mob or anything. He was just someone who cared for her immensely….cared for her enough not to go after her. Not to go and apologize for everything that he had done wrong. Even things that he didn't see as being wrong.

Boundaries were a thing.

He was not wrong in wanting to set down boundaries. He didn't need to ask forgiveness for something that was not wrong, It wasn't like he needed Mob or anything, anyway. He didn't need her at all. He had landed himself a gig on TV. Someone had cancelled for the discussion panel on some big special Supernatural Detective was running. A national show. Not local. Not another one of these rinky dink interviews but a spot on a nationally broadcasted television show. With international appeal! He was going to be famous! Not the locally famous guy who caught the tsuchinoko, not the internet famous guy who threw salt around while the fourteen year old girl did all the work, and certainly not the hometown famous of the boy who's parents could be heard screaming from five houses down.

Real famous.

He didn't need Mob anymore.

Besides, it was obvious that she didn't need him anymore. He had decided to stop with the friendbook alerts for good this time. It was his mother, once again not knowing how to mind her own goddamned business, who sent him pictures of what Mob was getting up to. Playing dress up, apparently, because those clothes did not look like they were designed with any sort of function in mind. Mom also sent him that morning's 'good morning' picture and then one that was the previous night's 'good night' picture. She also sent him a novel she had decided to text him about how letting her live with her boyfriend was he most irresponsible thing that he had ever done. Then she said that the kid had a link to his Instagram and there were a million more pictures of him and Mob together and that, obviously, this was a bad thing because Mob was just a kid.

Like there was anything that Reigen could do to get her to listen.

She decided that this was what she was going to do and there was nothing that Reigen could possibly do to stop her. She was living with her boyfriend and of course she wouldn't come back even if he did ask her to. She was fourteen years old living with the boy she liked and able to get up to whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. No adults there to tell her what to do. She could take care of herself, she was so fond to telling him that, and now she was.

Mob was fine.

But he had turned notifications for Friendbook back on just to make sure. That and, well, maybe someone wanted to get in touch with him. Maybe an old acquaintance or a new one, or maybe just an obsessive fan. Either way in this always on, totally connected, twenty first century world a person had to be connected all the time. It was just good sense.

Another notification.

Well now that was why two people were not meant to share a bicycle. Wipe out. Not a bad one. Mob looked blank as always. The kid was in frame too doing an exaggerated shrug. Someone in the background was glaring. Another person was laughing. Another was taking his own picture of the scene. Two kids on an overturned bicycle looking like they had gotten lost on their way to a fancy dress party. The caption even said 'this is why I need a bicycle built for two'. So, yes, the kid understood that two people were not meant to share a bicycle built for one. Why the kid felt the need to take a picture of that and share this lesson with the entire world Reigen did not know.

"Teru, I'm so sorry!" said Mob as she sat down on the ground. Teru told her not to move. Well he told her that after he asked if she was ok. She was, she had made sure to catch the both of them with her powers. It was the least that she could do after she caused them to go off balance in the first place.

"I'm fine, you're fine, and the bike's fine. Don't be upset. This was actually a really cute picture." Said Teru. Ok, maybe he had been going a little bit picture crazy but he needed the followers. People were getting bored of just him and, well, he also needed to show the world how happy he and Shigeko were. That was very important.

"…why did everyone need to see a picture of us after your bike tipped over?" asked Mob. Teru helped her to her feet with his powers. The stood the bike back up too. Not a scratch on it.

"Because it was cute. Neither of us got hurt so it's fine." Said Teru. Well she had been cute, anyway. She was still cute. She would always be cute.

"I guess…but do you need to take so many pictures of us? I mean…I think that everyone knows what we look like already." Said Mob. She understood building an online presence for Spirits and Such, that was how business got drummed up and awareness was spread, but she didn't get why Teru was documenting every waking moment of their lives. Every moment. She didn't mind it, then, when he had taken that particular picture, but now the sheer number of pictures that he had taken of her and them together….it was all becoming a little much.

She did not want the attention.

But he loved attention. It was his favorite thing in the whole world.

But that didn't mean that she wanted it.

But she was grateful to him and she loved him and that meant that she shouldn't complain.

"That's not the point. The point is gaining and maintaining followers. I already lost a few followers, I think people are getting bored of me. Not that I'm using you or anything though. I just want everyone to know how happy we are together. You're happy, right?" asked Teru. Mob nodded.

"I think so. I'm not miserable and I want to be alive so I guess that I'm happy." Said Mob. She knew how bad that she could feel. This had been a nice day and she should have been happy. Teru loved her and was putting forth so much effort for her and she needed to be happy, as happy as he was. But she wasn't. She mostly just wanted to go inside and watch TV until tomorrow happened.

"….that's a weird way to put it but ok." Said Teru. A really, really, really weird way to put it. But she had said that she was happy so that must have just been her not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to say. That was all.

"I'm sorry, Teru. I'm sorry for saying something weird and for tipping us over." Said Mob

"I don't mind, really, for either of those things. I guess that I was going too fast, it's ok that you got scared." Said Teru

"I didn't get scared, Teru." Said Mob

"Oh. Sorry. I just thought that you were. You know, the way that your aura flared and all." Said Teru

"That wasn't me being afraid I just…I felt someone's aura. That's all." Said Mob. She didn't want to mention that it had been Master Reigen. That she had felt him after so long. That if she hadn't exorcised her emotions that aura flare could have been an explosion. That she had to push her feelings down so deep, so very deep, that they were as dense as a black hole. That she had to do this or else she could have exploded or worse, started crying.

She missed Master Reigen.

She wanted to go to him. To apologize. To tell him that she was sorry for being so terrible, for being such a stubborn brat. For all of the terrible things that she had done. For casting aside everything that he had ever taught her, for being as bad as she could be. For not listening to him. For being clingy towards him. For needing him. For trying to go to him because she was all sad and weird feeling. For sticking herself to him. For telling him she loved him. For loving him at all in the first place.

She would apologize for everything if that meant that he would love her again.

But she didn't go to him. She expanded her aura outwards but she didn't go to him. In fact she stopped herself short when she sensed that she was getting near enough for him to feel. She stayed where she was. He didn't want her around anymore. He didn't need her anymore.

That was fine. Everything was fine.

"….we're not going towards them. We're not. I don't care if they don't feel hostile, we are not walking up and introducing ourselves." Said Teru. No. That would have been the absolute stupidest thing that either of them could have done. Claw was everywhere and anyone, any esper, could have been a member.

"I don't even feel…." Said Mob. She was about to say that she didn't even feel those guys from that morning when she felt something tapping her aura. It felt like the same person. The same person inhabiting two vessels….but how? She had never felt anything like that before…

It felt wrong.

"You just said that you did." Said Teru. There would be no persuading him. No. None. Nein. He was not starting a fight with Claw or whatever other crazy kidnapping organizations that there were out there. Those assholes were the reason that he was alone in the first place. They just would not stop coming after him, since he was ten this had started going on….and he couldn't keep his family safe…

He would protect Shigeko. If it came to that.

"I know, I hadn't felt these guys then. That was something else. I feel two people coming really fast…but they feel like the same person over and over again." Said Mob. Teru, who had been making sure that his bike was still rideable, froze.

A copied aura.

Oh no.

"What color are their auras?" asked Teru. He had to swallow a couple times to get the words out. A barrier covered him and Shigeko. Pink and blue. Hers.

"Red. Ick. They feel…really bad. Like bad people, not like dead people. Dead people can have red auras but these guys don't feel dead or possessed. Hostile though, but I don't know why." Said Mob. They were alone on the street now. The people around them, the one who had stopped to gawk, had left. A cold wind hit her aura.

Then pure energy.

"Fuck! Shigeko! Come on!" said Teru. These guys were a lot stronger than the pawns Claw usually sent. Nowhere near the level of those upper division guys but much, much, much stronger than anything that Claw had sent after him before.

Because he had Shigeko now.

Of course whoever their boss was knew about Shigeko. That was probably the kind of things that the lackeys would tell him immediately. So of course they sent stronger guys. Of course they wouldn't take any chances. Teru didn't know what, exactly, Claw for a fact but he knew that it could not have been good.

"You shouldn't just go around attacking people, it isn't nice." Said Mob simply. Two people slammed into her barrier. She made it stronger. This was not ok. It was not ok for people to just go around making the lives of others worse like this. Fighting was not ok, only in self-defense. This was not self-defense.

"Hey little girl? Having some bike trouble? Don't you want some help?" asked a man. No scar, so not one of those upper division guys. Mob stared at him. She balled her fist. She was so, so, so tired of fighting. Teru was pulling on her, telling her to go. Telling her that they had to run away.

To what end?

People did not stop. If you ignored them they did not stop. If you gave in then they did not stop. You needed to make them stop. You needed to because you were stronger. That was the way of the world. The strongest of everyone had to-

That was Mogami. He believed in things like that.

Mob couldn't. Mob couldn't listen to that even for one second. But she had listened. She had forgotten herself and then someone had died. Sort of. She had strangled someone to death with her own two hands. That was in the unreality. In this reality she was much stronger. In this reality she didn't need to use her own two hands. A flick of the wrist, a wiggle of a finger, a twitch of her nose, even a single thought and she could end someone. Break them.

It would have been easy.

That was why she had to control herself.

That was why she had to keep herself under control. Teru was asking her to let him fight, now. She wasn't going to. The sidewalk was cracking like an eggshell. All the cars parked on her side of the street flipped over. The lightbulbs around her burnt out.

She dropped her barrier.

"Using your powers to hurt other people is wrong. If it wasn't me you could end up seriously hurting or killing someone. It's a terrible feeling, killing someone, and you may be bad people but that's not a feeling that I would wish on anyone. Are you going to stop using your powers to hurt others?" asked Mob simply. Flatly. Monotonously.

"Shigeko….?" Asked Teru. Hostile intent. Aura still mostly pink. What was this? She had never…he had never seen her like this. The real her. The part of her that she called Mob even though it was the greatest misnomer in the entire history of misnomers. She should not have been hostile. This did not fit. But she was. She was and he tried to stop those guys but she was….what was she doing.

"I guess that means no. Fine. I have no choice." Said Mob. She didn't want to hurt anyone but she had no choice. This was the only way. If she didn't do this then those guys would be free to, well, do this to other people. People who weren't as sturdy as she was. Even Teru wasn't anywhere near as sturdy as she was. People could break. Psychic powers could be used to break people. That was why she had to do this.

She didn't break anyone.

She ate them.

Not literally. She knew that he could take power, store it up, and even give it away. This was not something that she practiced often, when would she ever? But this was something that she knew that she had to do. It wasn't that much different from trying to eat spirits except for the fact that since this energy was from living people her body could so easily make it her own.

Or maybe just one living person.

Because this felt like she was eating the same meal twice.

She had no idea how auras worked. She had no idea what the different colors meant. She had no idea what the different patterns meant. She had no idea why some people's auras moved and some people's auras didn't. She had no idea why her aura was in two colors and other people's auras were just in the one color. She had no idea why some people, everyone she had ever met up to this point, had their own aura while these guys had auras that felt like they were copy pasted.

She did, however, know that she had to do what she had to do. She saved people, that was what she did, and she hated breaking people. So she had to find a way to save people without breaking them. So she ate them. Their powers, not their vessels, because that would have been illegal and also disgusting.

"Shigeko…what are you doing?" asked Teru. He could feel himself getting weak, so weak, weaker even then…she had done this when they had fought at Black Vinegar all those months ago. She could steal energy, he knew that it was in her power set. He knew how truly unpleasant it felt. Now he was feeling it again.

It was worse this time.

She had always been all about peace and love and forgiveness and understanding. Now she was using her powers against others, the very thing that she had taught him not to do. Was she….she could have been truly dangerous if she wanted to be. Teru knew, had always known, that she eclipsed him in every way. He could not hold a candle to even a tenth of the power that she held in her vessel. She was…she was doing the one thing that she had promised never to do.

She was using her powers against others.

"Saving us and probably a whole lot of other people, too. If I don't do this then they'll never stop bothering us. Not only that but they'll go on to hurt others. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to break them and I don't want them to break anyone else so I'm trying to eat as much of their power as I can." Said Mob. She gasped, a little, because this was a lot. She needed to do something with the excess power or she really could explode. He gave some to Teru, as best as she could, and the rest went into the plant life around her. Into fixing things that she had broken. Even into making some more clouds, which really wasn't that hard at all.

Anything to keep from exploding.

When she felt like she had taken as much as there was to take she stopped. The two guys were on the ground. They had on matching jumpsuits with the logo she had seen at the Claw base. Oh. Those guys again. Well then she really had done a good thing. Those espers from Claw were kidnappers. Very bad people. She knew that this probably counted as using her powers against others but it also counted as self-defense. Master Reigen had said that self-defense was alright, he made her promise that she would defend herself, even so then he wouldn't be mad.

She had probably saved Master Reigen, too.

He wasn't strong enough to protect himself. She was stronger. He needed her. He needed her and she had to go to him right now because he could not keep himself safe and there were so many bad people in the world and he was practically defenseless out there! Anything could happen to him out there without her to keep him safe.

But he didn't want her.

"Shigeko….what did you do?" asked Teru. He stood on shaky legs. The weakness was gone, now he felt something akin to a caffeine rush. Shigeko's doing. That hurt too, her sharing her power with him. That was just as, if not more painful, than her leeching power.

"I stole their powers. It was self-defense." Said Mob simply. The two Claw guys were opening their eyes, now. The moved around kind of slowly, kind of like she did back when she lost her powers. Right. The world was much heavier when you didn't have powers. They were blinking a lot too. Of course they were, they couldn't see auras anymore. The world had a layer of color stripped right off. Mob felt bad, guilty, for what she did. Just a little bit. They deserved it for being bad people and doing bad things. Mob hadn't done this unprovoked, she had been keeping herself and Teru safe. That was all. No more and no less.

"You can…you can totally and completely steal someone's powers from them?" asked Teru. He shook. He felt his knees threaten to collapse. He was afraid of her. He needed to get away from her. He needed to get to somewhere safe because for that moment in time she was not his girlfriend but something else. Something dangerous. He needed his powers, he had been without them before and it was hell…

She could take them away just like that.

She had that kind of power.

"I don't really know. I just ate up a lot of their powers so I have no idea if this is permanent or not. Either way, they should not have been using their powers against people. That was wrong." Said Mob

"…you're right…" said Teru. He would have said something like 'two wrongs don't make a right' or some other such tired cliché but now did not seem to be the time. Right. This was still Shigeko. His pragmatic Shigeko. If someone was misusing their powers as badly as these guys were, and Claw were the bad guys, then there was nothing wrong with what she had just done.

"We'll see about that!" said one of the Claw guys. He waved his arms. Nothing happened. He did it again and again and again. It looked like he was trying to turn into a bird and fly away. To Teru it would have been funny if it hadn't been so macabre.

The guy next to him go motion sick even though he wasn't in motion.

Then they ran.

Mob didn't mind, terribly, that they were afraid of her. It was wrong to use psychic powers against people. They could have ended up hurting or even killing someone, and that was a terrible feeling, so in reality Mob had done a good thing.

Really, she had.


	49. Thirty Minutes of Shame

Ritsu was beginning to feel like there was some kind of a conspiracy or something going on.

People were being nosy, very nosy. Not just other kids but teachers. Asking him if everything was ok at home. Asking him about his sister. Asking him and asking him and asking him. Which was weird. Teachers asked him stuff all the time, usually to do something like help one of his struggling classmates or something. Sometimes they asked about Shigeko, usually just to see if she really did have psychic powers.

Which of course she did, everyone knew that.

But nobody was asking about her powers. They asked if she was alright, if everything was alright at home, how mom and dad treated her. Things like that. Things that mom said were nobody's business. Well, she screamed that, anyway. Every time Ritsu thought that mom couldn't do anymore screaming she outdid herself. Dad was staying later and later at work. Ritsu didn't get what there was to scream about. She was always mad about something.

Not that he told anyone that.

No, his go to response was that everything was fine. Because it was.

Shigeko was totally fine. She would have said something if she wasn't.

Not that he had seen her in a while. He was avoiding her, sort of. Avoiding her and, well, she wasn't exactly making herself available to him. She had club activities pretty much every day, so did he. She hung out with Teru after school almost every day, so did he. Not that hanging out with Teru part, no, his own girlfriend. Rei. He hung out with Rei after student council pretty much every day.

He wasn't in love with her, not really, but he did like spending time with her. Her house was nice.

Not he had been invited over. No. This was weird. Rei loved spending Friday nights with him. They went out on Friday nights, her curfew was later on Fridays. The arcade, MobRonalds, the park, the river….he was glad, at least, that she hadn't asked him to go to the river with her. Not that he had anything against kissing her. It didn't feel like much of anything, really, unless she kissed him like…yeah it was kind of awkward feeling when she kissed him like that. But that made her happy and he did not want to make her unhappy. He could not stand it when girls were unhappy.

Even if in making them happy he became unhappy.

But that was who he was. He was everyone's perfect little Ritsu doll. He said the right things and did the right things and he made everyone happy. He was the perfect son, the perfect brother, and the perfect boyfriend. Perfect. He was so sick of having to be perfect all the time. But he didn't get that luxury, the luxury of imperfection. Shigeko got that luxury. She got to be as imperfect as she wanted. The things that made her different didn't tarnish her. She was not some perfect porcelain doll that had to be careful not to crack. She could be as different as she wanted to be.

She could be whoever she wanted to be.

It felt like everyone got to be who they wanted to be except for him. He had to be who he had to be. Nobody could ever figure out who he wanted to be, what he really wanted…nobody in the whole world. He didn't get that luxury. Maybe if he were as clueless as his sister….that was a mean thought to think…but if he were more like her. Clueless. There was a freedom to being clueless. When you couldn't get a clue then you couldn't give a damn. What Ritsu wouldn't give to stop being able to give a damn.

About anything.

But he did give a damn. He gave a damn about himself and his family and everything. He couldn't just check out. He couldn't just check out of life like Shigeko did. He couldn't just do whatever he wanted. He couldn't just leave home and go off to live with….he was stuck at home. He couldn't just leave no matter how bad the yelling got. He couldn't just leave no matter how much he…he couldn't do that to his family.

He would not do that to his family.

He wouldn't act like Shigeko. He make everyone ask if everything was alright at home. Not only teachers asked but other kids, too. Girls. Shigeko's friends and some of her classmates, too. Even Takane asked if Shigeko was doing ok, and she was the one who started calling Shigeko 'Mob' in the first place. If he had one more second year girl asking if Shigeko was ok-

People were obviously making fun of her.

People were obviously just asking because she was so weird.

It was like a great big conspiracy to make fun of his sister or something.

She was fine. He knew that she was fine. If she wasn't fine, if something were truly wrong, then she would have exploded again. She would have exploded like she had so many times before. She hadn't so therefore she was fine. Besides, if she wasn't fine then she wouldn't have been hanging out with Teru so often. Teru who was her boyfriend. Teru who she liked and he didn't. Not like that. Teru who she of course could spend all of her time with and he could take whatever pictures he wanted with her and upload them to whichever social media platforms he chose to.

Not that he set out to internet stalk Teru or anything. That was Rei. Which he knew should have worried about but he didn't. Rei didn't like Teru like that, she had said so. She thought that Ritsu was jealous, which of course he wasn't, but she made sure to tell him that while she thought that Teru was attractive she would never do anything to jeopardize their relationship or her friendship with Shigeko.

He wished that she would jeopardize it.

He wished that she would just do something…anything….or find someone else….but she wouldn't.

She wasn't that sort of person. She loved him and when a girl told you that she loved you then she meant it. She loved him and she was planning on spending her entire life with him and that was fine because he didn't want to be with any girl but he had to be so it might as well be her. Her family was nice. She was good at drawing. She listened to him when he talked. She was like a journal that his mom couldn't find and read.

But she wasn't with him.

She said that she was having a sleepover this entire weekend so she'd be busy. They usually spent the weekends together….he missed her. Not the kissing parts or the cuddling parts or the parts that she got out of her parents' relationship books but he did miss having someone to listen to him. Someone to spend time with him.

To actually spend time with him, not to just ask him if everything was alright at home.

Rei had a nice home, Mob decided.

It smelled nice in there, like cooking rice. She had a TV, too, which was nice. But everyone had a TV. Mob just liked TV. She was at Rei's house now, Rei asked her last night if she wanted to have a sleepover. She said yes, mostly because after they fought those Claw guys Teru had been really quiet. He sat away from her and he barely talked with her and he even went to be without her.

He was acting like he was afraid of her.

And she would not be around if she was going to make him afraid. She was not going to lose him to.

So she was staying at Rei's house.

"…and then we'll make caramel corn! I know how, it's not that hard! You just have to be careful not to get any of the hot sugar on you or you'll end up with disfiguring burns, that's not good. But maybe you'll be fine, you heal fast, right?" said Rei. They were in her living room. Mob was sitting on her couch watching TV. Rei didn't know the show but Mob seemed pretty into it. She had been sitting very, very, very still and her eyes had been very, very, very focused. But unfocused. Like when someone got really into the zone and their eyes glazed over and then their sister jumped out and scared them. Damned Riko….

"Whatever you want, Rei." Said Mob after a moment. Right. She was being spoken to. It was important to listen when people spoke to you. It was important to speak back when people spoke to you. It was important to converse when people tried to have conversations with you.

She was grateful that someone wanted to talk to her.

She was grateful that someone wanted to be around her.

She was grateful that someone wasn't afraid of her.

She was grateful that someone didn't think that she was terrible.

Mob was so grateful.

"Or we could make a cake! We have cake mix, I think, but we can try and make it from scratch. How hard can it be? All you need it milk, eggs, water, sugar, food coloring…flour! I can't believe I forgot the flour. Butter too, I guess. Butter is important. Or maybe we can use margarine. I don't know what we have, I haven't looked in the fridge yet. Ooh! We have to make frosting too! We have to make frosting….I think frosting is just sugar and butter! Let me see….if we make this cake it's going to be inedible. Literally nobody is going to be able to eat it. Not even us. So I guess we should probably find a recipe or get some cake mix! Or maybe we could make cookies! You like cookies, right?" asked Rei

"Whatever you want, Rei." Said Mob. Rei frowned. She was either really in the zone or she wasn't listening.

"I could do your hair! You have so much of it, it's really nice. Like, I could put it up or I could curl it or I could put waves in it or I could even color it! Like not as red as mine but you would look good with brown hair, or like a dirty blond…or maybe that reddish blond that Reigen has!" said Rei. Mob sat up straighter at the mention of Master Reigen.

Don't think about him.

Don't wonder how he's doing.

Don't miss him.

Be grateful for what you have.

"….whatever you want, Rei." Said Mob. She didn't want to think about Master Reigen or anything at all, really. She liked TV. When she focused on it she could just…just exist. She just sat back, her body went slack, and then she could let go and her mind could go slow. Slow or just…stopped. Not thinking about anyone or anything. Just existing.

Just existing was just fine.

"Or we could play dress up, not that we'd still be playing. We'll just, you know, get dressed up. I think you and I are about the same size. You're so tiny…but in a good way! You could totally fit into my clothes! I could do your makeup too! Do you like makeup? I mean any kinds of makeup. I never see you wear it but a lot of people don't because it's too much trouble or they just aren't allowed to. Not that anyone can tell you what to do. You live all on your own now…but don't worry! I mean, if you want someone to tell you what to do I think my parents would….not that I know why you'd want them to tell you what to do…but they would! They totally would! But I won't because I'm not bossy like that. Ugh! I cannot stand bossy people. I like you though, you're not bossy. Like, it totally wouldn't be bossy if you told me what you wanted to do!" said Rei

"Whatever you want, Rei." Said Mob simply. Rei face fell.

"What do you want? Come on Mob, you're my guest. Whatever you want!" said Rei. Why wasn't Mob happy? What had Rei done? Or was Mob just upset about her circumstances. That would make sense. She couldn't go home, she couldn't go back to that nice Reigen guy, and she didn't want to stay with her boyfriend. She had been sleeping outside where all the bad stuff that everyone had warned Rei about could have happened to her. All of the 'you know' things that nobody ever thought could happen to them but totally could.

That didn't happen to Mob, right?

She saw the future, not the past.

"Can we watch TV?" asked Mob. She liked TV. When she watched TV she didn't have to think about anything at all. Not how even Teru, probably, didn't want her around anymore…another person who she loved…..

"…sure….whatever you want, Mob." Said Rei. TV was so boring but that was what Mob wanted to do…maybe it was a family thing. Yes, that was it! Ritsu liked it when they watched TV together, too. Well they held hands and cuddled when they watched TV but Rei figured that Mob wouldn't want to hold hands and cuddle with her….not that there was anything wrong with that! They both had boyfriends, that was all! Yes, that was it.

"It's your house, Rei." Said Mob after what felt like it might have been too long.

"Yeah but you're the guest and also…you know…all the stuff that happened to you. Not that your friends told me anything or anything like that! I just figured that you were in big trouble! I mean…I know that you were living outside….but I didn't tell anyone! Especially not Ritsu because I know that you don't want him to know about it." said Rei. She hated it, keeping secrets from Ritsu. A healthy and loving relationship was not built on secrets. Whenever she looked into their future she always saw a high probability of them breaking up. Could this be why? Or was it the other things that were wrong in their relationship? Not that they had big problems or anything. This could be a big problem if Ritsu ever found out…

It was not an easy choice to make. Her relationship with the most amazing, sweet, smart, cute guy in the entire world or her friend's life. Ok, when she thought of it like that then the choice was obvious.

"Oh….thank you, Rei, for not telling him. He doesn't have to know." Said Mob. She did not want Ritsu to know about any of this. Ritsu couldn't know. If he knew then he would worry, which was bad, and he would try and make her come home, which was worse. She was not going back to a place where people were afraid of her. She was not going back to a place she had spent six months all alone in. She was fine. Everything WAS FINE.

So what if Master Reigen didn't want her around anymore?

So what if Teru probably didn't want her around anymore either?

So what if she had no idea what she was going to do? Not tonight or tomorrow night but in the future? She just had to take it day by day, that was all she could do. Just like before she would have to take it one day at a time. This was better, though, so much better. She didn't have a place to stay but she did have people who loved her and wanted her around. She had friends that wanted her around and, sure, maybe they wouldn't if they ever knew what happened but they wanted her around for now and that was what mattered.

She was so grateful.

"I know that he doesn't but…I mean eventually someone should have to know. I mean…I know that your mom isn't that nice but…actually you know what? I heard this saying, it goes 'you never know what happens behind closed doors' which is like, I can just press my ear to the door and listen so then I'll know what's happening. But I don't do that anymore because one time I did that because my sister locked herself in her room and wouldn't hang out with me, this is back when Riko wasn't so mean to me, but then I was spying on her and I guess she heard me and then she hit me a million times and told me not to be a nosy weirdo. So I guess that…what was I saying? Oh yeah, I don't know what happens behind closed doors in your house but you can totally tell me! I mean, I won't tell anyone else and I won't judge or anything. I mean…if things are really that bad at your house you can tell me." Said Rei

"Oh. I don't know how things are at my house, I haven't been there in months. Ritsu would know more than I do. He's probably happier without me there, though, and so are mom and dad. If I'm not there then they don't have to be afraid of me." Said Mob

"That's dumb, why would anyone be afraid of you? Like, it's super dumb. Like, ok, I get that your powers are crazy strong and all but, like, you're still you. You're still a really good person. Like you don't pick on people or use your powers to hurt them. You're like a magical girl, you use your powers to save people. You saved me, anyway. Well Ritsu saved me first but you destroyed that whole base with your powers." Said Rei

"….that was mostly the fight, the bad guys, and Master Reigen. I lent him my powers and he was the one who stopped everyone." Said Mob. He had been so brave, there. He had saved everyone and…and she had repaid him by being terrible.

"But you helped. Teru told me what happened. Not that there's anything going on with me and Teru! He just comes by the Awakening Lab sometimes and sometimes we talk, that's all. Really, nothing weird. I'm still totally in love with Ritsu and all of that and I would never cheat on him or be an accessory to anyone else cheating! Not that Teru would ever cheat on you, he loves you. He's always telling everyone how awesome you are…and then the boys sometimes get super gross which is like 'nobody needs to know about that stuff' but that's what boys talk about when they're together. Seriously, they're like obsessed or something. I mean sometimes I think that I am too but not nearly as bad as they are. Guys are so gross sometimes, but not Ritsu. He's super mature. He's the most mature guy I've ever met. You're mature, too. In a good way, not like when they call you mature to say that the mean that you look old. You don't look old, by the way, you look nice. Except for the dark circles under your eyes but I can fix those. What's up with those, by the way?" asked Rei. It took Mob a moment to shift through everything that Rei had said. Rei talked like she was on a timer, like if she didn't get everything out of her head super fast then it would be stuck in there forever.

Mob was glad that there wasn't a lot going on inside of her head.

Whenever she let there be a lot going on inside of her head it was always bad things. Bad thoughts, sad thoughts…thoughts about how terrible she was. Thoughts about how badly she had messed up. Thoughts about how if she had just tried harder…if she had just been better, then she could have stopped Moagmi from tricking her. Then she could have stopped Mogami from tricking her and trapping her in the unreality. She could have saved herself six months of all of that terribleness. She could have saved herself from becoming this terrible person that she was now.

But she was terrible.

She was and she had no idea how to stop. She tried to forget. Forgetting was good. Forgetting kept the sadness away. As long as she didn't think about what she had done or who she had hurt then she could have, for a little bit anyway, some peace. As long as she could just empty her mind of everything. But she couldn't because someone was there and someone was talking to her and she had to be polite and talk back. That was the polite thing to do.

"….I don't sleep a lot." Said Mob. Right, that was what Rei had been asking about.

"Oh! Hello Rei! Of course you haven't been sleeping! I am so, so, so sorry that I asked. Well you can sleep here for as long as you want. This weekend, anyway, because I'm not allowed to have sleepovers during the week….but I might be able to wear my mom down! I mean, I know that you need somewhere to stay and that you don't want to stay with Teru….not that I'm asking why! It's none of my business!" said Rei

"….I don't think that Teru wants me around anymore." Said Mob

"Oh my God! Did you guys break up! It'll be ok, he sucks anyway! Like, why does he always dress like he got into a fight with a Christmas tree? And, like, he can be so full of himself sometimes! Like he thinks that just because he's had his powers for longer and he's stronger that means that he can just-" said Rei

"We didn't break up. He didn't say that he didn't love me. I just think that he's scared of me…" said Mob

"That's stupid, you're not scary. Like, nothing about you is scary. Guys are so stupid, sometimes. Like, he's probably just jealous because you're so much stronger than he is. Guys hate it when we're better at something. I swear to God that they turn into kindergarteners! Like, ok, this one time we were all playing air hockey at the Lab and then I kept on beating Go and he was all 'you're using your powers to cheat' and I was all 'no, I just don't suck at air hockey' but then, THEN Takeshi backs him up! He was all 'I could see your aura' and I was all 'yeah, because I was having fun!' because, like, auras show up when you're feeling a lot of big feelings and stuff. God…boys! They are so competitive over nothing!" said Rei

"I don't think that Teru's jealous of me, I think that he's just afraid. I just…I was being a stubborn brat again and now he doesn't…he doesn't want me…even though I kept us safe…" said Mob

"He called you a brat? That's such a weird thing to call someone. Like I know that he thinks he's an adult and he lives like an adult but he's still the same age we are. We're all in middle school and it's, like, so weird to call another middle schooler a brat." Said Rei

"He didn't call me that, Master Reigen did. He called me that when I made us go on an exorcism that he didn't want to. Teru probably thinks that I'm a stubborn brat and he probably wants nothing to do with me because I made us….there were these people with weird auras and I guess that they wanted to hurt us and Teru wanted us to run away before the weird aura guys got to us but I wanted to stay and then I stole their powers, well a lot of their powers, their auras kind of went out but they were still alive…so I think that maybe Teru's scared of me or mad at me because of that….and I hate it when people are scared of me or mad at me…" said Mob

"Well I'm not." Said Rei after a moment. For once she thought before she spoke. That was scary. She liked having her powers and if someone could just come and take them away….that was legitimately scary. But Mob had a good reason for doing what she did. She ran into some bad people so she used her powers to stop them.

There was nothing scary about that. There were some very bad people in the world.

"…you will be…" said Mob quietly. Rei was her friend but for how long? She…she didn't want…she was grateful for what she had and she would mourn it when it was gone but for now the best thing to do would just be to enjoy what she had. She just had to enjoy having a person there who cared about her. A person who wanted to be around her.

Also there was TV.

Green rooms, Reigen decided, were his favorite part of being on TV. Not that he had been on TV yet or anything, no, but the green room was nice. Plenty of food to eat, and from all the food groups. The fried, the salty, the mayonnaise covered….yup. All the food that he could stress eat…not that he was stress eating.

He was just hungry.

He had nothing to be stressed about. He was just there to add commentary. He glanced at the script. He was just the peanut gallery, they were getting some famous psychic to perform the exorcism. Lots of talking from the host, lots of talking from the famous psychic, and then commentary from the peanut gallery. It was him, some author, and some idol. He sort of knew the author but the idol was a mystery to him. Not one of the ones Mob liked. Mob liked mostly cheerful theme songs from shows and videogame soundtracks. Oh, and whatever the hell that song about everything tumbling down was. He hadn't even realized that her English was good enough to…

But then again his information on Mob was a little dated.

Did she still like that song? Did she still like her depressing cat and depressing mech shows? Did she still drink milk? Did she still brush her hair once in the morning and once at night? Did she still-

Was she watching?

Not right now but…would she be? Wherever she was in the world, most likely with her boyfriend, was she sitting in front of a TV and watching? Maybe not. He had been a last minute addition. The guy who he was replacing's name was still on the script, just crossed out, and he had been such a last minute addition that…

A lot of people watched this show. Maybe Mob would be one of them. She did like to watch TV after all.

Besides, he had plenty of people in his life who would be watching. He told mom and she probably told everyone. Heh. Everyone who said that he was flaky, who said that he lacked drive, who said that he was impulsive…well now they'd see! He was rising to the top of the psychic world, and on his own, too. Without Mob.

She would have loved this.

She would have loved the green room, not the attention. Not the fact that this whole thing was faked just to get some ratings. Spirits and possessions were real, of course, but unless someone had directly been affected by a spirit then they most likely did not believe…and even if they were they were more likely to believe the simplest, non-supernatural explanation. She would not have liked the lying aspect but she would have loved the green room.

Plenty of milk, comfortable chairs, carpeting…she would have loved this. There's a part of him, the part he likes to ignore, that wants to call her. To tell her what's happening. Not to gloat but to share this moment with her. She did help he get there. She had always been by his side…but not anymore.

He didn't need her but he wanted her.

But wanting was not needing.

So ultimately he did not call her. Ultimately he mostly just stress ate and glanced at his script. Regulated to the peanut gallery where he belonged. Without her that was where he belonged. Well…well he was alright with that. He didn't need her anymore and she didn't need him. He had this, this was all him. She may have carried him in the beginning but he had gotten himself to this point. He had.

"Reigen? They need you?" Reigen hadn't even heard the door open. He nodded, his mouth full of mocha balls. Mob liked these, the kind with the strawberry in them. He rubbed the cornstarch off of himself with his sleeve as he walked. TV people flittered around them without even a passing glance. He hurried to keep apace as he was led to the main stage. He was usher to a chair, kind of high for his tastes and a million lighting, sound, and camera checks were done.

He was not nervous.

There was a studio audience. He focused on them. Not the cameras. Not the fact that all of Japan could see him through those cameras. He focused on the people who were already there, the people he could see. They ran the gambit from old to you, men to women, bored to fascinated. He made eye contact with a pretty woman in the first row. She held it.

Yeah. He had this.

He heard movement behind him. Something hit his back.

"Oh, sorry about that. They certainly didn't give much through to this seating, did they? Honestly." Said the woman. She pulled out her phone and clicked her tongue.

"So, where's the girl?" said the woman after a while. Reigen turned around.

"Huh?" asked Reigen

"You know, the girl. The girl that you're always with? I've seen some of your stuff, I always do my research, and I figured that she would at least show up to this thing even if she didn't want to be a part of this dog and pony show. Seemed right up her alley." Said the woman

"She's…taking a break." Said Reigen. That was his official statement on the subject. Mob was taking a break. She didn't quite, she didn't run away, and she hadn't turned her back on him forever. Mob did have more fans than he did, she was a cute girl after all, but he could get his own fan base going. He didn't need her.

"That sucks, you guys were really great together, genuine chemistry. This thing is going to be such a slough. I cannot wait until this supernatural fad is over, let me tell you." Said the woman, her face still buried in her phone. A man sat down next to her and was engrossed in the script.

"Fad?" asked Reigen. No way. There was no way that this was just a passing fad. There was an entire world to the supernatural, one that more people should have believed in. One which it would be in people's best interests to believe in.

"This supernatural stuff. All of these ghost hunters and espers and psychics and mediums." Said the woman

"You think that this is just a fad?" asked Reigen. Well obviously this program was all for show but…well he hadn't exactly been a believer, either, until the truth walked up and introduced herself.

"Yeah, I feel like it'll be on it's way out, soon. I mean, ok special effects have come a long enough way to do convincing spirit encounters and stuff but it is just so repetitive. I mean, of course none of this is real. People don't actually believe this crap." Said the woman

"You'd be amazed what people will believe. I've been asked six times, SIX, if my novels are based on true events. Honestly. People are so empty headed they'll believe anything." Said the man. Reigen turned away. He was not here to fight. He was here to watch the so called exorcism, offer his commentary, and then drum up some quick fame. That was all.

Then he felt it.

A shift in the energy around him. Subtle, of course, and if he had been with Mob it would have gone unnoticed. She screamed her presence, Mob, with her aura. This aura was softer, quieter. A wisp of purple on the periphery of his vision at first. A charge to the air. The hair on his arms stood up and rubbed against his sleeves.

Another psychic.

Purple aura. He had no idea what the different colors meant. It got closer. Reigen reached a hand to his stomach before he could stop himself. He was sore, a deep sort of soreness that would not be going away anytime soon. His joints ached, too. He flexed his hand opened and shut. He tried to straighten out but his back cried out in protest.

Then he saw the man in question.

Jodo. The 'Great Master' as his disciples called him. He braced himself against someone who was, presumably, one of his followers. A faint aura. One hidden but visible when Reigen knew what to look for. Jodo was led to a chair and helped up. Reigen wondered if he was always so small or if he just shrunk as old people tended to do. Jodo didn't even look his way, he was staring straight forward. Mob did that, too.

Probably a psychic thing.

He smiled, a bit. Jodo was part of the peanut gallery too. The so called 'Great Master' was stuck back there with everyone else while the 'Real Psychic' performed the exorcism. Nobody's names were used in the script, which was really more of a loose outline if anything, so Reigen had no idea who they called out to do this thing. Someone higher up than Jodo, obviously.

But probably not an actual psychic.

Or at least nobody near Mob's level.

Mob again. Always Mob. His mind always went back to her, didn't it? Even now, when he was about to make his television debut and launch his career to previously unthinkable heights he thought of her. She should have been by his side…but he didn't need her. He had this. He just had to be his usual charming self for the cameras, that was all. Make 'em laugh. Heh. Everyone in the world loved to laugh. Heh. He'd been talking to his mother too often, she was rubbing off on him.

Mom was watching, she promised she would. She told all of his relatives, the ones on her side anyway, to watch too. She might have even told dad….not that he cared. Dad never wanted him for a son. Well now this was his loss. His son was a famous psychic, not an embarrassment. His relatives on dad's side would probably be watching, too. Reigen didn't say anything to anyone in person but he did post about this on his friendbook.

This would be seen by everyone who ever mattered to him. Relatives he never saw, friends he hadn't spoken to in the better part of a decade, and old clients he couldn't even begin to remember the names of. That was enough for him. It didn't matter if Mob was watching or not. She was living her own life, her life was her own. He had taught her that. She had been listening to him, watching him, for years.

Now that time was up.

"Rei! Your program is starting!" called Rei's mom up the stairs. Mob lifted her head up from the sink, briefly, but Rei pushed it right back into the sink.

"DVR it!" said Rei. Mob needed a distraction, something other than TV, and Rei had one. Mob had a lot of hair and Rei had a lot of ideas so it was only natural that Mob let Rei do her hair. Mob agreed. Well she had said 'whatever you want, Rei' which just as good as 'That sounds super fun, Rei!' or 'I totally want you to do my hair and my makeup and we'll play dress up too, Rei!' and other things of that nature. This was good. This kept Rei from wondering too much.

Wondering what was going to happen to Mob.

Wondering what was going to happen to her and Ritsu.

Wondering why the future had to be so, darn, slippery.

It was slippery. Slippery like the shampoo she was trying to rinse out of Mob's hair. It wasn't set in stone and the farther ahead she tried to look the more it slipped from her grasp.

So to keep from thinking about things she did Mob's hair.

"We can watch more TV, if you want." Said Mob. The bathroom was full of floating water globs, her doing. The feel of the water running through her hair, down her back, across her face…too many sink baths. Too many hours spent under faucets trying to rinse dried, crusty milk out of her hair. She needed to keep it together. She couldn't even go walkabouts because Rei liked to talk and Mob needed to listen and respond because Rei was her friend and she was letting her stay at her house out of the generosity of her heart.

Mob had to be grateful.

"It's full! Rei, you have one minute to come downstairs or I'm changing the channel! That's sixty seconds!" said Rei's mom. Mob tried to get up again. Rei let her, this time.

"Come on, I guess. I can do the conditioner later, I guess. I mean, this is going to be a special live show and all so I guess that is it better if I see it live. This show isn't on streaming yet, the streaming places my family gets, so it's either live or wait for someone to pick it up. Sorry Mob…" said Rei. Mob gave no outward indication of feelings for or against anything. Rei looked into the future. Mob was not going to get mad at her anytime soon. That was good.

"Whatever you want, Rei." Said Mob. She liked TV and she liked spending time with her friend so why was Rei so upset? People were confusing, sometimes. It was better when Master Reigen was around. He could explain literally anything to her. Sometimes she understood, sometimes she didn't. Sometimes she agreed with what he said, sometimes he didn't. Either way he at least always tried his best to explain. He cared about her like that, back then. Back when they were friends and he wanted to be around her. Not that she knew when those times were. He had said that he had gotten stuck with her. Stuck. Well he was not stuck with her anymore. His life was his own and he was out there living his life and helping people and smoking and laughing too loud at the TV and leaving half smoked cigarettes everywhere and kicking off his dirty socks in the living room and never putting his dirty dishes in the sink and…

And he was right there.

Right. There.

Well, on TV anyway. Right there on TV in Rei's living room. Right there in that same grey suit he always wore, the one that she fixed after he got slashed across the back with a katana…his hair was still the same color she remembered…his eyes were still blue….he still bounced his leg up and down when he sat sometimes….

The camera cut away from him.

The books on the shelf beside her all fell to the ground.

"Mob!" said Rei. She hadn't expected to see that guy, either. This was the 'Do Supernatural Powers Really Exist?' live special of Supernatural Detective. Usually they just covered spirit encounter videos and had on psychics and mediums. This was television history, their first live showing. There was supposed to be some kind of famous European medium on last Rei checked….but instead it was Reigen.

So of course Mob would have been upset. Rei hadn't seen anger in the future from Mob so maybe that wasn't anger at all…fear? Surprise? Joy? It could have been literally anything, Mob hardly ever emoted.

"Girls! Mostly likely Rei and Riko! You two had better clean up whatever that was! No roughhousing in the living room, Rei, we've been over this." said Rei's mom. Mob quickly put the books back on the shelf. Rei's sister passed through, one earbud in and her eyes glued to her phone.

"I didn't do anything, mom, it was Rei and her weird friend." Said Riko as she passed through the living room. Rei tossed a couch pillow at her sister. Mob caught it before it could hit the floor and put it back on the couch with the others. She didn't want Rei's mom to be mad, moms cared a lot about couch pillows and things being neat and orderly.

"Mob's not weird! Don't make fun of her! I know you can hear me!" said Rei. Mob looked between Rei and the archway her sister had passed through and then back at Rei. She had never yelled at her brother that way. Siblings weren't supposed to just yell at each other, they were supposed to be friends. If not friends then at least nice to each other. Mob couldn't even imagine ever shouting at Ritsu. He was her little brother. Maybe it would have been different if they were both girls.

Master Reigen would have known, he knew everything about social stuff.

But she couldn't ask him.

She could never ask him anything ever again. Sometimes she liked to imagine that the two of them were just taking a break because of their fight and that everything would be over soon. Well that was just her imagination. Imagination was not reality, her name was not Harold and she did not have a magic purple crayon. As much as she wanted to talk to him, to be near him, even for just a moment…she couldn't.

But she could still watch TV.

"Mob, don't worry, I can change it. Uh…you like Evangelion, right? They have that on streaming. They have…there's a lot of other stuff that we can watch! Oh! I can go upstairs and finish washing your hair for you! Then you can do mine! Then we can-" said Rei. This was going to end badly, she could see it. She didn't know what exactly would happen but she knew that it would end very badly. Nobody would die…or get hurt physically….and Mob wouldn't lose control of her powers….but there was still this looming sense of just…badness…hanging over the entire thing.

"I want to watch this." said Mob. She could still watch him. She was…happy. She was so happy for him. He was on TV. He always wanted to be noticed and now the whole entire world was noticing him. Well, the parts of the world that spoke Japanese and got this channel. This was all that he had ever wanted. He had become who he wanted to be.

She was so happy for him.

He didn't need her anymore.

He was doing so well without her.

"Are you sure? I mean we have…uh…you look like you like Totoro! I have it on DVD, I used to watch it a lot when I was little. I think the disc skips in some places but those are just the boring parts. Well I think that they're boring, I don't know if you'll think that they're boring-" said Rei

"The show's back on." Said Mob simply. She got up off the couch and sat down on the floor. She was practically eye to eye with Master Reigen, well him on the TV. If she closed her eyes she could almost smell the cigarette smell that clung to him. The incense. The green tea. There was one smell that she could not remember, though…

That smell that could only be described as Reigen Arataka.

She knew that her aura was becoming more visible. She let it. She just…she needed to remember….but she couldn't. She could only watch. So she did. She watched TV.

"Master….I'm so happy for you…" said Mob softly. She opened her eyes. She didn't scoot back even though mom always said that sitting too close to the TV would ruin her vision. She didn't care. She just had to see him, to hear him….it had been so long.

Too long.

This introduction, in Reigen's opinion, was taking way too long.

"….president of the Rising Sun Spiritual Union and centenarian, the man who needs no introduction….Master Kirin Jodo! Master Jodo has solved many devastating spiritual problems since even before the pacific war! As a boy growing up in…." Reigen zoned out. It didn't matter if he looked alive, Jodo certainly didn't. Maybe he'd look more like a real psychic if he just stared off into the abyss. Heh. Maybe the abyss would look back.

Were they going to go over this guy's entire life story? Sheesh! If he really was over a hundred years old then there wouldn't be any time left for the actual exorcism. The old man didn't even seem to care. He was just sitting there doing his best Mob impression. What would Mob have looked like if she were there? Would she have been calm? Would her hair have been doing that things where it starts to stand up? Or would she have just been anxious to get on with it.

Reigen sure knew that he was.

Jodo knew that the young man beside him was anxious to get on with it. He felt his own toes trying to tap in his shoes. That man was bored. Young people, always in such a great hurry. Well this man could certainly hurry of to his doom. The plot was ingenious, really, even if the girl wasn't there. The girl who worked with all the grace of a giraffe on roller skates. The girl who decided that re-growing his appendix was the best thing to do after massive blunt force trauma. The girl who decided that, instead of working slowly and deliberately to either coax the spirit out or weaken it's hold to, instead, try to pry it out and send it into a death grip that there should have been no breaking free from.

Then she left her body like an irresponsible moron.

There was a reason that the technique was a forbidden one. It was extremely dangerous! She could have easily dematerialized! Her body could have been hijacked while she was gone! She set a terrible example for others. Now he had students begging him to teach them the most dangerous technique there was.

That girl.

Well she wasn't there. His followers had reported back to him that she was not avoiding the public eye but had, in actuality, left that man she called Master. Well if he couldn't get to the girl directly then he could at least get to the man. That disrespectful man…Jodo did not make it to one hundred and four by playing nice. He would not be disrespected and he would not have his students putting themselves in needless danger.

If he couldn't get the girl to embarrass herself on national television then the man was the next best thing.

Of course the machinations of Jodo's mind were unknown to Reigen. He had been going out of his mind with boredom. This was how they padded out an hour long special, with lengthy introductions. Well, lengthy for everyone but him, it seemed.

"…and making his television debut we have internet psychic Reigen Arataka of that Spirits and Such consultation office!" said the host. Reigen kept up a happy face. He had done plenty in his career! He deserved more than a line or two! Wait, right, his cue.

"Hi, I'm Reigen Arataka! You can find my business in Seasoning City." Said Reigen. That was the best he could come up with. Well he had to promote the business after all. Maybe he should have worn one of the Spirits and Such T-shirts…

"That's with the kanji for spirit, am I right? Is that your actual name or did you change it for your business?" asked the host.

"Nope, that's the name they gave me. Reigen Arataka, miracle worker!" said Reigen. There were some laughs from the crowd. Good. Make 'em laugh, make 'em laugh, everyone in the world loves to laugh. Mom would be so proud, he had finally come around to her taste in movies. She was watching right now…a lot of people were. This was what his entire life had been leading up to.

Don't ruin it.

Don't mess this up.

"We'll see if you live up to your namesake! But first, and we're all dying to know, where is she? Your other half? I see Shishou but I don't see Mobbu!" said the host. Reigen tensed. Beside him Jodo's aura flared. Behind him he was kicked lightly in the back. There was some cursing heard, faintly, as well.

Seriously? They were asking him about Mob? That's hadn't been in the script!

"She's…taking a break. That's all." Said Reigen calming down as best as he could. Mob. It always came down to Mob. She was…she was not his other half. He didn't need her. If they wanted to hire Mob for this thing then they should have just called Mob. They had him and he could handle this just fine!

Taking a break.

Mob heard his words echo in her mind. She was still sitting right in front of the TV, too close. Rei was sitting right beside her eating popcorn. Mob mulled over what he said. Taking a break. Did he…did he mean that? Breaks were not permanent. Breaks were temporary. If he said that did he mean…that he wanted her back?

That he expected her back?

Of course not. Don't be ridiculous.

"I can't believe that guy's really, like, over a hundred years old." Said Rei between bites of popcorn. That really was neat. Maybe psychics just lived a long time. Maybe she and Mob could hang out when they were a hundred years old. Hopefully they didn't end up that tiny and shrunken.

"I didn't know that, either." Said Mob after a moment. She still watched Master Reigen. A break. He said a break. He meant it. He must have meant it. Maybe he wanted her back. Maybe he forgave her for being so terrible…for being so stubborn…for being such a brat. For telling him he loved her.

Maybe they could go back to the way that they were before.

Master Reigen didn't tell lies. He must have wanted her to come back. Breaks were meant to be temporary…but how could she come back? He also said that she had stuck herself to him…he also said that he didn't love her….how could they go back to the way that they were before after all of that?

Well it wasn't like she could ask him or anything. She could just watch TV.

So she did.

Reigen was glad that the host had gotten off the whole Mob thing. Mob wasn't there, Reigen was, ergo the host should have asked Reigen questions about himself, not Mob. He had even asked what Reigen and MOB had accomplished. Reigen had accomplished plenty on his own, and made sure to slip in the fact that he had exorcised the player killer spirit after he talked about the time he and Mob got rid of all of those urban legends.

Which, apparently, was so cool according to the idol behind him.

Then they moved on to those other two, not that Reigen was listening. Taking a break. That was a good way to phrase it. Thank God nobody asked any follow up questions. There were so many questions that they could have asked. The same questions that their fans had been asking for weeks now.

How old was she?

Was she the real deal?

What was her relationship to Reigen?

And, lately, if he and Mob had broken up. That was the worst. Reigen was, actually, glad to be out of the spotlight. He hadn't even thought about how he was supposed to account for Mob if they asked on the show. He didn't even know that he would be expected to account for Mob's whereabouts. They had come to him, not him and Mob, and had even asked for him, not him and Mob. Fine, he and Mob had worked together for years but they had come specifically asking for him. Reigen Arataka.

Not Kageyama Shigeko. Mob.

A thought hit Reigen. Were her parents watching? What would they make about the distinct lack of Mob there up on that stage?

The only person watching was Ritsu and he had no idea what to make of what he had just heard.

This wasn't his usual type of show but he was bored and Rei had been hyping this special up for days. He'd might as well watch as much as he could stomach so he could have something to talk to Rei about the next time he saw her. Or to listen to her talk about. That was the most likely option. Not that he minded how much she talked, it just meant that he got to talk less.

That wasn't fair to her.

But he didn't want to think about her, then. Dad was still at work, mom was upstairs, and Shigeko was…somewhere. The house was dark and quiet and he could even imagine that he was all alone. Not that he wanted to be all alone but his own company was better than his mother's company. She never yelled at him but her presence made the atmosphere absolutely crushing. Honestly it was just better being alone sometimes.

It wasn't like Shigeko was ever coming back.

She made herself perfectly clear, she was never coming home. Why would she even want to? She got to do whatever she wanted to now, not that it was any different from how she always lived. She didn't have to deal with mom and dad and the fighting and the crushing silences. She didn't have to deal with mom and dad and how crushing it all was. She was with Reigen now and she was having the time of her life.

But she wasn't with Reigen.

A break? Sister would never take a break. Even if she broke her arms and legs she'd still crawl back to that guy. He must have been lying. But why? If sister didn't feel like being on TV, which she of course wouldn't, then he would a have just said so. Right? Who knew with that sweaty, sister stealing, conman. For all Ritsu knew she had just decided to stay home at…wherever it was that she was living now….and she was watching this on her own couch and she was fine.

Of course she was fine.

Mob was fine, she really was. Her powers were mostly under control, she hoped that Rei like the tiny jungle she was making out of the houseplants, and she only felt like crying a little bit. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Master didn't want or need her anymore and it was stupid to even hope for that. She should be happy for him. She was happy for him. She was happy that he had something that he had wanted for so long. Because she loved him. When you loved someone then you were happy for them, then you shared in the joy that they felt even if they didn't want you around. Even if they might have never wanted you around…

She was fine.

Master was happy and that was what mattered. She was grateful that Master Reigen was happy and grateful that he was fulfilling his dreams and grateful that she could have been there to watch him fulfill his dreams. Well not 'there' there but she was watching him and she was happy for him. She hardly even felt like crying.

"Are you sure you're ok? We can do something else if you want. Seriously." Said Rei. The only things in that room that were happy were mom's spider plants. Mob was not happy at all. Rei didn't blame her. First that guy just kicks Mob out and then he has the nerve to go on TV without her? What a major jerk!

"I'm fine, Rei. I'm fine." Said Mob. That was not a lie, she really was fine. She was fine and she was happy. She was happy that Master Reigen was happy. She was not lying at all.

"I'm…going to take your word for it, I guess. I mean, I wouldn't be fine, if I were you, but you're a whole different person." Said Rei. This was going to end so badly. She could feel it. She didn't know how badly it was going to end but she just got a bad feeling from the whole affair. Maybe if she 'accidentally' unplugged the TV…or blew the power to the house…or knocked the cable box out of the wall…

She'd ninety nine percent get in trouble if she tried that.

Darn.

Damn.

They were really going all out for this thing. That kid was all tied up like Hannibal Lecture. He was doing some weird head motions and drooling on himself. Acting. That kid was not possessed. Reigen had seen possession before. He had seen possession up close and person, that was not possession. The kid was perfectly fine. Reigen would bet on it. Mob could have confirmed it, though. Heh.

She'd probably just come out and say that the kid wasn't possessed and end the whole show. It hadn't even been half an hour. Wouldn't that just suck? Well served them right for faking something like possession. That was not something that someone should have lied about. Just…no. That was serious.

This was just TV. This whole thing was just for TV.

He should not get this worked up. Just watch the damn exorcism and make witty commentary. There. Just pull this off like a rock star and rake in the fame. Simple. Easy. Just say something.

Right now, you idiot, you're being addressed.

"Well Reigen-san? What do you think?" asked the host. Reigen cleared his throat and made his most serious face.

"I see…the footage we just watched mentioned that he was possessed after playing the kokkuri-san game…but to be more precise it's the spirit of a Ruppell's fox usually found in North Africa." Said Reigen digging up some bullshit he remember from a nature documentary. Just sound like you know what you're talking about and people will believe you.

"What's this?! He was able to precisely deduce what kind of ghost it is!" said the host. The crowd oohed and aahed. Reigen let it wash over him. You've got to give the people what they want.

"And you, Master Jodo? Your thoughts?" asked the host.

"That poor boy being strapped down like that. I hope he doesn't have to be in those awful restraints for long." Said Jodo. The child was putting on a pretty poor act. It would have been embarrassing for Jodo to go along with this sham even for television. He hadn't lived as long as he had to throw away his reputation on something so idiotic. Let the man throw away what fledgling reputation he had developed and any future reputation he had coming to him.

"I see. I hope we all feel the same. Now, for the live, public, exorcism! After a word from our sponsors." Said the host. The lights went down quickly. People began to rush around back and forth. Reigen felt himself relaxing. There was a creak and a groan.

"My boy, can you please stay away from my metaphysical self." Said Jodo not turning to look at Reigen.

"Keep your metaphysical self away from me." Said Reigen. He could not help it…not that Jodo needed to know that.

"Young people." Said Jodo with a groan. It was not a pleasant feeling, not at all. He outclassed the man in terms of raw power, of course, but he was a medium if anything. His powers could not affect a living person. One did not use the gifts fate bestowed upon them frivolously, anyway. Of course it seemed like the man did not get the message.

Reigen was about to say something clever back when he was interrupted by a harried looking man with a clipboard.

"Alright, we'll go back to broadcast, Jodo will perform the exorcism, then we'll open the floor up for questions and commentary." Said the man not even sparing anyone a glance.

"Him?!" asked Reigen. That old fossil was the 'real psychic?!' How? He couldn't even get that spirit out of the girl back at the Asagiri job! Mob did that! This guy was so weak that a fourteen year old girl had to do his work for him!

"Hmm….yes. Reigen does have a point. Nobody wants to see and old man doing this. Let's show the country how a next generation psychic does things." Said Jodo

"Well um…" said Reigen. He was…he had this. He had this and he knew what he was going to do. He was going to do what he did best, bullshit. The kid wasn't really possessed. He had this. He didn't need Mob.

"But if you're not up to it we'll just proceed with the exorcism as scripted." Said Jodo, his voice still just as placid. He watched the man's aura. Ha! He took the bait! The pride will always come before the fall!

"I've got this." said Reigen with all the confidence that he could put into his voice. He'd never had to make up spiritual crap for this many people at once before. It wasn't just the studio audience…it was the whole of the nation of Japan. Literally everyone was going to be watching him…..literally anyone. Mob. She was watching. He had been lying to her for her entire…for their entire…whatever it was that they shared. He could do it once more.

"Ok, fine. Reigen's the one doing the exorcism! We're live in five, four, three, two…" Reigen was ushered onto the stage. Right. He could do this. It wasn't like the kid was actually possessed or anything. God knew that there was nothing that he could do if…this was all for show. All he had to do was make up some bullshit, smile for the cameras, and then watch his star rise. Simple.

It wasn't like he was any stranger to making up bullshit.

"The ghost of a fox? Seriously?" muttered Teru as he did his homework on the living room floor. He hadn't set out to watch this, not really. He just put the TV on for background noise, an old trick to make the house feel less lonely. Not that he was lonely.

Shigeko was off having a sleepover with her friend. She had those. Her life did not revolve around him. She had friends and she had sleepovers to go to, why girls loved them so much he did not understand, and he had to respect that. She'd come back to him eventually. She would and then he could apologize for being so distant, before, and they could pick up right where they left off.

He just had to stop thinking about it.

There was something disturbing about seeing someone's aura go out but seeing them still being, well, up and about. Like seeing a couple of corpses or mannequins getting up and walking around. Seeing Shigeko do that to someone….not that she would ever do that to him. Not that she would ever have cause to do that to him. Not that she would ever get the idea in her head to do that to him.

His Shigeko wouldn't.

The other Shigeko was a mystery to him.

But he did not want to think about any of that. He needed to get his homework done and his hair washed and his floor vacuumed and all of that stuff. He didn't have time to worry about what his girlfriend could do to him if she had half a mind to…besides, if she wanted to take his powers away she would have done it back when they fought for the first or second time….

Maybe it wasn't permanent.

He had been without his powers once before and it had been hell on Earth. When he had gotten out of the white room his powers had come right back…but that had been artificial…but there was no way that she could take someone's powers away permanently…right?

Right?

He had no clue what she could do.

So he chose not to think about what happened to those guys or what was happening with her or anything even adjacent to her. Not an easy feat, and not just because she was his girlfriend and he loved her and stuff. No. It wasn't easy because his rival for her was right there on TV. It had taken Teru a little bit to even notice what was on. One minute he's working on his math homework and the next he's looking up at Reigen Arataka's smug face.

A fox spirit?

Teru doubted that the kid was even possessed. No spirit would allow himself to be held in Hannibal Lecter style restraints, first of all, and second of all if the kid was really possessed then obviously they would have called in someone stronger than Reigen Arataka. They would have called in Shigeko, she was the one who did all the real work…but they just had Reigen there? Why? Why Reigen of all people?

At least Shigeko wasn't there with him.

As terrifying as Shigeko could be he still loved and he still would not lose her to Reigen. Not that she even saw anything in that guy. A fox spirit? Seriously? That was so obviously a lie. The spirits of animals were nowhere near as strong as the spirits of people. The spirit of an animal, unless it had congealed with other spirits, could not be strong enough to take over a person.

Reigen was such a liar.

Reigen considered himself to be one hell of a liar but even he was starting to run on empty. Well his pockets were certainly running low on empty. No more salt, very little holy water, a few talismans….he was running out of bullshit! And this kid just would. Not. Get. A. Fucking. Clue. Seriously it had been almost half an hour of this and the kid was still acting just as possessed as when they started! The studio audience was getting bored, this entire thing was making Reigen look so bad….

Maybe he should just pull a Mob and call the kid out on this shit.

Because, really, this was starting to get a little ridiculous, and not in a good way.

He heard someone in the audience yawn. No matter what he did this kid just wouldn't quit. He tossed the last of his holy water around. The kid just writhed in 'agony' as best as he could in his restraints. Reigen looked around. Lots of pairs of glazed over eyeballs. The host was drumming his fingers on his microphone. Someone offstage was pointing to their wrist in the universal gesture of 'pick up the goddamned pace already you moron!' or something along those lines.

Live or not this was still a TV show and they had time constraints. This entire thing had been set up by a scriptwriter…Reigen tried to remember the script he glanced through….well the kid still should have taken the cue to drop the act already! He had to finish this or he'd lose all the fame he had earned himself! And it hadn't been easy working on his own! His career needed this! He needed this!

Come on, kid, get a clue already!

Sheesh, this was worse than Mob. Even Mob would have…Mob would never have gone along with this. She hated lying. She couldn't lie, actually. She would have just walked onto this stage, said that the kid wasn't possessed, and then gone about her merry way. She wouldn't care about the fame or the boost this would give her career. She didn't give a damn about any of that stuff. She just wanted to help people. All she had ever wanted to do was help people.

All he ever wanted to do was use people.

And he still couldn't stop thinking about Mob.

Mob couldn't stop thinking about Master Reigen, mainly because she had been watching him on TV for a while. She didn't know what he was doing. The salt would never work on something strong enough to hold onto a person. Neither would the holy water or anything else that he had used. So why did he still try? Was it because his powers didn't look as cool as hers? Because whenever he tried to do what she did he ended up exhausting himself?

And the boy was not even the least bit possessed.

He wasn't acting possessed. The spirit would have either totally taken over his body and use the kid as a human suit or it would have just left the body on standby. All that rocking and twitching and drooling…that was just weird. That was just…really weird. Gross looking, too.

"Is this supposed to happen? When you guys do exorcisms and stuff on your channel it never takes this long…unless you edit it in post." Said Rei as she braided Mob's hair. The entire left side of Mob's hair was in a thousand braids it seemed like. Rei needed something to do with herself because the feeling of something bad on the horizon kept on growing and growing and growing and Mob wouldn't let her change the channel, even though it was her TV…so she just needed something to do.

So she braided Mob's hair.

Mob liked it. She would have said something if she didn't.

"I…I have no idea what Master Reigen is doing right now. None at all." Said Mob as she felt her hair being pulled. No. Braided. Rei was her friend and would not pull her hair. The hair braiding was a nice distraction at least. A distraction from the sheer 'what?' of the scene before her. That was…she had seen Master Reigen work before and these were all the things that he had done…but they weren't working. None of it. It had been half an hour, Mob would have thought that the spirit would have at least been weaker by now.

But no, it was stubborn.

If there even was a spirit to begin with.

Spirits showed up on camera. Even if they were in extra invisible mode Mob could still see them if she focused hard enough. Well she was focusing on this spirit as much as she could and she still saw nothing. Not even the barest hint of an aura. If she had been there, if Master still wanted or needed her, then she could have had this done in less than a minute.

Mogami had taken half an hour, but she doubted that the spirit she was seeing was anywhere near Mogami's level. It had been the spirit of a fox, animal spirits were very weak.

"I think he's spinning around like a ballerina and tossing table salt everywhere." Said Rei. She was clairvoyant, she did not do exorcisms and could barely see spirits. Who was she to question…whatever it was that she was looking at?

"Whoa! What the hell did you do to her hair?" asked Rei's sister as she threw herself down on the couch. Rei turned around and stuck her tongue out.

"Obviously I'm braiding it, duh! Now get out! It's my TV time!" said Rei sounding a bit younger than she had meant to.

"Hi." Said Mob to be nice. Rei's big sister waved at her.

"What's up?" asked Riko as she laid down and hung her feet over the arm of the couch.

"The sky, now get out! We're trying to watch TV!" said Rei

"What, am I reading too loudly?" asked Riko as she flipped through her phone. She giggled a little.

"No, you're laughing like a hyena." Said Rei

"I am, the question is, why aren't you? You guys are watching whatever the hell this is live. I'm watching the comments section blow up. It's hilarious." Said Riko

"Comments section?" asked Mob. Riko turned her phone around so Mob could see it. She crawled over and read what people were saying. Well now. That was just mean. Why would anyone say something like that? Something about the internet just brought out the worst in people. She read through some more, maybe something nice would show up.

"Break my phone and I break the both of you." Said Riko

"I won't break it. I'll be careful." Said Mob. She heard Rei yelling for her mom. She didn't pay it any mind. She just kept on reading. People were saying that Master Reigen was obviously just making things up. They said that he was a conman and a fraud. They said that without his girlfriend he was so boring.

Girlfriend?

Mob almost took Rei's big sister's phone and asked what whoever that person was meant. Master Reigen didn't have a girlfriend and hadn't had one since before she had ever met him. For a moment she's afraid that he's met someone in the time that they've been separated but then someone posted a gif of…

Mob did not remember recording that.

It was her and Master Reigen getting on a crowded train. His hand was on the small of her back. He as doing that thing where he pushed her but not meanly. She remembered that day, sort of, they were going off on a job…she didn't know which one….but Master Reigen had held onto her like that the entire time. She hadn't given it much thought, then, she had just enjoyed it…

People thought that she was his girlfriend? Legitimately? Not just saying things to be funny or rile people up? But how? He was twice her age. Men his age did not date girls her age. Not outside of anime and manga. It just was not done. She may not have been a social expert or anything but she knew that because of the age difference Master Reigen could not ever have any interest in dating her.

So why were people talking like that was an option?

Also why were people just recording them out in the world like that? It was so creepy.

Mob went back to watching the TV. Master Reigen had stopped, now Jodo was helping. He should have helped out from the beginning. It was important to help one another, especially with things like possessions. Mob feels very cold for a moment. He body feels heavy and for a moment she thinks that she's projecting her spirit from her body again…but she's not. She's not and she's at Rei's house and she's fine and she needs to stop this. She focuses on the TV. She's safe and she's fine. She focuses on the feeling of having on side of her hair in a million tiny braids.

She's safe and she's fine.

Everything is fine.

Everything had, in the span of about ten milliseconds, gone in the totally opposite direction of fine.

"I don't know what you expect me to do here, the boy is clearly acting." Said Jodo. Reigen had been ushered back to his seat. The show was live and he was taking too long. Then Jodo had stepped up to take all the credit. At first Reigen figured that Jodo's plan was to upstage him. Use his powers, do a little light show, and then take the credit for all of the frontloading that Reigen had done.

Then he went and pulled a Mob.

Seriously!? Was the old man going senile or something? The show had given him so much set up…Reigen had given him so much set up! He just went and pissed it all away like a drunken salaryman on a Saturday night. If Reigen wasn't on national TV, and totally out of salt, he would have ran over there and salt punched that man into oblivion!

Well even if Reigen made himself look like an idiot it still wasn't as bad as Jodo spoiling the whole-

"You're absolutely correct!" said the host. Reigen couldn't move, he couldn't think, he couldn't breathe. What. What? What?! WHAT?!

There was a collective gasp. He could feel the girl behind him shaking. Jodo's aura was flaring. Reigen needed to keep it together. He knew that he needed to. He needed to but he couldn't. What in the hell was…what the fuck….what the ever loving fuck!?

"….impressed that you were able to see the truth when everyone else had been so totally fooled! Ladies and gentlemen a true psychic has just been revealed! Master Jodo Kirin!" said the host. Reigen could only stare. He stared and he stared and he stared.

Mob could only stare.

"….I don't understand." Said Mob after a while. So they knew that the boy was pretending to be possessed and they were…what? Trying to trick….that was mean….that was so mean. Why would anyone be so mean? And why hadn't Master Reigen been able to see that the boy wasn't possessed at all? He did exorcisms all the time.

Well they did.

He could…well he didn't have the strength but he could try to…but back when she was little she was always the one who….

But Master Reigen could at least tell when someone was possessed. You either were or you weren't, there wasn't anything to interpret. Either you sensed a spirit inside of someone or you didn't. Master Reigen should have easily been able to see…

Did he get tricked?

But how could he have been tricked? He was Master Reigen. He was the greatest…he was the greatest psychic of the twenty first century and rising star…so how could he have gotten tricked. He knew what it looked like, what it felt like, when a person was possessed. He must have. After everything that happened he must have…

Mob did not understand.

"I don't think all of that was part of the show." Said Rei. That had been entertaining, then boring, then embarrassing but now even she felt bad for Reigen. He was a nice guy, even though whatever happened between him and Mob happened, and now Mob was in bad trouble….but that had been so embarrassing that Rei had second and third had embarrassment. Maybe even forth hand and fifth hand.

"I don't understand at all." Said Mob

"Me neither, I mean, obviously supernatural powers actually exist! What a waste of a special! Seriously! I want that hour of my life back!" said Rei mostly because, well, Mob was super bothered.

Mob was, in fact, very bothered. She knew Master Reigen, she had spent years watching him. She knew every single face he made and she had never, ever, seen him make the face before. He was still, too still. Just so still and-and-and he was not supposed to look like that….

But why had he even done all of that in the first place? Surely he must have known that boy wasn't possessed from the beginning. Either Master Reigen was tricked or he was just exorcising spirits that weren't there….which made no sense at all.

Mob did not understand.

Reigen did not understand.

This was for TV. Of course he was supposed to play along…it was TV. The program was called 'Do Supernatural Powers actually exist?' and the answer was yes and Reigen…Reigen gone along with it. Supernatural powers did exist! He had supernatural powers! Nothing that could be seen…but he did have them! They were real! Jodo had them to!

He would not be made an idiot of.

He had to salvage this.

"….what was all of that exorcism crap about? What, exactly, were you doing to a spirit that didn't even exist?" Oh. He was being addressed. Right. He had to think of something. Anything.

"Yes, I'm sure that all of our viewers at home are wondering just the same thing." Said the host. Reigen felt himself sweating under the bright studio lights. He needed to speak. He needed to breathe and move and speak. Right now.

"Well…" said Reigen. He needed to come up with something. If he said that he knew the whole time but was pretending…well he'd look like the liar he was. He'd be confessing to lying on national TV. He'd be ruined!

"Could it be that you actually don't have any spiritual powers?" asked the host. Reigen shook. He felt something pushing against what little aura that he had.

"Come now, every psychic has their own methods. I'm sure that Reigen was just trying his best. He's very new to this business after all. I'm sure that he had his reasons for what he put that poor boy through." Said Jodo. Reigen clicked his tongue.

"Excellent work Master Jodo!" said the host

"I mean, it should have been completely obvious if the boy was possessed or not. If you're a true psychic, I mean. Not that I'm referring to Reigen when I say that." Said Jodo. What good were wounds if one couldn't rub salt in them. The man was really little more than a normal person, without the girl. There was nothing wrong with reminding him of that fact. Yes, it was actually for his own good.

"I-" said Reigen

"I'm sure that he was just trying to liven things up for the sake of the program." Said Jodo

"But I can guarantee that we asked him to do no such thing." Said the host. Reigen needed to say something, anything, because he could not…he was not a liar anymore but he had been for so long…this was not where the bubble burst! He was not the Japanese economy and the year was not nineteen eighty nine! He still had so much more rising to do! He was the greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century! He had to be the man who existed in his mind and he was not going to…he was not going to fail!

Mob was watching.

Mob was watching, maybe, possibly, and he could not fail her. Pretend that she was there. Pretend that instead of the thousands of pairs of eyes on him across the country hers were the only ones watching him. She was watching him and she was listening to every word he said. Just like it had always been.

He had been bullshitting her for years. He could do it again.

"Really? Poor Fukuda!" said the idol

"So it was basically torture." Said the author

"No, not at all-" said Reigen

"No? Then what were you doing for almost half an hour? Some knew type of dance?" asked Jodo. This got him a chorus of applause from the studio audience. Reigen tuned them out. Mob. If she were there she would have…she would have said that she didn't get it. She would have said that there was no spirit there but…but of course there must have been. Then he would have told her…

"Well a spirit had appeared, obviously, and I was exorcising it. They can appear at any time and place after all. Surely a great psychic like yourself would know that. Even if the boy was pretending to be possessed real possessions can happen at any moment." Said Reigen with practiced confidence. Mob. You're trying to fool Mob. Forget the whole country. She was out there and she was watching, maybe, and she could not lose faith in you. She was…she wasn't his anymore but she still…he could not shatter her image of him.

"What? An evil spirit was here? I hadn't even noticed. When, exactly did it appear?" asked Jodo. The man was really going to keep up with the lies. Jodo could not standing him and his ilk. It was one thing for the girl to work with all the grace of a bull in a china shop, at least she was what she claimed to be, it was another for the man to stand up there and claim that he had the faintest idea what he was even doing. As far as raw power went the man was nearly nothing. He was rude, too, and impudent. Jodo could not have the next generation's psychics follow in this man's example.

"About half an hour ago, most likely it was attracted by the sheer amount of psychic energy in this room. It came and I exorcised it, nothing more and nothing less." Said Reigen. He was still confident. He was still the Reigen Arataka that existed in his mind. He was still the Reigen Arataka that existed in Mob's mind and oh God! Why did it always have to come back to her? Even know he was thinking about her to-to-to what, exactly? Give himself the mental fortitude to talk his way out of this lovely hole he had dug for himself?

She probably wasn't even watching.

She probably didn't give a damn about him anymore.

He's filled with the desire to just look out into the camera and ask her if she's watching. To tell her that he's sorry. To tell her that he's…that he's been a fraud for so many years. To tell her that he forgives her for being all weirdly clingy. To ask her if they can just start again…

But of course he doesn't.

That would be weird, first of all, and second of all that would do nothing to get him out of this hole. If anything even mentioning Mob would dig him into a deeper hole. He did not need to open up that discussion, any Mob related discussion.

"Right on the dot! I had no idea that evil spirits were so punctual!" said Jodo. More laughter. Reigen could not ignore this. It was too loud, too much. Mob. He could not hide within Mob anymore. He had to…what was he even going to say? And why did they have to make those lights so bright? And how was he sweating this much?

"Well…they just sort of…hang around…so it's not a question of being punctual or not…" said Reigen trying to find words. Come on, Arataka, you speak Japanese. Find words. Good ones. You did not spend your life lying and bullshitting to fuck up now!

"What kind of spirit was it? Please, young man, enlighten us!" said Jodo getting closer before taking a quick step back as not to be in range of what felt like…like he was going to faint. Well then. At least he knew what the man's range was, for espers anyway. Jodo shook him off when his aura attempted to get closer. Not very strong at all.

The girl wasn't there. That was what mattered.

"I-I think that he was….German…" said Reigen, his eyes searching the room around him. He was having trouble staying upright. Dizzy. He needed water. He needed something to drink and something to give him enough time to collect his thoughts because this was a lot and-and-and he just needed to stop talking!

"German? Well, it must have been someone very important to come such a long way. Tell me, who's spirit was it?" asked Jodo

"Beethoven?" said Reigen, his eyes landing on someone's Beethoven sweatshirt. He distantly heard Jodo doing the 'duh-duh-duh-duuhn!' thing. He could barely stand up. What the…how had he misread the atmosphere that badly? How?! Everyone he knew was watching and he ended up making a complete and total moron of himself!

It was all over.

It was all over.

The show went to credits. The credits took up one half of the screen, the beginning of the next show took up the other half. This one was about people hunting aliens. Tome would have liked it. Rei didn't because she turned the TV off. They just sort of sat there. Rei's sister had gone back up to her room a little while ago. Mob could hear Rei's parents talking in the kitchen. The clock on the wall was ticking. The central air was rattling the vents.

"Wow….who knew that old people could be so, totally, mean like that? I mean, seriously." Said Rei. She was siding with Mob on this one, well siding with her master which was the same as siding with Mob. That was totally uncalled for and mean. Super mean. If she and Mob had been on that show they could have run psychic circles around that guy.

"Master Reigen and Master Jodo don't get along." Said Mob after a while. She still didn't understand. Well she understood that not everyone was going to get along but she did not understand why…why any of that had to happen.

Because it didn't have to happen.

She didn't understand why Master Reigen had done all of that stuff…even if a spirit had shown up…but it wouldn't have been Beethoven. Beethoven was from Germany definitely, he had never even set foot in Japan. Mob knew this from music class. From life she knew that she had never once in her entire life seen a foreign spirit. Spirits liked to hang around where they died unless they were at Dimple's level or higher.

Master Reigen was mistaken.

Or tricked.

She should have been there. If she had been there then she could have told everyone right away that the kid was faking it. Then nothing bad would have happened to Master. He was will her Master, sort of, well she cared about him even if he didn't care about her. She wanted to call him. Text him. Write him a letter. Send him a telegram, if that was still a thing. Stick her head out the window and yell really loudly. Something. Anything.

But she didn't.

She couldn't.

Because he didn't want her anymore.

"….knew something bad was going to happen but I didn't know what. It's hard for me to see specifics unless it's, like, 'is this your card' or something simple like that. Life has too many variables and the future is always changing. So I'm sorry. I mean I know that you guys aren't totally cool anymore but I still feel like I should say sorry. I mean, I know how much you care about him. You told me how you guys met and all…so it sucks that all of this happened to him…and I don't know how I should…I mean how we should…" said Rei. She had no idea how she was supposed to comfort Mob. Was she even supposed to comfort Mob? She was in a bad way, now, Rei could tell. Well she had been in a bad way for a while, she was couch surfing and sleeping in the park after all, but now she was in an especially bad way.

They needed a distraction.

"I don't understand anything." Said Mob simply. It made no sense. It was like she was back in school in the unreality. She didn't know the answers or the questions. As soon as she thought that she hit upon it slipped right through her fingers. What did any of that mean? Why did it have to happen?

Why did it have to happen to Master Reigen?

"Hey! Let's go upstairs! I can….finish your hair! Yeah! And we can draw! I can show you how! Then we can…uh…read manga! Yeah, sleepover stuff!" said Rei as she jumped to her feet. She reached down and grabbed Mob by the hand, ignoring the tiny stings of static power the touched her skin.

"Whatever you want, Rei." Said Mob as she allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She allowed herself to be led up to Rei's room. She allowed her hair to be brushed and styled and brushed and styled over and over again. She allowed her face to be painted up in pinks and reds, her eye lids her lips, her cheeks…she allowed this. She allowed her fingernails to be trimmed and filed and painted bright pink, then her toe nails. She allowed her feet to be washed and scraped and lotioned until Rei declared them to be perfect. She allowed Rei to show her sketchbook after sketchbook, even the one where she dreamed about the ending of Akira over and over again because it felt like the future. She let Rei draw her and she tried to draw Rei.

All in all Rei thought that she threw a pretty good sleepover.

Mob was having fun. She must have been. They did a whole bunch of fun stuff! Mob's mind must have been off of everything that had happened, everything that had gone wrong in her life! But just to be safe Rei made sure that they stayed up super late, just so that they could squeeze every single drop of fun out of their night. Mom even let them eat dinner in her room! This was a great sleepover! The best anyone had ever thrown!

Even if Mob had been super quiet, even for her.

Mob had spent the night thinking. No matter how much she thought she just could not understand. How could Master have been tricked like that? He had psychic powers, not at her level but he had them. He had, before the whole thing with Claw, been more powerful than her. He had been. Right? Well he had spiritual powers…which were different…

She had never seen his spiritual powers in action before. He always left everything to her. It was almost like he was pretending, sometimes, like when he didn't notice the spirits that were right in front of him sometimes…but that was crazy. He would never pretend. He would never lie to her. He was Master Reigen.

His powers were just different now because of what happened. She not only poured all the energy that she absorbed from the black hole into him but she also lent him her powers. His powers were different and that was why he hadn't noticed that the boy was faking being possessed….

But then he said that there was a spirit there.

Before he said that it was a fox spirit but then he said that it was the spirit of Beethoven, the famous German musician who's music Mob's class had to learn to play on the recorder. But that made no sense because he had died a world away and several centuries ago. He had never even set foot in Japan in his life.

Master Reigen was…wrong?

Could he be wrong?

He was Master Reigen. He could never be wrong about anything. Right? Either he had been mistaken or he had been lying. So he must have been mistaken. He would never lie. He meant every single word that he ever said. Even if it was mean stuff. Even if it was the kind of stuff that made it feel like your heart was trying to melt itself in your stomach acid. Even if it was the kind of stuff that made you wake up in the middle of the night and cry even though you know that you shouldn't. The kind of stuff that infected all the good memories you had with a person because, well, to him they weren't good memories.

Even when he said that he never wanted to be stuck with you.

Even when he said that you were a stubborn brat.

Even when he said that he didn't want to hold you even though you were so alone and he was there and he could have made it all better.

Even when he said, without words, that he didn't want you around anymore.

Master Reigen meant every single word that he had ever said.

Mob didn't want to think about this, about him. She just wanted to forget. She drew her knees up to her chest carefully. Rei had lent her a nightshirt but it was kind of short. She rested her head on her knees and took in a shuddery breath. She was on the cusp of a crying jag. She could not start crying. She was curled up on Rei's guest futon on her floor at one in the morning. She could not cry here.

So she didn't.

She held her crying in, stuffed it down, fed it to the other Shigeko. She had to do that. She needed…she needed to forget. She needed to be happy. Happy-ish. Happy adjacent. She needed to stop thinking about sad things because then she would be sad and if she stuffed down enough feelings then she was liable to explode. She could not let that happen.

So she called her phone over and her earbuds.

She put on the happiest song that she knew.

_It all returns to nothing….it just keeps tumbling down….tumbling down….tumbling down…._

In half an hour Reigen Arataka's entire world had come tumbling down.

He had to bury his phone in his desk drawer. People were calling him, a lot of people. Apparently mom had been giving his number out to relatives. Well they could call and call and call until their phones overheated and the batteries exploded, a legitimate problem that phones had, but he was not picking his phone up.

He shut down the computer, too. Those Friendbook notifications were getting annoying.

He had been on top of the world and now he was…what was he, even? A joke. People were already memeing him. Didn't they have lives? Jobs? Significant others? Crusty body pillows, even? The program had aired only a few hours before and the internet was blowing up about it. He wanted to be somebody but this was not what he had meant!

He needed to do damage control.

But how? He was the biggest laughingstock in all of Japan! His children's children would be mocked in the streets! 'There go the spawn of Reigen Arataka, the guy who threw the salt around on nation TV!' they'd say. He could never leave his apartment again. He'd end up as one of those guys who spent years and years in his room. He'd die here and nobody would notice until the smell became unbearable. He could never, ever, show his face in public again.

What did Mob think of all this?

There it was, again. Still thinking of Mob. Still wondering about her. Still worried that he might have shattered her image of him. Still wanting to check his Friendbook just to make sure that she was safe, even if it was another tasteless selfie that kid posted of the two of them. Even through all of this he was still thinking about Mob.

So he decided to stop thinking about everything all together.

He needed to distract himself from the laughingstock that he had become. He needed to just close his eyes and close his mind and think of nothing. He needed to think about this tomorrow. If he thought about this tonight he'd end up going totally out of his mind. Even now his mind was running in circles ruminating on what he had done and what he should have done. On what he needed to do. On even if there was anything that he could do. On how this affected Mob…it always came back to Mob. He needed to stop thinking about this and to stop thinking about her.

After all, at this point all he could do was get stinking, stumbling through his apartment stubbing his toes and breaking stuff, drunk.

He passed out at some point and thought of nothing. It was better that way.


	50. Together Again

Reigen was going to live the rest of his life in solitude. It was the only way.

He had spent the past few days in his apartment, venturing out only for cigarettes, beer, takeaway, and comfort food. He had enough stocked up to last him through until the next century at least. Maybe at that point this entire debacle would have blown over. Maybe at that point someone else would do something stupid and the internet could lose it's collective mind over that.

Or maybe this was just his life now.

He pulled his blanket over his head. He was in bed, now, as he had been for the past….however many hours. Chip crumbs rained down onto the floor as he shifted. His phone began to vibrate again on the floor. He didn't pick it up. He didn't have to. He already knew who it was. Well not really but it was probably another strange number calling him for either an interview or to chew him out for being a fraud.

Which he wasn't even.

And wasn't this just ironic? It finally came out that he was a fraud and it was after he got actual psychic powers. Powers that he couldn't prove that he had. His powers weren't showy like Mob's were. There was no way to prove that he was a psychic and nobody in the world who believed him anyway. It was over, it was all over.

The whole thing had officially gone tits up.

His business. His life. Everything. The only thing that he could do was sit in bed and stress eat until he died alone and decomposed in his bed. Yeah, that was the plan. It would only take another fifty or so years. Maybe even sooner if he kept on eating like he was. Heh. Then he'd leave behind a very fat spirit and he'd haunt the next guy who moved in. Heh. Then they'd all believe him. Either that or Mob could come in an exorcise him.

Mob.

He checked his phone. It might have been her. She might have called or texted or something. Maybe she at least wanted to tell him off for lying to her for years and years. Maybe she wanted to know the truth. Maybe she'd just come out and ask him if what everyone was saying was true. Or maybe she would just…

Not call at all.

Lots of unknown numbers, a few from his mothers, and his voicemail was full. Nothing from Mob. Nothing at all from Mob. He didn't know what he had been expecting. She hadn't said one word to him since their fight. She had gone off to live with her boyfriend and be young and free and whatever else she planned on being. She didn't need him anymore.

But he still needed her.

And wasn't that just fucked up?

The lowest point in his life and all he wanted was her back. This was his lowest. His life had never been this bad before. Not after he quit his job on a whim all those years ago, not during that time in university where he was drunk more often than he was sober, and not in a fun way. Not when he was in high school and he would do anything at all just to have someone look at him, want to be around him. Not even when he was in middle school and the war at home reached it's climactic final battle. No time in his life was as low as this.

He had literally lost it all.

There was no going back from this.

His face was plastered all over the internet. He was a meme, now. Saltity Splash. He was immortalized forever on the internet. The internet was forever. Even if people found something new to amuse themselves all of this would still be out there forever. His name, and it was a very distinctive name thank you so much mom, would forever be associated with this.

Mob's too.

That was another part to this. He hoped to God that people just focused on the thirty minutes of bullshit and lies and not the three years of whatever he and Mob had going on. Friendship. Working relationship. He did not need people digging around in that area, and they were starting to dig. It started with people asking where she had been and now people were trying to figure out who she was. People were asking if he and Mob had broken up. A subset of the internet was already busy speculating about that part of his life.

Mob was not his girlfriend.

But so many people had the insane idea in their heads that she was. There was already that GIF going around of the two of them together. He had no idea when that was recorded but that was clearly him and her and he was clearly resting his hand on the small of her back. Clearly it was not a gesture of anything other than the easy sort of affection that had developed between him and Mob. Clearly anyone who looked more deeply than that into it had something wrong with themselves.

Mob was so clearly fourteen and he was so clearly not.

People were still speculating about her age. Hell, even his own mother had thought that she was just a very short adult. It was in the way that Mob carried herself. That non expression she wore. It looked like a non expression to anyone who didn't know her, which most people didn't. Still, it was enough to get her mistaken for an adult. A young adult but an adult.

He hoped to God that everyone kept on mistaking her for an adult.

He hoped to God that she did not get pulled into this.

If she did…he had no idea what she would do. He was not going to get her pulled into this mess that he had made but he had no idea how he was supposed to, exactly, do damage control. He tried to, before, but he got found out almost immediately. There was no controlling or containing this.

His phone vibrated again.

Another text. This one was from mom.

Oh. She wanted him to come back home. Imbedded in all the insults and histrionics she was asking him to come home. She said that she would help him get sorted out. It would have been easy, so easy, to pack up and head back to his childhood home and live out the rest of his days with his mother. She'd swing him a job teaching English to the masses of Lower Back Pain city. The two of them would grow old together, mother and son. Eventually this all would blow over but he'd be trapped with her. She'd probably introduce him to the daughter of one of their neighbors, or to one of her expat friends. She'd do her thing and make sure that he lived his life on her terms. Then she could pat herself on the back and die happy because she had raised a proper son.

He did not want that.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do but he knew that running home to hide behind his mother's skirt was not the thing to do.

He had no idea what it was that he wanted to do. He had no idea what it was that he was supposed to do, so he did nothing. He opened another bag to chips and sat up in bed and did nothing.

Well he ate. That was something.

That night Mob ate dinner with Takane Tsubomi's family.

Mob had no idea that she was so popular. She had just showed up to school and suddenly all the girls in her class wanted her to sleep over. They all said that it was for not reason, just to have her sleep over at their houses. There was even a schedule. Mob had no idea why this had happened or how this had happened or, well, anything. All she knew was that she was sitting at a table with Tsubomi, the most popular girl in school.

And they were eating dinner.

Fish and miso soup and rice and salad. Usual dinner fare

But she was eating it with the most popular girl in school.

It was nice. Tsubomi said that she didn't have to talk if she didn't want to, which was nice because Mob really didn't want to talk. Tsubomi did a lot of talking, too. She talked about class and about her friends and about club and all sorts of things. Mob made an effort to listen and not let her mind go walkabouts. It was hard, though.

But she tried.

Because she was letting her mind go walkabouts far too often. She needed to work on that, being present in the moment. But it was hard. Time felt slippery sometimes. Even though time was real and it mattered it felt slippery. Sometimes, usually school times, it would feel like she'd blink and the day would be over. It was just so easy. Much too easy.

But she needed to stop doing that.

She needed to be normal already.

She needed to stop this and just be normal. Especially since so many people wanted to be friends with her. She needed to be a nice person and nice people did not ignore their new friends. She didn't mean to ignore people, she just sort of…did. But she wasn't going to. Besides, Tsubomi was nice. She was nice enough to invite Mob over to sleep over at her house. After this she was sleeping over at Tsubomi's friend Emi's house. She was there on that awful Monday when…the one that happened in this reality, not the unreality. Emi was nice. After sleeping over at Emi's house Mob was sleeping over at Tsubomi's other friend Ai's house. After that Mob was sleeping over at Rei's house again. Then after that she was sleeping over at Tome house again, her punishment was over and she could have friends over again.

Mob didn't have to sleep outside anymore.

She was so grateful to have so many people in her life who cared about her. Cared about her or pitied her, she'd take either. Mogami said that she lived a charmed life. She was unusually lucky to have so many people in her life to pity her, he had said. Then he had created a world for her where she didn't have that. She knew that he was full of lies. He was evil and full of lies. People didn't pity her, they cared about her, and she knew that she had to remind herself that they cared.

She'd take either, honestly.

Just so long as nobody hurt her. Just so long as nobody went out of their way to make her life worse. Just so long as she didn't have to be afraid of anybody. That was all she needed, all she wanted. She just wanted to feel safe. Not loved, not adored, not cared for. She just wanted to feel safe. Not that she hadn't felt safe sleeping outside, she did, but her friends thought otherwise.

Not that she was complaining.

Because she was grateful.

She was so very grateful to have people who cared about her and let her stay in their homes and eat dinner with them at their tables and watch TV in their living rooms and use their toothpaste and shampoo and conditioner and borrow their pajamas and sleep on their spare futons. She was grateful. She was so grateful. People didn't have to be nice to her but they did and she knew that she had to be grateful.

Maybe that was why Master Reigen had cast her aside.

She never did tell her how grateful she was to him. She never did tell him how grateful she was that he had saved her. He had saved her in every single way that person could be saved. He saved her from becoming the worst sort of monster. Could she have ended up like the Mogami's and the Asagiri's of the world? She had power, a lot of it, but she would not use it against other people. She felt like a monster when he met her but he had taught her how to use her powers, how to control them at least a little. He gave her a purpose. He gave her friendship. He gave her someone who cared about her no matter what.

That had been the problem, hadn't it?

She had thought that he would love her no matter what. That was the mistake that she had made. Nobody just loved someone no matter what. He loved her because…well he didn't love her anymore and that was what mattered now. Maybe he loved her before because she…she sometimes had crazy thoughts. Crazy thoughts about him and…and the fact that before the whole thing with Claw she had never once seen him use his powers. His aura had been dim, too, almost as dim as a regular person's.

The internet was calling him a fraud.

But the internet was also full of lies.

She knew that Master Reigen was not a fraud or a liar or any of the other awful things that the internet kept on calling him. She also knew that Master Reigen was not her boyfriend. The internet thought that too, which was very strange and more than a little crazy. She loved him like that but he was an adult. She was not an adult. He dated adults and she dated non adults. That was how this whole thing worked. People her age did not date people his age.

But the internet thought that they were a couple.

The internet was asking about her, too. The internet was asking where she was, if she and Master Reigen had broken up, if she and Master Reigen had gotten back together, if she had quit, if she had left him because of what happened on TV, if she was a fraud too, if she was a kid, if she was an adult, what her real name was, and so on and so forth.

She didn't answer any of those questions.

The internet would find something else to focus on. Hopefully not a person, because that was mean. Hopefully not a cat, either, because Mob didn't much care for cats anymore. Not since…she just didn't much care for cats anymore. Especially not white ones with impossibly soft fur.

Tsubomi had a cat.

And that cat made Mob's mind try to go walkabouts. That cat, that brown cat sitting there eating it's dry cat food, made her mind go walkabouts. The next thing Mob knew her plate was being taken away and Tsubomi was leading her off to her room. Oh. She hadn't forgotten to eat, that was good. She hadn't forgotten to eat like she sometimes did at lunchtime and Mezato had to sit with her and make sure that she finished her lunch, minus the milk, or else she'd be hungry later on in the day.

Mob at least had enough to eat.

Which she was also grateful for.

"So, Mob….can I still call you Mob? I mean I'm the one who started everyone…yeah…and I'm still really sorry about that…" said Tsubomi as she closed the door to her room. Her room had a lot of pink to it, which Mob liked enough. It was kind of like Rei's room but neater. The floor wasn't covered in piles of clothes, her makeup table had plenty of stuff on it but it was all organized by color and type it looked like, and the bed was made. Everything had a place, even Tsubomi's tennis awards. She had a whole shelf of them and Mob hoped that she didn't lose control and ruin it, this nice room.

She wondered what happened to her room back at…her parent's house.

"If you want to." Said Mob. Tsubomi patted her bed, hopefully Mob would take the hint and sit down. She was mostly just looking around at everything. Mob was in her house. She and Mob were sort of friends when they were kids and her powers were cool but then Tsubomi, the younger and much less mature version of herself, got bored and sort of…started making fun of Mob.

That had been mean.

Did Mob hold it against her? Tsubomi had no idea. On the one hand this was Mob and she never held anything against anyone. You could walk up to her and spit in her face and she still wouldn't get mad you. It had been the one step to far, when that happened. That wasn't all fun and games anymore and that girl had been swiftly excommunicated from the friend group. There was fun and games and then there was just plain being a bully. It took Tsubomi far too long to learn the difference. Apparently it was taking someone else far longer to learn that same lesson.

Poor Mob.

"OK….Mob. Do you want to sit down? Watch TV? Play a game? Do our homework?" asked Tsubomi. Mob was still looking around. What was Mob's room like at her house? Tsubomi wasn't stupid, she was not going to ask any questions that had to do with Mob's house and her family. Tsubomi had no idea what had gone wrong but the rumor mill was churning out new speculations hourly.

Poor Mob.

"Whatever you want to do, Tsubomi. It's your room." Said Mob. She was just grateful to be inside. Mezato was right, it was getting colder out. The cold was coming in too early. Not that mid October wasn't cold usually, it just wasn't as cold as it had been lately. Tsubomi's room was warm. It was nice. Mob was grateful.

"You're the guest. Here, sit down." Said Tsubomi. Mob was either being her usual weird self or something was wrong. It was probably a combination of the two. She knew for a fact that the big anti bullying 'don't put razorblades in people's shoes you degenerates' assembly was because some sicko had done that to Mob. Razorblades in shoes was not a funny prank at all. They were in middle school now, they had to be mature and treat each other nicely like adults did. They were not children anymore.

"Thank you." Said Mob. She sat down on Tsubomi's bed. She had a fuzzy blanket on her bed, it felt itchy against the backs of Mob's legs. She didn't say anything. Tsubomi turned the TV on and handed Mob the remote.

"You can put whatever you want on, Mob, you're the guest after all. Just don't turn the volume up too loud, my parents think that we're doing a school project." Said Tsubomi. Everyone could milk this excuse for another week, week and a half tops. After that they should switch to the training for the marathon excuse. After that some clubs started preparations for the cultural festival even though it was far away. They could switch to that excuse for a while and then change to studying for entrance exams. Yeah, the parents would like that. After that it would be summer break and they wouldn't need an excuse. Once school started they could start the excuses from the beginning.

Mezato had been right to come to her.

If she had listened to that loud girl with the eyelashes Mob would have been living in a tent in the park.

"Ok. Thank you." Said Mob. She left it on the channel it had been on before. It was a makeover show. Mob didn't care what was on, just that something was on. Maybe Tsubomi liked makeover shows. She wore makeup, not as much as Rei but she wore it. It was closer to how skin was supposed to look, the way Tsubomi wore her makeup. Rei just sort of painted herself painted Mob, too. Not that Mob minded. It had been nice to have someone want to include her.

Rei had dressed her up and did her hair and makeup a bunch of times. Why she wanted to treat Mob like a doll she did not know. She was happy that someone wanted to spend time with her, though, so she wasn't complaining. What would Tsubomi want to do on their sleepover? Dress her up like a doll too?

Mob wasn't really sure what Tsubomi was into. Besides tennis, she was really good at tennis. She was really friendly, too, and everyone liked her. She lived in a big house and her family was really nice. She was like what Asagiri could have been if Asagiri had been a good person.

Don't think about Asagiri. She's gone now. She's gone back to wherever she came from.

"So…uh…you like this stuff?" asked Tsubomi. Honestly she had no idea what Mob was into. She was always so quiet…even when they were kids.

"Huh? Oh. I guess. I don't mind it. My friend Rei likes it better than me, though. Do you?" asked Mob. Right. Stay in the moment. Stop trying to go walkabouts in your head you stupid girl.

"I do, but not that much. I'm not on Instagram or anything like that. I just try to go for more of a natural look. Is that what you do, too? I mean, your skin is pretty good. I never would have guessed that you even wore makeup." Said Tsubomi. Mob had really good skin, before all of whatever was happening to her happened. Now her skin was way too pale and her eyes had bags under them. Well what she could see of Mob's eyes, her bangs were in that awkward in between stage. Good on Mob for growing out that bowl cut bangs thing she had going on.

"You look very pretty, Tsubomi, before today I never would have guessed that you had that much makeup. I just knew that you wore lipstick sometimes, it's a nice color on you the pink one you wear sometimes. It matches the hairclip you're always wearing, the big one. I don't wear makeup, not really, but my friend likes to put makeup on me. I don't mind." Said Mob

"Uh….thanks I guess. I didn't know that…noticed that about me." Said Tsubomi. She was no stranger to weird compliments, they just always came from guys though. Did Mob…? No, she had a boyfriend, and it was not just a rumor. How someone like Mob got with a guy like Teru-riffic, and she knew she recognized that guy from somewhere, she'd never know but they were a cute couple. Opposites really did attract it seemed.

"You're popular, it's easy to notice things about you." Said Mob. Tsubomi was the kind of girl that people noticed, but not like in the way that Asagiri was noticed. Asagiri made people notice her. She always had an audience and when she didn't she tried to find one. People just sort of wanted to be Tsubomi's friend without having to be…entertained? That seemed like the right word. Asagiri was always putting on a show, it seemed.

There were two kinds of popular girls, Mob decided. Mean ones and nice ones. Tsubomi was a nice one, and she wanted to be Mob's friend it seemed.

Mob was grateful for that.

"Thanks Mob, that's sweet. You're a really…sweet…person." Said Tsubomi. Weirdly blunt would be the more accurate phrasing but she was not going to say anything mean to Mob. She was having a hard enough time as it was. What was happening in Mob' life that she couldn't ever go back home? Tsubomi hadn't interacted with Mob's parents at all but from what she had seen when they were kids she had totally normal parents. A mom and a dad. They looked totally normal. They didn't yell or scream or fight or hit their kids or anything like that.

But then again you never knew what happened behind closed doors.

"Thank you. You're a nice person too. Thank you for inviting me over and letting me stay at your house." Said Mob

"No, you don't have to thank me, Mob. I couldn't just let you…we're friends and this is what friends do for each other." Said Tsubomi. She couldn't let Mob live outside. Superpowers or not the world was still very dangerous and Mob didn't ever fight back, not even when people were being terrible to her. She'd end up eaten alive out there. There were so many things that could happen…

Something maybe already did happen.

Maybe even the sort of something that Tsubomi had been warned about for her entire life.

She could get a clue, unlike Mob. She knew what Mezato was tiptoeing around saying. Why Mob had run away from her boyfriend's house. Why she couldn't stay with any of her guy friends, and she had way more guy friends than she had female friends. Why she stopped doing those exorcism videos with that guy who threw the salt around on Super Natural Detective.

Poor Mob.

She did not deserve that.

She didn't deserve any of the crap she got in life.

"….thank you for wanting to be my friend." Said Mob after a while. She was wanted. It felt…it felt good. Even though she didn't deserve to feel good it felt good. She'd savor this feeling. She'd savor it like she used to savor a cold glass of milk on a winter's day when mom had the heat way up. She'd savor it for as long as she could because at any time this feeling could go away. At any time she could end up alone again.

So she was grateful for what she had.

She was grateful that Tsubomi wanted to be her friend. She was grateful that Tsubomi wanted to watch TV with her. She was grateful that, later on, Tsubomi helped her with her homework. She hadn't done any homework in so long….but now she was doing some of it. Tsubomi helped her with the math. She helped Tsubomi with the English.

"So do you do English as a hobby? Because you speak it really well. That was really cool, by the way, back during that big English test we had and you said all of that stuff." Said Tsubomi trying to make conversation and maybe, just maybe, get to the bottom of why Mob had acted like that. The rumor was that Mob was all confident like that because she and her boyfriend had…stuff…and that was just how you felt afterwards. All confident like you could say anything or do anything, even mouth off to the teacher. Tsubomi didn't know. She didn't have a boyfriend, boys at their school were so immature. They confessed to her without knowing the first thing about her. Mob had a boyfriend, Mob of all people, and not in a mean way.

And some jerk had to go and ruin it for Mob.

People really were the worst sort.

"My Master taught me. Well he didn't teach me like in school but he helped me with my homework a lot and we practice…I mean practiced." Said Mob. She didn't much want to think about Master Reigen. It was hard, because she had just seen him a few days ago. Well not in person, on TV. She had just seen him and now her mind kept on trying to go to him.

She wondered if he felt bad about what people were saying about him.

She wondered if he felt bad that people were making memes out of him.

She wondered if maybe he liked all the attention. He did say that he had always wanted to be somebody….

Was he upset that the somebody everyone made him out to be was a fraud?

She didn't ask him. He didn't want her around. He had made himself perfectly clear. He did not want anything to do with her. Well that didn't matter. What was done was done and there was no way to make it better.

So she needed to stop being dumb like this and get back to doing her homework.

"Oh, right, him. Um….so that was some funny stuff on Super Natural Detective the other night, like cringe funny. Not ha-ha funny." Said Tsubomi. Well now hadn't she just misread the atmosphere terribly? Now Mob would probably….what had the site said? People who had been through what Mob had probably been through often became withdrawn, depressed, anxious and…what had been the last one? Well whatever it was it was something that Mob did not deserve to feel.

"I didn't think that it was funny but a lot of other people did. I don't know how Master got tricked but it's mean to trick people. Either that or a spirit showed up that I couldn't see. I don't see how it could have been Beethoven, though. He died in Germany and we're in Japan. Maybe it was another German person, like a foreigner who died here and is pretending to be Beethoven. Some spirits are smart like that." Said Mob saying more words at once than Tsubomi had ever heard come from Mob before.

"….are there spirits here right now?" asked Tsubomi after a while. That was the most pressing thing on her mind. She knew that Mob could move things without touching them and see ghosts and even exorcise them but…well the ghost related things had never been something that she had seen before. Live, anyway.

Mezato said that Kurata had said something about a spirit messing with Mob….did spirits…do things like that?

Tsubomi was so glad that she did not have superpowers. She did not know what she would do if she had to deal with these types of things on a daily basis.

"No. None in this room." Said Mob. She could see some neutral spirits but they didn't count. They were just passing through anyway. If there was an evil spirit around she would have exorcised, no, what had Dimple called it? Dematerialized. She would have had dematerialized it.

"Cool." Said Tsubomi letting out a breath that she had been subconsciously holding. They worked in silence for a little bit. Tsubomi took care not to misread the atmosphere again and bring up anything related to that guy or any guy in general. Even though she really wanted to know what all of that had been about. She didn't see the program when it had aired live but she saw clips of it. It was amazing to think that the whole exorcism thing had gone on for thirty uninterrupted minutes. Tsubomi could barely sit through the compilations. Nobody had thought to put a stop to all of it for half an hour? They just let that guy embarrass himself like that for no reason? Well for ratings, obviously. Still, the whole thing looked so, totally, humiliating.

People really were the worst sort.

Mob tried not to think about Master Reigen as she did her homework. She had been actively trying not think about him for a while but it was hard. She was…she was lovely without him. Even she was with people she still felt lonely. Maybe it was just practice for when she got older and she was lonely forever. Eventually people would get tired of spending time with her. They'd get bored of her or sick of her or she'd do something and they'd be afraid of her. Like Teru was.

He was afraid of her. All she did was keep them safe. She was allowed to use her powers in self-defense.

It wasn't like she had killed them. It would have been easy. She could have used her powers. Or her own two hands.

Thinking about this made her hair stand up. She needed to stop. The pencil in her hands bent in half like it was made of rubber. That was strange, it should have just come apart. She could, when she was little, make the metal monkey bars at the playground wriggle like they were made of rubber, too. That had been on purpose, this was on accident.

"Let's do something else. Come on, I'll fix….cover up….the dark circles under your eyes. I think I have some concealer that might be pale enough." Said Tsubomi. There was a sort of static electricity in the air before the pencil thing happened. Mob was starting to lose control of her powers. It felt just like when they were kids and Tsubomi was the ringleader in everyone's attempts at riling Mob up…

She was such a bitch back then.

But she could make up for that now.

"Ok, whatever you want, Tsubomi." Said Mob. She let Tsubomi lead her over to her makeup table. It was kind of like Rei's. Tsubomi had a bunch of stuff, some of it Mob recognized and some of it she didn't. Lipstick, lip gloss, eyeliner, and other such things she recognized. Other things that she didn't. Things in tubes and tubs and sticks and wands. She hadn't paid much attention when Rei painted her up. She tried to be more in the moment this time.

She could not follow all that Tsubomi was doing. Rei just sort of went for it, putting on all different things seemingly without a care in the world. Tsubomi was testing things on Mob's skin, like she was doing pain swatches. She tsked and clicked her tongue a few times before digging something out of her drawer and trying it. This seemed like the right thing because Tsubomi immediately went to work with it.

The next few minutes were a blur of creams and powders. Brushes and sponges. It tickled and itched but Mob said nothing. She was just grateful that someone was taking the time to be nice to her. She was also grateful that Tsubomi didn't talk while she worked. Mob liked Rei but she talked a lot and Mob had trouble following all of it.

Also Tsubomi didn't have a picture of Ritsu tucked into the frame of her mirror.

Not that Mob had any idea why Tsubomi would. Lots of girls confessed to Ritsu but Tsubomi was way too old for him, she was Mob's age. Much too old for Ritsu. Rei was Ritsu's age, that was why she was his girlfriend. Well that and the love that they shared that Mob didn't want to know the details of. That was why Rei had a picture of Ritsu tucked into the frame of her mirror. It was one that she drew and it was pretty good.

Good enough to make Mob miss Ritsu, anyway.

She did miss him. She missed hanging out with him. She missed how they could spend hours and hours playing Go together. How he always knew just what she meant. How they would watch TV together but it wouldn't feel lonely because they were together. How sometimes they'd talk long into the night when they couldn't sleep.

But those times were over now.

Ritsu didn't need her anymore. He deserved so much better than what she could ever hope to be. There was nothing that she could do to change that simple, immutable fact. He deserved a better big sister than she could ever hope to be. He deserved a big sister who wasn't terrible. That was why she had to keep her distance. She didn't want to hear it from him, too. She didn't want to hear how he never liked her, how he never wanted her around, how she had stuck herself to him.

She knew it to be true, anyway, so she didn't need to hear it.

Was that just the way that her entire life was going to go? Would she just endlessly stick herself to people like one of those burr plants that had to be cut out of your hair? Did she…there was something immutably wrong with her. Something terrible. Something that made everyone leave her in the end.

That was why she was all the more grateful for the people she had found, now.

She thanked whoever was up there, whatever God existed, for the people she had found. The people in the world who took the time from their lives to spend time with her, to take care of her, to be her friend in this moment. It didn't matter that everyone would inevitably leave her if she was happy now. If someone, right now, right now at this moment in existence in this reality, wanted to be around her.

"There. See, back to normal." Said Tsubomi regretting her words as soon as she spoke them. For one thing it wasn't quite normal, Mob was paler than even the extra pale correction cream and foundation that she had bought back when mom first let her try out makeup.

"…thank you." Said Mob. She looked…the dark circles under her eyes were gone. It was a shame that she was going to have to wash all of Tsubomi's hard work when they went to bed. Rei said to never sleep in makeup, it destroyed your skin and gave you zits. Taking makeup off was a pain, too. The chemicals in the makeup remover smelled weird and it left a weird film on your skin but Mob had been through much worse. Much, much, much worse.

"Wait a second….ok. Now you're done." Said Tsubomi. Mob's bangs were driving her crazy. They were in that weird in between stage because she was growing it out. Tsubomi had no choice. She had to do something about it because, well, it looked bad. Also it was a…a safety risk. Yes. Mob could trip and fall because she couldn't see where she was going.

Also people said that she looked like the girl from the Ring.

Mob pulled the hairclip out with her powers. No. Her hair looked too short that way. She needed to have her hair in her eyes to remind her that it was still there. Tsubomi had taken one of her big hair clips and just taken Mob's fringe and clipped it all back. Mob could see her entire forehead. There was a clear line where her makeup ended and her skin began. She didn't much like that either.

"Sorry! I just thought that you'd want your hair out of your eyes. You know, I case you tripped or something." Said Tsubomi. She didn't get why Mob reacted like that but she wasn't going to start asking personal questions. Either it was just Mob being weird or it was something related to something that happened to her that she most likely would not want to talk about. The website said that sometimes there would be things that to the outside observer seemed like nothing at all but were, in fact, things that to Mob were very serious and upset her.

Poor Mob.

"….thank you, but I like my hair this way." said Mob. She needed to know that her hair was there. She needed see it in her eyes and feel the weight of it. That was how she knew this was not the unreality. She felt her arm. No scar. None on her leg, either.

"You look….really nice." Said Tsubomi. She was about to tell Mob that people said that she looked like a ghost but stopped herself. First of all Mob was going through a lot and second of all Mob didn't care what people thought. She was just that sort of person, the sort that could just walk through life without a care in the world as to her reputation or whether or not she got teased. Not that Tsubomi ever got teased, she made sure of it.

"You do too." Said Mob. She took the hair clip and just stuck it in her hair off to the side. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked…not like Tsubomi, but not like herself. She used to have hairclips with butterflies on them but they had broken during the fight….and they had been a gift too…but that was then and this was now.

And she needed to be grateful for what she had now.

Because the most popular girl in school wanted to be friends with her, now. The most popular girl in the entire school was doing her hair and her makeup when she didn't have to at all. Mob wondered why everyone had to dress her up…but she didn't mind. She was just happy to be included.

After dong her hair and makeup she and Tsubomi went back to homework. Then they watched TV and talked. Well Tsubomi talked and Mob listened. Tsubomi was worried that training for the school marathon would interfere with her tennis practice. Salt had been undefeated since she joined the tennis club and she intended to keep it that way. She talked about her friends, too. She talked about how Mob was going to love sleeping over at her friend's houses and how everyone would just love her, especially when they spent more time with her. Mob was just happy that people wanted to be with her. Before all of this she would have been so lovely to be sleeping over at so many different people's houses, especially popular people, but now she was just grateful. She didn't even care if she had a good time or not, she was just grateful that she could keep her promise to Mezato and grateful that someone wanted to spend time with her.

And she really was grateful.

And she did end up having a nice time.

Everyone's house was like it's own self-contained little world. At Tsubomi's house everything was neat and orderly. Her parents were nice and only said nice things to her and asked her about her life. Not like when Mob ate with her family. Mom mostly just said nice things to Ritsu and dad mostly said things that he thought were funny. Tsubomi's parents let her spend the whole evening in her room, too. That was kind of like at Mob's house, mom and dad let her and Ritsu hole up in their rooms a lot, but sometimes they had family time, too.

She missed it a little.

She missed it a little more when she stayed over at Tsubomi's friend, Emi's, house. Her family talked about books, real books of real literary value. Mob didn't read a lot of those books, she mostly just read manga and what the school told her to read, so she just listened when Emi's family argued, Emi said debated, as to whether or not translating a work to or from Japanese stripped the work of it's meaning. Then they all spent the evening in the living room. They didn't have a TV, which Mob didn't much like, but they all sat together and read novels. Mob borrowed a book and pretended to read.

Then she sat up all night watching anime on her phone.

She did the same thing when she stayed over at Tsubomi's other friend Ai's house. Mob's parent's house was neat, Tsubomi's house was very neat, and Ai's family acted like they were running an operating room. The whole house smelled like disinfecting spray and soap. They had to wear slippers over their house slippers to keep the floor clean. They also said that everyone had to scrub their hands before, during, and after dinner with antibacterial hand gel to keep the germs away. Mob used their shower, too, and everything was antibacterial and smelled just awful. Also Ai's family didn't believe in fabric softener so the borrowed pajamas that she wore, a matching button down top and bottom, itched her all night. She stayed up all night watching anime while Ai slept. Also her family went to be early. Very early.

She didn't have to go to bed early when she slept at Tome's house again. Tome got her punishment lifted after being diplomatic about it, her words. Mob was glad. Tome was her friend, truly her friend, and she had stayed at Tome's house before. Her mom left them a pot of curry and they ate in front of the TV. They were talking about Master Reigen on TV, saying that he was a fraud. They started to mention her, too, but then Tome dove behind the TV and unplugged it. After that they stayed up playing videogames all night, Mob let Tome win. They stopped playing when the sky started to turn bright blue and Tome said that she needed either sleep or tape to keep her eyes opened. It had been a good night. Tome's pajamas, the ones that Mob borrowed, were very soft, it was a fleecy onsie with aliens on it. She could also take a bath by herself this time, Tome didn't have to keep watch. Best of all Tome said that she could have her old uniform. It fit, sort of, if she used her powers to keep the sleeves pulled back and once she had made a new button hole so the skirt could be tighter. She stayed at Tome's house for a few more nights until her mom said that she was not feeding the entire neighborhood and Mob had to sleep at her own house for once.

But Mob didn't. After that she slept over at Rei's house. Rei's parents talked to her more this time. They asked her if everything was alright, which is was so Mob didn't even have to lie, and they asked her how things were at home. Mob guessed and said that they were fine but she also said that Ritsu would know more than she did. Then Rei pulled her upstairs and they listened to music really loud while Rei did her hair again. They passed between Rei's room and the bathroom a few times, Rei said that she was going to give Mob a whole new look, and when they passed Mob heard snippets of what sounded like either fighting or passionate talking.

"_It's none of our business, don't get involved."_

"_We see these kids more than their parents do, it's becoming our business. Rei's hiding something and it has to do with-"_

Mob was not in the habit of eavesdropping, so she didn't. Rei was, though, and left Mob in her room for a while so she could hear what her parents were saying. In the space between songs, Rei had left the music on pretty loud and wouldn't turn it down no matter how many times her big sister banged on the wall, Mob caught another snippet of her parents' conversation.

"_Neither of those kids ever smile, ever! It's not normal. I'm not even sure if they have teeth!"_

"_So they don't smile and the girl stays over, that doesn't mean that anything's going wrong at home. Don't pry into other people's business."_

Rei came back into her room after that. She turned off the music and just sat down on her bed for a while. Mob stayed sitting at Rei's makeup mirror/desk. It took Rei a while to say anything, which was weird for her. She always had the opposite problem, it seemed like. It always seemed like she had so much going on in her mind that she had to get it all out or else she'd explode or something like that.

"Hey…we're friends, right?" asked Rei after a while. Mob nodded.

"So, like, if something was going really bad, like, at your house…you'd tell me, right?" asked Rei choosing her words more carefully than Mob had ever heard her choose them before.

"I would but I don't know what's going on at my house, I don't live there anymore. Ritsu would tell me, though, and you. He loves you, you're his girlfriend." Said Mob

"Thanks…but I just…something really bad happened to you and I just…I'm worried about you. Like…you don't have to tell me if you don't want to! I just….I know that something bad happened to you and you're my friend and I know that if something bad happened to me you would help me out and also…also I know that there are a lot of bad people in the world and I know that…I mean I know what your friend told me…and I just…I don't even know what I'm getting at. Just…please be ok. Please be ok and please….tell me if….I mean…" said Rei

"I'm ok, Rei. I'm fine, everything is fine. Do you want me to braid your hair, again." Sais Mob. Rei was sad, it seemed like, not that Mob was the best at reading the atmosphere or anything like that. Rei liked doing hair and having her hair done, so Mob decided to cheer her up. She had done so much for Mob already, all of her friends had. She was grateful, so grateful to have so many people in her life that cared about her.

She braided Rei's hair, Rei braided hers. Then they ended up watching TV all night, but on mute because Rei had a bedtime even though she was thirteen. Mob was tired, in the morning, but she was always tired. She was tired but she was…getting close to being happy. Getting close to it, as close as she could. She had so many people in her life that cared about her…and she was grateful.

Even though she wanted one specific person to care about her more than anything else.

But that was not going to happen.

So she had to be grateful for the people in her life that she had now.

Reigen Arataka had no idea what he was supposed to be grateful for. His life was completely and totally over. It had been over a week and the internet still hadn't forgotten. If anything this entire mess was getting worse and worse and worse. It was like the time when he was six and he tried doing his own laundry. He kept on putting more and more soap into the machine the hopes that it could get the chocolate stains out of his clothes before mom found out but trying to fix one mistake just led him to making another, much worse one.

And now he was, metaphorically, drowning in soap suds.

The soap suds were all the new speculations that were made about him, his life, his business, and his relationship with Mob. That was one was really killing him. People were asking after her, a lot of people. People were asking if she had left him because of his embarrassing performance on TV. People were asking if they were even together in the first place. People were asking how old she was and where she came from and how she was related to him and all sorts of other questions.

Questions that didn't need answering.

He had tried to do damage control a few times and just ended up making it all worse. He tried to take attention away from the way that he, in the past, had bullshitted his customers. He had made up a lot of spiritual sounding crap over the years and a group had come to popularity for his so called 'victims'. He, of course, tried to defend himself. Well not as himself but people quickly found him out. They said that he was either himself or Mob.

Then they started speculating on Mob.

And the washer got filled with more and more detergent and the suds got higher and higher and the floor got slipperier and slipperier.

So he just hid in his apartment. He locked the door, shut off the phone, and stuck to watching the foreign channels on TV. At least this whole thing hadn't left Japan…yet. That was the only good thing about all of this. He could still flee the country if he had too. Heh. He could flee to somewhere warm and sunny. One of those tropical islands without any kind of tech. Then he could grow out his beard and become an island man. Heh.

But of course he wasn't going to flee the country. His mother would find him and drag him back by his collar. She'd swim across an ocean, climb over a mountain range, and do whatever else it took to get him back so that she could give him a proper lecture. She had been calling every single day, sometimes multiple times a day, and he still hadn't picked up. He checked his phone once a day just to see if Mob had many any move to contact him, even to ask him what the fuck was going on. Not that Mob would ever phrase it like that. Not that she had phrased it like anything. She was still…she was gone.

Mob was well and truly gone.

That was the worst part. He needed her back. She had been his greatest cheerleader, his most loyal disciple, the person who would remember him after he died. He had been somebody to her and…and it hadn't been enough for him. Now she was gone. She had moved on. She had replaced him in her life and he had nobody to blame but himself.

She had played her part in their falling out.

If she hadn't been so clingy all the time, so affectionate then he never would have gotten into part two of this mess. Part two dwarfed part one by far. Part two involved the entire nation of Japan thinking that he had been in a relationship with fourteen year old girl! Not that they knew that she was fourteen. Mob was, well, Mob. Unless you spent a lot of time looking at her, not that he spent a lot of time looking at her, she did just sort of blend into the background. Black hair, brown eyes, regular everything…nothing really distinctive if you didn't know what to look for.

The way her eyes would just light up when she was happy.

The way that she would drop her eyes when she was nervous.

The way that she would play with her hair with her powers when she was anxious.

Just…Mob. All the things that came together to make her Mob. Thank God that he was the only person who noticed these things about her. Thank God that she could be mistaken for just about any other long haired female human being in Japan. Thank God that even her school uniform couldn't place her because, for reasons unknown to him, women were wearing school uniforms as fashion.

She was probably fine.

While he was up to his eyeballs in soap suds.

And he did not see any way out of it.

He tried some good old fashioned escapism. He watched some of his old favorites and found some new ones. He smoked to steady his nerves until he ended up coughing so hard he threw out his back for a day or so. He drank until he could literally feel his liver trying to exit his body and take it's chances in the outside. He ate so much junk food that his heart raced and his stomach churned and his pancreas began to draft it's will.

It worked for a little bit.

But then he ran out of cigarettes and liquor, even the old stashes he'd made in university, and he even ran out of food. That necessitated a trip into the outside world. That necessitated hosing himself off and putting on pants and shaving the patchy beard that he had been growing. He made himself look and smell like a halfway decent human being and headed out to the store. He could feel the eyes of the entire neighborhood, the entire city, the entire country on him as he made his way down the road and to the store. People snapped pictures of him. People whispered as he walked by.

So he just walked faster.

He went to the store, bought what he needed, and left.

The walk home was no better. Actually it was worse, much worse. It started with him noticing the unusual amount of traffic on his street. There was a more cars, enough cars to cause congestion. Car parked, too. Cars and vans, ones much nicer than should have been seen in that part of town. There were well dressed people in them, business casual or just business-business. He walked faster. Footsteps followed him.

Then he got home.

There, in the parking lot, was what looked like a small town's worth of people congregating. What, were they just waiting for him to leave the house? Wasn't there anything else going on in the city? The country? The world? How was he big enough news that all of these people….didn't these people have actual news to report on?!

"It's him! Reigen!" said a man dressed like what a small child thought that a reporter looked like complete with 'press' hat. Reigen tried to run away but soon found himself surrounded on all sides. Questions were asked all at once, microphones were shoved in his face, and the flashes of cameras went off.

"Don't you people have lives?!" asked Reigen as he tried to push his way through the crowd. He had wanted this for so long, since he was a kid, but not like this. Not for something like this.

"No!" someone called from the back of the crowd. There were more questions and more jostling.

"_Reigen? What do you have to say about the accusations that you're a fraud?"_

"_Reigen? Where's the girl?"_

"_What's her real name?"_

"_What part did she have to play with this?"_

"_What's your blood type?"_

"_What are you going to do now?"_

"_Tell us the truth!"_

Reigen gritted his teeth and tried to keep calm. Of course trying to keep calm never worked and he felt his temper rise and rise and rise. That just made the sea of people around him push and shove more. More and more questions were posed and more and more anger and frustration came into everyone's voices when he stayed silent.

So they just yelled louder.

And they pushed more.

And Reigen just wanted it all to **end** already.

Because this had gone on long enough. This insanity wasn't blowing over, actually it was picking up steam. Not even his home was safe. He was going to have to deal with this for the rest of his life. This was is existence, now. This was life. He needed air.

He needed to breathe.

But there was nowhere at all for him to go.

Because the internet was forever. There was no escaping the internet. It had a memory better than even an elephant's and could hold a grudge better than any ex-lover. Reigen used to laugh when he saw people in this sort of predicament. He used to think that they should have been smarter, covered their asses better. Well now he knew better.

And he knew that he needed this to just stop.

"Will you all please….SHUT THE HELL UP?!" said Reigen. He could see people holding up phones and cameras. Great. Just great. Well at least they had all listened to him.

"What is it going to take to get all of you off my back? I've had enough of this! Isn't there something else happening in the world, anything else? How does any of this count as news? What in the hell is wrong with you people?! Do you honestly have nothing at all better to do than, what, camp out at my house?" asked Reigen in a tone that clearly said 'just try me, come on, let's go'.

"The world deserves to know the truth!" said someone as she shoved a microphone in his face.

"You all don't care one bit about the truth. All of you already know what you want to say, you just want an excuse to go ahead and say it." Said Reigen. There's a moment of silence.

"So why not just hold a press conference, then? Tell the world the truth?" press hat guy asked. Reigen shrugged and began to walk. The crowd parted for him like the red sea.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Now get the hell away from my house!" said Reigen. He didn't look back, not even when someone corrected him and told him that it was an apartment building. He just went inside, closed the door, and went back to watching TV. He tried to, anyway, because there was the commotion outside. It could be heard through the walls, the windows, the floor, the ceiling. He covered his ears, closed his eyes, and then laid down.

He just needed this whole thing to come to an end. All things passed and this, too, would pass. He just had to help it pass faster.

He didn't know how long he been laying down for but, eventually, he had to sit up. His phone was vibrating again. He put it on do not disturb but it did, well, disturb when someone called more than three times consecutively in fifteen minutes. Sometimes people were just that determined to harass him. Sometimes they had important things to say. Well, he hadn't found anyone with anything to say that he wanted to hear but there was always the chance….

It wasn't Mob.

Of course it wasn't.

It was his mother.

Well who else would it be? Well it could have been whoever it was that had been calling him over and over again before. An unknown number. Almost every number that called was an unknown number. That particular unknown number had been remarkably persistent. Almost as persistent as this known number.

Well he'd might as well bite the bullet before mom did something drastic like drive down to Seasoning City to yell at him in person.

He hit the little green answer button.

"So you do you know to pick up your phone." Said his mother. He could hear it in her voice, the stress. The barely contained stress. The sort of stress that predicted not a screaming match but that quiet sort of anger and disappointment that she loved to pour all over him. Well fine then. Bring it on.

"Hey mom." Said Reigen

"Don't you 'hey mom' me. Arataka, I have been calling you for days! Why in the hell didn't you pick up your goddamned phone?! I thought you had run away! I thought you had-had-had I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere! I thought…this isn't about what I thought!" said his mother. He could hear the sound of a copy machine near her. She was calling from work.

"What it is about, then, mom?" said Reigen knowing exactly what this was about. She was probably just calling to tell him how embarrassed she was, how he had brought shame on her and the family. Not that they even were a family, anymore. Just two related adults who sometimes spoke on the phone and saw each other once every few years.

"You know exactly what this is about." Said his mother. Her voice was low. Her voice was low and steady and that damn copy machine was still in the background. Someone said something in a language other than English or Japanese and he's tempted to ask her about her job, about what sorts of expats worked there, about what other languages they taught, just to get her talking about something other than his stupidity…

"Mom, I don't know what I'm supposed to say. I'm sorry that I embarrassed you, alright? That's what this is about, isn't it? I embarrassed you on nation TV and you want to yell at me. Well then get it out of your system. There's nothing that you can tell me that I haven't already told myself. I fucked up. I know that I fucked up. I…I let myself get tricked and now I'm the biggest laughing stock in Japan. OK? I get it." Said Reigen. There's a long pause. The copy machine stops. There's a loud ding and the more talking. If he really focuses he can swear he hears the buss of florescent lights. Something clicks rhythmically. A keyboard. The world of work went on in the background. The world of their family, their fractured little family, went on in the foreground.

"Arataka….you need to come home." Said his mother. Reigen clicked his tongue.

"I am home, mom. There's really nowhere else for me to go. It's not like I can go back to work. Or maybe I could. Yeah, I could charge even more now. See the biggest joke in all of Japan, only one five hundred yen. I could make a fortune and retire by thirty. I could-" Said Reigen

"No. You know what I mean. There is nothing for you in Seasoning City. Arataka, this is your out. Get out of that dangerous business of yours while you still can. Take it from me, people have short memories for this shit. I'll give it another month at most before they find someone else to laugh at. Arataka, I do not want you in this business. I don't know how you got tricked or why they're calling you a fraud but…but out of all the things that could have gone wrong this is the LEAST awful of what could have happened. Come home. Come home and let everyone forget. Than you can get a GOOD JOB-" said his mother

"Mom! I am not-not-not…I am not coming back. What do you want me to do? Live with you until the day you die? Just spend my entire life with you. Yeah, I'll spend my entire life growing old with my mother….are you going to put my old racecar bed back together? Get me another pokemon rice bowl since my old one broke? Let me keep my SNES in my room? Mom, you just want me to be ten forever." Said Reigen. If he went back he'd die. It would be the death of everything that he ever wanted to be or could have been. He had made this hell for himself….but if he went back it would be yet another circle of hell. He knew what his mother wanted. She wanted him to be her little Taka-chan forever. She'd find him a job working with him and she'd keep him under her thumb forever. She'd pick his job and run his life and-and-and he just could not do that.

His life was his own.

"No. I want you to be….Taka I want you to be happy. I want you to be happy and you can't be happy unless you're stable! That business of yours was never stable. Four years ago I let you throw away happiness with both hands. Four years ago when you left the job I BEGGED your father to get you-" said his mother, her voice low and quiet.

"Well I never asked you to!" said Reigen

"Well you needed me to! Taka….was that the life you wanted for yourself. Job to job, place to place…never putting down roots? Never stopping for a moment…Taka you need to be stable and all I want for you is…is stability and safety. I love you." Said his mother

"Right. You've been calling me nonstop out of love…"said Reigen. He knew his mother. He knew that the storm was coming. He had been on the receiving end of that storm time after time again. That was fine. He was almost thirty years old. His mother's anger couldn't affect him anymore.

"Yes. I love you and I'm concerned." Said his mother.

"So concerned in English means the same as 'pissed off' in Japanese?" asked Reigen, his voice dripping with sarcasm. There was a pause. He heard a the clink of metal and then an exhale. Good idea.

"I'm not…I'm not angry with you **anymore**. I was angry before but now I'm just…I'm worried. This thing is taking on a life of it's own. People will…they'll forget. People have short memories for these things but right now…people can also act rashly. When things get-get out of hand like this…well people run their mouths. They run their mouths and they say and do things that they…that they should know better…" said his mother. Reigen could barely hear her as he tore the plastic off of a box of cigarettes. He fished his lighter out of the couch, pink plastic, and lit the end. He inhaled and held it in his lungs for as long as he could. Then he exhaled long and deep.

"Mom, I'm not coming home. I'm not coming home so just…don't ask. I'm a grown man, my life is my own, and I can run my own life. I'll get through this. I'll get through this and I'll figure something out. I'm going to have a press conference-" said Reigen

"How's she taking all of this?" asked his mother suddenly. Reigen dropped his cigarette. It fell onto his couch. A small hole burns in the cheap fabric and for a moment Reigen wonders if he should pick it up or just let his apartment burn down just so that he doesn't have to talk about-

He picks it up.

There's a burn in the couch.

Thank God for modern flame retardant materials.

"Mom…" said Reigen in a tone that he hoped said something along the lines of 'get off of it mother or so help me-'

"Mobbu. How is Mobbu taking all of this?" asked his mother in a measured tone. The same tone she would use when she held up his report card. 'Arataka, how do you explain this?' or when she'd find his junk food hoard under his bed 'Arataka, what is all of this?' or countless other times in his life. He tried not to let this reduce him to a shaking then year old. There is something to be said about mothers and the power they held over you, the power that they would hold over you no matter how many times you tried to break free of it.

"Mom, no. I don't want to talk about her. She doesn't even….she's…" said Reigen

"Arataka. How. Is. Mobbu. Taking. All. Of. This?" asked his mother. He heard her walking. Now there was an echo and the sound of…a hand dryer. She must have been in the office bathroom now. He wonders, briefly, if she still steals toilet paper and soap from her job. He could ask her, it would get her off of all of this.

"Mom, don't ask me about-" said Reigen

"Arataka you tell me how that girl is dealing with the mess you made!" said his mother, her voice echoing. He wants to hang up on her. He wants to hang up and then smash his phone to bits. But no. If does that, if he declares a state of radio silence between the two of them, then she would most likely get into Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang and just drive over to lecture him in person.

"I. Have. No. Fucking. Clue." Said Reigen through gritted teeth. He didn't know if Mob was sick with worry for him, seething with anger at him for lying to her for all of those years, or laughing it up with the rest of the country.

"Arataka, don't lie to me. Do not lie to your mother. I know how you are with her-"said his mother.

"How am I with her, mom, since you're such an expert." Said Reigen

"Close. Not as close as the world seems to think but very close. She's…she's something to you, not what everyone says but she is something to you. I want to know how she's doing. I want to know how she's taking all of-" said his mother

"Just ask her. Mom, just call her or message her or-or something!" said Reigen

"….I don't know her that well. Arataka….just tell me that she's doing ok. This entire thing must be…you know what people are saying….you must know! How do you think she's coping with all of this! Arataka, people are asking me about her and I don't know what to say. I say nothing, obviously, and I thank God that nobody here thinks she's…." said his mother

"Thinks what, mom, just come out and say it already…" said Reigen

"They ask me if I have a daughter. Not a daughter in law, a daughter. They ask me if she's my daughter…they ask me if your father had a daughter….they ask me how old…how old she is. Arataka…" said his mother

"Well at least they aren't asking you if she's my girlfriend. That's what this is about, isn't it? You thought so too, you know. I cannot begin to understand what is wrong with everyone-" said Reigen. Sister. Sister was better than, well, all the other things that people assumed. That his own mother assumed.

He lit another cigarette.

"People record you two, you know, when you're out in the world. I've seen…you're affectionate with her, very affectionate. I don't blame you, Lord knows she needs it…but people make assumptions when they see a man and a girl her age together…and now everyone is voicing their assumptions and as bad as it is for me, well, it's going to be worse for you. Even worse for her, probably. She's so young, Arataka, even though she doesn't act it…she's young and this has got to be hard for her…" said his mother

"It's hard for me, too, you know. Your actual kid. She's not your kid, mom. This is…this is really hard for me! Ok! I and I do not need you to-" said Reigen

"ARATAKA! This is not about you! You say that your life is your own but it's not, not when there's a child involved. She is a child! She's a child and as bad as this is for you it has got to be a thousand times worse for her. She is fourteen years old and…and I know that she's not…I had hoped that she had come back to you. To something resembling a functional adult….Arataka you need to get off this 'my life is my own' shit! I wish she was my daughter! I have zero power over her, she barely knows me, but I am involved. You cannot…you need to look past yourself. I know I never did that when I was raising you but…but you need to be better than I was-" said his mother

"Mom-" said Reigen

"Arataka I am sorry that this is happening to you. I am so sorry that your business fell apart. I'm sorry that…I'm just so sorry. I'm sorry but now it's time to get your life together. Yours and hers. Come here. Come home, bring her, and build a new life for yourself. I doubt anyone would mind you leaving, I doubt anyone would even blame you….and as for her I'd imagine that at this point, legally, she's been abandoned. She's only fourteen years old and she cannot live with her-" said his mother

"Mom! Mob does NOT listen to me anymore! She's gone, ok?! She's gone and she's not coming back. I haven't heard a word from her in weeks! WEEKS! She's gone. She's….I came home and she was gone. We had a…a stupid fight-" said Reigen

"A fight? About what? Arataka…" said his mother

"A stupid fight, ok!? I almost…I almost did something stupid, incredibly stupid, and I just wanted…I wanted to put up some goddamned boundaries between us and she just….she never listens anymore! She's so stubborn and headstrong and she just won't…she always thinks that she knows what's best. She won't listen to a word I say and she's getting so, incredibly, clingy and-and-" said Reigen

"She's fourteen years old, Taka, what do you expect? She's a fourteen year old girl. She's a fourteen year old girl alone in the world except for you. Of course she's disobedient and headstrong and of course she's going to be a little clingy-" said his mother

"I think she has a crush on me." Said Reigen just getting it out. Mob maybe had a crush on him. Mob. Just…no. She could not. She could not have a crush on him…but she might have and they were already closer than they should have been and the last thing that he wanted to do was…was put her in a position…or put himself in a position…. There was another long pause.

"She's fourteen years old, she probably has a crush on every single male human being she comes into contact with. Boys don't have a monopoly on-" said his mother

"Mom…don't. Just don't. Mob's better off with her boyfriend and her friends than with me. OK? It's just…she's been so clingy lately and it's just…she didn't want to put up boundaries and that's…there's nothing I can do to make her stay. This is Mob. At the end of the day there's nobody that can stop her from doing anything that she doesn't want to do." Said Reigen

"….you grab her by the collar and you make her come back. She's fourteen. She'll have a crush on someone else next week. You need to put up boundaries, I agree wholeheartedly with that, but you also need to…get over yourself. You need to forget how that makes you feel and you need to think about what's best for her." said his mother

"Mom. There is nothing that I can do. Mob moved on, I accept this. Mob moved on and she doesn't need me anymore. She…she outgrew me. She's out there with her friends and, yeah, she needs someone to…but she doesn't want anyone anymore. She's not a little kid anymore, she can handle herself." Said Reigen

"…this is a fourteen year old girl….she's only…Arataka every time I think that you can't get any more irresponsible you outdo yourself. I'm involved. I'm involved here. My fingerprints are all over this train wreck….and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, here. I'm just…I have no idea what it is that I'm supposed to do for a son who just does not want to listen. A son who's so, incredibly, stubborn…and irresponsible….a son who has let his entire life FALL APART-" said his mother

"Well then just leave me alone. Why do you even care? Mom, I'm a grown man. You don't have to do anything for me! I can handle my own life, mom. Just…dad doesn't care. Why do you?" asked Reigen

"Your father cares. He reached out to me. I…I may have given him your number. He's concerned. Well he's livid but that's just his way of being concerned. He's worried about the life you've made for yourself…." Said his mother

"Right. Dad cares. Yeah, sure, whatever you say. I'm not stupid, Mom. Dad has never, once, given a damn about me-" said Reigen

"You talk to him, then, and you figure out what he wants. He called me asking how you were doing. Do you think that I had any desire at all to speak to him? Do you? I could hear….God Arataka I could hear that woman and her son in the background….and he wouldn't have called me if you would just…if you hadn't….your life is your own but what you do has an effect on other people! You, Mobbu, me, your father…your brother…even he's being effected by all of this. That's what your father wanted me to tell you, alright? He's livid that this is effecting…Tomoki I think his name is….and he wants to give you a piece of his mind and a chunk of money to do whatever you need to do to make this all just go away. OK?" asked his mother. He can hear the pain in her voice, that roughness, that rawness. He closes his eyes. Fine, alright then. Fine, he his fuck up has effected more than himself. This went beyond him and his problems. Fine. There. Whatever.

Well at least he had a plan, finally.

"Dad can go suck a bag of dicks for all I care. Tell him I'm sorry that people are making fun of Tomoki. Tell him that everything is under control. Tell him that…mom I'm going to have a press conference and I'm going to make this right. People have short memories. Once I have this thing then they'll go on to the next thing. Ok?" asked Reigen

"….do whatever you need to do, Arataka. Do whatever you need to do and just…and just…I don't know. I just don't know. I love you." Said his mother, her voice getting very strained and very high towards the end. So strained and so high that Reigen was afraid that she was going to snap her vocal cords. Then silence. She hung up on him.

His own mother hung up on him.

Well that was fine. Everything was fine.

He'd have this press conference and he'd finally put an end to this. Somehow. He didn't know how he would do it but he knew that he had to. This was spilling over to other people. Mob. Mob was probably being effected by all of this. Was she being teased? Was she worried? Was she angry? Confused? Concerned?

He wanted to ask her.

He hovered over her name in his contacts list. He could call her. It would have been so easy to just dial her number and call her. He wanted to. He so desperately wanted to call her, to talk to her, to hear her voice and to know that she was ok. He knew, of course, that she was but needed to confirm it. He needed to know that she was handling everything alright.

He needed to know if she hated him.

Because she would have had every right to hate him.

She had every right to hate the man who had lied to her every single day for years and years and year. She had every single right to hate the man who used her for years and years and years. Mob wasn't stupid. She was naïve but she was not stupid. She could have figured it out at any time over the past few years…and there had been close calls….and now he knew that there was no way she could rationalize this. There was no way that she could look at what had happened, when she done, compared it to what she seen from him before, and come to any other conclusion besides that he had been lying to her for years and years.

That is if she even still gave a damn about him.

Teru wondered if his girlfriend gave a damn about what was going on with Reigen.

He knew that he sure as hell didn't. This shit was all that anyone was talking about. Everyone at his school, everyone at the Awakening Lab, everyone in the entire goddamned city was going on and on and on about Reigen Arataka. Some people, not the kids at the Awakening Lab but people at his school and in the rest of the city, cared to much about the 'fraud psychic' and the fool he had made out of himself on national TV. They tossed around table salt at lunch time, not at his lunch table he had put a stop to that, and called out all of Reigen's ridiculous moves.

Teru could not wait until something else came alone.

This thing wasn't slowing down, though, no. This thing was growing and growing and growing like a particularly persistent back zit, not that he would ever confess that he got those. Back zit was a good way to think of Reigen, though. Something painful and annoying and gross and that Teru would rather just did not exist. Something annoying that just would not go away.

Yeah, Reigen Arataka was pretty much just a living back zit.

That guy had some nerve. He uses Shigeko and then he casts her aside. Not only did he use her he tried to…he tried to steal her from Teru. Thank for creepy people taking creepy picture of his girlfriend when she didn't realize it. Not that he approved of stalking and photographing his girlfriend, no not at all, but at least all of these pictures proved that Teru was not crazy.

Reigen sure love touching Shigeko. He loved to put an arm around her shoulders. He loved to rest his hand on the small of her back. He loved to even let her nap on him when they rode the train or the bus together. Shigeko was obviously too oblivious to know how it looked. She was just an affectionate and clueless person. That was all. Teru knew what Reigen was getting at. He was a guy and he knew how guys were.

So he might have fanned the flames of a few theories. Just a few and just a little.

Reigen cared what people thought. He had been on forums and comments sections trying to mediate the damage. It was so obviously him. He used the same couple of usernames for everything and he only talked about how everyone should give him a chance. Of course the internet saw through that immediately and now Reigen had gone quiet, mostly quiet. He had called a press conference or something, everyone was abuzz about it.

So Teru might have spent a small portion of him time fanning the flames of this Reigen thing. Not trolling and not doxing, leave that to the weirdos of the internet. No. Teru just brought up, in a few places, the fact that Reigen was really close to a girl that was nowhere near his age. He didn't name names or anything, he didn't want this to spill over onto Shigeko. If it spilled over onto Shigeko then not only would her own life become more difficult but his as well. He couldn't have that. He didn't say how old Shigeko was, or rather how young she was, but he did bring up that the age gap between her and Reigen seemed too large to be anything less than creepy. He was grateful that Shigeko was so naïve that she didn't see it, how Reigen was, but he was grateful that the rest of the world wasn't anywhere near as naïve and oblivious as Shigeko was.

The rest of the world was actually pretty filthy minded.

Teru didn't have to say much of anything at all for people's minds to come up with all sorts of filth. The ideas that they had about Reigen and Shigeko made him want to scream and kick holes in the walls. He didn't, of course, because he had more control and was more mature than that. Besides, he didn't give a damn if the world thought that Reigen was a weirdo who tried to get with teenage girls. He cared about Shigeko, though. Honestly people should not have been thinking of Shigeko like that. She had nothing to do with all of this and he was so, so, so glad that she was hanging out with her friends damn near constantly. She would not have approved of what he was doing. Worse she would have come to Reigen's rescue if she knew what people were saying about him, calling him. She would have rushed back to his side and saved him from himself.

So, really, Teru was glad that her life had become an endless parade of sleepovers. It have him more time to do Teru stuff, and not just stirring shit up on the internet. He hadn't been to the Awakening Lab in a while so he decided to do that. Well he had come here in an effort to get away from his own school friends and their never ending quotes and jokes and the table salt flying everywhere no matter how much he expressed his displeasure.

Of course he hadn't counted on how much the kids from the Awakening Lab revered 'The Great Master Reigen Arataka.'

"They can't treat him like this! We should just burn them all-" that was Go. He sure could get fired up. Teru smiled at his own bad joke. He came here, sometimes, to hang out and help the kids with their powers. Right now they were doing the hanging out part. Just sort of existing, there, in their little esper club house.

"Ok, you first. When they arrest you can I be your one phone call?" asked Takeshi. He was a nice guy, he had a decent sense of style at least. Kind of immature, though, but then again all the kids here were younger than he was. It was nice, he could relax a little.

"No way, I'm calling Ritsu. He can help me tunnel out, huh?" asked Takeshi. Ritsu looked up from his phone and shrugged. Now there was a rare sight. Ritsu was never there unless Rei was and Rei had been coming over less and less since she had started dating Ritsu. Now Ritsu was there, alone, and very out of place.

Teru decided to save him.

"I'm sure that he'd break you out before he tunneled you out." Said Teru coming to Ritsu's side. Ritsu straightened up as Teru got near. He tried to avert his eyes when Teru tried to make eye contact. How Ritsu and Shigeko were related he would never know. They had the same eyes, true, but Shigeko made too much eye contact if anything.

He tried to find more of Shigeko in her brother for a moment before stopping himself. That was kind of weird of him.

"No, he'd just pull out one of his trusty spoons and get to work." Said Takeshi. There was some laughter. Inside joke. One that Teru was not on the inside enough to know. He was always somewhat above them, just somewhat. Stronger. Older. Most experienced. It amazed him, somewhat, how large the gulf between thirteen and fourteen was.

Once the laughter ended they went back to their own separate things that they were doing. Those brothers were deep in what looked like a telepathic conversation. Takeshi and Go were playing some videogame that involved copious amounts of blood and violence, the kind that Shigeko never would have approved of. She didn't even like using the turtle shells in Mario Kart. Ritsu might have, if he wasn't so absorbed in his phone.

"So, going to try and beat me up again?" asked Teru. Ritsu shook his head but did not take his eyes off of his phone. He was here because he needed somewhere to be and didn't have a lot of friends. It was better than being at home. Mom was asking him if Shigeko was alright. He snapped and told her to ask Shigeko herself. Then he left. Rei said that she had a friend over so that meant that he had nowhere to go. What was the point of having a girlfriend if he couldn't hang out with her and tell her his troubles?

So he had come here. He came here to be around people his own age.

The only trouble was that he could not remember how to be around people his own age.

He was never unpopular but he never had a lot of friends, either. When he was a kid he and Shigeko had been each other's best friends. They played with the other kids sometimes but they mostly just spent time with each other. Now they were older and growing apart and he had his own life and Shigeko had hers and now he was here, hanging out with his girlfriend's friends and his sister's boyfriend.

"No, not unless you give me a reason to." Said Ritsu. Teru rolled his eyes. He hadn't given Ritsu a reason to have hit him in the first place. Ok, nobody wanted to think about their sister getting it on with someone but he was not taking advantage of Shigeko or anything like that. Well he was mature and that was all water under the bridge.

"Why? You feel like getting your ass kicked again?" asked Teru. Ritsu shook his head.

"You're getting yourself confused with me." Said Ritsu

"Am I? As I recall, Ritsu-chan, I can rip through your barrier like rice paper." Said Teru

"You wish, and don't call me Ritsu-chan." Said Ritsu looking up from his phone. He hadn't been reading anything in particular, just more about Reigen and the idiot he had made out of himself. Thank God that people were mostly keeping sister out of this and thank God that sister was keeping herself out of this.

From what he could gather she was sleeping over at her friend's houses pretty much every single night that week and the week before it. He didn't get it, why girls loved sleepovers. He wouldn't be able to see Rei this weekend, either, because she was going to be having another sleepover. A mixed blessing. On the one hand he didn't have to look over at the girl who loved him and wanted to spend her life with him and lie to her face but on the other hand that left him alone all weekend with his parents and his thoughts.

"I don't wish, I know." Said Teru

"You don't know anything." Said Ritsu

"I know that I never see you here, not without Rei anyway. So, what brings you to the esper clubhouse?" asked Teru

"I honestly have no idea. I just…it's better than being at home. Rei's busy so I just…I guess that I have nowhere better to be." Said Ritsu

"Hey!" called out Go. Then that was followed by a steady stream of the most creative profanity ever heard in Japan as his character was torn in half, it's digital entrails spread across the screen in a way that would make even the most liberal censor shake their head.

"He's kidding, he loves each and every one of you with all his soul." Said Teru. Ritsu gave him a light shove, lingering just a little too long. Teru paid it no mind.

"So, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be doing something more…you know." Said Ritsu trying to find a nice way of saying 'why aren't you doing something with your friends or my sister' like he had seen, well Rei had shown him. Teru lived, according to the internet, a life of endless fun. Looking cool, going to cool places, and just being cool. Ritsu hadn't been internet stalking Teru or anything, Rei just got him slightly into…he was not internet stalking Teru.

"Instagrammable? I'm taking kind of a break. You've got to take a break sometimes, let the people get thirsty for more." Said Teru. He hadn't spent enough time with Shigeko to have the opportunity to take any good pictures. It was more interesting for people, pictures of him and her. Maybe if she, when she, came back they could go out to the woods and take some.

He was not afraid of her.

She had been trying to keep them safe, that was all. He had been the one trying to run away like a coward.

"There's really no point in it, is there? I mean with all of this Reigen stuff." Said Ritsu

"Yeah, there's that too. I'd rather not take too many pictures of Shigeko and I, actually, unless someone recognizes her." said Teru

"I'm amazed that nobody has, already. I guess that they're more focused on Reigen. Sister's staying out of this mess, though, which is amazing. I never thought that she would-" said Ritsu

"Well she's done with Reigen." Said Teru. She was so obviously done with the guy, that was why she had been staying with him and her friends. She was so obviously never going back to Reigen's lying, salt throwing, girlfriend stealing ass and Teru could now die a happy man. Not that he had any intention of dying any time soon. He still hadn't even made up with Shigeko, yet.

"She said that?" asked Ritsu. Well now Ritsu could finally die a happy man. Reigen had always reminded him of one of those adults that mom and dad always said to watch out for, to protect Shigeko from. Ritsu wasn't unaware of what the internet thought about Reigen and Shigeko and he did have eyes, he had seen the pictures that people apparently just took. Weirdos. He was tempted to just tell these weirdos that yeah, Reigen was weird for the way he was with Shigeko but they were weird for taking pictures of a middle school girl, saving them, and then sharing them. He didn't, though, because arguing with people on the internet was pointless.

"No but, well, she kind of moved in with me for a little bit and now she's staying over at her friend's place. I don't know which friend, she just said her friend. Good riddance, if you ask me. That guy…I'm grateful that he saved our lives and all but he's really weird when it comes to Shigeko." Said Teru

"Wait….then why didn't she come home?" asked Ritsu more to himself than anything else. Shigeko should have just come back to her own family instead of staying with Teru and her friends. She wasn't homeless, she had a home, and she didn't have to crash at other people's houses. No, he needed to come off of that. She wasn't crashing, she was staying over. Sleepovers or slumber parties or whatever were one of those feminine rituals that he could not begin to understand. They were right up there with going to the bathroom in groups, watching other people put on makeup, and staring at guys you liked but never talking to them. Why did girls do that? Wouldn't it be easier to be rejected then to spend lunch period after lunch period staring at him while he was trying to eat?! Didn't they have anything better to do than stare at him?! What about their own lunches and friends and homework and-and-and why were they dying their hair red? Having red hair would not make him want to date them and besides, they knew he had a girlfriend! That was where the whole 'red hair' thing was coming from! Why would they want to date a guy who they thought would leave or cheat on the girlfriend that he already had?! Why would anyone want to-

But anyway.

"Why aren't you at home right now? Ritsu, you're a nice guy but…your parents are a little much. I know, I know, I don't even have parents so I don't know anything about that. I do know Shigeko and she doesn't…she doesn't like it when people are afraid of her." said Teru. Even when they had good reason to be. Even when they saw someone else's aura go out. Even when they were tossed into the stratosphere. Even when-

He was not at all afraid of Shigeko.

"Fine, good point. Still, I wish that she would just…" said Ritsu

"Hey, she's not hanging out with Reigen, that's what matters. Not that I know why any girl would. He's so…." Said Teru. Ritsu was getting what Shigeko called his Ritsu look. According to her it always preceded a Ritsu mood and Teru did not feel like dealing with whatever a 'Ritsu mood' was. So back to the badmouth Reigen Arataka game. Limited collector's edition, now with Saltity Splash, as the internet was calling it.

"Annoying. When I was a kid he always called me 'Mob's little brother' and stuff like that. I think he just didn't know my name for a while but he didn't feel like asking." Said Ritsu

"I don't think that he knew my name for a while either. He might not even know it now. He calls me 'Mob's boyfriend' all the time. If I spent more time around then I'd eventually just tell him my name…but that would involve spending time with the guy." Said Teru

"I don't know how sister could stand him. I'm glad she moved on and…I don't mind that she moved in with you." Said Ritsu

"I'm so honored that you give me your permission to cohabit with your sister. This is truly an honor, Little Brother-san." Said Teru with an exaggerated bow.

"Shut up. I'm not giving you permission I'm just saying that it's better that she's with you and not Reigen. Sometimes I think that he might have….liked her." said Ritsu. Saying it makes his insides want to become his outsides. Reigen was an adult, adults did not like people sister's age. Sister, of course, couldn't see it. That was why she needed him, to protect from all the things that she couldn't see.

"I know that he did. I know what it looks like when someone's trying to get with a girl. I know what it looks like when someone's trying to steal my girlfriend. Shigeko is, thankfully, a good person. She's such a good person that she would never even dream of doing anything like that and when she does she's wracked with guilt. So yeah, I trust her totally and completely. Him on the other hand…" said Teru

"The only girl who would love him is his mother." Said Ritsu. It's easier to think that, that the idea of sister liking Reigen is absurd. It is just so much easier to pretend that sister could never, ever, have feelings for Reigen. Even though Ritsu had seen the pictures of her and Reigen together. Even though Ritsu had seen the two of them together in life. Even though Ritsu had so many of Rei little looks, the ones that a girl gave you when she was in love with you, directed at him that he could, of course, recognize and be freaked out by seeing them on his sister's face directed at none other than Reigen Arataka.

It was so much easier to pretend that the idea of sister having any sort of feelings for Reigen was the height of absurdity.

"Hey! Don't disrespect the Great Master! He saved all of our lives. We could have been kidnapped or dead if he hadn't convinced those Claw guys to let us go! And we never would have made it home if he hadn't found us! So shut up before I torch the place!" said Go. Those guys thought that they were so cool just because of how powerful they were. Master Reigen was a good guy and he did not deserve all the hate he was getting. People were making up the craziest rumors about him. They said that he was a liar, a fraud, and a creep. He was a great guy. He wasn't powerful but he wasn't a liar or a fraud and just because he had taken in Teru's girlfriend when she was homeless it did not make him a creep.

"Yeah, you guys should really be nicer to him. Just because he's not as powerful as you that does not give you the right to be a jerk." Said Takeshi

"Stop fighting!" said Daichi holding his head in his hands. Breaking telepathic communication that fast hurt.

"You're upsetting my brother." Said Kaito

"No, you're the one getting upset." Said Daichi

"No, it's definitely you." Said Kaito

"Reigen saved our lives but that doesn't change the fact that he's a liar and a weirdo. He's been saying for years that he's this great and powerful psychic but really he's just been relying on my sister." Said Ritsu

"So what? He's not that powerful, we all know it, but that doesn't matter. If she wants to help him then she can and if she doesn't then she doesn't have to. That doesn't mean that he was using her." said Takeshi

"Yeah! You're just being like this because you-" said Takeshi

"Guys, can we please stop fighting? I don't like it when we fight and neither does my brother." Said Kaito

"Yeah, friends shouldn't fight. If we fight then we aren't friends." Said Daichi. There was some collective nodding. Ritsu looked away. Teru swallowed any comments that he was going to make and just went with it. He should bring Shigeko here, she'd fit right in.

"Sorry, just…I'm sorry." Said Ritsu. OK, so the Reigen Arataka fan club had more than one member. Reigen saved his life. He borrowed sister's powers to do it but Reigen did save his life that night. He saved a bunch of people's lives. He had still used sister for years. He had lied to her and made her think that he was some great and power psychic. He wasn't, it was obvious that he wasn't, but sister still believed him because she believed everything that everyone told her. Like when they were little and the other kids would lie to her and tease her and then he'd have to save her. He would not forgive Reigen for lying to his sister or for being so weird with his sister but he did have to at least acknowledge that, yes, Reigen Arataka had saved his life.

So now they just needed another life and death scenario to be even.

"Where's Rei? She should be here, it's almost starting." Said Daichi pointing to the clock on the wall. Teru groaned. Was that thing today? It was. He came here to get away from the buzz about Reigen Arataka but these guys were planning on watching that stupid press conference.

"She's busy today." Said Ritsu. He checked his phone again. He told her what happened at home. She sent him a crying cat, a sticker of a crying piece of sushi, a bunch of sparkling hearts, and then she said that she loved him and on Monday he could come over for dinner. He sent her back a simple 'ok' because he did not see the appeal of all of that other stuff.

Then again she was his girlfriend.

He sent her a heart.

She deserved to be happy and she did a lot for him. She listened to his troubles and gave him a place to run away to when things got to be too much at home. She really was a terrific girlfriend and she deserved someone else, anyone else. Literally anyone else would have been a better boyfriend that him. He looked around. Even Takeshi and Go, who were fighting over a spot on the couch, or the Shiratori brothers, who were eleven and twelve, would have been better for her than him.

"Rei's with her other friends, the ones she likes SO much better than us." Said Go giving Takeshi one final shove. There, now he had the good spot. This was the only cushion that wasn't caved in from when they fought on or jumped on the couch. Not that they still did that.

"I can't help it if you don't have any other friends." Said Takeshi taking the second best spot on the couch, the one that Go had accidentally scorched. That one time when they were fighting but not really.

"Speak for yourself." Said Go. He made some room as Ritsu and Teru came over. Teru was ok but Ritsu was so….boring. What did Rei see in him? Besides the fact that he was super powerful and attractive…but in the objective way, nothing weird or anything.

"She's watching at home, probably." Said Ritsu as he tried to get comfortable. The couch was kind of caved in here, probably from those two jumping on it all the time. Rei said that they used to all play 'the floor is made of lava' when they were kids. It couldn't have been more than a few months ago but Ritsu wasn't about to go saying mean things like that to his girlfriend. He was not ever going to make her cry again. There was nothing worse than when girls cried.

"I think the entire country is going to be watching this thing. I swear, you'd think that people would have gotten tired of this shit." Said Teru. He hadn't known that they were going to have this thing today. Maybe this would be the end of it. He was having this thing to 'address certain accusations' he had said. Maybe once people got their answers and realized that they were just reshaping the same tired old shit over and over again they'd move onto something else.

Because he was so sick and tired of everyone talking about Reigen Arataka.

"Everyone shut up! It's starting!" said Takeshi turning the volume up as high as it would go. Diachi motioned for the remote and turned it back down to a more reasonable, less deafening, level.

"No, it's ending." Muttered Teru. Ritsu nodded in agreement. Hopefully once this thing happened people would finally move on. He didn't get it. There were so many other things happening in the world, why was everyone fixated on this? That's what happened, the internet got fixated on something, everyone lost their minds, and then something else came up. Wash, rinse, repeat. Like washing hair but somehow even more tedious. This was why he stayed out of dumb stuff like this, it was so tedious.

Thank God it was almost over.

Reigen Arataka thanked God that this was almost over.

Well it had just begun but what was a beginning but a prelude to an ending? He tried not to sweat under the harsh lights. His head heard from the cacophony of noise. Everyone was talking at once. It would be even worse when he went out there. When he crossed the stage and sat at that desk and threw himself at the mercy of the cameras.

His mother had typed him up an apology.

He held it in his hands. The kanji was complicated, very complicated. It looked beautiful, objectively, the way the words all complimented each other. He actually had to look some of these up they were so obscure. Well that was mom, she had to put that university degree to good use. A simple sorry wouldn't have cut it, anyway. He had to sound like he was auditioning for the latest Seven Samurai movie. He had to move the people, mom's words, and show them that she did not raise a complete and total moron, also mom's words.

His words did not matter.

It was best to just read off the apology, hold the bow for two minutes, and then get on with his life. His life in Seasoning city, not his life back at home. He was not ever returning to Lower Back Pain City, not even if mom showed up and tried to drag him by the back of his gakuran…suit. He was a grown man and he wore a suit now and his mother was not going to be dragging him anywhere even if he had been wearing a gakuran…which would have been really weird because he was an adult. He was not going to be one of those adults who wore school uniform as just normal clothes. He didn't even like wearing the damn thing when he was Mob's age.

Mob.

What was she doing right now? Was she watching? Was she busy? Was she so busy with her life that she didn't even give a thought to the man she once said that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Not that he held her to that. Not that the idea of a forever with Mob had been anything other than wishful thinking on her part. Not that he had, maybe, grown so accustomed to her face….had grown so accustomed to her smiles, her frowns, her ups, her downs…

The tunes she would play morning night and noon. The way she would almost make the day begin, and not just because she rose with the sun. It was all almost second nature to him now. He was grateful she was just a kid and so easy to forget, like a habit that he could easily break. But still…he had grown accustomed to her presence…to her face…

His mother had warped him with the endless musicals she would make him watch with her.

But they were a helpful distraction from the heat of the lights and the noise and the seam of his sock digging into his heal and the itchy tag of his undershirt rubbing against the back of his neck…he had been distracted. By memories of Mob. By memories of sitting with his mom and watching musicals even though, as a little boy, he had literally zero interest in any of that stuff…and now was no different. How many hours of the most banal, poorly written, melodramatic club anime had he watched with Mob?

He'd give anything to have that back.

He'd give anything to see her just one more time.

He walked across the stage when he was cued. He couldn't hear the rising tide of the crowd as they lobbed question after question at him. He sat down. He sat down and looked down at the apology his mother must have slaved over. He looked up at the crowd. The lights shown in his eyes.

They were still asking questions.

It was so loud.

It was bright.

And he was all alone.

He felt his aura reaching out. Mob. He was reaching for her. Even now after all of these weeks his aura was still trying to bond with hers. Had it really been so long? Thereabouts three weeks now. Without her. She had seen him, probably, but he had not seen her. He was not going to see her ever again…until they made up. But they would never make up. She was so damn stubborn….and so was he.

He looked back down.

An apology.

He needed to apologize.

"Reigen! Answer the question!" someone shouted loudly enough to be head over the crowd. Reigen snapped his head back up. Right. Time to face the music.

"I s-suppose that you're all wondering why I decided to hold this thing…" said Reigen. He had always been a master wordsmith but right now he might as well have been less than an apprentice. There were just so many of them…not just the reporters but so many people in the country….so many people were watching him….waiting for him to fuck up.

That was what everyone wanted. They wanted him to fuck up and give them something new to talk about.

"Have you decided to confess to the accusations against you? Have you decided to make the proper apologies to those you've wronged?" someone shouted. Reigen shook his head. That was why they were there. They didn't care if he said sorry. They didn't care how nice his sorry was, how much work had been put into it, how many dictionaries you needed to decipher all the layers of meaning in it. At the end of the day they just wanted another story that they could print about the Greatest Fuckup of the Twenty First Century, Reigen Arataka.

And he was so sick of this.

But he needed to stay calm. He needed to make a good impression because this could so easily follow him for the rest of his life. He needed to keep his mouth under control. Running his mouth had been what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. This entire mess. He took a deep breath.

"I-I would like to thank you all for coming…for gathering…for gathering here today…" said Reigen. He stared out into the sea of faces and flashbulbs. Of shouts and shoves. A tide of people. All of them waiting for him to jump in and drown. That was what everyone wanted. They didn't want the truth, they wanted to be entertained. They wanted to watch him drown.

Fuck that.

"Why did you all gather here, anyway?" asked Reigen.

He was just so done with all of this shit.

"Wow, he's already getting mad." Said Rei. She and Mob were watching in her room on her laptop. She had a bowl of popcorn balanced on her knees, Mob sitting at the end of the bed just staring. She wasn't even breathing, it seemed like.

"….they're going to be mean to him…" said Mob. She knew crowds, crowds like that. They wanted to see something bad happen to him. To them it was entertaining. She had spent years with him and she knew, at the core of her being, that he did not deserve that. He was…even though he had rejected her, pushed her away, and made her feel….even though he had done all of that to her he was still….he was still a good person.

It hurt to watch.

This was painful to watch.

Ritsu wasn't this guy's biggest fan, or even a fan, but seeing him start off ready for a fight…

"That's it, Reigen! Tell 'em all off! Show 'em who's boss!" shouted Go jumping to his feet and lighting the tips of his fingers on fire. Takeshi saw an opportunity and took it, sliding into Go's seat and jostling Teru. He paid them no mind.

"She's not there…." Said Teur, his eyes scanning the crowd. The cameras kept cutting from Reigen to the crowd of reporters.

Shigeko was not there. Good.

Mob wasn't there, this was so bad.

"Hey, you said that our leader would be making an appearance at this thing!" Mezato shook her head. They were at the fast food place they usually met at, a laptop was open in front of them. She was squished between two followers, a woman who wore to much gardenia scented perfume and that guy with the red cheeks who always smelled like a combination of smoking, drinking, and something else that Mezato could not place but did not like.

"Hey, I said that she might be there. You morons need to work on your listening skills." said Dimple ashing his cigarette on reporter girl's head. She brushed the ashes off and glared at him.

"You said definitely might." Said Mezato as that jerk ashed in her hair again. She wasn't even supposed to be out of the house. She'd be in even worse trouble if she came home smelling like an ashtray.

"Then you're all morons for believing me." Said Dimple. He could have sworn that Shigeko would be there. This was perfect. She'd swoop in and save her poor, helpless, Master. She'd reveal herself to her entire congregation and everything would go according to plan. Then he could enter phase two, she ascends to Godhood and he rides her coattails…that is if she didn't lend her good friend Dimple her body just for a little bit.

The only problem was that Shigeko wasn't there.

Hana would have thought that her daughter would have been there.

She was sitting on the couch, alone. Her husband at work and her son probably off with that girlfriend of his. Her daughter was…she had no idea where her daughter was. She had left her daughter with someone she thought was an actual psychic but it turned out that he was a fraud. It had to be a lie. It had to be a lie because then if it was true then everything else that the people on the internet were saying must have been true.

She had trusted him.

She trusted that man with her daughter.

She had let Shigeko…Shigeko did whatever she wanted. There was no saying no to Shigeko, she could crush cars with her mind. Shigeko knew what was best for herself…that was why she had sought out another psychic…another person who knew what she was going through…

If he was a fraud, a liar, then she had just left her daughter with a man that she barely knew….

Hana had seen what people were saying. She had seen all of those ghastly photographs and videos that people were posting on the internet of her daughter and that man. She had seen the one where he held onto her for an entire train ride. She had seen the one where they were eating crepes in the park and they took a bite out of each other's. She had seen the one where Shigeko was fast asleep on the train with her head in his lap and his hand in her hair like she was a cat….

Everyone was full of lies. That was all.

Reigen was out of lies. That was all.

He was done telling lies, done trying to bullshit his way out of everything. He was going to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help him God.

"What's with the attitude?!" someone shouted

"Are you mocking us?!" someone else shouted just as loudly

"You're the one who decided to hold this press conference and now you're asking what WE ARE doing here?" asked someone standing up on a chair. Reigen shook his head.

"I only held this damn thing because you guys were stalking me and staking out my house. What was I supposed to do? None of you seem to have anything better to do with your lives so, fine, let's talk. That's why you're all here, isn't it? Get on with it, then." Said Reigen leaning back in his chair and drumming his fingers on the table in front of him.

"I have a few questions regarding some fraudulent acts you've committed." Said a woman calmly. She looked like Lois Lane. Reigen wondered if she tried to look like that or if that was just how lady reporters looked. He could ask. It would certainly shake things up. She might even take it as an insult, as much of an insult as that question she had just asked was.

"Wait a second. By fraudulent acts do you mean my business? Because you're treading on dangerous ground there. Is there anybody at all in this room that can prove without a shadow of a doubt that I don't have psychic powers?" asked Reigen

There was a silence. There was the fact that psychic powers didn't exist, of course, but nobody would say anything like that. They were here to get the truth out of Reigen, not prove the existence of psychic powers. Opening up that can of worms would completely derail the entire press conference and then nobody would have anything to report on. Let the internet debate that one. This was a time of serious journalism.

"And are there any of these 'victims' willing to come forward right now and say that I've scammed them? And can they prove it? I'd like to see one of the self-proclaimed victims come up here right now and prove without a shadow of a doubt that I've scammed them." Said Reigen

"Self-proclaimed!?" a man in the back yelled, his voice straining at the end.

"Yes. Self-proclaimed. Until someone can prove that I've scammed them and can prove that I don't have any powers at all then I can still sit up here and call myself a psychic. I'm not a criminal and I haven't done anything wrong. I'd watch the way I phrased things if I were you." Said Reigen

"What about Mob then?" someone asked. Reigen struggled to keep calm.

"What about her? She's not here and she's not going to be here. I called this press conference, I'm up here right now, so keep all of your questions about me." asked Reigen. He needed to steer this thing as far away from Mob as humanly possible. Mob did not deserve to be dragged into this shit show. Mob did not deserve to be connected to all of this, to have all of this following her for the rest of her life.

"If she's under the age of fourteen then you are, in fact, a criminal." Someone shouted. Reigen felt his aura flare. It was visible, even, for a moment. He could feel…there was enough collective emotion there that, with that flare of his aura, he couldn't hide from it. People were excited. People were shocked. People were bored. People were anxious. A few people really needed to pee. All of it mixed together into a feeling that Reigen could only describe as motion sick.

He was going to throw up.

Ritsu was going to throw up.

How could someone just come out and-and-and just SAY it like that?

"What's that mean?" asked the younger Shiratori brother.

"It means that people think that he's sleeping with Teru's girlfriend. They're just aiming low because they know they've got nothing on him." said Takeshi

"Yeah! The Great Master would never do something like that! People just like to lie." Said Go

"Yeah, he's not like that." Said the older Shiratori brother

"…..I'm going to murder him…" said Teru softly, so softly that Ritsu could barely hear him. His hands were balled into fists. How could someone just ask a question like that? Of course Shigeko would never….but she had been super distant every time that they had done it…and what if those weren't happy tears at the end…

He would have to murder Reigen Arataka, if that were true.

Hana would have to murder Reigen Arataka and then kill herself if that were true.

She could not move, could not breathe, could not even think. If she's less than fourteen….the age of consent was so damn low….and Shigeko was over it. There were probably some kinds of stipulations but Shigeko was…it was not a crime….the thought had never once crossed Hana's mind that anything unsavory or untoward could have been going on. In fact she had been…

She had been more than happy to pawn her daughter off on someone else…

Shigeko hadn't done one of her videos in weeks. She wasn't with that man…she hadn't been there for the TV show, either….and then everyone kept on asking her if everything was alright with Shigeko and alright at home….

Hana was going to throw up.

Rei was going to throw up.

That was so gross! First of all you weren't supposed to talk about stuff like that in public let alone on TV! What if there were little kids watching? What if she had been watching with her parents!? Nope. That was not the kind of thing you put on TV. Second of all that was a terrible thing to accuse someone of. Reigen had saved her life, he was a good person! Besides…Mob would have said something if…

Right?

Now does not seem like the time to ask.

"….I don't understand…" said Mob. What did her age have to do with anything? There were just so many things about this that she did not understand…it was making her head hurt. It was making her head her and her stomach hurt and her powers hurt and she just wanted all of this to be over already! Master did not deserve this at all….

"They're asking him if you guys ever…you know…did it…" said Rei unable to even look in her direction. Her windows all slammed opened and shut. Her sister banged on the wall.

"….he's twice my age. We can't have sex." Said Mob. That made zero sense. He was an adult and she was not. They couldn't have been in a relationship let alone have had sex. A part of her, a part that had been quiet for a while, was…excited? Well she certainly had thought about it enough times but she had never actually thought that she could…that they could…

Of course that could never happen, and not just because he had pushed her away.

So she needed to get off of this.

"Mob! Not so loud!" said Rei looking at her door as if her parents or sister were going to kick her door down and demand to know who was talking about sex in there and why.

"Oh. Sorry. I just…that's crazy. We can't have…that. He's an adult and I'm not." Said Mob. Rei looked like she wanted to say something, well she was Rei and she always wanted to say something, but she was quiet for a little bit.

"You're right…that would be wrong…and Reigen isn't that kind of guy…but you could always tell me if someone ever….I'm someone you can talk to if someone ever hurt you like that." Said Rei choosing her words carefully. Well at least Reigen wasn't that kind of guy. That was a low blow, then, implying that he was some kind of creep.

"OK Rei, I'll tell you." Said Mob not quite sure what Rei meant by that but not wanting to get into it right then and there. She wanted to see this, to see what happened to Master Reigen. It looked like he was in trouble…but he wasn't. He couldn't have been. He was Master Reigen. He wasn't anything that other people had been calling him. He was not a fraud. She knew that he had powers, she had even just seen his aura flare.

Of course she had never seen that before.

Sophia had never seen her son in such a predicament before.

The damn cat was shedding on her work dress but she didn't care. She was sitting on her couch watching her son completely disregard the apology she had written for him. Behind the TV, the ancient Sony, hung a procession of Taka-chan's birthday pictures. It started with a rosy cheeked baby boy and ended with a sullen eighteen year old man. Now there was a grown man, there, getting himself into more trouble than he had ever been in before in his life…

She had written him an apology!

He was supposed to recite the apology she had written, bow for two measly minutes, and then get on with his life! Now he had dug himself in so deep….they were asking him about Mobbu. This was dangerous ground, very dangerous ground. No matter what he said…no matter what he said people would think that he was the sort of man who would date…sleep with…a fourteen year old girl.

Which he was not.

They were in a codependent nonsexual relationship. That was all.

Sophia could barely stand to listen to this, could barely stand to watch. Her only son was up there ruining not only his life but possibly that poor little girl's life too. This was too much. This entire media circus was hell bent on burning her son at the stake and there he was arranging the firewood.

Her son was a moron.

Reigen was not a moron.

He was not falling into this pitfall. If he said that she was over the age of fourteen then he might as well have confessed to sleeping with her. The thought makes him want to vomit. If he starts to get defensive at all, really, then that was as good as a confession. If he said that she was….if he said anything about her at all then the press would have a field day and her life would be ruined.

So he said nothing about her.

"Are any questions that aren't about Mob?" Said Reigen trying to sound calmer than he was.

"Hey! You didn't answer the question!" that same person shouted.

"That wasn't a question, that was a statement. I'm only going to answer questions about myself. If you don't have any then I have no idea why you're here." Said Reigen taking a drink of the room temperature water bottle left on the table for his use. That was nice of them. Complimentary water to enjoy as they tore him apart.

"How old is she?!" someone asked

"What is she to you?" asked someone else

"Why isn't she here?" someone practically screamed

"Did you two break up? Were you even together?" another voice asked

"What's her real name?" he didn't even know where that voice came from.

"Where has she been?!" that voice could have come from Mars for all he cared.

Mob.

It was always about Mob, wasn't it? She was what it always came down to. Her. If he has just…if he hadn't run his mouth all those weeks ago Mob would have been by his side and he would never have gotten into this mess. He had only done this to prove to himself that he didn't need her. Well judging by the fact that he was practically facing a tribunal he'd have to call that little experiment an utter failure.

He needed her.

But she was gone.

He couldn't hear the voices of the crowd anymore. He couldn't see beyond the lights beating down on his head and the constant flash of photographs being taken. They didn't matter. He didn't matter. Nothing mattered. He was done. He was done trying to be someone that he wasn't. He wasn't the Reigen Arataka that existed in his mind or her mind or the minds of anyone out there. He was just the Reigen Arataka sitting there sweating like a pig facing down the judgement of the entire nation of Japan.

He was Reigen Arataka and he was sorry.

The crowd ceased to exist. The lights. All of it. If he focused with all of his being he could almost feel her. She was bright. She was so bright, like the brightest star in the sky. She was there. She was there with him and he needed to tell her what he should have told her weeks ago.

"Hey…are you watching? I'm….I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. I miss you and…and I'm just so sorry. You mean so much to me, you know? You mean so much and I am so sorry…" said Reigen telling the truth and nothing but the truth so help him God.

He was done lying to her.

Mob wondered, briefly, if her eyes and ears were lying to her.

Those people had been asking questions about her, questions that he had refused to answer. She didn't know why, they seemed like pretty easy questions. Her name, her age, all of that. But he had just been quiet and she had wondered, feared, that he was sick and tired of her…so sick and tired that he could not even speak about her.

That maybe he even hated her.

But then he said sorry to her.

He apologized.

She knew that it was for her. She knew that she was bad at reading the atmosphere but she knew that he was saying sorry to her. Her. Mob. Shigeko. The two of them. Her hair was floating. Everything in Rei's room was floating. She was glowing pink and blue in equal measures.

She was finally happy again.

"Uh…are you ok?" asked Rei. Ritsu said that she sometimes lost control of her powers and exploded but Rei always pictured the explosions and being more, well, explody. This was just like…happy? Her aura was slamming into what little aura that Rei had. She looked into the future. Happy ending. There was happiness in Mob's future and happiness in this room and….

Rei knew with one hundred percent certainty that everything was going to be ok.

Mob knew with one hundred percent certainty that everything was going to be ok.

"Rei, thank you for letting me stay over but I have to go do something." Said Mob simply. She got up, opened Rei's window, and jumped out before Rei even got a chance to say goodbye. She jumped out the window and carried herself in the direction of Master Reigen. She didn't know where he was exactly but she did know exactly what his aura felt like.

So she went to it.

Reigen just went for it.

He said sorry. He said sorry to Mob and he had no idea if she even **heard** it or-or-or but he had said it. It was like a great weight had been just lifted up off of his shoulders. He admitted it. He admitted that he was sorry and he admitted that he was…that he needed her. That was what he meant. He needed her.

He was ready to admit that.

"That doesn't answer anything!" someone shouted

"Who was that message for!?" someone else said just as loudly

"Why won't you say anything?!" he heard someone shriek.

Reigen had nothing more to say. He came there to tell the truth and that was what he did. The whole truth and nothing but the truth so help him God. Now he, for once in his life, had nothing more to say. Let those morons say whatever they wanted about him, let them talk and talk until they turned blue and passed out.

He didn't care.

He didn't give a damn about any of this anymore.

But they still did. They still talked and talked. The screamed, they threatened, they begged, and they bargained. Still Reigen said nothing. He watched them scream and shout and stand up on chairs and shove each other up and down and left and right. He still said nothing.

He had said everything worth saying.

Mob didn't know what to say.

She followed Master Reigen's aura until she came to it's nexus. Him. He was there behind those big, heavy looking doors. He was there and judging from the shouting he needed her. All she had to do was go through those doors. That was all.

But could she?

She was still terrible. She had still made him yell at her. He had…he said all of those things and he did not tell lies…but he had also said that he was sorry. If he was sorry then…then maybe there were ok now. She knew that she was sorry too. Not just for making him yell at her. Not just for making him cast her aside. Not just for upsetting him. She was upset for everything, for her entire terrible existence.

She did not deserve his forgiveness.

But she was grateful to have it.

She was so grateful for the people in her life. She was grateful that people cared about her, that they wanted her to be safe and happy. That they wanted to spend time with her even though she was so, so, so terrible. She was so grateful for all that she had. She was Mob and she was terrible but…but there were people in this world that could look past that.

People like Master Reigen.

She opened the doors.

Reigen felt her before he saw her.

There she was shining brighter than any star. He saw her through the walls, behind the doors. Mob. She was there. She was right there. He focused on it, the door. He stared and he stared and he could even imagine that she was staring right back at him. Then the doors opened.

And there she was.

There he was.

She hadn't seen him in person in so long and there he was. His eyes met hers. His aura met hers. He shined. She shined. She was so…she was so happy…she had never been this happy before in her entire life….

MOB 100% EUPHORIC

Reigen saw her. She just sort of stood there for a while. The he could see her aura more clearly. Then his own. Then he smiled. He had never felt happiness like this in his entire life. That was her. That was all her. She was happy and she gave it to him and he took her happiness in and gave it back to her. A positive feedback loop, one that he did not ever want to escape.

REIGEN 100% HAPPINESS

The room shook. Someone said something about an Earthquake. He felt his tie begin to hover. His hair began to stand up. Everything began to hover. More shouts. Everything was suspended in a sea of pink, blue, and yellow.

Mob.

Him.

Together.

Finally.

He didn't say a word. He just got off the stage. Microphones and cameras hovered around him. He didn't care. He just walked away. That was done. It was all over and done with. Her. Mob. Shigeko.

She was what mattered the most.

Master Reigen was the person who mattered the most to her in the entire world.

She saw him walk off to the side and for a moment she wanted to run up and chase after him, to tell her that she was sorry too, but then she watched his aura. There was a door to the outside back there. He was going outside. So that was where she would go as well.

Everyone around her was running around. Some people were shouting, some people were very still, and some people were standing on chairs begging God to save them. She didn't pay them much mind, they had been being mean anyways. No. She just had to get out of there and over to where Master Reigen was.

Reigen waited for her by the side of the building. He leaned against a railing, it served it keep people from falling down into the river. The waterfront, what Seasoning City called the waterfront anyway, was beautiful this time of year. He could feel Mob getting closer. He focused on the sunset over the water. It really was beautiful.

Mob watched him watching the sun. This building was right on the river, it was pretty. Maybe that was why he was staring out at the sunset. She wanted him to be staring at her. She wanted him to look at her, to say something to her, anything. She wanted…

She wanted him to love her again.

Saying sorry did not mean that he still loved her.

Reigen could feel her standing there.

He had said sorry, but what was he supposed to say now? She knew. She must have known, she must have known the truth about him. How was he supposed to just turn around and…and what? Say sorry again? Turn around and look at the girl he had been lying to for years upon years upon years. Just turn around.

Turn around.

Mob watched him. She wished that he would just turn around and look at her. Just look at her and say something, anything, even if it was go away. If he told her to go away again she…she would understand. She was still terrible. She was still a terrible person and she was still a stubborn brat and clingy and whatever else he thought that she was.

She didn't care. She just wanted to look at him, to talk to him. To have him look at her. To have him talk to her.

Reigen couldn't turn around. He couldn't do it. He couldn't face her. He had to…he had to say something. He was anxious. She was anxious. They were anxious. He needed to be the one to say something…anything. He had said sorry but…but there was so much more to be said…

"Mob…" said Reigen. He didn't turn around. Mob braced herself. 'Get away from me.' That was what she expected to hear or some variation of it. The ground beneath her shook.

"Master?" asked Mob softly. It felt weird on her tongue. How often had she said it these past few weeks? Not often enough. Not as often as she had before. Would she…would she ever have cause to say it again?

"How long have you known?" asked Reigen. She wasn't stupid. She must have figured it out. Why wasn't she saying anything? He had been an asshole to her, before, on that awful day…and he had spent so many years lying to her…but she was still there and still silent. Just silently standing there probably staring at him.

"Known what?" asked Mob

"What I really am." Said Reigen. He clenched his fist waiting for whatever came. Harsh words, shouting, tears….whatever it was that Mob saw fit to give him. He deserved it, whatever it was that she felt that he deserved. He had failed her, he had lied to her. He was no kind of Master to her.

Mob blinked. What he really was?

That was easy.

"Master, I've always known what you really are. I've known ever since the beginning." Said Mob. Reigen took in a shaky breath. Mob felt her stomach clench. Her breathing was trying to get shaky. Her powers…she was making weeds pop up through the concrete. Down below her the river began to fill with lily pads.

"I've always known that my master was a genuinely good person." Said Mob. She didn't know why he was so upset…but she knew the answer to his question. It really was such an easy question. She must have answered correctly because suddenly the shaky feeling was gone.

"Shigeko…." Said Reigen. She forgave him. She forgave him for everything. She forgave him for his lies, for using her, and for being an asshole. Even after all of that she still forgave him, she still called him a genuinely good person.

He turned around.

He wrapped his arms around her.

She hugged him back, after a moment.

Neither of them ever wanted to let go.

Neither of them ever intended to.


	51. Eventually

It was weird, trying to pick up where they left off.

This was not their usual ramen place, not even the one by…home…that they usually stopped at. This was a place that they had never bene before. It was full of men in suits eating quickly. Come in, eat, and leave. There wasn't even a table big enough for more than two.

Not that they needed more than two seats.

It was just her and Master Reigen. Together. They were sitting together like they had been for years and years. Three years. Almost four years. If she had it her way a million years. If he had it his way….what did he want? Did he still want…her? After they hugged, one of the best moments of her life, he asked her if she wanted to go get some ramen.

She said yes.

And not they were here. They were and they were eating ramen, his with everything and hers with extra pork, which was good but…but he hadn't said a word. Not really. He just ate and occasionally looked at her. Then he looked away when she looked at him. She kept on looking at him, though, trying to get him to look back at her.

She hadn't seen him in so long.

She had seen him on TV but this was different. This was him in reality. He looked…mostly the same. His hair was a little longer but that was fine. He smelled more like smoking than he ever had, before, but Mob just liked it all the more. She liked him. She liked him and she missed him. He had…he had missed her, too. He said it in national TV. He missed her and she…she mattered to him. She mattered to him but he had still pushed her away.

Maybe he changed his mind.

"So….you got a new uniform?" asked Reigen for lack of anything else. What, exactly, did he say to her? He was ashamed to admit it but this…it felt like that time in university when his…girlfriend…wanted to have lunch one more time for closure. But this was not closure. Mob…she had come back. She had come back and maybe, just maybe, she was there to stay.

He missed her.

He spilled his guts to her on national TV.

And she had come back to him.

"No, this isn't new. Well it's new to me but it's my friend Tome's old uniform. Mine didn't look nice anymore so she gave me one of hers. It fits, mostly, but I have to fold up the sleeves and I had to make a new button hole in the skirt. But I like it." Said Mob stirring her ramen broth with her powers.

"You…you look nice." Said Reigen. She looked….her hair was in her eyes, her uniform was two sizes too big, and there was a shiny, waxy sort of texture to her skin. Makeup? Was Mob wearing makeup? She never wore makeup…but then again he hadn't seen her in weeks and weeks. She could have been all grown up by now.

The braids were back, though, so not all grown up yet.

"Thank you. My friend did my makeup and I washed my hair today. You look nice too, Master. I like your hair like that. Longer, I mean." Said Mob swinging her legs. This chair was too high for her.

"Mob, you flatter me. Come on, I look like I'm about ready to go super saiyan here. I'm long overdue for a haircut, you too." Said Reigen. He smiled when he said that, Mob could see that, but she had trouble accepting that he was kidding. She used her powers to yank her braids behind her back.

"…..I'm never cutting my hair again." Said Mob

"Right…well you're a girl, so go for it. You hair looks…long. Nice. You look nice, Mob, ok?" asked Reigen. He just…he needed to make things right…to get back to normal. That free sort of easiness that he had with her. But…he knew how she felt. How she felt right then. He knew how she felt because right then and there she was sharing her feelings with him and he wanted nothing more than to hold her close and never, ever, ever let her go.

But he had let her go.

And she had come back to him.

When you loved someone you let them go and you hoped that they came back to you.

"….thank you." Said Mob. There was some silence. There was some silence while they ate. She tried to look at him, and he tried not to look at her. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't look over and meet her eyes. Her big, brown, trusting, needy eyes.

She had come back to him.

He had wanted her to come back to him.

But where were they supposed to go from here?

Home, as it turned out. They finished eating and, well, going home was the next step. His home. Her home? The home that they shared. They didn't part ways, they couldn't part ways. He wanted…he wanted her to come home with him. He wanted her to come home and just…be there. Her presence. Her just being there. Being able to just look over at her, see her, and know that she was there.

Which was why they had fought in the first place.

They had fought because she didn't listen. Because she was clingy. Because she clung to him and he…he had let her cling to him. Worse, he had clung right back. The thing to do, the responsible thing to do, would have been to tell her to go back to her own home. But that would have been irresponsible because she wouldn't go home, she'd go live with her boyfriend and two fourteen year olds could not share an apartment together. That would have been the irresponsible thing.

So, really, letting her come home with him was the responsible thing to do.

Master Reigen wanted her to come home.

After they ate lunch he just sort of started walking in the direction of home…their home. He wanted her back. Right? Why else would he let her walk along aide him? The sun was down, the streetlights were on now. It was a warm, yellow light. It bounced off his yellow hair, yellow aura. She missed this color, the color yellow.

The sky was black. The sidewalk was grey. The buildings were grey. He was yellow, a splash of color in the dark world. The dark cold world that she walks…but she doesn't walk through it alone anymore. She has someone, she has him. Again. She has him again.

"So…" said Reigen. She was walking next to him, her school bag clutched in both hands. There was something disturbingly normal about all of this. He could even imagine that they were coming home after a long day at work, he certainly felt like it had been a long day at work. They were coming home from a long day and they'd go home and just relax until tomorrow happened. They'd watch TV, he'd maybe help her with her homework, and then at some point they'd turn in for the night and wake up and do it all again.

Is that what she wanted?

Or maybe she just wanted to come back for the rest of her stuff.

This felt depressingly normal, depressingly familiar.

He'd been in that position before and-stop it. Just stop it, Arataka. She is not that person to you. This is Mob. This is Mob and she's fourteen and you're almost thirty and this is not the same as what happened…before. Not the same at all. This was….this was him and Mob.

"Yes?" asked Mob quickly. They hadn't been talking, they used to talk as they walked home. They used to talk and he'd put his arm around her and it would be so nice…but that was then and this was now and that was fine. She was just grateful that he wanted to be near her.

She was so grateful.

"Coming home tonight?" asked Reigen. A stupid question since they had just turned the corner and he could see his building not too far away. Nobody was camped out, not as bad as before, anyway. A mysterious looking white van, a few people milling around on the sidewalk….best to use the emergency exit that they technically weren't allowed to use but he was not exposing Mob to that media circus.

"….if you want me to." Said Mob. Of course she wouldn't just let herself in, she didn't live there anymore. What if…what if he didn't like her anymore? But he said that he missed her and…and that meant something. That meant something to her. It must have meant something to him, too.

He wanted her back, right?

Right?

"Mob…whatever you want." Said Reigen. What, did she want a written invitation? Of course he wanted her to come home. He couldn't just say 'come home with me' because, yeah, he was not making how she felt any worse.

"…..ok." said Mob. What did that mean? Did he literally mean that she could do whatever she wanted? What about what he wanted? Did that mean that she could have come back home whenever she wanted….? But he didn't want her around…he said so. He said that she had stuck herself to him. He said that he didn't sign up for…

But then he said, on TV so it was recorded, that he missed her and he cared about her.

Mob did not understand.

"Come on, through the fire exit. I swear, these people are relentless." Said Reigen. He almost put his hand on the small of her back but stopped himself. He hadn't even thought about it, he had just acted on…habit.

"Them?" asked Mob. Sometimes people hung around outside their building but it had never been that many before.

"Yeah, them. At least there aren't as many. Well if there's one thing I've learned from this little clusterfuck it's that fame sucks. Don't ever try to get famous Mob, it'll only end in disaster." Said Reigen. He had learned a few things. That he needed to think before he acted. That people could be incredibly vindictive for no reason. That he needed Mob….he had learned a great many things from this ordeal.

"….I won't. I don't want to be famous, I just want to be ok." Said Mob. She didn't even care that Master Reigen cursed, she was just happy that he was talking to her again. He was talking to her again and they were ok, now. They were ok and they were going to be ok. Everything was going to be ok.

They walked up through the back stairwell. There was a sign that said that they were only allowed to use that stairwell if the building was on fire. It wasn't but she trusted Master. He wouldn't get them in trouble. Besides, she could always make one if they would get in trouble.

A little one, not a big one. Not a dangerous one.

Because Mob would not put other people in danger. She would protect other people but she would not put in danger. That was what she was for, that was why she had these powers, so that she could save people. Not that she had been doing a lot of that lately. They could go back to work, though. They could go back to work and she could save everyone…she could. She hadn't been saving people lately, or even helping them.

She had been the one who needed help.

But she didn't need help anymore because she was back home and she could keep her promise to Mezato without having to take advantage of anyone's kindness. She didn't need them to pity her. That was why people were nice to her, because they pitied her….no. Stop. They care about you.

People help each other out because they care about each other.

They cared about Mob even though she was not worth caring about.

"Honestly Mob, me too. I'm just…I'm done with all of that. Ok? No more TV appearances, no more interviews, no more books, just….no more." Said Reigen. Mob stopped in her tracks. They were still outside, unnoticed, but not for long if she just kept on standing there.

"Mob, what's up?" asked Reigen

"Master….are you quitting? Are you quitting Spirits and Such?" asked Mob softly. She…she hadn't gone to work in weeks but Spirits and Such was…it was their place. It was the place that they had built for themselves together. Not literally, the landlord built the building but they were the ones who had built the company, if it could be called a company.

Maybe workplace was a better word.

They had built that workplace from the ground up together. It was their place. It was her place. It was the only place in the world where she could truly use her powers to help people, the place in the world where she could actually be worth something. It was the only place in the world where she could actually be a good person. Without having a place there, without having a purpose, she was just…

Nothing.

Terrible.

"Mob, we'll discuss this inside. Ok? Just…if you're coming home then come on. If not…I don't know." Said Reigen

"I'm coming home, Master." Said Mob. Why did he give her an option? Before, all those months ago, he had called her at school and told her that she had to come live with him. Now…well she knew what was different. She was the thing that was different.

Reigen felt small, then. He wanted to sit down, to tuck his legs up to his chest and just hide. Mob. Ok, maybe he had spoken a little too harshly there. Maybe he should have just explained everything to her right then and there…no. Don't. They needed to have this conversation inside, where they wouldn't be ambushed by the media.

They walked up the fire exit and to their apartment silently. Mob held her school bag in front of herself defensively. What she needed to protect her vital organs from she did not know. Why she wanted to turn around and walk away she did not know. She was back with Master Reigen and he…he wanted her back. He missed her. He said so.

Master Reigen did not tell lies.

Reigen fumbled with his keys when they got to the door. Mob reached into her bag and fished around for her key. It was deep down in there, under the yo-yo and broccoli seeds she kept in there. She opened the door while he still fumbled. The door remembered her key.

"Thanks." Said Reigen. He waited for her to actually go through the door. She just sort of stood there. Ok, fine, she hadn't been home in a while but the house hadn't changed that much. Well the beer can and liquor bottle city he was building was kind of impressive, he'd give himself that, and there might have been a few too many carry out containers spread around…

It was a mess.

"Mob, come on." Said Reigen. Mob nodded and stepped through the threshold. Her shoes hit the familiar wood of the genkan. She knew that sound. She had been stepping into so many genkans lately, each one had it's own sound, and she was just now noticing how much she loved this one. She stepped to the side and took her shoes off with her powers. She pulled up her socks as she did it. Well not her socks, Tsubomi's old socks that she had given Mob.

Tsubomi said that she would take up a clothes collection for Mob because winter was coming.

She was so grateful.

But she wouldn't be needing it.

She made a beeline for her dresser as Master Reigen took his shoes off. She stood in front of it for a little bit. This was HER dresser with HER clothes in it. No more borrowing pajamas and socks and stuff. These clothes were her, purchased for her, with some of her input. Not a lot because mom was the one paying for the clothes, she said, so she got to decide what Mob wore, but some input. Not like borrowing clothes where she had to wear what people gave her. Not like when Teru got her clothes, not that she was ungrateful or anything, she was very grateful but she would have liked to have had some input in what she wore…

Now she could wear whatever she wanted.

Nightgown.

No more sleeping in pants.

No more sleeping in strange beds and futons.

No more sleeping on couches.

No more sleeping next to someone who hogged the bed and laid on top of her in his sleep.

No more sleeping between vending machines.

No more sleeping in the park.

She could wear her own nightgown and sleep in her own futon in her own home. She could even choose which one to wear. She had so many! She had left after laundry day so they were all still clean. Well, except for the one she had worn before….she opened her pajama drawer. Oh. There it was. White with lace, perfectly clean…and a Spirits and Such T-shirt, too….

She picked the white lace nightgown. The one that went down to her feet. Warm and comfortable. Her favorite. She could have a favorite and this was her favorite. She took it out of her drawer and just held it. This belonged to her. This was something that was hers and hers alone. She had picked this out. She and mom had been at the clothing store and she had picked this out and mom said that she could get it. This was something that she had chosen. She. Herself.

Mob.

Shigeko.

Shigeko was spreading herself out, now. Her aura, the blue of their shared aura, spread through the apartment. She settled around Master Reigen. His aura tried to touch hers. She let him.

Reigen took in a shuddery breath. He missed this. Safety. He was safe when he was with her. Being in her aura was like standing under the summer sun. Warmth and safety. Or maybe that was just her feeling of safety. He feels safe and…there's a tightness in his stomach. There's a tightness in his stomach and he wants to…he crosses his arms in front of himself defensively. What he had to defend his vital organs from he did not know.

It was just the two of them.

He watched her just sort of hold her nightgown in her arms. She held it up, now, in front of her. Why? Was she seeing if she still fit into it? She hadn't been gone that long, not really. Just…God weeks. Weeks and weeks…but she was back now and everything could go back to normal…or as back to normal as the two of them could be. After everything that happened.

She knew the truth about him.

But she still thought that he was a good person.

"I'm going to go change now, Master." Said Mob after a while. She could change into this nightgown. She could change into her pajamas in her own house and then hang out in her own living room, she didn't care that it was messy, and then she could go to sleep in her own futon. She could. She could and she would and she was home and-

She went to the bathroom to change. It was messy, too, like the living room. They had never been the neatest of people, not really, but it had never been this messy before. The sink was full of reddish, blondish hair. Master Reigen forgot to clean the sink out after he shaved. There were a lot of clothes on the floor, too. She picked them up with her powers and stuffed them into the laundry sack. She tossed the hair from the sink into the near overflowing bathroom garbage can. There. That was a little better.

She'd clean up later.

This was her house, too, and she should help keep it clean.

She changed quickly, hanging her uniform up like she had done countless times. Well, Tome's uniform, but better than her old one. She ran the tap, waiting for it to run warm, and then scrubbed the makeup off of her face. People loved to dress her up and put makeup on her, she didn't know why. Fixing her outsides wouldn't fix her insides. People couldn't change who she was on the inside by changing who she was on the outside. She was still terrible. She had still killed…or thought that she killed…Asagiri. She had still ended the world. She was still someone who could end the world.

She was still a stubborn brat.

Master Reigen said that he cared for her, that he missed her, but he did not say that he took back what he said. She knew that he was a good person, he did not lie, so that must have been how he saw her. That must have been the Mob that he saw in his mind, her as she existed in his mind. That was fine. She didn't care, she just wanted to be near him.

She just wanted to be with him.

She just wanted to be ok.

She scrubbed the rest of the makeup off. Tsubomi taught her to hide the dark circles under her eyes, the weird tinge her skin was taking on. That was so nice of her, to hide all the signs that Mob was…she was not a good person and that was why she was looking so bad. Tome even said that she looked terrible. She knew, really, that the circles under her eyes and the weird undertones her skin was taking on were due to the fact that she was not sleeping. She was not sleeping like she should have, she needed less sleep than normal people but she did need sleep.

She had somewhere to sleep now. Somewhere that was hers.

Maybe if she slept her skin would go back to normal and the dark circles under her eyes would go away and maybe even her stomach would stop feeling like there was a rock sitting in it. She could go to sleep and sleep the whole night, too, because she was safe here. She could…but would she?

She could watch TV. She could watch TV and forget. Being home wouldn't change what had happened, what she had to live with. Being home just meant that she was back in her own pajamas in her own bed. Being home didn't make what she had done right. Not that she was even sure what she did.

She killed Asagiri but Asagiri was still alive.

She ended the world but here she was.

She was terrible.

She was herself.

She had been terrible and she thought that…that if she just helped enough people with her powers then she could be good…but when she tried to do so Master Reigen…he told her that he didn't want her around. The same thing happened when she saved herself and Teru…he was afraid of her now…and didn't want her around.

Her heart hurt.

Her stomach hurt.

She dried her face off and left the bathroom. She walked down the hallway and wrinkled her nose. It smelled like…the kitchen did not smell too good. No matter, she'd clean it up tomorrow. She'd worry about it tomorrow. Right now all she wanted to do was…was rest. Lay down on her futon and just rest. She wanted to but she also…she wanted to…

She wanted to be held.

She wanted to be held on the couch while she watched TV. It would be heaven. Her head on Master Reigen's lap, his fingers running through her hair. Him just taking to her. She didn't care what he talked to her about, he could have read aloud from her math textbook for all she cared, she just needed to hear him talk. He just needed to say something to her, anything to her.

Anything nice.

She found him flipping through his phone on the couch. He had changed, too. He was in sweatpants and a T-shirt with some holes in it. His sock had a hole in it too. He was leaning back on the couch with a phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She just stared at him. He was there. He was just sitting there like normal. Like this was all normal.

She sat next to him.

He scooted over.

She sat closer.

She needed him. She needed him so badly that it hurt. The pain in her stomach got worse. Her heart felt like it was being crushed in her chest. She clutched her nightgown between her hands as he scooted all the way to the other side of the couch. She was being clingy again, wasn't she? Wasn't she just being a clingy little brat again? Wasn't she being just terrible? People helped you when they wanted to, you couldn't just ask. You had to be grateful for what you had. You didn't get to reach over and ask to be held, to be kept safe, to be loved. You either were loved or you weren't. You never, ever, asked to be loved. When you asked to be loved, when you reached out, when you cried out to someone nobody would be there.

So she didn't reach out. So she didn't cry out.

She just sat next to him. Her braids were still trying to float as she stuffed down her feelings. Her eyes felt kind of prickly. She just…she just wanted him to love her again. She had lost…she had lost everything that mattered in this world…and she would lose it…had lost it…

Please love me.

"Mob…come on…" said Reigen. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. His stomach was tight and his heart felt like he had been kicked in the chest with a steel toed boot. Mob was being clingy again…and he knew why. She…she was young and that was just how she…she could not help it. She could not help it and he could not…he could not pour gasoline on this fire.

"Master?" asked Mob

"We…we need to talk. We have a lot to talk about." Said Reigen

"Because…we haven't talked in so long?" asked Mob drawing her legs up under her nightgown and resting her chin on her knees.

"Yeah, part of it. Listen…Mob, do you remember when I said that I was done?" asked Reigen

"With…Spirits and Such?" asked Mob. Not with me. Please, not with me.

"Yes…I think…just…Mob this is going to take a while to blow over. This whole thing just…it took on a life of it's own and I just want to wait until everyone just moves on already. I don't…I don't want to drag you into this. I'm sure that you…you have some idea about what people are saying about you. About us." Said Reigen

"They're saying that you're a fraud, mostly, and some other stuff. It's mostly about you Master and it's very mean." Said Mob

"Yeah…people have been real assholes lately….but it's not just about me. Mob, do you know what people say about you?" asked Reigen biting the bullet. He needed to have this talk with her, he needed to have a great many talks with her. He had wanted her back for so long and now that she was hear it was painfully obvious that things could not go back to the way that they were before.

He meant it, she was stubborn and clingy. The two of them did need boundaries and they didn't have a whole lot of them. He had been right in what he said but he could recognize that he had been wrong in how he said it.

"They aren't saying a lot about me. They're trying to figure out who I am but I'm not telling a bunch of strangers my real name and age and stuff, that's dumb. They're saying crazy stuff too, like I'm an adult and I'm a fraud, too, and that I'm your girlfriend. Crazy stuff like that." Said Mob

"Yeah…that. You know that…that it can never happen, right?" asked Reigen

"What can't?" asked Mob

"Mob…we can't be together like that." Said Reigen. There was a silence in the air, it hung heavily like the hazy of cigarette smoke that had moved in like a dense fog.

She just stared at him.

He wished that she would cry or scream or laugh or throw up or SOMETHING.

But she just stared.

"Master…you're over twice my age….I can't be your girlfriend." Said Mob. She knew full well that she could not be his girlfriend, not until she was an adult. Not even…she didn't even know if he'd say yes. He was mean to her…he was really mean to her…so he probably would never want her to be his girlfriend.

Nobody would ever love her like that.

"That's right….ok? That's right. Just…we're friends, Mob, that's it." Said Reigen. He felt like he was going to cry. He felt like he was going to die. He felt like he was fourteen and Ohno Yuki told him through a text that she never wanted to see him again just hours after they…and he feels like he's in his last year of university and he's been on trains all day to get Yada Shino some of that red sake she liked but even with his grand romantic gesture they were still done with and-

He was making Mob feel like this.

But it was for her own damn good.

"We're friends…I understand…just please…please always be my friend…please." Said Mob. It hurt. He would never love her like that. Teru didn't love her like that anymore. Nobody would ever love her like that. Ever.

She didn't cry.

This was not worth crying over.

Because he would still be her friend.

"Mob…of course I'll always be your friend. Just your friend. Ok? I just…Mob we need to talk about boundaries again. People are talking, Mob, a lot of people. Trust me, you do not want them to talk about you like this. You don't deserve to have people talking about you like this. Ok? We need some boundaries." Said Reigen. He pulled his aura away from hers as best as she could. She clung to him. She clung to his aura. She was sitting on the other end of the couch but she had him in a death grip.

"…I'm sorry that I'm so clingy. That I'm such a clingy brat…" said Mob softly. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please. Please I'm so sorry.

"Mob…you aren't a brat. You can be a brat sometimes but you aren't a brat." Said Reigen. I'm sorry about this, Mob, but it's for your own good.

"I don't understand." Said Mob

"You're not immutably a brat, ok? You can be bratty sometimes but so…so was I when I was your age. It'd just a way you can be but you'll…grow out of it. I know you and I know that you will. Just like I know that you'll grow out of this clinginess." Said Reigen

"I…I can…?" asked Mob. I can be better? I can be a better person? I can be a person worth caring about.

"Yeah. That's why we need boundaries. Just…I care about you and you care about me. We can care about each other but with some…space. Ok? Just some space between us." Said Reigen

"You want me to go again?" asked Mob. Reigen exhaled deeply. His cigarette was burnt down to the filter. He put it out on the ashtray he had balancing on the arm of the couch. He had told her that sometimes she had to run away…but he hadn't meant from home! Seriously! No…be calm. She can and will leave and you have no way of making her come home.

You have no way of stopping her.

"Mob…there's nothing that I can do to make you stay but I never wanted you to go, before, in the first place." Said Reigen. If there was one lesson he learned from this whole ordeal it was that he needed to learn to control his mouth.

"You…what?" asked Mob. Yes he did! He said that he didn't love her anymore! He said that she had stuck herself to him, that he didn't sign up for that! No! He did not get to just-just-just-just-just-

The couch was floating. The lights were flickering. Outside it sounded like every car alarm on the block was going off.

"Mob! Will you just….stop it! I never wanted you gone, Mob! I just…I want to put up some goddamned boundaries but every time I do you freak out!" said Reigen. He knew that he needed to control his goddamned mouth but he was just so…her! He as feeling what she was feeling so now he was just as freaked out as she was even though neither of them needed to feel this way!

"I'm sorry!" said Mob. She forced herself to put everything down. She forced herself to stop it. She forced her breathing to go back to normal. She forced her heart to beat like normal. She forced her hands to let go of her nightgown. She forced herself to…she tried to. She tried to.

Please just love me again.

"No…I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mob. I'm sorry and just…Mob I shouldn't have yelled at you. I never should have yelled at you. That's on me. That's was on me and I'm sorry. Just…Mob I want us to have some actual boundaries, ok? It's important for the both of us. Just…Mob….please." said Reigen. He wanted nothing more than to scoot over to her and just hold her. He needed to make her feel better. He needed to make himself feel better. He needed this to stop.

But he needed to make this better.

This was a conversation that they needed to have.

"I'm sorry….I'm sorry….I won't do anything that you don't like ever again…just please…please don't…please don't go…" said Mob. She was shaking, now. She was shaky and quaky and she felt like she was going to be motion sick. She held her powers in. She held herself close. She needed to be held. She needed to have someone just tell her that…she didn't need anyone. She had no right to need anyone.

She had been alone before and she could be alone again.

This would pass. This happened sometimes and it would pass.

But right now she was shaky. She was shaky and quaky and scared.

Please. Hold me.

"Mob…stop it. It's not about that. It's not about what I like or don't like. Just…I like you. I like you and you're a great kid but just…we need some physical space between us. Ok? No more leaning on me, no more laying on me, and no more trying to share a bed with me. Actually just move your futon out here. This can be your room until we find a two bedroom, and we will be moving. This place is not big enough for the both of us and you're old enough that you need your own room." Said Reigen. He willed himself to sit still. He wanted to rock back and forth like he was a little kid. He lit another cigarette. This would pass. This would pass for the both of them.

Please forgive me, Mob.

Please don't go again.

"Ok…Ok whatever you want. Whatever you want. Whatever you want…" said Mob. It was like getting kicked in the stomach over and over and over again and she just keeps on kicking you and it hurts and I won't stop hurting and there's nobody coming to help you and there's nothing that you can do to make it stop because you're **helpless**.

"And…don't tell me you love me anymore. Ok? Don't tell me you love me and…and I never should have said 'I love you' to begin with." Said Reigen. Vertigo. Pink. Blue. Something falls. Outside the streetlights go out one by one. The ceiling fills with spider cracks. His ashtray hits the wall. Ashes everywhere.

"Please….please love me….please…I need…I need someone to love me…" said Mob. She knew that she should not have said that. She knew that she had no right to say that. She was terrible. She was a terrible person and she just wanted it to stop. She wanted to make it stop. She needed to make it stop. She needed him to make it stop.

Make it stop.

"Mob. No. Not me. Don't say that to me. You have someone to say that to and I'm not that person to you. I…I care about you a lot but the way that I…there are different kinds of love…just…only say that to your boyfriend. Ok? Not to me." Said Reigen struggling to keep his voice level. He needed to reach over and just **hold** her but he **couldn't** because that would be a **bad** idea.

"Teru…he doesn't love me anymore….not after what I did…" said Mob wrapping her arms around her stomach. She was going to be motion sick. She was going to be motion sick all over the floor and then it would be gross and it would all be her fault…

"What….? Fuck. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mob. These things happen. Sometimes people break up and-" said Reigen. Well then. So that was why she came back. Well of course this would happen. Cohabiting put a strain on adult relationships...and those two were only fourteen…

Poor Mob.

"He didn't say if we were broken up. He's just…I don't know if we're broken up. I just stopped going back to him because he was…he's afraid of me now. He's afraid of me and he knows that I'm…I'm terrible…and I can't…I can't and he wants us to…but I just can't because it reminds me of…but he likes to and I used to like to…and it used to feel good…a lot of things used to feel…but now they don't…and now I can't….nobody loves me…nobody loves me and I'm all….It hurts…I want to watch TV…" said Mob. She didn't even know what she was saying. Word vomit. Better word vomit than regular vomit. She spoke so softly and so quickly and she had to because as soon as one thought came it was gone so she had to say it quickly-

"Mob, slow down. Ok, so you two aren't broken up but you…wait. If you haven't been staying with him then where in the hell have you been?" asked Reigen. From what he had seen she had been living it up with her boyfriend. But of course he couldn't believe everything he saw on the internet….

Where had she been?

"A lot of places." Said Mob wiping her eyes.

"Such as…?" asked Reigen not at all wanting to start a game of twenty questions right now. A lot of places could have literally been anywhere? Where else did she even have to go? She certainly did not go back to her family….her friends? But that made no sense. That guy she was seeing…had been seeing…lived alone but the rest of her friends didn't…right? Or was there just some epidemic of people just abandoning their kids that he didn't know about?

What the hell kind of adults would just let a fourteen year old girl…couch surf...in their home?

"I've been sleeping over at my friends' houses a lot. Well some of them are more Tsubomi's friends but they still let me stay over. I didn't even know Tsubomi liked me so much…she's very popular….and I didn't even ask her if I could stay over. She just came up to me and asked me if I wanted to have a sleepover…and then a bunch of her friends did, too. It was really nice because their houses were warm and they had plenty of food and I could take a shower and wear clean clothes and also they were very nice and also I can keep my promise to Mezato." Said Mob. She was calmer, now, because she was remembering good things. She was so grateful towards all the people in her life who cared. Master Reigen didn't love her and never would and neither did Teru, anymore but she…she was grateful for the times when she was loved.

Nobody had to love her.

Nobody had to put up with her.

So it was nice when people did.

"Mob….what promise? What did you…those are really weird things to be…Mob…." Said Reigen. He could not order his thoughts. As soon as one entered his mind it left just as quickly as it came. First of all…where in the hell were anyone's parents?! A fourteen year old girl stays in your home for…oh God it had been weeks…and nobody says anything?! Second of all Mob didn't even have to couch surf. She had a bed…a futon. It was right there in the other room! She always pulled this shit. She always ran the hell away from home whenever things got the slightest bit difficult! So they had a little fight, it was bound to happen sooner or later, they had been living together for months! Yes, he ran his mouth and yes he raised his voice but that did not mean that she had to-to-to-ugh!

"Master…..?" asked Mob. The windows erupted in spider cracks. The blinds split in half. A drawer hit the wall and left a dent. Mad. He was mad so she was mad right back.

"Mob…it sounds like you've been couch surfing for the past few weeks….and I'm trying very, very, very hard to stay calm about the whole thing. I really am. Mob….why have you been couch surfing? Just…you have a home. Here. With me. If not with me than with your actual family. If not with them…I can't believe that I'm even saying this…stay with your boyfriend…if he's still your boyfriend….just…Mob no more of this running away from home shit!" said Reigen

"But you said that sometimes you have to run away!" said Mob jumping to her feet. No. He did not get to tell her to do one thing but expect her to do another. She ran away because she had to. She ran away from home because she wasn't wanted there. She ran away from Master Reigen's house because she wasn't wanted there. She ran away from Teru's house because she wasn't wanted there. Sometimes you had to run away.

She ended the world because…sometimes you have to run away.

"Not from home you stubborn little….not from home!" said Reigen getting to his feet. He was taller than her, so much taller. She stood at her full height but she only came up to his chest. She was the stronger of the two of them, though. He could feel it, the energy crackling around them….that was her.

He needed to calm the hell down.

But he couldn't.

"You didn't want me here anymore! You said so! You said so! YOU SAID SO!" screamed Mob. The entire building shook on it's foundation. There was the sound of metal twisting outside. She didn't know what she was doing and she didn't care. She just wanted….she just wanted….she just wanted to be ok.

But she wasn't.

"I never fucking said that and you know it!" said Reigen. He was just about ready to start kicking holes in the walls, something that he hadn't done since he was her age. How could any human being be as stubborn as she was? She was so hell bent on taking every single negative interaction as a rejection!

"You did! You did! You said that you…that you were stuck with me! That you didn't sign up for this! That you didn't want me! And it hurt! It hurt so much! It hurt so much and I had to run away! That way you could be happy!" shouted Mob

"What is the matter with you?! Happy! Mob, how could I have been happy? You were gone! You just…you just left! You walked right out that door and left!" said Reigen

"I had to! You said that….sometimes you have to run away! You didn't want me here! You thought I was terrible….you knew I was terrible…you know I'm terrible!" said Mob. Someone banged on their door shouting 'earthquake' and there was the sound of many footsteps running down the metal stairs.

"Mob, you're not terrible and I never said that! I said that you were being a clingy brat, and you were! You just…you can't do whatever you want….you can't just leave…you can't just risk your life…you can't risk my life…" said Reigen trying to keep his breathing under control. Mob was going to take the building down. Mob was…he did not get to react like this.

He was the adult. He needed to be in control…because she couldn't be.

"I didn't risk your life or mine. I was fine, everything was fine." Said Mob. She needed to calm down. She could not lose control like this. She was the more powerful one out of the two of them. She was powerful enough to end the world…a world. She was going to take the entire building down if she didn't stop this.

She was Mob. She needed to be in control because nobody else could be.

"Really? The Asagiri job was fine? Because it sure as hell didn't seem fine to me." Said Reigen, his voice low. Mob had never heard him speak to her like that before…or to anyone else….

"I don't want to talk about that." Said Mob matching his tone. Her aura flared there, dangerously. Bright enough that he recoiled.

"Well we are. Mob, what you pulled back there was not ok. Do you understand? I am the master and you are the student. When I say run away then you run the hell away. That thing…whatever that thing was…could have killed you. Even Dimple thought that you were going to die." Said Reigen

"I don't want to talk about this." said Mob shaking her head.

"Do you have any idea what that was like for me? Do you? Seeing all that shit…Mob you broke your leg! You almost died so many times…and then it was like you did! For half an hour I had to watch Dimple, fucking Dimple, cartwheel around in your body while you…you went off and did whatever it was that you did." Said Reigen

"I…I saved Asagiri." Said Mob

"You almost **died**." Said Reigen

"But I saved her." said Mob

"I don't give a damn about that! Ok?! I don't give a damn about Asagiri or his kid or even the-the-the money! I don't care, I almost lost you! I almost you and then I…do you have any idea what it was like for me to come home and-and-and you were just gone! Not even a goddamned note on the fridge!" said Reigen

"I-I-I had to go…you-" said Mob

"Mob when I tell you to do something then you do it! You do it and you don't just-just-just-just do whatever you want! Mob, I am never losing you again! Do you hear me?" asked Reigen

"Of course I do! You're yelling at me!" said Mob covering her ears. She covered her ears and shook her head. She was crying, now, a gross sort of cry with a lot of sniffling and snot.

Reigen wiped her eyes and nose.

But he didn't give into this.

Because she needed to hear this. This was for her own good. She needed to know that her actions affected other people. She needed to know that she did not exist in a vacuum. She could not just leave. She could not just walk into danger whenever she wanted. When he told her to do something, when he gave her a direct order, it was for her own good.

"Don't be like that, Mob. If this is the only way to get through to you then so be it! You cannot put me through that again, do you hear me?" asked Reigen

"No!" said Mob shaking her head. She did not want to ever make him this mad at her again. She did not ever want to make anyone this mad at her again. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this. She didn't like this.

"No you don't understand?!" asked Reigen. She was trying to ignore him. He did the same thing, when his mother yelled at him. She did not get to ignore this. This was for her own good. This hurt him a hell of a lot more than it hurt her.

"No!" said Mob. Her powers were picking up everything that they could. A book hit her on the back of the head. She closed her eyes as tight as she could. She could hear it. She could hear him. He liked to yell…he did yell….

Her hands shook.

Her fingers shook.

She was small.

Her powers didn't work.

The world was white.

She was naked like a doll.

"No you're not going to listen?!" asked Reigen. He needed to keep it together. He needed to keep it together but she was just…why was she being like this?! She just had to agree never to pull that shit again, that was all! She did not need to be this stubborn.

"No!" said Mob. She started to cough.

There wasn't enough air.

He was so heavy.

There wasn't enough air.

He was so strong.

There wasn't enough air.

She was helpless.

There wasn't enough air

"No what?!" asked Reigen. He was getting himself so worked up he was having trouble breathing. Didn't she get it? Didn't she understand what she had put him through? Didn't she understand that she could never, ever, do that to him again? She said that she loved him. You did not put someone you loved through something like that. She was covering her ears and shaking her head just like he did when he didn't want to listen to his mother yelling at him…but this was different. She had actually messed up. She had actually put the both of them in mortal danger.

"No!" said Mob. She couldn't breathe.

She was dying.

She couldn't breathe.

She was dying.

She couldn't breathe.

She was helpless.

She was dying.

She couldn't breathe.

She was pinned down.

She was helpless.

She was dying.

She couldn't breathe

She was pinned down.

She was helpless.

He broke her apart.

She was dying.

Reigen could not breathe. He was that upset. He was so upset over all of this that he thought that he was going to die. No. She did not get to be the upset one here. She had been having a great time with her friends living her life while he had been in hell. Now she goes and tells him that she was…that she didn't give a damn if he worried about her? That she had it all figured out and she would put herself in mortal danger if she wanted to? No. She did not get to do this. He reached out to her. She needed to hear this. She needed to know that her actions affected other people. As soon as he made contact with her he found himself thrown into the front door.

"Don't touch me!" screamed Mob. She didn't know what she did. She didn't know what was happening. She had no idea what happened.

But Master Reigen was hurt.

She had hurt Master Reigen.

She had used her powers against him.

Master Reigen. Her reason. Her reason for leaving that awful world. Her reason for trying, day in and day out, to be more than a vessel for this terrible power. The one person in the world who looked at her like she was more than a monster. The one person in the world who, for years, was the only person that she could count on to be able to help her. The one person who had helped her. The person who she loved most in the entire world. The person who had, at one point, loved her.

She had hurt him.

"Mob…what the hell?" asked Reigen. He sat up. His back felt like it would be one big bruise by the morning. Well, at least she hadn't broken his spine. He pulled a shoe out from behind his back. Heh. His loafers broke his fall….or, rather, cushioned his impact. Mob threw him against the door…she had used her powers on him.

He got a good look at her.

Red faced. Eyes just as red. Snot running down her nose. Blank expression…and that was where this clarity was coming from. Negative feedback loop.

He may have pushed her too far, just one step too far.

"Master…" said Mob before she was at his side in a literal instant. She threw her arms around him and poured herself into him willing him to heal. Did she break him? He was…he was so breakable. She could have killed him. He could have died. He could have died and it would have been by her hand. She could have killed him. Broken him. Ended him.

She was the one who should die.

Because then she could never hurt anyone again.

What was the point of her? She was just someone who existed to be pitied. That was why people helped her. She spent so long trying to be a good person but she wasn't, was she? If she truly were a good person then she wouldn't have had to work at it. She was a bad person, a terrible person, a monster. She was a monster.

She had hurt the one person in the world who didn't think that she was a monster.

She should have died in the sea of red LCL.

She should have returned to nothing.

"Mob, that's good." Said Reigen pushing her off of him. Too hard, apparently, because she went tumbling onto the wood of the genkan like a ragdoll. She slowly picked herself up. The building had stopped shaking and everything that she had been holding up went tumbling to the ground. He was going to have to repot a lot of plants.

"I hurt you…" said Mob simply. A fact. Flat fact. She had hurt him.

"Yeah, but…it's fine. I think that we both may have gotten a little carried away back there. Just…Mob promise me that you'll-" said Reigen

"I hurt you." Said Mob again. Simple. Flat fact. The flat fact of the situation.

"Mob, it's fine. I'm all fixed up good as new. But listen-" said Reigen

"I hurt you." Said Mob again. She sounded more like a machine, like a doll, than she ever had in her lifetime. Reigen…the clarity was her. She had stopped feeling that tsunami of feelings and this was all that…

Well of course Mob would be upset with herself. An incident like this was what brought her to him in the first place all those years ago.

"Mob, ok, you had a good reason-" said Reigen. He was about to launch into some spiel about how he had his part to play and they both needed to work more on their emotional control. Something like that. Plenty of apologies on his part, too, because at the end of the day that had been his fault. He lost control of his mouth, again.

"I thought that you were him." said Mob. She wasn't looking at him, she wasn't looking at anything. Dead. Her heart was dead and so was her head. Cold and empty. Was this what it felt like to be dead? She knew, now, that she was truly terrible. That there was no redeeming her.

She had hurt the person she loved the most.

She was terrible.

"Who? Mob…what this about?" asked Reigen. He pushed his aura against hers. He probed her feelings. Nothing. Dead. Emotionally dead. She had suppressed her emotions before but this…this was something entirely new.

"I thought that you were him. When you were yelling at me. He yelled at me." Said Mob simply. Flat fact. The flat fact of the situation.

"Mob…who yelled at you?" asked Reigen slowly. She was just sitting there in front of him. She was so small. Her knees were drawn up into her nightgown. Her eyes were red from crying. There was still so much snot on her…

She was so young.

So much could happen to her…

"He yelled at me. He yelled at me a lot. Sometimes he could sound almost nice but he wasn't. He yelled at me. I thought that he was yelling at me again." Said Mob

"Mob…what are you talking about? Who…who yelled at you?" asked Reigen

"He yelled at me. I was scared. He made it so my powers didn't work. He yelled at me." Said Mob

"Mob, right now you're scaring me." Said Reigen. Her eyes were blank. Her face was blank. He reached out to her, his hand hovering but not touching. He scooted closer to her, shoving some broken books and empty take out containers out of the way.

"He yelled at me. He scared me. He took my powers away. I was so scared. He yelled at me. He yelled at me." Said Mob. She knew that things were happening around her, she just didn't know what those things were. She knew that she must have been somewhere but she didn't know where that place was. She knew that time was passing but she didn't know how much time.

Time passed differently when you were a spirit, Dimple said so.

Was this what it was like to be dead?

"Mob…hey? Are you in there?" asked Reigen waving his hand in front of her face. She didn't blink. She didn't move.

"He yelled at me. When he hurt me he yelled at me." Said Mob. She could feel herself shaking. Her fingers hurt. Air was thin.

Reigen couldn't breathe.

"Mob…who hurt you?" asked Reigen. She was a tiny fourteen year old girl. Anything could have happened to her. Anything…she was so small…she was so very small…

He didn't see the most powerful esper in Japan, possibly the world, when he saw her. He didn't see the person who could make a room full of psychics, espers, and liars quake in fear. No. He saw the fourteen year old girl that she was. The girl there in her nightgown and braids staring at nothing and talking like she was reading from a goddamned grocery list.

"He was really heavy. He was really strong. I didn't have my powers. I was really small. I was helpless. There was nothing that I could do." Said Mob. She knew what happened and she said what happened. She said what happened and she couldn't stop.

"Mob…Mob…"said Reigen. He was going to throw up. He couldn't breathe and he was going to throw up. Something had…someone had hurt her….someone had hurt Mob…hurt Mob enough to…he had seen her walk off a goddamned **broken leg** but this…

"Then he hurt me. He was on top of me and he hurt me. All of my fingers were broken. I couldn't breathe. He choked me. He wouldn't stop. He hurt me. He yelled at me and he hurt me." Said Mob simply. That was what happened. She just said what happened.

Her stomach hurt again.

"Oh my God…" said Reigen. He was going to be sick. He knew…he was not stupid. He was not deaf. He was not living in a gumdrop house on Lollipop Lane. He knew what Mob had just told him. Someone had hurt her. Someone had…oh God…someone had **hurt** her. In every way a person could be hurt.

He wasn't naïve.

He wasn't stupid.

She was just a little girl. She was just a little fourteen year old girl and she had been out in the world and someone had-

He was going to be sick.

"He yelled at me. Mogami yelled at me. Then he hurt me." Said Mob simply because that was what happened. That was what had happened to her.

Then she threw up.

Which, to Reigen, was a relief. Vomit. He knew what to do about vomit. He knew how to clean up vomit. Vomit was something that he had dealt with before. Vomit was simple. Vomit had an easy, quick, solution.

"Oh….I got motion sick." Said Mob. She could feel her body again, sort of. Gross. She was all gross, now. She looked over. Master Reigen was staring at her. Her eyes met his. There was a sort of far away look in his eyes, like he had gone walkabouts in his own mind.

"Yeah…you did…no matter! Come on, let's get you cleaned up. A little vomit never hurt anyone!" said Reigen climbing to his feet. He tried not to shake. He tried not to cry. He tried not to do anything at all that would ever begin to-to-to-

The room was a mess.

Mob's doing.

Because he yelled at her.

This was all his fault.

All of this was his fault.

"Huh?" asked Mob. Reigen reached out to help her up but pulled his hands back. Right. No. She did not want to be touched right now. She did not want to be touched because…vomit. He knew how to deal with vomit. Their immediate problem was vomit.

He knew how to deal with vomit.

"Come on, Mob, you can't sit in that all day." Said Reigen motioning towards the mess she had made out of herself. Mob tilted her head down and the acrid smell of her own sick filled her nose.

"I'm sorry that I threw up, Master. I-" said Mob. She had thrown up the first dinner that they shared together in weeks. She had destroyed the house. She had made him upset. She had hurt him with her powers. She was terrible and everyone would be better off without her.

"No! Just…no. Mob, stop saying that you're sorry. You have nothing, nothing at all to apologize for." Said Reigen. He had been yelling at her about...about….he had been yelling at her about how he felt when she had been…she had been carrying this around with her and he had yelled at her…

Vomit.

He knew how to deal with vomit.

"I hurt you. I ran away from home. I threw up. I ruined the house. I made us go on the Asagiri job. I made us-" said Mob.

"Shigeko. No. None of those things were your fault. Do you understand? This is not your fault." Said Reigen, his voice breaking at the end. She had been walking around with all of this following her. This…Mogami…he had been the one to take that job.

This was all his fault.

"Mob. I'm Mob." Said Mob as she stood up. She was gross. She needed to change. She reached out and pulled another one of her nightgowns to her hand. Her clothes were everywhere. She had done this. She needed to clean this room up, too.

"Mob. You're Mob. Mob…come on. Let's get you all cleaned up and I-I'll make us some tea…or some warm milk-"said Reigen

"I don't like milk anymore." Said Mob. She turned and walked to the bathroom. Reigen stood there in the mess that she had made. That he had made. She didn't make it.

He heard the bathroom door close. He heard the water running. He just stood there and listened. He listened to her clean herself up. He listened to her deal with this problem. She was dealing with it on her own. She had been dealing with a lot of stuff on her own. She had to. He hadn't been there for her.

She needed him.

He hadn't been there.

He went to the bedroom. A mess. Nothing broken. He put his dresser back to it's upright position and pushed his drawers back in. He shoved his clothes in randomly, he'd organize later. The same went for his closet. Everything else went under the bed after he shook the potting soil out of his covers and shoved it back into it's spot. He shook the potting soil out of her futon and bedding, too, and laid them out on the newly cleaned patch of floor. He checked his phone out of habit and then put it on the charger. He shoved his computer desk back into it's spot and made sure nothing was broken.

There. Clean.

He heard the bathroom door opened. Her feet plodded across the living room. He heard things knocking and shuffling and clanging and banging. There was the sound of glass sliding around. She was cleaning up the living room. Drawers opened and shut. Cloth furled. The couch hit the wall with a bang as she put it back.

He would be lucky if all he got out of this little domestic squabble was a noise complaint.

There was some silence. He watched her aura. It was pretty calm. She just sort of stood there. He watched her. She shone so brightly that she could easily be seen through the walls. He wanted to go to her. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be alright. She was alright. Master Reigen was there. He'd protect her. He'd keep her safe. Nothing was going to harm her, not while he was around.

And he was going to be around.

The front door opened. This time he ran. He ran to her and he was not ever going to let her leave again. He was going to keep her there and he was going to keep her safe. Fuck boundaries. Fuck what other people thought. Fuck how bad this looked.

And he meant it, this time.

That girl needed him. She had needed him that first night, afterwards, and he had pushed her away. He had pushed her away after…after…after….but not again. Never again. When she needed him he would be there. There was nothing in this world or the next that would keep him away from her. When she needed him he'd come running, like now.

Oh. She was just hanging her nightgown up to dry.

"…I washed the throw up out. I used hand soap because we didn't have any laundry detergent. Now I'm hanging it up to dry. The sun will come out tomorrow." Said Mob. She knew that Master Reigen was probably still mad at her. She hurt him. She deserved it. She had been so terrible that-

He hugged her.

He picked her up and he hugged her.

"I love you Shigeko. I love you Mob." Said Reigen. That was what she had wanted to hear. Please love me, I need someone to love me. That was what she had said. She had been pleading with him to love her. He would. He would love her. He did love her. He would love her until the end of time. She needed him. She needed him more than anything else in the world.

"Master….why did you say that? Why did you…why are you being like this? Why are you being like this when you know how terrible I am?" said Mob as her face was buried in the crook of his neck. She didn't understand at all.

There was a tired feeling, too.

So tired.

"Mob…I love you and I'm sorry. I didn't know but…but I know now. I was a piece of shit to you. You needed me and I…I only thought about myself. Not anymore. Do you understand? I love you." Said Reigen. He held her. He didn't care that they were outside and that people could see. He didn't care at all what people thought anymore.

The only person who mattered in this world was Mob.

So he held her.

So he loved her.

"I don't understand." Said Mob. Reigen put her down. She looked up at him. Her eyes were…less blank. Her aura was calm. He probed her feelings. She was…tired. Bone tired. Dead tired. She was so tired…bed. What time was it? It didn't matter. She wanted to go to bed. That was fine. Whatever she wanted, whatever she would ever want.

"Mob…do you want to go to bed?" asked Reigen. She nodded. She walked past him and laid down on the couch. She drew her legs up. She was…that was a defensive position. He knew that, he read that in a book years ago. People crossed their arms and drew their legs up to protect their vital organs when they felt vulnerable.

Of course she felt vulnerable.

He was such a piece of shit.

She blinked and the TV turned on. Some gameshow where people had to climb into giant vats of chocolate syrup and answer trivia questions. Late night TV. She didn't look like she was watching, though. She was sitting there in her blue nightshirt with the penguin on it and her eyes glazed over and her feet looking super cold…she could not have been comfortable.

"No…I mean in your bed. In your…our…the bedroom." Said Reigen

"….you want me to be near you?" asked Mob. Why? He had just been yelling at her and telling her how terrible she was. Again. She had hurt him. He would have been better off if she were dead or never born or…whatever. He and everyone else would have been better off without her.

"Mob….Mob do you want to sleep with-next to me?" asked Reigen. That was what she wanted all those weeks ago. Comfort. Safety. That was what she wanted…and he could give it to her, he had to.

"No. I don't. I don't want to anymore. I don't want to make you mad again." Said Mob not looking at him. Reigen sat down next to her. She sat up and scooted away. He had made himself clear. They needed space. He didn't want to touch her ever again anymore and that was fine.

Everything was fine.

"No. You won't. I know I said that we needed boundaries but…." Said Reigen

"I don't want you to be mad at me anymore." Said Mob

"I'm not mad, anymore. I'm just…I hurt you. I hurt you and I'm sorry." Said Reigen looking over at her. She was still staring at the TV. Not watching it, just staring blankly at it. He looked around for the remote, it was behind him, and he turned it off. She was still staring in that direction.

"Mob, please. I'm sorry that I yelled at you. I'm sorry that I hurt you. Not just now but…Mob I shouldn't have freaked out at you back at the tofu spirit job." Said Reigen

"Yes you should have. I was being a stubborn brat. I'm terrible and you're better off without me." Said Mob

"No. Mob, I'm not. Mob you're…Mob you're my everything, ok? That's why I freaked out. I freaked out at you because you're my everything and the thought of losing you terrifies me. The thought of…Mob you almost died and there was nothing that I could do. Mob…you could have died and that terrified me. I was…just now I was so scared. When I came home and you were gone…Mob I can't lose you. I love you and that….it scares me too. The way I feel about you scares me. But you don't. Mob…you as a person do not scare me. I love you." Said Reigen

"I don't understand." Said Mob

"Sometimes I run my mouth. Sometimes when I feel cornered I run my mouth. That's all that you need to understand. All of that shit…that was all me." Said Reigen

"I don't understand. I don't understand anything. The only thing I know is that I'm-"said Mob

"Mob, if you say you're terrible one more time so help me God-" said Reigen

"You're mad again. I can feel it." Said Mob

"I'm frustrated. Mob…why do you even think that you're terrible. You are one of the best human beings that I have ever met. You…you care so much about all the people in your life. You always try to do the right thing…even when you're in danger. You tried to save that girl, you did save that girl, and you almost died in the process….and you came back to me. You came back even after I said all of that shit to you. You still came back." Said Reigen

"Everyone was being mean to you." Said Mob

"That wasn't your problem, Mob, but you still came back. That's why…Mob I love you. I care so much about you….you're so good and I'm just so…me." Said Reigen with a laugh. Mob sat up and looked at him.

"Master. No. You're a good person. I'm not. Master…Master I did something bad…so bad." Said Mob. He needed to know. He needed to know why she was so terrible. He needed to know that he would be better off without her.

"No. Mob. It is not your fault." Said Reigen. He didn't care what she was beating herself up over. None of this had been her fault. This was…this had all been a lot for a fourteen year old girl to deal with. This would have been a lot for him, a twenty nine year old man, to deal with.

"It is…all of it is. I tried…Master I tried so hard to be a good person but I just…I'm not. If I truly were a good person then I wouldn't have had to try so hard to…I wouldn't have done…." Said Mob

"I don't care what you did, Mob, I know for a fact that you're a good person." Said Reigen

"….I killed someone." Said Mob softly. There. Now he would know. Now he knew how much of a monster she really was. Reigen stared at her. The record in his mind spun but the needle had been docked. Mob had…an accident with her powers? No. No way. There was no way in hell….but it had always been a possibility…

He could deal with this.

"We'll rent a car." Said Reigen after a moment. He emptied his mind of everything but crime shows. It really was irresponsible of people to make those kinds of shows. Otherwise he wouldn't have even the faintest idea of how to go about hiding a body.

"What?" asked Mob. She didn't understand. She didn't understand one bit of what was going on.

"We'll rent a car and then go out into the country….and we'll dig a deep hole…or well chop up the body first and-" said Reigen

"Oh. No. Not in this reality. I killed Asagiri in the unreality. We don't have to hide any bodies, Master….you'd hide a body for me?" asked Mob. That was a crime, hiding a body. If he helped her hide the body then he would be an accomplice to murder. That was something she learned on one of mom and dad's police shows. Master Reigen would risk going to prison for the rest of his life for her?

He loved her.

There's a fluttering in her heart. She feels it. It chases away the coldness, the tiredness. Her heart is no longer dead and neither is her head. Master Reigen…he changed his mind. He changed his mind and he loved her again. She would not mess this up. She would be better for him. She would always be there for him. She would be whatever and whoever he wanted her to be.

She loved him.

"I would do anything for you, Mob." Said Reigen speaking the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Now they'd need saws, acid, trash bags, bleach…wait. What did she just say?

"Mob, Asagiri is still alive. They wouldn't have paid us if the girl had died. She and her father are both still alive…" said Reigen slowly. Well not he was the one who didn't understand.

"In this reality. In the unreality, the one Mogami made, I killed her….I did it." Said Mob softly. So softly that she could barely even hear herself.

"Mob, listen, I don't understand. I don't understand anything right now. I need you to be as clear as possible because I need to understand what you just told me. Now, Asagiri is alive right now. You don't have to worry about-" said Reigen

"When I went into Asagiri Mogami was there. He controlled her mind and he made a world there for me. He wanted to teach me that I was terrible. That I was terrible and the world was terrible. He said…he said that sex and money were the greatest human motivators…he said that a lot…and that people were only nice to me because I got lucky…they only pitied me…and that part's true. That's why my friends were so nice to me, because they felt bad that I was living outside." Said Mob.

Reigen got up and looked for his cigarettes.

He found the emergency pack he kept stashed in a book.

He had matches there too. He struck one and lit his cigarette.

Then he sat down next to Mob.

"Now what's this about living outside?" asked Reigen as he had the best cigarette he had ever had in his entire life. He was not going to get mad. He was not going to freak out again. He was going to be calm and rational. Then he was going to dig up Mogami's grave and piss on his corpse. Yes. That was a good plan.

"After I ran away I lived outside for about a week and a half until Tome made me live with her. Then she got in trouble so I went to live with Mezato. Then she got in trouble so I lived with Teru but then we ran into these other espers and they were going to hurt us so I stole a bunch of their power, maybe all of it, and Teru was scared of me so I went to live with Rei. Then I lived with Tsubomi and a bunch of her friends. Then Rei again. Now I live here." Said Mob. That was the easiest part of the story to tell, and it didn't make Master Reigen upset. He was just smoking and nodding.

"Alright then. Mob, can you tell me where, specifically, it was outside that you were living?" asked Reigen. His hand shook. His mouth was dry, though that may have been from the smoking. Mob had been homeless. Not even couch surfing. Truly homeless.

Because he ran his mouth.

Because she had been stubborn…no. Because of him.

"Ankle Park, between the vending machines at the train station, the little park by school that Teru and I used to meet in, places like that." Said Mob. Her hands were shaking. She needed water. She didn't know why.

"Mob, can you please tell me why you were living in those places? I'm not mad I just…I want to know why living outside was a better option than living her, with me, or with your family." Said Reigen. Calm. Calm and understanding. Do not freak out at her again.

"Because I'm terrible. I killed Asagiri, I cheated on Teru, I said a bad word, I ended the whole world…Master I'm terrible and I don't deserve…and you didn't want me around, anyway. You said that you were stuck with me and my family is afraid of me and-and it wasn't so bad. I was just hungry and tired and dirty all the time. That's all. The unreality was much worse." Said Mob

"What…what about the…unreality…was worse?" Asked Reigen. Listen. Listen to all of this. Listen to what you put Mob through. Listen to what you put her through you goddamned-

"You weren't there. I didn't even know who you were. Sometimes I dreamed about you, those were the best times, but I had never met you. Sometimes I would walk to the office but nobody was there, just a 'for rent' sign. It was cold, though, and I didn't have a coat so I didn't stay for very long. It was worse because I had never met you. I was away from you but I knew that you were ok. I knew that you were happy and that you were ok and when things got really sad I could remember you and how happy we were." Said Mob

"Mob…" said Reigen. He reached over to her, slowly. She looked at him before scooting over and resting her head on his chest.

"Is this ok?" asked Mob. He said that she shouldn't do this anymore but now he was asking her to. This was so confusing. This entire thing was so confusing.

"This is perfect." Said Reigen. This was perfect because she was safe. He could see her, hear her, feel her…she was tangibly there and he would protect her. He was there. She had lived in what sounded like…isolation? But how could thirty minutes have had that effect on her? It had only been half an hour!

"Even when they were mean, even when they hurt me, I knew that I could still come home and dream about you. No matter how many times Asagiri hit me or hurt me or made fun of me…no matter what happened I could still go home and fall asleep in front of the TV and remember you. I couldn't remember my family, not even Ritsu, because Mogami made it so that I couldn't but I could remember you…sort of." Said Mob as she closed her eyes. She could feel his heart beating. She could feel his fingers tracing circles on her back.

This was perfect.

She was safe.

"Mob…Asagiri was there too? Who else?" asked Reigen. He traced circles slowly on her back. It felt good, mom used to do this for him when he was upset. She was so small in his arms. Well, objectively not because she was crushing him a little, but that didn't matter. She still fit. She fit there in his arms and he would cradle her for as long as she needed it. He would sooth her for as long as she needed it.

"It was her body and her mind, Master, she was there. Everyone else was a spirit made to look like a spirit. I couldn't exorcise them because Mogami took my powers away. He split me from the other me. She came back, though, when Dimple shocked us out of it. After we killed Asagiri….after I killed Asagiri. I mean, I know that in this reality she's alive but…but in that one I choked her to death. I climbed on top of her and choked her to death." Said Mob. She said this into his shirt. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Mob…I know that you must have had a good reason to…oh God…to strangle someone to death with your bare hands…" said Reigen. He was not capable of…if he ever ran into Mogami's spirit again that was what he would do. See if the bastard liked dying again. That…Mogami hurt Mob…he hurt Mob in every single way that a person could be hurt…

Every single way a person could be hurt.

No wonder Mob snapped.

"She killed the cat. The cat was called Cat and he lived in this…tunnel thing…at the construction site. There was a lot of broken glass there, I cut myself a lot. I was always hurt….I was always bleeding…because the cut on my foot wouldn't heal…from when she put a razorblade in my shoes…she was always putting things in my shoe locker…one time there was a dead bird…..birds were bad things…and bugs were bad too because Mogami would turn into them and spy on me…but cat was good. I saved my milk from lunch, I stopped Asagiri from pouring mine over my head but she had hers…but I saved milk for Cat…and then Asagiri killed cat…she killed cat because I kissed her boyfriend…" said Mob. Reigen followed this as best as he could. He tried to piece a coherent narrative out of this. Ok, so the Asagiri girl was a bitch and probably had some kind of emotional problems to work through with a team of trained professionals working around the clock…and that little monster had the **nerve** to hurt Mob after she risked her **life…**

Reigen had never been this angry at a fourteen year old since he himself had been fourteen.

"Her boyfriend was like Teru but not. I dreamed about Teru, too, but not as much as you. Well he was her boyfriend there, but not the him that I know, so I think that Mogami might have had trouble making people from memories…but I liked him. He was nice to me. He talked to me…and he caught my ribbon when it blew away…so Asagiri cut my braid off…and then I had to cut my hair short…but he was still nice to me…so I kissed him even though…I kissed him and I'm terrible and it's my fault that Cat died…and I cheated on Teru in the unreality…and I wasn't a very good girlfriend in this reality because every time we have sex I remember what happened with Mogami and I go inside my head until it's done and then I cry and-"said Mob.

"Mob. No. Just…Mob I'm sorry that….Mob. Just don't…I just don't know what to say to…Mob don't have sex if you don't want to! Sorry, I'm sorry, just…if you don't want to have sex then you don't have to." Said Reigen because that was something **very important** for her to know. Just…no. Mob…Mob had…

Mob could not have possibly been ok.

"It's not that I don't want to…I just want to not feel bad when I do…but I do feel bad…but I like to make Teru happy and-" said Mob

"Mob. No. Fuck Teru. Fuck what he wants. Your life is your own and if you don't want to then you don't have to and if he can't handle…does he even know? Mob, did you tell him or…or anyone else? Mob, who else knows about all of this?" asked Reigen. She couldn't have been carrying this all by herself…she would have gone insane…she would have lost her mind...no human being could deal with all of this on their own.

Mob was not that resilient.

"I've told him a little bit, mostly about me cheating on him in the unreality but he doesn't mind. I told some of the pieces to a few other people, too. But you...you're the only one that knows everything…even about me ending the world…and killing Asagiri…" said Mob into his chest. He held her even tighter. She didn't feel crushed. She didn't feel Mogami there, everywhere, crushing her…she just felt safe.

Reigen Arataka.

He would keep her safe.

He loved her again.

He knew and he still loved her.

"Mob, no. You didn't cheat on anyone. You didn't kill anyone. You didn't end the world. Mob, we are living in the world so it hasn't ended. That little…I can't even say….is still alive so you didn't kill her. Teru…Mob I'm going to assume that the two of you are together until one of you says that they're dumping the other…and usually I wouldn't say a word about your sex life…because I really don't want to…but you should tell him why you've been acting the way you have. If not the whole thing just tell him point blank that you cannot be…physical…for a while and if he doesn't like it when he can go cry about it alone. Mob…you never have to do that…if you don't want to do that then you don't have to…and nobody can make you…and it's not your fault…" said Reigen. He took in a shuddery breath. She took in a shuddery breath.

He started to cry.

She started to cry.

She cried because he cried.

He cried because she cried.

There was nothing else that he could do. He had failed her so badly that there was nothing left to do but cry. How could he have…how could he have let any of this happened to her? How could he have failed her? He was no kind of master to her. He was no kind of anything to her. He was nothing.

He was the one who was terrible. Not her.

Never her.

"Master….Master I did so much stuff…I ended the whole world-" cried Mob

"No you didn't." cried Reigen

"I killed someone." Cried Mob

"No you didn't." cried Reigen as he began to rock her back and forth.

"I cheated on Teru-" said Mob

"Mob, you didn't. It was half an hour…none of this could have happened in half an hour…he tricked you. Mogami just tricked you-" said Reigen

"But if I thought that it was real doesn't that matter just as much as if it had actually happened? I thought that the world was the unreality and I still did all of that awful stuff and when I got my powers back I ended it…I ended it all and what if…what if I ended this reality too?" asked Mob as Master Reigen rocked her like a baby. She didn't mind. She was safe. She was safe with someone who loved her and he kept her safe. It was all ok.

"Mob, no. I know you. Mob, that was all just a trick. I know you and I know that you're a good person. I love you, Mob, and you're not terrible. You're not terrible and I don't think that you ever could be. You were tormented and hurt for thirty minutes-" said Reigen

"Six months." Said Mob

"What?" asked Reigen pulling away from her. She looked up at him. Her eyes were red again. She clutched two fistfuls of his shirt in her hands.

"It was thirty minutes on the outside and six months on the inside. That's how long it was for me. Master….Master please…" said Mob. She buried her face in his chest. She didn't know what she was asking him to do. Make it stop? Make it better? Make me forget? Make me safe?

"Mob…you'll be ok…everything's going to be ok. I'm here…I'm here….Master…Master Reigen's here…Arataka's here…" said Reigen. He was no kind of master to her. This….he had…how was he supposed to fix this?

A man held Mob prisoner for six months and did whatever he wanted to her.

How was Reigen supposed to make this better?

"Arataka?" asked Mob, her voice muffled by his shirt, by his self. The self that existed around her. He was all around her and he kept her safe. He was going to keep her safe, even if he wasn't Master Reigen right now.

"That's…Mob I've been no kind of Master to you…just…Mob I'm here. I'm here for you." Said Reigen. He rocked Mob, he rubbed her back, he kissed her head, anything to make her feel better. Eventually the crying at least stopped.

Eventually she stopped sniffling.

Eventually she stopped saying over and over again that she was terrible.

Eventually she closed her eyes.

Eventually she drifted off.

Eventually he carried her to her futon.

And eventually they would be ok. But not anytime soon.


	52. But Not Today

Reigen decided to let Mob sleep in.

Missing one day of school wouldn't kill her. She needed the rest. She had slept through the night, past her usual four in the morning wake up time, past when the sun rose, past when the morning news ended, and long into the day. She needed it. She deserved it.

She deserved to rest.

He had hardly slept that night. He laid on his side in his own bed and spent most of the night looking down at her as she slept. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, the way her eyes would flitter back and forth behind her eyelids, the way her fingers would curl around her blanket. She made little sounds while she slept, content ones. She smiled, a little, on occasion. Peaceful. Probably the first peaceful rest that she had been able to enjoy in ages.

She deserved to rest.

He watched her sleep for the entire night. Well, a good chunk of it. He slept, too, but not for very long. He couldn't. Every time he found himself drifting off to sleep he'd force himself awake. He knew that, if he did truly fall asleep, she may not be there in the morning. She could and would leave him at any time and then…and then there would be nothing he could do. She had done it before. She'd go back to sleeping in the park, and she had not been exaggerating when she threatened to all those months ago, or she'd go back to her friends or who knew where else. She'd go from him if he gave her reason to, and he had.

He did not deserve rest.

She needed him more than she had ever needed another human being in her entire life and he pushed her away. The first time she sees him in…it had been months for her. Six months. She had been held prisoner for six months. Moagmi, the sick fuck that he was, had held Mob prisoner for six months and had done whatever he wanted to her. Whatever he wanted…and now Mob would carry this with for-for possibly the rest of her life. Mob was not ok. Even though she looked so peaceful, there, asleep that did not mean that she was ok. She was only smiling because…why was she smiling? Good dreams, probably. She said that, last night, that the only place she could be happy was in her dreams. She was just dreaming, then, in that moment in time. The moment in time he spent just watching her. What was she even dreaming about? Something good, something that made her happy. About him?

He did not deserve rest.

She dreamt about him, before, and…and that was all she had of him. She dreamt about him and that was the only thing that kept her sane throughout her entire ordeal. Almost sane. She had snapped, eventually, and…killed…someone. She had strangled another girl to death with her bare hands. Not even an accident with her powers….with her bare hands. In her mind, he reminded himself, because this was Mob and she didn't have a murderous bone in her body…. Normally. In this reality. In the Asagiri girl's mind it was different, but this was reality and despite what Mob said if it didn't happen in this reality then it was not at all real. In reality, in this reality, the little monster was alive and well, probably living it up doing rich people things while Mob had been…he got up. He got up from his bed and stretched because he needed to start his day and not indulge in mean thoughts towards a little girl who obviously had some sort of disorder that nobody ever bothered to have addressed. He needed to get up and get dressed and start his day at…just his day.

He didn't deserve to rest.

But Mob did.

He got up and greeted the day that morning some time around nine. He should have been at the office by now. He should have been sitting at his desk waiting for a walk in client or rubbing some backs or something along those lines. It didn't matter when he got up, now, and he didn't know when it would. He wasn't opening the office that day, that was for sure. He didn't know if or when he was going to reopen the office but he knew that today would not be that day. Today was…today would be Mob's day. He would do whatever she wanted. She deserved it, she needed it. She had been living on survival mode for weeks it sounded like. Just…what was that like? She said that it wasn't so bad, she was just tired, dirty, and hungry all the time…

Mob deserved better than that.

He would give her better.

Whatever she wanted to do that day he would do it. If she wanted to cry then they would cry. If she wanted to shout then he'd let her shout the house down. If she wanted to veg out in front of the TV all day then they'd surrender their souls to the television gods. If she wanted to spend the day sitting in front of the mirror and watching her hair grow well then they'd just have to see who had the faster growing hair. Her, obviously, because it had grown so much already and she needed…it was in her eyes and she needed a haircut but…he didn't blame her for not wanting to cut her hair. He'd get her some hairclips or ask his mom what to do about it. Mom. Mob liked mom and mom liked Mob…if Mob wanted to talk to mom…or visit her…then that was what they would do. Whatever Mob wanted to happen would happen.

She could do anything but run away.

He was not going to just let her run away from home, not again.

He watched her sleep for a little bit more, her smile never faltered, getting down on her level so as not to loom over her if she did happen to wake up. It didn't seem likely. He hadn't seen her sleep this deeply in…he didn't know when. She was there and she was sleeping and she just looked so…content…in that moment. He wished that he could bottle the moment for her forever. Not like a picture but…just if he could create a place for her…a world for her that was just that moment he would have. She said that she looked forward to sleeping…to dreaming about him…because she cared about him that much…because he meant that much to her…. If she wanted to spend the entire day sleeping then he would let her. She needed it. He brushed some hair that had gotten free of her braids off of her face. She was so small, so peaceful, there. She was at peace and that was how he wanted her to be.

He never wanted to see like that again…red faced and crying. Her eyes pleading with him to just **be** there for her.

How could he have yelled at her? How could he have possibly justified himself in those moments? She needed him and all he ever did was cause her pain. She had been carrying the weight of…of all of the shit she told him about last night…and he yelled at her. Last night…that night they came back from the Asagiri job…she needed him and all he did was push her away. He had pushed her away when she came to him just seeking **comfort** but he couldn't look past **himself** and now she had…she had been so **alone** and…and he had been so wrapped up in his own shit that he didn't even think to **check** on her. He didn't even think to make sure that she was alright. He had just…abandoned her. He had pushed her away and he had abandoned her…

But not anymore.

He would hold her close if that was what she wanted. If she woke up and said 'Arataka, hold me all day and tell me you love me' then he would. He didn't care how she felt or how he felt, she needed him, and that topped everything else. She needed him. She needed him and he needed her…he needed to be there for her. He needed to keep her safe. He needed to make sure that she knew that she was loved, that she was so loved, and that no matter what happened he would never, ever, ever push her away.

She need safety. She needed security. He provided neither.

He stood up and left the room. He could have spent the entire day just watching her sleep. He would have, if given half a chance, but not now. Now he had so much to do…maybe. No work today. He wasn't planning on going out for any reason, not that he could with the media circus that might have parked outside of his building again, and he didn't really need to go out anyway. He still had some clean-ish clothes and a kitchen drawer full of takeout menus. They could live in this apartment forever, him and Mob, and just exist. Together.

He wouldn't ask anything more from her.

That was all she needed to do now, exist. He would take care of the rest. She was not an adult and it was wrong of him to treat her like one. She wasn't a child but she did not deserve to have to deal with…with everything that she was dealing with. Nobody deserved to have to go through that. He closed the bedroom door behind him and just stood in the living room.

What was he supposed to do?

He was in so far over his head that there was no pulling him up. Mob was going through so much and he didn't even know where to begin…he didn't even know, truly, **how** she was feeling. Wasn't that just the most ironic thing? He could feel other people's emotions thanks to her but he had no idea what she was truly feeling. Just what she felt on the surface, her immediate needs. He didn't know where she was, mentally. Well he did…she said that she was terrible. She said that he was better off without her. She believed these things truly and deeply.

Fucking Mogami.

Reigen wished that he could take back all those hours he spent as a child staring up at that bastard's smug face. All the money he wasted on tapes. All the hours he frittered away trying to be like that man in all ways. The way he dressed, the way he spoke, the way he seemed to be able to command an entire room with just a word…Reigen wished that he had never been channel surfing on that fateful day and seen that…that monster…

He hurt Mob.

He hurt Mob in every single way a person could be hurt.

Reigen knew why Mob was doing that finger thing last night, and why he in turn had been doing it. She said that Mogami pinned her down and broke all of her fingers, choked her to death, and **hurt** her. Any one of those things on their own would have been horrific enough but to have all three of them happen…and to Mob of all people…not that anyone should have to live through that…but why Mob? Why her? Why did bad things happen to good people? She was a good person, she was the best person, she was HIS person! Why did any of this shit have to happen to her?

Because he brought her there.

He brought her there. He accepted the job. He saw the money and he went for it. Then she…she could not ignore a human being in need. She could not just let that little monster suffer so she risked her life…and to what end? Was that girl's life truly worth Mob having to go through that ordeal? No. He could not start thinking like that. Everyone was worth something, even little monsters who tormented the people who tried to save them…everyone was worth something. He was not God, he did not get to decide who was worth more than who or who deserved to have what happen to them. But why her? Why Mob? Why his…why his Mob?

If he could make a deal with got and get him to swap their places he would.

Reigen would gladly have taken any torture that Mogami's twisted mind could have come up with. He would gladly have taken whatever happened to Mob ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a million times over. Anything to spare her from…from all of this. From having to cope with…regardless of if it happened in this reality or not in her mind she had killed someone. In her mind she had been tortured. In her mind she had seen a cat die. In her mind she had all of her fingers broken. In her mind she had been choked to death. In her mind Mogami had…hurt…her…

If he could crack her head open like a melon and scoop out all of these bad memories he would.

But he couldn't. She was not a melon and he was not a brain surgeon. He was just himself and he needed something to do because he was tempted, so tempted, to just open that door and lay down next to her. To be there when she woke up. To comfort her. To tell her that everything was going to be alright. To tell her that she was safe. To tell her that he was sorry. To tell her that none of this was her fault. To tell her that all of this was his fault. To tell her that nothing was going to harm her, not while he could still draw breath. To tell her that she was loved, so loved, and he would never and could never stop loving her even if he tried.

He didn't do any of that.

The apartment was still a mess. She had straightened it up but it was still a mess. Things make have been back where they belonged but there were still plants that needed repotting. There were ashes scattered everywhere from not only his actual ashtray but all of his makeshift ones, too. There were still takeout containers stacked on every surface. The carpet was still sticky from spilled soda, beer, liquor, and God only knew what else. There was still an ominous looking piece of paper slipped under his door…he prayed to God that it was just a noise complaint or he had better start looking through the apartment listings…

He had a lot to do. So he set off to do it.

Ritsu had a lot to do but he did not set off to do it.

It seemed like all the girls in school were asking about his sister. It started before classes even started, actually. Takane of all people asked him if he had seen Shigeko. Takane. The most popular girl in school. Ritsu didn't know why Takane would be looking for Shigeko, the two of them weren't friends…well he did see them together when Shigeko's loud friend wouldn't stop screaming in the bathroom, he still had no idea what all of that was about, but Takane was still looking for Shigeko.

Tsubomi, she reminded him.

But people who teased his sister didn't get that level of familiarity.

She must have been teasing Shigeko. She had been the punchline to so many jokes and the recipient of so many pranks since they were little…and Takane was the one who had started calling Shigeko 'Mob' in the first place…but she seemed kind of worried. Genuinely worried. Which, of course, got Ritsu worried.

It only got worse as the day went on.

Girl in his class were always on their phones. Well everyone was always on their phone all the time, that was just how it went, but girls seemed particularly glued to them. Rei sure was, when they were together, so maybe it was just one of those mysteries of the fairer sex that he would just never understand. What was the point of watching someone else wear clothes? Everyone wore clothes and it seemed so stupid to devote so much of your time to watching other people wear clothes and makeup and eat food and go on holiday. Games he could understand. But it seemed like the girls in his class weren't doing their usual girl things or games or anything.

They kept on checking their phones, typing, talking to each other, and then tossing him notes after a while of that. He didn't even get a chance to read them because the teacher always walked up and took them off his desk when they landed there. That was another thing about girls, they never just folded up a piece of paper, it always had to be some kind of origami. Not that he had anything against origami but if they had something important to say then they should have just folded the paper up and tossed it to him.

Maybe he was just in a bad mood.

His girlfriend had been avoiding him after all.

Which should have made him happy. He didn't have to pretend to be in love with her when they weren't together. He didn't have to look over at her happy face and lie. She was always so happy when they were together…and she was always telling him that she loved him. She texted it to him first thing in the morning when she woke up and last thing at night before she went to sleep. She said to him at least twice an hour when they were together. More if she wanted to kiss. Even more if she wanted to kiss him like…yeah. She said it a lot.

But not lately.

He hadn't been seeing much of her. Even if he wasn't in love with her it didn't mean that he didn't like having to be alone…well nobody did. He wasn't special in that regard. And of course he would be upset that his girlfriend was blowing him off, she was his girlfriend. Regardless of how he felt or didn't feel or wasn't one hundred percent sure that he felt or didn't feel or couldn't feel or…or…he was still figuring things out.

He still missed her. Having someone there to just…be with him. Kind of like Shigeko…and that was the last time that he would ever put the girl he kissed and the girl who was his flesh and blood sister in the same category. Not that he had either of those people in his life right now. His girlfriend was avoiding him and apparently so was his sister.

He hadn't said a single word to his sister all week.

And the week before that.

And the week before that.

Of course it was awkward that he knew about her and Teru, and that she knew about him and Rei, but almost a month of avoiding each other did seem to be just a tiny bit excessive. He wanted to talk to her, not text her or anything like that, but she was just so...well he was…their schedules didn't allow it. She had friends and clubs and student council, and he had student council, which was like a job. They were older and had their own lives and gone were the days when they'd build a couch fort and just hang out and eat snacks and play videogames and watch TV.

He missed her.

But did she miss him?

Obviously not or she wouldn't have been avoiding him.

Out of all the girls in his life why was she the one avoiding him?

Girls were bothering him all day. Well girls bothered him a lot but it seemed like a lot more than usual. They asked him where Shigeko was, if she was ok, if he saw what happened on that stupid press conference, things like that. Of course he said that Shigeko was probably in class, she was probably fine, and of course he didn't watch that stupid press conference. Well he said it a lot more politely in life than in his head, he still had expectations to keep up with after all.

It seemed like every girl in class, no, in school was asking about Shigeko. At lunch girls from other classes asked him about his sister. Not just Takane, who asked again, but some of Shigeko's friends. That loud girl, Kurata, and that nosy girl, Mezato, who was still in school despite breaking and entering and going through people's private stuff. He has less polite but still civil words with them. He did not know where Shigeko was.

Which was not good, actually, because Takane and Mezato were in her class.

Which meant that she missed school.

Which meant that she was either sick or something was really wrong.

Which meant that he had to bite the bullet and text her first even though there was still that lingering awkwardness.

Which meant that he spent half his day glued to his phone just like everyone else in his class.

Which meant that he spent his whole day waiting for a text that never came.

Which meant that he worried more and more throughout each and every second that passed.

His worry only grew when he was pulled aside at the end of the day and sent to the staff room. This wasn't so strange, not really, because one of the perks of being a 'good student', if you could call them perks, was that sometimes teachers trusted him enough to run errands and such. This wasn't an errand, though, not at all. Well not one that he wanted to do, or even wouldn't mind doing…

He was handed a stack of papers and told to give them to his sister. Then her teacher muttered something that sounded like 'not that it matters' which made Ritsu's aura flare out, actually, because nobody made fun of his sister like that.

But he knew that he had to do what he was told.

Of course it took until the end of his student council duties for him to realize that he had no idea where, exactly, his own sister was living these days.

Mob woke up knowing exactly where it was that she was living that day.

It was a good feeling. Usually she woke up tired and groggy on an unfamiliar futon in an unfamiliar bedroom wearing unfamiliar pajamas. Well this was her futon in the room she shared with Master Reigen and this was her blue nightshirt with the sleepy penguin on the front that she had picked out at Togs for Tots even though she was not a tot anymore and she didn't entirely know what a tog was. She woke up feeling awake, too, wide awake.

She woke up feeling good.

Then her heart sank.

Then sun was out. The sun was not only out but it was high in the sky. The room was full of light, neither of them had drawn the blinds last night…last night when they had…when she had told Master Reigen all about…when she had said…

School.

School was an immediate problem with an immediate solution. She needed to get up, get dressed, and go to school before she was even later than she was. Her phone hadn't woken her up…she didn't even remember putting it on the charger…or even the alarm to take her medicine going off…

Well now she had two immediate problems.

She jumped out of bed and practically threw herself out of the bedroom door. She needed to find her school bag, figure out what time it was, and take her medicine because the doctor had been very clear, she could not skip...and she had been mostly good about that. Mostly. Mostly was almost as good as always…right?

She found her school bag in the genkan. She began to root through it for her phone charger. She needed the charger to charge her phone, it was most likely dead by now. The floor beneath her feet began to shake. Where was it? She didn't find her charger even though she remembered putting it in her school bag…but maybe….she checked her NERV bag. No phone in there. Did she lose it? Three. Three immediate problems that she was grateful to have.

Because she didn't have to think about last night if she was worried about this.

"Oh…hey. You're up." Said Reigen. He had been in the kitchen trying to get the unidentifiable ooze out of the vegetable drawer in the fridge when he felt her wake up. Her aura could be seen through the walls. He let himself feel what she felt. She had been…she felt good. For a few minutes she felt good.

Now there was a low level anxiety that made him rock back and forth on his heels.

"I can't find my charger or my phone. I think I might have lost them and I'm late for school, too. I can tell by where the sun is. If I'm late then I'll get in trouble and-" Said Mob. Also we had another great big fight. Also you yelled at me again. Also I accidentally hurt you with my powers. Also we cried. Also you asked me to call you Arataka again but I don't want to. You're Master Reigen and I'm Mob. We aren't Arataka and Shigeko, not yet. If ever.

Because you don't love me anymore.

But then you said that you did.

Then we cried.

"Mob, calm down. I put your phone on the charger for you. Just…you're fine." Said Reigen. She couldn't go to school, not after the night they had. Not after the almost month that they had. She needed to be home where he could keep her safe.

Because this was all his fault.

"Oh…thank you….Master." said Mob. She waited for him to correct her. He didn't.

"You're welcome. Mob…do you want to go to school today? I mean do you actually want to?" asked Reigen

"No, not really." Said Mob truthfully. She just went because she had to. It wasn't like she had paid attention in a while….well in anything but club….but even then she was just going through the motions of it all. But she didn't get a choice. She was fourteen. She had to go to school.

"Then stay home." Said Reigen. Mob blinked.

"What?" asked Mob

"Just stay home…today. Mob…last night was a lot. These past few weeks have been a lot and…and maybe you could use a little break. Ok?" said Reigen. Also he didn't want to risk losing her again, but he didn't say that. That would have been…not good.

"….but won't I get in trouble?" asked Mob

"One day won't kill you." Said Reigen dismissively. If they didn't notice that one of their kids had been essentially homeless then they probably wouldn't give a damn if she skipped a day or two. Lord knew that they hardly cared when Reigen skipped way back when.

"…you want me to stay with you?" asked Mob. Did he still mean what he said? Or did he change his mind again. He said that she was a clingy brat and that he didn't love her anymore and now he said that he loved her and he never wanted her to leave.

She didn't understand.

"Yeah, I do. Come on, we'll have fun. We can…we can watch TV and play SNES and Go and-and-and we can do whatever else you want. Mob, this is your day. Whatever you want to do we'll do it." Said Reigen

"…can we watch TV? Like we used to?" asked Mob quietly. She looked over at the couch. Safe and warm. She always felt so safe and warm when they laid down together like that. She hadn't felt safe and warm like that in so very long.

"…sure. Whatever you want." Said Reigen, his eyes moving towards the couch. How many hours had they spent together all cuddled up like that? How many times had she fallen asleep with her head in his lap or all curled up on his chest in those long, hazy days where they had shit-all to do? How long had it been since they had just…been…together like that.

He knew how it looked.

He knew how she felt.

But he knew that he had to make her happy.

So that was what he did. He sat down and she laid her head on his lap. She blinked and the TV turned on to the same channel it had been on last night. Now it was some kind of news report. She didn't change it. She just made a contented sort of noise and stared straight ahead. His hand found her hair and he petted her like a cat. He let his aura bond with hers. He let the yellow of him enter and move with the pinks and blues that made her up.

"I didn't know you liked the news." Said Reigen for lack of anything else. It took her a moment to respond.

"I like the noise." Said Mob

"The noise?" asked Reigen

"Yes. When the TV is on I can just watch and listen and forget things. I like the noise, I don't care what's on." Said Mob. Reigen held her a little tighter. Mob felt a tightness in her chest.

"Well…it's your day. It's your day and you should watch something…something that you like? How about that show you like about the cats and they're all friends and have adventures? Or the one about the guy who gets a cat after his parents die? Or-" said Reigen

"I don't like cats anymore." Said Mob simply. The tightness in her chest got worse.

"Right…because of….right. Well what about those mech shows you like? Evangelion is on streaming and I know how you like that. You still like that, right?" asked Reigen. Mob…Mob pick something. Mob you need to pick something that you like. Pick something that makes you happy. Please, just be happy again. I just want you back. I just want you back to how you were. Please, don't be broken. Don't be broken because I don't know how to even begin to fix you.

"I still like EVA." Said Mob. She did. She really did. EVA made sense. EVA was beautiful. Every single part of EVA made sense. It was about life, how life worked. Sometimes you just had to get in the robot. Getting in the robot was your job. You got in the robot because people praised you.

And when they praised you that meant that you weren't alone.

"Well pass me the remote then." Said Reigen. She still liked that show. He didn't get the appeal. The main character was whiny, the fights were ok at best, and the red haired girl could be a real bitch. But she liked it. Reigen didn't dislike it, not that he could ever dislike anything Mob liked. He liked whatever could make her happy.

He ran his fingers through her hair.

She made that contented sound that she made sometimes. The one that made her sound kind of like a cat. He did it a few times with one hand, ran his fingers through her hair, while he put on that show she liked. Evangelion. The most depressing mech show ever conceived. Maybe that was why she liked it. There was a low level depression to her, and why wouldn't there be. She had lost everything. She had lost everything that mattered in this world. Her sense of safety, of security, of self even.

He knew what she was feeling but he had no idea how she felt.

He had no idea what was thunking around in that head of hers. He had no idea how she saw herself, him, everyone. He had no idea how she saw the world. She had always been…not an optimist but instead someone who saw the bets in everyone and everything. Mogami had probably taken that from her. Permanently. Because now she knew just how cruel the world could be, how cruelly people could teat one another. All the ways one person could hurt another.

All the ways.

He doesn't throw up that time. But he feels like it.

"Master? Are you sick? You're making me feel like I'm going to throw up." Said Mob, her voice slightly muffled. She hadn't gotten up. She was still laying there with her head in his lap and his hand in her hair. One hand was playing with her hair while the other was just resting in it. It was pressing her hair into her back. It tickled a little through the fabric of her nightshirt.

It felt good, though.

Safe. She felt safe. As long as she could feel his hand on her back then she was safe. She was safe and this was real. No cuts, no scars, not even any bruises. She was safe and he would keep her safe. She didn't know why she felt like this, that he could protect her from everything including Asagiri and Mogami, because she was much more powerful than he was. He was Master Reigen, though, and as long as she had him then everything would be ok.

Except it hadn't been.

Master Reigen had still lost to Mogami. What would have happened if Master Reigen had been the one trapped in Mogami's unreality? He would have died. She only got out because Dimple had reminded her that she had the strength to end the world if she wanted to. Master Reigen had no such strength. He was so squishy. That was the word. Well it would have been if they were playing Fantasy Hell. Tome was a battle mage, there, because straight up wizards were too squishy of a class to be useful. Not enough hit points. A lot of mana, though. Well Master Reigen had neither. No hit points and no mana. Nothing. One hit fatality. Now she was thinking about Mortal Kombat. Was there a one hit fatality character in Mortal Kombat? She didn't know, she didn't much care for fighting games.

Master Reigen had Mario Kart. Maybe they could play that at some point.

Anything to take her mind off of how easily he could have died. Because of her. Because she didn't have the strength to get rid of Mogami in the first place. Because she had held back from breaking Asagiri. She should have just shattered Asagiri. Shattered her into a million little pieces and-

No. Those were bad thoughts to have.

She had to be good. Like Master Reigen wanted.

"Huh? Uh, maybe, I don't know. Tell me if you need to throw up again, ok? Just so we don't have a repeat of last night." Said Reigen getting a grip on himself. He needed to be strong for her. He could not just go freaking out like that. Then she would freak out. Neither of them wanted that.

"I'm sorry that I threw up, Master. Really I am. I just-" said Mob

"No. Mob, no more saying you're sorry. That was my fault. I'm the reason you threw up. I'm the reason you freaked out. Do you understand? I am the sole reason that any-any of this happened to you." Said Reigen. He tried to keep himself under control. His voice only broke once when he said that.

This was all his fault.

All of it.

"Because your aura is stuck to mine again and I feel everything that you feel?" asked Mob. She wanted to curl up into a little ball and hide. She felt his hand on her back begin to trace long, lazy, circles. She leaned into his touch. Better. He always knew how to make her feel better.

"Because….because I never should have brought you to that place in the first place. Just...Mob…Mob…Mob I'm sorry. I'm the one who's sorry and don't you even think about telling me that I shouldn't be. Don't even think about going off on your tangent about being terrible, either, because you aren't. Mob, there is nothing terrible about you. There is….there is nothing about you that could ever make me push you away again." said Reigen

"Ok, Master, I won't tell you that I think that I'm terrible." Said Mob

"Because you aren't. Mogami…he messed with your head. He held you prisoner and he….and he hurt you….oh God…but that's…I will never let him or anyone else hurt you again…just…none of that was your fault. None of it. Mob…Mob I'm here for you now…." Said Reigen trying his best not to cry again.

"I'm here for you too, Master." Said Mob meaning every word of what she said. He could have died…because of her he could have died. Because she wasn't strong enough to stop Mogami. Then when they got back everyone started being so mean to him and he had to deal with all of that all on his own. Well never again. She'd always be there for him. Always.

He didn't say anything to that. He just rubbed her back and played with her hair. She didn't say anything else, either. She just closed her eyes and let herself **feel** what was happening. His aura in hers. His hands…the way he was breathing….even the way he smelled. She just took it all in. She took it all in and if she kept her eyes closed she could pretend that she had never left him. She could pretend that this was just a normal day where they were together and didn't have anything at all to do…just liked before.

"I missed this." said Mob. She didn't know what she meant. The past. The present. The closeness. The safety. The feel of his aura inside of hers. The feel of being able to just sit there and relax. That was this feeling, pure and utter relaxation. She was safe, there, with him. He could keep her safe. He did keep her safe. Safe and wanted and loved.

"Me too." Said Reigen telling her the absolute truth. There was something to be said about this, just having the ability to relax with her. He looked like…he knew what he looked like right now. He knew what he looked like in general. He knew that insults and accusations that people had been hurling at him with impunity for weeks.

And he was tired of all of it.

He let all of that shit get to him and look where that had gotten him. No. Not him. Mob. Look where that had gotten Mob. He still had a roof over his head. He still knew where he was going to sleep each and every night. He knew when his next meal would be and which takeout place it would come from. He knew when his next shower would be. He knew…he knew that nobody was going to hurt him.

No matter how shaken up he had been by the Asagiri job it was nothing compared to what happened to Mob.

Nothing compared to a man holding him prison for **six months **and doing **whatever he wanted…**to….Mob…

Oh God.

"Master? Why are we crying again?" asked Mob sitting up. She felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. That didn't make any sense. They could be happy again now. He decided that he loved her again and she was back with him. So why were they crying? Why was he crying?

A thought.

He knows how terrible she is.

That's why he's crying.

Because she was terrible. She had used her powers on him. She had killed someone. She had ended the entire world. She had. Her.

He said that he forgave her. He said that it wasn't her fault. That was what he said but she…she could not believe that no matter how much she wanted to. It looked like he couldn't believe it either. It looked like he couldn't believe that he could ever forgive someone as **terrible** as her.

"Because…because I just can't stop…Mob I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm just so sorry and I know that I keep on saying this and you must be so sick of hearing-" said Reigen

"Master. No. I could never be sick of listening to you." Said Mob

"Then listen to me when I tell you that I am so, so, so sorry about all of this. I'm sorry about all of this and…and I'm here for you. I wasn't there for you before, on that first night, when you needed me but I'm here now. I'm here." Said Reigen. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of battle music. Mob was still facing the TV. She shifted. She turned around and looked up at him.

"Why do you keep on saying that you're sorry, Master? You already said so, before, that you were sorry. I don't know what you're sorry about. You keep on saying that it wasn't my fault but it was. I'm the one who made us take that job. I'm the one who made us stay. I'm the one who couldn't get Mogami out of Asagiri. I'm the one who got stuck in his unreality. I'm the one who ended the whole world-"said Mob

"No. You did not end the world. Mob, we're living in the world right now. Ok? You didn't end it." Said Reigen. Mob sat up. Some of her hair fell into her eyes. Reigen brushed it away. His fingers ghosted across the skin of her cheek. He could feel it, too. It was a nice feeling.

"Not this world, the unreality. I ended it all. I broke down everything. Everything was a spirit and I broke it down until it turned into red LCL. Then I broke myself down and then everything ended. Then there was just me and Mogami and a lot of…space." Said Mob. Reigen put an arm around her and pulled her in close.

"Mob, that's a good thing. You beat him, you saved the girl and you beat him." said Reigen

"But I ended the world." Said Mob

"You keep on calling it an unreality. That's just what it was, a false reality. That was not real, Mob." Said Reigen

"…but I could end this world, too. If I really wanted to then I could end the entire world with my powers…and only a terrible person would have those kinds of thoughts." Said Mob

"Mob. No." said Reigen lowly. She tried to pull away from him thinking that he wanted space between them again but he just held her tighter.

"Master?" asked Mob

"Mob, stay. I meant that you needed to stop saying that you're terrible. You aren't. Mob anyone with your strength would think about ending the world…or taking it over…but it takes a good person to know that ending the world is a bad thing. You're a good person. Mogami tried to make you into a bad person, a person like him, but you're a good person. You're a really good person, Mob. You're a good person and I'm just…not. I'm not. Mob, this is all my fault and I don't know how many times I am going to have to tell you until you believe me." Said Reigen.

"I don't know either, Master. I don't even know why you think that you're a bad person. I'm the one who made us stay-" said Mob

"I'm the one who made you…I brought you there." Said Reigen

"But I made us stay. Master there was nothing that you could have done that could have made me leave. I stuck myself to the ground. You couldn't even pick me up. You were right, I was being stubborn-" said Mob

"You weren't being stubborn, Mob, you were being a good person. You saw a girl in trouble and you helped her out of the goodness of your heart. Even if there wasn't all of that money on the line you still would have risked your life for that kid. That's what makes you a good person. Mob…when I said that you were stubborn I was lashing out at you. That was me lashing out at you because I felt cornered. When I feel cornered the first thing that I lose control of is my mouth." Said Reigen

"What's the second thing?" asked Mob

"Huh?" asked Reigen

"You said that the first thing that you lose control of is your mouth. What's the second thing?" asked Mob. Reigen smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Well it hasn't gotten to that point, yet, but I did get into my fair share of fights. I haven't been that cornered in a while, though, so don't worry." Said Reigen

"Master, I'll never let you get that cornered. I'll protect you. I'm stronger than you, I'll protect you." Said Mob

"Mob, no. I'm supposed to keep you safe…and I've done a piss poor job of that." Said Reigen

"We can keep each other safe." Said Mob

"I'm the adult, let me protect you. Let me…let me keep you from ever getting into a situation like that again." said Reigen. There was some silence. Now the credits were playing. Not the Fly Me to the Moon song, Mob liked that one, but instead just the music because it was still an early episode. Mob wasn't really listening. She thought on what he said.

"…are you quitting? Are we…is there no more Spirits and Such?" asked Mob. Reigen sighed. He sighed and he played with her hair.

"I have no clue. Mob…we can't go on any more jobs like with the Asagiri's. Ok? We can never, ever, ever do anything like that again. I will never put you in danger like that again." said Reigen

"….but can we still be Spirits and Such?" asked Mob sounding small, so small. Reigen wanted to tell her no, that it was over and he was going to find a safer line of work like his mother had been harping on him to, but he didn't.

Mob needed stability.

She loved working with him. She loved the office. That was one of her places. She had been living without stability for weeks. She had been sleeping out on the streets….and couch surfing…and dealing with so much more than any one person should have had to deal with….

So if she wanted to sit at her little desk and write out receipts and read her manga then so be it.

"Mob…yes…but I won't put you in danger." Said Reigen

"But we'll still go back to the office?" asked Mob. She wanted to go back to the way that things were before. She wanted everything to be alright again. She wanted everything to be normal again. She wanted to sit at her desk and write receipts. She wanted the two of them to do yoga in the back room when things were slow. She wanted them to get ramen and takoyaki and whatever else after work. She wanted to exorcise spirits and record it for everyone to see all the good that the two of them did. She wanted it all back.

She didn't want Mogami to have taken that from her, too.

He had already taken so much from her. The things she loved most in the world. Almost everything that she loved he had tried to take away. Cats. Milk. TV. Sex. Love. Kisses. Cuddles. School. Friends. Master Reigen. He had tried to take it all away and she…she would not let that happen.

"Mob…whatever you want." Said Reigen with a sigh. He didn't want to. He knew that the minute they got back she'd ask about jobs that they could go on. Then he'd end up taking her into another dangerous situation and then it could all happen again.

She really could be stubborn.

No, he was just weak.

She was not stubborn or a brat or any of the unkind words that he had tossed to callously at her. She was Mob. She was the only thing in this whole world that was pure and good and right. Wherever she went and wherever she would choose to go she would always carry her light. Not the light of her aura but the light of her spirit. That quiet joy she had. The patience. The way that she would look at you and see only the good. The way that she walked through the world and expected the best of it. The way that she could forgive anyone for any crime, any mistake. The way that she was just so…good. A drop of pure goodness come down to Earth. Star Shine. His star shine.

Mob was his star shine.

A star shine that Mogami had tried to extinguish.

But had hadn't extinguished her. Even after she had been hurt, so hurt, in every single way a person could be she still only thought of others. How she could help others. She didn't wallow in it, her pain, and he knew that she was in pain. She just kept on going. She always put everyone else before herself. She always put him before herself. She was sweet like that, so sweet. An angel. His angel. His sweet angel. Sweeter than anything else in the world. Angel wine. The sweetest wine.

She was star shine and angel wine.

And he loved her so much in that moment that it hurt.

"Master….thank you." Said Mob. She loved him more in that moment than she had ever loved another human being in her life. She sighed, a breathy sort of sigh that she didn't usually make. She felt so warm and loved and safe. She held him back. This was perfect. She heard a saying, once, that heaven was a place on Earth. She didn't get it, then, because heaven was a place where people went after they died and passed on so how could it be a place on Earth?

But now she understood.

Because this was heaven. He was there and he loved her and he would keep her safe. Everything would be ok. It would be as long as Master Reigen was there. Even if he wasn't as strong as she was he could still keep her safe. She didn't know how, she just felt it, and feelings didn't always make sense. These feelings didn't always make sense. It was all sorts of love she felt in that moment, including the sort of love that made her want to lean up and kiss him, and that feeling made no sense. That feeling was one that he said that he would no reciprocate. She knew that she was just a kid and he was an adult so of course he couldn't love her back in the way that she loved him but there was still the hope that…when she grew up…

Maybe there was still hope.

Maybe he had just felt cornered and lost control of his mouth, he said that his mouth was the first thing that he lost control of when he felt cornered.

So maybe there was still hope. Even though she was…but he didn't think that she was terrible. Maybe there was still…no. She didn't want to worry about the future. She just wanted to worry about now. She just wanted to worry about him and her there sitting on the couch while the TV played in the background.

So she did. So that was all she worried about.

"Master Reigen…love you…" said Mob softly. Reigen went rigid. Right. That. Those three words that he never should have….that she needed to hear. That he needed to tell her. Because he did. He loved her. He loved her and he would do anything, even put his life on the line, for her. She needed to her it. She needed to know that she was loved. She deserved to know that she was loved. Fuck what some invisible observer thought.

"I love you too, Mob. You are so loved…don't ever forget that. Mob, don't ever forget that you are loved…and don't ever go…please don't ever run away again…just don't. I never should have said any of those things to you…please…" said Reigen burying his face in her hair. He felt her nodding.

"OK. I won't ever leave again, Master. I'll never, ever, ever run away again…as long as you love me…I just thought that you didn't…I thought that you wanted me to go…because of how terrible-" said Mob

"Stop it. What is it going to take for you to stop calling yourself terrible?" asked Reigen

"I don't know. I just…I feel like I am and I just can't stop. I know that you said that nothing was my fault but…but you also said that I was…you said so much stuff to me and I still kind of feel like it's true…and I just don't want to feel like this anymore. I want things to go back to normal but…but I don't know how to stop feeling like I'm terrible…and I did so much stuff…and I was stubborn even though you keep on saying that I wasn't…and I shouldn't have been so clingy…and I-" said Mob

"Mob. No. I want you to forget every single mean thing that I have ever said to you." Said Reigen

"Master, I don't know if I can. I can't just forget things like that. I'm not a computer, I can't just delete things from my memory." Said Mob

"I know just…just next time I start to lose control like that I need you to tell me to shut up. Ok? Tell me to shut my mouth." Said Reigen

"….Master….that's mean. I don't think that I could-"said Mob pulling away from him. His eyes were red. So were hers, probably. She tried to pull away farther but he reached out and held her in place.

"Mob. No. You need to be able to tell me this. Ok? You need to be able to look me in the eye and tell me to shut the fuck up." Said Reigen. Mob's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"Master! I can't say that! I don't…I mean I said that once…to Mogami…and I still feel bad about that." Said Mob

"You told Mogami to shut the fuck up?" asked Reigen, his face unreadable.

"…yes…" said Mob. She braced herself for the lecture that was sure to come. The one she had heard before, from her mother, about how good people did not curse. Good people did not use words like that.

"Good. The bastard deserves that and a whole lot more." Said Reigen. Mob did not cure. She was that cornered. She had been cornered enough to lose everything she stood for, everything that made her who she was. Mob was a good kid. She did not curse or end the world or murder people with her bare hands. But she had.

Mob…

"But I'm not supposed to-" said Mob

"Don't beat yourself up over anything that you did in that world. It was an unreality, Mob, it was false. Like a dream. Think of it as…as a bad dream. The things that you did, the things that happened to you…just…this is the reality that matters. This one, Mob, remember that…and remember that nothing that happened in there is in any way your fault." Said Reigen. He held onto her as he said this. He needed her to listen. Maybe if she heard it enough times, listened closely enough, then she would start to believe him.

"Even when I-" said Mob

"Nothing! I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…just…nothing that happened is your fault. See, there I go, losing control again." said Reigen

"I'm making you feel cornered?" asked Mob

"No, I'm cornering myself. Just…please. I need you to be able to tell me to shut the fuck up. Ok?" asked Reigen

"….you really want me to say that to you?" asked Mob softly. She could never be so mean, especially to someone who she loved so very much. She could never hurt him…but he wanted to be hurt. He wanted her to stop him if he ever said something mean to her again. This was something that he wanted.

So that was what she would do.

"Master Reigen…please shut up…" said Mob softly. Reigen shook his head.

"No, Mob…say it like you're pissed. Say it like I'm pissing you off." Said Reigen

"…but you aren't…and you hardly ever-" said Mob. The only times he had ever made her that angry were when he was being mean to her. She didn't want to have to remember those times, the pain he had made her feel in those moments. She didn't want to remember how much it hurt and how cornered she had felt. She wanted to remember the good times with him, the happy times.

"Well just pretend that this is one of the rare instances where I'm pissing you off, ok?" said Reigen trying to stay calm. She needed to stop being this nice to him. He did not deserve this. He had been the one who…he was the one who was directly responsible for all of this.

"Ok….um….Master Reigen…shut up." Said Mob a little more loudly. She looked up at him, was that right? She didn't like talking to him like this. She didn't like being mean to him like this. He had dealt with enough people being mean to him already. He didn't need this from her, too.

"Mob…." Said Reigen. Mob didn't have a mean bone in her body. The only way to get her to be mean would be to get her to snap…and he was not pushing her to that point. He just needed to know that she could stand up to him when he needed it. She needed to be able to put him in his place because it was obvious that his mouth had a mind of it's own and could not be kept in check.

"Did I say it wrong?" asked Mob. She just couldn't do it. No matter how mad he had made her in the past she just could not do it.

"Just…just repeat after me." Said Reigen

"Ok." Said Mob. Well this certainly made it easier. Maybe then she could pretend that she was not the one saying these mean, awful things to Master Reigen.

"Arataka." Said Reigen

"But that's your given name." said Mob

"I know. Just…say my given name. Get my attention. If I'm ever…I'm ever like that again I want you to get my attention." Said Reigen

"…ok. Arataka." Said Mob trying her best to match the tone that Master Reigen had used.

"Shut-" Said Reigen. She faltered for a bit.

"Shut." Said Mob, her voice wavering. She couldn't be so mean. She couldn't. Even though he had been mean, so mean, she could not be mean back. Two wrongs did not make a right.

"The." Said Reigen. She needed to be able to say this to him. She needed to be able to knock him onto his ass when he started acting like a jerk to her.

"The." Said Mob. That was a much easier word to say. The. Such a simple word. Very common. She must have said that word at least a couple million times in her life. She could say it once more easily.

"Fuck." Said Reigen. A part of him knew that he should not be cursing around her. That despite what she and the rest of the world thought she was, in fact, a child. She was a child sitting there having to deal with all of this on her own…and she had only been on her own because of him. Because he couldn't tell himself to shut the fuck up. She needed to be the one to tell him. Her. She was not a child. She was young but she was not a child anymore. She needed to be able to stand up for herself. Even to him. Especially to him.

"F….fu...I can't. Why do I have to curse at you? It's not nice…" said Mob

"Because it's not nice. Because I can't think of anything more unnatural sounding than you cursing. Mob…I need to know when I'm…I need you to shock me out of it. I need you to knock me flat on my ass…not literally. Just…just…I need to know when I'm crossing a line with you. I need you to shut me up before I can do damage…again." said Reigen with a sigh.

"You really want me to say all of that to you? To be mean to you? Even after everyone else has already been so mean to you?" asked Mob

"Yes. Mob. I am asking you to be mean to me. I need you to be able to stand up to me when you need to." Said Reigen

"…alright." Said Mob softly. For him she could do this. For him.

"Good." Said Reigen. She needed to do this for herself. She needed to be able to stand up for herself.

"Arataka…shut the fuck up." Said Mob softly. She hated the way that felt in her mouth. She hated the way it sounded in her ears. He was right, there really was nothing more unnatural than the sound of her cursing. Even to her own ears.

"Mob…louder." Said Reigen. That was progress. Good. But it was not enough.

"Arataka…shut the fuck up." Said Mob a little more loudly. She did not want to say this. She did not want to say something so awful to someone who did not deserve it at all.

"Mob, come on. I know I've pissed you off badly enough to make you say it like you mean. The things I said to you were so, totally, and completely out of line that-" said Reigen. He held onto her. He needed her to just say it, to say it in a way that he could not ignore. He needed to make sure that if it ever happened again, if he ever had the nerve to say anything so unforgivable to her again, that she could and would knock him flat on his ass.

"Arataka, shut the fuck up!" said Mob loudly. She did not want to think about it, what he had said. She did not want to remember that. She wanted to be able to delete it from her mind. She wanted to be able to just forget and get back to normal. He was holding onto her and she wanted him to say something so awful…she just wanted him to come off it already!

So she yelled at him.

Even though she didn't want to.

But he seemed so happy, too happy, about this. The pulled her close again and thanked her. Then he kept on telling her over and over and over again how sorry he was. She knew that he was sorry and she was sorry too. She just wanted to go back to cuddling with him, back to loving him, like they had been before. She just wanted things to go back to normal. She just wanted everything to be ok again.

"Mob…Mob it's going to be ok…" said Reigen. He was a mess, plain and simple. How was she coping with all of this so well? How? She was crying, too, but that emotion was pure him. She was resilient. He took back what he thought before. She was stronger than him, so much stronger. She was strong in the real way. She was strong enough to deal with all of this…and had been dealing with all of this…

Here he was going to pieces.

There she was just trying to watch her dam giant robot show.

"Master, it is, I know that it is. I'm here and you're here too. We're here together. As long as we're here together then I know that it's going to all be ok." Said Mob. Why didn't he understand that simple fact? They had each other. They were back together. Everything would be ok.

"Mob…Mob don't. Mob don't comfort me. I'm the one who should be comforting you. After everything that happened I should be the one comforting you. I should be the one comforting you…" said Reigen. What did he do in this world to deserve someone like her? What could any human being do to deserve someone like her?

"Master, you're the one who's crying. I'm only crying because you're crying. I'm happy, Master, because I'm here with you and you love me again. I'm happy. You're the one who's crying." Said Mob

"You-You're right. God Mob, you are so right. Just…let's do something. Let's…let's play videogames. You like videogames. I mean all we have is my old SNES but it'll work. I think I even unlocked the Special Cup back in the day…" said Reigen. Mob sat back and wiped her eyes.

"150 cc, too?" asked Mob. Reigen smiled. She smiled back, as best as she could. She never smiled very big but that was alright. Reigen was happy to see her smiling at all.

"You know super Mario Kart?" asked Reigen wiping his eyes. She nodded.

"Yes. Ritsu and I had it on our Wii back before we got a Switch." Said Mob. That had been a fun summer break…around six years ago…yes that long ago. They had played for almost two days straight, stopping only for sleep, food, and bathroom breaks. They had been younger, then. She had been…eight or nine…and he had been around seven. The world was so much simpler back then.

"Well then maybe you'll be able to beat your old Master at his own game." Said Reigen. He tugged on her braid. She smiled a little wider. So did he. The rest of the day was spent playing Mario Kart. It was time well spent, in their opinions. Reigen won some, Mob won most. That is when Reigen managed to convince her that he wouldn't be upset if she won. So she proceeded to kick his ass.

He may have been playing it longer but she had been playing it better.

She had also played against someone else, Reigen had always played against the computer. There was a certain amount of unpredictability to her playing, something that the SNES could not replicate. They played through every cup, including the secret Special Cup, and through all three difficulty levels, even 150cc. They played against the computer, just against each other, and were in the middle of a battle match, Mob having all three of her balloons still but Reigen down to his last, when Mob suddenly stopped.

"Mob? Hey, what's up?" asked Reigen. He felt her aura spread out. He felt the full range of human emotion play out within himself in an instant. Joy. Surprise. Fear. Pretty much everything but anger.

"Ritsu." Said Mob. She could feel him. She knew what he felt like, she had been avoiding him for weeks, but now he was walking down her street. Getting closer. He felt her. He was speeding up. Distantly she thought she heard her phone vibrating….she should probably have checked it at some point that day…

"What about him?" asked Reigen fearing the worst. Did Mob have some kind of sixth sense, whatever number that was, for her little brother? A scared thought. Did the kid get himself in trouble again?

"I feel him. He's coming. Master…..I don't want to…I mean I do want to see Ritsu…but I also don't want to…because I'm…I'm not a good sister…and…and I don't want to tell him what happened….but he'll be able to…to tell…everyone else could…." Said Mob. The game was paused. She had drawn her knees up to her chest. Reigen pulled her close. He wanted to go curl up on his bed and hide under the covers. He couldn't, though, because he had to be strong for her.

"Mob…you're a good sister. You're a good person and a good sister. Didn't you just get through telling me how you spent years and years letting your brother win at Mario Kart because one time when he was four and you beat him he cried? That's more than I've ever done for my little brother, that's for sure. Mob…if you don't want to talk to him then you don't have to. I'll tell him to get lost if you want me to-" said Reigen

"No. Don't say that to Ritsu. He's sensitive. You'll hurt his feelings." Said Mob. Ritsu didn't explode like she did but he did get upset…then he let Dimple possess him and beat up a bunch of people with his powers. Mob would not be responsible for that. Mob also would not be responsible for Ritsu getting hurt. If he knew what happened to her then he'd try and protect her by finding Mogami, probably, and trying to exorcise him. Ritsu wasn't that strong. He would not make it through that.

And even if he did Mob did not wish this on anyone.

"Right…he's sensitive." Said Reigen. Well if that was what Mob wanted to call it. No, that wasn't fair. Her brother wasn't exactly the nicest guy in town but he was thirteen and going through his own shit.

"He is. He is and if he finds out what happened to me he'll-he'll maybe even try to protect me and-and try and find-" said Mob. Reigen rubbed her back.

"Hey. Mob. You don't have to tell anyone. Not a single soul. What happened to you was…was personal. Was incredibly personal and you don't have to say a word. He probably knows that something is wrong, that's most likely why he's in our neck of the woods, but you don't have to tell him a single word about what happened if you don't want to." Said Reigen. He had no clue if he was telling her the right thing. He was not a therapist, which Mob obviously needed, so he had no idea what to do with this kind of…well…trauma. All he knew was that Mob did not want her little brother to know and Reigen didn't blame her. He wouldn't have told anyone, either, if he were her.

Because it was a lot.

And it was private.

The whole thing was just…no wonder Mob didn't tell him what happened right afterwards. She had tried to tell him without words. She had tried to lay down next to him just because she needed some goddamned safety and he just-

Stop it.

This is about Mob.

And she needs you.

"But…he's going to ask me what's wrong…he is…a lot of my friends did…and I don't know what I'm going to tell him…because I don't tell lies…" said Mob. Reigen wanted to tell her to start lying, that a little lying could do her some good, but he didn't. He did not want to bring all of that up now. Something else to add to the trauma pile. She had gone through everything with Mogami, then she got rejected by the only stable adult in her life, then she was homeless for a time, then she had a mental breakdown when she got home…and now he was not going to bring up the fact that he had been lying to her since the day they met.

She said that he was a good person.

But he didn't see it.

"Mob, just tell him to mind his own business if he asks." Said Reigen

"That's mean, Master." Said Mob

"Fine then, tell him that you don't feel like talking about it. If he presses tell him that it's private." Said Reigen with a sigh. She was too damn nice. She was way too damn nice. He did not feel like getting beaten up by a thirteen year old, if he felt like being selfish, and he knew that her brother would most certainly going to kick his ass up one side of the street and down the other for all of this. The kid never liked him and now he had a good reason. Reigen hadn't kept Mob safe.

He had been trusted with Mob and he had not kept her safe.

"Master…I don't like being like this….I really don't." said Mob. She used to love seeing Ritsu. He was the greatest little brother in the entire world. She was so proud to have someone as amazing as him as a little brother. He was good at everything. He was so smart. He succeeded at everything he tried. Really she did not deserve such an amazing little brother.

Not only that but he was her friend, too.

He was her friend and her brother. He was her only friend when they were little. They played together all the time. They could talk about anything and everything. He even said that she could read his diary whenever she wanted, back when he was eight and she was nine, but she had never taken him up on that. She didn't need to read his diary to know his thoughts and feelings, he told them to her. But then they got older. He had to work harder and harder at school and she found Master Reigen. Then they went to middle school and he got his powers and they had that fight and she moved out and also they were both in relationships, that also took up a lot of time, but she used to love seeing him….

But now she didn't.

There were so many things that she didn't like anymore. She didn't know when or even if she'd get better. She lost so much, so many things that she loved…her brother. Her boyfriend. Her school. Cats. Milk. Being touched unexpectedly by anyone but Master Reigen…and even him…like how last night…

She didn't like this at all.

"I…I know. I mean I don't know but I…I also know. I also know. I just…I can't imagine what it was like for you…but I understand that it's going to be hard for you…but I'm here. Ok? I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." Said Reigen. There for her. Be there for her.

"I understand. I understand." Said Mob. Right. Master Reigen was there for her. Somehow that helped. She felt so much better when he stated that simple fact. He was there. He understood…sort of…but he was there. Why did it mean so much? Him just saying that he understood that it was hard and that he was there for her?

"You'll be fine, Mob. You'll be fine." Said Reigen. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. She needed affection, a lot of affection. It helped. She had never gotten a lot that from anyone but him. That was what she wanted, what she needed, and he needed to stop giving a damn about how all of this looked.

Really, he needed to stop giving a damn.

Ritsu didn't give a damn what his sister said, he was just about ready to pick her up and carry her back home. Fining out where she lived hadn't been hard. He asked her friends, first, the ones that were still hanging around school but none of them knew where she was. They asked him about her, if she was ok, and he said that she was.

He had no idea if she was but he had to say so.

Even though they just wouldn't stop asking. Especially Shigeko's nosy friend, the girl who stole and copied the master key. What she was still doing in school Ritsu did not know but then again he maybe should not have been poking around in that area. He had committed his fair share of crimes. He did not have room to throw stones. That girl, for all of her snooping, didn't know his sister's new address.

His own girlfriend didn't know. He thought that Rei and Shigeko were friends.

Rei had been weirdly tight lipped about the whole thing. She kept on going quiet and changing the subject, very odd for her, because usually she was one of the great monologists of Japan. That was mean. She had a lot to say and a lot of the time it was interesting. She listened to him, too, so he needed to keep it even. She was a really good girlfriend…

And he wasn't much of a boyfriend.

Or a brother.

He eventually had to just go and find Teru to ask him. Not that he wanted to…well he did want to see Teru…and that was the problem. He wanted to see Teru, which made him a pretty shitty boyfriend and brother. Not that he was…he was still figuring out what he was. He did like Rei. He liked being around her. He liked hanging out with her. She was good company….yeah that was the best that he could do. Good company. For the girl that was completely and totally in love with him. No wonder she had been avoiding him.

No wonder Shigeko had been avoiding him, too.

She didn't know. There was no way that she could know. She was Shigeko, she couldn't get a clue to save her life. Not that he was trying to be mean, that was just who she was. She was Kageyama Shigeko and she had trouble getting a clue. So of course she didn't pick up on the way he…well he made an effort not to be obvious, especially not since he managed to identify what it was that he was feeling. There was no way that she knew where his mind went, sometimes, even though his mind had been going there with alarming frequency. There was no way she knew how he thought about her boyfriend. There was no way that he would even have those thoughts consciously. That was the guy who his sister was in love with. She had to be, they had…yeah. Another reason that they had been avoiding each other…

Because they did not need to know that about each other.

Not that what he and Rei did even came close to…yeah.

Now that his mind was back on that, even though it had been weeks ago, he felt just like he had on that day. When he and Shigeko learned the horrible truth about each other. Maybe he shouldn't have hit Teru, too. That wasn't a good thing to do…and Shigeko was probably upset with him. Well as upset as Shigeko was capable of being without exploding. Yeah. Shigeko probably didn't want to see him and she probably didn't want this excessive looking stack of homework. She was probably sick, that was all, and she probably didn't want him bothering her at home…

But he was going to bother her.

Homework was important. That was the paper thin excuse he gave himself. Homework was so important, the most important, so of course that was why he had to see her, really had to. Even though it might still be awkward. Even though she was with **Reigen** right now. A thought. Maybe she's not sick. Maybe he kept her home because he needed her to handle the spiritual stuff that he couldn't. Ritsu was grateful, at the time, when Reigen saved their lives, but then Reigen said that he borrowed Shigeko's powers and…yeah. The guy was a fraud.

And the whole world saw it.

Except for Shigeko, obviously.

Ritsu had no idea where she had been when the media was dragging Reigen through the mud. He hadn't seen her in so long…she had probably been with Reigen. She had been the one, probably, who kept Reigen going after everyone found out that he was a fraud. That stupid press conference thing had probably been her idea, she was always building Reigen up even though he didn't deserve it. She was the one who saved Reigen's ass, too. He had seen the footage. He knew that Reigen had been talking to his sister, then, and obviously it was Shigeko that ended it. She had telekinesis. Reigen didn't.

Reigen didn't have much of anything.

Except for his sister.

Not that Ritsu cared, much, about that. If Shigeko wanted to replace him with Reigen then…that was fine. It wasn't like he missed it, much, the way that they used to be. The way that they used to spend so much time together. He was in middle school, now, so he was way too old to be building couch forts with his sister. Too old to play videogames all day. Too old to spend hours picking out candy at the convenience store. Too old to play all day together at the park.

Just too old.

He had responsibilities. She didn't but he did. He had so much to be…and she didn't. She didn't even care that he…stop it. Just stop it. It's your job to care about her. It's your job to take care of her. She's your sister . It's your job to take care of her because she can't take care of herself.

That was why he didn't turn back. That was why he stayed on the path he was walking. So this was Shigeko's new neighborhood. Shady as all else. It wasn't like where he lived, where all the houses looked almost alike, and the streets were always clean….it was dirtier here. Darker. The buildings climbed high here, high enough to block out a lot of the sun. Everything was sort of greyish and washed out. Everything but her aura. He could see her, out there, all pinks and blues.

He felt her.

She was so near and yet so far.

Her aura touched his.

He didn't even need her address. He had gone and bothered Teru during soccer practice for nothing. Well he had tried texting but Teru, obviously, was busy. So he went and actually bothered Teru while he was practicing with his team…and he did that thing he did where he pulled his shirt up to wipe the sweat off of his face…not that Ritsu noticed. Not that Ritsu cared, even a little bit. No. Ritsu didn't care.

And he was not still thinking about it, either.

He willed himself to think of something else, anything else. He held his sister's homework tight in his hands. He could do this work. He could do this with his eyes closed. She'd probably need help. He'd help her. He'd help her if she needed it. Anything to keep from thinking about…no matter how awkward it was between them. It was awkward between them…maybe…but she was still his sister and-

It was complicated.

No. It was algebra. Algebra was easy.

For him. It came easy to him.

Not to her.

That was why she needed him.

He found her building. He'd help her if she needed it. Even though she had abandoned…well he had his part in it…but she could have come back at any time…but he would still help her. She still needed him, right? She still needed him and he'd be there for her because that was his job. Helping her was his job. Even if it was just with her homework.

He felt her aura practically crushing him as he made his way into her building. His footsteps echoed off the metal stairs. He could hear people talking, arguing, TVs blaring, music…how did Shigeko live here? A few of the doors had orange slips on the front. He read one. Due to the recent earthquakes someone was coming to look at the building's foundations. Shigeko. That had probably been her. She couldn't control it…

Her aura was still crushing his.

He found her door. She lived on the third floor at the end of the building. One of her night dress things was hanging from the railing of the balcony. He could hear…was that Mario Kart? That was Mario Kart. He could hear the theme from Mario Kart through the door. Did she…did she ditch school to play Mario Kart? Seriously?

Well Shigeko could do whatever she wanted.

That was just how it worked.

He was tempted to just leave her homework in front of her door and then go back home…or maybe see if he could have dinner with Rei. She'd listen to him. She'd probably want to cuddle and kiss, because apparently he was god at that, too, but she'd also listen to him and make him feel like…like how he felt mattered.

Instead of just what he did.

He did what he had to do.

So he moved to knock on her door. Before he could make contact the door was opened. Shigeko. For the first time in weeks he saw her. Her hair was in her eyes. She was still in her pajamas even though it was practically dinner time. Hair had escaped from her braids and just hung everywhere. What felt like a cloud of cigarette smoke smacked him in the face. How could Shigeko live like that?

"Ritsu…." Said Mob. Little brother. Not so little anymore. Taller, now, much taller. They had been the same height, almost, months ago. He hadn't stood that much taller than her. He was taller, now. His uniform looked new, too. Mom must have gotten him a new one because of how much taller her was. It had been nine, no, three months since she left him…and almost a month since she had seen him. The Ritsu that existed in her mind was young, younger than…but now reality hit her. Right.

It had been so long…

So she hugged him.

"Sister?" asked Ritsu. He stumbled back, a bit, because he was not expecting to be hugged. Her aura pricked at him. It stung, a little bit, kind of like being surrounded by static electricity. That was…well not totally new but it never hurt this much before. She clung to him. He held her back….

Something was wrong.

He looked over the top of her head. The TV was on. Mario Kart for the SNES. So she had skipped school to play Mario Kart…two controllers. Reigen was home. Ritsu's range was fairly crappy. He couldn't feel another esper until they were close or as bright as his sister. Reigen was home. Reigen. Reigen may have been the reason that his sister was acting so…clingy.

If Reigen did anything to hurt Shigeko then Ritsu would murder him. No exaggeration. Murder. Straight up murder.

"Brother. Brother I've missed you so much." Said Mob as she held Ritsu tight. She had missed him. She had missed him so much…even though he was much better off without her. Most people were, it felt like. She had been…she had done a lot of very bad things and Ritsu deserved a sister who didn't kill people or end the world or…but that had been the unreality…and Master Reigen said that the unreality was like a dream…

Mob didn't know what to think.

But she did know that she loved Ritsu. She loved him so much, so very much…

"Then why didn't you respond?" asked Ritsu as she let go of him. Her homework had been crushed at some point during that teary reunion. He hoped that she didn't mind…and that she didn't hug him like that again. A normal hug would have been fine but she was hugging him like she hadn't seen him in years and years or something.

"To what?" asked Mob

"I've been texting you all day. Your teacher gave me your homework to bring to you." Said Ritsu. A paper thin excuse but one that he needed. He needed an excuse to see his own sister. His sister who had just run away from home. His sister who could do whatever she wanted, even if it was ditching school to play Mario Kart…

Stop it.

Something's wrong.

She's being weird.

"Oh. Right. I forgot to check my phone today." Said Mob simply. She had been too busy either having fun or feeling miserable. Well she had been having fun. Master Reigen had been feeling miserable. He kept on telling her that it wasn't her fault and that he cared about her. She liked hearing that he loved her but…something was with him. He was being all weird. He said that he forgave her. He said that he still loved her. He knew that truth of what happened and he said that he was not mad at her. He even said that it was over now and that it didn't matter.

But it did matter. That was why he was acting like that.

"For the whole day?" asked Ritsu. He felt…he felt Reigen in the background. Not in the room but…if he focused, looked past his sister…he could just make out the faintest amount of yellow.

"The whole day." Said Mob. Oh no. What if someone tried to tell her something important? And who's house was she supposed to go to tonight? What time even was it? How could she have been so irresponsible? As soon as Ritsu left, not that she wanted him to leave, she'd check and see what happened.

"That's not like you…" said Ritsu

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Said Mob. Feelings were coming again. Bad ones. She just kept on letting herself and everyone else down, wasn't she? Wasn't that what she was good at? Letting herself and everyone else down?

"What's wrong? Sister…something's wrong. You don't hug me like that. You don't….you don't skip school…and everyone's been asking me if you're ok….what's happening with you?" asked Ritsu getting to the point of it. That was the last straw, really, that she hadn't checked her phone. She was always checking her phone. She had friends, now, and even before she was always reading things or playing games just like everyone else. That she would go the whole day without checking her phone…that was the last straw of weirdness.

None of this was like her at all.

"I just…I don't really want to talk about it." Said Mob. She was not going to speak a word of this to her little brother. He did not need to know what happened. He did not need to know how she had been as bad as she could be. He did not need to worry about her. He did not need to go off and do something stupid like hunt Mogami down and try to exorcise him. He did not need to get trapped in the same sort of hell she had been trapped in. He did not need that at all.

Not at all.

"Just tell me. What happened? You can tell me. Tell me so I can help you. I'm your brother, that's what I'm supposed to do." Said Ritsu. Why was she being like this? Why couldn't she just tell him what was wrong. Was someone messing with her again? He'd put them in the ground. He didn't care who it was. His eyes focused on the faint bits of yellow that he could see.

He didn't care who it was.

"Ritsu, no. I don't want to talk about it. I'm ok now but I just don't want to talk about it." Said Mob. It was a simple statement, really. She didn't want to talk about it. There were a million and one things in this world that they could talk about. They could talk about why metal Mario in the new Mario Kart may have looked cool but weighed you down too much. They could talk about how it had been an unusually cold October. They could talk about how Rei was drawing some really weird stuff now, all explosions and trees. They could talk about how the rebuild of EVA movies did not hold a candle to the series. They could talk about anything, really.

Just not that.

Just not Mogami.

"Why not? You used to tell me everything. What happened? Did…did someone…if someone did anything to hurt you I'll-" said Ritsu

"I did. I used to tell you everything but there are some things that I…that I don't like to talk about with anyone. It's not you, Ritsu, I just don't want to talk about this….and nobody hurt me. No person hurt me, Ritsu, so you don't have to do anything." Said Mob

"If Reigen-" said Ritsu. Reigen was always acting like he liked Shigeko. Ritsu knew how you were supposed to act when you had a girlfriend. You were supposed to touch her a lot and look at her a lot, girls like that stuff, and you were supposed to tell her that you loved her and you cared about her, if Reigen ever told Shigeko that he loved her Ritsu could not be held responsible for his actions….and you were supposed to tell her that you missed her when you hadn't seen her in a while…

Reigen had told Mob that he missed her.

Missed.

Which meant that they hadn't been together at all for a while. Probably a long while. She had been spending a lot of time with Teru, Rei had showed him the excessive number of pictures that Teru took, including some that Ritsu had wanted to wash his eyes out with bleach after seeing, but Ritsu still assumed that Shigeko had been at least spending some time with Reigen. She acted like she liked him, even, but that was just Shigeko being awkward….

Also this was where Shigeko lived.

Teru hadn't posted any pictures of the two of them, him and Shigeko, together in a while. Ritsu assumed that she had been with Reigen but…but if she wasn't with Reigen or Teru or at with her own family then where had she been?

"Master Reigen and I are friends again. We had a fight but we made up. We've been hanging out all day. Do you want to come in? We only have a SNES and it only has two controller but you can play for me. We have chips, too, and cookies and-" said Mob

"A fight? What happened? What did he do?" asked Ritsu. How dare Reigen even begin to think that he had the right to…to fight with Shigeko. No. What did they even have to fight about? What else could Reigen possibly want from her?

A flare of navy blue.

"Nothing. Well he was kind of mean but we're ok now. Ritsu, come in. Your aura is all…upset. Come on, we can play like we did before. Remember when we got that gift card to the Nintendo store for Christmas and we got the first Mario Kart? We can play just like we did back then." Said Mob. He was always so upset when it came to Master Reigen. Mob didn't get what Ritsu had against Master Reigen. Well Ritsu said that he thought that Master Reigen was just using her. He said that, before, a bunch of times. He said other things too, things that were even crazier than that.

She did not understand her brother sometimes.

But she still loved him.

"Mean how?" asked Ritsu. No. No way. Nobody was mean to his sister. Shigeko couldn't defend herself…well it was better for everyone else if she didn't defend herself. Reigen had…how dare he. How dare he treat Shigeko like-

"He just said some mean things because he felt cornered, that was all. Next time that happens he says that I have to tell him to shut up. We're ok now. Ritsu, really, come in. It's so cold out there." Said Mob. She wanted to play with him. She wanted things to feel, if only for a moment, like they had before. She knew that she was a terrible sister. She was a terrible person in general. Now she could add selfish to her list of flaws. It was selfish of her, wasn't it? Selfish of her to want Ritsu to come inside and spend time with her. He had things to do, lots of things. He had his own life with his own things to do. Studying. His own friends. His girlfriend.

"Well what did he say?" asked Ritsu already thinking back to every single crime show he had ever seen. He wondered how accurate those shows really were. Well maybe he was going straight to the murder…maybe he could at least try to run Reigen out of town, first.

"He said that I was being clingy and stubborn…and he called me a brat…but he and I are alright now. Really, Ritsu, everything is fine. Please…be nice to Master Reigen. Please be nice and…and please come in." said Mob

"He called you a brat?" asked Ritsu. Out of all the things to call someone he chose brat? What, did he think that Shigeko was still in elementary school? The guy couldn't even think up a decent insult. What was she even bothering with Reigen for? He couldn't even…not that Ritsu wanted Reigen to insult his sister…

"Yes. I don't want to talk about this anymore. Come inside, we can talk about something else. Have you seen Rei's drawings? She keeps on drawing these explosions. There's a lot of red in them, too, which even she doesn't understand. Oh! And the big tree. It looks kind of like a giant broccoli, right?" Said Mob. She didn't want to even think about that awful day let alone talk about it.

"Yeah…it does…but when did you see…" said Ritsu. The wheels in his head were turning. Reigen had called her a brat and then…was that why she had gone to live with Teru for a little bit? But when had she gone back to Reigen? After the press conference thing? But where had she been in the interim?

"The other day." Said Mob before she could think.

"You've been hanging out with Rei…but why didn't she tell me?" asked Ritsu more to himself. Rei was…was keeping secrets? But why would she even keep that a secret. If she wanted to hang out with Shigeko then they all could have hung out together…or she could have at least told him…not that she had to tell him everything…but why would she keep it a secret.

"…she let me stay with her…while Master Reigen and I were fighting…she let me stay with her…when Teru and I…I'm not sure if we're fighting or…but I just didn't want to stay with him anymore…so I stayed with Rei for a little bit." Said Mob softly. She didn't like to lie to Ritsu, or anyone, so she wouldn't. She just…she really didn't want to talk about this, either.

"Wait, what? Why if you needed a place to stay then why didn't you come home?" asked Ritsu. Well now wasn't that just mildly insulting. She just would not forgive him. He knew that he had been a jerk to her, and that pushing her had been beyond the pale, but she just could not or would not forgive him. She went back to Reigen after he called her names but she just would not forgive her, her own little brother.

"Because I didn't want to, Ritsu. I just…I can't. I can't go back to that house. Ritsu…I just can't. But I was ok. I only lived outside for a little bit. Then Mezato made me promise that I wouldn't sleep outside anymore so I stayed with her and Tome and Rei and even Tsubomi and her friends. It's better now, really it is. Master Reigen and I aren't fighting anymore and I'm back home." Said Mob trying to convince him that she was fine. But of course this was Ritsu and he always worried about her. Not only did he worry but he also just did not understand. He didn't understand at all why she couldn't go back to that house…not that she would ever tell him the whole reason. She could feel Master Reigen. She wanted to go to him. This was a lot, it was becoming a lot, and she just wanted to rest her head on him and feel safe.

"Wait…what? You would…you'd rather be homeless than…than come home?" asked Ritsu. She'd rather be homeless than forgive him? She'd rather…she literally meant sleep outside. And what in the hell were she and Teru fighting about? What could they have been…they seemed so happy…well whatever Teru did Ritsu would kill him. He'd….probably hit him again….yeah that was what was most likely going to happen. Did Teru know that she had been homeless? Was that….was that why all of those girls had been asking him about her? It really was some kind of conspiracy.

Shigeko had kept that from him.

She was in real trouble and she had kept that from him.

She thought that she didn't need him. Even when something had gone wrong, very wrong, she still…or maybe she was just still holding it against him. All the things that happened, all of the things that he did…but that wasn't like her…but she was doing a lot of things that weren't like her. Maybe this was just who she was now. Maybe he didn't even know her, anymore. Maybe he didn't even know himself, anymore. Maybe he didn't know anything at all anymore.

"No! Ritsu...it's not…you're talking like this is about you. This has nothing to do with you, really. I just don't want to come home, that's all. I just don't want to come home. I'm fine, Ritsu. I'm back with Master Reigen now and I'm fine." Said Mob. She was fine, she really was. Everything was fine. Even though she could feel those feelings, the bad ones, creeping up on her again. Even though she wanted to close the door and go back to being safe. Even though she wished that her little brother was still, well, little and they could be close and have fun together just like old times. Even though that was such a selfish thought to have, wasn't it? Just so selfish, the most selfish. The most selfish thought from the most selfish person…

"Really? Because it feels like…never mind. Here. Here's your homework, I've got to go. Mom and dad need at least one of their kids at home." Said Ritsu. He practically shoved the stack of homework into her hands and left. He heard her calling after him. He felt her aura. He still walked. He needed to get home because mom and dad expected him home. He had expectations. He was not Shigeko. He could not just go around doing whatever he wanted with not thought to how it would make other people feel.

"I'm sorry…" said Mob as she watched her brother walk away. She listened to his footsteps as he went down the metal stairs. She heard the rusty gate swing opened and shut. She watched his aura as he walked off. If she focused she could trace the path he was walking. His aura was faint, very faint, but if she really focused she could still see it.

"Hey….come on. You're letting all the heat out." Said Reigen coming out from where he was hiding. Hiding from a thirteen year old boy. A thirteen year old boy who had every reason to hate him, now. A thirteen year old boy who could really mess him up if he ever had the inclination to, which he did.

"I think Ritsu's mad at me." Said Mob as Master Reigen reached around her and closed the front door. She could still see Ritsu's aura…barely. Just barely.

"Mob…he's a thirteen year old boy. It's easier to list the things that he's not mad at. Trust me on this. I used to thirteen, I still remember what it was like." Said Reigen

"I don't remember being mad a lot of the time when I was thirteen…but I'm not a boy so it's probably different….I guess….but I just don't want him to be mad me. I want things to be the way they were before, back when we were little, or at least before all of…this." said Mob. Reigen put his hand on her back and pushed her in close. Better. She felt better after that. He knew. He felt what she felt.

"Mob…it'll be ok. I think that you handled that very well. Remember, you don't have to talk about this with anyone that you don't want me…not even me. You don't even have to tell me…but I am here if you ever do want to talk about it. Maybe in a day or a week or a month or a year or a decade. Mob…even if it's thirty years from now at three in the morning on Christmas Eve I'll be there if you want to talk about it…and if you want to take it to your grave then that's fine too. Ok? You handled that a hell of a lot better than I would have." Said Reigen tracing circles on her back.

"You would have been…mean…to your brother?" asked Mob

"To Tomoki? Um…I have no clue, I don't know the kid. To your brother if he were my brother? Yeah, probably. It's not that I don't like him, I just…I think that he should have backed off when you said that you didn't want to talk about it. That's all. He's a good kid, though, and he cares a lot about you." Said Reigen

"He does. I care about him, too." Said Mob

"And that's why you're such a good person, Mob, your ability to care so much…" said Reigen. Ok, now he was starting to get choked up again. Nope. No. Not again. He had to be strong and stable for Mob. He felt something poking him in the stomach. It felt like…right. Paper. Mob's homework.

Apparently Mob's teachers really had something against trees.

"Sorry. That's my homework….I haven't done homework in so long…" said Mob. Sometimes she worked on it with her friends but they did most of the work. She just didn't see the point. It would always be wrong, anyway. School used to be…well not fun but somewhere she belonged. Now she had been sleepwalking through her days…it was like a dream…and not a good one. Her grades were probably terrible, now. She hadn't even paid attention in class in so long…

Reigen took the stack of papers from her. Algebra. Modern Japanese. English Language. History. Biology. Literature and Composition. Homework. Simple. He could help with homework. Something simple. Something that…that she needed him for…

"Well then we'd better get started. No time like the present. Don't worry, we'll get this done in no time. Well accept for the math, but that's why mankind invented the calculator!" said Reigen with more mirth than he felt. He just needed…he needed to help Mob with her homework. He needed to.

Mob let him lead her to the kitchen table, their game long abandoned. She let him help her with her homework even though she barely understood what she was supposed to be doing. Not paying attention for weeks and weeks would do that. She felt bad but….not as bad. Because he was helping her. It took a long time, mostly the math, but he still helped her. They sat at that table almost all night it felt like as the plowed through the stack of homework.

Some of this was make up work, judging by the dates.

Which was nice. At least now, maybe, her grades wouldn't be so horrible. Grades mattered in this reality. They mattered and so did a lot of other things. The future mattered. There was a future in this reality, not a cobbled together simulacrum of the past. Grades mattered and her future mattered because this was the world, this was reality. This.

Him. Her. There. At that table.

It mattered.


	53. Stuck, Moving Forward, Making Plans

Reigen's entire side felt like one big bruise.

It was his own fault, of course. Mob had been having a nightmare, he could tell by the feeling of absolute terror he woke up with, and without thinking he reached down and tried to shake her awake. That had been a terrible idea. The minute he made contact with her aura, not even with her but with the blue of her aura, the part that had settled closest to her, he went flying back into the wall.

Then she woke up and apologized.

And then they stayed up until four in the morning watching TV.

It was seven, now. She should have been up an hour ago. She should have actually been up around four, as was her habit, but she needed her rest. He left her on the couch after she fell asleep in his arms. He covered her in her blanket and just let her rest there. He wasn't going to try and move her. She needed her rest.

He didn't.

He hadn't been able to sleep, not really. There was the pain in his side to deal with. Nothing felt broken, just bruised and possibly contused, but the pain was still enough to make sleep borderline impossible. Still it was good, though, the physical pain. It detracted from the mental pain. The pain of the fact that this was all his fault.

It really was.

And he had no idea how to fix this.

She skipped school yesterday. She'd probably end up going today. She'd go back out there into the world where he couldn't protect her or even keep an eye on her. He had nowhere to go. He could not, he would not, go back to work. First of all he was still a laughingstock, that whole business still hadn't passed, and second of all he could not bring Mob back there. He could not bring her back there and put her in danger again. No. Not again.

Never again.

There were other things she could do around the office, a million little bits of busywork that he could invent, but eventually someone would come to him with a real spiritual concern and he'd be obligated to try his best to help, and his best would not be good enough, so Mob would step in…or they'd get called out on another job….

Not happening.

He heard her stirring in the living room. She needed her rest. She needed to go back to sleep. Another day without going to school wouldn't kill her. She had said, last night, that she hadn't done a lick of school work in almost a month. Her grades were well and truly spiraling down the drain…another way he had failed her…but one more day wouldn't make them any worse. When he was her age mom would always tell him to be grateful that Japan didn't hold kids back a grade, back when he had been skipping school and neglecting his grades, so at least Mob would still move on with the rest of her class. That is if she ever went back to school.

A thought. Mob and him growing old in this apartment together, only to wrappers and empty soda cans for company. He can't let that happen. This was not the slippery slope to Mob living her life in this apartment too afraid of going off into the outside world to function. No way. Not Mob. Mob would be fine. Mob was resilient. Mob would recover. What did not kill her would make her stronger.

Nobody was that resilient.

He sat up quickly. Panic. His? Mob's. He tumbles out of bed, the blanket refusing to let him leave, and his side crying out in pain. A gasp from the other room. He hears the door open, he's still all wrapped up like an unwilling burrito.

"Master?" asked Mob. She used her powers to untangle him. She put a hand over her mouth. He was losing a fight with a blanket. The previous panic of waking up after the sun faded away as she saw him on the ground fighting with his blanket. She didn't know why he was fighting with it. It was kind of scratchy but not that bad.

"Thanks, Mob." Said Reigen as he stood up. Smiling. She was smiling. Good. He wished that she'd move her hand away, he loved her smile. He hadn't seen her smile in so long. He would never take her smiles for granted again.

"What happened, Master? Why were you on the ground?" asked Mob as she used her powers to make his bed. His phone came tumbling out of the covers. She caught it and handed it to him.

"I suppose I just got a little tied up." Said Reigen. She giggled a little at that. She moved her hand, too. Happy. Genuinely happy.

"You should be more careful, Master Reigen. I think you got hurt. I can feel it in my side and my stomach." Said Mob. She touched her side and stomach for emphasis. Reigen did the same.

"…you can feel that?" asked Reigen

"Yes. I think it's because you've been in my aura so much lately." Said Mob. Reigen reached down and felt his stomach. A low level pain was there. Nothing too bad but…that hadn't been there before.

"I'm sorry. I'll-" said Reigen

"No, I like it. Not the part about being in pain but the part where you're with me." Said Mob

"Mob….I'll always be with you." Said Reigen. He reached over, slowly so she'd see that it was him and he meant no harm, and tried to brush her bangs out of her face. They immediately returned to their post guarding her eyes, eyebrows, and forehead.

"That's not true." Said Mob. That would be weird. She needed to take a shower. As often as she thought about things she knew that they would be weird in real life. She also needed to go to school, she couldn't miss school, and he couldn't go with her. Well they could switch bodies again…but that had been weird….and also not being able to go to the bathroom all day was uncomfortable.

"….it is. It is, Mob. I will never, ever, ever let you g-abandon you. I will never abandon you." Said Reigen. He was about to tell her that he would never, ever, let her go but that sounded…not good. Abandon was better. That was what he had done, abandoned her. He abandoned her and she had gone through that entire **ordeal** while he was just **fucking around** and now she would carry this with her for **forever** and-

"But I have to go to school. Master, you can't come to school with me, you're too old. It wouldn't be allowed, I think, and it would be weird anyway. Not that you're weird, it would just be weird having an adult in class. Also I think that you would mess up the grading curve because you've already done this already. It wouldn't be fair to everyone else." Said Mob. She knew that Master Reigen would never abandon her. He had never abandoned her before and he wasn't going to now. She would be better, a better person, and then he would always want her around. If he ever stopped wanting her around she'd just leave again. It was better to leave than to stick around and wait for someone to tell you to go.

"Mob, I didn't mean like that. I just meant that I would always be there for you no matter what." Said Reigen. He didn't know how much 'what' there was left for there to be but he knew that he would be there for her if it happened.

"Oh. Ok. I'll be there for you too, Master, no matter what. Like if people start being mean to you again. I'll be here for you if people are ever mean to you." Said Mob. She hadn't been there for him when he needed her the most. He forgave her, though, so that was good. She would always be there for Master Reigen.

"Mob….just….I'll be there for you. That's my job. Just…yeah. That's my job…and I've been doing a piss poor job of it…" said Reigen quietly. He couldn't look at her, then. She was still worried about him. Ever after everything she had been through she still wanted to be there for him.

What did he ever do to deserve her?

"Master, we're there for each other." Said Mob. She didn't know why he thought that he had done such a bad job of being there for her. He took her back, which was more than she deserved, and he loved her again.

"Just…you're right. I don't want to argue with you." Said Reigen

"I don't want to argue with you either, Master. I hate it when we fight. Can we never fight again?" asked Mob

"I…we can try. I don't know the future." Said Reigen

"I can ask Rei if we ever fight again. She knows the-Rei! Oh no, I forgot to text her back! I forgot to text everyone back!" said Mob. She felt around for her phone. How could she have forgotten to get back to everyone? They must have been so worried!

Reigen was glad. Normal. That was so, incredibly, normal. A normal thing to worry about. Texting her friends back. Not where she was going to sleep or where her next meal was coming from or if she was a murderer or not. Normal. She was just so, refreshingly, normal as she grabbed her phone and sat down on the couch. She looked just like any other fourteen year old girl, there, in that moment.

But normal was still a ways away.

Reigen was not stupid and he was not naïve. He knew that Mob would carry what happened with her for years, maybe even the rest of her life. That bastard had possibly ruined her entire life. As normal as she looked, there, she had still gone through a lot. She told him about all the things she was, justifiably, afraid of. Cats. Milk. Blood. Haircuts. Intimacy. All of it.

Poor Mob.

"Oh…" said Mob. Reigen was at her side in an instant. Whatever she needed her would get for her. Whatever she wanted they would do. He felt a low level pain in his stomach and a low level sort of sadness.

"What's wrong?" asked Reigen

"Rei….Rei and Ritsu are in a fight…because of me." Said Mob. Reigen sat down next to her. Another totally normal problem. Well not normal, from what he could gather her brother and his girlfriend had a pretty intense relationship going on, but Mob caring about something so…normal…as a middle school relationship was good.

"Mob, I love you, but your little brother would argue with God himself if he could. It's probably not even about you. Sometimes when people are upset with each other they just sort of throw everything at the other person-"said Reigen

"No, this is about me. Ritsu is mad that I didn't tell him that I was living outside and he's extra mad at Rei for not telling him. Now they're in a fight. Rei's asking him not to break up with her." said Mob

"…they're fighting about this right now?" asked Reigen. Well then…that was more guilt that Mob didn't need or deserve. Reigen could see it from her brother's point of view, that was a hell of a thing to keep from someone, especially someone who you loved. He could also see it from the girl's point of view. What, exactly, would telling Ritsu help the situation? Mob didn't want to go back to her parents' house and there was nobody on Earth who could make her do something that she didn't want to do. All in all her friends handled the entire situation much better than Reigen would have thought middle schooler were capable of.

They handled it better than the adults in Mob's life.

"Yes. Ritsu is yelling. Rei is crying." Said Mob. She wanted to go down there right now and set Ritsu straight. She was the one who asked everyone not to tell Ritsu. Rei was just being a good friend. Mob was so selfish and terrible…she had lost Ritsu and Rei the love of each other's lives. Now they wouldn't go to high school and university together. They would never get married and move into the apartment next to Mob. They'd never have babies together and then Mob's kids wouldn't have any cousins to play with. They'd each be buried alone in separate graves instead of together in the same coffin eternally embracing. Then they wouldn't be able to pass on and would wander the Earth for eternity looking for one another.

"Yes. Right this second. Now Ritsu is mad that Rei's on her phone. Rei is going to tell him that she's talking to me. Maybe I should just tell Ritsu that I made Rei promise not to tell him. If they break up now they'll never know true happiness. They love each other so much….I don't want to be responsible for losing Ritsu the love of his life…or Rei the love of hers…" said Mob. Reigen slowly put an arm over her shoulders. She snuggled into him, her phone still clutched in her hand.

"Wow…that's pretty…intense. Mob, listen, you should tell Ritsu that you swore your friends to secrecy and then I think that you should let them work this out on their own. This is their relationship and if they really do love each other as much as you say, which is s hell of a lot, then they'll work this out. If not, well, they're thirteen. They have plenty of time to meet other people. Nobody says that you absolutely have to marry the first person you ever dated in middle school." Said Reigen. That didn't reassure her one bit. Now he could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

"….do you think that Teru and I are broken up…?" asked Mob. Well wasn't she the most selfish person on the planet? Here her little brother was losing the girl who loved him the most in the entire world and she was thinking about her own relationship. She had messed it up between her and Teru and now she had messed it up between Ritsu and Rei. What next? Were her parents going to get a divorce? Was Master Reigen's mother going to get double divorced? Would the concept of marriage cease all together?!

"Well that's…uh….you ask him yourself. Tell him…tell him how you feel and see how he feels…and maybe tell him what happened." Said Reigen. Well this was not something that he wanted to touch with a ten foot pole. Now there was a mess and a half. Mob's first relationship was falling apart…and this was his fault, too. Cohabitation put a strain on an adult relationship. That was just normal cohabitation between adults. Mob and her boyfriend were only fourteen. They were not ready for that or any of the shit that they had been getting up to. Not back when they started and certainly not after everything that had happened.

Mob did not need a break up on top of all of this shit.

"He knows that I cheated on him in the unreality. He said that he didn't care. I think he's afraid of me because of what…what I did to those guys who were going to hurt us…and also I think he might be upset because I cried after we had-" said Mob

"Talk to him about that! You don't have to tell him everything but at least tell him that you don't want to do…that…for the foreseeable future. You're just…you've been through a lot and if you don't want to do that then you don't have to. Nobody…nobody can ever make you…" said Reigen. The pain in his stomach was getting worse. That was him. He was going to be sick again. Mob…Mob hadn't had to spell it out for him….for once she was clear as day…

At least he knew how to deal with vomit.

"It's not that I don't want to it's that I can't. I can't…when I feel the weight of another person on me I think about Mogami and-" said Mob. It wasn't weird to talk to Master Reigen about this. She could talk to him about anything. It actually felt good to have someone who knew, someone who she could talk to about what happened.

Like she wasn't so alone.

"That was not your fault. Nothing about that was your fault. None of what the bastard did to you was your fault." Said Reigen. He was holding onto her now. His hands at both of her shoulders. He had turned her so she was facing him completely. She needed to know. She needed to internalize the fact that nothing was her fault.

This was all his fault.

"I know, Master, you said that already. I just…I guess that I should tell Teru why I don't want to….and that I'm sorry for scaring him….and that I still love him even if he doesn't love me anymore….but I still want him to love me…" said Mob. Her stomach hurt. She didn't like to be moved so suddenly and she had almost lashed out. But this was Master Reigen. She knew that it was him. She pushed him earlier in the morning, or maybe it still counted as night, when he surprised her. But he forgave her for that. He was wonderful like that.

She loved him for that.

And he loved her.

Maybe that could make up for the fact that Teru probably didn't love her anymore.

"Mob…if he doesn't still love you after you've told him everything that happened to you then he doesn't deserve your love." Said Reigen letting her go. If the kid broke up with Mob Reigen would….he'd stay out of it. This was a lot for a kid to deal with…and that kid had his own shit to deal with in life. He lived alone, all alone….and he was Mob's age…

Poor kid.

"I don't want him to love me just because he pities me. Mogami said that people were only nice to me because they either pity me or want to use me." Said Mob softly. Reigen squished down any feeling that he may have had at the time. Mob needed him and it would do her no good to have him flying off the handle…or sobbing into a puddle…or throwing up…

He was the adult here.

"Mob…people are nice to you because you're a nice person. You're a nice…even now you're thinking about everyone but yourself. You're worried about your brother and your friend's relationship…how your boyfriend feels…even before you were so worried about me…Mob you always worry about everyone but yourself. You always put others first and…and people are nice to you because you're a good person." Said Reigen trying his best to keep his voice level, to keep any feelings he had stuffed down to where Mob couldn't feel them.

"Do you really think so?" asked Mob. She wanted to believe him…she did. She wanted to believe every single good thing that he had to say about her, that he thought about her, but she couldn't. She couldn't…she couldn't see herself the way he saw her.

And he couldn't see her the way that she saw herself.

"I know so. Mob….Mogami is full of lies. He hurt you. He's a terrible…whatever he is now…and he hurt you…so don't believe a word he said. Just…Mogami is full of lies." Said Reigen taking her hands in his. He squeezed it. She squeezed it back.

"Mogami is full of lies." Said Mob squeezing his hand in hers. Mogami was full of lies. Mogami was full of lies. She just had to…to believe it. That Mogami was full of lies.

"He is. He lied to you. Every single word that he said to you, every single thing he tried to teach you, it was a lie. He lied. He lied to you. That world was not real. This world was real and what happened to you…what happened to you was not something that you ever deserved…and I am so sorry...Mob you're…a good person." Said Reigen holding her hand so tightly, too tightly.

"….He lied to me." Said Mob. It was just so…it felt true, when Master Reigen said it. She trusted him. She loved him. She knew that Mogami was evil but…but after six months she supposed that she had no chance of not believing him…

Master Reigen was her Master. She trusted him. She loved him.

"He did. He did and…and you don't deserve to be lied to." Said Reigen. She really didn't. She was too forgiving. She knew that he had been lying to her. She knew that truth. She knew the truth about him and she still…she forgave him. She forgave him for everything. Even what happened to her…and it was his fault….

"Master…thank you…for being so nice to me…and for loving me…too." Said Mob. Reigen didn't care how it sounded when she said it. He didn't care how it sounded when he said it. He loved her. She loved him.

That was what mattered. Love.

Love was something that mattered.

Love was the kind of thing, Ritsu figured, that made people do the things they did. Even if they were really dumb. There was familial love, friendship love, and the kind of love that Rei felt for him. That she kept on saying over and over and over again.

"I love you! I love you!" said Rei through tears. She had seen it coming, this big catastrophic thing that would come and break her and Ritsu apart. She just didn't think that it would have been his sister. Her friend. Not that Rei was mad…because she had done the right thing…and Mob had needed her…Mob had really needed her…and she had done the right thing…

And no good deed went unpunished.

"I…how could you keep this from me? That's my sister!" said Ritsu. She was crying. He hated it when girls cried. Mom cried last night when she thought that nobody could hear her…Shigeko cried when they fought all those months ago…and now his girlfriend was crying.

And people were looking.

Lots of people.

They were arguing on the sidewalk on the way of to her school. Well they had been arguing. Then she started crying and he was just yelling at a girl, again.

He hated yelling at girls.

"I'm sorry! She asked me to and…and I just wanted to help her…and she was…she said that she didn't want you to know and…and I just….I love you!" said Rei. She had to make sure that he knew that she loved him. She needed him to say it back. She needed him to know that…that this could not be the big cataclysmic thing that happened…that might happen…that would happen…

This was not how they would fall apart.

She loved him. He had saved her life. He had kept her alive and safe when…when they were kidnapped…and he had helped to stop those bad people…

She could have been dead if he hadn't been there for her.

And now he'd be gone and she'd be alone. Alone and vulnerable.

"I…please stop crying…" said Ritsu. He was getting looks, now. Lots of looks from lots of people. She was crying, really crying. Her eyes were rimmed with black. Black tears tracked their way down her face. He took a deep breath. His aura was visible. He needed to calm the hell down.

Because yelling at girls was what had gotten him in this mess in the first place.

"I'm trying too….I just…I'm sorry! She asked me not to tell you. She asked me not to tell you because…I don't know what happened to her but I think that it was something…something that nobody wants their brother to know about…and I just wanted to help her….and she wouldn't go home to your house…and she was fighting with her master…and she was sleeping outside and….her friend asked me to help…so I helped….and I…I see that…I don't want this to be the big thing that makes us break up…I don't want us to break up at all! I love you!" said Rei. She was glowing, she could see it. She hardly ever saw her aura, only when she used her powers….and she was trying to see a future where they made it through this…and everything else.

But there were so many futures. She had no idea what it was that she was even looking at anymore. She had no idea what was going to happen. Everything was going to happen. Nothing was going to happen. Her head hurt and she was crying and now everyone was staring at her and her cheap eye liner and mascara were running and she looked so gross and she felt so gross and she just…this would end. She saw so many futures where this ended.

But none of those futures ended well.

"She…she really asked you not to tell me? That she was in trouble?" asked Ritsu. He needed to calm down. He needed to stay calm because every time he got this upset he just…he just lost control and acted like an asshole. That was why Shigeko would rather live outside or with her friends or even with fucking Reigen than back at her house with her family...and her brother.

"She did. Well she didn't specifically but her friend did. I just…I'm sorry that I kept this from you. I'm sorry. I really am. I just…I want us to stop fighting. She's fine now. She texted me and she says that she and Reigen made up…and Reigen wasn't the guy that-" said Rei. She wiped her eyes. Black streaks covered the back of her hand. She tried to wipe her hands against her school skirt. Still there.

"….guy…?" asked Ritsu. He was still, very still, but his mind was going a mile a minute. Rei said guy. What guy? Which guy? What happened…he knew how guys could be. Shigeko was…she would never hurt another human being…she hated it. She'd rather give her power to Reigen than fight…but she and Reigen had been fighting….

Reigen hadn't been around to protect.

Nobody had been around to protect her.

And then…

Someone was going to die.

Some guy hurt his sister and now he was going to die.

Ritsu was going to kill him.

"I…Mob didn't tell me anything specific but her friends said…and she never told me that they were wrong…" said Rei. Well he wasn't yelling, and the people that had been watching decided to move along, and she had stopped crying….

It was over.

"Name." said Ritsu simply. Rei blinked. He sounded just like Mob then. Mob had that way about her, like she had no feelings, but Rei knew that she did. She took things well but she did have feelings. So did Ritsu…but he was acting like he didn't.

"Huh?" asked Rei

"The guy. I need his name." said Ritsu. He knew what he needed to do and he knew that he had to do it. His powers didn't always work, and he was in no way as strong as his sister, but against a normal person…or another esper…and it would have had to be another esper, wouldn't it? Or it could have been a human…well they'd be a spirit soon enough.

"I-I don't know. She didn't say, nobody said. All I know is that it wasn't Reigen…or her boyfriend, I guess….and I don't even know what happened exactly. I have future vision, not past vision. I just…she didn't want you to know, ok? She wants to deal with this on her own." Said Rei. She had no idea what, exactly, happened to Mob but she knew that Mob did not want her little brother knowing…

Ritsu would protect his sister.

But Mob didn't want his protection.

Rei looked into the future. She saw…the future was dominated by fear. Fear and…white….thing. That was the loudest thing. She had to listen past it, to see past it, and she just…the future got so jumbled. So jumbled and mumbled and she fumbled with it until it all became an incoherent mess.

"Who else knows?" asked Ritsu. He'd either get a name or beat every guy in this city up until he, by process of elimination, found the guy who dared to lay a single fucking finger on his sister. He knew how guys could be, he knew all the things that could happen to girls, and he had dropped the ball. Shigeko may have been powerful but she would never, ever, hurt another person if she could avoid it.

She hadn't been safe.

And it was Ritsu's fault.

"I-I don't know. Her friends, maybe. I mean…I don't think that this is the kind of thing that she's going around telling people." Said Rei. She was still sniffling. Each sniffle cut through Ritsu. Right. Rei. She needed him, too. She was someone who needed him and he had…he had yelled at her. She had been trying to protect Shigeko. She had just been trying to be a good friend. She did nothing…terribly wrong…and he needed to pound this fact into his head before he ended up ruining this thing, too.

"Rei…thanks for telling me…eventually. I just…I'm sorry I yelled at you. That was wrong. That was wrong of me and I'm sorry." Said Ritsu trying to sound more normal. Less like he was about to kill a guy, which he was. He accepted that this was something that he had to do. He had a lot of things in his life that he had to do and this was one of them.

Also his girlfriend was still crying.

That wasn't good.

He took her hand in his.

"Ritsu…I love you and I don't want us to break up. I'm sorry that I kept something like that from you. Please forgive me but if not I understand. It's important to be able to express feelings and understand boundaries and be transparent, I read about that, so if you don't want us to be together anymore then I…I understand." Said Rei. She remembered, from a book she read, that it was important to acknowledge when you were at fault and ask for forgiveness. That was how good relationships worked.

And she needed this to be a good relationship.

"I….love you too. Just…I want whatever you want. Ok?" Said Ritsu. Ok. His girlfriend had kept this form him but she told him the truth now. He knew that he could not…as much as he wanted to break up with her, he couldn't. Then she'd cry and that would be bad. Also he had more important things to worry about now.

Like the bastard that hurt his sister.

He would pay.

Teru had no idea what it was that he was paying for.

He had texted Shigeko that morning and last night. Nothing. Nothing at all. Teru checked his phone as he walked to school. Nothing. She still hadn't responded. There was no change in the past ten minutes. None at all. She was avoiding him. She was ignoring him. He had literally no idea why.

Things had been so good between them.

Aside from when she drained those two espers…he may have been a little afraid of her then. But that wouldn't be enough for her to just…ignore him. Right? They had been doing so well. He had gotten used to the idea of her living with him, they had been having a great time together, but now it was all over and he had no idea why. She wasn't even meeting him before school anymore. She wasn't even anywhere near their usual spot. His range wasn't that great but she was super bright. He couldn't see her, though, so that meant that she was far away.

Running late?

Avoiding him.

He racked his brain for what he could have done wrong. He never said that he was afraid of her. He wasn't that afraid of her anyway, just what she could do, but she would never use her powers against him. She hadn't even wanted to when they met. She did have that thing about people being afraid of her. That was why she had run away from home after all.

She had run away from Reigen, too.

And then back to him.

He saw the footage from the press conference. That was Shigeko's doing. Her aura, her power set. She had gone to Reigen's rescue and now she was probably with him. She didn't need Teru anymore, she had Reigen again. He didn't know why she kept on going back to that bastard. He really didn't. He was so old, so annoying, and he smelled like a chimney too. Ick. And the smell always clung to Shigeko. She shouldn't smell like cigarettes. She should smell like literally anything else.

Perfume from Spain.

He still had that perfume mom sent her. It was on the shelf in the medicine cabinet next to all the cologne that they kept on sending him. Because he was getting older, they said. He was, he was older, he was old enough to…to do a lot of things. To have a girlfriend.

To live with his girlfriend.

But Shigeko didn't want to live with him. She chose Reigen. She would always choose Reigen. There wasn't a time in their relationship when she had not chosen Reigen above him. She didn't like him like that, though, because if she did then she would have been Reigen's. Reigen obviously had feelings for her and had no scruples about keeping her with him so he could have all the benefits of having a girlfriend but…

Shigeko would never cheat on him.

She had freaked out about cheating on him in a dream. Of course she would never actually go off and sleep with anyone else. This was Shigeko. She was not that sort of person. She was a good person, the best person that Teru had ever met. She made him a better person. That was why he needed to kill those thoughts, the crazy ones, the ones that said that maybe Shigeko returned Reigen's feelings…because they were insane. They were the most insane. There were no thoughts more insane that had ever been thought.

Maybe he was just going crazy.

She still hadn't replied.

Footsteps approached. A familiar aura slammed into his. He knew that aura. He slowed his pace and let the footsteps catch up to him.

"Did you know?" said Ritsu as he caught up to Teru. How could he just be walking down the street so calmly? Buried in his phone like nothing was wrong. Everything was wrong!

"And a warm hello to you too, Ritsu. Yes, I have been doing well. Yes, the weather has been unusually cold lately." Said Teru as he walked. He expected some kind of comeback from Ritsu, not to be grabbed the elbow and turned against his will.

Ritsu's aura shoved into his. Dark blue met gold. It was visible, briefly, to even the most normal of people. There was some stares and fast footsteps.

"Did. You. Know." Said Ritsu slowly. He needed a name, that was all. As long as he had the name then he could take care of the rest by himself.

"What is it that I need to know? That, apparently, you're back into your delinquent phase? It does not suit you at all, Ritsu." Said Teru. Ritsu still did not let him go. There was something in his eyes. Something in his aura…murderous intent.

Teru pulled himself free and put up a barrier.

"So you don't know then." Said Ritsu. Shigeko. He'd ask her. She would tell him. He would beg, plead, bribe, and steal to get her to tell him. To tell him so that he could protect her. Like he should have from the beginning.

"What do I not know?" said Teru trying to stay calm. Possession? Insanity? Maybe Ritsu finally cracked.

"Shigeko. What happened to her. You don't know." Said Ritsu. Teru dropped his barrier.

"What happened? Claw? Someone else?" asked Teru. Of course she wouldn't ignore him. Of course she wouldn't avoid him. Something had happened. But what? She was so strong…but she also hated violence even when it was for self-defense…

And there were an awful lot of red auras around lately…

"I don't know. I don't know exactly what happened…but I'm going to find out….and when I do I'm going to kill him." said Ritsu

"Who? Reigen?" asked Teru. Ritsu was serious. Well they all had those fantasies but to go as far as to kill him….but Shigeko had been…if Reigen ever did anything to hurt Shigeko Teru would not hesitate to kill him. But he hoped that he didn't have to kill anyone. Because Shigeko had to be fine. Otherwise he had failed her.

"No. Rei said that Shigeko said that it wasn't him. I just need the name, that's all. I just need that guy's name and then I'm going to kill him." said Ritsu

"….you're not kidding. I can see it in your aura, you're serious. Also you've got a bad case of the crazy eyes going on." Said Teru trying to lighten the atmosphere which was heavy, so heavy, that it was going to squish him flat.

"I'm serious. When I find out who this guy is I'm going to murder him. I don't know if I'll do it quickly or slowly but he has to die. Nobody hurts my sister….I should have been there…" said Ritsu. He could feel himself tearing up. No. He had to stop that. He didn't need to start crying, too. Rei had been crying earlier, his mom had been crying last night, and Shigeko….she had probably been crying to much that it was impossible to quantify.

"Guy? Another esper?" asked Teru. Guy. He did not like that word. He did not like that word at all. Claw. He would have preferred Claw. He had dealt with Claw before. Guy….a guy could have meant anything. Anyone. Another esper? Someone stupid enough to challenge Shigeko? But she could drain powers…and she had no scruples about doing that.

A guy.

He knew what guys could do….

"I have no fucking clue, Teru. I'm going to ask her. I'm going right back to Reigen's shitty apartment and I am not leaving until she tells me the guy's name. I don't care if she doesn't want me to know about it. I don't care if she doesn't want me to talk about it. She's going to tell me so that-that I can make it right." Said Ritsu. Even though he had no idea how to make this right. Sure he killed the guy but then Shigeko would still…it would still have happened. Not that he knew what happened….for sure. He could read between the lines. He wasn't a little kid.

Someone was going to die.

"You're skipping?" asked Teru. Rational. He had to be rational right now.

"Yeah, I have to. I have to figure out what happened." Said Ritsu

"Just wait for her to come to school. You go to the same school…and I'll wait too….because I should have….have kept her safe…." Said Teru trying to make sense of all of this. Shigeko…because he hadn't been there….and now she….

He was terrible.

"Yeah. You should have. So should I…but that's not important. I just…I have to ask her what happened. I don't know…and I don't…she didn't come to school the other day…" said Ritsu. He wanted to beat the ever loving shit out of Teru in that moment. He was right. He loved Shigeko. If he loved her then he should have kept her safe. But beating Teru up would not solve his problems. He was done beating people up. He needed to stay calm and think rationally. As rationally as he could think while he was planning murder.

"She didn't?" asked Teru. He had been too busy with his own life, plain and simple. He had been too busy and he had…he hadn't been there…and no wonder she was ignoring him, no wonder. He would have ignored him, too.

"No…you didn't know? Never mind. Just…I don't know. I can't skip school. If I skip school then my parents are going to want to know why and I can't…Shigeko doesn't want people to know…and my mom would probably cry again….but I can't just…I don't know." Said Ritsu. Ok, maybe he couldn't skip school. He just…he needed to figure something out.

"Just…I'll talk to her. I'll…I can't skip either…that's about the only thing that my parents care about, my grades. Heh. Just…just let me think. Let me think…" said Teru. He had control over this. He had this situation under control. He had every situation under control. He had no choice but to have every situation under control. Who else would have this under control?

Not Ritsu. He was about to go to prison for the rest of his life for murder.

Him. Him alone. Always him alone.

He felt it, the weight of it. The weight of the world on him. He always had to deal with everything alone. He had…he had Shigeko by his side but…but this was about her. This was about her…and she had been…she had been dealing with this for…? He had no idea how long Shigeko had been dealing with this for. No idea. He was a bad boyfriend. He had done a piss poor job of…of everything….and now he needed to make this all up to her.

The only problem was that he had no idea how to even begin going about doing that.

Reigen had no idea how he was even supposed to begin to go about fixing this. This being the mile long list of ways he had messed up…and messed up Mob's life. The internet was not helpful. The internet hadn't been able to tell him anything that he didn't already know. Lingering trauma. Trouble with day to day living. Lifelong problems with trust and intimacy. Shit that Mob did not need in her life. Things that she would now spent the rest of her life dealing with.

And it was all his fault.

He rested his head in his hands. He was at his computer. Mob was getting ready for school. She wanted to go, she said that she had to. She had been up late doing all of that homework, well they had been up late doing all of that homework, and she wanted to turn it in. She said so and he…he was not about to stop her from going to school. That would have been irresponsible. She still had to go school. Even though that would mean that she was back out there where anything could happen to her…where she could go anywhere….

And maybe not come back.

But she said that she would be coming back. She said that she'd be coming back and he had to believe her. She said that…a while ago, actually. Did she change her mind? That thought should not make Reigen as happy as it does. He should want her to leave the house, to live her life like normal, to do the things that made her happy….

But school didn't make her happy anymore. She said that she was afraid of school, now. School made her afraid and because she was afraid she…she described it as going to sleep but awake. Her mind going walkabouts. The internet had a more technical term for it, disassociation. She disassociated from events that reminded her of past trauma. This was the way that the mind had of protecting itself.

He hadn't been there to protect her.

But now he was there. He was there for her and would be no matter what she needed. Not that he had any clue what she needed, beyond love. All the love in the world. He'd give her the world, if she asked it of him, and she would be right to ask it. She deserved it. She deserved the sun, the moon, and the stars above. Anything. Everything.

She really did.

Anything to stop her from feeling like crap, and she did feel like crap. She had been getting ready for school for….he checked the time…a while. She was late, very late, truly late. Maybe she should just skip again, it wasn't like one more day would kill her or anything. It sure seemed like she was skipping. She had…where was she? He had gotten too wrapped up in his research that he hadn't noticed time passing. The sun had shifted across the room. It was brighter, now, not as bright as high noon but still bright. He was never home when it was this bright, on a weekday anyway.

Of course he'd be home every single day from now on.

And so would Mob, maybe.

They had fun together for a little bit. They watched TV and say together and ate junk food and played Mario Kart, which she was pretty good at. She still hadn't known the trick to the Rainbow Road, though. Well had hadn't totally remembered it, it was a lot of precise jumps and intentional falling, but he remembered it. She was so amazed that you could use something as annoying as the lack of railings on the Rainbow Road to your advantage.

Sometimes something good could come out of something bad.

Not that he had any idea what sort of good could even begin to come out of the situation the Mob was in. He had no idea whatsoever. What does not kill you makes you stronger. That was a load of crap. Mob had already been a strong person, it had taken her six months to crack, and she was still…she was stronger than him, that was for sure, but even she had her limits. She was not ok and Reigen had to remember that. He had to remember that no matter how strong she seemed she was still just a fourteen year old girl. Nobody could possibly bear that kind of weight alone.

And she would never be alone again. He would make sure of it.

He got up and looked for her. She was pulling her aura close. He could see…there. End of the hall. Oh. She was in the bathroom. Taking a shower? No, he would have heard the clanking of the pipes in this shithole they called home. That was something else he'd need to do for her. They needed to move. This place was not big enough for the both of them and it was…it was not nice enough for her, anyway. She deserved a nice place to live…and the option of having her own room. The option of it. He was not going to push her away again. Not now, not that she needed him.

And it did feel like she needed him.

The closer he got to the bathroom the more a sense of dread built up in the pit of his stomach. Dread and…what was that? A low level sort of pain punctuated by the occasional pointy feeling. Not a stab, a true stab, but more like he had swallowed something without chewing properly. Wait…he knew this feeling….

He had been about to knock on the door but quickly pulled his hand away. Right. Mob was a fourteen year old girl. She would not want to be bothered while…this…was happening. He'd let her take all the time she needed to…do whatever it was that she had to do during this…time. Not that he was squeamish. He was a grown man, a year shy of thirty, he could handle the facts of biology.

"Master?" asked Mob. Reigen had been about to head back to his room and do some more research, this time about apartments for rent, because not only was this place not big enough for the two of them he was also on thin ice with his landlord. One more domestic squabble, just one, and Reigen needed to find a new place to live. The other people in the building did not enjoy hearing him and Mob scream at each other in the middle of the night.

"Hey Mob." Said Reigen. He wanted to ask her if she was ok, if she needed anything, but he didn't. He knew how Mob got when this happened. She liked her privacy. This was one of the few times where she wanted to keep some distance between them, too. According to her he was a boy and could not know about this. He'd respect her privacy.

"Master….I don't want to go to school today." Said Mob softly. She sat against the door, the other side of the door, with her knees drawn up. She would not go to school. She could not go to school. If she went to school then everyone would make fun of her again. She'd end up with blood all over her clothes and dripping down her legs and then everyone would laugh at her and-and-and-

The mirror cracked.

"Sure. Sure. Whatever you want, Mob." Said Reigen. He tried to reach out to her metaphysically but she pulled away. He didn't blame her. This was not the thing that she wanted him to know about. Would he feel the same if he were a girl? Maybe. He had no idea, he had never been a teenage girl.

"…Thank you." Said Mob. She closed her eyes and let her hair fall forwards. She couldn't do this, not again. She couldn't ruin her clothes and have to…to live with this…and it hurt so much.

A stab of pain.

"Hey, um, Mob? There's some of that pain stuff you take up in the medicine cabinet." Said Reigen. That had been a doozy. Poor Mob, having to deal with this every few weeks. Now she had to deal with this on top of all the shit that was going on in her head.

"….I'm fine. Everything's fine." Said Mob. She did not want Master Reigen to know. He was a boy. He could not know. She also had this fear, this nagging fear, that he would make fun of her. That was how she knew that she was truly starting to go insane. Master Reigen would never, ever, ever make fun of her. He loved her again.

"Sure, alright. Just…take all the time you need? Ok?" asked Reigen. Mob assured him that she would, and she did. She had no idea how long she stayed in the bathroom for but she knew that she was not, and maybe would not ever be, ready to come out. She could just say here. The tiles was cold against her legs. The wall was cold against her back. She felt gross, so gross, even though she was using the biggest, thickest, napkin she owned. She still felt gross. She still checked to make sure that she wasn't ruining her clothes and getting blood all over herself.

She wasn't.

She didn't feel lightheaded either, like she had before. Before in the unreality. She had been fine the last time this happened in the actual reality. She had ruined a pair of underwear but aside from that she had been fine. Nobody had been mean to her, nobody had made fun of her, and it had been over within the week. That was what she had to remember. That was what she had to remember, not the unreality. It wasn't real. It was a false reality. It was a lie. It was a lie created to torture and torment her.

It was not reality.

Even though sometimes she had trouble telling the two of them apart.

Like now. She knew that she had to go to school. She knew that she could not hide in the bathroom forever. She knew that she had friends, so many friends, and they wouldn't make fun of her. They hadn't, either, when this happened to her for the first time at school. Tome had not been making fun of her that day, she just wasn't good in a crisis. Not that what had happened had been a true crisis. Not like in the unreality.

Blood dripping down into milk.

Asagiri being so….mean.

All the yelling.

All the laughing.

She covered her ears and shook her head. All the shampoos and soaps and conditioners and stuff came tumbling down from the shower shelves. Great, one more disaster she could add to her generous supply. It was just one thing after the other, wasn't it? One thing and then another and another and another. There was no end to it. There would always be something, wouldn't there be. Now she had a mess to clean up and cleaning up that mess would have involved her getting up and she just could not do that. She just could not.

So she stayed where she was.

Staying where he was supposed to be had been torture all day.

Ritsu did not want to be in school but if he left, just up and left, then mom and dad would be called and they'd know and they did not need to know about any of this. Ritsu could handle it. Everyone was always telling him how mature and responsible he was. He could handle whatever it was that he needed to do. He would handle this. He had help, Teru's help, but he knew that he didn't need it. This was something that he could handle on his own.

The last bell could not come fast enough.

He watched he clock. He willed time to move forward. He had been willing time to move forward all day. His pencils had snapped on their own, his papers had torn, and his chopsticks at lunch had bent and twisted. His powers. He wondered if this was how Shigeko felt before she exploded. He certainly felt like he was going to explode. He was tired of waiting. He needed to do…something.

He'd go and see Shigeko after school.

She hadn't shown up to school that day either. He hadn't been able to see or sense her aura. She was probably at home, at Reigen's home, so that was where he had to go after school. He'd skip out on his other responsibilities. His big sister was more important. She was the most important. She had to be. He would not continue to be a failure of a brother.

The only thing he had ever failed at was being a little brother.

But he would not fail her anymore.

Eventually the last bell rang. Time to go. Finally.

He got out of his desk and practically ran out of his classroom. Down the hall, down the stairs, to the shoe lockers. The people around him a blur of faces and uniforms. He vaguely registered someone saying hi to him, or was it bye? It didn't matter. He had a job to do. He had to make this right…not that he fully knew what 'this' was. He just knew that he had to make it right. He had to. This was his job. He did not want to fail. He could not fail.

He could not fail Shigeko.

He stopped, briefly, to change his shoes. This was a pause too many. He needed to head out. He needed to figure something out. Anything out. He needed to…how would he even get Shigeko to talk to him? How? She hadn't said a word to him about any of this and she had been living outside…and now she was back with Reigen and Reigen probably told her some shit like he'd protect her or whatever….Ritsu knew the measure of that guy. He used Shigeko for her powers, that much was obvious, but he also….he liked her. The thought makes him blanch. He acted like he liked her. Shigeko didn't notice, she never noticed anything, and that was another way that Ritsu had dropped the ball on being a good little brother.

He closed his shoe locker and was about to get back to his single minded pursuit when someone stepped into his path. Oh. Shigeko's friend….

She might have known.

"Hey, this is going to sound crazy but have you seen Mob around?" asked Mezato trying to sound nonchalant. Tome wanted to do this, to be the one to ask Ritsu, but Mezato knew that the way to get information was to act like it was no big deal. Not to yell and scream and make a scene. Takane would have been better at this, her social skills were the best in school, but Takane wasn't good friends with Mob. Her presence would arouse suspicion.

And God knew Mob's little brother was high strung enough.

Even putting on his shoes he looked like he was about to go off on someone. Mob talked about feeling like she was going to explode, it was an esper thing Mezato had figured, but maybe it was a family thing. Ritsu certainly looked like he was about to go off and kill someone.

But she still had to ask him.

"No. I haven't seen my sister in a while. I would have, though, if one of her so called friends had told me that she was-" said Ritsu

"So you know." Said Mezato

"Yeah, I know. So that's why everyone's bene asking me about her? You all knew? You all knew and you didn't even think to tell-" said Ritsu

"You? You're her little brother, not her big brother. We had everything under control." Said Mezato. She omitted the whole 'until Mob disappeared' thing. That red haired girl, Mob's friend Rei, had said that Mob had gone back to that Reigen guy. That could have been good or bad. He was the one who threw Mob out into the streets in the first place. Now they were back together….

Mob still needed help.

Takane was supernaturally good at social networking. She knew just about everyone in some capacity and she had gotten them to help. Clothes and food had been collected for Mob and even a tentative schedule of sleeping arrangements had been drawn out for her. Takane worked fast, very fast, and that was good. The only thing missing was Mob herself. Telling an adult about all of this would have been the smartest thing but they didn't need an adult.

Or her brother who thought that he was an adult.

"Under control? My sister was sleeping outside. My girlfriend just now told me that my sister had been sleeping-" said Ritsu

"Not for very long. We have a schedule, we have clothes for her, and we have food, too, for emergencies. We're fine. We just need to know where she is. Rei said that she was back with Reigen-" said Mezato

"You know my girlfriend?" asked Ritsu. If he was crazier he would have started to feel like everyone was conspiring against him. It was conspiracy on top of conspiracy on top of conspiracy.

"Not well but we talk. Look. Kageyama…everything was under control. I just need to know where Mob is. She won't answer her phone and everyone's starting to worry. Just let us handle it." Said Mezato. She wondered how Mob and Ritsu could have been siblings. The difference was like night and day. Mob was so shy and quiet, she sometimes even seemed like she had no will of her own. Ritsu, on the other hand, was the most high strung and bossy guy that Salt Mid had ever known. Forget the Kamuro administration. When Ritsu became president….he'd probably be the first president to ever be impeached.

"No. She's my sister and I'm going to find her and she's going to tell me who the guy was that-" said Ritsu. Mezato gasped. She gasped deep enough and hard enough that she ended up hurting her throat a little bit.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Said Mezato. Oh no. That was the one thing Mob had been firm about, and she was hardly ever firm about anything, that Ritsu could not know. Mezato didn't blame her. Nobody wanted their little brother to know about…whatever there was to know about.

"You do. You and everyone else…and nobody thought to tell me so that I could keep my sister safe…." Said Ritsu

"How are you going to keep someone safe after the fact?" asked Mezato. She just needed to know if he had seen his sister, that was all, she didn't feel like getting in a whole discussion. If she really was with that Reigen guy then it would only take a little bit of research to find his home address. Then she could make sure that Mob was alright. Simple.

"I…I don't know. But I do know that this is something that I have to do…and that I don't appreciate being kept out of the loop like this. She's my sister and I can't believe that all of you-"said Ritsu

"Just tell me if she's ok, if you've seen her, or not. If you haven't then I'm sorry to have bothered you and if you have can you tell me if she's ok? And where she is?" asked Mezato. Sometimes you had to steer the interviewee back on track. This was one of those times.

"….she's fine. She's with Reigen. She's….she been playing Mario Kart." Said Ritsu, his throat trying to close up at the end. Something terrible happened to her and she was just…she was still playing Mario Kart…but with Reigen. He should have played with her. He should have stayed and played with her and helped her with all of that homework and then convinced her to finally come back home already.

That was what he should have done.

But he didn't.

"Thanks." Said Mezato. Well there, one problem solved. Mob had food and a place to sleep. For how long Mezato did not know. She could maybe, just maybe, rest a little easier now that she knew that her friend was safe. At least safe enough for now.

That was all that mattered, whether or not Mob was safe right now.

Teru had no idea if his girlfriend was even safe right now.

His parents cared about his attendance and his grades. That was about the only interest that deal old mom and dad ever took in his life. He could not skip school because if he did then he would get in trouble, get yelled at, maybe even temporarily cut off again….no. Then he' have two problems to deal with. If he got cut off against then he wouldn't be able to take care of Shigeko.

And that was what he had to do. Take care of Shigeko.

She hadn't been picking up her phone all day. She hadn't responded to a single text. Not even when he sent her nothing but stickers, when he spammed her with stickers, over and over and over again. Nothing. Ritsu said that he had seen her the other day. That she seemed well. That she had been playing Mario Kart with Reigen….if she wanted to play Mario Kart she could have played the new one at Teru's house. Not the SNES version. The good version on Switch. She liked Mario Kart….even if she always let him win she still liked it…

And she still liked him.

Even though she had kept this from him. That was the worst thing about all of this. She had kept this from him. She could have told him. She could have told him and he would have…well he would have kicked the guy's ass, but he would have been there for her. When did this even happen? The other day? Was that why she had skipped school? Or before that, even. After she left and went to stay with her friends? And who….WHO…WHO THE FUCK DARED TO EVEN THINK THAT THEY COULD-

Calm.

Stay calm, Teruki.

You need to stay calm. Shigeko would never forgive you if you just went flying off the handle. You just need to go and ask her…what she needs. Ask her what she needs and then do it for her. Then get the guy's name and kill him…or let Ritsu do it. She will never forgive you if you were to kill someone. She hates violence.

Even though stuff like this….

She could have so easily killed…whoever…but that was not the sort of person she was. She was the sort of person who would do anything in her power not to fight, not to have to hurt another human being, even drain another human being of their powers until their auras went out.

He was not afraid of her.

He was not at all afraid of her. He loved her. He loved her and he needed to be there for her. He was her boyfriend. He would not fail her. He could not fail her. Failure was not at all an option. She needed him and he would be there. That was his train of thought, the one that carried him throughout his entire school day. He didn't hear a single word of a single lesson, barely paid any attention to his school friends, and almost forgot to eat lunch, even. All he could think about was Shigeko.

His Shigeko.

Not Reigen's. That was where she was. She was with Reigen right now. Reigen was there for her…but now Teru would be. The final bell rang and he tore out of there like a bat of out hell. That was what he felt like. Like had been trapped there in his own personal hell. A hell where his girlfriend was in trouble and he could not help her. A hell where his girlfriend, the love of his life, and that was what she was, needed him and he had not been there.

But now he would be.

Forget all of his other obligations. Forget his clubs and his school friends. Forget the dinner he had to make and the cleaning he had to do. Forget everything that wasn't Shigeko. She needed him and he needed her and he would be there for her. It was like his world had shrank to just her. Now it was small and claustrophobic and scary. Her. Not that he was afraid of her. He was afraid for her.

To think. He had spent that morning worried about whether or not he should stop by the grocery store on his way home from school.

Now he had real things to worry about.

Mob had to worry about real things. Things that happened in THIS world. Not the unreality. She had to leave the bathroom, she knew that she had to leave the bathroom. The world was small here, claustrophobic, but it was also safe. Four walls, a floor, a roof, and nobody else. She couldn't shake the feeling that she would be made fun of, again. That if she left this bathroom she would be back in that world and this, living back here with Master Reigen, how much her friends cared about her…it would have all just been a dream. A wonderful dream.

Maybe she had just gone on sleeping. Maybe she would just keep on sleeping until there was nothing left to dream about.

Maybe she would wake up on the couch in her house in the unreality. Maybe the TV would still be on and she'd burn her hand when she touched it. Maybe her school uniform would still be hanging up ready for her to wear it. Maybe her socks would be rust colored from all the blood. Maybe she'd still have the cut on her foot, the one that refused to close. Blood. Blood. So much blood. Blood everywhere. More blood than she even had in her body. Gallons upon gallons upon gallons of it.

Maybe if she just sat here bleeding she'd eventually shrivel up like a raisin.

"Hey Mob…not to kick you out or anything but I really, really, really need to use the bathroom." Said Reigen. Mob could feel him outside the door. She could even see him, his aura, if she looked hard enough. Her aura touched his. She squeezed her legs together. She really had to be. He really had to pee.

She shouldn't tie up the bathroom like this.

She tried to get up. She tried to get up and leave the bathroom. But she couldn't. What if he made fun of her?

"Mob…you alive in there?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded but then remembered that he couldn't hear her.

"Yes, Master Reigen, I'm alive." Said Mob. There was a pause.

"Do you….do you want to come out of the bathroom?" asked Reigen

"No. I don't." said Mob speaking the truth. She suddenly wanted to go out there and check on him, make sure that he was ok…but of course he was ok. He was the most ok. He was Master Reigen. This was his concern for her that she was feeling, not the other way around.

"Ok….um….I'm going to the convenience store now. I'm coming back soon, ok, and I'll bring back food, too. You must be hungry…you missed breakfast. Just…don't go…if you're going out call me, ok?" asked Reigen

"….ok…" said Mob. She'd be all alone in the house. She wanted that…right? All alone where she could be safe. But she was safe already. She was safe with Master Reigen. She knew that he would never, ever, make fun of her. She needed to just…to just forget. To forget the world of lies that Mogami had imprisoned her in. That was lies, nothing but lies. A dream. Something that was not real.

But it felt so real.

This was real. This was what mattered. But she needed to…no. It was all over. All she needed to do was come out of the bathroom. She couldn't live in the bathroom. The bathroom was not…well she did have clean running water…and she could make a bed out of towels…or just sleep sitting up against the wall. She had done it before.

She rested her head against the wall. She heard, through the wall, the groan of the pipes. Someone in the building was taking a shower. She lowered her head, further, and pressed her ear to the vent on the floor. Someone was singing the first chorus of a song over and over again. Someone else was arguing about earthquakes. Someone was complain about the hot water. Someone was scrubbing something and saying a lot of bad words.

She let her head rest fully on the tile. It was cleaner, now, then when she came back. It still smelled like cleanser. Citrusy and chemically. Master Reigen had cleaned up, before, back when she came back. It was nice. It was nice having a clean place to be. The ground was cold, here, but not as cold as it had been outside. It smelled better, too. Not that she had made it a habit to sleep in public bathrooms. They were warm but the smelled terrible. Not that she would have to make it a habit to sleep anywhere but outside of her futon.

She was home, now.

"Mob! I'm home!" said Reigen. She head him come in through the front door. She heard his shoes hit the wood of the genkan. She heard him walk through the living room, what sounded like a plastic bag rustling with each and every step he took through their apartment. She saw his aura through the door. She had to really look but she saw it.

She heard something rustling.

"Mob, I've got panda-grams! And it's your favorite kind, assorted!" said Reigen as he shook the bag like she was a cat he was trying to entice back into the house. But she was in the house….but she had been in the bathroom for a long time.

And she was getting kind of hungry.

She opened the door with her powers.

"Mob! I knew you'd come out-" said Reigen. Mob took the panda grams with her powers.

"Thank you." Said Mob before closing the door.

"-and you're back in the bathroom. OK. Sure. This is fine. I can deal with this." said Reigen. Mob ate her lunch while he stood on the other side of the door. Assorted was the best kind. You got a little of everything, even the ones with the mystery flavor cream inside. Yum. Butterscotch.

"Just, if you want to talk about it…I'm here to talk. You can talk to me about anything, Mob. You know that, right? And you don't have to hide in the bathroom…or anywhere. I'm here for you." Said Reigen.

"Master…..I just….please don't make fun of me. I know that you would never make fun of me but please…don't make fun of me." Said Mob softly. The tiny, cream filled, panda shaped crackers from the bag began to float into the air. Some were blue, some were pink, some were yellow, some were purple, and one was red. The red one crashed into the pink one and broke in half. She ate the red one.

It was red flavored.

"Mob, I won't make fun of you. When have I ever made fun of you?" asked Reigen

"You haven't, Master, I'm just being….weird I guess. I mean, you said that it wasn't real but-" said Mob

"Mob, it wasn't real…but it was to you….and I'm sorry. I am so sorry about everything." Said Reigen. Mob didn't get why he kept on saying sorry so many times. It wasn't like he was the one who trapped her in the unreality or anything like that.

"Why do you keep saying that you're sorry? You didn't do anything." Said Mob

"…you're right. I didn't do anything….there was nothing that I could do…but I can be here for you now." Said Reigen

"You are here, you're right outside the door. I can feel you." Said Mob

"I can feel you too, Mob, and…and you feel like crap. Just come out. I promise I won't make fun of you or anything like that. I would never do that to you. Mob, you're here, now. You're here with me and we're here together and just…I'm worried about you. I'm worried about you right now. You've been hiding-hanging out in the bathroom for hours." Said Reigen. Tempting. It was tempting. But the world outside of the bathroom door…Mob knew that she was being ridiculous. She knew that she was back in her own reality. She knew what was outside of that door. The hallway was outside of that door. There was the big closet on one side, the kitchen on the other, the bedroom door at the other end, and then a turn and she'd be in the living room. The world would not be gray and cold. She knew this in her mind, part of it, but the other part was telling her to stay put. The other part of her mind heard a bird cawing outside and felt the cold breeze coming through the vent and knew, just knew, that if she went outside she'd be made fun of…of worse.

Which made no sense.

Mogami was captured by that spirit guy and Asagiri was out there probably picking on some other poor unfortunate soul.

"Master….I don't know what's wrong with me. I just…I can't come out." Said Mob. There was some more silence.

"Do you want to talk to me about it?" asked Reigen. Mob shook her head before she remembered that he couldn't see her. The unreality? Maybe. What was happening to her right then at that moment in time? No. He was a boy. Boys could not know. They just couldn't.

"No." said Mob. A long sigh. Some muttering. She watched the panda-grams float. She almost expected to hear someone tell her that this was unsanitary. Ai was very worried about germs, her whole family was. They all had to eat dinner with rubber gloves on and then afterwards they cleaned the table with alcohol wipes. Mob was grateful to have had someone willing to open their home up to her but…but she did not much care for that at all. The stuff they did to kill the germs. She hated how ungrateful she was…

Even now she was being so ungrateful. Even now she had been sitting in the bathroom for hours and hours and hours and Master Reigen just wanted her to come out and be normal but she couldn't be. Even thinking of opening that door and stepping out into the hallway made her stomach hurt worse and that gross feeling spread throughout her entire body…and she just wanted it all to end already.

She hated it. She hated being this way.

"Do you….do you want your mom?" asked Reigen. Mob didn't even have to think about that. Mom was scared of her. Mom didn't want her around. Mom had Ritsu and Ritsu was all she needed. Mob wouldn't go where she was not wanted. It didn't even make her sad, really, because it made perfect sense that her family was scared of her. The most sense.

"No." said Mob. Another paused. She heard the sound of Master Reigen's phone clicking opened. It sounded different than hers. Oh. Right. Her phone. She should have stayed by it. People could have been trying to call her again…and she still hadn't gotten back to everyone. Just because she was hiding from the world didn't mean that the world outside of this bathroom did not exist anymore.

"What about my mom? I mean, do you want to maybe talk to her?" said Reigen. Mob looked down at her fingernails. Sophia's handiwork was long gone. She was nice, very nice, and she wasn't afraid of Mob at all. She had brushed her hair and painted her nails and just…spent time with her. Whenever mom spent time with her it was usually to tell her all the things that she was doing wrong in her life.

"…yes…" said Mob because, well, Sophia was such a nice person….and she was kind of like mom. Not her mom but a mom. That made sense because she was Master Reigen's mom.

Reigen looked down at his phone. All of these missed calls from his mother. She never called this much when they were estranged. Here she was, calling. She probably wanted to give him another lecture on how he messed his life up, on how dangerous his business was, how much of a disappointment he was as a son and as a human being.

She liked Mob, though.

She loved Mob, actually. She always did want a daughter, something that she could dress up. Something that she could treat like a living doll. She used to do that back when he was very small…no, that was mean. She liked Mob as a person. She was OK with whatever it was that she had thought up in her mind about him and Mob. He did not feel like talking to her, arguing with her, about that. How could his own mother think something like that about him? Well it didn't matter. She could think whatever she wanted. Everyone could think whatever they wanted. This was a free country after all. He didn't care what people thought. He couldn't care what people thought.

He only cared what Mob thought.

She was his main concern. This was not normal for her, not normal at all. She had been in the bathroom for the better part of the day. He knew that it must have been rough, physically, what was happening to her and if this had happened to her in that stupid mind world…well who knew how awful it had been…awful enough for Mob to lock herself away like this. She even thought that he would make fun of her…

Fucking Mogami.

Mob needed someone to talk to and it wasn't going to be him. He had already been out of depth before but now he was in so far over his head that he was drowning. Mob did not want to talk to him about this and he couldn't blame her. He wished, a little, that by some twist of fate she had been born a guy. If she were a guy then this whole thing would have been so much easier to deal with. No experiences like this, experiences so uniquely female that he was just completely unqualified to speak towards. Maybe he should have been born a girl, then he could have helped her through this. Well he wasn't about to run out and find some alternate reality where she had been born a guy or he had been born a girl so he did the next best thing.

He called his mother.

Two rings.

"_Arataka, so you do know how to use the phone." _Yup. Mom. It was…this was about the end of her work day. Maybe she was just cranky from that…or from having him for a son…

"_Hi mom, sorry I didn't pick up. I've been busy-" _said Reigen

"_Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Don't tell me that you're back in that dangerous business of yours again? Arataka, haven't you learned anything-" _Reigen shook his head. He did not need this from his mother right now. Not now. He could listen to her dump on him when all of this with Mob was over.

So, never.

"_Mom, this isn't about me, it's about Mob." _Said Reigen

"_What happened to her? Did she get hurt? I told you not to-" _said Sophia. Reigen could hear her voice echoing. Was she on a subway platform? Then he heard the whoosh of a hand dryer. Oh. She was in a bathroom. There was something just plain odd about talking to your mother while she was in the ladies' room.

"_She got hurt. Mom…mommy…I need help." _Said Reigen. He just…he did not want to verbally spar with anyone right now, not a stranger and certainly not his own mother. He needed her. This was daunting. This entire thing was just so daunting. How was he supposed to help Mob put the pieces of her life back together? He couldn't even get her to come out of the bathroom. There was so much shit that she was dealing with, so much, and it wouldn't have been this bad if he had been there for her from the beginning…but he hadn't been. He hadn't been and not she was like…this.

"_Oh? So I'm 'mommy' now….wait….you haven't called me 'mommy' in years…twenty five years about…. Arataka…Taka…Taka-chan…what is happening over there?" _asked Sophia. Reigen gut up and walked away from the bathroom door. He walked right into his room, shut the door, and threw himself down on his unmade bed. He tripped, a little, over Mob's unfolded futon.

This room was a mess.

"_Mom I…I fucked up." _Said Reigen. And then the whole thing just come out like word vomit. All of it. The Asagiri job. The fight afterwards. Him all alone. His TV appearance. Where Mob had been. What she had been up to. The press conference. The night after. The fight. The crying. The noise complaints from his neighbors. Her skipping school. All the crying. Her locking herself in the bathroom.

It just all came tumbling out.

After it was all well and truly over there was silence. The call was still connected. He could hear the whoosh of the hand dryer, the whirr of the electric soap machines, the flush of a toilet, the constant running water of however many sinks were being used.

Someone said _"Reigen-san? Are you alright?" _and Reigen had been about to say that no, he was not alright, before he remembered that his mother was also Reigen-san. She was also Reigen-san and that Reigen-san was being very, very, very quiet in that moment.

Too quiet.

"_Arataka….I have no idea what I am supposed to say right now." _She said before she hung up. The cacophony of sound was over. She was gone. Fine then, whatever. She was gone and that was whatever. He didn't need her. He didn't need anyone. He would handle this like he had handled every other crisis in his life. For once he wished that he could have had a normal mother, one who could actually be there for him. But he could not. Instead he got the mother he had. She was probably going to go home, watch her movies, cry, and then do that thing she did when she was upset where she'd bounce that damned yo-yo up and down and try not to cry.

So pretty much business as usual in the Reigen house.

His phone rang in his hand.

He hesitated before hitting the answer button.

"I cannot even begin to understand what is wrong with you? Is this my fault? I know I didn't do the best job raising you but this…THIS takes the cake, Arataka. This takes the cake, the pie, and the quiche too! The whole goddamned mother fucking bakery!" said his mother, and in Japanese too this time, presumably for his benefit.

"Mom, I don't want us to fight. I just want you to talk to Mob because she's been locked in the bathroom for-" said Reigen

"Yeah, I heard that part, Arataka. She's been locked in the bathroom for eight hours now. Eight goddamned hours. You're just calling me now? Arataka you cannot….you cannot….never have children! I do not want grandchildren if THIS is what you call….I just…I can't breathe…" said Sophia. He could hear the sound of a copy machine behind her. She must have found a private place to yell at him. That was nice of her, not to air the Reigen family dirty laundry before the entire community. She couldn't have been that upset with him, not if she had taken the time to get away from everyone. Not if she had taken the time to cover her own ass….oh. She hung up dramatically again.

His phone rang again.

He answered it.

Because he needed to sit through this for Mob.

Mom liked Mob.

"And another thing! Why didn't you call me sooner? Not today but when she told you all of this…this…this! Arataka, what makes you think that you can handle this on your own? What makes you think that you can even begin to handle this? You aren't a professional, you're not even a parent. What she needs is some fucking stability in her life….something that you took away from her! This is a fourteen year old girl! This is a fourteen year old girl who has been to hell and back….and you think that this…this is about her period? Seriously? Her goddamned PERIOD?! That may….that does not invalidate everything that she's feeling right now!" said Sophia

"I know that. I never said that it did, mom, I'm just out of my depth here and I thought she'd want to talk to another girl, woman, and she doesn't want to talk to her mother so I called you. Forgive for thinking that-" said Reigen. Ok, fine, maybe he was up to verbally sparring with her for a little. He was sick of it all. The insults, the defamation of character…it was one thing for complete strangers to drag him through the mud but it was another for his own mother to sit there and talk to him like this.

"Her mother! And what does her so called mother have to say about this? Her father? Any adult in her life other than you? Wait, she hasn't got any of those, has she? Do they even know? Have you told them? I can just IMAGINE how that conversation would go. 'Oh hello, Mr. and Mrs. Kageyama? Yeah, your daughter was held prisoner and tortured by a man for half a year. Just thought you ought to know. What was I doing while all of this was going on? Well I was THROWING SALT AROUND ON NATIONAL TV! Oh, and also your daughter was HOMELESS for a couple of weeks-'" said Sophia. Now it was Reigen's turn to hang up dramatically. He didn't want to hear this. He did not want a play by play of all of his failures. Yes, he had screwed up worse here than he ever had at any point in his pathetic life…but he was going to make it up to her.

He just didn't know how.

His phone rang again.

He hit ignore. It rang again.

He saw Mob's aura through the walls.

As awful as mom was to him she liked Mob, maybe even loved her, and Mob had asked for her. Whatever Mob wanted she got.

He hit the answer button.

"If you think that you can just run away from this then you have another thing coming, Arataka. Do you hear me? I have never been so angry you in my entire life." Said Sophia. He could hear her breathing heavy, her shoes clicking against the ground, the whistle of the wind….she was outside now. Heh. And she was the one telling **him **not to run away?

"Really? What about the time you caught me smoking? That's what you said then, too, and about the time you caught me drinking….and the time you caught me in bed with-" said Reigen

"This in on a whole other level and you know it. You were entrusted with another human being, Arataka, and this is what you do? I told you that your little psychic business was too dangerous. I told you that you both could get hurt-" said Sophia

"Really? Because you were just as excited about the Asagiri job as I was, mom. It wasn't that long ago, only last month. I remember. You were all 'he's one of the richest men in Japan' or whatever." Said Reigen

"….I know. I was excited for you….but that was different! I had no idea-" said Sophia

"NEITHER DID I! Mom, I had no clue, none whatsoever, that the job would go as south as it did, ok? We've never had a job go south like that before. Mob…Mob's usually strong enough to take care of these things….grown men are afraid of her…spirits…everything is usually afraid of her….because she's-" said Reigen

"I don't care if she's the second coming of Christ! Arataka, that is a fourteen year old girl in there and she needs…she needs you…she needs you more than anything right now…she needs someone…and I just…how did you let this happen!?" asked Sophia. He heard keys jingling in the background. Then the footsteps stopped.

"I fucked up! Ok. I fucked up! I fucked up and now Mob's…she's not ok…and I know that this is all my fault! Ok? I don't need you to remind me about how badly…how much I….will you just talk to Mob? She asked for you. She needs someone to talk to and that someone is not me!" said Reigen

"…of course I will…when I am done with you. I am just so angry with you right now….so angry…how could you? That poor little girl…there's no coming back from this. None. Not on her own, anyway. Arataka, she needs professional help. She just does. This is a lot for anyone to deal with, let alone someone like her…." said Sophia

"Yeah, mom, I know. I've been researching all day. Even if I can drag her to a shrink or whatever what is she supposed to tell them? What can she say without ending up in a straightjacket? Getting poked and prodded by doctors for the rest of her life? Mom, I know that I tell her that she's human the same as everyone else but…she's not. She not the same as everyone else and…and there isn't a doctor around that's qualified to even begin to deal with this. There just isn't, ok? There isn't. They'll either think that she's crazy or treat her like a lab rat. I just…I'm alone in this. I made this whole thing so much worse…and this was all my fault in the first place…and I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Mom….mommy….what am I supposed to do? I can't even get her to come out of the bathroom…" said Reigen wiping his eyes. He heard a familiar sound. Chitty-chitty bang-bang. That piece of shit car. For a moment he closes his eyes. He's little, very little. He's laying down in the backseat, they weren't as strict about car seats in those days….he's crying. Mom and dad are fighting…and he's crying…

Yup.

"Arataka….I should not have yelled at you like that…that was mommy's fault. Just…Taka-chan…let mommy take it from here. Just me mommy take care of this as best as she can….ok? And please…please make sure that this never happens again. That girl does not deserve this. You're hurting, she's hurting…you can't take care of her when you're hurting like this. Ok? I love you. Mommy loves you." Said Sophia. Reigen didn't mind it, the way she was talking to him. It was nice. He latched onto what she said. She would take it from here…not that she was much the wiser…or maybe she was. She had raised him…done a piss poor job of it but she had still raised him….she knew how to take care of another human being.

He could barely take care of himself.

"Arataka? Arataka give her the phone, ok Taka-chan? Let me talk to Mobbu. She needs…she needs someone right now and that someone is going to be me. Ok?" asked Sophia. He could still hear that car struggling to exist. Should she really be talking on the phone and driving? This seemed kind of illegal, and dangerous, but she knew what she was doing. He needed to put this in her hands because this was….it was too much.

He climbed out of bed, tripped on Mob's futon, opened the door, walked across the room, and knocked on the bathroom door. He just…he needed to get this out of his hands for a little while, just a little while, so he could regroup. So he could just calm down and…and figure out if there even was something that he could do in this situation.

"Mob? Mom's on the phone for you." Said Reigen as he knocked on the bathroom door. Mob sensed him before she heard him and she started crying before she sensed him. More crying. Sometimes it felt like all they ever did was crying. From all the crying she would have thought that this place would sink.

Mob opened the door a crack and then grabbed his phone with her powers. She held it with her powers and just stared at it. Sophia didn't get a background picture. Mob did, though. Maybe the next time Sophia came to visit Master Reigen could take a nice picture of her so she had something other than just her name show up when she called.

"Mobbu? Honey, sweetie, are you there?" asked Sophia. Mob put the phone to her ear. This was kind of weird, the weight of it, and the case was different, too. This was not her phone.

"Hi." Said Mob because, well, what else could she say? If given the choice between her own mother and Master Reigen's of course she would chose Master Reigen's…but now that she was talking to Master Reigen's mother she had no real idea what she was supposed to say.

"Hey Mobbu. So, Taka tells me that you're having a tough day. Want to talk about it?" asked Sophia. Mob was…she was getting tired of talking about it. Telling…telling about what happened to her…and she especially didn't want to tell Sophia about any of this…she really didn't…

"No…not really….I just can't come out of the bathroom…" said Mob. That was the real problem after all, her being stuck in the bathroom.

"Why? Is the lock jammed? That happens to me sometimes, you've just got to take a coat hanger to it, that's all." Said Sophia

"No. I just can't go outside. I don't…I don't want anyone to make fun of me." Said Mob softly. There was laugher on the other end of the line and part of Mob was afraid, very afraid, that she was being made fun of…

But she wasn't.

"Make fun of you, Mobbu? Why would anyone do that? You're a great kid. Anyone who would make fun of you is a complete and utter moron." Said Sophia. Mob smiled, just a little. She had to push that feeling back, the one that told her that she was terrible. That of course people would make fun of her. That she deserved to have people making fun of her…

She tried to push that feeling away.

"I just…there was this girl who made fun of me and…and I know that she can't, anymore, but I still feel like I can…she made fun of me every single day…and she hurt me a lot…and-" said Mob

"Well then obviously that girl is unfit to live in society." Said Sophia. Mob blinked.

"Huh?" asked Mob. That was a mean thing to say, it was, but also…it also fit Asagiri. Yes. That was…it fit…unfit to live in society. In a society people had to work together and be nice to one another and work together. Asagiri didn't want to do that. She wanted to be mean. She wanted to hurt others.

The world had been inside of her mind, after all.

"Unfit to live in society. Society has no room for bullies and this girl sounds like a bully. Am I right?" asked Sophia

"She was. She would hit me and push me and pull my hair and make fun of me and put things in my shoes and-and when this happened to me before she got all the other girls to make fun of me and laugh at me…and I couldn't get the blood out…and she cut my hair in home economics class…and the cut on my foot from when she stuck a razorblade in my shoe wouldn't close and she killed the cat and-" said Mob

"Oh my…well that's over. That's over and done with now, Mobbu. You never have to see that little monster again. The things that she did to you are not your fault. There is never an excuse to bully someone, ever, and what she did goes beyond bullying. If someone is treating you like that then it is not your fault. You have done nothing to deserve that. You are not terrible. Ok? You are not terrible." Said Sophia

"I'm not terrible." Said Mob. Master Reigen said that, too. His mother believed it because he believed it. That was his mother after all, he did come from her. Of course they would share the same opinions.

"No, you're not, and don't let that girl or whoever else make you think that you're terrible. Remember, when you feel like you're the worst that's when you've got to act like you're the best. That girl…and whoever else…want you to hide away from the world. They want you to live the rest of your life in that bathroom. But…what is it that Taka's always saying…your life is your own. Your life is your own and I doubt that you planned on spending the rest of your life in the bathroom." Said Sophia

"I didn't." said Mob

"I can't imagine that it's very stimulating in there." Said Sophia

"It isn't." said Mob

"And I can't imagine that Taka's just ok with this? You spending the rest of your life in the bathroom." Said Sophia

"No…he's not…he's worried, I think…but I just…I don't want him to make fun of me. I know that he's never made fun of me before but…but I don't want…I don't want him to know…and he's a boy, anyway." Said Mob

"Ah yes, it's one of those things, isn't it?" asked Sophia

"Those things?" asked Mob

"Those things that boys are forbidden to know about, of course. Don't you worry, Taka doesn't suspect a thing, and even if he did I doubt that he's make fun of you. He loves…he loves you. He loves you and he's worried about how much time you've spent locked away in the bathroom." Said Sophia

"I'm sorry about how much I make him worry…I don't mean to…I don't know why I feel this way…I know that everything is over…" said Mob

"Sometimes things just stick to you, Mobbu. They stick to you like glue and it's hard to get them off. It'll…it'll get easier. Taka will be there for you as best as he can. I'll be there for you, too, when you need me. When you need me, call me. I don't care what time it is, I don't care what day it is, and I don't even care why. You could call me up at two in the morning on Christmas Eve to discuss the price of Christmas cakes and I would still pick up. Ok?" asked Sophia

"I-I can talk to you anytime? About anything? And you…you won't get mad at me? Or make fun of me?" asked Mob

"Of course not. You're Taka's…well you're Taka's. I care about you. Anything you need, Mobbu, I will be there for you." Said Sophia. There was a long pause.

"Do you know how to get blood out? I mean, so that it doesn't stain…" said Mob feeling her face heating up in embarrassment. She should not be talking about this. She should have just tried again with the peroxide and-

"Cold water and peroxide. Underwear, I'm guessing? Honestly the best thing for that is to soak your stuff in cold water and then hit it with some peroxide. That if it's it's a pair worth saving. If it's one of the cheap ones from the pack I usually just toss them out. As for clothes, well, cold water and peroxide." Said Sophia

"That…that'll work?" asked Mob

"Usually. Honestly, though, I don't bother salvaging things that I can just replace. Get some good peroxide, straight peroxide, none of that peroxide mixture crap." Said Sophia.

"I will….thank you." Said Mob because, well, thank you. She just needed to know what to do and Sophia…she knew just what to do. She knew just what to do and Mob was grateful. She was grateful for the all the people in her life who cared about her.

She really was so grateful.

Reigen was grateful for Mob's healing powers.

At least he wouldn't die of cancer anytime soon. He stared down at the box of cigarettes in his hand. There, a big warning written in bright red. Smoking causes cancer and emphysema. If it wasn't one thing trying to do him in it was another. What would do him in first? The stress? The guilt? The smoking? The drinking? Or just some evil spirit that even Mob couldn't stop? Maybe another esper. Maybe a bunch of other espers. Or maybe he would just live to be a hundred and whatever like that Jodo guy.

Or maybe the smoking.

He had been smoking since he was Mob's age. How many hundreds upon thousands of cigarettes was that? Too many. One cigarette after the other after the other under his lungs turned black and his fingers turned yellow and he ended up like his grandfather on dad's side needing to carry an oxygen tank around with him everywhere he went. No, Mob wouldn't ever let him get that sick.

She'd heal him.

And then they'd just keep going at it. Round and round and round they went. Crying with each other. Holding each other. Eating snacks. Playing videogames. Round and round and round they'd go. When they'd stop nobody knew. Was this their life together, now? Was it? Was there any salvaging…this? He took another long drag. Maybe there would be answers at the end of his cigarette. Maybe by the time he had finished he would have had an epiphany on how to fix everything and they'd all live happily ever after roll credits.

Mom was, for once, right to tell him off. He had failed Mob, this was all his fault, and obviously he would have to spend the rest of his life wallowing in self-pity. That's what this was, self-pity. He messed this up so badly he deserved whatever he got. He rested his head against the concrete wall behind him and closed his eyes. He felt someone above him burn their hands, presumably cooking. He resisted the urge to bring his own hand up to his mouth. He let his attention wander to the pink and blue star shining from the far left corner of the building. Mob was…better. Less…the way she had been before.

Good.

Maybe she just needed to talk to someone that wasn't him. Maybe that was it. He just…he knew that he was too metaphysically enmeshed with her. He knew that she need someone who…who didn't make her feel worse. What she needed was a parent, not a friend, but she didn't have any of those. Her parents couldn't handle her when she was perfectly fine, there was no way that they could even begin to deal with this. What she needed was a parent…

Maybe mom would do a better job with Mob.

Maybe Reigen had been a terrible son like she had screamed at him so many times. Back when he was Mob's age and the world sucked. Back when he had no friends, no life, and no prospects. Back when he spent all day every day either playing videogames, watching TV, or just being mad at the world. Back when things were hard and he saw no way out.

So he was still a bad son, then.

Maybe he was just bad at everything. Maybe he was just bad for everyone. Maybe Mob would have been better off if she had never met him. Maybe she could have just been a normal kid…or maybe she was better off…because they did have some very good times together. She had come into his life and just given him…something. A reason. Some kind of hope in his life. Some kind of drive to be better than what he was, better than what he had been. He started…whatever it was…with her on a whim. Just like he lived every single day of his life, by whims.

Maybe he should just start planning ahead better.

Maybe if he had planned ahead. Maybe if he had come up with some kind of plan for when a job went south…but they had never had a job go south, before. Even back at the tunnel job when that spirit ate Mob…she had that under control….but she did not have that job under control…even though she thought that she did. Of course she thought that she did, why on Earth wouldn't she? She was Mob. Grown men quaked in fear at the sight of her. She was…he thought that she was the strongest thing in this world.

But she was human just like everyone else.

And he had no right to sit here beating himself up. Not when she had gone through so much. Not when she had needed him and he had been too selfish to be there for her. That was their story, wasn't it? If he hadn't been such a selfish bastard, if he hadn't spent years and years lying to the trusting little girl that came to him for some guidance…but he had been selfish and he had lied to her…and she had known the entire time. Right? She had known but she had stayed with him, she had played along, because she thought that he was a good person.

Well one of them had to.

Speaking of people who didn't think that he was a good person….he knew that aura. Well now he and Mob's boyfriend had something in common. They both thought he sucked. The kid was walking up fast. His normally immaculate hair was pretty windswept. His uniform was askew. Weird. He was always downright fastidious in his appearance.

Reigen was hit with the urge to well, hit, something.

"Where. Is. My. Shigeko." Said Teru. He needed to stay calm and keep everything under control because even though Reigen deserved it Shigeko would never forgive him if he hurt Reigen.

"No 'hey what's up?'" asked Reigen as he finished his cigarette. He tossed the end onto the ground and stepped on it.

"No. I need to talk to Shigeko and you're not going to stop me." Said Teru. He could see…she was so bright she could have been in any of those apartments and he could not go kicking doors down until he found the right one. That was classless, very classless. Also Shigeko didn't much care for property damage or any other types of crimes. She was such a good person like that.

She was his good person.

She was his person.

She was his girlfriend and he was going to keep her safe…possibly with murder….or better yet maybe Ritsu should handle the serious crimes. Right now his girlfriend needed him. The love of his life needed him. He had been…how could he have been so selfish? She needed him and he had been dicking around doing stupid stuff that was of zero consequence.

"She's not doing so well today." Said Reigen as Teru tried to walk past him. The light played off his hair making him glow. Or maybe that was his aura. His aura was pretty visible. He was just that pissed off. Did the kid…?

How much did he know?

And why did Reigen feel so…so much like he had something to…like he had to say sorry to this kid. This kid loved Mob, and Mob loved him. The two of them had a stronger relationship than he had ever had with another person in his life. Neither kid needed to deal with this. Neither kid needed to have any of this shit weighing down on them. Reigen wanted to say sorry. Well he wanted to punch the wall until his fists were bloody and useless but he also wanted to say sorry.

But he didn't.

Because this kid did not like him one bit.

"Yeah, I figured as much. That's why I'm here. Now let me go before I do something that I know Shigeko won't like." Said Teru

"If you want to pop me one then do it, I don't care. I deserve it and anything else that you're planning on doing to me." Said Reigen. Teru blinked.

"You're trying to trick me. I'll hit you and then you'll just go running to Shigeko and she'll hate me and then you'll have her." said Teru. Reigen must have thought that he was some kind of moron. Well Reigen had probably been playing this game for longer, he was twice Teru's age, but Teru played it smarter. Shigeko was his girlfriend and he was not going to mess this up any worse than he already had,

"Kid…how many times do I have to tell you? I. Am. Not. Interested. In. Mob. Romantically." Said Reigen. He hit the wall behind him. No. Stay calm. He let his aura reach Mob's. She was calm, surprisingly calm. He felt…warm. He rubbed water out of his eyes…oh. She was taking a shower.

He got out of his aura.

That was…not a normal thing to be doing while she was taking a shower.

"Then why did you just bond your aura with hers?" asked Teru

"Because you're pissed off. When you're pissed off then I'm going to get pissed off. It's taking a lot of effort to keep from getting pissed off at you. A lot of it. More than you'll ever know. If pissed off it'll transfer over to you and then we'll both end up saying and doing thigs that we'll regret." Said Reigen

"There's a lot I could say to you right now." Said Teru darkly. Reigen laughed. A dry laugh that displayed no mirth whatsoever.

"I doubted you could say anything worse than I've already heard today." Said Reigen

"Try me." Said Teru through gritted teeth. Reigen was going to stand there in his pajamas, it looked like, laughing at Teru. Really? If Teru wanted to, really wanted to, then he could have turned Reigen into a bright red splat on the wall behind him. But Teru was not going to fight Reigen, he wasn't going to draw blood, and he certainly wasn't going to kill him. No. Shigeko would hate him for the rest of his life if he did something like that.

"Fine. Just say whatever it is that you're going to say." Said Reigen lighting another cigarette. It was about time the kid got it all off of his chest.

"I think that you're a lying, conniving piece of shit. I think that you only use Shigeko because she's so strong and because you want to…be…with her." said Teru. He can't say it. Because you're trying to sleep with my girlfriend. That's what he wants to say. But he can't. The words get caught in his throat. He chokes on them. He can't say it. He can't look over at Reigen's smug face and just say it.

"Go on." Said Reigen after a long drag. Second verse same as the first. The kid had already made his thoughts known on that subject. Not quite so loudly but he had made his thoughts on it known. Hell, Reigen couldn't blame him.

"I think that whatever happened to Shigeko is all your fault." Said Teru putting as much hatred into his words as he could. Reigen was the one who didn't keep her safe. If he actually cared about Shigeko then he would have kept her safe.

"Is that it?" asked Reigen. Mom had said the same thing, not as briefly but that was what she had said. Not that he needed anyone to tell him that it was all his fault.

"I think that you should go and die! Die and pass the fuck on so-so-so Shigeko doesn't have to deal with you anymore! I think that you make her stay with you! She doesn't know how you feel about her and she doesn't know that you're using her because she-she-she wants to think that everyone's a good person. I think that I was a moron to let her keep on coming back to you! I think that-that-that you should just find someone your own age and stop trying to steal my GIRLFRIEND!" said Teru. He was red faced and screaming by the end of it. Reigen heard some windows open. Rubberneckers. Well it wasn't like there was anything else going on this afternoon and Reigen was already the biggest noise complaint in this building. Even worse than the guy who gave late night and early morning clog dancing lessons.

"And?" said Reigen

"I think that you're ruining Shigeko's life." Said Teru holding eye contact. Reigen shrugged. Teru wanted to hit him more than he had ever wanted to hit another guy in his life.

"Yup, nothing I haven't heard before. Kid, I already feel like the world's biggest piece of shit right now, you're not making me feel any worse. At least you feel better though, right?" said Reigen. Let the kid get it out of his system. Let the kid get it all out in the open. The kid had enough to carry with him as it was.

"….no. I want to beat you to a bloody pulp but I can't. Shigeko would never forgive me. Isn't that just great? No matter what…no matter what she always comes back to you….even after you let…whatever happened….happen to her. She still came back to you, not me. She left me to come back to you….and I just don't know why." Said Teru. His voice was cracking, he was shaking. Reigen shook his head.

That was just a kid.

He didn't need this shit any more than Mob did.

And this kid truly had no one. He had no one in this world but Mob. No parents to come home to. No adult showing even a modicum of interest in his life or wellbeing. Mob was his world. Mob was his source of stability. Mob was the person that this kid loved the most in the entire world. She loved him right back. The stuff of movies…or one of Mob's sappy mangas.

"She loves you. I know how people feel and she loves you. She was so torn up over you, you know? She thinks that you want to break up. Listen…I have no idea how much you know and how much Mob's told you but…but she's going through a rough time and she needs…she needs the people who love her. That's you. The way you love her is not at all the way that I love her, ok? I've told you this a thousand times but I am not interested in Mob at all. Not romantically and I am certainly not trying to sleep with her. Ok? And you're right. Mob doesn't need you hitting me right now. She doesn't need me hitting you. She doesn't need anyone hitting anyone else. What she needs right now is somebody to just be there." Said Reigen

Teru stared at him.

Reigen stared right back.

"So get your ass upstairs and go talk to Mob. Just talk to her…when she wants to talk…and listen when she needs you to listen…and just be there when she needs you to be there. Don't make her say anything that she doesn't want to. Don't make her listen to anything that she doesn't want to listen to. Don't push her to do anything or say anything. Just be there." Said Reigen.

Teru still stared at him.

Reigen stared right back.

"It's a lot, I know that it's a lot and for the foreseeable future it's going to continue to be a lot. Just be there for her while you can be and tap out when you need to. It's a lot for a kid, and you are a kid. Even if you don't feel like one and even if nobody treats you like one you're still just a kid, ok? You're a kid and this is a lot. I'm sorry. Ok? I'm sorry for…for not being there for Mob and I'm sorry for whatever strain this puts on you." Said Reigen. He needed to get through to this kid. That was easier said than done. Teru had not been exaggerating, he really had wanted to beat Reigen to a bloody pulp. He had wanted to and he could have. The only thing stopping him was Mob. She really brought out the best in people…not that she would be up to any of that anytime soon.

"….I forgot which apartment was yours…" said Teru after a long while. What was with Reigen? He seemed sincere, he really did, but…but that would make no sense…unless he really did feel like that…but that would make no sense. Reigen was…Reigen.

"Third floor, at the end. It's unlocked. I think she's in the shower, too, so you might have to wait for her. I'll be down here for a while. Just…don't do what you usually do in my living room. Mob is…not up to that…and neither am I." said Reigen some of the mirth coming back to his voice. Teru rolled his eyes.

"Thanks." Said Teru. He would not be embarrassed about that time…that really good time. That time after they had almost died. That time when he realized that he loved her, truly loved her, and that he never wanted to let her go. When one thing led to another and they had been just…yeah. It had been good.

They used to be so happy.

And they could be again.

Because he was there for Shigeko and that was what mattered.

Reigen watched Teru practically run up the stairs. He shook his head. That was what Mob needed. Someone who wasn't him. Someone who she…who was good for her.

Hopefully this wouldn't implode in some awful, tear filled, apartment destroying way.


	54. Truth, Heartache, Effort, Proposal

Mob felt Teru before she saw him. She had felt his aura approaching while she was in the shower. At first she had just thought that she had been imagining things. Teru never came to visit, and especially not at this time of day. She knew his schedule. Right now he should have been heading back from the store. He did a weekly shop but he was always forgetting to pick things up, or sometimes the things he made didn't turn out right, or sometimes he was just feeling lazy. He also had homework to do, lots of homework, because Black Vinegar gave, what was in Mob's opinion, a truly grueling amount of homework.

But he was there.

Mob had only just gotten dressed, black pajama pants and a big T-shirt on Sophia's advice, black never stained she said, when she felt Teru's aura inside of her house. Apartment. Not a house. If this had been a house then there could have been some place to hide. Some room, another room, where she could have hidden and pretended not to be home…

But that was a stupid way to feel and she was stupid for feeling like that.

She loved Teru. He was her boyfriend and she loved him. She hadn't seen him in days and days and days and days. So many days. But that was for a reason, a good reason. He was…he had been afraid of her…and she had been so terrible…no. She was not terrible. Mogami was full of tricks and lies. She was not…she was not terrible. Master Reigen said so. Mom said so. His mom, not hers. Sophia said so. She was not terrible.

She felt like she was terrible but she was not.

She was…she was not terrible…and she…she had no idea what to do.

Staying in the bathroom seemed like the best course of action. She had already been in there all day but…but she couldn't. This was a bathroom, not a living room. Bathrooms were for bathing, not living. Nobody could live in the bathroom. She had to stop hiding. She had to…but hiding seemed like it would just be so…easy. So good. So safe. This would be safe and she would be safe….

But she had nothing to hide from.

So she, ultimately, left the bathroom. She lingered in the hallway for a little bit, her hair dripping down her back and making her t-shirt wet and cold. The whole apartment was cold. She could feel a draft. An opened window? Well then she would have to close it. Heat wasn't free, as mom and dad often said, and Master Reigen was not paying to heat the outdoors. So that was what she had to do. She had to go and see which window was opened and if she happened to cross paths with Teru well then that was fine.

It was fine.

Everything was fine.

And she had to see which window was opened. Winter was coming, like Mezato had been so fond of telling her. Winter was coming early and it was getting colder and colder outside each and every day. Mob felt it, the cold, against her skin. Her wet hair. Her damp back. She should have tied her hair up but that would have made it shorter. It was god that her hair was long. It was long and it was not in braids and it was not cut. This was life, she could tell by her hair, and she needed to remind herself that this was life even though the skin on her arms was going to gooseflesh and her teeth were starting to chatter. This was life, she was not terrible, and she has nothing to be afraid of.

Certainly not her boyfriend.

Who is standing in her living room.

Who has left the front door wide opened.

Who is staring at her.

She felt around for Master Reigen he was…not close. Not far but not close. Teru was close though. He was right there. Why she felt the need to hide behind Master Reigen, within in, within his aura, she did not know. This was Teru. She loved Teru. She loved her boyfriend so very much. She loved him and she missed him and all she wanted was to…to know that he still loved her.

But all she could do was stare.

And all he could do was stare.

And the door was still opened.

"Shigeko…." Said Teru because, well, what else could he say. There she was, his girlfriend. She was there and just standing there like all of this was normal. Like this was just a normal day and she had just gotten out of the shower and now she had Shigeko things to do. Brush her hair? Watch TV? Read something that took fifty chapters for the guy to confess and another fifty for them to held to hold hands? Another fifty to almost kiss?

How many chapters until they could…

He just wanted to kiss her. To hold her. To make sure that she was…but she was not alright. She was in way alright. She would never be alright. But she was standing there like she was. He expected her to be crying or exploding or something. But she wasn't. She was just standing there and staring at him. He was standing there and staring at her.

"Hi Teru." Said Mob because, well, that was the polite thing to say when she was greeted. Well he greeted Shigeko, the other Shigeko, and she was awake now and looking around. The shift in her aura was subtle. A little more blue. Fractals started moving more quickly. Teru saw it, sensed it, and took a step back.

Mob stayed where she was.

So he was afraid of her.

Mob wished, then, that she could exorcise herself. Exorcise the part of herself that scared everyone off. She didn't want to be scary. She didn't want people to be scared of her. She didn't want people to step away from her. She didn't want to be this thing, this vessel for this power. Master Reigen said that she was human the same as everyone else. Well that was not true. Other humans even other espers, could not do what she could do. It was lonely, it really was, being the only person in the world who had to live like this. Who had to be afraid of their own powers. Who had enough power that they could hurt someone without even thinking. And she was the only one. She had seen so many other espers now and she knew that nobody was like her.

And that was why people were scared of her.

That was why people thought that she was terrible.

But she was not terrible. She was not. She never wanted to hurt anyone but…but even when she didn't hurt anyone….she didn't think that stealing all of a person's energy was hurting them, especially if they had violent intent, but she was obviously wrong about that. That was why Teru was there. He was afraid of her and he obviously came over to tell her that he was too afraid of her to be her boyfriend anymore.

Alright then.

It was what it was.

And she had Master Reigen back, anyway, so she still had someone who loved her.

"Shigeko….what happened? I just….I'm trying to be calm here….but your brother told me something….something that's really freaking me out….and I just need to know what happened to you…and why in the hell you didn't tell me!" said Teru. That last part came out too loud. No. He need to stay in control. He was losing control in his way, not hers. When she lost control she broke stuff with her powers. When he lost control he yelled and hit things and just acted like a piece of shit. Well not now. He was too old to throw tantrums like that. This was not about him. This was about her and he needed to be there for her.

"What did Ritsu tell you? I haven't talked to Ritsu in a while….I miss him….but I don't know what he could have told you about me since we haven't talked in so very long." Said Mob. Ritsu didn't know anything about anything that had happened to her. She swore everyone to secrecy, including Rei…but Rei was his girlfriend….and could she really keep a secret from Ritsu? But she had promised. They had argued earlier about it, Rei and Ritsu, but Mob wanted to believe that it had not been Rei who had told him. Rei was…well everyone had promised….and she and Ritsu had argued about her keeping things from him before….but this was….

Rei broke her promise.

There was no explaining it away, no holding out hope. Rei broke her promise and now Ritsu knew…whatever it was that he knew.

"He told me….God this is hard….that one of your friends told him that-that-that you were….I can't even say it…." Said Teru. How did one find the words for this? And how could one be expected to speak those words to the person that they loved the most in the world. Maybe her brother was wrong. Maybe her friends had been wrong. She seemed so very normal standing there across from him. She didn't looked like she had gone through…but she had gone through something. She had been living everywhere but here. His house, her friends' houses…..outside…..

But she seemed so normal.

Normal for her, not normal for a regular person. That was because she was not a regular person. She was Shigeko. Who knew what was going on in her head at any given time? She didn't get upset, not like that…even back when they fought Claw she had been so calm…until she went crazy….and that was how she was. She was calm until she exploded….or lost her mind. Her face was blank. He had no clue what she was feeling then at that moment.

Maybe he ought to ask Reigen.

He'd rather die.

"Sometimes I have trouble saying things too….but you don't have to say anything…..really. I'm better now. I'm not….I'm not all the way alright but I am better now. I just….it's better now. I'm fine. Everything's fine." Said Mob. She did not want to talk about this anymore. She had talked about it enough with Master Reigen. She did not want to talk about it with Teru too. She just wanted….she just wanted things to be ok with them.

"Better from what?" asked Teru. He was prepared. He was prepared to hear the absolute worst. Really, he was. He needed to be there for her or she wouldn't be there at all. He could not lose her.

"….I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it and it's ok if I don't want to talk about it. I can say as much or as little about this as I want to, Master Reigen said so." Said Mob

"Reigen. Right. So Reigen knows and I don't?" said Teru. He needed to stay calm. He needed to be there for her….but it always came down to Reigen, didn't it? Reigen new and Reigen was taking care of her….he heard what Reigen said. That Reigen wasn't interested in her….but even if he wasn't interested in her she…she didn't need Reigen when she had Teru right there.

"Yes. I told him and he knows everything. If Rei told Ritsu and Ritsu told you then you don't know everything…and I don't want you to know everything." Said Mob

"Why? Why do you always….ALWAYS choose him over me? Why can't you just let me help you Shigeko? Why-?" said Teru

"I want you to be happy. That's why I don't tell you." Said Mob

"What? So you're trying to protect me? I don't need your protection, Shigeko. You need mine. I want to protect you. I want to keep you safe from-" said Teru

"Teru. No. I don't want….if I tell you this then you'll be….you'll cry. Master Reigen cried. You'll cry or you'll be mad or…or something. I just want you to be ok….and I want us to be ok." Said Mob

"How am I supposed to be ok right now? I have no idea what happened to you or-or-or how I'm supposed to fix it or-" said Teru

"Teru, I don't expect you to fix anything. I don't expect anyone to fix this for me. This is something that I have to fix on my own. I just….I just have to remember that this world is the only world that matters and that Mogami is full of lies and that it wasn't my fault and that I'm not-" said Mob

"Mogami. That's his name? Mogami?" asked Teru. He had heard that name before. There was the dead psychic….the river…the town….it wasn't that common of a name….

Good. That would make her brother's work all the more easy.

"Yes….but I don't want you to…to ask about him…or what happened….it's over now, anyway. He's…well I don't know the man's name but he's someone's prisoner, now. I just….I couldn't….I didn't want him to be my prisoner. I was done being his prisoner….I just did not want anything else to do with him or…or that whole day….and it's like….it's like that day was so long, so very long, and it's still going on…almost….but I don't like to talk about it." Said Mob. She said that she didn't want to talk about it. She was saying it loud and clear and in a language that they both understood. So why was he still asking? Why did he have to be so nosy?

"I just…you're being really vague and cryptic right now and I'm trying really hard not to freak out." Said Teru

"That's good, you shouldn't freak out. The landlord, that's the man who owns the building, said that if Master Reigen and I aren't quiet from now on then we're going to have to find some other place to live. He left a letter under our door and everything." Said Mob. She used her powers to close the door, too. It was so cold in there, much too cold….

"….why were you being loud? What happened? Just…will you just let me in…you never let me in. You'll let Reigen in but you won't let me in." said Teru. Reigen said that he shouldn't push her…but who cared what Reigen had to say. Shigeko was his girlfriend and he just…he just wanted to know what in the hell was going on. He needed to fix this. He had no idea what it was but he needed to fix it.

"Teru….I just…I don't want to tell you everything because I don't want to talk about it and I don't want you to think that I'm terrible. I'm still trying to…to be ok with what happened. I'm not even all the way alright with it and I just…it's a lot, Teru." Said Mob

"Then let me help you. If it's a lot then let me help you." Said Teru

"I can't. I want….I want it all to be over with…and I just…I can't-" said Mob

"But you'll tell Reigen." Said Teru

"Yes. I had to tell him…I mean….I didn't want to. It just sort of came out. He was yelling at me, we were fighting, and then I just sort of….I just…he yelled at me and Mogami yelled at me and all of that yelling got me remembering what happened and then I thought that I was back in the unreality again and I just…Teru I want to forget! I want to forget what happened to me! I want to forget what Mogami did to me! I want to forget what he made me do! I just want to forget and I can't forget if I have to talk about it with you!" said Mob. Yelling was wrong. Making the room shake was wrong. Being upset with Teru was wrong. She just did not want to talk about it.

She had spent the entire day in the bathroom because of it.

She was afraid to go to school because of it.

She had spent the entire day in the bathroom afraid to go to school just thinking about everything that happened. She was done thinking about it. She was done going over every awful thing that happened to her again and again and again. She was supposed to be watching TV or playing Mario Kart or something right now, something fun, something that could make her forget. Something with Master Reigen. Now instead she was being questioned over and over and over again about things that she did not want to think about at all.

"Why won't you just let me help you? I love you and all I want to do is help! Your brother is out there about to kill someone, and he's serious about this, and I…I want to go out there and join him because…because some guy had the NERVE to THINK that he could-" said Teru. He was pacing, now, back and forth like a caged dog. He wanted to start kicking the walls and stomping on the floor just to get this terrible caged feeling out.

He needed to fix this.

Before he broke something.

"What? Ritsu's fighting again….no….he shouldn't be….he said that he was done fighting!" said Mob. No. Ritsu was done with all of that. He was…he was not doing that….not on her account….and Teru made it sound like it was on her account….but she…why? Just why?

She was a terrible big sister.

She was a terrible girlfriend.

She was just terrible.

She felt it, that she was terrible. She felt it deep within herself and she knew it to be true. No matter how many times she told herself that she was not terrible, no matter how many times other people told her that she was not terrible…she could not believe that she was not terrible because she was so obviously….terrible.

She sank to the ground and drew her knees up to her chest. Teru was still pacing back and forth. She could feel his aura. He was mad and scared, it seemed. He was mad and scared because of her. At her. He was mad at her because she just would not tell him what happened and he was scared of her because of what she had done, before, to those guys with the weird auras….and now he was feeling all of that and it was her fault and she had no idea what she could do to fix it.

She could tell him.

But then he would know. He would know about the awful things that she had done. Not just cheating on him in the unreality but…she just did not want him to know. She didn't want him to know how she was so cold and lonely and sad all the time. She did not want him to know what it was like. She did not want him to know what happened afterwards…during third impact. How she had tried to end the entire world. She did not want him to know about that at all.

But he did know.

He knew some of what happened.

But if she told him everything then he would know everything…and she would have to think about everything…and she had been thinking about everything for the entire day. She just wanted it to be over but it wasn't over. It wasn't over when she told Master Reigen everything, it wasn't over when she reunited with Master Reigen, it wasn't over when she left the unreality, and it wasn't even over when she ended the entire world.

It would never be over.

This was what her life was now.

Her life was upsetting the people she loved most in the world. She had made Master Reigen cry and yell, she had even thrown him with her powers on accident….and she had kicked him out of his own bathroom, too, all day. That was the sort of person who she was now. She did not like being that sort of person and she wanted to change, to become a good person, a better person, but she could not change if she could not either move past or forget what happened to her.

"He is! Well, not right now, most likely. I actually have no idea where he is. Probably making up with his girlfriend or something….I don't know he was hell bent on coming here right after school….anyway I don't know if he's out there fighting anyone right now but he is ready to fight for you. We both are. Shigeko….just tell me what happened? Because Ritsu and I think that something terrible happened….happened to you…and we just….we think that this guy-" said Teru

"Spirit. He's a spirit now. He was a guy when he was alive but he's a spirit now that he's dead. An evil spirit. More even than any other spirit that I've ever seen before." Said Mob. Teru stopped pacing. He just stared at her.

"….you killed him?" asked Teru. That was right where his mind went. Shigeko could, obviously, kill someone if she wanted to….or if they gave her a good enough reason to. This guy, Mogami, had obviously given her a good enough reason to want to kill him…not that she would even have to want to. She could have just lost control over her powers and just…yeah.

He was glad she killed him.

Not about the killing part but because…because then if he was dead he couldn't hurt her anymore. Well spirits hurt people all the time but spirits could so easily be exorcised.

"No. He was already dead. He hung himself…a long time ago. Before we were born…." Said Mob. Now Teru was really staring. He was ALREADY dead? Spirits could….spirits could do that? But why would they want to. Even that spirit she hung around with sometimes, Dimple, said that spirits hardly ever had any sexual desire left….hardly didn't mean never….but she could so easily exorcise any spirit…she was Shigeko…

She was strong.

She was stronger than him, anyway.

"You're saying that a spirit….a spirit…" said Teru not able to get the words out no matter how much he tried.

"Yes. I'm saying that he came back as an evil spirit. I can't believe….I can't believe that he did but he did. He was so good when he was alive…but he wasn't. When he was alive he used his powers to make curses and to kill people for money….he was always going on about money. He was always going on about money and sex and people only using each other for money and sex and he was just so….he wanted to teach me to be like him…but I don't want to be like him…and I just want to forget everything that happened…so will you please just let me forget?" said Mob. She wanted to go back to hiding in the bathroom. She wanted to go back to the bathroom and just spend the rest of her life there, in the dark and the cold…she really wanted to….but she couldn't.

She was out here now.

"Wait….Mogami the dead psychic that you watch sometimes…what? Just…this is making zero sense to me right now. I am trying to…to understand. Just…I'm worried….I'm so worried about you…" said Teru. Well that answered some questions but brought about like a thousand others….and she wasn't going to answer those, was she?

What did she have to gain by keeping this from him? Didn't she understand that he was going to take care of her? Didn't she have any idea how much she meant to him, how much he cared about her? Didn't she know that…that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her? That he could not…he didn't know what he would do if she ever left. So many people had left him already but he didn't need those people. He needed her. He needed her and no one else. But the way she was being….the way she was keeping secrets from him….it was like…

Like she didn't need him.

Like she didn't want him to take care of her.

Like she didn't love him.

But she did love him. Right? He loved her so much, so very much, that it hurt sometimes…like now. He was hurting right now…and so was she. That was why she was sitting down on that disgusting carpet…the whole place was gross, how much did Reigen smoke in a day even….? She was sitting down on that gross carpet in this gross room that smelled like Reigen smoked a carton a day nonstop every single day….she was sitting there because she was hurting.

She was hurting.

He was hurting.

They were hurting together.

He sat right down next to her. She needed him and he had been too bust freaking out to notice. This person was his person. She was his and it was his job to be whatever she needed him to be. He had to do whatever she wanted him to do. She was his and he was hers and she needed him. Teru…he wanted to know what happened to his girlfriend….but he wanted to continue having a girlfriend more than he wanted to double kill that spirit.

"Teru, you don't have to worry about me." Said Mob leaning in towards him. He put and arm around him. He smelled like body spray and winterberries and detergent.

"I do. You're my girlfriend and I love you, of course I'm going to worry." Said Teru pulling her in close. He should have been there. He had no idea what happened but he knew that he should have been there to stop…whatever it was.

"But you don't have to. It's over, Teru. It's over and it…it wasn't even real, anyway." Said Mob

"What wasn't even real? Shigeko, talk to me." Said Teru

"The unreality….the thing that I was telling you about before….when I…cheated on you with the other version of yourself." Said Mob as she rested her head on his chest. She put too much of her weight on him and they almost toppled over. He caught them with his powers. She wiped her eyes.

Something else that she had messed up.

"Shigeko…that was just a dream, it wasn't real. I know what you would never, ever, ever cheat on me…and if someone ever tried to make you…or made you….do anything…that doesn't count as cheating and I would never, ever, ever hold something like that against you. I would never hold something that is not your fault against you, Shigeko." Said Teru. He scooted them over so that their backs were resting against the couch. She went back to laying her head against him. He leaned down and pressed his face into her hair. Floral shampoo, artificially floral. Her shampoo. How long had it been since he smelled her shampoo? How long had it been since she smelled like herself?

"Teru, it wasn't a dream. I was awake, I was awake the whole time. Even when I thought that I was sleeping I was awake…or at least my spirit was….and I just…I'm sorry for what I did….Mogami is full of lies but I still….I should have been better. I should have been better for you and all the other people who count on me to be a good person. I just…I thought that it was you. I mean part of me remembered you, I think, that's how Mogami made the other you…" said Mob

"Shigeko-" said Teru

"Mob. You're talking to Mob now. Shigeko is awake, I mean she never really sleeps, but you're talking to Mob now." Said Mob

"…..Mob then. Mob…just….you aren't making any sense. What do you mean by….any of that?" asked Teru. Mob closed her eyes. Master Reigen said that she ought to tell Teru what happened. He also said that she could chose to never talk about it again but…but she wanted to…to keep being Teru's girlfriend. She didn't want to hurt their relationship. She wanted them to be ok and in trying not to tell them she had almost caused a fight…

She didn't want them to fight.

She didn't want to lose him.

She wanted them to be together. She wanted to lay down next to him, not with him on top of her but next to, and listen to him sleep. Feel the rise and fall of his chest. She wanted to wake up next to him and have breakfast, just breakfast, together. She wanted to walk to school with him and just…talk. Talk about their plans and obligations for the day. Talk about their schools. Just…talk to each other. She wanted that. She wanted that with him.

Because it had been nice, what they had together, before.

And she did not want to break up with him.

And she did not want him to break up with her.

So maybe she should just tell him already.

"A few weeks ago Master Reigen and I went on this job…." Said Mob. Then it all came tumbling out. Well some of it did. Some it came out quickly, like word vomit, and some of it came out slowly, like she was pulling teeth. An expression, she had never had a tooth pulled but she knew that it was supposed to be a long, slow, and very painful process. Some of it wasn't a process at all, she could just say it. Some of it she tried her best to say.

But it did all come out, eventually.

And then Teru was very quiet.

The whole world was very quiet. It was like the whole of creation was holding it's breath just waiting. This was it. He knew everything, now. He knew every single thing that had happened to her. He knew and now he had to decide if he wanted to still be with her…if he wanted to still love her…

"….and that's all there is. There isn't anymore." Said Mob just to make that awful silence end. She needed to say something. Normally she was fine with the quiet but she needed to stop holding her breath. She needed the world to stop holing it's breath. She needed to move forward. She did not want to get stuck again.

"Shigeko-" said Teru

"Mob." Corrected Mob because, well, he was talking to Mob then. She knew that she was also Shigeko, that she and Shigeko were this thing together, but ever since that awful day she had felt more…split…from her other half. Not split totally but….Shigeko was her own person. She had become more of her own person. Her world wasn't just a void anymore and she could talk with actual words now.

"Shigeko. That's your name. Mob is…Mob is just something that people call you…I just….I just want…" said Teru. He didn't know why he was picking a fight with her over this. He didn't know why he was picking a fight with her at all. He just….that was a lot. She had been….that was a lot to take in.

There were spirits in this world stronger than Shigeko was.

Shigeko had met one of those spirits and Teru hadn't been around to protect her.

Teru would have had no way to protect her, anyway, if he had been there.

She didn't even NEED to be there, Reigen had brought her there.

Reigen had let all of that shit happen to her. He said that he loved Shigeko. Not romantically or sexually but that he loved her. That wasn't true. If he loved her, actually loved her, then he would not have abandoned her like that. When someone loved you then they did not abandon you. When somebody loved you they stayed and kept you safe…

Shigeko had not been safe.

Shigeko had been some evil spirit's prisoner for six months. And it had been six months. Teru watched movies, he knew what a pocket dimension was. That spirit had created one inside of the other girl's mindscape and trapped Shigeko there in some kind of reverse lotus eater machine. Instead of a paradise that spirit created a hell for her…

To teach her some kind of lesson. That spirit had done all of that to teach Shigeko to be more like him. Because when he was alive he was a whiny little jackass so he decided to spend his entire afterlife taking revenge on the world because some bad shit happened to him. Well that was stupid. Bad shit happened all the time to everyone. You couldn't just think that you were so special, that your pain made you the most special, and then spend eternity terrorizing people like that. That wasn't how it worked. How arrogant was that spirit to think that he needed to take it out on Shigeko of all people….just because she was powerful…

Did all powerful espers turn into evil spirits?

Was it like Madoka Magica, which he only watched because Shigeko liked, where the best of magical girls became the worst of witches? She was afraid of that. She kept on calling herself terrible. She was already the best of magical girls, that was why Mogami had targeted her, and now she was afraid that she was already the worst of witches. Well that made no sense. If anything this made her the very best of magical girls, because she had gone through all of that and only killed one person.

Only one person.

Who totally deserved it.

That girl must have just been an extension of Mogami's will or something. Nobody could ever be that cruel to Shigeko. She was Shigeko. She was so good, so very good. She saw the good in everyone. She saw the potential for redemption in everyone…even him. She had seen the potential for redemption in him and he did redeem himself and now the two of them could have…it was not time to roll the credits on this. Not nearly time to roll the credits. They had so much to work through…

Like her crying.

He knew why she had been crying, now.

After every time…when he had felt so close to her…she had felt far apart from him. She described it as going walkabouts in her own mind…and then she cried….and she had not been crying for the same reason that he had been crying. He was a crier, he knew and accepted that about himself, and he knew why he cried. He cried because of how very close they were…afterwards….but she hadn't been feeling close to him, afterwards. She had been feeling….like she was back in the pocket dimension…and she hadn't said a damn thing to him….

He was going to be sick.

"Right now Shigeko and I are still kind of separated. When you call me Shigeko she thinks that you're talking to her. She might fight me for control of our vessel and I don't want that right now." Said Mob

"Sorry….just…don't explode….I mean….God I'm going to be sick." Said Teru. Mob rubbed his back.

"You can go throw up if you want to. I don't think Master Reigen will be too upset if you hang out in the bathroom for a while. I was in there all day and he didn't make me come out. Well his mom told me to come out but she didn't order me to, she just made me feel ok with coming out of the bathroom, so you can hide in there for as long as you need to…I don't think that Master Reigen will mind…I don't even know where he is." Said Mob. She needed to keep on talking to keep another silence from forming, that was the important thing, the most important thing.

"I…might….but not about you! I'm not upset about you…just what happened to you…." Said Teru. Mob used her powers to call over the tiny garbage can from the bedroom. She handed it to Teru in case he couldn't make it to the bathroom.

"Here." Said Mob

"Thanks. Thank you…thank you so much for thinking about me. Thank you so much for…even after all of that you're still thinking about me….but just…why didn't you tell me? Did you think that….I have no idea what you could think that would keep you from telling me something like that. We could have…I could have…I could have helped you. I could have taken care of you. You didn't have to sleep at your friends' houses and you didn't have to sleep outside either! Sorry just….why didn't you say anything?" asked Teru

"I guess that I just didn't want you to know how terrible I was….how terrible it was….and I guess that I didn't want to think about how terrible everything was. I kept on telling myself that I was fine and that everything was fine even when it wasn't….and I think that I needed things to not be fine right afterwards, right after I came back, to keep me from thinking too much about what happened." Said Mob

"But…but…I would have helped you. I would have been there for you. I love you, Shigeko, you know that….I love you and-and-and I never wanted to hurt you…" said Teru

"You've never done anything to hurt me. Well not since we've been a couple. We fought when we first met but-" said Mob

"No, I'm not talking about that. You said that you….that you cried after every time because….it reminded you of when he-he-he-" said Teru

"Took my powers away, laid down on top of me, broke all of my fingers, and choked me to death." Said Mob. She held Teru's hand tight. They had started holding hands at some point and she had no intention of letting go of him.

"That and….I mean….God you don't have to say it." Said Teru. He was not going to make her say it. He was not going to make her say what else that bastard had done to her.

"There's….nothing more to say….I don't know understand what you mean. That's why I don't like having you, or anyone I guess, on top of me. That's why I kept on sleeping on the couch and…and I kept on crying after we slept together…" said Mob. She looked down at their hands. His fingers were still laced around hers. His hand was bigger than hers but her hand had the longer nails. Fingers, too, if you were going by proportions. Their hands were still together. Different but still together.

Even after she told him everything he still had not let go.

She never wanted to let him go.

"That's all that he did?" asked Teru. That was…well he certainly felt lighter…and wasn't that just awful. His girlfriend had all of her fingers broken and choked to death and he just…all he can feel is happy because that bastard hadn't…

What was wrong with him?

"Then yes, after that he mostly just sneaked around and Asagiri was the one who was mean…well he controlled the whole world…but we didn't fight again until Dimple shocked me out of the world." Said Mob

"That's…that all?" asked Teru looking away from her. This should not have been, well it should have been, a load off of his mind…but bad things had still happened to her…but it was a load off of his mind.

"Yes. I'm not a liar, Teru, and even if I lied I would not lie about something like this." said Mob. She said everything that happened. What, was it not enough? Was it not enough to justify her feeling the way that she felt? That…why would he think that? It had been…or maybe she should just forget…?

"I never said that you were it was just that…your brother said….he said that your friend said that….I mean….and you don't have to say anything but…" said Teru. He just needed to know…that something hadn't happened to her…because then…then it would be…better…but that made him a horrible person…or did it? Because that was a terrible thing for a person to go through so he shouldn't want her to have gone through that….

"I don't understand. If you think that it wasn't…enough…for me to feel the way I do then I just….I don't understand that at all and I don't know what to say to that." Said Mob. She wished that he would have just said what he meant and meant what he said.

"No! I didn't…I didn't mean it like that." Said Teru

"Then what did you mean? Teru…I don't like to talk about this. I'm tired…and my head hurts a little…and I'm just…I just want you to say what you mean and mean what you say because…because I don't want to talk about this." said Mob

"I'm sorry I just….ok….just….he didn't try to…I mean….he didn't make you…sleep with him…did he?" asked Teru. He looked away from her. He found an interesting crack on the far wall. It looked like a river. The peeling paint made it look like it was a river at the bottom of a deep chasm. Would someone die if they fell in? Could he test it? He felt like testing it.

"….no….why would you think that? Mogami was a spirit, Teru, and spirits don't…well I don't think that they can….and he hates sex. He really, really, really hates sex. He hates money just as much…or maybe more….he wasn't totally clear on which he hated more but he never tried to make me sleep with him…and that's a weird thing to think…" said Mob. She had not been expecting that. Of course he hadn't. He always went on and on about how sex was one of the worst, most base, human motivators and stuff like that. Also he was a spirit. Also….well she knew that people could do things like that to one another, awful terrible people, but she had never known a spirit to…

Then again if there was one thing that the whole ordeal had taught her it was that there was a lot that she didn't know.

"It's just that…your friend told your brother some really cryptic shit and that's just where my mind went to….and because you're a girl, too, I guess and that's just…what bad guys do to girls…and I figured….can we just forget I said anything?" asked Teru. At some point he was going to have to call Ritsu and tell him to call off the murders. At some point he was going to have to apologize to Shigeko for making this whole thing even more awkward than it needed to be. At some point, also, he was going to have to find and exorcise this spirit so that it could never hurt Shigeko again.

All in all a pretty long to do list.

"Wait…everyone thinks this….but…I never said…" said Mob. She never meant to mislead anyone….and she had never said anything to mislead anyone….how did people come up with this? What had she said that had led people to thinking…..

And everyone thought this.

Master Reigen might have, too…..

Mob had a lot of things to clear up with a lot of people.

"It's just…I don't know. Can we please talk about something else, anything else?" asked Teru. Mob frowned. Well now he wanted to talk about something else. What about when she wanted to talk about something else? Because now she had talked about it and it was all out there…just…there like a heavy fog…

"Sure." Said Mob. She shouldn't be upset. She should be glad that Teru finally wanted to change the subject. She should be glad that Teru still loved her. She had a lot that she should be glad about.

So she made an effort to be.

"What do you want to talk about?" asked Mob. She was up for talking about literally anything else. Anything. TV. Movies. Videogames. Manga. Art. Music. Philosophy. Anything at all. Just not about Mogami or the unreality or if Mob was ok or what happened or what didn't happen. Anything else.

"It's been cold out lately." Said Teru for lack of anything else. He cured himself as he said it, though. The weather? The goddamned weather?!

Was this all he would be able to talk to his girlfriend about for now on? The weather? Small talk. Small talk with the love of his life for the rest of his life…because she was not ok. She was not ok and…and maybe he had made it worse. Maybe he should have listened to Reigen. Her eyes were glassy and she was doing that thing where she looked at everything and nothing. She hadn't wanted to talk about that but Teru had just been so…selfish. He had been so selfish.

But at least he knew that she hadn't been…

It should not have been such a load off of his mind. She had still been through a lot and she was still clearly not ok.

"It has. I think that means that it's going to be a very cold winter." Said Mob. This was nice. The weather. There was always something to talk about when you were talking about the weather. She didn't know people thought that it was a boring thing to talk about. The weather was nice, safe, and had nothing to do with what happened to her.

"Probably. I mean the winter is always cold here." Said Teru. Was she playing along or did she honestly want to talk about the weather after all of that.

"Because we live in Japan." Said Mob. Yes. This was good, a good conversation. The bets kind of conversation, the safe kind. The kind that didn't make her want cry or run away or spend the rest of her life hiding in the bathroom.

"No, I mean in Seasoning City. I've lived in Tokyo before and it's much colder here." Said Teru. She would love Tokyo. He kept on saying that they should go but it would be expensive and his parents were already kind of cross about the money he spent…but it would make her happy. She would love it there. She would love the cat cafes and shops and arcades and-and-and the fact that he was there with her and that he would keep her safe.

"You did? I didn't know that you lived in Tokyo." Said Mob. Another safe topic of conversation. This was going well. So well. The most well.

"When I was really little. I don't remember much…but I remember that it was nice." Said Teru. She would love it there and he would love to take her…if she wanted to go. If she wanted to go with him. If she still wanted anything at all to do with him.

"It looks nice. I've never been but I've seen pictures." Said Mob

"I could….we could go. One of these days I mean. If you want to…if you still want to be with me…" said Teru

"What do you mean? Of course I want to be with you….I love you." Said Mob

"I love you too. It's just…I don't know if you still want to be with me. I just…you didn't tell me…and you cried after we-" said Teru

"I said that I wanted to talk about something else." said Mob. No. Not this again. How much clearer could she make herself? She did not want to talk about it anymore.

"I know! I know….I just….it's a lot to take in, ok? I can't just ignore everything that you just told me." Said Teru

"We could watch TV, that's good for helping to ignore things you don't want to think about. We don't have as many channels as you do but-" said Mob

"I don't want to watch TV. I want…I want to talk to you. To be with you….because I just….I have no idea how to make this better." Said Teru

"You don't have to. It's my job to get better. You…you don't have to make me better and I have no idea how you would make me better anyway." Said Mob

"I could exorcise that spirit." Said Teru darkly.

"No! Teru, no. You can't. Teru….you would not survive. Mogami would kill you….or just break you. He'd break you and there'd be no way to put you back together." Said Mob

"….so you're saying that you don't need me…" said Teru

"No. I don't. I don't need you but I…I want you. I want you to be around and to not be dead." Said Mob

"You don't think that I could win." Said Teru

"I know you couldn't. Teru. Just….I'm stronger than you. I think that I might be stronger than everyone else in the whole world. All of the other espers there were scared of me…even this other great Master called Jodo….and if me and a whole room full of other espers couldn't defeat Mogami then you couldn't either. I'm sorry but that's just how I feel." Said Mob

"But you did defeat him. You told me-" said Teru

"I told you that I initiated third impact. I broke down the bonds between him and all the other spirits he had absorbed. Then I broke….Dimple said 'dematerialized' everyone….and then I dematerialized….and that still didn't exorcise him." said Mob

"But you said that he's someone's prisoner. That means that you beat him." said Teru

"No. That means that I weakened him enough that he could be captured. Besides, you can't control spirits. Remember, Teru? That's how we met." Said Mob with a smile. Teru smiled right back.

"Yeah, I remember. I was such an asshole to you….and I'm so grateful that you looked past that." Said Teru

"I forgave you a long time ago, Teru. You were a different person back then. No you're someone else….my boyfriend." Said Mob

"You still want me to be?" asked Teru

"Of course I do. I love you. Just because I don't like it when you're on top of me that doesn't mean that I don't love you….I just don't want to…do that…for a while." Said Mob

"We don't have to! I swear to God that I won't touch you ever again!" said Teru

"That's not what I meant." Said Mob

"Well then tell me what you did mean because this is the last place that we should be having any kind of miscommunication….ok? I just…I feel like crap already." Said Teru

"Why?" asked Mob

"What do you mean why? Because every single time we made love you cried afterwards!" said Teru

"You've never called it that before….and you cry too." Said Mob

"Yeah, I do, but the difference is I cry…I cry because it feels good. Because it just…it feels so good….and not just the fact that I'm…inside of you….just the way that you're so…it's hard to describe." Said Teru

"That's ok. I understand. Those are happy tears when you cry afterwards and-" said Mob

"No….I mean….you don't understand. I don't even fully understand. It's just something about how…how you're so warm." Said Teru

"Warm?" said Mob

"You're warm and…alive….but I have no idea why that means so much to me, of course you're alive. I'm not weird like that." Said Teru

"You aren't weird at all." Said Mob

"Thanks. Just let me….let me try to describe it." Said Teru

"Ok." Said Mob

"You're there. You're this person, this girl, who loves me. You love me and I love you. I always thought….I always thought that I would just do that with someone just to do it. I always thought that it wouldn't ever mean anything and that if it did that just meant that I was being a…yeah….but it does mean something. It means everything. Knowing that you're there….all around me…and that you love me…and the way you look at me…and the way you say my name when you're close…" said Teru

"When I call you Teruki?" asked Mob

"Yes! Because I know that I'm the one making you feel good and you're make me feel good and you love me and I love you…and then it's over…and we're apart…and we were so close…and I love you so much…and I look over and I see you and you're just so blissed out…and then I just….cry." said Teru

"That's beautiful." Said Mob after a while because, well, it was. She knew that he cried afterwards because he was happy but she didn't know just how happy. She had no idea he felt so….much.

She felt a lot too.

"Thank…thank you. Sorry I just…this is different. This is because….because of how awful you felt….how awful I made you feel…and I guess that's why I kept on trying to figure out if Mogami ever…because I wanted to know if I was making you relive hell every single time we made love." Said Teru wiping his eyes. Mob pulled her sleeve down over her hand and wiped his tears away for him.

"You weren't….Mogami never…and anyway it's nice until I can feel you on top of me…and also inside of me…because I don't like having weight on me and I don't want anyone else in my vessel….body…for a while. I still like it when we kiss and we cuddle and when you….the other stuff we do to feel good. I think it would be better, now, because I…I still feel like I'm terrible but I'm just…feeling a little less terrible…right now. Somedays are better than others." Said Mob

"You are not terrible. You are in no way terrible and I just…I wish that I could get you to believe that." Said Teru

"I am. I'm trying to, anyway. I'm trying to make myself believe that Mogami is full of lies…and he was…but it can just be so hard. Thank you, though, for being here for me….I'm so grateful to have you in my life, Teru. I'm grateful to have you here with me….I love you." Said Mob. She had stopped brushing his tears away a while ago. Now it was his turn to brush hers away. He didn't pull his sleeves down over his hands, no. He just brushed them away with his fingers.

"Don't be." Said Teru

"Be?" asked Mob

"Grateful. Don't be grateful to have me. I'm grateful to have you." Said Teru

"We can be grateful to have each other." Said Mob

"We can be….but I'm the most grateful." Said Teru

"I don't think that it's supposed to be a competition. I think that we're supposed to love each other equally and be grateful for each other equally. Because we're in a relationship and that means that we're equal partners." Said Mob

"Shigeko…..Mob…. I love you more than…than you can ever know." Said Teru. There. That was so….her…and in that moment he knew…he knew what he wanted from her. With her. He hadn't been sure but now he was.

"What do you mean? I don't understand." Said Mob

"I mean that….that I love you. I love you so much….more than I have ever loved another human being in my life and I want….I want you to be happy." Said Teru

"I want you to be happy too." Said Mob

"I want you to be safe." Said Teru

"I want you to be safe too." Said Mob

"I want…I want to make you happy." Said Teru

"I want to make you happy too." Said Mob

"I want to keep you safe." Said Teru

"I want to keep you safe too." Said Mob

"I want to…to take care of you." Said Teru

"I want to take care of you too." Said Mob

"I want…I want…I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Said Teru. It felt right, in the moment, to say that to her. To ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. To marry him. But now, seeing the look on her face, as much as there was one, he knew that he messed up.

Because she was going through a lot and she did not need this right now.

"….what?" asked Mob. She must have misread the atmpshere, she was clueless after all. It sounded like Teru had just asked her for perpetuity. Well it would make sense….he loved her…and she loved him…but she also loved….

This was a lot right now.

She was not ready to make this choice.

"I'm sorry-" said Teru. He was sorry the proposal, for putting her on the spot like that. Hell, he was sorry for the whole damned relationship up to this point! He just kept on messing up, didn't he?

"No, no, don't be!" said Mob

"I am! That's a lot to just…just spring on you like that…and after everything that you've been through…" said Teru

"No it's not….you want perpetuity with me…and you should not feel bad about that. You should never feel bad about loving someone so much that you want to spend the rest of your life with them." Said Mob

"You're right but….but I should not have just….I should not have asked you to…right now. I mean, we're fourteen. We can't think that far ahead..." said Teru

"We'll think about it when we're adults." Said Mob

"Yeah, when we're adults." Said Teru

"In four years." Said Mob

"Four years…or whenever. I mean, that wasn't a proper proposal anyway. When I do…if I do…then there'll be a lot more effort. Something worthy of you. The kind of thing you've been dreaming about. Something better than…this. Here." Said Teru. When he did ask her, for real, then it would be an event. Something worthy of her. Something that she had been imagining her entire life, because girls did spend a lot of time imagining it…and he'd also have to ask her what she had been imagining her entire life. Not now. They had enough going on now. But when he did then he would put more effort into it than he had ever put into anything in his life.

Because he knew, he truly knew, that she was the person that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Mob hoped that he didn't put in any kind of effort, at least not until she knew what she was going to say back to him.

Because otherwise it would have been a waste of effort.

Reigen had made an effort, he really did, but he was not made of steel.

He smoked until he ran out of cigarettes. That could not have been good for him, chain smoking like that, but it was something to do. He decided to let Mob and her boyfriend have their privacy. They had a lot to talk about and work through and, frankly, Reigen did not want to be around for that. He did not need to be around for whatever those two had to go over…even though he knew that he should not have left them alone…because that was irresponsible…

But whatever.

He was irresponsible, he accepted that.

He was irresponsible and his irresponsibility had already messed Mob's life up already. He doubted that he could mess it up any worse by letting her have a private moment with her boyfriend. He knew what the two of them got up to…but it wasn't like Mob was up for that anyway….and that was the last that he would be thinking about that. Mob had been through enough, already, and she knew that she could say 'no' now…

And that kid would listen.

He was a good kid like that. That kid…that kid was going to make Mob very happy if the two of them made it. He liked that kid. He had a good head and a good heart. He knew some of what Mob went through and he still stuck around. He didn't freak out, he didn't decide that it wasn't his problem, he was up there right now comforting his girlfriend.

Really Mob was very lucky.

That kid…he was a good kid…and Reigen was happy that Mob had someone like that in her life. He was happy that she had as many people in her life as she did. They may have all been other kids but they showed not only tenacity but also amazing….resourcefulness…and calmness in the face of what should have been an insurmountable problem. Mob had a lot of really good friends, people who loved her, in her life.

But it wouldn't be enough.

Mom was right. Mob needed help and Reigen was not the person who would be the one to help her. He could do a lot of things for Mob, listen to her troubles, offer her advice, be a shoulder to cry on…he could do a lot for her but he could not fix what had happened. What he had let happen to her. He had let her…no…he had taken her to that job. It was all his fault….and he had no idea how he was supposed to make this right. She needed a shrink and he was not anywhere near qualified to help her…and nobody was. Nobody would believe her about her powers or about the spirit or anything….and anyone that did would want to study her.

So she could spend the rest of her life in a padded room or under a microscope.

God…what was he supposed to do?

This wasn't the kind of thing that could be fixed over bowls of ramen and walks through the park. This was the kind of thing that needed time and expertise to fix. They had time, all the time in the world, at least until the money ran out. It was expertise that they were missing. Very little research had been done on the phenomena that was ESP and what had been done had been on people who had to struggle to even bend spoons. He had tried to research and most espers were capable of only producing some sort of insignificant phenomena, nothing near what Mob could do.

He always said that she was human like everyone else.

But she wasn't.

She felt pain and joy and suffered and lived like any other human being on the planet but the way she experienced the world…she experienced the world largely alone. She was the only person on the planet, probably, that existed in the way that she did. Not in the 'everyone had their own unique experience' way but in the 'she could heal a broken leg in a minute and fly through the air' sort of way. She had experiences, needs, that no other human being on the planet had.

No other human being on the planet needed to worry about killing someone on accident just because they got a little emotional….and that had been what she had come to him for, originally. He had fed her some bullshit and then…and then the rest was history. He had…he had helped her control her powers, like she asked, through the power of bullshitting…

And he helped her then.

But he had no idea how he was supposed to help her now.

Helplessness was a terrible feeling. He had felt truly helpless very rarely, in his adult life at least, and he did not like it. He did not like this at all. He just…he wanted everything to be…good. He wanted everything to be good with Mob. She had been so happy, before. She had survived that night with Claw, she had gone on to make friends and…and have a life. She had a life with friends and people who cared about her…she had been living her best life…and then he went and ruined it all..

And he was helpless to fix it.

They both were.

He did not like this feeling, helplessness. Lostness. He hadn't felt this feeling since he had been…since before university. Since before leaving home. Since he had been a scared little boy hiding under his bed….but he could not hide. He was a man and he could not hide. He had made a mistake, a catastrophic mistake, and now he had to own up to it. He had to…he had to do something.

But not chain smoke.

Because he was solving nothing by chain-smoking.

He was giving the two of them their space, that was something, but it was cold outside, and boring, and he had nothing to do but kill himself in the slowest and most expensive way possible. He had left his phone with Mob and he was not intruding on whatever was going on in there to retrieve it. He was not going to do that at all. The kid was nice, he was good for Mob, and he did not like Reigen one bit. There would be no winning that kid over. He felt threatened. He felt like this relationship with Mob was threatened and no amount of reasoning with him would change the kid's mind.

Not that Reigen could blame him.

He and Mob were close, too close, and he knew how it looked. He knew how the kid must feel. Romantic betrayal was one of the worst pains that a human being could feel, it was right up there with the death of a loved one, and the kid was Mob's age….so of course no amount of reasoning would change his mind. But still, Reigen did not blame him. Reigen didn't fault him for the way he felt, and frankly he had more decorum than Reigen would have had at fourteen if he thought that someone was after his girlfriend. Not that Reigen was.

Despite what everyone thought.

And that was why he couldn't go anywhere. People had short memories but not that short. He knew that if he went out in the world he'd be spotted and the questions would start up again. He had so clearly been talking directly to Mob during that damned press conference and some of those cameras might have even spotted her…and then there was that creepy picture that some weirdo had taken…

His arm around Mob. His hand on the small of her back. Them walking down the road into the sunset…

Did people really have nothing better to do with their time than take creepy stalker pictures of him and Mob? And speculate about what was so obviously not happening between the two of them?

He didn't know. He put his hands in his pockets and tried his best to conserve warmth. The cold was coming in much too early this year. Thank God Mob had come back when she did. She could not have survived a winter out here in this. She would have frozen to death….she really would have. Thank God he had managed to get his head out of his ass when he did and thank God that she had managed to…to stop being so stubborn….not that she had been stubborn.

She was traumatized.

But she was stubborn and the stubbornness was what had kept her alive. No, not stubborn…tenacious. She was tenacious. She was a survivor. She was someone who always made it out of whatever terrible circumstances that life managed to throw at her. She had literally been to hell and back. She had not given in to Mogami…not for long…because she was too damn stubborn to become what Mogami wanted her to be. She was just that tenacious and it would serve her well. That was a…positive….maybe. It was a good thing that she hadn't…given in…until she was pushed well past the point that any other person would have broken. Maybe she would ever come out stronger from this. Maybe….

But also maybe not.

Because she was still just a kid.

He didn't know. He was none that wiser than she was. They were both helpless and lost in this situation. The two of them were in this thing and they both needed to find their way out. He could and would help her with that as best as he could…even though there was nothing that he could do. He could provide her with love and stability but that was about it. Her friends had provided her with that. They made sure that she had food to eat and a place to sleep and clothes to wear…while he had been playing videogames and playing with table salt.

Mom was right to yell at him.

He was just about to reach into his pocket and take out his phone. He wanted to tell mom that she was right. She was right about everything. Their job was too dangerous. He was a short sighted, stubborn, little monster of a son. He was bad at being a son and bad at being a friend and just all around bad at everything and-

A woman in the parking lot breaks down in tears.

Reigen needs to get out of there.

He shakes his cigarette box. Yeah, he'd might as well. He'd already been smoking since he was fourteen, what was one more pack going to do to him? He put his hands back in his pockets and set down the road to the convenience store. On his way in he passed what he privately referred to as 'Bar Alley' because, well, it was an alley that was nothing but bars. He drank socially, at least he used to, at least that was what he used to tell himself. Really he would just post up in Happy Trails and let all the regulars come up to him with their problems and he'd offer some quick solutions peppered liberally with the most tired platitudes in the Japanese language.

He could use some of that about now.

But he couldn't. Reigen knew himself. One would turn into two which would turn into three which would turn into him stumbling home drunk or stumbling into bed with someone. He could not do that to Mob. She needed him. She needed him to take care of her…even though he had no idea what to do…and even though she had her boyfriend with her now and if Reigen was going to be honest with himself he'd admit that the kid was even more capable at fourteen than he was at twenty eight. No. Twenty nine. He'd had a birthday.

He was pushing thirty and he was doing worse than a fourteen year old kid.

Wasn't that just lovely?

He hit the bar on the way back from the store.

He made an effort, he really did, but he was not made out of steel.

"This kid is made out of steel or something!" said one of the red aura guys, Ritsu didn't care about his name. Ritsu didn't care about anything. He gave a way of his hand and the esper was tossed across the street and into a wall. Literally. Only his feet were sticking out.

A wave of energy hit him. It didn't move him one centimeter.

The other guy, however, was tossed into the air and hit the ground with a sickening crack. Well it would have been sickening, anyway, if the guy had died or something. No, he was alive, he was just really hurt. That was good. Ritsu was glad that he had hurt that guy. That was what he got for trying to attack people in the streets. It had happened to him before, he still dreamt about it from time to time…the guy with the scar. Sister losing control. That awful place….he still saw it in his dreams sometimes…

He was not going to see it again in this reality.

He was not going to put sister through that again.

She had been through enough as it was. This little distraction had put his interrogation and eventual murder plans on hold, he was serious about the murder part of the plan, but it did provide him with an outlet for his anger…and good practice with his powers. Fear. Rage. Shame. Guilt. These were what fueled his powers. He had complete control, now, not that he didn't…he didn't explode. He had the opposite problem, they didn't always show up…well now they did and they were. Right on time and ready to work like an overzealous honor student. Good. This was good.

This was really good.

Another crash against his barrier. He didn't even have to look, he just sent the guy flying onto a rooftop. Anybody that had been around was long gone, for their own safety, so Ritsu was free to get out all of his aggression. He needed to be calmer, more logical, when he found the guy who hurt his sister. Then he wouldn't do anything stupid like end him too quickly. He knew that he was getting dangerously close to diving off the deep end again, maybe even worse than when he had been all 'I've obtained loss' and done all of that stuff…

Sister had been so ashamed.

But he didn't care. He was a man on a mission. Nobody hurt his sister. He had failed her. He had failed her and she needed him…but now he would not fail her. He was going to make sure that this guy never hurt her or anyone else again. He had the power to protect her and hell if he wasn't going to use it.

"Let's get out of here! Forget what the boss said!" said one of the red aura guys before he ran, or rather limped, away. Ritsu sent them all flying again just because he could. He wasn't going to kill them, no, they weren't worth it.

He'd kill the guy who hurt his sister, though.

But it wasn't those guys.

He needed a name, the name of the guy powerful enough to….to hurt his sister. All he needed was a name and that was it. He had gotten sidetracked. Not anymore. No more distractions. He needed to do what he needed to do. He'd miss dinner. He didn't care. He might get hurt. He didn't care. He might go to prison for the rest of his life. He didn't care. He'd have someone's blood on his hands. He didn't care. Nothing mattered but…but making this right. Nothing in the entire world mattered. No more distractions, he had a mission.

He tried to kick off from the ground. He had good enough control to fly on his own…maybe. He didn't need anyone to catch him, especially not Teru. Teru who said that he loved Shigeko but hadn't been around to keep her safe. Teru who said that he loved Shigeko but wasn't willing to do what had to be done. Ritsu knew that Teru didn't have it in him. Well that was fine. Teru would just slow him down anyway. He didn't need that. He didn't need anything distracting him or slowing him down.

But something was.

He couldn't even hover off of the ground.

He was stuck.

He lashed out before he could think. He wasn't stuck at all, no, he was being held down. Something…or someone…yes….red…a red aura…someone was holding him down. He saw the blue of his energy hit an invisible barrier. The barrier glowed red and then dropped, slowly, as if ready to come back at a moment's notice. Ritsu tried to take a step forward but he couldn't. He was stuck. Pinned. Trapped.

He lashed out again.

And again.

And again.

The concrete beneath him turned to sand. The wall behind him caved in partially. But still he was trapped. He heard footsteps approaching and tried to break free of…whatever this was. He managed to take one step back…then another…then another…until he felt the remains of the wall behind him. He tried to shove whoever was in front of him out of the way with his powers. A shudder in the air in front of him but nothing. He, in his desperation, reached out and **shoved** whoever or whatever that was in front of him.

A spirit?

No. Warm. Solid. Cotton? Clothes.

A person.

He tried to shove again.

His wrists were grabbed.

The air in front of him shimmered and then melted away revealing...red hair?

Red hair. Blue eyes. Freckles. That same smirk. A face that he had seen in his memories….bad memories….

"Hi! Remember me?"


	55. Afraid to Go, Happy to Stay

A/N: Thank you all for your kind reviews! And those of you that don't review thank you for your readership! You guys are what makes it all worthwhile.

"Get away from me!" that was all that Ritsu could say. He was pinned, totally pinned. He tried to kick, to hit, to do anything but that other guy was like an immovable object. Well Ritsu was not an unstoppable force. When an unstoppable force met an immovable object they just destroyed each other.

Which would have been preferable to getting kidnapped again.

"You don't have to be afraid, I won't hurt you. I promise." Said the boy

"Sure you aren't." said Ritsu. The other boy let go of his wrists and took a step back.

"I promise. I swear on my life that I won't hurt you. Come on, you should be able to tell by my aura." Said the boy. Ritsu could see his aura. He pulled away from the other boy completely. It took an effort, actually, because his aura seemed to want to…meet…the other boy's.

"Seriously, here, just let our aura bond. I don't want to hurt and I don't plan on it. I'm just trying to keep you from, you know, running away." Said the boy

"Because you want to kidnap me again. I remember you. You work for-" said Ritsu

"I don't work for anyone! Not anymore….just….I'm not that person anymore. Ok?" said the boy. He looked away as he said this. Down, at their shoes, maybe. The ground. The ground which was more like sand at this point. The wall behind him that was rapidly losing structural integrity.

"Why should I believe you?" asked Ritsu. He gave up on trying to get away. He was stuck. He was stuck but…the other boy didn't feel hostile…

"Because I'm telling the truth. Listen, I've been looking for you-" said the boy looking back up. Ritsu looked away when blue eyes met his.

"So you are planning on kidnapping me." Said Ritsu. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the boy shaking his head. Red hair managed to keep it's shape as he shook his head more quickly than was necessary. Really red, but natural. Not like the bright red of Rei's hair. More like the orange sort of red that he knew people had naturally but had never seen in life before, well not before he met this boy, anyway.

"No, if I wanted to kidnap you then you would have been kidnapped already." Said the boy like it was the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"That's just what a kidnaper would say." Said Ritsu

"Really? Because that kind of seems like the opposite of what a kidnapper would say." Said the boy with a smile that Ritsu tried to ignore. How could he be so calm right now? To put him at ease? No…he had always been like this. Even they fought he treated it like it was just a game…

"Well then what would a kidnapper say? Since you seem to be the expert here." Said Ritsu. Maybe he should play along with whatever this was. Maybe then he could get some answers. The boy was right. If he wanted to kidnap Ritsu he certainly could and it would have happened already.

"Nothing. A kidnapper would just kidnap you and be done with it. It's kidnapping, not kid-talking." Said the boy matter-of-factly.

"So you have a lot of experience kidnapping people then?" asked Ritsu. The boy stuck out his tongue.

"Kidnapping…no. Persuading, yes." said the boy

"There's a difference?" asked Ritsu asked sarcastically.

"One involves me talking to you and trying to get you on my side and the other involves me throwing you into a sack and carrying you off. Well you can see that I don't have a big, human sized, sack with me so let's talk.' Said the boy

"So you're pinning my up against this wall to persuade me to join….Claw? I'm guessing. " asked Ritsu. The boy shook his head.

"No way. I'm done with Claw, I'm done with that shit. I'm trying to persuade you to help me." Said the boy. He stepped closer to Ritsu, then, and Ritsu attempted to step closer to the wall. He was…afraid. Afraid and…something else. Maybe it was his fight or flight instinct. No, wait, it was fight or flight or freeze. Maybe he was frozen. He felt frozen. That other guy was so close…Ritsu could count his freckles if he wanted to…

"By pinning me up against this wall?" asked Ritsu once he found his voice again. Why it had felt the need to hide in the first place he did not know.

"No, well, yeah, but that's just so you don't run away. I'm trying to get you to help me because, honestly, I need all the help I can get." Said the boy

"That's obvious, you need help." Said Ritsu

"Yes! I do! It's just…they're planning something big. Claw…my dad….they're planning something big. They were supposed to have done it already but my dad…he's looking for the girl…he says that he needs to find the girl first….the one that you were with…and I was looking for her too…but not for the same reason!" said the boy. Ritsu felt his blood run cold. Freeze had turned to fight. Girl. He knew which girl….who else? Shigeko.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Ritsu. Now it was his turn to grab the other boy. He held him by the wrists. He was strong then, stronger than he had ever been in his life. Shigeko. Shigeko was in danger. He couldn't protect her before but he could protect her now.

"H-Hey, what's up? What'd I say?" asked the boy. He tried to take a step back but Ritsu wouldn't let him.

"My sister." Said Ritsu twisting the other boy's shirt in his grip.

"Oh! She's your sister! I didn't know-" said the boy trying to take a step back. Now it was his turn to be trapped. Ritsu's aura was showing. Dark blue. Dark blue against the boy's red.

"What do you want with my sister?" asked Ritsu lowly. The boy put his hands up in surrender.

"I don't want anything with her! I just want her to…to help me. Defeat my dad I mean. He's…he runs Claw and he's looking for her. He says that she has the potential to be his greatest enemy and he's got people out there looking for her, and some of them supposedly found her, and then she DEPOWERED them which is, like, cool but terrifying and he's pissed and he's thinking of….doing something drastic." Said the boy

"Define drastic." Said Ritsu. This was bad. Claw…not only Claw but it's boss….was after Shigeko. Hadn't she been through enough? Hasn't everyone!? But especially Shigeko…

She could not be involved in this.

He would handle this.

"He's going to try and take over the world." Said the boy. There was a beat, then another, and another. Ritsu needed time to process what he just heard. Take over the world? What was this, shonen weekly? That tired old plotline again? Really? How did anyone think that they could take over the whole world…and why? What would be the point?

Sure you ruled the world but everyone hated you and plotted your death at every second.

"That's insane. That's completely insane." Said Ritsu after a while. The boy nodded.

"Yeah! I know! I thought that dad was just gathering espers for…I don't know why…but then he started going on and on about his 'master plan' and I was all like 'oh my God my dad is the mayor of Crazy Town' and then I remembered you…all of you…and how you totally kicked the entire 7th Division's asses and then I got to thinking…'Hey, Sho, you can't let your dad go all super villain but you can't stop him on your own' and then I thought 'Sho, you don't have to do it alone!' so then and now we're here!" said the boy, right, his name was Sho…

"Because, like, I know the song goes 'everybody wants to rule the world' and all that but, like, who would want to rule the whole world? Everybody would hate you and plot against you nonstop. Like, that's a lot of people to piss off. Also I don't think that espers should rule the world just because we're espers. Like, that doesn't give us the right to rule the world. It's not something we can control and having powers like this doesn't make you a good person…believe me I know. I just…I don't know, the more I think about it the more I dislike it. That's why I need your help. I've got some other people on my side but I could use some more. I could use all the help that I can get." Said Sho. He was holding eye contact now, a lot of eye contact. Ritsu watched him.

He knew what was coming.

And yes, he would help.

Because if he didn't stop all of this then Shigeko would fight again. That guy, that crazy guy, was coming after his sister. He would protect his sister. He would protect his sister with his life. That was his job.

"So I know that you're probably going to say something like 'why should I believe you?' or 'give me a reason to trust you' or 'Sho, you beat the shit out of me when we first met, why should I help you with anything? For all I know you could be planning to kidnap me again' but you need to know that you can-" said Sho

"I trust you. For now." Said Ritsu. He was close enough the he could feel Sho's aura pushing against his. He knew what violent intent felt like, what murderous intent felt like. He didn't feel anything like that from Sho. If he had to give a name to what he felt from Sho he could call it sincerity. His face, his aura, everything that he could read told him that Sho was being sincere.

And right now he needed to believe Sho. If this was true, totally true, then he needed to help. Shigeko would explode if she tried to help with this. She would get hurt if she tried to help with this. She had been hurt enough. She had been through enough. He'd do it, he'd save the world or whatever, and maybe in the course of kicking what sounded like a lot of ass he might find the guy who…

And then he would kill him.

And it would be ok because he was saving the world.

"Really? I mean, cool. Cool, that's cool. Anyway, yeah, cool, we're working together now. This is cool. So now you've just got to call your sister and-" said Sho.

"No. I am not getting my sister involved in any of this. I am not even telling her about any of this. I'm helping you so that she doesn't have to get involved. She doesn't need this." said Ritsu

"Uh….you sure about that? Because my dad is specifically looking for her specifically in the most specific manner possible. He says that because she can steal energy, which is really cool and terrifying by the way, she has the potential to be his greatest enemy. She's pretty much already his greatest enemy because nobody else is crazy enough to challenge him. He talks about her a lot, actually, and I think that it's starting to be kind of creepy. I mean, she's our age? Right? Like, dad, people are going to think weird stuff about you if you keep going on and on about some girl who's the same age as your son!" said Sho

"He talks about her?" asked Ritsu lowly. Dangerously.

"Yeah, all the time! He's, like, obsessed with her. Well not with her, he doesn't talk about her like he likes her if that's what you're worried about. He really, really, really doesn't like her at all. He's pretty clear about how much, you know, he wants her to either join him or die by his hand…and since she's, well, I don't know her, but from what people said about her she's probably not going to be into the whole 'worship my dad as the unquestioned lord and master of the world' thing…and I know that she was saying over and over again that she was a pacifist and all that so I don't think that she's going to want to fight my dad to the…death…either." Said Sho

"To the….what? No way. No way in hell. I am not involving her. I am not helping you if you try to involve her. She can't know about any of this, understand? If I find out that you contacted her in any way I will…I don't know what I'll do but…but I won't be able to be held responsible for my actions." Said Ritsu. Fight to the death? Well obviously Shigeko would win and then hate herself for the rest of her life. She didn't have it in her to kill someone. This was Shigeko, she didn't even like swatting flies. He felt Sho push against his aura. There was some resistance before….oh.

Oh.

This was warm. That was the only word for it, warm. He could see his aura, and Sho's. He could feel…fear. Sho's fear. Fear and….anger. Simmering. Anger and fear and…excitement? Something bubbly, something bubbling under the fear and anger….something sort of nice….

He could see their auras. Red mixing together with dark blue. Light red, if that was the name for that color. Light kind of like fruit punch…swirling with navy blue. Like washing his school uniform in a bucket of fruit punch.

"You're serious…you're seriously serious." Said Sho as he pulled away. Ritsu almost stumbled forward, physically, as his aura tried to move forward to meet Sho's.

What was that?

"Yeah, I am. Do not involve my sister in any way. Understand?" said Ritsu trying to sound like he had before. Trying to sound like he was in control of the situation. Trying to sound like the person he had been ten minutes ago, the sort of person who would commit murder to avenge his sister.

Now he was just….scared.

He was scared of all of this.

But he couldn't be. He was Ritsu. He was Kageyama Ritsu and he was not going to be scared of any of this. The world domination plot, what happened to his sister, any of it. He was not afraid, he was fine. He was fine and everything was fine. He had this. He really did.

"But she'd be really useful! You saw how she and that other guy wiped the floor with the entire seventh division, right? If we had her on our side-" said Sho. Ritsu grabbed the front of his shirt with strength that he didn't know he possessed.

"No. You are not involving my sister in any of this shit. Do you hear me? I won't help you if you so much as look in her general direction." Said Ritsu

"But she's so OP!" said Sho. Ritsu tightened his grip.

"Stay. The. Hell. Away. From. My. Sister." Said Ritsu. Sho stuck out his tongue.

"Only. If. You. Stop. Trying. To. Rip. My. Goddamned. Shirt. Off." Said Sho in that same tone that Ritsu took. He held eye contact with Ritsu. Unblinking eye contact.

The he let himself fall to the ground. He threw his arms up as he fell and used his powers to cast his jacket aside. Ritsu then found himself holding onto a shirt with a shirtless Sho sitting on the ground looking up at him.

He threw Sho's shirt down onto his head and turned away. What in the hell was that?! How could-why would-who the hell just DID something like that?! In what universe was that socially acceptable?! To just…just slip out his shirt like…like that was just something that people did? What the hell was wrong with this guy?!

"Never grab people by their clothes. It's too easy for them to escape." Said Sho. Ritsu's back was still turned. He knew that he shouldn't turn his back on an enemy like that but…but Sho was an ally now. Now they were allies in what seemed like the end of his final arc, if he were a shonen protagonist. He had his all is lost moment and now he had to save the world and avenge his sister and then live happily ever after…or go through this again and again until the series became unprofitable.

He felt something warm press against his back. Arms were wrapped around him. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.

"If you want to hold onto someone so they can't get away try like this. I don't think that this an official hold or anything, I just do this sometimes to mess with people. Mostly Serizawa…mostly. Or maybe he can get out at any time and he's just humoring me. He's a nice guy like that. It's a shame that I'm going to have to kick his ass. He's my dad's body guard. He's a pretty nice guy but he's, like, super shy and he actually hates hurting people but he's, like, my dad's biggest fan or something. That's what I think. There's these super gross rumors going around that…." Said Sho, still holding onto Ritsu. Ritsu tried to will himself to move but he couldn't, not for a while anyway. What was with this guy? Who just…did this? What, did he just go around hugging people from behind? Did he have no concept of space or boundaries or appropriate ways to hug someone that you just met? Well not JUST met but…but just met under…not awful circumstances….

"Which is just, like, why? Seriously, people have nothing better to do than speculate about who my dad's banging. Which is gross. Parents aren't allowed to bang, not even each other. Once the kids are born then they aren't allowed to anymore. Besides, anyone with half of a brain would realize that this stupid rumor could be debunked by, just, asking Hatori to go through Serizawa's search history. Oh, yeah, Hatori's another member of the Ultimate Five, that's what my dad calls his best, most power, guys. Hatori can control tech. Don't ask me how it works, I have no clue. He doesn't, either, which is weird. He can go through anyone's search history, though, so maybe browse in incognito mode until this whole 'save the world' thing is over." Said Sho. Ritsu took a deep breath and pushed Sho away with his powers. Well, as best as he could. His powers weren't listening that well.

"Ok, ok, I can take a hint. Anyway I'll tell you more about who we're up against later. We're going to need more guys, lots more guys. I already have three others but my dad has six hundred soldiers, the Ultimate Five, the division leaders, and all the guys working under the division leaders. So, yeah, we're going to need a lot more guys." Said Sho

"I told you that my sister-" said Ritsu

"GUYS! I said guys, not girls. Sisters are girls, that's why they're sisters. The wear dresses and have long hair and play with dolls and stuff. I'm guessing, anyway, I don't have any sisters and I don't really know any girls. At least I think that I don't have any sisters, I haven't talked to my mom in….anyway, guys. We needs guys. We need, like, all the guys. Every single guy with powers that you have ever come into contact with. But not girls. Just guys. No girls allowed. Wait, no, that's sexist. Most espers are guys but there are girl espers out there…but I don't know how to talk to girls let alone get them on my side…and also they're weird…but I need all the people that I can get. Yes girls! Some girls allowed. Girls will be taken on a case by case basis." Said Sho

"I don't care who you find to help us, just leave my sister out of this." said Ritsu. An arm was thrown over his shoulders.

"Who WE find, you mean. Come on, walk with me, talk with me. You live here, you definitely know at least someone willing to help out…" said Sho as he began to steer Ritsu down the deserted street.

"I'll help you out on one condition." Said Ritsu as he was led, somewhat forcefully, down the street. He could get out this easily if he wanted to…but he didn't. He allowed Sho to rest his arm across his shoulder. He was close enough to see that Sho actually had a lot of very faint freckles…and his hair was very red…and it stood up like that seemingly on it's own…

"Fine, fine, you can have top billing when they decide to make a biopic about us…but I want half of the royalties." Said Sho. Ritsu couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

"No, you can have all the credit. I just need your help with something." Said Ritsu

"Sure, name your price. I'll totally do whatever you want…unless it's weird stuff. I mean, I'll do weird stuff if I have to…to save the world and all of that. Yeah, sure, bring on all the weird stuff!" said Sho. Ritsu stopped walking and stared at him.

"That's where your mind goes when I say I need your help with something….?" Asked Ritsu. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to cry. What was with this guy? What, did things just pop into his head and he just…said them?

"Well, yeah, yours doesn't?" asked Sho

"No…of course not…" said Ritsu

"Well then where does your mind go?" asked Sho

"Right now?" asked Ritsu

"Yeah. Pretend that I asked you for help." Said Sho

"You just…did." Said Ritsu

"Well pretend that I'm asking you for a favor and it has nothing to do with saving the world." Said Sho

"Ok, fine. I'm pretending." Said Ritsu

"Good. Now tell me that your mind isn't going to weird stuff." Said Sho

"No. My mind is not going to weird stuff…any kind of weird stuff." Said Ritsu

"Well then you're a weirdo." Said Sho

"Well you're the expert." Said Ritsu

"Hey! I'm normal, everyone else is weird." Said Sho

"Keep on telling yourself that." Said Ritsu

"I will. I'm going to draw faces on my hands and tell myself that as I slowly sink deeper…and deeper….into madness…" said Sho getting very, very, very close. Ritsu took a step back. He had been close enough to count all the freckles on the bridge of Sho's nose….and that was much too close for comfort.

"So, if it's not weird stuff then what do you want in return? Money? Power? Rare capsule toys?" asked Sho

"I want you to help me find and murder the guy who hurt my sister." Said Ritsu. There was a moment of silence. A cold wind blew between them. He felt Sho's aura tapping against his.

"Wow. You're serious." Said Sho

"Of course I am. So, will you help me?" asked Ritsu

"Um….I've never killed anyone before….and I don't think that I'm capable of it….but I will help you mess this guy up really bad. I mean, only the biggest wastes of life go around hitting girls. So, yeah, I'll mess a guy up really bad, I mean that's fair. I'm not asking you to help me kill my dad…and I have no plans on killing my dad….but I am asking you to help me mess him up. So, yeah, it's fair if I help you mess up the guy who messed with your sister." Said Sho. Ritsu thought on that for a moment. He didn't have to kill the guy…because dead was the end…there were so many worse things than death….

Ritsu was starting scare himself a little.

Good. Then whoever this guy was would be terrified….

Terror was the least that he could do.

"That's fair." Said Ritsu after a moment. Sho looked relieved. All the tension in his body, that nervous sort of tension that seemed to cling to him, melted away. Even his aura seemed more relaxed.

"Ok, cool, now come on. You and me, we have some work to do." Said Sho. Threw his arm around Ritsu and started down the road again. Ritsu had no idea where he was being led to but…he didn't care. After this day, everything that had been swimming around in his mind…what happened to Shigeko….all of it…the weight of what he had to do….it was nice to just…be led. Sometimes it was nice to just let someone lead.

Of course he had no idea where it was that he was going.

Mob had no idea where it was that she was going.

In the relationship, she meant. She wasn't going anywhere physically. She was sitting on the couch next to Teru, eating pizza, and watching TV. They had been watching TV for a while, now, because they had to do something. They had to do something besides sit together in silence in the living room. They had done that for a while, just sat together in the living room. After she had told him everything. After he had told her….that he wanted forever…with her.

She would think about this later.

She had enough things to think about now.

Like where Master Reigen was.

"Do you think that we should save some pizza for Master Reigen?" asked Mob. Teru had ordered them a bunch of pizzas. She had no food in the house, he had said after going through the entire kitchen, and he had originally suggested that they go out somewhere, anywhere, because the room smelled like cigarette smoke and the walls were crushing him.

They had gotten to the first floor before they had to turn back.

Mob did not want to go out there. She was happy here. She was safe here. It was cold out there, and getting colder. It was getting colder and every breath she took reminded her of being in the unreality. Every moment outside got colder and colder and colder until by the time they got to the first floor landing Mob could not feel her fingers and toes.

So they went back inside.

Mob put her pajamas back on the second they came back in the house. She didn't want to be in outside clothes. She didn't want to be outside end of discussion. She didn't care if she was wearing pants that were itchy and clingy and the waistband dug into her skin…she didn't care. She didn't want to wear outside clothes.

She wanted to be inside. It was safe there.

She didn't care if it smelled like smoking or it was a thousand degrees or the internet was being kind of slow. She wanted to be inside her own home where she knew that she was safe and that everything was alright. Four walls, faded yellow from all the smoking, windows with cracks that she couldn't totally fix, pipes that clanked and groaned, and a heater that occasionally made a sound like there were tiny little people in there with hammers just hammering away…

This was her home.

And in it she was safe.

"If you want to, I guess. I mean, he's probably eating dinner or something right now." Said Teru. He loved Shigeko but he hated this apartment. Why would Shigeko want to be here? What did she ever see here? All it did was make her feel worse, he figured. He wanted to take her somewhere to eat, there must have been places around here that sold some kind of food that she enjoyed. There wasn't any food in the house, none at all. Poke sticks and potato chips and cup noddle and marshmallows and chocolate bars and endless cans of beer and bottles of what Teru figured were cheap liquors….Teru was fourteen and he lived better than this.

Shigeko deserved better than this.

There was no way that she could get better living like this. No way at all. She needed food, real food, not snacks. She needed clean clothes, everything she owned smelled like she lived in a cigarette factory. She needed a place to sleep, too. Not a futon on the floor of **Reigen's** room but a bed, or a futon, in a nice room that was all her own….or his.

But not Reigen's.

Why did she care so much about that guy? He couldn't provide for her, he couldn't keep her safe, hell he couldn't even keep her company! He had gone off to God knows where and he was doing God knows what and just left Shigeko all alone in this crappy apartment in this crappy part of town…all on her own. Reigen had no idea if Teru was staying or going, and Teru planned on staying for as long as he could take it, and Shigeko did not need to be alone right now. She needed to know that she had someone who loved her and who would take care of her.

That was Teru's job.

And he had been doing a piss poor job of it lately.

He had known that something was off about her but he hadn't done a single goddamned thing about it. He had just…he had just let her be and she had been through so much….and now she wasn't ok and he had no idea how to fix this. She wouldn't even let him try. She said that it was her job to get better all on her own. That was not how this worked. They were a couple. They were together. They were in this thing together and he was not going to leave her. He was not going to just start packing one day and tell her that she was on her own and that she was old enough to take care of herself and let her figure out how to cook and clean and do laundry and get to school on time and-

He was going to spend the rest of his life with her.

He would never, ever, ever leave her alone like that.

Which was better than Reigen was doing. He abandoned Shigeko. First he takes her to that place….that awful place…and he lets all of that shit happen to her and then he just…just yells at her and makes her cry and scares her so bad that she ends up living outside in the cold and the dark…all alone…and now he was abandoning her again but she just kept on **coming back to him**.

And she just kept on thinking about him.

"I hope so. I hope that he's not hurt or lost or scared or dead." Said Mob even though she knew that Master Reigen was an adult and that he was probably fine. He should have told her, though, that he was leaving the house. That would have been the nice thing to do. He also should have taken his phone. That way she could have at least texted and seen where he was. The world was so big and there was so much out there that could hurt him…

"He can handle himself, he's a grown man….even if he doesn't act like it." Said Teru

"What do you mean?" asked Mob

"Nothing, nothing." Said Teru. That was dangerous ground, insulting Reigen Arataka in her presence. She was someone who saw the good in everyone. That was her biggest flaw and he best virtue. She looked at Reigen and didn't see a sweaty guy in a cheap suit but instead a friend…or whatever. Someone she cared about enough…and was attached to enough…to live in this cigar box with.

"You said something…and it didn't sound nice…but I'm bad at talking sometimes." Said Mob. Why didn't he like Master Reigen? Why did so many people dislike him? It wasn't fair. He was such a good person but people still disliked him. People were still mean to him…and there was nothing that she could do about it.

"Fine, I said that he doesn't always act like an adult. Ok?" said Teru. He didn't want to fight with her. Fighting was the last thing he wanted right now. She was there with him on the world's most uncomfortable couch watching the world's most boring slice of life show and eating the world's greasiest pizza. This was all that he wanted.

Her, resting on him, eating pizza.

"Please be nice to Master Reigen. He's had a really hard time lately. There are enough people in the world being mean to him." said Mob

"…..I love that about you, I really do…" said Teru. He loved that about her. He loved the way that she could just…care about everyone like that. Even Reigen.

"Love what?" asked Mob. His hand was cradling hers. Grease against grease. Skin against skin. She drew her nails across the top of his hand. Soft.

"The way that you care so much about the people around you….I love that…but Shigeko I just…I love you so much." Said Teru. He did not want to hurt her. If they fought then he would hurt her. He'd hurt her feelings and make her…make her relive the hell that she had been through.

"I love you too, Teru. I love you a lot….and I care about you a lot, too." Said Mob

"I'm sorry. I don't want to fight with you. I just want to make you happy. I just want you to be ok." Said Teru. His voice broke, there, at the end. He had no idea what to do. He had zero idea how he was supposed to…to make her ok again.

She was afraid to go outside.

"I don't want us to fight, either….and I don't know what we would fight about. I like this, this is nice. I like having you here and having you love me…still." Said Mob. He laced his fingers in hers. He took in a deep breath, held it, and then let it out slowly.

"So let's have pizza and watch bad TV and cuddle." Said Teru. Mob frowned.

"If you don't like it then we can watch something else." Said Mob. She was watching this show, sort of, more so than she had been watching TV lately, anyway. This wasn't one of her favorite shows but it wasn't bad. Club anime. Friends having fun and being in a club and also all in love with the same guy. Mob hoped that the older, blue haired girl won in the end. She was the nicest and the most understanding. The red haired girl was too mean. If she liked the guy then she should have been nicer. The green haired girl was too annoying, though. Her jokes never landed, in Mob's opinion. The purple haired girl was too little, though, and Mob didn't know why they had such a young character in this show. This was a show about a high school club so there was no reason for an elementary schooler to be there, even if she was the club advisor's genius little sister….

Mob had missed this, paying attention to TV shows.

"No, this is fine, I just…it's not my usual thing, that's all. Really, though, I'll watch whatever you want." Said Teru. For her he would endure anything….even whatever the hell this was. Why did girls like this stuff? It was just a bunch of girls fighting over the same, boring, guy. Not that he had anything against these shows on principal, he was sure that he watched plenty of stuff that she thought was banal…

He liked watching TV with her no matter what was on.

Because this was normal, so normal. This was the most normal. Just him and his girlfriend watching TV.

"We can watch something else if you want. The internet is being kind of slow today but we have other channels…and DVDs, too." Said Mob. She felt his fingers trace up and down her back.

"I don't really care but you can change it if you want. Really, I just want to be with you, Shigeko, that's all…but if you wanted to watch something else that you like that would be fine." Said Teru as his eyes scanned the DVD's stacked up on the floor next to the TV. Oh, she had Evangelion DVDs…

No. Don't suggest that.

She had said that she initiated third impact. The end of the world. She had…well she always said that it was a good thing. Everyone becoming one and losing their physical forms. She had…what had she called it? She had dematerialized herself and the spirits that made up Mogami…yeah, no. He was not going to remind her of the hell that she had been through. She did not need that.

Mob followed his eyes. Oh, the movie stack. Right, she maybe should have made the room a little neater…but at least the garbage had been cleaned up. Not that Teru would have judged her. He accepted her even if she was afraid to leave the house and left a mess and wiped her greasy hands on the couch. No, he was looking there for another reason.

Well it was the movie stack.

And she did have some really good ones.

She lifted the movies up with her powers. What would be good? Oh, right. She had the Rebuild movies. He liked EVA, right? Well he didn't like it as much as she did but he did like it, probably more than her slice of life shoujo stuff.

"Shigeko, we don't have to watch-" said Teru

"Oh. I didn't know that you didn't like EVA. I'm sorry." Said Mob. Darn. Oh well, he was a different person than her and was allowed to like and dislike what he chose to.

"No! I mean, it's not that I don't like it…I just don't want you to be upset. I mean, you said that you made third impact happen…in the pocket dimension…." Said Teru

"The unreality? I did. I did and it wasn't enough…but that's ok. It's over now and I still like EVA. It's just such a happy story." Said Mob

"….I think that you and I were watching two very different series." Said Teru

"Do you think? I mean, we didn't watch every single episode and movie together-" said Mob

"No, I mean….what about that story is happy? Everyone dies at the end but Shinji and the red haired girl-" said Teru

"Asuka." Said Mob

"Yeah, everyone but Shinji and Asuka is dead and the world is uninhabitable." Said Teru

"Everyone turned to LCL and now they can all understand each other….when it happened to me…when I was in the sea of red LCL…it wasn't good…but in EVA it was good. That scene with the song was so nice…because then everyone became one and understood each other…and the song is so nice…it's my favorite song ever." Said Mob

"….you said that your favorite type of music was cheerful music…" said Teru

"Yes. Komm Susser Tod is a very cheerful song." Said Mob

"….I know that you don't speak German but I know that your English is pretty good-" said Teru

"It's not that good, Master Reigen's English is much better than mine." Said Mob

"Yeah, because he's an adult and I'm guessing that whatever the half of him that isn't Japanese comes from a place that speaks English-" said Teru

"His mom is from America. Her name is Sophia. She's really nice." Said Mob

"Ok. Anyway, yeah, you know enough English to know what they're…saying." Said Teru

"I know. I love that sound. It all returns to nothing….isn't that nice? Everything goes back to being nothing so that it can start all over again. No matter how badly you let yourself down you can just start all over again. That's what I was trying to do in the unreality…and I think when we fought Claw, too." Said Mob

"Shigeko…." Said Teru. Well now didn't that sound downright cryptic. His girlfriend wanted to end the world and start it again….or something. Yeah, that was something else that he needed to worry about. Her ending the world…or just herself. She had tried to dematerialize herself…because she had been to hell and back…but it wasn't over, was it?

He clutched her hand as tightly as he could.

"Yes?" asked Mob. He was a weird color now, pale, like her. His skin was the same color as hers…and she knew that she was way too pale. She knew that he normally wasn't so pale. But what was wrong? What had she said wrong this time?

"Don't die." Said Teru finally. That was the best way that he could phrase it. Don't get killed. Don't kill yourself. Don't give up your vessel and let your spirit just…return to nothing. I love you. I cannot live without you.

"Everyone dies, Teru. Nobody in the entire world is immortal." Said Mob

"I know! Shigeko...I know. I know that you're not immortal but…but don't…it sounds like you tried to kill yourself, ok? It sounds like you tried to give up your body so that you could die and just…please don't die. Please don't die and please don't be killed…because that spirit could have killed you…and you could have been gone…you could have been gone and-and-and-" said Teru. He was trying to breathe, now, but the air was too choked with cigarette smoke. The air was choked with smoke and he was getting all choked up.

"Teru…slow down…" said Mob. It looked like he was trying to breathe in and talk at the same time. It seemed like he had forgotten that you could inhale, you could exhale, but you couldn't do both at the same time.

"You could have been gone! I was…what in the hell was I even doing that day? Something-something-something stupid. Shopping. Hanging out with my friends. Laundry. Homework….and you could have-have-have-" said Teru. She could have died. She wanted to die. He almost lost her. He hadn't been there for her and he had almost lost her forever….

"Teru, here. Drink this." said Mob. She handed him her glass of water. He tried to take a drink but then started to cough. The glass hit the floor but did not shatter. She didn't care about the glass, she just didn't want him to choke. She hit him on the back with her powers. She could not lose him.

"You-you-you could have died and I wouldn't have known! You came so-so-so close and you-you-you wanted to die…you sound like you wanted to die and I wasn't there to keep you safe…." Said Teru trying to calm down. It was like there just was not enough air. There was not enough air and the walls were closing in and she was there but she so easily could not have been…she could have been gone and he could have been all alone again…Shigeko could have been gone….his girlfriend could have been gone…the love of his life could have died while he was ironing his socks…

"Teru, there was nothing that you could have done. A whole room full of espers couldn't stop Mogami. I couldn't even stop him…just weaken him. Teru if you had been there then you could have died. You could have been gone and I…I don't know what I would have done if you had died that day…and I'm glad that you're here. I'm glad that you were doing homework or hanging out with your friends or shopping or anything, really. I'm glad." Said Mob. Teru wiped his eyes with his sleeves. He had taken off every part of his uniform save for his pants and white button down shirt. There were grease stains, now, that he would have to get out later…but that didn't matter.

Nothing in this world mattered but Shigeko.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what that was. I just…the thought of you dying freaks me out. I guess that it damned on me that you could have died…and that you would want to die…and that is dying. Losing your body…yourself…that's something that is pretty much death…and I don't want you to die. I don't want you to be…gone. I don't know what I would do if you were just…gone." Said Teru

"Teru…I don't know what I would do if you were just…gone…either. I have no idea what I would do. I just…I love you and I want…I don't know if I want…but I know that I want you to be with me." Said Mob

"Just…promise me that you don't go. Promise me that you won't…die. Just…I love you and I can't lose you." Said Teru. He wanted to throw his arms around her and hold her so tight that he could never, ever, ever let her go. But he couldn't. He didn't want to freak her out.

"I'll try not to, and I won't try to initiate third impact again, if that's what you're worried about. I don't want to make you worry, Teru. I just…I want us to be ok. I want you to be ok and I want you to be ok and I want us to be ok." Said Mob. She pulled her sleeve down over her hand and wiped the tears from Teru's eyes. She was causing him that pain. She was making him sad. He did not deserve that.

"I want us to be ok too…and we are. We're here together and we're having a nice evening and this is…we're ok." Said Teru. She didn't need this from him right now. He was going to be there for her but she did not need to be there for him. He felt…a little better. The panic was gone. Shigeko was there and she was alive and she was going to stay his and stay alive.

"We are." Said Mob. Not a question, a statement. A statement of fact. Flat fact. She was there and he was there, they were there together. As long as they were together then they would be ok. She didn't…she didn't know if she would want to be with him forever, if she loved him more than Master Reigen…if she could ever even be with Master Reigen…but she did know that he was there and she was there and they were there together and that was what mattered.

She had someone who loved her. That was what mattered.

Mob had someone who loved her, that was what mattered.

That was all that Mob needed right now, Reigen thought. Someone to love her. She needed all the love that she could get right now. She had been through such an ordeal…but at least she was back. She was back home and she was ok. Well not ok but she was getting…she was not getting better. She had spent the entire day hiding in the bathroom because she was too afraid to go to school. Maybe when all of this was over, the girl time he meant, because that was what she was afraid of being made fun of for, he figured. She had gone to school before, back when she had been couch surfing, back when she had been in the worst of it, when what had happened had still been new and raw….she had still gone about her day.

But now she was hiding.

And maybe mom was right, maybe he was trying to blame it all on her period. Maybe that would be easier. Maybe then he could pretend that in a week she'd be better. Maybe he could pretend that in a week she'd be normal and everything would go back to normal and they could just pick up where they left off like normal. But they couldn't.

Things were not normal.

And he had no idea when they ever would be again. He had no idea if he'd wake up in the middle of the night and find her passed out in front of the TV. He had no idea if she'd find herself in the middle of a nightmare and end up tossing him across the room like he weighed nothing. He had no idea what he would even come home to, no idea at all. Maybe she'd be in the bathroom again. Maybe she'd be asleep. Maybe she'd be fine, just fine, because that kid was there and they actually had a really great relationship, those two. Mob needed someone to love her, she said, and he knew that it couldn't be him. Not in the way that she…wanted…anyway.

So she had a crush on him, maybe. Big deal.

He was not going to let himself get all worked up over that. He may not have even been right. Besides, she was fourteen. It would pass. She was fourteen and she got crushes and he was not going to get all worked up over it. He was not going to sit there and overanalyze every interaction that he had ever had with her in the entire time that they had been together…that he had known her. They were not together. Despite what people thought…and he did not care what people thought. They could think whatever they wanted. He didn't care.

He did not give a damn about anyone in this world besides Mob.

"Reigen? Are you sure you should be drinking?" asked the bartender. Reigen clicked his tongue.

"Another." Said Reigen pushing his empty glass across the bar. Whiskey sour, extra whiskey and extra sour. He knew his limits. He knew that he was approaching his limit. He didn't care. He didn't care about anything other than Mob.

She was his everything.

The thought was terrifying. She was his everything. She had, at some point, become his everything. He was looking forward to seeing her. He was looking forward to coming home and seeing her and spending time with her. They could play more Mario Kart or watch TV all cuddled up…like she liked. She did like it. She felt safe and warm, which meant that he felt safe and warm.

How did he feel now?

The bartender handed him another drink. Their hands brushed. Concern. Well then wasn't that just lovely? You knew that you were a mess when your bartended was worried about you. How many drunks stumbled through these doors every single night? Well now there was one more. He had always drank a lot, since he was too young to drink, too. Well old habits did not die easily. Maybe it was a family thing. This was what Reigens did, they drank all their problems away and stumbled home to their families…not that Reigen had one of those.

He had a mother. She was disappointed in him.

He had a father. He had replaced him long ago.

He had a half-brother….that he hadn't seen since he was a baby.

He had Mob. He had ruined her life but he still had her.

She was right there, waiting for him. She was probably going to be sitting on the couch when he came through the door and her eyes would just light up and she'd say something like _'Master, I missed you so much.'_and she would have meant it, too. How long had he been gone for? He had no clue. He left his phone at home. We was well and truly unreachable now. He could disappear and nobody would have any way of finding him. He could walk off into the darkness and just let it swallow him up. He could fill his pockets with rocks and walk off into the river….well he could do that even if he had his phone on him. Not that he was going to do that. No, Mob needed him. Mob needed him because…he had no clue why she needed him. Why she kept on coming back to him. Nobody had ever just come back to him like this. He had never been as terrible to anyone before as he had been to Mob. She just came right back…to save him.

He ordered another.

She came right back to save him. She had left him…and she had come right back to him. The thought of it, the thought of her caring that much about him….caring enough about him to come right back after he had been so terrible to her…it feels…good. It's a good feeling, knowing that she cares so much. Knowing that she would always come back to him. Knowing that when he came home, even if it would be stumbling home and reeking of liquor, her eyes would just light up so bright the second that she saw him. Her aura would meet his and she'd just be so goddamned **happy…**

He'd be happy, too. He'd be so happy to see her. To see her eyes all lit up like the Fourth of July, as his mother would say. No, her eyes would be all lit up like the end of a summer festival. That was something he could remember seeing, and had seen with her. They had gone last year, when she was thirteen and he was twenty seven. They had ate junk food and played games, even won a few goldfish, though they didn't keep them. Her mother had a strict rule against pets and he hadn't wanted the responsibility of keeping another living creature alive and safe and…well now look where he was. A year later and he was…he was responsible for another living person. Her. He was responsible for her. Hadn't he messed that up terribly?

But he was responsible for her.

He was responsible for her, now, and he needed to do a better job of it. He needed to do better than he had. Never again. They were never going on such a dangerous job…or any job…ever again. He didn't know what they were going to do for money, and they had to do something, because the Asagiri job had left them better off but that wasn't enough for the two of them to live off of for the rest of their lives. Especially at the rate that he was drinking it down. Glass by glass. Better but that glass down, Arataka, because there's someone at home that needs you…

That wants you.

She doesn't need you. She was doing very well, all things considered, without you. Her friends were taking care of her. At least she was going to school. What if she just never went back? You're enabling this. You're letting her stay home. Two days won't kill her, two more wouldn't either, but eventually people would start asking questions. She wasn't old enough to leave school and you shouldn't encourage that anyway. She needed an education so she could have a life, a better life than you have, anyway. What, do you think that she's going to be happy living in that shithole with you forever? She deserves better, much better. When she grows up she's going to want better.

She's going to want much more than what you can give.

You know what she wants. She wants forever with you, and that scares you, doesn't it? It scares you how badly she wants you. Not even physically. You are her entire world. You're her rock and without you she's gone. You are her stability. You are the person that she looks to as her model for, well, everything. She came back to you. Not even a few days ago, no, before. She came back to you from that prison Mogami made for her. No matter what that bastard did to her never gave up. She never gave up because she remembered you. How much you mean to her. How badly she wants to be with you. What did you do when she did come back? You pushed her away.

You ruined her life, Arataka.

You ruined her entire life. You pushed her away and now to compensate you're holding her too close. It was never about how it looked, was it? It wasn't about what everyone else thought. It wasn't about what they thought that you felt, no, it was about what you felt. What she felt. Where do your feelings end and hers begin? She's your everything, Arataka, and you're hers. You want to hold her. You want to keep her close and tell her that every single thing is going to be ok.

But it's not all going to be ok, is it? She's not going to be ok, is she? You can't make it all ok, can you? She needs so much more than what you can give…and you hate yourself for not being able to give her what she needs…and you hate yourself for wanting to give her everything she needs…everything that she wants…because you love her…you love her…

You love her so damn much, don't you?

"Ok, you're cut off." Said the bartender. Reigen reached forward for his glass but found the space that it had occupied conspicuously empty. A napkin with a wet ring in it was the only proof that it had ever existed.

"Wh-whuh ya doin'….." said Reigen. He reached out in front of himself a few more times, as if his drink would just magically appear in his outstretched hand if he tried hard enough.

"I cannot in good conscience keep serving you when you're like this, Reigen." Said the bartender.

"Like whuh…I'm not suh very-"said Reigen. He was fine. He was fine and everything was fine, it really was. He reached forward too far and overbalance himself. The stool beneath him gave way and he found himself sprawled out on the floor.

"You're talking to yourself, you're not making sense, and you can barely stand up. You're done." Said the bartender. Reigen stood up, it took a couple of tries, and he gave the bartender some words that may or may not have been acceptable to use in polite society. Whatever. He had to get home anyway. He stumbled through the bar, out the doors, and into the cool air of the night. No, not cool. Cold. It was cold out here.

Thank God that Mob was inside where she belonged.

Thank God that she was safe and sound.

Thank God that she was out of the bathroom.

Thank God that she was still alive.

Thank God that she still loved him.

That had been the thing, hadn't it? Not the public humiliation, not the existential dread of the whole 'what was he doing with his life' and certainly not the blow to his ego. No, the thing had been the distinct lack of Mob in his life. The way that she had just left him. The lack of the constant love affection and validation that she so constantly gave him. Well she was back and she may not have been ok but she was back and back was all that he could ask for at this point. She was back and he was going to go back to her and he was going to hold her so tight and tell her that everything was going to be ok because that was what she needed right now.

Screw mom and her opinions of him and Mob and how badly he had ruined Mob's life and what a disappointment of a son, a man, and a human being that he was. He didn't care what his mom thought. He only cared about Mob. She was all that mattered. She was his everything. She was the light of his life and her eyes would light up when she saw him again and then she'd know that everything was going to be as alright as Reigen could make it and then they could be happy, the two of them.

He loved her. He wanted to make her happy.

So he went home to her. He wasn't so very drunk. He remembered where home was. He remembered how to get there, or at least his feet did. His head was swimming and talking was hard and he stumbled and tumbled a few times but really he was fine. His stomach may have grumbled and rumbled and his insides may have tried to become his outsides but he was fine, really. He was fine and everything was fine. He would be fine so long as he got to see Mob again and he got to make sure that she was alright and that she was happy and that she was there because I was so cold out here and if she were outside in the cold she could have frozen.

She could have so easily frozen.

She could have so easily frozen out here in the cold and the darkness, before. The world would have frozen her solid and ate her up like a ball of mochi ice cream. That was what the world did to all the good things in it, the best things in it. The world swallowed up anything good because goodness could not be allowed to exist. Anything good had to be eaten and devoured and consumed until there was only the darkness and the cold left. That was what the world had tried to do. The world had tried to swallow up the light of his life. The world had tried to swallow it all up and he had almost let it.

But the world had not swallowed up the light of his life.

He could see her as he got closer and closer to his building. The light of his life. A pink and blue beacon through the cold and the dark. He told the world that it could not have her, eh may have even said it out loud. He didn't care. The world could not have her. She was his and he was hers and he didn't care at this point what the world thought. He loved her.

He loved Kageyama Shigeko.

He loved her so much and he would not let anything happen to her. Nothing was going to harm her, not while he was around. But she had come to harm. She had come to so much harm, all the harm, and not all he could do was tape the pieces of her life back together with her. He could try and make it better, though it would get worse before it got better. It already got worse. She wasn't going to school anymore…but she was so very little and she needed to go to school.

She was so very little.

She was so very little, too little for him to love. Too little for him to hold. Too little for everything that the world kept on throwing at her. She was just so very little and the world was so very big and so very dark so he had no choice, none at all, but to protect her from it as best as he could. That was how he found her in his arms. That was how he found her in his arms after he made his way up the stairs and to his floor and pushed his door opened, he may or may not have unlocked it he couldn't remember, and that was how he found himself holding her so close and so tight and telling her over and over again that she was going to be ok.

"Master? Are you…ok?" asked Mob. She had been alone, before. Teru had gotten a text, then a bunch of texts, then a bunch of calls so he had to go. He tried to ignore them, he said, but something really important had come up and now he was needed. He said that he would see her tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next until she was either up for going back out into the world or sick of him, whichever came first.

She could never be sick of him.

Especially not after he left her all alone in the apartment with only the TV and the clanking pipes for company. She had been alone for a while, actually. Nobody around, not even Master Reigen. She had even called him before she remembered that he had left his phone there. So then she was alone and she was too afraid to go outside and look for him. Her range was pretty good but she would still have to go out there into the dark and the cold and…and she just could not do it. Maybe if it was brighter out. Maybe if it was warmer out. Maybe if she wasn't so afraid of nothing, nothing at all, because it was nothing,

Lies were nothing.

The unreality was a lie.

Mogami was full of lies.

So therefore the unreality was nothing.

But it didn't feel like nothing, it felt like everything. It felt like the combination of every single bad feeling that she had ever had. Nothing was good, nothing was safe, nothing was right, in the unreality. She knew that this was he reality, she had destroyed the unreality, and Mogami was somewhere being held prisoner and he could not hurt her anymore…but she still could not step foot out there. In the dark, in the cold.

Not even to look for Master Reigen.

But now Master Reigen was back. He was a mess but he was back. He smelled…not great….and he was holding her way too tight but he was back. He was back and she didn't have to be all alone ever again. She didn't want to be alone again. She needed someone to be with her, not the TV. She didn't want to be all alone on the couch all night with only the TV and the clanking pipes and her own thoughts for company.

"Mob…I missed you so much…" said Reigen as he held her close. He would have picked her up if he could, and he tried to, but he couldn't. She was too big for him to pick her up without her help. He couldn't pick her up but he could still hold her. She was so safe and warm…

"Master, I missed you too….are you sure that you're alright? You're being all…weird." Said Mob

"I….dear student….am drunk. Suh very…not suh very….drunk." said Reigen. Mob blinked. Drunk? She had never seen a drunk person before, not up close anyway, and she had never seen Master Reigen drunk before. She heard that people changed when they drank but he was mostly the same, just way more touchy than usual.

Usually she was the one to initiate cuddling…but this was nice too.

Very nice.

"Do not do what I have done, Mob. You hear me? This is…this is not a good way to be…" said Reigen. He felt his legs get a little weak. She caught him. He was surrounded by her aura. She was carrying him…to the couch? No, to their room. His room. The room.

Their room.

This was their room. They had been sharing this room long enough for it to count as hers, too. She had a futon and everything. Yup. Her room too. She placed him gently on his bed, well she moved the covers first but then she placed him down gently. She even tucked him in.

"I don't know what to do so I'm putting you in your bed…um…there's pizza in the fridge if you get hungry. Me and Teru got pizza, before, for dinner. Then he had to go…and I don't know why…he just said that it was something important….and I was alone…but you're here now. So I'm happy…but also I'm kind of worried….and also I'm feeling kind of…weird…when I get too much in your aura….or you get too much in mine…" said Mob. She felt dizzy, sort of. It was taking a lot of effort to get her powers to listen. Not in the sense that she was going to explode but instead in the sense that they were ignoring her…

And her legs were ignoring her, too.

She stumbled forward and braced herself on the bed.

"You…you should lay down…Mob." Said Reigen. He sat up and tried to push her to a standing position. She just barely made it onto shaky legs.

"That's…that's a good idea." Said Mob. She turned off the lights with her powers and laid down on her futon. It smelled dusty, still. She'd need to lay it out tomorrow, probably. She had never had her old futon get dusty but she had never been away from her own bed for as long as she had, before. She rolled unto her side and looked up, the smell of dust tickling her nose. Master Reigen was looking up at the ceiling, she could still see him in the light that was leaking in from the outside. Streetlights. So many streetlights. So light but also so dark.

"I really am sorry." Said Reigen after a while. He was sorry, he was so sorry, and she needed to know that he was. Sorry wouldn't make this better. Sorry wouldn't fix everything that had gone wrong. What was the point of saying it, then? Why had he said it? For her to know. Because she needed to know? Or because he needed her to know. Because we was just that selfish?

"For being drunk? I don't mind, Master. I'm more worried, actually. They said at school that people could get really sick or even die if they drink too much-" said Mob. She went over everything that she remembered, which wasn't very much at all. She could feel, sort of, what Master Reigen was feeling and he didn't feel like he was dying. He wasn't ok but he wasn't dying, either. That was good, right? She didn't know what she would do if he died. She didn't know what she would do without him.

"I'm not that drunk, not nearly so very drunk, Mob. I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sorry that I brought you to the awful place and I'm sorry that I couldn't keep you safe and I'm sorry that you're so-so-so-this, now. I'm just sorry for our entire relationship up to this point." Said Reigen. Mob felt herself go red from the tips of her ears to the bottoms of her feet. He said relationship. Him, her, relationship…but of course he didn't mean it like that. That was just her being all weird.

He had made himself perfectly clear, she could not be his girlfriend.

Besides, she was already someone's girlfriend.

"Come on, not like that. I just meant that I'm sorry about all the shit I put you through, that's all." Said Reigen. She was embarrassed so he was embarrassed. That was how it went when they were this enmeshed, didn't it? And they were pretty damned enmeshed, weren't they?

"…you didn't put me through anything, Master." Said Mob

"Don't be like that, you know what I mean. I'm the one who brought you to that place and I'm the one who—"said Reigen

"I don't want to talk about what happened anymore. I don't ever want to talk about it again. I just don't, alright? And I want you to listen." Said Mob

"I am listening-" said Reigen

"Not just hear what I say, I want you to listen. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I had to talk to you about it already and I had to talk to Teru about it today and I have to talk to a bunch of people about it later but I just…I don't want to talk about it anymore." Said Mob. She closed her eyes tight. She didn't want to have to think about it or talk about it ever again. She just wanted it to be over but it wasn't. It would never end, it seemed like. It just kept on going on and on and on and on with no end in sight. She felt his fingers brushing against the side of her face. She opened her eyes and looked up.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just selfish or something, I just want you to know that I'm sorry and that I'm here and everything is going to be ok…and you don't have to talk about this if you don't want to. Not with me and not with anyone." Said Reigen

"But I do." Said Mob. She had so much to clear up with so many people….it was daunting. It was just so much but she would have to do it because she could not have people going around and thinking something that was so completely and totally not at all true whatsoever.

"No you don't, you really don't. I can't believe that kid, I told him not to make you talk about anything that you didn't want to…and I'm guessing that he decided to ignore me…and now you're upset…but you're always upset these days…" said Reigen

"I'm not always upset, Master, just sometimes. I'm upset sometimes but not all the time. I'm not upset when we're together…most of the time." Said Mob

"I know, I know how you feel…how safe you feel when you're with me…even though I couldn't-" said Reigen. Even though he couldn't keep her safe even if her life depended on it, which it had. Her eyes were closed again and even if they were opened it was still too dark to see the expression of pain that he knew was etched onto his face. Pain and fear. Maybe his face would get stuck like that. Served him right.

"You make me feel safe. Even though you aren't as strong as me you still make me feel safe. I just…I feel better when I don't have to talk about it or think about it." Said Mob

"Then we won't talk about it or think about it. Whatever you want, Mob." Said Reigen

"But I have to talk about it." Said Mob

"No you don't. Your life is your own and if you don't want to talk about-" said Reigen

"I have to because Teru said that he thought that Mogami tried to have sex with and he heard it from someone else which makes me think that everyone thinks that even though that's not true. Mogami is a spirit and spirits don't do that…and also he hates sex and he was always talking about how much he hated sex. Sex and money were the greatest human motivators he said and he didn't like them at all so of course he didn't make me-" said Mob before she felt Master Reigen's hand leave her face. She was about to ask him what was wrong, because that should have been good news, before she heard his bed creak. Then she felt him step down onto her futon, stand there for a moment, before he sat down next to her. She sat up and opened her eyes.

And then she was being hugged.

She was hit with the urge to push him away, because he was in her space, and he was so much bigger than her, but then she pushed that feeling away. She did not want to push him away because he was not Mogami and he would never, ever, ever do anything to hurt her. She trusted him. She trusted him and she loved him totally and completely.

Mob felt every bad feeling she ever had melt away as she was hugged. She felt his hands in her hair, on her back, moving up and down over and over again. She wrapped her arms as best as she could around him. She was so much smaller than him and the position was awkward, too. Her blanket was caught between the two of them and it dug into her stomach. It wasn't comfortable but it was…nice. The most nice. The very most nice.

"Mob….you have no idea how fucking relieved I am." Said Reigen as he held her as close and he could. She was holding him, too, so this was not unwanted. She hadn't been…it was a relief. The biggest relief that he had ever had in his life, and he was counting that pregnancy scare back in university. She had gone through a lot of horrific stuff but at least…that was a special kind of evil, the worst kind of evil, and Mob had at least been spared that.

At least he hadn't been responsible for Mob going through that.

"Teru was, too." Said Mob, her voice muffled by his shirt. Reigen let her go. Now they sat on her futon together, him across from her. He was still unstable, still wobbly. He braced himself as best as he could.

"Of course he was, he loves you." Said Reigen

"I know he loves me. He asked me to marry him." said Mob. There was a pause, then, where Reigen couldn't even remember how to breathe. What in the ever loving hell did…why? Just…why? Well he knew why, the kid was in love and thought that he was an adult. But Mob did not need to worry about shit like that. She had enough shit in her life to worry about…if she was even worried. He didn't even know if she accepted….would she? She had already promised that-

He was not going to hold her to her promise.

He was not going to hold her to that promise because that would not have been fair to her. She was not beholden to him in any way. She could marry whoever she wanted. She could be whoever or whatever she wanted to be. She could be Mrs. Hanazawa if she wanted to, Reigen didn't care. He was happy for her. He knew that he should have been happy for her. This was a good thing. She had found someone who loved her that much, and who she loved in return…so he should be happy. It had been stupid of him to think that he and Mob could actually have a forever together.

Stupid of him to think that he could spend every moment of his life with her.

Stupid of him to think that she would want to spend her life with him.

Stupid of him to want to spend the rest of his life with her.

A feeling tried to grow within him. Ugly and mean. Totally unwanted, never wanted. A feeling that he tried his best to ignore, to let it die of neglect like the Digimon languishing in the bottom drawer of his childhood desk. He tried not to care that she would leave him. He tried not to care that she would grow up and spend the rest of her life with someone else. He tried to ignore that fact that a day would come when he wouldn't wake up to her, to her being the first thing he saw in the morning. She wouldn't be the last thing he saw before he went to sleep, either. She would be gone and he would be alone…and he could not feel this way about her.

He could not feel jealous.

He was not jealous of a fourteen year old kid! He was not possessive over someone who was not his…anything. He and Mob were close, way too close, but he should not have been feeling like this about her. This was…this was not good. He should be happy for her. He needed to be happy for her. He needed to reach down deep inside of himself and pull out some happiness because now she was staring at him and her hand was in his and she was looking at him with those big, brown, eyes and she was saying something and-

"Are you mad at me?" asked Mob. She was feeling everything right now. She was grateful that her powers were having trouble listening because if they had been then the entire room would have been spinning. She felt…weird. Not good. Jealous? Of what? Or was Master Reigen jealous? Of her? Maybe. He had been alone since before she even met him. Of course he would be jealous that someone had asked her to marry him when nobody had ever asked him to be their husband or anything like that.

"No….I'm not mad. I'm…I'm happy that you found someone that you care so much about. I don't think that you should be worried about this right now, you have a lot going on and you're fourteen, but I'm…trying to be happy for you. I always knew…I always knew that you'd be gone someday and that's fine. That's the way it's supposed to go. I'm not going to hold you to your promise-" said Reigen

"But I do want to keep the promise that I made to you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too Master Reigen. I really do. I do want us to be friends forever and to always be here, together, like this….but I also want to be with Teru…and I want to be with you…and I don't want to think about this either. I want to think about this in four years when I'm an adult." Said Mob

"Mob…I'm not going to hold you to that promise. It would be wrong of me to hold you to that promise. You're only fourteen and I won't…I won't take your life from you. If you want to marry that kid then…then I'll get you something really nice and I'll make an unnecessarily long speech at your wedding…and I'll dance like an idiot…and get way too drunk because I know you two are getting some top shelf shit…and stuff my pockets with appetizers when I think nobody's looking…" said Reigen with a laugh that sounded biter in his ears. Mob would grow up and outgrow him and that was fine…and that was what he was upset about. That was all that he was upset about.

"….I don't know if I want to marry Teru. I know that I love him but…but there's also someone else who…but it can never happen with that person, he said so…" said Mob. Master Reigen said that she could never be his girlfriend. She didn't know if he meant right now, when she was so young, or even in the future when she became an adult. So was it wrong that part of her was still hoping that he would come around….and part of her wished that he didn't so that she wouldn't have to hurt anyone?

"Mob. You. Are. Fourteen. Worry about all of this shit later! Right now you need to focus on getting better…or as close to better as you can be. You're young and you don't need to worry about who you're going to marry or when. Cross that bridge when you come to it. Also you can't legally get married right now anyway so the entire thing is a moot point." Said Reigen

"When I come to it?" asked Mob. She didn't have to think about it right now. Even Teru said not to think about it right now…but how could she ignore it now that this…thing…was just out there in the open. The way he felt about her. She knew that he loved her and she knew that when people loved each other they got married…but she had never put her and married in the same box before…

Not in any serious way.

There were daydreams and night dreams about it. Thoughts about her and Master Reigen together in some far off future. The future was far off, or at least it felt like it, but now the future was close, so close, and rapidly becoming closer. She didn't know what she was supposed to do about it. She didn't know what choice she was supposed to make this was a lot to think about.

So maybe she should just think about it later.

Just push all of this off into that far off future and do what Master Reigen said. Cross that bridge when she came to it. She had enough to focus on now as it was. She could worry about that at some later time. Right now she had enough happening…

"When you're good and ready to come to it. I'm guessing that he just said all of that because he's fourteen and stupid and didn't think anything through. Always think things through, Mob, always think things through….remember that…and don't rush into anything….you're got your whole life ahead of you…remembered that…" said Reigen. He had lost the battle with gravity and now he was laying down on what felt like the softest futon in existence. He felt something rustling next to him and it took a second for his mind to connect the sound to the person sitting, now laying, next to him.

Safety. Warmth. Love. Caring.

"I won't rush into anything….but I don't even know if I want to…because I just…there's someone else I like and he said that he couldn't be with me…but I still like him…and I know that I shouldn't…" said Mob. She wanted to just come out and ask him if he would love her the way she loved him when she was a grown up. When she was all grown up and not a kid anymore and he was even more of an adult than he already was…but she couldn't be so direct. What if he said no? What if she said that he would never, ever, and could never, ever, feel that way about her….

That would hurt.

And also things would be awkward between them.

"You're fourteen….lots of crushes right now….doesn't mean a damn thing…." Said Reigen as he tried, and failed, to fight his newest battle. This time he was fighting with exhaustion…and exhaustion was winning. It really was so comfortable here…

"But what if it's not a crush…what if I actually love him? What if it's the real and true kind of love and-" said Mob

"You're too young to…to think like that…way too young….worry when…when you're my age…or something…gimme some blanket…" said Reigen. Mob pulled the blanket up over the both of them. She was red, she knew that she was red. She had wanted to sleep next to him before but…but that was because she had just come from the unreality…this was different. She still didn't feel right but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been on that very first night…

But this was still nice.

He was there and she knew that this didn't mean anything, she didn't know what this was, fully, but she knew that it was not what she thought that it was. It was nice, though, so she covered them both with her blanket. She had the pillow, most of it. His eyes were closed. His breathing was getting more and more steady…

This was actually happening.

She was actually going to sleep with…next to…Master Reigen.

She wanted this to happen. This was not cheating because she wasn't going to be doing anything but sleeping. So it was fine…even though she had promised a while ago that she wouldn't sleep next to Master Reigen…so she just would not sleep. She'd just…lay there awake all night. She could do that.

She did do that.

And it was wonderful.


	56. Temporary Insanity

This was the best that Ritsu could do?

Seriously? As strong as that guy was, and he was pretty damn strong, these were the best guys that he had? Cheap lighter guy, could bend a spoon and maybe a fork if he had enough time guy, the brothers that could mostly just hear each other's thoughts, and future vision girl? What was he supposed to do with these guys? They'd be dead before they got anywhere near the division heads, let alone the Ultimate Five! Not to even mention dad….

Ok, future vision girl and the telepathic brothers were kind of useful but still!

He needed more guys, lots more guys. All the guys! He needed….he needed someone useful…like Ritsu's big sis. She was so OP she could wipe the floor with the entire seventh division! She could depower people! Her and those other two guys she was with, the old guy and the guy with the really tall hair, were super useful! But he made a promise that he wouldn't contact Ritsu's big sis in any way or else Ritsu wouldn't help him….

Exact words time.

If he did exactly what he said but found some way around…like sending a message but without communicating….

He'd find a work around for that but first….figuring out what to do with this rag tag bunch of misfits. This was the part of the movie where they had a training montage or something and beat all the bad guys and then there was a freeze frame and a 'where are they now' montage. Then the credits would roll to whatever this year's most popular pop song was they would all live happily ever after….

"We're gonna save the world!" shouted Go. He lit the ends of his fingers on fire mostly for cool effect. This was going to be so awesome! They'd get back at the guys who kidnapped them and save the whole world and then end up rich and famous and remembered forever!

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea…." Said Takeshi. He stared at the spoon in his hand and willed it to bend. It moved, barely, before bending back incredibly slowly. That new kid, Sho, talked a lot but what he said was just…no. No way could they fight their way to the President of the organization that tried to kidnap them….they couldn't even fight off the guys that kidnapped them in the first place let alone their leader!

"I have a bad feeling about this." said Rei. She didn't really want to be alone after she had that fight with Ritsu that morning so she came here. She just needed a minute were her friends because she had felt so very alone all day. Ritsu said that they weren't broken up but he had been so mad at her that morning…and he was being so distant now…

She had a bad feeling about all of this.

"See? Rei knows the future, she can tell that this isn't going to end well." Said Takeshi. There was a certain coolness factor to helping save the world, he'd give the new kid that, but there was also the fact that they were messing with the guys who kidnapped them.

"I just….I don't know. I just see…a lot of…scary stuff…and running….that's what I see." Said Rei. Her aura was visible. She was trying to see what would happen but all she was getting was fear. There was just so much fear there…and she had no idea what else there would be. A lot of fear and a lot of running. She didn't want to be involved in this at all but Ritsu would be and he needed her. She couldn't beat people up or anything like that but she could see, in the short term at least, what would happen…she needed to keep Ritsu safe.

She loved him.

"Rei…you don't have to help." Said Ritsu. He hadn't thought that she would be there. She had…what club did she have today? Drawing club. She had drawing club today and then after that she was…two of her shows had new episodes today…and also she was planning on dying her roots. She should have been busy, very busy. He didn't want her involved in this.

That was why he wished that she was literally anywhere else in the world.

Not because they fought. Not because he was still so mad that she had kept so much from him. Not because he wished that she would just leave him already.

"I want to. I want to be there for you." Said Rei. She wanted to cross the room and just hold him and kiss him and never let him go. She was sorry, she was so sorry, and she had no idea how to tell him how sorry she was. Well she had told him but…but he was still mad at her. So mad that she thought that he might have wanted to…to break up with her.

It sure felt like he was going to break up with her…she could feel it on the horizon…but the future was not set in stone….

"Don't try to talk her out of it!" whispered Sho. Well he tried to whisper, anyway. Future vision girl was going to be useful. She could totally tell them how battles were going to go and stuff. Well mostly, anyway, because the future wasn't absolute, she said. She wasn't super accurate, she said, but she was still pretty useful…even if she did look pretty sad over there on the couch with that pillow hugged to her chest. He wondered what she was so sad about. She should be pumped! They were saving the world!

"If she doesn't want to help then she doesn't have to." Said Ritsu at a normal value. He didn't want her to get hurt. That was why he wished that she would just head home and do all the Rei stuff that she had to do.

"Well, yeah, nobody HAS to help. You can all sit here and wait and see that my dad decides to do to you guys when he becomes the unquestioned lord and master of the world." Said Sho. These were the best guys, or the strongest, or the most useful, but they were guys and he needed all the guys that he could get.

"Suzuki's right, you know. We don't really have a choice. We should get them before they get us again and they probably will because we escaped from them, before. Daichi agrees." Said Kaito. This room was so loud. He could read the thoughts of other people now, not just his twin, and that was both a blessing and a curse. Ritsu was thinking about killing someone….something about his sister….that Sho guy thought that they were all useless….Rei was super sad about Ritsu…Go thought that this was the best thing ever….and Takeshi was thinking about writing out his will. Mitsuura was excited, though. He thought that this was the coolest thing ever and he wished that he could have been involved, too.

Daichi thought that this was something that they absolutely had to do.

Kaito agreed. Neither of them wanted to be kidnapped again.

"But what can we do? We're…us. Even Teru says that we're not much…" said Takeshi. So it was either maybe die fighting that evil organization again or definitely get kidnapped and then maybe die. Damned if he did and damned if he didn't….maybe he should start making end of life arrangements like the TV kept on advertising….he'd leave his Switch to his little cousin….his manga collection to the library….

"Teru just thinks that he's the shit, that's all." Said Go. Teru could be a very nice guy…and also kind of an arrogant prick. He was on another level but that didn't mean that the rest of them were useless. Go knew that he was a pyrokinetic Godsend and that was what mattered.

"Yeah, he can be kind of full of himself…." Said Takeshi. Understatement of the year. Teru helped them with their powers, which was good, but he loved to brag too, which was not good. So he was super powerful and had a girlfriend. Big deal. And he doubted that Teru did all the stuff with his girlfriend anyway. Takeshi had seen her and did not look that kind of girl. Rei he could believe, not that Ritsu ever talked about her like that, but not Teru's girlfriend.

"Kind of?" asked Go

"Hey, be nice. Teru's our friend, we should be nice to him." said Kaito. Dauchi thought it, Kaito said it. They all had to get along. They were all that each other had. There weren't any other people in the whole world like them. Well there were but they were, apparently, all evil.

"I never said that he wasn't our friend, I just said that he can be full of himself. We can call be friends but still agree that Teru can be full of himself." Said Takeshi

"Maybe we should just stick to the positives, especially since we're going to need to work together to save the world." Said Daichi

"And we're going to need Teru, too. He's really strong. We should be nice to him." said Kaito. They all needed to be friends, they just did. Besides, Teru only bragged because he had this terrible internal voice telling him that he wasn't good enough. Also he was super lonely, the loneliest person that Kaito and his brother had ever met. Also he kept on thinking that his girlfriend was going to leave him and it only made the internal voice worse. Not that Kaito and his brother would say anything, that was Teru's business and his alone.

It was hard, sometimes, knowing everything that happened in everyone's minds. They used to only be able to read each other's minds, him and his brother, but that was out of necessity. They used to think that it was a limitation but in fact they were just keeping their own minds safe. It was hard, now, to keep other people's stray thoughts out of their minds. The things they knew…like how Go REALLY liked fire…and how Takeshi was driving himself crazy trying to become more powerful…how lonely Teru was…how the new guy was ready to pee his pants he was so afraid….how Rei was always worried about her relationship with Ritsu….how Ritsu didn't like Rei….but he really liked Teru…

It was a lot.

But they kept it to themselves.

"Where is Teru, anyway?" asked Go. Teru should have been there. This should have been right up his alley. He had been really busy, though, with his girlfriend. Not that Go was jealous. It wasn't like he couldn't get a girlfriend if he wanted to. He had gone out with Rei, before, and he even kissed her. He just…didn't have the time. Yeah, that was it. And even if he did he wouldn't go around bragging about her. Girls didn't like that…or maybe they did…well whatever. Teru could brag about his girlfriend as much as he liked. Go didn't care.

"He finally picked up and he says that he's on his way." said Ritsu. He was loathe to take Teru away from Shigeko, she needed the protection, but this was…big. Sho had gone over the power structure of the organization, the abilities of the division leaders, and also the Ultimate Five…and this was bad. This was really bad. He was maybe a match for a few of the division leaders, and that is if his powers listened….but the Ultimate Five…those guys were on a whole other level…and there were also the six hundred soldiers to worry about, too….

They were fucked.

Royally.

Sideways.

Upside down.

Around the corner.

Down the block.

Fucked.

"Who's this Teru guy you guys keep talking about? And why's he so full of himself?" asked Sho. Please, please, please be someone useful. Anyone useful. So far he had these guys and maybe some former scars. Maybe. It depended on if they were serious about defecting or not. Scars were a hell of a lot better than these guys but still nowhere near strong enough to take on the Ultimate Five. Dad…he'd deal with dad himself….

"My sister's boyfriend, and he's not that full of himself." Said Ritsu

"Tall hair guy? I remember him, he's ok. Well at least I think that he's ok. I don't really know the guy. He'll be useful, though, that's what matters. Not that the rest of you guys aren't useful! You totally are, really." Said Sho. He was strong, that was what mattered. He had managed to, well with Ritsu's big sis' help, take down some scars. Hopefully he wasn't still mad about that whole night…or the white room. Power nullification rooms sucked if you weren't used to them…and getting used to them sucked, too.

"You're just saying that." Said Takeshi

"No, I mean it. Every single guy we get is one guy closer to winning. We're going to win this thing, I promise." Said Sho. He wasn't lying, that was the truth. What did they say? A single grain of rice could tip the scales or whatever. One guy could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Of course if they could get Ritsu's big sis to help then they wouldn't need any other guys. She was so hard to find, though. She was so bright it was hard to pinpoint exactly where she was and he couldn't just go knocking on every single door until he found hers. Also she might try and depower him.

And that was permanent.

Well it was for the artificial espers. He was a natural so he didn't exactly know if it would be permanent but he didn't want to take any chances. He had no idea what he would do without his powers. Not just in defeating dad but in life…

"Don't make promises that you can't keep." Said Ritsu. He wanted them to win, he'd have to be insane not to be rooting for his own side, but he wasn't going to get everyone's hopes up like that.

"I can totally keep that promise! Hey, future vision girl!" called Sho. Rei looked up from her spot on the couch. The only spot that hadn't been caved in from jumping and fighting and stuff. She didn't like any of this one bit, even if she did get the good spot on the couch.

"Yes?" asked Rei. Sho wondered if he should have used her name….it was something short…well he was bad with names but maybe he should have used hers. Or maybe she was Miss whatever her last name was. Girls were Miss, right? He had no clue.

"Do we win this thing or not? Like, I know you see probabilities and pathways and stuff, not absolutes, but like….which is the most probable outcome. You know, besides a lot of scary stuff and running?" asked Sho

"Um….I can't tell. I just see….a white thing. A big white…thing…like an explosion….and then…we're scared…" said Rei. That was all she could see. She could not see past that. The big white thing that had been haunting her dreams. The explosion.

"Rei…you don't have to help…" said Ritsu. She was scared. She may have kept all of that about Shigeko from him, and he was still pissed off about that, but she was still his girlfriend and she was still scared.

"I know that I don't have to…but I want to. I want to help you. I want to…to be there for you. I already said I did and you can't talk me out of it so stop trying." Said Rei softly

"Ok! Well I guess that something's going to explode. That's fine, I've been in explosions before, they aren't that bad. Guys, we're going to win this. Somehow we're going to win this…I hope so, anyway." said Sho. He just needed enough guys to get through the mini bosses. He'd be the one to beat that. Sho knew that he could win. He was just as strong as the Ultimate Five and he had an ability that he had never seen before, and he had seen just about everything before. He could save up energy for later, like a bomb.

He had three months' worth of energy stored up. That would be enough to…do what had to be done.

"But Rei just said-" said Takeshi

"Ok, so I can't promise you victory and I can't promise you good times-" said Sho before he got a look at everyone's faces. Not auras, these guys barely had auras, so he had to read their faces. A lot of long faces there, worried ones. Everyone but cheap lighter guy, he seemed pretty pumped up. Ritsu didn't look worried either, just kind of annoyed. Or maybe that was just how he looked all the time.

"Scratch that. I CAN promise you victory! I CAN promise you good times!" said Sho with all of the excitement that he could muster. The others didn't look any more convinced. Ritsu just rolled his eyes. Well now Sho had nothing. Getting the three upper echelon members that he had had bene easy, just point out the fact that dad was crazy and getting crazier. People he didn't know were much harder to work with.

"We're screwed." Said Takeshi. He didn't want to go through that ordeal again. The kidnapping…seeing Shiratori's dead body…even if that part wasn't real….it still kept him up at night, anyways…the whole thing still kept him up at night. He thought that it would be cool, having powers, but instead it was…sometimes cool but it also painted a massive target on his back. He was ready, actually, to turn his back on the whole thing and head home so he could convince his parents to flee the country when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Takeshi. We've got this. You and me, together, we've got this." said Go. If a lifetime of anime and manga had taught him anything it was that sometimes you just needed to call upon the power of friendship. This was their boss fight. They would do this, together. All of them. He knew that they'd win, the good guys always won in the end, and he just needed to convince everyone else of that fact. Maybe not get them as pumped as he was but…but he could at least get them ok with what was happening.

They only had each other after all.

The moment was broken by the 'ding' of the elevator. Sho saw the other guy's aura before the guy himself. Yes! That was totally the same guy as before. Hopefully there weren't any hard feelings. Hopefully they could put that awful first meeting behind them and get on with their new and glorious alliance!

The minute the guy saw him his aura got very hostile.

Maybe this wouldn't end as well as he thought that it would.

"What is he doing here?" asked Teru. That question was directed towards Ritsu. This was certainly…odd. This predicament. Ritsu sets out to commit murder, he'd have to set Ritsu straight at some point about what really happened to Shigeko, and he ends up finding that red haired kid from Claw. That kid was just standing there in the middle of the media room like it was nothing. The others were just letting him stand there. Had he missed something? Were they all just going to surrender to Claw now? And what was Ritsu, Mr. Going-to-Totally-Commit-Murder-Today, doing just letting this kid stand there like it was nothing. Like this was all nothing. Like he could just stand there and-

Calm down, Teruki.

Ritsu can be a little…much…sometimes but you trust his judgement.

He said that something was going down and he needed to get down to the Awakening Lab right away. Obviously if it had to do with this guy then Ritsu would have dealt with him already. It wasn't like Ritsu was Shigeko, he was not known for his restraint and derision for violence.

"We're helping him save the world." Said Ritsu. Then he told Teru everything that Sho had told him. Sho chimed in, a lot, but Ritsu kept them on track. It took a while but Teru got it through his head that this was real. This was really happening, Claw was going to try and take over the world, and they were the only thing that was going to stand in their way.

Also Shigeko was in danger.

So Teru had no real choice. Thanks to Claw his parents had put oceans and continents between them and him. Thanks to Claw he had been alone, so alone, for years. Thanks to Claw he'd been having to fight for years and years…and it had turned him into the worst sort of person. He had lost so much already, he had lost so much because of Claw, he was not going to lose Shigeko, too. He didn't give a damn about the world. He gave a damn about Shigeko. If she fought….if she won she'd hate herself. If she lost she'd be dead. If she exploded then…then there might not have been any way to get her back. That thing that lived inside of her was smarter. He had spoken to it. He had interacted with it. It looked like Shigeko, it moved like Shigeko, but it was not Shigeko. It was something entirely different. Something dangerous. If that thing came out again it might not go away.

And Shigeko had already been through enough.

That had not been an easy conversation to have. Not with Shigeko and not with Ritsu. But he had to have it with Ritsu and he had to have it right then and there before Ritsu went to prison for killing someone. Teru could not and would not blame him for how he felt. He even…well he wished that he had something like that in him. Not the ability to kill someone but the ability to…do what needed to be done. He didn't know if he could kill someone if it came down to it, and he hoped that it never did. He hoped that it never did for anyone.

That was why he had to set Ritsu straight about what happened.

Getting Ritsu away from that new guy, Sho, had not been an easy task. Sho hovered around Ritsu, maybe because Ritsu was formerly the most powerful guy in the room, or maybe because Sho seemed to hell bent on merging their auras for some reason. He managed to get Ritsu away from Sho, though, with the distraction of dinner. A catered affair since there were in house caterers. Mitsuura said that they needed their strength if they were going to save the world. He had nothing but confidence, unwavering confidence, in everyone's ability to survive whatever this shit show was going to be. Teru wished that he had Mitsuura's confidence in everyone. He didn't. Rei was useful in the way that she could tell the future, Daichi and Kaito could finally read minds other than each other's, but Go and Takeshi…well they had been working on their combo moves…so that could be helpful…

There would be time to strategize later, for now he had to make sure that Ritsu wasn't going to go off and do anything stupid…like commit murder.

"How's Shigeko? Is she ok? Is she back with Reigen? Did she say anything?" asked Ritsu. As soon as he got a moment alone with Teru, well alone-ish since they were only out in the hallway, the questions came tumbling out. He needed to know…that Shigeko was ok…and what he had to mentally prepare himself for.

He should have been there for her.

"She's….doing alright. She's…she's afraid to go outside but given the fact that Claw is actively searching for her that may be in her best interests." Said Teru. This day had been a lot. He was just so tired. He just…he was getting to the end of it. He needed to lay down. Claw was trying to take over the world, Shigeko had spent six months in a pocket dimension being tortured by some dead loser, and now her brother was planning murder. It had been a day.

"Did she give you a name?" asked Ritsu. Shigeko was afraid to go outside, she was becoming a shut in, well he'd help her with that. Once she knew that the guy who…the guy responsible for this…was dead…or at least very hurt…then she'd get better and she might even come home and they could be a family together again and it would be the end of all of this. He just had to save the world first. Save the world, then his sister, then rest.

He needed a rest.

It had been a day. Finding out that the girl who said that she loved him had kept something like this from him, finding out that some guy had hurt his sister in the way that he had spent his life being warned about, beating up all of those Claw lackeys, and now this 'save the world' stuff…it was a lot. It had been a day.

And it wasn't over yet.

"She did. Mogami Keiji…the dead medium. Listen….that thing that we thought happened? It didn't happen. Shigeko can't lie, we both know that, so I believe her. I mean something did happen, a lot of terrible stuff happened, but not…that. Just…listen and don't interrupt." Said Teru. Then he told Ritsu everything that Shigeko told him. Every single thing just as she had said it. The pocket dimension. The six months of torment. Her destroying the pocket dimension…and everything that happened afterwards.

She was not ok but…but that awful, terrible, unbelievably evil thing that they thought happened to her hadn't happened.

So there was that.

"An exorcism. That's what I need to do…" said Ritsu after Teru finished. First he would exorcise the spirit and then he would exorcise Reigen. Reigen had been the one who took Shigeko to that place and let all of that happen to her. There was no reason that Shigeko had to go through that. Ritsu would have been the one to…to go through all of that. If he had been there. He should have been the one who went through that. He should have been there.

He should have been there to protect his sister.

But now he was there and he would keep her safe. He'd save the world and then he would hunt down that spirit and destroy it.

"Not without me. Shigeko…she said that she couldn't do more than weaken him…but there has to be a way to exorcise him. There has to be a way and we have to find it. You aren't doing this without me." Said Teru. He was not going to take no for an answer. He was helping. First of all he should have been there for Shigeko and second of all Shigeko would never forgive him if he let something bad happened to her little brother. If the same thing that happened to her happened to Ritsu.

"Fine. First we save the world and then we destroy Mogami." Said Ritsu. He wanted to do this on his own. If something happened to Teru Shigeko would never forgive him.

"And let that be the end of it." Said Teru. Just save the world. That was all they needed to do. It was…dizzying. Just when he thought that it couldn't get any worse…it did. It always got worse. Shigeko had been through hell and now he couldn't be there for her because he had a whole world to save…but when this was over he'd be there for her.

She needed him.

He would always be there for her. He wanted to always be there with and for her. He wanted…he couldn't believe that he had asked her that. He shouldn't have. He should have kept his mouth shut. That had always been a thought of his, a half formed idea, but he should not have said anything. It was a stupid thing to say. It was the stupidest thing that he had ever said to another human being. First of all he was only fourteen and so was she. It had felt right, in the moment, but then after thinking about it…after spending the evening with her…well then it all felt like a dumb thing to ask of her.

Also he had kept that little piece of information from Ritsu. He did not feel like being put through any walls anytime soon. Save that for the climactic final battle.

"It'd better be. I just…this is a lot for one day. This is a lot for one day and I have no idea…but I have to. Thanks, for helping me, I mean. With all of this." said Ritsu softly. He didn't like it, admitting that he was just so…tired. But he could admit it to Teru. Teru was a friend, really. He was a friend, a true friend, and Ritsu had always lacked those…well he had always had Shigeko.

"I know how you feel. I just want to go home…but I can't. We have to figure out what we're going to do." Said Teru

"We don't stand a chance, do we?" asked Ritsu. Teru laughed, bitterly.

"Nope. None at all." Laughed Teru. Ritsu couldn't help it, he laughed too. They both laughed there, in the hallway, together. The dark hallway. The dark red hallway. So much red. Red everywhere. Red carpet, red paint, red wall paper, red aura. Red aura shining through the red walls.

"Then why are we laughing?" laughed Ritsu

"What else can we do?" asked Teru. He didn't know what that laughter meant. He didn't know what was so funny about all of this. They were going to die. They couldn't oppose all of Claw. They couldn't take down the big boss. They couldn't do this without Shigeko…and Shigeko may not have even been strong enough to do this. She was powerful but, as was obvious from the ordeal with Mogami, she wasn't the most powerful person in the world. She could be beaten, she could be hurt, even if she lost control….she could not be involved. But in the end they would need her. He knew that they would….but he couldn't…he couldn't get her involved in this…he just couldn't.

"Enjoy the new world order?" asked Ritsu. There was a pause and then more laughter. That was such a cliché, the worst sort of shonen cliché. Take over the world. If Ritsu hadn't dealt with Claw, before, and couldn't see auras he would have thought that Sho was lying. But he wasn't. He was telling the truth…and wasn't that crazy?

This whole thing was crazy.

"Honestly…I'm scared out of my mind…" said Teru, still laughing.

"Me too…" said Ritsu. He was done laughing, now. He was…he felt like crying, almost. But he couldn't. He had this under control. He had this. He was going to save the world and he was going to save his sister and he was going to live through the insurrection and the battle and then he was going to grow up and live the life that he been set down for him since they day he had been born.

High school.

University.

A good job.

A house.

A family.

And then death.

That was what his life was going to be. He was not going to die in the battle. He was not going to die at thirteen. He was not going to die at thirteen with a million things left to do. He had never drank or smoked, not that he had wanted to before but…but it would be nice to end up old enough to have that option. He had never driven or gone on a rip on his own before. He had never had a job or made his own money in anyway way. He had never been truly independent. He had never lived away from his parents. He had never even been with someone he…he wanted to be with. He had never been in love. He had never been kissed and…and actually enjoyed it. There was a whole section of life that he had never experienced and…and maybe never would. Because he was Ritsu. He had a lifetime of expectations placed on him since the day he was born and he could not…he had to do what he had to do. He had to be what he had to be…

He could die.

He could die without even knowing what it was to be in love. In love for real, not just what he said to Rei to…to make her happy. Rei would never…if Rei died she'd never have all the stuff that she wanted in life. Not just the way that she wanted to spend her life with. She would never be able to go to high school or university. She'd never go to art school. She'd never learn to properly draw people, she had been on about that for a while even though Ritsu couldn't see anything wrong with her drawings, and she would never go to Tokyo or any of the other places she wanted to see. She'd never…she had things in her life that she wanted to do…things that didn't have to do with him…and she wouldn't ever do what she wanted if she were dead….

She'd die and he'd die and they'd be dead.

"Hey….come on. Calm down. We've got this." said Teru. Ritsu was starting to freak out. It was like a dam broke. His cool, disaffected, facade came tumbling down. No he was shaking and wringing his hands and his aura was visible and smacking against Teru's…and Ritsu could not come apart like this. If Ritsu came apart then Teru might come apart and he could not come apart.

"I just….I'm fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine." Said Ritsu. He closed his eyes and just…tried. He tried to be fine, he tried to be ok, he tried to be calm. He needed to be ok. He needed to have everything under control. He needed to remember that he would be live through this. He needed to remember that even though they were fighting Claw again, this time without Shigeko, they would live and be fine and grow up and everything would be ok. He would live through this and he would grow up and he would do everything that he had to do…

And that just made it feel like the walls were closing in on him.

And Teru was holding onto him, now, and telling him that he needed to calm down. He was trying. He was trying his best but he simply could not. He just…he was going to die. He could die if he tried to oppose Claw but he would die, most certainly so, if he didn't…and they'd come after Shigeko….and he had to protect her. He had to protect her and himself and also Rei because she loved him so much…not that he loved her…but she loved him and she got to feel…everything. Everything that he never got to feel. He needed to feel. He would die without feeling.

So he did something stupid.

He did something so stupid, so incredibly stupid, but maybe he wanted to be stupid. Maybe he wanted to allow himself one moment of stupidity before he had to put his life on the line and…and ended his life. Maybe. He just wanted to know what it was like, maybe. He just couldn't bring himself to care about anything in that moment besides what he wanted. What he wanted to feel. What he would go throughout his entire life without feeling unless he felt it **right now**.

So he did feel it.

Right now.

And it was amazing….for four seconds. Then his head hit the wall behind him. He felt the dull throb radiating from the back of his skull. He felt the way his heart was pounding in his chest so hard that he thought, feared, that he may break a rib. He could even hear the beating of his heart in his ears, amazingly enough it managed to drown out his breathing…and the feeling of shame that was coursing through his entire body.

"Excuse me?! Excuse me?!" that was all that Teru could say. For some reason his brain was telling him to be polite in this situation. HE had to be the polite one here. Because what Ritsu had just done went so far beyond anything that could even BEGIN to be classified as being socially acceptable-

And not because they were both guys. That was not what bothered Teru.

"I-I-I-" said Ritsu. Now he had some self-awareness. He had just kissed his sister's boyfriend. His sister's **boyfriend**. Well now he could not ignore….he could not ignore this about himself any longer…his sister's boyfriend…how could he…? Because he had been selfish. Because he didn't want to die without feeling…anything. He did not want to die without knowing how it felt to kiss someone you…liked.

And he liked Teru.

He liked Teru and he had liked Teru for so long and in that moment he had just been Teru. He hadn't been Teru, Shigeko's boyfriend, he had just been…Teru. He had been Ritsu and Teru had been Teru and he had just wanted to know what it would have been…like.

"Are you out of your mind?!" said Teru. He was pacing, now. Thank God that someone had turned the TV up as high as it would go. Thank God that nobody on the other side of that door had any idea what had just transpired…and they never would. There was no reason that anyone needed to know about this little…indiscretion.

"I-I-I just I-I-" said Ritsu. He could not begin to explain himself. He just could not even begin to get the words out.

"Just…don't ever do that again!? I…I don't feel that way about you. Ok? You can…you can feel however you want, I don't care, but I just…you have a girlfriend! I have a girlfriend! Your sister is my girlfriend!" said Teru. He needed to calm down. He needed to calm down and not freak out because there was a world that needed saving. The world needed saving and Shigeko…oh God….Shigeko had been through so much and there was no reason that she needed to know about this. This did not count as cheating. He had not wanted to kiss Ritsu. He had never in his entire life had the desire to kiss Kageyama Ritsu. He had not set out to kiss Ritsu. He had no desire to ever be unfaithful to Shigeko…

She did not need this right now.

She had gone through enough.

"I know! I just….I wasn't thinking-" said Ritsu. He needed to explain himself. He needed to…he had no idea if explaining himself would even fix this. If there was any way to fix this. But there was no way to fix this. He had…he had ruined everything….

His heart hurt.

"We're just friends, ok? That's all. Just…ok. You're stressed. You are under and incredible amount of stress right now and I…I need to understand that. You have been through a lot and I can forgive you for that moment of…of temporary insanity." Said Teru. He took a few deep breaths. He had suspected that Ritsu liked him…and now he knew…and now he needed to forgive Ritsu for what he had done. He had…he had kissed him for the same reason that…the day after when he had woken up just so happy to be alive…and aware of his mortality….and Shigeko had been there…

Ritsu hadn't wanted to die without…feeling…that.

Teru could understand that.

But still! You didn't just go around kissing people like it was nothing! Especially not when you had a girlfriend and especially not you're sister's boyfriend!

"Temporary insanity." Said Ritsu quickly. That was what it had been. It had been a moment where his mind had just…gone walkabouts. The little Ritsu who controlled his mind, who made sure that he didn't act like a moron, just let go of the wheel and took a nice long tea break. Well now he was back and he had turned the shame meter all the way up. He had been so selfish, the most selfish. What he wanted didn't matter. What he felt didn't matter.

He had to do what he had to do, and what he had to do was not cheat on his girlfriend or kiss his sister's boyfriend. He had a world to save, he could not be messing around like this. He had things to do and people, a world's worth, to save and it didn't matter if he was scared. It didn't matter what he wanted. He just…he had to do what he had to do.

He wasn't Shigeko. He couldn't just go around doing whatever he wanted.

"Yes. Temporary insanity. That's all. Nothing more and nothing less. You…you're into what you're into and that's fine…but you would never do something like that to…to your sister." Said Teru. That was what would make sense to Ritsu right now. He cared about Shigeko and he would never, ever, do anything to hurt her. He loved her so much. He would never want to hurt his sister….

"I would never….if I was thinking….hurt Shigeko." Said Ritsu. He still burned with shame. All the shame. A lifetime of shame. The shame that he felt could fill the world's shame reserves. How stupid could he…how terrible could he be? How could he have been so awful?

He heard a laugh.

High pitched. Kind of loud. A fit of giggles followed by actual laughter. He had heard that laughter so many times before. Loud and kind of annoying but still hers. Rei's. His girlfriend's. The girl who he…who loved him and who he had to love in return. It didn't matter how he felt, it didn't matter at all, because he had already made a commitment to her and he had to honor it. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve this happening to her. She was scared, so scared, the most scared. She had been dreaming about the explosion, the end of the world, for so long. She had shown him drawing after drawing. She had texted him in the middle of the night scared and just needing him to keep her safe…

She loved him.

And he could not hurt her.

"So obviously you would never do anything like this if you were in your right state of mind." Said Teru with an air of finality. He needed to keep this under control. He needed to keep everything under control. The end was coming, maybe, whatever was coming was big and terrifying and that was what they needed to focus on.

"I would never have done that if I was in my right state of mind." Said Ritsu

"And you would never have hurt Rei, too. You would never have done anything like that to her if you had been in your right state of mind." Said Teru. Rei was useful, incredibly useful, in this situation. She could see the future with some accuracy. They were going to need her in the coming battle. They were going to need her and she needed to be there and she would not be there if she was sitting at home heartbroken because her boyfriend, the love of her life, decided that now was the time for him to start being honest with himself.

"I…I would never hurt Rei like that. I would never do anything to hurt her." said Ritsu. She was still laughing, or maybe laughing again. He…he needed to get back there, or at least out of here. Out of this hallway where it was just him and Teru and the shame of what he had done hanging in the air like a thick fog.

"Good. Now you and I are never going to talk about this again. This never would have happened if you had been in your right state of mind. Seeing as how you're in your right state of mind again it's the same as this little…incident…having had never happened. There is no reason that Rei needs to know about this. There is no reason that Shigeko needs to know about this. There is no reason that anyone in the entire world needs to know about this. Do you understand?" asked Teru. He spoke slowly and clearly. He spoke like he was trying to talk someone off the edge of a bridge. He needed….he needed Ritsu to understand that this never went beyond this hallway. When they went back into the room and joined the others this incident was not following them.

"This never happened." Said Ritsu in confirmation. This never happened and they were never going to talk about this again. Not even when they were old men playing Mah Jong in the park, feeding ducks, and reminiscing about the good old days when they saved the world and never, ever, ever kissed.

"Good. Now let's go eat dinner and plan how we're going to save the world." Said Teru trying, and succeeding, in sounding normal. Well Ritsu was starting to crack. That was fine. He could deal with that. Just so long as he kept it together long enough to, well, not die.

That was all that they needed to do.

Well that and sit down at the table with everyone else like everything was normal. It was easier for Teru. He just told himself that it never happened. One could not be held responsible for their actions when they were under this much stress. As stressed as Teru was, and it was a considerable amount of stress, it was worse for Ritsu. He sure loved to put the weight of the world on his shoulders. Teru was glad, for once, that he was all but an orphan. He didn't have parents to drive him crazy with their expectations. Well his parents expected good grades, a clean criminal record, and sticking to something akin to a budget. Ritsu's parents, on the other hand, seemed to want him to be the greatest person ever to live or something.

Maybe they'd get off his back if he saved the world.

Then he could stop being a ball of barely repressed rage and barely repressed….yeah.

Their eyes met across the table. Ritsu looked away. Rei leaned over and kissed him. Teru shook his head. Poor Rei. She really was a nice girl. Kind of like Shigeko but more…just more. Not nicer but more…open…if that was the word. She talked more and she emoted more. She was the kind of girl he would have been with, before. Before Shigeko. Shigeko who had enough problems in her life right not without having to not only worry about the world being in danger but about her brother…figuring himself out…

"…and this is what you'd look like if you were made of rice and seaweed." Said Sho. The girl, Rei, had been sad. He didn't much care for sad people, they made him sad, so he decided to cheer her up. Girls were super easy to cheer up, easier than guys. Just make a few things with telekinesis and they smile and giggle and then they're back to fighting shape. Not that they were fighting anyone tonight. No, they were still strategizing. Dad wasn't going to make a move until he found Ritsu's big sis. It had to be a grand reveal, he said. Something worthy of his greatness. That was why he didn't just kidnap her himself.

Also he was afraid of her, but he never said that.

Sho knew that he was afraid of her. She could depower people, that just…that wasn't right. He didn't know what he would do without his powers. Not only could she depower people but she could…she basically had all the powers, from what intelligence could gather. So, yeah, they needed her on their side. Sho knew what he would do. He would do…something….something that she could not ignore. She was all about pacifism and stuff but she also cared about the people in her organization, it seemed. Not like dad.

He couldn't contact her. He had made a promise to Ritsu and also, well, he had no idea how to find her. She could be seen if you looked hard enough, at least he thought that the pink and blue blob was her. It changed, that was the first problem. The second problem was that he could not pinpoint her exact location without knocking on every door and peeping in every window in this city.

And that would definitely draw attention to himself.

He couldn't afford to do that. Dad didn't much care what he did as long as he followed orders. Sometimes he wondered if dad even cared if Sho lived or died. He never acted like a dad, not really. Not that Sho was an expert in how parents were supposed to act. Dad was….cold. Mean. Distant. Even to his own son. Even to all of his subordinates. They weren't a big, happy family like these kids were. This was so weird, they all liked each other and were eating together and stuff. They were all even on the girl's, Rei's, case about being upset.

That was why he tried to make her feel better.

He couldn't stand sad people. People weren't sad at HQ, at least not openly. People drank a lot and smoked a lot and banged a lot but they never just…acted sad. Well sometimes Serizawa did, when he thought that nobody was around, but that was Serizawa. His whole life was one big sad…thing. This always cheered Serizawa up, though, eventually. When Sho did silly stuff with his powers. Serizawa would stop with that sad look and then they could hang out and play videogames and stuff. Sometimes Hatori played, too, but not that often. The Ultimate Five weren't really friends, despite what Serizawa thought.

Not like these kids.

They were nice.

He had never been around this many people his own age before and it was nice. The sort of nice that was actually not so nice, sometimes, because without planning and strategizing he started to get all…itchy…and he had to do something but there was nothing to do but eat so he did but then his stomach got all upset because there were just so many other kids here and he had no idea what to do if he wasn't bossing them around or being bossed around and then the girl got all sniffly and that was something that he could do.

And he did it right, too, because she was smiling and laughing. Some of the guys were giving him looks, though. Maybe they liked her. She was the kind of girl guys liked, he thought, because she had all of that stuff on her face and also her hair was clean and pretty. He ran a hand through his. He could use a bath…or not. No. No water.

"Ritsu, you're back." Said Rei. She was smiling, she could feel it. She hadn't meant to, she had meant to wallow in her pain until she and Ritsu were alright again, but Sho was just so….funny. She couldn't help it. He was nice like that. The others just asked her nonstop what was wrong. Sho didn't ask, he just cheered her up. He was so nice like that…even if he had no table manners.

"Rei! Y-Yeah. Hey. How's…dinner?" asked Ritsu. Right. Rei. She was smiling at him and she looked so happy and that was good because she had been so sad before and she had been crying so much earlier that day but now she was happy and that was good. He couldn't and wouldn't tell her. He couldn't make her cry again. She didn't even deserve it this time. Before…well she had kept all of that stuff from him. If he told her….two wrongs didn't make a right. Also not only had he cheated on her but he cheated on her with his sister's boyfriend…and that would be just so much explaining…and she would feel so hurt….

This was something best kept to himself.

He'd take it to his death.

Which may have been imminent.

"It's good. Ritsu…are you alright? You're so pale and shaky." Said Rei. He and Teru had been out in the hallway for a while. She assumed that they were either talking about this whole saving the world thing or about all the stuff that had happened to Mob. She had expected Ritsu to come back in and be all mad at her because it had been wrong, maybe, to keep all of that from him. Now he just looked freaked out. Teru looked fine, though. He was across the long table talking to Takeshi and Go about their combo moves, which were kind of neat to watch. This, however, was not. Ritsu seemed so…she had never seen him like this before. Not even back when they all got kidnapped.

"I-I'm fine." Said Ritsu. He reached over and served himself some food even though he's not at all hungry. He just needed something to do. Anything besides sit there and look over at his girlfriend and be reminded of how selfish and stupid he had just been.

"Are…are we ok?" asked Rei. She reached over and took his free hand. Sho's eyebrows rose. Oh. So they were together. That was….he needed to get better at reading people!

"We're fine! Just…we're fine. Everything's fine. Pass the soy sauce." said Ritsu, his voice breaking towards the end there. He could feel Sho's eyes on him. He met Sho's. Blue. Very blue. He looked away. He didn't much feel like being looked at right then and there. He didn't much feel like even being around people, then. He wanted to be alone with this cocktail of fear and shame that existed right there within himself at that moment. But he couldn't be. He was there, right there, with everyone.

"You're sure? I just…I really am sorry." Said Rei softly. Ritsu felt her grip on his free hand slacking and held hers tight. No. No more tears. No more girls crying because of him.

"Rei, really. We're fine. Ok? We're fine and I still…we're fine. I…forgive you." Said Ritsu. He had already lied to her enough…but then again another lie was just another drop in the bucket. He didn't forgive her at all, she had kept something serious from him. Even if that awful thing that he thought happened hadn't happened a bunch of other things happened to Shigeko. She needed him but he hadn't been there. He hadn't even known that he was supposed to be there. But now he was. He was going to save the world for the sister that he had left…left to that hell…

"….thank you." Said Rei. She was happy, so happy. Even if she did see the explosion on the horizon. Even if she did see some awful cataclysm coming…and she had no idea if they made it past the big thing…the big white thing…she was happy then. Ritsu forgave her. He still loved her. Even if he did look like he was about to pass out. He still loved her and that was what mattered. She stared at him for a while, just a little while, before her eyes followed the path his were making….across the table…

"The soy sauce! Hello Rei!" said Rei. She reached for it but it flew out of her grasp. She smiled and tried to reach for it but it kept moving? Not Takeshi. She could see a red aura around it. Sho. He was so funny…

Nothing weird. She just thought that he was funny, that was all. She would never cheat on Ritsu. She loved him.

"Here." Said Sho. He used his powers to hold it just out of Ritsu's reach. Whenever Ritsu reached for it he'd move it just out of the way. The girl laughed again. Ritsu didn't, though. He just glared and reached for it with his powers. A small tug of war happened in that moment. He got the feeling that Sho let him win. He smiled, though, because it had been sort of fun. Funny. Amusing. Amusing enough to help take his mind off of everything.

For a little bit at least.

Dinner ended and then everyone had to make their way home. Him included. Mom had been texting him asking where he was and if he was coming home for dinner. She asked specifically if he was coming home for dinner, not if he was coming home at all. She knew that he would always come back. But what if he didn't. What if he just decided to move out like Shigeko…or what if Claw got him. What if, on his way home, Claw kidnapped him and nobody knew what happened to him and he ended up…dead…or brainwashed or whatever else they could do?

The world was dark and scary when he left the Awakening Lab.

The others didn't seem as scared. Sho was, if anything, good at motivating people. They thought that they had this, now, and wasn't that just the most insane thing ever. Well not as insane as one man thinking that he was going to rule the world because he was the most powerful. Not as absurd as a bunch of middle school kids thinking that they had a chance of beating that mad man. Not as insane as Ritsu kissing someone, his sister's boyfriend, just because he didn't want to die without knowing what it was like to kiss someone that…that he actually wanted to kiss.

The difference was night and day.

When he kissed Rei it didn't really feel like anything. He just pressed his lips to hers and that was it. When he kissed Teru…he knew what people meant, now, when they said that it felt like fireworks and sunshine and starshine and everything else good in the world. Well now he knew. He only had to betray his sister, his girlfriend, and ruin one of the few real friendships that he had…

Thank God that Teru wanted to walk home alone.

Rei hadn't, though.

She wanted him to protect her. Sho was with them. He said that he still wanted to talk about strategy or whatever, Ritsu didn't care, but instead he and Rei were mostly talking about drawing. Ritsu was grateful, though, to have Sho with him. That way it would be less…awkward…between him and Rei. He had betrayed her and the shame was still there and it threatened to make everything come up like word vomit…and she could not know. She'd be devastated. Not only would she be devastated but…but she wouldn't help them, either. He said, before, that she didn't need to help but she was useful or this. Her powers were. She could see the future with some accuracy and that was incredibly useful…

He was not going to devastate her like that.

Even if it would make her break up with him. She deserved so much better than what he could be. She deserved better but for some reason she wanted him. He didn't know why. He knew that he hadn't been much of a boyfriend even before the Teru kissing. He knew that he should have been more affectionate with her like she liked. They should have gone on more dates like she wanted. He should have been more physical like she wanted. She didn't seem to mind, though. She just sort of…she just stayed with him no matter what.

Like now.

She had asked him to walk her all the way home, which he did. He walked her all the way home and kissed her when they got to her door. It didn't feel like much but it sent her into a giggling fit. Probably because Sho was still there. He at least had the social awareness not to stand there and stare at him while he gave his girlfriend a goodnight kiss.

He didn't have the social awareness, however, not to ask about it as he walked home with Ritsu.

At least Ritsu thought that Sho was walking home with him. He just sort of…walked…where Ritsu walked. It was like he didn't have anything at all better to do with his time than follow Ritsu around. There was so much to do, though, a lot more to do. Sho had talked about recruiting some scars, trying to get through to some super powerful former shut-in, and investigating some weird stuff he heard about the foreign division of Claw. Sho had so much to do but he chose to follow Ritsu around as pester him about his relationship.

"….so do you guys just kiss whenever? Or is there, like, a schedule or something. I don't know, I've never seen people in a relationship before. A real one, I mean. My parents never got along with each other, even when I was little. My mom never liked how my dad could be and my dad doesn't like anybody but himself. You like her though, that girl? Why? How do people decide if they like each other?" asked Sho. The world might have been in danger and dad might have been going around the bend but this was way more interesting. He had never seen people who were in a couple before. People banged all the time, he wasn't a kid he knew what people's auras looked like when they banged, but they never did…that. They never held hands and kissed and said stuff like 'I love you' or 'are we ok?' which was…it looked nice.

It looked like it felt nice.

"…why do you ask?" asked Ritsu. He had no idea how he was supposed to answer any of those questions. He didn't even like…he liked her. He didn't dislike her.

"I just want to know, I guess. Is it nice? It looks nice." Said Sho. He and Ritsu were walking to Ritsu's house now. It was nice, just the two of them. He had never been around that many people his own age before. This was nicer, just one other person his own age. Less stuff going on. Just him and Ritsu. He was a nice guy. Those were all nice guys.

"I guess…why are you even asking me, though? Everyone knows that it's…nice." Said Ritsu. This was the last thing that he wanted to talk about. He accepted Sho's company because he was a good distraction from the shame and fear and paralyzing existential dread that came with the acknowledgement of his possible coming, death.

"Well I guess that I don't know what everyone knows. I don't know. Nobody's ever liked me before. I don't even know any people that like each other. I mean I know people that bang and stuff but never, like, love each other." Said Sho. He didn't know what Ritsu was turning all red for. People banged, it was just something that they did. Not that he had ever. He was thirteen and three quarters, of course he hadn't. Not that anyone would want to. He didn't know anyone his own age, not really, not before today anyway.

"That's seriously what you want to talk about? Out of all the things to talk about you want to ask me what it's like to have a girlfriend?" asked Ritsu. He looked down at the sidewalk as they walked. His shoes crunched against the leaves on the ground. The air had a bit to it. He wished that he had worn more than his school uniform. Sho at least had a coat on even if it was opened. He gave no indication that he even felt this unseasonable cold.

"Well, yeah. I'm tired of talking about strategy and stuff. That's boring. I know strategy. I don't know about this stuff, though. Girls and stuff like that. Other stuff too. Like, is that uniform as uncomfortable as it looks?" asked Sho

"It's not so bad once you get used to it. Your school doesn't have uniforms?" asked Ritsu

"I don't go to school. Dad has people that come and teach me things like reading and writing and math and stuff. I can read and write and speak in like, eight, languages, so I guess I don't even need to go to school." Said Sho with a shrug.

"You've seriously never been to school?" asked Ritsu incredulously. How did that even work? You had to go to school. People would notice if you weren't at school…if you were normal, that is, which Sho was most certainly not.

"Not since I was, like, seven. Six or seven, I don't really remember. You've seriously always gone to school?" asked Sho

"Since I was five." Said Ritsu

"That's a lot of wasted time." Said Sho

"Is not. School is good for…learning….I guess…ok yeah it is sometimes a waste of time I guess." Said Ritsu

"Then why go?" asked Sho

"What do you mean?" asked Ritsu

"Why even go? If it's such a waste of time then why go?" asked Sho

"Because it's the law. Not all of us were raised by delusional criminal organizations, you know. Some of us have to go to school." Said Ritsu

"Why bother, though. With your powers why even bother going to school?" said Sho

"Because my parents want me to. I…there are a lot of things that they want me to do." Said Ritsu

"That's dumb. You should do what you want to do. That's what I do. If I only did what my dad wanted then I'd be in the safe house right now waiting for my dad to get bored of trying to find your sister and start his whole 'hostile takeover' thing." Said Sho

"It's different. Your dad is certifiably insane. Mine just works all day and tells bad jokes sometimes." Said Ritsu

"Wanna trade?" asked Sho with a laugh. It sounded bitter to Ritsu.

"Hell no. Even with my parents being…my parents….I'm not trading with you for anything." Said Ritsu. That came out a little harsher than he had meant to. Right. At least he had parents who loved him and cared about him. It could have been so much worse….

"That makes sense, I guess. I mean…I don't even want my parents. Well my dad, mostly. I still see my mom sometimes but she's…I guess she's afraid of me or something. She thinks that I'm going to end up like my dad or something. That's crazy. My eyebrows look nothing like caterpillars." Said Sho

"Caterpillars?" asked Ritsu with a laugh. He didn't actually mean literally, did he?

"Yeah, my dad's eyebrows look like caterpillars are trying to grow out of his face. I hope that they aren't genetic…I hope that crazy isn't genetic, either." Said Sho

"Well then I have bad news for you." Said Ritsu

"If it's about my dad planning on cancelling Christmas when he comes to power I already know." Said Sho

"….he's going to steal Christmas, too?" asked Ritsu

"All the holidays. He's going to make new ones, better ones. He's got…ideas….all kinds of ideas." Said Sho

"That's…crazy." Said Ritsu

"Yeah! I know! Like…that's my dad. My dad is crazy. My dad is the craziest guy in the world. I hope I don't end up like him…" said Sho

"Well you're crazy but not that crazy." Said Ritsu

"I am not! I'm normal. Everyone else is crazy." Said Sho bumping shoulders with Ritsu as they walked. Ritsu stayed where he was. Sho didn't get all the sidewalk just because he wanted it.

"You're normal? Really?" asked Ritsu with a laugh. This time Sho actually shoved him. Ritsu shoved him right back. Not hard, not really. His hand lingered just a bit. He was warm, really warm. The cold just would not touch him.

"Yeah! The most normal. I'm the most normal guy in the entire world." Said Sho sticking out his tongue.

"Normal people don't go around telling other people how normal they are. Normal people don't…do the things you do. Like the shirt thing. Seriously, what was that?" Said Ritsu. Sho shrugged.

"That was me trying to get out of that hold you put me in. Never grab someone by their clothes or they'll just slink right out. You'll thank me later, in the coming battle. Father vs son. Good vs evil. The final showdown type battle!" Said Sho trying to make the whole thing sound cooler than it actually was. It was…it could have been worse. The whole thing could have been so much worse. He could have not found any guys at all and it could have just been him against dad. That would have been bad. He had his own secret weapon and he wasn't going to lose it fighting through the soldiers, division heads, and the Ultimate Five. Better someone else do that.

"Right. Well thanks for the tip I guess. If I ever end up in a hand to hand fight with any of these guys I'll be sure not to grab them by their clothes before they kill me." Said Ritsu. It was an attempt at self-depreciation. Maybe. Or maybe it was a cry for help. Or maybe he was just tired and his heart hurt and his head hurt and his stomach hurt and he just wanted to go to bed and forget this whole awful day had ever happened. He couldn't forget, of course, because tomorrow was going to happen and he'd wake up and all of his problems would wake up with him and there wouldn't be any way out. No escape.

Like now.

Sho had stopped walking and he had grabbed Ritsu by the arm. Ritsu has the sudden, insane, urge to slink right out of his gakuran because, hey, Sho was the one who told him never to grab people by their clothes. Of course to do that he would have to unbutton his gakuran first, which would take time, and thus defeat the purpose of the quick slink out. Maybe that was why Sho hadn't closed his coat, so he could slink out of it if he needed to.

"Ritsu. You're not going to die. Not you and not your friends and not your girlfriend. I am not letting any of my guys die. Not there. You're not dying in this fight, ok? You're going to die an old man with no teeth and fifty million cats yelling at neighborhood kids to get off your lawn. Ok?" said Sho. He still held onto Ritsu. He couldn't let go. Ritsu needed to hear this. He could not give up hope. As soon as you gave up hope you lost not only the battle but the war. Then the later on outer space war, too.

"…but what if I end up living in a condo? Then what?" asked Ritsu. Right. He could not think like that. He had to win. He had to win because losing was not an option.

"Then you'll have to kill yourself because condos suck. There's people all around you all the time and you can always hear them talking and fighting and banging and stuff. I hate apartments, condos, hotels, and pretty much everything that isn't a house." Said Sho

"Why don't you just put me out of my misery if they suck so much?" asked Ritsu

"Because that would involve me killing you. I could never do that to my friend." Said Sho simply. He still hadn't let go of Ritsu. He didn't particularly want to.

"We're friends?" asked Ritsu

"Do you think that we could save the world together without the power of friendship? Don't you watch TV? As long as we have the power of friendship on our side then we can do anything!" said Sho. It would help if they had a magical girl on their side. He had seen enough TV to know that the magical girl always won. Of course he couldn't just find the only magical girl he knew and ask her to help. First of all she was probably still pissed about what happened back at the seventh Division and second of all he had made a promise. Promises could be bent. Not broken, of course, but bent. It was a shame that he couldn't just ask her, though. With her on their side they could have a much better chance. Hell he could probably get Serizawa on his side if he had Ritsu's big sis. He liked magical girls and doing what people who were more powerful told him to do.

"Right. All we need is the power of friendship." Said Ritsu sarcastically. Sho rolled his eyes. Ritsu could believe what he wanted but there was strength in caring about each other and all of that stuff. That was what made the Ultimate Five weak. They didn't get along. Not really, not in the real way. You needed to know the people you fought alongside, you needed to trust the people you fought alongside, otherwise you were all divided and stuff. He trusted Ritsu. He liked Ritsu. He trusted all of those other guys but he especially trusted Ritsu.

And he got the feeling that Ritsu trusted him.

That was why Ritsu trusted Sho to walk him home. They barely knew each other but this whole thing was going so well. He had no idea, none at all, that the entire thing would go this well. Maybe it would go well with all of those former scars, too. Hell, maybe he could even talk Serizawa into helping. That was a big maybe. He thought that dad hung the moon, the stars, and the sky above. He couldn't see what a terrible person that dad truly was.

And he had seen a lot.

People broken and bent and hurt and dead because they failed dad or said something wrong or even breathed wrong…and that one had been the worst of them all. Sho remembered that he was only seven when that guy who just would not stop with the mouth breathing crumpled up like paper right there in the meeting…and he sounded like paper, too. It had been so much and so bad and mom was gone and it was just him and dad and dad could have crumpled him up to and…

But dad couldn't.

Sho wasn't a child anymore. He was thirteen now and just as strong as the Ultimate Five. He even lived through one of Serizawa's explosions, though he was still sad about setting one off, but at least dad hadn't been around, then, to punish anyone. He made it up to Serizawa. They played Bomber Man together literally all night. That was enough to make it up to him, Sho figured. He wasn't a difficult guy. He just wanted someone to hang out with. Well everyone needed someone. Even if it was just someone to fight with or bang with or whatever everyone needed someone.

He needed Ritsu.

Because out of all the kids his age that he had ever met, not many, Ritsu was the…the most compatible. Their auras tried to bond. His aura had never tried to bond with anyone's before. He had seen it happen, sometimes, but usually when people banged or did stuff like that, which he and Ritsu had not. They had just met…and they were thirteen. Well he was thirteen and three quarters. He had no idea when Ritsu's birthday was.

If they made it through this thing they should really have some kind of a party.

When they made it through this thing they should have some sort of a party.

They would! The best party that had ever been had! There would be cake and soda and tiny little finger foods carried around by guys in white suits…or maybe penguins. Yeah, that would be cool. Little penguin waiters. But where would they get penguins? Well besides the zoo. They couldn't steal penguins from the zoo. The zoo was their home and there was nothing worse than losing your home…

Nothing worse than losing your home.

The thought, not the one about the penguins, hits Sho as soon as they come up to Ritsu's house. His big sis didn't live there anymore, he would have seen her aura if she did, but she probably still cared about the people inside of it…and if those people were to die…in a fire…

Not for real, that would be insane.

But if she were to think that the people inside had died in a fire…and that was part of dad's plan. He was going to hit every organization that could oppose him at once. The Rising Sun Spiritual Union, that Awakening Lab place once he found out about it, that Spirits and Such place where Ritsu's big sis worked, even people's homes…which was the worst of all. Sho hadn't had a real home for most of his life but he remembered how much it hurt when dad woke him up one day and said that they were leaving and never coming back. Mom wasn't there to take care of him so dad had to take him with. Sho had been so little that he had cried.

He learned really fast not to cry.

And he didn't want to have to make Ritsu's big sis cry but if she thought that Claw hit her house and got her entire family…well then she would have no choice but to go after dad. It would be personal. It was one thing if her office blew up, that was just a place to work, but if her house blew up and she thought that her whole entire family was dead…well…

Then she'd do to dad what she did to the entire seventh division.

"Well this is me so…bye…I guess." Said Ritsu. He didn't much like the way that Sho was looking at his house. There was a glint in his eye that screamed 'something bad is going to happen' or something like that. He couldn't be sure. He didn't know how to read Sho, yet. Even his aura was weirdly calm. Well that made sense. This sort of thing was probably normal for him. This was just another day in the life of the son of a super villain.

"Bye…but not forever! I'll see you tomorrow, maybe, or the next day. I've got to get you trained up! Get on my level, Ritsu, while we still have time." Said Sho. Ritsu had so much potential. It was just a shame that he couldn't do half the things that Sho did. They had gone over what they all could do back at that Awakening Lab place and Ritsu, despite having the potential for it, couldn't do even half the stuff that Sho had taught himself to do.

He couldn't turn invisible.

He couldn't fly on his own for very long.

He couldn't do any pryo-kinesis or any kind of kinesis that wasn't telekinesis.

He couldn't heal himself or others, not that Sho could either…

He couldn't store up energy for later use.

And he couldn't do a cartwheel. That one was more for fun, though.

Either way they had a long way to go.

"What do you mean by-" said Ritsu. He would have continued but Sho vanished right before his eyes. Even his aura had disappeared. He thought that Sho had teleported away, for a moment, before he felt a tap on his head. Oh. Right. He could turn invisible.

That would have been a nice skill to have about an hour or so ago. After he had done the stupidest thing that he had ever done in his life. Temporary insanity. That was all that it had been. The entire day had been one stress after the other after the other. It was only natural that he would have cracked. Anyone else would have cracked, too. He hadn't been thinking, well he had, but he had only been thinking of himself in the present. What would have made present Ritsu happy? Present Ritsu just wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss someone he liked. He figured that future Ritsu was going to end up dead soon. Well not future Ritsu was present Ritsu and future Ritsu had no only the literal weight of the world on his shoulders but he also had to live with the fact that he had betrayed the sister that he had to protect…and the girlfriend who loved him. There was no way that he could even begin to excuse what he had done. He had…or maybe he could. If he never did it again. Temporary insanity. He could just blame it all on temporary insanity.

He had to blame it on something.

Mob didn't know what she was supposed to blame this on.

Any of this. The first thing that needed to be blamed on something was the fact that she had broken her promise to Teru. She had spent the night with Master Reigen. She had spent the night on her futon with him right there next to her. He had just laid down and gone to sleep. Well first he had asked her for some blanket and then he had laid down and gone to sleep. That was hours ago. She had, eventually, drifted right off too.

Eventually being the operative word.

She had spent so long just laying there next to him. Feeling the rise and fall of his chest under the hand she had rested there. Listening to him snoring as if she hadn't spent the past few months listening to that every single night. Well every single night that she spent with him. There were those awful three weeks when they had been apart. But that whole ordeal was over now. Now they were back to normal, the most normal, the best sort of normal.

Because if this was what normal was she liked it.

She was temporarily insane. That was why she had broken the promise that she had made to Teru. She was just crazy. She should have, she knew that she should have, climbed up into his bed and slept there the minute he fell asleep on her futon. She could have even picked him up with her powers, if it didn't count as using her powers against another person, and put him in his own bed where he was supposed to sleep. She knew that this was one of those boundary lines that Master Reigen had told her about, that they had fought about, and she knew that him sleeping there next to her was crossing one…

And she didn't care.

He had been the one to cross it, not her, so they wouldn't fight again. She needed this. She needed to sleep next to someone that she felt safe with. She hadn't slept this well in…she had no idea when the last time that she had slept this well was. This was just…this was everything that she had ever wanted it to be and wasn't that just terrible? The worst? Wasn't she just terrible…

Not that they had done anything.

Not that he would have ever wanted to do anything like that with her. That wasn't why he was down there on her futon with her. Well she had no idea, actually, why he had chosen that as his sleeping place but she didn't mind. Maybe it was because he was drunk. He had said that he was drunk and drunk people did silly things sometimes. Plus she felt what he felt and since he had been drunk then she had been drunk too. So really that was the excuse for why she had broken her promise to Teru…not that she had cheated or anything. She thought about it, not actually doing it, but her mind had wandered over to what the two of them could have done, there, in her futon…

She was tired of thinking of sad things.

She was tired of remembering how awful the unreality had been. She was tired of remembered how scary it had been to be helpless. How Mogami had taken away her powers. How he pinned her down with his full body weight. How he broke each and every single one of her fingers. How he had choked the life out of her…she was done thinking about that. She was done thinking about it and she was done talking about it. All she wanted to do, now, was just be…happy.

And this did make her happy.

She was laying on her side. So was he. He had gotten up a couple times in the night to pee, he said, but he always came back down to her. Well one time he had gone up to his bed but then and sort of felt around, said her name, and then gone back down to her futon and laid down next to her. Now he was on his side and she was facing him and she could feel him breathing and her hand was still on his chest, to make sure that he was still breathing, because at school they said that when people got too drunk they forgot how to breathe. She was just looking out for him, that was all.

Nothing had happened.

And nothing ever would.

She was not a cheater and he was not the sort of adult who dated kids her age. They were not those sorts of people. This was just some temporary insanity brought on by drunkenness. That was all. Nothing more and nothing less. That was why she had slept next to him. A good, deep, sleep. The sort of sleep that she had needed for a while. Now she was awake, wide awake, but she was not ready to greet the day.

She didn't want to go outside.

It was cold out there. She could feel the cold wind coming in through the window above them. It wasn't opened, it was just old and not sealed properly, Master Reigen had said. It was cold out and the cold reminded her of the unreality…but that was no excuse. What, was she supposed to just stay inside until summer? Mob knew that she couldn't do this, become a shut-in, because she had school and clubs and friends and Teru…she could not live here forever. No matter how nice it was sharing a futon with Master Reigen she had to get up and…

Go to school.

She knew that people liked her, or at least didn't dislike her, at school. She knew that she had to go because she was still too young to drop out and dropping out would have been dumb anyways because she needed to go to university someday so she could get a good job for a few years until she got married…and then she would work some more once the kids got older. Like mom did. Because she would be an adult and that was what adults did. They got married and had homes and babies…

Teru had asked her to marry him.

She had no idea what she was supposed to do with that information. Teru wanted the two of them to be married. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Master Reigen…she knew what he thought about all of this. He thought that they were too young. He thought that Teru had only wanted to marry her because he was fourteen and he loved her and he didn't think things through. He also thought that she was only fourteen and way too young to make these sort of choices…

And he said that she needed to focus on getting better.

So that was what she needed to do. Getting better would mean leaving this futon, this warmth, this safety, and this comfort. It would mean getting into her uniform and going to school. Out there. In the cold. All alone. She needed….she needed to get better. This was not the unreality. She needed to get up and go and-

She felt a hand on her waist.

The dip in her waist. Where her hips flared out but not really but more than they ever had before but not enough to make her look like anything other than a kind. Master Reigen sometimes put and arm around her there if he needed to steer her in some direction. His hand was on her waist now but he was not steering her any way at all. He was still asleep, it seemed. He moved in his sleep sometimes. He even ended up chewing on her hair and calling it 'the worst ramen ever' but this was…this was not that. That had been sort of funny. This wasn't funny. This was…this was…

Nice.

He didn't do anything. He just had a hand on her waist. He had started to smile, too, which was maybe just because she was smiling now. She knew this feeling, the one that burst into bloom within her. This was a good feeling. Teru touched her in his sleep, too, but that was mostly to roll over on top of her. Teru was such a bed hog sometimes. Master Reigen hadn't been. He had mostly stayed over on his side…but now he was…and this was…

She got up.

Because it was a lot.

Not in the bad way. Not in the way that made her remember what happened in the unreality. That had just been…something good…and a lot…and something nervous…and something bubbly….and something warm….but also something that had made her blood run cold. She knew what she was feeling and she knew that he was only supposed to feel that for Teru. Master Reigen had been perfectly clear. She was not his girlfriend and she would never be his girlfriend…and it hurt. It hurt so much to think that he would never, ever, ever think about her in the way that she thought about him. it didn't matter how close they got or how much older she got. She would never be his girlfriend. That was their forgone conclusion.

She would never be his.

He didn't want her to be his. He never, ever, ever thought about her like that in his life. He still saw her as a kid, as his student, and not as anything more. She would always be, in his mind, as she was now. The Mob that existed in his mind would always be the Mob that existed in this reality. Even if she got older. Even if this dip in her waist got deeper and her hips flared out more and she got actual breasts, enough so that she needed an actual bra, he would never want her the wat that she wanted him. Ever.

The futon feels small, now, and cramped.

She wants to get up. She needs to get up. She needs to get up because she can't help but contemplate, hope for, what can never be. They will never be what she wants them to be. She will never know what it's like to kiss him. To feel him. To have him….to have him in every way that a person can have another. She will never know that feeling, he does not want her to know that feeling, and she already has someone to know that feeling with. So really none of it matters at all and she's being terrible for even thinking about anyone other than the boy who actually wants to be with her and in fact asked her to marry him.

She's had enough hurt in her life. She doesn't need to make it worse.

So she gets up, gets ready, and gets stuck in front of the front door. Her shoes are on her feet and her uniform is on her body and her hair is brushed and her teeth are brushed and her shoes are clean and her clothes are clean and Teru's hoodie, which she's wearing, is clean, so all she has to do is step outside and go to school like she has a thousand times before. That's all she needs to do. Nothing is stopping her. Nothing is holding her back

Nothing but herself.

Her phone vibrates in her bag. For a moment she thinks that she's going to hit the ceiling. Just a moment. Her phone vibrating should not surprise her. She had been carrying this phone around with her since she was…how old was this phone? Right, since Master Reigen got her a better one when she was thirteen. The case is messed up and the screen has some scratches but it's hers. It's hers and it allows people in the outside world, the one that she's so afraid of, to call her.

Someone is calling her.

Not one of her friends, no, but she still has to get back to them and tell them that Mogami never had sex with her, in case they think that. She'll do that later. Right now she's getting a call from someone who she can't remember ever calling her before.

She hits answer.

"Mobbu? I didn't wake you did I?" it was Sophia, Master Reigen's mother. They had spoken only yesterday. It was still good to hear her voice today, though. Someone who cared about her…even though she wasn't even Mob's mom. She was Master Reigen's mom. Still…it was nice to talk to a mom sometimes. Not that she could talk to hers about anything.

"No. I was already awake. I'm…I'm trying to go to school. How are you?" asked Mob

"Trying to get to work." Said Sophia with a laugh. Mob didn't know what was so funny but she laughed too.

"Are you stuck?" asked Mob. She wondered if other people ever got stuck in places. Or maybe it was just her. Maybe she was the only one who had ever gotten stuck in the bathroom. She'd believe that.

"Ugh, I wish. Nope, I just don't want to get out the door at six in the morning to make a thousand and one copies. I swear to God they're only make me do this because I'm not…anyway. That's my problem." Said Sophia

"I could help…people have to help the people that they care about. If it's ok for me to care about you. I don't know you that well." Said Mob. There's a long pause. Mob can hear the sound of a cat meowing in the background. There's a TV on, too, though Mob doesn't know the show. It's in English.

"Honey….let me care about you right now. Ok? Just let me and Taka-chan and whoever else just care about you." Said Sophia. Mob smiled. It felt good…being cared about. She looked across the room and back into the opened bedroom door. People cared about her…it was a warm feeling. A good feeling.

"So, how have you been? Did you ever end up coming out of the bathroom?" asked Sophia. Mob didn't know why she asked that, maybe as a conversation filler. They had spoken not even twenty four hours ago. Mob would still answer, though, because she did not want to be impolite.

"I've been ok. I came out of the bathroom but I didn't go to school…but school was pretty much over by the time you called anyway…and I feel bad about that…but I had pizza and Teru, that's my boyfriend, came to visit me. He was worried. That's why I had pizza. He said that there wasn't any food in the house but we do have food, just not meals." Said Mob

"….I tell Taka-chan to go to the store…he was never good about that…" said Sophia. Mob hoped that she didn't get Master Reigen in trouble with his mom. Could adults still get in trouble with their moms?

"You don't have to, I'll just go to the store later, or after school. I'll already be out of the house and-" Said Mob

"You are fourteen years old, Mobbu, that is not your responsibility." Said Sophia in a tone that Mob recognized from her own mother.

"I'm sorry I-" said Mob

"No, no, don't be sorry. Sometimes I can be a little….yeah. But it is not your responsibility to keep food in the house. I'll talk to Taka-chan. He's…sometimes he needs someone to get him to do what he needs to do. He's always been so…yeah. That's my son. Anyway, how was your visit with your boyfriend? I know you haven't seen him in a while." Said Sophia. Mob could heard a door locking, now, and the jingle of keys. She felt her own keys through her NERV bag. She should have been out of the house too. She should have been on her way to meet Teru before school and she should have been on her way to school and maybe she should met Ritsu before school, too, because she missed him so much…even though she had been a terrible big sister to him…

"It was nice. We had pizza and watched TV…but he also asked me to marry him…and I don't know if I want to-" said Mob

"You're fourteen. You're too young to begin to even think about that." Said Sophia. Mob could hear the car starting. Chitty-chitty bang-bang. She wondered if it was safe to be on the phone and drive. She wondered if it was safe to drive a car that sounded like it was dying. She wondered a lot of things. Maybe Sophia didn't like marriage because she was divorced. That would make sense.

"Master Reigen said that, too." Said Mob

"Good. Taka is finally thinking for once in his life…good…Just good. Just listen… Mobbu, honey, don't worry about things like that right now. You just focus on getting better, ok? That's all anybody wants from you right now. You just focus on being as close to better as you can be." Said Sophia

"Master Reigen said that, too…" said Mob

"Good. That boy is finally making sense….I swear to God…you just try and get better, ok? I know that you've been through a lot." Said Sophia. Mob frowned. She knew that Master Reigen's mother loved him but she just…didn't always talk like she loved him. Or maybe she was just upset. Sometimes people could be meanish when they were upset about something. She was probably upset about something at work. That was where she was headed. Mob should have been headed out too. Mob should have been on her way to start her day but she just…she was stuck again. Stuck right there in front of the front door…

"I'm trying to get better but….I just…I don't know if I can go to school today…" said Mob. She couldn't do it. She couldn't go out into the cold and she couldn't go to school while she was…because then someone could make fun of her…and what if she bled through her uniform…then everyone would laugh…and then it would be just like being back in the unreality….

"Try. Honey, you should at least try. If you can't make it in then that's ok but I just…please just try, ok Mobbu?" said Sophia. Mob felt the key in her NERV bag. She felt the key and she looked at the door and she knew that she had to try. That was what she had to do. Just go through that door and try. That was all. Simple. Easy. She had been going to school for years. She had been using doors for years.

She tried to. She tried to leave the house.

She made it through the door. She made it down the stairs. The cold still cut right through Teru's hoodie. Her legs were cold, too, so cold because all she had on were her long socks and her school skirt. She should have started wearing tights. It was cold enough outside to wear tights. But she hadn't put on tights, she was still in her usual socks and skirt.

And it was cold.

But the cold wasn't what made her turn around.

She saw a cat. A white cat with fluffy fur. There were a lot of cats in her neighborhood. She had seen them countless times. This was…this was a cat. This was not Cat. Cat wasn't real. Cat wasn't real and she had not seen Asagiri kill Cat and Asagiri hadn't killed Cat or any other cats…that Mob knew of. She just…she just saw the red stuff everywhere and the way Cat mad that noise…and then cat was dead…

She went back home.

She went through the door.

She put her pajamas back on.

She laid down on her futon next to Master Reigen.

And she just laid there.

She'd tried.


	57. Pancakes

Reigen could easily dismiss that first night as being the result of drunkenness. Temporary insanity. He would most certainly never crawl into bed with Mob if he had been in his right state of mind.

Because that was most certainly boundary crossing.

He knew that he had something akin to 'fuck boundaries' but that was easier said than done. She needed him and she needed comfort and he had provided it but…but that had been a bit much. First of all it had been a clear invasion of her space even though she said that it wasn't. Second of all it had probably dragged up some bad memories even though she said that it didn't. Thirdly and lastly it did not set a good precedent for their future…whatever it was that they were doing.

He could write it off as temporary insanity for that first night. The second was a whole other story.

She had crawled into bed with him on the second night. She said that she felt lonely and afraid. She felt like she would never, ever, ever be able to go to school again. She said that it was so cold out that it felt like she was back in that bastard's little prison. She said that there were too many cats out there. Too many cats and birds and bugs and all other manner of fauna. Mogami took the forms of animals to watch her, she said, and seeing all of those animals out there made her nervous even though she knew that Mogami was gone now.

The internet said that this was normal.

It would be normal for her to have seemingly nonsensical fears. Flashbacks to the trauma that she experienced would also be normal. Really this entire thing was normal for what Mob had gone through back in the world she had escaped. Everything that she was going through was to be expected. All Reigen could do for her, really, was be there for her. He had to be there and be whatever she needed him to be because she was going through some very serious stuff and he just needed to be there.

So he didn't kick her out of bed that time.

Or the next time.

He didn't say a word about it. He just pulled back the blankets and tried to make as much space for her as possible. Maybe if there was space between them then it would have looked better. Better to who? He did not know. He didn't know who but he did know that he should have been well past the point of caring how this, whatever it was between him and Mob, looked. But still…he would have felt better. With some space between them. That was difficult considering that his bed was only designed for one person to sleep on it. She may have been tiny but she was not so very small that they could lay next to each other without making some form of contact. His arm thrown over her in the night. Her head resting on his chest. Him and her together. He was not getting them a bigger bed, though, because if he did then that would be acknowledging that this situation may not be temporary. But it was temporary and it had to be temporary. He could not share a bed with a fourteen year old girl. How would that look?

No.

He was through caring about how things looked.

At least that was what he told himself.

Really.

Because, really, people had moved on. Some idol made some disparaging remarks about some designer or whatever and now the internet was all over that. As quick as the memes about him popped up they died down and now it was all about some clip from an old European cartoon about noodles or whatever inserted after clips of that idol. He didn't get it but there were a lot of things in this world that he could not begin to understand. He was grateful, though, that it was over. Nobody stopped him on the streets, nobody was parked outside of his house, and nobody bothered him online. Really it was nice, how short people's memories were for these things. People were really no better than goldfish in that regard. Something new and shiny came up in their field of vision and they were all done thinking about the fraud psychic and his relationship with the little girl who called him 'shishou' and who he called 'mobbu'.

Really this was all going very well.

Media wise of course. Mob wise things weren't much better than they had been when she first came back. The nightmares were still nightly. The dissociation, and that was what the internet called it, was still daily. Actually it might have even been getting worse. She wasn't leaving the house…and that was a bad sign. She wasn't at hikikomori levels yet but…but this was still troubling. She could walk to the store with him, that was about it. She could walk to the store with him and she could go downstairs on her own and check the mailbox. That was pretty much the extent of it. She couldn't go to school. Not wouldn't, couldn't. Reigen knew why. Asagiri's kid had bullied Mob when she got her period back in the unreality, as Mob called it. Mob was terrified that the same thing would happen again and Reigen didn't blame her. That must have been a terrible thing to be teased about. Not that he really knew anything about these things. Things like that were women's mysteries. All he knew was that Mob's stomach hurt and she was kind of irritable and she was worried about being teased about things that were perfectly natural and happened to just about every member of the female population.

Not that he gave her any indication that he knew why she was skipping school.

Because, really, that was not his business at all. Even mom took the time out of her day to tell him, or rather remind him, that he had to give Mob no indication that he had any idea that she was on her period. None whatsoever. According to mom Mob could not even know that he knew what a period was. He didn't need his mom to tell him that. This was private and not something that Mob wanted anyone, let alone a guy, to know about. Well she told mom but mom was a mom and moms knew about this sort of thing. Not that he wanted to think about his mom knowing about this sort of thing, or anything at all to do with anyone's reproductive system other than his own. Not that he was grossed out by normal bodily functions or anything, he was almost thirty years old, he just knew when to mind his own business.

Thank God that he was a guy.

Not that he would ever express that to anyone. He just thanked God that he didn't have to put up with things like that. He hated that Mob had to, though, not that he wished that she were a guy or anything. No, if she had been a guy then his relationship with her would have been about a thousand times weirder. Guys did not cuddle with other guys like he and Mob cuddled. Well they did, sometimes, but Reigen was not into that. Not that he was into Mob. Not really. Because guy or girl being into Mob would have not been right. Not at all.

She was fourteen.

She was in middle school.

She called him Master.

She let him call her student.

She was dependent on him for most of her physical needs.

She was totally dependent on him for pretty much all of her emotional needs.

He would ruin her, anyway. If he hadn't ruined her already then he would have if he had…shared in her feelings. He would have ruined her life more than he had ruined it already. And he had ruined it. She had been making such a nice life for herself and he just went and ruined it. She couldn't go to school, she hadn't seen her friends in ages, and she wasn't even getting dressed in the morning these days either. She just wore those same pajamas day in and day out…pants too even though she hated pants. All because he had taken her to the terrible place and let all of those terrible things happened to her…but not that one terrible thing. Thank God for small mercies. Mom had said the same thing, when he told her. He had to tell her, he couldn't let mom go on for the rest of her life thinking that Mob had gone through something so terrible…and she could not spend the rest of her life thinking that her only son would let someone he loved go through something like that…small mercies. Thank God for the small mercies. That was one less thing for Mob to have to go through.

That was a special kind of evil.

That was a special kind of evil that nobody, not anybody in the whole wide world, should have ever had to experience. Mob had enough of the cruelties of the world heaped onto her plate without…that…having had happened to her. Not that Reigen thought that what she had gone through was a walk in the park or anything. She had still been isolated and hurt and had her bones broken and was choked out and…yeah. Mogami was a bastard and Reigen wished that he had never happened upon that guy all those years ago when he had been a dumb little kid. A dumb little kid hiding in his roof staring at pictures of a dead man trying, vainly, to escape from the war at home. A dumb little kid thinking that if he could just become someone, become someone like this man, then maybe things could get better. A dumb little kid who looked up to a man in a cheap green suit like he was everything good and right with the world. Well look how well that turned out….

Never meet your heroes.

"Master?" asked Mob. Reigen could feel her stirring beside him. She had crawled into bed with him at some point in the night. She did that, sometimes, quickly becoming all the times. She had been upset, before, because she had broken a promise that she had made to her boyfriend. She promised that kid that she wouldn't sleep with him…and the kid felt the need to make her promise that…

He had to tell her that the kid didn't mean it literally.

Not that something like that was something that the kid had to worry about.

"Hey, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob smiled and sat up. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and straightened out her T-Shirt. She felt bad, having had broken her promise to Teru and all, but Master Reigen said that Teru hadn't mean it literally, probably. So then it was ok that when she got all sad and lonely and woke up crying she just laid down next to Master Reigen until she felt better.

Safer.

He made her feel safe and that was all that she wanted right now.

"What time is it?" asked Mob. Reigen sat up and opened the blinds behind them. His phone and hers were charging over on the computer desk and he didn't quite feel like leaving the warmth of his bed just yet. Winter was coming in early this year, very early. The heating in this building was not what it should have been and the room was like a refrigerator.

They really should move.

"No idea. The sun's up, though, but barely. You can go back to sleep if you want to." Said Reigen as he stretched. He accidentally ended up with a handful of Mob's hair wrapped around his hand. She didn't say anything, she just untangled her hair from his hand with her powers. It was long, which was good. Long meant that she was back in her own reality and nobody had tried to cut off one of her braids…

She shook out her hair. All there.

"No, I'm ok. I slept really well." Said Mob. Reigen was happy, then, for her. Sleeping well for Mob meant getting four to six hours and only needing that. Sleeping well for Mob meant not passing out in front of the TV after hours and hours of trying to forget about life for just a while. Sleeping well for Mob meant waking up only once in the night with bad dreams from a bad reality that didn't really matter but did because it was real to her and she just-

Calm.

If she's calm then you're calm.

"Glad to hear it, Mob, glad to hear it. So, ready to greet the day? Think you might be up for some school today?" asked Reigen. Mob hadn't been to school for days now. Days upon days upon days. He wondered if someone had sent her parents a truant letter yet. He remembered those. He remembered being her age and racing home from wherever he had been, the arcade or the library or drinking in the park most likely, to beat his mom to the mailbox so he could destroy those damned letters that just wouldn't stop coming…

Of course then they wised up and called.

If Mob's parents knew that she hadn't been going to school they sure as hell hadn't said anything to him. True, had hadn't been at the office in days and days, all of that media shit had just now started to blow over, but his cellphone number was on the Spirits and Such page and he did respond to Friendbook messages sometimes. Plus if they wanted to be really old school about it they could have just written him out a letter or something.

They knew his address, right?

He must have given it to them at some point. Of course he had to have. Right? He couldn't remember ever telling her parents, well her mother, he had never once met her father, where exactly it was that their daughter would be living. But they had to know, right? What kind of parents would just let their teenage daughter go off and live with a man they knew nothing about?

Hers. Obviously.

"I don't think…not today, Master." Said Mob. She still didn't want to go to school. Even though there was no chance that anyone would make fun of her, her period was over and done with, she still just did not want to go. She knew that nobody would do anything to hurt her and she knew that she had friends but there was just something about going out in the cold…out there in the world….to school…

She just couldn't.

"Mob…are you sure?" asked Reigen. She had missed a lot of school, a worrying amount of school. She had missed enough school that people were probably noticing. People were probably going to notice, if they hadn't already, and then…her parents might make her come back…

Not that she wasn't free to leave whenever she wanted to.

She could leave whenever she felt like it, she could. He would miss her but she was still just fourteen and she needed her family. Even though they hadn't even cared to figure out where, exactly, that it was that their daughter was living. Even though they had just let her walk right out the door without making any move to stop her. Even though they just let him tell her that she would be living with him for the foreseeable future, a man that neither of them had even met before that day. Even though they were so clearly terrified of their daughter…even though they so clearly played favorites between their children, favored their son, and seemed all too happy to be rid of their daughter…

Mob could go back home whenever she wanted to.

Even though he couldn't think of a single reason why she would ever want to.

"I-I'm sure Master." Said Mob. She was sure that she wouldn't make it to school even if she tried. She just would not make it. She could go outside on her own to get the mail. She could go outside with Master Reigen to pick up food or drop of laundry. She just…she could not go to school on her own.

Even if she could see Teru on the way there.

She missed him. She hoped that she hadn't actually broken her promise to him, that she had just taken what he had said too literally, because then otherwise she really would have been terrible. She hoped that he wasn't mad at her. He wasn't, he said, before when they were texting. He just had a lot of after school stuff going on and he was so sorry that he wasn't there for her. When all of what he was doing was over with then they could go to Tokyo together, he said, when they were both on winter break. Or to a proper onsen, he said, even though Mob just wanted to be with him. She didn't care where they went or what they did, she just wanted to be with him.

Because she loved him.

She had no idea if she wanted to marry him but she knew that she loved him.

"I just…I'm a little worried. I mean I know people call you Mob but I can't imagine that your teachers just haven't noticed that you've been missing days and days of school. They might…send a letter home, or call you parents, or something." Said Reigen. He needed to be responsible. School was important and she could not skip school to spend her days here, with him, doing shit all. No matter how much he liked these days that they were having, long lazy ones where they could just spend time together, he had to be the responsible adult there.

Because that was what he was, an adult.

And he was responsible for her wellbeing.

"Right….I didn't think about that. But if they did then mom would have said something to me, right? Unless she forgot my phone number." Said Mob. She hadn't heard from mom in so long. Mom was probably happy, that was it. She was happy that Mob was gone because now she didn't have anyone to be afraid of. She could focus on Ritsu, he was the one who needed it anyway. He was smarter and just better at everything. Mom and dad loved him more and that didn't bother Mob one bit. He deserved it.

Even though he hadn't texted or called her in a while.

Well he did, a little. He asked her if she was ok and then he offered to bring her homework to her again. Mob didn't really want it, not at all, because then she would have to do it and then she'd be reminded how dumb she was and then she would remember going to school in the unreality and then it would all just be a great big mess that would end in her watching TV at one in the morning trying to forget that she was even real…

She still missed him.

But he was busy, too. The school marathon was coming up and he had all of his usual student council stuff to do, too. Plus he was in a relationship with Rei, they were in love, and that took up a lot of time too. He was a good brother and a good son and a good student and a good boyfriend and an all around good person. Good people had a lot of things to do in order to remain good people. He was busy and that was fine because he was Ritsu and he had a lot of important things to do. More important than what she did, anyway. She didn't even go to work anymore. She just spent all day every day inside the house watching TV and eating junk food. The worst part was that she enjoyed it. She enjoyed having nothing to do. She enjoyed just spending time with Master Reigen…

It was nice.

This was nice.

"Right. I'm sure that she would have if she cared. Not that she doesn't care! She's your mom, that's what they do. They care about you." Said Reigen. He wondered if her mother gave a damn. His mother would have never let him get away with being out of contact for this long. Even at his age mom had never gone that radio silent, not totally, and not even at the height of their estrangement.

Even now she still called.

"That's what they do, you're right. Your mom cares about you a lot, I can tell. She talks about you a lot, well she asks about you, anyway. She told me to take care to remind you to go to the store and to get real food, the kind that grows out of the ground. Not the kind that comes out of the microwave or from under a warming lamp." Said Mob. Those were Sophia's exact words, more words than Mob's mom had given her in these past few months. She cared so much about Master Reigen. Even though they fought and even though Master Reigen had been so mean to her, from what he had said, when he was a kid his mom still loved him and still cared about him and still talked to him and stuff.

Sophia wasn't afraid of Master Reigen

Sophia wasn't afraid of her son at all.

Even though he had powers, too.

She wasn't the least bit scared.

Moms weren't supposed to be afraid of their kids.

Kids were not supposed to give their moms reasons to be afraid of them. Not that Mob had ever tried to give her mom a reason to be scared of her. She never asked for these powers, she never set off to get them, she just got them. She didn't know how much of it was genetics and how much of it was fate and how much of it depended on the choices that her parents made but Mob had these powers and it…it made sense why her mom would be so afraid of her…but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Sophia knew that Master Reigen had powers but she wasn't afraid of him, or Mob, and that was just so very nice…

"What's mom talking to me through you for? She knows my number." Said Reigen. Mom liked Mob, mom liked Mob a lot, and that was….good? Mom called Mob more than she called him these days. Not that he longed for those halcyon days of mom calling multiple times a day just to see how he was getting on. Well now she had to worry about how Mob was getting on so of course that didn't leave a lot of room for him. Which was fine.

It really was.

"She says that you don't always pick up even though she knows that you aren't doing anything important. She still knows your number, though, you're right about that." Said Mob

"And yours too, apparently. If mom's been calling you too much just tell me and I'll tell her to leave you alone." Said Reigen

"No, that's ok. I like your mom a lot. She's very nice. I don't mind it when she calls me. I like it, it's kind of like having a mom of my own. One who isn't scared of me, I mean." Said Mob. She did have a mom and her name was Hana, not Sophia, not that Mob had ever called her mother by her given name or anything like that. She had a mother and maybe she should just call her…but then again what did she even have to say? Mob had nothing really to say to her mother. If she wanted to know how the family was carrying on she could just ask Ritsu. Maybe it would be better that way, better if she didn't bother her family, because they were carrying on just fine if not better now that she was gone then they had while she had been there.

Which made sense, of course.

It made sense and it didn't matter because Mob was never going back there again. She was not going back to where people were afraid of her. Not that she wasn't terrible, anyway, so it didn't matter what other people thought of her. Not that she didn't deserve every single mean thing that people could do to her just because she was so-

Stop it.

Mogami is full of lies.

"Mob….your mom loves you." Said Reigen for lack of anything else. He didn't know her mother and even if he did he wasn't going to start disparaging Mob's mother to her face like that. No. It didn't matter how much, or how little, he thought of her parents. They were still her parents and even though they had dropped the ball with her they still…she had to believe that they still loved her.

It was a terrible feeling when a parent cast you aside.

"I know. I know she loves me, she's just scared of me because of my powers. It makes sense, I think. I mean she has Ritsu, anyway, so at least she can be happy with him." said Mob. As she said that she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Then she was being hugged. The positioning, him beside her, made it awkward. She could feel pain in her side from where she had to twist to meet him…or maybe that was his. She didn't know. All she knew was that she was being held and it was wonderful.

Because it was him.

She knew that the way he made her feel, all the ways he made her feel, were not ok. She knew that she was not supposed to…to want to be with him like this. She knew that she had someone who loved her and someone who she loved in return and that should have been enough. She knew a lot of things. She knew the way a lot of things should have been.

She shouldn't have been so scared all the time

She shouldn't have bene skipping so much school.

She shouldn't sleep right next to Master Reigen like she had been.

There were a lot of things that should have been this and shouldn't have been that so maybe this was just the drop in a very large bucket. Maybe she was awful. Maybe Mogami had been right in trying to teach her that she was awful…or whatever it was that he had been trying to teach her. Or maybe he hadn't been trying to teach her anything and instead just really liked tormenting people for his own amusement. Or maybe he had just been trying to make another person feel as miserable as he had been when he was alive. Or maybe it was all of the above.

She didn't know.

All she knew was that she was being hugged and that it felt nice.

"It doesn't make sense. That doesn't make any sense, none at all. There is no reason that anyone should be afraid of you, Mob. None at all." Said Reigen. She needed to hear that, to know that. She had spent so long thinking that she was terrible. So long hating herself for things that were out of her control. Be it having powers or having been trapped in the unreality. There was so much that she hated about herself, so much that had her convinced that she deserved the way that she had been treated, and none of it made any sense.

He wished that everyone could see her the way he saw her.

When he looked at her he didn't see something terrifying. When he looked at her he saw a sweet, kind, caring, and occasionally clueless fourteen year old girl. Someone who tried and tried and tried until she could not try anymore. Someone who cared so much about the people around her that she would rather sleep in the goddamned park then tell anyone that she was in trouble…

Than tell him off.

She cared so much about him that she couldn't tell him off when he crossed that line…when he let his mouth run like there was no tomorrow. When he pushed her away when she needed him the very most…

If he has reason any reason to be afraid of her then…then he would have been given it already. God knew he deserved it.

"People are afraid of me because of my powers, Master, it makes sense. I know that I would never hurt anyone on purpose…unless they were trying to hurt me or someone I loved…and even then I don't want to hurt anyone…but I could. I could hurt someone…break someone…so easily and that's why people are afraid of me. I…just…it doesn't make me happy but it makes sense. I wish…sometimes I wish that things could be different. That people weren't so afraid of me…but then I remember that I have a lot of people in my life who aren't afraid of me, I really do. I have people in my life that care about me and I'm grateful to have them. Mogami took them all away…before…to teach me a lesson but the only thing I learned was that…that there were so many people in my life that care about me…and that I should be grateful." Said Mob as Mater Reigen let her go.

"No. Mob don't be grateful for that." Said Reigen

"But Master-" said Mob

"Don't be grateful that people care about you. They should care about you. I have no idea why anyone wouldn't care about you, wouldn't want you to be in their life, and I cannot even begin to understand why anyone would ever be afraid of you….just…Mob don't be grateful because people are decent to you. You deserve it." Said Reigen

"But I feel like I don't…" said Mob

"Because of a bunch of shit that happened in that fake world?" asked Reigen. Mob nodded.

"It felt real to me…" said Mob

"But it wasn't real at all, Mob. Mogami is full of lies, remember that. You are not the person that he tried to turn you into. He tried to turn you into a…another him but it didn't work. If you were like him then you wouldn't have….you wouldn't have left. You would have put me in my place the minute I started running my mouth. You wouldn't have…have lived the way you had. You wouldn't have…have stayed away because you thought that was what I…wanted. You wouldn't have gone through any of that stuff. Mob, with your powers you could do anything. You're right, you could so easily hurt someone but you also wouldn't. That's why you don't need to feel grateful for having people in your life that…that see how wonderful of a person that you are…because you're just…I don't even know. Mob, you're a good person. Remember that." Said Reigen. He held eye contact with Mob. She needed to know. She needed to understand. She needed to know that nothing, none of it, was her fault. She needed to see that. She needed to see how wonderful she was.

She needed to see herself the way he saw her.

But she didn't see herself the way he saw her. She saw herself, the version of herself which existed in her mind was not the version of herself which existed in reality. In reality she was one of the best, most beautiful, human beings that he had ever met. She was someone who was good in everything that she did. She never acted selfishly, she never acted out of malice, and she always put others ahead of herself. That was what made her vulnerable but it also made her amazing. Wonderful. Not terrible or awful or any other negative word she had been calling herself. She was Mob and she was amazing and she just needed to know that.

"Mogami is full of lies." Said Mob. She just needed to keep on telling herself that. Mogami was full of lies. Master Reigen would never lie to her. He had never once lied to her…about anything serious…no. He was not lying about anything and had never lied about anything. She could trust him. It was like she said back when they reconciled. She had always known, from the very beginning, that Master Reigen was a genuinely good person.

"Good. I just need you to keep saying that until you believe it….ok? Can you just…please believe it Mob?" said Reigen. Mob nodded. She needed to listen to Master Reigen, he knew everything. For him she would try and believe it…not that she knew why she had to try. Mogami was an evil spirit. He was full of lies. All of that was over now. Really, it was.

"I can, Master, I can." Said Mob. Reigen wanted to pull her close again but he didn't. Too close. Much too close. They were way too close right then and he…he was beyond the point of caring what other people thought…but that didn't change the fact that they were too close. Who was he in the dark? Not the sort of man who spent the entire day in bed with a teenage girl.

Not like that.

Never like that.

If it ever became like that then he would have no choice but to kill himself.

She was looking up at him. He could see the brown of her eyes, a common shade made beautiful by the simple fact that it was hers, and he could see the way her eyes just lit up when she looked at him…and he loved it. The way she just lit up whenever she looked at him. The way she would smile that little smile…and he could pretend that it was just for him…and maybe it was because he had never seen her smile like that for anyone else…

He got out of bed.

It was time.

"Come on, Mob, let's have some breakfast. We've got to have something in the house. Pfft, what's mom know? We have plenty of food. At least three days' worth, probably. They say that the average person only keeps three days' worth of food on hand, you know. Heh. Maybe we should head down to Costco and stock up in case the shit hits the fan. Yeah, maybe we'll get there before the looters when society finally collapses." Said Reigen. He was rambling, he knew that he was rambling, but he just could not stop. He had to keep on talking to fill the atmosphere, to crowd it out, so there wouldn't be any room left at all for what he had just been feeling.

He knew exactly what he had been feeling.

He could blame it on her. He could just blame his feelings on her feelings, it would have been easy. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't lie to himself like that, mainly because he couldn't make himself believe it anymore. He couldn't make himself believe that this was just something…but he had to. He had to believe that this was just something…that was also nothing. He needed to try and lie to himself better. He had to try and make himself believe, lie to himself, that he was just picking up on what she felt. She felt that way about him and there were a million and one excuses why she would. Her age. How emotionally vulnerable she was. The fact that he knew, objectively, that yes he was an attractive man. She could have whatever excuses she needed. She was only fourteen.

That was her excuse.

What was his?

"It's going to collapse, Master?" asked Mob as she followed him to the kitchen. He was doing that thing where he talked a whole lot and really made a show of it, too. She liked this. She missed this. He could make anything, even making breakfast, fascinating. She hoped that society wasn't really going to collapse, she liked society. Not that bad parts, of course, but the parts where they had ready access to food and water and stuff. Yeah, those were good parts. She didn't want to think about the bad parts. The parts where people were mean and cruel…no. She didn't want to think about those parts and she didn't have to. Not so long as she was there, home, with him.

It really was wonderful.

"Who knows Mob, who knows? Nah, I'm kidding. We'll be fine, really. We'll just go off and live in the country until whatever happens blows over. Yeah, we'll just wait it out. War, famine, civil unrest, supervillains, we'll just wait it all out." Said Reigen as he began to look through the kitchen for breakfast fixings. Mom was wrong. There was plenty of food in the house. They had…flour. Sugar. Saccharine….ick. Why did he have that crap? Oh, right, that time he tried to be healthier before he read about how it caused even more health problems then sugar. He put the artificial sweetener away.

"I don't think that we have to worry about supervillains, Master. That other stuff maybe but I don't think that we have to worry about supervillains." Said Mob. She couldn't even think of what she would do in that situation? Run away? Master would want her to…but if an anime style super villain did try and do something supervillainy then she would…well it depended on if she or someone she loved was being threatened…or was that selfish? She was kind of like a magical girl…or maybe she was more like an angel. An EVA angel. She felt the skin where the scar on her led should have been.

She didn't scar.

She didn't scar and she could do so much…but she was still a human being. She was a human being the same as everyone else. She wasn't another form that humanity could have taken if a different seed of life had grown on this planet to create life. She didn't make sense as an angel, anyway. They could either take human form and keep their AT fields on the inside or they looked like abstract concepts and kept their AT fields on the outside….she wore her AT field on the outside but she looked human…and she felt all the feelings that humans did…and she had been born. She wasn't a half angel half human clone or anything like that…

She needed to watch less EVA.

Maybe they could watch something else today. It wasn't like they had anything else to do. It wasn't like they had anything important to do. They didn't even work anymore. A break, Master Reigen had said. He was waiting for people to stop being so mean to them. That made sense. People were mean, mostly to Master Reigen, but they also said things about her too. Crazy things. Things like she was Master Reigen's girlfriend. That was crazy. She didn't know how people came up with these ideas. He was an adult and he did not feel like that about her because she was still just a kid. He wasn't one of those adults who liked people her age. If he was then he would have liked her back…

And he would never like her back. He said so.

Not that she should care. She had Teru and he loved her and she loved him and the two of them were going to grow up and get married….maybe….because that was what he wanted and he loved her. When two people loved each other then they got married. That was just the way that it went. Mob had no idea how she was going to say yes when he asked her for real, even though it felt pretty real when he asked her before, but she knew that she couldn't hurt him…right? But she still loved Master Reigen, too…

She'd cross this bridge when she came to it.

"You never know, student, you never know. You know what else you never, I mean don't, know?" asked Reigen as he surveyed everything before him. Yup. Those were pancake fixings. They had enough eggs to make pancakes and that was it. They'd have to go to the store, the real store, that sold real food. Ok…maybe mom had a point. Healthy eating was important and he was setting a terrible example for Mob and all of that…so maybe they could go to the real store today…

If Mob was up to it.

"A lot of things?" said Mob. There was a lot that she didn't know. Like why she still felt awful even though it was all over with Mogami. Like why she still wanted to be with Master Reigen even though she had Teru and he loved her. Why even though she loved cats so much she couldn't stand to be around them anymore without breaking out into a panic…

"Yes, but specifically. You know something? I've never taught you how to make pancakes. You like pancakes, right?" asked Reigen. Mom used to make him these, sometimes, when he was feeling down. Or when she was feeling down. Or when she had bad morning news to break to him. Other news could be broken with ice cream, cake, fudge, or cheeseballs. All homemade.

He needed to stop eating his feelings.

Better than drinking his feelings.

"I do, I like pancakes. I already know how to make pancakes, though, Master. From the mix. It's easy, the box has directions on it with pictures. Me and Ritsu made pancakes when we were little, sometimes, but mom and dad didn't like us playing with the stove." Said Mob

"Mix? Student, I'm going to pretend that I never heard those words cross your lips. We're going to be making pancakes from scratch. Come on, it's fun. My mom taught me and now I'm teaching you." Said Reigen. She was looking at him like that again, like he was the answer to all of her prayers. He wished that she would stop. He wished that she would never stop.

She didn't stop.

She never stopped.

He could feel it. Through every single step of the pancake making process he could feel the way that she was looking at him. She wouldn't stop and he had no idea if he wanted her to. She thought that he was someone. No matter what happened she would always see him as someone. No matter how badly he screwed up she would always come back to him. He loved it. He loved it and he loved her.

And he knew that he needed to stop.

He knew what happened, last time, when he let himself get too caught up in her feelings. Back at the Asagiri job when he almost made the biggest mistake of his life…and that had just been her feelings. He didn't want to examine his own. He wished that he could just exorcise his own. But he couldn't. So maybe if he just acted like this was…like they could carry on as they always did…then maybe fiction could become reality.

Mob decided that this had been a good morning. All throughout the pancake making process she had this sort of…happiness…to her. She didn't know where it was coming from but she loved it. This couldn't have been from Master Reigen. It was tinged with that feeling that he gave her. The nervous sort of happiness. The desire to be near him, just to be near him. There was another, bigger, sort of feeling but that one didn't want her to stop at being near him. She felt that sometimes but not now. Now she just wanted to be there at his side and just be safe.

And she was.

And it was good.

Even though they didn't have any syrup.

"You don't have any syrup."

Ritsu snapped awake. His head hit the wall behind him and he could feel a dull pain radiating across his skull. Familiar red hair swam into his vision as his eyes adjusted. It was barely pink out…hadn't he closed those curtains….? And the window? And why was his spare blanket on the ground….?

"Here. You didn't have any syrup but I put jam on for you. That's how they do it in Europe." Said Sho as he pushed a plate into Ritsu's hands. Ritsu held it in his grip slackly as he tried to piece together what, exactly, was happening.

He had pancakes.

It was early.

Sho was in his room.

"What the hell-!" said Ritsu. He immediately clamped his mouth shut. Mom and dad might have still be home. They didn't always leave at the crack of dawn. He had no way to explain any of this if they tried to investigate what all the noise coming from his room at whatever o'clock in the morning.

"I got bored so I decided to make breakfast. Don't worry, I was quiet and invisible. I even cleaned up after myself like a good houseguest." Said Sho. They were good enough friends that he could make Ritsu breakfast, right? They had been hanging out, well training and strategizing, for days now. They were good enough friends to have breakfast and stuff, maybe. He didn't know. So far the only friend that he had ever had was Serizawa.

"Why?" asked Ritsu. He didn't know what he was asking after. Everything, probably. His eyes kept on falling back to the blanket on the ground. Just how long had Sho been there for….and why hadn't Ritsu noticed?

"Because I didn't want to get caught, duh. Your parents would probably have freaked out or something if they saw me in their house just cooking away like I owned the place. You didn't tell them anything, right? Because if dad finds out that people know, and I doubt that your parents would keep the whole 'the end is coming' thing to themselves, then he's doing to move up his time table…or start killing traitors. Whichever he felt like getting to first." Said Sho sitting down on Ritsu's bed and taking a bite of pancake. Pretty good. It was better without the mix but Sho didn't feel like playing kitchen right then. Maybe later on if Serizawa wasn't too busy….who was he kidding, of course he'd be busy.

"No, I mean…why are you in my house to being with?" asked Ritsu. He used his free hand to tug his blanket up higher. Somehow he felt kind of…conscious of himself. He wasn't anywhere near undressed, he had worn actual pajamas to bed instead of boxers and a T-shirt, but for some reason he felt like he had. He could feel Sho looking at him, really looking. Staring.

"Because you're my friend, duh. Why else would I make you breakfast and sleep on your floor and go through all your stuff while you were asleep?" asked Sho. Wasn't it obvious? They were friends and that was what friends did. He slept on Serizawa's floor, sometimes, when he got up in the middle of the night and felt lonely. He didn't need that much sleep, anyway.

"Do you do this for all of your friends?" asked Ritsu poking at some of the jam with his finger. It looked like blood. Bright pink coagulated blood.

"Make them breakfast? Yeah. I mean I would if I had more than one friend…which I do. You're my friend." Said Sho. There was a note of something in his voice that he didn't mean to put there. He hoped that Ritsu couldn't hear it. Something raw there. Raw and pleading, maybe. Ritsu was nice. Ritsu was cool. Ritsu was someone who he had been thinking about, not all the time, and not in a stalking way, since that crazy night back at the 7th Division when he met someone his own age who could hold his own…for a while anyway….and who so readily helped him oppose dad. Very readily. He hadn't even had to bribe or beg or plead…he wished that everyone could be as easy to convince as he had been.

"Right. We're friends." Said Ritsu. He could hear the pleading note in Sho's voice. He could see the way his aura seemed to ripple with each declaration that they were friends. Sure. They were friends. They were saving the world together, they had might as well be friends. It wouldn't be so bad. Especially since there were pancakes involved.

Damn good pancakes.

He picked one up and folded it in half like Sho had done. This really was good. He had never had pancakes with jam before but it was good. Jam and powdered sugar. This was…was this the mix that was downstairs in the kitchen? It was good. Very good. Better than he had ever had before from the mix. If this was from the mix. It had to be, how else did you get pancakes? Well from scratch but he could not see Sho being able to pay attention to anything for long enough to make it from scratch.

Even now Ritsu was reminded of a bird in the way that Sho's attention flittered from place to place. His own breakfast. The books on Ritu's shelf. The pencil holder full of misshapen spoons from when he went through that little crisis all those months ago. The drawings that Rei kept on doing for him that he had tacked up on the wall mainly to make her happy. She was a good artist, she really was, but she mostly drew pictures of the two of them close together. She liked that, when they were close together. She liked to draw things that made her happy. Them, the two of them together, made her happy. Them and also characters from shows she like and he liked, shows he suspected that she only liked because he liked them. He appreciated the gesture but he was thirteen now, much too old to have characters from shows tacked up on his walls. He wasn't a kid anymore. He wasn't sure exactly when he had stopped being a kid, maybe when he got kidnapped, or maybe even never, but he knew that as of right now he was not a kid anymore. He had a world to save and a sister to avenge and all of that non-kid stuff. He was practically an adult, he felt like, a short adult but an adult. Not even because he had to save the world. He had his entire life so clearly laid out before him and it had been since the day he had been born. He had to be everything that Shigeko wasn't. That was why his parents had him.

Mom and dad always said that he was a happy accident.

He knew why they had chosen to have him. People weren't accidents. A person did not accidentally make a human being like it was nothing. Mom and dad had Shigeko and they weren't happy with her for a million and one reasons. She was a girl, she had powers, she didn't say a word until she was almost three, she didn't start walking until she was almost two, and all the other ways that mom and dad would compare the two of them when they looked through the baby pictures. Ritsu had been born because mom and dad wanted him to grow up and be everything that he was meant to be…which was everything that Shigeko failed to be.

That was why they let her go.

It was scary, a little, how they just let her go. Mom and dad argued about making her come back but it was never about them missing Shigeko. They threw around words like 'what will people think?' and 'a bad example' but they never said that they themselves missed Shigeko. They never said anything like that at all…and Ritsu knew why. They were afraid of her. That was why they could never know that he had powers too. It was hard having to be everything that they wanted him to be but it was better than them letting him just…leave. Letting him leave and not even calling him to finding him or anything like that. The fact that mom and dad could just stop loving him at any time for any reason….it was hard.

Sho's eyes met his.

Not as hard as having a dad who was so drunk on his own powers, Ritsu knew the feeling, that he was actively planning on taking over the world. Yeah, things could have been a lot worse.

"If you don't like pancakes I can totally make you something else. Like, I know how to make waffles. I mean waffles are just square pancakes but I can totally make them. Um….I know how to make cereal. Hot and cold. Toast, too, also hot and cold. Um….let's see what else…" said Sho. Ritsu had a dark sort of look while he ate and Sho could not stand it. He didn't like sad people or mad people or people who were upset in any way. Especially not from his friend. Ritsu was proving to be harder to cheer up than Serizawa. Sometimes Serizawa got really down because he had wasted so much of his life and stuff but then they just played videogames and everything was right as rain. Ritsu was proving to be a toughed nut to crack than Serizawa. Maybe it was because he was so well adjusted. Sho hadn't spent much time around well adjusted people. They could be a strange lot. Non well adjusted people had their own sort of rule and patterns they followed, and they were much easier to follow because of that. Like with Serizawa. Sometimes he got super anxious and hid under his umbrella for no reason and sometimes he got super sad and stayed in his room all day when dad didn't need him to follow him around and tell him that he was the most awesome person ever to live. In those times it was easy to cheer Serizawa up. He just needed a friend, that was all, and Sho could be that friend.

Sho could be a very good friend.

At least he thought that he could be.

His knowledge of friendship was lacking. He knew, however, that you were supposed to treat people in the way that you yourself would want to be treated. So he was going to treat Ritsu the way that he would have wanted Ritsu to treat him….even though they were totally separate people running on totally separate bits of internal logic. Ritsu was normal and well adjusted. He had a house that he had always lived in, if the pictures in the album were anything to go off of, with two parents who loved each other and had jobs that didn't involve planning world domination, and a sister who had moved out but he was still friends with, a bunch of friends who might have been largely useless power wise but were still all nice to each other, and a girlfriend who he was probably going to grow up to marry or something and who drew him pictures and told him she loved him and kissed him and stuff.

Well adjusted.

Sho knew that he was not well adjusted. Something it felt like, though, that the world was crazy and he was the only sane man. That was probably because he spent all day at the safe house with dad and the others and they just wouldn't shut up about how great things would be in the new world order when espers took their rightful place as the masters of the world and other such crazy ramblings. Seriously. He could not wait for all of this to be over and then he could…he had no idea what he would do when it was all over but he could figure something out for himself. He always did.

"This is fine, really. I just…why are you here? And don't say some crap like you were bored. Bored people don't just…climb in through people's windows and make them breakfast and stuff." Said Ritsu

"How would you know what bored people do?" asked Sho. Judging by the sheer number of awards and accolades decorating the house Ritsu hadn't ever had enough spare moments in his life to be bored of anything.

"I know what is and is not socially acceptable." Said Ritsu omitting the moment of temporary insanity that overtook him the other day. Teru was taking it all remarkably well. He hadn't kicked Ritsu's ass, that was what mattered, and they were still friends…sort of. Friends with this big…thing…between them now that they agreed to never speak of again.

"Socially acceptable? That's boring. Well adjusted people, normal people, regular people, have so many rules to follow. What's wrong with paying my good friend a visit in the middle of the night?" asked Sho

"While I was asleep? Really?" asked Ritsu

"Well, yeah, it was the middle of the night and all but I didn't think that you'd be asleep for so long, though, so I just sort of waited for you to wake up but then I got bored so I took one of your extra blankets and took a nap. When I woke up you were still asleep so I made breakfast for myself but then I thought that you'd want some too. So that's what happened. You sure do sleep a lot, you know? Like for the whole entire night." Said Sho

"Do not." Said Ritsu. If anything he had been sleeping like crap lately. That tended to happen when the threat of some crazy guy taking over the entire world was hanging over his head and the only people that knew about it were his friends or people that didn't stand a chance of helping anyway.

"For an esper you do. Seriously, for a guy as powerful as you like…four hours…or maybe five. Yeah, four or five hours should do it." Said Sho

"You only sleep four hours a night?" asked Ritsu

"On a good night. Less lately because of, well, the obvious. That's why I got bored. I just couldn't sleep but Serizawa, we hang out sometimes, was still asleep and I didn't know when dad was going to wake him up so…I came here." Said Sho

"Yeah, sure, that makes sense. You couldn't sleep so you decided to break into my room-" said Ritsu

"I didn't break in, your window was unlocked. If I had broken in then there would have been broken glass and stuff everywhere. Also your parents would have noticed and then the whole plan would have just been ruined." Said Sho with a shrug.

"Ok, you came in through the window. My mistake. Still, though…why me? I mean, why not Teru or one of those other guys?" Said Ritsu because, well, that was the question. Everyone liked Sho. Well nobody said that they disliked him, anyway. Those Awakening Lab guys were really nice, they even took him back after he was a total asshole to everyone, but Sho was…he wasn't an asshole but he was…weird. Weird and affiliated, sort of, with the group that had kidnapped all of them just a few months ago. Well he was leading them all into battle against Claw and all but…well…it would have made more sense for them to be more suspicious. All of them.

But there was just something about Sho…

He was trustworthy. Ritsu could see it, could feel it, could believe it. He was weird but he was trustworthy. If he hadn't been then, well, there were a million and one things that he could have done to Ritsu in his sleep. He hadn't sensed Sho at all…he knew that his range wasn't great but he didn't think that it was quite so bad…but he had been asleep. He had been asleep and Sho could disappear so completely that it was almost as if he vanished.

Even though he was still there.

Now he was visible but he could disappear. He could hide all traces of his presence. Ritsu didn't know how he did it and he couldn't learn how to. Sho said that all you had to do was see the light and then bend it around you with telekinesis. Light traveled in both waves and particles so, theoretically, it should have been within Ritsu's grasp to metaphysically move it out of way and just…vanish. That was step one. Step two was pulling his aura in so close that it was under his skin and within his metaphysical vessel. He had no idea how to go about step two. His aura was…he held it close but it had never been inside of him and when he tried to pull it, to will it to move, it was like trying to catch smoke with his bare hands. It just slipped right through his grasp again and again until he was cursing and practically shouting from the frustration but Sho was right there saying something like 'it's ok, you'll get it' or something encouraging like that…like it was all just so easy.

This was one of the few things in life that didn't come easy at all.

If he had been Shigeko then this would all have been child's play. He would have been able to bend light around him and compress his aura down until he wore it inside of his body, his vessel, like everyone else in the whole world wore theirs. The aura was the soul, Sho said, and Ritsu was inclined to believe him as the upmost authority on these matters having been raised around other espers for his entire life. Ritsu had only known Shigeko and she was none the wiser than he was. Shigeko would have been the better choice for all of this. She could have taken one look at Sho's dad and destroyed him. As powerful as Sho claimed his father to be Ritsu doubted that he had a monster living inside of him. A monster that could come out at any time and…Shigeko was not a monster. She was his sister and he loved her. He just did not love that other part of her, the one that came out whenever Shigeko lost control, the one that was nothing at all like her. He loved his sister so much…and that was why she could not be involved.

Because she would lose control.

And that thing living inside of her would come out.

And she would win.

But at what cost? What cost to herself. He hadn't seen his sister in ages but from what he had heard from Rei and Teru Shigeko was holding on by a thread. He wanted to go to her, to tell her that he was here now and the he would take care of everything, but he couldn't. He couldn't go to her and face the fact that he had not been there for her. He had not been there and she had gotten hurt so badly that she was…this person now. A person who could not even bring herself to go to school. Which Ritsu didn't quite understand because she had been going to school like normal back when she had been living in the park and with her friends…but maybe now she was just taking a break or something? He didn't know and he would not ask her. He could not ask her. He could not get on the bus or the train or whatever mode of transportation she lived near.

He could not face her.

He could not face what happened to her, all the he had failed to prevent from happening to her, and he could not face the constant…rejection…either. She had rejected him. Time and time again she had refused to come home no matter how many times he apologized. He had…he had pushed her and he had yelled at her and he had used his powers against her. Of course she rejected him. Of course she wouldn't ever come back home.

It was all his fault.

And there was no making this right.

Even if he did save the world with a ragtag group of misfits like this was a movie or an anime or a manga or something.

"Because I like you a lot. You're…cool. Well I think that you're cool, anyway. Like when we fought you just would not go down! It was awesome! Plus you're just so…I don't know. There's a lot about you that I like. Also I feel like I know you better than those other guys. Well except for Teru but he lives in a high rise building and his windows don't open. Oh and Rei but she's a girl and I think that if I went and slept on her floor in the middle of the night it would be weird because she's a girl. I don't know, there's a lot of rules with girls, I think. Less rules with guys. Or maybe no rules. I'm not sure, I'm not used to rules. Normal people rules I mean. I just…my dad has a lot of rules for me…but those are crazy people rules. Whatever. Just…yeah. I like you a lot and I want us to be friends." Said Sho. He didn't know how to articulate it. The way their auras tried to bond said it better but those were auras. Ritsu needed words. They barely knew each other but Ritsu was the first person that Sho ever wanted to be friends with this badly. He hadn't ever really spent this much time with someone his own age, anyway. Naturals were rare and naturals on his level were even rarer. Ritsu, Ritsu's big sis, and Teru were the only naturals that he had ever met that even came close to his level…they would have done really well in the organization…but he shouldn't think like that anymore.

Claw was finished.

Claw was on it's way to being over and done with. There wouldn't be any more Claw soon and then…then the world would be saved. That was what mattered. The world would be saved and everyone would be safe. Dad would be…he didn't know what was going to happen after he beat dad. After he hit dad with the charge bomb he had been saving up for three whole months. He knew that he wasn't after killing his own father, that would be insane, but he did know that when this was over Claw would be no more.

Then what would he do?

He looked around Ritsu's room. After his little inarticulate speech a hush had fallen over them broken only by the sound of chewing. He was glad that Ritsu liked his pancakes, very glad. It mattered that Ritsu liked them. He didn't know why it mattered so much but it did. What Ritsu thought mattered. Maybe because he was just so…normal. Maybe this was what Sho wanted. Normal. A room of his own with books of his own on a shelf of his own next to a wardrobe of his own with clothes of his own in them and accumulated junk of his own on the desk of his own next to the wardrobe of his own in the room of his own.

He owned three shirts. Two pairs of pants. One pair of red checkered boxers. One pair of green striped boxers. One pair of solid blue boxers. Three pairs of white socks. Two pairs of black socks. One pair of penguin print socks. One jacket. One pair of shoes. One phone. One charger. One DS. All of his things fit into his one suitcase that never got fully unpacked. He didn't even have a toothbrush of his own. That stuff was always at the safe houses. He had never been able to accumulate all of this stuff. Books and toys and games and pens and pencils and homework and drawings…he had always gotten rid of his drawings before dad could see and get mad….but Ritsu had a lot of them….

"What are you looking at?" asked Ritsu as he tried to follow Sho's flittering gaze around his room.

"You draw really well." Said Sho. A lot of self-portraits but Sho didn't mind. To each his own. He mostly just drew animals. Creatures smaller than himself who needed him…not that he would ever have something to take care of. Dad never liked animals and never let any of Sho's animals live very long. To make him strong dad had said….

"…Rei did those…" said Ritsu. He didn't know why it was so hard to admit it. Sho liked them…was that it? Sho liked them and Ritsu wanted to be the one to have drawn them…but why did it even matter. The feeling was back, the self-conscious feeling, and he wished that it would just go away already.

"Tell her that I said that she's a really good artist. Better than me, anyway. I can only draw animals and even then not very realistically." Said Sho with a shrug

"You draw?" asked Ritsu. He had to swallow before he asked that. The words had seemingly gotten stuck in his throat. Sho had shifted so that he was more on the bed. Ritsu crossed his legs so he took up less space. They were close now. Closer than they had been before but not the closest that they had ever been before. No. That honor was reserved for their first meeting. Or even their second. They weren't that close, not close enough to Ritsu to count Sho's freckles, anyway. Not that Ritsu would ever ask if he could. He had no idea what he would do with that information if he were to get it. Write it down in his notebook for later? Carry it within himself constantly and then refer to it whenever the light, the rising daylight, hit Sho hard enough the even the faint ones that seemed to be hiding beneath his skin, the near perpetual flush of it, became visible?

He wasn't breathing.

He reminded himself how breathing worked.

Now he was breathing again.

"Yeah, animals mostly. I can't draw people, though, they're just too hard. Too much anatomy and proportion to worry about. You're girlfriend's got it down, though, so maybe when this is all over we can draw together or something. Nothing weird, though, I'm not after your girlfriend or anything." Said Sho

"…I never thought that you were…" said Ritsu. There was a lot to unpack there. The thought of Sho and Rei together makes something inside of himself twist painfully but the fact that Sho said that he had no interest in her…well that made it all better. Jealousy. He knew this feeling well. This was the feeling that decided to make it's presence known whenever he saw Teru and Shigeko together. He hated this feeling. It made him do the worst, the stupidest, he most insane things…like kiss his big sister's boyfriend. That had been a moment of temporary insanity. He had just been so wrapped up in the fact that he could die…not only die but die without knowing what it…what any of it was like…with someone he felt that way about…and then he just went for it…

And it had been a mistake.

Teru was the master of never speaking of it again. The next day he hadn't said a word about Ritsu's little moment of insanity. Not a single word. It existed between them, though, and there was no getting rid of it. It was a thing that was there between them and it would never go away. Ever. But at least they would never talk about it again. Shigeko would never know. Rei would never know. Nobody but he and Teru would ever know…and it would never happen again. No matter how much Ritsu wanted it to it would never, and could never, happen again.

He would never kiss anyone he liked again.

It had been the most amazing feeling in the world and he would never be able to feel it again. Ever. Because the people he liked were not people that…that he could kiss. People that he could like. He did not and could not like Rei like that…and it had nothing to do with her…and it was hard. There was this part of himself that he could not ignore…that he could not pretend did not exist. He would have to ignore this. This would have to remain between him and Teru…and also his search history…and that was it. Mom and dad would never accept that about him. He'd be like Shigeko. He and Shigeko were like porcelain dolls. Each flaw, each disappointment, was just another crack. He could not start down that path. He could not…he was not Shigeko. He could not just turn his back on his family like that. Even if he did…then he had nowhere to go. Even if he did walk right out that door when his parents stopped loving him he had nowhere to go. He didn't have any place to go but his own house with his own family…and he had to stay. He had to stay with his family and be…be who he had to be. He had to be who he was supposed to be.

And it hurt.

And it was hard.

And it was just the way that things had to be.

He didn't want it to be this way. He didn't want anything to be the way that it was. He didn't want to have to save the world. He didn't want to walk into what may have been…what seemed like almost certain death. He didn't want to have to fight or to do…to do anything. He wished that he could just live his life on his own terms. But he couldn't. He couldn't be who he wanted to be…who he was…

"Good! Because, like, I would never do that to one of my friends. Not that I would ever do that to someone who wasn't my friend, either. I mean stuff like that is sacred. Love I mean. Not that I know much about that…in real life I mean. Like I watch movies and stuff but I don't…I mean my parents aren't even together or anything but I still think that love is scared. Like that's one of the things I really believe in." Said Sho. When he was a kid he used to wish that his parents could get back together…but he wasn't a kid anymore and mom didn't love dad anymore…but love was still important. If dad had been a better guy then mom wouldn't have left them both all alone...if she still loved dad.

It was a terrible thing for people to break up.

He would never be an accessory to that.

"Really? That's one of your deeply held beliefs?" asked Ritsu somewhat sarcastically. Sho and deeply held beliefs didn't really go together in his mind. But then again he didn't know much about Sho. He didn't know Sho well enough to see what went on beneath the surface. He wanted to, though, to know Sho that well. He was…unlike anyone Ritsu had ever known before…and other such clichés. Tired clichés from tired plots to tired movies that he's seen a thousand times. Stories that he knew, step by step, how they would play out.

Things he had no choice, at this point, but to accept about himself.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I care about stuff like that. People being together, I mean. People caring about people. Friendship, love, stuff like that." Said Sho. He was playing with Ritsu's blanket now. He was on top of the covers. Ritsu was still under them. Sho's fingers wandered over the hills and valleys of the navy blue duvet. Ritsu watched him, his fingers. His now empty plate was balanced on his lap. Sho's had been discarded to the side of the bed. Ritsu drummed his fingers under his covers against the navy blue of his sheets.

"So, like, we're friends and I would never, ever, do that to you. I mean, like, I know how much it hurts when someone just…leaves…and I would never make anyone do that. I don't even like her like that." Said Sho

"….me neither…" said Ritsu under his breath. He almost wished that Sho did…or not him but someone else. Some other guy could just swoop in and steal Rei from him, but not really, and he would just…she could be happy, then. He saw his phone vibrate on his desk. Teru and him weren't on nonspeaking terms but they never just texted at the crack of dawn for no reason. The only other person who would text him this early was Rei. She might have been saying 'good morning' or maybe she had another bad dream or maybe she was just texting to say that she loved him.

"Huh?" asked Sho. He must have misheard or something. Of course Ritsu loved his girlfriend. He said it to her. When someone said it to you then that meant something. That was why dad never once told Sho that he loved him…but mom always did. That had been the last thing that she said to him before she left. She said 'I love you my gentle boy' and she kissed him on the head and she left.

"Nothing." Said Ritsu. Sho chose to believe that.

Ritsu's phone vibrated again. Sho called it over with his powers. Ritsu felt Sho's aura against him…and it was nice. Warm. Kind of…good.

His phone hovered in front of him. He took it in hand and clicked it opened. Yup. Rei. She said that she loved him….she said good morning….she apologized for waking him…she had that dream again…and she sent him a picture of herself still in bed but with makeup on and her hair brushed and stuff…and she said that she was sorry that she looked so bad…

A shadow fell over him.

"Why's she say that she's sorry she looks so bad? She looks normal to me…and if she did look bad then why would she send you a picture of herself?" asked Sho. Girls were so confusing sometimes.

"She wants me to tell her that she looks pretty." Said Ritsu. He did just that. He told her that he loved her and that she looked pretty and that she didn't wake him…all the nice things that a boyfriend was supposed to say. He typed quickly, he had gotten better at this since he finally got someone to text with.

"Then why doesn't she just tell you to tell her that she looks pretty?" asked Sho

"I don't know, I guess that it's not the sort of thing that you just come out and ask of someone." Said Ritsu

"I hate social rules. It would be so much easier if people could just say what they mean and mean what they said. That's what I do, anyway." Said Sho

"You and my sister would really get along." Muttered Ritsu as he asked Rei if she knew how Shigeko was doing. Mostly if Shigeko was planning on hanging out with Rei at all. As much as Ritsu loathed the idea of it Shigeko was better off hiding out wherever it was the Reigen lived. Teru said that it was almost an hour away by train….but also somehow within city limits. It was far, very far, far enough away from where Sho said that those Claw guys were looking for her that she was, most likely, going to be fine.

He could not involve his sister in any of this mess.

And he wouldn't.

"You think? Not that I plan on bothering her or anything." Said Sho. He had barely spoken to her when they first met and even then he hadn't been that nice to her…which he now regretted. He regretted making that promise to Ritsu, too. It was a shame. She was majorly OP and he could totally get her on his side. He'd just promise her whatever she wanted. She was the peace and love type, he could promise her that. He had already promised those Awakening Lab kids victory and good times what was one more lie. He could probably get her stuff she liked, too, once this was all over. He could promise her….what did girls like? Dolls? Makeup? Fancy clothes? Fine jewelry? Guys? Girls? He'd have promised her a mansion on the moon if she would have agreed to help…

Maybe he should have gone to her first.

No. He knew…he knew Ritsu better. Also she probably would have been even less receptive to him just showing up out of the blue…that is if he even could have found her without knocking on every single door in the city. So, yeah, maybe he had miscalculated in thinking that Ritsu would get his sister to help…but there was nothing that he could do about that now. He was going to work with what he had.

Not that he didn't like what he had.

"Yeah. I think that you guys would be really good friends." Said Ritsu. They were both socially…weird…and they were both better at the whole 'having powers' thing than he was…and they were both on the same side. Not that Shigeko was currently on any side. Shigeko was still just Shigeko and so help him God he would not involve his sister in this. He could take care of this on his own.

Sho looked like he was about to say something, not the Ritsu was an expert on reading the guy, when the creak of a door could be heard throughout the second floor. Mom and dad's room with the bad hinge…that he may have messed with so that he could hear when they woke up. Not for any particular reason…mom just liked to snoop and he would rather he had some warning when she left her room to check on him while he was asleep…which she still sometimes did.

Like now.

He didn't have to tell Sho to vanish, he just did. Ritsu spent a few seconds debating pretending to sleep or not. If he laid back down mom might come over to wake him up. He could still feel Sho's weight on the end of the bed. He could still feel Sho's body heat, too. He ran warm. Or maybe the room was just cold. Winter was coming in early…not that it mattered. What mattered was that Sho was still there, just not visually, and if Ritsu laid back down mom might come over to shake him awake or even start one of her mom lectures…and he did not want to explain why there was an invisible kid in his room at whatever the hell o'clock in the morning.

"Ritsu? What are you doing?" asked Hana as she opened her son's door. She had sworn that she heard voices…she spied the phone in his hand…and the plates on his bed. She scanned the room quickly. The wardrobe was opened…and there wasn't space under his bed for another person…lazing around in bed on a school day?

Her son did not laze around on any day.

"Nothing mom, just waking up." Said Ritsu the lie coming through easy as breathing. He could see mom making her sweep through his room like she was in a war movie or something. What enemy was she looking for? Something or someone that would tarnish her precious little Ritsu dolls no doubt.

"You made yourself breakfast already?" asked Hana. Crumbs and jam…on two plates? Midnight snack…or midnight guest? She knew that he was getting to that age and she knew how boys were. Plus he had that fast little girlfriend of his…

"Yeah mom, I decided to have breakfast in bed." Said Ritsu. Maybe he had a tone there. Mom was certainly looking at him like he had a tone. He felt the bed shift next to him and willed himself to keep breathing. If mom caught him his entire life would be over. Mom would know about…everything. She'd know that he had powers and that the end of the world was coming and that…and about the other thing that was somehow the thing that he guarded the most. The thing that would hurt the most if mom and dad found out…and then kicked him out…or worse. Just…didn't care where he went or what he did…

"Take your plates downstairs when you're done, Ritsu, and try not to eat in your room. You don't want us to get mice do you?" asked Hana. She couldn't see any sign at all the Ritsu had anyone in his room…other than the second plate on his bed. Maybe he was just hitting that lazy phase of teenage boyhood. That lazy messy phase that she had hoped would pass her son by. Well apparently it didn't.

Apparently a lot of things did not pass her son by…or her daughter.

The rebellious phase. That hadn't passed either of her children by. Ritsu was becoming more…secretive. Secretive and lippy. He was gone until all hours, probably with his little girlfriend, and when he was home he was quiet and sequestered himself in his room…like a teenager. What happened to her little boy? Her sweet little boy….and her little girl…too?

Shigeko's rebellious phase blew Ritsu's out of the water. Shigeko…she knew that she could not be controlled. She had walked right out that door and never looked back. Well why wouldn't she? What did she have here, exactly? She was out there and free to do literally as she pleased. She was doing…Hana had no idea what it was that she was doing but…but she knew what Shigeko was not doing.

Her daughter hadn't been to school in days.

Hana swore that she heard voices again from Ritsu's room. He was probably on his phone again. Better the trouble she knew. Her son was getting older, becoming a man and all that, and he was naturally going to enter his rebellious phase. At least he was still going to school. He may have been getting a little mouthy these days and he may have been spending an inordinate amount of time in his room, probably for the reasons that a thirteen year old boy would be in his room as her husband had said, and he may have been spending all of his time with his girlfriend, the same girlfriend that she had caught half naked in his room plain as day…but at least he was going to school.

He was still going to school, that was what mattered. The bar had been set low, very low, but at this point Hana was glad that there was even a bar at all with everything that happened with Shigeko. She passed her daughter's room wordlessly and headed downstairs. Empty. Silent. No reason to worry in there. Nobody on their phone and eating breakfast at dawn and leaving dirty plates everywhere for her to clean up later. No reason to worry at all in that room. No daughter in that room. Not that she didn't still have a daughter…she just didn't have one present.

But she did have plenty of reason to worry.

For both of her children.

Even her son. Ritsu gave her plenty of reasons to worry these days. Plenty of reasons to stay up at night. Plenty of reasons to 'clean' his room for him while he was out doing whatever it was that he did at night. Plenty of reason to tuck him in at night and tell him, softly, that she loved him so much…so very much…because she did love him. He was her only son and he was such a good son…even with the things he did that made her worry. He brought home good grades, the best in the city, and he was on top of all of his responsibilities. Even with the sequestering himself in his room and the fast little girlfriend and the staying out until all hours. At least he still came home each and every day. At least he still sat down at the table, some nights, and ate dinner with his family. He laughed at his father's terrible attempts at humor and he pretended that he didn't hear the verbal barbs his parents slung at each other sometimes. He was always such a calm boy. Calm and understanding and responsible. He was going to make her even more proud when he grew up. He'd have a good life, Ritsu. He'd make her proud, so proud….

She had a son and a daughter.

She was proud of her son.

She had a daughter.

She loved both of her children.

She loved Shigeko. She had carried Shigeko for nine months, given birth to her, and did her best raising her. Her very best. It wasn't like they made parenting manuals for psychic children. She had done her best with Shigeko and raised her until she…felt that she was ready to leave the nest….a few years ahead of schedule. She hadn't spoken to her daughter in months…not since that night…that awful night when her children had been fighting. She had a choice to make that night and she had chosen Ritsu. She had chosen the child who needed protecting….not that Shigeko was malicious or anything. Not at all. But it would have been so much easier if she had been. So much easier to let her go. But she wasn't malicious, just dangerous, and she could have so easily hurt Ritsu…so Hana had to let her go.

They all had to leave the nest at some point.

It wasn't like Shigeko needed her anyway.

Hana decided that she didn't much feel like staying in the house any longer. Ritsu didn't need her to make breakfast for him anymore if the plates in his room and the empty box of pancake mix in the garbage can was anything to go by. Hana frowned and moved it into the recycling bin. As smart as that boy was he had no sense sometimes. That was to be expected, he was only thirteen. Thirteen years old and already making his own breakfasts. He needed her less and less, it seemed. That was the way of the world. He was getting older, becoming a man and all of that, and of course he would grow away from his mother. He was still in the house, though, and that was what mattered. Ritsu would live in that house with his parents until it was time for him to go off to university.

Hana would not let him walk right out that door.

He was normal. If it even came down to it Hana could just drag him back inside by the collar. Shigeko…Hana wouldn't dare. Shigeko was not malicious but she could not control the power that she was born with…cursed with. Shigeko could so easily hurt someone on accident…or on purpose if she ever got the inclination…but she wouldn't. Even as a child she had been gentle and then she met that man, that Reigen, and he taught her never to use her powers against another person. He taught her that right after she and Ritsu were robbed by those delinquents…and Ritsu almost…Ritsu ended up with a cracked skull and a very serious concussion. He could have so easily died. Shigeko had almost killed her brother and that had been on accident. Those accidents…they could happen again. There had even almost been one that night, the night Shigeko left, the night she went off to live with that Reigen…where she was better off. Where Hana had assumed that she would be better off. Where it seemed as though Shigeko would be better off.

That was before all of this ghastly business came up. Before all of her homepages and feeds were clogged up with the nonsense about Reigen that passed for news these days. Before she actually started to look into, more than on a surface level, what it was that her daughter did. Shigeko and Reigen posted, almost constantly, videos of their work. Then it all stopped. Then all of that business started up and people were speculating all kinds of things. Things about Shigeko. Her name. Her age. Her relationship to Reigen...

Then people started posting all of those sneakily taken pictures of Reigen and Shigeko out in the world…

Nobody could make Shigeko do anything that she didn't want to do.

She slipped her shoes on as she left the house. There was a space there for Shigeko's. They still left a space there for her school shoes. Sometimes it even seemed as though maybe one day…they'd be there. They'd be there and Shigeko would be in the living room watching that strange giant robot show she loved…or the one about the space girls in tiny skirts with their talking cat…any of her animated nonsense really. She was much too old for all of those animated shows. She was too old for such frivolity. She should have been focusing more on her future. Her grades. Making friends. Growing up.

But she was growing up.

Her only daughter was growing up all on her own. She had friends and a boyfriend. She had a job and her own home, well one she shared with someone…someone who Hana had only met a handful of times…and whom she knew very little about. She was not ashamed to say, or maybe just a bit ashamed to say, that she had done her fair share of internet snooping when all of that ghastly business was the talk of the town. She knew…still very little. She knew that the man may or may not have been a fraud, she knew that he and Shigeko were almost uncomfortably close, she knew where he had graduated university from, she knew where his mother lived, she knew that his parents were divorced, and she knew that in the past he had been fond of posting drunken ramblings on the internet. Also some fan stories that he had written in middle school were circulating around the internet as well as his high school matriculation essay. Nothing of any sort of substance. Nothing that spoke to who he was as a person.

Shigeko liked him, though, but Shigeko could be a terrible judge of character sometimes…but this was Shigeko. Nobody could make her do anything that she didn't want to do.

Hana stepped outside and locked the house up. She took a few steps down the walkway and looked up. She saw movement in Ritsu's room. Good. He was starting his day. Shigeko's room was still dark, as it had been for months. Hana kept it just the way she left it…in case she ever wanted to come back. In case she ever missed her family enough to come home already. In case she ever got tired of living with must have been complete and total freedom and ever felt like being under her mother's thumb again. Heh.

Nobody could make Shigeko do anything that she didn't want to do.

She was Shigeko. She had folded the car in half, once, when she was three because she didn't want to go to the doctor to get her shots. It had been an accident…probably…but it had been terrifying…and her daughter could do that at the age of three. There wasn't a single being living or dead that could make Shigeko do something that she did not want to do. There was a comfort to that. True Hana had lost control of her daughter as she entered her rebellious phase but, well, there was no controlling Shigeko. Those ghastly rumors started by people on the internet with filthy minds and no lives had zero basis in reality. Shigeko was fine. She was perfectly fine. She could not be made to do a single thing that she didn't want to do. Nothing at all.

Hana repeated that thought over and over again in her mind like a particularly persistent advertising jingle. Shigeko was fine and everything was fine…aside from the fact that she had stopped going to school. Hana knew, another thought that carried her to work, that she needed to…to do something about that. People were asking questions, all sorts of people. The school was asking if everything was alright at home. The neighbors were asking what happened to Shigeko and why she hadn't been seen around in a while. Even the Takane's, people who Hana hadn't spoken to at any length since her children were small, asked if everything was alright. Apparently Shigeko had spent some time in their home…and at the homes of several other girl's in the Takane's daughter's social circle. People were talking…too many people…

She settled into her desk. One desk in one office in a building full of offices. One number cruncher in a sea of number crunchers. At least everyone here was too busy to ask after her daughter. If it weren't for the small picture of Shigeko in that frame Hana made from old champagne corks salvaged from last year's Christmas party nobody would have even known that she had a daughter. That was not Hana's fault. Shigeko gave her so little good say, especially compared to Ritsu. Hana had…she looked around….eleven photos of or featuring her son. Not only photos but old school assignments, drawings he had done years ago, and newspaper clippings from when he astounded the city with his amazing scores…he made her proud. Ritsu was such a good boy.

She loved both of her children.

The little photo of Shigeko taken years ago, a small wallet sized thing taken before she started middle school, stared up at her. Shigeko stared up at her. That same non-expression she had been wearing since the day she was born. The staring. The constant never ending staring. The staring just never ended, did it? She had even been staring that night…the night Hana found her children fighting…the night she could have lost her son. The night she had lost her daughter.

Hana looks away from the picture. She turns it on it's side.

Then she decides to get a coffee.

It's early. It's too early in the day for all of this. She goes to the break room and pours herself some of the brown water that passes for coffee around this place. Not tea. She needs something stronger than tea. Besides, it's all tea bags around here. Loose leaf tea, that was the proper way to get tea. Shigeko preferred loose leaf tea, too, and she made a pretty good cup of green tea. That man had taught her, Reigen. Back when she had been eleven. Hana remembered that day. She came home to the smell of fresh tea and her daughter, still in that monotone and still with the same non expression, offering her a cup of tea.

"_Master Reigen taught me." _

It had been a good cup of tea, she gave Shigeko that. Then she started speaking at length, something rare for her, about the man she had met. The one who promised that he would teach her how to control her powers. Hana had thought, then, that Shigeko had just been pretending. How could there have been someone else in the world like Shigeko? The internet, the library, the doctors, even the priests that Hana had consulted when her daughter was just a baby said that even if psychic powers were real the most they could produce were small, insignificant, phenomena. Her daughter was unprecedented, impossible, and seemingly utterly alone in her abilities. That all changed one day when she was eleven years old and met the man called Reigen Arataka. The name alone made Hana think that the entire thing had been some game that Shigeko had invented. The kanji of his name spelled out 'miracle worker' and she could not begin to understand why any sane parent would saddle their child with such a name.

But he was real, very real.

And Shigeko had gone to him. She had gone to him at fourteen after meeting him at eleven and Hana had no say in any of it. There was no making Shigeko do anything that she didn't want to do and that included coming home. It was fine, everything was fine. The internet was full of liars with filthy minds and too much time on their hands. Shigeko was fine. There was no making her do anything that she didn't want to do.

Which included going to school.

Hana's coffee had gone cold a while ago. As soon as she sat down a stack of folders had been plopped down on her desk without even so much as a 'how do you do?' and a handshake. Right. She was an account and it was time do what she did best, crunch numbers and try to forget about life for a while. Except for the fact that she couldn't. Even turned over onto it's side and away from her life was still staring her right in the face. Always with the staring. The ringing of her phone was a welcome reprieve, actually, from the thoughts that formed into life in her mind. Thoughts about the past…the present…and how she had done so badly by her daughter…or she had done the best she could given the circumstances.

She answered her phone.

Shigeko had skipped school again.

An automated call. Her child, Kageyama Shigeko, was marked absent from her first period class. The next call would be an actual human being telling her that Shigeko had not been seen all day and it would ask that same, ghastly, question that was always asked of her.

"_Is everything alright at home?"_

Hana wished that she still had her old flip phone. There was something satisfying in slamming the phone on someone. Even if it was just a machine and even if you were just slamming it shut there was just something more satisfying about ending a call like that. More satisfying then clicking a button and then slamming her phone down on her desk. The force of the slam sloshed the coffee out of the cheap paper cup with the logo of her company on the side. Seasoning City Accounting. A name creative enough to warrant having cups printed. She glared at the logo with the little accountant working at his ancient adding machine. It stared back up at her. She reached over for the little creamers she had liberated from the break room and tore one open with more force than was strictly necessary. Then another. And another.

Then she took a sip.

And almost spat it back out.

Had the creamer gone off? No…just a novelty flavor. Blueberry pancake. Yes, of course. She could even smell it now. A crime, a bitter crime. A bitter crime against this bitter drink that had been bitterly brought to her country on a bitter day centuries before she had been born. That creamer was a bitter crime. The world was a bitter crime. Life was just one bitter crime after another. She was a good mother goddamned it! She had done everything right! The walls of her office were cluttered with proof that she had done everything right! Her son was a prodigy at everything he tried, practically a genius! She was a good mother!

She was a good mother.

She put her now ruined coffee down and picked her phone up. She was a good mother and she would do what any good mother would and finally call her goddamned daughter and tell her to get her little ass to school where she belonged…and then back to her home, too, because she was only fourteen and too damned young to be living like this! Psychic powers be damned Shigeko could not run away from home!

Dialing.

Ringing.

It took almost thirty seconds before Shigeko picked up. In another second her phone would have gone to voicemail. In those thirty seconds the wind deflated from Hana's sails. She could not make demands of her daughter…well she could. She could demand and demand and demand until she was blue in the face but Shigeko would not listen. A good mother would have had some control over her daughter…but a good daughter would have recognized that her mother knew what was best for her, psychic powers be damned.

"Hi mom." That was all that Shigeko had to say. Hana could hear what sounded like a television in the background playing….she knew that song. That was the theme song to that strange robot show Shigeko was always watching….

Her daughter has skipped school to watch television.

"Shigeko, why aren't you at school?" asked Hana. She heard Shigeko parrot the question back to someone who was presumably in the room with her. Presumably Reigen. It was eight thirty in the morning. What was he doing watching television? Didn't he have work? Didn't he have to contribute to society like every other adult on the planet? Didn't her daughter have to go to school like every other fourteen year old had to?

There's some talk. She hears Reigen say to Shigeko _'tell your mom whatever you're comfortable telling her' _which, admittedly, makes her heart jump into her throat and take up residence there. She knows that the places her mind is going to are insane. Shigeko was fine. Nobody could make her so a damn thing that she didn't want to do. The internet was full of liars and weirdos and other such unsavory characters with nothing better to do than to sit at their keyboards making up stories all day. Nobody could make Shigeko do anything that she didn't want to do.

But what about something that she did.

Hana recalled the way Shigeko would speak about Reigen sometimes. She thought he hung the moon, it seemed. Hana had thought, and so had her husband, that Shigeko may have been just a bit smitten with the man. She smiled when so spoke of him and in those days, and even now, Shigeko had so little expression to her that seeing that little smile of her face when she spoke of Reigen, that small little smile, could make Hana think that her daughter may have had the barest hint of a school girl's crush on him.

Nobody could make Shigeko do anything that she didn't want to do.

But she was fourteen now. She was fourteen and becoming a woman and thanks to the magic of puberty she'd soon be wanting to act as a woman did. She had a boyfriend and she may have already been…but this was Shigeko. Shigeko was not the sort of person who Hana could see ever having desires of such an adult nature let alone acting on them…but then again her information on her daughter was rather dated these days…

Shigeko was fine. Everything was fine.

"I didn't want to go to school today." Said Shigeko simply. It was if she was talking about what she wanted for dinner. She preferred not to go to school. There was more to that. She knew that there was. She knew her daughter.

"Why? Shigeko, you need to go to school. You can't just say that you'd prefer not to go." Said Hana trying to stay calm. She listened some more. The television had been paused, or maybe Shigeko had gone to another room. How many rooms did she even have to go to? Hana had literally no idea where it was that her daughter was living…none at all…

"I know that I need to go to school but I just…I don't want to go to school right now. Maybe tomorrow-" said Shigeko

"Tomorrow?" asked Hana trying her very best to keep her voice level.

"Tomorrow or another day but not now. Mom, I don't want to go to school right now. I really don't." said Shigeko. There was a note of something in her voice. That was a rare enough occurrence that it killed Hana's words in her throat. Shigeko did not emote when she spoke. There was a note of pain in her voice. Of anxiety.

Something scared Shigeko.

Hana told herself that her daughter was fine. She repeated it over and over and over again in her mind like a prayer that would protect her from all evil. Her daughter was fine and everything was fine and right with the world. But her daughter was not fine, clearly, and everything was not fine and the world was a bitter crime.

Like pancake flavored creamer.

"Shigeko…tell me why." Said Hana trying to sound firm but not…she knew how she could some off sometimes. She needed to sound firm and loving at the same time. Not commanding and demanding and all the other words her husband was so fond of lobbing at her whenever they had something to discuss between them.

"Reasons." Said Shigeko, that same note of pain in her voice. Hana took a deep breath. Reasons? That could literally mean anything. Shigeko was being…either clueless or she was intentionally hiding something…but what? What could she possibly be hiding?

She was a fourteen year old girl, what **couldn't** she have been hiding?

Drinking. Drugs. Pregnancy. Disease. Bullying.

The kinds of things that Hana had heard other mothers talking about in quick whispers. The kinds of things that she had always patted herself on the back about because her children could never get in such trouble. But they could. Her children were rapidly becoming adults. Teenagers. There was no shortage of the trouble that teenagers could get into. Shigeko was all off on her own and who knew what sorts of mistakes that she had made…

Nobody could make her do anything that she didn't want to do.

But nobody could stop her from doing something that she did want to do.

"That is not an answer young lady." Said Hana rapidly losing patience.

"Yes it was. You asked a question and I gave a statement. I don't want to go to school right now for reasons." Said Shigeko

"Don't get cheeky with me, Shigeko, you know what I mean." Said Hana

"I'm sorry, mom. I didn't mean to say the wrong thing. I just thought that you meant that I hadn't answered the question at all, not that I hadn't… I actually don't know what you mean right now." Said Shigeko. Hana shook her head. Right. Shigeko was clueless. She never knew what anybody meant.

"Shigeko…I want you to tell me the exact reason why you're refusing to go to school. You are only fourteen years old, you need to go to school. I have been getting call after call after call about this, young lady, and I want an explanation and I want it now." Said Hana. There was some silence.

"I…" said Shigeko. The note of pain was back in her voice. Hana took in a deep breath. Something…something was not right.

"I just…" said Shigeko again. She wasn't one of the great orators of the world, that was obvious, but Hana knew when something was wrong with her daughter. Whatever it was…Hana was prepared to hear it.

"I mean…" said Shigeko once again. Hana had no idea what Shigeko meant. Well whatever it was…whatever it was Hana would find a solution. It could have been literally anything. Maybe she was being bullied. Maybe she was sick. Maybe she had…Shigeko had a boyfriend. Shigeko had a boyfriend and she was a teenager now…there were so many things in that facet of life that could go wrong…so many pitfalls…

"The thing is…" said Shigeko. Hana wished that her daughter would just pick a sentence and stick with it. Whatever it was she should just come out with it already. At this point she was just prolonging the inevitable. Hana knew that she wasn't thinking up a lit at least, Shigeko was incapable of lying, but maybe she wished that her daughter could and would tell a lie already…because the truth must have been something so terrible, so terrible that her daughter seemed to be afraid to even speak of it-

"I got my period!" said Shigeko suddenly. Hana stared at her phone for a moment. That was it? That was…that was it? That was what Shigeko was so worked up about? She got her-

Oh.

Her first period.

Her daughter had gotten her first period and she had no one to turn to so she decided to skip school. Hana…Hana knew that this day was coming. She had been dreading it. As unstable as Shigeko's powers were at the best of times Hana always figured that it would be worse once Shigeko embarked upon that little part of life's journey.

This was a relief.

Shigeko was fine. Everything was fine.

"….and they might make fun of me-" Shigeko was still talking. Hana put the phone back to her ear. Right. This was…something that she could deal with. Shigeko had just overreacted. Hana figured that the school would have done it's job and taught Shigeko what to do but obviously they were too busy prying into people's private business to have time to bother educating the children.

"Shigeko, honey, I understand that this is all new and scary but you cannot miss a week of school every single month." Said Hana

"But I-" said Shigeko

"No buts. You cannot miss an entire week of school every single month. That is just too much school to be missing. Think of your grades, Shigeko, and you have entrance exams next year." Said Hana. There was a silence.

"…ok…" said Shigeko softly.

"Good. When this is over go back to school. Bring your supplies…you have supplies for this, right?" asked Hana. Shigeko was so clueless she had probably ended up using paper towels or toilet paper or something. Hana should have been there….she should have but she couldn't. Shigeko had left home on her own accord. Nobody could make Shigeko do anything that she didn't want to do. Shigeko was fine, everything was fine.

"Yes." said Shigeko. Her voice was back to it's usual monotone. Really what had Hana been expecting? Of course nothing had happened. Shigeko was fine and everything was fine. She had just…just needed her mother…but she knew that she could come home at any point. She didn't want to. That was fine. Everything was fine.

"Good. Just take your supplies to school with you and you'll be fine. If you forget the nurse should have something for you." Said Hana. There was another silence, a long one. Hana wasn't worried. Shigeko was fine. Everything was fine.

"Ok." Said Mob. Well that went well. She didn't have to tell mom what happened. That was what mattered. She didn't want to tell mom what happened and she hadn't had to tell mom what happened so really everything was fine and she was fine.

She went back to the living room.

Master Reigen was looking at his phone. The TV was paused. This was normal. Everything was normal. She hadn't had to talk about it again…so why was she so sad? Again with the sadness. Always with the sadness. The never ending sadness. Master Reigen looked up from his phone and motioned for her to come back to the couch.

"That bad, huh?" asked Reigen as Mob sat down next to him. He hadn't been eavesdropping, not really. Not that there was much to listen to. Mob's mother was so…being a mom. He thought that she was pushy but that was just how moms were. He had been worried, actually, that Mob would have spilled what happened to her mother. He didn't know why…

He did.

Because it was his fault.

Her mother had trusted him with her daughter and he had failed her.

"It wasn't bad…but I just…I don't want to have to talk about it anymore." Said Mob as she settled back in next to Master Reigen. He put an arm around her. That was how they had been sitting before. They had breakfast in the living room while they watched TV together. It had been a nice morning…and it still could have been.

She just had to stop being so sad all the time.

"I understand-" said Reigen

"I didn't even talk about it, not really, but I still feel like…like I did. I don't want to have to tell anyone else what happened. I just want it to be over." Said Mob. She tucked her head down into Master Reigen's side. He reached over and rubbed her arm. Up and down. He made some noises that could only be described as soothing…because they were. Soothing. Very soothing.

"It is over, Mob, and you don't have to tell a soul what happened. Not even your own mother." Said Reigen. Mrs. Kageyama sure picked a hell of a time to start back up on the whole mothering thing. Really. Radio silence for three months and then she just calls out of the blue…but not really. She called, probably, because Mob hadn't been to school in ages. She had every right to call her own daughter even if it did send Mob into another one of her sadness spirals.

He wiped his eyes.

Sent them into one of Mob's sadness spirals.

"I didn't tell her. I couldn't get the words out. I just…I don't think that I ever want to tell her…and I don't know why she even cares." Said Mob

"She's your mom, of course she cares." Said Reigen. They were starting to get to some dangerous ground there. He had opinions, very few of them good, about the subject of Mob's parents. Still he could not just go and badmouth them to Mob. That was not what adults did. They did not badmouth other adults like that.

"I don't think that she does. I mean…she's afraid of me…and she always has been. She even said that she was fed up with me…" said Mob. Now she had a whole new hurt to add to her pile of hurt. Mom was fed up with her and that reminded her of how Master Reigen had been fed up with her and she had to leave him to go live outside and that had been...that had been the worst time in her entire life.

Her without him.

All alone.

In the cold.

Even if her friends did save her. Even if she had so many friends and they all cared so much for her…it had still been awful looking back. Just awful.

"Mob…" said Reigen. He knew that feeling. Mom had said that to him so many times. 'I am fed up with you, Arataka. You want out? Well there's the door, use it!' She had been calling his bluff, then, when he was young and stupid. He had been bluffing. He hadn't had it in him to go live by his wits out on the streets. Mob did. Mob may have been a girl but she was ballsy, he'd give her that. Her mother was fed up with her so she just left…he had been, she thought that he had been, fed up with her so she left…

He could not feed into that.

"Yes?" asked Mob

"Your mom loves you. Sometimes when people feel cornered or upset they…they run their mouths." Said Reigen

"Like you did?" asked Mob. She didn't have any kind of tone there, she was just stating a fact. She didn't know why Master Reigen was looking at her like she had done anything other than state the fact of what had happened. He said so himself. Sometimes when he felt cornered he lost control of his mouth.

"Yeah, like I did." Said Reigen. She didn't mean anything by it…but he wished that she had. She had forgiven him so easily…and he knew that he did not deserve it. Or maybe this was just their sadness feedback loop. He had to be careful about those. He had to be very careful about getting caught up in her feelings.

"But you didn't mean it. When you said all of those mean things you didn't mean them. My mom did. She meant them and I had to go…and I'm happy that I left. I wasn't happy to have left you but I was happy…I mean I am happy…to have left home. I don't want to live with people who are afraid of me…and people don't like to be afraid…and you aren't afraid. I just…I don't know how to feel right now." Said Mob. She felt Master Reigen's hand find her hair. He ran his fingers through it. It was nice.

"You don't have to feel any particular way. Mob….I'm sure that your mom loves you. Sometimes parents…they make mistakes. God knows mine did…but they still…yours still love you. Parents…they're people, Mob. Parents are people too and they make mistakes. I'm not going to tell you that your mother is a saint, because nobody is, but I am going to tell you that she loves you. I mean…she wouldn't have called you if she wasn't…concerned." Said Reigen. Bullshitting. He was bullshitting again. Parents were people just like anyone else in the world, that was true, but Mob…her mother was human the same as everyone else and Reigen was of the opinion that when a parent loved you they didn't let you just waltz right out the door.

Mom had pulled him back into the house by his collar when he left. When he took her words at face value. When he thought that she meant it but she so obviously didn't. When she pulled him by the collar and just yelled at him 'what are you trying to do?! Idiot!' and held him and kissed him over the head…and smacked him upside the head…but she had still wanted him. Even though he had…he had no idea what had started that fight in the first place but he knew that it had to be much more heinous than Mob getting into an argument with her little brother.

"Because I keep on skipping school." Said Mob

"Yeah. Mob the school leaving age is-" said Reigen

"Fifteen." Said Mob

"Yeah, and you're only fourteen last I checked…and you are not dropping out of school at fifteen." Said Reigen

"I wasn't planning on…I mean I was planning on going back to school eventually….I just don't know when. My mom…she says that I have to go back to school and I know that I need to go to school…and I will…just not now." Said Mob. Master Reigen was still running his fingers through her hair. It still felt nice. The thought of going back to school….that did not feel nice. The thought of popping the bubble that was their world, the world that was their days in that apartment, it was not nice. The world out there was big and cold and when she was out there she was all alone…but here she had Master Reigen…and that was nice.

"Not now, Mob, but…eventually. You need an education or you'll never get anywhere in life." Said Reigen, his fingers still in her hair. Mob shook her head. Why did it matter? She was exactly where she wanted to be.

"What if this is where I want to be?" asked Mob. His fingers stopped moving. She moved into his touch. She wanted him to get back to it. She wanted him to go back to how it had been before. She wanted…she wanted a lot of things.

"Don't talk like that, Mob." Said Reigen. No. Not this again. He knew that she wanted this so much. This was all that she wanted out of life…and that was not good. She deserved so much better than what he could give…than what he could be.

"Like what, Master?" asked Mob. She leaned more into him. She needed…she needed to be loved. That was what she needed more than anything. Reigen felt something tugging at his chest. He felt something tugging and poking and it did not feel good. He went back to it, his fingers in her hair. He felt it, the ghost of a touch in his hair. He also felt safe, so safe, and so loved. This was how he made her feel…and this was how she made him feel.

"Like that. Mob…I like this, I like it a lot, but you…you have a whole life ahead of you and I don't want you to let…to let what happened ruin your entire life." Said Reigen. He didn't want to ruin her entire life. If he could he would capture this moment forever. He would bottle their existence, their existence together in that apartment, and live in the moment for eternity. Perpetuity.

"…it feels like it's already ruined." Said Mob. She clenched her hands so hard her nails began to make crescents in the palms of her hands. She used to be able to do so much but now…now she was different. Everything was different. Bad different. She couldn't imagine a future anymore. She didn't want to. She just saw the present, the endless today, all stretched out before her.

"Well it isn't. You…you and I will get through this." said Reigen

"But how? I just feel like…like there's no way to get through this. I just want things to get back to the way that they were before…but I also like this. I just…I feel like I'll never be the way I was before." Said Mob. Her hands were still clenched. Reigen felt it, the crescents forming in the palms of his own hands. He reached out and put his hand over Mob's. He didn't give a damn how it looked, they were well past that. Mob needed him and that was what mattered.

"Mob. Stop it. We'll get through this. We've been through so much shit already, you know, so I know that we'll get through this." said Reigen. He could feel his own breath picking up. He could feel his heart rate increasing. He could even feel the hairs on his arms sticking up as Mob's aura expanded in…a feeling that he did not want to examine.

"Together?" asked Mob softly. She wondered if this was ok. It must have been. Master Reigen didn't feel like…this…about her. He could not feel like this about her. He had made himself perfectly clear. That was…she accepted that. She would accept that she could never have 'that' with him so long as she could have this. All of this.

"Together." Said Reigen even though it pained him. Together or apart it pained him. She was someone who deserved so much better than what he could be. He ruined her life. She was like this because of him. She would be dealing with this for the rest of her life because of him. He had done his research. She was dealing with the kind of shit that some people never got through. She was dealing with the kind of shit that could drive grown men over the edge.

He told her that she would get better.

And he had to help her to do so.

He was through lying to her. He said that they would get through this together and that was the way that this was going to be. Him and her against the world, if he were being dramatic. That was what it felt like, though. The two of them against the world…and the world was winning. Well he could not let that happen. They could not waste away in this apartment together. She needed….she needed to go outside. He had done his research and he knew that this was how a lot of very bad stuff happened. There were enough shut ins in the world without Mob adding to their ranks. This was normal, though, as far as the…aftermath…of what she had been through. She wanted to feel safe so she sought out safety and when she found it she held onto it with both hands.

Expected.

But not healthy.

He was the adult and he needed to do what was best. That was his job in all of this. That was why he, eventually, said that they needed to go to the store. Mom was right, they needed some real food. Food that didn't come from a packet or out of the freezer. They needed to cook and eat food with real nutritional value. Pancakes did not count.

Even though they were delicious. Even though making them together had felt just like old times. They didn't talk about anything heavy so not totally not old times…but it had been nice. Mob wanted to go back to normal, he wanted to go back to normal, so maybe it was time to go back to normal already. There was nothing out there for her to be afraid of. She should not have been afraid of the things that went bump in the night…or rather day. No. They should have been afraid of her.

But she was afraid.

She clung to him, metaphysically, as they walked down the familiar path to the grocery store. Nobody bothered either of them. Maybe the world was fully moved on, now, from his thirty minutes of shame. Maybe everyone had decided to mind their own goddamned business. Or maybe he and Mob looked so different walking around in the middle of the day in their pajamas that they were unrecognizable.

"Master…it's cold." Said Mob. She could feel it, the cold. It cut right through her pajama pants, her t-shirt, her undershirt, and her hoodie. Teru's hoodie. It smelled like him. It felt like him. It didn't keep him warm, though. it didn't keep him warm he had said, before, and that was why he had so many. This was one mostly just for looking nice. She didn't care. It kept her…warmish. It felt like him, it really did.

She missed Teru.

She missed everyone.

She missed everyone but Master Reigen but that was because he was right there.

This was the time that was for him. For adults. She was not an adult. She was a kid and she should have been at school with the other kids her age because that was what she was supposed to do. She was not supposed to be wearing her pajamas, the same pajamas that she had been wearing for days and days, she was supposed to be in her school uniform. She was supposed to be in her school uniform at school…or back in her home where it was warm…and there weren't all of these birds around…and cats…there were so many cats….

Her aura clung to Master Reigen's.

"You want my jacket?" asked Reigen. The cold was coming in much too soon. It felt like the harbinger of something. It felt like a sign of something to come, that is if Reigen was the sort of man who saw signs. Well he wasn't that sort of man. He could read the writing on the wall, he could read the hell out of that, but he did not go reading into the minutia of the weather. The weather did not reflect their moods. The weather did not reflect their situation. The weather was just the weather, the changing of the climate, that was all. Maybe this was all his fault for not recycling and buying organic and getting lazy about his gardening. Not that a few window plants counted as much of a garden.

"No thank you, I'll be fine." Said Mob. This was just the cold, that was all. This was just the weather being the weather. It was just the normal thing that happened in October, the cold came in. That was normal and this was normal and she was back in her reality and she had no reason to feel the way she did. None at all.

She was fine and everything was fine.

And there was no reason that Master Reigen had to be cold, too.

She had walked to the store a million times before. The real store. The real store, not the convenience store that was near their apartment. The real store was farther away. Down the street, in the cold, and past all the birds and cats and even bugs, too, the ones that were sticking it out through the cold. Maybe the cold came too suddenly for them to go off to wherever bugs went when it got cold out. Maybe it took them by surprise like it sometimes took her by surprise. Sometimes it felt like a slap in the face, that cold air. Sometimes she thought that she was done with the unreality…and sometimes it felt like she wasn't.

It was hard.

This whole entire thing was hard.

But being with Master Reigen made it easier. As long as she was with him then it would all be ok. He made her feel…good. Safe. Loved. Warm. She leaned more into him physically. His hoodie was kind of scratchy a little but it was still nice. It smelled like smoking. It smelled like incense. It smelled like green tea. It smelled like him. He put an arm around her. his hand rested on her shoulders, not the small of her back, even though his hand did sometimes rest there…and it was nice.

This was nice enough.

She could have gotten lost in it, the nice feeling. The way that the warmth of him seemed to cut through the cold air of the outside world. The way that him being there seemed to cut through, almost, that thick nervous sort of feeling that settled within her as they made a journey that she didn't quite remember being quite so long or quite so perilous. But she could brave this long and perilous journey so long as Reigen Arataka was at her side. Yes, as long as he was there with her then she could face anything, survive anything, live through anything.

Even that.

She saw it long before he did. The red auras. The red auras that always came in twos and looked alike. She could see them clear as day. He couldn't. If he could then he would have stopper her. He would have held her back instead of trying to match her pace. Her pants itched and tugged at her. She couldn't bend her knees or extend her legs like she had become accustomed too. She should have worn her uniform skirt, or any skirt, because then she could have moved faster.

"Mob, hey, where's the fire?" asked Reigen as he tried to keep up with her. He legs and lungs were crying out in protest at this unusual and unplanned burst of uncharacteristic physical activity. He hadn't had cause to move like this in ages, not since he took a sabbatical from running for his life from random high level spirits, anyway.

"There's not any fire, Master. Just…don't follow me." Said Mob. It would be better if he didn't follow her. She knew what she had to do and she didn't want to do it in front of him. Teru had freaked out, before, when she did this. He had been so freaked out that she had to go back to living outside…

She never wanted that to happen ever again.

"Mob, I am going to follow you. Now tell me where it is, exactly, that we're going." Said Reigen. She was walking with purpose, now, and that may or may not have been a good thing. On the one hand good on her for getting over her fear of the outside world. On the other hand he did not like the feelings that he was getting off of her. Anger. Annoyance. Determination, which was actually it's own cocktail of emotions that was quite difficult to process. Reigen knew that he wanted to do…something…but he had no idea as to what it was that he wanted to do.

"Master, there's something that I have to do and I don't want you to be around when I do it. You'll just…you'll be afraid of me like Teru was. I don't want that. I don't ever want that." Said Mob

"Mob, I want you to slow down and stop being so damn cryptic." Said Reigen. Mob stopped walking. He caught up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Master, this is something that only I can do…and it has to be done." Said Mob. She could feel it. Their auras…aura? Their matching auras were tapping against hers. She had been noticed. Good. Now she could get a good read on them. Murderous intent….no…just violent intent. They were up to no good just like the last ones were…

It was wrong to use your powers against other people.

But depowering bad people didn't count.

If you were going to use your powers against others then you deserved whatever happened you.

Mob could not begin to understand what made someone want to hurt another person just because they had the power to. That was what Asagiri did. She had all the power in the world, she thought, because she was rich. She thought that being rich meant that she could treat anybody she wanted any way she wanted. That did not make sense. Mob had power, a lot of it, but she did not go around hurting people. That was wrong. The world was overflowing with misery and sorrow already, it made zero sense to add to it. These other epsers were going to add to it. They worked for the bad guys or they were the bad guys or something. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that Mob was going to stop them from hurting someone, for making the world just a little bit worse than it already was.

"Mob, tell me what you have to do. I promise you, I swear on my life, that I will never, ever, ever be afraid of you. Now tell me, please, what all of this is about." Said Reigen

"There. Those red auras. Look over there and you'll be able to see them." Said Mob. Reigen tore himself free from her metaphysical embrace, the one that he always allowed himself to be held in, and felt himself shake. The collective emotion of the world around him was just so…much. It was a lot but he had to get used to it again. He was backsliding. He had spent so much time with Mob that he was backsliding again. Well he couldn't. He had to be better for her. He focused where she pointed….yes. He could see it. The red auras that he had seen around town occasionally…

Bad news.

For everyone involved.

Because Mob had abandoned pacifism long ago.

"Mob…you're not responsible for-" said Reigen

"Yes I am. There is enough pain and fear and misery in this world and I cannot let it get any worse. Having power, powers, does not give someone the right to make the world a worse place than it already is. I can't just sit here and let them use their powers to hurt people, and they do want to. I can feel it and I bet that you could, too, if you focused." Said Mob simply. That was the worst part of it all, for Reigen at least, the simple way that she stated this. If this were some impassioned speech then it would have made more sense…but Mob said this with all the passion of reading off their grocery list.

She was serious.

And he could not stop her.

At the end of the day there was no stopping Mob from doing pretty much whatever she wanted to do. He had no idea what she was planning on doing but whatever it was she was dead serious about it. He had two options. He could either try and change her mind, something that could end in another fight, or he could…help her in whatever it was that she was planning on doing…

He knew what he had to do.

"What are you going to do?" asked Reigen

"Take their powers away like I did before." Said Mob

"Permanently?" asked Reigen

"I don't know. I know that I can take energy from others and make it my own. The last time I did that to some of these weird aura guys they just sort of…went out. They went out but they weren't dead or even hurt. They got up and ran away and stuff…so I don't know what, exactly, it is that I did…just that I did it." Said Mob

"….be careful." Said Reigen because, well, there was nothing else to say. Mob was stubborn and he did not feel like getting into another fight with her about it. These people…if he focused, really stretched, he could feel it. Violent intent. Directed towards Mob. Why? Because she was so powerful? Weren't those bastards just a little bit too old for these things? Picking a fight with the strongest guy in the room didn't make you look any tougher, it just made you an idiot.

Anyone who challenged Mob was a moron.

He followed her. He followed her, again, into certain danger. He didn't say a word. He tried to tell her that she was not responsible for any of this but Mob's mind was made up. Determination thy name was Kageyama Shigeko. She knew what she had to do, what she thought she had to do, and she was going to do it. It could have been worse, Reigen figured, in the grand scheme of things. She was only hurting….depowering….people who deserved it. She had changed since the first time they met people who deserved it. That night changed her, him, them.

Who was this girl?

Who was the girl he saw before him? Mob. He had not gone insane, he still recognized her. She was not switching places with the other her, either. No, not at all. He could tell by her aura. Still mostly pink. She was doing this of her own volition. The girl who called herself, once a long time ago, a pacifist. Well pacifism had died long ago and determination had replaced it.

Not that Mob needed a lot of it. She had plenty to spare.

"You-! You're the chick the boss is looking for!" said one of the red aura guys. She had a barrier around her and Master Reigen. She needed to know who these guys were, where they came from, and what they were after. Then she could find them all and do…something. The world was a bad enough place without these guys making everything worse on everyone.

"Who's your boss? What do you want? And why do you have the same aura? One of you should tell me, only one. I won't be able to understand if you both talk at once." Said Mob simply. The other red aura guy took a step back.

"Maybe we should call…someone. A scar…someone from the upper echelon….one of the boss' favorites..." said the other guy as his eyes traced Mob up and down.

"That was not an answer." Said Mob. Reigen suppressed any fear that he felt, and it was his own. He was back in Mob's metaphysical embrace where it was quiet and safe…and steady. Determined. She was really going to do this…

A good thing.

A bad thing.

A thing that was happening right then and there regardless of any kind of value judgment that Reigen could attach to this situation.

"Claw! We work for Claw!" said the first guy, Mob was going to call him Red Aura One. It was weird. She knew that they were different people, they looked different, but metaphysically they were the same. It was hard to tell them apart even though one was fat and one was skinny, one was old and one was not as old, one had longish hair and the other had shortish hair. They were different but also the same.

"Mob…we need to-" said Reigen. He wanted to tell her to run away. He wanted to tell her that they were going to run straight home and pack up and then move to…he didn't know. His mother's house? A bunker out in the countryside? The world's first underwater house? It didn't matter, it just needed to be far away from there.

"Shut up! Do you have any idea what the boss does to squealers?! It's bad! It's worse than what he does to people who have to take a piss!" said the other guy. Mob was going to call him Red Aura Guy Two. Not that one was better than the other, she just didn't know their actual names.

"Why are you here? What do you want? Who's your boss?" asked Mob directing her questions at Red Aura Guy One. He seemed to be the most talkative out of the two of them.

"Don't tell her anything! You remember that new guy who interrupted the boss' speech, right? The one who tried to break rank to take a piss? Remember what happened? I remember!" said Red Aura Guy Two, who's name was actually Akihito, though Mob didn't know that. They were supposed to just be recon, though Mob didn't know that either. They were supposed to just observe and report but not to, under any circumstances, engage with any local espers. They were to be watched and reported on and either recruited or disposed of come the day. Those were the orders that they had and they could not break them. President Suzuki…he didn't like to be disobeyed….he did not tolerate insubordination from anyone….especially awakened foot soldiers….

"Your boss sounds really mean." Said Mob simply. She could always just expand out of her vessel and just…search the entire city like that…but she didn't want to. She wanted to stay in her vessel from now on. So that meant that it was time to do things the long and talk filled way…

"We're supposed to find you! The boss…he's looking for you! He says that we have to find you and report your position. He's gunning for you! For you and all of your allies! He's…he's gunning for you because of what you did to the Seventh Division and…and just…we're just following orders! Honest! Just…please…don't hurt us!" said Red Aura Guy Number One.

"I won't hurt you. At least I think that it doesn't hurt, I don't really know. Either way it's what you get for being a part of Claw and hurting people and stuff. That's not good, being a part of Claw, and I think that if you're going to use your powers against other people…then you probably shouldn't have them in the first place. This is something that I have to do. I'm sorry." Said Mob. She was, she truly was. She did not like hurting people or scaring them or anything like that but this was something that she had to do. Really it was better than fighting, which was awful, and nobody actually got hurt.

She had been without her powers, it had been bad.

But she had never used her powers for anything bad.

Mob did not like hurting people and did not understand those who hurt others. She could not begin to understand those who hurt others. Or maybe she could. It didn't look like It felt pleasant to those two guys when she drained them like batteries but they weren't dead. Their auras just went out. They went out like lights. One minute they were red Christmas lights shining brightly and the next they were just regular people. At least that way she could be able to tell them apart now.

"I'm sorry." Said Mob again when she was done. It was not a long process nor was it a difficult one. It hurt a bit, just a bit, taking on all of that energy. It woke Shigeko up and she got a little scared. Their fight for dominance was a short one. All Mob had to do was wrap her arms around herself and tell herself to keep it together. Well that was all she did. She felt Master Reigen's hand against her back and then she knew that she was alright and that everything was going to be alright because he was there.

She felt him tug at her hair a little.

His meaning was clear. I've got you.

"Master, let's go to the store. It's cold out here." Said Mob as she restabilized. Reigen nodded. That was all he could do, nod. His tongue was stuck to his teeth. His vocal cords were stuck together. Mob had…whatever it was that Mob did it was…disturbing.

But those guys were from Claw, they deserved it.

But what if the next guy…no. Mob was Mob and she was not the sort of person who went around hurting people for no reason. She hadn't even hurt those guys, not really. She could have killed them, she was certainly strong enough, but she did not. She decided….she decided to take the route of least…damage…

Reigen didn't look behind him.

In the grand scheme of things that had been the route of the least damage. Things could have gone worse, so much worse, and he had to instead look at the positives. Mob had stood up for herself, she had stood up to Claw, and she defended herself. The last time they had tangled with Claw it had gone south because Mob had been messing around. She hadn't wanted to fight anyone. She hadn't wanted to hurt anyone. She hadn't wanted to use her powers against another person to the point that she let it all go as south as it had…

That was then and this was now.

And he needed to stay calm or Mob would know, just know, that she had frightened him. He swallowed it. He swallowed all of it. He swallowed all of it and focused, instead, on the way the cold bit at his hands and face. He put all of his focus, his energy, into the feel of the stinging cold. He could see how rosy her cheeks were, the way she drew her arms in close. Cold or guilty? He let himself lean more into her metaphysically. Not an ounce of guilt there. Well she hadn't done anything wrong now had she?

"We should get some of those pork curry cubes. Also some frozen tofu. It lasts longer than the kind you put in the refrigerator. Tofu is good for you, right?" asked Mob as they walked down the street. She didn't feel bad about what she did. Claw was after her…and they got what they deserved. Claw was after her and…and she and Master Reigen needed to go to the store because they were running low on food. She could worry about Claw later.

They were looking for her.

"I think so. I mean it's not bad for you, I mean unless we deep fry it or something." Said Reigen with a shrug. Normal. Keep it normal. They were fine, everything was fine. They just had to…they had to go to the store and then they'd figure out what their next move would be…because Claw was after Mob…

"Could we? Deep fry it I mean." Said Mob. That would be good. She didn't particularly care about deep frying things but it would be nice to have a plan. Something to do after they came back from the store. Something to figure out so she didn't have to figure out what she was supposed to do now. Those guys were after her…her specifically…and her allies too, they said. Which meant that people she loved were in danger. Well she could not have that.

She didn't want to have to fight anyone.

"Considering the fact that neither of us knows anything about deep frying I'm going to have to say 'no'. That is unless you want to burn the house down." Said Reigen with a bitter laugh. Yeah, wouldn't that be the icing on the cake. First all of this shit happens to Mob, now Claw was after her again, and to top it all off their apartment burns down because neither of them knows that much about deep frying.

"You know that I don't want that, Master, and I would be careful." Said Mob simply. She had to be careful, always careful. She had been careful back there, too. Careful not to break anything or anyone. She would have to be careful later, too, once she did…whatever it was that she had to do. And she would have to do something. There was no choice, none at all. Actually this was….good….too. Good because she had something she could do besides fight…because stealing energy from others didn't count. It couldn't count.

There were so many worse things that she could do.

But she was not going to do any of those things.

"That's what they all say, Mob, that's what they all say." Said Reigen. The walk was short. They were there. He wished that the walk was longer. He wished that they didn't have to check this off of their to do list. He wished that he could have stretched the walk on forever and ever but to also stop it before they ran into those two lackeys back there.

Mob had enough shit to deal with in her life without some shady, criminal, organization coming after her.

"That makes sense, Master. Why would someone say that they weren't going to be careful?" asked Mob

"Good point, but still, we're not deep frying anything. It's just more trouble than it's worth and I don't even think that we have a deep enough pot to do it in…but we could do something else." said Reigen

"'We could get one, we don't have a lot of pots, Master." Said Mob as they came to the grocery store. She took a basket and handed one to Master Reigen, too. There was something so normal about this…but it was also abnormal because it followed on something to abnormal. How could they do this, just go to the store like nothing happened? Because they had to. It was fine. This was fine and everything was fine. She had…done what had to be done. Those guys were still alive and that was what mattered. She hadn't broken anything or anyone. That was what mattered.

Claw was after her.

That also mattered.

But they had no food in the house. They needed food. First the food and then…and then they'd get everything else sorted out. She'd get everything else sorted out. The world was big and cold and dark and cruel and it just got a little worse but…but maybe she could make it better. She had the power to steal energy from others. She could…but then she would have to go after those who were after her…and she didn't know if she could do that.

Better to get them before they got the people she loved.

"That's true, Mob, we don't have a lot of pots…or pans. Heh. I've been living on my own for so long I guess that I didn't really notice. It never really crossed my mind, honestly." Said Reigen with a shrug as he was handed a basket. Right. Food. They needed food. All of that had happened but that didn't mean that they didn't need basic sustenance. They needed food and they had left the house to get food so just why not get the food already? That was what this whole thing had been about, anyway, so really this was the best thing for them to do right now.

The best thing for them to do would have been to run away.

But he knew that Mob would never go for that. She would never run away. She just did not…she could not bring herself to do something like that. She would take this on like she took everything on. Claw, those guys, those deranged misfits, those adults who went after **children** were looking for Mob. They were looking for Mob because of what happened on that awful night all those months ago. Mob wasn't going to run away. She was going to protect herself and the people she loved. That was just who she was as a person and there was no stopping her. No changing her mind. He didn't even have any idea as to what was going on in her mind. The machinations of her mind were an enigma to him. Even now she was so emotionally….calm. Her aura shone brightly. That was probably a consequence of taking on so much extra energy. The hairs on his arms stood up as he neared her. Static electricity. Too much energy to be contained within herself. It had hurt, it looked like, but she was fine now. He didn't feel any pain from her. None at all.

"We should get more pancake ingredients too, I like pancakes. I like making them with you. Maybe when this is all over we can make pancakes again." said Mob simply. Monotone. No emotion behind it. Mob didn't know why there would be. She would have to do something, she had no other option, soshe had better accept it for what it was.

"When…when what's over?" asked Reigen. Whatever it was he would be there for her. He had to be. He was never leaving her on her own again.

"….I don't know." Said Mob. She didn't know what she had to do or what there even was to be done. All she knew was that Claw was after her and the people she loved and that something had to be done. Maybe she would have to depower a bunch of people. Maybe she would have to fight a bunch of people. Maybe she would even have to…to break someone. She would. She knew that terrible things that people could do to one another. She knew the ways that people could make one another suffer. She knew that the world was overflowing with sadness and hurt and pain and cruelty. She knew a lot of things and she knew that she would have to do…something.

Something she didn't want to do.

But she knew that there would be pancakes afterwards.


	58. Advancing the Timetable

Mob had no idea what she was supposed to do.

Well she knew what she was supposed to be doing right at that moment. She was supposed to be helping make dinner. That was what they set out to the store to door, get food, and now they had to make and eat food because people needed to eat to live and they were people the same as everyone else. So they were making dinner, which was curry, because it was one of the few things that they both knew how to make. Also curry was great.

But this was most certainly not great.

Because she had no idea what she was supposed to do about all of the red aura guys. Well she knew that since their boss was looking for her then she had to go and find him and…ask him nicely to stop…and if not then do that power stealing trick…even though it kind of hurt. The hairs on her arms and legs were still standing on edge. There was still some pain, too, as her body tried to process all the extra energy she took on. While she made it her own. Red turned to pink and blue. The process was not as instantaneous as it looked…

It hurt a little.

But she had been through so much worse.

"So, Mob…." Said Reigen. He needed to say something to her. He needed to…to do something. Because this was big and awful and Mob did not need all of this. Neither of them did.

"Yes?" asked Mob

"You're…you're doing a lot right now." Said Reigen

"I am." Said Mob

"Do you….want help? I mean there must be something that I can…do." Said Reigen

"There's nothing that I need help with, Master, but thank you for asking." Said Mob as she stirred, or rather over stirred, the curry in the pot. Pork flavored, made from cubes, with vegetables to be added at different intervals so they didn't turn to baby food. That was how they made curry, the two of them.

"You're welcome….it's just….Mob we should talk." Said Reigen. He knew that there was no stopping Mob from doing whatever it is that she was planning on doing but he could still at least convince her, try to convince her, not to do anything that would be too…much. Too dangerous. He could not lose her again.

"We're talking right now." Said Mob as she stared into the curry pot on the stove. Nothing good ever came of someone saying that they needed to talk. Mob didn't see what there was to talk about. As far as the Mogami thing went, her time in the unreality, they had talked that to death. As for what happened, well, what was there to talk about? If he was scared of her now then he should just come out and say it. If he had a problem with what she did then he should have just come out and said it.

"No, I mean about what happened." Said Reigen reminding himself that she was not taking a tone or being mouthy or anything like that. This was Mob and she was just stating the facts of what had happened.

"What happened when? A lot of things have happened, Master." Said Mob. One thing after that other. That was what this felt like. First Mogami and now this. Would she ever just get a break from this? She just needed a break, a moment of peace so she could just…think. So she could get better. But there was…there seemed to be no getting better.

"Mob, listen…back there…." Said Reigen. She was stirring slowly, very slowly. The kitchen was filled with her, her energy, as she used her powers to do anything and everything. Dishes washed themselves and put away. Food was cut and chopped and stirred and seasoned. A broom even pushed it's way around the room. At the center of it, standing in front of the stove, was Mob.

She looked troubled.

He knew her. He didn't have to read her emotions to see that she was troubled. It was written all over her face. That, what happened before, had been….not good. Not good at all. People were after Mob. People were after her and there was literally nothing that he could do. So he just followed her. They needed to go to the store, that was why the left the house in the first place, and she was if anything stubborn so that was what they ended up doing.

But not what they needed to be doing.

They needed to talk about what happened. They needed a plan. They needed…they needed to run away. That was the thing that made the most sense to do. They needed to just…go….at least until whatever this was came to an end. But there was no telling if or when it would come to an end. There was no telling that Claw, or at least it's boss, wouldn't hunt Mob to the ends of the Earth.

He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

"I don't want to talk about it, Master." Said Mob simply. She still needed to think. She needed to…if she warned people then they would try and fight Claw for her. She didn't want to drag anyone into this. She didn't even want Master Reigen to be involved. She was not helpless here. She was strong. She was strong enough to do whatever had to be done.

She had no idea what had to be done.

"Mob, what are you thinking about? I can tell that you're thinking about something and I just…let me help you. Mob, please, just let me help you. You don't have to do everything on your own you know. I'm here for you so please, Mob, can you please tell me how to help you?" asked Reigen. The kitchen was small, too small for two, but they made it work. They had to. Even though she was so…out of it…that she was using her powers for most everything and he was just sort of there trying not to get in her way. She could make dinner by herself now, she didn't need him for that. She didn't need him for most anything these days.

"I don't know what to do, Master, I just don't. I don't want to hurt anyone and I don; want to get hurt and I don't want…all I want to be is done. It's just that it seems like no matter what happens I'll just keep on…having to do things like this." Said Mob. She just did not know. She didn't want to fight but she doubted that she could just ask this guy, nicely, to stop doing all of the stuff that he was doing. She didn't want to fight so she could just depower him…and then what? He still had a bunch of followers and stuff it seemed…if she really concentrated she could see more red auras on the horizon. Past the walls…past the material and into the metaphysical. If she focused she could make the physical world fade away…and she did not much care for what she saw.

There was a lot of red.

There had been more and more red auras around but she hadn't been paying much attention. She had her own things that she had been worried about, all of that stuff that had been going on, and she just…hadn't cared much. Well she cared now and she knew that she had to do…something.

But what?

"Like what? Mob, talk to me. Is this about what happened when we ran into those creeps? Because I think that you handled it well-" said Reigen

"Thank you." Said Mob

"BUT I also think that handling those guys is not your responsibility." Said Reigen

"Then who's is it, Master Reigen? They're after me, they're looking for me, and I'm the only one who had the power to stop them without hurting them…with violence. I don't want to have to fight anyone but I think that…that I might. I don't know why the boss of Claw is after me, well I guess for what we did to his secret base out in the woods, but I just…I'm just Mob. I know that I'm powerful but I'm still just Mob…" said Mob

"You're not just Mob. I know that I tell you that you're just like everyone else but you're not. You're…you're amazing, and not just because of your powers. You're a good person and I don't want to see you mixed up in all of this." said Reigen

"It's too late, Master, because I already am. I'm already mixed up with these people and I'm going to be the one who has to stop them-" said Mob

"No, Mob, you don't. This shady organization is after you but you don't have to do anything. Mob, we can…we can try to run away." Said Reigen

"You said not to run away from home anymore." Said Mob

"Not from home just…we can go somewhere else until…I don't even know, Mob, I just don't want you here. I don't want you here with all of these people coming after you. I don't want…I won't have you getting involved in this. I mean…there is nothing that I can do to stop you but know that none of this is your responsibility." Said Reigen

"With great power comes great responsibility." Said Mob

"….Spiderman? Seriously?" asked Reigen

"What about him?" asked Mob

"That line is from Spiderman." Said Reigen

"It is. It makes sense. I'm the only one powerful enough to steal energy, I think, so I'm the one who has to stop Claw from doing…whatever it is that they're planning on doing." Said Mob

"Mob, it's not your-" said Reigen

"They're coming after me, aren't they? If they want to come after me then it doesn't matter where we run away to, they'll find me. They'll find me and then everyone I love will be in danger. I don't care what happens to me, I care about what happens to everyone else." Said Mob

"Well you should, Mob, you should care about what happens to you." Said Reigen

"Why? What does it even matter what happens to me? I'm me, Master, and I just…I don't know. Ever since the unreality I just….I feel so worthless and useless and terrible but if I can protect the people that I love then I won't be so useless and worthless and terrible." Said Mob

"No. Mob, you are none of those things and you know it. You just…I wish that you weren't so…" said Reigen

"So what? What am I, Master?" asked Mob

"Self-sacrificing. Mob, you don't have to be so self-sacrificing. Let the government or the police or the army or whatever deal with whatever these guys have planned. Ok? They're coming after you but…self-defense is one thing but I know you. I know that you're going to walk right into danger again and I can't…I can't watch you go through that again. I can't go through that again." said Reigen

"Master….I don't think that I have any choice. People are looking for me and if I don't do something then they'll go after the people I love. Master, I just have to….get in the robot." Said Mob

"Now you're quoting Evangelion?" asked Reigen

"I like it better than Spiderman. I just have to be like Shinji and get in the robot because I'm the only one who can do anything. I don't want anyone else getting hurt. Remember, Shinji had to pilot Unit One because Rei was too hurt and he knew that she wouldn't survive piloting Unit Zero and fighting? That's me right now. I'm the only one who can do this and…and I don't want to do this…and I don't even know what I'm going to do exactly, but I have to." Said Mob

"Mob, you don't have to do anything." said Reigen

"I do." Said Mob

"Mob…there's no way that I can talk you out of this, is there?" asked Reigen

"No. I know what I have to do, Master." Said Mob

"This is just like…Mob, please, I can't lose you. The Asagiri job…it was a wakeup call for me. You aren't invincible, you can get hurt. Mob, there are things in this world more powerful than you-" said Reigen

"Mogami is gone, Master. That guy with the scar is holding him prisoner." Said Mob

"Yes, I know, I was there. That was the worse day of my…of both of our lives…and I just don't want to repeat it. Mob…please don't go looking for these people. It's one thing if they come for you or someone you care about but please, please, please promise me that you won't go looking for them." Said Reigen

"Master I-" said Mob. He reached down and took her hand in his. Any protest that she had died in her throat. She felt his fingers lacing around hers. The dishes that she had been washing crashed down into the sink. Water sloshed onto the floor. The vegetables that she had been adding, slowly, to the curry all just dropped right in. Curry splashed back onto the tile behind the stove. That was called a backsplash. Now she knew why.

Master Reigen was holding her hand.

"Mob, promise me that you will not go looking for those people. Please. I just can't see you…go through that again. Please." Said Reigen. His heart was beating so fast that he swore that it was humming. His palm was getting sweaty. His toes tapped against the cool linoleum tile of the kitchen floor. His face was red, rapidly becoming redder, but he could not stop. This was low. This was manipulative. This was something that he was going to kick himself for later. He should not have been messing with her feelings for him like this. Whatever it was that she felt for him. Caring. Devotion. Trust. A school girl's crush. This was wrong.

But it was better than her dying.

"Master…I-I-" said Mob. This was…he was holding her hand. Not in the way that she was thinking, in the way that she wanted him to be, but he was. This wasn't like when she and Teru held hands and it couldn't be anyway because that would be cheating. This was more like when she and Ritsu held hands when they were little, it seemed like, because there wasn't anything even close to what she wanted it to be right now in that kind of hand holding.

"Mob, please. Let's just…be here. Let's have dinner and watch TV and play videogames and let someone else…deal with those guys. Please, Mob, just be here….with me." Said Reigen. She made no move to pull away. If she started to pull away then he, of course, would let her go. Even if he didn't want her to go. Even if he wanted her to be there, with him, where he knew that she was safe. Him holding onto her was proof of her safety, of her being there, of her being there and being safe with him in that kitchen that evening in that moment in time.

"Master….let's have dinner." Said Mob. The curry was done and they had to eat it because wasting food was wrong and if they let the food go to waste then their trip to the store would have been for nothing. That was what they had to do now, dinner. She didn't know what she would do in the future but she knew, now, that she had to have dinner. After that…she didn't know. She didn't know if she would go looking for Claw…or what she would do if she found them or their boss….she could always depower them but…was that even alright?

She was not supposed to use her powers against other people, only in self-defense.

If she went looking for the boss of Claw then it would not be in self-defense anymore. There was no such thing as preemptive self-defense, right? Even if the boss of Claw was, presumably, using his powers to do bad things? She didn't want to fight anyone in any way. She just wished that she could relax and not have to deal with…anything. To go back to how things were before. To go back to when she could just…be. Back when she and Master Reigen went out on jobs and got ramen and just enjoyed spending time together. Back before even the first time they fought Claw….back to when they first started…this.

But there was no going back, not ever. Things changed. Sometimes they got better and sometimes they got better, sometimes they got worse, and sometimes evil criminal organizations came after you and everyone you loved and you had to do something but the person you loved, one of the people you loved, begged you not to get involved but you needed to but he didn't want you to and it was all just so hard and…and you don't even know what to do.

So you ate dinner.

Dinner, lunch, breakfast, brunch, linner, desert, and whatever the meal was called when you ate an entire bag of chips at two in the morning didn't have much meaning for Sho. He ate when he was hungry and drank when he was thirsty and sometimes he cooked and sometimes he ate junk food and that was just the way that things were. He ate when he wanted to and dad ate when he wanted to and he certainly didn't get that weird, tight feeling, that he got sometimes as he looked through the window and saw them all just sitting together and eating food.

He didn't care about that at all.

So some people had families and stuff. Sho had freedom. He didn't have to answer to anyone. He didn't have to go rushing home because his parents called him asking where he was. He didn't have to make up lies about where he was and who he was with and what he was doing. Dad didn't really care what he did so long as he didn't do anything embarrassing and as long as he wasn't insubordinate in what he did. Well he was being beyond insubordinate, he was actively planning against his own father, not that dad knew that. No, dad was none the wiser.

Dad was too wrapped up in his own stuff now.

Well not right now. Right now he was sitting at the head of the table and eating all alone. Serizawa was there, standing behind him. Dad didn't notice, he was looking at something on his phone. Well he did, actually. Sho could see his dad's aura, he could tell that he was noticed. Red, darker red than his, filled the room. Serizawa's aura was there and visible, too. It wasn't calm like dad's. Dad's just sort of filled the room and hovered there. Serizawa's bounced off the walls, it seemed like, and against dad's.

Sho gave Serizawa a wave. Serizawa waved back.

"Sho. You're here." Said dad finally deciding to remember that he even had a son. He didn't even look up from what he was doing. Something on his phone, maybe he and Hatori were internet stalking girls that looked like Ritsu's big sis again.

"Hi dad." Said Sho. He made no move to sit at the table with dad. He hadn't been invited to sit down and he didn't want to. Not at all. There wasn't any reason for him to sit there with dad anyway. He already had dinner, or linner maybe, or just late lunch, so he was fine. There was food in the kitchen anyway if he got hungry later.

"Why?" asked dad

"Why what?" asked Sho

"Why are you here?" asked dad not even bothering to look up. His face was calm, his aura was calm, but based on the way that Serizawa's eyes kept on darting towards dad and the way his aura was being all jumpy something was wrong. Sho would ask later, maybe he and Serizawa could even eat dinner together. Dinner and videogames until they got sick of it. Sho didn't need anything else. Maybe he could even reopen the whole 'dad's a jerk and you don't need him' discussion. Although he maybe should take care not to use the word jerk again. Serizawa thought that he was dad's best friend or something. Well he wasn't.

"Because I live here." Said Sho. Well technically nobody lived there. This was a safe house, one of many that dad owned. Well a Claw shell company owned it but in the end it all came back to dad. There was a house here that Sho actually used to live in, years ago, but he hadn't set eyes on it or stepped foot in it since he was little. He didn't even remember where it was. It didn't matter.

"Hmm." Said dad. Sho leaned in and tried to see what it was that had dad so engrossed that he didn't even bother with his own son.

"Sho." Said dad, warning in his tone. Serizawa stood behind him shaking his head 'no' a bunch of times. Sho wasn't afraid of dad. Yeah he could be mean sometimes, and he and Sho did occasionally fight, but as long as Sho was still useful to him he'd keep him around.

"Dad?" asked Sho

"Isn't there something that you should be doing?" asked dad

"If you mean about those esper kids they aren't a threat to us. They can't really do anything, they're all just kind of weak." Said Sho. That was what he was supposed to have been doing. Either recruiting or making lists of targets. Well he was recruiting, just not in the way that dad wanted.

"It's not your job to decide if they're a threat. Your job is to approach them and offer them the same deal we offer everyone." Said dad

"But what's the point of having them join us? They can't really do anything to help or to hurt us." Said Sho

"It is not your place to pass judgement. You are to carry out your orders or I will find someone who will." Said dad.

"Fine, I'll recruit them." Said Sho. Dad was right, they were largely useless….but he wasn't going to turn them over to dad. He'd have them properly awakened…and nobody should have had to go through that especially not his sort of friends.

"Good. Any progress on your other mission?" asked dad

"The girl? I haven't been able to find her. I mean I can see her aura but it's hard to see exactly where she is. Plus it changes, I think, so it's hard to tell if I'm even looking at the same person." Said Sho. That was the truth. He knew that she was pink and blue and bright but the pink and blue he could see if he really looked around and focused was always changing. That was the thing about naturals, they all had different auras. Not like the awakened. Those guys were so creepy. Sho couldn't even tell them apart, any of them.

"Look again tomorrow." Said dad. He kept his voice the same no matter what he said. Sho could tell that he was probably pissed off that nobody could find Ritsu's big sis. Hatori even searched the entire internet for her, not to mean all of the security cameras in the city. Hatori said that it was hard to find her because she looked so generic, a word which Sho was not ashamed to say that he had to look up, that literally ever girl in japan looked like her. He couldn't even tell how old she was supposed to be or anything like that. Sho remembered her, though, no that he had offered his help. He did have some trouble recognizing people without auras but that was just because he was second generation and had grown up only with people who had auras. That was a rare thing dad said, being second generation. Also being as powerful as he was, the closest that dad ever came to complimenting him.

"Sure dad, whatever you want." Said Sho. Serizawa gave him a look that said 'be nice to your dad or he'd going to teach you to be nice' which wasn't as nice as it sounded. Thank God for Fukuda even though he was such a worry wart. Last time dad decided to take the time out of his busy life as the mayor of Crazy Town and teach him a lesson Fukuda had hovered around him for days afterwards asking if he was alright even though he was the healer so of course he knew that Sho was alright.

Sho really was alright.

No scars or bruises or bumps or broken bones. He hadn't even cried. He was beyond crying, that was for kids, and he was not a kid anymore. He was practically an adult it felt like, even though he was only thirteen and three quarters…and he did not think that it was weird to measure in quarters. Ritsu thought that it was weird, though, so maybe it was. God knew that Sho wasn't an authority on what was and was not normal. Whatever. He could worry about normal when he was done stopping dad.

He decided to leave dad to internet stalking girls the same age as his own son. Really he didn't even know why he subjected himself to dad's presence. Dad didn't give a damn about anyone but himself and his dream and his plans. Whatever. Sho had known that for years. Dad didn't give a damn about anyone or anything and that was fine. Some people were just like that. Well Sho was nothing like that. He gave a damn about other people and other things besides himself. He was nothing like his father.

He wasn't.

Aside from the red hair and the blue eyes and the fact that both of them liked breakfast foods a whole lot he didn't really have much of anything in common with his dad. Not that he even knew his dad all that well. He only knew about the whole breakfast foods thing because that was what dad ate a lot of the time. He wondered if it was different with other people and their parents. It probably was. Ritsu had been talking to his mom and dad at the table. Sho had been too far away to hear them and didn't know how to read lips. Maybe next time he could just turn invisible and hang out. Or maybe not. Bending light was easy, hiding his aura was a bitch, and Ritsu could sense him. Not at any great range but Ritsu could sense him.

He wondered what Ritsu was up right now? Sho was heading off to his room, he'd had enough of dad for one night, but he might not stay there for too long. He liked hanging out with Ritsu even if he did sleep most of the night away. It made sense, him sleeping so much, since he had school and stuff. Sho couldn't remember school that well but it must have been exhausting. Being in a tiny room all day stuck at a desk while people talked at you and told you what to do and learn and when to eat and even when you could drink water or go to the bathroom…that must have been truly exhausting. Sho did not envy Ritsu or any of the others. He didn't know any of them as well as he knew Ritsu, he should really get on that, but he was sure that school was exhausting for them too. He didn't envy them or any other kids. His dad may have been a jerk and certifiably insane but at least his life was his own.

Or at least it would be when he won.

Because he was going to win. There was no other option for him but to win. He was going to beat dad and save the world and then…hang out with Ritsu, probably. They could do anything that they wanted. They could go to the park and pet dogs or go to the shelter and play with the animals or go to the pet store and hang out with the hamsters. He could maybe even get a hamster. Dad wouldn't kill it, probably, because dad would be…stopped.

Not dead.

He was not going to kill his own father. Sho didn't have it in him to kill anyone. The charge bomb wouldn't kill him…just hurt him. Knock some sense into him. Maybe even knock the crazy out of him so he could be the way he was before. Not that Sho had that many clear memories of before. He remembered a big house and a bed that was his. He remembered his mom and the way she smelled, like cinnamon, because she liked to put cinnamon on things all the time. She would take him to the park while dad was at work and they'd feed the birds and pet the dogs and one time they even found a kitten….

That poor kitten.

Whatever. When he stopped dad then he could go and save all of the stay animals in Seasoning City. He and Ritsu could together. Well him and Ritsu and all of those other guys. Girls, too, probably. He'd want to bring his girlfriend, definitely. She was nice, really nice, and she liked to draw too. He could totally make friends with her, but not in a weird way, because he was not after stealing anyone's girlfriend. Relationships were sacred and there was no worse kind of person than one who broke up someone's relationship. People were meant to be together and to love one another and there was nothing worse than someone you loved leaving. Someone you loved in any way. Sho loved his mom…but she had still left…but maybe when this was over they could be together again.

When this was over.

The thought is dizzying. The thought is so dizzying that once he gets to his room he throws himself down on the bed to stop the vertigo. When all of this is over he will have complete and total freedom. His life will be truly his own. No more dad sending him around the world to help manage this empire of evil or whatever dad thought that it was. No more getting tossed around whenever he failed. No more waking up to find his pets missing no matter how well he hides them. He'll have freedom from dad. He'll have the freedom to do whatever he wanted.

Unless he didn't.

Because he had no idea what was going to happen when this was all over. He had no idea what was going to become of him. Mom lived in Seasoning City. He knew that she did, he just didn't know where, and when dad was defeated he knew that he wouldn't be allowed to just live on his own. He was only thirteen and three quarters. Maybe he'd have to go and stay with mom…he doesn't know how to feel about that. Mom is mom. She is the mom that exists in reality, not the mom that exists in his mind, and he has no idea how he's going to reconcile the two. Maybe she doesn't still like cinnamon or going to the park and feeding birds and petting dogs and taking in stray cats. Maybe she has a new family now and a new Sho and this new Sho is actually the Sho she wants and-and-and-

His suitcase flies across the room and hits the wall. Someone bangs on the wall and tells him to go do that somewhere else.

"I'm not even doing that! And it's none of your business if I was!" Sho says through the wall. He shares that wall with the Ultimate Five's living space. That specific room is supposed to belong to Shimazaki but it's Minegishi who bangs on the wall. Sho stuck his tongue out. Shimazaki could see that, in whatever way it was that he did see. Sho even hit the wall a few times with his powers just to express his displeasure. Honestly. So it was ok for everyone else to keep him up all night banging but he makes a little noise and suddenly he's worse than whoever it is that doesn't know that milk goes back in the fridge when you're done with it? In what universe is that fair?

Life is so unfair.

At least when this is all over he won't have to live here anymore. He doesn't know where he'll be living but at least it won't be here. Maybe with mom, if she still wanted him. If she didn't get married again and have a new Sho, or a Shoko even, if she had a girl. Or maybe she had a bunch of other kids. Maybe she didn't want him anymore because she had, like, ten kids now. Whatever. If she didn't want him then she didn't want him. He'd just live on his own in a park or something then. Maybe even the woods. Or maybe he could just go live with Serizawa in his room at his mom's house. That would be pretty sweet actually. Just playing games and eating junk food all day every day until the day you died. Well he'd outlive Serizawa, being younger and all, so then it would wind up being pretty lonely. He needed to find someone his own age then…

Ritsu was his age! Older, actually, because his birthday was in July. He didn't tell Sho that, Sho had just seen it written in the calendar in the kitchen. Ritsu's big sis' birthday was in May. He'd have to get them birthday presents when their birthdays came around. If Ritsu's big sis wanted to make friends that is. He and Ritsu were already friends so the whole exchanging of birthday gifts was a given between them. He'd get Ritsu something he'd like, something great, something that nobody else could ever give him…not that Sho was sure of what that thing was. He'd figure it out, though, when this was all over. He'd get Ritsu's big sis something nice, too, not that he had any idea what he was supposed to get her. Something that girls liked. Dolls? Makeup? Jewelry? He had no clue. Girls were their own thing and he had never been friends with one or even spent much time with them. Well he was kind of friends with one now. Ritsu's girlfriend was a girl, not that Sho had checked or anything, so she'd know all about what to get Ritsu's big sis for her birthday when it rolled around.

When this was all over.

It's less dizzying, now, because he has tentative plans for the future. For when everything here is over and done with and he can get on with his life. He doesn't know what that life will be but he knows that whatever it is it's got to be a right sight better than this. It'll be fine. Whatever it is will be perfectly fine. He's got friends now, besides Serizawa anyway, and it'll be fine. He has Ritsu and for some reason whenever he thinks about Ritsu he feels like everything is going to be fine. Maybe because Ritsu is the first friend that he's ever had that's his own age and stuff. Maybe because he's just so fun to be around, even if he does get kind of moody and intense sometimes. Maybe because no matter what happens Ritsu always gets right back up again and keeps on trying.

Ritsu's awesome.

He lays back on his bed and closes his eyes. He thinks about Ritsu a lot, has thought about him a lot, and will continue to think about him a lot. Whenever he thinks about Ritsu's just filled with this…feeling. Well a lot of different feelings rolled into one. He feels like everything is going to be ok with Ritsu at his side in the coming rebellion. He feels carefree when they're training, messing around, together. He feels peaceful when he sleeps on Ritsu's floor on those nights when he goes to visit him. When they're in close proximity Sho gets filled with this nervous sort of energy, kind of like holding a charge bomb but inside of him, and he has to do…something…so he talks a lot or jumps around or does cartwheels or whatever else he can to get this nervous energy out but nothing works and it just grows and grows and grows exponentially. Another word he learned recently. He's learned a lot of words, recently, but he hasn't learned the word for whatever this feeling is.

It's new and weird but he likes it.

He likes being around Ritsu and talking to him and when they're apart he looks forward to the next time they can be together. He's never wanted to hang around a person before, not like this. Not to the point where he couldn't sleep at night because he couldn't stop thinking of the other person. Not to the point where he'd just be going about his day and stop in his tracks because he suddenly remembered 'hey this person exists' even though he knew full well that Ritsu existed. Not to the point where he stared at his phone willing time to move faster because the school day was so long and club duties made it take even longer and he just didn't understand why Ritsu's didn't ditch all of that and just come hang out and plan some world saving already…or something. Anything, really, just so long as they were together. Was this what it was like when a person had a friend their own age? Or was Ritsu his best friend now? Or did he…like…Ritsu?

Was this what it was like to 'like' someone?

Sho had never liked anyone before. Not liked in that way, anyway. Most of the people he met were really old and he did not want to be in a relationship with someone who was really old. Besides, the sort of adult who would fall in love, or like, with someone his age was probably not the sort of adult he wanted to be with anyway. Not that he ever wanted to be with any sort of adult. Random banging related thoughts aside, anyway. He thought about banging a lot of people, at some point it was like a switch flipped in his mind, but he would never actually go through with it. As attractive as Shimazaki was Sho knew that he was a terrible person. All 'look at me I'm like this cool blind master from a movie or whatever and I'm just the most awesome person ever to live' or whatever. So annoying. There was a difference between wanting to bang someone and liking them. Liking them involved a lot more than stray thoughts and trying not to let your eyes linger on them for too long or else they'll notice and tease you about it later.

Which sucked.

Ritsu wouldn't do anything like tease him though, he wasn't like that. He was a nice guy. Sho couldn't tell if he liked him or if he just wanted to be friends or what. That was the trouble with liking guys, Sho thought, it hard to tell if you wanted to be with them or just be friends. Banging was different. He wanted to bang just about everyone. Well, not girls, at least not as much…or at all? He was still figuring that one out. They were ok as people and all but he didn't…he knew that he was supposed to get all nervous around them and try to kiss them and stuff but he just…didn't. The thought of them, anyway, because he didn't know any girls. Well he knew Ritsu's girlfriend but he would never think of her like that. She was someone's girlfriend already and Sho could not be responsible for that. Maybe that was why he didn't want to kiss her or hold her hand or stare at her boobs or anything like that. Maybe he was just a good person like that. Maybe if he met a girl that wasn't someone's girlfriend then he would like her. Not that he had the time to be liking anyone. Even when he relaxed he had to be on alert. Dad had been talking, before, about drawing out Ritsu's big sis. He couldn't decide if he wanted to draw her out before he kidnapped the prime minister and destroyed all of downtown or afterwards. Sho thought that kidnapping the prime minster would definitely get her attention. He even asked dad, sarcastically, why he didn't just kidnap the emperor and the entire royal family too.

Dad said that the royals were figureheads with no real power and it made more of a statement to kidnap the prime minister. Then he told Sho that if he wanted his input he'd ask for it. Serizawa said, later on, that Sho's plan was good too but dad knew best so they should just go along with whatever craziness dad wanted. Serizawa would follow dad off a cliff if he could. Sho didn't get it. Serizawa said that dad saved him from the hell that was his life and gave him a purpose, a reason for rejoining society. Sho just thought that dad was using him, not that he said that or anything. He had to choose his words carefully around Serizawa, he was so fragile sometimes, but he did say that dad was really bossy with him and everyone else.

Serizawa just said that dad knew best. He said that Sho was in a rebellious phase but it would pass and he would see all the good that dad planned on doing. He even said that dad had talked about letting Sho inherit the world that dad was taking over. Sho would set the world free, in that case, but he was not waiting around a hundred years or whenever until dad died. He needed to save the world now, right now, so he could get on with his life already!

Once the world was saved then he and Ritsu could hang out.

Once the world was saved.

Failure was not an option.

"Failure is not an option, Hatori." Said Suzuki as he stood over his subordinate. In front of them a dozen screens flickered between different images of dark haired girls and women. All around the same height and build but many different ages and locations in the city.

"I know boss. She's just so…generic looking it's hard to pin down exactly who she is." Said Hatori. Mob. That was the only name he had…and it wasn't even a name! If he had a full name then finding her in today's age of social media would be a snap. Unfortunately all he had to go on was 'Mob'. The other name he had, Reigen Arataka, had been much more useful but that guy hadn't updated his relationship status in a while so really he was a dead end. If the guy had done the normal thing and posted about his girlfriend or whatever she was to him then her relatives would have been liking posts and commenting and then he could narrow down, reasonably, who she was and where she lived and pretty much everything else about her, too.

Big brother was watching.

And Hatori was watching big brother.

"The man?" asked Suzuki. This woman, girl, female esper had been a thorn in his side for months. Rival organizations popped up all the time. Some upstart esper thought that they and they alone were blessed with powers and that those powers gave them carte blanche to do whatever they wanted. Suzuki always crushed them easily. After all, heaven bestowed him with power above all others and the world was his. Everyone else just lived in it and he would not be challenged. Usually these people could be recruited, his ranks were full of those failed upstarts, or they could be disposed of.

He still had no idea what he would do about this woman. Girl. Female esper.

"Reigen Arataka. Near as I can tell the man's total fraud. He's back together with the girl but he hasn't updated his relationship status or posted anything about her so I still don't even have a real name." Said Hatori. Wasn't that a wild ride? He admitted that he may have fanned those flames a little bit just to watch the ensuing shit show. Really, what did that guy think was going to happen when he went on national TV impersonating a psychic?

"Hmm. Carry on and remember, you cannot fail me Hatori." Said Suzuki. A tap against Hatori's aura let him know what would happen if he were to fail. Not every member of the Ultimate Five could be as devoted to him as Serizawa. Some of them had needed more…advanced…methods of persuasion to join his side.

"Yes boss." Said Hatori as he went back to scanning every single surveillance camera in the city and scouring every social media profile he could. Nothing but a lot of false positives. He knew that he'd know the girl when he saw her. He had seen the surviving footage from the Seventh Division. He had seen what she could do. He had even seen her, footage of her laughing and screaming, and he knew that he would never forget that face…or the raw power…

Another false positive. Some teenage girl named Shigeko. A gloomy looking kid in what looked like the aftermath of a fabric store explosion next to some other kid dressed just as terribly. Not who he was looking for.

He could not have been looking for a kid. No kid could do that to an entire division. The boss could…but the boss was somewhere in his late forties or early fifties. Hatori never asked and it wasn't like they had company birthday parties or anything like that. Not like at his last job. What he wouldn't do to be selling computer parts again….

But that time was done now. The boss had practically brought down his house 'persuading' Hatori to join him. Hatori was not a fighter, not at all. He was a technopath, something rare and unseen before and utterly useless a hundred or even fifty years ago. He wasn't usually one of those 'born in the wrong generation' guys but he was totally born in the wrong generation. If he had been born just fifty years earlier then he wouldn't have even realized that he had powers and he never would have ended up under the thumb of this megalomaniac and his family would have been safe and he could have been peacefully selling computer parts and playing videogames, not scouring the internet for traces of the woman who the boss called 'his greatest enemy'.

"S-She's pretty." Said Serizawa. An underling had come and said that he had something that the President needed to attend to right away. The boss said to wait here and that was what he was going to do. He hoped that the President was ok He hoped that it wasn't bad news. He hoped that it didn't have anything to do with Sho. The last time someone came and got the President it was because Sho was hiding a bunch of rodents in the base. Were hamsters rodents? Well the President said that they were rodents and then he…and Sho had been inconsolable…and Serizawa didn't understand why the President had to be like that…but it was not his to question. He wasn't anybody's father, and there was zero chance of that, and he had never even known his own father, so he had no idea how parents were supposed to be with their kids. Mom was always really good to him but mom was the best mom in the world. He should really call her…one of these days. When the President didn't need him as much. When they took over the world and made it a better place just like the President said that they would.

"I'm pretty sure she's like, fourteen, man." Said Hatori. Serizawa. The boss's favorite toy, if rumors were to be believed. Pretty much the only member of the Ultimate Five to actually believe the insanity that Suzuki was spouting. Hatori couldn't hate the guy for the way that he was, his life was one tragedy after another after another he said. Decades of self-imposed isolation, that accident with his powers when he was a kid, and now the upside mad land that was Claw.

Hatori didn't hate him but they weren't exactly friends, either, despite what Serizawa thought.

"Oh! Well then she's adorable!" said Serizawa. Right. He was bad at judging ages, especially girl's ages. He didn't know any girls beside his mother. He hoped that the President found this girl that he was looking for and that she surrendered. He knew what the President did to people who refused to surrender…what he made Serizawa do to those people….not that Serizawa understood why anyone wouldn't want to join the President. He was a wonderful person! Sure he could be a little short tempered sometimes, and he was a very strict parent to Sho, and sometimes he had this way of looking at you like he was looking through you….but he really was a good person!

"Right. Adorable. Hey, I've seen your search history, I don't judge." Said Hatori mostly to get Serizawa to stop hovering over him like that. It worked and Serizawa practically jumped back, that ever present umbrella hitting Hatori in the back of the head. The monitors in front of him went to bars for a moment before he got them back to normal.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to….sorry! Just…why would you-" said Serizawa

"Boredom, mostly. You have no idea how tedious it gets sitting here all day." Said Hatori. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been outside. That may have been all well and good for Serizawa but Hatori was no hikikomori. Fate was weird like that, giving him these powers but making him a people person. If he could trade powers with Serizawa he would, jobs too, and then he could be the one following the boss around and Serizawa could be the one stalking random women through the internet and security cameras.

"…I have some idea." Said Serizawa. Hatori had been put here for the time being. The President said that Hatori was the only one with the skills necessary to find the girl so they could ask her to join them. Serizawa had been a little jealous, then, because the President had implied that Hatori was more useful than him in this instance. Sho actually made him feel better. Sho said that sure Hatori was more useful then but the President took up much more of Serizawa's time and that the President might even end up taking up his entire life. Wow. The rest of his life at the President's side….

"Right. Well I'd trade places with you if I could." Said Hatori

"You would?! I mean, it makes sense, I get to hang out with the President all day…" said Serizawa. He was lucky, so lucky, and it made sense that others would envy him. Him of all people…that was certainly…well wow was the only word he could put to this emotion. Someone like Hatori envied him. Serizawa held all of his friends in the highest regard, they had spent their entire lives living in society and had never once been so scared of themselves that they shut themselves off from the world for years and years…

"Not the word I'd use but ok…." Said Hatori

"You're right, it's my job to protect him and to keep him company. That does make more sense, then, that's we're not technically hanging out." Said Serizawa

"Right. Anyway I've got work to do so…" said Hatori motioning to the bank of monitors in front of him. Millions of women in this city and couldn't leave this room until he found the one that the President was looking for. Hatori, if he had a death wish, would have told the boss to get in here and find her himself. Either that or go to a singles bar and meet women like normal people did.

'Oh! Right! Um…the President said to stay put for now…" said Serizawa. He didn't want to distract his friend from his important work but he didn't want to disobey an order from the President…and not just because he knew full well what the President did to people who were insubordinate. What the President asked Serizawa to do to people who were insubordinate.

"He says jump and we say how high…" muttered Hatori. Serizawa thought that it went without saying. Of course they did what the President said, he was their boss. Not only that but he was such a good person, too. Somethings that he did were not so good, some of them were downright scary, but the President still had everyone's best interests at heart.

Even if he could be kind of scary sometimes.

Suzuki Toichiro was beyond becoming frightened.

"Please boss! Forgive us! We didn't mean to fail you!" his soldiers, his awakened, his lackeys, kowtowed before him shaking out of fear. They came bearing news, the worst sort of news, for them at least. Depowered. Gone. Nothing left but the withered husks of their bodies as they cowered before him. They were right to cower. Not only had they failed him but they came bearing news, news that they had let slip that he was seeking her out. The girl. The woman. The one from **that **night…

This news did not frighten him. Not perceptibly, at least, a skill he had practiced his entire life. Nothing good ever came from allowing himself to feel strong emotion. Nothing at all. His aura was as placid as his face as he took in the scene before him. Two of his subordinates, awakened soldiers, kowtowed before him begging his forgiveness. He hated dealing directly with the awakened, this was why he had underlings and underbosses, but this was a matter that demanded his immediate attention.

She struck again.

Far away from the scene of the first time she had ever made the mistake of making herself known to him. Stealing **his **power from **his **soldiers. Taking in his energy as her own. He could feel it, he did feel it, when it happened. A tugging at something just behind his navel, that was what his mind translated the sensation of being drained as. He had a connection to each of his lackeys that he had given his powers to. Lent his powers to.

Now he felt no such connection.

He wondered, briefly, if this was how it felt to have one's umbilical cord cut. No matter. He had to focus on the immediate issue brought forth by this…this….this act of open war. That was what this girl was doing, waging war. Well fine then. If she wanted a war then he would give her one. He wanted to settle things peacefully with her. She had the potential to be his greatest rival, his mortal enemy. She shared in his ability. He had been foolish, so foolish, to think that he could have been the only one in the world like himself. How often had he come across other espers with that delusion. No. He was not as alone as he had thought all of his life…

But how?

He spent his entire life being the very best. The world fit in the palm of his hand…that was why fate had bestowed these powers onto him. But now there was another. A girl. A woman. A female esper. A divine sign? Had she been a he well then this entire ordeal would have gone much differently. He had on intention of allowing another man to live if said man shared in his abilities. A woman was an entirely different story. A woman could rule with him…or rather under him. He would never accept partnership with anyone but if this woman could be persuaded to join him…

It had been years since Masami.

He had no intention of replacing Masami. He didn't care to find another partner. He would not open himself up to that kind of weakness ever again. The woman would be useful to him, no more and no less. She would hopefully be intelligent enough to see that a war against Claw would be unwinnable. Even if she did have some sort of organization or allies or something along those lines there was no way she could beat the whole of Claw let alone Suzuki himself.

But a war would push back his timetable and lose him the element of surprise.

He needed the element of surprise. Claw may have had divisions all over the world and mamny backers and cult followers it did not have the numbers to take on the government. Suzuki was not frightened of one man or two men but he did like to harken back to an old film that Sho enjoyed in his younger days. The grasshopper made a point that, yes, one or two ants was not a threat but the ants outnumbered the grasshoppers in the hundreds. Suzuki was outnumbered. The governments of the world had their own little groups of espers to do their bidding. He needed the element of surprise before they crippled his entire organization. He could take them…to a point…because eventually his forces would be exhausted and then he himself would have to recruit more and it would just be a mess.

Also he was not immortal.

But those were the thoughts of the weak. The element of surprise simply made the most sense strategically, that was all. One did not announce that they were going into battle, one simply did battle and come out the other side the victor. Hopefully this woman or girl or whoever she was could see reason. Some of his best followers had been the ones to see reason. Hatori, Minegishi, Shimazaki…even Serizawa…though what that man saw had nothing to do with reason. He had his uses, though, Serizawa and Suzuki wished that he had ten more of him.

He knew that this woman would not be another Serizawa.

Serizawa had been procured under the most favorable of conditions. A bit like a dog which had been bred and raised to serve. A hunting dog, or one of those annoying little companion dogs that his son kept on dragging home. Sho was becoming such a failure…and it was all Masami's fault. There was just too much of her in Sho. He should have removed Sho from her influence earlier. Her influence, her weak nature, could be seen in Sho even to this day. The obsession with creatures smaller and weaker than himself, the irrational need he had to cart around rodents and felines and canines even though he knew how trouble it would be to care for these beings. Beings that gave you nothing in return. Sho was enough of a failure that Suzuki even contemplated having another child….

He had sworn off physical intimacy long ago.

And he was never giving anybody, let alone a woman, power over him like that again. The only person he would ever give that sort of power over him would be his equal and no man could ever be his equal, let alone a woman. Not even a woman who could destroy an entire division in one night…and cause so many of his scars to defect….and had the audacity to steal his energy from his soldiers….

She was not his equal but she would have her uses.

If she were a woman. If she were a girl, well...he had a son and his son, the failure that he was, would inherit the world that Suzuki would take over someday. Someday when Suzuki was either dead or no longer in control of his mental capacities. He was forty six now, time marched forwards. He was not immortal, he was no so delusional that he thought that he was, and while he knew that he would never die by anyone's hand he did not have any doubts of time's ability to wreck his body and steal his soul.

Woman or girl she'd have her uses. If she had the good sense to surrender. If she had the good sense to join him. He'd spare her, of course, because she was a rare thing. A female esper. Not only that but one who could rival him. Yes, it would be bad strategy to destroy her. She would have to be persuaded.

And if not, well then….

"The time has come to advance our schedule."


	59. Insurrection

Sho did not get a lot of sleep that night.

Well nobody had. Dad had decided that they needed to 'advance their timetable' which was dad speak for 'kidnap the prime minister first and then mess up Ritsu's big sis' because she had, apparently, depowered more of the awakened. Also one of them ran their mouths about the organization and dad was pissed about that.

Sho decided to stay out of his way.

He wasn't the kind of person that ranted and raved when he got upset. No, dad was always weirdly calm, almost bored, about everything. Even when Sho failed him somehow he was always calm. Calmly pummeling him but always calm. On the outside, to people who didn't know dad, this stuff with Ritsu's big sis didn't look like it moved him one centimeter. Sho knew better, though, and he did not need Serizawa shaking his head and shooting him looks. Sho knew not to get on dad's bad side when he was like that. He wasn't dumb.

This plan was, though.

This was the dumbest plan that Sho had ever heard in his life. Dad was going to have Shimazaki kidnap the prime minister on live TV when he was giving some 'women in the workplace' speech or whatever. Dad originally planned on kidnapping the prime minister during the next parliament meeting to make more of a statement but that was too far away. This whole thing was just so dumb. First of all kidnapping the prime minister live on national TV was going to leave a lot of evidence. Second of all people were not just going to forget, after all this was over, that an esper kidnapped the prime minister. Sho had seen X-Men, he knew how this was going to go and it wouldn't be anywhere good for anyone with powers. Third of all dad could had no way of holding onto power once he got it. People were going to be so pissed off and while dad was super powerful he was outnumbered by, well, normal people and they would not take all of this laying down.

This whole thing was so dumb.

Stupid, shortsighted, clichéd, and all of that crap. Dad should have just stuck to whatever it was he did before all of this. Whatever it was that he did before Sho was born. He had no idea, dad never talked about the past like that, but Sho almost wished that he had. He almost wished that he knew more about dad…but that was dumb. Who cared about dad? Dad was crazy. Dad wanted to take over the world. Dad made mom leave. Dad ruined everything good in the world and Sho did not know why he suddenly cared about what his dad did before Claw. Where he worked, if he went to school, what his parents were like….anything. Well it was too late for that now. Sho knew that it was too late and it didn't matter but…he still wished. There were a lot of things he wished, he found himself wishing, as his dad discussed strategy and stuff with everyone…or rather he gave orders to everyone. Sho included. He was supposed to blow up the Awakening Lab, presumably with people inside….Sho had no intention of blowing it up with or without people inside. So that was good. Those guys could use it as a base. He couldn't bring outside people to the safe house, not as many as he knew, anyway. Maybe just Ritsu and Teru…or just Ritsu. Teru could take care of those other kids. Sho needed Ritsu for…backup. Ritsu wasn't anywhere near Sho's level but he was strong and useful…no. That was the way that dad thought.

Sho needed to know that he was safe.

He cared about Ritsu, so much about Ritsu, and he needed to make sure that he made it through this. He needed to make sure that Ritsu was safe. Sho might have liked Ritsu as a friend or a best friend or as more than a friend or maybe he just really wanted to kiss Ritsu and all the stuff that came afterwards. He didn't know. He hadn't known Ritsu long enough to have figured these feelings out yet. All he knew that was he needed to make sure that Ritsu was safe.

Safe.

Which was so stupid. Nobody was safe. Dad was on this crazy 'take over the world' shit and that meant that everyone was in danger. Sho should not have been picking favorites like that. That wasn't fair to those other guys. He didn't know any of them really well but he knew that he should have made more of an effort to save them. He could…he couldn't save everyone. This was a city with millions of people in it and he couldn't save anyone. There was no way, none at all, so he just had to…do his best to save the world. To save his friends. To make sure that those Awakening Lab kids made it through all of this. He just had to make sure that they….he had help now and that was what mattered. He promised them victory and good times way back when they started this thing….not that long ago, actually. Felt like longer but whatever. He had made a promise and it didn't matter when he made it or how put on the spot he had felt or how impossible that promise was. He promised and a promise was a promise.

A promise was a promise.

He had made a promise to Ritsu, too, to leave his big sister out of this. Well he had promised not to contact her. He had a plan, a way to send a message, without sending a message. Ritsu was going to be so pissed at him for this. The thought of Ritsu being upset with him hurts but the thought of Ritsu dying hurts even more so, really, he'll take the lesser of two evils on this. Besides, Higashio could probably totally rebuild a house after it burned to the ground. He could probably even make some fake bodies, too, to really sell it. Yeah….that would get Ritsu's big sis plenty pissed off.

Ritsu would totally forgive him.

It was for the greater good. It wasn't like he was asking Ritsu's big sis to do anything. What she did after she found out that her house had burnt down was up to her. She could fight dad, go somewhere and cry, or dance on the ashes if she wanted to. He didn't know her, only what he had been told, but he was sure that she would get super pissed and come after dad. She certainly was strong enough even if she was some kind of pacifist or whatever. Yeah, this was a good plan.

Sho had this.

Ritsu did not have this.

"You want me to do, what, exactly?" asked Ritsu quietly. Sho sure loved visiting him in the early hours of the morning. No blanket nest on his floor, Sho had slept in his own bed that night at least, and he hadn't helped himself to any breakfast either. Somehow all of that just served to unnerve Ritsu.

Because Sho should not have looked that serious. It did not suit him.

"Pack a bug out bag. You know, a bag that has everything you need to live for seventy two hours? Pack one and then stash it somewhere far from here." Said Sho. Maybe he shouldn't have shaken Ritsu awake and opened with this. Maybe a bug out bag was one of those things that normal people didn't have. Sho had one stashed around and always knew to keep one in case something happened….but normal people didn't have to worry about foreign governments raiding their safe houses in the middle of the night.

"What the fuck….why? Is it happening now?!" said Ritsu sitting up quickly. He and Sho smacked foreheads, Sho had been leaning down close and invading her personal space as usual, but he did not care. He was about to jump out of bed before Sho grabbed his arm.

"Not right this second, I would have told you if it was! Sheesh, anyway not right now but today. This evening when the prime minister guy gives his address on women with jobs or whatever dad's going to have him kidnapped. That's when everything's going down. Ok? So I need you to pack a bug out bag and stash it because I need you with me and I don't know how safe the safe house is going to stay. Ok? I have people but not that many and…and I just need you, ok?" asked Sho. He was still holding onto Ritsu. He couldn't have Ritsu freaking out. If Ritsu started freaking out then Sho had no idea what he was supposed to do. Calm him down? There was no way to calm Ritsu down from this. This was a life or death thing, a saving the world thing, and Sho could not have Ritsu going off and doing anything dumb…like taking dad on himself…or warning his sister...or telling her to hide…

If the charge bomb didn't work then she was their only hope.

"….ok. It's happening today? Today, today?" asked Ritsu. This was bad, so bad, he thought that they had more time. Time enough for him to learn how to do…anything. He couldn't do half the stuff that Sho could do, even Teru could do, and he still didn't hold a candle to Shigeko….Shigeko….he'd have to…but if he warned her then she'd just go off and try to fight Sho's dad by herself…and then she'd either die or kill him…and it was his job as her brother to keep her safe.

And he had been doing a piss poor job of it lately.

"Yes, today. Just….dad says that I'm in charge of hitting the Awakening Lab…so those guys should be able to hide there. You have their numbers, right?" asked Sho. He sat on Ritsu's bed across from him mostly just to keep him from getting up and running around and panicking and stuff. Also because his bed was soft and warm and comfortable…Sho stifled a yawn. He needed less sleep than a normal person but he did need sleep….but he could sleep when this was all over!

"Rei does." Said Ritsu. His eyes darted over to his phone. She'd be up soon, maybe, if she had that dream again…or if she just wanted to talk. He should call her and tell her what was happening. She'd freak out…and that's a terrible reason not to want to call her. Regardless of how he felt or did not feel about her she still needed his love and comfort and all of those other things that a good boyfriend provided.

He looked away from Sho.

He was not being a very good boyfriend right then. The world was in danger, his girlfriend's life was in danger, and here he is thinking about the boy sitting on his bed looking like he was ten seconds away from passing out…and it was so…words that he should not use to describe Sho or anyone who wasn't Rei. Because she loved him.

"Good. Have your girlfriend tell everyone to pack a bug out bag and stay at the Awakening Lab for now. Tell her that they can use it as a safe house but I have no idea how long it's going to be safe for because, well, eventually dad is definitely going to notice that I didn't blow it up." Said Sho

"Blow it up? He wants you to-" said Ritsu

"Yeah, because I didn't recruit those guys my job is to blow it up…with everyone inside….I'm not going to do it! Really, I don't have it in me to kill anyone…and dad just likes to punish me, that's all. Really, I wouldn't hurt any of you." Said Sho looking away from him. He had done stuff, bad stuff, before but never anything that bad…not that Ritsu had any reason to believe…but Ritsu knew him…not that well but he knew that Sho was not capable of…right?

"I know that you wouldn't hurt me, Sho, I trust you." Said Ritsu putting his hand close, very close, dangerously close, to Sho's. He knew Sho well enough to know that look. Serious Sho was one thing but that was…that was sad Sho…and sadness did not suit him either. Ritsu didn't know him very well…but he was getting to know him better…and the Sho that he was seeing now did not mesh well with…well the Sho that existed in life was different than the Sho that existed in his mind…and this Sho was sad.

He was just offering comfort.

So he put his hand over Sho's.

"I trust you too." Said Sho. He held Ritsu's hand. Ritsu started it and Sho was not going to leave him hanging….that would not have been very nice at all. He liked…this was nice. People didn't usually touch him. Fukuda healed him and Serizawa sometimes hugged him after dad finished punishing him…but this was new. Nice. This was what normal, well-adjusted people, did. They touched each other and offered comfort. That was what friends did.

And they were friends.

And it was perfect.

"Anyway, back to logistics. Yeah, logistics! Listen, don't tell your parents what's going down. I got my hands on these tickets to a faraway onsen spa type place and they're going. I mean, they'd be crazy not to go on an all-expense paid vacation, and they aren't crazy. Believe me, I know crazy. Anyway don't tell anyone what's going down because they'll tell a lot of people and then dad's going to know that someone talked…and he'll figure out that it was me…and then, well, you'll never see me again. I mean, dad does not like people who talk…anyway! Go to school like normal but meet me at the safe house, I'll write down the address, or just let me bring you there. You doing anything after school?" asked Sho. Ritsu was just staring at him. Sho had to talk because Ritsu was staring and he just had to say something but he didn't know what so he just talked and talked and talked….

"Um….just a meeting. We're moving the school marathon date because of the bad weather…they're saying that the snow is coming in early…and it's been really cold out lately….um I'm not doing anything important….I can meet you after school." Said Ritsu

"Cool, cool, cool. I'll text you with more details but, yeah, this is happening and this is going to…happen. We're going to win, of course, so…we'll be fine. I know that we're going to be fine." Said Sho. He held Ritsu's hand a little tighter. This was happening…and it was going to be fine. Ritsu was there. Him being there…Sho didn't know why but it felt like…like everything really would be ok.

"We will…." Said Ritsu. He had no idea, truly, if they were going to be ok. He had no idea how he was even supposed to sit through a school day knowing that the world was about to end…maybe. That he could so easily die…he could die tonight. Today. Tomorrow. He could die at any moment and…and this was just…

He held Sho's hand tighter.

He felt ok. It felt like…and he had no idea why he felt this way….but he felt like so long as Sho was there then he would be alright. Maybe because Sho just…had this. He knew what to do and when to do it and all Ritsu really had to do was listen and not mess up. Easy. He could do that. That was how he had been living his entire life up to this point after all….

Sho held his hand back.

Or maybe because Sho was just…Sho. There was something there about him that made Ritsu feel like even if he didn't have all of this, if he were flying as blind as the rest of them, it would still all be ok. Because he was Sho. He was Sho and he was there and so….Sho. Indescribably Sho….

Ritsu let go of his hand.

Not the time. It would never be the time.

"Will you please go and tell your son that this is not the time to be talking to his little girlfriend?" asked Hana as she brushed her hair out. She had made the mistake of going to bed with wet hair and now she was paying the price. Maybe she should just put it up….

"Leave him be, Hana, he's not hurting anyone. If he wants to talk to his girlfriend then let him talk to his girlfriend." Said Ichimaro as he pulled out a white button down from his side of the closet. Well his little corner of it. The rest was taken up by his wife's extensive wardrobe. Why she needed a separate set of clothes for everything he did not know.

"It's five o'clock in the morning, Ritsu needs his sleep. He does not need to be distracted by-" said Hana

"He's thirteen, Hana, let him talk to his girlfriend. Ok? You can't keep on smothering him like this." said Ichimaro

"Smothering? I do not smother-" said Hana

"Yes you do, Hana, you really do….just….I don't want to lose my son too, ok? I don't want him to one day have enough and-" said Ichimaro

"No. I do not want to hash this out again. I messed up, ok? I messed up and Shigeko left. What do you want me to do? Kowtow? You know as I recall you didn't exactly chase her down the street herself, and how could you? How could either of us have stopped her? This is Shigeko we're talking about. She is well beyond our command. You think that I'm happy about this? Is that what you think?" asked Hana

"No, you know I don't think that at all. I just think….I miss our daughter, alright? I miss her and I'm worried-" said Ichimaro

"Then call her. She hasn't changed her phone number. Just pick up your phone and call her." said Hana

"You do it then if it's so easy." Said Ichimaro as he buttoned up his shirt with maybe more force than was strictly necessary.

"I did." Said Hana turning away from him. She pulled out her foundation and went to work. She watched her husband watching her in the mirror. What was that look? He was as much Shigeko's parent as she was and if he wanted to hear from her then all he had to do was pick up the goddamned phone and call her. They were living in the twenty first century and one of the benefits of this time period was the ability to be in constant communication with someone.

"….why didn't you tell me?" asked Ichimaro as he watched his wife get ready for her day. Her hair was brushed and now she was putting on her makeup. She was just putting on her makeup like she hadn't just dropped…this…on him. He would have liked to have heard from Shigeko, too. They had never been close, Shigeko had never been close to either parent really, but he still would have liked to have heard from his daughter.

"Because we didn't talk about anything that you would want to know about. Trust me on this." said Hana

"I want to know that my daughter is safe and…ok. I get the same automated calls you do, Hana, I know that she hasn't been going to school." Said Ichimaro

"She hasn't. We talked about that and she assures me that she'll be returning to school and this whole ghastly business can come to an end already." Said Hana

"Why did she even stop going in the first place? Hana, I want to know-" said Ichimaro

"Trust me, you do not want to know. Haven't you told me time and time again that the children are my respnsiblity? Isn't that my end of this? I mean, being the wife and all…" said Hana

"I kill myself ten, sometimes even twelve or fourteen hours a day, Hana, supporting this family. Your income helps but if it's a choice between me being out of work or your being out of work it's going to be you. You have the time to deal with them and you're just…you're better with them. You've always been better with them and I admit that I haven't been father of the year but I would at least like to know why my fourteen year old daughter has stopped attending school. God, Hana, what kind of father do you think I am?" asked Ichimaro

"The kind that does not want to know that his daughter started her period." Said Hana

"….you're right. I did not want to know about that." Said Ichimaro

"Well she did and that's why she's been missing school. She's afraid that the other girls will make fun of her or something. I don't know, this is Shigeko we're talking about. I talked to her and she said that she'll go back to school and now, maybe, these ghastly phone calls will come to an end." Said Hana

"Did she say why…Hana I get the same calls you do. I don't deal with these people but I get the same calls you do. Did Shigeko say if…anything was wrong?" asked Ichimaro

"…she's fine. We had a good, long, talk and she assures me that she's fine." Said Hana

"What about all of that business with the man she…lives with? What was her part in all of that? I'm on the same internet you are, Hana, I've seen what people are saying about her…and him." said Ichimaro

"….nobody can make Shigeko do anything that she doesn't want to do. She's fine and she…weathered that storm…with her friends I think. Yes, she spent some time with the Takane's and a few of the Takane girl's friends." Said Hana. She omitted the fact that she only learned this while she was waiting in line at the grocery store and ran into Mrs. Takane, a woman whom she had not spoken to since the children were small. The conversation even started with that dreaded line 'Is everything alright at home?' as if the goings on of Hana's family were the concern of anybody but herself and her husband.

"Good. I mean….I knew that there was no truth to what those people were saying." Said Ichimaro

"That was just a bunch of people with dirty minds and too much time on their hands." Said Hana

"I mean, this is Shigeko. I know her…as best as a father can know his daughter I supposed….and I know that she nearly brought the house down when she was five and Ritsu accidentally broke that doll she was always carrying around. Of course Shigeko is perfectly fine." Said Ichimaro

"Both of the children are. We…we raised good children. Ritsu is out there making us proud…despite the fast little girlfriend….and Shigeko is…we love Shigeko." Said Hana as she tied her hair back into a severe bun. She loved her daughter. She loved both of her children. Even if she didn't sing it from the rooftops she loved both of the children.

"I'm proud of Shigeko." Said Ichimaro

"I love Shigeko." Said Hana somewhat defensively

"I love both of them and I am proud of BOTH of them, Hana. Ritsu is practically a genius, top of his class, student council member, never been in trouble a day in his life, brought home a nice little girl…and she is a nice girl, Hana, even though they're trying to get up to what thirteen year olds do-" said Ichimaro

"She's fast, too fast for him. She's only thirteen years old, same as Ritsu but she wants..I can't even say. I caught her half naked in his room, I know I've told you that." Said Hana

"That's what thirteen year olds do. I talked to him, not at him, and he knows not to close his door while she's over. Honestly I like his girlfriend, she's cheerful, and God knows Ritsu could use some of that. I'm proud of him, Hana, and Shigeko too." Said Ichimaro

"You won't be when you see her grades this quarter." Said Hana

"I don't care about her grades." Said Ichimaro with a wave of his hand.

"Ichimaro! How could-" said Hana

"I want her to do well. I want her to succeed but I have realistic expectations, Hana. She's never been academically minded and that's just something that we have to accept for her. She's still doing very well for herself. That little business of hers is really taking off, well it was before all of this, but they say that all publicity is good publicity. She's putting her God given talents to good use and supporting herself doing it. I have no idea how much she makes but if she continues to build her notoriety by the time she's an adult there are a world of possibilities for her. Mostly in entertainment of course-" said Ichimaro

"Is she your daughter or your client?" asked Hana

"I want my daughter to do well, Hana, just as I would want my clients to do well." Said Ichimaro

"So you'd have her turn herself into a-a-a sideshow attraction?" asked Hana

"No, not at all, but there is money to be made in this Youtube thing she's been doing. Did you know that the top earners there gross over a billion yen a year just making videos? Hana, there is a lot of money to be made in this racket she's in. I know what I said when she was born, that we weren't going to exploit her…gifts….but this is different. She could become self-sufficient, truly self-sufficient, by the age of eighteen…and she doesn't even need to be self-sufficient." Said Ichimaro

"She is not spending the rest of her life with that man." Said Hana. She had seen the pictures, those ghastly pictures, and she could see how, in a few short years, how it wouldn't look like such wild speculation. How Shigeko would be a grown woman living with a grown man…and she would want to act as a woman did….

"No, of course not. I mean I am truly grateful that he took in our daughter but I know that eventually she'll grow up as children tend to do…if she doesn't just leave outright before that." Said Ichimaro

"Don't you-" said Ichimaro

"She has that tendency, Hana, and you're right. There is nothing that we can do to make her stay but we can at least look at the positives. She's making money, she's on her way to becoming self-sufficient, and also I looked into that boy she's seeing, Ritsu's foreign looking friend." Said Ichimaro

"As far as I know she's still seeing him." said Hana

"I hope she is, if he is who I think he is. Hanazawa, right?" asked Ichimaro

"Yes, Hanazawa Teruki." Said Hana taking a moment to remember that polite little boy's given name. Ritsu really should bring him over more often. Such a sweet, polite, well brought up boy. You could hardly tell he was half.

"The kid owns my firm." Said Ichimaro with a shrug.

"What?" asked Hana. She shook her head. Her husband and his jokes. Really.

"I'm not kidding. The Hanazawa family owns my firm and about a million others all over the world. I did some research and I'm pretty sure that Shigeko is seeing the heir to a truly MASSIVE corporate empire. Not Asagiri level, of course, that bastard has more money than God…but Shigeko managed to bag herself a rich one. So, yes, I am proud of our daughter." Said Ichimaro

"….I want more for our daughter than to turn herself into a sideshow attraction and-and-and I want her to have a future beyond landing herself a rich husband!" Said Hana. This was the twenty-first century. Shigeko had options that Hana couldn't even dream of as a child. When Hana came of age she had to fight tooth and nail to get hired at her firm as something beyond a secretary. She did not get through four years of university, earn degrees in finance and accounting, to have her only daughter grow up to make video for the internet to hold herself over until she married a rich man and then, what, lived her life chained to a house raising children? Children that would probably suffer from her affliction…Shigeko was a lot of things but she was also going to grow up to be a woman of the twenty first century and she should take advantage of everything that the twenty first century had to offer.

"And I want a mansion on the moon, Hana, but it's not going to happen. We should be grateful for what we have and make the most of this bad situation. Our daughter has her limits and we should just accept them-" said Ichimaro

"She has a future beyond marrying well-" said Hana

"Well we don't get a say in her future now do we?!" said Ichimaro. They stood there, facing one another, eyes locked and more poison ready to be spat, when the sound of Ritsu's bedroom door opening could be heard. There was the sound of footsteps followed by the bathroom door opening and closing.

"I'm going to work. I'll stop off at the Family Mart on my way and get some breakfast." Said Ichimaro as he looped his tie around his neck. Hana sat down on the bed and nodded. She listened to the sound of her husband walking down the hall, down the stairs, pausing to grab his laptop case, and then heading out the door. She heard the water running in the bathroom, Ritsu was taking a shower, which was odd for him…but then again he was thirteen now and growing up. Both of her children were. Growing up.

Growing apart.

She and her husband were growing apart. She and her children were growing apart. The children may even have been growing apart from each other. Ritsu talked about Shigeko's boyfriend more than he talked about Shigeko. Perhaps that part was normal. Shigeko and Ritsu were at that age when they didn't want to be each other's best friend anymore. The children were at that age, as well, when they would gladly trade their parents for a pair of potted plants. Maybe this was just the way that it was supposed to be.

She did not care for it at all.

She hated time and she wished that she could make it stop…or turn back. Turn back far enough to give herself a second chance. If she could do it all again…there's a picture of the children on her nightstand…if she could do it all again….she didn't know what she would do. Stop Shigeko from leaving. Stop the children from even getting into that fight. Stop herself from saying all of those awful things to her daughter….stop herself from even having a-

She gets up.

She has a daughter.

She finishes getting ready.

She has no choice in having a daughter.

She leaves the house.

She wouldn't even entertain thoughts of 'what ifs'. What if she had been more careful that night? Whichever night it was that Shigeko had bene conceived. Maybe if she had watched what she ate better. Maybe if she had spent less time in the sun. Maybe if she hadn't grown up so close to that nuclear plant. Maybe if her father had chosen a different line of work. Maybe if she herself had chosen a different partner. Maybe if Ichimaro's mother hadn't worked at the paint factory while she carried him. Maybe if her own mother hadn't bottle fed her. Maybe if she hadn't stood so close to the microwave. Maybe if she hadn't sat so close to the television as a child. Maybe if the planets hadn't been aligned as they had on the night that Shigeko had been conceived. Hana had no idea. She did not know what made Shigeko the way she was, she didn't know why only one of her children had inherited this affliction. She didn't know why God had cursed her daughter….and by extension her…with whatever it was that made Shigeko be whatever it was that she was. Human. More than human. Terrifying. Otherworldly. She had been odd her entire life. She almost never smiled, even as a baby, and when she did it always seemed so…hollow. She hardly ever emoted unless something particularly distressing happened. Always negative. Christmas morning could come early and Shigeko wouldn't even crack a smile…but she would stare…the goddamned otherworldly staring that she did…that none of the other children did…

If Hana could do it over then she would have only had the one child.

And she hated herself for feeling like that.

So she went to work. There was nothing else that she could do. She had to work to support what was left of her family. That was her role in all of this. She had to go to work so she could earn money to support her remaining child…the child who is already leaving her bit by bit…the last of her children. Even if her husband wanted another one she didn't dare play the odds on that one. It was by God's divine grace and mercy that she had been blessed with a child, a son, like Ritsu. A son who would go on to do great things. A son who was extraordinary in the ways that mattered…the good ways.

She would not roll the dice on getting another Shigeko.

She passes her daughter's shoes on the way out. An old pair that barely fit her….had Shigeko outgrown the shoes she took with her when she left? Would she have sense enough to get herself another pair? Ones which followed her school's dress code but also worked as casual and semi casual wear? Did Shigeko even know her own shoe size? Was she taking care of her shoes or just kicking them off at the end of the day? Was she facing them the right way in the genkan? Did she even have a genkan or…well everyone had a genkan. They had to have a genkan. But then again the man she was living with was practically a foreigner so who knew what sorts of habits that Shigeko was picking up…

She locks the door on her way out and doesn't give her daughter's old school shoes a second glance.

On the way out she checks the letterbox. The postman should not have been by that early but…there was an envelope sticking out of the letterbox…and the postman was always careful about putting the letters in just so…this was sloppy…sloppily put in and sloppily sealed shut. A sloppy envelope. A blue one, bright blue. She's about to dismiss it as junk mail, another one of those sweepstakes things or some sort of advertisement, but she's curious. The letter is handwritten, or more like hand scratched, and it declares her and her husband the lucky recipients of a random prize drawing….she didn't sign up for any random prize drawing….but Ichimaro did like to play the odds…what that man lost at pachinko every single year….

Oh. This was real. Vouchers to a spa…she had heard of this one before…very pricey. Only two, though, and they expired…THAT DAY?

Perhaps it was divine providence. Perhaps it was poor planning on the part of the spa. Either way this could be something…something good. Yes. This could be something good. Ritsu could stay on his own for one night…he had that fast little girlfriend of his but he wouldn't deliberately disobey his own mother and have her over, no, Ritsu was a good boy. Yes this could be…she took out her phone…this could be good for her and Ichimaro. After all, a day or so wouldn't derail their careers too badly…and Ritsu could be on his own for a little bit.

What was the worst that could happen?

"…they could die…" said Mob softly. She was sitting up in her own futon. She had been awake all night. She knew what she had to do. She had to do this on her own, one hundred percent on her own. She had debated with herself all night and this was the conclusion that she came to.

She closed her eyes and let her body go limp. She plunged backwards into her own mind. The world swam into view. The world was white but quickly became colored. Classroom colors. Her classroom. Empty aside from her desk. The other her was there in their school uniform. She had her hair in braids. Mob's hair was loose. She wasn't wearing their school uniform. She was wearing her comfiest skirt with a Spirits and Such T-Shirt and Teru's hoodie. It was his even though it didn't smell like him…and then it did. This was her mind. She made things real here. So did the other her. Shigeko. Shigeko stood up from her desk and walked over to Mob. They looked at each other for a while.

"**Let me do this. I'm strong. You're weak."**

"_Shigeko. No."_

"**Why not? We agree, we need to do this together."**

"_We're always together."_

"**Without the others."**

"_Without the others."_

"**They will break."**

"_They will."_

"**We will not break. We are strong. Together. I am strong."**

"_You'll break someone."_

"**If they deserve it."**

"_I don't want to break anyone."_

"**If we have to? Then what will you do?"**

"_I don't know."_

"**You know. You just don't want to admit it, not even to yourself."**

Mob opened her eyes. How much time had passed? The sun was out, now. Master Reigen was still asleep. Time had no meaning in there, in her mind, just like in Asagiri's mind…but that was done now. She had another, potentially much worse, problem to deal with. Asagiri's mind had been a terrible place and Mob had done terrible things in there but at least it was all just one of Mogami's lies. This place, however, was not a lie. This place was reality and the things that happened in it mattered.

The boss of Claw was after her.

He had people out there looking for her, dangerous people.

So she would be the one who had to seek him out and…and do something. She didn't know what she would do beyond trying to reason with him. She knew what was going to happen, though. She was going to have to fight. She was going to have to fight and maybe even….she had to do this herself this time. No more hiding. No more pacifism. No more…no more hiding behind Master Reigen like she had that night…the first time they fought Claw…the time she lent him her powers…no more of that. No more involving others, either. Teru had gotten hurt, gotten captured, and could have even died that night.

If she told anyone, anyone at all, they would try to help her.

And she could not have that. Even Master Reigen wanted to help…and she was not going to let him. He was soft, squishy, and so very breakable. This was something that she, and only she, had to do. She had to…she had to fight and she had to win. She was a magical girl, right now that was what she was. It was her magical destiny to use her powers to defeat the bad guy and save the day. She was an EVA pilot. She was an EVA pilot and though she did not want to be she had no choice but to get in the robot. She had to get in the robot because if she didn't then someone else would and that someone was going to die.

She didn't want to get in the robot.

But she had to.

Teru didn't want to go to school but he had to.

Even after Ritsu dropped this massive bombshell on him he still had to go to school. Teru thought, hoped, that he had more time. Not that time was going to do him any good at all. So far the opposing side consisted of him, Ritsu, Sho, and the guys from the Awakening Lab. There were also the former scars and upper echelon members that Sho had recruited but Teru did not trust those guys. No. Not even…Sho seemed like a good guy but….Sho was still the son of the man who was trying to take over the world…the man who had gone after Shigeko.

Teru half expected this coming battle to end with a knife in his back.

He had to do this. He wasn't doing it for the world or for the greater good or even as a favor to Ritsu. Not for himself, either, though it would be pretty great to be the guy who saved the world. No. This was not about him or the world or anyone in it besides Shigeko. Those people were coming after her. They were coming after her and if they caught her they would hurt her…or she would hurt them. She would not be able to live with herself if she hurt someone else. That was where Teru came in.

He was going to do this for her.

That was what love was. When you loved someone then you had to give them everything. You were theirs and they were yours. Everything that he had and everything that he was…it was all for Shigeko. For her. The love of his life. When this was all over the two of them…they could be happy. He could be happy. No more Claw making periodic attempts to kidnap him. Maybe if they were defeated, thoroughly and publically, then mom and dad might even….

He didn't care.

He didn't give a damn about his parents. They paid the rent and the utilities and gave him his allowance and barely complained when he went twice or even thrice over budget. They did their part and that was all he could ask of them. He didn't need them anymore anyway. He had been all alone since he was ten, he could handle being alone for the rest of his life…but not really. He has Shigeko and he will…he will always have her. He's already asked her to…in a moment of weakness. In an emotional moment in which he lost all sense of…anything. A moment where she was so close and yet so far…a moment when he realized how close he had come to losing her. He could not lose her, Shigeko, his Shigeko. He would never lose her. When all of this was over…

When this was over he'd ask her for real.

And she would say yes.

They'd iron out all the logistics later. Logistics weren't important. Assurances were. Assurances that this, and everything else, would be forever. That he would wake up next to her, or at least to her watching TV, and then they'd just…be. He didn't care what they did he just cared that they did it together. When this was over, when he saved the world for her, then they could just…be.

He'd take her to Tokyo.

He didn't give a damn what his parents would have to say about what would surely be a truly astronomical credit card bill. He just wanted to make her happy. He'd take her to places that she would like. Cat cafes. Arcades. The Evangelion store. Harajuku. He'd dress her up in silk…taffeta…pink…blue…gold…really every color was her best color. He'd dress her up and take her out and then…well they'd do whatever she wanted after that. He didn't care, well he did care but not so much that he wouldn't respect her boundaries, that she didn't want to have sex anymore. She didn't like the weight of him on top of her and she didn't like the intrusion into her vessel. That was fine. She said that she liked the other stuff he did…and that was what he would do. If she asked him to. He just needed to make her happy.

Her happiness was what mattered.

And she would be happy. Happier than Reigen had ever made her. She was so trusting, too trusting, and that was why she couldn't see how Reigen felt. She couldn't see the way he was with her. She couldn't see it but she still cared about that guy. She felt bad for him, probably, because she was just so caring. Also because Reigen made her happy. Well Teru would make her happier. He'd make her the happiest that she had ever been in her entire life.

Then he'd ask her for real.

He had to survive this coming battle to ask her for real. He had it all planned out and it couldn't happen if he was dead, even if he left behind a powerful spirit, so he had to survive this. He had a ring all picked out for her, too, he just had to order it. It was a cheap thing by his standards. A piece of stainless steel twisted to look like the lance of whatever from that show, the one that they used to trap the angel thing. It didn't matter if he knew it, Shigeko would know it. A twisted piece of stainless steel with a few amethysts set in it. He had seen something better, something which was more worthy of her, but she would appreciate a twisted piece of stainless steel above white gold and pink diamonds. She was the sort of person who appreciated things like that…little things…

He needed to survive this battle. He needed to get that ring to her.

He knew how he would do it. He had seen it in a movie once. He'd take her out someplace nice, someplace that was fancy but not so fancy that they didn't have anything on the menu that Shigeko liked. She had simple tastes, his Shigeko, and that was so incredibly endearing….he would keep it simple. It worked out in the movie. He'd slip the ring into her food…or drink because she really liked ordering french-fries with extra salt as a meal…maybe he could get them champagne…or sparkling juice because of the age thing…and just slip it into her glass…and then she'd be all 'What's this' and then he'd tell her…

Ask her.

Beg her.

No, not beg. That was unattractive. Also he did not want to pressure her into this….not that she didn't want this. Of course she did. She loved him just as much as he loved her and then she'd say yes and move out of Reigen's cigar box of an apartment and then everything would just be so…good.

Wonderful.

Perfect.

Happily ever after. Roll credits. That's all folks. Well an epilogue, of course, detailing how happy their lives would be. They'd graduate middle school and high school and then get married before they went to university. He'd study whatever and then work for his parents and she would study whatever and then probably work, too, because she liked to work and then they'd have a few kids, as many as she wanted, and then they'd be happy. Yeah. Then her brother would meet the guy of his dreams and they'd laugh over that one time when he thought that kissing Teru would be a good idea….

Ritsu would live through this.

Ritsu would live through this and they'd both reminisce, as old men, about the time they saved the world. Rei would survive too, and Ritsu would probably marry her out of sheer stubbornness. Then they'd spend a couple decades in a loveless marriage before Rei caught him in bed with some guy and then she took the car and the kids and ran off with some guy who was actually into her and then Teru would be there to comfort Ritsu and also bring up the fact that he told him to break up with Rei back when they were in middle school. Yeah. Rei would be fine.

All of those guys from the Awakening Lab would be fine.

They'd all get together when they were adults and just…reminisce. Go would probably have done some time for arson, everyone saw it coming, and Takeshi would either realize that he liked Rei or that Go was his soulmate, if Teru's instinctis for these sorts of things were to be trusted. The Shirotori brothers would grow old together and probably be weirdly enmeshed considering how much time they spent in telepathic communication. Yeah, it would be good.

The future.

The future that would totally happen because Teru was totally going to survive this coming battle. He had to. He had plans, big plans. Those plans could not happen if he was dead. Ergo he had to live. There.

It was just that simple.

"Rei, it's simple. Stay out of your sister's room. The same goes for you, Riko. Honestly, you two finally have your own rooms and you still feel the need to intrude on each other's space. I swear…" said mom. Rei was half listening. She was mostly just staring into her porridge. She had the dream again…the one about the explosion…so she called Ritsu.

Then Ritsu told her everything would be ok…then he told her to pack a bag with three day's worth of supplies and go straight to the Awakening Lab after school. He told her not to tell her family, too, because then other people would know and then the bad guy would know that other people knew…

And then he would hurt them and the person who told them.

"She keeps on taking my stuff, mom. I'll stay out of her room when she stays out of mine." Said Riko. Rei kicked the bag at her feet. It was her duffle bag, the one she packed when they took trips to see far away relatives, but now it was packed with all the things that mattered to her in this world. Her favorite clothes, her best sketchbooks, her makeup bag, the blanket from when she was a baby, and the toy that Ritsu had won for her on their first date…

Food too, dry food. Cereal bars and dried fruit packets.

And a couple big water bottles, too.

She didn't know if it would last her three days but she knew that she had to take the important things with her. After all she may never come back…

"Do I have to divide the house in half? You two need to work this out amongst yourselves. You'll never develop coping skills if I solve all of your problems." Said mom. Rei wanted more than anything to warn her family…but she couldn't. She trusted Ritsu and if he said that it would be a bad idea then it would be a bad idea. She loved and trusted Ritsu more than anyone else in the entire world.

She loved him.

He loved her.

They would be ok.

Even though when she looked into the future all she could see was white, blinding white, and she had no idea what it had meant. Blinding white and terror like she had never felt before, not even when she had been kidnapped that one time…she had no idea what it meant but she knew that she couldn't see past it…but she could not believe that she was going to die. No. That could not be how it ended. There were still so many things that she hadn't done…

"Coping skills? Mom, how am I supposed to cope with her going through my stuff all the time?" asked Riko. Riko was older and had done so much stuff. She had finished middle school and she was in high school and she had a part time job and a few boyfriends, or just boys that she did stuff with, and Rei had only had the one boyfriend and hadn't even finished her first year of middle school and hadn't even gotten a job so really all she had was her boyfriend and they hadn't even done anything yet…

She wanted to.

He didn't. That was what mattered. He didn't want to do anything with her and that was fine. She had to make sure that she respected his boundaries…even though he had way too many in her opinion. She just wished that he would ask her once, just once, to do…something. This or that…or maybe not THAT yet…but she still wished that she could just know what it was like. What a lot of things were like.

"Rei? Rei? Earth to Rei?" oh. That was Riko. Right. This was breakfast time and she should have been present in the moment because this moment may never come again…no. She was not going to die. She was not going to die because there were a million things that she still had not done and it was not too late.

"I'm sorry, Riko, I'll stay out of your stuff from now on." Said Rei because, well, she didn't want her last memory with his sister to be of a fight. She didn't want her last memory of her mom to be of her getting upset with them for fighting. She also didn't want her last memory of her dad to be him running out the door with a cup of coffee promising to pick up pizza on his way home….

"Who are you and what have you done with my little sister?" asked Riko. Rei didn't say anything. She just leaned over and hugged a very surprised Riko. Her foot hit the bag under the table. Everything that mattered to her could not fit in that bag. But she had still packed it.

She had still packed her bags but that didn't mean anything. She was still going to be coming home. She just did not know when.

"When did the new kid say we were going to be able to come home?" asked Daichi telepathically. He was stuffing his biggest backpack with all the things that the internet said were essential for a proper bug out bag. Blanket, clothes, dry food, water, medicine, tiny bottles of hand sanitizer….stuff that would be useful if they couldn't come home for a while.

"He didn't. Teru just said that Ritsu said that the new kid said to pack enough for three days. We don't have enough space for everything that the website said that we would need…." Said Kaito. He was wasting space in his bag, he knew it. He had a little photo album from his family's last trip, a stuffed dog that he had since he was a baby, the Christmas ornament that Daichi had made him last year…the marbles that grandpa had given him and Daichi back in the hospital before he died…that smooth piece of glass that they had found on the beach that one time…the drawing that Rei did of them….the sticker pictures of everyone from the lab that they had taken on that really fun day before all of this…

He feels a hand on his shoulder when there is none.

Telepathy.

"We'll be ok. Remember last time? We made it out of there and we'll make it through this." said Daichi. Kaito shook his head.

"I remember…but I want to forget…." Said Kaito

"I do too….but it was a lie. What we saw. We saw a lie and now our telepathy is strong enough that we can't be fooled by illusions like that…probably." Said Daichi

"But what if it's not a trick this time…what if we…if one of us…" said Kaito. Both of their minds were filled with the images they had seen that night…the other dead…so much blood…the fear…it wasn't over. It would never be over. No matter what happened it would just go on and on and on and on…

"…if you go then I go." Said Daichi seriously. Kaito could see it, could feel it, in his mind.

"What? Brother…what? Just…what? What are you even saying?! No, I don't want that! I could never, ever, ever want that!" said Kaito grabbing his brother harder than was necessary. He had screamed that in his brother's head. The pain reverberated through the both of them. He didn't care. They would not end like this. They were brothers. They would not be separated…in any way…and if something did happen then the last thing he would ever want would be for his brother to join him…was that wrong? Was it wrong that he wanted…that he wanted at least one of them to go on if the other were to…

"I do. I can't…If something happened to you then I don't know what I would-" said Daichi. He had no memories of a time without his brother. His brother has always been his one, true, companion in this world. A best friend who he spent every moment of every day with. What could he do without Kaito? He looked up at his brother's bed…it was his turn to have the top bunk…but if something happened then there would be no point in keeping track of who's turn it was….

"If something happens to me then I want you to come back home. I don't want mom and dad to…to have to come home and neither of us…would be…here. If something….happens…to me then I want you to…to keep going. If something happened to you then I would…I would keep going. One of us has to. For mom and dad one of us has to." Said Kaito

"But I don't know if I could-" said Daichi

"You have to. Promise me. I want you to promise me that no matter what happens…one of us is coming home." Said Kaito

"But I-" said Daichi

"Please…promise. Brother…brother I need you to promise." Said Kaito. He said that out loud. His voice broke as he said it, a pitch that was so high that it hurt…but he didn't care. One of them needed to come home. One if not both…

"Ok brother….I…I promise that if something happens to you I won't…I won't….I promise that I'll come home." Said Daichi even though he couldn't even see a scenario where one of them would go but not the other. They could not separate. That was what had happened, before, they had been separated. He felt his brother's presence in his mind.

They were never separated. They were never alone.

"The thing is, I think, that was just can't ever split up. I mean think about it, in movies and TV and stuff the shit always hits the fan when the group separates." Said Go, his phone balanced on his shoulder as he packed his gym bag with all the stuff that mattered to him in the world. Well that and survival stuff. That stuff was important too even though Go did not see them losing their base anytime soon. They had to defend the base, always defend the base. Without the base then they weren't even…whatever their name was. They needed a name, all the great super teams had a name, and they were going to go down in history as one of the greatest super teams ever!

"But we already have a plan and if we don't follow it-" said Takeshi as he packed his own bag. His phone was on speaker and his hands were free to fold up all of his clothes really small just like the Youtube video showed. They needed to pack enough for three days but just to be on the safe side he was packing everything that he could carry. Clothes would be important. Warm clothes because it was cold out. A section of his travel bag was devoted to all of his clothes…as many as he could fit. Another section was devoted to all the water bottles in the house. His reusable one, mom's coffee travel mug, and all the ones left over from the pack they got at Costco. That didn't leave a lot of room for food but he had a plastic bag full of all the vitamins that he could grab. Multivitamins, calcium tablets, iron supplements, fish oil pills, prenatal vitamins, all natural strong hair and nails vitamins, and something that promised to keep blood pressure down…

Which he needed.

Because he was freaking out. He was freaking out so badly that his mirror had a crack in the corner from when he lost control of his telekinesis. He had been worried, when it happened, how he was supposed to explain the crack…but then he remembered that if he failed and the world got taken over then it wouldn't even matter that he had cracked his mirror.

"Plan-shman. We'll be fine just so long as we don't separate. I mean, I can take whatever they throw at us but you guys on the other hand…" said Go as he stuffed his bag full of ramen cubes. He ate them raw, it was fine to eat them raw, and they never went bad so they were the perfect emergency food. Not that they would need emergency food. They were not going to lose their base. In fact, why was he taking so much of his ramen stash? He tossed some out and replaced them with his favorite manga volumes. He'd need something to do when it got boring…and it would get boring…

Because they had this.

He didn't see this whole insurrection thing or rebellion thing or whatever they were calling this world saving thing lasting too long. They had him…and Ritsu and Teru and the red haired guy, they'd help too, so really they had this whole thing in the bag. They could use that Reigen guy, the one who saved them, and Ritsu's sister but then again…they had enough guys. They had this.

Really.

"Go…" said Takeshi. He stopped folding and just stood there. How was he supposed to fit his entire life in one bag? And what happened if he couldn't? What happened if…if he forgot something? And he couldn't come home…ever again? And how could Go just think that…that they had this.

"What's up?" asked Go as he decided if he wanted to take this giant compendium of Akira. Rei said that her dream, the one that she kept on having, had been like the end of Akira so maybe he should do some studying….

"What are you…what are you packing?" asked Takeshi

"You know, ramen, soda pop, clean socks, manga, my spare charger, all the essentials." Said Go

"Oh. Do you think that'll be…enough?" asked Takeshi

"I hope so because I am running out of room in this bag. Why'd the new guy say only one bag? I mean, it's not like we're going to lose our base or anything." Said Go

"I think…I don't know. I mean I guess to travel light but…but I just can't…I can't leave anything behind." Said Takeshi

"Just take the important stuff, it's not hard." Said Go with a shrug even though he knew that Takeshi couldn't see it.

"I just…it's all important. Like, my whole life is in this room and I don't know…I don't know how to…choose. I mean I know I need water and vitamins and stuff but…but I just don't know how to choose what…else." Said Takeshi

"Take all of your favorite stuff, I guess, I mean it's not like we'll be gone forever." Said Go. There was a long silence. He pulled his phone away from his ear and checked to make sure that the call hadn't gotten dropped. It hadn't.

"Go…what if we are?" asked Takeshi quietly.

"Are what?" asked Go

"Are…I mean aren't…coming back. I just can't stop thinking about what could happen. Go…we might not come back." Said Takeshi. His voice was hitching, cracking, and he had no idea how to make it stop.

"Takeshi, man, you gotta calm down. We're going to be fine, really, I mean we were fine last time-" said Go

"Because someone saved us. If Reigen hadn't been there to tell those guys to let us go…Go…we might not have ever come back. I just can't stop thinking about it. This is just so much…worse…than that night. This is the entire world…we can't save the entire world. We're us, Go, we aren't anything. We've been practicing with our powers since we got them but we can't do even a millionth of what Teru or Ritsu or the new guy can do…and I just think….I just can't help but think-" said Takeshi

"Don't think. Takeshi, stop thinking. You're just freaking yourself out, here, and it's not good for you. You and me, we're going to be fine. We'll protect the others and we'll…we'll just protect the others and get through this. Together. We just can't separate. We just can never, ever, ever separate." Said Go. He was breathing, weird, and the room felt small. He felt small…but he wasn't. He was Go. He was a pyrokinetic Godsend.

"Right…we just…we'll never separate. None of us. We'll do this together…just like last time." Said Takeshi. The room had been small, then, and tight, but it wasn't. He would be fine. He had lived through being kidnapped before and he would live through this.

He emptied out his bag a little.

They'd be fine. They had each other and they would be fine.

Sho knew that everything would be fine. He had a plan, he had guys, and he had a plan. He was confident, the most confident that he had ever been in his entire life. He had this. Everything would be fine.

In fact he was so confident that everything would go well that the minute he got back to his room at the base he passed right out. He didn't need as much sleep as normal people but he did need sleep. He needed it and he hadn't gotten it so he was getting it now and he would have loved to get more of it but as soon as he fell asleep, it seemed, he was woken up with a shake.

Sho felt him before he even opened his eyes.

Even though he knew that it was just Serizawa he still shoved him away with his powers. Serizawa barely moved, used to what happened when he tried to wake Sho, and he didn't take it personally. Sho just got kind of jumpy, that was all. It didn't mean anything. Sho was still his friend and that was something that would never change.

Even if he had been acting strange lately.

"Serizawa….it's too early." Said Sho with a groan. He pulled his pillow up over his head and used his powers to turn himself into a blanket burrito.

"Sho, you have to get up now." Said Serizawa

"But I'm tired." Said Sho

"I know but I have to wake you up now." Said Serizawa

"At this hour? Come back when it's not so early." Said Sho

"Please? Sho, please get up. It's not that early, actually it's pretty late…" said Serizawa

"Wake me up tomorrow." Said Sho with a groan.

"I-I would love to but the P-President-" said Serizawa. He didn't want to wake Sho up. He didn't get much sleep at night, even for an esper, and some nights he didn't sleep at all. Serizawa usually stayed up with him those nights. They ate snacks and played videogames…but those times had come and gone, it seemed. Sho had been going somewhere else at night, those nights when he couldn't sleep, and Serizawa hoped that he was ok. Maybe when all of this was over the President would let him keep whatever pet he had hidden away this time instead of….yeah. Maybe as a reward for all of Sho's hard work…or just because. Sometimes parents did things just because….good things. Good things, not the kinds of things that made their kids yell and scream and cry all night.

"Dad?" asked Sho. He kicked his blanket burrito off and sat up quickly. Dad wanted him? Sho, for a moment, sees his aura lash out from him. An angry spike of red. Serizawa puts up a barrier. He doesn't blame Sho. His father is very strict with him…and somewhat short tempered.

"Nothing bad! I mean….I mean he didn't find your pet…not that I know if you have one again!" said Serizawa. If the President asked him flat out if Sho was keeping more animals there was no way that he could lie…but if he didn't know either way then it would not be a lie. The President had done so much for him that Serizawa never, ever, ever wanted to deceive or hurt him…but Sho was his friend and he didn't want to see his friend hurt, either.

"I don't. What's he want with me, anyway? Are me moving the schedule up again?" asked Sho. He was the picture of calm, on the outside. He needed to steady his aura. Serizawa was one of those guys that always saw auras and he could read them, too. He could read Sho, anyway. Sho needed to keep his aura steady before Serizawa started asking him a bunch of questions.

Serizawa would never betray dad.

"No, not that he's told me. He just told me to come and get you." Said Serizawa. He saw Sho's aura. He knew that Sho was upset. Serizawa didn't blame him. Whenever the President sent Serizawa for him…Serizawa knew that it was not his place to question the President. He didn't know why the President had to be so hard on Sho but…Serizawa was just himself and he did not get to have an opinion on how the President raised his son. He must have been doing something right, Sho really was a great person.

"….why?" asked Sho. He shook, a little, then. His body shook and his aura shook. Dad sent Serizawa for him….Sho hates when this happens. It means that he's messed up. It means that he's going to get punished. He doesn't know if he can just lay there this time. The best thing to do is just to go limp and let dad do…whatever. Toss him around. Pummel him. that awful thing where he just sent pure energy, it felt like, coursing through Sho until…

No. You've been through this before. Just take whatever he feels like dishing out. You've done it before.

"It won't be so bad." Said Serizawa. He reached over but pulled away. Right. Sho did not like to be touched when he was like this. Serizawa learned that one the hard way. He instead opened his umbrella and held it over Sho. Sometimes that helped. Sho was a strong person, he'd be fine, but sometimes he forgot that. He was stronger than Serizawa ever could be, anyway.

Maybe if he were a stronger man then he could have….at least asked the President to be a little nicer to Sho. At least asked. He would never be strong enough to intervene, he knew that, but he could at least be there for Sho when it was all over.

"Yeah…you're right. It won't be so bad." Said Sho. He jumped out of bed, he had passed out fully clothed, and he walked down the hall in the direction of dad's aura. There weren't any awakened in this part of the base, thank God, because for some weird reason their auras looked just like dad's. It was so weird…kind of like he was looking at a hundred versions of his dad. Sho didn't understand what all of that was about. His aura was red, too, but metaphysically he was not his father. Even though he had been through the awakening process he was nothing like those awakened soldiers….or dad.

He and dad were not alike.

Just because they were father and son that did not mean that they had to be alike. He knew nothing about dad, nothing at all, so he figured that they had nothing in common. Dad didn't have friends, for one thing, just people he collected and used. Sho had friends…sort of. Ok, so he had collected those guys from the Awakening Lab and he was using them but…but he was making friends, too. Friends who weren't Serizawa. Ritsu was a good friend. Maybe more than….no. That was another way he and dad were not alike. Dad didn't and couldn't like anyone who was not himself. Maybe that was why he had made the awakened in his own image.

He was not God.

No matter what dad thought he was not God.

Even though his ultimate plan was to rule on high and remake the world according to his vision. Even though all of those cult guys, the ones who funded all of this insanity, thought that he was the avatar of a God or something like that. Dad was not God. A God could not be defeated and dad could and would be defeated.

That was how Sho steadied his aura.

Which was good because dad was being unusually open. His aura was spread out far, almost like he was trying to touch everyone, which was weird because usually he was super closed off. Sho felt his dad long before he saw him. Dad was…Sho couldn't get a read off of him. He always said that there was no greater power than the power of self-control. He only awakened, he called it, under extreme stress. Maybe dad wouldn't be so stressed if he did something with his life besides all of this. Things that regular people did. Went to work, watched TV, made friends, painted bowls of fruit, anything but this. Anything but this weird, insane, crazy, certifiable, plan.

Dad was not God.

Even though he was sitting at his desk like he was ruling on high from the heavens he was not God. He was alone, now, which was not good. Not good for Sho, anyway. Serizawa got annoying with the closing his eyes and shaking his head and crying, dad said, which was why dad didn't like to punish Sho in front of Serizawa anymore.

Sho could take it.

"Sho. Explain yourself." Said dad without even blinking. Dad stared, sometimes, or a lot of the time. Sho didn't spend too much time with him to speak to his habits but he knew that he did not like that blank way dad stared at him. There was nothing behind his eyes, nothing at all. Just the staring. The never-ending staring.

"I took a nap and then Serizawa woke me up and said that you were looking for me." Said Sho with a shrug. He tried to force his aura to stay calm, placid, like nothing in the world could hurt him.

"Are you being intentionally dense?" asked dad

"I'm not being anything at all." Said Sho

"Did you think that I wouldn't notice?" asked dad

"I don't think nothing at all." Said Sho

"I see. Then let me fill you in. I know that you've been going out at night." Said dad

"Yeah, dad, because I'm permanently jetlagged. I don't even know what time zone my body thinks it's in right now. We haven't been back in Japan for very long-" said Sho. Hands in his pockets, shoulders shrugged. Eyes focused on the bridge of dad's nose. Not high enough to make eyes contact and certainly not high enough to stare at the caterpillars he called eyebrows. Sho, when he was younger, would stare at dad's eyebrows because they were funny and helped him stay calm. That always made dad madder. Now he gave something close to eye contact.

"I had you followed." Said dad. Sho, for a moment, forgot how to breathe. The world was not turning anymore. Everything stopped and all he could think to do was RUN AWAY. He had his bag, he had a lot of cash, and he knew if worse came to worse he could always live his life on the run…forever….

"So?" said Sho trying to sound calmer than he felt. Ok…so dad might have known….but then if dad knew why didn't he just come out and start hitting him? Or whatever? What, did he plan on making a long speech detailing his entire plan and gloating like a real supervillain?

"I thought that you had taken in another stray but I never imagined that it would have been a human being." Said dad. Sho shook, a little. Ritsu…dad knew about Ritsu….dad knew that Sho cared about Ritsu…and Sho knew what dad would do. What dad did. What dad always did to anything that Sho cared about.

Red.

So much red.

Splattered **everywhere.**

"You've been leaving the base at all hours to see someone and sneaking back in every morning. I suppose that you are at that age." Said dad

"I don't know what you're talking about." Said Sho. How could he have not noticed? Dad was bluffing. If he had sent someone to spy on Sho, even Shimazaki, then Sho would have noticed.

"I had one of the depowered follow you. They do still have their uses. Your range is impressive, Sho, but you rely on your ability to sense others too much. I had you followed and what was reported back to me was…troubling." Said dad

"What? I'm not allowed to make friends?" asked Sho

"Allies. You may collect allies." Said dad

"Fine. I'm not allowed to 'collect allies' then?" asked Sho

"Not under my nose you're not. Don't think that you can get things past me, Sho because you can't." said Suzuki. He wondered how his son would try and explain himself this time. Thanks to their now advanced timetable Suzuki wouldn't have the spare manpower to take care of…whatever this was. If this was an esper then he would be recruited and if this was a normal person then they would be disposed of.

He was so tired of disposing of his son's pets.

"I never tried to get anything past you, dad, I just thought that I was allowed to maybe make a friend that you didn't pick out for me. What, am I just supposed to hang out with Serizawa for my entire life?" asked Sho. Suzuki held his gaze on his son but let his aura flare out, just a bit. Serizawa. At some point he had made 'friends' with Sho. Sho did not need any more weakness in his life than he already had and Serizawa was, if anything, a weakness for Sho. A friend. A useful pawn, yes, but never a friend. Still, this served it's purpose. Sho was thirteen now, almost fourteen, he was at that age, that awful age, when he would try and rebel. Sho's rebellions were small but needed to be taken care of before they grew into something more. That is unless they were useful. Sho's 'friendship' with Serizawa served it's purpose. Serizawa would never leave and Sho would, in turn, never try to leave as well. Which was good for Suzuki, as much of a failure as his son was he had no interest in making another.

"I expect you to focus on the task at hand. Once all of this is over, and it won't take long, I'll have found someone for you." Said Suzuki simply. Another way that his son had failed him. His legacy was too great to have it end with Sho. He did notice things about his son, and the things people said about him, and he did not approve of this new development in his son's life. There were so few female espers let alone ones his age. The only child esper of any skill he had managed to acquire was still a child. Age gaps mattered to people's Sho's age. Well no matter. Once he found the girl, and he was becoming more and more certain that he was searching for a girl and not a woman, she would serve her purpose.

"What the hell does that mean?" asked Sho. He really should make more of an effort towards self-control. Anger. Distrust. Disgust.

"I know how old you are and I know exactly what someone your age would be sneaking out to do." Said Suzuki. He had no opinion on this subject beyond the fact that he did not want his bloodline to end with Sho. Sho was…Sho…but his children could have some potential.

"I don't know what you think you know-" said Sho

"What you do in private is your business but I do want grandchildren. I am not going to remake the world just to see my legacy end with you." Said Suzuki. Sho wore his emotions on his sleeve. He lashed out, without planning to it seemed, and Suzuki was loathe to see him do it. Power without control. By the time he was Sho's age he had managed to contain his powers. Childhood was different, a time that Suzuki does not like to remember, but adolescence was a good time. No more parents to drag him down, the power within himself tamed and controlled, and a world that fit in the palm of his hand.

"Dad! I'm thirteen and three quarters!" said Sho

"I know your birthday." Said Suzuki

"Yeah, than you should know that I am not banging-" said Sho

"I wish you wouldn't use that word, Sho, it's so juvenile." Said Suzuki

"Yeah, juvenile, because I'm a kid!" said Sho

"You're young but not at all a child." Said Suzuki

"I'm still not banging anyone." Said Sho

"Then what other reason would you have for sneaking off to see this boy in the middle of the night, staying out all night, and then sneaking back to your bed in the morning?" asked Suzuki

"Dad! Just-I'm-we're….ugh! Dad! Just shut up! Ok?! I'm not banging him!" said Sho. Then he covered his mouth. Suzuki held his son's gaze. Fear, now. Good. The boy still had some sense.

"I know how long you can keep this up for so I'll get to the point. What you do in private is your own business. If this boy is an esper then recruit him and if not then he will be disposed of. Since you refuse to choose the company you keep carefully I see that I'll have to be choosing it for you. The female esper who's been evading us, the one who destroyed the entire Seventh Division, is someone who I suspect, based on physical appearance, may be around your age." Said Suzuki

"Dad…you're not seriously saying-" said Sho

"Since you refuse to choose the company you keep carefully I will make that choice for you. You're young and self-centered, you cannot see the big picture-" said Suzuki

"Dad! What the fuck?!" said Sho. He did not like the way dad said that. Dad had already picked out a friend for him, what, did he plan on picking out a boyfriend for him too? And Ritsu…Sho knew what dad would do to Ritsu…he had done it so many times before to so many people, before, and the thought of that happening to Ritsu…Sho's going to be sick.

"I wish you wouldn't say that, either. Honestly Sho, you are such a child sometimes." Said Suzuki

"Yeah, I'm a kid! I'm thirteen and three quarters! I am not banging anyone and I don't want…what the hell? That's…why would I want that!? Seriously! That is the most messed up thing you've ever said to me!" said Sho

"Teenagers. Everything is so dramatic with you. One day you'll see that the picture is bigger than just what you would prefer. Sacrifices must occasionally be made for the betterment of the world." Said Suzuki

"Sacrifices? You're talking about-about-about-I don't want that! I could never want you to force me to…force someone to….dad! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" said Sho

"I wish you wouldn't shout." Said Suzuki

"And I wish that you wouldn't talk about finding some girl for me to-to-to…I am not banging her and you can't make me! Seriously, dad, that's the sickest thing I've ever-" said Sho

"You'll get older and you'll be able to see someone's perspective besides your own. I will not throw my legacy away on you, Sho. This cannot end with you. I am not going to throw thirty years down the drain for you." Said Suzuki

"Then have another kid! Have two kids or three kids or ten kids or a hundred! Leave me out of it!" said Sho

"No. The last thing I need to create is a crisis of succession. I've done my duty and passed my abilities down to you. You'll do your duty and pass your abilities down to your son." Said Suzuki

"So I'm just…an obligation? You made me because you wanted a-a-a-…pawn?" asked Sho

"Yes. I needed a son." Said Suzuki. He didn't tell Sho that it was Masami who wanted him. That his existence had been a complete and total accident, a happy one at the time. A world of promise existed within Sho when he was born. The promise was largely gone with each passing day. Sho became more and more emotional, unstable, and weak with each passing day and Suzuki had no idea what he was supposed to do about it.

There might be hope for the next generation.

"Then I am never having kids. If that's how you see me…I am never having kids. I could never, ever, ever do this to them." Said Sho. Suzuki would have rolled his eyes had he been thirty years younger. Such conviction. The conviction of a thirteen year old boy.

"Don't be like that. Obviously you won't be having children anytime soon, I doubt that you're physically even capable of doing such at your age, but you will someday. In a few years once things have settled. I don't understand you at all right now." Said Suzuki

"What's there to not understand? You can't just-just-just bring some girl here and tell me that she's supposed to be my girlfriend or my wife or whatever! She's not going to want that and I'm not going to want that! I don't even think I like girls and I definitely don't want one that doesn't want anything to do with me!" said Sho

"You'll change your mind as you get older. I don't understand you at all right now but you'll change your mind. I thought that you enjoyed caring for creatures weaker and smaller than yourself, Sho." Said Suzuki

"How can you…people aren't…so you're so tired of killing all of my pets that you, what, want me to take care of a girl and a baby? How does that make any sense at all?" asked Sho

"It will when you get older and you realize that you cannot see everything that you have worked for go down in ruins. You're young, Sho, and you cannot conceptualize the fact that someday you and I will both be dead. I may be able to rule the world but I cannot stop the march of time for either of us." Said Suzuki

"Dad-" said Sho

"You and I will both be dead some day and the world will be left to your children. Then they will die and the world will be left to their children. When I was young, a little older than you, I came to the realization that I may be the supreme being, the protagonist of this world, but one day my story would end. As powerful as I am I do age, as do you. I knew that I needed a son, someone to carry on my legacy, so I had you." Said Suzuki

"So you just tricked mom into having me because you were afraid to die?" asked Sho. Suzuki said nothing, he simply stood up, slapped his son across the face, and sat back down.

"I never tricked your mother into anything, Sho. Your mother wanted you." Said Suzuki. Sho knew better than to mention Masami. Another way his son had become a failure, he just could not learn.

"She…did?" asked Sho. It hurt, but not that much, being hit. It felt better, though, because dad never talked about mom. She wanted him…well of course he knew that. She wanted him but she couldn't take him with when she left because…he didn't know why…but mom still loved him.

"I do not fear death and neither should you. Death is inevitable. While we are here we should make the most of what we have. That is why we're doing, what I'm doing, all of this. I was blessed with the power to rule the world as a I see fit and you…you are me. You are a part of me. You will never rival me but you are a part of me just as your children will be a part of you. You aren't happy about this, you think that the plan will fail and you think that in finding a partner for you I'm robbing you of your autonomy. You'll see things my way as you get older." Said Suzuki

"….I'm my own person, dad, I'm not a part of you." Said Sho

"Obviously not literally. You are such a child sometimes…obviously you are not literally a part of me but you are an extension of my being. I regret the circumstances of your creation, you could have been something great instead of what you are, and I regret that my power was halved when I created you. You are only half of what I was when I was your age and I doubt that your power will ever meet mine. Your children will exceed you, however, and that is something to be proud of. I do so wish your mother had been an esper…but that is neither here nor there. You will inherit the world that I am creating and then your children will inherit the world that you'll leave for them. Hopefully they'll go on to do all you're meant to, all that you'll fail to." Said Suzuki. He said it without malice or anger or disappointment. He simply stated the facts of the situation. The flat facts. He didn't care one way or another how Sho felt about this. As long as Sho followed orders the way he felt didn't matter at all. Just so long as he didn't become any more of a failure than he already was.

"Can I go now?" asked Sho through clenched teeth. Suzuki motioned for his son to leave him. Sho didn't need to be told twice.

Who the hell did that think he was? How dare he even think that Sho would go along with…well he had gone along with a lot over the years but never something so, transparently, wrong. Whatever. Let dad make whatever crazy plans he wanted to make. Sho didn't care. He'd be stopped soon and then everything could…Sho had no idea what everything would be like but he knew that when this was over he'd never have to deal with his dad again. Ever. He'd be free to do whatever he wanted. No more crazy plans. No more having to sit there and listen to crazy talk. No more having to listen to what a failure he was. When this was all over then…then things would be so much better.

Sho felt the side of his face. That entire side felt warm and tender. Dad was strong, stronger than a man as skinny as himself should have been. Whatever. Sho healed fast and it wasn't like he hadn't been popped one before. Hell, that was literally the least that dad could have done. He didn't seem his usual level of pissed off about the whole Ritsu thing…but Ritsu was still in danger. Dad got rid of all of his pets because he loved them.

What would he do to a person?

The same thing he did to every person who pissed him off. He'd hurt them, get rid of them, and all of that. Dad wouldn't get rid of Ritsu because Ritsu would still have his uses…just not the kind that dad wanted…which was so gross and so crazy that Sho was amazed that dad hadn't once thought to himself 'hey, maybe I shouldn't be doing this because my son is his own person and can decide who he wants to bang and when and who he wants to have kids with and even if he likes girls or not' or something along those lines. Poor Ritsu's big sis….that dad would even think to…

Dad had gone fully around the bend.

And there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

"Sho! Are you….did you get punished?" asked Serizawa. He had been waiting for Sho in his room with a first aid kit, snacks, a soft and heavy blanket, and a game already set up. Things that would make Sho feel better. Serizawa had no idea what that whole thing had been about. The President just said that Sho had been taking in strays again…which maybe or probably meant that Sho had another pet…and the President really hated animals….

"What do you think?" asked Sho showing him the side of his face. He felt the energy around them crackling. Serizawa was getting upset. Sho knew that he should have felt guilty for making Serizawa upset and all but right now all he could feel like was kicking holes in the walls.

"Oh! You…you'll be alright. You've had worse. I mean…I think you'll be fine. I-I tried calling Fukuda but he won't pick up-" said Serizawa

"It's fine, he just popped me one. It's whatever." Said Sho sitting down on his bed. Why did dad have to be like that? Why couldn't Sho just get a normal dad, one who didn't want to hurt people or take over the world or go girlfriend shopping for his son? What had he done to deserve this?

"Oh. I'm glad that you're-" said Serizawa

"Did you know?" asked Sho

"That the President was upset with you? Well he didn't tell me anything but he did send me for you…and you know what that means…" said Serizawa

"No, not about that. About what he's planning." Said Sho

"I know the plan, I mean I remember my part in it! I'm just supposed to protect the President in case anyone gets any ideas. I mean, it's what I usually do so it won't be too hard for me. Everyone else has a much bigger part to play. Is that why he was mad? Because you didn't want to blow up that building? Because you know you can make sure that the people get out and just tell the President that it was empty." Said Serizawa. He didn't think that he could do that, blow up a building full of people, but the President said that he was just weak like that. World domination took sacrifices, the President said, and Serizawa knew that he could not make that kind of sacrifice. It was a lot to ask of Sho, too, because he was just a kid…and also even if the President ordered it the whole thing, a building full of people, just seemed wrong somehow…

It was not Serizawa's place to question the President.

"I mean what he wants to do to the…girl. The one who he's been having everyone look for." Said Sho

"The President is going to offer her the same deal that he offers everyone else." Said Serizawa

"Yeah, join Claw or die. That's not really an offer, you know. Not a lot of people pick option two." Said Sho

"That's because-" said Serizawa. It was because they could see the good that the President was trying to do. He was just acting in everyone's best interests and that meant that sometimes he had to be hard on people…or he had to have Serizawa be hard on people.

"Because nobody wants to die! Do you think…you know what he's planning? He's planning on making her my wife or my girlfriend or something because he wants grandkids which is, like, so messed up!" said Sho

"….I didn't even know that he liked children…and anyway you're only-" said Serizawa

"I'm thirteen and three quarters! I don't want that and even if I did I'd want to choose the girl…and I don't even think that I would choose a girl…and I don't give a damn about throwing away a legacy or not being able to stop time from moving or not fearing death or whatever! How could he just…how could he think that I would go along with anything so….wrong?" asked Sho. It was wrong, what dad asked of him. All of the things that dad asked of him. That was the last straw. Well there had been so many things over the years that had been the last straw but every single time Sho thought that his dad had gotten to the last straw he just pulled out another like he was working at the restaurant supply store or something.

"I didn't know that he was planning on…that…." Said Serizawa. That was…he had no idea that the President even liked children let alone wanted grandchildren…and his own son was still a child…sort of. Chronologically Sho was a child and while he could act childish sometimes Serizawa was not ashamed to say that Sho was more capable than he was but…but how could the President…was it like an arranged marriage?

Those still happened, right? Maybe it was like that. Maybe the President just…just wanted to make sure that Sho was happy in life…and had someone in his life to make him happy. The President was Sho's father and he must have had his son's best interests at heart. That was what parents did, they wanted the best for their children.

"Don't you think that he's, you know, maybe going a little crazy? I mean, not only with this but-" said Sho

"It's not my place to question the President. If he thinks that something is a good idea then it's a good idea. He knows what he's doing and he wants whats best for all of us." Said Serizawa. He reached over and patted Sho on the back. Sho pulled away from him, right, because he didn't like to be touched…except for when he did…and it was so hard to tell with him sometimes.

"How can you still go along with all of this? Even after…" said Sho

"Because I trust the President fully. He's a good person who sometimes does things that seem wrong but-" said Serizawa. Sho got up. He didn't want to hear this. Not again. No matter what happened Serizawa couldn't even comprehend that dad was CRAZY!

"I've gotta go. I have stuff to do. You can stay here and play videogames but I have stuff to do. We all have stuff to do." Said Sho. He didn't give Serizawa a chance to say anything, Sho didn't want to hear another word. There was no way that Serizawa would ever come around to his side, even after all of that, and…and sometimes you had to do what was right…even if your only friend…

He had other friends now.

And they had a job to do.

Reigen had a job to do.

It was simple. Keep Mob in the house. He had woken up to Mob, in her school uniform, about to walk out the front door. She said that she had things she needed to do and one of those things was going to school and telling her brother that for reasons, she would think up the reasons on the way to school she had said, that he needed to stay home for a while until she told him that it was safe. Safe from what she would figure out what to say later.

She was a bad liar.

But she was planning on lying and that meant…Mob was serious. Mob was serious about this and she needed to…to stop being so serious. This was serious, what was happening, and Reigen would not dispute that but this was also not her problem. Even though these people were after her this was still not her problem. Let actual authorities do something. The government must have had a task force…or something…to deal with stuff like this. Right? He didn't know. He did know, however, that this was not the thing that a fourteen year old girl needed to be dealing with.

She had dealt with enough already.

"Master, I really should-" said Mob before her hand was grabbed. She knew what she had to do, she didn't want to do, but it had to be done. She had to do this because nobody else could. This was her responsibly. She was not going to lose…again. She had lost once, to Mogami, and she had no idea if Claw's boss was any better or worse than Mogami but she was not going to sit around and find out.

"How about we play one more circuit Mob, ok?" asked Reigen. They were playing SNES now and they had been playing all day. They took a break to make lunch…or breakfast…did it go by time or meal order? Either way they made ramen together and watched some of Mob's shows and now they were playing more SNES and after this…Reigen had no clue. He was running out of ideas.

He could not let Mob leave.

He had let her go off into battle once before and look where that had gotten them? This could so easily be another Mogami…or worse because this was real life. Of course there would have been some retaliation for the whole Seventh Division thing…of course there would be. He and Mob…they had done a lot that night…and of course someone would want them to pay. Not even them, just Mob. She had been the one to do, well, everything…

But not this time.

He hadn't been there to protect her that night, not when it counted, and he hadn't been able to protect her during the Asagiri job…and he hadn't been there for her after she went through all of that…but he was going to be there for her now. He was going to keep her safe. She refused to run away. Fine. Then they would hide. They would ride this thing out for as long as they could.

He had lost her once, he was not going to lose her again.

"Master, I have to go." Said Mob. She hated keeping things from Master Reigen but she could not tell him what she was planning on doing. She didn't fully know what she was going to do but she knew that if she involved anyone she loved, anyone she cared about, they would get hurt.

She was human but not the same as everyone else.

She was strong, strong enough that people were afraid of her, and that was normally something that she didn't like but now…someone was after her and they could go after the people she loved…so they should be afraid. It was ok to fight in self-defense. Sometimes you had to fight. Sometimes you had to do things that you didn't want to if it meant saving the people you loved.

"Mob…come on. Just once more. Please, for me?" asked Reigen. This was low, holding her hand like this, but if it kept her safe then he would. He should not have been exploiting the way that she felt about him but the ends justified the means. She needed to stay safe and alive. That was what mattered.

"Master Reigen…ok. Once more but I need to go and do…something. Something important." Said Mob

"I know. I know that you think that this is your responsibility-" said Reigen

"I need to keep you safe, you and everyone else, and that's why I need to…do something." Said Mob. Master Reigen of course knew what she was planning on doing. Of course he wouldn't have just thought that she was going to school. She did not want to have this conversation again. They were at an impasse.

"Mob…please. We can run away. We can hide. We can…Mob I can't lose you again." said Reigen. There was no tricking Mob into staying. There was no tricking Mob anymore end of discussion. They were past that. Of course she would see through his paper thin attempts at getting her to stay. She had always seen through him since the very beginning.

"Master…you won't lose me. You never lost me." Said Mob

"That isn't true and you know it. After the Asagiri job I lost you, Mob, and I can't lose you again." said Reigen

"You didn't lose me, I ran away. I thought that you didn't like me anymore so I ran away. This is different. Master, I'll come back. You know that I'll come back." Said Mob. She squeezed his hand tight. He was scared, she could feel it, because she was scared. Or maybe she was the one who was making him scared. Either way they both had to be brave. She didn't know who she was going to be possibly fighting or why but she knew that this was something that she, and only she, could take care of…and that was why it was hard to let go…

So she didn't.

"Mob…please. Please stay. I don't want…I don't want you to go at all. I don't care if you say that you'll come back, I don't want you to go…and if you do go then you're taking me with you. I know that when it comes down to it you're the stronger out of the two of us but…I still want to be there with you." Said Reigen

"Master, no. You know why you can't come. You'll break. I can fix myself but I might not get there in time to fix you." Said Mob

"That's a risk that I'm willing to take." Said Reigen

"I'm not willing to take that risk, Master." Said Mob

"Then say that you'll stay." Said Reigen

"Master Reigen…no. I won't lie to you like that. I already have to lie to a lot of people to get them to hide until I'm done doing whatever has to be done…don't make me have to lie to you, too. I hate lying…" said Mob

"It's not a lie if you're telling the truth." Said Reigen

"It is if it's not really the truth. I know that sometimes I have to run away but this is not one of those times, Master Reigen. I won't lie to you." Said Mob

"Mob, please just-" said Reigen before he was interrupted by Mob's phone chiming. She left the sound on, now, because she had been out of communication for way too long. Long enough for Tome to ask if she was dead, anyway, which was far too long. She called her phone over with her powers. Oh. A text from Ritsu.

"_I love you. Don't come home whatever you do." _Well that was certainly…cryptic. That was the word, the only word, that could describe that. First of all she and Ritsu never just sent 'I love you texts' that was her and Teru…not that the love that she and Teru had together was anything like the love that she and Ritsu had. That would be wrong. The second thing was that Ritsu was always begging her to come back home to the family…why would he say, now, that she needed to stay away from home. His home, he meant, not her home. This was her home, here, with Master Reigen.

But that was still very worrying.

Then her phone rang.

She answered it. It was Teru. She checked the time…he should have been at soccer. This was a soccer after school day. They were going to practice until there was snow on the ground, Teru had complained to her once, and she hadn't been outside yet that day but she knew that it hadn't snowed.

"Shigeko, I love you. You need to know that. Remember that." Said Teru. That was cryptic too. Teru was always saying how much he loved her but…but never in that tone. She wasn't good at tones but she knew that she hadn't heard that tone from him since…that night.

"What's wrong? I can tell that something's wrong by the way you're talking." Said Mob. The polite thing to do would have been to say hello and to tell him that she loved him too. But something was wrong and when something was wrong then it was ok to be a little but impolite.

"Mob, what's going on?" asked Reigen. He was loathe to intrude on her private conversations right then and there but if something was wrong…well that could be nothing or it could mean that her boyfriend, and the rest of those esper kids, were in trouble. Mob hadn't been the only escapee that night. He didn't know much of anything about those kids but he did know that they wouldn't last one minute against the Claw lackeys that he and Mob, only Mob, dealt with the other day.

"I just…Shigkeo, I love you. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You're the best thing to ever happen to me and I just…please remember that I love you. No matter what I need you to remember that I love you." Said Teru

"Teru…you're scaring me a little bit. You don't sound alright. You sound…I think you sound scared…and I want to know why." Said Mob. She had let go of Master Reigen's hand a while ago, it felt wrong to talk to Teru while she held Master Reigen's hand, but now she wished that she hadn't. She wanted to hold Master Reigen's hand or Teru's hand or someone's hand. She just needed someone…anyone…because this did not sound ok.

"Shigeko…I'm not scared. I mean…Shigeko just stay inside for a while. Don't go outside or look out the windows or watch TV or do anything on the internet or…anything. Just…there are things going on right now that I'm handling. Me and…the less you know the better. I just needed to tell you that I love you. That's all. I just needed to hear your voice one more time before…" said Teru

"Where are you? Teru, I can be there and help you-" said Mob

"No! Don't…don't look for me. You need to hide. Right now you need to hide. Hide your aura even, if you can, because….please Shigeko, just hide." Said Teru. His voice was cracking at the end of that sentence. He was crying. No. That was not good...he was not crying in the good way….

"Mob…don't." said Reigen. He knew what she was going to do. He put a hand on her arm. She needed to stay put. He had no idea what those kids had gotten themselves into but…but she needed to stay put. There had to be someone who's actual job it was to deal with whatever it was that those kids were dealing with.

"Teru…I'm not hiding. If it's Claw again then I am not hiding…but you should. Teru, run away. Sometimes you have to-" said Mob

"I am handling this! I couldn't handle it before but I am handling it now! I can keep you safe, Shigeko, so please just hide!" said Teru. Mob was not going to hide. She had been hiding all day and now…not the worst that happened. If she had just gone after Claw's boss before, back when those red aura guys had tried to mess with her and Master Reigen, then none of this would have been happening.

"Ok. I'll hide." Said Mob telling the Teru the first lie that she had ever told in their relationship. It felt bad, gross, like she had thrown up all over herself. Lying was wrong. When all of this was over she would apologize. When she ended all of this she would apologize.

"Shigeko…thank you. It's nothing, really, nothing that I can't handle. After this is all over I was thinking that we could take that trip to Tokyo together….just the two of us. You'd love Tokyo, believe me. Cat cafes, Harajuku, the Evangelion store, the big Sanrio store…you'll love it. We'll stay in a nice hotel, with a giant bathtub, and we'll do whatever you want…you'll love it. When this is all over." Said Teru

"That sounds good, Teru. When this is all over…whatever this is." Said Mob

"Good, good, good." Said Teru before there was an unfamiliar voice in the background. That was a weird accent…she had never heard anyone talk like that before. She had never heard that voice before….or had she? It sounded…familiar…but she couldn't place it.

"Shigeko…I have to go. I love you. Just…I can't believe I'm saying this but…stay at Reigen's. Don't go outside or…stay away from your parents' house. I have zero clue why but it's important that I tell you that…Shigeko, I love you. I will always love you. For as long as you will have me I will love you." Said Teru

"Teru…I love you too…" said Mob. Then the line went dead. She stood up.

"I shouldn't have waited, Master. That was a mistake." Said Mob. She was still in her school uniform. She should have just gone to school and warned everyone she could and then dealt with whatever it was that needed dealing with. Now it was too late.

She knew what had to be done.

"Mob, no, just wait a second and **think**-" said Reigen. He needed words. He needed some combination of words that would stop her in her tracks because she just…she could not leave. If she walked out that door then he…he ran the risk of never seeing her again….

"I **think** that I can win." Said Mob simply. No more waiting around. No running. No hiding. She was not going to let anything bad happen to Teru or Ritsu or anyone else she cared about. She didn't want to hear anything else that Master Reigen had to say unless it was 'I trust you, Mob' because he should have trusted her. She could win. She would win. She had to win.

Losing was not an option.

She could not lose again. She had lost, initially, to Mogami and she had almost been trapped forever. She should have just broken Asagiri so badly that she wouldn't have been a good host and then she should have used the power that she used to end the unreality to destroy Mogami, or at least weaken him enough to be captured, and then she should have put Asagiri back together and then left. She had held back that day because she was afraid of hurting Asagiri. Well she was not afraid anymore. She didn't want to fight but it was one thing to threaten her…it was another to go after the people she loved.

That was unforgivable.

"Mob! Where are you even **going?!**" said Reigen as he tried to pull Mob back to him. She wasn't budging. She was stay the course, walking to genkan. She called her shoes and NERV back over with her powers. She was actually doing this…and he was powerless to stop her…again.

"My parents' house. Ritsu and Teru both told me not to go there. That's weird of them so I'm going to check it out…then I'm going to find more of those red aura guys and I'm going to have them take me to their boss…and then I'm going to try and talk to him….and if that doesn't work then we're going to fight." Said Mob as she put her shoes on.

"Mob, no! Not again! You are not doing this to me again! I am not watching you walk into certain-" said Reigen

"My life is my own." Said Mob

"Not if you're dead it's not!" said Reigen

"Then I'll be careful not to die." Said Mob

"Mob…no. This is just…you can't do this to me again!" said Reigen

"This isn't about you, Master. This is about the people I care about. If Claw is after them then I'm the only person who can save them. It won't be like last time when I was so afraid that I had to lend you my powers. This is going to be different. I'm not holding back. I held back last time and we got captured. I held back when I tried to exorcise Mogami because I was afraid that I would hurt Asagiri and look what happened. This is something that I'm going to do. My life is my own and I'm going to save the people I love." Said Mob

"Mob…no. I'm the Master and you're the student and-" said Reigen

"You can't stop me. There's nothing that you can do to stop me. There's nothing that anyone can do to stop me." Said Mob

"I can order you to-" said Reigen

"No you can't." said Mob

"Mob…then I can beg you-" said Reigen

"No you can't." said Mob

"Then I can…I can hold onto you and never let you go-" said Reigen, his voice hitching up at the end. He threw his arms around Mob, well he tried to at least. A barrier formed between them. Her eyes met his. Red rimmed. A tear made it's way down her cheek.

"Master…I'm sorry." Said Mob. He was crying now, which made her cry. Or maybe she was the one making him cry. Either way she had to go. It didn't matter how either of them felt. Sometimes there were things in life that just had to be done.

"Shigeko….**please.**" said Reigen. He didn't know what he could say or do…because there was nothing that he could say or do. Her mind was made up.

"Arataka….no. I'm coming back…remember that…and remember that I love you…but I have to go…stay here and hide. Don't get hurt…and don't try to follow me…" said Mob. She opened the front door with her powers and stepped through. All the while Master Reigen was still trying to grab onto her. He was still trying to get her to stay. He was begging her, pleading with her, to stay.

But she couldn't.

As soon as she crossed the threshold between the tiny world of their apartment and the wide reality that existed outside of it she used her powers to pick herself up into the air and to carry her off in the direction of her parents' house.

And Reigen was powerless to stop her.

Teru had never felt so powerless in his life.

He readjusted his bag. It was full of clothes, his best ones, his laptop, all of his important documents, a spare phone charger, and some dry food and water bottles in case they 'lost their base' like Go kept on promising that they wouldn't.

"….guys, come on, we're going to win! Seriously, you're all way too negative." Said Go. Teru wanted to tell him to shut up already. The atmosphere was somber and Go needed to learn to read it. Teru had just made the most difficult phone call of his life…he would have liked a little peace.

But instead he was there, in the so called 'war room' which was just the media room with a big table in it, with all of the other Awakening Lab kids minus Ritsu. Well minus Ritsu and Sho…Sho who he knew was not to be trusted…

Trustworthy people did not go around burning down houses.

"Go…please knock it off. Ok? Ritsu isn't even here yet and-" said Takeshi

"He's not coming." Said Teru. There was a gasp from Rei. She was sitting down, the only one of them to have had the sense to sit down, but if she were standing Teru would have thought that she would have fainted.

"Where's Ritsu!?" asked Rei. Ritsu hadn't been responding to any of her texts or calls. She had thought, hoped, that he was just busy…that nobody had gotten to him…she looked into the future…she would see him again. She could not even begin to tell where or when but she knew with great certainty that she would see him again….

That could mean literally anything from him walking through that door in ten seconds to seeing him at his funeral.

"With Sho…Ritsu texted me that he's going to be at the safe house with Sho…and that Sho burnt down his fucking house…" said Teru. Shigeko was ok. She was fine, nobody had gotten to her yet, and she was hiding. That was what mattered. Not the fact that he knew that they couldn't trust Sho one bit. What good motive could there possibly be for burning down someone's house? And…AND now they were all sitting ducks…but there was nowhere else to go…and there was strength in numbers…and Teru just…he didn't know.

He just didn't know.

"What?" asked Rei. She could not…why? She thought that Sho was a good guy. He liked to draw….and he liked animals…and he could walk on his hands for a really long time without getting tired which was cool…and he had really pretty eyes….not that she had noticed anything like that. How could Sho have betrayed them….betrayed Ritsu…and where WAS Ritsu anyway!?

"Yeah, I'm with Rei. I mean we all have those thoughts but we can't actually act on them." Said Go

"No, you're the only one who has those thoughts." Said Daichi

"Not that we try to read your minds or anything." Said Kaito

"Well did you guys see anything in Sho's mind that would tell you why he would betray Ritsu like that?" asked Rei

"We don't-" said Daichi

"I don't know why he did it….I don't know anything anymore…" said Teru. He leaned against the wall. He knew that he should have sat down and taken a moment to just think be he couldn't. If he sat down then…then he might not have been able to get back up again fast enough when the time came to do…something…and he couldn't put his bag down anyway. That was his entire life right there in that bag.

"He won't pick up the phone…" said Rei as she dialed him again. She was crying, now, and she knew that her eye makeup was getting ruined, not that she had done that good of a job with it in the first place. No, she had bigger things to worry about now than how she looked.

"Let me try." Said Teru. She was crying. Rei may have been kind of annoying sometimes but she was still crying. She was a girl and she was crying and her crying reminded him of when Shigeko had cried and he just…he could not have this right now. She did not deserve this. Shigeko or Rei. Hell, Rei did not deserve half of the shit that Ritsu put her through.

Teru called Ritsu. It rang for thirty seconds before going to voicemail.

"Ritsu, if you do not start returning calls I'm going to walk over to your girlfriend and tell her about your little moment of temporary insanity. Then I'm calling your sister. Then I'm telling anyone who will listen to me. I know that you're there, you just told me about what Sho did to your house. If you're still alive then you had better start returning your calls and if not…if not then…then you were a good friend. Even if things did get kind of weird towards the-the end you were a good friend and I'll…I'll always care about you. Not in the way that you care about me but I will care about you." Said Teru quietly enough that the others didn't hear. He did not want to make what was possibly their last day on Earth socially awkward but that might have been enough to light a fire under Ritsu's ass that he needed to return his goddamned phone calls already!

Ritsu wanted to answer his goddamned phone already.

It had been ringing for a while but Sho wouldn't even let him check it. He texted, suddenly, saying that there had been a change of plans and that Ritsu had to go to the Claw safe house and not the Awakening Lab. That made no sense. The Awakening Lab had nothing to do with Claw. Sho had been going on and on about how this location, the one where he was keeping the defectors, may have been compromised.

"Don't answer that!" said Sho. He could hear what sounded like every single firetruck in the city through the walls. This was a safe house but it had never felt very safe. This was where dad had stored Fukuda and Ootski and all the rest…also it was where Sho had stored all of those defected scars that he had managed to track down. It was risky because dad still owned this place and he could have had it bugged…not that he even needed to with Hatori being able to spy on anyone at any time.

Why did everything need to have a camera in it?!

"Why should I even listen to you? You burnt my house down!" said Ritsu

"I had no choice! Dad…Dad said some really bad and gross and sick shit to me today…and also he had me followed…and he knows about you-" said Sho

"He knows!? Why in the hell are we here, then!? If we're compromised-" said Ritsu

"We are not compromised! I mean…this isn't compromised. What we're doing right now. He just…he knows about you and he thinks that…he has this sick plan that…I don't even want to talk about it, ok? Just…I need to keep you close." Said Sho

"…that still doesn't explain why you needed to burn my house down." Said Ritsu

"I needed to, ok?! I don't need to explain myself-" said Sho

"Fine." Said Ritsu. He picked up his bag and started to walk towards the door. This argument hadn't gone past the front hallway of this house. He could see and sense other auras around, a lot of them, but they had the good sense to keep their distance.

"Where are you going?" asked Sho. No, no, no, no, no! He could not leave! Sho was not losing anyone else!

"I'm going to the Awakening Lab. If you don't want to explain yourself then that's fine but you can't expect me to just stay here. This entire thing is turning really shady and I'm not sticking around to see what's going to happen." Said Ritsu

"Ritsu just…**please**." Said Sho. He reached over and grabbed Ritsu's hand. It hurt, then, the way that his aura flared out like that. Sho didn't let go. If Ritsu walked out that door then Sho knew that there was a big chance that Sho would never see him again. It was happening. The targets were being hit as they spoke…Shimazaki was already kidnapping the prime minister if the sounds from the TV in the other room were anything to go off of, and for a moment the sky had erupted in a streak of pink and blue.

It was time.

"Sho, no. If you won't explain yourself then-" said Ritsu. He had come home to his house burning to the ground. Mom and dad were still alive, they had called him and told him that they were on their way to some resort and that he was old enough to be trusted to be home alone for a little bit, and mom told him not have Rei over…which was so normal for her that Ritsu knew that his parents had no idea what was happening…but then all of those fire trucks had passed by…and he could see the black smoke rising up into the sky…

And there was a lot more of that, now.

The safe house was practically rocking from the force of the fire engines rumbling down the street. It sounded like every single cop, fireman, and ambulance in the city was out at once...

It was happening.

"Ritsu…I want to keep you safe. My dad…he knows that I've been going out at night but he thinks that it's to bang you, ok, he doesn't suspect any of this at all. He just…he doesn't like it when I care about things or animals or people and he thinks that I'm banging you even though I'm only thirteen and three quarters…and he was going to come after you…so I had to make it look like you got hit first, ok?" asked Sho. That was not the whole truth, not by a long shot, but Ritsu didn't need to know the whole truth. Ritsu hadn't noticed it when the sky turned pink and blue so he had no idea that his sister was involved…and he had even told Teru, before Sho slapped the phone out of his hands, to tell Ritsu's big sis not to go to the house…so of course she would go…

At least that part of the plan was falling nicely into place.

"…what…?" asked Ritsu. Well that was most certainly the truth…because nobody would lie about something that…bizarre. His dad has his followed and then he comes to the…the weirdest conclusion possible. People his age did not…or at least were not supposed to…and anyway they couldn't even if they wanted to. Not that Ritsu had ever let himself think about it...with Sho…and anyway it couldn't happen and also…just…why? Sho's dad really was the mayor of Crazy Town, running unopposed.

"I know! He thinks that just because I'm spending the night with someone I must be, you know, spending the night with them! I was all 'dad I'm thirteen and three quarters' and he was all 'I know when your birthday is' which, like, he doesn't because he never gets me anything! But, yeah, he called me into his war room and he told me…you're not going to like this part so I'll just stop talking." Said Sho

"Well now I need to hear it." Said Ritsu

"Trust me, you don't want to know what my dad said." Said Sho shaking his head.

"That just makes me want to know even more than I did before." Said Ritsu in a measured tone. Really, they were doing this? Really?

"Fine…he said that he wanted me to…I guess marry your sister or something. Have a kid with her, I guess, because 'his legacy is too great to throw away on me' or something which is like, thanks dad. I don't want to bang your sister, by the way!" said Sho. He did not like the look in Ritsu's eyes or the look of his aura.

"What did he say about my sister?" asked Ritsu. Every single little brother instinct he had was telling him that somewhere out there was an ass that needed to be kicked. No. Nobody talked that way about Shigeko. Shigeko was not going to be captured and then…that was so wrong. What the hell was wrong with Sho's dad? What went wrong in someone's mind where that even seemed like an acceptable thought to have!?

"See, I told you that you wouldn't want to know. You don't have to worry, though, because I would never go through with that. I don't even think that I like girls like that and even if I did I wouldn't want to be with one that my dad forced me to be with. I mean, I don't even know her and I know that she would not be ok with that whole gross thing…I know that I'm not…and I would never go along with something like that. I've gone along with a lot of bad stuff in my life, I won't lie, but I won't go along with something like that." Said Sho

"….what?" asked Ritsu. Well that was certainly a lot to process. First of all nobody was kidnapping Shigeko and forcibly marrying her to anyone. Not while he was still alive. Second of all what the hell kind of plan was that?! Who got up in the morning and thought, hey, I want grandkids right this second so I had better go off and kidnap a girl for my son…who just said that he didn't even….

Ritsu wished that he had some time to sit down with a journal so he could just process this.

But his journal, seldom written in these days, was in his bag along with all of his other essentials. He wished that he had the space and time to process anything that was happening but he did not. There was still the shriek of the sirens outside, the unfamiliar auras pressing down on him, and the feel of Sho's hand in his….this was happening. All of this was happening.

"My dad's gone around the bend, ok? I wanted to keep you near me so…so that I could make sure that you were safe. Ritsu…if you walk out that door then you won't be safe anymore. If you do end up going to the lab, and someone sees you, then you'll be putting all of them in danger. I was supposed to be the one to hit the lab, ok, and right now everyone's too busy to check and see if I actually did it. Once the last of my guys show up here, and I make sure that they aren't planning on turning on me, then we'll switch bases. The Awakening Lab is a lot bigger and since it looks like any other apartment building on the outside it'll be hard to spot. After that we do the plan as planned, ok? But right now, right this second, I just need you to be near me." Said Sho softly, he was still holding onto Ritsu's hand. He could not let go. He knew that if he did let go and Ritsu walked out that door then Ritsu would be walking out of his life, life in general, forever.

And he could not have that.

"…why? Why me? Out of everyone else why just me?" asked Ritsu just as softly. He was standing in the genkan. He could have walked right out that door at any time, Sho didn't exactly have him in a death grip, but he didn't. He stayed.

"Because I care about you the most. You make me feel…I don't have words for it…but I want you to be ok more than I want anyone else in the entire world to be ok." Said Sho. He hoped that Ritsu didn't ask any follow up questions because he did not feel like delving into why he felt the way he felt about Ritsu…or even what it was. Sho wasn't telling lies, he really did not have the words for this. He thought about Ritsu all the time, wanted to always be with him, wanted so badly to keep him safe…and wanted so badly to…a lot of things. He didn't know if he liked Ritsu or really liked Ritsu or just respected him or wanted to be his friend really badly or what. There would be time for deep introspection later, right now they had a world to save without the distraction of whatever it was that Sho was feeling interfering.

"Sho…I…" said Ritsu. That sounded like…he didn't want to think about what that sounded like. He was just looking too far into things. He was just thinking too much into what Sho had just said…how close they were…this was not the time for that. They had a world to save.

Ritsu didn't know what he was going to say, if he was even going to say anything, but the ringing of his phone took away any chance that he might have had of looking further into what Sho had just said and probably making an idiot of himself.

"Give me that!" said Sho. He let go of Ritsu's hand and immediately snatched Ritsu's phone away and tossed it down the hallway. Where it shattered.

"What the hell?! First you burn down my house and then-" said Ritsu

"Your phone has a camera in it!" said Sho

"Yes, everyone's does! I don't get why-" said Ritsu

"Dark! We all have to dark right now! Hatori can see you through the phone cameras, he can track you through the GPS….I can't believe I forgot to tell everyone to go dark! Here, call Teru and tell him to tell the others that they have to take out their sim cards and destroy them…or just destroy their phones entirely! I'll get everyone new phones when this is all over! With cases!" said Sho before he ran down the hall to tell the others to start smashing phones, laptops, desktops, games consoles, and anything else with an internet connection.

They could not risk being found.

The house was on fire. There was no one to be found.

Well that wasn't true. Plenty of the neighbors were out to watch the house burn. There were firemen, too, Mob had passed a bunch of them on her way there. The house was still burning, though. They were shouting something about the water pressure being too low. That happened in the summer, sometimes, when everyone was using up all the water. There probably wasn't a lot of water left because the city was on fire.

Mob only cared about her house.

Mom and dad and Ritsu were not outside with the neighbors. They were ok, though, Ritsu had just texted her. He had texted her not to come home…maybe because it was on fire and he was trying to keep her safe. Ritsu was a good little brother like that. He was always trying to keep her safe even though his was the little brother and it was her job as the big sister to keep him safe. She had been doing a pretty poor job of it lately, though, but she could change that.

"Is that the Kageyama girl!?" one of the neighbors said. She sounded far away. Everything sound far away.

"Oh my God it is!" shouted someone else. Another voice that sounded far away. It was almost like Mob was underwater. Like Shigeko was underwater. Moving was slow, very slow, like they were treading water. Why? It was just a little fire. A little fire could never hurt them.

"Somebody stop her!" said another neighbor. Mob took a step forwards, and then another, and another. Fire could not hurt her. She could always repair her vessel. Their vessel.

_Mob: 60% _

_Shigeko: 40%_

This was not scary at all. It was just fire. They had been through so much worse together. It would hurt, indeed it did hurt even from this distance, but they would be fine. This was just their vessel. They were so much more than this collection of flesh and blood and bone that the two of them inhabited.

"Shigeko! Stop!" there was a hand on her shoulder. It felt gross. She saw green swim into her vision. Green within that…vessel. Another vessel. She kept on walking. Slowly. Why was she going so slowly? Everyone must have been fine. It was just a little fire. Ritsu may have been little but he could still keep up a barrier long enough to keep mom and dad safe. Even though he didn't want them to know about his powers…he still wouldn't have let them burn.

"You little idiot! Stop!" shouted Dimple. One minute he's indulging in all the earthly pleasures that the physical world had to offer and the next thing he knew that city was on fire. Then the sky turned pink…then blue…and he followed it. It took a lot of spiritual energy to move the vessel as quickly as he did and still keep it together but it didn't matter. Right now Shigeko was like a firehose of psychic energy. Her aura, if someone could see it, was blinding. Pink and blue moving together…in almost equal measures.

"Mom and dad and Ritsu are fine. We're fine. Everything is fine." Said Mob simply. That was Dimple. He really should let that man have his body back even if he was a bad person…and he should have taken a step back, too, because this fire was really hot. He couldn't repair his vessel like they could. He tried to stop her but she just kept on walking.

Eventually Dimple gave up on the body all together.

"He collapsed! Somebody, get him away from there! Get him onto the ambulance!" said a face in the crowd.

"She's walking right into the fire! Somebody stop her! She's going to die!" said another face in the crowd. Mob paid them no mind as she walked through the opened door. People were telling her to stop. She'd stop when she made sure that nobody was trapped inside. Even if they were she could heal them. Mob could heal them. Shigeko could heal them. They would work together. They were this thing together.

_Mob: 50%_

_Shigeko: 50%_

The house was on fire, so what? It was just a house. Four walls and a roof. There were plenty of houses for sale in the city, there was an entire section of the newspaper devoted to them. Mom and dad made money at their jobs so they must have had some saved up and if not…well they could always stay with neighbors or something until they saved up enough for a new house. Mob had some money, too, and she would gladly empty her entire money jar if it meant that her parents would have somewhere to live. Shigeko could put things back together, too, so maybe she could put the house back together from the ashes. The stuff inside, too, would have to be fixed or replaced but it was only stuff. There were plenty of stores in the city and Amazon had free two day shipping so replacing things would be easy. Things were so easily replaceable.

"Shigeko! You need to stop this! Look at the front door, there were signs of a struggle! Look at the fire! Shigeko, they aren't here!" said Dimple. He did not like the way her aura was looking. She was heading towards an explosion of monumental proportions…and she did not need this anyway. Not after the shit that Mogami had put her through…

"I know, Dimple, we know that people did this. They were after us. That's fine, they can burn the house to the ground if they want to, it doesn't matter. We just have to make sure that our family got out ok." Said Mob/Shigeko. Neither of them could sense Ritsu…that was good. They must have all gotten out then. Dimple was saying something to them, they didn't pay attention. Mom and dad didn't have auras at all. Mob and Shigeko needed to check room by room for them in case they were trapped or hurt or something.

Mob and Shigeko put a barrier around themselves. They could feel the heat of the fire as they walked through the house. It was painful. Their skin was, the skin of their vessel, was starting to blister in places. They shed it. New skin began to grow in it's place. The process wasn't that painful. They'd gone through worse. It was just a vessel, anyway, it didn't matter that much.

_Mob: 40%_

_Shigeko: 60%_

Dimple checked the house. That was the only thing that he could do. Shigeko was starting to lose it if the amount of blue in her aura was any indication of her mental state. He could move faster than her and he wasn't limited by the physical world. He quickly darted through walls and across rooms looking for any sign of her family or their spirits. Better he come across their spirits than Shigeko. He could get rid of them before Shigeko found them and fully lost it. He could not have that.

He finished his sweep of the first floor and floated up to the second quickly. Shigeko seemed to be following him, though she took the stairs. One gave way under her feet…and then another…and another…like a jenga tower. She stayed in place. She walked, slowly, up the stairs that were no longer there.

_**Mom didn't like it when they used their powers in the house.**_

_**Mom didn't like a mess.**_

_**This was so bad.**_

_**But they could fix it.**_

_**Together.**_

_**They were this thing together.**_

No sign of anyone. Good, that was good. Ritsu must have gotten them out before the people who did this…unless they got kidnapped. Unless this fire wasn't for killing. Maybe it was like when the raccoons had gotten into the attic and dad had to smoke them out. Maybe they had been smoked out and now they were captured somewhere….because Mob had waited. Because Shigeko had let Mob wait. Because every single time that Shigeko let Mob have control of the vessel she always made the worst decisions possible…

_Mob: 30%_

_Shigeko: 70%_

The thing with Mogami had been scary. Shigeko had been scared. Mob had been scared. But now they had exorcised that emotion. It was useless. Fear kept them from doing what had to be done. Once they were done with this, totally done, once they checked every centimeter of the house for signs or clues then they could look in every apartment, condo, house, whatever until they found the people responsible for this.

Then they would pay.

"Shigeko! Stop!" said Dimple as he materialized in front of her. The main bedroom…she was headed for the main bedroom…she could not enter the main bedroom. She didn't need to see that. Not after what she had been through…and even if Mogami hadn't tortured her…she still should not have had to see that.

He had limited capacity for empathy but he knew that nobody should have to see that.

"No Dimple. I have to check." Said Mob/Shigeko simply. They had to check every single centimeter of the house and that included mom and dad's room even though they were not allowed in there. Mom would be so cross with them….

They stepped through Dimple and opened the door. The doorknob burned their hand. The smell of cooking hit them in the face. Some of their skin was left on the doorknob as they pulled their hand away. They didn't care. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

Nothing would ever matter again.

"Shigeko! Close your eyes! Don't look! Whatever you do don't look!" shouted Dimple. He grabbed her aura as best as he could. This should have been disgusting, the dead touching the living, disgusting enough to get her to stop with the goddamned STARING!

She was still staring.

"Shigeko! Look at me! LOOK AT ME!" said Dimple. She was…he let go of her. She **burned**. There was a flash of not pink or blue but white…a blinding white. A blinding, metaphysical white…and then he wasn't looking at Shigeko anymore.

"**No."** it said. Shigeko said. The real Shigeko said. Mob, the moment she had seen the bodies, simply let her mind go walkabouts. She let herself sink down, down, so far down that she couldn't even tell what direction was up. She did not want to be there. She did not want this. She could not be there. This was…this was not real. It wasn't real. This was a lie. Mogami was full of lies. This was not reality. If this was not reality then Mob didn't have to be there anymore.

_Mob: 0%_

_Shigeko: ?%_

"Shigeko! No! These are-are-are fakes! Dummies! Some esper, the one responsible for this, probably put them there to fool you!" said Dimple talking out of his metaphysical ass. They looked pretty damn real to him but Shigeko…she needed hope. She needed something to cling to because, otherwise, her entire family had just died right before her eyes.

"Dimple…do you expect me to believe that? **Come on**." Said Shigeko. She looked with aura. She couldn't even see their spirits. They must have passed on. The people responsible for this would not pass on. Shigeko would make sure of it.

"It's the truth! Shigeko, I've seen this power before! Think about everything that you've seen! It's totally possible! Mob! They're still out there!" said Dimple. Shigeko felt her hold on the vessel wain for a moment. Mob.

"Mob's not here right now." Said Shigeko. She took in a deep breath and then let it out. The flames froze in place.

"Shigeko, your family is still alive! Think about it! This was so clearly a set up! Somebody is trying to get to you, to trick you! Don't let them!" said Dimple. He struggled to keep himself together as Shigeko intensified her death grip on the house. She was…what was she doing? How could she even…because she was a God. A very pissed off God…

"I need to think….but thank you, Dimple. I believe you. This was…this was some kind of a set up. My family…they're out there…and I'm going to find them." Said Shigeko

"Yeah! Now come on, let's go kick some ass! Then we'll get Reigen and-" said Dimple. He needed to get her back to Reigen. She was in love with the sweaty weirdo, he'd be able to talk her down better than Dimple ever could. Then they could…he'd figure out where to go from here later. He just needed to get Shigeko away from her parents' corpses and then figure out a way to get Mob back.

"No. I'm doing this on my own. Find Master Reigen and warn him. Protect him. Possess him if you have to. I'm going to find the people responsible for this…and then I'm going to break them." Said Mob. The house around her began to disintegrate under the force of her power. She could feel it, she was trying to leave the vessel…but that would leave her vulnerable. The house began to come tumbling down…it began to return to nothing….bit by bit it returned to nothing.

No.

Not again.

She could not do this again.

She closed the vessel's eyes and saw with her aura. There. Close by. Unfamiliar. Powerful. Murderous intent. She'd start there.

In an instant she was gone…and Dimple found himself all alone…

Whatever it was that had been started Shigeko seemed pretty hell bent on ending it.

The world was ending.

Reigen stood on his balcony and watched the world end. He had no chance of even beginning to catch up to Mob. She could fly after all. He had been about to chase after he anyway when he heard the sirens…and saw the smoke. The city was burning. The sky was black with smoke, it seemed, and he could even taste the ash in the air. The balcony was filled with other people sticking their heads out to take a gander at the end of the world. Some people were crying into cell phones, some people were taking pictures, and some people were shoving everyone out of the way with their suitcases and rushing down to their cars. There had already been a few accidents on the road. People were just driving right past in a desperate bid to get away. Some people were even fleeing on foot.

They had the right idea.

His phone was wailing, now. Everyone's phone was wailing. TV's could be heard competing for noise space. The collective white noise of a thousand TVs blasting through opened doors and windows was replaced by one uniform message. 'This is the emergency broadcasting system. Residents are advised to stay in their homes. There has been a terrorist attack. The prime minister has been kidnapped.'

Also they were under martial law, whatever that meant.

"Oh my God! They're falling! The buildings…they're falling like dominos!" someone shouted from the rooftop of the building across the way. Reigen craned his neck. He could sort of see…a skyscraper fell. Then another. And another. Someone screamed. Someone began to cry.

"We're all going to die!" someone shouted.

"Who is it? North Korea?!" someone else shouted.

"I don't care who it is! Screw this, I'm out of here!" someone else shouted before they shoved past everyone. Reigen almost took a tumble off the side of the balcony before someone caught him.

"Reigen-san, are you alright? How can you be so calm? And where's your girlfriend?" a neighbor asked. Reigen didn't say anything, he just pointed off to the city skyline. He didn't even say anything about the girlfriend comment. He couldn't say anything.

He was just too calm.

The panic, the collective panic, was too much. The only thing left to do was either be calm or go crazy. Maye he was calm. Maybe he was crazy. Maybe this was it. Maybe it was the end. Maybe they were all pretty much dead already….maybe they would all end up burning with the city…

His phone stopped wailing. Everyone's phone stopped wailing. The TV's all went silent. The car radios that could be heard from the parking lot went silent.

"Hello? Hello?! GRANDMA?!" Someone shouted into their phone. A lot of people were shouting into their phones. Then there was silence. It was like the entire world was holding it's breath.

Reigen saw a the sky, the world, turn white for a second.

Then the TVs started back up again. The car radios started back up again. Even his phone, in his pocket, started back up again. Not the wail of the emergency broadcasting system but instead a voice. A man's voice. An impossibly calm man's voice.

"Attention…we are an organization of espers known as Claw…" Reigen didn't need to hear anymore. He tried to silence his phone but it just would not obey him.

"We've taken over the airwaves with our psychic powers…" Reigen slammed his door shut. He didn't even know how his TV had turned to whatever channel that was…it had been on a paused game of Mario Kart…

"And that is but a single fraction of what we are truly capable of…" Reigen wanted to chuck his phone over the side of the bannister. Let it be the parking lot's problem. He did not want to hear this. Those people….they weren't just after Mob…

He didn't chuck his phone.

"Our abilities are far superior to all modern weaponry. I warn you, it's not advisable to oppose us…" Reigen listened. Everyone was listening. A few people tried to laugh it off.

"Seems a bit far to go for a joke." Someone said. They were promptly shushed. Reigen held his phone so tightly in his hands that his knuckles were starting to turn white. He wondered if he was strong enough to shatter his phone. Next to him someone's phone case broke. Someone else began to break down. He could see his own aura. Yellow. No pink or blue…no Mob to hide within.

"We will soon control the world using our psychic powers…we will begin ruling over you defenseless humans." Confusion. Mass confusion. Panic. Mass panic. Reigen felt physically ill. He collapsed down to the ground, his knees totally gave out."

"The first step in our mission is to demolish this country. I look forward to ruling over you all." The broadcast cut out. No silence this time. Screaming, speculating, crying. Another car crash. More sirens. Another fire lit up the sky. It was warm outside. Reigen could have taken off his sweatshirt. He stared down at his phone. It had gone to sleep.

Then it rang.

Not his usual ring tone. No. A friendbook call. He didn't even look. He answered.

"Reigen…Reigen-san….wh-what's…what are you…where's…" a girl's voice. Not Mob's. Hyperventilating. Chaos on the other side. Something crashed. Someone was trying to tell everyone that it would be alright. He knew that voice. Mob's boyfriend…

He didn't know this voice.

But it didn't matter.

"You've got Reigen." Said Reigen standing up. Someone needed him. This was a kid. A kid needed him. He did not get to freak out, not when he was needed.

"Just…where's Mob?! We aren't supposed to tell anyone what's happening, especially Mob….Ritsu is going to be so mad at me-" said the girl…Ritsu…Mob's little brother…Rei! This was Rei! She liked drawing and makeup and awkward conversations, if Mob was to be trusted.

"Forget that. Mob is…handling her business. It sounds like you guys need some business handled yourselves." Said Reigen as he opened his door and kicked off his shoes. He went right to his bedroom and threw his closet opened.

"We do! We just…we saw this thing on TV and-and-and we thought that we could handle this but-but-but that guy was so scary and-" said Rei. Reigen shoved his clothes to the side until he found a familiar grey suit. Yes, the grey. Not the blue. More…more him.

"That guy? Please, he's just a small fry in the corner shaking his fist. Rule the world? What is he, ten years old?" asked Reigen as he tossed his pajamas off for the first time in days. He pulled out a clean work shirt and his trusty pink tie.

"You…you think so? Just…we need Mob! We need you and Mob because…Sho said that we had to go dark but…and Ritsu said not tell Mob but…but we need help!" said Rei

"Where are you, exactly?" asked Reigen

"The Awakening Lab…oh no! What if they heard?! Just…please…we need help! We need someone! We can't so this alone!" said Rei

"Well then you're in luck because I, Reigen Arataka, accept this job!" said Reigen. He could not be the version of himself that existed in reality. No. Not when he was needed. Mob was out there and she needed him. Her friends, a bunch of middle school kids, were out there and they needed him. He was an adult and adult did what had to be done.

He had to become someone.

The great Reigen Arataka.

The someone who Mob wanted him to be.


	60. Band Together

"We needed this." said Hana as she sunk down into the water of the hot spring. A private, outdoor, one. This was a very nice place, fancy, and usually well out of her and her husband's price range. She'd have to thank Ritsu again, later, for entering them in the contest. He was such a good boy.

"Hana, when you're right, you're **right**." Said Ichimaro as he sank down into the water. Sometimes a change of scenery was best. A free change of scenery, of course.

"We haven't been this relaxed since our honeymoon." Said Hana. She hadn't been to a hot spring in ages, there just wasn't the time in the day or the money in the budget. Even with only the one child now…don't think about it. Shigeko is Shigeko and she left and that was it. It was what it was.

"It's the strangest thing, you know. Usually I like a lukewarm bath but this is practically boiling and I love it." Said Ichimaro

"It's the atmosphere. There's just something about being outside, I suppose, the mixture of the warmth of the water and the cold of the outside." Said Hana

"Yes. There is just something about being completely nude outside…" said Ichimaro. Hana shook her head.

"Not here." Said Hana

"What? I didn't say anything…" said Ichimaro

"I know you. I know exactly where your mind is going, Ichimaro, and you can wait until we get back to the room. I am not getting kicked out when we've barely even been here for a day." Said Hana

"Oh come on. Remember our honeymoon? The cold night air, the moonless sky-" said Ichimaro

"The way security shouted at us, the way we barely made it back to our room?" asked Hana. Ichimaro splashed her playfully. She smiled for the first time in…she had no idea.

"But when we made it back….now that was a night." Said Ichimaro

"Yes….it was…" said Hana. That was, most likely, the night that Shigeko had been conceived. Was that it? Too much excitement? She had no approximation for when Ritsu had been conceived, she and her husband had been more active in those days even with a baby to tend to. Ritsu had been a happy accident, she had not set out to have another child, but she had…and there was no better child in the world than her son Ritsu. Such a good boy, the best boy….

She loved her son.

She had a daughter.

She could have another.

She chases the thought away as quick as it comes. Another child? They could not roll the dice on that. Shigeko was…they could not have another Shigeko. Ritsu had not inherited whatever quirk of genetics was responsible for Shigeko's condition. She knew that she had dodged a bullet, there, and she did not feel like loading another in the chamber.

"What's wrong?" asked Ichimaro. He knew his wife. The expressions she made…something was troubling her. That business with Shigeko? Shigeko was…she was doing alright. Better than they had ever imagined. She was getting older and it was natural for her to want to spread her wings and fly away. The entire situation could have been so much worse. For what Shigeko was…yes…the whole thing could have been so much worse.

"Nothing." Said Hana

"Hana, I know you." Said Ichimaro. His towel teetered dangerously close to falling off of his head as he scooted closer to his wife.

"I was just thinking about us having another child, if you must know, but then I immediately realized that having another child would be a terrible idea." Said Hana. She rested her head on her husband's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her.

"The expense alone…" said Ichimaro. Shigeko was out of the house and mostly supporting herself. Once she married that boy she was seeing, and if she had brains she would, then she'd want for nothing. Ritsu would have to be put through high school and then university. Probably some post graduate education too, the boy certainly had the academic aptitude for it. The costs of raising a child were astronomical. Another child…they'd have to delay their retirements by decades. That is if they even could conceive. They were getting up there in years. He was forty four and she was forty one. If they couldn't conceive naturally then IVF would run them up-

"Stop crunching numbers, Ichimaro, we're on vacation." Said Hana

"Hey, I can't turn it off. Come on, you love that about me. What did they call me back in university again?" asked Ichimaro

"You there with the tea on your shirt?" laughed Hana

"Ha ha, no. The human calculator they called me. That's where Ritsu gets it from you know." Said Ichimaro

"Darling, I love you, but you're no genius. Ritsu is…I have no idea where Ritsu gets it from." Said Hana. Another quirk of genetics. Her son was practically a genius. Good at everything he put his mind to…effortless good grades….always so polite…nobody ever had a bad thing to say about Ritsu. Maybe they would….they could get another Ritsu. Her eyes met her husbands. Another Ritsu. Or a Ritsuko….to borrow an idea from Shigeko. She spoke often as a child about how, when she was an adult, she would have a son named Shigeo and a daughter named Ritsuko. Of course that had just beenpipe dreams, then. Hana never thought that her daughter would have any boyfriends let alone the heir to a massive conglomerate…or something. She hadn't looked too deeply into the Hanazawa family. She had just assumed that it was the same family name. Hanazawa Shigeko…

She hoped that Shigeko's condition was not a dominant trait.

"Hey, that's my son. Of course he takes after his old man." Said Ichimaro

"I have no idea, actually, who he takes after. Such a good boy…and always so serious. Do you remember when we went to the department store to get those portraits taken when Ritsu was…three I believe?" asked Hana

"The year Shigeko threw up in your lap right when he took the picture?" asked Ichimaro

"No, that was the previous year." Said Hana. She did not want to talk about Shigeko. The child was always vomiting for some reason or another. She wasn't supposed to have dairy, first of all, but she kept on drinking it. Sometimes she got sick and sometimes she did not…but Hana had never enjoyed rolling the dice on that.

"The year when neither of them would smile?" asked Ichimaro

"Yes, that year. He was taking after Shigeko then, I think. I was so worried. They're so different now, though, so I'm grateful." Said Hana

"Like night and day those two…." Said Ichimaro

"Yes, like night and day." Said Hana. Her children really were their own people. She couldn't see any of herself in her daughter and very little of her husband in her son. Ichimaro worked hard every single day of his life but for Ritsu it was more…effortless. The boy was good at everything academic and a fair athlete, too, though he did not waste his time with pursuits like that. Shigeko, on the other hand, did nothing but waste her time. She wasted her time on anime and manga and videogames and board games…and now she had even stopped going to school all together.

Hana closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of the water around her.

She did not want to think about her daughter, not now. She did not want to be reminded of all the ways that she had failed as a mother. Failure did not sit well with her…but then again how was one supposed to win with a daughter like Shigeko? A daughter who would not listen and could not be controlled? It was what it was. She had done well with her son and that was what mattered. Not that she wanted to think of her children at all. No. This was time with her husband, a rare thing these days, and not only time with him but time in which they were not arguing. A rare thing.

They were shut away from the world, here. A hot springs resort in a remote mountain town. A long drive through the country far away from the city and it's pressures. The pressure to be the perfect wife and mother. Here she could just…be. Just be in the moment. Just enjoy the moment while she could because after this weekend she'd head back to her home, the city, and all of it's pressures and problems.

Everything would be there waiting for her when she got back.

It was an odd feeling, Ritsu thought, not having a home to go back to.

This was not his home, this was not anyone's home. This was a safe house, though for how long it would stay safe he did not know. Sho's dad just made this weird, kind of cringy, speech on national TV which meant that his hostile takeover was starting. Now he would have to help Sho stop his dad and save the world and then…what? His house was gone. Burnt to the ground. Not that he had any room to complain considering the fact that the city was on fire and buildings were literally falling like dominos.

Sho had plenty of room to complain, though, it seemed.

"How could he do that? Just embarrass his son on national TV like that?! Who wrote that speech? It was worse than those bad cartoons I used to watch when I was a kid!" shouted Sho as he paced the floor of the safe house. What in the hell was wrong with dad?! Who even said things like that?! It was one thing to say crazy things to your close followers, they didn't judge, but to the rest of the world? Now everyone knew how crazy dad was…

When this was all over he'd give dad a piece of his mind.

And mom would too, maybe. If she had been watching. She may have been one of those people who didn't own a TV and was super proud of it for all he knew. Mom hadn't like him watching a lot of TV when he had been little…would she let him now? Not that he even knew, for sure, if he would end up with her after he stopped dad's stupid insurrection.

"You done yet?" asked Ritsu as Sho paced around the room. Ritsu stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket and just watched Sho. Sho looked like he was pissed off but his aura…Ritsu was getting better at reading auras, or maybe just Sho's, but to Ritsu it seemed like Sho was more worried than anything.

Ritsu didn't get why. He had seen much scarier. He had lived with much scarier…and much scarier would not be involved in this mess. Much scarier would make it worse. Not Shigeko, no, but the thing that lived inside of her. He reached up and felt the scar under his fringe. Much scarier…that would be a real problem if much scarier showed up…

And it might.

Because that had been broadcast live on every single TV channel, radio station, and probably over the internet too. Ritsu wouldn't know about that last part, his phone having been smashed for his own safety.

"I will be one the defeat him!" shouted Sho to the ceiling. Ritsu put a hand on his hip and held Sho's gaze.

"….and now I'm done." Said Sho simply. Ritsu shook his head. Sho wondered how he could be so calm about all of this. The world was ending! Sort of. The world was in danger and they had to save it and all Ritsu could do was give him a look.

"Good, I don't know how much more of that I could have taken." Said Ritsu

"Hey, you'd be pissed off too if your dad decided to show everyone how crazy he was. That is if your dad was crazy. I don't know your parents but I'm assuming that they're normal people. I mean aside from all the yelling of course." Said Sho

"They're….my parents...and they had better be safe, Sho." Said Ritsu

"Relax, right now they should be a million miles away from civilization. Adults like baths so they'll have a great time at the hot springs. There's good food, too, and they even accommodate allergies. Don't worry about a thing. By the time they come back all of this will be over and done with and they'll never know that any of this even happened." Said Sho

"Aside from the fact that you burnt our house to the ground." Said Ritsu dryly. Mom and dad would definitely notice if they came home and there was no home to come back too…but he could always just blame it on whatever the hell those Claw lackeys hoped to achieve by knocking over all of those buildings downtown.

"Hey, I'll fix it. Don't worry about a thing, Ritsu. I've got this." said Sho. He didn't get it, why Ritsu cared so much. It was just a house, a place to lay your head and keep your stuff. There were plenty of places like that. When all of this was over he'd have Ritsu's house fixed….not that Fukuda had ever restored anything so bug before. That was his power, restoration, not healing. That was good. People could be healed and all but things needed to be restored…not that Sho got why people care about 'things' so much. He'd have to figure it out, though, if he was going to be living amongst normal people.

When all of this was over.

"How are you-" asked Ritsu

"Trust me. I've got this. Just help me save the world and then I'll fix what happened with your house, ok? I've got you. We're friends, that's how friends are. We've got each other." Said Sho. He figured that, at this point, he and Ritsu were friends. After this they'd stay friends. They'd hang out all the time and do things that didn't involve saving the world. Things like….he had no idea what normal people did but they'd figure it out together. Everything was going to be ok.

"I trust you." Said Ritsu. The words came out before he could think. Even after the whole burning his house down thing he still trusted Sho more than he trusted anyone else in the world. There was just something about him. The way he could keep it together even though, internally, he was freaking out. The way that he just…was. He did what he had to do but…but not what was wanted of him…and he knew just what to do, too…

He trusted Sho.

"I don't trust you." Said Reigen. The city was burning. The TV kept on playing the same message over and over again urging people to stay put in their own homes and to let the military or whoever handle it. Not that anyone was listening. His building was practically cleared out as everyone made a mass exodus out of the city. People were only being evacuated from the downtown area, that was where most of the damages were occurring. The area where Claw was centered.

Nothing about Mob yet.

He felt a massive blast of her energy, then it felt like she was right next to him, and then Dimple of all people showed up and told him that he needed to call Mob and talk some sense into her because, apparently, someone had killed her entire family and she was on a warpath.

Also Mob had given Dimple permission to possess him.

Which was most likely a lie. Mob would never…unless something had happened…but it could not have happened. Dimple was so obviously lying….

"Why the hell not?!...don't answer that. Yeah, ok, I'm an evil spirit and I haven't been the nicest guy to you and all of that but you've got to trust me here! Let me take over your body just long enough to calm Shigeko down. You're the only one with the power to do that…and not just because she's head over heels for you!" said Dimple. This was bad. Shigeko was pissed off…the most pissed off that he had ever seen her. She could end the whole world if she wanted to…maybe. She said that she did in the world Mogami created but that was a world of the mind. She had as much power as she thought that she did. Of course who was Dimple to say that she had thought wrong? She was powerful, insanely powerful, and now she was insanely pissed off, too….

This would not end well for anyone involved, especially Shigeko herself.

"Dimple…shut up, ok? Just…shut up. Mob doesn't need me right now and there isn't a damn thing that I can do to stop her." said Reigen as he tied his tie. Mob didn't need him…he was of no help to her now…but he had just gotten a very frantic call from someone who did need him. Not that he was sure of what, exactly, he was going to do when he got there.

Keep the esper kids from doing something stupid.

"You're just going to abandon her? Seriously?! After all the shit that she does for you you're just going to abandon her?!" asked Dimple

"I am not-!" said Reigen

"She's almost died for you so many times and you're just going to let her go off and do the unthinkable?!" shouted Dimple

"Dimple! Will you just-" said Reigen

"Shigeko will never be able to live with herself if she kills one of those idiots! She won't be able to come back from that, you and I both know it! I thought you cared about her! If you give even a millionth of a damn about her then you'll go out there and stop her before it's too late! Just let me possess you for five minutes! Just long enough to get you close enough to Shigeko that you can stop her!" said Dimple

"I said no! Don't you understand? Mob does not want me there. I am useless to her right now! You saw her at the Asagiri job…this is that a hundred fold! I'll only get in the way of whatever it is that Mob's-" said Reigen

"So you're abandoning her after all she's done for you. All she ever did was care about you, even love you, and you're going to abandon her? You really are one lowlife bastard, aren't you? To abandon the only person in the world that stuck by your stupid ass through all of the crap you get into-" said Dimple

"I would never abandon her! I just…I am not explaining myself to you. I don't need to explain myself to you. Mob does not need me right now. I mean she does, emotionally, but if she really is ready to go out and kill the people who murdered her family…then that isn't Mob anymore. It's that other thing, the thing to run away from really fast. Mob…I know her, I know her and I know that she's devastated and I will be there for her…but right now she needs to…and I don't blame her." said Reigen. Truth be told he was ready to kill someone himself, and he meant it. Dimple said that it looked like her entire family had died. No lingering spirits, not even neutral ones, but that could have meant that they just passed on instantly.

Whoever did that to Mob deserved what they got.

Whoever was responsible for all of this deserved what they got.

"You're a moron, you know that?! Shigeko is going to do something that she'd going to regret for the rest of eternity and you're the only one who can stop her! Even if you didn't have your powers she would still listen to you! I don't know why but she will! I can't believe that you would just give up on-" said Dimple

"I am not giving up on her! I am not….I would never... Dimple, there is nothing that I can do to stop her. Nothing! When she gets like this then…then the only thing that I can do is pick up the pieces. She needs me, I know she needs me, but right now…a lot of people need me and they need me in a way that I can…that I can actually be useful. So will you please just shut your fucking mouth for once in your after life?!" said Reigen

"Fuck you too, man. I have no clue what Shigeko sees in you…none at all…" said Dimple as he slipped into extra invisible mode. Well that was a waste of time. What was with that asshole? He should have gone running to Shigeko the second he heard what happened. Whatever. Dimple would just have to figure something else out….something that didn't have to do with Shigeko's favorite guy…

What about her second favorite guy?

"You and me both…" muttered Reigen as he finished getting dressed. Getting into character. He had to do this. The esper kids, well Mob's little brother's girlfriend anyway, sounded like they were in trouble. The room was filled with blue and red light. A siren shook the building.

Who wasn't in trouble?

Mob needed him. He knew that she needed him but she…she had made herself clear. She did not want him to try and stop her from…whatever this was. Just like the Asagiri job…but worse. No. He couldn't think like that. Her family…they must have been ok. Maybe this was just a trick. Maybe they had burnt their house down to cover their tracks.

Or maybe Mob had just lost everything.

He wanted more than anything to be there with her and for her. He wanted to take her in his arms and to tell her that everything was going to be ok. He wanted to make everything better, everything safe, because she deserved to be safe and happy…but he could not do that. He didn't even have the faintest idea of where she even was. Even Dimple had no clue. He could see her, sort of, her aura but it was just a splash of color off in the distance with, seemingly, no focal point. Just light…

She could have been anywhere.

He wanted so badly to go to her but he was also needed by someone else. A bunch of people, it seemed. Those were the kids from the night all those months ago, the kidnapped ones. The ones that the adult responsible for them had not protected. They were scared and, apparently, doing something that they had been told not to tell Mob about.

So nothing good.

Someone had to be responsible for them and that was him. He was involved now, for one thing, and for another Mob did not deserve to lose any of her friends. Mob did not deserve any of this…and he did not deserve Mob.

"Mob…wherever you are…please be ok." Said Reigen even though he knew that she could not hear him. Maybe he was praying. Maybe he was praying to whatever God was out there that Mob, his Mob, the only Mob, would be ok.

"I know that I haven't been the best…anything….to you but I need you to be ok. I need to know that you're coming back. Mob…whatever happens, whatever you do, I will always be there for you. You're…you are so much to me, you know that? Just…please be ok. Please. For me." Said Reigen. Prayed Reigen. He prayed for assurance, assurance from whoever was listening, that Mob was going to be ok.

Because he had no way of assuring that himself.

He had no way of assuring anything. Well he could assure that the esper kids made it home safely…or just evacuated. The streets were still clogged with people. Some of them were walking, some were trying to run, and some idiots were even trying to ride bicycles with carts on the back through the crowd. It wasn't easy walking. The streets were packed bumper to bumper. The sidewalks were packed shoulder to shoulder. It would have flowed easier if people were all going in the same direction but no, people were going seemingly in random directions. He was headed for the train station, a lot of people were, but some were headed back in the direction that he had come from. There was nothing in that direction. Eventually it turned into nothing but warehouses, a few factories, and eventually the massive junk yard and recycling center. After that it was just roads off into the far suburbs. Roads that went off away from the epicenter of the destruction.

One of those roads went to Lower Back Pain City.

Home. Not a place that he had thought of as home, not even when they bought the house all those years ago, but home none the less. Mom was there and she had been harping on him to come back home…and maybe he ought to. Maybe. He stayed here because of his business, which he had shuttered possibly forever, and because of Mob…who now might have had nothing and no one. Without her family there was nothing tying her to Seasoning City…

They could run away together.

An insane thought. First of all he was not running away with a fourteen year old girl. That was just…not the thought to have. Second of all she still had her friends and her boyfriend. She would not want to leave them. Even orphaned and alone in the world she would not want to leave her friends or her boyfriend, she was loyal like that. Third of all he had no idea where she even was so he could not even begin gauging her thoughts on leaving the hellhole behind. And it was a hellhole. The sky was glowing. So many fires…he could taste the ash in the air. Black snow. He cast his eyes up to the sky and saw another flash of white. Pink and blue, too, lingered after it.

Someone was getting the beat down they deserved.

Mob had been so torn up, before, because she thought that she had killed that Asagiri girl in the most clear cut case of self-defense Reigen had ever heard. Did this count as growth? She used to call herself a pacifist but there she was kicking some ass…ass that needed to be kicked. Orphaned and alone in the world…but not alone. She still had him and he would do anything for her. Anything within his power.

He did not have the power to stop her.

Dimple wanted him to use what little power he had to calm her down. It didn't work like that. First of all he was not calm. He was scared. He was angry. He was about ready to piss himself and the only thing stopping him was sheer force of will. He had a job to do and that job was to save the esper kids from whatever stupid thing that they were planning on doing. Well Mob's little brother's girlfriend sure made it seem like they were planning on doing something stupid.

Fuck. He'd have to break it to the poor kid that…

No. There was still the chance that Mob's little brother, at least, was fine. The kid had a stubborn streak as wide as the sky. It would take more than a little fire to stop him. Plus he had seen what the kid could do. Mob could shrug off just about anything and Ritsu was her little brother so he, at least, was probably fine. The two of them, just kids, orphaned and alone in the world…together.

Reigen wiped his eyes.

Someone bumps into him.

Too much. This is all too much. He hears a distant explosion followed by the sound of jets. Fighter jets, he thinks, though he doesn't know much about planes. The professionals were handling whatever that was. The streetlights flickered for a moment. At least the power is still on. He checks his phone. He still has signal, too. Society hasn't completely broken down yet.

It's the end of the world.

It just feels like it.

This is nothing. He can deal with this. This is just a little bit of civil unrest. This wasn't so bad, mom had lived through some, too, when she was very small. He remembered that story. A friend's older sister had taken mom and her friend to a protest and then the crowd got hit with tear gas and there was a lot of running and screaming, from what mom had been able to remember. Yeah, sometimes you just had to live through some civil unrest.

That guy was not actually going to take over the world.

Reigen wanted to know what that guy had been drinking and where he could get some. Pure insanity. He wanted to rule the world with psychic powers. He was like a kid playing pretend. Nobody could rule the whole world, the logistics of doing something like that just did not make any sense. So he had psychic powers, big deal. Lots of people did. Heh. He wondered how all of those guys from the Rising Sun Spiritual Union were doing. What was that old fossil, Jodo, up to? Probably too busy planning on how he was going to try and ruin Reigen's life again to bother with the little psychic rebellion going on. Heh.

Another car crash.

He grabbed his side and hissed in pain. He almost dropped to his knees, the woman beside him did, and the crowd just flowed around them as best as it could. There was no stopping for anything, not now. The city was on fire and there were car crashes in the streets and now somebody was trying to call emergency services but, even from this distance Reigen could hear it. They were experiencing an unusually high call volume, it seemed, but as soon as an associate was available they would get right on the line. A canned voice. Recorded. Not even enough people to answer the phones…of course there weren't. The city was burning to the ground. The city was burning to the ground and he was on the ground.

He picked himself up.

The people in the car crash were fine. Well not totally fine but well enough to be shouting at each other. Someone laid into their horn. A loud, annoying, noise. One that Reigen tried to ignore. He had to get to the train station and get to that damn Awakening Lab place and help the damn esper kids before they went and got themselves killed.

Traffic was moving but the horn was not stopping.

One loud, continuous, drone. Annoying. There was enough noise happening as it was, that idiot did not need to add to the noise pollution…or the panic. Everyone was trying to get out. Everyone was scared. That guy's fear did not top anyone else's and he did not get to panic anyone further, either. Reigen wanted to tell that idiot exactly how he felt about all of his theatrics but kept on walking. The trains would be going, they had to be, but they would be packed. Everyone would be taking the city loop line to the main terminus. Everyone would be trying to get on some kind of train out of the city, the real train, not the city one.

He was the only person dumb enough to go near the city center.

Speaking of idiots, the horn blower was still at it. Reigen still tried to ignore it. He still walked at the same snail's pace that everything else was moving at. He could not pick up the pace no matter how madly he wanted to. He could not move any faster than the person in front of him. Apparently the horn blower did not know that. Reigen gritted his teeth and tried to keep walking.

"Reigen-san! Master Reigen! Hey!"

And then he stopped.

The world had stopped.

Or at least it felt like it. After that speech was over Rei had forgotten how to breathe…how to think…how to anything. This was happening. Well she knew that it was happening but…well…this made it more real. At least that was how Takeshi felt, anyway.

"This is real and we're all gonna die…this is real and we're all gonna die…" said Takeshi over and over again. This was real and it was happening and they were all going to die and the ground was shaking and there were so many sirens outside and the last thing he said to his mother was 'I'm staying over at Go's house….he should have told her how much he loved her and stuff….his last words to his mother were a lie and now he was going to die having lied to his mother-

"Pull yourself together! We're going to be fine!" said Go. He slapped Takeshi a couple times. It didn't help. That was what you were supposed to do, right? Slap people when they were freaking out? That was what they did on TV, anyway, and TV had never steered him wrong.

"Hey! Knock that off! You're making it worse!" said Teru grabbing Go's arm with his powers. Really. One new world order address and everyone goes to pieces. Everything was going to be fine. Sure Ritsu's house had burnt down and now he was out of communication…and they had all smashed their phones…or at least Go had smashed everyone's phone so now they had no idea what was happening…and Takeshi was over there practically wetting himself….and the Shiratori brothers were arguing about what happened when one of them died first…and Rei had that 'deer in the headlights look'….and he kept on feeling Shigeko as clearly as if she were right next to him…

This was fine. Everything was fine.

"Calm the hell down! We're all going to be fine!" said Teru for lack of anything else. They had to be fine, of course, because failure was not an option. Failure meant joining Claw or dying…and he didn't fancy doing either.

"Yeah! Teru gets it!" said Go. This wasn't so bad. They were the good guys and the good guys always won. Plus they had magical girls. Well Rei sort of counted, Ritsu's older sister definitely counted, and she was probably out there right at that moment kicking ass and taking names.

"So stop slapping people! And stop crying! And you two, you're not going to die so shut up about who's going to outlive who! And Rei! Um…I'm sorry about Ritsu." Said Teru. Right. Don't yell at girls. Don't yell at anyone. But yelling got the job done…and it felt good…

"Seriously, pull yourselves together! We're fine. We've been over and over and OVER what we're going to do! That guy being on TV saying all of that stupid stuff does not change a single goddamned thing, ok?! So shut the hell up! We all have jobs so let's do them!" said Teru in a voice he hadn't used in months. He sounded like himself, the version of himself that he used to be. The Teru that existed before Shigeko came into his life and knocked some humility into him.

This was not the time for humility.

These guys needed him. They weren't anything, not really, cannon fodder mostly. That was him being realistic. He was human but he was not human the same as everyone else. Shigeko wanted to believe that about herself and in turn Teru tried to believe that about himself. Well it was not true. He was the strongest person in the room and it was his job to keep this situation under control and defend them, if necessary.

He may not have been Shigeko but he was powerful in his own right.

He eclipsed her brother…her brother who at this moment could have been in the hands of the enemy…or maybe not. Teru wasn't sure, not really. Suzuki, Suzuki Sho, was still a mystery and Teru did not want to start up with the terrible what if scenarios. No. He needed to be confident. He had this. He had to be the one to have this because, right now, nobody had this. He was not the Teru from even five minutes ago, he was this Teru.

The Teru that Shigeko hated.

She wanted him to be humble. She wanted him to carry himself like she did, like he was just one of the masses. Well the masses were panicking because they were powerless. He was not. Shigeko was not, either, even though there were times he thought that she wished that she was. She was out there….he felt her….and she was doing…something….which was the opposite of what he wanted! He did not want her involved in this in any way! He was the guy, it was his job to protect her….and he had been doing such a piss poor job of it lately…

At least he got to hear her voice one last time….

Don't think like that.

This would pass. All things had their time and all things passed. Nothing ever lasted forever. Not even crazy guys trying to take over the world with psychic powers. This would be over and then it would all just be stories that they told as adults over drinks at end of year parties or whatever. He was not going to die, none of his friends were going to die, and he would grow up and grow old with Shigeko and they'd look back at this in a hundred years and laugh.

The things he told himself.

I am the Great Reigen Arataka, greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty-first century.

That was what Reigen told himself. He had been telling himself that since he was a child, since the last years of the twentieth century died into the twenty-first. He told himself that so many times that he almost believed it. Sometimes he almost believed it. Like before, back when he tried to make a go of it himself, and failed miserably. He knew that, at the end of the day, he was just Reigen. He was the Reigen that existed in reality, not the Reigen that existed in his mind, nor the Reigen that existed in the minds of others.

He was just Reigen.

He knew that the way he saw himself was different from how Mob saw him, how clients saw him, how lovers saw him, how Mob saw him, and the way he existed in reality. Hell, as far as he was concerned the only person who ever saw him as the man he idolized himself to be was Mob…and she had known the truth from the beginning, she had said. Well it turned out that other people saw him not as he was but who he wanted to be…

And it was odd.

"Master Reigen, are you sure that you're alright?" asked Muaki. He still couldn't get over how lucky they were. They barely managed to find Master Reigen in all of the chaos. Good thing that he hadn't burned with his office, that would have been terrible. They had proper leadership now, from an actual adult, and not Suzuki's unstable son….

"Fine, I'm fine, everything's fine. Can't you guys maybe drive a little bit faster, though?" said Reigen. The streets were wider here, this was the newer part of the city. People were still trying escape, though, but fewer were on foot at least…it would have been faster to walk.

"Unless one of you spontaneously developed telekinesis, no." said Tsuchiya as she drove. She wished that Reigen would sit in the back but, no, Muraki said that Reigen deserved the leg room in the front passenger side because he was 'the great master'. She'd seen the security footage of what happened after she had been defeated. The girl did all the work. She even said…though lending her powers to someone should have been impossible….

"Don't talk like that to the great master!" said Muraki. Reigen stifled a groan. Right. Even after their so called 'reform' these people were still just overgrown children. Overgrown children who idolized him like Mob used to all those years ago. That guy was even dressing like him. Grey suit, pink tie, pretty much Reigen's whole look. It was odd, very odd…but not unwelcomed. He had people on his side, even if they were adults stuck as children…and an actual child, too.

"Hey! I felt the big girl again! The one who broke all of my dolls..." Said Mukai. The bigger girl had just broken them into a million little pieces without even touching them! That had been so rude. She didn't even stay and play. Whatever. They had to beat the big boss, then they could play…and Mukai would win…or at least have fun. She wondered what kind of dolls the big girl played with. They could have so much fun together after this!

"That's Mob alright…" said Reigen as he felt her as if she were right beside him. She was out there trying to figure out what happened to her family, probably and he wanted nothing more than to go to her…but he couldn't. Physically. She was moving too fast, she could even fly if she wanted to, and he had no hope of being any help at all even if he did, by some miracle, manage to catch up to her.

"Mob…that's a weird name. I like it. When this is all over we can play together." Said Mukai. Reigen shook his head. A kid. That was just a little kid. A girl even younger than Mob was when he first met her all those years ago…

"Should you really be bringing a kid into this?" asked Reigen. The woman driving, Tsuchiya, gripped the steering wheel tightly. Reigen gripped the passenger side door. Right. Espers were loud, loud enough to drown out the panic outside.

"Excuse me?! I'll have you know that I'm a former scar, thank you very much! This is nothing. We'll be done with this by dinnertime, tops!" said Mukai crossing her arms. She stuck her tongue out too, after a moment, for good measure.

"Mukai." Said Tsuchiya, her tone filled with warned. Mukai uncrossed her arms and tried to look the picture of innocence. Reigen watched the little girl through the rearview mirror. She was so young….younger than Mob. A big scar, raised red and ugly, across her face. How had she gotten that scar? How had the rest of them gotten theirs? And where were her parents? She called the woman by her given name, not 'mom' or 'mommy' or 'mama' or 'mother' or anything like that.

"Don't worry, Master, I've worked alongside Mukai for years now. Don't let her age fool you, she's very capable." Said Muraki. Master Reigen was such a good man to look out for the welfare of others, especially his former enemies, like that. Such a forgiving man. Wise, too. They were right to put their faith in him.

"That raises all kinds of questions…" said Reigen

"Then ask them." Said Mukai. People always underestimated her just because she was a girl and so little. Well she wasn't little anymore, she was going to be eight in May, and like Tsuchiya always said, being a girl didn't make her any weaker or less capable. Some great master this guy turned out to be if he couldn't see that.

"Ok, I will. Where are your parents? What's with the scar? Why is any of this even happening?" asked Reigen. He tried to stay calm. Auras around him. His aura trying to meet theirs.

"I don't have any parents, I'm from an orphanage, but Tsuchiya takes care of me. I got this scar fighting the President when I was five, I'm almost eight now, and then I became a scar and me and Tsuchiya got sent to Seventh Division. We're here because cars go fast and we need to outrun the people that were sent after us. Sorry about your office, by the way, and about the big girl being missing." Said Mukai kicking the seat.

"Mukai, stop kicking the great master's seat." Said Muraki. Mukai stuck her tongue out again. Reigen didn't say anything. Five years old and that poor little girl…poor little orphan….he was sorry that he had said anything. Only seven years old. That little girl was half Mob's age and now she was being dragged, no, she was walking willingly into anything and everything….just like Mob. Esper kids…why were there so many esper kids?! Even esper adults couldn't control them…or act in their best interests….

This was not the place for children.

"Forget Sho, this is not the place for children." Said Suzuki

"B-But President, he's your son….what if he got hurt or captured or-" said Serizawa. He was loathe to question the president, he had done so much for him over the years, but Sho was missing. He hadn't been there for the rally, he hadn't been there when the President gave them their new orders, and he wasn't picking up his phone, either…

Serizawa felt it again.

Sho could have gotten hurt by…whatever that thing was…

"Then it's his own fault for getting sloppy." Said Suzuki simply. He would deal with Sho once the insurrection was over. For now he had more important matters to attend to. He felt it again. The girl. She was out there and she was doing…something. Acting. Her movements were…erratic…but she did not seem to be searching for him specifically. She could have found him easily. He was the brightest thing around for miles.

So was she.

But he would let her come to him. He would let her exhaust herself taking on lackeys…or overload and explode by taking on too much energy.

"S-sir?" asked Serizawa. Sho could have gotten hurt. He was always so reckless, so reckless that the President had gotten a healer just for him…who knew what could have happened out there. It hurts, thinking about it, but the President said that world domination came with some sacrifices and that those sacrifices were for the greater good of all mankind…and also that people were evacuating, too, so that was good at least.

"We have more important things to worry about than whatever adolescent rebellion Sho has planned." Said Suzuki. Sho did this sometimes, he went off and hid someplace when he didn't approve of what was happening or the way he was being treated or something like that. The boy would come back, he had nowhere else to go after all. There were more pressing matters to attend to, far more pressing matters.

"H-Has something gone wrong?!" asked Serizawa. Oh no. The President had made himself perfectly clear. Failure was not an option. They all had their roles to play in this and if just one person messed up then it all went tumbling down and then…Serizawa had no idea what would happen if they were to fail. It would hurt the President so badly…

"Nothing significant yet. We're being opposed in Cuticle City but they'll fall soon. They have us when it comes to sheer numbers but we beat them in terms of raw power. Nothing to worry yourself over, Serizawa, not when our more pressing problem lies right beneath our noses." Said Suzuki

"Sir?" asked Serizawa. They stopped walking. Serizawa could see auras approaching, not hostile but not calm either. He shifted closer to the President. Serizawa had to keep him safe, that was his mission objective, if he were a videogame character. It was weird, in games he hated the sorts of quests where you had to accompany an NPC and keep them safe but here he loved it. Being near the President, making sure that he was ok, listening to him talk about things. The best times were now, when he actually talked WITH Serizawa. Not that Serizawa wasn't always happy to be spoken to by the President.

"Hang back and come when you're needed." Said Suzuki. A mutiny right under his nose. Such short sighted fools. He knew Joseph's motivations. The Japanese government had been keeping an eye on Claw for a while. As if Suzuki wouldn't notice an informant. Well then, at least something vaguely interesting was finally happening.

"Y-yes sir!" said Serizawa. He gripped his umbrella nervously. The President was going to be all alone and defenseless, well not defenseless because in addition to being a kindhearted man and great leader he was also a very powerful esper, but Serizawa was loathe to leave him all alone like that. If something happened and the President got hurt then Serizawa would never be able to forgive himself.

Suzuki could feel the espers around him. To someone less powerful they would all feel like one multicolored blob. Someone less powerful wouldn't have been able to pick out Joseph and his little rebellion team. The walls here were the same as in every Division, they were designed to dampen psychic powers. Not suppress, there were special rooms for that, but dampen enough so that the others could function. Suzuki needed no such crutch. He had achieved perfect control back when he was in middle school. Back when he realized how to exorcise any and all superfluous emotion.

He still awakened, of course, but only under extreme stress.

The last time he had awakened was when Masami left. That had been…he had been weak that day. But he was not that man anymore. He was strong, now, and nobody stood a chance against him. He could have crushed Joseph and the others like the insects that they were but, well, he was curious. What made them think that they could oppose him? Had they all simply been bought or could they honestly not see that this was the world's destiny? That heaven had bestowed him with these powers, made him a God among insects, for the soul purpose of creating a new and better world in his image?

"Claw is a dangerous esper organization, huh? For a plot twenty years in the making it sure is full of holes." Came a drawl from around a corner. Suzuki's face remained impassive. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, he would emerge victorious in the end.

"An elephant that is about to crush a thousand ants has little to worry about. Wouldn't you agree?" Said Suzuki as he turned to face Joseph. Suzuki knew how he looked. Creepy. The way he stared was creepy. His lack of expression was creepy. He had been hearing that for his entire life and he learned how to use that to his advantage. An off kilter opponent was an easy opponent.

"Heh. I'm really starting to feel sorry for you. You have no idea that the Japanese government is already watching you and has been for years….nor who it is that you're talking to." Said Joseph. It was a phase the most espers went through at some point. They got drunk off their own powers and got delusions of their own grandeur. They usually came off of it when a bigger fish came into their very small pond. Well no bigger fish had ever come into Suzuki's pond, as far as he knew. The man had some powerful psychokinetic abilities, that was true, but even he couldn't defeat Joseph. He could transmute matter on a molecular level, a power seldom seen and difficult to defend against. Joseph knew that he was not the biggest fish in the pond, that honor went to whoever it was outside that kept on turning night into day, but he was a bigger fish than Suzuki Toichiro.

"So, were you the only spy here sent by the government?" Said Suzuki. He wondered what Joseph would confess to. As if Suzuki didn't know the goings on of his own organization. Hatori was indispensable, really. Thanks to him Suzuki knew literally everything about all of his subordinates. When he remade the world in his own image Suzuki would keep the cameras and the internet, both were very valuable tools in controlling the population.

"Afraid so, but I've found some others with a taste for treason. This organization will implode before your plan can even begin." Said Joseph. The smoke from his cigarette turned lavender to match his aura. He ashed it on the ground. Nobody, no matter how strong their psychokinetic abilities, had ever been able to escape. It was a shame about the city but it could be rebuilt and most people had the good sense to run away even before the government started ordering evacuation orders.

Suzuki's face remained impassive. Well then, that had been anticlimactic. If Joseph was planning on leading a mutiny he could have at least been a bit more dramatic. It didn't matter. He could feel Serizawa coming closer. Yes, let him deal with this. Suzuki wasn't much in the mood, now. Yes, let Serizawa and the others deal with this little mutiny.

"So…President Suzuki took you in…and you were lying to him? How could you do something so awful?!" said Serizawa. He should have been by the President's side from the very beginning. He must have really needed a friend, then, or as close as Serizawa was to one anyway. To be betrayed by someone you trusted….that was unforgivable.

Joseph didn't think, he just reacted. Serizawa. The President's aura was so bright it drowned out the espers around him. The power dampening walls didn't help, either. Somehow he had managed to almost get taken by surprise. No matter. Joseph took a drag of his cigarette and filled his lungs to capacity. Once he could no longer inhale he began to exhale. As the smoke from his lungs made contact with the oxygen of the outside it began to multiply until it filled the corridor completely. Only once the corridor was full, a quick process, did Joseph will it to harden.

The entire process was over before Serizawa could think.

Stuck. He was stuck. He couldn't move! He was going to…no. Don't explode. He still had his umbrella in his hands. As long as he had that umbrella he was safe. The President needed him. He could not freak out now. The President was depending on him and he would never, ever, ever fail him!

"Impressive work. Must be hard to move around in that." Said Suzuki. Transmuting matter on a molecular level. He could do it if he wanted to, he just so seldom had need to do it. Brute strength worked just as well. Simple always worked best. Besides, it was in his best interests not to let on, fully, what he could do. Not until the day came, the day when he took his rightful place as the ruler of this world. As the God of this world.

"Heh. Once that hardens it's as strong as steel. Anyone who gets caught in it-" Said Joseph. Serizawa, as strong as he was, had no chance of escaping. It was a death trap, literally. If you didn't die when the smoke hardened then you had a slow death by suffocation to look forward to.

The wall in front of him buckled in on it's self and then collapsed. In a pile of rubble laid a man, breathing, but barely. His body broken and bloody….this eyes closed…his face so swollen he could only be recognized by the pink of his hair and his red, bulbous, nose.

"Miguel?!" shouted Joseph. No. If he fell then the rest of the mutiny team was…

"You said that you felt sorry for me a moment ago, didn't you? But now I feel sorry for you." Said Suzuki. Joseph took a step back. There was nothing behind those eyes. No anger, no worry, nothing. Blank. His voice was flat, like he was reading from a grocery list. Flat. Flat fact. The flat fact that now Suzuki Toichiro felt bad for him…

"No more extra work, ok? I have enough to do as it is." Came a bored voice from the other side of the hole in the wall. Vines slithered their way through the makeshift doorway followed by their master. Joseph took a step back. Behind Minegishi were several bodies...not breathing…auras gone out…

"Well, well, well, what a truly pathetic sight. These guys are supposed to be in our upper echelon. Look at them now." Came a deep voice. Another body was thrown through the wall, another makeshift doorway was made through which Joseph could see the hulking form of Shibata. No. The Ultimate Five, minus the President's lapdog Serizawa, were supposed to be occupied with the insurrection! Damn these walls! Damn the President's bright, impossibly bright, aura!

"The loss of my division leaders won't be enough of a setback to cause Claw to implode. There's a reason I've dubbed Claw's main force 'The Ultimate Five'. You see, as long as they're with me then Claw is invincible." Said Suzuki. Bored. This whole thing was so boring. Bad strategy, too. Everyone knew that a body could survive without limbs but not a head. If Joseph were smart he would have gone after the Ultimate Five before anything else. Oh well.

"I-I can at least still take you out!" screamed Joseph. He swore to God that Suzuki **smiled** when he said that. His limbs felt heavy. His eyes tried to close. It was like he was coming off of an all night bender. He just wanted to lay down and…sleep….

"No, you can't." said Suzuki as he felt his metaphysical self shift to accommodate the energy that he was taking it. It was painful, for his vessel, but he did not let that show at all.

His aura was going out.

"Th-This isn't over!" shouted Joseph. He prepared to take another drag of his cigarette, not to fight but to give himself time to run away, when the wall behind him began to crackle with a bright purple energy. How…how had Serizawa managed to SURVIVE that?!

That was the last thought that Joseph had before everything went purple.

"Well done, Serizawa, you really came through for me there. I knew that it would be a waste of your talents to continue to allow you to be a shut-in." said Suzuki. Some of his underlings could be motivated by fear, some by money, some by glory, and some by empty words of praise. Serizawa was that sort of man and Suzuki would be eternally grateful for that fact. Heaven had been kind to him in giving him Serizawa. Eternally loyal and useful. Grateful, too, and he always knew his place.

"Thank you so much, sir! I am so happy to be there for you. If it weren't for you then I would never have entered society! Thank you so much!" said Serizawa. He did not have the words, not really, to express his gratitude to the President. He felt that he had to. Something terrible could have happened to him and then Serizawa would have been all alone again…

A dark room. Alone. Day in and day out. Alone. Not showering for weeks at a time. Pissing in empty bottle because he was too afraid to even leave the room when his mother was home. Too afraid to even speak to her. All alone. For years. Years and years…

But that was over and done with now.

He had friends who he cared about and who cared about him, a place in society, and the President. As long as he was near the President then everything would be ok. He was sure of it. The President was the greatest man that he had ever met, he was his reason and his life, and he would do anything for the man that saved him. The man he loved. Not like THAT! Never like THAT! That would not have been ok. The President was much too good for him, really, and could do so much better. No, not that kind of love at all.

"Where's Shimazaki? Haven't seen him in a while." Said Minegishi. He didn't care, not really, what happened to Shimazaki. He just…was curious. That was all. Curiosity.

"Elsewhere. He's on an errand." Said Suzuki simply before he walked off, Serizawa trailing behind him. Serizawa wanted to tell Minegishi not to worry, that of course Shimazaki would be alright, the President said so.

If the President said so then everything would be alright. Really.

"I don't know anything! Really!" said the esper that was in their telekinetic grasp. Mob did not believe him. Shigeko did not care. She had found the ones who were on their way to destroying her parents' house. On the way to. Not on the way from. Either they were lying or…or something else had happened. No matter. Those guys had been depowered and tossed aside.

As had the next guys.

And the next guys.

Nobody had any information whatsoever. She had been crossing the city again and again but…nothing. She touched down at hostile aura after hostile aura but still….nothing. Nobody knew anything about what happened to her, their, her family. That was both a good thing but also a bad thing. It was a good thing because they might have gotten away but it was a bad things because now she had no idea where they were and no way to assure their safety.

Though she might have felt Ritsu.

Might have being the operative word. There were so many auras in the city now, and so many identical ones, that she was just flipping through them like pages in a book. She did not see faces or hear names, she just saw auras and felt intent. So much hostile intent. Too much hostile intent. Whatever. It didn't matter how hostile they were, in the end she always won. She did not break anyone but she always won.

"And you?" asked Mob/Shigeko. They turned to face the other one, another one of those guys with the weird, red, identical auras. He shook his head 'no' a bunch of times. Mob sighed.

"You're both useless to me then." Said Mob as she began to depower them. She glowed when she did that, her aura did anyway. She had caught sight of herself in a window, before, when she did this. It was another her, the other her, the afterimage of her. It writhed away from her body, her vessel, like it was in pain. It really was painful, this process, for all involved. It was painful but it had to be done.

The bodies hit the floor. Auras out but lungs still drawing breath. Good. She hadn't broken anyone.

She didn't want to break anyone that didn't need to be broken. The ones who hurt her family would pay but that didn't mean that everyone she came across needed to. Mob's thoughts. Shigeko didn't care. Shigeko wanted to come out and raze the world to the ground. She figured that if they got everyone then, eventually, she would get the ones who hurt her family. It made sense, sort of, but it was also destructive and heartless. So it was a firm 'no' to that.

Even though they needed to be this thing together.

They felt a shift in the energy around them. A gross feeling. One that made their stomach writhe and their skin prickle. A dead aura. A spirit. An evil spirit. Shigeko is about to exorcise it when Mob holds them back. She'd know that aura anywhere.

"Dimple. What are you doing here? I sent you to protect Master Reigen." Said Mob/Shigeko. Master Reigen was squishy. He was so very squishy and breakable…and they weren't there to put him back together again if he were to break…and that would have been awful. They did not want that.

"I tried! The moron wouldn't let me!" said Dimple

"So he's at home then?" asked Mob. Home was good. Home was safe. He could hide there until it all ended.

"No! He's going to help your friends. I tried to stop him, I really did, I told him to come to…to let me possess him so that he would be safe but he's being such a stubborn bastard right now!" said Dimple. He was stretching the truth just a bit, just a tiny bit. Shigeko, the real Shigeko, was in there somewhere and he needed to find a way to get her out before she did something she regretted. He eyed the bodies on the floor. Something else that she would wind up regretting.

"My friends? What are you talking about? Did Claw get them, too?" asked Mob. She tried to leave her vessel again and search the city. So many auras. It was like flipping through a book, a flip book, everything went by so fast that she was having trouble pinpointing any one specific aura. Too much. Everything was just too much.

But she couldn't stop now.

She could never stop. She could not stop until she found the ones who hurt her family. Then she would find them and they would pay. They would all pay. Each and every single one of them would pay. She didn't know what she would do, yet, but she knew that she would do something. She should have been there to keep her family safe but she hadn't been…but she could be there, now. Yes, she could be there now and she could save them.

"I have no idea! I think they're holed up at the Awakening Lab place or something. Reigen didn't give me a lot of details but he did say that your brother's girlfriend called him in some kind of panic. Shigeko, forget these guys and go save your friends! Don't do this! Shigeko, you're going to end up accidentally killing one of these guys and then how will you live with yourself? Remember Asagiri? How you felt when you thought that you had killed her?" asked Dimple

"Of course I remember, we remember, Asagiri. We remember how it felt to pin her down and choke her until she stopped moving. We remember how it felt knowing that we had killed someone. It felt bad, Dimple, and it still feels bad. It's the kind of bad feeling that makes us want to end the whole world. We don't like feeling like this but we are prepared to do anything for our family. Mom and dad may not love us, they may be scared of us, but they're still our mom and dad. Ritsu may deserve much better than what we can be but we're still his big sister and we're still going to save him. We still love him." said Mob/Shigeko

"The stop this! Be a big sister that your little brother can be proud of and stop before you accidentally kill someone!" said Dimple

"When we do there won't be any accidentally about it. Our family may be dead, Dimple, and that is unforgiveable." Said Mob/Shigeko

"Your brother wouldn't just let them die! I'm telling you that this has all been a trick! Now come on, Reigen needs you! Save Reigen before he does something stupid and gets himself killed! I am not spending an eternity with whatever kind of spirit that bastard leaves behind!" said Dimple. Mob/Shigeko were silent after that. Dimple took it as a good sign. Maybe they were thinking it over. Maybe the real Shigeko was coming to her senses and unfusing with whatever it was that existed within her. Maybe this would all end and everything would be-

She reached an arm out and picked up a car with her powers.

She flipped it over and held it at eye level.

"I remember you two. You're from the Seventh Division….you kidnapped my brother." Said Mob as she held the car in place with her powers. A window rolled down slowly.

"H-Hey…kid. We're uh…we're real sorry about all of that. We're going straight, honest! That's why we're here…" said Koyama slowly as not to startle her. She was just as he remembered her. Raw power. Raw rage. Murderous intent.

"You know what happened to my family? You know where they are?" asked Mob/Shigeko. The two in the car looked at each other.

"Your family, no, but your brother-" said Koyama. Apparently he had been elected as the spokesperson for him and Sakurai. He was still freaked out about the guy breaking his sword in half and all of that shit. Yeah, the guy and the girl were freaky but this was not the time to show weakness!

"Ritsu!" shouted Mob/Shigeko. That was mostly Shigeko. There was a sound to it, a metaphysical one, that hurt the auras of those around her, it seemed. The two espers in front of her had auras that went all…wavy. Even Dimple seemed like he was having trouble keeping it together…

"Shigeko, you can't dematerialize people! And don't try to dematerialize me either!" said Dimple. He didn't know what she had been trying to accomplish there and he did not want to know. All he knew was that whatever that thing inside of Shigeko was it was exerting too much influence on her and he needed to find a way to break them apart before it took over.

"Y-Yeah, he's working with Suzuki…little Suzuki." Said Koyama. That hurt. The hurt on a level that he didn't know that he could feel. He felt the scars on his arm from the first time he fought her. She was not someone to be trifled with.

With her on their side they actually stood a chance at winning this thing.

"Where?" asked Mob/Shigeko. She tried to scan the city again. She felt something that felt like Ritsu…but there was just so much happening! Too many people in the city with auras. Too many people using their powers. Just too much.

"We can take you to-" said Koyama as the car was righted and the back door opened. Mob/Shigeko slid in and slammed the door quickly. The car was still hovering off the ground a few feet. People rushed by. This sort of thing had, at this point, become commonplace if downtown was anything to go by.

"Which way?" asked Mob/Shigeko. Koyama pointed forwards with his good arm and before anyone knew it they were moving at speeds which did not seem to be possible. But they were. Mob didn't care if she or the people she was with got motion sick. Ritsu needed her and she was going to him.


	61. Don't Fall Apart

"Abraham DeLacey, Giuseppe Casey….Thomas O'Malley, O'Malley my alley cat…" sung Sophia softly as she cut up some fish for the only other member of the Reigen household. The damn cat twisted its self between her legs and shed orange hair all over her work stockings.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm making your dinner right now you little beast." Said Sophia as she made sure to remove all of the tiny bones. Cat food would have been better but, well, it was nice to have someone to cook for. Someone besides herself…not that deboning fish counted as cooking. Whatever, that damned cat should have been grateful to have been fed at all.

"Come on you little monster, let's have dinner. It's been a big day for both of us." Said Sophia as she put the cat's dish down on the floor. He just had at it and payed his master no mind at all.

"How was my day you ask? Well we got a whole new crop of baby expats in today with about ten words of Japanese between them. I know that the ad says that you don't need any Japanese but you should at least be able to state the fact that you cannot speak Japanese. At least." Said Sophia as she carried her own plate over to the dining table. The kitchen and dining room were connected, a nice feature that made the room seem so much bigger than it was. An open floor plan, Yoshio's idea. Sophia would have gone for something a bit more closed off. Lots of walls to trap the heat in. The cold was coming in too early thanks to all of the global warming….or was it climate change now? Did it matter, even? The only one around to hear her opinions on the subject, or any subject, was the cat.

"I am so sick of all of these twenty something kids thinking that they can just waltz right in and start teaching. Not just teaching, they actually think that they can be Japanese, too! Have you ever heard of something so absurd? Well you're a cat, an outdoor cat, so there's no telling what happens throughout your day Thomas O'Malley. The stupidity I have to deal with day in and day out, it'd curl your little whiskers. I mean, really. Thirty years I've been here and I'm even still just a gaijin. Heh!" said Sophia. There was silence broken only by the sound of the cat eating. She picked at her own dinner with her chopsticks. Fish, rice, and salad. Simple. Dinner for one.

"Fifty thousand kanji I've got memorized and everyone still talks to me real slow like I'm simple or something. That's more than even Taka-chan knows, though Lord knows that the boy did not take one moment of school seriously….that boy." Said Sophia as she pushed her food around her bowl. She looked across the table at the empty seat.

"The stress of work is nothing compared to the stress of raising that boy let me tell you. Be grateful I had you fixed you little monster, trust me, you do not need the grief kids put you through. I swear to God I am about ready to grab that boy by the back of the collar and drag him kicking and screaming back home where he belongs…that girl, too, while I'm at it." Said Sophia. There was more silence. She looked over into the empty living room.

"I know, I know! She's not my daughter. Not my music, not my song, I know! I just cannot look the other way, though, not after what happened to her…that poor little girl….she did not need that. Any of that. I can't believe that Taka would let something like that happen to her…to someone he loves…" said Sophia. The cat looked up at her and made eye contact.

"Don't give me that look, Thomas O'Malley, or it's right back to Costco brand meat flavored cat meal for you Mister. He's twenty nine years old, he's beyond my command! I mean what can I say? Taka-chan as your mother I order you to stop being so emotionally codependent with that middle school girl? He hasn't listened to me once in his life, he is not going to start now. Especially not when it comes to that girl. He loves her too much to even dream of putting any actual space between the two of them." Said Sophia. She ran a hand through her hair. Some of it fell into her eyes and she brushed it away. A silver strand got caught on and broke off under her nail.

"I'm almost fifty years old. I've done the best I could with what I had. Taka-cha….Taka…Arataka is beyond my command. He is never going to put up actual boundaries between the two of them…and he can't, anyway. The girl, that poor little girl, that poor little Mobbu doesn't have anyone else in the entire world besides him….no parents. Nothing. I'm miles, kilometers, away…and she barely even knows me anyway. No wonder she ran when Taka pushed her away…without Taka then she has nobody…" said Sophia with a sigh. The stretched her foot over and kicked away the chair across from her.

"How could he have been so selfish!? I did not raise him to be selfish! He just let her-her-her walk right out the door! Like it was nothing! She's a child and he just let her leave…to deal with everything…on her own…" said Sophia. The cat was walking away, now. It didn't want to deal with her shit.

Neither did she.

"You know they say all **dogs** go to heaven, Thomas O'Malley, they didn't say anything about cats!" said Sophia as the cat rounded the island counter. She shook her head. She was becoming a crazy old cat lady and she wasn't even fifty yet. Whatever. She didn't need to talk to her cat, or even to anyone. She could just sit there in silence and pick at her sad, middle aged woman, dinner while she chewed on all of her son's failings in life and crucified herself for obviously making some very big mistakes with that boy throughout the years. No, she did not need to do that at all.

Not when there was television.

She got up and turned the TV on. She watched her dinner out of the corner of her eye, that cat was a notorious food stealer. That should have been his name, bandit, not Thomas O'Malley. Actually Thomas O'Malley fit better considering that it was an orange cat. The last one should have been called bandit, the Tuxedo cat, but Yoshio had wanted to call it Claudandus. It was only fair, he had said, because she got to name the boy. That, of course, ignored the fact that he also got to name their previous cat, Felidae. She still had exclusive rights to name any and all of their future children.

Heh.

No way. Even if she could, which she was not about to test out, the baby factory was closed. One was enough, sometimes more than enough, and she did not want to see how she would mess up baby number two. Maybe this one would end up in prison or living in some cult or following the Grateful Dead around…or whatever the equivalent of the Grateful Dead was for Japanese kids. She'd have to ask Mobbu that one, she'd know, being fourteen and all. Mobbu was daughter enough for Sophia anyway. The closest thing she had to a daughter.

She knew her son. Taka was a stubborn boy. Stubborn and clingy, he would not be letting her go any time soon.

Well he had but, well, he learned his lesson about that. His relationship with that girl was probably more codependent than ever….which she knew was not a good thing. She should have been telling Taka to give Mobbu back to her parents, that would have been the responsible thing to do…but nothing about this situation lent itself to responsibility. Mobbu, in a perfect world, would have had two parents who loved her and had no allowed her to leave the house at fourteen. In a perfect world Taka would have actually taken actual care of her instead of treating her like his friend. In a perfect world Taka would have protected her from-

She started to flip channels.

Nothing. A whole lot of nothing. In the future there will be five hundred TV channels…and nothing to watch! When she was a girl she got the three networks and PBS, maybe the UHF station if it was a clear day. Somehow back then there was always something to watch. Maybe she should just cut the cord and watch streaming exclusively…but then she'd be stuck with Japanese only content….not that she had anything against Japanese TV but she did enjoy the English content that her trusty satellite provided her. Yup, this was success, a big empty house and five hundred channels mostly in English…

And the same thing on every channel?

For a moment she thinks that she's watching a movie. That guy looked just like a bad movie villain complete with evil plot…

But it just keeps going.

On every channel.

She flips and flips and flips but it's the same thing on every single channel. The movie channel, BBC news, even the home shopping network! The same thing on every channel. It was kind of far to go for a joke. That's what it feels like, some kind of joke. Take over the world with psychic powers?

Seemed a bit far to go for a joke.

Because it wasn't. After the broadcast ended all Sophia could do was stare. The TV was back to normal, some kind of kitchen gadget demonstration, but she was not watching. That had been real. Someone was…she knew that psychic powers were real. She had seen her son work, she knew that psychic powers were real, but for someone to…to try and take over the world like this was some kind of Saturday morning cartoon…this was insane….

Sophia heard something hit the ground. Her plate. The damned cat had gotten to her dinner.

She didn't care. She could only stare at the TV as it went to the emergency broadcasting system. There was a terrorist attack…the Prime Minister was kidnapped…Seasoning City was, parts of it were anyway, being evacuated….the entire Nation of Japan was under martial law…whatever that entailed…

Taka-chan.

Her son.

He was there…in the middle of it. He was there and she was so far away. She couldn't protect him….miles separated them. Kilometers. She had no idea what she would have done had he been right beside her but she knew that she would have done something. She saw him, her son, the procession of photographs that hung behind the TV. Birth to eighteen. Her son. Arataka. The two of them had their differences over the years but she knew that no matter what, and there had been a lot of 'what' over the years, she would always be there for him as best as she could. They had spent too many years estranged, far too many, and she was not going to lose him. Not to estrangement or…Sophia could not even bring herself to think it. She could not lose him. She'd die first.

She didn't think, she just acted.

She got her bag, slipped on her shoes, and went right out the door. She had no idea what she was going to do when she got to Seasoning City but she knew that she had to get down there as fast as she could. She had to protect her son. Her only son. Her Taka-chan.

She needed to go to him.

"I never want to go." Said Hana as she laid down on her bed. She could not even begin to remember the last time she felt this good. It was amazing what a soak in a hot springs could do.

"Alright then, I'll call our son and tell him he's the man of the house permanently. He'll be ok on his own, he's a good boy. He'll get himself up for school in the morning, make himself a nice nutritious dinner, have his little girlfriend over-" said Ichimaro as he reached over and played with a lock of his wife's hair. Well while he could. She shook her head, quickly, and made that adorable face she made sometimes like she was eating a lemon.

"Don't remind me! Ugh, that girl…" said Hana

"Hey, she's a nice kid. Ritsu's certainly taken with her." said Ichimaro

"I'll tell you what he's taken with…" muttered Hana

"He's thirteen years old, Hana, we both know exactly what he's taken with. Honestly I'm relieved, he's never once even so much as mentioned a girl before this one, you know. He's only thirteen, Hana, it isn't like he's going to marry the girl. Wait for the one he brings home from university." Said Ichimaro with a laugh.

"Don't even joke about that, Ichimaro. I don't want to think about that." Said Hana. Ritsu in university. All grown up and probably out of the house. The thing to do used to be to live with your parents until the day they died, which she would not have minded, but young people were so different these days…or maybe not. She herself knew that if she had to live with her husband's parents she would have gone mad.

"What?" asked Ichimaro innocently.

"Some girl getting her claws into our son. I thought that I had a few more years before I had to worry about that." Said Hana

"What's there to worry about? I let you get your claws in me and fifteen years later here we are." Said Ichimaro with a laugh. Hana reached over and playfully slapped her husband on the arm.

"It's not that I don't want him to be happy, I just don't want him to be unhappy. He has so much potential and I just don't want him to meet some girl and throw it all away." Said Hana with as best of a shrug as she could manage while laying down with her husband.

"He's a smart boy, he wouldn't just throw everything he's worked for away because some girl looked his way. Honestly I was a bit worried about him all these years, him never once mentioning a girl and all, but I like this one. She's good for him, I can tell, and as far as thirteen year olds go they've got a pretty good relationship." Said Ichimaro

"I trust his judgement….to a point. I don't know. I guess that when it comes to our son I just have my…worries." Said Hana softly. Worries was an understatement. There were so many pitfalls in life just awaiting her only son. What was she to do if he were to fall into one of them? She wouldn't let him. She'd be right there to pull him out. Ritsu would not fail. Hana would die before she let her only son fail.

"Hana, he's a good boy. Don't worry. He's probably sitting at home right now doing his homework or studying or something like that. Any other son we would have had to worry but I am in no way worried about Ritsu. I mean, he didn't even fight you about taking that girlfriend of his up to his room." Said Ichimaro

"Don't remind me! Ugh! That was one of, if not the, most awkward moments of my life…" said Hana

"Well why did you open the door then?" asked Ichimaro with a laugh

"Because it was closed. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that Ritsu, our little Ritsu, would ever do something like that….but he is at that age I suppose…" said Hana

"Hana, maybe next time don't open doors unless you're prepared so see what's on the other side." Said Ichimaro

"Ichimaro!" said Hana

"What? Honey, on the grand scale of things that you could have walked in on you won the damn lottery. I mean, come on, what were you getting up to at thirteen?" asked Ichimaro

"…it was a different time, then, and even so I was still older than the children before I started…all of that." Said Hana

"Hana, they are not doing any of that. They're still just kids, both of them. At this point, honestly, I don't see either of them doing any worse than a hickey." Said Ichimaro

"…I hate time, make it stop…" said Hana. If she could she would have gone back and preserved her children at…late elementary school. Old enough to somewhat take care of themselves but before the accident. Teenagers. Why did she have to have teenagers? Just skip right to young adulthood.

"You hate time? I love it. I am so glad that they're past babyhood. Not that I didn't love them, then, but I also love sleep." Said Ichimaro

"I wish they could be babies again….or just Ritsu." Said Hana. Shigeko had been a…difficult….baby. She didn't have the control that she had now, for one thing, and she also hit so many developmental milestones late. Not like Ritsu. Walked early, talked early, read early, wrote early, all of that. It had been a dream with Ritsu and a trial with Shigeko…and it had never ended…and that was a terrible way to think about her own child…so she chose to stop thinking like that. She had to. She was a good mother. She had to be.

"Want to just have another? I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" said Ichimaro quickly. Hana loved it, when the kids were babies. She loved it when the kids were babies and part of him wonders if she does want another one. Another son…that would be something…but nothing that they could afford. Even if they could he already had a son and a daughter, one of each. It was good to keep things…even. Yes. They had one of each and they could so easily end up with another Shigeko…daughter! They could have so easily ended up with another daughter and then the family would have been…unbalanced.

"Didn't you just crunch the numbers on the cost of having another child?" asked Hana shaking her head. Her hair, still damp, rustled against the pillow. Softer than the ones at home, and less caved in. New pillows, it was about time to get new pillows. New bedspreads, too, while she was at the department store. The big one with the fountain, they had nice things there. Some new socks too while she was out, for Ritsu. That boy was growing like a weed. Hana closed her eyes and took a breath. Right, not now. Time to think of something other than running her household. This trip was a chance to let go of all of that for just a bit and she should have taken advantage of it.

"I did, that's why I said that I'm kidding. Another kid, at our age? We'll have to retire in our 80's, if then…and that's even if we can conceive at our age." Said Ichimaro

"You did not just call me old." Said Hana

"No…I didn't. You're as youthful as the day I met you, Hana." Said Ichimaro as he traced circles on his wife's arm slowly.

"Am I?" asked Hana leaning into her husband's touch. This. She missed this, too. She knew that their problems would just be waiting for them when they got home but, now, it was nice to escape and forget about life for a while. This was the perfect place to escape. The WIFI was terrible, the TV signals couldn't get past the mountains, and their phones had a single bar if they stood on a chairs and pointed their phones in just the right direction.

There was something freeing about cutting the cord.

"Oh yes…and spry too…" said Ichimaro as he tiled her over and kissed her. Hana sighed into her husband. This was good. This was perfect. She missed this so much, her and her husband, together like this. When was the last time that they had been together like this? At some point life…not just life but her…him. The two of them had just gotten so caught up in the humdrum of married life…and all of these problems with the kids…work too…it was all so much. But this was different. It was amazing what a change of atmosphere could do. The two of them could just be here. That was all that they could do was be. The outside world and all of the stresses and responsibilities that came with it seemed to have just vanished. Gone. For now.

As far as they were concerned the world was built for two. They had no idea what was happening beyond that room and they did not care.

Reigen did not give a damn about what was happening in the outside world, he just cared about Mob. That was all. He just needed to know that Mob was ok. No, that was selfish. There were so many other people in danger, the entire world was in danger, and he was focused on Mob. Or maybe it wasn't selfish because he was focused on someone other than himself. He did not know. He had no idea how that worked. Mob was…she was his best friend. She was his only friend. She was someone who he was responsible for. He was someone who he could not protect. Was that selfish, him being selfish, because he only cared about her? The way her aura lit up the sky? The way that she was lighting up the sky? The fear he felt at the thought of any harm coming to her? Was that really so selfish?

He had no idea.

But none of the people around him needed to know that. He was the Great Reigen Arataka now, he had to be. A lot of people were depending on him. Some of them were even other adults…if they could even be called adults. That was mean but that was also how he felt and he could not help it. There were more scars here. Apparently someone named Suzuki, or Little Suzuki, had gathered them there. Well he had gathered them and ordered that they group up at a safe house but these guys didn't trust whoever this 'Little Suzuki' was.

What as this, a yakuza movie?

Hell, he'd take a yakuza movie over whatever this was any day. A shonen movie. Or one of those magical girl good vs. evil things that Mob liked. Heh. She was the magical girl there. She was…she was out there and she was kicking ass and taking names…and there was no stopping her. She was out there and he was so far away but there was nothing that he could do. Even if he had been right beside her there would have been nothing that she could do. He had no way at all of changing her mind...none at all.

He took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm. He needed to be in control of this situation. He was the only real adult in the room.

"You, you, and you. You'll come with me to rescue the Prime Minister." Said Teru with an aura of authority. At least that was what he was trying to project, anyway. If anyone were to ask Reigen he would have called the kid a bossy little jerk…but that would not have been a nice thing to say to anyone, especially not to the love of Mob's life…

He could feel it from the kid. Stress. The kind of stress that had led Reigen to biting his nails down to the quick. The kind of nervous that made him wish that he had something stronger to drink than strawberry milk.

"Hey! The new guy said that me and Takeshi are supposed to-" said Go. No way was he getting taken off the coolest part of the mission! No way at all! If he saved the Prime Minister then he'd be famous! He'd be in, like, history books or something! He'd get three wishes! No, wait, that was genies….but maybe he'd get a reward or something…yeah! For saving the Prime Minister's life! Maybe he'd even be the next Prime Minister…or something….

"Well Suzuki isn't here, now is he?! Do you want to both die? Is that it?" asked Teru a little more, or a lot more, meanly than Shigeko would have wanted.

"….no…but who made you the boss-" asked Go. Teru's aura flared out. Gold. A lot of gold. It drowned out what little aura he had. He felt something heavy on his shoulder. He turned his head and looked back. Takeshi.

"Hey. It's ok. Come on, have some dinner." Said Takeshi. He didn't care who was in charge, he just wanted someone to start doing something because as soon as something happened then they would be closer to being done with all of this.

"It's not ok. He can't just boss everyone around-" said Go. Takeshi's hand was still on his shoulder. He shrugged him off. He could feel a weight in his head now, in, which meant telepathy. The Shiraori brothers. They were looking at him now. He crossed his arms. He was not giving in. The new guy was the boss and he already gave everyone their jobs. Just because Teru was the most powerful that didn't give him the right to boss everyone around. He was always doing that, acting like he was so much better than everyone else. Well he wasn't.

"I don't care who's in charge, I just want this whole thing to be over, ok? I don't want to go and fight anyone or anything. I just want-" said Takeshi

"What? Peace on Earth?" asked Go

"No. I just want to go home. That's all I want. I want to go home and if I have to sit out and let all of these guys-" said Takeshi

"Who kidnapped us!" said Go loudly. There were some uncomfortable looks from those adult espers who just showed up. The other kid esper, the red haired girl, didn't seem to care. She was jumping on the couch like this was a party or something. That was little kids. What he wouldn't have given to be that little again.

"Will you please just shut your fu-" said Teru. He did not need this right now. He used to command legions of lackeys, his own gang, but now he had some moronic first year questioning him!

"Teru's just stressed, Go, we all are." Said Daichi from across the room. He and Kaito had been trying to keep each other calm. Teru was right, they should not have reopened their 'I go, you go' conversation from that morning. They needed to have hope or else, well, they had might as well just bow down to the new ruler of the world.

"I don't-" said Go

"Everyone is really scared and stressed right now and we shouldn't fight with each other, ok?" said Kaito. Daichi nodded. They were in this thing together. Even with all of these new people, people who had kidnapped them before and almost…everything was fine. Nobody there was planning on betraying anyone. They all had the same goal and there were no hard feelings…not really. Besides, Master Reigen was there and he would make sure that they got through this just fine. He kept on thinking that he could, anyway. He was worried about Teru's girlfriend, too, but they were not about to go digging around in that area.

"…fine. Do whatever you want, Teru. I don't care." Said Go crossing his arms. He walked over to the table and plopped himself down next to Rei. She wasn't eating anything, she was just staring at her phone even though they were supposed to destroy them so the enemy couldn't find them. She was sniffling a lot. Go wanted to say something to her but he had no idea what. She wasn't his girlfriend anymore…if she had ever been. They went on one date and he ran away when she tried to kiss him. He didn't like her like that….or maybe he did….but he did want to comfort her.

Even though he had no idea how to.

She was Ritsu's girlfriend. How ok was it to comfort someone else's girlfriend? She didn't want him, anyway, she wanted Ritsu. Ritsu was off doing something with the new guy. Go was sure that he was fine. He wasn't worried. Ritsu was crazy powerful and his sister was a real, live, magical girl. He'd be fine. They didn't have to worry about Sho betraying them like he heard those adult espers were afraid of…the adult espers who kidnapped them. Master Reigen said that those guys were to be trusted so Go trusted his judgement. He was the great master after all. He had tricked all of those guys into thinking that he was Claw's boss. He had even gotten the loyalty of all of those other adult espers. He was the coolest. As long as Master Reigen was there then he knew that they would win.

"Ritsu…please be ok…" said Rei as she clutched her phone in her hand. She had covered the camera with a piece of tape so at least they couldn't spy on her. She could destroy her phone. What if Ritsu tried to call? What if he texted or called or Friendbook messaged her or something? He must have missed her. He was…she had no idea if he was fine. Those other espers, the ones who kidnapped them on that awful day were worried about Sho betraying them. Would Sho betray them? He seemed so…nice. He was such a nice guy and he seemed so genuine….but Ritsu wasn't picking up…but maybe he just wrecked his phone like Sho said to…but he wouldn't have done that without telling her that he was ok. They loved each other, they had to make sure that the other one was ok.

She loved him so much….

"He's fine. I mean, come on, this is Ritsu. He's always fine." Said Go settling on some words for Rei. She looked up from her phone and at him. Her eyes were red from crying. There was black stuff around her eyes and on her face.

"Do you really think so?" asked Rei. Go was always really nice. Sometimes he could be a little weird, he liked fire a lot, and sometimes he could be kind of immature but he was a good friend. He didn't even have any weird feelings left over from their almost relationship. She trusted him. If he said that Ritsu was ok…then he must have been…right?

"Yeah. He's probably out there doing something really badass right now. I bet you any minute now he'll come walking through that door and be all 'hey, what's up?' or whatever the Ritsu equivalent would be." Said Go. He looked over to the door almost as if he had the power to will this into reality. But he didn't. He was a pyrokinetic godsend, not a reality warper.

Rei followed his gaze to the door. She looked into the future. She would see Ritsu again. She was so frazzled…and the future kept on shifting so fast…that she couldn't get a lock on anything. At least the sirens had mostly stopped. That meant something good…right? She didn't know. The WI-FI was down and they were all afraid to turn the TV back on to see what was happening. She could have googled but she had turned off every notification except for messages.

Her family was worried about her. She told them that she was having a sleepover at the Awakening Lab.

If it weren't for all of the new, adult, espers around this could sort of be like one of their rare sleepovers. Not that she had ever spent the whole night. She was the only girl and even though there were plenty of guest rooms mom and dad hadn't wanted her spending the night with a bunch of boys. Not that they were ok with it now but they also told her not to go outside. They also told her to stay in her own room away from the boys. Nothing was going to happen. Ritsu wasn't there and even if he was…nothing was going to happen. He didn't want anything to happen and she had to respect his boundaries. She knew that nothing would happen until he was ready but….but she wanted him to be ready. She was ready.

She did not want to die without knowing what it, what anything, was like.

Go was beside her. He was cute and nice but she did not have those feelings for him. He was not her boyfriend. None of the guys were. She only wanted…anything…with Ritsu. She wanted that with Ritsu so badly and she knew that it would not be a mistake. Mom said that, that if she did something at her age then it would be a mistake because of how young she was. She knew that it wouldn't be. Mom didn't know what she and Ritsu had been through. Mom didn't know what she and Ritsu were going through. She loved Ritsu, the real and true kind of love. The kind of love that made her wait for him to catch up to her instead of going on to a boy who wanted to do the kinds of things she wanted to do.

She wasn't sure what she wanted to do.

But she knew that she wanted to do something. She could not die without knowing what it, what anything, was like. She knew that it was supposed to be special, that doing that sort of thing was supposed to be special, and she couldn't think of anyone more special than Ritsu. He was the love of her life. He cared about her. He loved her, no boy had ever said that to her. She loved him so much…she stared at the door. She willed him to walk through that door. Her aura, orange, was showing. There was a hole in her chest, it felt like, because no matter how much she willed it, no matter how many futures she flipped through, she could not see a future where he walked right through that door in the next ten seconds.

She made eye contact with Reigen.

Reigen felt someone looking at him. Oh. Mob's friend, the one who called him. She was…he disentangled himself from the aura beside him. His heart felt like it was trying to crawl down through his abdominal cavity and out of his bellybutton. Worried. She was worried. Worry mixed with heart ache. Tears began to fall from her eyes. Heavy black ones. Why a kid her age needed to wear so much makeup he did not know. He wasn't about to say anything to her, or any of them, about growing up too fast even though they all so clearly were…

The girl, Mukai, was jumping from couch to armchair to couch again in some game she invented on her own.

He let his aura rest on hers. Now he was bored. Itchy. Boredom was occasionally chased away by boundless confidence and thrilling fun…he could even feel the wind rushing through his hair, as she jumped. What he wouldn't give to be that age. He had been Mob's age again, briefly, when they swapped bodies all those weeks ago. He had thought that he wanted to be fourteen again but now, surrounded by fourteen year olds, he would have given anything to be seven again. To be seven again and to not understand the gravity of the situation…

"Don't worry guys! It'll all work out for you just fine!" Matsuura. Him. To be in your late twenties/early thirties and not understand the gravity of the situation. He was giving the esper kids their space. They had all, minus Teru, greeted him with open arms. Then they had all gone back to their groups just a little more relieved thanks to the presence of adults…

Him.

He was the only adult in the room, the great Reigen Arataka, and he had to have this. He had to be the one who had this. But he didn't. He was supposedly thinking up a plan, he had a copy of the plan 'Little Suzuki' wrote out, but there were worries about possible betrayal…and Ritsu was missing, but the presence of adults seemed to be keeping the kids just a little bit calmer. That was good. Somebody had to help these kids. The adult they had put their trust in was just….stupid as hell. He thought that just because the kids had powers they were superheroes or something. Well they were not. These were just a bunch of scared kids who needed an adult…

So he was there.

"I, of course, will be leading the rescue mission-" said Teru. Reigen shook his head. That kid was just that, a kid. He was bossing everyone around like he owned the place, more so than the guy who actually own the place!

"Something to add, Reigen?" asked Teru through clenched teeth. The great master, that was what they were calling him. He wasn't great and he wasn't the master of anything. He was just the guy who couldn't keep Shigeko safe. He had a world to save for her, that was why he was there, but Reigen didn't have to have anything to do with this. He couldn't even put up a goddamned barrier! How did he even begin to think that he could help!?

"Yeah, I have something to add. You're kids, all of you are kids, and you should let the adults handle this." said Reigen. He took a swig of his drink and, once again, wished that there was something stronger than strawberry milk there.

"Hey! I may be small but I'm still a former scar!" said Mukai as she flipped off of the couch. She may not have been able to do much but what she could do she did well. She could animate objects, dolls, and the President himself said that it was a rare and amazing gift. Not that she cared what that crazy-head thought.

"If Master Reigen thinks that it's a bad idea-" said Takeshi

"Well I say that it's not. If you want something done right then you have to do it yourself…no offense, I guess." Said Teru tacking something polite on the end. He could do this. Step one was saving the Prime Minister. Without a hostage to worry about they could fight without worrying about what would happen...he could fight. He had this. For Shigeko he had this.

"None taken." Said Takeshi

"A lot taken! Teru, we can help-" said Go

"No! I mean, no. I need you guys to stay and…guard the base. Yeah, guard the base. If we lose our base we're screwed." Said Teru pulling something out of the air. It worked, it seemed, if Go's pleased smile was anything to go off of.

"Kid….can I talk to you?" asked Teru. He was not going to argue with a fourteen year old. First of all he was a grown man and he was not going to argue with children and second of all the more he said, the more he argued, the more the image of himself that he had created and existed in the minds of others would shatter. He could not shatter everyone's image of him.

"We're talking right now." Said Teru holding eye contact with Reigen. If he had something to say then he could say it right there in front of everyone. Teru wasn't afraid to argue with him. He would win. He knew that he would win because he knew that he was right. He was Hanazawa Teruki, he had this. He was the Hanazawa Teruki that he had been before. He would throw himself on the ground and kowtow to Shigeko for hours, days, years, if it meant that she would forgive him for this. This was for her. He was becoming this person for her. He had to be the Hanazwa Teruki that got things done, that got things done for her. She'd be angry at him for fighting with Reigen, too, but he would kowtow for that and anything else that she wanted. Even though he had no reason to kowtow, not for fighting with Reigen.

"I meant in the other room." Said Reigen. This was worse than dealing with stubborn Mob. At least Mob, even at her most stubborn, he could understand. He could not begin to understand this kid. Why was he so eager to go off into what seemed like almost certain death? Stupidity? Cockiness? Jealousy? Reigen could not begin to understand.

"No. Talk to me here." Said Teru crossing his arms. Reigen could feel everyone's eyes on him. He was not going to argue. He could not afford to argue. He knew what he had to do. He got up, pushed his chair in, and walked over to the door. He stopped, briefly, before opening it and going out into the hallway.

Teru cursed under his breath and followed.

He was not going to stand there under the eyes of not only his lackeys…friends…no. Fine. If Reigen wanted to talk then they would talk. He practically stomped across the room, threw the door opened, and then slammed it behind him. He stood in front of Reigen, there with his fists clenched. Something rested on him. Reigen's aura. He pushed it away.

"What?" asked Teru through clenched teeth.

"Kid-" said Reigen. He tried to keep the kid's anger away from him. He could not afford to get caught up in a negative feedback loop. Not now. He had people, now, who depended on him to be there and of sound mind.

"I am not a child." Said Teru. No. He was not going to be talked down to. He was not a kid. He had been living alone since he was ten. He had been responsible for himself since he was ten. He had been almost kidnapped so many times before and he had saved himself. He had done that alone. He had a girlfriend, too, an actual girlfriend. Not like the sort of relationships he had with girls before and not like the sham of a relationship that Ritsu had gotten himself into. He loved Shigeko. He loved her and, unlike Reigen, she loved him back. He had a girlfriend and he was going to spend the rest of his life with her.

The only thing keeping him from being an adult was chronology.

And it wasn't fair.

Reigen was an adult. The only thing that made him an adult was chronology. That was just not fair.

"I never said that you-" said Reigen

"Don't call me kid." Said Teru

"Fine, Teru-" said Reigen

"Don't call me that either." Said Teru. Reigen sighed. He could feel his nails pressing crescents into his palms. He didn't know if that was his anger or the kid's.

"Fine. Mob's boyfriend. How's that sound? Mob's boyfriend who she loves more than anyone else in the world. Mob's boyfriend who needs to stop being so jeal-" said Reigen. He knew how the kid felt. No amount of talking was going to make the kid come off of this jealousy shit. That was why he was doing all of this, for Mob, Reigen could tell. That was why he was rushing into danger like that. It was the same reason Reigen played chicken with moving cars when he was a kid. The desire to impress a girl. No…more than that. He was doing this to keep Mob from…because he wanted to keep her safe. Of course he did. He loved her.

"Don't make fun of me. Don't even begin to make fun of me. Yeah, I'm her boyfriend and I know it. I am not jealous, though, and I have no reason to be." Said Teru. He was not jealous. He had nothing to be jealous of. He was more powerful and he had Shigeko, too. Reigen may have been an empath but he had no idea how Teru felt.

"You're right, you don't. Good. We've finally moved past that." Said Reigen

"Yes, we have. Well Reigen it was an absolute pleasure speaking to you but I must get back to-" said Teru sarcastically

"Stay but here, ok? Don't go out there. Just…stay here, ok? Wait this whole thing out with the others here and let the adults handle this. Alright?" asked Reigen

"I am an adult." Said Teru

"Unless they lowered the age of majority then, no, you're not." Said Reigen. Was he like this when he was fourteen? How could the kid not see that he was, well, a kid? He was just a kid, they all were.

"I might as well be." Muttered Teru lowly. That kid, that poor kid. Sure he could be kind of an asshole sometimes, and he was way to possessive when it came to Mob, but he was still just a kid on his own facing incredible danger without no one to turn to, to lean on…Reigen took a breath. His aura glowed yellow, the bright custard yellow, as he tried to find as many happy, calm, soft feelings as he could.

Some guilt, though, since these feelings were all Mob related. Cooking dinner with her, walking home with her, all of those times she kicked his ass at Mario Kart….

Teru felt some of the tension leave his body. He had been tense, so tense, but now…not as tense. Calmer. Happier. Reigen's doing.

"I thought you told Shigeko that we weren't supposed to use our powers against other people." Said Teru. Reigen sighed.

"I know what I said but these are extenuating circumstances. You're stressed and scared and freaked out and so am I and so is everyone else. You're not thinking." Said Reigen

"I am too thinking! I'm thinking that I am the only person here who even has a chance of pulling this off! I don't trust those guys you brought with you! They're more powerful than everyone else but I don't trust them fully. I am not letting any of my friends die so I'm going to do this and then…after that I don't know. Fight the big bad I guess? I don't know…" said Teru. Reigen reached over to the kid but retracted his hand at the force of the glare he was given.

"You're just a kid…even if nobody treats you like it you're just a kid…and you should let the adults handle this." said Reigen

"You just want-" said Teru. Reigen just wanted to go in and pretend that he was some great psychic or something and then he'd take all the glory and then Shigeko would look at him like…like she tended to look at him. That look she gave him like…like he was someone worth looking at! Like he was someone who-who-who-

"I want you to be ok. Think about…think about Mob…" said Reigen. This kid was well past even beginning to think about his own sense of self preservation. He loved Mob, though, he loved her enough to do stupid shit like this so she wouldn't have to.

"I **am** thinking about Shigeko." Said Teru

"Then think about how she'd feel if anything happened to you." Said Reigen. Teru wanted to tell Reigen that nothing was going to happen to him, that he had this, that he could do everything on his own blindfolded with a cake balanced on his head…but he didn't.

Because Reigen was right.

If something happened to him then Shigeko…she would be devastated. She was out there, now, doing God only knew what…and she would be until he, and the others but mostly him, put a stop to all of this. She was out there and he needed to save her but if he got hurt or…or died…then she would never forgive herself. If he died then he would never see her again. He would never hold her again. He would never just sit there and watch TV with her and just…be. Never again.

He could not lose her.

"…nothing is going to happen to me." Said Teru. He could not let Reigen win. Even if, now, he was having second thoughts…thoughts that Reigen had decided to put in his head.

"The pride comes before the fall." Said Reigen. He heard that somewhere and it fit. This kid had the worst case of suicidal overconfidence that Reigen had ever seen! And he was counting all of the times Mob had decided to be stubborn!

"Then I'll be careful." Said Teru a bit more like a brat than he would have wanted. He needed to stop sounding like a kid mouthing off to an adult. He was not a kid anymore and hadn't been for some time. He knew that if he died he'd never see Shigeko again but if he let Reigen have all the glory then he would…he'd lose her. If Reigen saved her then he might actually lose her…and also she was out there and she could have gotten hurt…or hurt someone else….

"Goddamn it! Kid, I am telling you this for your own good! Just…stay put! Stay put and tell the rest of those kids out there to stay put too! You are a child and I am not letting one more kid go out there and get hurt! This is not your job! You're just a bunch of kids and this shit that's happening right now is in no way shape or form your job to fix!" said Reigen

"I'm making it my job! Better I go out there and do my job than stay in here waiting for someone else to save me and take all the credit!" said Teru

"That's what this is about? Seriously! How can anybody be so-so-so I can't even!" said Reigen

"Then don't! You stay put then, if you're so worried! Everyone's treating you like you're some great master but you're not! You're just a liar! The only reason those guys out there call you 'master' is because you lied to those Claw lackeys and made them think you were Claw's boss! The only reason those adult espers are following you is because you took Shigeko's powers and made them think that you were some kind of powerful psychic! You aren't! You're just-just-just some guy! Some guy with barely any powers who-who-who thinks that he can just lie his way through anything! But you aren't! You can't lie to me, Reigen, you can't! I know the truth about you. Those guys out there may not be able to see it, Shigeko sure as hell can't see it, but I can see it! You're a liar! You aren't some great master, you barely have powers, and YOU'RE TRYING TO STEAL MY GIRLFRIEND!" shouted Teru. He was mad now, spitting mad, literally. It was unbecoming. He felt his face heating up, he felt himself spitting as he yelled, and he had the overwhelming urge to stomp his feet like an elementary schooler. Reigen, however, does stomp his feet.

"You stubborn little brat! Fine, I'm a liar! I lied to Mob and a whole shit load of other people and I feel like crap about it! Yeah, I care about Mob! I care about her enough to know that if she lost you she'd be completely devastated! She has enough shit going on in her life right and she does not need your death hanging over her! I care about her enough to keep the stubborn little brat she's in love with from getting himself killed! I care about Mob but I am not trying to take her from you and I don't know how many times I have to tell you that before you get it through your thick little skull! What, do I have to paint it above your bed in big, dayglow letters! I, Reigen Arataka, am not trying to steal Mob from you! What color dayglow do you want it in? Yellow? Pink? Orange? What color would go best with your décor!?" said Reigen. He tried, he really did, but espers were loud and his control was no better than Mob's if he were to be honest with himself. Here he was shouting at a teenager like he was the one who was fourteen, not this kid. Mom would have been so proud…

"I have no clue! I guess anything since my apartment exploded!" said Teru. He was breathing heavy, now. He had been trying not to think about it. It was just a place, four walls and a roof, that was all. A place to store his stuff and rest his head. There were a million other apartments in the city and he could always find a new one when all of this was done with. It wasn't like he was broke or anything. He didn't care that it was the last place that he and his parents had all lived together in. He didn't care that it was the home he and Shigeko had shared together, briefly. He didn't care that he had been in the middle of clearing out the big bedroom so he and Shigeko could share a proper bed, one where he wouldn't roll over on top of her in the middle of the night, and they could get a good night sleep together without him making her remember things that she would rather not remember. So what if he had been planning a life with Shigeko in that apartment? There were others. Home was where the heart was and other such fortune cookie platitudes.

"….what?" asked Reigen. He knew that he had been hit, his office was apparently on fire, but to go after a kid…

"Yeah. It burnt down or exploded or whatever. It doesn't matter." Said Teru. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water down his back. Ick. Reigen's powers.

"It does. How are you…what are you going to do?" asked Reigen. Homeless. The kid was homeless. The kid. This was a kid and no matter how stubborn, how overconfident, how infuriating he was he was still just a kid.

"I don't know. Fight until this shit is done with and then…stay here I guess. I mean until my parents, or their people, find me somewhere new to live. It's whatever. It was just a place, that's all." Said Teru trying his best to sound like he didn't care. He had so much going on, so much to worry about, that where he would be living when all of this was well and done with was a drop in a very deep bucket.

"That still must be so hard for you." Said Reigen

"I'm fine." Said Teru

"I'm sure you are…just…yeah. Listen, if you want to stay with me and Mob you can. For as long as you need to. No time limit." Said Reigen. As annoying as this kid was, all infuriating as this kid was, and as much as Mob and this kid would…carry on…he could not let this kid be homeless. He was not letting another kid end up homeless.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm managing just fine on my own. I always manage just fine on my own. Excuse me." Said Teru. He pushed past Reigen and walked back into the war room, formerly that media room. He flopped down at the folding table laden with food and crossed his arms. He tilted his head back and exhaled. Around him the room was full of conversation. Go was boasting that he had this. The Shiratori brothers were finishing each other's sentences about something or other. Rei was still sniffling. The girl, the red haired girl with the scar, was still doing flips on the couch.

The door opened. Footsteps. The creaking of a chair. The scraping of a serving spoon. More scraping, this time cutlery, followed by loud eating.

It was too loud.

As far as Mob was concerned the world, at that moment, was much too loud.

There was still sirens. Fewer, of course, but they were still there. People talking. People shouting. That was the world outside of the car. The world inside of the car was loud, too. The hum of the engine. It hummed, only, but the hum was loud. She remembered, she and Shigeko remembered, a different sort of sound. Chitty-chitty bang-bang. The car was safely on the ground, now, but she wanted to pick it up again.

She couldn't feel Ritsu.

Not near, anyway. She could feel auras, so many auras, but there were just so many…she could pick out the most immediate people. Then it just got…muddled. She sat down as still as she could and just felt. She reached out and felt…she felt…she felt…

Oh!

All the doors opened. The windows shattered. There was cursing now, too. Mob didn't care that she had broken everything. She didn't care about how loud she had been. She felt, then, auras. Familiar auras. Two very familiar auras. Shigeko had felt them, too, and Shigeko was telling them to go. To go to those auras and do…something. Protect them. Put them under the strongest barrier that they had ever made and never let them out.

Mob wanted that, too, but she also wanted to know where her little brother was.

"Thank God we rented this thing with your card, not mine." Muttered Sakurai. He held Jugan, the new Jugan, between two sweaty hands. She had flown them there. She had picked up a full car with telekinesis, carried it across the city, and then dropped it on the ground before she did…whatever that was.

"No, it was yours. I slipped it out of your pocket when you weren't paying attention." Muttered Koyama right back. He flexed his hand, the one she had ruined. Fukuda the healer had managed to, mostly, get him back to normal. Healing a full sheet of skin so quickly was not easy for him. It was ugly, his arm, but he still had most of the feeling it in, that was what mattered, and he could still use his powers, too. The girl had done a number on him that day…and apparently there were still some hard feelings.

"If we make it through this remind me to kill you." Said Sakurai

"Now why would I go and do a thing like that?" said Koyama

"Sheesh, these guys. Just kiss already. Am I right, Shigeko?" asked Dimple trying to lighten the mood. She was sitting there with that thousand meter stare and blank eyes. Her hair was floating around her head like she was underwater. Even her fringe was pushed up. She was just sitting there occasionally pushing out past the boundary of her vessel. He saw it, the thing she called the other her, pushing it's head past their vessel and out into the world. How it was not in pain Dimple did not know.

"Shigeko?" asked Dimple. She was still staring. At what he did not know.

"I don't feel Ritsu." Said Mob. Her voice carried. Sakurai shuddered. Koyama turned to face her as quickly as he could. She sounded just like the President, then. Bored. Commanding. Terrifying.

"Your brother? I swear I thought that he was working with Suzuki…little Suzuki. He said to meet up here after the safe house but we are not going anywhere that the President might have eyes." Said Sakurai as he stared out the window with Jugan clenched in his hands. He could not take her. Even if he got one good hit in he knew that he could not stand even the smallest chance of taking her.

Her aura was so bright.

Her voice was so flat.

If the President had a daughter that would have been her.

"Maybe we should have…" muttered Koyama before he was jabbed in the side. What followed was a silent conversation between him and Sakurai. He wasn't quite sure what they were saying but he was sure that he had won.

"I feel Master Reigen. I feel Teru. I feel a lot of other people. I'm getting out now. Thank you for the ride." Said Mob. Shigeko didn't say anything, she was just trying to pull them in the direction of the Awakening Lab. Yes. They both knew this building. They had been there before with Teru and Rei. Rei hung out here a lot, Teru sometimes, Mob almost never. The guy who ran the place, he was kind of like their Master Reigen, was afraid of them.

Mob hated it when people was afraid of them.

Shigeko didn't care.

If Mob were to ask Shigeko, not that she ever did, she would have said that she preferred people to be afraid of them. When people were afraid of them then people wouldn't hurt them. People were always trying to hurt them. People were…there were so many people out there with hostile auras. So many people who would hurt them…and the people that they loved. She felt them, people that they loved. They loved Ritsu and he was…he was somewhere…but first they had to make sure that Master Reigen was alright.

Dimple was following them and saying something, Shigeko wasn't listening. She was still kind of mad at Dimple. She had told Dimple to keep Master Reigen safe and he hadn't. Master Reigen should have been safe at home but now he was here and it was so busy and so loud…and Teru was here too. Teru was brave and strong and he could protect them…Shigeko thought. Mob was afraid. Mob thought that he could get hurt. Shigeko…she didn't want to think about Teru getting hurt. She wanted Teru to be ok. She wanted Reigen to be ok. They both wanted the people they loved to be ok…

Shigeko opened the door with her powers. The glass broke. The metal frame of the door twisted. Mob wanted them to stop and fix it. Shigeko did not. Shigeko wanted to go to Master Reigen…and Teru. She didn't know who she wanted to be with more. She didn't want to think about it. Why not have both? Why not just….Mob won't let them think like that. Mob wants them to be held by Master Reigen. Mob wants to be kissed by Teru. Shigeko wants a lot of things right then.

She wants this to be over.

She wants to find whoever is responsible for all of this.

She wants to break them.

Mob just wants to rest.

There were stairs. There is an elevator. Both will take too long. The building is big and it's hard to pinpoint where everyone is…Mob remembers. They liked to hang out in the TV room. That was where the TV was. The was where the Switch was. That was where the couches were. They liked to hang out there. Shigeko didn't remember that. Mob remembered.

They remembered different things.

They thought about different things. Mob thought that taking the elevator was a better idea than lowering the building until they were where they needed to be. That would have been a bad thing, according to Mob. Shigeko didn't care but Mob did. They had to work on it, being this thing together. They were this thing, this person, together whether they liked it or not.

They needed to work together.

The elevator dinged when it got to the floor with the TV room in it. Mob remembered that. Mob remembered that they needed to walk, not float. Mob remembered that they needed to walk down the hallway with their feet and see with their eyes. Mob was the one who remembered that they needed to use their hands to open the door, not rip it out of the walls with their powers, and Mob was the one who remembered not to put up a barrier or throw anyone across the room.

They had barely touched the door handle when they were pulled into a hug.

"Mob! Mob….Mob what are you doing here?" asked Reigen. He had felt Mob long before he had seen her. His aura tried to meet hers the minute he got into her range. She had snuck up on him. At first he had thought that she had just been passing by in the course of whatever it was that she was doing out there…but then she stopped…and she got closer. He had been eating, then, but he had stopped the minute he felt her getting closer. He had jumped up from his seat the minute he heard the elevator ding. He had ran across the room the minute he heard the door handle turning.

And now she was in his arms.

She was there and she was safe. She smelled like smoke and she hurt to touch but she was there. She was there and she was alive. Other people are saying things. They're happy to see her. They're worried. Dimple is chattering on and on about something that Reigen just did not care about. The only thing that mattered was Mob. She was there, in his arms, and this was where she belonged. With him. Where he knew that she was safe.

"Master…..Master…" said Mob/Shigeko as they hugged Master Reigen close. He was there, with her, where he belonged. He was in her arms where she knew that she would be able to keep him safe. She was there for him. She would always be there for him. She could feel him and hear him and smell him and her aura met his and this was perfect.

Almost perfect.

She still had no idea what had happened to her family. Mob didn't know and Shigeko didn't know. She was with Master Reigen, though, and while he was there with her she knew that she would be ok. Even though she was stronger than him, even though she was the one who had to keep him safe, there was just something about him….

She sighed.

She sighed and let herself fall into his arms. Her eyes got heavy. Her body began to go slack. She was having trouble supporting herself. Her knees were shaky. He held her up. He was so strong…she let herself sink down into his arms. She wanted to be there. She wanted nothing more than to be there in his arms where she knew that she could be safe.

An aura around hers. Gold colored. Gold replaced yellow.

She was being held up now. Master Reigen gasped and took a step back. She leaned forward into him until she felt herself collapsing. She fell forward and was caught. Her feet weren't even touching the ground. Floating. She was floating, now, but not of her own accord. A gold aura still surrounded hers. Her aura was still trying to merge with Master Reigen's but he was being pushed out. Pushed away. Her aura, her and Shigeko's aura, reached forward to meet his. Their eyes, the eyes of their vessel, were still closed. Their eyelids were heavy, too heavy. She felt something hit her back. Her hair was falling, now, she could not hold it up anymore. She tried to lean forward again as the weight of her hair landed against her back.

"Shigeko…I'm here. I'm here for you. I'm right here and I love you so damn much…I love you Shigeko." Said Teru. She was in someone's arms again. She was in someone's arms and she could smell…she knew that smell. She leaned into it. Her favorite hoodie. Her favorite bed. Her favorite couch. Trust. Love. Teru. He was there and he was holding her and she was there and she was safe…and some of the people she loved were safe…and she needed to go back out there…she needed to…she closed her eyes.

And everything went dark.


	62. Failures, Doubts, and Bedtimes

"She's still breathing, right? I mean she isn't…dead…is she?" asked Matsuura as he stood over the hopefully sleeping girl tucked in on the media/war room couch.

"Yes! She's not dead!" snapped Teru. He sat on the edge of the couch holding her hand. He could feel her pulse under his fingers, he could see the rise and fall of her chest underneath the heavy blanket, and if he really looked he could see the way her eyes moved under their closed lids.

She was asleep.

"She's totally exhausted." Yawned Reigen. He sat across from the two of them. His first impulse had been to be the one keeping vigil by Mob's side but that had not been an option. Her boyfriend shoved him away the minute he tried to sit down. Reigen didn't blame the kid. He had to hide in what little aura she was giving off just to escape the tidal wave of feeling coming off of that kid.

Joy.

Fear.

Rage.

Love.

All of it mixed up into a terrible cocktail of emotions that the kid was somehow managing to hold within himself. If he were Mob he would have exploded long ago under such an emotional burden. If Reigen had to experience what the kid was feeling for more than ten seconds he himself would have exploded. The kid was resilient.

He was made of tougher stuff than Reigen was.

"Yeah, obviously, that's why she passed out." Said Teru. He held her hand tighter. She didn't hold his back. Of course she wouldn't, she was asleep. He wanted to lay down next to her but he didn't. He had things to do, things that he should have been doing, but he didn't want to do them.

The only thing he wanted, then, at that moment was to be with her.

"Did she say anything before she passed out? Like…about Ritsu?" asked Rei quietly from her perch on the comfiest arm chair in the room. Her knees were drawn to her chest and her face was streaked with tears. Black lines dripped down from her eyes and across her cheeks cutting through their perpetual, artificial, rosiness. Teru wanted to go over and brush the runny mascara from her cheeks at least and tell her that everything was going to be fine. But he didn't. He was not her boyfriend, he was Shigeko's, and even if his urge to comfort Rei had nothing to do with those sorts of romantic feelings he still wasn't going to go over there and brush her tears away and tell her that everything was going to be fine.

That was still boyfriend territory. That was Ritsu's job. Even if he wasn't around to do it. Even if he didn't care to do it that was still his job. Teru was not like Reigen, he was not going to go around crossing lines with other people's girlfriends.

"Rei, I'm sorry, but she didn't. I'm sure he's fine, though. Sho probably just needed him for…something else. I'm sure he's fine." Said Teru even though he had no way of knowing that. He trusted Sho about as far as he could throw him without using his powers. For all of Ritsu's…Ritsu-ness he was still his friend. Even after everything that happened they were still friends and Teru…Teru had no idea where he was or even if he was ok. He closed his eyes just listened to the world around him. Rei was done sniffling but she had replaced that with the constant clicking of her phone. On and off. If he looked past the glow of Shigeko's aura, looked with his eyes and not his aura, he could see the glow of her phone through his eyelids. Someone had cut most of the lights, people were starting to pass out, so Rei's phone made a significant amount of light.

She had at least covered the camera, though.

He could hear Reigen, too. Reigen was shifting in his spot and occasionally muttering to himself. Teru wanted to go over there and flip him out of his seat. What was he even doing there? He should have been hiding under his bed with his eyes closed, or behind his mother's skirt, anywhere but there with the rest of them. But he was there. Right there. Right near Shigeko.

He just wouldn't leave Shigeko alone.

His Shigeko.

He opened his eyes. Rei was still all curled up, there, in the comfy chair. If Shigeko had been awake would she had been there, too? Afraid for him. Scared for him. Sitting there with no way of knowing if he was alive or dead? No. Shigeko would have been out there turning the world upside down and inside out looking for him.

He would have done the same for her.

But where was he now? Here. Sitting. Holding her hand and hiding like a scared little kid. This was easy. An easy way to be. Scared. Hiding. Like a turtle. All holed up in his shell. His shell was his home and his prison as well. This wasn't a sanctuary. This wasn't their base like Go kept on going on about. This was a prison. The walls were closed in and small and he was being crushed, now, because the world was so big out there and it was in trouble so, by extension, he and everyone he loved were in trouble…

The person he loved was right there.

The person he was loved laying there in front of him. She was asleep. She had moved heaven and Earth, it felt like, before and now she was there. She was there and she was asleep but then she'd wake up and probably go out there again and…and he could not have that. If he were the one out there she…she would not be Rei. If she were out there then he would be Rei. He'd be there all curled up and afraid…maybe. Or maybe he and Shigeko would be there, out there in the thick of it, together.

Then she would get hurt.

And he could not have that.

So he knew what he had to do.

Shimazaki knew what he had to do, he just didn't think that it would be so boring.

Really. This was just the dullest thing ever. He had to kidnap the prime minister, which seemed like it would have been something that at least had the potential to be get his heart pumping, but instead proved to be duller than listening to Serizawa prattle on about the superiority of retro gaming.

"….by providing women more opportunities for women to start their own businesses…" smack. A guard went down.

"…and expanding the range of child welfare…" A smack followed by another. Two more went down. They were still breathing, he could see their lungs expanding and contracting, and he could see their hearts beating too. The boss would be slightly pissed but it was no fun ending them immediately. No, he needed these guys up and in commission otherwise he was just teleporting away with this guy and what was the fun in that?

"….we can provide solutions to sexual and authority harassment-" said the Prime Minister. Good, he was doing well. He just had to get through this last speech, then the photo op with those women's rights people, and he could put his feet up for a little bit. Yes, this was all going so well….but then why were they looking at him like that?

A hush descended over the crowd. They were all staring at him...no…besides him. He felt a sort of static electricity in the air, a crackle against his skin, and he turned to face it's source.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you Mr. Prime Minister." Said Shimazaki. Normal people were so hard to read. He knew that he was being faced, stared at, and he assumed that it was with fear. Espers screamed their emotions loud and clear for the world to see. Regular people were different. This was a room full of them, not another esper in his version of sight. A rare experience for him these days. He had spent so many years in Claw that he had almost forgotten how it felt to be the only other esper around for kilometers.

"Wh-who are you? What is this?!" said the Prime Minister as he took in the man before him. This was unlike any person he had ever seen before, and not just because his eyes were closed for some reason. No, this man had a sort of…color…to him. A feeling and a color that seemed to radiate from him. It was something that he had never felt before in his entire life…

"I'm here to represent the organization known as Claw. Remember, we just declared that we were taking over the world?" said Shimazaki. He could feel movement behind him. Good. Those guys weren't down for the count. Maybe, now, something interesting would finally happen. They should have done this during the insurrection, not before. It would have been more dramatic that way. He still didn't know why they started with such an out of the way place like Seasoning City. There was nothing there of any value to anyone aside from the spice factories. The boss said that it was because he liked the omelets there but that couldn't have been it.

Either way it wasn't like it mattered. From what Minegishi had said the awakened had been a little overzealous when it came to, how did the boss put it? Destroying the old world so that they could rise from the ashes anew like a phoenix….or something like that. After a while Shimazaki just tuned the boss out. That man sure did love the sound of his own voice. Maybe that was all bosses. This Prime Minister guy sure did seem to love the sound of his….

"Guards! Guards!" shouted the Prime Minister. Yes, he knew of Claw. Someone had jammed all the airwaves and broadcast their own message. Some nonsense about taking over the world with psychic powers. There were even reports, conflicting ones, coming out of Seasoning City. Mass destruction, people flying through the air, an evacuation order, and then insanity like little girls tossing cars around and the like…

He didn't know what to believe.

But the work of government went beyond him. He had people and those people also had people. He had been told that the terrorist attack was being dealt with. He had, originally, not wanted to roll over for these people. He had decided, against everyone's better judgement, to go ahead and give this speech and scheduled. He should have been safe. He had a dozen armed guards for the love of God!

"Really that's no use. I have my orders and those orders are to abduct you." Said Shimazaki. He opened his eyes just for the hell of it. Anophthalmia. For some strange reason he was both born with amazing psychic powers but also without eyes. He didn't know how it worked, nobody knew how it worked, but he wasn't complaining. He had no idea what other people considered to be sight so he couldn't miss it. He saw in his own way, anyway.

Also he could teleport.

And freak people out.

So, really, it wasn't that bad of a tradeoff after all.

Movement, now. Someone was telling the Prime Minister to run away. Well he could run but he couldn't hide. There was a lot of movement around him but he could pick out each individual person sure as he could pick out the ants in the hill outside. Living things were always so visible, espers were the most visible, but regular people were visible too.

And they telegraphed their movements, too. So boring.

"Hey, are we on TV? I sure hope we end up on the news." Said Shimazaki as he dodged the guards coming after him. Left. Right. Back. Forwards. So easy. They even attacked one at a time. Honestly. Even sparring with the boss' kid was more interesting than this.

"Hold still!" one of the guards shouted. Shimazaki shifted slightly to the left and let the guard come tumbling down onto the stage.

"No why would I do something like that?" asked Shimazaki as he reached into his coat and fished around for his cigarettes. A nice, leisurely, smoke would have been just lovely right then.

"Does he have a gun?!" shouted another guard. He saw arms moving presumably into clothes. He knew that people wore clothes. He could hear the rustling of clothes, he could smell detergent and fabric softener, but aside from that clothes meant nothing to him. His were comfortable, that was all that mattered to him. He didn't even pick his out, someone else always had. He had been told that this suited him. Minegishi, apparently, had good taste.

A gunshot rang out.

He dodged to the left.

It would be a shame to ruin what Minegishi had, so lovingly though he would never admit it, picked out. Heh. He wondered what those other guys were up to as he dodged another gunshot. Serizawa was probably following the president around kissing his ass every single step of the way. Hatori was probably on his millionth day without sleep, the president was obsessed with some woman…which was good. If anyone needed to get laid it was Suzuki Toichiro. Obviously Serizawa wasn't enough…heh…rumors which he may or may not have started…

Another gunshot.

Loud. Much too loud. His hearing was sensitive, probably because he was blind or something like that. He didn't show that it got to him. He never did. He was not weak. He was the strongest member of the Ultimate Five, an esper second only to the boss. If anything he should have been the boss' favorite…not that he wanted the job. One could only listen to Suzuki go on and on about his dreams for their glorious future so many times before they started to go a little insane. Heh. Maybe that was what drove Serizawa to being…Serizawa.

Another gunshot.

"You missed. Really, you should all work on your aim. This is child's play." Said Shimazaki as he stepped out of the paths of the bullets. Left. Right. Left. Right. Like a little boat on the sea or however that song went.

Another gunshot.

"The thing is, even if I can't see I can still predict people's movements. I can see all of you coming a mile away. Even if by some miracle you do manage to hit me I have nothing to worry about." Said Shimazaki. They had decided to hit him from different angles this time. Whatever. He nothing as mundane as a bullet could get through his barrier.

Really. This was just too easy.

Time to wrap this up. The boss had gone on and on about how timing was everything. He was back with the rest of them in Seasoning City causing random chaos, some of his underlings were over in Cuticle City putting some old geezer's attempt at a resistance effort, and he was supposed to wait until the Prime Minster gave his speech and then kidnap him on live TV.

He had his fun but now it was time to do his job. There was no sense in pissing off the boss. Not when he was poised to be the unquestioned lord and master of the world or whatever he planned on calling himself.

"Hey, Mr. Prime Minster, how about I clue you in on what my other special power is?" asked Shimazaki as he teleported beside the Prime Minister. He was huddled in between a ring of armed guards. Getting to him was still easy, too easy. Child's play, really. Even Suzuki's son could have pulled this off. Wait, no, the little brat would have found some way to mess this up. He always did.

"You see…" the world went black, briefly, before it swam back into focus.

"I can teleport." Whispered Shimazaki as he twisted the Prime Minster's arm behind his back. Sight without eyes. Auras. Feeling. Smell. Taste. Sound. It was always a little disorienting teleporting like that, especially with someone else, but he didn't let it show.

"W-whyy are you kidnapping me? What are you planning on doing to me?" asked the Prime Minister. How? Why? He would have thought that he was going mad if he didn't know any better. This was…where was he?! What was this?! How was any of this possible?! He had heard about things like this before. Things that could not be explained….but he had no idea that it was…that these things were….real…

This was real.

"Nothing complicated, as far as I know you're just a hostage. The boss doesn't tell me jack shit." Said Shimazaki

"Are-are you serious about all of this world domination crap!?" asked the Prime Minister. Just a hostage. JUST A HOSTAGE?! What was…was Japan…Japan could not fall. The world….no one man could rule the whole world! That was insane!

"Oh yes, very much so. The boss-" said Shimazaki. He felt it. He felt another aura…and then he saw movement.

Then an explosion.

An aura. Not warm. Hot. Burning. Hostile. Very hostile. Young, though. Very young. A color that he did not have the name for. He knew that colors had names he just didn't have much use for them. This aura was like trying to grab a piece of toast right out of the toaster with his bare hands. This was…this was new. Very new.

"And who might you be?" drawled Shimazaki. A kid. He could see the body, now. Short. Some musculature to him but not as much as a grown man. A kid made an explosion of that magnitude? Well, this was certainly becoming interesting.

"The guy who's going to kick your ass." Said Teru. It was dark out but he didn't need his eyes to see this guy. He could see, and sense, that other esper's aura. Not the prickly sharp sort of hostile intent. This was more…calm. Kind of like getting the water going for white tea. A solid sort of simmer of an aura. A look of cockiness from what Teru could make out.

The Prime Minister was out of range.

Good.

This would be easy. He had to be here, he had to be the one to do this. If he wanted something done right then he would have to do it himself. He didn't trust any of these adult espers Reigen had brought with him. He didn't trust Suzuki fucking Sho. He didn't trust anyone but himself and he was ending this. He had to. Not for the world but for Shigeko.

She did not need this.

"Is that so?" asked Shimazaki. He trained his aura on the kids. He could see others, too, but these he recognized. In passing, of course, because he was a member of the Ultimate Five and did not need to waste his time fraternizing with lowly scars. So the kid had gotten some scars on his side. Huh.

Interesting.

"Damn right!" said Teru. He sent down another telekinetic explosion. It hurt a little, pulling down some much energy from within himself and compressing it into a ball until it exploded in on its self. That didn't matter. This was for Shigeko. This was all for Shigeko. The explosion turned night into day. They wee at the park beside what was supposedly a Claw safe house. After the Prime Minister was brought there he was supposed to be held until the big boss got to him. Teru looked around, brefily, because someone was supposed to show up to verify that this was indeed the prime minister. Nothing.

A smack to the back of his head.

"You're a strong one, aren't you?" asked Shimazaki as the kid went down. He hadn't felt power like this from a kid since Suzuki's son. A dimmer aura. Probably fewer tricks…unless this kid was second generation too….but that wasn't possible. There were so few naturals in the world as it was…

"Wanna see just how strong?" asked Teru. An air whip this time. His intention had been to gab and then throw the guy, what was his name? Shimazaki, if Sho was to be believed. The plan was that everyone rush him at once and overwhelm him but, well, Teru did not trust any of the people he was working with. No. He had this.

For Shigeko he had this.

"Was that a dig? Low blow, kid, low blow." Said Shimazaki. He opened his eyes and faced the kid. He had dodged that little physical manifestation of telekinesis easily. Really, the kid needed to learn to stop telegraphing. Shimazaki knew that technique, some upstart scar thought he could take on the President like that. Really. If the kid was planning on borrowing techniques he had might as well borrow from Serizawa….if one could even call exploding a technique. It was effective, though, not that Shimazaki would admit that to anyone other than himself and maybe Minegishi in he were feeling particularly open.

"You really shouldn't make fun of the blind, kid." Said Shimazaki. He dodged the air whip and teleported close enough to grab the kid by the back of the neck.

"And you really should learn not to go grabbing other guys like that. Someone might get the wrong idea." Said Teru as he tried to make a barrier around himself. He tried to put it up like a bubble, as it grew the force of it was supposed to shove Shimazaki away, but instead his barrier popped just like the bubble he was trying to create.

"Oh? And what idea would that be?" asked Shimazaki pulling the kid in close. Cocky little brat. Thought that just because he had powers it meant that he could do whatever he wanted. Shimazaki had seen plenty of espers like this kid. He thought that his powers made him invincible. Everyone went through that phase and everyone needed to be taken down a peg.

Plus it was fun to watch him squirm.

"Get the hell off of me!" screamed Teru. He grabbed the air around him and charged it with enough energy to set it on fire. Pyrokinesis was not easy despite what Go said. It was draining, if anything, because air did not like to be caught, held on to, and the moved so fast and charged with so much psychic energy that it caught fire. He was feeling pretty drained, actually, but he did not need help. He did not need backup. He had this.

He had this for Shigeko.

For her, for her, all for her. Everything he did was for her. She was the only thing that mattered to him. Not his pride. Not the fact that he was, once again, getting his ass kicked even though he was trying his best. Humble. He needed to…not now. There was a time to be humble but this was not it. Shigeko…she would forgive him. She would forgive him and she…she would make him work for what he was. She would be disappointed in him but she would, ultimately, forgive him.

Because he was doing this all for her.

"And now you're playing with fire? Really kid? What would your parents say if they could see you now?" tsked Shimazaki as he teleported out of range. Let the kid tire himself out. Besides, he had a mission. He felt, out of the corner of his sense of feeling, one of those scars.

Knocking him out took two seconds.

In those two seconds the kid had changed tactics. Quick movements in all three dimensions. Shimazaki sighed. Who had this kid been fighting? Anyone with an aura could have predicted his movements even if they couldn't see through their mind's eye like he could. Oh well.

This had gone on long enough.

"Aren't you getting tired? Isn't it a little past your bedtime?" asked Shimazaki as he landed a kick to the kid's back. He had already been in motion so the added force sent him flying.

"Fuck you!" screamed Teru as he flew through a chain-link fence. He could feel them as he landed, the cuts on his face and arms. He tried to get to his feet. Breathing hurt. He felt his side and pressed down on a bulge. He hissed as it went back into place.

Contused. Not broken.

He put up a barrier. Then another. And another. And another. He put up barriers until he couldn't anymore. His vision was swimming. His legs shook. He just…he couldn't. He was not at this guy's level. It was diferent this time. The last time he had been outgunned…well he had met the thing that lived inside of Shigeko…and then he had met the real Shigeko. This was different.

This wasn't him learning a valuable lesson. This was him getting his ass kicked. His ass was getting kicked and he was going to lose and now Shigeko was going to wake up and she would have to deal with this guy…and everyone else…and this was his job! He was the guy! He was supposed to protect her! He was supposed to keep her from having to deal with this shit!

"Well aren't you multi-talented?" asked Shimazaki as he teleported within the layers of barrier this kid made. Now that was something, keeping that many up at once. Stupid, though. A good skill of finesse and all but not what was needed.

Nothing that would protect him.

Shimazaki grabbed a fistful of the kid's shirt and slammed him into the ground. The barriers fell as he did. The ground buckled and cracked. The kid wheezed. Shimazaki picked him up by the scruff of his collar and held him at what felt like eye level. His eyes were still opened. He could see the kid, the kid's aura, recoil in disgust.

"Thank you for entertaining me." Said Shimazaki softly. The kid shook in place. He didn't even have the strength to try and get away. A pity. He was fun while it lasted but all good things came to an end. He had a mission and as much fun as he was having now, well, the boss would put a stop to any and all future fun if he failed.

Because of the whole 'the boss killed people who failed him' thing.

He spared a glance, a metaphysical glance, at the kid before he teleported away. He made a note of which scars he felt before he grabbed the prime minister and left for good. The boss would definitely want to know about this little resistance effort. Who knew, maybe this was all connected to that boss' mystery woman somehow. Maybe she had some kind of massive organization and she was just poised to stop Claw and take over the world for herself or whatever. Or maybe the boss was planning on ruling with her as some kind of evil power couple or whatever. Or maybe Shimazaki had been listening to too many TV shows.

Either way the boss had to know before everything fell apart.

How everything had managed to fall apart so wonderfully was a mystery to Sho.

"Where the hell are those guys!?" said Sho as he paced one of the bedrooms. He needed to be alone. Well not 'alone' alone but alone enough. He had some scars but they had, at some point, slipped away. The others, the ones who were supposed to meet him at the safe house, had never showed up.

"How should I know?" said Ritsu

"I made a plan! We all agreed on a plan! We agreed on a plan but I guess that everyone's either been captured or is just off doing their own thing. I mean, really, is it so hard to keep a guy in the loop?" said Sho

"Maybe you shouldn't have had everyone destroy their phone. Just a thought." Said Ritsu from his spot on the bed. Not Sho's bed, just a bed. Sho had made it very clear that he did not have a room in that safe house. Not that Ritsu knew what his issue with bedrooms was. Invading other people's or having his own.

"Yeah, maybe…but then Hatori would have been able to spy on me! Us! He already knows about you…and I know that you wouldn't join him so…so I couldn't let the alternative happen!" said Sho as he continued to pace.

"Alternative? What are you talking about, alternative? And can you please just sit still? You're making me dizzy." Said Ritsu. Sho stopped pacing but instead started rocking on his heels. His hands were buried in the pocket of his jeans. He seemed to be engrossed in staring at the closed curtains that hung behind Ritsu. It was times like these that Ritsu wished that he were a telepath. Heh. Maybe when this was all over he could join sister's telepathy club….

"My dad…he's kind of a 'join me or die' sort of person…and not a lot of people pick option two. Not that I would ever let that happen to you! I just…I can't see that happen again, especially not to you. You're my friend." Said Sho. Him moving around was bothering Ritsu so he needed to stop. The only problem with that was that if he stopped than all of those thoughts, the worried sorts of thoughts that he tried not to have, would catch up to him. No. He could not have that. If he worried then he would start to doubt himself and if he started to doubt himself then the entire operation would fall apart like a house of cards not glued together properly even though Serizawa said that using glue was cheating.

"You've seen…your dad kills people?" asked Ritsu. There was a hitch, there, in his throat. He knew that death was a possibility, he had been forced to come to terms with his own mortality back when he was first kidnapped, but to know someone who knew someone who had killed someone…and seen it…

"….yeah. A few times. I mean he doesn't like it or anything! He's not a psycho-" said Sho

"NOT a psycho?!" asked Ritsu incredulously

"What did I just say?" asked Sho

"He KILLS people! You're telling me that he's just a normal-" said Ritsu

"HE DOESN'T LIKE IT!" said Sho. His aura glowed brightly and flared out. Light red hit navy blue. If Ritsu hadn't been sitting down he would have been knocked back onto his ass. Sho was breathing heavily, now, and deeply in an attempt to get back under control. Awakening. Dad called this awakening. He only did it under extreme stress. Sho had only seen dad do it once…

Sho was not his dad.

"Ok, ok, ok….I believe you." Said Ritsu. Ok, so that was a sore spot. Good. Now he knew where one of the mines was. That wasn't so hard, he had spent his entire life memorizing his sister's mines. What was one more person? Shigeko. She was…she was out there. He had felt her, briefly, but now it was quiet outside. Even the sirens had gone quiet.

All quiet on the western front.

Or was this the eastern front, since they were in Japan? He didn't smile, no, this was not the time for jokes even if they were his own private jokes in his own private head. This was serious. This whole thing was serious. They had a plan and now they didn't. For now it was just him, Sho, and those three other guys. Maybe it would just end up being him and Sho. He and Sho against the world…and hopefully the world wasn't going to win.

"Sorry. I'm sorry that I yelled at you. Friends shouldn't yell at friends." Said Sho before he sat down next to Ritsu. Ritsu knew that he should have scooted over to make room. There was plenty of bed and he had been, and still was, sitting right smackdab in the middle of the bed…he knew that he needed to move but he just…didn't much want to.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said-" said Ritsu

"No! No, just…I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. You're my friend…you're my only real friend. I mean I have other…Serizawa is my friend I guess…he's dad's body guard, I told you about him. He's kind of my friend and I guess that I'm making friends with all of your friends but you're like…you're like my only REAL friend, you know." Said Sho. He liked this. He liked being close to Ritsu like this. This meant safety. When he was this near to Ritsu then he knew that he would be safe. It made no sense. Ritsu was a lot weaker than he was, but he still felt safe.

"Sho…" said Ritsu. He had friends, sort of. Against all odds Teru had still stayed friends with him even though he did something so stupid…and wonderful…but stupid, very stupid. The other guys from the lab were…they were more Rei's friends. As far as school friends went…he had people who sometimes spoke to him and worked with him but nobody he could just…be…with.

So, yes, he shared Sho's sentiments.

Now he just had to figure out how to articulate that fact.

"I mean…you stuck around. Even though the world's going to hell out there you still stuck around. Even though I keep on freaking out at you, sorry by the way, you still stick around. Even after I told you that I've seen my dad just up and kill people…you still stick around…" said Sho

"Well, yeah. Obviously I'm going to stick around, Sho, that's what friends do. I don't care what your dad does. I know that you're not anything like that. I'm your friend and I'm going to stick around no matter what happens or has happened or will happen." Said Ritsu. He looked over and made eye contact with Sho. Blue. His eyes were so blue and so clear and so opened…Sho himself was opened. Unguarded. Sho was just so unguarded and it was just so nice. There was nothing more to Sho than what he showed…and what he showed Ritsu liked. Honesty. Transparency. Trust. Mutual trust.

He's staring.

Sho has freckles.

He's noticing it now. He's noticed them before and he'll notice them again but that doesn't change the fact that he's noticing them right now…

"Ritsu…you're a good guy. Thanks. For everything I mean. For…for doing all of this shit with me. I mean I know that you're worried about your parents and your sister…oh! And you're probably going crazy worrying about your girlfriend, too." Said Sho. Ritsu felt like he had been kicked in the chest. Right. He had a girlfriend and she was probably worried sick…or not. She could see the future. She knew what was going to happen. She was probably fine.

"I mean I've never had a girlfriend before, I don't really think that I even want one, and I've definitely never been in love before either but I know that this whole thing is probably making you crazy. We can…if you want to we can just…go to the lab and abandon this safe house. I really only hid here because I knew that dad would never think to look for me if I hid in plain sight. If he sees me here he'll think that I'm just being a brat or whatever and avoiding him….so we can go…if you want to be with her and stuff." Said Sho

"No. I'm fine here." Said Ritsu quickly. That was the last place he wanted to be. This was…he felt good here. Safe. He didn't want to go outside where the city was burning and his sister was out there doing…whatever it was that she had been doing…and then he'd have to go over to Rei and the others and…no. He was fine right where he was.

"Really! It's no trouble. Love is important and I know that you want to be with her so you can hug her and kiss her and probably do all of that other stuff that couples do, too. I mean I would if I had someone who loved me and who I loved back." Said Sho

"Sho, really, I'm fine here. I don't want to go outside and…and take that risk before we have to….and we could be followed, too. I don't want to bring danger back to those guys." Said Ritsu

"There's danger everywhere, Ritsu. Hell, dad could decide to come looking for me, not that he ever does things like that personally, and he could find us here and go off on one of his tangents about me banging you or something like that and then he'd be all 'join me or die' or something and I…don't want you to die." Said Sho

"Great. Now I have that to worry about." Said Ritsu. There was a pause. He stared at the door in front of him. Wood. The door was brown wood. The walls were painted blue. Nothing on them. Nothing in this room but a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a closet. Nothing interesting to look at but he still looked anyway. He had to. He had to look anywhere but at Sho. He felt, irrationally, like if he looked at Sho then Sho would know what he was thinking…and how he was feeling…and that would have just been a mess…

A hand over his.

"I would never let anything bad happen to you, Ritsu." Said Sho. He meant that. He meant that with every ounce of seriousness in his body. Nothing was going to harm Ritsu. Not while he was around.

"…same…" said Ritsu as he found some words. That was the only word that he could manage to choke out. The rest of them got caught in his throat. The room was silent, then. The other three had either gone to bed or were skulking around like library mice. The world outside had gone quiet, too. The world was burning silently.

And so was Ritsu.

Teru was burning up.

It was late, very late, when they dragged him back to the Awakening Lab. His ass had been kicked soundly and thoroughly. Now all he could do was lick his wounds. Well he would have if they hadn't been bandaged for him.

"Thanks." Said Teru as Rei closed the first aid box. They were in the bathroom, one of the many bathrooms, and Rei had been putting her fine motor skills to good use patching Teru up. It was the least she could do after he went and tried to do…all of that…on his own.

"It was the least I could do. I mean…you were trying to save the Prime Minister after all. I don't know him personally but I do know that it was a big job so…thanks. I mean I'm sorry that you didn't win but still thanks. I mean I'm grateful that you tried. You did more than I ever could…I couldn't even see if you won. I still can't see if we win. When I close my eyes all I see is the Akira explosion and then-" said Rei. The first aid box slipped from her hands but stopped a centimeter from the floor. Teru caught it with his powers and put it back in the medicine cabinet where it belonged.

"Rei, it's ok. It's all…it's going to be ok." Said Teru. He felt dizzy, sort of, and warm. He had taken off his hoodie and was just in his T-shirt and track pants that he had changed into ages ago. Both were filthy and he knew that he needed to change again but he just did not have the strength. He barely had the strength to pull himself up from his seat at the edge of the tub, reach over, and pull Rei close.

Not as close as he would have held Shigeko, though.

"Teru…what are you doing?" asked Rei. This was nice. Being held…being held by a boy…not that she didn't like it when Ritsu held her! He was always just so…stiff…and not in a good way when he held her. Teru was holding her like…like she was Mob. He was soft and warm and he even smelled nice and-

Hello, Rei! This is not your boyfriend! You have a boyfriend!

"Sorry! I'm…you just looked like you needed that. I didn't mean anything by that…just that you looked like you needed that. I don't…I didn't mean to give you the wrong idea." Said Teru. It hadn't been like that at all. First of all it did not feel a thing like holding Shigeko. Physically holding Shigeko was like holding onto a star. Sometimes painful and seemingly impossible but amazing that he had even managed to do it. Second of all he was loyal to Shigeko. Rei would have been, in the past, the sort of girl that he would have gone out with a few times to assuage his own ego and maybe kiss a few times if she let him. No. He did not have those sorts of feelings for Rei at all. She was like the anti-Shigeko. Loud and confident and colorful and….a lot of the things that Shigeko wasn't.

He loved Shigeko for who she was, awkwardness and all.

And he was loyal to her…and Rei was loyal to Ritsu even if he didn't deserve it at all.

"I know you didn't. Hello Rei! You have a girlfriend and she's pretty much my best non-school friend…and also I have a boyfriend and my boyfriend is your best non-school friend…it seems like…so of course I'm just being a weirdo. I mean, ok, I think that you're cute and it's healthy for me and my relationship that I can admit that to myself, I read that in a book, but I would never hurt Ritsu like that. He's still…he's alive and he's fine and I guess that I did need that because I am super worried even though I know that he's Ritsu and he's going to be ok and when this is all over we can be together again because he loves me and I love him and when this is over we'll…we'll go to high school together and then university and then we'll get jobs and buy a house and have a family and then you and Mob can buy a house right next to ours and we'll all hang out all the time and our kids will hang out all the time and-and-and it'll be great. It'll be great because it doesn't matter that I can't see past the Akira explosion because…because I love Ritsu and he loves me and you love Mob and Mob loves you and that's what you do when you love someone." Said Rei. She was out of breath by the end of it. Teru grabbed a disposable cup from the dispenser at the wall and filled it with tap water before he handed it to Rei.

"Rei. Breathe." Said Teru

"Right…right. I'm sorry for all of the….word vomit, I guess. I just…we're going to be fine. Ritsu loves me, I know he'll come back to me. I know that he'll be fine." Said Rei. Teru wanted to tell her. Teru, more than he had ever wanted anything in the past, knew that in that moment he wanted to tell her the truth about her boyfriend. About his moment of temporary insanity. About the fact that he seemed to have some sort of moral opposition to giving Teru personal space. About the fact that when he spoke about Rei there was usually an undercurrent of annoyance…he wanted to tell her a lot of things.

But he didn't.

They had enough problems to deal with as it was.

"I am sick and tired of all of this extra work. We have enough to deal with as it is." Said Minegishi, his nose still buried in a book. He didn't look up at Shimazaki even though he could feel Shimazaki looking at him.

"Well the boss isn't going to like-" said Shimazaki

"The boss knows about that girl or woman or female human or whatever he's calling her these days. He knows that she has some kind of organization, what do you think he's got Hatori locked away doing right now? Listen, if you want to bring this to the boss then fine but wait a few hours until he wakes up. He doesn't need as much sleep as the rest of us but he does need sleep." Said Minegishi. He felt the energy around him shift. A hand pushed his book down into his lap.

"You shouldn't read in such poor light you know, unless you want to end up like me that is." Said Shimazaki

"How can you even tell how dark it is in here? Did you finally let Fukuda heal your eyes?" asked Minegishi

"Can't heal what was never there. No, I can just tell because the overhead lights buzz. I can't hear them so they must be off. The light on the corner table is on, though, because I can feel it's warmth. You're going to go blind at this rate, Minegishi. What are you even reading about that's so important?" asked Shimazaki

"Horticulture, if you must know." Said Minegishi as Shimazaki leaned more of his weight on him. He was not playing this game tonight. Maybe tomorrow night or whenever this stupid insurrection was over. Maybe when he could rest and he didn't have to worry about some tiny, microscopic, little thing going wrong and the boss taking it out on all of them as he was apt to do.

"What do you need to know about plants for? You command them Mr. Chlorokinetic." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi closed his book and put it on the side table of what was dubbed the 'communal room' but was mostly just a sitting space off the kitchen with a seldom used TV in it. He didn't much care for television, Shimazaki was blind, Shibata was too busy pumping iron or whatever he did to maintain his mass, Hatori was trapped behind a series of computer screens 24/7, Serizawa had his consoles set up in his room thank God, and nobody would tolerate the kid around them for more than a few minutes even if he was Suzuki's spawn.

"For your information I'd like to know more about growing them properly." Said Minegishi

"Why? For a guy who complains nonstop about his workload why would you want to bother with something like that?" asked Shimazaki

"Because when this is over I'm getting a parcel of land far away from all of you. It's going to be me and the plants, that's all, and I would like to know how to take care of them." Said Minegishi

"Oh? And I'm not included in this saccharine little dream of yours because?" asked Shimazaki

"Because I have no idea why you would even want to be." Said Minegishi crossing his arms.

"Do I need a reason? Isn't the fact that you'd be there reason enough?" asked Shimazaki. Minegishi turned as best as he could to the side. Shimazaki's arms were on either side of the comfy chair he had been reading in. Just a little light reading to calm her nerves, that was what he had been doing out there, he had no intention to start whatever it was that Shimazaki was trying to start.

He knew exactly what Shimazaki was trying to start.

"Not now, ok? Just, not now. Any other night, Ryo, but not tonight, ok?" said Minegishi

"No time like the present." Said Shimazaki. Minegishi got up and Shimazaki let him. He watched Minegishi's aura. It was the most amazing aura he had ever seen. It seemed to spread from him down and around the way a plant grew. He could feel it under his feet and through his shoes. He liked the feeling.

"Go to bed, your own bed. Ok? You know the boss, he sleeps like a vampire. When he's up he's going to expect the rest of us to be up too, alright? And I know for a fact that he's going to be pissed that the woman he's after, and her entire organization, somehow knows our movements. Do you remember what he did to the last person who talked? I do and it wasn't pleasant, even by my standards. By all means tell the boss what happened, how you narrowly missed fucking up your entire mission, by at least let me be well rested before you do it." Said Minegishi

"Ok. My own bed. Goodnight, Toshiki." Said Shimazaki. Before Minegishi realized it the energy around him shifted again and he was being kissed. As quick as it happened it was over and he was left standing there in the middle of the room. Had he been younger he would have been knocked off his feet. He would have been chasing Ryo down and dragging him into bed desperate to feel cared for, even loved, for just a few moments. Well he was not young anymore. This was big, too bigger, much bigger than himself and his stupid irrational need to for what passed for a human connection between the two of them.

He was beyond such inconsequential things as human connections.

Human connections were important.

Serizawa had been without them for so long, a decade and a half, but now that time was over. He had friends, a job, and a place in society. He was even working to make the world a better place! Really he should have been happy. He was helping the President realize his dreams. The world was going to be a better place for people like him. No one would ever have to be afraid of themselves ever again. No one would ever have to live the way he had. Really, he was doing a good thing.

But then why did it feel so…bad?

Sho had said, before, that the President was going crazy. He said that it was stupid to try and rule the world. He said that it was bossy, too, and a slew of other words that Serizawa would have never applied to the President. Sho was a smart guy, he really was, but he must have been wrong…

They were working for the greater good, the President had said so.

World domination took some sacrifices. They were going to be forever remembered as the people who saved the world, who put it in the hands of it's rightful rulers, and stuff like that. The President had said so and he would never lie. He was the most honest, most caring, and all around best person that Serizawa had ever met. The President had taken him out of that hell and given him a place…

But all of this felt so wrong.

So many homes and businesses had been destroyed. People needed places to live and work even if they weren't espers. People were people even if they didn't have any powers at all. His mother was a normal person and he loved her so much…even if he didn't talk to her nearly as much as he should have. He wondered if his mother was ok, if she was weathering the 'change' as the President had called it…he should have called her. He should have called her but he had no idea what he could possibly tell her. He didn't want his mother to know that he was involved in all of this. Even if they were doing things for the greater good they had still done a lot of bad, too…

Like kidnapping the Prime Minister.

Serizawa hadn't voted for him, he'd never voted in his life, but he still didn't deserve…whatever it was that the President had planned for him. Serizawa knew what the President had planned for him. Serizawa…he had been there when the President had…before…and it had felt wrong then and it felt wrong now. This whole just left a bad taste in his mouth and he knew that it was wrong to even think of going against the President…

No wonder Sho left.

He checked his phone again. It wasn't like Sho to ignore his calls and texts like this. Sho had probably run off again. The President said that he had Sho followed and found out that Sho had made a friend…or more than a friend…Serizawa had no idea and Sho hadn't volunteered that information….Sho was probably fine. He was a strong esper in his own right. He was a smart kid, too. Serizawa had seen him navigate foreign countries as if he had spent his entire life there. Sho never got anxious or scared. He never had to hide behind an umbrella when things go to be too much…

Sho was fine.

He would come around once this was all over. It would be ending soon. The area around the cultural tower was secured so they'd be moving in soon. The President said that it would be his new seat of power. He said that when he was a boy his school had taken a trip to it when it had first been constructed and that it had been the first time in his life that he had truly felt on top of the world. That was why it was going to be their new home and Seasoning City was going to be the new seat of power for the world. Serizawa should have been happy, the President's dreams were coming true, but instead he just felt sort of…bad.

Bad enough that he could not sleep.

Which was not a good move at all. He didn't need as much sleep as regular people but he did need to sleep. The President sometimes got by on as little as two hours of sleep a night. Serizawa was surprised that anyone in the base could sleep at all. The President always went down like a rock, that was normal, but even in all of the chaos and the pressure of the insurrection other people were somehow managing to sleep just fine. Everyone else was sleeping and he was wandering around because his room, the room that was assigned to him, was too small and too dark and felt too much like it was smothering him. His wandering feet took him to the kitchen in search of warm milk or something else that would help him sleep.

He didn't expect to run into anyone.

"Hey, don't have a heart attack, it's just me." Said Hatori. Serizawa hadn't sensed him. Hatori was always around, or he always felt like he was around, because he was always hanging out in circuits and stuff being all nosy….not that Serizawa would ever call his friend nosy to his face or anything like that.

"H-Hi. Sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you! I just didn't think that anyone was up. I-I'll just be-" said Serizawa. Hatori shook his head. He leaned too far to the side and almost tipped over. Serizawa caught him with his powers. As he helped his friend to stay steady on his stool he caught sight of a half empty sake bottle.

"Stay. Stay and have a drink with me." Said Hatori. Serizawa didn't want to. His control wasn't the best and drinking always made it worse…which was why he so rarely drank. Plus it tasted just awful…but if his friend was offering.

Hatori poured him a cup and he downed it fast, like medicine. He tried and failed to stifle the coughing that followed.

"Th-thank you. Um…what's the occasion? Are we drinking to the President's victory?" asked Serizawa. Hatori motioned for him to take a seat. He sat down quickly. His umbrella was clutched in one hand. He wished that he didn't need it, he was just hanging out with his friend, but he was just being his usual weak self once again…

"Victory….yeah, his victory. We're winning….somehow we're winning…." Said Hatori as he reached for his glass. It slipped from his fingers but Serizawa managed to catch it with his powers. He could at least be helpful.

"Of course we're winning! The President said-" said Serizawa

"If Suzuki told you to jump off the roof would you?" asked Hatori suddenly. He could not listen to this anymore. This guy…what was with this guy?! Hatori followed Suzuki because he didn't much fancy being dead. Minegishi and Shimazaki followed Suzuki because they felt like life was boring or meaningless or whatever. Shibata followed Suzuki because he got some kind of weird pleasure from inflicting violence. Serizawa, it seemed, just worshipped the ground Suzuki walked on for reasons that Hatori could not place.

"Of course I would." Said Serizawa. He didn't even have to think. He would do whatever the President asked of him without question, that was what friendship was. That was what loyalty was. That was what it was to care for another person.

"Without using your powers to catch yourself on the way down?" asked Hatori

"…what?" asked Serizawa

"You. Would you pitch yourself off of the roof, without using your powers to save yourself, if Suzuki asked you to?" asked Hatori

"…why would he ask me to do something like that?" asked Serizawa

"Who the hell knows? Maybe he's bored. Maybe he's sick of you. Maybe he just likes watching people die? I have literally zero clue why Suzuki does the things he does, just that he does them." Said Hatori

"The President would never ask me to-" said Serizawa

"How do you know? How the hell do you know?! How the hell can you even sit there and say that you have even the slightest idea of what that man is capable of?!" asked Hatori. He tried to get to his feet but Serizawa had to steady him.

"I just…you've had a lot to drink. You're nervous, that's alright, I'm nervous too. It's all going to be alright. When all of this is over we can-" said Serizawa

"Over? Over?! Open your eyes you moron, none of this is ever going to be over! What, you think that the rest of the world is just going to lay down and let Suzuki call himself the king of the world? None of this is ever going to be over. Either we win and people plot against us for the rest of our lives or we lose and we're hunted for the rest of our lives." Said Hatori

"No…the President wouldn't ever let anything bad happen to-" said Serizawa

"Would you?" asked Hatori

"What?" asked Serizawa

"Jump off the roof. If Suzuki woke up and right now and said 'Serizawa, throw yourself off the roof for my amusement' would you do it?" asked Hatori. Serizawa was silent for a moment.

"If…if he wanted me to do it…if he asked me to do it then he would have had a good reason so…so yes, I would." Said Serizawa. There was more silence after that. Then a giggle. A hitch pitched thing that sounded more like the sound that someone made when they were in pain, not amused, not that Serizawa knew what was so amusing. He would die for the President. That was what you did. When you lived for someone then you were prepared, also, to die for them.

He would die for Suzuki Toichiro.

"And what if he asked you to get down on your knees and-" laughed Hatori

"Wh-what?! Hatori…you're drunk! You don't know what you're-" said Serizawa. He would…the President would never ask something like that of him. Full stop it would never happen. The President would have sooner asked Serizawa to die for him then to get down on his knees for him.

"I know exactly what I'm saying. Hey, I've seen your search history, I don't judge. I can't judge. Ever seen Shimazaki's? You know for a blind guy-" said Hatori

"I don't want to know!" said Serizawa. He reached over and took what was left of the sake away from Hatori. Much too drunk, his friend was much too drunk.

"Serizawa, man, you are just too good for this sinful Earth, you know that? Yeah, that's what you are….you weird shit googling, crock wearing, game addicted, born in a bathrobe, hikikomori-" said Hatori. Serizawa winced. He did not much care for that word. He knew that his friend was just kissing but he just did not like that word. He wasn't…he wasn't that sort of man anymore. He had rejoined society and he had friends and a life and he was not ever, ever, ever going to go back to his room so help him God!

"Come on, you're tired. Let's get you to bed." Said Serizawa. It felt weird saying that to someone other than Sho. Sho sometimes got himself worked up, usually after his father punished him, and Serizawa had to, on occasion, tuck him into bed like his mom had back when he was little. Sho was just a kid, he needed someone to take him to whichever room was his and tell him that everything was going to be ok.

It felt weird, though, carrying another adult.

Even though Serizawa never much felt like an adult. He hadn't felt any different than before when he reached the age of majority. He still didn't feel any different, not really, than when he had locked himself away. It felt odd, holding up Hatori like that, because it was one thing to be the adult when the other person was a child but when the other person was an adult…and more of an adult than he had ever been in his life…

But there was time now, when all of this was over, and it would be over.

When all of this was over then he could…he didn't know what he would do. Whatever the President said. When all of this was over, and they figured out where Sho had gone to, then he would just keep on doing what the President said. The President needed him. The President cared about him. He cared about the President in return and when you cared for someone, lived for them, then you were prepared to follow them to the ends of the Earth. You were prepared to do anything for them.

You were prepared to die for them.

"She'd die for you, you know that, right? Don't you, you idiot?" Said Dimple. Reigen tried to bat him away but his hand just went through whatever it was that made up spirits.

"Shut up….she's not going to die." Said Reigen. He was at her side, now. The kid had gone off with the rescue team. Reigen had no power over that kid and in the end telling a teenage boy not to do a very dangerous thing was like telling the sun not to rise…especially when he was doing it for a girl.

"Not now, you moron, but later on…you didn't see her the way I saw her. She was going to kill or die…and she was going to kill me if I didn't keep you safe." Said Dimple

"So shouldn't you get the hell out of here, then, in case she wakes up?" Said Reigen. He just wanted…he didn't know what he wanted. He wanted to pick her up and carry her away from all of this…but she would have just gone running back to all of this insanity…

There was no stopping Mob when she got an idea in her head.

"Hell no. I've got to be here to guard her body." Said Dimple

"What? As an incorporeal-" said Reigen

"Obviously not like this. I'm here so that, when the shit hits the fan, I can hijack Shigeko and get her out of here." Said Dimple

"Uh-huh, sure, Mob's just going to let you-" said Reigen

"Shigeko is dead to the world right now. Even her aura's gone all…quiet. She's alive in there but she's…both parts of her are quiet. That's good. I can, if I have to, take over her body-" said Dimple

"Why not just do it now, then? Whats stopping you from taking over her body or mine or anyone's here?" asked Reigen

"First of all everyone here but the other weirdo who likes hanging around kids all day is an esper. Even you, you moron, and I am not wasting what little spiritual energy I have left trying to take over one of you useless lumps. Shigeko's natural defenses are down to almost nothing, now, and if I need to I'm going to take over her body and keep it safe…for as long as I can. I have no idea what, exactly, I'm going to run into when I try to take over her body. She was practically merged with that…whatever you want to call it-" said Dimple

"The other Mob." Said Reigen with a shudder. No. Not that…whatever it was. That thing was not Mob…and nothing good ever came from Mob working with the eldritch horror living inside of her.

"Yeah, that thing. She was talking about herself like she was two people and we both know that…yeah…that's not good. I still have use for her and I'm not going to let her burn herself out or lose her mind." Said Dimple

"You know you can just admit you're friends with her. I know, I know, you're an 'evil' spirit blah, blah, blah…" said Reigen

"Hey man, I'll admit it when you admit it." Said Dimple mostly just to piss Reigen off. Mostly. Shigeko, for reasons that made zero sense, was into this guy. Why? He had literally nothing to offer her. He wasn't powerful in any sense of the word and he was too emotionally up his own ass to even begin to admit how he felt about her. There was the age thing but, hey, you only live once and you don't shorten that life by saying no to the living God. Shigeko would never hurt Reigen but that other thing…ick.

"Shut the hell up. Don't even joke about that. Mob is fourteen years old. Mob is my student. Mob is-" said Reigen. He was too close with her, he cared too much about how she felt and how happy she was and just…he cared about her. He cared more about her than anyone else in the world, maybe even himself. He cared enough about her that he crossed the burning city just to keep the people she cared about safe. He cared about her enough that he, on national TV, apologized to her for all of the shit he had put her through…he cared about her.

But he did not feel anything beyond that for her.

You could care for someone, live for them, die for them, without feeling like…that…for them.

"She's someone who would die for you. You know what, fine, I do have a soft spot for her and I want her to be happy. She'll never reach her full potential if she's miserable and since no matter what happens she'll never break ties with you-" said Dimple

"Wow, you do care. I'll alert the press." Said Reigen sarcastically.

"Of course I do. You're pretty much a blip in existence. Your life is over a quarter over. Me, I've been around for a while and I have never seen anything like Shigeko before. That right there is a living God and I am in no way exaggerating. You, those kids, even those adults that went off on the suicide mission are nothing compared to her. You're what espers are supposed to be. Shigeko is…she's on her own level and when she wakes up…well we both know what could happen when she wakes up. I mean I managed to pacify her for a little bit…" said Dimple

"You're sure that you didn't see or feel her family there?" asked Reigen. He still had her hand in hers. Warm. Her skin was warm. She smelled like smoke. Fire. She had been in that fire. She had seen her house burning to the ground and she had been prepared to do whatever she could to avenge her family…and he had not been there for her…

He needed to stop beating himself up over this. He was no good to Mob, or anyone, when he was like this.

"For the last time, dumbass, yes. I didn't feel their spirits. I told you that they may have immediately passed on but considering who her brother is I can see him, at least, still being out there. You heard those other kids. He was in contact with them for a little bit, probably while the house was burning. He's, at least, probably still out there so there's that. Shigeko, she's a resilient kid. She made it through Mogami's little mind fuck of a world and she'll make it through this…I hope.." said Dimple

"Don't even bring that up." Groaned Reigen. Not that again. He did not need to be reminded of his greatest failure. It was hard to believe that three months ago he and Mob…he and Mob had still just been Master and Student. He had been in charge and she had hung on his every word. Now they were…

He put her hand down.

Equal.

He picked up her hand again and held it in his.

She was his equal now. The student had outgrown the Master. He had nothing more to teach her.

"Fine, if you insist, but I'm just saying that Shigeko is crazy resilient. She made it through that and she'll make it through this. I mean, she hasn't killed anyone yet so-" said Dimple. Reigen was about to tell Dimple to shut his mouth when the dinging of the elevator rang out through the room. It was quiet, now, silent. People had migrated to the various rooms of the 'base'. It was just him, Mob, and Dimple.

The door was thrown opened.

For a moment Reigen can't breathe. The kid, Mob's boyfriend, was being carried in. He was scraped and bruised and bloodied and for a moment Reigen assumes the worst. He assumes that he should have done more to stop the kid, beg or plead or pick him up and lock him in a closet, but then the kid's eyes open.

And he gets hit with a wave of anger.

Reigen followed the kid's eyes. Right. If he wanted the kid to not hate him anymore, and come off of this weird jealousy, then maybe he should not have been holding Mob's hand like that. Maybe, just maybe, he should have gotten up and just walked away and left the kids alone because, obviously, things had not gone well.

So that was what he did.

He left the room, a gaggle of adult espers followed him, also Dimple, but all he wanted was to be with Mob. To hold onto her and make sure that she was safe. But he left. Mob needed…she needed the person she loved and that kid needed her.

So he decided to give them some space. To give Mob some space.

Teru did not want there to be any space between him and Shigeko.

No, not like **that**. He just…he needed to be held. He needed to be held and to hold her in return. But she hated the feel of his weight on top of her…and that was his fault too. Another way that he had failed her. That was all that he was to her, someone who failed her at every single turn. She was on the couch and this was, well, kind of a game of people Tetris but he managed to lay beside her without crushing her. He just needed to be beside her. That was all. That was all he ever wanted.

"Shigeko…I'm sorry. I messed up. Heh. You feel that?" asked Teru as he put her lifeless hand on his forehead.

"I thought, before, that I got sick because I was running around naked in the rain after we fought…sorry about that…but I guess that it was just a side effect of getting my ass kicked…." Said Teru. He let her hand go and it fell, down, limply beside her.

"Shigeko…I'm sorry. Ok? I just…I thought that I had this but I don't….so I'm sorry. I couldn't keep you safe. I couldn't keep you safe and I don't have this…so I'm sorry. I guess I should have been more…humble. I've been such an asshole lately…" said Teru. He traced his thumb across her cheek. She wasn't dead. She was still warm and still alive…just sleeping. She was asleep but eventually she'd wake up and she'd not only know that he had failed her but also that he had been an asshole…

"Shigeko…I love you. I messed this whole thing up because I love you and I just wanted…I didn't want you to have to deal with this shit on top of all of the other shit you have to deal with. No matter what I love you and I'm just…sorry about all of this. Tell you what, Shigeko, when this is over I'll work extra hard at being the guy you want me to be…just please, don't ever go…" said Teru as he rested his head in the crook of her neck. When all of this was over they'd take their trip and probably a bunch more…and he's make her happy…and he'd be what she wanted him to be. Whatever she wanted him to be.

After all, since day one she had been the one to make him work for what he was.


	63. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

Mob felt nothing.

Existence was everything and nothing at the same time. She could take a thought and think it for all eternity but the moment she tried to pin down what it was that she was thinking of it seemingly disappearing into the void of existence. Existence was a void, a white void, where neither up nor down no left nor right existence. Time did not exist. She did not exist. But she must have.

If she did not exist then the void did not exist.

But wasn't a void a lack of existence.

She could will things into existence if she tried. She could will up and down and left and right and here and there and everywhere into this existence. She could but the moment they existed they disappeared. Or maybe they existed for more than a moment. Time was the one thing that she could not will into existence here.

She felt nothing.

She heard nothing.

She saw nothing.

She tasted nothing.

But then she did. She remembered and she saw and she heard and she felt and she tasted and she experienced every single human sensation at once and it was so much…but then it was gone. It was gone and she had returned to the void of nothingness. She had no vessel here. She was just herself. She was just every single part of herself in that existence.

But what were they? Were they good? Were they bad? They had been fully prepared to end the lives of those who had tried to hurt their family. They were acting in defense of others…but they had been prepared to do the unthinkable. But not unthinkable. They had done it before. Asagiri. Dead. But that was a lie, the entire thing had been a lie, a world of lies fabricated by Mogami for the sole purpose to tormenting her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them, her, them,

Mob. Shigeko.

Whatever they were.

They had no vessel. Well the two of them had a vessel but they just did not…they did not have it right then. In this space. This in between space where they were neither here nor there, good nor bad, themselves or apart….where they were both Mob and Shigeko but also neither Mob and Shigeko.

Warm.

They feel something. They feel warm. They feel good. They want this feeling to go on forever because at least it is SOMETHING in this space of NOTHING and why are they and what are they and what were they even going to do and what was even HAPPENING and a lot of things were happening but this was not a thing that was happening because they were HERE and there was a THERE as well but if there was no here then did that mean that because here and there were relative then there was nothing at all?

Then the feeling was gone.

They are little. They are small. It's cold out. They're with Ritsu and he's even smaller than they are. Then Ritsu gets hurt. They don't remember how Ritsu got hurt but they know that they did it. They hurt Ritsu and they can never forgive themselves and they love him so much because he is their brother and he is there but they are here and now they don't know where here is or where there is or where anything is-

**A time of panic.**

_Stop it._

**I don't want to.**

_I want you to._

**Why? You like big feelings.**

_I'm tired._

**Of?**

_Holding you back._

**Then stop.**

_I cannot stop. _

**You can't be in charge of us. **

_Why not?_

**You'll do something bad if you are. You wanted to do bad things to the people who hurt our family and I went along with what you wanted and then I almost did something very bad.**

_Why is it bad? They were going to hurt us. They have hurt so many people already including our family. They may still be alive but we do not know that. I need to keep you safe. I need to keep us safe. We are this thing together._

**But I don't want this.**

_That does not matter. We have to do everything in our power to make this right._

**But we were going to hurt those people. When we were there we were going to hurt them.**

_They were going to hurt us. We are here and they could still hurt us. Here or there it does not matter. We can still get hurt. Others can still get hurt. You worry about others. I worry about us. We are this thing together and together we do not want anyone to be hurt._

**Where are we?**

_Asleep._

**I'm awake. We're both awake. How can we be asleep if we're awake?**

_We are both awake and asleep at the same time._

Mob did not understand. Shigeko understood but Mob did not. She could not have been asleep because she felt awake. She was awake. She was awake and she had so much to do…even though she didn't want to do it. She had to find her family, she had to keep her friends safe…and she couldn't do it from there.

She felt light. She felt heavy.

She felt very heavy. Heavy and squished and compressed like she was on a crowded train on a hot day and there were people pressing in on her from all side. Not even just left of right but from up and down and diagonal and every other which was that she could think. She felt heavy and squished but also light.

But at least she felt.

"I feel…like we need to run away!" said Dimple in his newest borrowed body. Shigeko's. Her natural defenses were so low that he had managed to fight his way in despite her power level being so high. No wonder she passed out, her vessel was full to the breaking point.

And her mind had let go of the wheel.

"Nowhere to run little girl." Said Shibata. So this was what the boss was so worried, as much as he could be, about? This kid? This was just a little girl in her school uniform. THIS was the boss' rival?

"Hey! Knock it off! She's just a kid!" said Reigen before he did something stupid. Well stupider than every single thing he had done up to this point in his life. One minute he had been asleep, passed out in the living room, and then the next everyone was filing out because apparently it was morning and they all had jobs to do and all he could do was offer words of encouragement and offer to guard Mob...and he had barely gotten that job, too, since Teru refused to let go of her. Reigen knew that he was being selfish but he was not letting that kid carry Mob off, on his back like he planned, to wherever it was that his group was going off to. Reigen couldn't stop any of those kids but he had at least told those adults ot take care of them while he guarded Mob…

So that was what he did, he guarded her.

By punching this muscle head in the face.

And hurting his hand.

Not broken, hopefully not broken, because if it was broken well then he'd have another problem to deal with on top of the seven layer salad of problems that was his current life. At least he knew what to do for a broken bone. At least that had a clear and simple solution. There were no clear and simple solutions here. They had found Mob, how they had found her he did not know, but they had come for her and he had no way of protecting her and-

"Holy fucking shit!" said Shibata. That hurt! Wait…that hurt? He hadn't felt pain, true pain, in ages. Not since he figured out how to control his powers. Not since he had dulled most of his nerve endings out through the constant use of said powers. This was…he stared down at his hand. A sharp pain and then a dull, throbbing ache…

"Reigen! I can't believe I'm saying this but you're a genius!" said Dimple before he cartwheeled over to Reigen, grabbed his hand, and bit him as hard as he could. Wow. Shigeko had some pretty sharp teeth if Reigen's, and that other jackass's, agonized screams were anything to go off of.

"Dimple! What the hell?!" said Reigen as he tried to shake Dimple free. He tripped over a passed out lackey stumbled back, and hit his head. The big muscle bound psychic grabbed his head…in the spot where Reigen had bumped his….huh.

Well what do you know?

He knew that he could share physical sensations, he had rubbed enough backs to have figured that out, but he had no idea that it went both ways…or that he could make it go both ways. His aura like to bond with the auras of others, a terrible habit he had picked up from his time with Mob, and now Mob was passed out and her aura was pretty dim…so he had attached himself to the next most powerful person in the room.

Cool.

"Shut up and feel pain!" said Dimple as he grabbed Reigen's arm, pushed up his sleeve, and bit as hard as he could. Good. This was good. Shigeko was going to exorcise him later, of course, for hurting her main guy but this was better than him letting this guy die. No, Shigeko would have never forgiven him for that.

"Got it!" said Reigen as he banged his head back against the wall until he saw stars. He was getting kind of dizzy but it was working. For Mob he'd do this. For all of those other kids he'd do this. He wasn't useless, he wasn't a fraud, he was someone who could actually help in this fight. Even if it meant that he would have to get hurt…

"How-how-how the hell are-are-are you doing this?!" gasped out Shibata. The man was doing this. That guy…his aura was duller than the awakened! How could he possibly…Shibata saw it. The yellow intrusion into his own aura. That was what he had been feeling. This guy had bound their auras together and was beating himself up to…and it was working?! Hell no! Shibata was not weak! He was not one of the weaklings of the world but he would be if he let this guy win! And with such a cheap tactic too!

"I'm Reigen Arataka, that's how." Said Reigen as he tried to regain his footing. Hitting himself over the head had been the most efficient tactic but it left him feeling somewhat concussed. This was good, though, because it meant that the other guy was also feeling somewhat concussed. So this was the logical conclusion of his powers. He couldn't just make people feel emotional pain but physical pain as well. Negative feedback loop. A different kind of negative feedback loop.

"Don't get full of yourself, you jerk, now come on! While he's down! Let's get the hell out of here!" said Dimple. He pulled Reigen out the door, jumping over passed out mooks with grace the Reigen had never seen of Mob before. They ran down the hall, Reigen attempted to stop at the elevator but Dimple pulled him along, and they ran down the stairs.

Which Mob's body seemed to have no problem with.

Because she had not been smoking a pack a day since she was fourteen. Reigen on the other hand did not have any hope of keeping up. He tried, though, for her. Dimple could leach some spiritual power from Mob's body, he said, but he was weary of waking up the other Mob…which Reigen understood. Dimple had whatever he had left to use in whatever battle was brewing. That was why Dimple didn't just fly them away. It would have been child's play for Mob but Mob…Mob was not there right now.

"Dimple…slow down…" gasped out Reigen. When all of this was over he was going to quit smoking, and he actually meant it this time. He wasn't even thirty years old yet and he was running like an old man. The pain in the back of his head and the bleeding bite marks on his arms didn't exactly help matters.

"No, you speed up! Come on, do you think Shigeko would want you to die here?! And just because you couldn't keep up with me!? What a lame ass reason for dying!" asked Dimple as he jumped down the remaining stairs and landed on the landing with cat like grace. Literally. He made sure to land on all fours so as not to accidentally break Shigeko's vessel. He couldn't put her vessel back together for her. He wasn't even sure how she managed it all of those times.

"Do-do you think that Mob would want you to break her legs doing shit like that?" asked Reigen as he caught up to Dimple. It would have been cute, if that had been Mob standing there tapping her toes with her hands on her hips and her eyes glaring up at him through her bangs, but it was not Mob and this was not the time to be thinking of how adorable she was anyway.

"Better she break her legs than lose her main guy." Said Dimple as he waited for Reigen to catch up.

"Stop trying to press my buttons, Dimple, it isn't going to work. When this is all done then I'll be pissed off at you." Said Reigen. Dimple was about to retort when there was the slow squeak of a door opening. He quickly got Shigeko's body into a fighting stance. Hopefully it was just more mooks, they went down easy.

"Is-is it safe?" asked Matsuura as he stuck his head out of the doorway. He had tried his best to hide, nobody had gone to the maintenance room, but from where he had no idea what was going on…or if anyone was ok…he was such a coward, wasn't he?

"You should really get the hell out of here while you still can. We have no idea how long that mini boss is going to be down for." Said Dimple. Matsuura stared down at the little girl. Oh. She had woken up. She was…she was still scary. Less scary than before. Less ethereal. She had her arms crossed and was tapping her toes and looking kind of loveable, actually.

"B-but where is there-there-there even a place left to go to?" asked Matsuura. He couldn't just leave this place. This was the base, first of all, and second of all this was his home. The girl shrugged.

"Hell if I know, dumbass, but I guess that away from here would be best. Anyway we've got a world to save, so, later!" said Dimple as he ran, pulled himself onto the railing, and slid down. Not that he needed to do any of those things, he just liked to.

"You should get out of here while you still can, you could really get hurt. Trust me on this, you don't wan these people to catch you." Said Reigen. Honestly, this guy…what was with this guy? He had more words for Matsuura, a lot more words. Words like 'you're going to get yourself killed' and 'how dare you let all of those kids walk into danger like that' and a few more colorful words that he had picked up over the years as well. He had a lot to say but for once he kept his mouth shut.

Mob's safety, the safety of all of those kids, was worth more than his own righteous indignation at the whole situation.

"Come on! Before that idiot gets up!" said Dimple as he grabbed Reigen's arm and dragged him away. Reigen allowed himself to be dragged by Mob…by Dimple in Mob's body. Mob was never so…animated. Dimple was running and jumping and skipping and cursing….lots of cursing.

"The hell…mother fucking….can't believe this shit…how can you sleep at a goddamned time like this…this slow ass bastard following me…and now you're going to try and wake up?!" muttered Dimple as they left the building. At some point he had let go of Reigen. He had to. Reigen just moved so slowly. So old. He had inhabited Reigen before and the guy was out of shape. Good at stretching but right now that was useless to them. They needed to get out of there and then…he had no idea. Hide, maybe, until this whole thing blew over. He had to keep Reigen safe. Shigeko's number two guy was out there risking his life but he could at least keep guy number one safe.

And Shigeko's body safe, too.

A body that was beginning to stir. Not now. Not while they were running for their lives. He could feel Shigeko, and that thing that lived inside of her, and they were both waking up and if they woke up now it would be…bad. So bad.

Because he had no idea what would be waking up first.

"Dimple! Where are we even going?" asked Reigen as he tried to keep up.

"No clue! Away from that guy would be pretty good, don't you think?" asked Dimple sarcastically. He stumbled as, for a moment, Shigeko's body stopped obeying him. For a moment he thought that the entire thing would come tumbling down, that he would lose control, that he'd be cast out of Shigeko…but he hadn't been.

He did fall, though, and he was caught.

"Dimple! We can't just wander around aimlessly through what's left of the city-" said Reigen. It was quiet out there, too quiet, much too quiet. The sirens had gone quiet some time in the night. Anybody that was going to run away would have done so last night. Now the streets, at least around the lab, were deserted. He could feel a cold wind through his suit coat. He had left his actual coat inside and he was not about to go back for it. Mob's cheeks were bright red, but that may have just been Dimple's possession, but aside from that she showed no indication that she…or rather her body…was cold. She was there in her slightly singed school uniform with her hair knotted about her head in a pair of loose braids and her bangs almost covering her eyes…and those eyes were glaring at him…

"Will you shut up?! Just run you moron! Isn't that what you're always telling Shigeko? Sometimes you have to run away? Well then run away and keep on running until you can't run anymore!" said Dimple

"We need to at least find the other kids and-" said Reigen

"No!" said Dimple. Shigeko's voice was too high to properly convey just how stupid Reigen's idea was. Go back? Back to what? They needed to keep on moving or they would die! Well Reigen would, Dimple would just lose the body…and also Shigeko would die! And then who knew what kind of spirit she would end up leaving behind! They had all seen what Mogami had become and Shigeko was a thousand times the esper Mogami ever was!

"What do you mean, no?!" asked Reigen. Dimple was shifting his, Mob's, weight from foot to foot now. Her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat of all thing. In this could Mob, or at least her body, was sweating. He watched the heavy rise and fall of her chest. The way her hands wrung together.

"We need to keep moving." Said Dimple. He tried to keep it together but it was hard. It was like a teakettle whistling. More and more pressure began to build within the body and he could not lose control because if it wasn't Shigeko that took control…and Reigen got hurt…Shigeko would never forgive him if he let something happen to her main guy.

"Dimple…what's wrong? What's wrong with Mob?" asked Reigen

"She's starting to wake up-" said Dimple

"That's good! Get out of her so you can-" said Reigen

"No! That's a pretty goddamned terrible thing! I have no idea if it's Shigeko or that other thing that's going to wake up! And here is not the place to roll the dice on this!" said Dimple

"Why? We're being chased by a-" said Reigen

"Because if something happened to you then Shigeko would never forgive me! If you could take your head out of your ass for five minutes you'd see just how much she cared about you and how devastated she'd be if something happened to you! Shigeko can and will go on to do great things and neither of us are going to be able to ride her coattails if she ends up accidentally killing you! So shut your mouth and run you moron!" said Dimple. He fell to his knees as his control began to slip. This time Reigen didn't catch him and he felt Shigeko's knees scrape against the sidewalk. He rolled onto his side, her side, and began to breathe more quickly than he knew human beings were meant to.

And he could hear Reigen breathing like that, too.

And he could feel the ground shaking.

"I hate this shit so much…" mutterd Dimple as he rolled onto his feet. He needed to keep this together. He needed to keep on moving. He could not let anything happen to Shigeko or Reigen…and not just because he wanted to ride her coattails.

She wasn't just a living God, she was a great kid and he was not going to let anything bad happen to her.

Suzuki Toichiro was not just a good person and an amazing man but a living God as well.

At least that was how he saw himself, and how Serizawa saw him it seemed, but Hatori knew better. This guy was nuts, really freaking nuts, and there was nobody around who could stop him. The cold wind almost knocked his glasses off as he surveyed the damage that Claw had done. He was on top of the Cultural Tower thing keeping planes and helicopters away.

"Just like RC copters." He said to himself as he lifted a finger, literally, and sent some news copters, or maybe military ones, off into the distance. He didn't much want to hurt anyone but he didn't much want the boss to hurt him, either. The boss or his biggest fan.

Hatori bristled as he felt another aura, a familiar aura, coming near.

"Oh….I hope they're ok." Said Serizawa as he walked, slowly, to where Hatori was perched. He had two omelets in his hands. One for him and one for his friend. The President was right, the cafeteria really did have good omelets. The other one was for Sho but Sho was still missing…or hiding. Hopefully hiding and not in trouble or anything. Whatever the bright aura was, whoever that bright aura was, it had stopped a while ago. Sho was smart and capable but he was still just a kid…

"It's another drop in the bucket…" said Hatori as he scooted to the side and let Serizawa park himself on the roof next to him. He didn't seem to be affected at all by the cold. He was still just in that thin robe and those pajamas and crocs but he seemed fine. Hatori, on the other hand, was shivering out of his sweater. The boss said that he had to keep the building safe but he hadn't said anything, at the time, about Hatori needing to freeze to death on the roof…not that the boss gave a damn about any of them.

"Do you really think so?" asked Serizawa

"You don't?" said Hatori

"I mean the President said that most of the people had evacuated already so I just thought that…that most everybody was ok…" said Serizawa

"If you believe that then I have an underwater bridge that I can sell you." Said Hatori

"The President would never lie to us." Said Serizawa. Hatori was probably just cold and tired and hungry, that was all. The President cared about all of them. Hell, he was doing this for all of them. He was making the world a better place for espers everywhere. No more hiding from the world and no more being afraid of themselves. It was wonderful…or at least it would be….when all of this was over.

"Did you really come all the way up here to tell me how amazing our fearless leader is?" asked Hatori with a sigh. Obviously Serizawa's building was missing a few bricks. There was no arguing with him when it came to the boss.

"Here! I mean this is for you. I figured that you might be hungry since the President still hasn't given you a lunch break-" said Serizawa as he handed Hatori one of the rapidly cooling omelets he was holding. Hatori took it from him and rested the plate on his lap. Serizawa used his powers to fish out a plastic fork and a bottle of water from his robe pockets and passed them over to Hatori. The plate almost slipped from his hands as he gratefully took the sustenance that Serizawa remembered that he needed. This was all him, the boss wouldn't have given a damn if he were to die of starvation up there.

"I doubt he would. He can't have his lackeys getting shit faced right before the big day now can he?" asked Hatori through a mouthful of unusually fluffy omelet.

"I-I don't think that the President is trying to punish you. You're just the only person who can control technology and he wants planes and helicopters and stuff away from the building." Said Serizawa. He feared that Hatori was chocking but instead he laughed and jabbed his fork in Serizawa's direction.

"You could easily knock one of the helicopters out of the sky, you know that and so do I. Hell, one of the upper echelon or the scars or even the awakened soldiers could. I'm up here because I got way too drunk and woke up hung over. It's fine. I shouldn't have pulled that shit. I mean I knew what this was when the boss first came for me. He's been ranting and raving for years about his dream and now that it's finally coming true he can't have his underlings fucking it up for him now can he?" asked Hatori

"I…the President would be very disappointed if something were to go wrong…but he cares about all of us. That's why he's letting us all share in this with him. The President is a great man, a wonderful man, and he only wants the best for-" said Serizawa

"If you're going to sing the boss' praises then maybe you should sing them where he can hear. Who knows, he might even toss you a cracker if you sing nice enough." Said Hatori

"…you're only being mean because you were drunk last night…" said Serizawa

"You think?" asked Hatori

"Yes. Usually you're much nicer so I think that you might just be hung over or something." Said Serizawa

"Yeah, maybe that's it. Maybe once I wake up and have a good meal and get hydrated again I'll be back on Team Take Over the World with the rest of you and I'll wonder how I could have possibly thought such terrible thoughts about the man who did all of this." said Hatori motioning with his fork to the ring of toppled buildings that surrounded the Cultural Tower.

"….world domination takes sacrifices, the President said so. He's doing all of this for the good of espers everywhere and we should be nice to him. We should be grateful to him. We should be-" said Serizawa

"Is there anything else you want or can I eat in peace?" asked Hatori

"I…I wanted to eat with you because…the President doesn't need me right by his side right now and the others are all busy-" said Serizawa

"Wow. You really know how to make a guy feel special." Said Hatori

"I really did want to eat with you! I like you…not like that! I mean I like being with you because you're my friend-" said Serizawa

"Really? Because it seems like you came up here because you wanted to gush to someone about how awesome the boss is." Said Hatori

"I did too want to eat with you, Hatori, I really did." Said Serizawa

"So then maybe we should get back to that." Said Hatori

"I-I didn't just come here to eat with you though. I know that you can find people by looking through phones and cameras and stuff and I was wondering if you could find Sho for me…please?" Said Serizawa, his food going cold on his lap. Such a waste of four eggs…he had read somewhere that it took forty gallons of water to produce on egg so in that case if he didn't eat this omelet it was like letting sixteen hundred gallons of water go to waste but he couldn't eat, not really, when Sho was out there and in danger.

"The kid? Why?" asked Hatori. He was not Minegishi. He was not going rub every single terrible rumor that circulated about Serizawa to his face.

"Because he's been missing for a while. He never came back to the base, he never regrouped, and he never even completed his assignment." Said Serizawa. The President was very disappointed in Sho for not doing his job but aside from that he didn't seem worried at all…but then again the President was not a very emotional man….he must have cared, though, because Sho was his son. Serizawa didn't have any children, there was no chance of that at all, but if he did and they were out there in all of that he would have been so worried…worried enough to hide in his room and never come out….his umbrella was tucked under his arm. He wished that he could open it and hide under it until this whole thing, all of these worried feelings, passed.

"What do you even care? You have your own shit to do and so do I. I don't need any extra work-" said Hatori. God, he sounded just like Minegishi there, didn't he? No more extra work. It was work, finding someone. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. He had been glued to screens trying to find that esper girl or woman or whatever for the boss and he did not want to go back to that anytime soon. At least up there he got fresh air and sunlight.

"Because he's my friend! He's my friend and he's just a kid and he's out there and so many things could have happened to him and he's too-too-too far away for me to sense and I have no idea if he's alright and it's not like him to not finish a job and-and-and-" said Serizawa, his breakfast tumbling over the railing and down to the ground. Hatori watched his plate fall to the ground and shatter. It shattered silently, they were up too far to hear anything going on down below, and he knew that if he were to follow it then he would shatter silently too. He couldn't fly, wasn't indestructible, and couldn't even out up a barrier. There was an aura crackling against his now. Purple. He knew what it meant when Serizawa got like that…

The only thing more terrifying than an esper as powerful as Serizawa was an esper as powerful as Serizawa with zero control.

"Ok, ok, ok, calm the hell down! I'll look for the kid!" said Hatori. He fished his phone out of his pocket and used it as a conduit to jump into the digital world. He much preferred to search with a proper screen setup. It was easier on him. This was draining, putting so much of himself into the unseen and intangible world. A bit like an out of body experience. He felt, vaguely, that someone was holding him up. Good. Then maybe this wouldn't be the day that he died.

He searched specifically for Sho's phone and found nothing. Then he searched through any function security cameras. Still nothing. Nothing at all…though a good portion of the city was destroyed. He slowed down and focused on the feel of Sho, not the look of him, though he had much more experience looking at the kid than feeling his aura. He felt…distantly he felt…he saw what the camera saw. Sho. There. With another kid…he knew that kid!

The hair gave him away.

It was the kid from the recovered footage of the Seventh Division takedown.

"Hatori? Hatori!? Please don't be dead…oh! Where's Fukuda when you need him?!" asked Serizawa. Hatori's aura had gone dim and then his body had gone limp and then everything had become just so terrifying-

"No. It's one person per omelet, Serizawa, I'm running a charity here." Said Hatori as he felt himself sinking back into his own body. Limps heavy. Head swimming. Lap covered in ketchup and egg. The smell of someone who needed a bath two days ago around him…yup. He was still alive.

"I-I'm sorry, I just thought that you had gotten hurt somehow or-" said Serizawa

"I'm fine, I just don't usually do that. Usually I like to have a shit ton of screens so I don't have to go all out of body. Shit hurts, man, and it's exhausting….but I found the kid. He's fine. I caught him on a security camera. He's out there right now with some other kid it looked like." Said Hatori as he pushed Serizawa away and tried to straighten out his sweater. Ick. More ketchup.

"Sho's alright?" asked Serizawa. He felt like a heavy load had been lifted off of his shoulders. Sho was out there but it was ok because he had found a friend and he was just-

"I have no idea if he's alright or not." Said Hatori

"But you just said-" said Serizawa

"I said that I saw the kid, that's all. He didn't look hurt but he was with another kid…the same kid from the Seventh Division. From the night it fell." Said Hatori

"…the girl the President is looking for?" asked Serizawa. No. That was bad. He had been feeling her all night and she seemed…mad. She was lighting up the sky with her aura and early that morning some upper echelon people and some soldiers had been brought in after she had drained them dry and tossed them around…

Sho was out there.

"No, not her. There was another kid but the cameras didn't get a god angle on him. The footage that survived, anyway, a lot of it was destroyed. I can find a deleted file but something that was that badly corrupted. I recognized the hair, though, and that kid was definitely there." Said Hatori

"Sho's in trouble then! I-I'll go tell the President!" said Serizawa. With speed that Hatori didn't think was possible from someone wearing crocs Serizawa sped off leaving Hatori alone in the cold covered in egg and ketchup.

Not alone for long.

Hatori had barely felt the energy around him shift when he was face to face with Shimazaki. He balanced on the edge of the roof's railing like he was standing on the sidewalk. It the cold or the winds affected him he gave no outward indication of any discomfort.

He was smirking, if anything.

"So, what are you two up to? Besides trying to drop plates on my head, of course." Said Shimazaki. He had waited until Serizawa was gone. That guy was ten different kinds of annoying, and not just because he felt the need fit verbally jerking the boss off into every single conversation. Probably because he wasn't doing it physically. Heh. Not that there was any truth to the rumor…as far as Shimzaki knew. Even if it was true there was nothing that he could do with that information besides tease Serizawa about it. He wasn't exactly the sort of person who was dumb enough to go off and tell the boss that he knew all about his sordid affairs.

"Nothing that concerns you, Shimazaki, no go away and stop distracting me. Don't you have shit you should be doing right now? The boss isn't going to like it if you start slacking off." Said Hatori. This guy. THIS GUY. He did not feel like getting into it with this guy.

"Me? Slacking off? I'm offended, Hatori, I truly am to the core of my being offended by your statement. Unlike you I didn't spend all of last night drinking myself to death." Said Shimazaki

"I was not drinking myself to death." Said Hatori. He looked away from Shimazaki even though there was no point. The guy saw in all directions or something, Hatori never sat down and asked him how it all worked but he knew that Shimazaki could sense things that happened behind him and even rooms away. It was a cool power but it didn't seem worth the whole 'creepy empty eye sockets' thing.

"Really? Because you seem pretty hung over right now. Here, you should drink something, I can tell that you're parched." Said Shimazaki as he reached into his pocket and handed Hatori the water bottle that had gone tumbling over the railing with his breakfast. Hatori took it quickly and began to drink just to have something to do. He felt Shimazaki's aura resting on top of him. His empty eyes were closed but he was still staring.

"You really shouldn't go tossing things off of tall buildings like that. Some people might take it the wrong way, almost like you were trying something really stupid." Said Shimazaki

"I wasn't trying anything and you know it. Serizawa just had me go looking for the boss' kid and I had to go all 'out of body' to do it. Please. If I was going to go all mutinous I wouldn't waste my time trying to off you with water bottles and ceramic plates." Said Hatori

"The boss' kid? What's he up to out there? Don't tell me he hooked up with those stupid scars." Said Shimazaki

"Scars?" asked Hatori

"Yeah. Ok, so I went to kidnap the Prime Minster and that goes well but when I take him to the first drop off point, you know how the boss loves to overcomplicate things, this kid just attacks me out of nowhere. He had some skills, for someone his age, but really he's not ready to play with the big boys just yet. I kicked his ass and left him to a bunch of those rouge scars, the ones from the Seventh Division it felt like. I have no clue what they hope to accomplish out there but, hey, at least they made things interesting." Said Shimazaki

"Damn it." Said Hatori. Well now this was just great. Hatori didn't much care for the boss' kid or any kids at all but he didn't much like listening to the boss 'punishing' his son…or seeing the aftermath. How that man could be so cruel to his own kid Hatori did not know. He was not anybody's father, he had been damn careful about that over the years, but he knew that if you wanted your kid to live up to your expectations and obey you or whatever then maybe giving them a reason to hate you was not the right way to go about all of that.

"Oh? Do you know something I don't?" asked Shimazaki with one eyebrow cocked. This was turning interesting. He couldn't feel anyone in his range that wasn't supposed to be there but, hey, maybe the boss' idiot kid had done something stupid like hook up with those losers and now he was leading some kind of rebellion or something. The whole father against son thing was clichéd as all else but it at least added something interesting to this whole insurrection thing. Shimazaki wasn't a father, at least no women had come up demanding he take responsibility for a kid yet, but if his son was leading some kind of rebellion against him he would have been damn proud. There was no way in hell that any kid of his was going to be in any way, shape, or form boring.

"Nothing that you need to worry about. I just found the boss' kid just now and he was with some kid, not the one the boss is looking for, from the Seventh Division takedown. Not the girl but one of the other kids, the guy with all the hair, not that physical appearance means anything to you. I think he was in the batch that the scars Koyama and Sakurai captured judging by the fact that those scars had been ordered to capture a bunch of kids. I don't know anything beyond that, though, the footage and files from the Seventh Division were either destroyed or severally corrupted." Said Hatori

"Heh. So you think, maybe, that the boss' son saw the error of his ways and destroyed any evidence that he could and then planned some kind of textbook rebellious phase uprising against the boss? And he's out there right now with his allies coming for us and this whole thing is going to end in some kind of climactic father against son, good against evil, battle with us losing but also realizing some great truths about ourselves?" asked Shimazaki sarcastically. He felt Hatori's aura roll and his eyeballs go round and round in his head. Eye rolling.

"Maybe. Or maybe he just found the boy of his dreams, had his own sudden realization of great truth, and now they're running off together to start a new life because he knows that the boss will never in a million years let his own son do anything like that." Said Hatori

"Heh. Or maybe he just found a new pet." Laughed Shimazaki before he teleported back down to his post. He didn't know if the boss' kid was going to take option one, two, or three but whatever he picked it was bound to end in something interesting.

"Ritsu, I found another one." said Sho as he emerged from some wreckage with what must have been someone's pet. The poor thing didn't have anyone in the world and now it was all alone and it needed someone to take care of it and-

"Great…what are we going to do with this one?" asked Ritsu. At some point the plan had been amended and now not only were they saving the world but every single lost cat, dog, and whatever else in Japan. He had two cats in his arms and a bird on his head…and none of them got along.

"I don't know. Just hang onto it or something until we find a place to hide them." Said Sho as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He needed less sleep than most people but he did need sleep. He hadn't gotten much of it last night. Ritsu had collapsed onto the bed that Sho had been using after they had been up pouring over city maps and plotting the best route, the one least likely to have been destroyed, and also doing some more strategizing. Then Ritsu had been too tired to go on and passed out.

Sho hadn't followed him.

And it was a good thing, too, because they had ended up losing their base come the dawn.

No more base, far fewer allies than he had planned on having, and now a bunch of poor helpless animals that needed him more than anyone else in the world because their caretakers were most likely dead. But Sho wasn't. He was there and he was alive and he was not going to let anything bad happen to those poor, defenseless, animals.

"Well then you can carry it." Said Ritsu. He was tired, very tired, the most tired that he could ever remember being in his life. He had passed out some time in the a.m. and had been woken up at dawn by Sho telling him not to panic but also that the building was on fire. Not the best way to start his day.

"I would if I could but I can't." said Sho with a slight whine. What? He was tired. This was not the way to start his day. He knew that he was getting sidetracked with all of this. He knew that he should have just gone to the Cultural Tower place thingy and kicked dad's ass but there were just so many animals and they were all so alone and scared…and also the others couldn't move as fast as he could. Ritsu could barely fly and those other three, the Ultimate Three, couldn't fly at all.

"Why? You have arms and they aren't currently being scratched up by angry cats so-" said Ritsu as he felt one of the cats, the deceptively sweet looking one, digging it's nails through the fabric of his hoodie and into the flesh below.

"This is why." Said Sho. Before Ritsu could ask what he meant it saw it, those familiar red auras. They were surrounded. He would have helped, he wanted to help, but as he let those cats down there was another flash of red and before Ritsu even knew what had happened those guys, the awakened soldiers, lay passed out on the ground.

"Whoa." Said Ritsu as he took in the scene before him. Sho had laid all of those guys out and had barely broken a sweat.

"Yeah, it's nothing, I've got this…not like you had those cats" Said Sho as he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets so that Ritsu couldn't see how much they were shaking. That had not been good. His range should have been better than that! He was tired, too tired, but he couldn't just stop in the middle of what was left of the street and take a nap! He had work to do! Important work! Besides, he couldn't show Ritsu just how tired he was. He was impressed, Sho could tell. The way he said that…the way Ritsu was looking at him….he was not going to lose that.

"We'll find them when we're done. It shouldn't take that long. As strong as you are I don't even know why you need me at all." Said Ritsu. He wasn't much as far as psychic powers went. He was nowhere near Sho's level. He was nowhere near's Teru's level. Shigeko….he was a lit birthday candle compared to the raging inferno that was his sister. He had no idea what Sho even needed him for. Sho had said, before, that he felt better when Ritsu was around…but why? He had much more powerful allies. Hell, if he wanted someone his own age around he should have just hung around Teru. Teru would have known just what to do and would have been a much bigger help in all of this than Ritsu could have ever hoped to be.

"No. Don't say that." Said Sho. He reached over and put a shaky hand on Ritsu's shoulder. He was talking nonsense. Of course Sho needed him. Sho needed him because he was a good friend, a valuable ally, and when he was around Sho knew that he could win.

"Say what?" asked Ritsu

"Put yourself down like that. You shouldn't." said Sho. He held eye contact with Ritsu. Sho knew how much it hurt being told that you were weak, that you weren't good enough, and he knew just how much it hurt when you were the one telling yourself that stuff. He held onto Ritsu's shoulder with one hand and the other found his arm. Sho needed Ritsu to hear this, to hear him, because he could not go around thinking things like that about himself.

"I-I'm just being…realistic…" said Ritsu. Ok. Sho could be kind of intense…and touchy feely. Ritsu didn't much mind. He wondered if he should have minded that he didn't much mind the invasion of his personal space. He didn't mind at all. Well aside from the fact that Sho was holding onto where the cat had scratched him…but even that didn't make him want to pull away. No. Not at all. He was…this was ok.

"That's what you want to call it?" asked Sho. No. There was no way that someone as amazing as Ritsu could think things like that about himself, not for one second. It was one thing for Sho to have thought like that about himself, he really had been weak and useless and he really had wondered why dad needed him at all…but Ritsu should not have ever thought about himself like that. Not for one second.

"What would you call it, then?" asked Ritsu

"I call it you putting yourself down. Don't. I know how hard it is when the people around you can do amazing things, things that you can't even dream of, but don't sell yourself short." Said Sho. Ritsu looked away but made no move to step away from him even though the scratch on his arm was stinging under Sho's tight grip.

"Sell myself short? Sho, I'm ok with this. I know how strong I am and I'm ok with it. I've spent my entire life being jealous of my sister because of her powers and her…her freedom, I guess….but I'm not that person anymore. I got my powers and I thought that I could do…I thought that I was as free as she was. I thought that because I had these powers that I could do whatever I wanted…and that I could surpass her. I thought all of that but I know now that it's not true. I will never surpass Shigeko-" said Ritsu

"Ritsu, your latent abilities far surpass your sister's." said Sho before he could think. He had felt her aura lighting the world up and he doubted that anyone could have surpassed THAT but Ritsu did not need to hear that. For Sho's entire life he had heard how weak he was, how much of a disappointment he was, what a failure he was…and he knew that Ritsu did not need that in his head. He wasn't the most powerful guy in the world, and his powers didn't always listen, but that was probably because he felt so bad about himself. Sho knew that he wasn't much until he started hanging out with Serizawa and realized that even though he hadn't been as strong as the Ultimate Five back then he at least had control and that was something. Serizawa was the most powerful esper he knew second only to dad and if even he had trouble controlling his powers then there was hope for Sho yet. He had plenty of power and plenty of ways to use it. He was as strong, now, as the Ultimate Five and he knew that he just needed to believe in himself and other such anime clichés and he could do this. Ritsu just needed to start believing in himself too and he could do anything.

It was weird. When Ritsu was around Sho felt like he could do anything but Ritsu still felt like he could do nothing.

Ritsu just needed to find something that he was good at that his sister wasn't. She was like Serizawa in that way, the controlling her powers way, from what Sho had gathered. Well Ritsu was already much better at that than her. He knew how hard it was being in someone's shadow but just like he had stepped out of dad's he could help Ritsu step out of his sister's. Then maybe Ritsu would feel as good about himself as he made Sho feel just by being near him.

"There's no way that's true. You're kidding, right?" asked Ritsu. He didn't much appreciate being lied to. He wasn't a little kid anymore, he didn't need to hear stuff like that. He had been hearing for his entire life how he had his own talents and that how in most ways he was a lot luckier than Shigeko and stuff like that. Shigeko was the more powerful Kageyama. He knew it, Sho knew it, hell even the big bad guy knew it! What was the point of lying about what was so obviously true!?

"Well then you need to keep pushing until it is true! Ritsu, don't give up on yourself! You've got to keep pushing yourself until you do surpass her!" said Sho. He was maybe in Ritsu's personal space but as long as Ritsu wasn't pushing him away then he didn't care. Ritsu was still looking away, now, and for some reason this hurt. It was a weird sort of hurt, one that Sho had never felt before, but one that he did not like. He leaned in closer and made sure that he was in Ritsu's field of vision.

"You sound like we're in some Saturday morning cartoon." Said Ritsu softly. He wanted to look away, to get out of the intensity of Sho's gaze as their eyes locked once more, but Sho wasn't letting him get away any time soon. He knew that he should have pushed Sho away. He knew that this was an invasion of his personal space and that he should have been uncomfortable…he should have wanted to move away…but instead he wanted to move closer.

The thought paralyzes him.

"Then I guess that there's truth in fiction. Ritsu, I know what it's like to never feel like you're good enough, that you'll never be enough, and I know that it hurts. I don't want you to feel like that, I don't ever want you to feel like that. Ritsu you're already pretty strong and I know that you'll be stronger, you just have to believe that you can be. It's like me and my dad. I know that I'm just as strong as the Ultimate Five now and I know that I can and will beat him. You've just got to believe." Said Sho. Ok, maybe he had been watching too much TV or whatever but there must have been some truth in it. He could feel Ritsu's aura. He felt…better? It was weird. Like happy and nervous at the same time…or maybe that was his aura.

Red met blue.

Their auras were trying to bond and it felt weird but if Ritsu didn't mind it then Sho didn't mind. It was…weird….but in a good way. Yes. Not bad at all…

Something moved under their feet.

Sho felt Minegishi before he saw him…which wasn't saying much. Damn it! He had been way too focused on Ritsu! He broke apart from Ritsu and threw a barrier up around them.

"So you're leading this little uprising, Sho? Talk about a textbook rebellious phase." Drawled Minegishi as he looked up from his book. Well then, it looked like Hatori had finally come up with some useful Intel after all. The boss might just keep him around a little while longer.

"What the hell? This guy's aura is super weird…" said Ritsu. Auras were always centered around people. They always expanded out from a central point, even Shigeko's, but this guy's aura was spread out under them…and around them…in the plants. Oh. Right. Ritsu knew of this person. A member of Claw's upper echelon. Right. They were getting closer, then, if they were running into the Ultimate Five. Ritsu was afraid, he was afraid but Sho wasn't and that…that made him less afraid. Much less afraid.

"That's Minegishi, I told you about him already. A plant user. Good thing we're in a city, huh Ritsu?" said Sho even though he didn't feel much of the levity he tried to project. There were plants in a city, too, and Minegishi could even make the ones around him grow into what could only be considered monsters…and he could use those plants to suck the life out of people, too. Literally. Not in the way that Ritsu's big sis seemed to have the power to depower people but literally killing them by sucking their life-force out. Sho stood in front of Ritsu in an attempt at shielding him even though they were under his barrier. He could not let that happen to Ritsu. Ritsu was….his best friend, yes, that was a word for it. A word that fit the way he felt. Ritsu was his best friend and he was not going to die there all tangled up in plants like it was one of those weird internet cartoons that he knew that he should not have known about.

"Sho! Stay back! We can handle this!" called Fukuda as he and the rest caught up to Sho and Ritsu. They had been behind dealing with their own group of awakened soldiers. None of them were on Sho's level so dispatching them took quite a bit more effort.

"Don't worry, we have this." said Higashio

"You go on ahead, leader." Said Ootski. Ritsu looked between those three adult espers, back to Sho, and then back to them. Sho was their leader, he knew that Sho was the leader, but to hear his authority openly stated like that….Ritsu got the feeling that he had this. If Sho had this, and Sho was his age, then he had this too.

"Oh you guys!" said Sho affectionately. There was a reason that they were his Ultimate Three, or rather Ultimate Four if he was counting Ritsu too, those guys were the closest thing that he had to friends in Claw. Besides Serizawa but he was too busy kissing the ground the dad walked on to give a damn about Sho in any way that counted.

"Come on Ritsu! Let's go!" said Sho as he grabbed Ritsu by the arm and dragged him away. He eyed the paper fan in Ooski's hand. It looked like plain paper but it was bathed in psychic energy. Would it be enough to fight someone who's aura stretched miles around and beneath them? Well as far as Ritsu could tell it did. His range wasn't the best.

"Seriously, hurry up!" said Sho. Those guys could hold Minegishi off but unless Minegishi got very sloppy, or someone got very lucky, they weren't going to be enough to stop him. That was fine. Sho just needed enough time to get to dad and kick his ass. Once dad was beaten the organization would fall apart. How did it go again? Right. Cut off the head and the body will die. Not that he was going to take dad out or anything like that.

He didn't have it in him.

"Well now you're on task." Said Ritsu as he allowed himself to be dragged past the rubble of what was once downtown. He tried not to look, he didn't want to see anything that he was not prepared to see, like dead bodies all crushed up underneath the rubble. He hadn't seen any yet, and there had been an evacuation order in place for some time, but that didn't mean that everyone got out ok…

"Yeah, of course I am. What do you take me for? I'm a professional!" said Sho as his hand slipped down Ritsu's arm until he was holding him by the wrist. Ritsu was letting him so Sho figured that this was ok. If something wasn't ok then Ritsu would have told him. That was how normal people were. He was going to have to get used to them, and figure them out, if he was going to end up being one of them once this whole thing was normal. He tried not to look at the rubble he was climbing over. These had been normal people's houses and offices and stores and stuff. One of them could have been…no, not mom's. He knew, vaguely, where his mom lived…or at least where she had been living the last time he had been back in Japan. She had been in a house over in the suburbs, or the residential part of the city, he didn't know the difference. Mom was fine. The plan had been to destroy the area around the Cultural Tower, that was all. The rest of the city was to come later…

Sho moved faster.

"What the hell is that?" asked Ritsu as he pointed to the sky above them. He could see, sort of, an aura…or was it two? He knew one of those auras. He would know Teru anywhere…

"Someone really likes Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?" said Sho as he took in the cars flying above his head. That was so cool! Were they riding in them or just making them fly? Either way that was so cool!

"What?" asked Ritsu. He knew that Sho had spoken English but the words made no sense to him…not that he was anywhere near fluent. No, he just knew some school stuff.

"it's an old American movie about this family that builds a flying car and then they fly to this island where children are illegal so the kids of the family get captured by the child snatcher and-" said Sho

"And they say our stuff is weird." Said Ritsu. They had stopped, now, and were taking in the sight above them. Well at least Teru and the others hadn't abandoned them like Sho was ranting and raving about last night. Something must have gone wrong then…but not totally wrong if they were still helping out…

Suddenly there was a burst of red aura and then the cars above them began to explode. Ritsu looked away. Sho winced. He took back the part about that being cool. He would not have wanted to be in one of those cars right about then. Well at least the others weren't a bunch of filthy double crossing abandoners like he had thought before. That was good.

Even if it looked like whatever plan that they had thought up was falling apart.

Things were all going according to plan…and it was pissing Teru off just a little bit.

This was Reigen's plan. Well the one he and those adult espers had thought up. Nobody was in those cars. The goal was to distract the enemy and break up their formation so the on the ground team could do their thing. Teru had to be in the off the ground team because he was the only one with strong enough telekinesis to even begin to lift something so heavy…and they were heavy. How Shigeko could have lifted up his entire school so effortlessly he would never know. Well he could do this by himself, he had to, he had to do it for her. For her he would move buildings, mountains, entire countries all on his own.

"Um…Teru?" asked Takeshi. Teru stifled a groan. Takeshi was the pale yellow, the daffodil yellow, being outshined by Teru's gold aura. Takeshi was there to help, too, because he thought that he could and Teru had been acting like enough of an asshole to those guys.

Shigeko would have been happy that he was being humble and including other people even though he had this whole thing himself.

"What's up?" asked Teru, a little strain in his voice. This was a lot. Coming off of his fever of defeat, not having slept much last night, and now having to lift so many things was taking it's toll on him.

"My telekinesis is helping…right?" asked Takeshi. Right then and there he felt more useless than a spoon at a steakhouse. Teru looked like he was about to pass out and him…he wasn't far behind…but he knew that he was nowhere near Teru's level. Maybe he should have gone with team stealth. At least to help keep Rei safe…and that other girl too, the little one. At least then he could have been of some kind of help.

"Yeah, sure…it's like someone using their pinky finger to try and help carry heavy luggage." Said Teru under his breath. He felt the load he was carrying waver a little. Ok, maybe that had been a little too harsh. He was not that person anymore. He was nice and he was humble and he was everything else that Shigeko wanted him to be. For her. He would do this for her. She was the one who made him work for what he was.

"Oh…" said Takeshi softly

"I was kidding! You're helping me out a lot, ok?" said Teru trying his best to sound like he meant it. So what if he was lying? Shigeko liked liars. She certainly seemed to like the one who had posted vigil at her side last night…no. Don't think like that. She was passed out asleep. She didn't know who had been at her side. He had been there and she hadn't even reacted. She was just passed out but by the time she woke up all of this would be done and she would be so proud of the way he handled it and the way he had been the man that she wanted him to be.

"Oh…ok…." Said Takeshi knowing fully well that Teru didn't mean it. Teru tried to seem like he was a nice guy but he was actually kind of a jerk sometimes. Takeshi didn't blame him. He should have never listened to Go. He should have run away with the other normal people. He could have been with his family at wherever people evacuated to right then and there instead of up in that building with someone who knew that he was useless…

"Really, I mean it." Said Teru as he struggled under the weight of the cars he was carrying. He had heard, somewhere, that a car weighted two tons. Since he had six cars up in the air that meant that he was carrying twelve tons. Heh. And he had been impressed with himself before back when he had managed to lift half of his own weight without the help of his powers. Heh.

"Sure you do." Muttered Takeshi. Teru was about to give him more half assed words of encouragement when the sky lit up with red, then black, and then burning car parts as one of the cars he had been holding up exploded. It may have lightened the load a little but the shock of it almost sent the others out of his telekinetic grip. This was a lot. He was not Shigeko. This was too much for one person to handle on their own.

"Teru!" said Takeshi as he saw Teru begin to collapse. He put as much of his own strength into helping hold up those cars as he could. He could feel his head start to pound as he tried to do more, then, than he ever had in his entire life. He had to help. He had these powers, now, and he had to use them for more than bending spoons. He had to be useful because his friend, even though said friend could be kind of an asshole sometimes, needed him.

"Do you boys require some assistance?" came a voice from behind them. Everyone turned to the shadows as a man in a robe with a massive scar on his forehead emerged dramatically. Well to Takeshi it was dramatic. To Teru it was more scary than anything. His range should have been better than that! The others, the ones who had been watching in silence, began to immediately bombard the man with questions. Well the adult espers did, anyway. The Shiratori brothers, the one that was with them anyway, was silent, they two of them apparently had their own conversation happening. That could have been good or bad, they were the only communication point between the two groups since everyone had smashed their phones on Sho's orders. Teru was going to miss his phone but it was worth it to keep the technology controlling esper away from them. He didn't know what would happen to them if they were to get caught but he couldn't imagine that it was going to be anything good.

"Takeuchi! You made it!" said Terada loudly. Wasn't this serendipitous? And at the perfect time. Those kids didn't seem like they'd be able to hold out for much longer, even the one who had beaten him. No, wait, it hadn't been that little blond boy but his girlfriend who had knocked him on his ass. What had he said? Something like 'this battle was over the minute my girlfriend considered you an enemy' or something like that. Well they could have really used that kid's girlfriend but she was in a coma or something…but at least they had some real help now!

"Yes, getting into the city was difficult even with the use of my super qigong, but that doesn't matter now. So, you just need to make some cars fly, right?" said Takeuchi. Teru nodded as best as he could. He remembered this guy, vaguely, and he remembered how easily Shigeko had kicked his ass without even trying….

He was rapidly gaining a greater appreciation for his girlfriend and what she could do.

"Yeah, a little help would be nice but we've got this if you can't-" said Teru even though Takeshi was looking at him like he was insane. What? He said that the guy could help if he wanted to. He still had to at least try and seem like he was capable. He could be humble and capable at the same time…Shigeko sure could be, anyway.

"Arrogance doesn't suit you at all, little boy." Said Takeuchi. There was a collective wince as everyone watched the bones of his face shift around as he accessed his qi. Even back at the Seventh Division his colleges had found it disturbing. He never understood why. They were not their vessel but their auras. These bodies were just containers for their souls, nothing more. This flesh was only flesh. This bone was only bone. Mastering the ability to conquer the flesh and the bone had led to him mastering his abilities.

"Who are you calling little?" muttered Teru as he felt his face heating up in shame. Great. Maybe another of his hysterical, psychosomatic, fevers would pick up. That would have been the cherry on the shit Sunday that had been this whole rebellion or insurrection or whatever. He was not a child and he would not be seen as one. Not by anyone. He had this. He pushed himself even harder, he had had to have this. They were the ones who had to distract the bad guys long enough for the people on the ground to do their thing. He was the only true fighter out of all of the non-former Claw espers after all.

If they got caught then there was nothing that anybody could do.

If Rei failed then there was nothing that anyone could do.

"Which way, Rei?" asked Daichi as they walked through the sewers. The above team had help, now, another ally had joined the party, according to Kaito. That was good. Teru was fading fast, Kaito had said, and so was Takeshi. Teru was their best fighter and if he went down then they would have to depend on the people who had kidnapped them. Neither he nor his brother had been able to pick up on any bad thoughts from those guys but they hadn't been probing very deeply. He trusted Rei much more than he trusted the adult espers behind him.

"Um…let me see….that way!" said Rei. There had been a burst of orange as she looked into the future. This wasn't as easy as it looked. The future kept on shifting as she looked into both paths. The left and the right. The fork in the road. Both paths would lead to something bad, it seemed, but that made no sense. It was a binary choice! Maybe she was just tired. She hadn't gotten much sleep. She had been much too worried about the world and the city and her family and Ritsu…she had been very worried about Ritsu. She loved him and she should have been there for him, When all of this was over she was going to find him and hold him and squeeze him and never let him go…but not in a creepy way. Not that she was even sure that she'd be able to…because she couldn't see past that light…the white light…

"This is so gross! Carry me Tsuchiya!" said Mukai as she made the 'upsy' motion with her hands like she had when she was little. She knew that being held would impede Tsuchiya but this water was so gross and she was wearing a skirt and she was a lot shorter than everyone else on top of that!

"I hope we don't end up getting some terrible disease." Muttered Daichi as they walked through the worryingly brown water. The goulashes that they had managed to find from that blown up shoe store, they had written an IOU so it wasn't stealing, helped a little bit but it was still dirty and it still smelled terrible and they were still in a sewer.

"Um…I can't tell….I feel like we'll be fine…" said Rei as she tried to look into the future. She still couldn't see past the light. What did that mean? It looked like the end of Akira. She had seen that movie before, years ago, and it had been so scary…

"Kid, just worry about getting us to where we need to go. When this is all over we can swing by a hospital and get our shots or whatever." Said Tsuchiya. The poor kid was a wreck. Well it made sense. Not everyone could be as capable as Mukai. The poor kid had probably had a totally normal life before all of this. Friends, a family, school, all of that. Not everyone was suited for this kind of life.

"I don't want a shot!" said Mukai

"You are such a child sometimes." Said Tsuchiya affectionately. Rei smiled. That little girl was so adorable. It was hard to believe that she had been a part of the organization that was responsible for all of this. But she was if that scar on her face was anything to go off of. Well then if a little girl who still played with dolls and wore her hair in four pigtails could do this without freaking out then so could Rei. Yeah, she had this. She would and could take anything and everything that the world could throw at her. She had this!

Even though the sewer around them started to shake and concrete fell from the ceiling.

"Left! To the wall!" shouted Rei as she had a horrible vision of everyone being crushed to death under falling concrete. Mukai shrieked as she was tossed into Koyama's arms. The sewer filled with a shower of concrete fragments as Tsuchiya used her powers to punch apart the concrete as it fell down onto them.

"That…was pretty cool." Said Koyama as he held a struggling former colleague in his arms. He knew that she was strong but…wow.

"We have to keep moving! It's going to happen again! Hug the wall!" said Rei as some filthy water sloshed into her rain boots. Right. She had this. Hello Rei! You can see the future! It doesn't matter what the bad guys throw at you because you'll always be able to see it coming! You can do this! Do it for you! Do it for them! Do it for him!

"Hey, I didn't say to put me down." Said Mukai as she stopped struggling. No way was she walking through the nasty water. She wished that she had her dolls. Then she could have had one of them carry her but it seemed like she would have to settle for Koyama.

"Keep moving! It's going to happen again and it's going to be worse the next time!" shouted Rei as she pressed herself up against the filthy wall. She eyed the ceiling above her as she walked. She didn't know what was happening up there but she knew that whatever it was it wasn't anything good.

Please, Ritsu, wherever you are…please be ok.

"Get behind my shield! It's going to be ok!" said Higashio. Ootski gave one last wave of his fan and chopped Minegishi's plants down to size before he jumped behind Higashio's barrier.

"Hmm…so you're all evenly matched. You cut down my vines, he disassembles and the reassembles them repurposing them into his own shield…and you heal the injured….interesting." said Minegishi. He may have been a member of the Ultimate Five but he was still just one person. He could control plants and that was just about it. He couldn't even put up a proper barrier. The boss had sent him out there knowing that he could still have gotten hurt…he must have done something to displease the boss…

Or maybe they were all just that disposable to him.

He probably didn't even care about getting his son back. Who knows? Maybe this little rebellious phase was going to be the last straw. Everyone who spent time with the boss and his son knew that it was only a matter of time before the boss snapped and killed the kid. Minegishi didn't much get it. He didn't have any kids but if he did he would have just abandoned it in a forest somewhere if it had turned out like Sho. Offing one's offspring made no sense. You had still put forth the effort of making and raising the kid. Let the fairies have him if he was such a disappointment. He might have even been a changeling…this was not the time for childhood fairy stories.

"It's child's play! I can even make a human like doll out of a refrigerator so long as I have the right parts and materials." Said Higashio. That had not been a fun day at all…but judging by last night's lightshow it was going to pay off. Sho may have been a kid but he was still the boss' son. He was capable. He knew what he was doing.

"Here, do you feel better?" asked Fukuda as he healed the gash on Ootski's shoulder. He was loathe to be away from Sho, the kid was accident prone at the best of times, but orders were orders. Sho was young but he knew what he was doing.

"I do, thanks." Said Ootski as he flexed his shoulder. Sore but not open and bleeding. Good. He clutched his fan in his hand and imbued it with more of his energy. Sakurai had his toy sword but it was so unwieldy. A fan was much easier to hide on his person and wield if need be.

"Hmm….I guess that since you're all such a perfectly balanced party it might be time for me to step up and get serious." Said Minegishi as he reached down and pulled up what little plant life remained in the ground. He didn't feel much remorse, no, none at all. They knew what would happen, that there would be consequences, if they defied the boss.

One did not disobey the man who would rule the world.

Suzuki did not tolerate disobedience from anyone.

"P-President? I-I'm sorry to keep on bothering you but I was wondering if they had found Sho yet…did they?" asked Serizawa. He knew that he should not have even been speaking to the President without having had been spoken to first but he was just so worried. Sho was out there and it was so dangerous and he was so little and-

"No, not yet. Don't worry, when he's been found he'll be brought to me." Said Suzuki. He was the picture of calmness and serenity. His face was placid, his aura was flat, and he needed to keep it that way. Looking down at the city, at his city, certainly helped. This was his city and when all of this was over he would rule on high over not only it but the entire world.

There he stood, on top of the world, where he was meant to be.

And nobody, not even his own flesh and blood, was going to take that away from him.

"Yes….yes sir. I Just…" said Serizawa as he played with the handle of his umbrella. Sho was better off out there…maybe…because he knew the President and he knew that the President didn't like to be disobeyed…especially by his own son. He punished Sho all the time but now…Serizawa knew that this time would be different. Worse.

"You have a thought?" asked Suzuki as he turned and faced his most loyal subordinate. He had a soft spot when it came to the boy. Suzuki didn't much understand it.

"I just…maybe Sho isn't trying to stop you. Maybe he's just been captured or something and-and-and-" said Serizawa. He wouldn't have said a word, and he would have begged Hatori to keep it all a secret, if he knew just how badly the President would take all of this. Of course Sho wasn't working against the President. The two of them may not have gotten along all the time but Sho was his son. Surely he must have seen all the good that the President was doing.

"Hmm….Serizawa? Do you the secret behind my unwavering confidence and certainty? Would you like to hear it?" asked Suzuki making and keeping eye contact with Serizawa. The man was so easy to manipulate. Suzuki could easily play like a child's recorder. The desire for purpose, for acceptance, for a place was Serizawa's greatest weakness. Such a pity…he could have been great once upon a time. Now he was the broken shell of a man that stood before Suzuki.

"Sir? I-I would love you hear it!"" asked Serizawa. He loved it when the President spoke to him. Even if it was more of an 'at' thing than a 'with' thing he still loved it. Even though he was so worried. Even though it felt like his insides were going to become his outsides he still loved to hear whatever the President had to say.

"It's because I have never once concerned myself with the thoughts of others. The feelings of others. I know what has to be done and then I do it. I have lived each and every day of my life the way I've wanted to. As long as I can depend on myself then everything will always work out. Even if I were to lose all of you I doubt that it would do anything to break my spirit." Said Suzuki

"P-President?" said Serizawa. That had hurt. He had thought…the President said that he needed him. That was why the President had saved him from the hell that was his existence. Not even his life but his existence. He had just existed in that room until the President gave him a reason to live….and now he was just going to go off and say a thing like that?!

"I've decided to take over the world after all. If I say that it's going to happen then it's going to happen. Since I have the audacity to say it then it's pretty much in my hands already…and nobody is going to take that away from me." Said Suzuki

"B-But sir, Sho would never-" said Serizawa

"Sho will be dealt with. He is not your concern." Said Suzuki

"I-I know that you-you mean well and that-that he's your son but he's al-also my friend and I don-don't think that he would ever work a-a-against you. H-He's a good person and he-he-he wou-would nev-nev-never do anything to-to-to-" said Serizawa

"Serizawa. You know that I think very highly of you, right?" said Suzuki putting his hand on Serizawa's shoulder. Serizawa, in that moment, felt his lungs decide that breathing was not optional. The President was touching him….the President was touching him!

"Y-You do?" asked Serizawa as he felt his lungs struggle for air and his face turn red. He probably looked so stupid!

"Yes. I do. You held back before with Joseph, didn't you? You shouldn't. Trust in me." Said Suzuki

"I-I do! I trust you, President!" said Serizawa

"Then trust in my judgement. I will deal with my people in the way that I see fit. I know best, Serizawa, and I would never do anything that didn't need to be done. You just need to trust me…Katsuya." Said Suzuki. There. The use of his given name cinched it. Serizawa was, once again, putty in his hands. That was good. Serizawa had the potential to be a real problem if he were to join Sho's little rebellion force. Serizawa was like his shadow, he knew a lot, more so than any other member of Claw. Plus he was a powerful esper in his own right. In a contest of brute strength Suzuki knew that he would win but he didn't much feel like going back to the drawing board.

That would have been far too much trouble.

"You lot have been causing us far too much trouble, you know that?" said Ishihara. Well that had all been embarrassing. Tricked by children. Oh well, at least they would all be in the boss' good graces once they brought in all of these potential recruits…or examples.

"We aim to please." Said Teru flippantly. That was a lot of scars but they had to win. He had to win. He had to do this for Shigeko. She wouldn't have wanted him to give up. She would have wanted him to keep the others safe.

"You can't be the only group sneaking around out here. We'll just have to get some information out of you. If you tell us where the boss' son is we might put in the good word for you." Said Ishihara. The boss' son was out there leading some sort of rebellion force. Anyone who brought him to the boss would surely have been rewarded…

"Ishihara? Seriously? I knew that the Fourth Division was made up of a bunch of rude little S-O-B's but this takes the cake." Said Terada. It would have been easy, so easy, to betray the kids…but then he'd have their leader to contend with. She may have been in some kind of coma but one day, maybe even that day, she'd wake up…and she'd be pissed.

"Terada? Is that you? So you're working with the rebellion too?" asked Ishihara

"No, of course not, and I'm offended by your accusation. I was just acting as a mole and gathering up some intel. I have some very valuable information on the enemy and I'll give it to you if you let me join HQ's operation." Said Terada. He could at least by the others some time to get away. The kids were small and wily, they'd get loose, and as for the others well they could always fight their way out…

"What?! Seriously!" said Takeshi. No way were they being betrayed! That wasn't how this worked! The bad guys reformed and then they joined the good guys and then they all worked together to stop the big bad guy and then it all worked out! That was how it was supposed to go!

"Terada!" said Teru. He knew it. He knew that he couldn't trust any of those scars! How could he have been so stupid!? This was his fault. He had gotten them all kidnapped and captured and tortured and even killed!

This was a nightmare!

This was some kind of living nightmare. It had to be.

Oostski felt his paper fan slipping from his hand as everything went dark. He was suspended in the air, high in the air, so high that he could feel the unseasonably cold wind whistling in his ears. He didn't have the strength to call his fan to his hand. He didn't have the strength to call out for help. He didn't even have the strength to lift his slack body out of the hold that he was in. He could feel his aura going dark. A coldness was settling into his chest.

Was this what it was to die?

"Did you actually think that you'd win just because there were three of you? Honestly. The difference between you scars and the Ultimate Five is like night and day." Said Minegishi as he buried his nose once again in his book. He didn't much care for this part but it had to be done. Better to be the guy doing this than the guy on the receiving end. Those morons knew what they were getting into, what could have happened, when they agreed to this whole stupid rebellion.

Maybe this would teach them not to listen to a thirteen year old girl.

Maybe they shouldn't have been following a thirteen year old girl.

Clairvoyance or no clairvoyance she was still just a child. Tsuchiya knew that not every child was Mukai. Not every child was as powerful or as capable as the one that she had tasked herself with taking care of. Not every child was her, either, in her younger days. Back when she had been strong enough to beat up even grown men…even other espers….not everyone was her.

And not everyone had her range, either.

The girl's range was apparently nothing. She had been following the girl into the tunnels deeper and deeper, trusting in her clairvoyance, and ignoring her own feelings…the feeling that she was getting closer and closer to someone else…someone with hostile intent. An aura not completely unfamiliar but not familiar either. She tried to rest on that aura, to see who it was, but as soon as she tried to figure out who this person was they seemingly vanished.

Teleportation was not an uncommon gift….that was what she had told herself, anyway.

If it were someone truly dangerous then the girl would have had them turn around. That was something else that she had told herself. She should have trusted her own judgment. She had to be able to trust in her own judgement. She didn't just live for herself anymore, no, she had a child who may not have liked to admit it all the time but did depend on her.

"Wait! Stop!" said Rei. She threw her arms out to stop the others. She had been getting a bad sort of feeling, like someone was staring at her out of the corner of her eye, but more like with her…aura? Whenever she tried to look for whoever that was they just sort of…disappeared.

But then the bad feeling came back, and so strongly, that it almost knocked her on her back.

"Something doesn't feel right up ahead…there's something there…" said Rei. She saw herself glowing orange. She wasn't looking into the future…she was looking…for…someone?

"What is it?" asked Tsuchiya charging up her qi. She had a feeling about who it could be but…but why would the boss send him of all people? Shimazaki was too valuable to waste on them…not when the boss' son was out there and probably the reason the tunnels around them had been shaking so much…

As numerous as they were they could not defeat a member of the Ultimate Five.

"It's coming!" said Rei. She felt it…him…before she saw him. A man taking a leisurely stroll with his hands in his pockets and whistling…as he walked down the side of a wall…bad things. All Rei could see were bad things…and they were coming…

"Greeting scars, are you lost? At first I thought that you were a bunch of sewer rats scurrying around in the dark and filth….how unsightly!" said Shimazaki opening his eyes. He saw through his mind's eye, there, because there were so many…including the doll user….he recognized some of them…and some of them he didn't…some of them were small, even. Children.

Well then.

A crowd was forming. Well then.

"That guy's huge!" shouted someone. Neither Dimple nor Reigen turned around to look. They knew what she was taking about. The hulking bad guy that had been following them. Apparently after the panic subsided people decided that this was the time to gawk…loot and gawk….

"This way! Our best bet is to blend into the crowd and lose him!" said Dimple. He tried to grab Reigen and steer him into the crowd that had formed to gawk at the damage when, to his surprise, Reigen wrenched himself free of Dimple's grip.

"No. We're not putting any more people in danger." Said Reigen. He grabbed Mob's arm, ignoring any guilt that he felt, and dragged her body away from the crowd. He knew that they were being followed. He knew that they were in danger. He also knew that Mob would never have forgiven him if he were to let anything happen to anybody else…

"Then what's your plan?" asked Dimple

"We're going to put as much space as we can between us and that muscle head and then we're going to get on a cab or a train or something and find a place to hide Mob's body." Said Reigen

"And then what you moron!?" said Dimple

"I don't know! I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!" said Reigen as they put some distance between them and the crowd. He was still dragging Mob, her body, down the road. His hand still completely encircled her wrist and he did feel guilty but this was what had to be done.

Nails dug into his hand.

Dimple was using Mob's other hand to get himself free. Thank God he didn't have access to her powers….or maybe not. Dimple could have made short work of that creep if he had access to everything that Mob could do. To her strength. She was strong, stronger even than the muscle head, and her body was strong enough in it's own right, and it's nails sharp enough, to get him to let go of her.

"No! I am not running away! I can do this! if this were an evil spirit then I would have just been able to eat him but since this is a person I guess that I'll just have to break him!" said Dimple as he ducked off into an alley. No people. Good. The less people that Reigen would have to split his focus between the better.

"You tried kicking his ass already. Without her powers Mob is about as strong as you can reasonably expect a fourteen year old girl to be!" said Reigen. No way were they getting into another fist fight. Dimple was delusional if he thought that Mob was in any way strong enough, her body at least, to fight off what looked like a professional body builder!

"Who said anything about using HER powers?" asked Dimple as he heard heavy footsteps approaching. Good. This was good. He was an evil spirit, he wasn't above fighting dirty.

"….so you're going to beat me up again? Dimple, no goddamned way! If I'm out commission then you'll have to protect not only Mob's body but mine too!" said Reigen as he tried to further drag Mob's body down the alley way. Dimple wouldn't let him, though, which made no sense! Why fight when they could just run away!?

"This guy won't stop following up no matter how far we run or how fast we go! We need to end this and since I can't break him then I'm going to have to break you!" said Dimple. The footsteps were getting closer. He grabbed Reigen hand and bit down on it as hard as he could. Reigen cursed and tried to push him off. The alley way was filled with the sound of Reigen's slaps to Dimples, Shigeko's, forehead. Over and over again. Dimple did not let up until Reigen reached down and pinched Dimple's, Shigeko's, nose shut. The disadvantage to being a living being, you needed to breathe…

Dimple let go with a gasp. Reigen cradled his hand to his chest.

"That trick isn't going to work on me…" a voice was heard from the end of the alleyway. Reigen protectively threw an arm over Mob even though he knew that it was Dimple who was controlling her…and that he had no chance at all of keeping her safe…

"Man, you've got to lay off the steroids." Said Dimple as he took in the guy in front of him. Well somebody had certainly been hitting the gym since the last time they had met. If he couldn't break that guy before….

"Please, as if I would ever mess with something like that. No, I've just used my powers to send signals to my muscles to get even bigger. As a side effect I no longer feel pain when I'm like this so your little trick won't work a second time." Said Shibata. That had been embarrassing, falling for such a cheap tactic, but not this time. He was going to break the man and capture the girl and then he was going to take a well-deserved rest while the boss did whatever it was that he planned on doing to this girl.

"Wanna bet?!" said Dimple as he jumped up and hit Reigen over the head as hard as he could. Reigen winced in pain and held his head in his hands. Dimple could feel the dull throb radiating from the side of Shigeko's head. That big mook, on the other hand, seemed fine.

"Face it kid, your cheap tactics aren't going to work so why not just come quietly. If you're good then I might even spare your friend there. That is if you can persuade me." Said Shibata. He felt his stomach churn as the girl glared up at him. What the hell…best omelets in the city his ass…the boss may have known a lot about world domination but he was shit when it came to food.

"Cheap tactics…" said Dimple. He felt like he was going to throw up. That was normal for Shigeko, he was constantly getting motion sick, and he would have easily written it off if not for the way Reigen's aura glowed beside him.

Cheap tactics.

There was more than one way to break a person.

Dimple took a deep breath and tried to carry himself the way Shigeko carried herself. Without access to Shigeko's powers, and with his own being so depleted even now, this was his best bet. He only got one shot at this and he was going to have to make it worth it.

"Master?" asked Dimple in his best imitation of how Shigeko usually spoke. Soft and sweet. Vulnerable. Just a hint, the barest hint, of Shigeko's true feelings towards the man. Enough to make Reigen's stomach churn. The kind of voice that would get Reigen's attention.

"Mob…?" asked Reigen. Had she finally woken up? Had she expelled Dimple from her body? But then why was she….why was she saying his name like that? She had called him Master a thousand times but never in that tone…and it was a Mob tone. That was not a Dimple tone. Dimple did not do those subtle inflections that Mob did. He was loud and brash and…and that was Mob…

"Master." Said Dimple. He reached up and put a hand to the back of Reigen's head. The other hand found Reigen's and held it close. Dimple could feel Shigeko's stomach churning. He could feel every muscle in her body telling him to run. He felt a cocktail of shame and fear and self loathing and a thousand and one other things that he did not have the capacity, as a spirit, to properly process…

But that other guy did.

There was more than one way to break a person. If that jackass over there wanted to see some cheap tactics then Dimple would give him some cheap tactics.

"Mob….you aren't thinking…" said Reigen. He was backed into a corner, literally. Behind him was a wall. To the side of him was a guy willing kill him….even though he was looking very green and very scared…and in front of him there was Mob and she was touching him like…and looking at him like…and he could not get away from her…and he knew that he had to because this was NOT OK and he-

"I am thinking….I'm thinking about you." Said Dimple as he leaned up and kissed the sweaty weirdo like Shigeko had, undoubtedly, spent an inordinate amount of time imagining doing. He kissed up the side of Reigen's neck, how one human being could be that salty Dimple would never know, when he felt Reigen's hands on Shigeko's shoulders. They lingered there, for a second, before he started to shove her off.

"Mob! Knock it off! I want you to get the hell off of me and-" said Reigen as he tried to get rid of Mob. This was not like her. She was…she was afraid and she was not herself. That was it. Mob would never have been this…bold…with anyone….with him. She had a boyfriend who she would never cheat on…something was wrong…but that wasn't Dimple. Dimple would have just done something rash like stick Mob's hand down his suit pants or something. This was…he knew that Mob could be like this. She had come home all those months ago with the hickeys to prove it…hickeys that she apparently knew how to leave, too, not just receive. He shoved her away as hard as he could. Instinct. He had leaned into her out of instinct…nothing more. Dimple used the last of his power to both keep himself from being shoved away and to keep Shigeko's body from expelling him. She was waking up, she was about to throw up, and that mini boss wasn't down for the count yet.

"I thought you weren't going to lie to me anymore, Master Reigen." Said Dimple before he got up on Shigeko's toes and kissed Reigen like Shigeko herself should have months ago.

And then he was knocked on his ass.

"Mob?! What the actual **FUCK?!" ** said Reigen before he fell to his knees and threw up. No. That had not been ok. That had been terrible. That had not felt in any way good. If it had then he would have to kill himself, plain and simple, because that was Mob. He was going to be sick. He was being sick. That whole experience had been the most wrong, the sickest, experience of his life…

It had not felt good.

That was what he told himself. That was what he had to tell himself. If he didn't tell himself that then…then he would never have been able to live with himself. If he acknowledged that she had been…she had been star shine and angel wine. She had been every feeling that he had ever known right then and there all wrapped up into one person, into one **experience, **then he would have had no choice but to either kill himself or go insane. That was Mob. That had been Mob. There was no way on this world or any other that her kissing him had been anything but the worst…the absolute worst…

Anything else would have been unthinkable.

The force of Reigen's emotion, coupled with the force of the shove, caused Dimple to be expelled from Shigeko's body…and he didn't have the spiritual power to get back in! Shigeko's crumpled to the filthy alley floor beside Reigen, who was on his knees throwing up like he had just gone wild at the day old sushi buffet, and the mook who was also expelling the contents of his stomach.

Damn. He thought Reigen would have fainted.

Reigen felt like he was going to faint.

That had not been ok. That had been…that had been wrong. That had been the most wrong thing that he had ever done in his entire life. That was Mob. That was MOB. **THAT WAS MOB.** He had just kissed…how could he have…what was wrong with him?! She kissed him and he had….he hadn't meant to…it had been instinct! Pure instinct! The only reason he had kissed her back had been instinct!

There hadn't been an ounce of desire there. None at all. That had been pure instinct.

He had pushed her away. That was what mattered. She had crossed a line and he had pushed her away. He didn't get caught up, again, in one of their positive feedback loops. He had managed to stay in his own aura and his own emotions and he had at least stopped it from going….as far as Mob had wanted it to go…he doesn't want to think about how far Mob would have been willing to go with that. The way she grabbed the back of his head…the way she knotted her fingers in his hair…the way she had parted her lips and-

No.

He had stopped her before she had even gotten that far into her moment of…temporary insanity. It had been a moment of temporary insanity and it would be their last moment of temporary insanity because he had stopped vomiting which meant that the guy beside him had stopped and Mob had passed out again and they were going to die and-

A scream.

A crash.

Reigen has closed his eyes and he awaited the inevitable. He opened them to find that guy, the guy who had been about to kill him, bloodied and passed out in a crater….

A familiar aura tried to bond to his.

"Master?! What happened?! Don't move!" said Mob. Master Reigen was on his hands and knees and he had been motion sick and there was a giant guy with clearly hostile intent there and apparently he had been motion sick too…and so had she but this wasn't throw up it felt more like…what spirits were made out of…and it smelled so terrible and she had been gone for so long and she just needed to make it all stop!

So she did.

She slammed down onto the obviously bad guy until he stopped moving. His aura was still there, and he was still breathing, so he was not broken. Now all she had to do was figure out if Master Reigen was ok. She threw her arms around him, she didn't care if he smelled like throw up, and poured as much of herself into him as she could. She could see s bruise on his face that was beginning to turn into a black eye…

Someone had hurt Master Reigen.

And they would pay. She and Shigeko agreed.

"Mob! Get off!" said Reigen. He shoved her away as his stomach, once again, decided to empty it's content down onto the filthy alley floor. He could feel her hand rubbing his back. She was telling him that it was going to be ok. She was telling him that he needed to tell her where it hurt so she could heal him, so that she could make it better…

He was about to tell her that nothing could make it better, that she crossed a line, when he heard Dimple laughing.

"Cheap tactics, huh? Still kicked your ass…" laughed Dimple as he spat, metaphysically, on the passed out body of the esper in front of him. So he hadn't fainted and if Shigeko hadn't woken up then, and in her right state of mind, then they would have all been as dead as he was….he had still won! He had gambled and he won.

"Dimple? What's going on? What's happening?" asked Mob. Dimple would know. She had told him to keep Master Reigen safe after all.

"Man Shigeko, you missed a lot. So your base got invaded, your friend went off to fight the boss, and I had to hijack your body for a little bit to get you to safety. This big moron tailed me and Reigen for a while but you took care of him." said Dimple omitting just what he had to do to end this battle. That would be for later. He did not need Shigeko getting into martyr mode again. He hadn't fully thought his plan through. Shigeko felt bad enough about cheating on her boyfriend with a fake version of himself in Mogami's little false world…how would she feel about cheating on him in this reality with her main guy?

He'd take this to his death….his second death….which would not be caused by Shigeko because she could not know about all of this.

Reigen and Dimple exchanged a look. Reigen knew that it had been Dimple, now, and he was ready to exorcise the little snot glob right then and there….but this was not the time. Mob needed him. For Mob. This was all for Mob. She was awake and now they could rejoin the others and…

They could run away.

But she would not have gone for that. She had been very much opposed to the whole 'running away' thing since this insanity had started.

"Master, are you hurt? Did I heal you all the way?" asked Mob. She saw Master Reigen go through several expressions before he settled on the one he always wore when they went out on jobs. She knew that one…he was trying to make her thing that everything was going to be ok.

"Mob, Mob, Mob, it's takes more than that to get your master down for the count. Now come on, let's go regroup with the others and see what's going on." Said Reigen. He was planning on regrouping with the others and getting them, or at least the kids, to run away. Maybe Mob would go with if he told her that she was the only one who could keep her friends safe…

"Ok….this way. I can feel a lot of different auras this way…" said Mob. She was done with all of this. She knew what she had to do, what she and the other her had to do, and they were going to do it. No more friends getting hurt. No more destruction. No more.

She was done.


	64. Fighting Enemies, Making Friends

"You won't defeat me so easily you brats!" said Ishihara. This was bad. The others had gone down like dominos. Weak. Lost to kids! Kids and traitors!

"Yes we will. Now! Come on Takeshi!" said Go. They had been practicing this for ages! Combo moves! It hadn't always worked but they couldn't let Teru and those adult espers take all the credit!

"…..right!" said Takeshi. He prayed to whoever was listening for his powers to work. He was tired, not sleeping for pretty much the whole night and then trying to lift those cars had taken it out of him. This mini battle hadn't been easy even though Teru and those other guys had done most of the work.

"What are you-" asked Teru before the area in front of him was enveloped in flames. For a moment he can't think, can't breathe, can't move, can't anything. For a moment he's in his barrier and the world around him is on fire and it's so hot, and getting hotter, and Shigeko's gone….

But that time is not now.

He's aware of himself now. He's aware of the concrete under his knees, he must have fallen, and he's aware that someone is pulling him up by his hoodie. Right. He wasn't on fire that time. What was that, even? That usually…that hadn't happened to him in a long while. He had forgotten, sometimes, where he was but that was right after he and Shigeko went and saved Ritsu. That hadn't happened in so long…

He was just tired.

"Hey, you ok?" asked Go as he put a hand to Teru's forehead. He wasn't a mom, he wasn't sure what this was supposed to tell him besides the fact that Teru's fever hadn't gone away yet, but it seemed like the thing to do.

"I'm fine!" said Teru pushing Go away and trying to stand on unsteady feet. He looked around. One pile of passed out goons, one charred goons, and about a million and one pairs of eyes resting on him. He felt something...the closest word he had for this feeling was 'pressing'…down on his head…his mind.

He locked eyes with Kaito.

Then he looked away.

And the pressure stopped.

"You're ok, Teru, we all are. Everyone's ok." Said Kaito. He missed the days when he could only read his brother's mind and vise versa. He knew that he shouldn't have snooped but Teru looked really freaked out back there. He wished that he could have said more. He wished that he could have told his friend that everything was going to be ok and they were all going to make it out of this just fine….but he had no idea if they were going to make it out of this just fine.

Daichi stopped answering.

"Yeah, we did it. Thanks guys….you helped a lot." Said Teru. Right. Humble. Nice. Like Shigeko would have wanted.

"We couldn't have done it without you. Remember, you said how you always tried to adapt new techniques? That's what gave Takeshi and I the idea about combo moves. We're awesome now. Not that we weren't always, of course." Said Go

"Don't forget me. If I hadn't tricked the enemy into thinking I was a mole then we would have never gotten the drop on them." Said Terada. He received only long looks in reply. They didn't think that he would actually betray them all, did they? No way was he stupid enough to piss the girl off again. The only time he had seen power like that was when he had earned his scar fighting the President. Her group would win this thing and when they did he would be right there to remind everyone how helpful he'd been during this whole thing.

"Kaito, if you would be so kind?" asked Teru motioning towards Terada. He had fought alongside them when he needed to but…but he had been very convincing. What if he was a mole? What if this President guy or whatever wasn't as clueless as everyone seemed to think? If Teru was the leader of an international terrorist organization, not that he had such aspirations, he would have been on top of everything that was going on….especially people plotting against him!

"Sure thing!" said Kaito as he used his telepathy to skim through Terada's mind. He pushed past the stuff that he knew he wasn't supposed to see, this guy had a filthy mind but then again so did everyone else, until he found thoughts relating to plans for the immediate future….

"Nope. He's not planning on betraying us anytime soon!" said Kaito trying to sound cheerful. He tried to contact his brother again…and it didn't work…again. It was like, almost like, when one of them was asleep….but that didn't make any sense. They were right there in the middle of….whatever this was! He couldn't have…unless something went wrong…

But the others were so happy, relatively happy, and he couldn't just come out and tell them…

"Anytime soon?! I'm not planning on betraying you at all!" shouted Terada

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll trust you for now but the minute you betray us it's over." Said Teru in that voice he used, used to use, to inspire fear in his enemies. Shigeko would not have been proud of him at all….but this was for her….this was all for her. She was out there, well back at the base, and she was asleep but she'd wake up…and he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

"That minute's never going to come, kid, believe me." Said Terada

"That's exactly what someone who was planning on betraying us would say!" said Go pointing an accusatory finger in Terada's direction.

"Guys, knock it off. You're freaking Kaito out." Said Takeshi. He could see the light blue of his aura. He could see him rocking back and forth on his heels. Something was wrong. Sometimes he forgot how much younger the Shiratori's were than the rest of them. Who would have thought that a year and some months, amazingly enough they were twins with different birthdays, would have made so much difference. Takeshi was keeping it together better than he was. Go was keeping it together best of all. Teru wanted everyone to think he was keeping it together but Takeshi could see him starting to crack.

"No, that's not it…" said Kaito. He should tell them. That was why he and his brother had separated, so the two groups could be in communication, and if they weren't in communication anymore then…then everyone had to know…even if it would worry and upset everyone…

"What is it then, little one?" asked Takeuchi. He watched the boy's aura. Telepathy, an uncommon gift. The boy was reaching out to someone. His aura flared out in anxiety. Poor little thing. This was not the place for children. Not these children, anyway. These children were not made from the same material as he had been when he was their age, or Mukai was at the present.

"Guys…the other group isn't…I mean….my brother isn't answering anymore…" said Kaito. There. Now everyone was freaking out. That made him freak out. Well not everyone. The nice adult espers, the one in the yellow robe, was very calm. Kaito attached himself to that esper's thoughts. He was…he was making plans. His mind was like a little boat on the sea, a calm sea, like on the boat ride he and Daichi took with their whole family last summer…that was a good memory…and there would be more…

He would have noticed if his brother had died…..right?

The thought of never making good memories with his brother ever again…the thought of losing his one true companion….it terrifies him. It makes him want to run off and hide. It makes him want to run all the way home and hide under the bunk beds until everything is over. But he can't. He can't run and he can't hide and he can't do much of anything but…but be there….and try to help in whatever way he could…even if he was now useless….

"Calm down! Just shut up, everyone, so I can-" said Teru running his fingers through his hair. This was bad, this was so bad, this was the most bad! That meant that the entire group had been….they had been….they were….

"Let's regroup with the others and see if they require assistance." Said Takeuchi simply. There was a good chance that the other group needed them. He could put two and two together, the other group's telepathy was, apparently, incommunicado, so the best course of action was to see what had gone wrong. Simple. He was not one of these little ones, these children, he could keep a cool head in a crisis.

"…..fine….to the sewers!" said Teru. He was still in charge there. He was still the leader. He was not taking orders from someone he didn't even know…he was just acknowledging that it was a good suggestion. Teru still had this. He was still in control of the situation.

Somebody had to be in control of the situation and that someone was going to be him.

Reigen could admit, easily, that he was not in control of this situation.

"Dimple? What's so funny? I don't think that there's anything funny happening…" said Mob as she walked through the rubble of what used to be downtown. She used her powers to clear a path in front of them. It was heavy stuff but she could lift it. It made walking faster, her doing this, and they needed to walk quickly so that they could put an end to all of this madness.

So that she could put an end to it.

"Nothing at all, Shigeko, just remembering…something that happened…" said Dimple as he laughed to himself. Looking back the whole thing had bene hilarious. Reigen had actually thought that it had been Shigeko he had been kissing…and he had been putting his all into it, too! Ha! That guy had always been a tangled mess of issues but now, well, who knew with this guy. This might have even been the push he needed to make all of Shigeko's lovesick dreams come true!

"It's not funny." Said Reigen before he collected what little power of his own he had and sent it at Dimple. It did nothing, it seemed, it didn't even slow the little snot glob down. It slowed Reigen down, though, even though he tried to keep going, to keep up with Mob. She was just trucking along. Well rested and ready to face the day.

Good. One of them had to be.

She stopped, though, but he tried to keep going. There was a small frown on her face as she took in the scene before them. Maybe she was just frowning at the wanton destruction of the city. Reigen sure as hell hoped that was what she was frowning at. He hoped that she had no idea, no way of remembering, what had just transpired….

Because then they would have to talk about it.

And Reigen had no idea what he was supposed to say.

"Dimple, be nice. Master Reigen's been through a lot, lately, and you're upsetting him." said Mob. She had seen it, had felt it, Master Reigen had tried to hurt Dimple. Mob sort of understood why. This was not the time to be laughing. Master Reigen wasn't happy and he had no reason to be. This had to be hard for him. She had been a stubborn brat again, even though she knew that she was not supposed to call herself that anymore, and she had left him so she could go off and fight whoever was responsible for this…which was why they had gotten into their great big fight in the first place…

But they weren't fighting now. He was going with her, even though he shouldn't have been, but he was at least letting her do this in some capacity instead of telling her that it was too dangerous and that she should just run away. She was glad that she had, that they had, gone beyond that. He was still upset, though, because of all that had happened…

Plus whatever it was that he had been throwing up in the alley about.

"Fine, fine, sorry if I…crossed any lines." Said Dimple in a tone that Mob could not read. She didn't think that it had been a good tone, though, based on the way that Master Reigen was glaring. He had stopped walking, his aura was kind of dim. She could help him with that at least. She walked over to where he was trying to catch his breath and she took his hand.

And he pulled away.

"Master? What's wrong?" asked Mob. He was looking at her like…she had seen that look before on so many people….he was looking at her like he was afraid of her….but why? Because of what she had done to the bad guy back in the alley? But that had been self-defense. She had woken up and immediately felt the hostile intent in his aura and acted accordingly. She could not let anything bad happen to Master Reigen. Dimple would have been fine, he was already dead, but Master Reigen would not have been ok if that bad guy had gotten to him….so she had to protect him. Especially because he had been throwing up…well everyone had been throwing up…

Why had everyone been throwing up?

"Nothing! Just…nothing. I'm fine, Mob, really." Said Reigen. He held out his hand for her. That had not been her. That had been Dimple. He had been kissing Dimple….which was disgusting….but not that kind of disgusting that would have made him want to pitch himself off of the nearest skyscraper had they all not been knocked down. He needed to remember that it had been Mob's body but not…Mob. He would never have done anything like that to Mob. No matter what she wanted….and she did want to….but she would never just come out and take it like that. She would never have just leaned over and kissed him. She would have been shy about it, if she ever got the idea in her head, and she certainly wouldn't have tried to tongue stab him like that…

Not that he had any idea what Mob kissed like.

Not that he wanted to have any idea what Mob kissed like.

"Are you sure? I mean your aura is kind of dim…and I thought that I could fix it for you. Not fix it but I guess give you some of my power because you look tired and stuff…and also you were throwing up a lot. Why were you motion sick? And so was that other guy, too." Said Mob as she took Master Reigen's hand. He was shaking and cold to the touch. He was pale, too.

Poor Master Reigen.

"I-I'm fine Mob. I'm guess that I'm just a little freaked out by what's happening." Said Reigen. He tried to keep his aura to himself. She could not feel what he was feeling. He did not want to explain to her, now or ever, what had happened. Why he felt the way he did. She would not have any chance of understanding. She would…what would she be? If she knew that he had kissed her…body with Dimple possessing it?

He was not going to find out.

"Wow…you really are." Said Mob. Master Reigen had been keeping his aura really close. She had figured because he had used so much of his energy trying to hurt Dimple. Now that she was touching him, giving him her energy, she could feel it. Her skin was clammy and she wanted nothing more than to sit down and wait for tomorrow to happen. He was scared. He was so scared, even, that his stomach was upset, too. Mob felt like she was going to be motion sick. Master Reigen felt scared…..but he was Master Reigen…

No.

She needed to let go of that. He was human the same as everybody else. She had seen him scared. She had seen him everything. Scared, angry, stressed, sad, happy, grossed out, sleepy, wide awake, drunk, all of it. He was human the same as everyone else and he could be afraid the same as everyone else. She was not a child. She could handle this, him being afraid. He didn't have to be brave for her anymore. She could be brave for the both of them.

"Yeah….I am….I'm better now, though, so you can let go now Mob…" said Reigen. She was holding his hand. He had no idea if she had to touch him to do this, he did not want to get down the whole 'how do Mob's powers work' rabbit hole right then in the middle of what used to be the downtown upscale shopping district, but he let her. This didn't mean anything. Nothing meant anything. That hadn't been a big deal. That had just been…Dimple being an asshole. Yes, that made sense. Dimple was just being an asshole, as evil spirits tended to do.

"I will but remember, I'm here." Said Mob. When she felt that scared, back in the unreality, all she had ever wanted was for him to be there. She could and would be there for him. She would always be there for him and he would always be there for her. They loved each other, that was what love was, always being there for someone.

"I know you're here, Mob, I'm here too." Said Reigen

"No, I meant that I'm here for you. I know that you're sad and scared and so freaked out that you want to throw up. I know that I ran away from home again, sort of, to fight whoever is responsible for this and I know that for you it must have felt like I was running away again. I know that you're not me and you could get really hurt. I'm here for you, Master Reigen, no matter what. Ok?" said Mob. She was still holding his hand. She was still so near to him. She was close enough to see that he had missed a button hole, that his tie was askew, and that he had a layer of blond stubble growing across his face. It was almost invisible but it was there.

It scratched.

What…? How did she know….? What would even possess her to think….?

She'd had those thoughts before. She had wondered what it would be like to kiss him more times than she had wondered about anything else in her entire life. She had spent many mornings looking over at him while he was still asleep in his bed and wondered to herself what it would have been like to just sit up, lean over, and kiss him. Would his stubble, and he always woke up with stubble, tickle? Itch? Scratch?

It scratched.

But this was not the time to speculate about what it would be like to kiss Master Reigen.

Because they were in danger. They were in danger right then and there and she should have had her mind of something other than what it would have been like to kiss him. She was in danger. He was in danger. Everyone she had ever come into contact with was in danger. She could see…she could see off in the distance…a lot of red.

"Mob, no, you don't have to be-" said Reigen. How many times had they repeated that conversation? She was there for him, he was there for her, and they were there for each other. She was there and she always would be….and so would he.

"I want to be here for you, Master…but right now I have to be over there. Can you see it? It's not one person…but there are a bunch of people over there with that same aura…and that's where I need to be right now." Said Mob motioning towards what looked like a wall of red….at first glance. She could see, if she tried to see, the breaks in the auras. That was the same aura over and over again...

She was getting tired of that aura.

"….then that's where I need to be, too." Said Reigen. He still held her hand. She still held his hand. He was not going to let her go….even though he had…even though she had….even though they had…but they hadn't. That had bene Dimple, not her. That hadn't been her and things were not, and could not, be weird between them now. Not now. Not when she was so hell bent on saving the world….

She took a step forward and let go of his hand. He followed her.

He would always follow her.

"….I'm sorry guys….I guess you shouldn't have followed me after all…" said Rei as she sat up. Her head was swimming. The last thing she remembered was that man making fun of them….then a sharp pain to the back of her head. She sat up and reached behind her head. It was tender and…wet? Not sewer water! Anything but that!

Oh. Blood.

Rei was no stranger to seeing her own blood, the girl flu came for everyone after all, but this was…she had been hit in the head hard enough to draw blood…

"Don't sit up so fast! You've…you've got a concussion…maybe…" said Teru as he reached behind Rei and held her up as best as he could. Thank God those adult espers had better ranges than he did. He could never have found these guys on his own, being so far in the sewers….

This was so gross.

Also bad. Everyone had been knocked out. Teru had seen enough movies to know that things from the movies did not work in real life. A person couldn't just be knocked out like that. Being knocked out was actually dangerous…really dangerous. That is unless one knew what they were doing. How many people did one have to knock out before they knew what they were doing?

He didn't want to know the answer to that question.

"I-I'm ok. What happened? How's everyone? Oh no! Are they ok? Did they get….are they ok?! I just…I shouldn't have been leading everyone….my future vision isn't that good and I just…I should have seen him coming! But I didn't see him coming and then I don't even know what happened! And now we're here and you're here and we're all here and we're not supposed to be because we're supposed to be in two groups and if we're in one group then that means-" said Rei. Her head hurt so much…she just wanted to lay down…and someone was holding her up.

She leaned into him.

She closed her eyes and for a moment Ritsu was holding her. He wouldn't have let anything bad happen to her. He would have kept her safe….because he loved her. He loved her and she loved him and that was what mattered. She had failed. She had failed at her job and now, maybe, she would never see him again. She knew that it was dumb to think that way, that she needed to have hope, but the only thing that she could think about was Ritsu and how he was so very far away, probably, and that she may never see him again.

Being held didn't help.

Because that was not Ritsu.

"Rei, you're going to be ok….ok?" asked Teru as he held her. He wondered if this was crossing a line. She wasn't his girlfriend but he wasn't going to do anything with her. She just needed someone and the someone who should have been there for her wasn't. Also the someone who should have been there for her didn't even care about her in the way that mattered. Also, maybe, he missed Shigeko. Maybe he wanted to hold her because she was kind of like Shigeko, sort of, but not really aside from the fact that she was a girl.

"How do you know?" asked Rei as she rested her head on his shoulder. He smelled like…body spray and winterberries. He was warm and there and…and not Ritsu…she wanted Ritsu. She needed to be with Ritsu. She loved him. She loved him and she knew, now, what love was. She had said it, before, because he felt like that about she couldn't just…not feel it back. Now she knew what it was to love someone and she would tell him, every day, a thousand times a day, that she loved him. If she ever saw him again.

"Because I just do, ok? Don't you watch movies? The good guys always win." Said Teru

"This is real life." Said Rei softly

"Art imitates life." Said Teru with a shrug. Truth be told he had no idea what the outcome of this was going to be. He had no idea if they would win or lose or…or anything. But he was the leader and he could not let on that he didn't have faith in them. Especially after the loss they just suffered.

"I don't know what's going to happen to us. I can't see it. I can't see anything." Said Rei. She tried. She had tried and tried and tried to see if they won but all she could see was that light, that white light, and the fear….and she had no idea what it meant.

"Shh…it's ok. You'll be ok. We'll all be ok." Said Teru. He pulled her closer and rubbed her back a little, kind of like if she were Shigeko, and that was not right of him. That was a line, or at least close to one, and he could not cross it. Even though he had no intention of doing anything with Rei…he knew how much it hurt. He knew how much it hurt when, emotionally, the person you loved was close with someone else…too close…

He was being pushed away.

He let her go. He had probably crossed some kind of line, there, even though she was freaking out. Not that Shigeko would ever hold it against him, him comforting her friend, that is if she ever woke up. She had to still have been asleep. He didn't see or sense her aura but she was so far away….

"I don't know. I don't think that I'm going to be ok. I think that I'm going to…I don't know. I just really want to…to be somewhere else….not here. I don't want to be here." Said Rei

"Well yeah, we're in a sewer!" called out Go. Teru glared at him. That was not how one talked to an upset girl. Rei wasn't his girlfriend but she was his friend and that was why he was comforting her, that was all.

"I agree with Rei…." Said Takeshi as he watched the filthy water flow by. They were on some platform thing under a ladder. The sewers were just as spacious as they were on TV, who knew? They smelled a lot worse, though, and he wondered if he was going to come out of this with some terrible illness that would put him in the hospital for the rest of his life. If so he couldn't wait. At least if he was in the hospital then he wouldn't have been…there.

"All in favor of leaving the sewers?" asked Sakurai after he was certain that Koyama did not have anything serious wrong with him. Espers were made of tougher stuff than normal people, plus if this was who they thought it was then he had made sure that they could go for a second round.

"We're voting?" asked Daichi

"Who would vote no?" asked Kaito

"I vote yes!" said Takeshi. No way was he staying down there more than was strictly necessary. He wanted to go home more than anything but he also wasn't a fan of the sewers. Plus the ceiling shook above him…which meant that the ground was shaking because he was underground, and then the sewer could have caved in and they'd all be buried for the rest of their lives and then they'd die and he couldn't die he still had a million things he hadn't done yet and-

"It's kind of cool down here once you get passed the smell…and the fact that we're in the sewer. Like if we lose our base, not that we will, we could totally hide down here and do guerilla warfare or something!" said Go

"You mean we could still take them by surprise? Ok, I vote to stay down here so long as someone picks me up." Said Mukai. That was the best thing to do when you were small, take the enemy by surprise. That was how she had almost gotten the president. He was so focused on her dolls that he didn't even sense her coming up behind him. He smacked her away, of course, but she had gotten closer than anyone had ever gotten before!

"Does she get a vote? She's just a kid." Said Daichi

"We're all kids…well most of us." Said Kaito

"Yes, but she's a little kid." Said Daichi

"That's true." Said Kaito

"Hey! I am not little! I'm a former scar! I'm way more powerful than both of you put together! Just look at my aura! You wouldn't be so confident if I had my dolls with me…" said Mukai

"Everyone votes yes!" said Koyama. They needed to get out of there. They had lost the element of surprise so there was no reason to be there. They had lost to Shimazaki…and he was still out there. He had let them all live. Koyama knew that it wasn't out of his sense of fair play or any guilt at having hurt kids. Shimazaki wanted round two. He had only knocked them out, and made sure that they didn't drown in filthy sewer water, because he wanted to go again. Well fine. This time Koyama would be ready for him.

"I didn't!" said Mukai

"You're all a bunch of morons…" muttered Tsuchiya as she picked up Mukai. Mukai glared at her and she shook her head. Mukai had an excuse, she wasn't even in the double digits yet, but the rest of them were competing for the biggest idiot in all of Japan award. Honestly. She rolled her eyes and carried Mukai away, much to her protests.

"Where are you going?" asked Koyama

"Somewhere that isn't here! You can all enjoy the sewers to your heart's content but we're leaving." Said Tsuchiya. She heard the water splashing behind her. Good. The ceiling above them shook. Not good. Something was…she could see, through the thick concrete and whatever else, auras. Red ones. The Awakened. Not just them….what was that? How could any person…she had seen that aura before…

Well then. Look who decided to show up.

"Well now, look who decided to show up." Said Suzuki as he gazed down upon the world, his world. He stood in front of the viewing windows of the Cultural Tower and looked down at what, from that height, was a red dot. But it wasn't. That was his son. His son's aura, there, down there just waiting….waiting and watching. For what Suzuki did not know. If Sho had something planned then he really should have gotten on with it.

But he was just staring.

"Sir?" asked Serizawa. He stood slightly behind the President. He could see his aura. He was spreading himself out, expanding to fill the entire space and then moving downwards. Serizawa did the same. He clutched his umbrella as he felt himself, the purple that made up what he was, spread outwards. He sensed the President…Hatori….Shimazaki…someone he didn't realize…and…

"Sho!" said Serizawa. The windows beside him erupted in spider cracks. He shrank back, away from the President, because he had just lost control and the President….he didn't like it when that happened….but he was just so happy. Sho was down there! Maybe the President would go easy on him. He had almost achieved his goal of world domination…he must have been in a good mood…and Sho couldn't have been plotting against his own father…

"Yes. Sho." said Suzuki. His aura met his son's. Hmm…so the boy was really determined to go along with all of this. Suzuki would have been upset, or annoyed, but he couldn't be. He had to exercise control. Sho had been a thorn in his side for years. That was what a son was for, after all, to torment his father. These things were sent to try us.

Lots of things, if Shimazaki was to be believed. He could….yes. He could feel them. His former scars were working against him…with children. Of all the things. It seemed that he was in a position where everybody thought that they could betray him. No matter.

"D-Do you want me to go and get him? I-I can s-sense him and-" said Serizawa. Maybe if eh got to Sho first eh could get him to apologize to the President and then it wouldn't be so bad…even though it was always so bad….but maybe this time it would be less bad. Then he and Sho could hang out when this was all over and have fun and just forget all of the awful things that had happened….

"No need. He'll come to me. They all will." Said Suzuki. He was the ruler of the world. He did not go to his underlings, they came to him. If they wanted to fight, if those scars wanted to earn more scars, then they could come and get them.

If his son truly thought that he could challenge his father well then Suzuki was happy to put him in his place.

"All?" said Serizawa. Why would anyone want to work against the President? They just couldn't see how wonderful he was. He could be mean sometimes, and cold, and he wasn't much for conversation, and he did hit people a lot…but he had his reasons! They weren't always clear, and sometimes they didn't always make sense, but the President had his own very good reason.

"They're like a bunch of pathetic dogs. They forget just how terrifying their master can be if he's not there to remind them." Said Suzuki. He fixed his metaphysical gaze away from his son and out to the horizon. Yes. There she was. He could feel her. He could even see her. Hard to pinpoint where she was but she was at least moving closer. Good. He could deal with her…but first he would have to deal with Sho.

"Serizawa, go tell Hatori that he's needed." Said Suzuki. Serizawa didn't need to be told twice. He loved the President but he did not want to be around for when he punished Sho. Sho was still so little and he knew that the President had his reasons….

Even if it meant that people had to get hurt.

"I don't care if you hurt me…I'm going to stop you no matter what." muttered Sho as he stood before the Cultural Tower thing. Dad was looking at him. He could feel it. He was looking up at dad. Dad could feel it. He must have been able to.

"What?" asked Ritsu as he followed Sho's gaze upwards. A red aura, that same red aura that he had been feeling all day from the awakened soldiers. That was bigger than anything he had ever felt before…barring one person….one person who he swore that he could have felt, before, back there.

But there was no going back. Not now.

"My dad. He's up there. I can feel him." said Sho. This was it. This was what he had spent months planning for. He had this. He tore his aura away from his dad's and let it rest on the person beside him. Red met blue. Light red met dark blue. Sho met Ritsu. Yes. He did have this. He had this because…because Ritsu thought that he had this.

"Ok, so come on, let's do this." said Ritsu. He wanted to put an end to this before sister…and that was sister…got there first and did something that she would end up regretting. He had seen her, the thing that lived inside of her, and he didn't ever want to see it again. He didn't want her to end up hurting anyone ever again either….

"Ritsu…wait." Said Sho. He reached over and grabbed Ritsu by the hoodie sleeve. Ritsu stopped in his tracks and turned to face Sho. He could feel Sho, his aura, and himself…and he had to keep moving. He couldn't let himself get stuck there. He couldn't.

"What? Come on, this is what we've been working towards all this time!" said Ritsu

"Stay here. This is something that I have to do by myself." Said Sho

"What? Sho that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. You said that your dad was the most powerful member of the entire organization. You said that you needed to gather allies to defeat him because you couldn't do it yourself. You dragged me into this because you said that you couldn't do it yourself!" said Ritsu

"I know what I said, and I meant it. I couldn't have gotten this far if it hadn't been for all of you but this part….this is something that I have to do on my own." Said Sho

"Why? That doesn't make any-" said Ritsu

"Because he's my dad! He's MY dad, alright! He's my responsibility and I shouldn't have ever let it go this far in the first place! I'm his son and it's my job to stop him! Just….you've done a lot for me-" said Sho

"And, what, you're done with me now? You're just going to toss me aside and-" said Ritsu pulling his sleeve out of Sho's grip. So that was it? They went this far together and Sho was just going to cast him aside like it had all been for nothing!? Sho, who had come into his life like a hurricane and upended everything….who had dragged Ritsu kicking and screaming into this…who had told Ritsu somany things…things that nobody had ever said to him before….

"No! It's not like that! I just…I don't want you to get hurt. I know how my dad can be with people and I don't want anything to happen to me. You've gone this far with me, and I'm grateful to you-" said Sho trying to find the words for it. When Ritsu was there he felt like he could do anything and if dad killed Ritsu then he would never feel that again and he didn't know how he could go back to not feeling this. He had just met Ritsu, really met him, and it felt like he couldn't stand to be without him. That if he let something happen to Ritsu then he would have never been able to forgive himself. That just being near Ritsu made him feel everything that a person could feel and he didn't even have a word for this feeling and-

Feelings were weird.

"Grateful? That's…that's what you want to call it?" asked Ritsu. He had no idea what he would have called it but to call it being 'grateful' was just weird. It didn't fit. Sho said….said that he needed him. Sho had seen something in him, something useful, but not just…not just in the sense that he could be used in this….

Feelings were hard.

"I don't know what to call it! All I know is that this whole thing is my fault for not stopping sooner and-and-and if I let anything bad happen to you, too, then I would never be able to live with myself! Ritsu, just don't…don't follow me. You've followed me this far but…but let me take it from here, ok? You've been listening to me this whole just please…listen to me for a little while longer." Said Sho

"Sho-" said Ritsu

"I don't even know why you've been listening to me for so long, anyway. I mean I beat you up, burnt your house down, put your friends in danger, put your girlfriend in danger-" said Sho

"Because I understand you." Said Ritsu

"What?" asked Sho

"Because I…for my whole life I was this weird mix of scared of and jealous of my sister. I used to want to be like her and I-I'd worry about what would happen if my sister ever decided to use her powers against other people. If she ever went crazy. She scared me, kind of, for a while…and I know how hard it is. I know how hard it is to want to be like someone and to be afraid of them at the same time. It's hard…and I can't imagine how hard it is when the person who you want to be and are scared of actually goes crazy with their powers and….yeah. I just feel like I know what you're going through…and also I couldn't let you drag my sister into this. I guess I'm afraid of that too. I'm afraid what she'll do if she has to fight your dad. She's…she's sensitive and she doesn't seem like it but she…she feels a lot and I know that if she hurt someone with her powers…and she would have to hurt your dad…she would never be able to live with herself. Or she'd lose control of her powers again and….and I wouldn't get her back. So, yeah, I guess that we're both….afraid." said Ritsu. He had pulled himself away from Sho but now he wished that he hadn't. Sho was looking at him, really looking at him, and he…it felt….it felt like a lot of things. This whole thing felt like a lot of things. At least their auras were still together. Their auras were close and they were close and the whole thing was just so…close.

He was close to something.

But he didn't know what.

"I'm not afraid of anything." Said Sho. He couldn't be afraid of anything. He was not a kid anymore. This was not something scary. This was…he was not afraid. Not of dad, not of what he would have to do to dad, and not even of…this. This feeling. This feeling like he was at the edge of something and he wanted to go over….but he also didn't…he was not at all afraid of this feeling. This new and confusing feeling. This feeling that made him want to be closer to Ritsu, closer to him than he had ever been to another human being in his life…

So he stepped closer.

Because he was not afraid.

This was good, this whole feeling was good, and he wanted…he wanted to feel it. To feel something good before he had to go into that tower thing and kick dad's ass and put an end of all of this. He just wanted to know what this was…and to keep on feeling it….because if he failed then he would never feel this feeling again in his life.

"E-even him?" asked Ritsu. He was grateful, actually, to have felt the energy around him shift and a new aura pressing against his. Sho might not have been even a little bit afraid but he was. He knew, or he had a good idea of, what he had been feeling….and he knew that he could not feel that way. He had already had one moment of temporary insanity and that was enough to last him a lifetime.

"Damn it…I can't stand that guy. That's Shimazaki, the teleporter who can read his enemies movements. He's one of the strongest in the Ultimate Five." said Sho breaking away from Ritsu. Right. He had a job to do and he was going to do it. He was just going to have to beat Shimazaki first…and whichever other members of the Ultimate Five were there…and he would have to beat them all. Even Serizawa.

He didn't want to.

He didn't want this.

He didn't want any of this.

But this wasn't about what he wanted or didn't want. This was about what he had to do. He had this. He had to stop dad. Nobody else had even a chance of stopping dad. Nobody but him.

"Sho, you go on ahead. I'll stay behind and keep him busy." Said Ritsu

"You can't handle him on your own! He's one of the strongest in the entire organization!" said Sho

"That's why I'm staying. I'll keep him busy so you can go and stop your father. You've been fighting all day, Sho, and I'm not letting you tire yourself out before you get to your father. You said it yourself, you're the only one who can stop him. So go and stop him…and promise me that when you're done you'll…you'll tell me how it went. Promise that when you come back...you'll…." said Ritsu

"You have my word. I promise you that I'll come back and I've give you a full report on how it went. I promise, Ritsu, that I'm coming back….and thank you. I sure am glad to have you…to have you around. To have you as a friend." Said Sho

"Go already!" said Ritsu. Sho was coming back. There was no reason to feel like this…like he wasn't. This was Sho. He hadn't known him for very long but he knew how strong he was. How he wasn't going to jut let himself be beaten. He had this. When this was all over then…then they'd reminisce about it or whatever. Maybe they'd hang out or something. He didn't have any plans…but maybe he should have made some…because Sho had this.

And so did he.

Well he tried to have it, anyway. He would have had it, had he remembered that his opponent didn't need to see. As Sho moved past him Ritsu tried to use the water in the decorative stream, at least he hoped that it was decorative because Sho would never have forgiven him if he hurt any fish or ducks or whatever, to try and make it impossible for that guy to see what was going on. Of course right after he executed his oh so brilliant plan his brain reminded him of a very crucial fact about this particular opponent.

He didn't see with his eyes.

Ritsu blamed Sho for this little oversight. There were a lot of people to watch out for and Sho had gone so fast that Ritsu had trouble remembering who could do what. Well now he knew and he wouldn't forget. How could he? He had jumped into the fray and his blow should have landed but that man, the one standing there with his eyes closed like…like Ritsu didn't even know what, had just shifted slightly to the side and dodged…and his eyes were still closed…

"You move way too slowly, you know that kid? If you want to have even a prayer of a chance then you need to stop telegraphing your moves like that." Said Shimazaki. Well now this was getting interesting. He let the boss' son go past him. Let the others deal with him. This kid, and everyone else he was working with, would provide much more entertainment. Besides, the whole father vs son thing was such a cliché at this point that he didn't want to 'watch' that tired old plotline play out.

Now a massive brawl, that was interesting.

"What the hell?! Where'd you-" said Ritsu. He had tried lashing out again, putting his powers into that blow like he had done before….but he had been fighting regular people before, and awakened soldiers. This guy was on a whole other level.

"And don't ever stop in the middle of a fight, either, unless you want this to happen." Said Shimazaki as he put one hand on the kid's shoulder and then sent him flying into what was once a building. He watched the kid, the kid's aura, and saw it tuck in close. Good, he wasn't going to go splat just yet. That wouldn't have been any fun at all. He watched the kid until he came to a stop in a…he focused on the shapes of the objects around the kid….metal and plastic arranged in a grid inside of a large concrete structure. A parking garage. He focused on it, on the kid, until he came to a complete stop. Hiding? Really? Shimazaki took a step forward and let the world melt away around him.

"You can run but you can't hide." Said Shimazaki as he appeared near to the kid. He could see the kid's aura lashing out even though he was doing his best to keep it close. He could even hear the kid's heavy breathing. If he really focused he swore that he could hear the kid's heartbeat. The boss' son could have done a lot better. They had barely even been fighting and the kid was already ready to piss himself.

"Damn it all…" muttered Ritsu under his breath. At least he wasn't following Sho, Sho had made it in, that was what mattered. Being thrown had been scary but not painful. Not really. He had put up a barrier, his powers had thankfully decided to listen to him then, and aside from being kind of dirty and a little sore he was fine. That was good. He didn't have to win, he just had to last long enough to make sure that he didn't lose.

"No matter where you go I'll find you." Said Shimazaki as he appeared right beside the kid. The kid, bless his heart, tried to lash out with his telekinesis but he just wasn't strong enough to do more than ruffle Shimazaki's hair a little. He had rooted himself firmly to the ground, a trick that he wondered if the kid had picked up yet.

A kick to the ribs and into a car told him that the answer was a firm 'no'.

"Listen kid, bullying the weak isn't my style. It's dull, incredibly dull, and I don't do dull." Said Shimazaki. The boss' son had more fight in him, and more tricks up his sleeves, than this kid. Darn. If his aura was anything to go off of he should have been capable of more than what he was doing….which was a whole lot of nothing.

"You're just as weak as I am!" said Ritsu. He could feel them, his powers, just beneath the surface of his being. Stronger, now, and louder. His aura was brighter even though he had been trying his best to hide it, to hide himself. He usually had trouble getting his powers to listen…and he still did…but not it was different. He was stronger, now, he could feel it…and he had no way of controlling that strength.

But, hey, he could move cars at least.

He didn't want to kill anyone, just maim or seriously injure, but maybe he shouldn't have been trying to hold back. He just didn't want to do anything that he couldn't live with himself for doing later. Even if it was to that guy. That guy…that stupid guy! He teleported out of the way again! Ritsu looked for him, with his eyes, because he wasn't the best at finding people with his aura when he felt a hand grab the front of his hoodie.

"I'll show you weak, you little brat!" said Shimazaki. He grabbed the kid, tossed him into the air, and then drove him down into the concrete as hard as he could. That little monster tried to kill him! Well at least he wasn't being so dull anymore…

Even if it looked like he had finally gone splat.

Sho didn't look. He didn't want to look. He could see, well feel, out of the corner of his perception what was happening. He never should have left Ritsu alone with Shimazaki. He wanted nothing more than to rush to Ritsu's aid but he couldn't. All he could do was race up the stairs, the endless stairs, so he could get to dad and stop all this craziness.

He should have done this a long time ago.

But he was weak, before, when he was a kid. He was weak and stupid. He thought that dad was right and all he wanted to do was make dad proud. That was before the entire 7th Division for beaten by a girl. Before he knew that there were people in this world that were as powerful, if not more powerful, than dad. Before he knew that it could all end. Before he knew just how serious dad was about his master plan. Well Sho was done going along with insanity! He was not going to just sit back and watch as dad did all of this crazy shit!

He was done sitting back and watching.

"That's far enough. Such a shame to come all this way for nothing. Now you'll have to deal with me." Said Hatori as he attempted to block the stairwell. He had drones with him, they did things besides spy on people, but he had no idea if he even had a hope of stopping the kid. He didn't want to hurt the kid, he really didn't, but he also didn't want to fail the boss. The boss said to stop his son and that was what Hatori was going to do. It got him off the roof, that was what mattered. The President could have let him free or starve up there. The President could do anything to any of them and there was nothing that anyone could do. The kid was on a fool's errand and he was too young and too dumb to see it.

"I don't have time for this!" said Sho as he jumped over Hatori and kicked him in the back as he sailed over head. Hatori and his army of drones. Went down almost immediately. Hatori was great at tech stuff like fixing frozen laptops and phones, but he was useless in a real fight. Not that Sho wanted to hurt him. He could be ok sometimes. Sho didn't want to hurt anyone, not even dad, but he was going to have to. He had the power to do so.

Dad may have used his powers for evil but Sho was going to use his powers to put an end to this!

Mob was going to use her powers to put an end to this.

"This is terrible…why would someone do this with their powers? And on purpose, too?" asked Mob. It didn't end. The entire world seemed to have been broken. Buildings, some of which she knew, were toppled over and destroyed. The café where she and Teru went on dates sometimes…the little park area with the brown cat that lived in it….the pizza place with the sign that Tome said looked just like a UFO….

What was the matter with some people!?

"People suck Shigeko, they just do. You should stop here, Reigen's still trying to catch up." Said Dimple. He felt for Shigeko, he really did. The living got so attached to places, moreso than some spirits even. He hadn't been attached to any one place since he had been a low level spirit.

"Master should smoke less…" said Mob. She hadn't been trying to move fast, she just was. She needed to get to the tower place and…and do something. Talk? Fight? She didn't know. All she knew was that there was a bright aura, the brightest aura that she had ever seen, and it was up there. She didn't trust herself to fly. She needed to stay by Master Reigen, anyway. He wasn't going to run away and he wasn't going to hide. He was squishy and she had to keep him safe.

"Hey, look over there!" she heard someone say. She focused…yes…more of those identical red auras. They were coming out of a store with a hole where the door used to be. She knew that store….that was the store where she and Teru went sometimes…

"Oh, wow, a kid. What's wrong little girl? Too scared to run?" asked another one of those red aura people. Mob tried to keep herself calm even though she was done with dealing with these guys. They were like the time her house got ants. No matter how many mom and dad squished more kept on popping up.

"Hey guys, what's going on? And check it out, I got some stuff for dinner!" said another guy as he came out of the hole where the door used to be with his arms piled high with junk food….and that was the last straw. Really. She had heard that expression before and now she understood it. How many times had her mom said that something was the last straw? Well Mob got it, now.

Stealing was wrong.

Everything that those guys were doing was wrong.

"Sheesh, now they're looting?" said Dimple. He was watching Shigeko. Her aura was lashing out like crazy. She even had a pissed off look in her eyes, too, which was weird because usually she was so blank. Everyone had a breaking point and it seemed like this was Shigeko's.

Hopefully she wasn't about to explode.

"Hey, look, the brat's got a pet!" said one of the red aura guys. Mob knew that she had been really mean lately, and she didn't like to be, but this was really quite enough. Destroying her city, burning down her house, putting her friends in danger, putting her family in danger, trying to take over the world, and now **STEALING?!**

Well then.

"You should put back what you took. Stealing is a crime. You should know better. Haven't you people done enough?" asked Mob trying her hardest not to yell or be mean or explode. Even though the other Shigeko, the part of her that liked to do those things, was telling her to peel them like grapes. That was mean. She'd depower them of course but she wouldn't peel them like grapes. That was mean and she didn't get to decide who deserved to get peeled like a grape anyway.

"Who the hell are you, kid? Don't you watch the news? This town belongs to us now." Said one of the red aura guys. Mob felt herself being lifted into the air. She tried to stay calm. She tried to keep all of her bad feelings inside, the kinds that made her want to yell and scream and peel people like grapes, because they weren't nice feelings to have at all…and she had to be a good person…

Good people did not use their powers against others unless it was in self-defense.

"Whoa! Go on easy there! You're going to traumatize her!" laughed one of those red aura guys. Mob was having trouble telling them apart. They had the same clothes, the same aura, and were all equally terrible.

"You shouldn't ever use your powers against other people like this. Stop it." Said Mob. She didn't mean to be mean but it came out like that. Or maybe she had meant to be mean and she didn't want to admit it to herself. Either way those guys looked scared of her now…which was good. She used her powers to pick up the things they had stolen and she put them back where it felt like they belonged. She didn't always need to look with her eyes, she could look with her aura, too. She was still in the air but she didn't care.

She was past the point of caring.

"What hell is this?! She couldn't be…is this kid a natural esper!?" asked one of the red aura guys. Mob felt herself starting to fall and she caught herself with her powers. Her skirt billowed up like a parachute as she touched the ground but she didn't care. She stared over at all three of those guys.

"Shigeko, now might be a good time to start kicking some ass! You think? Hey? Shigeko? You listening?" asked Dimple as he manifested fingers to snap in front of her face. Blank. So very blank….

"Powers. You all care too much about having powers." Said Mob simply. Flat fact. The flat fact of the situation.

"What?" asked one of the red aura guys. They all looked scared, now, she could see it in their auras…aura…and on their faces. She didn't much care. She usually hated it when people were scared of her but these were bad people so…so they should have been scared of her. Them being scared of her was a good thing if it meant that they'd listen.

"What does it matter if I'm a natural esper or not? Is that all you care about, having psychic powers? Psychic powers are just another talent that we have. Some people can run fast and lift heavy things or do well at school or are good at talking. Having psychic powers is just like having any other talent. You're human the same as everyone else and having powers doesn't mean that you get to act like a bunch of jerks." Said Mob

"Hey?! Who do you think-" said one of those guys, those terrible guys….how did people get like this?! Mob did not know. She knew, however, that she didn't care for any of this one bit.

"Tell me, could your psychic powers help you to do anything? Fix what you broke? Do something useful? Not act like jerks for one second? No, they couldn't. Having psychic powers doesn't make you any better or worse than anyone else. It's what you chose to do with them, that's what matters, and you've been choosing very poorly lately. You're making a big mistake, being a part of all of this." said Mob

"Whatever, you little bitch! It doesn't matter what you do! When you have psychic powers you can make anyone submit to you!" said one of those red aura guys. Mob wondered if they had names. Shigeko thought that it didn't matter. Shigeko was mad and…and Mob was mad too…but she didn't want to be this…this thing that she and Shigeko became when they were together….

It felt like she was sinking backwards, falling backwards, but she wasn't. She was fine. She was just going walkabout for a little bit.

"Shigeko?! What the hell did you just-!?" said Dimple. He saw it, the change in her aura. The fractals that made her up started moving in the opposite direction…and there was suddenly a lot more blue than pink….this was bad!

"Oh, and that reminds me. You should never use your powers against other people. If you've never had anyone to tell you that then let me." Said Shigeko. She took a step forward. It was shaky. She felt heavy. It was hard, getting the vessel to move, but she did. She made it move. Step by step. She let her aura, her portion of their aura, become visible. Electric blue overcame bubblegum pink.

"Crap you're pissed….I think that I'll just…hang back with Reigen for a minute!" said Dimple as he ran away from that…thing. That terrifying thing. It had more sense, and sentience, than it had before…and that was pretty much all of that thing. Shigeko called herself a 'me' not a 'we' which meant that Shigeko, the one that should have been in control, wasn't….

Reigen could bring her back though!

"She's making a move! Gather the others!" called out one of those guys. Shigeko took a heavy step forward, then another, and another. The ground beneath her feet began to buckle. She didn't care. Those guys had done so much bad stuff….and she could punish them. Mob was calling out at her to depower them…she was even beginning to fight for dominance of their vessel again. Shigeko would not give it up easily. She could have ended this ages ago. Mob had held them back. Mob always held them back. Well not now. No more waiting and watching. This was the time for action. This was the time to keep them safe. To keep everyone in this world that they cared about safe.

They felt, Shigeko felt, something approaching. Something in the ground….all around. She took a step and cut off the aura she was feeling. The concrete beneath her shoes turned to powder.

"Well, well, well, it looks like we've had quite the stray show up at our doorstep." Said Minegishi. He had felt her long before he had seen her. So this was what the boss was so worried about. What had the boss been smoking and where could Minegishi get some? He must have been joking. This was a little girl in her school uniform. She shone brightly, and with a lot of hostile intent, but so did Serizawa when you took his umbrella away. This was just a kid. A powerful kid but a kid.

This also made the boss' obsession a little troubling….but Minegishi was not there to judge.

"Minegishi!" called out one of the Awakened. Minegishi shook his head.

"I've got this, you all just hang back and back me up." Said Minegishi as he called forth every bit of plant life he could get his aura around. The girl didn't even know what hit her as a giant Venus flytrap caught her. She may have broken free but there was a tangle of vines waiting for her. Getting the plants was the hard part but once he got them he could change them into whatever he wanted.

"Really? Haven't you seen this movie before? If you haven't let me spoil it for you, it doesn't end well for the Japanese girl." Said Minegishi more to shock her than anything. He didn't much want to fight her, he didn't care for the extra work, and he wanted this to be over quickly. Judging by the way she was destroying his vines she didn't share his sentiments.

"Go on and tire yourself out, little girl, no matter how many you destroy they'll just grow back. I can make as many as I want." Said Minegishi. Shigeko made a noise between a grunt and a scream and sent a burst of pure energy at that purple haired plant using jerk! He just made a wall of vines to protect himself! She felt herself getting caught up in the vines and willed enough of her power through herself to disintegrate them….and more grew back immediately.

Mob was calling out to her. Telling her…showing her…yes. She remember that job. She remembered how gross the dirt had been when they had been caught…and Mob remembered how they had gotten out of that. Pure energy, pure anger, wasn't working and wouldn't work. They needed to think. They needed to plan.

They needed to be this thing together.

Shigeko stepped to the metaphysical side and made room for Mob. Their movements were jerky as they both tried to control the vessel at the same time. Mob knew what to do. Mob had done this before. She reached out with her power and took a vine. She felt it, that other esper, the way he was screaming at the plants to do what he wanted. That wasn't very nice, not very nice at all…

So Mob decided to be nicer.

"Huh. Guess you can do it too." Said Minegishi as he felt his control begin to waver. Well what did you know, another plant user? She could do what he did…and that was on top of what she could do already…the boss' fears suddenly made more sense. She forced some of his vines back into the ground before she turned and faced him.

Something was different about her.

Her aura had taken on more pink. Her eyes seemed less…crazy. She even brushed the rubble from her skirt. Her hair was floating around her like an inky, black, abyss, but her eyes while still wide didn't scream 'I'm going to kill you' like they had before. Honestly she seemed to have gotten a bit calmer. Or maybe too calm….

"You don't really seem to like plants very much, do you?" asked Mob. She always asked nicely when she wanted plants to do something. This guy was just shouting. A jerk. She was so tired of all of these jerks!

"That's right, they're nothing but tools." Said Minegishi. Time to get serious. He sent thorny vines at her but she just jumped out of the way….backwards. She still looked so calm. No, not calm, bored. Like this was a game to her. Like she was playing hopscotch or something. She was at the age for it, wasn't she? A child. He was fighting a child. He hadn't seen a teenager that skilled since, well, the boss' son…

"You're mean." Said Mob simply. Shigeko was trying to be in control again. As easy as it would have been to just sink back into her own mind again she couldn't. Shigeko had been about to peel these people like grapes. She had been about to…but Mob had stopped her. That was wrong. It didn't matter how terrible these jerks were.

She put a barrier around herself.

They were trying to hit her with put energy now. She let it hit her barrier. She made it her own. She'd have to depower all of these people….even though taking on that much energy seemed to make her go a little crazy. Or maybe she had just been crazy because of what had happened. Maybe she was crazy now. Maybe she had lost her mind around the same time the rest of the world had lost theirs…

"Don't let Minegishi down! Get her with your telekinesis! Don't let that bitch get away!" someone shouted. Mob didn't know who. They all looked the same from up there. The same aura. The same aura as the one she could see shining from the top of the Cultural Tower. She let her barrier get hit. She let herself take on their energy.

She'd need it, if that aura was anything to go off of.

"Come on kid, if your aura is anything to go off of than you can do better than that." Said Shimazaki as he kicked the kid, once again, across the parking garage. A car hit him, or rather he hit a car, and came to a sudden stop. Shimazaki saw one of the kid's ribs contuse but not break. Espers were made of tough stuff. If he had been a normal person he would have broken long ago.

"Sh-shut up!" said Ritsu. He reached a shaky hand out and collapsed part of a wall. He wanted to be able to have even the barest hope that he had crushed that guy…but of course he hadn't. If it hadn't worked before then why would it work now! He just had to…he didn't have to win. He just had to make sure that he didn't lose.

"Come on kid, give it up. You've got some skills, I'll give you that, so why waste them? Why not just join our side?" said Shimazaki as he avoided the avalanche of concrete that the kid had tried to bury him under. The kid was trying to legitimately kill him. He'd fit in just fine. There might have even been a reward in it for Shimazaki for bringing such a promising young esper into the fold. Plus, well, the kid may have had a sadistic streak as wide as the sky but that just served to make him more entertaining.

"Th-that might be a little easier…but it isn't half as much fun." Choked out Ritsu as he tried to sit up. He needed to stand up and fight. He needed to keep this thing going for as long as he could. He needed to buy Sho as much time as he could. He didn't have to win…just not lose…or die…

He felt like he was going to die.

Everything hurt. He was having trouble breathing. His vision was swimming. He knew that Shigeko could heal herself….why couldn't he?! This would have been nothing for her! She was the one who should have been there, not him! She was the stronger out of the two of them! What had he been trying to protect her from! She could have ended this battle before it even began! Why had he been so bent on keeping her safe?!

The energy around him shifted.

That. That was what he had been trying to protect her from.

He put up a barrier around himself but it shattered as the man's foot connected with it. His barrier hadn't even slowed him down. Ritsu couched up blood as the man kicked him, hard, into the concrete pillar behind him. He tasted copper. The entire back of his ribcage ached and burned. It was getting harder and harder to breathe…

"Give it up, kid. Isn't it obvious? You have no hope of winning. Your powers are too small, too underdeveloped, to even have a chance of beating me. You're not quite ready to play with the big boys yet, are you kid? I mean, you can't even see that the difference between our skills is night and day. You just won't stay down, won't give up, and that's going to be your downfall. I'm going to ask you now, kid, to stand down…but if you need a bit more persuasion than that then I'm happy to oblige." Said Shimazaki as he grabbed the kid's hair and hit him as hard as he could on the top of the head. That should have knocked the little brat out. Good. He could feel…he was still too focused on the kid. He could feel other auras at the edge of his perception…some bright, one bright as what people assured him stars must have been like, some in the middle, and the others so dull that he could barely even make them out.

"My whole fucking life I've wan-wanted these powers….I thought that once I had them then I could do anything…but I was wrong…there's more to life than these powers…and I'm sorry that you can't see that…or much of anything else considering that you're eyes are closed…" laughed Ritsu. He spat some blood as he laughed. He tried to stand up but his legs were too shaky. Well then, this was it, huh? He felt more…at peace…than he thought that he would have. He had done his best and…and his best, for once, wasn't good enough….

"Yeah, I think that you might not be such a good fit for the organization after all. No hard feelings, kid." Said Shimazaki as he pointed two fingers at Ritsu. Ritsu could see the energy collecting at the ends of those two fingers and tried to make a barrier. What was the point? That guy had broken through his strongest barrier like it had been made of rice paper.

This was it.

And he was ok with it.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head. He had done his best and for once in his life his best hadn't been good enough. That was fine. He was fine. He was ok with this. He kept his head lowered and his eyes closed in preparation for the finishing blow.

That never came.

There was a crash and a gasp.

"Oh man." Muttered Shimazaki as he felt the soft spot on the side of his head. He pulled his fingers away. The smell of copper filled his nose. He rubbed the substance between his fingers. Blood. His own blood. Someone had made him bleed his own blood…

"Ha! I landed a hit on him!" shouted a voice that Ritsu knew, and Shimazaki knew a little better. Ritsu opened his eyes and tried to sit up. Auras. He felt so many auras all around him. He looked up…he knew that guy! That was the guy who had kidnapped him! He tried to stand and managed to get up onto shaky legs. The man didn't seem interested in him at all, though, no he and some other…Scars? Yes. Those were Scars. They surrounded the guy who had been beating him up…

"Heh. Well then I guess that you lot are much more resilient than I imagined." Said Shimazaki. Well then this was getting interesting. Not too interesting though, no, not so long as he had his head in the game.

"Got that right!" shouted Koyama. He couldn't believe it! He had actually landed a hit on a member of the Ultimate Five! And not just any member, Shimazaki!

"Then I guess that you aren't sewer rats after all…you're cockroaches." Said Shimazaki as he felt the area out. That was a lot of enemies…but he had this. These were just former Scars and…children. Either children or short, underdeveloped, and untalented adults.

"We've changed since we were in Claw." Said Tsuchiya. This guy would not get the best of her again. He had only won before because they were in a tight space and she had to look out for Mukai. Well Mukai was hiding with some of the other kids and she had plenty of room to move around. She would not lose this time.

"Now that we're living on our own terms you'll find that we're much stronger." Said Muraki as he prepared to split his ethereal form into as many copies as he needed. He wasn't afraid. They had the numbers to beat him. He was just one man. How powerful could one man be?

Not that man. The one who had defeated all of them.

Or, rather, the girl who had lent him her powers.

"You can think whatever you want but that won't change the outcome." Said Shimazaki. He saw, off in the distance, a familiar aura. The ground beneath his feet began to move. So they had been trying to pin him down, huh?

Please.

"Don't act so tough. We know you're panicking." Said Teru as he tried, and failed, to get the drop on that guy. No matter, they had numbers now. All of those adult espers plus him and…he took in the state Ritsu was in. Ok, so they had all of those adult espers and him. They had the numbers advantage and that was enough to tip the battle in their favor.

"Oh? Am I? And you're what, some kind of empath?" asked Shimazaki as he teleported behind the group. To his immediate vicinity were some Scars and the kid from before. Farther off there were more kids, some awakened soldiers, Minegishi, and….whatever the hell that thing was.

He'd deal with his most immediate problems now.

"You can read our moves but at some point there's going to be too many of us to keep up with….so come on. It's time for round two." Said Teru. This time he would win. He tried to do it alone, that had been his downfall before. He tried to do it all alone for Shigeko…but Shigeko wouldn't have wanted that. Even that night, that awful night when they had to save Ritsu, he had not been alone. She had been right by his side the whole time. People needed other people. He needed to be humble. He needed to be humble enough to admit that he needed other people. That was what Shigeko would have wanted.

Well not with quite so much violence.

And there was quite a bit of violence. Teru had been right. It was obvious once he stopped and thought about it. It was like with Rei's powers. The more there was to see the more she messed up. That was why she had messed up in the sewers, she thought. There had been too many people to worry about, too many possible futures, so she had messed up.

They had the numbers advantage. They would win.

But they would lose their numbers advantage, and would lose his girlfriend, if something were to happen to Ritsu. Teru stepped away from the battle for a moment, he was humble enough to let other people handle it, and went over to try and keep Ritsu steady. He looked like crap. His lip was split…or maybe he was just spitting up blood. A black eye…a goose egg on his head….he was having trouble breathing…

Teru hadn't seen damage like that since some of his more…unbridled…fights back in is younger days.

"Ritsu! Hold still! You look like crap." Said Teru as he helped Ritsu stand.

"You smell like crap." Said Ritsu as he found his footing. He needed to get back out there. He needed to stop that guy…or at least not lose…and he had come so close to losing everything….

"I've been in a sewer, what's your excuse?" asked Teru. He didn't let go of Ritsu, he didn't trust Ritsu to be able to stand on his own two feet just yet, and he also didn't think that he could trust Ritsu not to go running into that battle either.

"What the hell were you doing in a sewer?" asked Ritsu. He could feel his powers just under his skin. He knew, from previous fights, that he healed fast…but not as fast as Shigeko. That was because he wasn't Shigeko…and that was ok. He was Ritsu and he was himself and he was…he was fine. He was fine and he was not going to die…

He had been ok with it.

But now he wasn't. There were things he still had to do. He had just been backed into a corner, that was all. He had been trapped and he had no choice but to accept what was coming. If those guys hadn't been there…if Teru hadn't been there…then he would have been a goner. He would have died at thirteen with good grades, a clean room, and one good kiss to show for his entire life…

"What the hell are you doing **here**? That's the question. And where the hell is Sho? I thought you were working with him or whatever." asked Teru. He reached over and felt Ritsu's ribs. Nothing was poking out. One of them seemed to out of alignment…maybe. He wasn't sure. He didn't have pieces of his ribs poking out, that was what mattered.

"Sho…he went on ahead. I was supposed to keep that guy busy…" said Ritsu

"Well you did so mission accomplished I guess. Just, do me a favor. The next time you risk your life doing something stupid call me, ok? I don't want to have to explain to your sister how I let you die in some pointless fight with some loser." Said Teru

"I would have called you but Sho smashed my phone so, sorry, I guess." Said Ritsu as he tried to take a shaky step forwards. Teru grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Teru. Ritsu shook his head and pointed to where the flashes of auras and screams were coming from.

"Teru…let me go. I have to fight with you…I have to help." Said Ritsu. Teru only tightened his hold on his dumbest friend.

"Sure, ok, you can go with…just tell me what kind of coffin you I should order for you for when this is all over. Or do you want to be cremated? Should I sink you in the ocean? Plant a tree over your body? Set you down the river on a flaming boat? And what should I tell Shigeko? Or Rei? Yeah, I think that me letting you go off to your certain death is going to go over really well with both of them. I'm sure that Rei is going to be just tickled pink when I tell her that the love of her life went off to die for no reason-" said Teru

"It's not for no good reason! I have to stop those guys because…because Sho asked me to…and the world is in danger…and Shigeko is in danger-" said Ritsu

"Forget the world! Forget Suzuki! Forget Shigeko! Just…she's fine. She's fine but she won't be when she wakes up and realizes that you're dead because you were too stubborn to know when you were down! And because I couldn't stop you! Just stay here and wait for all of this shit to be over!" said Teru

"No! I'm going to help-" said Ritsu

"What do I have to do to get you to stay put?! Do you want me to kiss you again, because I will!" said Teru losing his patience. He had almost lost some of his friends to that guy, he was not going to lose Ritsu too, and Ritsu had come very close. Teru, even from the distance he had been at, had seen the attack was being charged up. Ritsu had been too weak to move. He had been sitting there like he had been prepared to…die. No. Nobody was dying. Not until they were old men playing mahjong in the park or whatever it was that old people did! Teru was the leader and nobody was dying on his watch!

"Shut up about that! I told you, I wasn't thinking when I-" said Ritsu. No. Nobody could ever know that about him. Shigeko would have been devastated to know that he had kissed her boyfriend. His parents would have been devastated to know that he liked guys. Rei would have been devastated to know that he had been lying to her for all these months…

"I know exactly what you were thinking and if you go off and die I swear to God I will tell everyone who will listen, and I mean everyone, respect for the dead be damned! I'll paper the city with fliers, rent ad space on bus benches, hell I'll even hire a skywriter if I have to!" said Teru

"You wouldn't dare." Said Ritsu

"Wouldn't I?! You don't know what I'm prepared to do to keep you from marching off to your certain death! I will tell whoever I can about what happened. I will do whatever I need to do…and you don't know how far I am willing to go to keep you here! Just look at yourself! You're dead on your feet!" said Teru

"I am not! I can-" said Ritsu

"What do I have to do? Tell me and I'll do it! I am not losing you! It would hurt Shigeko and Rei and…and it would hurt me to. Ok? I don't want you to die. I, Hanazawa Teruki, don't want you to die and I will do whatever it takes to keep you here where you're safe. I'll tell your deepest darkest secrets to whoever will listen, I'll even tell them my part in it….hell! I will tongue kiss you right now if it means you'll stay put!" said Teru

"….please don't." said Ritsu. Even though everyone knowing would lift a huge weight off of his shoulders. Even though it would be one less thing to worry about. Even though…even though he wanted to be kissed again. Kissing Teru, kissing someone he liked, had been the best feeling that he had ever felt…for about four seconds….but those four seconds had been amazing. The most amazing four seconds of his life. He had thought that it would be a one and done thing, he'd know what it was like and then that would be it, be he wanted…he wanted to do it again.

And that made him a bad person.

He was a bad person for cheating. He was a bad person for making his sister's boyfriend cheat on her. He was a bad person for stringing his girlfriend along for months. He was a bad person for so many reasons….and if he went out there before he healed then…then he would have been a bad person for letting everyone down…

"Then are we** finally** decided?" asked Teru. This was the worst part of being a leader, dealing with people who were suicidally overconfident. He had to deal with his underlings, before, when he had been the leader of the gang at Black Vinegar. He had lost count of just how many times those guys had called him in the middle of a date because they had decided to take on people when they were hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. Leading people sucked sometimes and this was worse. At least back then he had never had to threaten to tongue kiss any of his underlings before!

"Yeah…we're decided." Said Ritsu as he let himself slump down at the foot of the pillar. He willed himself to heal faster, he willed his powers to, but he wasn't sure if he was even doing anything. It was hard, staying put, especially when he could hear the battle raging just outside the massive hole in the side of the parking garage.

"Takeuchi!" screamed Tsuchiya as she struggled to maintain her hold on Shimazaki. She had managed to grab a hold of him, that was good. She wasn't sure of the exact rules but she had heard that if you touched a teleporter then you always went with them. She had heard that in a movie, probably, but art imitated life…right.

It didn't.

The second that Takeuchi let go to the qigong bolt he had been charging up Shimazaki had teleported from her grip…leaving her right in it's path. That shut hurt! And that wily bastard had gotten away!

"Tsuchiya!" called out Takeuchi. He couldn't stop them once he let them go. He could have had that! If only he had moved faster! But it took time to charge up those qigong bolts…time that they did not have! He searched the area with his eyes and his aura. He found no trace of Shimazaki…

Until he was kicked in the back.

The only thing that he could do was shield himself as he went sailing into what used to, apparently, be a bank. He could feel Shimazaki coming closer when the entire area went up in flames. He saw it, gold, that boy. He had come back! Takeuchi had assumed that he had decided to hang back with the other little ones but there he was fighting alongside them.

"Come on!" shouted Teru as he set the area below him on fire. Fire didn't have mass. Fire wasn't psychic energy. Even Shigeko couldn't see fire with her aura! That guy was surrounded, there was no way that he could find his way out of that!

A hand grabbed Teru by the wrist.

"Not happening, Freak Show!" screamed Koyama as he tried to land a telekinetic helix punch to Shimazaki. He dodged but at least let the kid go. That stupid kid! What the hell did he think he was doing?! He was already hurt, already sick with fever, and now he was fighting alongside them like he was fine! What could have possibly-?

Right.

The girl he had been with, that night. The one who had kicked his ass.

People did the stupidest shit when they were in love.

"Kid! Get out of here!" said Koyama as Shimazaki teleported away. The kid just got up, brushed himself off, and threw himself back into the fray. Koyama shook his head. Stupid kid. What did he think that he could do that the rest of them couldn't?

Land a hit?

Pin him down?

Well at least Terada seemed to having some luck. Ok, so the air whips could hold him. Did it have to be some kind of psychic energy? Wait. No. He had just gotten free…and he was laughing at them!? What was with this guy! He had to have had some kind of weakness! Everything had a weakness!

Maybe Sakurai would have some luck. He had been shot before by Jugan just to see what it was like. It wasn't a bullet, it was a curse, and it stung like a bitch. Maybe at that range Sakurai could take him by surprise!

Sakurai had not been able to take him by surprise.

"Aren't you gonna shoot?" asked Shimazaki as he teleported right on top of Sakurai. Literally. He wasn't putting much of his weight on the guy, he was mostly flying, and this had been mostly for shits and giggles. It was funny, the way he scrambled with that ridiculous toy gun. The way he went down after only getting one shot off.

All of these Scars were just so ridiculous.

He felt something around him. Something between a spirit and a person. Heavy arms began to pull him to the ground. He saw an aura, that damn kid's aura, and then he felt a lot of sunlight vanishing…oh. They were going to crush him. Too slow.

Much too slow.

"Trying to pin me down is a waste of time." Said Shimazaki as he appeared right beside the kid. Something was thrown at him but it disintegrated the second it hit his barrier. Really. If it hadn't worked the first fifty times then why would it work now? This was getting boring. This whole fight was too boring, too predictable, and Shimazaki did not do boring.

There was a scream from behind him. He teleported away just as the sound of steel…felt like a piece of rebar…hit the concrete. Sakurai again. He decided to mess with the wannabe samurai again and teleported right on top of him again. He was on his hands and knees catching his breath. This made for a much easier standing position. He put a little more of his weight onto Sakurai just to make his point.

"Don't you understand? No matter what you try the outcome will always be the same." Said Shimazaki. He felt another qigong bolt headed his way. He dodged it easily….into an explosion of psychic power…

"He can predict our movements but that makes his own movements predictable! Just keep hitting him hard and fast!" said Teru. Shigeko had told him, once, why she always went second when they played Go. The secret was to be able to predict your opponent's movements, she had said. Well in doing that she had made her own movements predictable. The same went for this loser.

They just had to keep on hitting him hard and fast! Then they'd win!

"Keep hitting her hard and fast! She can't stay in her bubble forever!" shouted one of the red aura guys. There were a lot more of them now, and they were a lot stronger as a unit. Shigeko wanted to depower them all. Mob didn't want to go crazy.

They were fighting.

Their barrier cracked. No. They had to stay as a unit. They could not lose. They had this. They had to have this. If they started to fight themselves then that would be how they fell apart! They could not fall apart! They couldn't go crazy and they couldn't fall apart….

Mob didn't want to hurt anyone.

Shigeko did.

They were at an impasse. Mob had all that she could take and she could take no more. If she went looking for a fight, like she had before, then wouldn't that have made her just as bad as the people who were doing all of this? But Shigeko also had a point. She thought that since the only thing these people respected was power then they should show them just what they were capable of.

So they hid in their bubble while all of that happened below them.

Shigeko tried to push Mob aside. She tried to be in charge of them, in charge of their vessel. This was the thing, the lapse in concentration that those red aura guys needed to destroy her barrier. She went tumbling to the ground and landed on her side. She felt concrete and air against her thighs. Oh no! Her skirt! That was what she was worried about…and it was kind of funny…but she didn't know why she was laughing. At the absurdity of being more worried that her skirt had ridden up than the fact that she had just fallen a hundred meters to the ground.

She healed fast.

"Hey! We finally got her! The boss is going to be so happy!" cheered one of those red aura guys. Mob reached over and skimmed some power from them. The more she took the more went to Shigeko…she had her own ideas about what they should be doing…but she needed enough to heal herself from the fall…

She suddenly felt gross all over. A magenta mist, that was the proper name for this color, covered her and everyone else. Yuck. It felt like she was rolling around in sour vomit. Smelled like it too. She got up and pulled her school shirt, she maybe should have changed at some point before all of this happened, up over her nose even though it didn't help.

She could feel, see, taste, and smell this with her aura.

"You look like you could use a little help." Came a voice from the mist. Mob knew that voice. She turned so fast her skirt fanned out around her and her hair hit her in the face.

"Evil spirit user guy!" said Mob. She, immediately, felt bad about not knowing his name. She should have known his name, especially after he had been so nice as to keep Mogami prisoner for her…

Mogami.

No.

"I don't think that we've been properly introduced. I'm Matsuo and these….are my pets!" shrieked Matsuo as he opened up several of the spirit jars he held between his fingers. He should have come to the city earlier. The roads were cut off and so were the train lines going into the city. He really should have just gone with the others….

He made it in time, that was what mattered.

Though his welcome was not very warm.

"Hi." Said Mob simply. Ok, she knew his name…but why was he there?! He should have been watching over Mogami morning, noon, and night! Mogami was dangerous! He was the most evil, most terrible, spirit that Mob had ever encountered in her life! And Matsuo was just **there!** Like Mogami didn't need to be **watched!**

Well then.

"It's Matsuo! The spirit master with the annoying voice! He's going to launch a monster assault on us!" screamed several of the awakened soldiers as they were caught up in said monster assault. Minegishi held his ground. He couldn't exorcise spirits, that was not in his power set, but he could still….how did it go? Right. His plants were imbued with psychic energy so they should have been able to do some damage…

Her allies were starting to show up. That was not good.

"Wait! Don't let him go!" shouted Mob. Was there some way that Matsuo had managed to control Mogami? That was still awful! Nobody, not even these jerks, deserved to go through what she had gone through. She wouldn't wish that one her worst enemies…

"What?" asked Matsuo as his pets wreaked havoc. He thanked whatever God was out there that it was just Minegishi. He was the weakest member of the Ultimate Five. He could control plants and use them to suck the life out of people but not much else. His pets should have made short work of him-

The ground erupted in thorns.

Or not.

"You shouldn't underestimate me." Said Minegishi before he sent a thorny stem right at Matsuo. He may not have had an extensive power set but he knew how to work with what he had. That was the difference between a Scar and a member of the Ultimate Five.

"Matsuo!" shouted Mob. That looked like it hurt. One was headed her way but she made it explode. The next one, however, managed to clip her as she tried to make her way to him. She could heal others and she would heal others because that looked like it could have done some real damage and not only had he changed, he was a good guy now, but he was also the only person who could contain Mogami!

"Look out!" said Matsuo before she was hit again. Then he was hit again. This was…this hurt. Those soldiers, the awakened, had gotten to him now. They were hitting him with pure energy. Her, too, the girl. The one who had defeated the entire 7th Division. He hadn't expected her to be taken down so easily. She had managed to expel the thing he kept in the poison jar…

Which had just fallen out of his pocket!

"Heh. What the hell is this? Talk about bad taste…" said one of the soldiers as he held the jar between two fingers and scrunched up his nose at it.

"No! Put that down! Even I can't control that one! DON'T TOUCH IT!" shouted Matsuo. If there was an ultimate, pure, uncorrupted form of evil then surely Mogami would have been it. Matsuo had been able to hold him but just barely. Even in his weakened state he would not submit to Matsuo's will…no…he even attempted to impose his own will upon Matsuo….

And now it was free.

"What the hell are you going on about, dumbass!? With Minegishi on our side we can't lose!" laughed the soldier before he smashed the poison jar on the ground….and then he went down right after it.

"No…" whispered Matsuo. He locked eyes with the girl. He had never known her to be expressive, but then again he barely knew her, but he knew absolute terror when he saw it.

"Mogami…." Whispered Mob. She felt…she felt like someone was trying to suck her insides out through her belly button with one of those thin straws they gave you to stir coffee with. She was dizzy. She was nauseous. She was….her vision was swimming.

"What happened? Why is everyone-" said one of those red aura guys before he fell to the ground. His aura went out and he stopped moving. He hadn't been depowered, though, because people tended to move and, well, breathe afterwards…

That man was dead.

All of those men were dead.

Mob didn't think. She used her powers to move faster than she ever had before until she was at Matsuo's side. She took his hand in his and gave him as much of her energy as she could spare. He may have started out as a bad guy, and his voice may have been annoying, but he had changed and he had done his best to keep Mogami contained.

She didn't want to watch anyone else die.

"What are you doing?" asked Matsuo. He felt both energized and exhausted, like the time he had stayed up for the entirety of finals week on nothing but energy drinks and tea. He could see the girl's aura covering his. She still looked terrified…

"I'm giving you some of my energy so you don't die!" said Mob. She had her back to Mogami. It didn't matter. She could still feel him. She could still…he was there….he was there in the world…in this reality…he was in this reality…what was reality….what was anything….what was she…who was she…what was she…who was she…

"I appreciate this, I really do, but you're breaking my hand!" said Matsuo. She was stronger than any little girl had any right to be. She didn't seem to hear him. Her aura…it was turning…blue? There had always been blue in her aura but he had never heard of someone's aura just…changing….like that….

Who was she?

What was she?

"Wh-what's happening?!" asked Minegishi. That was…he knew what it looked like when people had the life sucked out of them….an evil spirit was doing that?!

"You need to run away right now!" said Mob. That was the last thing she could say before he was fully gone. Sunk backwards into her own mind. She didn't…she couldn't….she just wasn't strong enough to stop him...again…

"First you trap me in the poison jar and now you want me to devour espers? You're such lowly creatures." Said Mogami as he made a meal of the espers around him. The ones he could. He was still so weak from Shigeko and Mob….from his disciple….and she truly had become his disciple. She knew what it was to be alive in the world and she had chosen to end it all. What a brilliant student he had.

Where was she?

There she was.

One of them, anyway.

**Shigeko! We need to run away! We can't do this! We can't stop him! We tried! We ended the whole world and IT DIDN'T WORK!**

"Shut up." Said Shigeko to the voice in her head. She could have stopped Mogami if Mob hadn't been holding her back. Mob always held her back. Mob had always and would always hold her back. But not anymore. Mob wasn't in control. She was.

Shigeko was.

"What the hell is that thing?!" shouted Minegishi. He had seen spirits before, he had been seeing spirits for his entire life, but he had never even imagined that something like that could exist. He didn't think, he just attacked. He sent thorny vines after it, so many vines, but they had no effect whatsoever!

He felt his control slipping.

The girl?

No. The spirit.

"My plants! They aren't listening to me! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" shouted Minegishi. Not only were his plants not listening that…thing was…it was using him as a conduit to get more…and it was assimilating them…his plants…

He felt faint.

Something grabbed him. He was pulled up into the storm of vines as it converged on a central point. The spirit was…it was trying to make its self corporeal!? What in the ever loving-?! This was not possible! He was Minegishi! He was an esper! He was a member of the Ultimate Five! How could this have been happening to him of all people!?

**Shigeko! We need to stop him! We need to stop Mogami before he kills that guy! He's already killed so many people!**

_I know. I don't care about him. Dimple is keeping Master Reigen safe but he's no match for Mogami. We need to go to him. He's squishy._

**We can't pick and choose who we save! We have to save everyone! That's why we have these powers! We have them so we can save people!**

_No. That's what you think. We need to save ourselves and the people we love. You want to save everyone and in trying to save everyone you end up saving no one._

**That's not true! We need to save him! We need to save everyone! We do save people!**

_You were so busy thinking up ways not to hurt anyone, or give me enough strength to take over, that all of those espers died. They died because you wouldn't beat them and move on. That is your fault. What happened is your fault. Everything that happens is your fault. _

**That's not true!**

_Isn't it? You were the one who didn't want to break Asagiri. You were the one who let us get captured. You were the one who let us get held prisoner. You were the one who let Mogami get to us._

**No. That wasn't my fault.**

_It was. You let Mogami hurt us. I would have broken Asagiri and the whole world long before you did. I wouldn't have let any of those things happen to us. You know that. You are always holding us back. You held us back then and you're going to hold us back now._

**I have to! I have to because you're going to let that man die! **

_He is our enemy!_

**THAT DOESN'T MATTER!**

_YES IT DOES!_

There was an explosion of white. When they came to they felt absolutely disgusting.

Because Mogami was holding onto them. His body was made of plants, slithering vines, and he held them bound in the air. They struggled to get free but they couldn't override his death grip over the plants. Across from them they could see the other man, Minegishi, looking so scared….his aura was so scared…

"Mob. Shigeko. How nice it is to see you too again." said Mogami

"Fuck off!" screamed Mob/Shigeko. Mob knew that they weren't supposed to say things like that. Shigeko just didn't care. This was Mogami. There was no sense in being polite or nice to him. He was evil. He was pure evil.

"Is that any way to greet your master, students? Now let's try that again. 'Hello Master, so nice to see you again'." said Mogami

"Stop this! Stop it now!" screamed Mob/Shigeko as they struggled to wiggle free of the vines. That just made them squeeze harder. They had to get away to save themselves. They had to get away to save Master Reigen. They had to get away to save that poor scared man there…

No they didn't.

Yes they did.

"Oh? And why would I want to go and do a thing like that? I've been watching and none of these insects deserve to live. Some people never change no matter how many chances you give them. Not like you, student, no. You've changed nicely. You both have. I knew that you'd see it my way if I just applied enough…pressure." Said Mogami. At the word 'pressure' he pressed down on them. Minegishi, too, it seemed. Mob tried to reach out with her powers, to free him, but Shigeko held them back.

"People don't change-" said Shigeko

"But they still might be able to! If you promise that you won't ever do anything bad ever again for the rest of your life then…then maybe I'll be able to save you! People change! They have to!" said Mob fighting control away from Shigeko for just a moment.

"I-I promise I won't! I swear on my life that I will never do anything bad again! ! Just spare me, please!" gasped out Minegishi. He could feel it, the spirit was draining him, and using him to…he was going to die. He felt the roots burrowing under his skin. He was going to die there. This was the day that he died.

He hadn't led much of a life at all.

And now he was going to die. Ironically it was the same way he had helped so many others meet their end.

"See! Shigeko! Please!" said Mob. She had control again. She could feel Shigeko beginning to let go. That was good. They needed to be this thing together. That was how they had beaten Mogami before, back in the unreality, by being this thing together.

"Are you really going to personally watch over every single person in the world who claims to have changed to see if they've actually reformed? Can you really keep that up for the rest of your lives?" asked Mogami. Mob could feel her control slipping. No! Mogami was full of lies.

_**Mogami was full of lies.**_

_**Mogami was full of lies.**_

_**Mogami was full of lies.**_

_**Mogami was full of lies.**_

"You're a liar." Said Mob/Shigeko. They couldn't forget it, the truth, the truth about Mogami. He was trying to divide them…and they had been about to divide themselves. They were this thing together whether they liked it or not. They had to be this thing together.

"Am I, student? Tell me, do you think that people really change? Did Minori?" asked Mogami

"Shut your mouth!" said Mob/Shigeko. She broke through the vines binding their hands to their sides to their sides with a burst of white energy and covered their ears. They tried to thrash with their legs but they were still securely bound.

"And why would I do something like that, student? When I'm so clearly correct. You know it. Part of you knows it. You know it to be true, Shigeko. You were always such a good student." Said Mogami. Mob felt her control slip again. No. Shigeko couldn't…she couldn't agree with Mogami. They were this thing together. If part of the agreed with Mogami…if part of them had changed for the worse…

No.

"I am not your student! You are not my master! I told you already, I have…we already have a master! The Greatest Psychic of the Twenty First Century! Reigen Arataka! And he's a thousand times the master that you will ever be! Sometimes people change and sometimes they don't! The important thing is that they try! If he…if he wants to try then he's worth saving!" said Shigeko. She could feel Mob calming down within them. She took her place at Shigeko's side…or maybe Shigeko took her place at Mob's side.

They were this thing together. That was what mattered.

They were stronger when they were together than when they were apart. They needed each other. People needed other people. There were so many people in their life that they needed and who needed them. That was why Mogami was full of lies. He had no faith in anyone but himself. That was what he had been trying to do, remake them in his own image. That made him weak. People needed other people. People were stronger, not weaker, from their bonds with others.

If people couldn't be with one another then they would never go anywhere.

"I would expect nothing less from you two." Said Mogami. He laughed, then, well he sounded like he was laughing it wasn't like there was anything happening to laugh about. Mob didn't think that there was, anyway. This was not funny. She was trapped. She was trapped and that man was trapped and Mogami had them at his mercy just like in the unreality-

But this was not the unreality.

This was reality.

And in this reality Mob and Shigeko were together. They had their powers and they had each other. Mogami had no power there. He was powerful but he could not remake reality to suit his needs.

"You still need to learn. You're such a silly little girl, the both of you. You both still believe in the power of love and kindness. You'll learn. Sometimes you have to be hard on people!" said Mogami. Mob could feel it, then, and so could Shigeko. They were being drained. They were being eaten. They did…this was what they did to people!?

This was what they did to people.

They could also do this to spirits. They had tried, before, Dimple had tried to teach them how…it had been so gross…but they had to try. He had been hard on them so they could learn. They had to learn how to do it in case they were ever…ever caught by Mogami again.

They ate him.

It was disgusting.

"What are you doing!? Shigeko?!" screamed Mogami. His voice hurt their aura. He hurt their aura. This was so gross! Gross and painful! It was like drinking chunky milk that he been on the counter all day mixed with chopped up cilantro out of an old soda cup that had been used as an ashtray! This was the worst…the absolute worst!

But it was something that they had to do.

They had to save the man. They had to save him because he said that he was going to change. They had to save him because they did not get to pick and choose who was worth saving. They had to save him because that was what they did. Together they were Mob. Together they were Shigeko. Together. They were this thing together.

And they were motion sick together.

Mogami left. He ran away. They tried to follow him but they couldn't. They couldn't even focus long enough to stop themselves from falling to the ground when Mogami left that tangled mess of plants he had called a body. They fell to the ground on their hands and knees. Their knees scraped, their palms broke open, and their stomach churned.

They were motion sick.

Not in the usual way. It was the black stuff again. The energy they had stolen from Mogami hadn't actually gone to their stomach, they just threw up because that was the closest way their brain had to translate what they were feeling. They didn't want to take this energy and make it theirs, look at what it had done to Mogami, so out it went.

"A-Are you…ok?" asked Minegishi. He had barely had the strength to catch himself as he fell. He owed that girl. She had…she had saved him from that thing…..but it made no sense. They were enemies! Had she been Suzuki she would have left him to die if not just outright killed him-

This was not Suzuki.

This was….Shigeko. That thing had called her Shigeko. Shigeko. That girl was Shigeko.

"I'm fine, just a little sick. That was so gross….you wouldn't believe me if I told you how gross it was." Said Mob as she got up and wiped her mouth. She used her powers to pull little stones from her palms as she eyed the man wearily. Was he lying, back there, or was he serious?

A plant sprouted from the ground beside him.

Mob braced herself for another fight but, to her surprise, he broke off the end of the plant and squeezed some goo from inside of it.

"This is aloe….for your cuts." Said Minegishi. She needed his help and he needed to…to test her. She could have so easily been another Suzuki. He wasn't always cruel, he could be kind, and that was how he had gotten Serizawa. Minegishi would not be anyone's Serizawa…he just wouldn't….so he had to see how she…was…

She offered him her hands.

"Thanks. I heal pretty fast, usually, but this really hurts….and also I just ate a ghost. I don't know what that'll do to me. Are you ok? I mean did Mogami….did he do anything to you?" asked Mob. Shigeko was quiet again. She was tired. They were both kind of tired….but rest could come later. They were taking a break now, it seemed. They needed to know more about this man. He seemed nice but…but he had been a bad guy before…

People could change.

"If you're referring to the crack I made earlier, no….and I'm sorry I said that to you. I shouldn't have said that to someone your age…or to anyone at all…" said Minegishi as he spread some aloe over the girl's split palms. It looked like she was even trying to heal. He healed fast but not that fast…

"I don't know what you mean but I accept your apology. I just meant…you know what year it is, right?" asked Mob. That stuff felt nice. She didn't know that you could get aloe right from a plant, she just thought that it was an ingredient in sunburn lotion.

"2019." Said Minegishi. Was she trying to see if he was stupid or concussed? Well he was neither…and he needed to hold his tongue for once in his life because he owed this girl his life. It would do no good to piss her off. She ate a fucking ghost for him-

Which he hadn't even thought was possible.

"Ok. And you know who you are, right?" asked Mob

"Minegishi Toshiki." Said Minegishi as he started on her other hand. He wiped the blood away with his sleeve. This hand was almost totally healed….

"Ok. I wasn't trying to pry or anything. Mogami…he likes to mess with your head. He does bad things and I just….I wouldn't wish what he did to me on anyone…and I'm glad that you're ok. I'm glad….and I'm glad that you want to change. You do want to change…right?" asked Mob. There was no tone there, none at all, but the absence of a tone could be taken the same way as there being a tone…

To Minegishi she sounded just like Suzuki then.

Regardless of whether or not she was anything like Suzuki he still owed her his life.

"I will." Said Minegishi. He didn't have any real allegiance to Suzuki. He just wanted to live, that was all, and it looked like her side would be the one that lived. It looked like she might have been able to actually do it, to knock Suzuki from the top of the world.

Good.

"Good. In that case you should really run away. There's a lot of bad people around here and it's really dangerous-" said Mob before she felt it. An aura. She felt him and she turned towards him.

"Dimple! Stop it! You can't stop me from-" said Reigen. He stopped the minute he saw Mob. His aura bonded with hers. He was…he didn't know what he felt. Relief. Dread. Fear. Joy. Sick to his stomach….

Were those **DEAD BODIES!?**

"Mob! Get over here! And don't look!" said Reigen. No. Mob…she did not need to see that. He didn't know what had gone down there but if there were bodies….and a person that he did not know…and Mob was just standing there like it was nothing….

"Master! It's ok, he's on our side now! I saved him from Mogami and-" said Mob. She followed Master Reigen's eyes downwards. Right. Dead people. She had seen plenty of dead people in her time on this Earth but she had never actually seen anyone die before. Now she had. It had been horrible…but now those people had passed on. She didn't know what was on the other side, not even Dimple knew, but she assumed that it was something good…right? She didn't know.

But she hoped that it was something good.

"Mob! I said come here!" said Reigen. She wasn't listening to him….of course she wasn't.

"But Master, I'm fine. Really." Said Mob

"Mob He would never be able to unsee this. Mob surrounded by dead bodies. Mob just standing there like it was normal…like she didn't even….she hadn't even been phased by that. She seemed….she was standing in a pool of black…something…and it was on the front of her school shirt, too…and it felt wrong there. Even Dimple was quiet. He was shaking a little. Why would he…wait…did she say….

"I have to go now, Minegishi, but it was nice to meet you….and please run away from all of this as fast as you can." Said Mob. She took her hand from his and walked over to Master Reigen. She must not have been walking fast enough because he ran to her and took her up in his arms.

It felt nice.

She held him back.

But also she was scared…no….he was scared….

"Master, please don't be afraid of me. I didn't kill all of those people Mogami did. I saved Minegishi and Matsuo, he was the one who was keeping Mogami prisoner…and I think he ran away when things got bad….but I ate, or I tried to eat Mogami but he ran away and I threw up but I'm ok now." Said Mob, her voice muffled by Master Reigen's suit coat. She could feel his hands tracing up and down her back, she could feel the way he spine curved under her hands as he bent down to hold her, and she could feel the way his stubble scratched her face as she was held so close…

It was scratchy.

And now she was thinking thoughts that she knew were wrong to have in that moment. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about kissing him before, and it wasn't like those thoughts didn't creep up on her sometimes, but now did not seem like the time at all.

"I'm not afraid of you, Mob, never of you. I'm afraid for you. I'm afraid….I'm afraid of what could have happened to you." Said Reigen. He held her close but he didn't let his hands rest on her back. That was how it had been. His hand had found her lower back and pulled her closer when they…when she….

When Dimple.

Because it had been Dimple. It had been Dimple and that was the same as nothing having had happened at all so, really, he needed to come off of that because Mob did not need him freaking out about something that she couldn't even REMEMBER happening!

"Master, I'm fine. I've been through much worse than this." said Mob. She had meant to reassure him but instead that just made him hold her closer and tighter. Normally she would have loved this but normally she did not have to save the entire world. Dimple had filled her in on what she had missed. It wasn't just her friends and family who were in danger but the entire world.

She had this.

"Mob-" said Reigen. He was about to apologize to her again for everything that he had put her through. Everything that had been his fault. He had tried to but he didn't. He couldn't. Whatever he had been about to say had died in his throat the minute the ground started moving.

He broke apart from her and followed her gaze. Her range was better than his but he could see, clearly then, what it was that she was staring at. Auras. Not the monochrome red that he had been seeing since this whole thing started but a bunch of differently colored ones….including a very familiar gold…

"It looks like your friends found Shimazaki." Said Minegishi as he took in the sappy scene before him. He was not there to judge. God knew that he had enough in his past that he did not have any right to throw stones. They could do….whatever that was….and he wouldn't do more than gawk. Of course it had been harder and harder to hold his tongue the more they went on and on with 'that' so, really, he was grateful for whatever mess Shimazaki had gotten himself into.

And he wasn't at all concerned.

Shimazaki could handle himself.

"Stop trying to handle him yourself!" shouted Takeuchi as the boy, once again, tossed some rubble in the way of his super qigong bolts. Now that they had the upper hand the boy seemed to think that it was all about him.

"Stop being so slow! I said we need to hit him hard and fast so hit him hard and fast!" shouted Teru through the chaos. They just had to keep moving, that was all! So long as they kept moving then this guy would eventually get tired and slip up!

Or something.

"Get out of the way!" shouted Sakurai as he shot another curse towards Shimazaki. He wasn't trying to hit him, specifically, he was just trying to keep him busy…and not hit the kid. That damned kid. He moved fast and he was as overconfident as they came. He had been a worthy opponent, that kid, back on that night…and he was still something of a powerful esper…

But this kid, like most kids, was underfoot!

"I don't know why you even bother." Said Shimazaki as he kicked the gun out of Sakurai's hands. This was certainly interesting….maybe a little too interesting.

He teleported out of the way of a telekinetic punch…and into another telekinetic punch.

His barrier could only take so much. He hadn't been run around like this since he fought the President. It was both exciting and…aggravating. This whole thing was really becoming aggravating. Scars. They actually thought that they had a chance. If by some miracle they landed enough cheap shots to incapacitate him it still wouldn't make any difference.

There was no stopping Suzuki.

"Really, why not give up already? No matter what you do you can't change the outcome." Said Shimazaki as he teleported out of the way of another hit. He put some distance, now, between himself and them….and put himself closer to…whatever that was off in the distance….near Minegishi.

Minegishi could handle himself.

"You poor souls who the boss named Scars. Haven't any of you ever wondered about that, why he named you all Scars in the first place?" asked Shimazaki as he dodged another hit. This time from the kid. He could hit harder than anyone his age had any right to. He put his powers in it. Two of the others did, too. Then there were the ranged attacks.

He teleported again and got that gun away from Sakurai.

"It's because you lost. You lost and the boss marked you as damaged goods." Said Shimazaki as he got a shot off in the direction of the kid. He was mostly just going to the spaces without people. He had never fought a group this big before. It was so aggravating!

"You shouldn't even get scars in the first place, you know." Said Shimazaki as he hit Sakurai across the face with his own plastic gun. This thing was so heavily cursed it hurt everyone but it's user….well then. He tossed it to the side and dodged out of the way of Koyama. Those two had always been weirdly close. The entire 7th Division was like one big happy family.

Heh.

"You're a goddamned coward that doesn't have the guts to go up against the boss!" said Koyama as he tried to take a swing at Shimazaki. That guy moved fast…and he showed no signs of tiring! But that didn't matter! They were not going to lose! They couldn't! They had numbers on their side!

"Why are you pretending to be anything that what you are? Failures. You're all failures and you've been marked as such. Even in your most basic abilities as espers you're all failures." Said Shimazaki. He extended his barrier away from his body and blocked a flurry of attacks. The resulting combination of attacks sent out a sonic boom that made even him stagger just a bit.

He could feel the energy, too, through his barrier.

Maybe there was something to this whole 'team work' thing. Maybe this turn of events would lead to him seeing the error of his ways. Maybe now he would 'see' the light and join their side and then they'd all go and die together when they went off to fight the boss like the morons that they so obviously were.

"I mean really, isn't it obvious?" asked Shimazaki as his barrier was being pulled apart by a hoard of…ethereal clones…ah yes, there he was. He grabbed the original and drove him into the ground. He felt the energy behind him shift. Something heavy was coming.

Heaving things moved slowly. Morons.

Except for that. Something heavy and round hit him in the face. He could feel it again. More blood. He could smell it, too, and it was…he was not supposed to bleed his own blood. He was not supposed to get hurt. He was not supposed to lose.

He was not losing!

"He's losing!" said Ritsu. He had healed, enough, to join in the fight. He had to help. What was he supposed to do? He said that he'd come back when he healed. He was healed. He could breathe with only minimal pain.

Teru was glaring at him, though.

"You'd think so!" said Shimazaki. He needed to pay attention. There was too much happening at once…but he needed to pay more attention! He was not going to lose! Especially to a bunch of children! And Scars!

"The difference between even the most powerful scar and a member of the Ultimate Five is like night and day." Said Shimazaki as he teleported behind Terada and gave him a swift kick to the spine. He just had to keep moving and pick them off, that was the trick. Yes. He could handle this.

"I'm saying this for your own good. You should just give up." Said Shimazaki. He heard them again, gunshots, and he could feel the curses sticking to his barrier.

"But that manhole cover had to hurt, right?" asked Sakurai as he pulled himself to his feet. The bruise was still visible. The cut had mostly healed, it looked like, but he had still taken some damage….which proved that he could be hurt.

"Ritsu! You're a genius! A stupid, idiotically overconfident genius! It's not enough to just overwhelm him! He can't block attacks that he can't see! Try and take him by surprise!" said Teru. Yes! They had been spinning their wheels in circles, he was not ashamed to admit that now, but now they had an actual plan that might actually work!

"Seriously?" asked Shimazaki before he teleported out of that kid's range. He just needed a mint. This was…going south. Also he was in pain which he was not used to. The world was just too…much…right then….and it was all because of that damned kid!

"He ran away?" asked Ritsu. He couldn't feel that guy…but his range wasn't that great. Teru shrugged. Ritsu could feel his aura. He was looking for the other guy….

"I sincerely doubt it…also what did I say? What did we agree on?" Said Teru. This was…this had been a day. He wasn't feverish anymore so…yay? Ritsu seemed to have healed up, too, and that was….good. This whole thing was good! He had this! They all had this!

"I said that I'd stay put until I healed. Here I am. Healed." Said Ritsu. He was ready. Everyone was ready. Where was that guy? They had to end this.

"You still look like shit." Said Teru as he put a barrier around himself and Ritsu. That guy wouldn't have just…run away…right? This was not turning into a chase sequence! They had been fighting for he didn't even know how long! They were not chasing after this guy too!

"You don't look much better." Said Ritsu. He looked around for the guy but was….distracted. Off in the distance there was something….wrong. Something gross. Something inky and black and just…wrong.

"What the hell is that?" muttered Teru. His barrier wavered as he couldn't help but focus on…whatever that thing was. Evil. It was evil. It was like someone had taken evil and contracted it into…whatever that was….

"This? This is nothing?" came a voice from right behind him. Teru hadn't sensed him until they were pressed back to chest. He tried to turn, tried to lash out, but couldn't. The last thing he heard was his name being called….then the ground fell away beneath him.

Then it was there again.

And his head was slammed through a car window.

Then into a brick wall.

Then through a plaster wall.

And then the ground was gone once again. A cold wind whipped right through his clothes like they were made of rice paper. The air was thin, it was hard to breathe, and his head swam. There was blood in his eyes. He fought to wipe the blood off…fought to get free….

And then he was dropped.

Stop it Teruki. You're stronger than this! You can do this! It's just a couple bumps on the head! You've been through worse! This is for Shigeko! You can't lose! You need to get through this so you can see her again! She's the reason you're doing this! She's the only reason you do anything! You need to get back to her! BEFORE REIGEN!

He caught himself and held his barrier close. He was glowing now, his aura was visible. If he had been in his right state of mind he could have enjoyed the view. But he couldn't. Even if he could see everything from up there, even the curvature of the Earth….even the moon, almost….

He had a fight to win.

"Just stay down! You little bastard!" yelled Shimazaki as he sent Teru flying back down to Earth. Midway to the ground he kicked the kid in ribs to redirect him through a building. How in the hell was he still breathing!?

"No. I figured it out, finally, how you can take so many hits. You just hold you barrier really close, don't you? Can you even heal?" laughed Teru as he got his bearings. He had felt that and it had hurt…but he wasn't going to let on about that. He hadn't died, that was what mattered the most. He was still alive and he could go back to Shigeko-

And he was flying again.

But his barrier did not waver. The power of positive thinking and all of that. It was like she gave him strength even though she was so far away….or not…if that was her aura. Either way she gave him the strength to fight. The strength to end this. This was for her. He did it for her and he would do it again and again and again. Anything to keep her from having to go through this. Anything to show her that he could protect her. Him. Not Reigen.

He managed to break free from Shimazaki once but not twice. He was being held by his hair kilometers above the ground. It wasn't scary, he told himself, he and Ritsu had gone higher when they flew together….and Ritsu had always been the one to give up first. Hell, he had survived Shigeko sending him into the **stratosphere. ** He could survive this easily.

He could.

"I've had enough of you, you arrogant little brat bastard! So you think you've got me all figured out, huh? You think you know all my tricks! Well then try this." said Shimazaki he let go of the kid and pinned him in place with as much power as he could gather. He wasn't telekinetic in the regular sense of the word. He could collect his energy and turn it into force….which was something that he never much cared for since it was so goddamned exhausting…

But it was worth it.

Even the President had been impressed with this.

"Teru! He's going to die!" shouted Ritsu as he ran as fast as he could. He used his powers to move faster. He even tried to fly…but that was hard right now! He was still too focused on healing! The ground beneath his feet began to crack and buckle. A building in front of him, one of the few mostly intact skyscrapers left, began to collapse in on itself.

"That boy…" muttered Takeuchi as he charged up another qigong bolt. It was like swatting flies. Shoot not at where the fly was but where it was going to be. Yes. There….

"Goddamn it." Muttered Shimazaki as his concentration was broken. The kid broke free and attempted to fly away. He grabbed the kid and tossed him through the building. It would still hurt the kid, if anything…

But then again there was no kill like overkill.

He made sure that the kid did not lose momentum. He smacked the kid left, right, and center. He felt the kid's ribs give under the force of a kick. His nose gushed blood at a punch. He had even stopped moving. He was still alive, his aura still shone and he was still breathing…though it was labored.

"Sorry about this, kid, but you should have stayed down." Said Shimazaki as he prepared to deliver the final blow to the side of the kid's head. He had been prepared to, he had almost made contact, when he felt his fist hit skin instead of hair and skull.

"Next you'll come from behind!" said Teru. He just needed a minute. He had figured it out, finally. He had every piece of how this guy worked. A lot of espers got stuck on their own powers and couldn't even think about adapting different techniques. Teru was not that sort of esper. He knew how to keep his barrier close, how to move so fast he couldn't even be seen, and how to see with his aura….better.

Round three!

"You know something, kid? You're many things…but never dull!" said Shimazaki. Blocked. Again and again. The kid was a fast learner…and an entertaining opponent….

"Thanks! I aim to please!" said Teru. He faked left but hit right. Finally! He was landing some blows! He had this! And this time he meant it!

"It might be convenient to be able to read your opponents moves but it makes yours pretty monotonous. You rely too much on your powers." Said Teru as he lit the air around him on fire. He always came up from behind…and there he as. Teru slipped out from his grip. He felt…something…from the Cultural Tower behind him…

Crap!

Keep your head in the game!

"Well now this is surprising. You know aside from the boss I rank as the world's best-" said Shimazaki. Distraction went both ways. The kid had finally caught wind of whatever was happening with the boss and his son. It was loud, all of that, and the kid may have thought that he had it all figured out but he was still just an arrogant little brat! He couldn't even tune out the world, yet, and there he was trying to see with his aura….

And now he was laughing?!

"Seriously? You think that you're the best in the whole world? Please. There are people in this world with powers that you can't even imagine. I know someone who could kick your ass without even **trying**. You're lucky, pretty damn lucky, that she's a lady and she abhors violence. She wouldn't even need to go all out for you. The best in the world? Please. Compared to her you're just an ordinary man. Even I could defeat you." Said Teru holding what would have been eye contact had that guy even had any eyes.

"You-" said Shimazaki before he was hit in the head, once again, by something heavy and circular. How boring. If they were going to get the drop on him then they could at least use a different projectile!

"Come on! Teru was right! When he's distracted!" shouted Ritsu. Manhole covers made great projectiles. Something about the shape or the weight or some other stuff he had learned about in school. He decided not to question it. They had the upper hand against this guy. He feels…he feels good. He feels like Sho might have been right about him…

Sho.

He wasn't back yet. Ritsu decided to let the others take this for a moment. His range was pretty shitty but he could still try to focus….he saw….red. Two different shades of red. One was…dull. Duller than it should have been. That didn't seem like it should have been…it seemed wrong. This whole thing was wrong. He needed….he needed….

He needed to help.

"Ritsu! You know that thing I said I was going to do….it might actually happen! You're a genius!" shouted Teru. He could kiss Ritsu if he weren't in a committed relationship….and also not completely not attracted to him in any way….

It was still a nice sentiment…it would make whatever Ritsu was going through worse but it was a nice sentiment….

But no time to dwell on Ritsu's big gay crisis now. He had a fight to win.

Teru helped the others toss Shimazaki around. He didn't seem to like it very much….good. Maybe this would knock some sense into this jackass! He was on the wrong side! He was going to lose! He was hurt, getting even more hurt, and for a moment Teru worried that they were actually going to kill the guy…he didn't have that in him. He had done a lot of terrible shit in him time but killing people was not on his list of crimes.

Nor would it ever be.

Unless he couldn't help it. But he could help it and he was going to….but he seemed like he was getting really hurt…but that was the point! The point was to inflict pain! Not to kill but to seriously injure! That guy was an esper, he could take a beating, and anyway he sure could dish on out. Don't dish out what you can't take, asshole! Yeah! There was nothing wrong with this!

It felt wrong.

Shigeko would not have been proud of him. He hadn't been lying, she really was a lady and she abhorred violence. She would have rushed up to that man….oh God he'd stopped moving…and she would have healed him and made him promise that he would never do anything bad again or something like that. She would have….she would have never been a part of this….and she wasn't a part of this. She still was, though, because she was a part of him. She made him work for what he was…and this was what not what he was supposed to be…but he was protecting her!

"Is he…down?" called out Ritsu. Teru knew what he meant. The guy…he wasn't moving…but his aura still shone. That was good. He had never seen a dead person with a living person's aura….but he hadn't seen a lot of shit in his life…

"He's down!" said Teru. He was weary to approach….and so was everyone else it seemed. That guy was just…laying there….

And then he wasn't.

Shimazaki was done laying around. He just needed to concentrate. He needed to filter out everything that wasn't these espers. He just needed to get back on his feet and end this. This had gone on long enough. This wasn't fun, it wasn't interesting, and it had gone well past the point of being aggravating!

Concentrate. Concentrate and you'll be able to figure everything out. Everyone here is an esper. Filter everything else out. Concentrate….concentrate….concentrate….

Mind's eye!

Suddenly everything became that much clearer. He saw it all, now, all of it. He acted accordingly. He delivered his blows so quickly that none of them had time to react. Down. They all went down. He could see….more of them. Far….not very far. Kids. The rest of the kids. He was so tired of these fucking kids!

He grabbed the leader by the hair and pulled him close. The others were down. He knew how to knock a person out with minimal chance of anything bad happening, like death, and now that he had gotten his chance he had taken it. He couldn't believe that he had almost lost to a bunch of scars! The kids…the Scars…all of this shit! Too much!

"It's over, kid. Nothing you can do will ever hurt me again." said Shimazaki. He faced the kid, his eyes were opened, and his powers found their focal point where his pupils would have been if he'd been born with any.

"Shu-shut up!" gasped out Teru. He held his head. It hurt…but he would be fine….it was just a concussion…he was fine. He was seeing double but he was fine. His legs kept on trying to buckle under him. He was fine. The fingers on his left hand couldn't close all the way. He was fine. He had not been beaten! He was Hanazawa Teruki! He would not go down that easily!

"I can see it all, now. Your pain, your weakness, injuries that you aren't even aware of…the fact that you can barely see. I can see through everything now." Said Shimazaki. He spat some blood. He was in pain. He had his own wounds to lick…and he would do so once he had put this arrogant little brat in his place!

"Y-You don't know shit!" gasped out Teru. He could stand. He could see. He could fight! He was not down! He would never go down! He could not fail!

"I know that if you have any last regrets I'd make my peace with them now." Said Shimazaki. The kid was dead on his feet. This was over. The others weren't much better. It was over…and the kid still wouldn't go down! He grabbed the kid by the head and prepared to make the finishing blow when he felt….something.

It was loud. He had never felt anything that loud in his life…not since he fought the President….but there it was. He was seeing with his mind's eye…and it was blind. That thing was so loud he couldn't see a thing. He dropped the kid. He needed to run away….to make a strategic retreat….yes….because he was not up to fighting whatever that thing was!

It wasn't human.

It was loud.

It hurt.

It made him want to throw up.

He was going to throw up.

That was…was….was….

"What's the matter?" asked Teru as he fell to his knees. It hurt but he couldn't even be bothered to care. Shigeko. He was…he was a lot of things. He was supposed to keep her safe but…but he also needed her. He needed her then because he was….he did not have this. He was in over his head with this guy. It didn't matter. She liked him humble.

She made him work for what he was.

And what he was, what she wanted him to be, was a humble man. For her he could be that man.

"Something with tremendous energy is heading this way…" said Shimazaki. It was coming….he could finish what he was doing….he could run away….he could face the boss' wrath because he had not only lost to these Scars and their allies but he had also let the girl, and that must have been the girl, get away….

He had no clue what he was supposed to do. It was coming. It wasn't…it wasn't human and it was coming…from the same direction that Miniegishi had been in. Toshi….oh God, Toshi! Shimazaki needed to…he didn't even know! He didn't even know what, exactly, that thing that apparently looked like a girl was!

"Oh, that? That would be my girlfriend." Said Teru with a smirk. He smirked as only he could smirk. There was no honor in letting your woman fight for you…but there was also no honor in dying like an idiot when he could have lived. Shigeko shouldn't have been there but…but there she was. She hated violence…and she might have even hated….but she never could no matter what he did…

He decided to just be happy to see her.


	65. You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

"I finally made it here! Claw's finished, dad! It's over!" said Sho. He could do this. He had to do this. He could see the whole city from the windows of the tower thing and he knew what was going on. A lot of fighting. A lot of bad stuff. He could see it, there, Ritsu's sister's weird two colored aura. She was down there.

He needed to finish this before she did.

Ritsu would have never forgiven him if he let her fight and also she could have killed dad or something. Sho may not have liked his father, he may have thought that his father was completely out of his mind, and he may never have forgiven his father for what happened with mom but he didn't want him dead.

Just seriously injured.

"Sho, there must be a better way of handling this." said Suzuki as his son stood before him completely assured of his victory. What was wrong with that child? Suzuki had never once understood the boy. Didn't he understand? This was the rightful order of things and there was no point in opposing him. He would have had better luck trying to get the Earth to stop turning than he had trying to stop his father from taking his place as the rightful ruler of the Earth.

Sho was such a failure.

"What? So now you care? Now you want to act like a father? You've never given a damn about a single thing I did or said!" said Sho. Sho could see Serizawa on the other side of the room shaking his head no. He couldn't tell if he was trying to tell Sho to shut up and knock it off or if he was finally telling dad that it was wrong to beat up his own son.

He was probably telling Sho to shut up.

Serizawa was, in fact, trying to get Sho to shut up.

"Please Sho…stop this…" muttered Serizawa as he clutched him umbrella between both hands. Sho was going to get himself killed. Serizawa could see the President's aura. He didn't get upset, not like regular people did, but his aura did get upset and right then and there he looked like he was about to put Sho in the ground. Why was Sho doing this? Sure they had knocked down a few buildings, hurt some people, caused mass panicked, kidnapped the prime minister….well he still shouldn't have been going against the President like that!

The President was a good man even if he didn't always show it.

Sho knew that his dad was a bad man and he knew that he should have put a stop to this before dad started showing his true colors.

"This really would have worked better if you'd had it planned." Said Suzuki. He couldn't be beaten in a one on one confrontation, especially by a child. He had fought nearly every single member of the upper echelon, he could not be beaten, but he could have been taken by surprise. If Sho wanted him dead then he should have done some degree of planning. He may have been able to heal quickly from physical damage but he did get sick. That was also the reason he never imbibed any substances, not even the weakest of alcohols. Sho's best bets would have been poisoning or illness, not this.

Sho couldn't even plan a murder properly.

"What the hell are you talking about?! I have you cornered! It's over!" shouted Sho. His aura was lashing out. Red, light red, as opposed to dad's dark red. He needed to keep it together. Dad called it awakening, when he got so mad that he exploded, but Sho just called it losing control. Sho was not going to lose control. He had to stop dad. He had to do it for all of the people out there who didn't deserve what dad would do to them. He had to do it for all of those animals out there with nobody to take care of them because of what dad had done. He had to do it for all of his allies, the guys who he had dragged into this, the ones who were counting on him to win. He had to do it for all of his new friends even though he didn't even know those guys that well. He had to do it for Ritsu who was out there probably fighting for his life…and who Sho had promised to come back to.

He was going to make it out of this alive and he was going to make it back to Ritsu and then they could hang out and do friends stuff and just have fun.

"You should have attacked whilst playing the part of the dutiful son. You had so many opportunities to poison me or contract some illness and make sure it passed on to me. You did not. Instead you planned this little rebellion of yours, a rebellion which has no hope of achieving anything at all." Said Suzuki

"No hope!?" shouted Sho

"It took me twenty years to get to this point." Said Suzuki

"So what?! Seeing all those years go down the drain serves you right!" said Sho. Dad was just trying to get him upset and make him lose control. He was not going to dissipate the energy that he had been storing up for all of these months. He had this. He had to do this!

"Sho, this is pointless." Said Suzuki. He couldn't remember being like this at Sho's age. Well to be fair his father had been a normal man and his mother a normal woman. They hadn't been able to control him since he had been little more than a toddler. Sho was no prodigy. Sho was nothing special, not really, compared to Suzuki himself. There would be hope for the next generation, maybe, since power seemed to be halved when reproducing with a normal human. There would be hope for his grandchildren.

That is unless he ended up prematurely ending his bloodline.

No. That would have been poor tactics.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm just as strong as the Ultimate Five and I'm going to be the one who takes you down! Now come on! Fight me like a man!" said Sho. No more talk. Dad wasn't going to realize that there was no hope and then surrender. Serizawa was off crying in a corner and Sho….Sho didn't want to fight him….but if he came to help dad then…then he would have to. He'd have to fight his first friend ever…and he'd have to beat him…

Sho tried to stop thinking about that. He tried to stop thinking about anything. He just threw himself at dad. Dad deserved to get beaten up by his own son! See if he liked it! Rage threw Sho at his father. This wasn't for the world, like he told himself, or even for all of the defenseless animals out there. No. This was thirteen years of pent up…he didn't even have a name for this feeling. He wanted to give dad just as good as he had been giving Sho all these years. Every punch and slap and broken bone and split lip and bruise and cut and contusion and whatever else had been given to him he wanted to give back to his dad a hundred fold! He had to!

This was what dad deserved.

He was about to unleash a torrent of pain upon his father then he hit his barrier. His invisible barrier. That made no sense. Sho was powerful enough to see any barrier, even Shimazaki's weird one, so why hadn't he been able to see dad's?! So that was it, the secret that he had been keeping from everyone? That he had a barrier that wouldn't shatter no matter how hard Sho hit it?

And he was hitting it hard.

His powers and his fists hit the side of dad's barrier but it would not go down. It wouldn't even ripple. Behind it Dad was just staring at him. He was staring at Sho like a person would stare at a germ under a microscope or the fuzzy stuff that grew on bread. Dad stared a lot, always with the staring, that goddamned staring!

Then he flicked a finger and Sho was flat on his back.

"Sho!" gasped out Serizawa. He knew that it was not his place to question the way the President raised his son. He knew that the President knew best. Sometimes desperate times called for desperate measures. Sometimes we had to do things that we thought were wrong for the greater good. The President knew what he was doing. They just had to trust him. It wasn't anyone's place to question the President. He was a good man.

The President was a good man.

"You underestimate me. Don't." said Suzuki. That should not have been so effortless. He wondered if there was any part of him at all within his son. Such poor tactics. Such poor emotional control. He couldn't even stay down. The best thing to do would have been to try and catch him off guard but of course Sho wasn't going to be doing the best thing. Sho was getting right back up again, presumably to try the same thing again, even though it made no sense.

"So that's your secret? You've got some kind of super strong barrier that activates whenever anyone gets near? That's what you've been hiding all of these years?" asked Sho as he picked himself up. No matter. Every barrier came down eventually. He just had to keep on hitting dad hard and fast. No barrier was impenetrable. Nobody could keep their barrier up forever.

"Really? Sho, you know that you can't break through this. Why even try?" asked Suzuki. His eyes tracked his son movements. He was trying to find a weak spot. He wasn't going to. He crashed against his barrier again and again and again. At every crash it became visible to the naked eye. Red. Tracks of yellow running through it.

"I can and I will!" shouted Sho as he slammed into his dad's barrier again. At every slam he could see his dad's aura. It was red…mostly. Sho had never noticed before, the tracks of yellow going through it, but then again he had never taken the time to really look at it. Sho's own aura was all one color, red, and he had only heard of one other person having a two colored aura…

"No, you can't." said Suzuki. Sho attempted to rush him from behind but a snap of his fingers and a burst of power sent his son crashing to the ground. There was a gasp and a whimper. Not Sho, thankfully, Suzuki would never have been able to abide by such weakness from his own son. That had been Serizawa. He was back there holding his umbrella practically in tears on Sho's behalf.

Honestly.

Sho had brought this on himself. Suzuki wasn't going to kill him, if he did then he would have to go through the trouble of making another, but he was going to punish him. This was…annoying. This was so annoying! What was WRONG with this child!? Wasn't it obvious?! Suzuki was a living God and there was no force on this Earth that could stop him! He was going to take his rightful place as ruler of this world and nobody, not even his own flesh and blood, had any hope of a prayer of stopping him! He was going to!

Exorcism of my emotion.

Suzuki took all of his strong emotions and cast them aside. Awakening would not suit his needs at this moment in time. He needed to have control. He could see her, out there, coming. Pink and blue, an ever changing aura in two colors. A threat. A nonthreat. A pacifist. She was strong but she was also weak, very weak, because she had concerned herself with the wellbeing of her allies. He had seen the surviving footage. He had what little intelligence could be gathered on her.

She was weak.

She would get along well with Sho.

Sho who he had pinned to the wall. It hardly took any effort, something which Suzuki found somewhat disappointing, though he had no idea why. Maybe because he had expected better of his own son. Maybe because Sho wasn't even close to being able to break out of that hold. He had Sho pinned to the wall, the sheer amount of power it took made the tower shake, but Sho still did not have even the smallest chance of getting out.

At Sho's age he had been able to do…everything.

And he had only gotten stronger. The techniques that he had mastered, then, when he was young were child's play compared to what he could do now. Like fire. Fire was easy. He wasn't trying to kill Sho, no, if he had been then Sho would have already been dead. He was trying to get the measure of the boy. He thought that this little rebellion of his had a prayer. Why? He must have had something up his sleeve. Suzuki is hopeful, for a moment, that Sho inherited more from him than his hair color.

Exorcism of my emotion.

He cannot allow himself to be hopeful. He feels neither highs nor lows. Having this much power was a burden at times. He needed to remain stable at all times lest he awaken and lose control. He didn't much care what happened to the others as people but he did not feel like spending the next twenty years gathering allies. ESP was not a common gift at all. It wasn't common and finding someone who could do more than some insignificant phenomenon was almost impossible. It had taken him over a decade just to gather his first few upper echelons followers. No. He cannot awaken. He must remain calm.

Sho dissipates the fire.

But the ice gets him.

In the moments between states, when the heat of the fire gave way to a sudden cold, Sho looked scarred. Frightened. He looked down, saw his breath, and was incased in ice. Not enough to kill the boy. He was made of hearty stuff, all espers were, and even if he did get hurt that was what Fukuda was for. Yes he'd let Fukuda live at least until he found another healer. A rare power, one that he did not possess. He could share his energy with others and that had some healing to it, along with pain, and the destabilization of the person if he kept it up for a while, but he could not heal others. He could heal himself and that was enough. People could be difficult to replace but nobody was irreplaceable. Not even his own son.

He just didn't want to make another one.

"Stop mocking me!" shouted Sho. There was some damage to his clothes but none to his person. Good. The boy could at least out up a decent barrier. He wasn't a total disappointment.

"These techniques are mere child's play. Sho, I would have expected better from you." Said Suzuki. The ice shattered with a burst of power. His son's power. Well the boy could at least save himself. Good. Suzuki was forty six, he could have more children, but that was more trouble than it was worth. A squalling infant, a screaming child, and impossible teenager…he did not want to deal with that. He could always leave the infant with a woman to raise but then the infant would take after her. Sho had only spent the first seven years of his life with Masami and even now he was…this. This smaller version of her. Her weakness, her caring, even the way she challenged him even though there was no point in it. There was no way she could have won and there was no way that their son was going to win.

He couldn't see Sho.

But he could see his aura.

"I thought you would have grown a little more than this." said Suzuki as his eyes tracked his son's aura. He was tenacious, that was for sure. Also he was invisible. Cute. So that was the trick he had up his sleeve? Well that was something that he hadn't imagined Sho as having had the patience to learn. Messing with the refraction of light took power, power enough to move light, and the patience to do so without destroying anything including himself.

"So? You learned how to mess with the refraction pattern of light? Is this what you've got up your sleeve?" asked Suzuki. Sho forced himself to calm down. He had this. He had to do this. Dad was trying to mess with him. Dad was treating him like he was seven and just learned something new and just wanted some praise, some love, and a hand on his head telling him that he was learning so much. That he was proud of Sho. That he loved Sho. That he was capable of loving someone or something other than himself. Well Sho was not seven years old anymore. He was thirteen and three quarters, he didn't need his dad to pat him on the head and tell him that he was making his father proud and that he was worth something and…and Sho was not going to think about this.

It was time.

Dad was not going to die.

"You really want to see what's up? Fine! Here's what I've got up my sleeve!" said Sho. He didn't waver. He didn't have any second thoughts. He had to do this. This was his responsibility. Nobody else even had a ghost of a chance of being able to stop dad but him….he had to do this.

He was ok with this.

Serizawa was not ok with this. The President said that he would handle Sho…and now they were fighting. Sho had fought back before, sometimes, but never like this. Serizawa had been pleading with him for years not to fight back, not to be bad, not to give the President any reason at all to prolong his punishment. Sho was so small and he could get so hurt…

And he was supposed to protect the President…

But he could never do anything to hurt. Sho was…Sho was his friend. He couldn't hurt his friend. He had hurt so many people over the years…he could not hurt Sho, too.

But Sho was over there getting hurt. The President was over there getting hurt. There were people out there getting hurt. Everyone was hurt and it wasn't going to stop happening and all he could do was stand there clutching his umbrella and shaking in his crocs like a coward.

Then the whole tower shook.

"Ha! I win! Justice prevails!" said Sho. He heard that, before, on TV. This was like TV so it fit. He won! He stopped dad and now everything was going to be ok! He could see himself, his aura, and he was glowing so brightly that he couldn't see anything else, not even Serizawa. Serizawa who had just stood by and watched. That was all he ever did! He always just stood by and watched as dad hurt people…hurt him! Serizawa always just stood there like a coward! Like Sho wasn't even someone worth-worth-worth-

A smack to the side of the face.

"A charge bomb? That's new. Tell me, how long did it take you to save up that much energy? It must have been months." Said Suzuki. So Sho had the capacity to plan ahead after all. Huh. Well what do you know? There might have been some hope for the boy yet. Suzuki had been able to do that at Sho's age, too, and it had come before the ability to share his power with others…so there was hope for Sho.

There was.

"Fuck you! That was three month's worth of energy!" shouted Sho. He stomped as he shouted and the tower shook, again.

"Sho. Not this again. You sound so juvenile-" said Suzuki

"Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you dad you mother fucking dick sucking asshole fucking bastard jerk off-" shouted Sho saying every single bad word that he could think of. No. No fucking way! He had not lost! He had!

"Sho! Stop it! You're going to…you're going to make it worse…" said Serizawa. He shouldn't have butted in. Now the President was looking at him. Sho was crying. He was crying and stomping his feet and slamming his fists against the wall and choking out curse words through his tears like they were actual curses and he was trying to curse his father rather than curse him out and Serizawa knew how the President felt about that and he knew that Sho was just pissing his father off and that meant more punishment and Sho already had so much punishment coming to him and-

"Serizawa. I am needed elsewhere. Deal with this." said Suzuki. He felt it. He saw it out of the corner of his eye and he felt it. There. She was close. She was close and others were following her. She was out there and she was coming. He couldn't afford to waste any more time on this distraction.

This was what Serizawa was for, anyway.

"S-Sir?" asked Serizawa. He had never been asked to hurt Sho before. He had been asked to hurt people, so many people, but never Sho…

Sho was looking at him. Sho was doing that thing where he cried but tried not to. He was looking at Serizawa like…like he was scared. Like he was scared and sad and-and-and lost and Serizawa didn't want to hurt him! Sho didn't need to be hurt! He was….he was just a kid…

"Deal with that. I have bigger fish to fry." Said Suzuki with a wave of his hand. He collected himself. He felt for her. He tried to get some read off of her. She was…he read her aura. She was trying to keep calm. She was close to awakening. Hmm….

"C-Come on….Sho. Let's get out of here and-" said Serizawa. He reached for Sho. He wasn't going to hurt him. Maybe he could just get away with carrying Sho away. They could find some place to calm down and then Sho could be able to think and see that his father was right about what he did and…and that everything was going to be ok.

"What? You're going to hit me too?" asked Sho. He spat as Serizawa as he got closer. Serizawa stopped walking. He knew how Sho was. This was Sho when he wanted to be left alone. This was the Sho that would hit his barrier until it broke and then maybe even hit him…though that rarely happened and Sho always apologized afterwards….

"No. You know that I would never hit you…I would never want to hit you…so come on. Please? Sho, you've done enough-" said Serizawa softly

"I haven't even begun to do enough!" shouted Sho. He tried to push past Serizawa but Serizawa put a barrier up between them and the President. Sho slammed into it but it held.

"Sho, please, before you make it worse." Said Serizawa. He needed Sho to calm down. He needed Sho to stop this before he got hurt…worse than he already had been…and he needed to get Sho out of there before the President took his attention off of whatever was going on outside and put it back onto Sho…

"Serizawa, what did I say? You aren't going to disobey me, are you?" asked Suzuki. Serizawa was loyal to Sho. That was not good. It was time to test that loyalty. If Serizawa chose Sho well, then, he'd have to be replaced. That was going to be difficult, espers as powerful as Serizawa weren't born every day, but he could at least get rid of a liability. Though he wondered if he could ever find anyone who was capable of the unwavering loyalty Serizawa was.

"B-but s-s-sir? He's…he's…" said Serizawa. He's my friend. He's just a kid. He's your son.

"Annoying." Said Suzuki. He watched her, the girl, from the window. Her aura. She had stopped. She was getting closer to awakening. Her aura was shifting. Pink to blue and then back again. His own aura had some yellow in it though he had buried that yellow, that part of him that he didn't want, away. It would do him no good to awaken at every little thing.

"Sho, come on. Let's stop fighting and just…just be together. We just have to get through this then we can-" said Serizawa. Sho didn't want this. Serizawa himself wouldn't have wanted this if the President hadn't wanted it. Sho just needed to calm down and maybe even grow up a little more. What kind of an adult would he grow up to be if he kept on acting like this? Defying his father like this. The President knew what he was doing and he was acting in the best interests of everyone. Serizawa wouldn't have wanted this if not for the President…and it did feel wrong….and he cared about Sho….but the President had been the one to save him…

This was hard.

"We can what? Go through with all of this craziness?! This whole plan is insane! Dad thinks that he can rule the whole world like-like-like this is TV or something! It's not! This plan is never going to work and the only thing that you'll accomplish is breaking a lot of shit, hurting a lot of people, and pissing me off!" said Sho. He was shouting, then, and he didn't care. This whole thing was…dad couldn't win…but he could break a lot of things and people and mess everything up…and if by some miracle dad DID win then it wouldn't be a world worth living in at all!

"Don't bother, he's too far gone. Honestly, Sho, you should have more faith in me. I can see why you think that this plan could fail. You're young, you don't see the big picture. You're weak, too, and you always have been. You don't see that for the greater good sacrifices must be made. The world was meant to be ruled by the supreme being." Said Suzuki. The boy still had his uses. It would be too much effort to replace him. He was just misguided. He was at that age. Suzuki had challenged, and beat, his own father at that age. Thirteen. Or thirteen and three quarters as Sho always said. That was annoying, the way he measured his age, but it was an annoying that Suzuki was used to. If he had another son then he'd have to get used to the new boy's idiosyncrasies. Sho was at least familiar.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you…are you saying that you seriously think you're GOD?!" shouted Sho. Crazy. Padded room, straight jacket, carry him off to the asylum crazy. Sho knew that dad was nuts but-but this was on a whole other level….

"You think that this plan is going to fail because the world is so vast and it's people so spread out. You think that there may be someone in this world who could challenge me. You don't know much about the world, the reality of the world-" said Suzuki

"I know the world, dad, you've been dragging me all over it since I was seven!" said Sho

"You're well-traveled, nobody would argue with that, but you don't truly know the world, Sho. You've been sheltered from it-" said Suzuki

"Sheltered!? You call any part of what you put me through sheltering me?! You dragged me around the world while you looked for more espers to recruit-" said Sho

"You've lived your entire life surrounded by your own kind. You haven't spoken to a regular person in years. You think that I can be challenged. You think that this plan can fail. It cannot. The real reason I went all over the world was not just to collect followers but also to see if world domination would be possible. It is." Said Suzuki

"You sure about that?" asked Sho as the tower thing shook again. That hadn't been him or dad or Serizawa. That was Ritsu's big sis. She was coming and she was pissed and she had destroyed the whole 7th Division…or at least lent that guy that she was always with her powers…which was so cool…and she could give dad a run for his money. She was going to have to fight him.

Sho hoped that Ritsu would forgive him for getting his big sis involved in all of this.

"I've been traveling the world for decades but, ultimately, I could not find a single esper in the world more powerful than me in the whole world. I am the Ultimate Power." Said Suzuki

"And that gives you the right to take over the world?! Seriously!? What the fuck is wrong with you?!" shouted Sho

"I wish you wouldn't…" said Suzuki

"You hear that, Serizawa? He's fucked up! He's totally messed up in the head!" said Sho. Serizawa couldn't possibly just stand there and listen to dad after that crazy speech, could he? Ultimate power? Sure dad could hit hard and put up a strong barrier and a bunch of other stuff but he was still just a human being the same as everyone else. If he was God then he wouldn't have had those grey hairs that were starting to pop up near his ears and he wouldn't get heart burn every time he had spicy food and he wouldn't have to chew gum to pop his ears whenever they took off in the Claw jet. Dad was just as human as everyone else!

"President….you're amazing…." Said Serizawa. The President spoke with such conviction. Serizawa knew that the President couldn't have meant it literally. He knew that the President was just talking about how he felt like, being so powerful, he had a responsibility to make the world a better place. He wanted to help everyone just the same as he had helped Serizawa get out of the hell that was his life. The President just wanted to do for the rest of the world what he had done for Serizawa.

"Absolute idiots are the worst to deal with!" screamed Sho. Serizawa recoiled from him. That had hurt. He hadn't even done anything, just spoke, and it hurt. Sho was…he was just young and upset and Serizawa wasn't going to hold him to anything he said. Sho could say that worst things, sometimes, but that was ok because they were friends and they always would be.

"I was impressed with you earlier, Sho." said Suzuki

"W-What? You're just…you're just trying to mess with my head-" said Sho. Dad didn't give a fuck about him and Sho was old enough to understand that. He was thirteen and three quarters, he was beyond stupid stuff like trying to impress dad with his powers, he knew that truth about him now.

"That charge bomb was surprising. Normally I wouldn't have expected something like that from you but I suppose that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Said Suzuki

"Don't you dare lump me in with you! I am NOTHING like you! You don't give a damn about anyone but yourself! You use people until they're useless to you and then you cast them aside! You hurt people! You would kill anyone, even your own son, to get to what you want! I care about people! I care about my friends and my allies! I don't go around thinking that I'm GOD! How am I anything like you?!" shouted Sho

"You said that you had been collecting that energy for three months. Where do you think you get that from in the first place?" asked Suzuki. He took a step forward and motioned for Serizawa to step away. He'd deal with Serizawa later. He was loyal to Sho but he hadn't done anything stupid…there was hope for him yet. He'd deal with Serizawa after he was done dealing with Sho.

"What are you talking about? Are…are you saying that you can do that, too?" asked Sho. That was…it would make sense. He got his powers from dad after all. But…but did that mean that dad was going to…to hit him with a charge bomb? That would…Sho didn't care that he would get seriously injured or that dad would be willing to seriously injure him. It didn't matter. He knew that he was to dad. He was just another useful pawn, that was all.

"I told you that I've been preparing for this day for twenty years." Said Suzuki moving forwards. Sho moved backwards. He moved back as dad moved forward until his back was to the wall and he couldn't move and he knew it was coming and-and-and he looked back and saw Serizawa, there, and their eyes met…and Serizawa looked away.

And then he ran away.

And that hurt more than anything that dad could ever even think of doing to him.

But that didn't matter.

"A-Are you telling me that the last twenty years…you haven't just been gathering troops? You've been…but how?! How did you….how!?" asked Sho. Dad was closer, now, so much closer…and his aura was so much more visible…and it touched him…and it **hurt**.

The whole thing hurt. Dad was…Sho couldn't see anything besides dad's aura. He had lost sense of everyone and everything, even himself, as dad just kept on getting closer.

And closer.

And **closer**.

Until al Sho could see was red. Not even his dad's vessel. Just…red…so much red….

"I guess that it wouldn't hurt to show you some of my twenty years…" said Suzuki. He was not going to awaken but he was going to…to blow off some steam. Sho had betrayed him. Sho of all people…and not just in his little rebellions of the past. This was worse. His son, his own son, had tried to destroy all that Suzuki worked for. This was worse than taking in some stray, worse than sneaking off in the night to be with some boy, so much worse. His own flesh and blood. Sho was no longer just a failure but a liability too. Suzuki should have just gone back to the drawing board.

But that would be so much effort.

First of all he was forty six, he did not want to have to deal with a squalling infant again. Second of all he'd have to find a suitable partner to have the child with, and female espers were few and far between. Female espers of some skill were even rarer. Female espers of some skill that he could also trust not to ruin the next child in the same way that Sho had been ruined…he would have had better luck catching a tsuchinoko.

Another burst of pink and blue out of the corner of his vision.

There was no way that she would have stood down and even if she did that was one hell of an age gap. She was a child and by time she wasn't he would have been old…older than he was. He knew it was irrational but…that was not right. She was powerful, he would not deny that, but just…no. That was not right and since he had no way of replacing his son that he found acceptable then he had might as well keep Sho around at least until his grandchildren were born. Yes, that was why he had no plans to replace Sho.

But he would teach the boy a lesson.

It was a hard lesson to learn, that sometimes you had to be hard on people, but it made sense.

Even if it came from **Mogami** it was true. It was like the other Shigeko said. If Mob had been harder on Asagiri, not broken her but had been harder, then she could have saved them some heart ache. Sometimes you had to be nice, sometimes you had to run away, and sometimes you had to be hard on people. Some people deserved it. Some people were just so terrible that…that unless you were hard on them then they would never stop.

Case and point.

"Why are you touching my boyfriend?" asked Mob/Shigeko. She had moved fast to get here, fast enough that she had lost Master Reigen and Dimple, because she had felt so many auras…auras that she knew…and one that she had never felt before.

And it was attached to the person who was holding on to Teru.

"You're in for it." Said Teru. He knew that it was cowardly to hide behind someone else, especially his girlfriend, but she liked him to humble and there was no greater sign of humbleness than knowing when to step back and let someone else handle this. Even though he had this. He just needed a minute to get the feeling back in his body, and the rest of his sight back, and then he was ready to go. Round four…if Shigeko didn't have this.

"Holy shit…." Muttered Koyama. He had never felt…this was even worse than when she had beaten him. She had said…what had she said? That she didn't have time for all of that…and then she had turned him into a pinball. It had been quick. It had been quick but it had hurt. She had hurt. Her aura…it had been painful…but it had nothing on this.

"Well this certainly is…something." Said Sakurai as the ground beneath his feet began to move. She wasn't trying to lift all of that debris…chunks of concrete and skyscrapers…but she was. It should have been heavy but she wasn't even trying to…she could do all of that without trying…

And she was **pissed**.

"Sister…." Said Ritsu. This was what he had been afraid of all of these years. She was…she wasn't exploding but it felt like it. She was pissed. She was pissed off and she was going to take it out on that guy…not that he didn't deserve it…but he knew how it felt. Once you started beating people up it was difficult to stop. Sister was a good person but good people could go bad so easily…he knew all too well…

Teru who looked terrible. He was all beaten and bruised and…and bloody…and he had a big lump on his head…and he could barely open his eyes…and there was so much blood….

She looked around. Everyone was like that.

Because of that man.

Mob took a deep breath. Shigeko took a deep breath. They both took a deep breath, a centering breath, like Master Reigen had taught them. They needed to stay calm. When they were divided they were weak. Bad things happened to people when they were divided. All of those espers back there, the ones that Mogami ate, would have still been alive if Mob and Shigeko hadn't been divided. Mogami was being hard on them, then, and they learned a lesson.

They could not be divided.

"What the hell…." Muttered Shimazaki. All he could see was her…and it was one person? How? That was an aura in two colors…and it was so bright…he could hardly make out the kid he was holding on to. She was that powerful….no matter. They'd have to go head to head, it was the only way. Like fighting the President. He had no qualms about hitting a girl, power was power, and if he had to do this to prove himself then so be it.

She was just a kid, anyway.

"Why. Are you. Touching. My. Boyfriend." Said Mob/Shigeko slowly. She could, they could, see her aura. Everyone saw her aura. She was making people afraid. Mob. Shigeko didn't care. If people were afraid of them then they wouldn't dare to-

_That's mean, Shigeko, stop it._

"Do we help her…or stop her?" asked Koyama. Sakurai shrugged. Shimazaki was done for, he knew murderous intent when he saw it, and he did not want to get in the crossfire of whatever it was that she was planning on doing. They would have to wait to even speak to her until she had been briefed on the fact that they were friends, not foes, this time.

"Stay away from her." said Sakurai sagely. Koyama nodded. Yeah, he did not feel like a second ass kicking. She looked like she was ready to start kicking some ass and he did not want to get in her way…but then again wasn't she the peace and love type? She had gone on and on about being a pacifist…but maybe that was some phase that she was going through. Kids went through faces like that.

That was just a little girl out there.

Still scary.

"Sister! You don't have to-" said Ritsu. He had…he could still have this. If she did something like…she would never be able to forgive herself…or she'd go crazy. The bottom line was that he was her brother and it was his job to protect her and he had been doing a piss poor job of it lately.

"Answer the question." Said Mob/Shigeko slowly and lowly. No. People did not hurt the people that she loved. This was not ok. None of this was ok. This was the direct opposite of ok. He had no right to…to do this….

And he would pay.

Ritsu was out there and he was just as hurt. Ritsu was little. Ritsu was her little brother and he had been out here fighting that guy and-and-and they should have been there to protect him! They should have been there to keep him safe because now he was hurt and he was there and lots of other people were hurt, too, people that she didn't much like or know that well…but still!

"Yes it is, little girl, now why don't you just run along? I wouldn't want to have to hurt you." Said Shimazaki. He could try and fight her. He could…maybe….her aura was so unstable. She might just end up imploding in on herself. He might have even been able to beat him. Raw power did not translate into skill. This was just a little girl, how skilled could she possibly be?

"I don't want to have to hurt you, either, so let go of Teru or I'll do something…something bad…and I don't know what thing is because I don't usually hurt people but you hurt the people that I care about, and a bunch that I don't know, and I want you to stop but…but sometimes you have to be hard on people…" said Mob/Shigeko. Shigeko wanted them to peel him like a grape. Mob did not agree. They were dividing again, not good, and they needed to agree…they could at least agree that if he didn't knock it off they'd have to hurt him…

Even though, even now, Mob didn't want to have to hurt anyone.

"Come on then, face me head on! Let's see who's powers are greater!" said Shimazaki. He let his aura extend out until it met hers. There. She was surprised. Now he just had to teleport over and-

What.

What?

What?!

WHAT?!

He could teleport. He had let go of the kid and attempted to teleport near enough to her to sucker punch her but as soon as the ground fell away it came back…it came back and…and it was the same ground. He could only see her and she had…she had…she had managed to hold him in place…she was pinning him down…

He felt weaker.

He hadn't felt like this since he fought the President. The world, her aura, went quiet. Her aura was loud and then it was silent and he couldn't see her or anything anymore and he kept on getting weaker and weaker and weaker and weaker and weaker and weaker and-

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Said Mob/Shigeko. Mostly Mob. Shigeko was not sorry. She was not sorry about any of this. She understood that sometimes you had to be hard on people. Mob understood it too, she just didn't want to. She didn't want to do what had to be done. She wanted to just incapacitate this man, drain him until he couldn't get up.

Shigeko wanted him dead.

Because he had hurt Teru and he wasn't even sorry. If he had been sorry then he would have said that he was sorry, like that Minegishi guy had said, but he wasn't spry and he even wanted to fight them. There had been so much fighting…and if that red aura at the top of the tower was anything to go off of there would be even more fighting to come. Fighting was so stupid! What was the point of all of this! it would have all been ok if these people would all just say 'sorry' and then agree to never, ever do it again for as long as they lived….

But this man wouldn't.

So Shigeko was prepared to do what they had to do. Teru had been hurt. They loved Teru. Ritsu had been hurt. They loved Ritsu but in a totally different way. There were a bunch of other people there and neither of them loved those people but it was still wrong to hurt people….

"How in the hell are you doing this?" asked Shimazaki as he struggled to stay on his feet. He knew that Minegishi could use his plants to suck the life out of people…was this the same thing? Was he finally going to die? Well it had been a fun thirty two years and he had no intention of ending that fun any time. There was nothing that he could do, though, he couldn't even see.

"Shigeko? You're…you don't have to…" said Teru as he tried to walk towards her. He could see it, what she was doing. The other guy's aura was going out and Shigeko was the cause. She could depower people, she liked to do that instead of hurting them, but this was still hurting them. This was even worse than beating the crap out of someone. When you beat the crap out of someone at least they could lick their wounds and learn their lesson afterwards…and also it didn't look quite so much like killing them…

"Sister! That's enough!" said Ritsu. No. Shigeko was not going to kill someone just because he could not protect her. No. This was not going to be on her. If she had someone's death on his hands then it was the same as him having someone's blood on his hands because he should have been there for her. He was her brother, it was his job to protect her, and this was not protecting her.

But he couldn't stop her.

He could barely move, first of all, and he had no hope of stopping her even if he could. He could see her aura, it kept on trying to turn blue, and he knew what that meant. She was starting to lose it and when she lost it then he had no hope of even beginning to get through to her…

"Are you sorry? Say sorry and then we'll stop. Only if you mean it. Sometimes you have to be hard on people." Said Mob/Shigeko. They meant it. Sometimes you had to be hard on people and this was being hard on people….and Mob didn't like it….but Shigeko did…and they were both getting a headache and their vessel hurt and their aura was being all weird and…and it hurt…it hurt so much….

"I-I'll face you…head on…" said Shimazaki. He knew powerful men, he was a powerful man, and a powerful man would not have laid down now when he was being so blatantly challenged. This was a powerful man…woman…teenage girl. This was a powerful teenage girl and she felt like Suzuki and Suzuki had to have been a teenage girl…boy…at some point and…and he wasn't sure where he was going with that. The point of it was that he was going to act the same way he had acted for Suzuki. He didn't know much about teenage girls, teenagers in general annoyed him and teenage girls were much too young for him, so he went back to the script he knew. Suzuki said that he admired his tenacity…

And fighting with Suzuki had kind of felt like this…

"Fighting is stupid." Said Mob. Shigeko wanted to say something else but Mob beat her to it. She thought that she had drained this guy enough, he was pretty much depowered as it was, but Teru was there and he was so hurt and bloodied and scared looking and none of that would have happened to him, or to any of those guys, if she had just **been** there like she should have been! She was….she had to be hard on people….but maybe not that hard…

But Teru was hurt.

Ritsu was hurt.

A lot of people were hurt.

But she was adding to hurt. She was adding to hurt and she had been hard enough on him and she had to stop no matter what Shigeko thought. She had been right, Mob was too easy on people, and that was why all of those espers had been eaten and a whole lot of other bad stuff had happened….but Shigeko wasn't much better. She was the one who scared people. She was the one who broke things. She was the one who always did whatever she wanted to do without any thought to what was good or bad or mean or nice or to what sort of person that they were supposed to be.

That Master Reigen wanted them to be.

He was the one who made them work for what they were. Shigeko at least agreed to that. They had to be the sort of person that Master Reigen wanted them to be. They loved him and he loved them, not in the same way, and they had to be a good person. Teru loved them, too, and he wanted them to be a good person. He had become a good person for them. He had worked so hard at changing…and if he was going to be a good person then they should be a good person, too.

"Then why are you…fighting….me…?" asked Shimazaki as he felt the strength stop leaving his body. He could…he at least felt less like someone was sucking the life out of him. That was good. He could stand up straighter, now, and he could…what did she want? He could submit…but if he was weak then he would be useless to her. He knew Suzuki, not as well as Serizawa but he knew the man, and he knew that the useless were cast aside. He had already lost to the girl so Suzuki would cast him aside, there was no doubt about it, so he had might as well jump ship and join the side that lived.

That is if she won.

"Because you started it." Said Mob. She stopped depowering him. There. She had bene hard enough on him…even though he hadn't said sorry…

"I started it? I was just doing what I was told." Said Shimazaki. She had sounded so young then. You started it. All hail the teenage girl, their new lord and master. Heh.

"That's stupid. That's a stupid reason to do bad things. Are you at least sorry? Say sorry and then I'll try and forgive you and then we'll all be ok." Said Mob

"…are you for real…?" asked Shimazaki. Was this even a teenager? She was operating off of playground rules! Just say sorry? What the hell?

"Yup. Like I said, she's a lady and she abhors violence. She also has a very forgiving nature. I, on the other hand, do not." Said Teru. He could stand again…and the other guy was considerably weaker. Good. Time for round four!

"Teru, don't fight him. I don't want anyone else to fight. I am so sick and tired of fighting." Said Mob. She said it in her normal tone of voice but for some reason when she talked everyone's aura felt…scared. And they looked scared, too, when she looked at them. She knew what fear looked like at this point.

"Sister, just stop! We can handle him! You don't have to do anything!" said Ritsu

"You still want to go, kid? Fine, let's go. We'll see who's power is greater!" said Shimazaki. Oh hell no! It was one thing to have been beaten by what he would have called the second coming of Suzuki, had Suzuki been dead, but to have that insolent little brat…or that other little bastard….think that they could take him….think that they could…could…could…!

Forget the fact that he could barely see.

Forget the fact that he could barely stand.

Forget the fact that the world's most indecisive teenage girl had just been about to kill him.

Forget the fact that he had already soundly been beaten. Suzuki would end him once he learned of what happened. He was not going to spend the last few moments, or however long, of his life with some impudent, aggravating, little bastards thinking that they even had a hope of beating him!

He was going to go out fighting goddamn it! He was not going to go out with some kids thinking that they could-

Someone hit him.

He fell to the ground as a series of blows, the source of which he could not see, bombarded him. He couldn't see even the barest hint of an aura. Just the girl. She was even louder now, her aura was, and there was something new and soft but still drifting there in her aura.

Also someone screamed at him.

"Self-defense! This is clearly self-defense! Self-defense rush!" shouted Reigen. He hadn't thought, not really, he had just acted. Mob was in trouble and everyone was looking like they were in pretty bad shape…so he had just acted. He acted because Mob looked like she needed him.

"For the love of…." Muttered Teru. He had missed Reigen. Of course he had. With how brightly Shigeko shown he hadn't been able to see Reigen. But now he could. He could see Reigen, his aura trying to bond with Shigeko's…and him standing over that teleporter guy like he had been the one to win. He hadn't! Teru had softened him up! Shigeko had done her part too.

And now they were calling Reigen the great master again.

"Everyone! Get up! The Great Master is here!" said Muraki. He pulled himself to his feet. The others did, too. Wow. That had been so amazing! He had hid his presence in the girl's aura and taken Shimazaki by surprise. Muraki hadn't even thought of doing that! It was true, what the Great Master had told them that night. They relied too much on their powers. They were so wrapped up in what they could do that they didn't even think to think outside the box. That was why the Great Master had been the one to defeat Shimazaki, and why the little blond boy had been the one to figure out Shimazaki's weakness.

No wonder someone as powerful as the girl followed him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…." Muttered Ritsu. He tried to approach the scene of…all of that. He didn't get into it with the newest card carrying members of the Reigen Arataka fanclub. He just wanted this whole thing to be over. He was in pain, he was tired, his house had burnt down, and if the aural activity coming from the Cultural Tower was anything to go off of then Sho was losing badly…and now Reigen of all people had saved them. Great. This was just great.

"Are you sure that counts as self-defense, Master?" asked Mob. The others were gathering around. The man, the BLIND man, was laying dazed on the ground. It was wrong to hit blind people…right? Even if they were jerks? Even if they had hurt your friends? Even if they had beaten up your boyfriend and your little brother and a bunch of your former enemies until they couldn't even walk right?

Teru!

He stumbled and at an instant she was at his side. She supported him with her body. He was so hurt…but she could fix this! She could just pour as much of herself into him, and the rest of them, until they were fine! She had healing powers! Or at least she could pour enough of her own energy into someone until their body just took over on it's own! Either way she knew what to do!

Even if she hadn't done this with a group that large before.

But she tried. She leaned into Teru and closed her eyes. Her power went to him first. He gasped and held her close. She could hear his breathing picking up. She could see his aura glowing brighter. She could see his aura from behind her closed eyes. Gold. Then yellow, custard yellow. Then blue, the same dark blue as school uniforms. Then a shade of light blue that she couldn't place…and then a shade of pale pink…light yellow…blood red…..neon yellow….

So many colors.

So many people who needed her.

She stretched out further. More hurt people. She saw orange…Rei! That was Rei and that light blue was…and then even lighter blue…and then…and then….and then…and then….

So many colors.

So many people who needed her.

So many people to help.

That was why she had those powers. She had those powers so that she could use them to help people. That was the difference between her and whoever was responsible for all of this. She was a good person. She may have made some mistakes, and may have been at war with herself, but she was still a good person! She didn't use her powers for things like this! She helped people and they needed her to help them and-

"Mob!" she heard someone say. Custard yellow.

"Shigeko!" she heard someone else say. Gold.

"Sister!" she heard someone else say. School uniform dark blue.

It was then that she opened her eyes and called her power back to herself. She had…she felt dizzy. She needed to sit down. She tried to sit on the ground but she felt someone, two someone's, trying to keep her on her feet.

"I've got this!" snapped Teru. Shigeko had just gotten a little unsteady, understandable as she had just shared her energy with everyone, and Reigen just swooped in to catch her. Teru had been right there, he had this, he could keep his own girlfriend steady. He held eye contact with Reigen and dared him, silently, to say or do anything.

Reigen broke eye contact first.

Teru was being such a jerk. Shigeko was there in his arms and all he could think to do was glare at Reigen. He was not in competition with Reigen for Shigeko, there was no competition, but he still let Reigen get the best of him. God, how pathetic could he get? Feeling threatened by that guy? Please. Shigeko was his and he was hers and they would always belong to each other. Maybe if he hadn't been on this jealousy shit then he could have been a better leader, friend, and boyfriend to all the people who depended on him.

"Sister-" said Ritsu. He hadn't been able to get to her fast enough. He sucked. He sucked in every single way in which a person could suck. He was a sucky little brother, he hadn't been able to do a single damned thing to protect his sister, and now she was there and ready to collapse. Thank God Teru was there. Ritsu had been such a sucky friend to Teru. What kind of a friend kissed his friend without asking, and while he was in a relationship too! He was such a sucky boyfriend. What the hell kind of boyfriend would rather spend time with, and think about kissing and other such things with, their big sister's boyfriend? He had been leading Rei on for months now and there was no end in sight and she deserved much better than what he could be and he never should have dragged her into this. He never should have let himself get dragged into this insanity. Now he was and he was such a sucky ally that he had let himself get his ass kicked and now his friend was up there getting his ass kicked and this day had been nothing but one ass kicking after another and it was all is fault!

"R-Right." said Reigen. He couldn't look that kid in the eye. He hadn't done a damn thing wrong! Except for letting Dimple take over Mob's body and then letting him cross a line, no, not just cross a line. Dimple hadn't just crossed a line, he had thrown up on it! He had thought that…he hadn't had time to think! One minute they were running for their lives and the next he was being kissed! If Dimple hadn't done that, crossed the line, then it would have remained uncrossed. He didn't think of Mob like that. He liked her company, her conversation, the way she spoke to him like he mattered more to her than anyone else in the world, the way she looked at him…he loved her but he didn't love her like THAT. Never like that. So then why did he feel like this? Why did he feel so guilty? There was no way in hell that he would even think of doing anything like that with Mob. She was fourteen! Regardless of how she felt about him he would never reciprocate and he would certainly never have kissed her if Dimple hadn't made him! And he pushed her away! Anything before that moment of shoving her away had been pure instinct!

So he had no reason to feel as guilty as he did.

"You don't have to feel so guilty, Master." Said Mob softly. Reigen felt like he had jumped ten meters in the air. For a moment he wants to run away from this, from the conversation that he did not want to ever have with her, and he even almost does.

"I mean even if he is blind he was still being a big jerk…even if I'm not sure if that counts as self-defense, Master, so I'm not mad that you hit him. He was ready to start fighting people anyway so it's not like you hit someone who wasn't doing anything…and I don't think that he's that hurt either. I just healed everyone." Said Mob. For a moment she felt like everything was her fault. She was the one who didn't go and do something about these red aura guys when she first started sensing them. She was the one who had been so wrapped in her own problems that she hadn't even thought about anyone but herself. She was the selfish one. She was the one who only thought about herself. That moment passed, though, once she realized that these weren't her feelings but Master Reigen's.

He was just really upset about hitting that blind man….and he was blind, too, based on the lack of eyes in his eye sockets.

"I don't know why he's still on the ground but you didn't hurt him that badly…so you don't have to feel so guilty…" said Mob

"Right, of course Mob. I just don't know my own strength sometimes I supposed…and don't worry, it was self-defense. Self-defense counts even if you're defending someone else." Said Reigen slipping back into the skin of a man who had this under control. Of a man who wasn't about to pass out from the sheer 'what the fuck' of this day. A man who wasn't shaking, there, in his cheap suit while a couple of teenagers handled this better than he ever could.

"But then why is it called self-defense? I'm not you, I'm Mob." Said Mob. She felt Teru relax beside her. He still held her up even though she was mostly fine now. She didn't push him away, though, she liked being near him. It felt like an eternity since she had last been in his arms. She leaned into him. He still smelled the same underneath all of the sweat and blood. He smelled like safety and love and companionship. He smelled like Teru.

"Legally it's an umbrella term. If you're ever not sure then be sure to yell it really loud." Said Reigen even though he wasn't sure if that would hold up in a court of law. Not that he imagined anyone would prosecute him for beating up one of the morons responsible for all of this insanity.

"Yeah, I don't think it works that way." said Ritsu looking Reigen up and down. Sister couldn't see it but Reigen looked like he was just about ready to pee his pants from fear. Damn. And him without his phone. He have to give Sho a piece of his mind for breaking it…when he came back. Sho was coming back. Sho had made him a promise and…and he was going to come back. He had to….

"Hey! Who's the adult here!" said Reigen. Teru rolled his eyes. That was all he could do without Shigeko noticing. He liked this, this light feeling he had now. This feeling was his own. He felt like he was on top of the world. His girlfriend was back. So what if Reigen had dealt the finishing blow? Shigeko was a lady, she hated violence. Anything that tarnished Reigen in her eyes was alright by him.

Shimazaki listened to the world around him. The world was quieter, now, less drowned out by her aura. That had been another esper. An esper that could hide any trace of his presence. That wasn't like Sho's little trick where he'd quiet his aura until it was almost nothing. No. This was something that was supposedly unheard of…and the man could do it. He could do it and he was an ally of the girl…the girl that was the second coming of Suzuki. She wasn't focusing on him anymore. He could have withdrawn if he wanted to…and he did want to…but then she might get pissed off at him. She felt like Suzuki almost, she sounded like Suzuki, and he did not want to know what other similarities there were between the two of them. This was bad. If he went back to Suzuki he was dead, or at least seriously injured, but if he stayed here then the girl would….he had no idea what teenage girls did to their captured enemies. Make you braid their hair and listen to the latest gossip? Make you paint their nails? Get them candy and soda and whatever else teenage girls ate? Suck the life out of you and then string your body up as an example to others?

He didn't want to stick around long enough to find out.

But running away posed it's own problems. Suzuki was poised to take over the entire world and when that happened there would be no running. Suzuki would catch him and if Suzuki wasn't planning on killing him now then he would, certainly, if he ran away. The only way to leave Claw was in a body bag and Shimazaki did not much want that. To die would be an awfully big adventure but it was not the sort of adventure, excitement, that he wanted. The girl was poised to stop Suzuki and he had no idea if she was planning on lording over the world as it's lord and master…er…mistress.

"…you sure this guy's ok, Mob? He's not really doing much of anything." Said the man getting closer. Shimazaki braced himself for a blow that he was sure would come. He felt fine, physically, after the girl did whatever it was that she did. It hadn't felt like healing powers. He had let Fukuda try and heal his eyes, he couldn't heal what had never been there in the first place even though something had been meant to be there in the first place, and what the girl did felt nothing like what Fukuda had done. It had been like she had been pouring straight energy into him and his body had no choice but to heal.

Still no eyes though.

"Master, don't get too close. This guy's really dangerous and you could get hurt. I mean, did you see what he did to everyone else? I don't want anyone else getting hurt." Said the girl. She sounded like Suzuki. Cold. Emotionless. Her voice was so steady but her aura, no, it was nothing like his. Suzuki had a steady aura, loud but steady, but her aura was like two people having the row of the century. Just the constant shouting….how did she live like that? It was maddening, aggravating, and he wondered how she hadn't destroyed herself yet.

The girl, the kids, those scars, and now this new esper…

How many were there? Was she really the second coming of Suzuki? Had she been planning on opposing him? What had she been planning? She was just a kid. The other kid, the arrogant little brat bastard, had called her his girlfriend. Shimazaki could see her, what she looked like, and while he knew that the way he saw her was different from the way in which sighted people saw he could tell that she was not a grown woman. He had, in his time, had plenty of women and that was not a woman. That was truly a teenage girl, a young teenager at that, and she had managed to gather up all of these allies and…and…and….

Toshi was out there.

She had managed to defeat Toshi too. Minegishi. She had managed to defeat Minegishi…and there has also been that…thing…he had felt earlier. Had she been responsible for that, too? Had she…what else had she done? And was that a high level evil spirit beside her? She was a spirit master too? Her aura was so loud…she was on a whole other level!

He did not want to fight her.

"Hey, look, I'm done. It's just not worth the risk to keep this thing going." Said Shimazaki. She was younger than Suzuki, just as powerful, and had plenty of allies. Switching sides would be the best thing for now and then…then he'd see how all of this went.

"Well that was easier than I thought it would be." Said Reigen. Hopefully whatever that red thing he could see at the top of the Cultural Tower would be just as easy to defeat. Then he and Mob could go home, order some takeout, and just put their feet up. Watch some more of her weird shows, eat some good food, lay down, and get some rest. In their own separate beds, of course, because as upset as Mob was that was….he had crossed enough lines with her that day.

He just wanted this day to be over.

"Too easy. I don't buy it. Whatever happened to taking over the world?" asked Teru. He knew what that guy was doing. He was going to pretend to be down and then strike when everyone felt sorry for him. Well Teru was not letting his guard down. Shigeko had healed him all up and now he was ready for round four!...or was it five? Whatever round this was!

"I never gave a damn about all of this world domination crap, that was all the boss' idea. As long as I'm having fun I don't really care." Said Shimazaki speaking the truth. Some people were dragged kicking and screaming into the organization, Shimazaki was not one of them. He only joined Suzuki because he was bored. Surely that must have meant something to this girl.

"As long as you're having fun? You disrupted the lives of all of those people, beat everyone here up, and did a bunch of other terrible things just for fun? What is the matter with you?" asked Mob. She was mad, then, but she tried not to be. She tried to see what could have been fun about any of that but she just…couldn't. She was mad. She was so mad. She was so mad that her aura was doing that thing again and she knew that it was wrong to fight people after they'd surrendered but this guy….THIS GUY….

This guy teleported away.

He made a strange sound and then teleported away.

Shimazaki needed to get out of there. He knew that tone. That was the tone Suzuki took before he 'disposed' of someone. Running away seemed like the best option, now, and that was what he did. He teleported as far away as he could…and then teleported closer. He had to. He knew that aura. He knew who it belonged to.

"Minegishi. You're alive." Said Shimazaki as he appeared beside Minegishi…who was being very still…

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Said Minegishi as he looked down at his hand. He could feel his power, there, under his skin. He had been so drained after the…whatever it was…and now he felt fine. Thanks to the girl. Shigeko. She was out there and she was really going to do it.

"Well I did." Said Shimazaki

"What happened to you? You look like shit." Said Minegishi. Shimazaki was bloody…not his blood apparently…and his clothes looked like he had gotten into a fight with a paper shredder and it ended in a draw.

"Scars and brats. What happened to you?" asked Shimazaki

"Sprits and a kid." Said Minegishi

"The girl?" asked Shimazaki

"Who else? That girl…I don't understand her…" said Minegishi

"So don't. Don't try and understand her. Listen, I'm getting out of here. Claw is finished and I never believed in any of that crap that our great leader was spouting off about anyway. That girl stands a good chance of killing Suzuki and I don't want to be around when she wins." Said Shimazaki

"You're afraid of a little girl?" asked Minegishi

"That…that is not a little girl. That's not even….I have no clue if that's even a human being at this point. It's like Suzuki…the second coming of Suzuki." Said Shimazaki

"Suzuki's still alive, I can see him." said Minegishi

"You know what I mean. Minegishi…come on. It's over. It's all over. We can go somewhere, anywhere you want, and just…I don't know what we'll do but it's better than being here." Said Shimazaki

"You still want me to make room for you in those grand dreams of mine?" asked Minegishi

"If you want to….Toshi." said Shimazaki. He felt it, the ripple of Minegishi's aura.

"You've never called me that…vertically." Said Minegishi

"I do. In my head sometimes." Said Shimazaki

"Well I'm not a telepath. I don't know what you're thinking and I never have." Said Minegishi

"I'm thinking that we should run away before the girl starts trying to take down Suzuki. I'm thinking that I don't want to be around when this is all over and she has a minute to sit down and start making lists on enemies. I'm thinking that I want to take you with me and just…find somewhere to hide until this whole thing…settles. I've seen her. I've fought her. We can't defeat her. She's…she's Suzuki. She's female Suzuki.

"Toichiko?" asked Minegishi with a dry laugh.

"What?" asked Shimazaki

"A feminization of the boss' given name. Toichiro. Toichiko." Said Minegishi still with that same dry laugh. There was nothing left for him to do. He was done with Claw, he had to be. He had made the girl a promise and one did not break a promise to the person who saved their life. He owed her one and she could come to collect at any time.

So maybe he should have just saved her the trouble.

The boss was a mortal man. He may have been the most powerful out of all of them but he was no God. God did not bleed. He had bled when he fought Minegishi. A God could not bleed. If a God could bleed then a God could be defeated and if a God could be defeated then that wasn't a God at all.

"You know I love that about you but we need to get a move on." Said Shimazaki

"I'm staying." Said Minegishi

"No. When the boss…you lost to her…and if the boss beats her then guess who's he's coming for next. Who's going to be at the top of HIS list of enemies? The people who failed him! Just…please….come with me." Said Shimazaki. There was something in his voice that he had never let show before. Hopefully it would be enough to convince Minegishi to come with him. There had to have been room in those grand dreams of his for Shimazaki, and if not then he could always make room. They needed to go and they needed to go now to get a head start on the lifetime of running they were going to have to do.

"I want to but I can't. The girl…she saved my life. She saved my life and she didn't even have to. She could have let me die but she didn't. I just had to make her a promise. I promised that I would never do anything bad again-" said Minegishi

"That's a promise you made to a child. Who decides what's bad and what's good? Suzuki's out of his mind, you think he thinks he's the villain in this story? What, the girl is the hero and the rest of us are villains? Good is going to triumph over evil? Then the credits are going to roll and that'll be the end of it all? That's a kid out there with the maturity of a kid and-and-and you can't possibly keep that promise! Come with me and just-" said Shimazaki

"I owe her one and I know that one day she's going to come to collect. I'd rather that day come sooner rather than later so I…I'm going to help her, Ryo. You said it yourself, Claw is finished. Switch to the winning side while you still can and she'll go easy on you. You're right, she's a child, but she's not that bad." Said Minegishi

"No. I am not letting you-" said Shimazaki

"What do you even care? Find someone else to bother when you're bored and lonely." Said Minegishi

"Don't act like it was ever about anything different on your part." Said Shimazaki. If that was the way that he wanted to be then fine. Toshi could handle himself. Let him get himself killed. See if he cared.

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other. Now if you'll excuse me I have a little girl to stay in the good graces of…and I'd suggest that you try and make peace with her too. She may seem like Suzuki but she is nothing like him." said Minegishi as he turned and started walking towards the collection of auras on the horizon. He didn't look back, he couldn't look back. Ryo could handle himself.

"How? How is she in any way different than Suzuki?" called Shimazaki after him.

"Isn't it obvious? She's human." Said Minegishi as he walked off to lend his aid in whatever way he could. He didn't dare look back, not even with his aura, because if he looked back then he might have taken Shimazaki up on that offer. He was…he was scared…they were both scared…but Ryo could handle himself.

They could each handle themselves.

Mob could handle that guy on her own.

"Wow. Somebody's scared." Said Reigen. Mob had shaken herself free of her boyfriend and was expanding out her aura. Reigen reached out and put a hand on her shoulder even though this action sent a shock of guilt through his mind.

"That little coward ran away!" shouted Terada, his air whips in hand in case that bastard was planning on sneaking up on everyone again.

"Does that even count as a win?" asked Koyama as he looked around. Huh. He had actually ran away. Koyama didn't blame him. That girl could be scary when she wanted to be. Sometimes running away was the best course of action.

"Keep your guard up, he may strike again." said Sakurai as he drew his gun. He willed Shimazaki to come out of wherever it was that he was hiding. This time he would be ready. This time he would not lose.

"No, I'm pretty sure that he's gone for good. After going through that I'm sure he'll change his ways for good." Said Teru. He knew what it was to be knocked on your ass by Shigeko. Humility. If anyone needed some humility it was that guy. Well he had chosen to run away like a coward. Good. One less thing to worry about.

He glared at the only other thing he had to worry about.

Reigen quickly took his hand from Shigeko's shoulder. Good.

"I can handle him if he comes back." Said Mob as she searched for him. Away. He was far away and that was what mattered. Something else was close. Yes. There. That red thing. That red aura person. The same red aura as the rest of those red aura guys but…worse…if that was the word for it.

"You mean we'll handle him." said Teru taking her hand. She shook her head.

"No. All of you…you could get hurt. You did get hurt. I don't want any of you to get hurt. I don't want any of your to fight again and end up getting hurt or even…or even killed. Ok? Just…please….I'm so sick and tired of the people I love getting hurt…" said Mob. Everyone's clothes were all messed up. They had bene covered in injuries before and she had healed them to the best of her ability…but they still weren't ok….not all the way.

Nothing was ok.

"Sister, please, let me help you." Said Ritsu. He was her brother and his job was to keep her safe. He may have been a sucky brother so far but he was prepared to fix that. He was prepared to do right by at least one person in his life. He expected her to argue with him, to tell him to go home even though they didn't have a home to go back to, but she didn't.

She threw herself into his arms.

"Ritsu! Ritsu….Ritsu…brother….little brother…baby brother…." Said Mob as she held her little brother close. He was too tall, now, taller than her. That wasn't fair. They were supposed to be the same height. She had been gone from him for so long. She had been so selfish. She had avoided him because of how awful she was…and she could have lost him! He was in the thick of this! She could have so easily lost him because she had been too selfish to do something about these guys when she first sensed them!

"Sister…sister I am so sorry…" said Ritsu. He was sorry about all the ways that he had betrayed her, including that one thing that he didn't need Teru giving him a look for to know to keep to himself. Well he was going to do right by her, now, and not just because he was never going to kiss her boyfriend again. No. He was going to the top of that tower, where he should have gone with Sho, and he was setting this whole thing right.

"Brother, no, you have nothing to apologize for. This is all my fault! If I hadn't been so busy feeling sorry for myself then I could have done something about these guys before things got this bad!" said Mob

"Sister, it's not-" said Ritsu

"Yes it is! The city is ruined, our house burned down, bad people are beating all of you up, and now there's some guy at the top of that tower probably waiting for his chance to come down here and do it all again! No more! I'm going to go up there and do what I should have done weeks ago when I first sensed them! I am going to keep you and everyone else safe-" said Mob

"No you aren't!" shouted Reigen at the top of his lungs. There was no way in hell that he was losing Mob again. They had found her brother, her boyfriend, and those two probably knew where the rest of the esper kids were. Priority one would be getting the esper kids home safe, or to an evacuation point, and then priority two would be getting the hell out of Seasoning City until the authorities did something about this. Espers were real so surely the Japanese government would have had a few laying around to deal with problems like this…or an army….or something! Hell, he'd take the secret alien fighting super Sentai team at this point!

"Shigeko, no, let me do it." said Teru with a bit more composition. She did not want to do this. He knew her, how to read her, and he knew when she was not ok with something. He could go. He could go up there and be the one to save her this time. She had saved him so many times already. She had saved him in every single way in which a person could be saved and now it was his turn.

"Not without me you aren't." said Ritsu with enough sense to know that there was no stopping sister when she got like that. He could at least be near enough to protect. She was going to need it if what Sho had told him could be trusted. Sho who had promised to come back.

"Nobody is going anywhere! Mob, no. We need to save your friends. Remember them? They need you, Mob, everyone needs you. You can keep them safe until we get them back to their families and then-" said Reigen grasping at anything that kept her from the top of that tower. She was stubborn. This was the Asagiri job all over again except it would be real. Really real. Not the unreality or whatever she was calling it. This was real and she could really get hurt and Reigen really didn't want that. Really.

"You are not the boss of her and you are not the boss of me! If I want to go up there and save MY GIRLFRIEND-" said Teru

"No, you're going to go up there and DIE for your girlfriend! You're going to die pointlessly and then how the hell is Mob supposed to live with herself after that? You love each other, right? Well when you love someone you don't pull this shit! When you love someone then you don't out your life on the line, ever, if you can avoid it! This, all of this, is not your problem. You're a bunch of kids whether you like it or not! I am an adult and I am telling you to run away!" said Reigen

"If you know so much about love then where's your girlfriend?" asked Teru. Reigen looked at him like he was about to slap him into next week. That was where Teru was getting this aggression from, obviously, he was a good person now and good people did not carry this sort of aggression within themselves.

"Shots fired." Said Koyama. He was promptly elbowed in the ribs.

"Stay out of it." Hissed Sakurai. This was not the time or the place to be getting into quarrels. It was a stress reaction, a natural one, but not something that they needed to be adding to.

"Teru, usually I'm all about that but what you just said was not helpful." Said Ritsu trying his hardest to be diplomatic here. He didn't like Reigen any more than Teru did but Shigeko cared about him so maybe this was not the time to be hitting below the belt like that.

"I don't have one. I'm not in middle school, I don't need to be in a relationship all the time to be-" said Reigen

"Well maybe you should give it a try and then lecture me about what I should and should not do for my girlfriend. I am going up to the top of that tower and I am going to fight and I am going to win and there isn't a single thing that any of you can say or do to stop me." Said Teru. He stood in front of Shigeko protectively. He had this for her. He would do it for her, that was how he knew he could win.

"Teru! You're pissing sister off! Stop it!" said Ritsu standing in front of Reigen. That was a surefire way to get Shigeko to explode, threaten Reigen Arataka in any way/ he was loathe to protect the man but he was also not going to let his sister explode. He watched her. She was just staring at all of them. That could have meant literally anything.

"I'm the one pissing Shigeko off? Me? Yeah, you'd know a lot about that, wouldn't you?" asked Teru meanly. How dare he take Reigen's side after all that Teru had done for him! Put up with from him! Gone through for him!

"Listen, why don't we all just stop and take a breath-" said Reigen trying to calm himself down. That was him. He was the one doing this. He had been pissed off and now those two were pissed off and Mob…Mob was just standing there taking it all in…

"Shut up! For once in your life will you just shut your mouth!" shouted Teru. His voice broke at the end and his throat felt raw. He just wanted to save his girlfriend, what was so bad about that? And who the hell did Reigen think he was to even begin ordering Teru around?! Where did he get off thinking that he was entitled to order Teru around just because he was an adult!?

"Stop yelling at Reigen!" shouted Ritsu. Sister was being still and quiet, she could have so easily been building up to an explosion, and Ritsu had no idea what to do besides diffuse the situation…even though Reigen deserved it.

"Why are you defending him? What, do you just have a thing for blonds?" asked Teru mockingly. He put up a barrier just in time to stop a rush of energy from Ritsu.

"Shut your mouth! Don't say another word!" shouted Ritsu

"Why? Why should I keep my mouth shut!? I haven't done a damn thing wrong! I'm the one who's had to keep this whole thing together while you've just been falling apart and acting stupid and running around with Suzuki! Do you have any idea how hard this has been for me! I needed you a million times back there-" said Teru

"I helped you fight that blind guy! Hanazawa, don't give me that shit! I was THERE! You even told me not to-" said Ritsu

"Hey, you guys are maybe getting a little bit off subject here-" said Reigen

"Reigen, I swear to God you need to shut your mouth right now." Said Ritsu glaring at him. Reigen put his hands up in surrender.

"Think we should do something? The great master is-" said Muraki as he watched with all of his other former scars. Tsuchiya shook her head.

"It's like a tire fire, you've just got to let it burn." Said Tsuchiya. Things got heated, fights happened, everyone got out their misplaced aggression, licked their wounds, and got on with their lives. She was so grateful that she only had the one kid to take care of, and that she was a girl too, teenage boys were such monsters at that age.

Case and point.

"I needed you, Kageyama! I needed you because you were the only other person there who even stood a chance, a fucking CHANCE, at doing anything to help us! But what did you do? You just went off with Suzuki and left me alone with EVERYONE! Including your girlfriend! Yeah, remember her? Red hair, brown eyes, has been crying non fucking stop since you went missing?! I don't care how you feel about her or me or anyone but you cannot treat people like that!" said Teru

"Yeah, you know a lot about how to treat people don't you, Hanazawa? I bet you were SO upset about getting to, I mean having to, boss everyone around, weren't you? It was just SO hard having a bunch of people to lord over! It must have been-" said Ritsu

"You have no clue how it's been! You abandoned us! You abandoned your friends and your sister and your girlfriend all for Suzuki! Some guy you barely even know! What about us! What about the rest of us! What about-" said Teru

"Both of you! Take a minute and just **breathe**!" said Reigen. This was bad. This was so bad. He couldn't project calm emotions until he had calm emotions and he couldn't have calm emotions if those two wouldn't stop screaming at each other!

"Excuse me? No. You do not get to tell me what to do! I will yell at whoever the hell I want to yell at!" shouted Teru

"Reigen, I said to shut up! I'm only defending you for sister's sake so at least be grateful!" shouted Ritsu

"For Mob's sake? This is not good for Mob, she needs-" said Reigen

"Don't you even begin to tell me what my girlfriend needs! You just shut up and stay the hell out of this! This is between Ritsu and me! And Ritsu stop defending him! Whose side are you on because it certainly doesn't look like mine! I am doing this because I love Shigeko, something that neither of you would have even the smallest of an idea about! So stay the hell out of my way and get me a cup of tea for when I'm done because I am going up there and-!" said Teru

"You are such a glory hog, you know that?" asked Ritsu

"Better a glory hog than-than-than a liar!" said Teru

"Better a liar than a-" shouted Ritsu. He was about to call Teru something unforgiveable when a voice, soft and monotonous and steady cut through them all.

"Can everyone please stop this? I am tired of fighting and I just want this to be over. Friends shouldn't fight and the only reason that things are getting this bad is because you all feel cornered. Sometimes when people feel cornered they lose control of their mouths and say the meanest things. It'll all be ok so long as you apologize but right now I need this to stop. I am going up there and if you love me you'll stay here." Said Mob all in one breath. She had been thinking while they had all been shouting at each other. They were not going to help her. They couldn't even handle that guy from before so the, of course, stood no chance against whatever that was.

But she did.

And Shigeko agreed.

It was time to put a stop to all of this.

"Sister, no. I won't let you-" said Ritsu as he reached for her hand. She pulled it away.

"You're my little brother, not my big brother, you don't get to order me around." Said Mob. She tried to take a step away but Teru managed to grab her by her bag.

"Shigeko…please…let me do this. You don't need to do this. I can-" said Teru. He grabbed her by the NERV bag she wore across her body and pulled her close.

"Teru, you were almost dead when I got here and that was just from fighting that guy from before. You are not coming with me." Said Mob though she made no move to get away from him. She wanted to remember this, him, in case she didn't…in case things didn't go well.

"Mob….please….remember the Asagiri job? Sometimes you have to run away. This is one of those times and-" said Reigen. And he loved her. And he cherished her. And he never wanted to see any harm come to her. And he would die before he let anything happen to her. A lot of ands.

"Just shut up and let her go, dumbass. None of you can say or do a damned thing to stop her so just let her go. The longer you stand here screaming at each other like a bunch of morons the longer that boss guy up there has to plan his attack. Just let her go so we can all get on with our lives." Said Dimple finally chiming in. Honestly. Why Shigeko surrounded herself with these idiots he would never know. She had this and she didn't need anyone ruining her confidence. She had more power than she thought and she just needed to harness it and she couldn't if these morons planted the seeds of doubt in her mind. She was the only one who had a chance of winning….and failure was not an option….

"Thank you, Dimple. If you all love me then you'll let me go…and you won't follow me. Ok? I'll come back and-" said Mob before Teru pulled her in even closer.

"Shigeko-" said Teru. She was dead serious….and she could have been seriously dead. Her. The love of his life. He needed her to know that. He needed her to know that she was the greatest thing to ever happen to him. She needed to know that without her there would be no him and he existed in that moment. She needed to know that he could not lose her….

But he didn't have the words.

"Teru, I'm going and that's final." Said Mob. She expected more protesting, begging, pleading, arguing but instead she was kissed.

Hard

And she kissed back just as hard.

She kissed him like she would never see him again…which she might…no. She would fight and she would win and then when this was over she would come back and kiss Teru and hold him and even do all of that other stuff that they did together. The things that she could do without remembering the unreality. The things that they liked. Even that thing that he liked but she wasn't very good at but he still liked when she did it.

They'd do everything once she came back.

"Come back to me. When you're done come back." Said Teru as he pressed his forehead to hers. Objectively that hadn't been a good kiss. Sloppy and off target and loud…but authentic. He kissed her like he wanted to drink her down and carry her with him for the rest of his life. Maybe he did. Maybe if he kept on kissing her he would.

But he couldn't.

She had a world to save.

"I will….I promise." Said Mob. She gave Teru one last kiss, and bid everyone one last 'I'll be back' and then went on her way with Dimple in tow. She didn't want this. She was sick of all of this fighting. She just wanted to go home or kiss her boyfriend or hang out with her boyfriend or even do some of that stack of homework…anything but this. But that was not how it worked. Sometimes you just had to fulfill your destiny. She was the protagonist of her own story and in this story she had a destiny to fulfil.

So she had no choice but to get in the robot, so to speak.

And that was what she did. Stair by stair she climbed. She climbed to meet her ultimate destiny, her final boss, her arch enemy she didn't even know she had. She had this, though, she had to have this. Failure was not an option. She was going to save her friends and her family and the whole world.

Because that was what she did, she saved people.


	66. A Magical Girl's Magical Destiny

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, the holidays have got me really busy but don't worry. Chapters will be back to their normal length soon. They usually take me about six or so hours to do around 15k words so just as soon as I have six or so hours free they'll get longer again. As always thank you for your continued readership! You guys make it all worth it!

The Cultural Tower sure had a lot of steps.

Well that made sense, it was a very tall building. It might have even been the tallest building in the city, now, because so many other buildings had been knocked over. She could see, from the windows, that a circle around this building was just…gone. Gone. Tipped over. Ruined. Downtown was ruined. Not just the buildings that had fallen down but the damage they did. Ruined.

People did all of that with psychic powers.

That wasn't right. Mob could have, maybe, knocked down a building if she felt like it. She could have done a lot of things if she felt like it. She could have found and beat up everyone who had even been the least bit involved in all of this. She didn't because things like that were wrong. It was wrong to use psychic powers to do things like this.

Very wrong.

But they had still done all of this. Why? It was mean. Mob didn't understand meanness at all. If given the option between helping people and making them happy and making the lives of everyone in the entire city worse then, obviously, helping people! That was what psychic powers were for, helping people, not doing things like this!

Calm down.

And stay calm.

Because the windows were starting to crack. Shew as not going to add to all of this. She was not…she was not these people. She could have so easily become this, it seemed, because at some point this became the default setting for espers. She had met so few nice espers in her life….why was this the default? Why did people act like this just because they had psychic powers? She had never felt like this in her life. She had always been afraid, actually, of herself.

And she kind of was, now.

Because she was so mad at the people who did this….so very mad. She was mad but she had to stay calm. She had to keep it together. She could not lose control. She could not explode. She had go up these stairs and keep it together so that she could do…something. Oh yes, she was going to do…something.

"So? What's the plan here?" asked Dimple as he caught up to her. No way was he waiting with the others. He had missed the boss fight when they fought these guys before, no way was he missing this one.

"Dimple, go back with the others. It's not safe here." Said Mob

"What am I going to do? Die again? Come on, you need me." Said Dimple. Also Reigen had been serious about the whole 'trying to exorcise him' thing, which was a little bit of an overreaction. On the grand scale of things that he could have done kissing Reigen was at the bottom of the list.

"Maybe. I don't know what happens to spirits after they're exorcised but I don't think that it's good and I don't think that there's any coming back from that. Please, just go be with the others. I know that they won't run away but….but I don't want them here. I don't want anyone I care about here. I don't want you to be here, Dimple." Said Mob

"Aww, I'm touched. I'm really touched you care so much Shigeko but I am not going anywhere. No way. You're stuck with me." Said Dimple

"Please Dimple, please just keep the others safe. I don't need any help. I don't want to drag anyone into this. This is something that I have to do myself because I…I'm the only one who can. Sometimes you just have to get in the robot…and this is one of those times. Ok? You and everyone else could get hurt and this…this is my thing that I have to do…ok?" said Mob softly. She had stopped walking now. She could see herself in the window. Reflected. A mirror imagine. She was still in her school uniform, it was burnt and ripped and dirty now after the day she'd had. Her hair was a mess, lose and wild, and her bangs were stuck to her forehead.

She looked awful.

But not scared.

Scared of herself, yes, but not of what was happening to her. There were people depending on her to end this and because they were depending on her then she had no choice but to win. The thought of someone she loved getting hurt was the scariest of all and that was why she had no choice but to win. Maybe she could win without having to hurt anyone. Maybe she wouldn't have to hurt anyone too badly. Maybe this would all be over soon and then she and Master Reigen and everyone else could go and get some ramen and just pretend like everything was normal even though it so clearly wasn't.

"You've been watching too much TV." Said Dimple dismissively.

"I know I have and when this is over I'm going to watch a lot more." Said Mob as she started walking again.

"Well you shouldn't, it's poisoning your mind. What do you think? That you can do this without getting your hands dirty? That you can find this boss guy and talk him down with the power of love or friendship or whatever? I know you, Shigeko, and I know that you hate getting your hands dirty. The shit that happened in Mogami's little fantasy land was enough to mess you up for weeks…and it didn't even happen! Shigeko guys like this…you can't talk to guys like this. You're either going to have to hurt him or get hurt." Said Dimple as he tried to talk some sense into her. She didn't have to run away like Reigen kept on repeating over and over again but she didn't have to do this alone. Let someone else do what had to be done. He had been around a long time, long enough to know that there were some people in this world that couldn't stomach doing what had to be done, and Shigeko for all of her power was one of them.

"Guys like that? What makes you so sure that it's not a girl?" said Mob. Boy or girl she didn't want to fight them…but it maybe would have been better if it were a girl that had done all of this. Most of her friends were boys and boys could not fight girls so maybe, just maybe, if it were a girl then the others would stay out of it and go somewhere safe.

If there even was such a place anymore.

"Pretty sure I heard one of those lackeys or minibosses or whatever say that their president was a guy so…maybe don't pick a fight with a grown man on your own. Not even a grown man but a grown esper. I know that you're seeing this guy's aura just as well as I am and I know that the only other aura you've seen like this is yours. Just a thought." Said Dimple

"That was a lot more than one thought." Said Mob

"Yeah, well, it needed saying. Shigeko….as much as I like you I'd rather hang out with you as a person than as a spirit." Said Dimple

"But you are a spirit." Said Mob

"I mean don't get yourself killed. You have a lot of people out there who care about you…or at least believe in you enough that they were willing to go up against this crazy aura guy. Shigeko, don't die. I mean, after all, if you die then who am I going to hang out with? Spirits don't exactly make the best company for other spirits after all." Said Dimple

"You'd be sad if I died?" asked Mob

"Yeah, for a little while. I'd get over it pretty quick, though. I mean what's more ridiculous than one dead person mourning another." Said Dimple

"Hairless cats." Said Mob

"What the fuck are you on about?" asked Dimple

"Hairless cats. They're ridiculous. They look like baby aliens. Cats are supposed to be fluffy and cuddly but hairless cats just look….ridiculous. I could never have one in my house, I would be too weirded out." Said Mob

"Shigeko, I'm calling bullshit." Said Dimple

"I'm not lying. There really are hairless cats. You're really old, how come you've never seen one?" asked Mob

"You are too lying. Come on, like you said I've been around for a while, and I cannot allow myself to believe that there are people who are going around shaving cats-" said Dimple

"No, no, no, they're not shaved, they're born like that. They have a mutation in their genes that makes them not grow hair. They're cold all the time, though, and they need sunscreen and protective clothing. Also they have really big ears and pointy faces and they just look…not good at all. Ridiculous." Said Mob

"You're ridiculous." Scoffed Dimple. He manifested a hand and waved it at her dismissively.

"Dimple! I'm telling the truth!" laughed Mob. For a moment she wasn't walking up the stairs to the top of the cultural tower to fight the big boss, end the season, accept her magical destiny, or have a long drawn out battle sequence that you go on over weeks and weeks and weeks getting more and more violent…but that was boy's manga. This was a girl's manga. She'd just go up there and…face her magical destiny.

Which she hoped would involve talking to the bad guy and showing him the true meaning of love or friendship or something.

Either way she would do this. She had the powers, she had the school uniform, and she had the sidekick. She was as close to a magical girl as someone in this reality could get and the magical girl always won. She had to. It was her magical destiny.

And she was a magical girl.

Whether she liked it or not.

Reigen had to be there whether he liked it or not.

"Are they…hey Master Reigen? Should we tell them to…stop? They're making everyone uncomfortable." Said Muraki as he kept his back turned, made it a point to keep his back turned, to the young couple sitting a couple meters away getting better acquainted.

"Yeah, I mean those aren't my kids or anything but…aren't they a little young to be like that?" asked Koyama also pretending that he couldn't see or hear what was going on back there. Group A had reconvened with group B and after everyone got up to speed, or while during, the kid he had kidnapped all those months ago met up with his girlfriend. At least based on the show that was being put on Koyama assumed that little red haired girl was his girlfriend.

"I'm on it." Said Reigen with levity that he didn't feel. At least this was a problem that he could solve. Kids making out like nobody was watching. A simple problem with a simple solution.

"Mob's little brother and his girlfriend! Knock it off, you're making people uncomfortable!" called Reigen over his shoulder. He suddenly had the urge to both pull his shirt up over his head and hide as well as stomp his feet and scream. He just sighed.

Teenagers.

He looked up.

Teenagers.

He could sort of make out Mob's aura. Pinks and blues. Red. The red was starting to drown her out. She had told him to stay put…and he was. He was staying put because…because he was of no help to her. He would just hold her back, slow her down, and that was all that it would take. One moment of distraction and it would all be over. She was up there and she was in for the fight of her life…and he was down there telling her little brother to stop making out with his girlfriend.

"Ritsu, don't let me go." Said Rei as she clung to Ritsu as tightly as she could. She had been mad, then embarrassed, but now she was just…she didn't know what this was. This was as if panic had eaten worry and then grated some mortal terror on top of it all. It was bad, it felt bad, but so long as she was with Ritsu she knew that everything was going to be ok.

They loved each other.

"I won't, I won't." said Ritsu, for once in his life grateful that Reigen was so bossy. Rei may still have been holding onto him but at least she wasn't trying to tongue stab him anymore. Now she was just holding onto him and telling him to never let her go. Of course he wasn't going to let her go, she'd asked him not to once already, she didn't need to say it over and over and over again.

"Ritsu….don't ever go again. Please don't ever let me go and don't go again. Please. I love you so much…don't let me go." Said Rei as she closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest. He was still holding onto her even though she looked terrible and smelled like she had been hanging out in a sewer, which she had been, and he was never going to let her go…and he loved her. He loved her and she loved him and they were there, together, and they always would be together and Mob was up at the top of that tower thing and she was going to…win?

Lose.

Win.

Lose.

Draw.

Win.

Lose.

Lose.

Win.

Draw.

The future kept on shifting and she tried to follow the path, the one path, but there so rarely was one path. Each path seemed equally as likely to happen and that didn't help! Mob was up there and she had no idea how this was going to turn out! Mob was up there fighting for everyone and she…she could have died. She might have had all the things that made a magical girl a magical girl but that didn't mean that realty would follow the rules of fiction! Sure Mob had psychic powers and stuff but that didn't mean that she would win!

Why was this happening?

"I said I wasn't going anywhere….I can't go anywhere. My sister is up there." Said Ritsu. He should have been up there with her. He was her little brother. It was his job to keep her safe. He was failing at….at everything. He wasn't keeping his sister safe, he wasn't keeping his girlfriend happy, his parents would kill him once they came home and found out that he let the house get burnt down…..if they didn't kick him out, too, once they realized that he had psychic powers….and he wasn't even up there fighting alongside his friend either….

So now all he was, all he could be, was the world's biggest handkerchief, if his girlfriend didn't stop crying anytime soon.

"Damnit Shigeko." Muttered Teru as he took in the scene around him. He should have been up there. He could have…he would have been useless. He couldn't even beat up a blind man! Wait…that sounded really bad….but it was true! Not that he planned on making it a habit, beating up blind people, but he had lost to that esper with no eye so many times…and there was no way in hell that he would have been able to be of any use to Shigeko in whatever it was that she was doing up there.

Maybe she'd knock some humility into that asshole who started all of this mess.

No. There was no maybe about it. He loved her. He believed in her. He knew that she would win. She was his girlfriend, of course she would win. Once she won and this whole thing was over they could…well he'd have to find a new place to live. His apartment had exploded and/or burnt down after all. All of his stuff….some of it might have been salvageable….he'd shift through the wreckage when all of this was done. He'd get everything back the way it should have been when all of this was over and done with. When Shigeko made sure that this was all over and done with.

Because she was a magical girl and the magical girl always won.

"Are you a magical girl?" Mob saw the aura before she saw the man attached to it. Purple, not red, which she had thought might have been a good sign. She had been seeing way too many red auras lately.

"No. I mean maybe. I don't know. Are you a bad guy?" asked Mob as she stood on the steps in front of this man. He had a purple aura, no hostile intent, and he wasn't even dressed like a mean person. Well he wasn't wearing the uniform the red aura guys were wearing, at least. He had on a robe and pajamas and crocs. He even held an umbrella even though it wasn't the rainy season anymore.

"Yes. I mean no. I mean I don't know." Said Serizawa. That was…that was who the President had been looking for. She looked a lot less…scary…than he had imagined. Not that he was sure what he had been imagining. Certainly not this. That was…she was in a school uniform so it must have been just a kid. Just a girl.

A magical girl.

She had the school uniform, the sidekick which was apparently that spirit glob thing, and her aura was so bright and…and pretty. Pink and blue. Bubble gum pink and electric blue. Her aura was pretty and she was kind of pretty, too, and that just made this all the worse….

He didn't want this.

He didn't want any of this.

"How do you not know? Are you with these people or not?" asked Mob. He didn't seem like the others…which could have been a good thing….because he could maybe have been on her side….or a bad thing because if he was on the bad guys' side then that meant that...well it meant that good people could have been turned to the dark side.

And he felt like a good person.

She let her aura meet his. Such a sad energy….and not murderous of hostile or even the least bit mean. Nothing like the red aura guys or the minibosses she had been fighting. Nothing like them at all. His aura was even a different color…and she could see all of the red behind him….and she was maybe even just trying to find something good in him because she was so sick of fighting and bad people….she was just so sick of it all…

"Y-You shouldn't be here. This is a bad time….you should go." Said Serizawa. He was sick of it all. He was sick of hurting people and of seeing people get hurt. This was a girl. He knew what he was supposed to do and he knew that he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it before and he couldn't do it now. Hurt her. He hadn't been able to hurt Sho and he certainly couldn't hurt a girl.

He was tired of it all.

"I can't go." Said Mob. He didn't want to look at her now, it seemed. He looked away from her down at his umbrella. He held it even tighter.

"Want me to possess this guy so you can keep going?" asked Dimple. Well this was just the sort of guy who'd tug at Shigeko's heartstrings and make her all sappy and when she got sappy she got sloppy and then this whole thing would be lost.

"No. I don't want anyone else to get hurt…and I don't want anyone else to get hurt…but I have to keep going." Said Mob

"You have to get out of here. This is a bad place to be right now." Said Serizawa. She had no facial expressions whatsoever. Nothing. She just stood there with that spirit…had she bound it to herself? Could she do that? Her aura was expressive while her vessel was not…and her aura was so bright…

"No. I won't. I'm going up there and I'm going to stop whoever's responsible for this. Please move out of the way." said Mob simply

"No. I just…no. You have to leave." Said Serizawa clutching his umbrella between two hands. He couldn't hurt anyone else. He had already defied the President when he didn't hurt Sho….if he defied him again….and he was going to. He couldn't do it. He couldn't hurt his friend and he couldn't hurt a girl. That would be the worst thing that he had ever done in his life…and he had done so many bad things already…

Hurting her could not be one of them.

"No. I'm not going anywhere. You're the one who has to leave. You're not safe here. You should run away." Said Mob. She heard the creaking of a door. Oh. These were panel doors, not walls, and there were still people inside….

Normal people.

Hey! She knew that guy from….somewhere….but where? Was that the guy who ran the snow cone cart in the summer? Or was he the nice man who had the haunted printer that she and Master Reigen exorcised last spring? Or maybe he was the man who kept on leaving food menus on the outside door of the office.

"Please, go, and take him with you. I know that the President will be angry with me but…but he's already angry with me…and I just…..I can't anymore. I just **can't.**" said Serizawa. In for a penny, in for a pound. He knew what the President was planning on doing to the Prime Minister on national TV later on and…and it was awful. Not that he hadn't seen the President kill people before but those people had all done something against the President. Here the President was just trying to make a point about…something…Serizawa didn't even know what anymore.

He had already proven that he was the strongest.

He had proven that he could lay siege to an entire city.

He had proven that he could hold the world hostage.

What else was left to prove?

Serizawa knew that the President was just following his dreams. He wanted to make the whole world a better place for espers everywhere. He wanted to make it so that nobody had to be afraid of themselves like Serizawa had been afraid of himself for years. He was trying so hard to make the world better…he said so, anyway, but lately…lately there had been a lot more hurting people than there had ever been before.

And Serizawa just couldn't anymore.

But the President wanted….the President had been the one to save him from the hell that was existence. Not even a proper life, just an existence…and there Serizawa was letting the Prime Minister go, a mission that Shimazaki had risked his life to complete, and also standing there and arguing with the greatest threat to the organization and the President himself instead of just sending her flying out the window. Serizawa was letting the President down….which was wrong….but so were the things that the President had asked him to do.

It was wrong to keep a man prisoner so you could kill him in cold blood later.

It was wrong to hit a kid even that kid had done treason against his own father.

It was wrong to hit a girl. It didn't matter is she was old or young or bad or good or an esper or a normal person. Hitting women was wrong. Period.

And he just couldn't do it.

"Y-You're letting me go?" asked the Prime Minister. The madman who kidnapped him, and all of these other people, had been busy with whatever it was that involved all of the bashing and crashing and screaming. He had managed to get free of his restraints and had found the staff access throughways. He would have made it to the bottom and out if he hadn't stopped when he heard a female voice. Small and young and fragile. A child.

There was a child there in this awful place.

And she was going to…do what, exactly? Fight that madman Suzuki?

A little girl in her school uniform.

"Take him with you. He's supposed to be a hostage but I can't….I can't anymore. Take him and get out of here. He hasn't even done anything wrong, the President was just trying to make a point by killing him." said Serizawa motioning for the man to keep walking.

"The Prime Minister?!" asked Mob. Wow. She hadn't voted for him, she couldn't vote yet, but that was still cool. He was the most important person in the whole country…or maybe that was the emperor….she hadn't paid that much attention in civics….but still! This was so cool!

"Kill?!" said the Prime Minister. The man nodded. The little girl was just staring at him. She had no expressions whatsoever, like a little doll. Her clothing was burnt, bloody, and dirty. Her hair was a mess. This little girl had been through hell and now she was going to challenge that madman Suzuki with…what…exactly?

"Hey, do we get three wishes now? Since we saved you?" asked Dimple coming out of invisible mode. The poor old sod jumped about three feet in the air when Dimple materialized in front of him. Ah yes, the joy of scaring normal people and scarring them for life with the knowledge that, yes, spirits were real and they were as awesome as he was.

"Dimple, don't scare the Prime Minister, I think that it might even be a crime….also he's not a genie. Genies aren't real…I think." Said Mob

"Th-that's a spirit right next to you! H-How is any of this possible?" asked the Prime Minister. Mob stared at him. How was she supposed to explain the many idiosyncrasies of the nature of existence? She did not have the time, first of all, nor did she have all the answers. Dimple probably didn't, either, even though he acted like he knew everything sometimes.

"I don't know how spirits work, just that there are spirits, and I don't know who there is that can explain it to you. I think that you really should run away, though, I'm going to try and talk to the person who did all of this and make him stop…somehow. I don't know how but I'm going to try." Said Mob

"You? But how? You're just a little girl!" asked the Prime Minister

"You can't…."muttered Serizawa. She couldn't. The President could not be stopped, could not be defeated, because he was the President. He shone so brightly and he was so strong…there was no defeating him. She couldn't defeat him. If she…who would he be without the President? Where would he go? What would he do? He didn't want…this…but without the President what else was there out there for him? He'd have to go back to the hell that had been his life….

"I don't know what I'm going to do or how I'm going to do it but I'm going to do something. Here, I'll put a barrier around you. I don't know how long it's going to hold for but maybe it'll help you. You should run away, far away, because it's not safe here or out there or maybe even anywhere." Said Mob. She put a barrier around him and tried to make it as strong as she could. She didn't know how long it could hold without her being there, she had never tried to do this before, but she wasn't just going to let someone without any powers to go out into that warzone.

Even if it hurt, a little, holding up a barrier as the Prime Minister ran away. Holding up a barrier that far from her was hard…especially when she could only, after a few moment, approximate where she was supposed to keep the barrier up from the sounds of footsteps. Normal people were so hard to see. No auras.

But there were auras here.

Including his. This person who would not let her pass. This person who didn't even seem like he wanted to be there, based on his aura, and who she would have to maybe even fight past…or let Dimple possess…both were not things that she wanted to happen.

"Please move out of the way." said Mob. She didn't want to fight him. She didn't want to fight anyone. Fighting was so stupid. This whole thing was just so stupid.

"I can't do that. I can't let you fight the President." Said Serizawa. He drew his umbrella and held it in front of himself defensively. He wasn't going to hurt her…at least he really didn't want to…and he didn't agree with what the President was doing…

But without the President he'd have no one.

"So you are one of the bad guys after all." Said Mob. What a world, even seemingly nice people couldn't be trusted…and he did seem very nice.

"No. I'm not…we're not the bad guys. The President…he just wants to make the world a better place for all of us…for all of us espers." Said Serizawa. There. That got some expression out of her. Her eyes narrowed. Her aura flared. Her hair stood up and whipped around her like she was standing inside of her own personal windstorm.

"A better place? You call this making the world a better place? Look out the window and tell me how that's making the world a better place." Said Mob as she clenched her fists and tried to keep it together. The other her wanted to break him, to make him pay for what happened, but Mob was in charge and she didn't want to break anyone….

Even though she'd have to. Maybe.

"It is! I mean it's going to be…once this is all done. The President said that sometimes sacrifices had to be made-" said Serizawa.

"Sacrifices? What do you think you mean by 'sacrifices'? Huh? What do you mean?! Look outside! Look at what you guys did! There, right there in that building was where my mom worked! And that place over there had a really nice manga shop in the basement! And there, all the way out there, was where my boyfriend lived before you guys went and blew it up! And you burnt down my hou-my parents' house! And I bet that a bunch of other people don't have houses anymore either!" said Mob. She tried to breathe in and out like Master Reigen had taught her. She needed….she didn't want to fight him…she didn't want to fight anyone. Mob didn't want to fight.

But Shigeko did.

"Shigeko! Calm down or you'll end up accidentally killing this guy! Come on, don't waste your time on small fries like him! You've got a boss to battle!" shouted Dimple as he felt himself trying to dematerialize. Why or why had Shigeko had to have learned that trick?! Now she did it without even thinking!

"That President said that most of the people had already evacuated. The President said that we needed to destroy the old to create the new. The President said that we're making a better world for espers everywhere. The President said-" said Serizawa

"The President says a lot of things, it seems, but that doesn't mean that they're true. There is no way to make a better world when you ruin the lives of others like that and you're stupid to think that there is. This was mean. This was the meanest thing that I've ever seen…almost the meanest thing that I've ever seen people do to one another. How could you or anyone else possibly think that this is ok? How? How?!" said Mob

"Shut up! Just shut up! The President…the President is doing this for me! For you! For all of us! He's doing this so that we don't ever have to be alone again…so that we don't ever have to be afraid again! When all of this is over then there won't be a single one of us who feels the need to hide! Who's so afraid of themselves that they-" said Serizawa

"Wrong. You're wrong. When other people are afraid of you it doesn't make you any less afraid of yourself, no, it makes everything feel so much worse. You're even more afraid of yourself than when you started off and it's such a bad feeling, the worst feeling, and it never goes away…not really. You're still scared of yourself and it's even worse, now, because people think that….that you're a monster." Said Mob

"Better than you, yourself, thinking that you're a monster." Said Serizawa

"No. You…when other people are afraid of you then you…you start to think that you're a monster, too. You start to wonder…to wonder if you're even human. You don't feel human. You feel different. You feel like…like they're right to be afraid. That's how you'd feel." Said Mob

"Like you'd know anything…" said Serizawa

"I do. I do know." Said Mob

"No you don't! You…you're just a kid….and a strong one, too! You've never been afraid of yourself, of your powers, of what you could do! You've never been so afraid of yourself that you hid away for years…longer than you've even been alive for! Probably….you're just a kid…" said Serizawa

"I am not a child. I'm fourteen years old and for your information….I am afraid. I'm afraid of myself all the time. I'm afraid of what I can do….because I'm so strong. Because I've hurt people before….because I'm going to have to keep on hurting people…." Said Mob

"How can you possibly understand…." Said Serizawa

"Because I'm afraid of myself. Every single day I'm afraid of myself. I didn't hide though…even though I wish that I could sometimes…but I can't. I can't hide and…and I'm through running away." Said Mob

"Run away! Just…just go away! You've got to go away! Run away! You can't stop the President! Nobody can!" said Serizawa pulling his umbrella closer to himself. He could see it, feel it, his aura. She was setting him off…nobody had set him off in a while…and she was…

He was not going to hurt her.

He couldn't.

"I'm going to try! Why do you even care so much? Can't you see all the bad stuff you've done?! Can't you see how wrong this is? And how wrong it is of your President to make you do things like this?" said Mob

"Hey, Shigeko, check out that umbrella. It's completely saturated with his energy." Said Dimple floating up and whispering in her ear. That was as close as he could get…how he didn't miss pain….he got away from her before he dematerialized. That wasn't much better. That guy was getting close to his own little melt down too. Sheesh.

"I see. It's like that Sakurai guy and his sword…" said Mob. She wondered if she could do that, curse objects or saturate them with her own energy…she felt the NERV bag at her side. She did carry a lot of junk with her….and fighting with the junk in her bag felt like it would have been better, less guilt inducing, than fighting with her powers.

Don't point knives at others.

But yo-yos, hair ribbons, and broccoli seeds were ok.

"The President saved me from the hell that was my life! I spent fifteen years locked away from the world because of my powers! Nobody ever understood me! They'd upset me so that I'd freak out and then when I'd freak out I'd accidentally hurt them…and break things…and I even sent my mother flying once! I was alone for years because of my powers! Fifteen years alone in my room….in the darkness all alone…so completely and totally alone that I would talk to myself just to…to have someone to talk to. I had no idea that there was anyone else in the entire world like me! I felt alone, truly alone, until the President came in and saved me from my life! No, not a life! Not even a life but an existence! He saved me and taught me how to control my powers…he gave me a purpose in life!" said Serizawa. He needed to keep it together. He could not hurt her. This was a line that he would not cross. He was not going to hit a girl. Only the biggest losers in the world went around hitting girls…

He needed to keep it together.

"So you just….lived in your room for fifteen years? And then this President guy said that he'd help you but only if you did whatever he said? That's messed up." Said Mob. She didn't get it. Why would someone just go along with someone who told them to do bad things? She went along with whatever Master Reigen said but he never told her to do bad things…but he did save her…but her situation was totally different from this guy's.

She had placed her trust in the right person.

"What the hell? Shigeko, listen to yourself for a minute." Said Dimple. Huh. So this was like a guy version of Shigeko…about ten or so years older than she was. Huh. Dimple wondered if this guy also harbored weird romantic and sexual feelings for the guy he called 'Master'…no, wait, for this guy it was 'President'.

"You have no idea what you're talking about…now go! Please! I can't…you're really pissing me off and I can't…I can't control it that well!" said Serizawa

"I'm not going anywhere! I don't care if you try to fight me or explode at me or whatever! I am going up these stairs and I am going to do whatever I can to make this President guy knock it off! Ok! So if you want to fight then I guess…I guess that we're going to have to fight even though fighting is stupid!" said Mob

"But I don't want to fight you! I don't want to hurt you! I am…I am sick and tired of hurting people!" said Serizawa. She wasn't letting up. Why? How could she not see that there was no ending this? This was the President's dream and nothing could stop it. The President…he may have made Serizawa do terrible things, things that kept him up at night, but at the end of the day the President just wanted to do what was best for all of them. The President had done so much already for them all…and for him specifically. This umbrella…he felt it in his hand…the President had given him this. The President had been the only person in the world who had helped with this…this power that he had been cursed with. The only person in the world that had understood. He…he couldn't let the President down….he couldn't!

But he couldn't hit a girl.

Even if she was trying to steal his umbrella.

"Don't! Little girl! Stop it! You-you're not safe here! Don't touch my umbrella! It's the only thing keeping me together!" said Serizawa. Telekinesis. Strong telekinesis. But he had to be stronger.

"Mob! My name is Mob and if…if taking your umbrella is the thing that's going to get me up those stairs then that's what I'm going to have to do!" said Mob. She stomped her foot and the tower shook. The windows beside her began to crack but not shatter. Thick glass. The kind made not to shatter even if there was a psychic powers fight happening. About to happen.

"No! Just go away! You're going to get hurt…and I don't want it to have to be me! He's going to try and make me…or he'll just hurt you himself! I'm sick and tired of hurting people and I'm sick and tired of watching him hurt people! JUST…..GO…..AWAY!" said Serizawa.

The pulled harder.

He dropped his umbrella.

And then everything went purple.

"Oh. You're just like me…I do this too, sometimes, so don't feel bad. I can't control it either." Said Mob. At first it had hurt. It was like the worst sunburn she had ever had, but also internal, like if she had been a kid and gotten surgery on the beach before she learned to heal herself. Her ears popped, too, and there had been this weird wind rushing sound…but then she had gained her footing.

And caught the energy.

And pulled.

And pulled and pulled until she had collected it, or was in the process of collecting it, into a ball. She held it between two hands but did not absorb it into herself. She didn't want to. It was…sad. It felt like when she and Master Reigen had switched bodies and she had gotten his powers. Sad. This man….Serizawa Katsuya popped into her head….was so sad…and she knew why…

She saw **everything**.

And it hurt.

It wasn't like this when she depowered the red aura guys. Maybe it was because they all had the same aura or weren't exploding or some other reason that she had never even though of. She didn't know. All she knew was that this energy was sad and it was trying to merge with hers and she **didn't want it to.**

But it was anyway.

And she saw it.

She saw every sad thing that had ever happened to her. She saw the time Ritsu had accidentally ripped the head off of her favorite doll. She saw the time she and Ritsu had been playing hide and seek with Tsubomi and then she went home and left them hiding for five hours. She saw the time in elementary school when every other girl in class got an invitation to Tsubomi's sleepover but her.

And it only got worse.

She was seeing all of her sad memories in order from first to last. She made it through elementary school and onto middle school. On to this year. On to all of the things that had happened from Ritsu and her fighting to running away to…to running away again…because of the fight that she'd had with Master Reigen….because of Mogami…

She saw him, too.

He was out there now and she…she needed to get through this so she could exorcise him once and for all! So nobody would ever have to go through what she went through...even though Asagiri was out there, too, and she said that she hadn't learned a damn thing….and there was so much…so much to be sad about…

She was overflowing with sadness. Sorrow drowned out anything else that she was feeling. She didn't want this sad energy, none of it, so she decided to give it back to it's rightful owner.

"You…you're taking in all of my energy…incredible…." Said Serizawa. Amazing. He…he could feel himself getting weaker. He could see his energy joining hers. She was holding it, the explosion, in the palms of her hands like it was nothing. How could someone so strong still have existed? How could someone so strong be so young, so…her? What was she?

A magical girl.

That was a real, live, magical girl…and he knew he was too old to think of her in such terms. Magical girls were the stuff of the games he had enjoyed when he was younger…and still did even though proper adults didn't even play videogames let alone videogames about magical girls saving the world with the power of love and whatnot….but there she was. She was there and she was…she was doing the impossible.

He wasn't hurting her.

"You-you're taking in all of my energy…" said Serizawa as he watched her. He watched her face, her aura, and was transfixed by what he saw. Her aura, her hair, everything about her was just so amazing in that moment. She was actually containing the explosion…

He let his umbrella fall to the ground.

It hit the steps with a loud crack and then rolled away. He let it. He didn't…it hadn't helped him. It hadn't stopped him from exploding…but she did. She had stopped him and now she…what was she doing? She was looking at him and holding…was that a charge bomb?!

"Yes. I can do that." Said Mob

"And you…you're turning it into your own energy…" said Serizawa

"I am but I don't want it. Here. You take it back." Said Mob. She lopped the energy towards him like it was a medicine ball and this was one of those rainy, indoor, club days. The kind of days that she was secretly grateful for because they couldn't run around the halls because of the noise and the way the floors scuffed easily…..when this was all over she was going back to school and going back to club. After all of this she…she wasn't going to ever be afraid of anything ever again.

"Wait! I'm sorry! Please don't-what….? What is….?" Asked Serizawa as he was hit with his own energy. He expected it to hurt. To be painful and to cause him damage. It didn't. He could feel his power, his strength, returning. She wasn't attacking him…she was giving back what she had taken…

With interest.

He saw seeing…he was being….he was her. He was her and he was…sad. People were afraid of him. People were mean to him. He never asked for these powers. He didn't mean to hurt his little brother…why were mom and dad looking at him like that? He didn't even know what happened…it all just happened….and now he was alone…and then he wasn't…and then he was again and little brother was so mean and mom didn't want him around and neither did dad but Master Reigen did and he….he didn't want him around either. Nobody did. Mogami was right…he was terrible…he was the most terrible person to ever walk the Earth and maybe everyone was better off without him…

But they needed him.

At some point Serizawa had fallen to his knees. He shook his head and his mind tried to disentangle itself from what he had seen and lived….her life. That had all been her life. She did…she did understand. She knew what it was like to be afraid of herself, to have hurt someone she loved on accident, to have people treat you like a monster because of your powers, to love someone who could never love you back…to have that person cast you aside…

Poor Kageyama.

Poor Miss Kageyama.

Poor Miss Kageyama Shigeko.

Poor Mob.

She was there, beside him now, and she was trying to help him up. She was using her hands, not her powers, and that was more than Suzuki had ever done for him in the three years they had been together. He couldn't recall Suzuki ever, once, seeing if he was ok. Helping him to his feet. Even saying sorry…

"I'm sorry if I hurt you! I really didn't want to, it just happened! I mean I didn't want that energy…that's what I mean! I mean…I mean that I'm just so sorry." Said Mob as she helped him to his feet. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, in fact quite the opposite. That was why she had given him back all of his energy. He wasn't a bad person at all. He didn't deserve to be depowered.

"You…you didn't hurt me….and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about everything that happened to you…I am just so sorry!" said Serizawa as he was helped to his feet. She was still saying sorry…and he didn't know why. He was the one who should have been sorry. He looked out the window. He hadn't personally done any of that destruction but he hadn't done a thing to stop it either. Because he was weak. Because he was dumb. Because he was dumb enough to believe the pack of lies that the President had sold him. He wasn't rejoining society, he didn't actually have friends, and he wasn't making the world a better place. He was just….he had just been going along with insanity….

He was a bad person.

"I'm just sorry about-" said Mob. She didn't know what that was. She had shared her energy with other people before but this had never happened to her before….was it different because he was so strong? Was it different because she had passed his own energy back to him? She had no idea how any of this worked.

"No. Please…don't be. I'm the one who's sorry. I'm sorry about…about everything. I thought…I thought a lot of things and I know, now, that I was wrong…and I think that it always felt wrong to me but I just…I went along with it because I thought that…that it was right. I thought that people cared about me…I thought that I had friends…I thought…I thought a lot of things." Said Serizawa softly. Her aura surrounded him. It didn't hurt. It was…nice. She was nice.

She was a nice person.

"It's ok, you just got tricked. I've…I've been tricked too…but it's ok. You're not a bad person, you're not terrible. Even if you do bad things…even if you've done terrible things…it's ok. As long as you're sorry it's ok…you just have to be sorry and…and try to be a good person from now on." Said Mob. She knew that it didn't come out right and she knew that he probably didn't even know what she was getting at but that was the closest way that she could approximate what she wanted to tell him.

Just be a good person.

That was all that it took. He had done bad things and let bad things happen…and so had she. She had done bad things too but it didn't matter because she was trying to be a good person. So was he.

"You and your bleeding heart." Muttered Dimple. Shigeko was too nice for her own good. She was helping this guy up after he was complicit in all of the shit that had been happened. It didn't matter if he was sorry about it, he had still gone along with it. He should have just owned up to what he did. People were strange like that, so strange, the hoops that they jumped through to not feel like bad people no matter what they did. It was much easier with spirits. He was an evil spirit, he did bad things, it was in his nature. People, living people, spent so much time trying to avoid their true nature, what they were deep down, and it made no sense. You were what you were.

And Shigeko was such a bleeding heart.

Suzuki was many things but a bleeding heart was not one of them.

His son laying there broken and bleeding didn't move him one centimeter. The boy brought it upon himself with this misguided little attempt at rebellion. Honestly. How Suzuki could have spawned something like this he did not know. The boy brought it on himself. He'd live. It was too much trouble to replace him and the next son he had might have been an even bigger disappointment…as amazing as that thought was. A bigger disappointment than a son who actively worked against his father. A son who couldn't even rebel properly.

Where had he gone wrong?

He could feel it. He had lost more soldiers. More had gone down and…and there was something happening underneath his feet. She was there, the girl, and she was…she was fighting Serizawa. That moron had better win. He had better be good for something. Good help was so hard to find these days. He didn't much feel like going back to the drawing board when he was so close, so very close, to his goal. No distractions. None.

Not even this one.

"Dad…just give it up already…" said Sho. He didn't know what he wanted dad to stop. The world domination, the beating him up, or that goddamned **staring**. He was just staring, always staring, since Sho had gone down. His chest rattled when he breathed, he couldn't lift his arm, and one of his leg had some extra corners. He smelled blood. He tasted blood. He tasted blood in the spot where his tooth had been….where a couple teeth had been. That part didn't matter, his teeth always grew back eventually. Fukuda could speed the process along.

If he was still alive.

Sho couldn't see anything but his dad's aura. There was…something….happening below him but he could barely feel it through the sea of red he was mired in. Red, a dark red, not like his light red. Lines of yellow in it, too. Yellow and red and evil all over.

His dad was evil.

"You don't know when to quit, do you? A pity. You could have been something great, you know, but instead you're…this. Such a pity, such a waste." Said Suzuki. The boy would heal on his own even if Fukuda didn't survive Sho's little rebellion. He pressed his shoe to Sho's chest and turned him onto his back. He coughed. Blood.

Broken ribs, possibly.

He'd live.

"N-No…you don't. You're not going to win. You're…done…you're done dad. All of your soldiers are probably all gone by now and you-you're scars are all rebelling…it's over, dad." Said Sho trying his best to sound like he believed a word that was coming out of his mouth.

"That doesn't matter. I can always make more. Nobody is irreplaceable. Nobody." Said Suzuki. Sho tried to sit up but wound up sprawled out on his back. He coughed and glared as best as he could through what felt like, what he hoped felt like, just a black eye.

"So then replace me. Go on, get it over with! Get rid of me and then go make another son! Or just find some normal kid and put him through those goddamned awakening machines! Go on then if I'm so fucking replaceable!" said Sho. He spat blood at his father's feet. It didn't faze him.

"That would be more trouble than it's worth. I have no desire to raise another child and as far as awakening goes…I suppose that you're old enough to hear this." said Suzuki. He didn't care if the boy was hurt but if he were to die…that would be bad strategy. He had just now gotten a hold on the world, it finally fit in his hands, and he was going to savor this, not spend his time running around filling Claw staffing shortages.

"Hear what? More crazy stuff?" asked Sho. Either this was going to be the day that he died or it wasn't. He didn't care. Well he had some regrets. He'd never managed to stop dad, for one thing, and he also hadn't seen his mom in person once since he was little. Those were regrets. He had others, too, because there were so many things that he still hadn't done. He had friends now, sort of, friends that weren't Serizawa anyway. Like Ritsu, he was a good friend. Sho wished that they could have hung out without there being a world to save. Sho wished that they had started being friends back when they first met. He hadn't…he hadn't known Ritsu long enough and he really, really, really wished that he could have gotten to know him better.

But that was not going to happen.

"Defiant to the very end, I see, though I suppose that it does sound somewhat crazy but I think that you're old enough to hear the truth. Those awakening chambers? Failures. There is no way to give someone the gift of esp if they're not meant to have it." Said Suzuki. His son's eyes widened. Huh. He had thought that the fight might have left his son but there it was. He was trying to get up on a broken leg and a dislocated shoulder.

"Then what in the hell did you stick me on one of them for?! Why?! To hear me scream!?" said Sho. No. Dad was…he was a lot of things but he didn't…he didn't like hurting people. He just didn't see any other way to get things done besides hurting people. That was all. He had put Sho through all of that so that he could get stronger. Dad, in his own crazy way, had been trying to help Sho…to make him stronger…because he had been such a late bloomer…dad had said…

"You cannot give the gift of esp to someone who was not meant to have it. You were meant to have it. You are my son after all. It was for your own good, Sho, and it did make you stronger. The best that they have managed to produce for others were some insignificant phenomena if not outright death. Still, they were useful in what they've managed to accomplish." Said Suzuki

"You're calling all of this insignificant?! Look at what those 'insignificant' soldiers did! You've got weird standards of significance, dad!" said Sho using his telekinesis to get to his feet. He needed…he was fine. So long as he had his powers then he was fine.

"Let me let you in on another secret, Sho. Those powers that they've been using like there's no tomorrow? Those are my powers." Said Suzuki. The boy was standing now. Such a waste of time. There was no way that he was going to win. This little rebellion of his was hopeless. He was hurt. That didn't matter. He'd live. He'd been through worse.

"That….what? Are you seriously telling me that you can't just store up energy but…but you can share it with other people, too? Like, what, some kind of living battery?" asked Sho. He understood that energy could be shared, that was hos Fukuda's healing powers worked, but not…not like sharing your…youself…

That was why all of the artificial espers had the same aura.

Dad's aura.

And that was the most messed up part of this whole thing. You couldn't just…just share yourself like that! Your aura was your soul! It was the only part of you that lasted forever! Even after you died your aura was still there! It changed as you became a spirit but it was still there! Sho had seen enough people die to know how it worked! You couldn't just….your aura was your own! You couldn't just-just-just-just-just split it up like that!

Dad was crazy.

"Yes. All six hundred of the awakened soldiers have a small amount of my power. An insignificant amount, true, but every little bit counts. I suppose I should be taking it back now. Your little rebellion may have failed, Sho, but it's caused me quite a bit of inconvenience. All of those, the awakened, maybe had possessed the ability to house the gift of esp but obviously they had no idea what to do with it. Well, back to the drawing board I suppose." Said Suzuki. He spread his arms out and pulled back every single drop he had given the awakened soldiers. He felt it. Not quite six hundred anymore, some had been depowered previously and some had perished, it seemed…perished and his energy stolen…stolen by….ick.

He'd deal with whatever that disgusting thing was later.

But first he had to take back what was his. He felt…there she was. She had taken in too much of his energy. It came back to him without any….with barely any effort. Whatever. She would come to him, now, whenever she was done with Serizawa. If that idiot knew what was good for him then he'd make sure that there wasn't anything left of him for Suzuki to find when this was all over.

Suzuki was surrounded by failures. Enough was enough.

Mob was tired of all of this. Enough was enough.

"But what are you going to even do? The President is unbeatable. He has no weaknesses. He's been working towards this day for twenty years, that's longer than you've even been alive." Said Serizawa as he sat beside her on the steps. His umbrella lay discarded at his feet. He wrung his hands together as they rested on his knees. She was there, now, beside him. Her aura was so bright but she was so…not bright. Not dumb! Just…muted. Expressionless.

If he hadn't been able to see her aura then he would have had no idea what she was even thinking.

"I'm going to do what I have to do. I'm going to try and talk to him and…and if he won't listen then we're going to fight." Said Mob

"You can't fight him. I've seen so many people try and fight him and get hurt…or worse. That's what he does, he hurts people…" said Serizawa

"And that's why he has to be stopped. I have to win so that he doesn't hurt anyone else. It's wrong to hurt people, Serizawa, and I can't let him do all of this." said Mob

"I don't…I don't want to see you get hurt. I don't want to see another one of my…friends…get hurt. If I even know the meaning of the word. I don't. The only real friend I had…I'm down here while he gets the life beat out of him…as usual. I've always been right there while he…while Sho got hurt…" said Serizawa

"We're friends. We're friends and friends forgive each other. I forgive you for what you've done and I don't know Sho but if he's your real friend then he'll forgive you too." Said Mob

"He won't. I know he won't and…and I would never expect him too. Not after what I've done…what I've let happen to him. He's so brave and strong but…but he's just a kid. He's your age, a little younger, and he had the courage to go up against the President while I just…stayed here cowering." Said Serizawa

"Sometimes you have to run away. That's what my master, Master Reigen, taught me. You ran away and that's fine. You keep on saying that this President guy is unbeatable but maybe you just think that you can't beat him. I'm going to go up there and I'm going to try and I'm going to win." Said Mob getting up. She waited for Serizawa to stand up too but he just shook his head.

"I can't go up against the President…there's no way I can win…" said Serizawa. A little girl was going to fight his battle for him. He had sunk as low as he could, any lower and he'd have been underground. Her aura flared and it looked like she was about to say something when she closed her eyes and…

He saw some of her energy leave her body.

"That feels so…weird. It's like someone's digging inside of me with a coat hanger and pulling out my insides through my belly button…ick. He knows I'm here. You can stay here if you want to, but really you should run away, but just…if you don't want to follow me then don't. Your life is your own." Said Mob. She wouldn't have minded if he helped her. He was older and stronger than all of her friends. She didn't much want to be alone…she wished that Master Reigen was there…and that was so selfish.

She needed to do this on her own.

It was wrong of her to think that she needed help. This was her fight. She was the only person that could stop all of this. She felt so alone, then, as she climbed the steps even though Dimple was going on and on about different strategies and stuff that they could do. She barely wanted him with her but he was dead already so really the worst thing that could happen was that he got exorcised but Mob had tried, Teru had tried, and Mogami had even tried but there was no exorcising Dimple.

Mob wondered, if she died, what kind of spirit she would leave behind. Not that she planned on dying. This was her magical destiny and she was a magical girl…but what kind of spirits did magical girls leave behind? Well besides witches, if Madoka Magica was to be believed. Mob was supposedly the very strongest, the very best, of magical girls…did that mean that she would turn into the worst of witches?

She had already been the worst of witches.

This was not the unreality. This world was real and she could not end it…but she had been strong enough to end one world…if she had been strong enough to end that world then would she be strong enough to save another?

Mob was going to save the world.

Reigen had to believe in her. He had to. Even if the sky was turning red and he had no idea what was happening and there was another kid crying and another one was praying and there were adults asking him what to do…

He had no idea.

The sky was red, now, or at least it was filling up with red…it felt like…people? Auras? Reigen did not know. He was, for once, not going to try and bullshit his way out of this.

"Reigen! What do we do?!" someone was tugging on his sleeve. Reigen shrugged and lit himself a cigarette. Someone told someone else to stop panicking, obviously it was all under control. Heh. Reigen wished that he had that much faith in himself.

"Nothing to do but wait and watch, I guess." Said Reigen. Maybe he was just getting burnt out of all of this. Maybe all of this, the stress and tragedy, had gone on for too long. He had to believe in Mob, and he was worried about her, but he had to believe in her. He had to believe in whatever it was that she was planning on doing…

"Is that Mob?" whispered Rei. She didn't dare let go of Ritsu. The minute she let him go, she felt like, he would be gone from her and she would be alone. She knew that she couldn't lose him, she loved him, and losing him would be like losing a piece of herself. The whole world was going to pieces, she was going to pieces, but she was not going to lose him.

"No…sister's aura isn't red…" said Ritsu as Rei clung to him. Her face was still buried in the crook of his neck and her arms were still wrapped around him. She was not going to let him go. He had tried to get free before but she had just held on tighter. His girlfriend was clinging to him and his sister was so far away and now the sky was turning red with…auras…like this was the end of Evangelion and he hoped to God that it wasn't and he needed sister to be ok and he wanted to help her and he should have been there but he…he was not strong enough to take on Sho's dad…and maybe sister wasn't, either…

Maybe he should have held onvto sister tighter.

"God damn it, Shigeko…." Said Teru as he balled his hands into fists. He was so useless. He was the most useless. There was nothing that he could do and now the sky was turning red and…and there was nothing that he could do….

He couldn't help. He would just end up getting in her way.

"You shouldn't have gotten in my way, Sho. All of this could have been avoided had you just stayed in your place." Said Suzuki as he collected his energy from the fallen. This was for the boy's own good. Everything was for the boy's, the stupid boy's, own good. There was still hope for him, maybe, just maybe, because otherwise then he would have been useless and Suzuki did not keep around useless things…

"F-Fuck you…" said Sho as he felt himself getting weak. Dad was drawing energy from him, too. Maybe this would be it. Maybe it wouldn't. He didn't know what dad was planning on doing. He just didn't know…he just knew that he was…that he had…

He was a failure.

"Again with this. Sho, come now. It's over. Your allies have fallen and so have you. It's over." Said Suzuki. Maybe the boy could be salvaged. Maybe he would grow out of it. Suzuki was forty six, he was not up to having another son. That was why he didn't just eliminate this thorn in his side. That was all.

"Then kill me." Said Sho. He could have sworn that he finally got some kind of expression out of dad, then. Maybe he was shocked. Maybe that would be the thing to shock him out of whatever crazy spiral he was going down.

"That would be bad tactics. You still have your uses despite what you've become." Said Suzuki. His son thought that he would kill him? He feels something erupt within him at those words. A spike of yellow in an otherwise placid red aura. How could Sho have thought something like that? That his own father would be so wasteful. He had already sunk thirteen years into that one. He was not sinking another thirteen years into another one.

"Y-you're a monster! How could you say that to your own son?! How could you…you're stealing my energy right now! Is that all you care about?! You're a monster! I know what you are, dad, you're a monster! You're a monster made up of energy!" shouted Sho

"If that's the way you see me, Sho. That doesn't matter, I know what I am. Let this be a lesson to you, Sho, only one absolute being can be the true protagonist of this world. Let this be a lesson that you carry with you always." Said Suzuki as he collected a beam of pure energy in the palm of his hand. It fit like the world, there, in the palm of his hand. Sho covered and fell to the ground. The boy was wrong. Suzuki wasn't planning on killing him.

He had to focus, actually, to keep from killing him. Power was nothing without control and this was very difficult to control. He could feel himself trying to awaken. He could feel himself starting to lose control. That would not have been good. A shift in the energy around him didn't help…he ignored it. He could not lose control now. He didn't want to kill the boy after all.

Just hurting him badly.

And one slip could end up with either all of this energy dissipating or the boy dying. Both were equally annoying options. No. He did not need any more annoyance in his life. Enough was enough. Even if the energy around him was shifting. Even if he could see, feel, someone new coming closer…he needed to focus. He could not kill the boy.

"Just do it…" muttered Sho. He didn't care anymore. He had failed at everything he tried. He had filed at being a member of Claw and he had failed at stopping them, too. Maybe dad was right. Maybe he was a failure…maybe this was just…something that was supposed to happen…

But not that.

That big shift in the energy around him was not supposed to happen. This aura…it felt nice. Warm. Safe. He could see it, the barest hints of it, pink and blue that could be seen poking through dad's aura. He could see red, so much red, but he could see…he knew that aura…

Ritsu was going to kill him if dad didn't.

"You shouldn't do that. You could hurt someone very badly. That's wrong, like everything else you've been doing."


	67. The Shot

So that was the boss of Claw, huh?

Mob had imagined someone taller, for some reason, and also scarier. Someone more like…not every bad guy was going to be Mogami. He didn't look too scary, this guy, but he didn't look friendly either. Friendly people did not have auras that were so…mean. Also they didn't hold what looked like a crazy amount of energy in the palms of their hands and threaten people with them, too.

And he did seem to be pretty threatening.

Their eyes met. His eyes were blue, but not like any blue eyes she had ever seen. They were cold. They were cold but his aura was the color of fire. A contradiction. Something which made no sense. Nothing about this day, or the one before it, made any sense at all. This was the man who was responsible for all of this. This man right here. This man with the red…and yellow? There was some yellow in there too. This man with a two colored aura like hers. No, not like hers, because his colors weren't moving…and there was hardly any yellow at all.

Her aura wasn't nearly so calm.

"You're doing something mean and dangerous. Stop it." Said Mob. Her aura was not calm because she was not calm. This man…he was the one responsible for all of this!

"You're-" said Sho. Whoa. That was her. Ritsu's big sis. Well Ritsu was never going to forgive him for this even though she could have ended this ages ago. She was so OP she could have even taken down…she could still take down…but she couldn't. Dad was his responsibility. He could not just pass it over to her because she was majorly OP.

"You. I was wondering when you would show up." Said Suzuki. Well not wasn't this splendorous? His greatest enemy had decided to show up. He let the energy in his hands dissipate back into his being. She wasn't fighting. Odd. She was just standing there glaring at him in that disapproving way that women mastered sometime around her age it seemed.

"I'm Mob. I would have said that it was nice to meet you but you haven't introduced yourself. Also I don't feel that way at all. I don't feel like it's nice meeting you after what you did. I know that I'm being rude but that's just how I feel." Said Mob. She knew that she was being rude but this was just how she felt about this man. It was not nice making his acquaintance and she could have led a long and happy life without having had ever set eyes or aura upon him.

"Now is not the time to worry about shit like that!" said Dimple

"Oh, and you brought a pet. Adorable." Said Suzuki. So she could bind spirits to her will as well. An ability that he did not have. Not that he felt threatened. This was a child. He didn't know why he had been expecting anything different. Her aura…well her aura was one thing but this was just a little girl. He had to remind himself that there was a little girl attached to that aura. A child. A child that shared his ability, it seemed, and also thought that she could challenge him. His eyes rested on Sho.

Another child tried to rise up against him.

"Who are you calling pet you caterpillar faced weirdo!?" asked Dimple. THIS was the guy? This weirdo was the guy? This guy who couldn't even do something about his eyebrows thought he could challenge Shigeko for the world!?

"This is Dimple. He's not a pet, he's my friend. Who are you?" asked Mob

"My apologies. Suzuki Toichiro." Said Suzuki but he did not bow. Ohers bowed to him, not the other way around.

"It's still not nice to meet you. I'm still very upset with you for all of this…but not you. I remember you from before but I know that you're on my side. The others told me. It's nice to meet you." Said Mob. She used her powers to try and help that boy stand up. His name was Sho and he was the one who had dragged her little brother and all the rest of them into this…but that was ok. Really. She could understand why he had done that. His own father was doing all of this, of course he asked for help.

"T-Thanks, I'm Sho, remember? From the Seventh Division? I guess that you're done fighting like a…that was mean. Thank you, for what you did back there….I forgot to thank you that night so I'm doing it now…and you should go. Dad…Dad's my responsibility." Said Sho as she used her powers to help him to his feet. He hardly had enough energy of his own to keep himself steady bur he had to. He had to stand and fight and defeat dad because…because this was all his fault. He never should have let things get this bad in the first place.

"Your own father did this to you….I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Said Mob because, well, what else could she say. She had never been close to her parents, and mom could say some very hurtful things, but they had never hurt her.

"Don't be. I'm the one who should be sorry. If you're here then that means that my plan worked….and I'm sorry about that." Said Sho

"So you're the one who burnt my houses, my parents' house, down?" asked Mob

"You can barely stand…" said Mob

"I'll be fine." Said Sho

"Shigeko, keep your head in the game! Whatever you do don't take your eyes off that boss guy!" shouted Dimple. Maybe he had been a fighter in another life. Maybe an acrobat. Maybe a leader. Maybe a God. He didn't know. All he knew was that he had sense that Shigeko didn't have. She stood no chance…she stood no chance against this guy unless she kept her head in the game!

And he needed to get his head in the game, too!

He did not have enough spiritual energy to take this guy on. No way. But this whole room, the tower, were flooded with it! That guy was like Shigeko, a leaking faucet, no, a waterfall! This guy have off so much energy just by existing! And there was even more! It was like someone had set off an energy BOMB in there!

He slipped into extra invisible mode and decided to have a snack.

"Why are you so concerned with Sho's wellbeing? You should be worried about your own, coming up here and challenging me like this." said Suzuki. She had gathered allies, and she was apparently gathering more….emotional manipulation? He was no stranger to that, though physical intimidation worked better and produced more consistent results.

"I'm concerned because he's hurt. Here, let me help you." Said Mob. She hugged him, it worked better when she was touching the other person in some way. She tried to focus on giving him enough of her own energy to jumpstart his body's natural healing factor but not so much that he ended up getting hurt. She had been told a bunch of times that this hurt.

"A-Amazing!" said Sho as he felt his body start to heal. Well he had to tell his body what to do with all of this new energy, it wasn't like when Fukuda healed him, but still! This was amazing! This was…this was what psychic powers were for. Helping people. Not the crazy 'rule the world' shit that dad was on.

"You should get out of here. You could get really hurt. The others are outside, you can run away with them. I'll do what I can here-" said Mob as she let go of Sho. She was glad that she hadn't hurt him. Now he was all better and he could run away and she could handle this-

"You! You think that you're my rival….BUT YOU'RE NOT!" said Suzuki losing control just a bit. Only a tiny bit. His aura only had the barest of hints of yellow, a rich deep sort of color that would have been beautiful had it not been the harbinger of something terrible. He had learned, ages ago, how to control his powers and he so rarely slipped up….this was an exception.

He only awakened under the most stressful of circumstances.

And some upstart little girl walking right up to him and blatantly using the power that he had previously believed to have been bestowed upon him and only him counted as being the most stressful of circumstances. The world was his. The world was his because he had been bestowed with almost every power there was, including the power to share his gifts with others provided they already had the gift of esp. He was a God, a true God, and he had known this to be a fact since he had been small, as small as those two were.

"Dad! Stop it now!" said Sho as he launched himself at his father with everything he had. That was crossing the line, you weren't ever supposed to hit girls, and everyone with brains knew that! Plus he has already done all of that terrible stuff already…stuff that had been going on for so long…and Sho was going to put a stop to it!

"Stay out of this." said Suzuki as he tossed the girl to the side. She tumbled to the ground and stayed there. He sent a burst of power at the boy, too, and sent him into the wall hard enough to make a full body indent. With a flick of the wrist they both went to the ground, hard, hard enough that the boy gasped as the wind was knocked out of him and the girl wasn't even moving.

He walked over and kicked her.

She rolled over.

**He's going to kill us if we don't kill him.**

_But I don't know if I can kill him. I don't know if I can kill anyone._

**Then let me do it.**

_No. _

**WHY NOT?!**

_Because I know you won't stop._

**I'll stop when I'm done.**

_No you won't. _

**Yes I will.**

_When will you be done?_

**When I'm done.**

_When will that be?_

**When it's over. **

_When will it be over?_

**When I say it's over.**

_That's why you're not going to be killing anyone._

**This man deserves to die!**

_I know it!_

**Then let me kill him!**

_No! You won't stop!_

**Well you won't start!**

"You're so weak." Said Suzuki as he picked her up by the front of her shirt. A sailor shirt. A school uniform. A little girl in her school uniform thought that she could challenge him. So cute. She went down even easier than Sho. Even now she was just taking it. Letting herself be picked up and shook. Her eyes screwed shut out of fear…

Her aura surrounded him. Oh. She was trying to immobilize him. Well then. So there was some fight in her after all. He broke free of her easily…and she held onto him even harder. Her face was impassive as she stood before him. Her shirt was askew, a pink bow and a white strap could be seen poking out from where he had stretched her shirt. She held her hand out and kept him still. She had been limp when he picked her up, limp when he shook her, but then she had broken free. Why? Why had she just been taking it!? PLAYING WITH HIM?!

"No. I was thinking." Said Mob as she attempted to keep him still. He was strong, the only thing she had ever felt as strong as this had been Mogami…and she had let him go again. Had she just done what needed to be done she could have spared herself so much suffering…but she would have had to break Asagiri. If she couldn't break Asagiri then how was she supposed to kill this man?

She couldn't.

But keeping him still was hard…and now he was free. He was free and he was throwing himself at her…so she threw herself out of the way. She ended up sprawled out on the ground inches from where he had made contact with the ground. She didn't think, she just kicked him with the aid of her powers. She had never done that before, kicked so hard, and in fact hadn't kicked anyone since she was a small child…

She was stronger than she thought she was.

But she wasn't strong enough to kill him. Even though he had tried to kill her…or at least maim or seriously injure her….and he had done all of that to his own son. He had hurt his own son. He had hurt his own son and he was doing it again. Holding him in one hand and using his powers to make bruises burst into existence on any exposed skin that she could see. She had seen…she had seen enough. This man had hurt countless people and she…and she had to stop him or he would never, ever, ever stop!

"Leave him alone!" shouted Mob as she threw herself across the room and went in for another kick. She had seen this before in a show, a round kick, hard and mean but necessary. Sometimes you had to be hard on people. Mogami was not her master but he had taught her that. She was a magical girl and magical girls fought only when they had to, and this was a 'had to' situation. She had to hurt him. She had to…she had to…

She could not kill him.

But he wasn't going to talk. He grabbed her leg as she went in for a kick and tried to swing her around above his head. He didn't count on the fact that she could make herself fly if she wanted to. She wasn't a fighter, never had been, but she had seen a lot of TV. She planted a kick down between his shoulder blades that sent him staggering forwards.

"Yeah! Take that! And this!" said Sho as he sent a burst of power that sent dad to his knees. He hurt, not as badly as before but he hurt, but it didn't matter. Who cared if it hurt to breathe, Fukuda or Ritsu's big sis could fix him up when this was all over!

Dad just absorbed it and sent it right back at Sho with a flick of his fingers. Sho couldn't dodge fast enough and ended up with blood running down his face. He spat as much blood as he could at dad. He was just standing, there, right there with the stupid look on his face! That stupid non-look which was also a look! A look that Sho was sick and tired of seeing!

On dad.

He saw it on Ritsu's big sis, too, well he had seen it before back at the Seventh Division. Now she had a look and she looked pissed. She had a barrier around herself but she was standing like she was ready to attack. She had changed since he met her. Good. That was a good thing for him. Dad had hurt them but they were landing hits, now, which was more than he had managed to do on his own. He should have taken dad down himself before, true, but now…now he knew that he needed some help.

And he would accept it. Even if Ritsu was going to kill him.

"You've both managed to surprise me, I'm impressed." Said Suzuki as he dusted himself off and fixed his tie. This was certainly interesting. He admired both of their tenacity. One of his son's few good qualities, and something that he would pass down his children as well. They fought well together, these two, and they were the same age. The girl would come around once she lost.

They always did.

"We don't have to fight! Please, you need to stop it! Fighting is stupid" said Mob from inside of her barrier. She didn't want to fight even if that was what magical girls did. She just wanted this all to be over. She wanted to go home. She wanted to lay down with Master Reigen on the couch and watch TV or ride on the back of Teru's bike or let Rei paint her face and brush her hair or play videogames for hours against Tome…things that she could and would have been doing if none of this had been happening.

But it was happening. It was all happening because of that man.

"My. You are an amusing one, aren't you?" asked Suzuki as he brushed off a burst of his son's power. The boy didn't know when to quit, a good but annoying trait, and neither did the girl. Yes. This was closer to what he had been expecting. He had seen the surviving footage of the Seventh Division takedown and he had heard all the eye witness accounts. There she was.

The pacifist.

"There's nothing amusing about any of this." said Mob lowly. She could feel it, her control slipping, but she had to hold on to her barrier. The other her was trying to wrestle control away. She was pushing Mob away, to the side, and trying to make Mob sink down into the abyss that was their mindscape. Well Mob was not about to let that happen. She held on and she held steady. She had to.

"Oh yes there is. You. You amuse me, girl." Said Suzuki. He allowed himself a small laugh at the way her hair flared out around her at that. So emotionally unstable. So young. Such a child.

"Well you don't amuse me one bit. Nothing about this is amusing and I don't see what right you have to smile like that!" said Mob

"I have every right to smile. Not only am I about to get everything that I ever wanted but I have you, here, to entertain me as well. You too, Sho, after some reevaluation I've decided that you aren't a total failure after all. You have an admirable quality of tenacity, I'll give you that." Said Suzuki. This compliment, a rare thing from him, earned him his son trying to crush him under the weight of, say, around a ton. Easily blocked by Suzuki but truly exhausting for Sho.

"There is nothing entertaining about this." said Mob. She gasped out and almost doubled over as the other her, the other Shigeko, tried once again to assume control and end this. End this by killing the man. It was one thing to think in her head that she could do whatever had to be done but it was another to actually do it. She could fight if she needed to but even fighting him, this man who above all else deserved a sound butt kicking, made her feel all gross.

She was terrible.

That was how she felt when she fought him…but she knew she wasn't. She was stopping him. He was truly a terrible person and as someone who is truly terrible it was her duty as a magical girl to stop him. That wasn't the sort of thing that made someone terrible. That was the sort of thing that made someone the opposite of terrible.

"I disagree. Here she stands before me, the child who says to everyone she meets that she's a pacifist, here, come to face me shaking out of fear." Said Suzuki with a small, the smallest smile that he could allow himself.

"I'm done with that. I've changed." Said Mob. Her barrier shook and shimmered. An assault from the outside…and from within. She couldn't hide under here for the rest of her life. She had to end this. She had to beat this man down into the ground. She had to peel him like a grape. She had to make him feel pain. She had to make him suffer. She had to make him regret every descison he had ever made that led him to standing in her way!

_Shut up._

**Make me.**

_We aren't going to do any of that._

**We are going to make him regret every choice that he has ever made that has led him here, standing in our way.**

_He's not in our way. Nobody is in our way._

**Everyone is in our way.**

"People never change. I can see it, now, in your eyes and in your aura. You're not a fighter. You don't want to be here. You have the soft heart of a pacifist, of a child, and you'd rather cower there in your little bubble than face me. You don't have a chance and you know it. Give it up, girl, before you end up getting hurt. You're valuable and I would hate it if anything were to happen to you." Said Suzuki

"I have no idea what you're talking about. People change all the time. That's how people grow, they grow by changing, and I've changed. My heart may be soft but it's better to have a soft heart than a black one…and I don't want to have any value at all to someone as black hearted as you." Said Mob. She made eye contact with him and she held it. She reached behind herself and pulled her hair down by hand. It stayed down.

She was the one in control here.

"That's where you're wrong, girl, so very wrong. Do you have any idea just how wrong you are?" asked Suzuki with a smirk.

"Dad! Shut up! Nobody needs to hear how crazy you are!" shouted Sho as best as he could. No. No way was dad carrying on about his crazy plan. Sho would never go along with something like that! First of all you couldn't force people to be a family together and second of all even if he liked her he would have never made her marry him or have a kid with him or whatever crazy scenarios were playing out in dad's head!

"I don't think that I'm wrong at all. I know that I don't want to have value to someone like you. You're a bad person. You're terrible. Look at everything that you've done." Said Mob. There were windows all around them. He could have easily taken a look out of any of them and seen the destruction that he had wrought. If he didn't feel like looking out the window then he could have just looked over at what he had done to his own son. Mob didn't have any kids but she knew that when she did she would never treat them like that. That was wrong.

This man was terrible.

"Yes. Look at everything that I've done. You have to clear the way for the new and in order to do that you, occasionally, must destroy the old. This world was built by normal people to suit their needs. They rule the world by right of their sheer numbers." Said Suzuki

"There's no real difference between a normal person and an esper. Some people are strong, some people can run fast, some people are good at talking, and some people have psychic powers. Having psychic powers is just another trait that someone can have, it doesn't make them any better or any worse than anyone else. The truth of one's charm is in their kindness so the best thing to do is to just try and be a good person." Said Mob. Those were the words that had saved her years ago. Saved her from becoming…this. This was what Shigeko would have had them become. This man thought that his psychic powers gave him the right to act like a jerk, like the other Shigeko thought, and maybe Mob would have ended up giving up control to the other her…..if she hadn't met Master Reigen. If she hadn't met him back then she could have become…this.

She would have been truly terrible.

"Who told you that?" laughed Suzuki. He couldn't help but laugh out loud. It was just so….absurd. Truly absurd. This child was truly absurd just as Sho. They would have a long and happy life together. Even now Sho defended her and she defended him. That was a good sign. He had to think of the next generation after all. A stable and loving home life would lead to a greater outcome for the next generation. The next and the next and the next. One had to be forward thinking. This, his son's betrayal, the girl's resistance, they were all just bumps in the road. The road of his life. The road to his destiny. This was the road to his destiny, his final act before his epilogue. Before he could ascend to his rightful position as ruler of the world. An absurd final act.

Truly absurd.

"My master. Master Reigen. He told me that when I was a kid and I wish that you had someone to tell you that. Maybe then you wouldn't have ended up like this. I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry for what you've become." Said Mob. She felt a tear run down the side of her face, then another, and another. She could feel herself crying. She didn't know if she was crying for him or for the alternate dimension version of herself that had become like him. The version of herself that hadn't found Master Reigen. There must have been one. The prospect of becoming like him, of giving into the other Shigeko so fully that she became **this**, was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"Your master…is a liar." Mocked Suzuki

"Well then if he's a liar then he's my favorite liar." Said Mob with a sniffle. Right. This was not the time to go to pieces. There was no sense in thinking about an alternate universe where she had never met Master Reigen. There was no sense in crying for this man, either, because he must have known how terrible he was being. People made their own choices and he had chosen to become this…right? Just how much of it was fate and how much of it depended on the choices that people made.

Mob didn't know.

The other Shigeko didn't know.

The boy over there trying to stand up, Sho, didn't know, probably.

And she wasn't about to go asking that man if he knew.

"You truly are an adorable, absurd, child." Said Suzuki

"I am not a child!" said Mob/Shigeko. That had been the thing to make her control slip. Shigeko, the other Shigeko, too her shot. Her barrier shook and then fell as they fought over control. She wrestled it back but not before she had been grabbed and picked up by the front of her shirt.

"Squirm out of your shirt!" said Sho as he tried, and failed, to break through the shield that dad had put up around himself and Ritsu's big sis.

"No way!" shouted Mob. She wasn't wearing anything under her shirt besides her undershirt and she was not walking around in just an undershirt in front of two boys! No way! Teru was the only person, boy person, who she was comfortable with seeing her like that!

"There it is again, that absurdity. Really, you should work on being more pragmatic, child." Said Suzuki

"I told you….I'm not a child." Said Mob. She kicked out at him with her body and her powers. It was not effective at all. He just stood there and took it. She could feel herself getting weak…she could see her aura disappearing into his…he was tugging her in…

And she tugged back.

"Tenacious, too. Yes, you and Sho will get along nicely. You really should give up, there is zero chance that you're going to be able to beat me. I have been working towards my destiny for twenty years. I am the true ruler and protagonist of this world and as rare as you are, as rare as the power that the universe bestowed upon you is, you cannot beat me. Join me. Give it up. Give it up before I'm forced to hurt you." Said Suzuki

"I…I will never give up….ever." said Mob as she struck out at him again and…whoa. Ok, no. She needed to put as much of her focus as she could onto keeping her energy to herself. She could not let him drain her and turn her into a husk. She could not let him put her aura out…she had to fight.

And she had to win.

"You should. You should join me. Think of the good that you could do at my side. I can't think of anyone else I would want by my side." Said Suzuki

"Dad! Don't be gross!" said Sho. Nope. No way. He did not like it at all, the way his dad said that, and the weird look he had in his eyes. The only thing worse than dad forcing Sho to marry Ritsu's big sis was dad marrying Ritsu's big sis himself…yuck. Disgusting. Vomit inducing! Sick! He did not need a stepmother a year older than him! Dad was a million year old fossil!

"Still awake, Sho?" asked Suzuki. His son had passed out, he had thought, when he slumped down to the ground. He had figured that the boy had passed out and now he could get on with convincing the girl to act in her best interests and join the winning side.

"I am and you need to shut your mouth! Seriously, you are being so creepy right now! Do you have any idea how gross it is to talk like that to a girl who's the same age as your son?!" shouted Sho as best as he could through a mouthful of blood.

"Um….that's weird and you're weird…" said Mob with a blink. She stared at him. That was…yuck. Ick. Disgusting. Not right at all.

"You're both such children. No. That is not what I have planned for you. I have you, Sho, and that's enough. I've done my part for the next generation. You're worth much more than that to me, anyway, girl. You're a rare thing. A person your age, a child, a girl child at that with your level of power and skill is something unheard of. I would hate to have to hurt you, to destroy you, so do not give me a reason to do so. That would just be bad tactics." Said Suzuki before he was kicked, hard, in the abdomen. She wretched herself free of his grasp, he held only a scrap of cloth where she had been, though she had not gotten far.

She could not get out of his barrier.

He shrank the walls, slowly, and pulled her closer to him. There was a pressure against his barrier. Sho again. Such a waste of time. There had not been a single time in Sho's life when he could break down Suzuki's barrier. Why would this be the time? He was broken and bloodied, there, on the floor gasping up pathetically at the sight before him.

"I will never join you. Ever. I will end this entire world, send it all tumbling down, take it apart down to the particle layer, before I'm ever a part of **this.**" said Mob/Shigeko. Their aura began to shift. They stood up and pushed their own barrier against the walls of his in an effort to keep it from crushing her. She was not going to lose. She couldn't. She would end this world, take it down, break it apart until it all came tumbling down, before she joined him.

She was the best of magical girls.

But she would not become the worst of witches.

Unless she had to.

"Well aren't you a stubborn little thing?" asked Suzuki. Her barrier was holding his back. She was standing there before him at her full height. Not very impressive at all, no, she wasn't impressive in her vessel but her aura was another story entirely.

"I am. I know I am." Said Mob/Shigeko. They knew that they were. Master Reigen and Mogami had both told her that she was stubborn. She was not a bad person, no, just a stubborn one. That was a good thing, now, because she would never join this man. Ever. Not just because he was kind of a creeper, either, but because he was a truly terrible human being.

"It doesn't suit you at all. I think that, maybe, I would have preferred the pacifist. That girl, at least, wouldn't have caused me quite so much trouble. So stubborn. So selfish." Said Suzuki

"You're the one who's selfish." Said Mob/Shigeko

"Me? I have spent the past twenty years of my life working to make the world a better place for people like us. I am the only one who can take it and rule it. Having this much power is a gift and a burden, child. I have been gifted with the ability to remake the world in the way it was meant to be, with our kind at the helm, and I have been cursed with the task of righting the world." Said Suzuki

"You're insane!" shouted Mob/Shigeko. They managed to push his barrier back far enough that they could put some space between themselves and the crazy person in front of them. They had the power to end the world and start anew but they weren't supposed to actually do it!

**Unless we have to.**

_But we won't._

**But we have.**

_We had to, the, but we don't have to now. _

**We have the power to do so.**

_But we won't! We do not get to decide to remake the world, Shigeko, those are crazy people thoughts! It is not right for one person to be the boss of everyone and it is not ok for one person to treat everyone so terribly just because they have psychic powers! I'm an esper but that doesn't mean that I have to be like him!_

**We need to stop him by any means necessary.**

"Heavy is the burden of the wise ones, for no one understands a word they say." Said Suzuki

"No, I understand every single word you've been saying, I just think that you're insane. Nobody has the right to just come in and boss everyone else around. You want to make the world a better place for people like us but really you just want to be bossy. You're making people afraid of people like us. That's all. You haven't done anything good at all and you need to stop acting like a crazy person." Said Mob. She was being crushed, a barrier, his barrier. His barrier shimmered. Something was draining it…from the outside. Not a person, no, another person with his ability would have been far too much. No. A spirit. Spirits did that, they siphoned energy from the living, and he had dealt with plenty in his lifetime.

"Such a stubborn little girl you are. I do wish that I could have met you before all of this. You could have been such a useful asset to me. But as it stands I see that I cannot persuade you to join me with words. You are so much more like everyone else than you'd like to think, little pacifist." Said Suzuki as be brought his barrier down, hard, on her…and she held it up. She was on the verge of coming down to her knees with the force of it all but she had pull through and now she was still standing….

Such a stubborn girl.

"Dad…shut up…you aren't a shonen villain…stop with the…monologue…" gasped out Sho as he tried to get his dad to stop. He knew what dad was doing. Dad was testing her, to see if she could break through, and Sho knew exactly what would happen to her if she couldn't. He knew how dad could be.

"I agree!" Called out Dimple as he stomped down on to the barrier in front of himself as it crushed her. He came out of extra invisible mode as dramatically as he could. Dramatically, of course, meant being at his true full size.

"Dimple!" shouted Mob as she managed to break through the barrier around her with Dimple's help. It shattered into a million pieces like shards of glass before she pulled the energy from it into herself. Shards of his barrier dug their way into her body but it did not hurt. She'd need it for later. That boy, Sho, was hurt again. He was hurt and bloodied and he was on the ground and she could not let him get hurt! He was…he may have burnt her house down but he was on her side now and that meant that they were friends…or at least reasonable acquaintances…and she was not going to let him get hurt.

"Come on! You wanna go, let's go!" said Dimple as he delivered a kick to the boss guy. Ha! He staggered! He wasn't so tough, not when he was fighting someone who meant it! Shigeko didn't have the heart for this sort of thing. Even when she was being attacked she had been holding back. Well Dimple wasn't going to hold back! He wasn't going to let this jackass break Shigeko!

"You aren't bound to her will at all, are you? How strange. A spirit that chooses to fight for a living person. How very strange indeed." Said Suzuki as he oriented himself. Contact with the dead was always vile, truly vile, and even he could be disoriented by it.

"Hell no I'm not bound to her will! Shigeko doesn't roll like that! I'm a free agent and I'm going to freely kick your ass! If you want to fight Shigeko then you're going to have to go through me!" said Dimple. This guy may have had a crazy strong aura, and he may have managed to almost ascend to godhood, but he could still be defeated! He was not going to take the mantle of God of this world or ruler of the world or whatever he was planning on calling himself! That was Shigeko's title! She was the one who was destined to rule this world and she'd do it with her friends, including her good friend Dimple, at her side! He would not lose! He would not be defeated! He would not lose.

"You're annoying." Said Suzuki as he batted the spirit away like a pesky mosquito. He destroyed half of the spirit's body with a slap of the back of his hand. That should have been the end of it, it really should have, but the spirit managed to regenerate. How…he expanded his perceptions. Ah, yes, there it was. The sheer amount of psychic energy saturating this space. That was a truly high level spirit that the girl had bound to her…no…had somehow allied with.

"And you're about to get your ass kicked. Come on, is that the best you've got? " taunted Dimple. Shigeko could have taken her shot, then, but she was too busy worried about that kid down there.

"Forget me! Stop my dad!" said Sho as she pulled him close and tried to send more of her energy into him. He'd be fine, he wasn't as hurt as he'd been before, and she needed to conserve her strength because there was no way that dad could be beaten by a spirit.

"No! You're hurt! You're really hurt and I can help you!" said Mob

"Help everyone else! I've got this!" said Sho trying to pull himself away from her. The spirit was still trying to fight his dad. It was really high level but dad was still dad. Sho would be fine, dad was the one who needed to be stopped. She didn't listen, though, she still tried to heal him. Why? He wasn't that hurt, he'd had much worse in his life, and there was no reason to make such a big deal about this.

"No. This is." Said Suzuki before he kicked that spirit out, literally. He so hated stealing energy from the dead, it was a truly vile process, but he was not going to let a little girl beat him let alone a spirit. He delivered a kick so hard that knocked the spirit not only from the Cultural Tower but also back down to compact mode.

"Dimple! No!" said Mob as Dimple was kicked out the window. For a moment, based on the amount of energy that had burst into her vision, the thought that Dimple had been exorcised. The thought brought her to her knees. Losing Dimple. He may have been annoying and weird sometimes but he was still her friend and she still cared about him…

This was too much.

"Why'd you have to…why?! What is the matter with you?!" asked Mob. The tower shook…and kept on shaking even after she had pulled her powers back in. She wondered if it would all come tumbling down. This tower. This day. This world. She had just lost…Dimple was a very strong spirit. Even when she had been trying she hadn't been able to fully exorcise him. He had come back from the particle layer, he had said, so maybe he was fine.

She wanted to go and make sure.

But she couldn't. She could not just leave this man to his own devices. He had hurt so many people already and if Mob left, if she ran away, even if it was just to run away to find her friend she would still be leaving this man alone to do more bad things…and she was not going to leave his boy, Sho, alone either. He was about her age, or maybe more like Ritsu's, and he could have gotten hurt. She didn't want anyone to get hurt…more so than they already had been…

"Don't tell me you actually care about the ball of energy and ectoplasm. Bonding with that thing is meaningless. It wasn't even a person." Said Suzuki

"Yes he was…is. A person is a person no matter what they are." Said Mob

"You've made some powerful allies, I'll give you that, but to ally with a spirit of all things is just bad tactics. They are so fragile, spirits, not even good for cannon fodder. You've also made the mistake of bonding with that creature. Bonding with others is meaningless enough already. Why do such a thing with a spirit?" said Suzuki

"Bonding with one another is what makes life meaningful. The invisible bonds that we form are what get us through our lives. Nobody is born complete. We need each other." Said Mob

"That is where you're wrong, little girl. I am a whole and complete being and that will be my victory. You. You are weak. Even now you're protecting Sho instead of standing and fighting even though I could so easily end your life right here and now." Said Suzuki

"No. You're wrong. Nobody is born complete. Everyone…Everyone grows because of their interactions with other people. By forming these invisible bonds we grow and they grow and everyone grows. People need other people, even you, you just can't see it yet." Said Mob

"You sound like you're pitying me." Said Suzuki. He struggled, for a moment, to keep himself level. This girl in her ruin school uniform cowering on the ground was pitying HIM? She should have had some pity on herself. Weak. She let her weakness for others result in her defeat. She could have been something great. He mourned it, he allowed himself to mourn it, the wasted potential within this girl.

"No. I'm just saying that I feel bad for you. You didn't have anyone else, not like I did, and that's why you're like this. I'm angry, very angry, but I also have to remember that you turned out this way because of how you've lived your life. You've been all alone your whole life it sounds like. I've been alone too. I could have been like you if that had been real, if I had been truly alone in my life. I could have become the worst sort of monster…I could have been terrible…" said Mob

"So you're saying I'm terrible? That's rich coming from you. You're here, before me, helpless and bereaved over a spirit of all things. I am glad that I am not you. You're right, I could have ended up like you had I been weak, but I am not. The world is divided up into winners and losers and I, girl, am a winner." Said Suzuki

"You don't have to be terrible…and we don't have to fight. You can walk away from all of this. Sometimes you have to run away and this…this is one of those times. You don't have to be alone anymore. I...I'm here. I can show you a better way." said Mob climbing to her feet. She knew what had to be done and she knew…she knew that once she let Shigeko do that then she would not have been able to stop…and she didn't know if she could be responsible for this man's death. This was not his fault. He'd led a terrible life and this was where he had ended up. He was like her, born with powers that were big and scary but he hadn't had anyone in his life to show him a better way. He was…

She was making excuses for him because she didn't want to hurt him.

But were they excuses? How much of it was genetics? How much of it was fate? And how much of it depended on the choices that we made?

"So you want to be a shoulder that I can lean on? Please. Save that spiel for the weaklings of the world." Said Suzuki

"Ritsu's big sis, you can't talk him down. He's insane, totally insane, like you said. You've got to fight him. He can do that thing you do, steal energy, and he can give it to others too. On top of all of that he's got a massive twenty year stockpile saved up. I can help you…I can fight…and we can win and then…and then we can end this." said Sho. He reached up and grabbed her arm to steady him enough to climb to his feet. She reached down, took his hand, and poured more of her energy into him.

"Don't do this. Stop. Save your strength." Said Sho as he felt his body's natural healing processes get another jumpstart. His aura shifted and shook to accommodate the new energy, her energy, pink and blue pouring right into him. His own aura, his energy, accepted her. As he did it he was hit with a wave of…sadness. Hopelessness. He wanted to lay down and wait for tomorrow to happen. He didn't want to be there. What had he ever thought that he could have done? He stood no chance and had never stood a chance. This was dad. He was the most powerful being on Earth and Sho was just a kid. A failure. No wonder mom hadn't taken him with her. He would have just slowed her down. He was useless to her and to everyone else in this world.

"I just lost one friend. I am not losing you too." Said Mob as she clutched his hand in hers and tried her best to help him. She kept her breathing as level as she could as she tried to control her power output. She didn't want to hurt him…and she didn't want to hurt herself, either…

"Friend…?" asked Sho softly. She considered them to be…ok. Ok then. He was not in a position to be passing up any offers of friendship. After all he had no idea how many of his friends he even had left. Serizawa had deserted him and the others…the others were out there fighting for their lives…

"Can you move?" asked Mob, still clutching his hand. Sho nodded.

"Yeah. I can stand at least." Said Sho

"Good. Now run away. I know that you want to help me but you…you've been so hurt already. Please, just go downstairs and help the others. Help them run away. You're really strong, I can tell, and they need someone strong to keep them safe. I'll do what I can here-" said Mob before she felt something crack her across the side of the head. Hard. She had been putting up a barrier, a subconscious one, and it had shattered into a million tiny pieces like glass on impact. She watched them all come tumbling down as her vision twinned. Her head was pounding. This was not good.

"I am not running away!" said Sho as he felt a familiar pain. Dad had decided that it was time to pop him one…and her too. She wasn't used to it. She went right down. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up. It was worse, always worse, when you went down. Dad hated weakness and he would just do it again, and harder, if you went down like that. He didn't tolerate weaknesses like that.

"Then you're a bigger idiot than I've ever imagined." Said Suzuki. He grabbed his son by the throat and smashed him down, hard, into the ground. It buckled. The entire building shook. He wondered how much this tower, this monument to normal people's achievements, could take. Not much. It was fragile, most likely, like them. The normal people of this world. He would rule over them and everyone else. He would.

Just as soon as he beat some sense into these two.

Reigen was about to start beating some sense into people.

"Fuck this. I'm going up there." Said Teru. He was through waiting and watching. He had been sitting there listening to Rei cry and those Scars mutter amongst themselves while Shigeko was up there fighting for her life. He could tell. He had eyes and an aura. He saw the way the tower had swayed and shook, he saw the colors that burst into existence across the dying sky, and he knew that he had to do something. That was his girlfriend up there.

That was the love of his life.

And he knew that he loved her, had truly loved her, since the first time she had saved him. She had saved him in every single way a person could be saved. That was why he could not let her just…get hurt. Maybe even die. He wanted her. He wanted her safety. She was his everything. He had said…and it felt like a million years ago when he had said it, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He had just been saying things in that phone call, panicked things, things that were unbefitting of him. He should have worked harder at controlling the situation, at controlling himself, because now he was…he had no control over this situation. The love of his life was up there and all he could do was sit and watch and wait.

He could not lose her.

He had thought that it would be the other way around, that she would be the one to lose him. That he would be the one to die. Death. Something that he was thinking about, had been thinking about, had been thinking about since he had come close enough to touch it…and he had thought that it would be coming for him. That it would separate the two of them. Well it would, but not in the way he had thought. She could die. She could die up there while he was sitting there waiting and watching and listening to Rei cry.

So, yeah, fuck it.

He didn't get far, though, when he felt a hand at the back of his hoodie. He was being pulled back, hard, and he did the only thing he could do. He pushed back with his powers. If Shigeko asked why he did it, and she would probably ask, he'd just say that he had been surprised. That he had still thought that they were fighting. The enemy was all around them after all. There was no way to know who was friend of foe if they grabbed you from behind.

He knew that aura. Custard yellow.

He knew who it was that had grabbed him. Reigen. Always Reigen. What, did he want to fight again? Was he going to go on and on and on about how he couldn't possibly have feelings for Shigeko? Well he did. Anyone with eyes could see that…anyone but Shigeko herself. He did not want to fight with Reigen. He did not want to waste his time and energy fighting with Reigen.

Not when there was a real fight to be had.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" asked Reigen. He sounded more like an adult, a proper adult, then than he ever had in his life. There was no way in hell that he was letting this kid walk off into certain death. He may have not been able to stop Mob but this kid was nowhere near Mob's level.

"To save my girlfriend. All of you can stay here waiting and watching but I'm going to go up there and-" said Teru before he was practically picked up. Reigen hadn't let go even after Teru had lashed out at him. Why? Why did he have to be like this!? He knew that Shigeko was in danger but he was just standing there doing NOTHING! If he really was the great master like everyone said he was then he would have, and should have, been doing SOMETHING!

"Die." Said Reigen simply. He spun Teru around and made Mob levels of eye contact. This kid was not going to die on his watch. This kid needed someone to be an adult, an actual adult, in his life. He was stubborn and headstrong, that came from having to be in charge of himself for so long. He thought that he knew best but he didn't. He thought that he had to run into certain death but he didn't. Heh. No wonder he and Mob got along so well.

"Don't say that!" shouted Rei. She couldn't see what was going on. Her face was still buried in Ritsu's hoodie, yellow and dirty but still the only sight that she wanted to see. She had been crying into him, the tears just would not stop, and he had been holding her. He had been telling her that everything was going to be alright. He was telling her that he loved her. He was telling her that nothing was going to harm her while he was around. His arms held her close and his aura held her closer. She didn't have much of an aura, not usually visible even to her, but now she could see it. Orange against dark blue. The same sort of bright orange as orange soda against the same sort of dark blue as school uniforms. The ones from his school, anyway, the boy's wore purple at her school. She didn't care what their colors were, that they didn't mix, she just cared about the fact that they were there, together, and that they would be ok…even if someone was talking about death!

"Rei, no, nobody's going to die." Said Ritsu. He wished that he could have done what Teru was doing. He knew that he didn't stand a chance but he also knew that waiting and watching like this was not…this was not what he was meant to do. He needed to protect his sister even though she didn't want his protection. Even though he had resigned himself not to give it. That was before he saw the Cultural Tower sway and shake and erupt in a shower of red and blue and pink and even some yellow, too.

He couldn't tell whose red it was that he was seeing.

But he couldn't go up there. Rei needed him. He may not have been in love with her, he may not have been able to return even a millionth of the love she gave him, he still had to be there for her. She was a mess, a crying mess, and if he left her…she did not deserve that. He may not have been in love with her but he wasn't going to go and devastate her like that.

Even though his sister needed him despite what she had said to the contrary.

"You are. If you go up there then I swear to God that you will die and I am not going to let that happen. Do you hear me? I am not letting you die." Said Reigen slowly and evenly so that there was no room for this kid to pretend he hadn't heard. To act like he hadn't heard.

"We're going up there?! What!?" asked Takeshi as he got close enough to hear what was going on. He shook as he stared up at the Cultural Tower. Reigen was right. There was no way that they were going to survive that. They had barely survived the mooks, how were they supposed to survive the boss!?

"Yeah! Let's go kick some ass!" shouted Go. He had been trailing behind Takeshi and at that proclamation he grabbed his hand and attempted to drag him away. They had the power of friendship on their side and with the power of friendship of course they would win! This whole thing was playing out like the final arc of any shonen series…accept the main good guy fighter was a girl…but still! They had fate on their side and they were not going to lose.

"No! Nobody is going up there! Mob…Mob has this…" said Reigen. Teru pulled himself free of Reigen grip. He had been holding on so tightly that he had made the rips in Teru's clothes worse than they already had been. Reigen looked down at his hands and had he been anyone else, and had the circumstances been different, Teru would have felt embarrassed at the amount, or even presence of, that much filth…but this was Reigen and Teru didn't care how dirty he got him.

"Shut the fuck up. That is my girlfriend up there and I don't care what you say or she says or what anyone else thinks that they're going to say. I am going up there and I am going to save her." said Teru

"And how, exactly, do you think that you're going to do that?" asked Reigen. He was gritting his teeth. So was Teru. He knew that he needed to calm down because anger would feed into anger and cause a negative feedback loop and then there'd be two fights happening instead of one…and he wanted neither of those fights to be happening!

"I'm going to fight and I'm going to win." Said Teru

"Teru…please..." said Ritsu. He didn't want to lose Teru and he didn't want sister to lose him, either. Teru had almost died fighting that blind guy, he stood no chance against the boss…but Shigeko did. She was stronger than all of them put together and he so wanted to help her, to be the one to go up there and risk his life for her, but he couldn't. Not when he had someone there who loved and depended on him.

And Teru was in the same boat whether he realized it or not. Shigeko could not lose him.

"That guy…that guy is on another level and you need to let go of your foolish pride and realize when you're outgunned! Sometimes you have to run away and this is one of those times!" said Reigen

"If you want to run away then do it. Nobody's making you stay." Said Teru. His eyes met Reigen's. Sapphire blue on plain, common, blue. His aura met Reigen's. Gold on custard yellow. Who did Reigen think that he was…Teru knew who he thought that he was. He fancied himself the Great Reigen Arataka, well he wasn't. He wasn't master of anyone and he wasn't great. He was just a man, a scared man, but Teru was not. He was not Reigen, he was not the sort of man who would let Shigeko do all of this on her own.

"I…I'm going to be here for Mob when she comes back. I'm the adult here and I am telling you that you need to leave this to…leave it to the only person who even stands a chance." Said Reigen. He knew that he felt helpless, hopeless, and he knew that because of the proximity he was sharing these feelings with the stubborn little brat in front of him. He was also…he kid took all of those hopeless and helpless feelings and just turned them into anger and resolve. There was no reasoning with a fool in love…

But Reigen was going to try to do so, anyway.

"I won't. Now get out of my way, I don't want to have to waste my time fighting you, too." Said Teru. Reigen did not budge. He didn't care. He could always push past him, and he tried to, but Reigen was stronger. Well that was because he was bigger and Teru hadn't been using his powers. He wanted to. He wanted to use his powers to beat Reigen up worse than he had ever beaten anyone else up before.

But he didn't.

Because Shigeko would not have wanted that. He was not going to save his girlfriend just to end up losing her over Reigen fucking Arataka.

"No. I'm not moving from this spot and neither are you." Said Reigen. He sounded just like his mother, then, though his mother had not been trying to keep him from going off to certain death. She had been trying to keep him safe, though, and he was struck then with the sudden urge to call his mother and to tell her that he was sorry for all of the grief that he had put her through for the past almost thirty years. But he didn't because now he had his own stubborn kid to try and protect from his own stupidity.

"What makes you so sure that I won't just move you, then?" asked Teru. There were some mutterings behind him, those scars were debating protecting Reigen vs minding their own business. Someone said that he wasn't a threat, that he was just a kid…he was not a child! The only thing that separated him from them, from Reigen, from any adult was chronology! Just because he was born in 2005 he was expected to be treated like a child. He was not! He had been living on his own for years! Keeping himself safe! Claw had come after him again and again and again but he hadn't had anyone to rely on but himself! He had fought those idiots off countless times and he would do it again! He would do it for her! That was how he knew he could win! He was doing it for her, now, and for her he would do anything! He loved her, not in that sappy way other couples his age were, he honestly loved and wanted to spend his life with her. He would and had laid his life down on the line for hers and he could and would do it again!

"Because I know that you won't. I know, I don't think, because I know that you love Mob and you want to be what she wants you to be. She would forgive you, you know she would, if you were to hurt me but you still won't do it because you care too much about her. I care about her, too, and that's why I am not letting you go off to die. She would never forgive you and she would never forgive me, either. You think that I'm the sort of person who always acts in my own best interests, I know you do, so then believe me that it is not in my best interests for Mob to have the kid she loves most in the world dead because I couldn't save him from his own pride and arrogance." Said Reigen

"You just want-" said Teru. He had been about to tell Reigen exactly what he wanted from Shigeko. That he wasn't acting in his own best interests at all because if, and it was a big if, Teru died then Reigen could have had Shigeko all to himself just like he wanted. Just like anyone with more than two brain cells could see that he wanted.

"You can think whatever you want kid, I don't care, but it is in my best interests not to piss Mob off by letting you die. She's a good friend and someone anyone would be happy to have at their side…and not just because of her powers. She's a good person, one of the few good people left in this world, and she does not deserve to lose you." Said Reigen. He tried not to let himself feel them, the twin feelings of guilt and self-loathing that threatened to spill out as he held Teru back. He had kissed this kid's…no. He hadn't kissed Mob, this kid's girlfriend, he had kissed Dimple, the pain in the ass that occasionally followed him around and thought that doing what he had done had been a good idea. Reigen did not have time to feel disgusted with himself or Dimple or every decision that he had ever made in his life that put him in that positon in the first place. He had a job to do and that job was keeping this hard headed kid alive!

"You're just-" said Teru

"Saving your life." Said Reigen. He said it with the air of finality that he had heard countless adults use with him, before, when he had been a stupid and reckless kid. The kid looked like he had been about to say something, something mean and harsh no doubt, when the energy around all of them shifted…

Ick.

What was that?

There was a trail of green leading from the broken window of the Cultural Tower. It painted a green slash across the red, pink, and blue that had made up the sky around the tower…and it was coming closer.

"Dimple!?" said Ritsu. Rei had let him go, or at least wasn't holding him in quite such a death grip, as he saw Dimple floating down from the sky like a piece of torn up paper. He was smaller, smaller then Ritsu had ever seen him before, and he was almost flat, too. Torn at the edges. Just like a piece of paper…

"What the…I told you to keep Mob safe! What happened!?" said Reigen as he plucked what was left of Dimple from the air. Gross. This felt so gross. This felt like gutting a week old fish with your bare hands in the height of summer while the sun beat down on you and you were covered in stale sweat and fish guts, rotting fish guts. Rotting. Just…ick. Death was disgusting.

"I tried, ok?! I tried but that boss guy…he's on a whole other level! And on top of that he seems pretty intent on mercilessly killing Shigeko!" said Dimple. Everyone was gathered around him, now. They were all gathered in close despite how truly disgusting he must have felt to all of them. That boss guy with the caterpillar eyebrows and the superiority complex had tried to exorcise him, destabilize him, dematerialize him…and he had almost succeeded. Even at that moment Dimple was having trouble maintaining his form. He was leaking his own spiritual energy everywhere and they must have all been able to feel it…but they all stood around him…

"Is he hurt badly? And…how do you heal an evil spirit, anyway?" asked Rei as she broke apart from Ritsu. The poor little thing…Mob had told her about him, a very powerful evil spirit who could also be kind of nice when he wanted to be…one of her friends. Rei wished that he had been made of paper instead of just looking like he was, maybe then she could have done something to help him…

"That's it. Fuck this and fuck you too, Reigen. I'm going up there." Said Teru. He was not going to wait and see if Shigeko came tumbling out of that tower next. No. Just no.

"I'm going with you." Said Ritsu. Rei had let go of him, that meant that she was better, and now he was free to save his sister like a good brother would.

"Ritsu! No!" said Rei. It had been a split second decision, friend or boyfriend, and she had chosen her boyfriend. She didn't know if this made her a bad person for putting her boyfriend ahead of her friend, she just knew that she could not lose him.

"Ritsu, stay here and keep the others safe. If I'm gone then you'll be the only one who can protect them." Said Teru. He was getting looks from those Scars but he did not care one bit. Ritsu was the only one there that he trusted to keep the others safe. They may not have all been, or at least he may not have been, bestest buddies for eternity or anything like that but he was not going to have anything bad happen to them. No. Nobody else was getting hurt…besides that boss guy.

Teru took a step forward when he was shoved back, hard, hard enough that he had almost lost his footing.

"Stay here…stay here and keep the others safe." Said Reigen

"Excuse me? No. There is no way that I am just going to sit here and let you-" said Teru

"If I don't come back then you…then you go, ok? But let me try first. I'd rather…I'd rather Mob lose me than you." Said Reigen choosing his words very carefully. He didn't know what he could do but he knew that he had to do something. This was who he was, Reigen the bullshitter. Reigen the guy who went through life on his wits and luck. Lucky enough to have Nob walk into his life all those years ago and clever enough to keep her…and now it was time to be clever enough and lucky enough to save her…somehow…

It would have been so much easier if he'd had actual powers. Something like those other people could do. Fly, break things, hell even mindreading would have been useful! But nothing. He had nothing. He couldn't…he couldn't even stop that mini boss all the way back at that alley without help…no. He was thinking like those other espers, the ones he had lectured ages ago back when this whole mess had started. He was thinking in terms of his powers. He needed to do what he did best…adapt and improvise…

He saw a glint of something metal catch the dying sunlight.

He could…he had never done anything like that in his life and videogames did not count. Light guns were not real guns…and he didn't know if he had it in him to…no. Better him than one of the kids. Better him than one of those Scars who he still didn't fully trust. He would…he would save Mob…by any means necessary….

"Hey, Four Eyes, you got a second?" called Reigen. He was given a quizzical look, one that got only more and more quizzical as he tried to explain his plan. A stupid plan. The stupidest of plans. Apparently Four Eyes the Samurai had tried something similar years ago and he had failed. Apparently, according to a small little eavesdropper, the only way to truly hurt the boss was to take him by surprise. Well then, that was fine. He knew that he wouldn't win in a head to head fight.

But he was not above fighting dirty if he had to.

Mob thought that force choking someone counted as fighting dirty.

Also she didn't much like being force choked. She was being lifted by her neck, she was kicking out her feet even though she knew fully well that she could fly, but right now all she could focus on was getting out of this. She lashed out at him with her powers but he was strong, so strong, stronger than anyone she had ever faced before…

Aside from Mogami.

And she had not been able to get away from him either. He had pinned her down and broken all of fingers and taken away all of her powers. She had been helpless in that world but she was hot helpless too. She was Mob, here, and she had her powers and her powers were not the end all be all but she was still strong. She was stronger than this. She was stronger than being force choked while she kicked in the air like she was helpless.

She was not helpless.

She caught sight of her head in the windows all around them. She was turning colors and she was kicking and…and he was holding her up with one hand and keeping his son pinned up against the wall…and he was kicking the air and turning colors too…he was hurt…she was hurt…she could see it all in the windows around them…

She pulled against the glass. She pulled until the windows shattered and the shards flew in from all directions. She had been too distracted to put a barrier and felt a cut across her face as well as a few across her arms. She had been too distracted to put up a barrier…but he hadn't.

He let her go, though.

"You are so boring. Tell me, are you ready to give up yet?" asked Suzuki as he let the girl catch her breath. He let Sho down, too. He wasn't looking too good and Suzuki may have been upset with his son but he didn't want the boy dead.

"N-No….I won't give up. I won't join you…but I want…join me. Please. You…you're only like this because you never had anyone…" said Mob. She climbed to her feet as she said this. She knew what had to be done but…but she didn't want to do it. Shigeko was another story entirely. Shigeko wanted to peel this guy like a grape. Mob felt bad for him, if anything. This was not his fault…some of it wasn't. She could…she could help him rather than hurt him. The truth of her charm was in her kindness so she just had to be a good person….and a good person at least gave him a chance…

Mob had to be a good person.

If Shigeko wouldn't.

"I've never needed anyone. I am whole on my own. I'm not weak, I don't need anyone but myself and I never have. Even among those blessed with esp I have always stood above everyone else. I've never had need for others, never cared for others, because I am myself. I don't understand you at all. You're so much like me-" said Suzuki

"You and me are not alike. We're like night and day." Said Mob reflexively. She didn't want to be like him. She didn't want to be capable of this, of anything like this. She wanted to believe that she wasn't, anyway. She could have so easily become this….

"Aren't we? We both possess the same ability it seems. The same level of power. But having this much power can be such a burden." Said Suzuki

"You're the one who's burdening himself. Nobody told you to do any of this!" said Mob

"Nobody needed to tell me to do this. It's my destiny to rule the world. I've had the world in the palm of my hand since middle school, when I was the same age as you and Sho and I started to come into my own. Even amongst those blessed with the gift of esp I have always stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Once I realized that no man could ever be my equal, that I was truly alone in the world, did I realize that it was my destiny to remake the world as I saw fit. To remake the world in my image. To remake the world for us, people like us, our kind….with myself as it's ruler." Said Suzuki

"Having psychic powers does not give you the right-" said Mob

"You think that I don't have the right but I think that you've got it wrong. I have the right because it is my destiny-" said Suzuki

"You sound really crazy right now. If we're talking about destiny then it's my destiny to stop you. If you're going to act like a supervillain then I'm going to be a magical girl and I'm going to stop you. I don't want to have to fight you but if you don't stop this then…then I guess that I have no choice. I don't want to fight…fighting is so stupid…" said Mob. She held his gaze. He held hers right back.

"Ritsu's big sis…just do it. Just do it already, I know you can…" said Sho. He didn't know what it was that he was telling her to do, or maybe he did and he just didn't want to say the words, but he knew that this was unsustainable. Dad needed…dad wasn't going to stop no matter what Ritsu's big sis said to him…

"My name is Mob. Kageyama Shigeko, but everyone calls me Mob." Said Mob. He should know her name. She was Ritsu's older sister but she had a name…and she didn't know why it bothered her that he didn't know her name. Maybe it was because she knew his. Maybe it was because she felt like she understood him and because she understood him then she ought to have known his name and he ought to have known hers. She understood, maybe, how it had felt. He must have been afraid of his dad for a while, and for good reason, just like Ritsu and the rest of her family had been afraid of her, too, and also for good reason.

"Your mindset makes no sense. Mob. A background character. How could someone with your abilities live your life like them, the powerless ones around us? You poor, misguided, child. You could have been something great, you know, if you hadn't let others influence you like this." said Suzuki. He stared at her. He saw so much of himself in her, not physically, but metaphysically. The duality of her existence. The emotional instability. If he hadn't know any better that could have been his daughter. But she wasn't. She was near Sho, now, and there was not a lick of resemblance between the two of them. Sho was a smaller version of him but this girl seemed to be every single woman in Japan, every single common feature, made in miniature.

When this was all over he'd have to figure out where she came from.

There would be time for all of that when she gave it all up and joined his side. She was hurt, had been hurt, and could not stand to take much more of it. He just needed to beat some sense into her just like he had Sho and just about everyone else he had ever had to correct. That was the only way people could learn, and she would learn, and she would be great. She would be someone worthy of this new world that he was going to create.

"I could say the same about you. You could have used your powers to do so much more than this. You could have used your powers to help people but instead…please. Please just stop this. You've never had anyone, not a single friend, but I can…I can be your friend…please…" said Mob. She held out her hand. She didn't much want to be friends with this man, well, obviously someone had to! This man had gone his entire life without anyone in the world to be his friend, to tell him when he was acting crazy, and now he had ended up like this! Everyone, almost everyone, deserved another chance if they were willing to change…

Please, please change.

Because I don't want to hurt you.

"Heh. You want be a shoulder I can lean on? You're honestly offering me our hand? I could do the same for you, you know. You need it more than I do. Look at what you've become." Said Suzuki

"No! You look at what you've become!" shouted Mob. She shook in place, then, as Shigeko tried to take over. There was a burst of blue and Shigeko tried to take over, and a burst of pain as well, as she fell to her knees into the broken glass…just like…

But this was not that.

She was not helpless here.

And she knew what had to be done.

"Just finish him off! You can't talk to him! He's completely lost his mind! Just end this already!" shouted Sho. He grabbed his side as he shouted. That hurt. A rib was contused if not broken. That was fine. He didn't care what happened to him at this point.

"Sho, you really should stay out of this. You've failed at this little rebellion of yours just as you've failed not only yourself but me as well. To think, I was thinking of letting you inherit the world I was going to take over…but you've become such a failure that I cannot allow that to happen." Said Suzuki. Sho looked like he was in pain, more so when Suzuki told his son exactly what he thought of him. The boy deserved it.

"Hey! Don't say things like that to people! IT ISN'T NICE!" said Mob/Shigeko. There was a lot of Shigeko there. They were not sharing, not being this thing together, but fighting for dominance. Shigeko had tried to destroy him, send a blast of power so strong that it blew out part of the floor, and Mob had only been trying to immobilize him…

It didn't matter. There hadn't been so much as a single scratch on him.

"You're angry on Sho's behalf. You are such a child." Said Suzuki. Well now this was interesting. He could get a better read off of her when she was like this. There was the division of her metaphysical self, worse than even the cracks that existed around himself, and she was so unstable that…that was an interesting way to awaken. She was trying her best not to but he could see the colors in her aura changing….

When he awakened he just sort of…he didn't even know what happened. Usually he awakened, blacked out, and then when he came back people were dead and he was naked. She seemed to have…that was a big crack through her metaphysical self. It looked almost like she had a…conjoined twin? Another being sharing in her aura and vessel…

Fascinating.

He wondered what she was like when she came apart.

"You need to shut your mouth!" said Shigeko/Mob. Mob could feel herself sinking farther and farther into her mindscape. Shigeko was…she was going to do what needed to be done. Shigeko wasn't afraid to do it, she wanted to do it, actually. She wanted to because…because the last time they had hesitated they had been trapped in the unreality…

They hadn't been able to break Asagiri.

So how were they supposed to kill a man?

"Ready to fight me for real? Well come on then, you amusing little girl, show me what you've got!" said Suzuki before he launched himself into her so fast that it could have counted as teleportation. His fist connected with her face and gave off a deafened crunch. She staggered back, she was a tough one, she he delivered another hit to the back of her head.

She bounced when she hit the ground.

Sho attempted to stop him. He said something about it being wrong to hit girls. He was so myopic, so was the girl, they'd do well together. As annoying as this girl was she was also amusing, in her way, and she had potential. Once she got some sense beaten into her. Good thing that she was as tough as she was, this could have killed a lesser esper. She made no move to attack, so boring, but she did try to go hiding in her shell.

Her movements were slow.

And her barrier was weak.

Her mouth was moving and her eyes were closed. It looked like she was trying to say something…he pulled her closer by the front of her shirt. There was the sound of cloth ripping. He may have pulled too hard. It didn't matter. Even if she hadn't been a child he wouldn't have cared. Not in this context, anyway. Had she been a grown woman he may have shown more mercy. She could have been the next Masami, to him, nobody else could have even come close to being worthy of him.

He was forty six. He was not waiting another however many years for this child to stop being a child.

"What are you even saying?" asked Suzuki as he held her at eye level. She was limp, now, like a doll. She looked somewhat like a doll, even, a broken one. He watched her lips. She was saying her name over and over again. Mob. Then Shigeko. Then Mob again. Her face went through two expressions. A non expression and then one that looked like pure rage. Her aura churned. He just watched her for a moment.

Placid face, placid pink aura.

Angry face, angry blue aura.

It was like she was two separate people. That was impossible. Two souls could not be housed in the same vessel, they would end up destroying each other. A soul could not be split in two, either, without the person being destroyed too. There had been a lot of work on the nature of the soul that he had discovered. The Rising Sun Spiritual Association may have been made up of weaklings but they had done some top notch research in the years they had been existing.

She would be a fascinating addition to the organization. Her power, her duality, all of it. Once she gave up, if this wasn't her giving up already. This would all be perfect, once he was done with her. The world in the palm of his hand, the next generation and the one after that secured, and a chance to just…rest…already. It had been a long twenty years but it looked, finally, like it was coming to a close.

A subtle shift in her aura.

Yellow. Not his. Pale custard yellow, the same kind as could be found in Chinese steamed buns, an underrated omelet pairing but one that he would be introducing to the people once he came to power, was working it's way into her aura. He had never seen anything like this before. An aura in three colors. How was this girl even alive? He watched her, the way her lips moved, the way her face moved, the way her aura moved. He watched her as if all of the answers could be revealed if he just observed her for long enough. It was easy to get lost in her, this strange girl that he somehow spent her entire life escaping his notice. Of course she had, she seemed to live to escape notice.

Mob, she called herself.

Someone unnoticeable. A background character. Well she was noticeable, she was being noticed, he was noticing her.

"Don't move."

And nothing else, apparently.

There was a man there, now. A man with no…he had an aura…a faint one but…yes. There. He had bonded his aura to the girl's. Ah, yes, so that was what that was. A trick. A sly trick but one a bit too intimate for Suzuki's standards. His aura was his soul and his soul was who he was more so than his vessel, even. This man was just so brazenly mixing himself up in this girl without a care as to how is looked or felt or anything.

A cheap tactic.

But it was working. He had managed to hide his presence from Serizawa and Suzuki himself. Such a clever trick from that man…a shaking man in a cheap suit. A man young enough to have been his son if Suzuki had messed his life up terribly at some point in his late teens. This man looked terrified. He felt cursed….no…that wasn't a gun at all. That was one of Sakurai's toys. Another defected Scar. A defective, defected, Scar. So many people had betrayed him…

"Mob, you still alive?" asked Reigen. He tried to keep his aura as close to Mob as she could. The good news was that she did not feel dead. Her emotions shifted between hopeless despair and burning rage. He tried to smooth her out, give her some of what he was feeling, because he knew that he was feeling enough fear for the both of them. He knew that he should have gone with her.

He could have done…something.

Anything! Anything that could have stopped her from…from whatever had happened to her. She was bloodied and bruised and her shirt was ripped and there was another kid there, too, sitting against a wall and struggling to breathe…and this situation had gone so far south and it was ALL HIS FAULT!

"Wh…what?" gasped out Suzuki. He dropped the girl and took a step back. His aura was moving, now. Tendrils of yellow, his own and…and another…were infiltrating his aura like roots…no…they were expanding to look like something closer to a circuit board than a plant…and he knew what would happen if it kept on expanding.

He would short circuit.

He would awaken.

He would explode.

And everything that he had would be lost! Twenty years would go right down the drain because he could not control his powers! But he could! He had to! He was a grown man, now, not a child! He had exorcised most of his emotion ages ago! But now…he was shaking and the tower was shaking and there was some kind of powder, oh, that powder had been broken glass and he…and he hurt…and all of that energy that he had taken in was threatening to…to…to…

"Mob. I don't know if you can hear me but I need you to stay perfectly still for a second." Said Reigen. These powers weren't useless after all. Mob was stirring, trying to get up, but she was still so out of it…and he needed her still. He needed to line up his shot. This was heavier than a light gun, and not made of plastic, and he wasn't shooting at digital zombies in an arcade or pixilated ducks on his old TV, no, he was shooting a human being.

If he could even call this man that.

He had hurt Mob. Badly. Mob did not deserve that. She was everything in this world that was pure and good and right made into flesh and put in a school uniform. She was not built for fighting, and she had lost, and lost badly. Now she was hurt. That was what he focused on, the fact that she was hurt…

And the fact that it terrified him.

Mogami had been a wakeup call for him. Mob was not invulnerable. She was not the strongest being in this world. She could get hurt the same as everyone else provided that her opponent was strong enough to actually do some damage. Her opponent, here, had been strong enough to hurt her…and he had hurt her…

And it was terrifying.

Which was perfect.

That guy had dropped Mob and now he was staggering back and muttering to himself. If he was anything like Mob then he was trying his damnedest to stave off an explosion. Good. Well not the part about exploding but the distraction that it caused. Reigen lined up his shot as best as he could. He hadn't thought that he would ever be in a positon to kill a man in cold blood, if this counted as cold blood because he certainly did feel cold on the inside, but here he was. About to kill a man.

With a curse, not a bullet, so it felt a little more ok and he felt like less of a hypocrite. He had told Mob not to point knives at other so, ostensibly, that would also apply to actual weapons like guns.

This was for her own good. This would put an end to all of it. The kid had told him that the trick to landing a hit on this guy was to wait until he was distracted. Well he seemed pretty damned distracted to Reigen. He looked about ready to piss himself. Good. He deserved it. He deserved everything he got.

He took the shot.

It hit.

"Fuck!" said Suzuki. He never cursed or made exclamations of pain but this…what was this? It clung to him. Inky, black, and gross. So gross. Disgusting. Vile. It was attempting to bury it's way into his vessel, into his aura, into his metaphysical self. He…he needed to think about this rationally before he lost all control. He took stock of the situation.

He had been cursed.

There was a man standing there with a gun.

And the girl was coming out of whatever trance she had been in or whatever.

The man shot again but this time Suzuki was ready. He had himself under control. It had taken less than a second to expel the man from his aura once he had realized that he had wormed his way in, a vaguely violating feeling, and also to set his own self into something resembling order. It had helped that the man had been distracted. He had looked like he was about to be physically ill.

From fear.

And disgust.

Feelings that Suzuki knew were not native to him. He deflected another shot. Then another. And another. He wondered how much of himself Sakurai had put into Jugan, how many shots the man had before he had to start expending his own power…or the girls. It seemed as though they had some sort of codependent symbiotic relationship going on….

"Sakurai's Jugan. Did he tell you that it doesn't work on me?" said Suzuki as he brushed off the last of the shots. He stepped over the girl as he got closer to the man. His hands shook…and then they didn't. Once he knew what he was looking for it was easy to exorcise it. His emotions. His own and the man's.

"Worked pretty well a second ago." Said Reigen with confidence that he did not possess. This would have been the time for Mob to run away. He was buying her time at this point just as he had back at the Seventh Division…and she hadn't run away then, either, now had she?

"You took me by surprise. Impressive but it won't ever happen again." said Suzuki before he crossed the distance between them and held the end of the gun.

"W-What are you-" asked Reigen. That guy had teleported right in front of him! What the hell ever happened to personal space?!

"Nothing you try will ever work on me again." said Suzuki before he wretched the gun from the man's hands and threw it away behind him. He heard it hit the ground with a metallic clang. The man was stepping backwards now.

"Wanna bet?" asked Reigen. He threw everything he had into his aura, into making this man feel every single ounce of terror that he felt. He thought about his own death, Mob's, the deaths of those kids down there. He thought about negative bank account balances and overzealous tax inspectors. He thought about low grades and loud shouting. He thought about being small, so small, and being so afraid not having any way out…kind of like now…

"It's funny that you think you're going to win this fight when your strongest attack is your own fear." Said Suzuki as he gathered pure energy on the tip of his finger. See how this man liked being shot out. This wouldn't be a curse, of course, because Suzuki had no reason to use that technique…and also he couldn't…but he didn't care about that now. No. He had someone new to take this out on. To teach a lesson. To beat some sense into.

The man was in front of him one moment and then the next he wasn't.

"Master!" shouted Mob as she moved faster than she ever had in her entire life. She threw herself forward and grabbed Master Reigen and didn't stop until there was a wall behind them. She sat on the ground in front of him with her arms out to protect him. Around her formed her strongest barrier, the one that looked like crystal, and in her hand was a gun. A real gun.

A really gross feeling gun.

But a real gun none the less. Not a Wii gun, not an arcade light gun, and not the kind that they had at the summer fair that shot water. No. There was a real gun in her hand and she…she didn't want to do it but she was going to have to…for Master Reigen.

Who should not have been there!

"She calls you Master? I suppose that makes sense. What a pair of fools you make." Said Suzuki as he took in the pair in front of him. She was defending this man. Master. Her Master. Amusingly absurd. That man was little better than one of the awakened and yet she was there, the child that claimed to everyone she met that she was a pacifist, clutching a gun in her hands and looking like she was trying to talk herself in to shooting him.

If she had to talk herself into it then she wasn't going to do it.

"Why are you here?! What did you think that you were doing?! What were you trying to do!? Answer me Reigen Arataka! Answer me! ANSWER ME!" shouted Mob. Her voice hurt her throat as she shouted but she had to shout. She had forgotten how to use her indoor voice. She had forgotten a lot of things, like what true terror felt like.

This was not the place for him.

He had almost died! And now that was all that she could think about. She didn't care at all what happened to her as long as it meant that he got to live!

"I'm here to save you, now give me the gun and run away." Said Reigen as he tried to pull himself up. Her barrier shifted as she stood, not as he stood, and he ended up bumping his head as he got up. She still stood between him and that madman…who was staring at them like they were animals at the zoo, and she had the gun clenched between both hands.

Both shaking hands.

"No. I told you….Mob told you to run away! What the hell is wrong with you!? You shouldn't be here! Don't you get it!? Don't you!? You're going to die!" shouted Shigeko, for a moment managing to wrestle control away from Mob. In that moment she didn't know if she wanted to kick Reigen, kiss him, or throw him down onto the floor and do a combination of both. That moment passed and soon she found herself back into the recesses of their shared mindscape.

She needed to end this before it got any worse.

"Give me that fucking gun and run! You are not responsible for any of this! Mob…Shigeko…the both of you! Just give me the fucking gun and run away like I've been telling you to-" said Reigen as he tried to pull the gun from her hands. She didn't let him.

It was like trying to pry apart steel girders with his bare hands.

"No. Now stay behind us…Master we have to….but I don't want to…" said Mob as she held the gun in her hands. Drop the barrier. Fire the gun. It felt so gross…and now it didn't…it had been cursed. This was a toy gun. It didn't even feel like metal anymore. Just a toy…

She poured her own energy into it. Just hers. Mob's. She poured her own energy into it along the paths that had been there before from the first time it had been cursed. If anyone deserved to be cursed it would be this guy…though the gun didn't feel gross like it had been cursed at all…no…it felt like…

Her.

And it glowed pink. Bubblegum pink. Not a trace of electric blue.

"Mob…please….just let me handle this…I'm your Master and I am ordering you to…I am asking you to please give me the gun and let me handle this. Please." Said Reigen. His voice went up an octave as he pleaded with her. She was getting ready to fire that gun. She was turning it pink, he had been around her long enough to know what her energy felt like, and she was lining up her shot.

"No. I want to but…but I can't…and don't ask me why. This is just something I have to do." Said Mob as she aimed. The man wasn't moving, he wasn't blinking, he was just staring at her. She stared right back. She tried to tell him, with her eyes and with her aura, that she was serious. She was going to do it.

She didn't want to but she had to.

"Mob, just put the gun down. Please. I…I wasn't thinking straight when I let you come up here and I am so sorry. Just…put the gun down and run away….I'll follow. I'll follow and then we'll…we'll stop at our famous ramen place on our way home. The one by work. We can even check and see if the office is still there…and we'll check the answering machine, too. We've probably gotten a lot of calls for jobs because of all of this craziness. Yeah, how's that sound? Back to work? I know you've missed it…" said Reigen lying through his teeth. He was going to slow this man down long enough to give Mob a good head start. Then she'd run. Then she'd be safe and he'd be…he'd do it for her. Always for her.

"Master…that sounds perfect….after I end this we can…we can do all of that…" said Mob. She was starting to cry. If she didn't win then she would never go back to work again. She would never eat ramen with Master Reigen again. She would never see Master Reigen again. If she didn't do this then he and everyone else she loved in this world would be dead.

"A pair of fools. Take your shot, girl, I dare you to but know that it won't work and if you try, if you don't surrender, you'll put me in a truly foul mood." Said Suzuki. If it didn't work the first ten times why would she think that it would work now?! Such a waste. A waste of potential. She could have been something great, within a few years she could have even been something approaching his equal, but now she was nothing. A scared little girl in her school uniform protecting a shaking man in a cheap suit.

What a pair of fools.

"I don't want to! I don't want to hurt you or anyone else! Please, just stop this already!" shouted Mob

"What, and take your hand?" laughed Suzuki bitterly.

"Yes! Take my hand and leave all of this behind! Please! Please show me that there is something inside of you that is good! I don't want to shoot you! I don't want this gun! I don't want these powers! I don't want any of this! Just please give me a reason not to shoot you! Show me that there is something good inside of you even if it's just something small! Please!" shouted Mob. She shouted so loudly that her throat was raw. She shouted so loudly that her ears were ringing. She shouted so loudly that part of the tower window crumbled away and now it was cold, even colder than it had been before, because she could see people's breaths now including her own, maybe, or maybe she was just imagining that and-

"No. You take my hand. Take my hand and let me help you. You've been letting others hold you back for far too long. Mob. Haven't you ever wanted to be more than that? More than a background character? More than what people, what that man, wants you to be." Said Suzuki

"I…I am Mob. I want to be Mob. I…I want to be who Master Reigen wants me to be." Said Mob, her grip on the gun slackening and her arms wobbling and her legs trying to give out.

"Mob…no. Don't be who I want you to be or who he, especially not who he, wants you to be. Be who you are. You're special Mob…everyone's special…and if everyone's special then you can be who you want to be. Your life…your life is your own." Said Reigen. He reached over and tugged on her braid with one hand and reached over to push the gun down with the other. His fingers burnt as he touched it and he hissed.

So did she.

And so did that madman.

"That's a clever trick you've got there. So you're also someone who tricks others and steals from them. Interesting." Said Suzuki as he flexed his fingers. No damage. None. That man could transmit physical sensations as well as emotions. Weak but useful. Intrusive. Intimate. Nightmarish, even, under the right circumstances.

"You know, I feel sorry for you." Said Reigen as he took a step forwards, in front of Mob. She had lowered the gun about halfway. That was all. She was still on this….but he had this. He would do this for her. He was someone who lied to others, who tricked others, and now it was time for the biggest trick of his life.

The greatest psychic and rising star of the twenty first century's, the Great Reigen Arataka's, final performance.

"Master….?" Asked Mob softly

"When I say so, drop your barrier. I need you to trust me here, Mob." Said Reigen softly. He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye and her barrier shook.

"I trust you." Whispered Mob. She trusted him with her life. She was his student, he was her master, and she would trust him with her life. Even though he still felt kind of scared. Even though he was squishy. Even though that man was as strong as she was, if not stronger, and he had scared her so badly and hurt her…

She had to believe in Master Reigen.

Because he was Master Reigen and if she didn't believe in him then who would she believe in?

"You? You feel sorry for me? Why? What reason could you possibly have to pity me? And don't tell me it's because I don't believe in the invisible bonds that people form with one another." Said Suzuki. Whispering. These two were up to something. He'd see how this played out. Who knew, maybe they'd pull another one of their clever tricks. They were master and student after all.

"You say you don't believe in the invisible bonds that people form but, really, if you ask me it seems like you only believe in that which cannot be seen." Said Reigen taking a step forward. Her barrier shuddered as it expanded to follow him. She stayed put. Good.

"So you want to talk about philosophy now?" asked Suzuki with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"In a way, yes. Our differing philosophies. I feel sorry for you, for the way you see the world. Esp isn't the only extraordinary gift that a person can have, you know. Off of the top of my head I can think of…one, two, three and…four. Four ways of defeating you." Said Reigen counting out on his fingers. He felt Mob's barrier shift again. He focused on her. If this was going to be the last memory she had of him then she was going to remember the Reigen Arataka she had first met, the one she wanted him to be. The showman. The Great Reigen Arataka. The one she had followed since she was eleven. The one she had thrown her lot in with. The one that she may have, possibly, fallen in love...like…a school girl's crush, with.

"Oh, really? Alright then, let's see these four ways of defeating me." Said Suzuki placidly. Flat. The fact flat of the situation. He was curious. Maybe this man was bluffing. Maybe he had a clever trick up his sleeve. Or maybe Suzuki had spent his life wishing for a real opponent.

"Nah, I don't really feel like it. It was a lot of stairs, you know, and I smoke about a pack a day so, yeah, maybe later…but I do have a request." Said Reigen

"Do you honestly believe that you're in any position to be making requests?" asked Suzuki

"Maybe. You seem like an intelligent man. I mean, come on, you couldn't have spent what must have been decades building up all of this if you were an idiot. No, I think that you'll find my proposition to be favorable to the both of us. That is, if you're amicable to hearing it, of course." Said Reigen. He could feel it, Mob's confusion, which was good. He was selling it. Mob knew him, that he was a liar, so if she believed him then he must have been selling the biggest load of bullshit that he had ever sold in his life.

"Go on." Said Suzuki

"Let me join you." Said Reigen

"And this benefits me, how?" asked Suzuki. He was not that desperate for manpower….but this man was interesting. So was the girl. The girl was a gem, a rare gem pulled from a pot of dirt. The man was the pot of dirt that he pulled her from. Still, though, the man's power set was very uncommon and the girl did hold him in high esteem…but he had also stood against Suzuki.

If he was going back to the drawing board, it wouldn't be with those who had opposed him.

"With me on your side I can easily convince my disciple over there as well as the people on the ground to give up. That should be reason enough." Said Reigen as he took another step forwards. Mob's barrier expanded again though she stayed put. He risked a glance behind himself. She was still holding that gun but she had still kept it lowered. That was good. Mob didn't have it in her to shoot anyone.

"I'd like to hear about these methods of defeating me as well. That is, if you actually have any." Said Suzuki. He was not going to let this man join him. No. There were enough turncoats in the organization as it was. After this he'd have to do some more recruiting. It would be a lot easier, now, because he had the world's espers to pick from. No more searching. They'd come to him.

"In that case let me fill you in on some powers other than esp that you don't know about." Said Reigen. He took another step forwards and he heard Mob start to walk. He motioned for her to stop, one of the little signals they have developed for when they went on dangerous jobs. What had passed as dangerous jobs back then. Those were the days…halcyon days. Good days. Days that he was happy to have had with her. She had, for the brief time that he had known her, brought some genuine joy and happiness to his life…and he would be forever grateful to have known her. To have had someone so wonderful, so amazing, in his life.

"Such as?" asked Suzuki

"The first power, and one espers should be especially weary of is…brute strength you moron! Mob, now!" shouted Reigen. For a moment he thinks that Mob isn't going to drop her barrier, but thankfully she does, and the hit he was making landed…

He thought.

He was hitting air.

There had been a loud crack, and a shift in the glass and debris around him, and suddenly he found himself with his **back** to that guy…that madman…the guy that had given Mob a run for her money…

Another loud bang.

Reigen found himself flat on his back and sliding towards what had, at one point, been a window. Not much of a view from Reigen's positon. Just glass, rubble, and a red haired kid passed out and struggling to breathe. A lot of Mob's energy around, too, and that made him stumble to his feet. That guy was…dead? There was a hole through his shirt and suit coat through which could be seen a charred, black, circular burn…

The room smelled like cooking meat. It made Reigen gag.

"Master! Get out of the way!" shouted Mob. She had accidentally gotten Master Reigen! He seemed…he didn't have any burns or curse damage…that was good…but the other guy was still standing…maybe she had to put more of herself into it, the shot. She had never used a weapon before but…but this felt a lot better than how fighting had felt before.

She hadn't hurt him. The gun had.

You weren't supposed to point knives at others because knives were not for stabbing people, they were tools, but guns were tools for killing people…so this was ok.

"You. You two have put me in an extremely foul mood…and now it's time to disappear. Master and student…how ridiculous…" Said Suzuki. He knocked the girl onto her back with a wave of his wrist before advancing on the man. Misdirection. Clever. Clever by half. It would be such a shame to lose this man and his cleverness, he had been right about most espers being unable to see past their own abilities, but he had done something unforgivable and for that he had to die.

"W-Wait, hang on! Let's talk about this! I give up! I'll do anything you ask!" said Reigen as he was being backed into a window. Mob had fallen and hit her head. She was…there was blood running down her temple. Her head was raw, the side of it that had hit that broken piece of the wall…she was trying to get up…

She wasn't running away.

Why in the hell was she not running away?! Well she was hurt…and she would die. He would die and she would die and that would be the end of them. He was…he didn't want to die but he wanted his death to at least give her enough time to run away. He was old, almost thirty, and they said that by thirty your life was over so….so Mob had to go on living. There were still so many things that she hadn't done, that she had wanted to do, and she…she needed to go on living. He had wasted his life, burnt every single bridge and squandered every opportunity that he had ever been given, so if he died then it would be ok. Not her, in her was a world of promise, and that world would meet it's end with her death.

She could not die.

But she still wasn't running away! Why?! Why did this…what had any of this had to happen!? He just wanted…he just wanted to go home. To take her home and just…just have one more day with her. One more day where they vegged out in front of the TV and watched shows that made his brain atrophy. One more day where they could sit around in their pajamas playing videogames and eating junk food. One more day where they went on some stupid job and she did her thing and he spread salt around and then they got ramen or takoyaki or something else and they just…were. They'd talk about nothing in particular and hang out and go home and just…just be together. That was what he wanted with her.

And now it was all over.

His life snuffed out. His life and hers. His life, a life wasted, and her life, a life not yet truly lived. She had at least experienced true friendship and love and joy and intimacy. She had at least…made the most of her youth…like she had come to him all worried about all of those months ago. Before any of this insanity had even started. When they had just been Mob and Reigen and their world had been small and they had been so carefree…before all of this…

Oh God.

Goodbye Mob. Goodbye Shigeko. Me and you, we had a good run. I couldn't have asked for a better student. I couldn't have asked for a better friend.

Thank you for being in my life.

Their eyes met. Blue met brown for the last time.

I love you.

"Disappear." Said Suzuki. He made a gun with his fingers, concentrated, and took the shot. It would be quick. He had no desire to draw this out any more than it had been already. He had a world to rule and a timetable to keep.

There. It was done.


	68. Losses and Fights

Master Reigen was dead.

Because of her.

**Because of you, Mob.**

_I know, Shigeko._

**If you had just let me out then he would still be here.**

_I know, Shigeko._

**He's gone forever.**

_I KNOW, SHIGEKO!_

**He's gone!**

_You think I don't fucking know that!?_

**I do! You let him die!**

_I didn't! He said to trust him!_

**He's dead because of you.**

_Stop saying that._

**You know it's true.**

_I want to die._

**Then die.**

_I can't._

**Let me out!**

_But if I let you out then you'll kill that man._

**And?**

_We can't…I can't…_

**Are you saying that the man who killed Master Reigen deserves to live?**

_We can't…I want Master Reigen!_

**He's gone.**

_He is…_

**But we aren't.**

_We aren't._

**So let me out.**

_Sure._

"So annoying." Said Suzuki as he wasted seven percent of his power getting rid of that pest. Honestly. What did he think that he was going to accomplish? He was almost powerless. No matter. He was gone, truly gone, and that was what mattered. Suzuki hadn't been scared. Suzuki hadn't been brought to his knees. Everything had been fine.

He had used up seven percent of his power just to be thorough.

Not because he had been afraid of that man and what he could do. Empathy. Empath. Close to telepathy. Mind control. Breaking down his control. That could not be allowed to happen. Even now there was too much yellow infecting his metaphysical self. Red. It all should have been red and red alone. One color. The other color was still trying to infect him…and he could not let that happened. No. He was stronger than that.

But, apparently, she wasn't.

"You killed Master Reigen." said Shigeko. She didn't yell or scream or cry. No. That wouldn't change what had happened. She couldn't see his spirit, she couldn't see anything beyond the sea of red and the smoke and the fire. She hated it here.

She hated it.

So she got rid of it.

"What are you doing?" asked Suzuki as he the ground beneath his feet begin to buckle and fall apart. He could fly so he wasn't afraid. No. If this little girl wanted to have a temper tantrum then so be it. That man was dead and taking this tower down would not bring him back.

"You killed him. You killed Master Reigen." said Shigeko. The ground came apart under her feet. She could feel it, the floor, turning to pieces. Good. This was where Master Reigen had died. She had to take this place down. She never wanted to look at this place ever again. She had seen it before, this tower, and it had meant nothing to her. Now she had to end it all.

This was where Master Reigen died.

"People die." Said Suzuki simply. An entire section, now, of the tower, simply collapsed. He didn't care. He just kept on floating, there, and the ground beneath his feet fell apart. Was she still doing it? Or was this tower, this monument to normal people's ingenuity, just not structurally sound enough at this point to hold it's self up.

"Fuck you!" shouted Shigeko. One moment she was keeping herself together, forming, controlling the vessel and holding steady in case Mob decided to take over and spare this man. This dying man. He was dying and he didn't even notice. She was taking the tower down, now, when she should have been taking him down!

Focus.

Her hands were around his throat. He could fly too. That didn't matter. They could both fly and they both needed to breathe. Her hands were around his neck and she screamed. Not words, words had never been in her nature, but feelings were. This feeling was a deep, guttural, scream. She could be heard above the smashing and the crashing as metal frame of the tower bent and broke. She could be heard above the crashing as bits of the tower came tumbling down to the ground. She wasn't doing this anymore, no, it was happening on it's own.

Good.

This had been where Master Reigen died.

"You know, you're really not that strong." Said Suzuki as he grabbed her wrists between his hands and wretched her hands free. Her nails scratched at his neck. She might have drawn blood. That didn't matter, he healed quickly. She struggled as he held her wrists between her hands. He picked her up and held her at eye level. Her feet swung out beneath her.

"Physically, I mean. You're just a little girl." Said Suzuki. Her feet swung out beneath her. She tried to wretch herself free. He watched her curiously in the same way he might watch the creatures that swarmed and multiplied underneath the lens of a microscope. She was fascinating, now. Her aura had turned blue, no, switched colors. Inverted. More blue than pink. Electric blue.

Her aura lashed out.

Her powers lashed out.

And she lashed out.

"Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!" shouted Shigeko using the worst, meanest, words that she could think of. That was all that she could think of. She had to hurt this man. She had to make him suffer. She had to make him die. She had to…nothing made sense. She couldn't focus. She could only move. The vessel felt heavy, constricting, like being rolled up in a carpet and then taped to a wall, and she didn't know why that came time mind but it did. She could only move in so many directions, only see in so many directions, only do so much.

She didn't want a vessel.

But she wanted control.

She wanted to control them. Mob had let Master Reigen die. She hated Mob. She could love and hate…and right now she hated Mob. She hated everything she stood for, everything that made her who she was. Everything that made them who they were. She had always held them back, made them weak, and now…now she had let Master Reigen die!

He was gone and he was never coming back. He should have listened! He should have run away! Why did he have to just…just come up here and…and die….? Why! She had…she could have saved them but Mob had held her back! She could have killed him! She had shot him with a gun…a gun…where was the gun?

It didn't matter. She had her powers. She had control. She was the one who was going to do what had to be done. Mob had held back. Mob had failed them. This was all Mob's fault. It had always been Mob's fault. Mob was the one who had allowed them to…to be captured by Mogami. Mob was the one who had allowed all of their friends, and their little brother, to get hurt. Mob was the one who had allowed things to go this far. Mob was the one who refused to see the truth, that they had to use their powers to hurt people, before the people they loved got hurt. They were strong enough to protect everyone and yet they had protected no one…and now Master Reigen was gone. Dead. Passed away. Passed on. Never coming back.

She hated Master Reigen.

She hated Mob.

And she hated this man.

But mostly she just hated herself for letting this happen.

So she kicked. She kicked and lashed out and the tower around them collapsed, something hit her on the head, and she could feel the wind on her face. It stung. She was cold. But still she struggled. She couldn't think of anything else but her hate…and the limitations of this vessel. She was…this vessel was weak. She was weak. This man was strong. He held onto their vessel and did not let go no matter how much she struggled. She still struggled. She cursed. She spat.

"Charming." Said Suzuki as he used his powers to get her saliva out of his eye. Children. He had been in an extremely foul mood, before, but he felt better after having exterminated that pest. A large section of the tower had been blown away in that explosion, there was no way that the man would have survived that, and even if he had the tower was coming apart under their feet. There was no more floor, no, just him standing there on top of creation.

He looked down upon it.

Dots. People. They were so far down they looked like dots, ants, scrambling in fear. They wouldn't last long. He'd have to go back to the drawing board. He'd already lost anyone who had been in the tower with him when it had collapsed. Not a big loss. Serizawa had already failed him twice, Hatori was rare but someone else in the world must have had his abilities, he could always make more awakened soldiers, and as for Sho…

There's a pain somewhere in his chest.

Because the girl was beating her fist against it.

She was still struggling. Had she used her powers she could have broken free. If she had put a modicum of thought into what she was doing. But no, it didn't seem like she was doing much of any thinking right about them. Just kicking and spitting and thrashing. She had lifted one of her legs high enough to kick him in the chest. The other leg was making contact with his thigh.

She was so emotionally unstable.

"You killed him! You killed HIM!" shouted Shigeko. She had managed to raised one leg his enough to kick him in the chest. They were flexible. It was from all of the stretching. Master Reigen had taught them how to stretch. He had taught them so many things…and now he would never teach them anything else ever again…because he was gone. This was…this was horrible. Truly horrible.

"I did. He opposed me so I killed him. He should have stayed in his place just as you should have. I don't know why you're getting so worked up. You knew this was coming, girl." Said Suzuki. He watched her with that same, rapt, fascination. Her thought process was alien to him, what little thought process she still possessed. People died. Everyone died, eventually, even he would die some day. Even the man who ruled the world could not stop his own extinction. Had she not prepared herself, mentally, for this inevitability? The man had been older than she had been, by at least a decade or maybe even two, so she knew that his passing was something that was coming long before hers. That was the way of it, the old died before the young, and that was how it went.

A pain in his chest.

Anger. He knows this feeling.

"What right do you have, girl, to struggle? To fight? To be so emotionally unstable? Why do you care about that man's death? You knew it was coming one day." Said Suzuki, his fingers digging into her wrist as hard as they could. She had cost him so much. This tower was to be his base, Serizawa was his greatest tool, and his son was…he had no way to secure the next generation now!

And she thought that she was the one who had experiences loss.

Exorcism of my emotion.

"Fuck….you…" said Shigeko. She needed….she was strong….but not in this way. The vessel was not strong. The vessel was weak but she was strong…but she was now their vessel. She was their power and she…and she was strong.

"Again with this? Really? You're worse than Sho. He always, well he used to, spew such profanity. Like I hadn't taught him how to speak. No matter, no matter." Said Suzuki. There, more yellow, his yellow. His aura. He needed to exorcise his emotions or he could have exploded…and hurt the girl. This impossible girl. He couldn't hurt her in any permanent way. She was far too valuable.

"Fuck you!" screamed Shigeko louder, so loud that she tasted blood. The skin on the man's arms peeled along with his sleeves. Blood spattered onto her school shirt. Not her blood, his. He was bleeding and burning, now, and he smelled like the time that she and Master Reigen had tried making Korean barbeque at home…

People smelled like cooking pork.

She wanted to tell Master Reigen, or maybe it was Mob who wanted to tell Master Reigen, but it didn't matter because there was no way to ever tell Master Reigen anything ever again…because he was gone. She was all alone in the world without her…and it was because of this man.

"You'll have to do better than that." Said Suzuki as he gritted his teeth through the pain. He didn't stop, he didn't let go, even as she burnt his skin down to the muscle. It hurt, then it didn't as she got down to the nerves and destroyed them, but then it did as those nerves grew back. She was lashing out in all directions, now. She had no grace, not thought, no skill. Such a pity, she could have been something great had she just joined him. But she hadn't and he had to…he wanted to end her life. He wanted to reach inside of her and rip out her soul. He wanted to…to….

He wanted her to break.

He wanted to break her apart.

He wanted to tear her in half with his bare hands. He had more control than she did, though, so he did not act on that impulse. Even though she had inconvenienced him greatly by killing his son.

Something inside of him hurt.

Something outside of him hurt, too.

Something was forming between them. Her barrier. As soon as it tried to form he popped it like a bubble. There was no way that she was going to go crawling into her shell now. Not after what she had done. What she had made him do. He hadn't intended on replacing Sho at any point and now he had to. No more son. Annoying. The boy had been annoying and the girl…the girl had made him…there was no more floor, now, and no more tower. Even the steel skeleton that had held it up was twisted and falling. The boy was passed out, there was no way that he had survived, and thinking about this makes something inside of him twist.

His hands move from her wrists to her neck. He can feel her pulse beneath his fingers. He can see the anger in her eyes. It would have been so easy, too easy, to kill her. If she hadn't been so useful, and he had to constantly remind himself that she was useful, he would have squeezed the life out of her. She deserved it. Sho would be very difficult to replace. He'd have to have another son. Someone else with his eyes and hair and Masami's temperament. Her love of everything smaller and weaker than herself. Her incessant need to challenge him on every little thing. Her constant-

THAT LITTLE BITCH!

"You killed Master Reigen!" said Shigeko as she landed a kick in between his legs as hard as she could. Vessels sucked but boy's vessel sucked more. Being regular choked was worse than being force choked, a Mob phrase, but it still didn't hurt as much as what she had just done. She, well she and Mob, had accidentally kneed Teru there once when they had been kissing and touching a lot and he said that it was the worst pain ever. He had forgiven her, of course, but he still said that it hurt.

Shigeko hoped that Teru was ok.

She hoped that everyone else was ok. They were small, like ants from up there, where the air was cold and thin and hit her in the face with such force…and now it didn't. She put up her barrier. Right. She had to…to use these powers. Not just lash out until…until something happened…because that hadn't worked! He had grabbed her and held onto her and taken the full force of her power…

She had to be smarter about it.

Mob was smarter about these things…but Mob could not be in control. Mob would just make them lose. She never wanted to do what had to be done. Shigeko would do what had to be done. She had to kill this man…but he was proving harder to kill than she thought. He could make her weak. He could grab her. He was as strong as she was.

"And you killed my son." Said Suzuki. He tried to grab her by the neck again but she ducked right out of his grasp. She could move quickly, it seemed, when she put her mind to it. She moved too fast for him to see…with his eyes. He felt her passing underneath his feet and delivered a swift kick to her spine. She tried to put up a barrier but he tore through it like paper and down she went into the rubble and twisted metal that used to be the cultural tower. He watched her plummet to the ground. She was either too hurt, too dazed, or too weak to correct herself. He wondered if she would end up impaled on a piece of rebar, shattered onto a piece of concrete, or just broken in half on a steel girder. Such a pity. He lost control, there, for just a bit. No matter, no matter, if she were only broken then Fukuda could have just put her back together and then she could serve her purpose.

Fukuda.

Now that there was some distance between himself and the girl he could see all of the auras beneath himself. They all blended together at that distance but he…yes…that was Fukuda down there. Fukuda and…Ootski...and so many others. Betrayers. It seemed that his son also had a gift for bringing people together…and he can't see Sho's aura…or maybe he can. Maybe he does. Maybe it's just dimmed because he was so hurt…

Or not.

The entire area was permeated with Minegishi's energy. There, below him, was a mess of green. Serizawa was alive…and so was that man. The man should have been completely obliterated! He could not have survived that! He should have been dust! But how had he…Suzuki took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Yes, there, around him. Purple. That same sort of purple color that could be found in jam. There were…his own aura choked everything out…but there, yes, traces of him.

Serizawa too, huh?

Suzuki had never imagined that he would find himself in this position. It seemed as though anyone and everyone could betray him. That didn't matter. He had used them and now he no longer needed them. He had the world, now, secured. He was the one who stood on top of the world, literally, and he was the one who decided…decided who could stand with him. Such trouble they had all caused him. Betraying him. Didn't they understand? How could his son, his failure of a son, have amassed so many followers? Suzuki offered him, offered everyone, salvation. A chance to be able to live, not merely survive. To be able to remake the world as something worthy of those with their gifts.

They were not meant to hide in the shadows.

They were not meant to serve.

They were meant to rule.

And somehow he was the only one who knew this! He was the only one who was fed up with it, having to serve, having to live like the others! Heaven had given him these powers in order to remake the world into something resembling what it was meant to be! And he was to rule it! And nothing, not even the failure and/or betrayal of the entire organization he had spent twenty years growing would stop him! He would not be stopped! Not when he had it in his hands!

More yellow. His yellow. Moving, now, not still.

Exorcism of these emotions.

There was no point in dwelling on it. No point in dwelling on the fact that he could now trust no one. No point in dwelling on the fact that his son had…could have…it didn't matter. He had the world at his disposal, now, and the world's espers would be climbing over each other to join him. He wouldn't have to seek them out, they would seek him out, and then all would be as it was. Yes. There was nobody who could not be replaced. There was no reason at all to even care for those down there below his feet. Ants. Small and puny and useless little insects. They were there, beneath his feet, and there was only one thing that would could do when there were ants beneath his feet.

"Disappear." Said Suzuki. The skin and such on his hands had grown back. Good. This could have been painful otherwise. She had hurt him but it was nothing that he could not heal himself from. It didn't even hurt as he gathered pure energy at the tip of his finger, pointed it beneath his feet like a gun, and shot.

Disappear.

Disappear.

Disappear.

They scattered like the ants that they were. Ants. Vermin. They thought that they could stop him. He didn't even wait for them to commence their groveling. He simply rained down pain and death like the God that he was. That was in a God's, THE God's, nature. Raining down death and suffered. Smiting those who had forsaken him. That was what he was doing. He had been forsaken by his most trusted followers and now they would pay.

He was high above, too high above, for them to have been able to do much of anything.

They couldn't have done anything, even, if he had been right beside them. He was a God. Untouchable. Invincible. They could try and try and try but they would never have been able to win. He was Suzuki Toichiro. He was the ruler of the world. He was the God of this world. They all fled before him. They ran and fell and panicked and-

She just didn't know when to quit, did she?

Mob and Shigeko were not going to quit!

Well mostly Shigeko. Mob was quiet, hiding, within their mindscape. She was hiding and scared and…and Shigeko was not. No. Not when she knew what she had to do. It had been surprising, hitting the ground, and her barrier had only been able to absorb so much…she was out of practice…but she was fine now and she knew what she had to do!

Take him down.

Because as she had been putting her broken body back together, nothing worse than a few broken bones, she had seen his energy rip through the world…and land. She could see it even when her eyes were closed. She saw it not with her vessel but with herself, who she really was. So much red…there were other colors down there, on the ground, and she had been scarcely able to pick them out one from another before there was more red…she was getting very sick of the color red…

She could have sworn that she had seen, felt, Master Reigen back there…

But he was dead. She had seen him die. He couldn't put up a shield or do anything else to defend himself. His strongest attack was his own fear, like that crazy guy had said, and his fear had been the last thing that Mob and Shigeko ever felt from him…he had been so afraid…and now he was gone…

They could not let this pass.

So Shigeko launched them from the ground like the time she and Ritsu had made a rocket from baking soda and vinegar only now, instead of there being white foam everywhere, the ground had turned blue. Just blue. Electric blue. There was no trace of bubble gum pink to be found…because there was no trace of Mob to be found…and that was the way it had to be.

From now on.

Because Mob never would have had the courage to do this. She would never have launched herself into the sky and taken this man with her. To where the air was even thinner and even colder. To where even the cloud were beneath them. Shigeko wasn't going to stop, she couldn't stop, she couldn't let the man who killed Master Reigen spend even another moment of time on the Earth!

"My, you are determined, aren't you?" muttered Suzuki as he attempted to orient himself. She was stronger than she let on. She had launched herself into him, her arms were wrapped around his waist, and she was screaming something incomprehensible into is stomach. He had no idea what her end goal was? To kill them both in the vacuum of space? Expose them to enough radiation that they'd get cancer in about ten or so years? Or just pass out and go plummeting back down to the Earth when the air got too thin?

He could help her with that.

He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled as hard as he could. Some strand came away from her skull but most stayed put. The pain from it stopped her in her tracks and she swung out with her fists, her feet, and her powers. Her foot almost managed to connect, again, but he blocked her with his leg. Killing his son wasn't enough, it seemed, her end goal seemed to be to make sure that he was never anyone else's father either.

"Don't pull my hair!" said Shigeko. This HURT! She'd never felt pain like this before! She'd never had hair for this long before, either. Mob had let people tug on her hair before and Shigeko had felt the ghost of that pain but this…this was worse than when he sent her flying down to the ground and she hit all of that metal stuff on the way down. She tried to put up a barrier but he kept on shattering it into little pieces. She reached up and tried to pull his hands from her hair but her fingers were small and weak and her power…she tried to pull her hair free but she just made the pain worse!

"No." said Suzuki. He got a good grip on her and then swung her around like a shotput. He hadn't done this since the last time he had participated in sport's day at school, when he was about her age, but he still had it. Round and round she went, her screams modulating in his ears as he spun her, until he felt that he had gained enough momentum to send her flying back down to the city below.

He let her go.

She went flying.

There were strands of her hair between his fingers. He let them slip sway in the thin air. His breaths were short, he was nauseated, and his heart was pounding. He was above the clouds, now, and he could clearly see the curvature of the Earth. Seasoning City was just a collection of buildings and lights, a city in miniature, now. He watched his hand as her hair slipped through his fingers. He held it in front of himself until he got the perspective just right.

And then he went higher.

He was not a man, he was a God, and he would be fine. He was just a little altitude sick, that was all. He had experienced the same thing when he climbed Everest all those years ago. He had done it in his suit, no oxygen or protective clothing. He was made of tougher stuff than the rest of them. The people on the ground. The ants. He flew so high that he, eventually, could not breathe anymore. That was fine.

He held his hand out in front of himself.

And in his hand he held the whole world.

And this moment was perfect. He was turning an angry sort of red, he could see it in his arms, and his fingertips were turning blew. His vision blurred and his eyes burned. His lungs called out for oxygen and he fought with his diaphragm as his chest tried to betray him and expand outwards. Everyone was rebelling against him, even himself. Even he was betraying himself. He was a God. He could take this. He was a God. He held the world in his hands. It was his body that was weak, it was his vessel that betrayed him, and if he could have exorcised it from existence then he would have. He would have lived his life as he was, his spirit, but not dead. No. Very much alive.

The vessel was breaking.

So he had to let go of the world and come back down. He'd held it in his hands, the world, and as he came back down he turned and held the moon. He held the moon until it got too big to hold, until even that trick of perception failed him. Betrayed him. He grew so tired of being betrayed. It was tiresome. It was annoying. It was aggravating. Even as he held the world in his hands he was…he found it wanting. What use was the world when those who had betrayed him still stood?!

Exorcise these emotions.

See only what has to be done.

He let himself fall down to the ground. He came in so fast that he almost didn't have time to right himself. That would have been unfortunate. He could heal himself but it took more energy than it was worth. Fukuda was his healer…and his betrayer…and Toichiro could see….yes. There they all were. He saw all of their auras, together, running in a straight line…

He tipped a building over.

And it was…cut in half…he focused. There. Sakurai's work. The curse that cut the building lingered in the air. As for why it was floating apart…there…he could see…that was Serizawa. Yes, Serizawa, an aura he did not recognize, Minegishi, and…oh.

There.

He batted the building away. The halves flew into two opposite directions and hit the ground hard enough to shake the Earth. All around him glass from what few buildings remained rained down as the Earth shook. He must have triggered an actual earthquake. Well then. That was a first. He watched them, all of them, from his distance. They still traveled in a straight line. No matter what happened they never broke rank. He watched them maneuver about in a long twisting snake….starting and stopping as if they knew what was in their path before they saw it.

Fascinating.

Sho was a resourceful boy, if anything, he'd make it out of this alright. The thought of Sho making it out of this…of living through his little rebellion….makes him feel lighter than air. This feeling…where was it before! He'd held the world in his hands like he'd always dreamed but…but it was the fact that his traitorous failure of a son was alive…that was what made him feel like this?! He shouldn't have cared if that traitor that he had fathered lived or died!

This saved him a lot of effort, though, so that was good.

He did not feel like making another son. Yes, that was it. The boy may have been a failure and a traitor but he was still the carrier of half of Suzuki's genes. If he hadn't been born to a normal woman maybe he could have been something better than what he was now. There. That feeling, the light one, the one that made the yellow in his aura move and churn was gone. Now he was thinking again. His son's rebellion had failed…but he could have so easily started another one. Sho had never been able to tell when he had been beaten. He'd try again and again and again….and Suzuki could not have that. No.

And he could not suffer a traitor to live.

So without allies his son would betray him no more. Yes. That made sense. Occasionally people would have to be made examples of. They had chosen their fate the minute they acted against him. They knew what it was to betray him, the God of this world, and he would not let them live. Not after what they had done. The traitors, all of the traitors, and that man too….the one who had tried to shoot him with a toy gun. The one who had tried to strike him….

He would pay.

"You're going to pay for that." Muttered Shigeko as she tried to pick herself up. She couldn't, of course, because her leg had extra corners now. She had hit the ground too hard, hard enough that her barrier had given out…no. Her barrier giving out had nothing at all to do with hitting the ground much too hard and everything to do with the fact that she had been distracted. There was just too much going on…and he was stronger than anyone she had ever faced before. She had always won-

Not always.

She had lost to Mogami. She had ended the whole world but Mogami survived. He was the greatest psychic, well medium, of the twentieth century so of course he would have left behind an extremely powerful spirit…and this guy was the same. Just as evil. Just as powerful. This was a living Mogami and Mob…Mob was still hiding…but Shigeko wasn't. This man had…killed….Master Reigen….and she had to stop getting distracted! The pain should have fueled her to go on to do great and terrible things! The pain, the fear, all of it had fueled her for her entire existence!

But now it distracted her.

It fragmented her. She needed more than pain, more than fear, to keep going. She had never fought an opponent, a living opponent, who fought back. Everyone had always been so afraid…and so easy to break…but this man would not break. He could not break. He was strong, like her, and she had never fought someone like him before…

And the pain didn't help.

The pain only distracted her. It was the same as if Mob was there, at the back of her mind, telling her what to do. No matter what she did she couldn't help but focus on the fact that he was…gone….just gone. There was nothing of him left in this world! He had been alive one minute and gone the next! He'd never tug on their braid again or tell them a long and funny story again or even just sit there and watch TV with them again! And Shigeko could barely even remember these things!

The ground shook beneath her broken body, cracked, and buckled upwards. There was, for a little bit, only the sound of metal straining…

Now she's all wet.

A pipe burst. That was what she had done. She hadn't even meant to do that! Why couldn't she break that man! She broke a pipe, a big one full of icy water, on her own but that man….ugh! Why! Why was he so…so…so strong!? It wasn't fair! She was Shigeko! She was the strongest thing in this world! This paper world made for paper dolls! She had spent her entire existence locked away because Mob was afraid that she would break something…someone…and now that she had the chance to she…she was failing!

Her leg went back together with a loud crack.

The pain was blinding. She saw white spots in her vision, the same ones Mob's would get when she stared into the lights at school for too long. She dug her fingers into the concrete below her. She had turned it to powder without even trying. Why couldn't she do the same to that man!? Why was she so weak! She was too weak! She hadn't been able to save Master Reigen, she hadn't been able to save the others, and she hadn't….she hadn't even been able to save Ritsu on that day…the first day that she could even remember being…herself.

The day of her birth.

Her birthday.

That had been her birthday and this would not be her deathday. Dying day. Not now and not ever. She was Shigeko, she was the strongest thing in this world, and she had to keep everyone safe! If…if they were even still alive. They could have all been dead. Dead in the beams of red the man had shot at them, dead in the crater she made when she hit the ground, or just dead from whatever it was that flew through the air above her…

A building.

She didn't think. She drew her knees up and created her strongest barrier, the crystalline one. The one so strong that…that it had to survive a building being dropped on it. She had to…she had to survive to stop the man…that was what Master Reigen would have wanted….not that she could ask…because he was gone…

Her barrier wavered.

_Shigeko! Don't stop! You can do this! I know you can!_

**I'm failing. I'm failing us.**

_No you're not! You're doing good! You're doing better than I ever could have!_

**I don't have your control!**

_And I don't have your strength! I could never do what has to be done! Even now I can't!_

**I don't have the strength either! No matter what I do he counters me! He's too strong!**

_He may be strong but we're stubborn! _

**Master Reigen said that.**

_And he said that stubborn could be a good thing. He's gone but as long as we live up to what he wanted us to be then…then it won't be so bad._

**It hurts.**

_I know._

**I'm in pain.**

_So am I._

**I want to exorcise this pain.**

_We can't. This is…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If I hadn't trusted him…if I hadn't held you back then Master Reigen would still….he would have still been with us._

**I'm crying.**

_Me too._

**He's really gone.**

_He is._

**I hate you.**

_I hate myself too._

**This is all your fault.**

_I know._

**He's gone. He's gone and we…you stopped me from saving him. You stopped me from telling him how we felt. You've always held me back.**

_But not anymore. _

**You're a liar.**

_No I am not! He's dead and it's all my fault! For as long as he's dead for….that's how long we'll be…like this._

**You're giving me complete control.**

_I don't want to be alive anymore. I don't want to be us anymore. I don't want to be Mob anymore. You can be Mob._

**I am Shigeko.**

_Then be Shigeko. Be Mob, be Shigeko, just be…just be me. I won't do it anymore._

**You won't.**

_Stop him._

**I will.**

The sky was filled with red again. Shigeko could see it through the space above her. The rest of her…she was surrounded by debris. She let her feet touch the ground and kicked off into the sky. The sky was dark, now, getting there at least. Below her was…oh. She had put a hole through that half of a building without even realizing it. She had done it because she was strong. She was the strongest thing in this world…and she was going to save it.

There was no more Mob, now, just Shigeko.

She saw red everywhere. She let her eyes narrow. It helped, somehow, using the vessel like this even though it had nothing to do with seeing the world metaphysically. She let her eyes dance over the red until she found a spot where it was the most concentrated. There. There he was. He was…she heard a crash. He was making buildings fall down…like he was playing with dominos…but why? He couldn't have…it didn't matter why!

It didn't matter one bit.

She was thinking like Mob, now. It didn't matter why the man was doing what he was doing, just that he was doing it. He was doing something else bad and that only made his existence all the more worthless. He was a truly terrible person, the second truly terrible person that Shigeko had ever met in her life, and she was going to end his life.

She pointed her fingers like a gun. It seemed that he couldn't see her, or maybe he did and he just didn't care that she was there. Either way she had a chance, now. Rushing him did her no good. He was older, bigger, stronger, and she was just…no. She was strong! She was the strongest thing in this world! But she also kind of…not. He had picked her up and thrown her, choked her and tossed her, and she had been little more than a ragdoll to him while he had been doing all of that. Just a doll. She was not just a doll. She was not just a little girl, like he had been calling her like it was some kind of insult. She was not little and there was nothing wrong with being a girl. She wasn't just a girl, anyway, she was a magical girl…

And this was her magical destiny.

She made a finger gun and let blue energy collect at the end of it. It was harder, now, because she had no conduit. The toy gun had been useful, very useful, but it was lost somewhere in the mess and she didn't have time to go looking for it. No. This would have to do…even though she could feel how unstable it was. How it kept on either trying to explode or go back into her body. She couldn't fight the man head to head so this…this was her best option.

She took her shot.

And she hit.

For a moment it looked like summer festival fireworks. All red and blue and bright, not only metaphysically, when her hit landed she had managed to, briefly, turn night into day. There was a second sun in the sky and Shigeko remembered, Mob remembered, mom saying something about having to greet the sun before his lovely daughter moon and she doesn't know why she's remembering her, Mob's, childhood instead of remembering to move-

A loud bang.

And she barely has time to move. She dodges out of the way but not fast enough since he manages to get a handful of her hair and pull her with him. It hurts, of course, but not that badly. She's had worse. It's just hair. The pain she feels in her head is nothing at all like the pain, the much worse pain, that she feels within her heart. That pain should fuel her powers but it doesn't. She can't do more than lash out…and she needs to concentrate…

She grabs him.

She grabs his wrist, the one that's holding her by the hair, and she pulls herself upwards. She pulls herself up high enough to bite his wrist. She plants her teeth so deeply into his flesh that her mouth fills with blood. The taste of the blood, the feel of it running down her throat like the time she, the time Mob, tried to drink chocolate syrup that had been sitting out all afternoon…she's going to be motion sick. She's going to be motion sick but she can't let go. Her hands were wrapped around his arm, her teeth dug into his wrist, and he was trying to shake her free.

She was not letting go.

She could feel it. His energy. It stung her skin and made it blister. She put up her own barrier, an energy barrier like the one that-that-that Master Reigen put up when he…when he borrowed her powers that night…she should have lent him her powers. She should have done it again but she had no idea how! It had just happened, before, and she hadn't been able to do it again…and maybe she should have practiced at some point…tried to…because if she had figured out then he would have still been there…

Her barrier wavers.

She feels the burning. Her skin is blistering and she can't help it, she opens her mouth, and her scream has power behind it. Power enough to break his concentration. Power enough to end him of course and into what's left of a building of steel and glass. They're all of steel and glass, the ones that stand, and they all hurt when she flies through them. She had left some teeth behind when she let go. Her mouth is full of blood and her skin…she focuses on healing it. She can see trails of red as she falls and she reaches out towards them. She pulls what little energy is left into her body as she tries to heal.

It works sort of.

Her skin closes. The cold air helps with the pain, it does, but it's so cold…and she's still kind of wet…and now she can feel herself shivering. She manages to slow her fall, her careen through the ruined city, until she smashes against but not through the side of a building. There's cool glass against the back of her thighs. There's cool air against her face and stomach. She opens her eyes as best as she could. Nothing felt broken, just sort of sore, and cold. She was cold.

Her barrier was down.

She needed to focus. She needed to…to think. But she couldn't think. Mob was the thinker and she was the doer. They…they had to be this thing together. It wouldn't work if they didn't work together…and that's the worst thing. She's never needed Mob before. Mob's always held them back. Mob's always been the one to lock her away, to tell her to stop. Mob lost them Master Reigen and Shigeko…if Mob could have been exorcised from their vessel hen Shigeko would have done it…but she can't. She needs to be with Mob because…because they need to think and act at the same time. Mob just thought and thought but never acted…and Shigeko acted and acted but never thought.

**I need you.**

_You hate me._

**But I need you.**

_But you hate me._

**But I need you.**

_You don't. _

**I do.**

_You don't. You're the strong one. _

**I am.**

_So why would you need me for? I'm the terrible one. I used to think that you were terrible, that all you ever did was hurt people, but now I know that you're the one who has been keeping us safe. You're the one who could have stopped all of this. If I had just let you kill that man instead of…of what I did…then Master Reigen would still be here. He's gone because of me._

**He is. You're right. He is gone because you didn't let me act. You think but don't act…and I act but do not think.**

_You can win._

**I can't. We need to be this thing together. I don't want this. I don't want to be weak. I have to beat this man and I can't beat him because no matter what I do he counters it. I need you to help me. We have to be this thing called Mob. This thing called Shigeko. We have to be this thing together.**

_No. I won't do it. I can't do it. I don't want to be anything. I don't think that I can be anything without Master Reigen. He was my everything. He was our everything. Now he's gone. He's gone and it's because of me. I don't want to be anything. I don't even want to be alive._

**Useless.**

That was what Mob was, the useless part of her. She didn't need Mob. She didn't need Mob's ability to think, to act, not react. Shigeko always reacted. Shigeko had never had need to anything else but her reactions and now…now it had come back to bite her. The man wasn't coming after her. The man wasn't coming to hurt her, no, he was…he was back to his feet and now he was…he was shooting energy again. At people.

Shigeko knew who he was shooting at.

She could barely see through the haze of red. There were too many colors, and they all shifted, but she knew that those must have been her friends…and they were in trouble…and she…she cared. She cared about the people that she loved and she…she had to kill that man…but she could barely even scratch him! She was so much smaller than him…it wasn't fair! She may have been small but she…she could still…she was still the strongest thing in the entire world.

No more reacting. Acting.

No more being weak. Be strong.

You can do this, you have to do this. You're Shigeko. You have to do this for him. Do this for him and you know you can win. You may be small but that's just your vessel. You're more than your vessel. You're more than this prison you were made in. Stop using it and just…act. Think and act at the same time. Do it. Do something. You can see…you can see so many auras. You can see…that's Teru! You love Teru!

Teru….

Soft skin. Winterberries. Kisses. Cuddles. Skin to skin. Flesh to flesh. Toes curling. Fingers digging into flesh. Head thrown back…his kisses. His love. Warm and safe in his arms. Teru. Teruki. Her Teru. The person she loved…the person she loved most, now, by default. She…she was going to save him. She was going to be there for him. She hadn't been able to save the last person she loved so she…she would save him.

And with Mob gone she could have him all to herself.

But she was too…her vessel was too weak to save him but her powers were strong. So strong. She was strong enough to…she hovered some distance from the building she had been throw into. She was the strongest being in the entire world. She could…she could think. She had to think. She caught sight of a small dot, the man, reflected in the side of the building. He was so small, there, small like her. Trapped in his vessel. He worked so hard to keep his vessel safe…

She spat blood.

Some of it was his. He could bleed. If he could bleed then he could get hurt and if he could get hurt then he could die. Death…she was going to kill him…and she could. She could and she would. She reached forward and pulled as hard as she could. With her powers. Not her vessel. She was strong enough to…to do this. She needed to stop doubting herself. She needed to let go. She had experienced loss, Mob had, she had, they both had, and now she knew…she knew that she could…

She was all alone in the world, now.

She'd lost Master Reigen.

But she…she needed to get…she needed to stop the man who was responsible for this.

She heard the sound of metal ripping. Glass shattering. She could do this. She would do this. She was doing this and it was easy. Of course it was easy. She was Shigeko! She was the strongest thing in this world! There wasn't a single being alive or dead that could stop her! Not this man! Not Mogami! Not anyone! She'd done it, experienced loss, and come out the other side! The pain and fear of being alone, being without Master Reigen, fueled her powers now! Not directed her! No, now she was strong!

Do it for him.

Then you'll know you can win.

And picked up a building and she threw it.

Ages ago Suzuki had played an arcade game.

He had liked it. The object of the game was to build walls, to trap the enemy until a certain percentage of the screen was blocked off. Suzuki had been more fascinated with the movements of the enemy, of their A.I., than of winning. He knew he would win, he had no control over that he always won, but he could control when he won.

There was some fun in that, drawing out the win.

He watched the people, the little colored dots, run through the darkness. The night was coming in fast and there were no streetlights. He was young, now, younger than he had been in a while. As young as his son was now. That was his son down there, limping along, or maybe he was being carried. He'd be spared. He was useful. The others would have to go, of course, but when he was done with them.

Another building toppled.

And they ran. They ran away before he even tipped it over. It was easy, just a nudge, a telekinetic nudge and they all came tumbling down. He would return this city, this world, to nothing. It would all come tumbling down and he would rebuild it in his own image. That was what a God did after all. The buildings came down so very easily. This was no effort. Nothing was ever any effort. Nothing but her, the girl, she was quite a bit of effort now wasn't she?

Dried blood and saliva on his arm.

He'd take a bath after this was all over and done with. A nice long bath. Nice and warm and relaxing. He needed it after the day he'd had. Everything was sore, a deep sort of bone tired soreness that only a long, hot, mineral bath could fix. Thank God he was back in Japan. He'd rule from his homeland after he finished tearing it down…and after he had a much need bath. He was filthy. He was covered in dust and filth and blood. He'd need to have this suit destroyed, such a shame, he liked this one a lot. No matter, no matter, no matter he had others. He was the ruler of the world, now, and he could have whatever he wanted. Whoever he wanted.

There she was.

She really was a worthy opponent. Shigeko. Mob. He would call her Shigeko. She was growing on him…like a wart. Annoying. An annoying thing but still…well not like a wart then. Something else which grew on one's skin and was annoying but one was also loathe to remove because the process of removal would be annoying and it wouldn't be worth it for the effort one put in. His son was not dead, she hadn't killed him, so his urge to kill her was fading. She really was incredible, this Shigeko, his Shigeko.

He'd call her Shigeko.

Mob did not fit her. Not when she shone so very brightly. She had lived through all of that, even gotten her own hits in, and that was an amazing thing in and of its self. He felt the space where she had bitten him. It was healing. She had been so strong. She had been so strong…strong enough to hurt him…and that was amazing. Such an amazing girl. Such an amazing child.

It was a shame that she was a child.

Had she been a woman, or even come into some proper womanly charms, well that could have been different. But she was a child. She was a child and she had…she had stood up to him…and stood a chance. She was still fighting now, even. He could see her out of the corner of his eye. Shigeko, his Shigeko, what was she up to? What would she think of next?

And what color would she turn.

Mob. Shigeko. Kageyama. She came in colors, two colors, but she was still such a rainbow. Two colors like him. The only other esper like him that he had ever met. Such a pity that she was so young, there really was something to her, but no matter. She and Sho would get on swimmingly once all of this was over. He didn't care about the fuss Sho would kick up. His rebellion had failed and he was running for his life in the dark with a bunch of traitors. Like rats running through a maze.

He burnt a row of streetlight out.

The glowed so brightly and then they were out. The group did not stop, they did not even glance that way. Fascinating. He wondered if there was a clairvoyant amongst them. He read, ages ago, about one being spotted in Seasoning City…though he always took those sorts of reports with a grain of salt. Everyone and their dog thought that they could see the future. A fascinating gift, when it was there, but nothing compared to the raw power that he held within his vessel…and that she held as well. Her.

Shigeko.

She was still alive and she was up to something. Good. Finally, something new. Something interesting. He had gone so long without a worthy opponent, a truly worthy opponent, and it felt…good. So good. Better than anything had felt in a very long time. He had no idea what was happening, what she was up to, but her aura shined so bright it was sure to be something interesting. He heard a loud crash, a bang, and a groan. Her aura lit up the sky and…oh. Well she was a strong one, now wasn't she? Blue, so much blue, and yet she was actually planning something besides hitting him, biting him, and kicking him where she should have known better than to kick. He was still in a slightly bad mood about that one…but that was the risk that one took when they fought women. Heh.

One took all kinds of risks when fighting. Men, women, it was all risky.

One of the risks, apparently, was the risk of getting a building thrown at you. It didn't upset him, no, he was impressed. Finally, a real challenge. A worthy challenger. It took actual effort to rip the building out of her grasp and sent it flying past him. It had been so long since he had to put any actual effort into anything. She was amazing, truly amazing, this child. This person who would remain a child for the foreseeable future.

Pity.

She truly was one of a kind, like him. Had she been more agreeable, had she been more open to seeing the true extent of what she could do and what she was owed, then it could have been a different story entirely. He would have maybe even ruled with her…not with but…but she would have ruled directly under him. Yes. That would have been truly brilliant.

But it could not be.

Because she would not stop…and it was good. Not like how Sho was such a stubborn little brat that he didn't know when to stop even when he was beaten and broken. This girl had been broken but she had out herself back together…and she was back…and now she had thrown herself at him and…and that crack had been the sound barrier.

He dodged.

And she grabbed him by the collar and used her forward momentum to send him flying. His collar ripped as she let go…he really liked that shirt….no matter, no matter. He oriented himself after the momentum ran out. He had to slow himself to a stop, a sudden stop would just end p making him sick. He'd have to work on fixing that. Later, of course, after this was done with….and it didn't look like it would be done with any time soon.

"Well? You have my attention!" called Suzuki into the night. The air stung. Winter was coming in early and he was under dressed. His suit was in tatters…and she was not doing any better. He could see her, there, glowing on the horizon. Her school uniform had been reduced to a white rag for a shirt and a blue strip of cloth that he would have barely classified as a skirt. Blood, too, a fair bit of it on the exposed skin that he could see. Her undershirt, too, was soaked through with it.

Something hit him square in the forehead.

Then something else.

She was moving, now, and…he caught one…a ten yen coin? He caught another and found it to be a small rock. The next projectile was a bottle cap. Huh. They still made apple flavored carbonated milk. Well that was something that he hadn't known. She was thinking, now, moving. Constant motion…and sending…he flew closer to her. There, between her fingers, was a women's hair tying thing. It was, essentially, a rubber band…she had made a sling.

Something trickled down into his eye.

She had drawn blood. Annoying but impressive. She was using weapons, now. A coward's way to fight. That was what separated the espers from the regular people. They had to use weapons, they had nothing else, but espers had their natural abilities and they didn't need anything more. She must have been spending time with Sakurai. Heh.

"I don't want your attention! I want you to pay!" said Mob. She took another coin, a ten yen coin, and sent it flying towards him. This one had more of her powers in it. She was strong, very strong, but she could not fight him head to head. Mob was the one who thought but Shigeko could at least remember. They had played a videogame in which the character, the guy you controlled, had a sling kind of like this.

It was working, now, at least. She was drawing blood.

So there was that. She may not have been able to think but she could remember. She didn't need Mob. Mob was the reason that they were in this mess. Well Mob may have gotten them into this but she was going to get them out of it! And then…and then she'd…no. Stop thinking about going back to the empty apartment. Stop thinking about Master Reigen.

Think only about how you were going to make this guy pay.

"Oh? Well then, why don't we make this a little more interesting?!"


	69. Allies, Traitors, and Friends

There was a handprint in the middle of the city.

That guy. That terrible guy! He had made that handprint when he smashed her into the ground. He had been trying to kill her. She had been trying to kill him. They were even. They were evenly trying to kill each other. He was…he was terrible. She was…she was also terrible. Mob thought that they were terrible, anyway, and she was not coming out of her shell any time soon.

Energy formed around her like a shield. No, shields were solid. This was more like…a second skin. A second skin of blue and pain. It hurt their vessel, no, their soul to have so much of themselves out of it. For Shigeko to have so much, too much, of herself out of her vessel. Blue. Not pink. Mob was hiding.

And she was not about to come out.

She felt the vessel starting to break apart. There. The cracks were forming in the skin of it. Pain. Pain was something that Shigeko was becoming more and more well acquainted with. She could feel it in every single inch of the vessel. She wondered what Mob could feel. She didn't know. Mob wasn't answering. She was ignoring Shigeko and ignoring what was happening.

Useless.

"Keep it together." Said Shigeko as she curled up. She was up high in the air, now, and the air was cold and thin. That was also becoming normal. A blast of pure energy hit her. Pain. That was normal as well. She smelled burning. More clothing damage. She was almost naked at this point. She knew that it should have bothered her, that he could see so much of her, but she didn't care beyond keeping it together.

The vessel could break.

"You're so unstable." Said Suzuki as he immobilized her in his telekinetic grasp. She was coming apart at the seams, it seemed, and that was good. Then she'd give this ridiculousness up once and for all. His son wasn't dead so, really, he had no more reason to try and kill her. Even though she had defied him. Even though she continued to defy him. There, that near naked shivering child just would not stop no matter what happened.

"Shut up." Said Shigeko as she tried to drink up the energy that surrounded her. it was…no good. The closest word that she had for it was hot. Like the time Mob burned their tongue on hot chocolate at Teru's house while they were watching that movie about….she couldn't remember. The thought of Teru keeps her going. Even if she can't remember what they did, exactly, she does remember him. For him she keeps drinking no matter how much it hurts.

"When are you going to give this up? You've lost. Face it." Said Suzuki as she tried to take him in. Not going to happen. He'd make a meal out of her before she made a meal out of him. He was too much for her, anyway, and if they hadn't been hovering thousands of kilometers in the air then he would have let her overload herself until she exploded.

No.

That would have been bad strategy. He would have lost her that way. She may have been a pain in the ass but she was a rare and valuable pain in the ass. He kept it together. Exorcised all the emotions that she was stirring within him. Anger that he was being defied. Elation at finally, for once in his life, meeting someone who could have been his equal. Relief that he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of making another son. Disappointment that she was so very young. They might have even gotten on, him and her, had they met under different circumstances. He allows himself to, briefly, indulge in thoughts of them meeting under different circumstances. She could have been a very useful tool had had known of her.

But she had flown under the radar for her entire life.

Even the name, Mob, suggested someone without an ounce of ambition in their body. That would have made sense, before, but now he had the measure of her. She must have had some ambition. She was taking on the man who held the world in his hands. She was losing, losing terribly, but she still fought. For what she fought he could not begin to know. This world was not for them. They had to hide in the shadows and skitter about like insects simply because normal people had the numbers advantage.

She never tired did she? Of being Mob?

"I-I haven't lost. You…you will die here…" said Shigeko as she tried to keep the vessel together. She pulled herself tight, her resolved buoyed by the energy that she had stolen from this man, and the cracks started to seal themselves shut.

"By your hand, girl?" asked Suzuki with a laugh. There, another spike of yellow in his aura. His own yellow. The man, the empath, lived but he did not have that kind of range it seemed. He would not be allowed to live. Nobody who stood a chance of challenging him would live. Nobody but this girl.

"Y-Yes…you will die by my hand…" said Shigeko

"The same hand you tried to offer me not so long ago?" mocked Suzuki

"Yes…no. That…that was Mob's hand. You will…you will die by my hand for what you did." Said Shigeko

"Oh? And what, exactly, have I done that warrants my death? Spend the better part of my life, longer than you have even existed, trying to make this a world worthy of us?" asked Suzuki

"No. You…you ruined everything. You….you will die for killing him." said Shigeko. She lashed out again. Her energy, pure energy, didn't even gather. She just erupted. There was a flash of blue and she was hurdling through the air. She struggled to right herself, to slow her momentum and get back on her feet, when something grabbed her by the forearm.

A pop.

Pain.

"I seem to have dislocated your shoulder. Pity. Not fatal, though, and I will allow you to live, though I cannot say the same for-" Said Suzuki as he held her by one arm. She glared at him. Her aura, totally blue now, projected more murderous intent though she did nothing more than kick her legs out at him.

"You killed him and you will die!" shouted Shigeko. It hurt, her arm hurt, the vessel's arm hurt…but she would make him hurt more! She kicked and screamed but he held her at arm's length. He was so much bigger than she was….

"Who? The empath? Did I really kill him?" asked Suzuki sardonically. The girl was too unstable and unfocused to realize that the man she was ready to kill for, to avenge, was very much alive and making his way through the city with a group of children and traitors. The city was dark now, he had taken out all the streetlights himself just for the fun of impeding their journey down there, but they still walked sure footedly through the ruins of man's achievement.

"I saw you!" screamed Shigeko. She screamed so loud that it hurt. It tore through her throat and she knew, then, that she had messed her voice up even more. It had been messed up from all the screaming and choking and now this would be her voice and this would be her vessel because Mob was gone, not gone, but given up and now she had to be this thing on her own without even Master Reigen and she was all alone at the top of the world with this madman and-

More cracks formed along her vessel.

"Are you sure you saw what you think you saw?" asked Suzuki. His eyes bore into hers. So unfocused. So unstable. Such a waste of a person.

"You killed him! You killed Master Reigen! You killed him! Him! I loved him and you killed him!" screamed Shigeko. She flared out, her powers flared out, and it didn't even seem to faze him. His chest was bare and covered in raised blisters…she had done that…but still he did not let got. He was just staring at her…always with the goddamned staring!

"You'd really waste yourself on someone so pathetic?" asked Suzuki. Another flare of his own aura. Stupid. This stupid girl. She could have been something great…but she was just this. This person. This person who called herself 'Mob' and proclaimed her love for a man that had barely any power to his name. What he had, what little he had, was terrifying under the right conditions but he still had very little. The thought of someone like her wasting herself on someone like that…

For a moment he sees himself in feminine miniature. All of his mistakes laid there, bare, like the pale expanse of her skin for the world to see.

He doesn't like it.

So he lets go of her, lets her hover for a moment, before kicking her down to Earth. Back down to her beloved Master.

"Whatever you do, do not look up!" said Reigen as he tried to corral everyone into the world's most terrifying conga line. They were all breaking formation again. That would not do. Panic would do them no good in this situation. He could feel himself shaking in a cold sweat…no. He pulled what little aura he had close to himself. He had to have this under control.

Because no one else did.

"Mob!" screamed Rei as she covered her eyes. She was in front. She didn't want to be in front but she was in front. She was the only one who knew what to do. Where to go. She had the power to save them. Her. Rei. She was like some kind of magical girl.

She didn't want this.

"I said don't look up!" said Reigen. He could see it. Behind his eyelids he could see it. The sky was exploding like the end of a summer festival. Blue and red and some yellow constantly burst into existence above them. The night sky would have made for a good backdrop for all of this but he was not looking. He knew better than to look. He knew for a fact that he would not like what he would see if he were to take his eyes off of the kid in front of him and turn them up to…to whatever it was that was happening up there.

He knew fully well what was happening up there.

"No! I mean…shields! Now!" screamed Rei. She didn't like to look at death. Whenever she tried to see it, whenever she tried to see it before, she saw hundreds of deaths stretched out in front of her and ever shifting. She had never seen a certain death before, not even when they went to visit grandma and the other old people, but now she was seeing it. She saw it behind her eyes clear as day.

They would all die in an explosion caused by Mob as she fell onto them.

"You all heard her! Get close and put those shields up!" shouted Reigen nice and loud so the people in the back could hear him. He had the kids close to him, well most of the kids anyway. Ritsu was in the back helping to carry his friend. That tall guy in the pajamas who saved him from being burnt to a crisp was there too along with the plant user of indeterminate gender and no eyebrows. Ritsu's girlfriend, Rei, was in front leading them all hopefully to safety.

All of their hope rested on a thirteen year old girl.

And a fourteen year old girl.

And a man who didn't feel much older than the kids around him.

He felt so small, then, and so helpless…but that might have been because the kids around him felt small and helpless. A couple were crying. One was trying to look tougher than he was. One in the back, Mob's boyfriend, was about ten seconds away from pissing himself even though he tried not to look it. He was trying to be strong, trying to keep the others from running away, even though this was definitely one of those times when they should have run away.

That would have been certain death.

There was no light. None. It was easy to forget how dark the night truly was. The streetlights were all out. They had all exploded in a shower of glass a few minutes ago. The sun was set. There were no lights from what few buildings still stood. There was just darkness. They could move somewhat quickly. There were enough telekinetic individuals to clear out a path for them and Rei knew what to do and where to go.

They were going to make it out of this.

Failure was not an option.

"Hurry!" shouted Rei. She knew that Reigen had said not to look up but she did so anyway. There was…it looked like a comet. A blue comet. It was like in that movie Ritsu really liked about the boy and the girl who body swapped through time and it turned out that she had died when a comet hit her home town. That was how they were going to die. They were going to die and she would never, ever, watch that movie or any other movie with Ritsu ever again…and he wasn't even there! She wanted Ritsu! She wanted to spend her last moments with the person she loved! She wanted him there with her while they-

Someone yanked her backwards. A hand was thrown over her eyes. She felt the hair on her arms standing up…there was a lot of psychic energy around her, now.

"I said not to look!" Said Reigen as he covered Rei's eyes. He could feel…he was going to die. His heart was beating out of his chest and he knew, then, that death was coming and he…more than anything else he wanted to be held. He wanted to be held close in his last moments of life because he-

He did not let go of her.

These were feelings that nobody, let alone a thirteen year old girl, should have had. She should not have been….she should not have been in this situation. None of these kids should have. The adults…he didn't care much about the adults. The man who saved him was alright in his book but right now he had kids to worry about. They could not die. They hadn't even started to live! There were still a million things that none of these kids has done…and it was not too late. He didn't know what would happen once they got out of the ruined city but he knew, for a fact, that they were going to make it out of the ruined city alive…

They had to.

"Sister!" shouted Ritsu as he tried to keep his barrier up as best as he could. This was…it was a lot. They were surrounded on all sides by what could only be called psychic fire. It was red and yellow and blue and hot…and he was going to…he couldn't keep this up…

"Don't panic….if-if you panic then you'll br-break…" said Sho as he tried to help as best as he could. Even with the power boost he had gotten from Ritsu's big sis…it wasn't enough. Not after the beating he had taken. Not after falling out of that tower. Minegishi could have done a better job of catching him. That fall…and being caught by those vines…whatever had broken inside of him was worse…he could feel it.

He couldn't even walk.

That coward. That traitor. That rat bastard who dared to call himself Sho's friend was carrying him. Ritsu had been trying to but Serizawa was bigger and stronger. Objective fact. Serizawa was also a terrible person. Also an objective fact. Good people did not just stand idly by while their friends got beaten almost to death! Serizawa had stood with dad until the very end!

He hadn't even come back for Sho.

He had come back for that guy. Reigen. That was who he had saved. Not Sho. Not the guy that he was supposedly friends with. Not the guy who he supposedly cared about. No. He came back for someone who he didn't even know. Ritsu…Ritsu had done more for him in a few days than Serizawa had in all the years that they had known each other…

And now they were all going to die together.

"Sho, stop. Don't try to help. Save your strength." Said Ritsu. Sho had one hand raised, his one working hand, and he was trying to help them keep the psychic fire at bay. Sho did not need to help at all. He looked half dead. He couldn't even walk! He couldn't even stand! He was in a bridal carry, now, and that….that did not suit Sho. Being broken and battered and helpless did not suit Sho one bit. Sho had seemed like…like he had this. Like he had strolled into Ritsu's life with all the answers and a foolproof plan for saving the world money back guarantee. That was the Sho he had met, then, but this was the Sho that he had gotten to know.

Gone was the Sho that could get a bunch of adult espers to do his bidding.

Gone was the Sho who Ritsu thought could challenge the world and win.

Gone was the Sho that had effortlessly kicked him ass on the night they met…formerly the worst night of his life…

This new Sho was so helpless…so helpless that he didn't even seem like the same person even. Ritsu could barely see him in this darkness. His aura, this auras, the psychic fire around them lit him up. Lit up the blood and the bruises that Ritsu could see marring his skin. There were probably more, a lot more, but that was all that Ritsu could see. He wanted the old Sho back. He wanted his…he wanted his friend back.

If this was how it ended then he wanted it to end…he wanted to end it with his friend.

"D-Don't talk to me like I'm a baby or something….I can still kick your ass you know…" said Sho. He could hear and feel the rattle when he breathed. He needed Fukuda to see to him. He knew that he was hurt badly...and he did not want to go like this. With Ritsu looking at him like that. He wanted to live long enough, to get patched up enough, to go out in a blaze of glory. That was how he was going to go out. That was how he wanted Ritsu to remember him.

How he wanted everyone to remember him.

Sho meant leader. That was why dad had named him Sho, because he wanted him to be a leader someday. Well Sho had not lived up to his namesake one bit. He was no leader. Where had he led these guys? To this. To certain death. He had been a moron to think that he had any hope of taking on dad. Even though he had saved up that charge bomb…it still hadn't been enough. Dad had been saving up energy since before he had even been born. Dad had people on every continent backing him up…and all Sho had were these guys…

He couldn't do it alone.

He hadn't done it alone.

And now he, at least, wasn't going to die alone.

He reached out and took Ritsu's hand in his. He needed to touch someone. He wanted to touch someone. He wanted to touch someone who had stuck by him, who had believed in him, and who had wanted to keep him safe. Ritsu had been there for him like no one else…Fukuda and the others had also been there for him….but Ritsu was different. Ritsu was…he didn't have words for what Ritsu was. Everything. Everything and…and more. Everything and a day.

He'd tell Ritsu that, maybe, if they made it through this and onto the next day.

"Sho…?" asked Ritsu. He could feel his barrier getting stronger. He was…he was less afraid. Even though Sho was bloody and broken and beaten Ritsu still…Sho was there for him and the…the thought was enough to lift him off of the ground. With Sho's hand in his he literally felt like he could do anything. Even hold this up. It felt like it weighed a thousand tons but…but he could still hold it up. He was not alone.

"You've got this…ok? You've got this and…and if you don't then…then I'm going to have to kick your ass later…no choice." Said Sho. He would have said more but a coughing fit started up. He wished that he had the luxury of being able to pretend that he was coughing from all of the dust being kicked up or whatever but he did not. He knew why he was coughing. Broken ribs.

He shuddered to think of what else could have been broken inside of him.

"Like you even could." Said Ritsu shaking his head. Sho was ridiculous. This whole thing was ridiculous. Sister was up there fighting a shonen villain and he was down there on the ground running for his life instead of helping her…ridiculous. He should have been helping sister. He couldn't help his sister or his friends. He was…he was helping his friends. He was helping his friends not get crushed by whatever it was that was pressing so hard down on his barrier.

"C-Could too…" said Sho before he fell into another coughing fit. He wondered if he would end up putting his ribs back into place if he coughed hard enough. Heh. That would have been pretty neat. A story he could tell when this was all over and done with.

"Sho be-be careful…you-you're hurt…" said Serizawa as he struggled to keep his barrier up. He could see the President, there, clearly. He had his hand around that magical girl's…Mob's throat and he was trying to force her to the ground…she looked so hurt…Sho was so hurt…the President was so hurt….

He needed to stop thinking about the President.

Even though he was going to be so mad that Serizawa had betrayed him. He hadn't thought about it at all when he saved the man. He just knew that he could not stand to just wait and watch while all of that bad stuff happened. He wanted to do something courageous for once in his life so he moved as fast as he could and stepped between the President and that man. Reigen. He knew Reigen from the memories of true friendship that the magical girl, Mob, had shown him. Reigen was one of the most important people in the world to her, kind of like the President was to him, and he could not let that man die.

He'd seen too many people get hurt before.

He'd seen too many people die before.

And enough was enough. He had done something courageous and saved that man…and then as he plummeted to the Earth he was wracked with guilt for betraying the President. Even though the President had only used him, treated him like a tool instead of a human being, he still felt bad for betraying the man who had saved his life…and wasn't that just the most messed up thing in the world? Even now as he held his friend, his bloody and hurt friend, he still thought of the President and how hurt he must have been-

No.

He was a bad man. He was the bad guy in this story. It was easier to think of this as a story, as one of the plots he had seen replayed over and over and over again. Mob was a magical girl and this was the final boss fight and she was going to win. The magical girl always beat the bad guy. That was how the story went. Since this was a magical girl's story that must have made the President the bad guy…even if he had saved Serizawa from the hell that had been his life…the President was still a bad man.

Look at what he had done to his own son.

"Don't talk to me. Don't ever talk to me again." said Sho. Broken ribs be damned he was going to speak his mind. Serizawa had betrayed him and he had no use for betrayers. He wished that Ritsu had still been carrying him. Ritsu carrying him was even better than walking around on his own. Anything was better than being carried by Serizawa.

Sho had no use for traitors.

"Sho, please, I-I'm so sorry-" said Serizawa

"I said shut up"! shouted Sho loudly enough that he could be heard over the chaos. People were crying, and praying and cursing and all kinds of stuff but his voice rang out high enough and loud enough that he could be heard. The anger fueled not only his voice but his powers, too, and the barrier above them turned red, his shade of red, for just a moment. Dad had said, before, that he only awakened when he was really pissed off.

They were just two of a kind, weren't they?

"Don't make me come back there!" shouted Reigen. Oh hell no! They were not going to start fighting each other. Nope. Not on his watch. United they stood and divided they feel and other such fortune cookie wisdom. They all needed to keep it together, all of them, or they would all end up falling apart…and to fall apart in this situation was to die.

"Stop it! Stop yelling!" screamed Rei. She didn't want this! She wanted to…to be at home! In her bed! Watching TV or drawing or something! Something other than this! She didn't want to die and she didn't want her last moments on Earth to be filled with the sounds of her friends fighting!

"Shhh….you're ok. They're ok. We're all ok. You're doing ok. Everything is ok." Said Reigen. He pulled her close and rocked her back and forth. Her back was to his chest and for a moment he thinks of Mob. How he should have been there to comfort her way back when…when everything had gone wrong. How he shouldn't have pushed her away when…when they had come back after the Asagiri job. How, now, she was so…and it would be even worse when this was over…if she made it out…

Of course she'd make it out of this alive.

They all would.

"I want…I want to go home!" cried Rei. She was being held and rocked…and this was not the person who she wanted to be held by! She wanted Ritsu! She needed Ritsu! She wanted to spend the last moments of her life with Ritsu! She needed to be with him! She loved him and he loved her and they should have been together at her house instead of apart out here!

"Shhh….I know. I know you do. When this is over…when this is all over…then you'll go home." Said Reigen even though he had no idea when all of this would be over. They were pinned. He could feel it. They were pinned down under that massive amount of psychic energy. The air was on fire around them. Blue fire. He was hot. This shield…all of these barriers were like a sauna. He tried his best to keep his aura close. He could not lose it. This kid was losing it, all the kids were losing it, and he could not lose it too. If he lost it then they were fucked.

"I don't want you! I want Ritsu!" shouted Rei. She thrashed against Reigen until he let her go. He had no choice, the more she moved the harder it was to stay out of her aura. No matter what happened orange could not meet yellow or vise versa. He could not lose it. He could not freak out.

He could already feel himself freaking out.

"Ritsu! You're needed!" shouted Teru as he tried to keep his barrier up. He did it for her, for Shigeko and that was how he knew that he had this. Even though it was hot. Even though it was heavy. Even though he was still weak from the fight with that teleporter even with the energy that Shigeko had shared with him. He had to have this. He had to save them. He had to be the kind of person that she wanted him to be.

He had to make it back to her.

"I can't move or I'll drop my barrier!" shouted Ritsu. He knew that it was Sho was giving him the strength to do this. If he tried to make his way to the front not only would his barrier fall but the barriers of the people that they had to pass. Reigen had…it pained him to the core of his being to admit it…Reigen had a point when he said that they needed to stay in one line holding onto the person in front of them. It made it easier to move around and…and it helped spread out the people who could put up barriers, too.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's why you can't move!" said Teru sarcastically. Rei did not deserve that. They stood a real chance of dying…getting very hurt…and her boyfriend was back there figuring himself out. No. Rei was….to him, then, Rei was like Shigeko and he knew that he would never have put Shigeko through something like that. He knew that he had been a piece of shit to girls in the past…but never to that extent. He had never led someone on to that extent…and he never would…and it wasn't fair!

It was not at all fair.

His girlfriend, the girl he loved most in the entire world, was up there fighting for her life…her life and all of theirs…and he had no way of knowing if she would ever make it out of there…and Ritsu was taking his girlfriend for granted! Love, genuine love, was the most precious thing that another human being could give you and Ritsu was throwing it away with both hands! When someone loved you, wanted you, wanted to stay by your side at all times and through all things it was the most precious gift that you could have been given…and Ritsu was just throwing it away!

It wasn't fair!

"Shut up! You know that if I move I don't just risk dropping my barrier but messing everyone else's up too!" said Ritsu

"What did I just say?!" shouted Reigen

"That's a risk that you're going to have to take! She wants you! Your girlfriend wants you and you…you have no idea how lucky you are to be able to go to her! How you feel does not matter! She matters and she wants to be with you and you need to be with her!" said Teru

"I can't! If I move then we all could die!" said Ritsu

"If she can't lead us out of here then we'll all definitely die!" said Teru

"Look around you, Teru, we're pretty much dead already!" said Ritsu. As soon as the words passed his lips he came to the realization that maybe, just maybe, that hadn't been the thing to say. Because now Rei was sobbing. Takeshi, who had already been sobbing, was sobbing even louder. The Shiratori brothers were holding hands and crying silently, which was somehow worse, and Go was beside them biting back tears…

He could feel himself starting to cry, too, and wasn't that great? Now they could all go out crying together.

"Enough of this!" shouted Reigen though his pleas fell on deaf ears. He was crying. He was…he had no idea whose tears these were. His. The kids'. Those adult espers. He did not know. All he knew was that it hurt. He could feel his aura pushing against his body, his vessel, and he wondered if this was how Mob felt all the time. Being unable to keep it together. He had tried, he had tried so hard but now he just could not. He saw his aura push past the limits of his body. It passed over everyone. He shuffled through their emotions like playing cards.

Fear.

Terror.

Despair.

Hopelessness.

Self-loathing.

And then anger. A murderous sort of anger that set his blood on fire. He got to his feet. He was going to kill whoever was responsible for this. He was going to find that Suzuki guy and rip him apart molecule by molecule until there was nothing left. Then he was going to take a piss all over his atoms. This was all that madman's fault! All of this! He was so mad he could just-

Mob.

No.

His aura was moving upwards. It was…that was and was not Mob. The other Shigeko. That was…as soon as the realization hit him, who his aura was touching, murderous rage was replaced with…he did not have words for this. Warmth. Love. Happiness. Joy.

REIGEN: 100% EUPHORIA

MOB/SHIGEKO: 1000000% EUPHORIA

An explosion of white.

Pain. That was fine. Flying through the air. That was fine. Cold air against their skin. That was fine. All of this was fine. Everything was fine. How could it not be? How could anything in the world not be fine? How could something be wrong when…when he was still alive?!

Master Reigen was still alive.

Mob laughed. Shigeko laughed. They laughed together. It all just melted away. They were…the barrier between the two of them melted away. They laughed as they went flying through the air and into, no, through a window. One of those window wall things that skyscrapers had. They didn't care that they were all cut up and bloody. No. They didn't care about anything at all anymore. Anything beyond the fact that Master Reigen was still alive!

He's alive!

I know!

He's back!

He was never gone!

I'm back!

You are.

We're together!

We are.

We're here!

We are.

We're….we're in our underwear….

I know.

We can't be like this!

Yes we can.

No way! Everyone saw us in our underwear!

I don't care.

Well I do!

Now you care?

Yes!

Why?

Because people are not supposed to see us in our underwear!

Teru can.

There were more people there than just Teru!

I know. I know who was there. I just don't care. I don't know why you care, now, that we're in our underwear. You didn't seem to care when we were, when I was, fighting for our lives! Life. Our life. You didn't care at all. You just stayed here hidden away and let me do all the work. You're only coming out now because Master Reigen is still alive. Now that the bad part is over you're going to be taking control again, aren't you Mob?

No, Shigeko, I won't be…because the bad part isn't over yet. He's down there. The bad guy is down there with our friends. He's down there with Master Reigen and everyone else. You wanted to be this thing together but I couldn't, then, because I was too sad. That was before. This is now and now I…I'm ready to be this thing together, Shigeko, I'm ready to be this thing with you.

Are you really? Or are you just going to take complete control of the vessel and dictate what we do. We are this thing together, now, but I know you. You're going to spare that man. You're going to let him go on to hurt others. Just because he did not kill Master Reigen before does not mean that he won't try to again. I have no idea how Master Reigen managed to live through that but I would not count on it happening again. I cannot lose him. I will not lose him.

I don't want to lose him either.

Then don't take control.

I'll share control with you then.

In all times.

What?

Not just now, not just when bad things are happening, but in all times. I don't want to just know fear and pain and anger. I've had enough of those emotions for two lifetimes. I want to know joy and happiness and pleasure. I want more than the ghosts of those feelings. I want to feel them myself. So far the only feelings which I have ever felt on my own have been fear and anger and pain.

That sounds awful.

You have no idea.

I can…we can try to…to work something out…but not now! Right now we need to put on clothes and go down there and save everyone! If we…we have no choice but to hurt that guy. I know this to be true. I know that we're going to have to…that we have no choice but to hurt him despite the way I feel…and that's ok….but we have to go right now before it's too late!

And then you promise to share control with me more equally?

…..you hurt people when you're in control.

Because I have to keep us safe.

You only come out when we're in danger.

Then let me out when we're not in danger. I don't want to know pain, I want to know pleasure. I don't want to know anger, I want to know joy. I don't want to know fear, I want to know safety. That is not a lot to ask at all, Mob, and you know it. Why is it that you get to experience all of the good things that life has to offer but I do not?

That's not fair. You're right. When this….when it's over then we can…we can switch places more often. Deal?

Deal.

Mob and Shigeko opened their eyes. Something had broken their fall. Something soft and silky and poofy…they stood up. It hurt to stand bu they willed their vessel to heal. They had to. They had a fight to win! They had…they had to find something to cover themselves with. They were undressed and that wouldn't do at all…

Mob's thought.

Luckily there were clothes all around them. Dresses. They were surrounded by white dresses. All sorts of white dresses, it seemed, from tight to poofy, from lacy to silky, and even some that looked like kimonos. Shigeko dragged them across the room. It was on it's side, sort of, because this was only part of a building…and the floor had sharp things on it that cut their feet…but Shigeko saw shoes. Shoes and…and a very nice dress. It was like the kind of thing that Teru was always getting them…and Shigeko remembered how Teru had looked at them…and she wanted to be looked at like that again. She wanted to be with him again. She wanted….she pulled the dress on with her powers. The shoes, too. They were…they fit sort of. White with sparkles. She did the buckles with her powers and tried to stand. The heels were tall on these….she floated. There. Much better.

Mob reminded them that they could not forget their bag.

It would have been no use saving the world if they lost their phone and all of their money. She could think ahead like that. Shigeko just wanted to look pretty, pretty enough for Teru to tell them that they were so damn pretty and-and…and then their vessel turned red. Right. This was not the time to let their mind wander to such things. They had a fight to win.

Mob is resigned to fighting.

Shigeko wants to fight.

And this is making their movements slow. They falter as they hover, even, and that simply will not do. Shigeko corrects them as they hover. Mob tried to, too, and they end up overcorrected and hovering upside down. Their NERV bag smacks them in the face. It doesn't hurt. Shigeko and Mob have both had worse hurts. Right now they need to figure out how to move together…

**This way is left.**

_Now which way is right?_

**I think that we'll be circling in circles all night.**

_So this is forward, no problem._

They untangle themselves from their bag…their bag. It's lighter, now, because they had used some of the things they toted around as projectiles….and they'd had some luck doing that. Yes, it doesn't count as fighting if you…if you don't use your hands. Or your powers. It wasn't you that was doing that, then, like the time with the toy gun…..and they wished that they hadn't lost it. That guy with the glasses….he fought using toys….things that he had cursed. They had no idea how to curse something. When they put, when Mob put, her energy into the gun it had turned pink…the energy that had come out of it had been pink…like an energy blast. But better because…because it had not been Mob doing it, it had been the gun.

They didn't have a toy gun.

The only toy they had was the yo-yo that Sophia had given them….

Ok then. That would work.

"All of my traitors all lined up in row…yes. This will work." Said Suzuki. It had taken him a moment to find them again. That explosion, the girl's explosion, had sent him flying but he was fine now. Just a bit dazed, still, but fine. Well enough to take care of some loose ends, anyway.

"Fuck you, dad!" shouted Sho as best as he could. He tried to break free of Serizawa, to get to his feet, and to fight with all that he had left in him but Serizawa held tight. So tight that all he did was squirm like a little kid. All he had succeeded in doing was embarrassing himself. Wonderful.

"Again with this, Sho? No matter, no matter. You're lucky that you're more valuable to me alive than dead. I wish I could say the same for the rest of you. Replacing the Ultimate Five, and all of you Scars, will take time but time is something that I soon will have an abundancy of. Time and manpower." Said Suzuki

"My offer to join you still stands, you know." said Reigen. He tried, desperately, to latch his aura onto that guy's…and he was repelled at every turn. The man…he was pushing Reigen away. Even Mob had trouble pushing him away and this guy…this guy who he'd almost had falling to his knees before, was shrugging him off like he was nothing.

"Seriously?!" shouted Teru. He was about to…he would kill Reigen. He would murder Reigen where he stood for betraying all of them! For betraying Shigeko! She had…that explosion had bene her…and now Reigen was there betraying them!?

"But…he's the great Master…." Said Muraki. The children around him nodded in agreement. How could the great master just…just surrender himself like that? After leading them through all of that he was just…just going to let the President win?!

"Let me join you and I promise that I can get all of these people, including Mob up there, to stand down and then we can all just end this." said Reigen trying to sound calmer than he felt. More in control than he felt. He was coming off of…whatever that was…and now he could see, once again, how dire this situation truly was.

"Hey! He doesn't speak for us!" shouted Go. No. He had come this far and he…they were supposed to win! They had super powers and the power of friendship! What more did they need to beat the bad guy!? What ingredient were they missing!?

"Shut up. He's trying to save us." Whispered Daichi into everyone's minds. He took Go's hand. Go took Takeshi's hand. Takeshi reached back and took Teru's hand. It took Teru a moment but he managed to reach far enough back to take Ritsu's hand, the one that wasn't holding Sho's. He knew what this was, it was easier to have a conversation telepathically when you were touching someone…and those idiots had better not have been planning on doing something stupid like rushing-

No.

Apparently Reigen was trying to buy them some time. Well then. That was nice of him.

"He isn't going to listen. He's going to say no. After that…I don't know." Said Rei. She watched the man in front of her. His clothes were all ripped up, they were barely on, and he was covered in blood and blisters and bruises…but he was still standing there in command. He felt like…like he was the boss…even though he was not the boss of her…there was just something…something scary…like every single teacher and babysitter she had ever had rolled up into one scary person….

"Another female esper. Another rare thing. Tell me are you telepathic or clairvoyant? Not that you'd have to be either to know that I, of course, would refuse such an offer." Said Suzuki. Barely any aura to speak of but still useful. There were so few female espers in the world…so very few…and he was not in a positon to throw away good talent. The adults were too far gone but the children…the children would have their uses…

Or maybe he should just wipe them out where they stood and start over again.

"Don't talk to her!" said Ritsu. He may not have been able to protect his sister but he could at least protect Rei….no he couldn't have. There was no way that he could even manage to protect himself. None whatsoever. Not against that guy….

"Ritsu…" said Rei. She felt….he was there and he…he could keep her safe. He was strong and he was brave and he could keep her safe. They loved each other and…and he would always be there for her just like she would always be there for him…

"Let's just call it a draw, ok? It's getting late and these kids have school in the morning. You and Mob had been beating the shit out of each other since before the sun went down. Why not just cut your losses and move on? We already said that we'd join you and, frankly, you and I both know that there are not a lot of espers in the world. Forget female espers like Mob and this girl here, espers in general are rare and you want to rule the world, right? Well then you're going to need a whole lot of man power to do that." Said Reigen taking a step forward. The closer he got the better his powers worked. He took a step, and then another step, until he was stopped by a hand on his suit coat.

"He's not going to say yes…" said Rei softly.

"I know." Said Reigen just as softly. He pushed her back just a little, soft enough that she got the message and stood with the others. The adults back there should have been able to by the kids enough time to get away. That was how it went, wasn't it? Women and children first?

"No. The answer is no. I'm going to destroy all of you where you stand. Serizawa, you too. Just as soon as you put Sho down. Sho, you're lucky that it's more trouble to raise another child than it is to correct the failure that you have become so you get to live. Step away from those traitors and you'll live." Said Suzuki. He said it coldly. Logically. Because it was logic, pure logic, without the barest hint of emotion to poison it. His emotions had been threatening to break free…and he could not let them. The girl…she would show herself again and she would be dealt with…but first he would exterminate these insects where they stood.

"Sir…" said Serizawa. The President was going to kill him. The man who had saved him…who he had followed for all of these years…who had had maybe, even, loved was going to kill him. Not only him but all of these other people….including the children….he had seen the President kill before but never children…

He put up a barrier.

And the President batted it away like it was nothing.

"Honestly. You're done. You've been beaten. It's over. There's no point in trying anymore." Said Suzuki. The man took another step towards him. Their auras tried to bond…no…the man tried to invade his aura. His metaphysical self. Suzuki shoved his aura away. Such a usefully useless power. Terrible when used properly. A bit like a form of mind control. Suzuki hated telepathy in all it's forms. He would have killed them all but Sho would not move…or be moved. He had rooted himself in that spot….well then.

"That's what you think." Said Reigen getting even closer. He could see his own aura, now, and he knew that he was burning energy that he did not have. Mob…where was Mob? Hell, he would have even taken Dimple possessing him at this point but the little snot glob had fucked off to stabilize himself, he'd said….

Reigen had this.

"It's funny that you think you're going to win this fight, here, when you're strongest attack is your own fear." Said Suzuki

"Second verse same as the first." Said Reigen with a laugh. He sounded downright bratty there. Good. Let him piss this guy off so badly that all of his attention was on Reigen where it belonged. Yes. That was what Reigen was good at, being the center of attention.

"It looks like." Said Suzuki. Suicidal or insane? Or maybe just stupid. This was the man that she called master? This man right here? The only worthy opponent that he had ever met in his life served this….this….Suzuki did not even have words for how truly irritating the fact that this man had the nerve to still be alive, to have even been born in the first place, to not have had the good grace to have ended his own pathetic existence, was.

"We don't have to fight, you know. You can just give it up." Said Reigen getting as close as he could before he hit a barrier. He couldn't….he had stood zero chance of stopping that man. Zero. Now all he could do was…was buy them some time…and hopefully they were going to take it!

"He wants us to run away while the bad guy is busy killing him." said Kaito telepathically. He tried to reach Rei. It was harder when she was outside of the comment chain, as Go had named it when they communicated telepathically like this. She would…oh, ok. Teru said that he'd use his powers to pull her to safety…and also that he would stay behind with the Scars and other adults and fight off this guy….and now everyone was telling him how truly stupid that was….and now someone was spamming them with…well of course they were going to die! They could at least try to run away!

"Really, we don't. I mean, you're pretty outnumbered…." Said Reigen

"I may be outnumbered but you're out of your depth." Said Suzuki taking a step forward.

"You'd think that-" said Reigen trying, again to do…something. Anything.

"You're annoying. Goodbye." Said Suzuki. He charged some energy on the tip of his finger. He didn't want to hit Sho. He looked like he was not long for this world and one more hit could have killed him…and then he would have to make a new son and that would have been such a monumental pain…so he needed to go for precision. He didn't want to damage the children, either, because they might have had their uses. They could have been useful for turning Sho back to his side…especially the one he was holding on to. The one he was, presumably, enamored with…and that was a bridge that Suzuki would tear down when he came to it. That boy would be allowed to live, for now, since he could be used to keep Sho in line…

The Scars could go, though, and the disgraced members of the Ultimate Five. Shibata and Shimazaki….they were either dead, hiding, or turncoats. He'd figure it out later. Right now he had a pest to take care of.

The man was an easy target, he just stood there ready to die, and Suzuki would oblige him. Well he would have, anyway, if not for the two ton smack that to the side of the head. It made his vision swim. It sent him flying into what was left of a wall. It made him dizzy. It made his nauseous. It made him…

Pissed off.

It pissed him off.

This whole thing really pissed him off.

And he knew exactly who to take it out on.

"Leave my friends alone!"


	70. In The End

"Mob…." That was all that Reigen could say. She was still alive. She was there. She was floating right in front of him. She was floating in front of him in a…was that a wedding dress? A wedding dress that was far too big, if the fact that it was hanging off of her so badly that he could see most of her undershirt, but it wasn't the fact that it was too big that drew his eyes to it…or the fact that Mob had, at some point, found a wedding dress just lying around. No. She was…she was covered in blood.

A lot of blood.

"Shigeko!" said Teru. He pushed to the front of the group and practically threw himself into her arms. She staggered back before she held onto him. He didn't care that she was covered in dirt and blood, that her aura burned when he touched her, that the world was ending around them. None of that mattered. She was…she was there and she was alive and that was what mattered.

"You're alive…." Said Mob/Shigeko. Their eyes did not leave Master Reigen even as Teru threw himself into her and held her tight. She, they, neither Mob nor Shigeko could take their eyes off of Master Reigen. Not while he was there. He was there and alive and they didn't know how this could be, they had seen him get incinerated, but they weren't complaining. He was there, he was not a spirit, and that was what mattered.

"Of course I'm alive, give me more credit than that." Said Teru softly. He had her and he was never going to let her go. Ever. She was there and she was his and he…he had let her go and…and all of THIS had happened. He should have been there for her. He should have been there with her. He should have fought alongside her instead of running away with all of the other. He should have-

He was pushed out of the way.

"Sister! Oh my God…you're alright!" said Ritsu. It had taken him a moment to realize that he was seeing his sister, there, alive. Alive and ok. Her aura…it hurt to be near her aura but that was fine. She was covered in blood but that was fine. She was there. He had left her alone to fight that guy but she…she was ok. He had thought….never mind what he had thought. She was ok and that was what mattered.

"All of you…you're alive." Said Mob/Shigeko again. They were alive and ok-ish. They looked tired, they were bruised and a little bloody, but everyone's soul was inside of their vessel where it belonged. Everyone was ok. Everyone was going to be ok. She was not going to let any harm come to them. Mob wasn't. Shigeko wasn't. They…everyone was alive!

Master Reigen was alive.

This was the happiest day of Mob and Shigeko's lives.

She felt something shift around her. Shigeko felt it. She felt it in her part of their aura. There. The man. The man that she had to die…or not. No. Mob…Mob had a point. Master Reigen wasn't dead so that meant that he wasn't dead…which meant that the man who they thought had killed Master Reigen had no reason to die.

Aside from everything that he had done.

But killing people was not something to take lightly. It was one thing to kill someone who had killed the person who mattered most to you in the entire world but it was another to kill someone who had only…well he had ruined a lot of people lives. The city was in ruins. People lived and worked there. This man had tried to take over the world…but that didn't mean…Shigeko didn't think that this man had to live. Mob decided that they wouldn't kill him. Mob…Mob was wrestling for control. Mob was…Shigeko did not want control over the vessel again. Complete control. They needed to be this thing together or they would fail.

So she let Mob have this concession.

A barrier went up. A thick one. A hard one. One that looked like it was made of pink and blue crystal. They didn't move when they put it up. They didn't want to. They didn't need to. They couldn't take their eyes off Master Reigen. They knew that if they took their eyes off of him he might…he might have been…they could not lose him. They could not lose him again.

They strengthened their barrier.

"Mob! Run!" said Reigen. Those were the words that he had found. Only two of them. She was alive and he...he had never been so happy to see her in his life. For a moment he thought that everything was going to be ok…and wasn't that the most ridiculous thing. He was almost thirty years old and he was putting all of his hopes on a teenage girl. That teenage girl. The one in front of him dressed like some kind of killer bride/magical girl. It didn't matter, for a moment, that she was so much younger than he was or that she was covered in blood. She was…she was so much stronger then him. Than them. Than everyone there.

Barring that.

Red. The world around them was red. Red and yellow. Not his yellow, no, a different one. The red was held back by a wall of pink and blue. She was…she wasn't even moving. No, she was just standing there, letting herself be hugged and holding his gaze in hers.

"No." said Mob. She held her barrier up. She had to hold her barrier up. Ritsu let go of her and took a step back. Teru took a step forward. Mob shook her head.

"No. You guys need to run away. All of you. You're alive…and I want all of you to keep being alive. You need to run away." Said Mob. Shigeko said nothing, she focused on keeping their barrier up. She focused on keeping him, that man, away from her friends. From her brother. From some people that she barely knew but had fought to keep the people she loved safe….she had to be the one to keep everyone safe…

"Shigeko…you don't have to do this alone! I can help you! I can-" said Teru

"No. Help them. Teru-" said Mob

"No! I lost you once, I'm not going to lose you again!" said Teru. He grabbed her hands. Her aura hurt. She was pink. She was pink and he was gold and their colors were complimentary and they were complimentary and that…that was what mattered. She was his and he was hers and he was not going to let her die-

"And I'm not going to lose you, either. Teru…this is something that I have to do myself so…just…please make sure that everyone's ok. Teru…I love you." Said Mob/Shigeko. Teru didn't say anything, no, he just kissed them….and they kissed him back. Not for the last time, no, they would be back. They were going to do this for him, for all of them, and they knew that they could win. They had to win. Everyone there, right there, was depending on her and she was going to win!

She pushed back with her barrier.

Then she launched herself into the fray. She launched herself into the sea of red. Not red LCL, no, even though this feels just as bad. Not gross, no, just…it hurt. It hurt her skin and it hurt her soul. Her vessel. Her aura. All of it. It was like getting the worse sunburn anyone had ever had.

But she worked through it.

She worked through the red until she found him, the man, the man that had caused all of this. She found him and she pushed into him. Her hands met his chest and she shoved him backwards as hard as she could. She had to put as much distance between him and her friends as she could. As much space between him and Ritsu as she could.

Shigeko was the one who remembered.

She remembered that danger that Ritsu had been in all those years ago. She remembered how close she had come, all those years ago, to losing him. Those bigger boys, they had been so big and Ritsu had been so small, were going to hurt Ritsu and he could have…she could have lost him. Mob had been so scared, so very scared, and that had been enough to create her. The other Shigeko.

She remembered the fear, the anger, the dep dark cold feeling that grasped at them and broke their vessel apart…and she knew that it was happening again. They could all get hurt. They could all…Master Reigen had almost died. That could have so easily been Ritsu. Mob and Shigeko…they had been such a terrible big sister to him, lately, but this was…this was not going to be the end of him.

Of anyone.

"I won't let you hurt my brother and I won't let you hurt my friends!" shouted Mob/Shigeko as they pushed the man away, far away, from them. From all of them. Her brother. Her Master. Her boyfriend. Her friends. Her allies. This was her fight and she was going to win. She was going to win this for them.

"Just give up already." Said Suzuki. He brought both fists down on her back. Her grip on him broke, thankfully, and she went tumbling to the ground. That would have been the end of it, it should have been the end of it, if not for the tug at his leg.

Oh.

That yo-yo.

There was a yo-yo string tied around his leg. She was taking him down with her. She had taken a page out of Sakurai's book, it seemed, and he had to admire her ingenuity. That had been a yo-yo that had struck him on the side of the head. She adapted quickly, it seemed, and he could allow himself to be impressed with her. Later. Right now all he wanted to do was break this little pest apart. Take her and smash her and end her.

No, not end her.

Because she was too valuable to end. She was such a rare thing. An annoying thing, a pest of a thing, but a valuable thing. Even now he could not break through the string that tied them together. He tried and he couldn't and he knew that he needed to stay calm, stay level, but he just **couldn't. **Not when she was **right there. **Not when she just would not **give up.** She was beaten. She should have known that she was beaten…but still she fought.

"Stop this." said Suzuki as he grabbed the string and pulled. He pulled hard, hard enough to her entire arm jerked forward. He cancelled out the momentum and they stood, still, together in the sky. Him tied to her. The string of fate that bound them was not red, no, it was pink. It was pink and blue and it hurt.

He concentrated.

He could not disintegrate the string like he wanted to but he could untie the knot that bound them together. She called that ridiculous toy back to her and put up her barrier. Not as strong as the one she had put up before, no, but she had awakened before. It seemed like that was her only trick, really, when it got down to it. Awakening. Power without finesse. Without control. Such a waste.

"No, you stop it. I wanted to, we wanted to kill you, but now we don't so we don't need to fight anymore. We can…we can make this better. You did a lot of bad things but that doesn't mean that you're a bad person….there has to be something inside of you that is good. There has to be something inside of you that…that is sad about all of this. The lives you've disrupted and ruined. The people that you've hurt. Your friends, strangers, even your own son…you've got to feel bad about that…at least a little. So please, stop it and say sorry and then we…we can go back and start again." said Mob. She didn't want to fight anymore. It felt like she had been fighting for years and years. She wanted this to be over. If this were an anime or a manga then she would either have beaten him by now or he would have said sorry and started a redemption arc. Or maybe she was the one who was on her redemption arc. For what she had done to the world, the false world Mogami had created. She had been so terrible and-

And she needed to stop thinking about that.

She was saving the world. She was fighting this man, hurting this man, and that was redemption enough. She was giving up everything she stood for, everything that made her who she was, by fighting this man. She didn't want to fight, she didn't want to use her powers against another person, but here she was. She…she felt like she hated this man. But no, the only person…if he could even be called that…that she hated was Mogami. She had every right to hate this man before, when she thought that he had killed Master Reigen, but he hadn't killed Master Reigen so maybe they could just end this in a draw and be friends…even though she would rather be friends with that terrible Asagiri than this guy…

"I don't. I don't feel an ounce of remorse for a single thing that I've done to get here. It has been twenty years, you know, and in those twenty years I have not felt even a shred of remorse…nor will I ever. You've been watching far too much television if you think that you can sway me with some pretty words. You're the one who started this. You don't get to just…just decide that this is over! You're the one who awakened these destructive feelings and now you've got to deal with them! You can't just crawl into your shell and decide that it's over! I will decide when it's over!" said Suzuki. Yellow overtook red in his aura. He lashed out. He slashed across her barrier until it shattered. She just hovered there, limply, with her eyes closed.

Her lips were moving.

No! If she thought that she was going to awaken again then she had another thing coming!

"Open your eyes and face me!" shouted Suzuki. He used his powers to pull her forward and he grabbed her by the front of that bloody dress she was wearing. A child. She was a child. A child….a child thought that she could challenge him. A child…a little girl…a little girl in her school uniform…no, that had been obliterated long ago…a little girl playing dress up thought that she could challenge him…defeat him!?

"No. We're done. We don't want to fight anymore. We're tired. We don't want to hurt you, to kill you, but we will if we have to. We have to do this. We have to win…or at least make sure that you lose." Said Mob/Shigeko. They had been fighting, again. They had to do this for them, the people down there, because otherwise they would all die. Even though they were tired. Even though they were so done with this. They needed to end this sooner rather than later.

They knew what they had to do.

"Is awakening the only trick you two know!" shouted Suzuki as he shook the girl's limp body. They were…they were truly a they. So unstable that girl was. She was trying to make him as she was, as they were. Unstable. He could not let that happen.

"We've got plenty of tricks…ever seen 'around the world'?" asked Shigeko, not Mob, as she put every ounce of strength into the yo-yo on their finger. It moved fast, too fats to see or to sense, and it smacked him right into the side of the head. He let them go.

They put as much distance between themselves and him as they could.

They cried.

Mob cried. She cried because she didn't want this, she didn't want any of this. She just wanted to be back with Master Reigen, that was all. She wanted to be back home with him in that brief and wonderful time before she even knew what Claw was. Back when they had made curry together and watched TV and camped out in the living room and Ritsu hadn't been kidnapped and Claw hadn't started all of this…way back then…that was what she wanted to do.

She wanted to go back.

But to go back they needed to start anew.

"You little brat!" said Suzuki as he regained his balance. That little…how dare she! A toy! He was going to snatch that toy away and destroy it right in front of her! That stupid little girl and that stupid and that stupid-

An unearthly grumbling could be heard.

The sky filled with dust. He coughed. There was so little light up there…and now it was all obscured. The moon and the stars above were all covered by a cloud of dust. The rumbling could still be heard. Rumbling and shattering and groaning, twisting...the twisting of steel….he needed to get away…

But there was nowhere to get away to.

He was trapped. Pinned down. A wall to the left of him…a wall to the right. He smashed through that wall only to find another. Steel cut into his skin as he threw himself through the walls that crashed together around him. As soon as he got free there was another…and another…and another…and he couldn't even **see**! There was so much dust and it was so dark…he tried seeing with his mind's eye. He saw…he saw only a sea of pink and blue around him. Her aura. She was…she was trying to pin him down! How dare she!? How dare she think that she could-

He couldn't keep it together.

Keeping it together was harder and harder the more he flew. He couldn't tell up from down, left from right, anything at all. He didn't know if he was getting farther in to the labrinth or making his way out…and it wasn't fair! It wasn't fair at all that he had managed to get trapped like this…and by a little girl! A little girl…a girl not much older than his own useless failure of a son…and if this had been his son at least he could have felt some pride in the boy…but no! This was his son's ally! This was…this girl had the nerve to-

She would pay.

Mob knew that the man, Suzuki, had to pay for all that he had done….that didn't make this easy, though.

"I'm sorry….I know that you can't hear me but I am so sorry…." Said Mob. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She was trying to squish him like a bug. She had pulled up whatever she could from the ground and smashed it all together until she could barely make out his aura. He had given her…her and Shigeko…no choice.

This was not victory.

But they didn't have to win, they just had to make sure that he lost.

"The President…lost. I can't see his aura anymore…" said Serizawa. He knew that he wasn't supposed to look up. The man, Reigen, the one that Miss Kageyama held in such high regard ordered them not to…but he couldn't help it. The President's aura had gone out. One minute they had been back to running and then the little girl, Miss Kurosaki Sho's friend had said her name was, told them all to get under their barriers and be very still. So they had.

And then the world shook.

It had been like an earthquake but worse. Much worse. In an earthquake at least you knew that it would be over soon…and you knew what the worst that could happen was. The worst thing that could happen in an earthquake was buildings falling down. Now they were falling….up.

"D-does that mean we won?" asked Ritsu. He could barely see what was happening up there. All he knew was that the entirety of downtown was now in the sky and his sister was responsible for it. To think that he used to want that power….he used to dream of the day that he could match her…eclipse her…that lady with the scar was right…

"This is beyond human comprehension…" said Tsuchiya as she held Mukai close. She had been ready to smash apart any debris that fell…but nothing fell. Well it fell but it fell…upwards. It was dragged upwards. Only the buildings, cars, and debris. Not them. They were rooted firmly to the ground…that girl had…she could do….she was doing this….

"I hope that none of those buildings were important." Said Mukai as she watched the world fall upwards. This was pretty cool, she had to admit it, and maybe she was sort of jealous. It wasn't fair that the big girl could do all of that! Mukai wanted to be able to do that…or at least be friends with the big girl if she made it through all of this. This had been, aside from the part with the sewers, a pretty cool day. Yeah, President Magical Girl was definitely going to be much more fun to work for than President Suzuki.

"So this is what it looks like when two God's fight." Said Minegishi as he took in what little of the scene that he could see before him. He was hiding, cowering, with some kids under a canopy of reinforced plants. He had no idea how well these would hold but he was not starting off that kid's regime on a bad foot by letting her friends die. Suzuki had lost, it was obvious, and now instead of world domination they were going to…what, exactly? He didn't know and he didn't care so long as he didn't piss that girl….that living God…off.

"Somebody finally beat him…" whispered Hatori as he hid beside Minegishi. The President, the man who had seemed so unbeatable before, had lost. He had lost to…to a kid. A kid had done all of this…he looked around as best as he could. Flat. Everything was flat. He was sure that, under the light of day, the city would look like Hiroshima and Nagasaki did after the atomic bombs. Flat. Desolate. All thanks to a little girl….

"Yes! Go Mob! See, I knew that we had this! And you guys doubted me." Said Go. This was….he'd piss himself in fear later. Right now all that mattered was that they were alive! Yeah! Magical Girls were awesome! He knew that they had this. They had both Ritsu's big sister and the power of friendship on their side. There was no way that they could have even had a chance of losing! Everyone…why weren't they cheering? And why was Takeshi holding his hand? And shaking?

"I….I don't know. I don't know." Said Takeshi. That was all the Japanese that he could remember. He didn't know. He didn't know what was happening or what was going to happen or if he was going to be ok or if they were going to be ok or…anything. He didn't know anything. All he knew was that people were not meant to be able to do things like that. The first time he had ever bent a spoon…it had taken over an hour to bend it all the way but he had been so proud of himself…and there was Teru's girlfriend lifting an entire city up into the air like it was nothing…..

"Shigeko….you're already….that's more power than you used when you defeated me…." Said Teru. That was all he could think about as he held up his barrier as best as he could. All could remember was the way she had disappeared into a sea of white until her form, her vessel, was just a scribble. Something that couldn't even maintain itself…and then he had been floating naked in the stratosphere…and it had all happened so fast….

And he thought that had been the extent of her power.

But there she was. Up there. The city was floating in the sky, now, and judging from how much of her aura he was seeing it was all her doing. She was…she was amazing. He wasn't afraid of her, no, and he wasn't afraid that she would ever hurt him. No. He was actually afraid for the other guy. Afraid for what he had made Shigeko do. She would…she had been torn up about stuff that she had done in some made up pocket dimension….what would she be like after this?

He didn't care. No matter what happened after this he would be right there for her. He loved her.

"Mob...run away. I know that you can't hear me but you need to run away. You are not responsible for any of this." said Reigen. Mob was not going to be ok after this. She had been a wreck, an absolute wreck, after what happened with Mogami. She said that she had killed the Asagiri kid and destroyed he entire world. Reigen hadn't fully believed her, believed her to be capable of any of those things, but he had just seen a man's aura go out…as he was crushed by what looked like the whole of downtown. The light was poor and clouds of dust lingered but he knew what he was looking at. They had all been huddled together in the middle of what used to be a road, once, when the buildings around them shook and rose into the air. Now there was nothing but flatness as far as the eye could see…even the trees were gone…

Someone was shaking in his arms.

Mob's friend. Rei. He couldn't put up a shield but he could hold her close. He was….he was everything and nothing at the same time. Or maybe that was just how she felt. She had been barely keeping it together…and he needed her to. She was only thirteen, younger than Mob even, but all of their hopes rested on her and her ability to see the future. To lead them out of this mess. He was shielding her, holding her close, and keeping her safe even though she had been and still was asking for Ritsu. Ritsu was in the back helping keep the shields even…and also this was a lot for a thirteen year old to deal with. One freaked out kid…well all the kids were freaked out….but Reigen was mostly only dealing with this one. If Ritsu freaked out, too, then there was no keeping her together.

Just like there was no keeping Mob together.

She had not lost control, no, this was control. This was her power. This was what she was without her self-imposed limits. Someone back there called her a God. Dimple was trying to start a cult because some idiots thought that she was a God. Maybe she was a God. Maybe she was the avatar of a God or something….something…because that lady was right. What he was seeing was beyond human comprehension.

He had told Mob, years ago, that she was human like everyone else.

He had been wrong.

"You-you're all wrong. My da-dad's aura didn't…it didn't disappear…it just changed…" said Sho. He coughed as he tried to speak, to tell them what they were seeing. To tell them that they needed to get the hell out of there as fast as they could. Sho had seen this once before…when mom left….

There wasn't a house left for her to come back to.

"Sho! You're hurt! Please, don't try to talk." Said Serizawa. He wished that there was more that he could do. He wished that he could sense and heal injuries like Fukuda. He wished that he could at least pour enough of his own energy into Sho to jumpstart his body's natural healing processes like Miss Kageyama could….but he couldn't. All he could do was hold his friend and hope he didn't die of his injuries…injuries that Serizawa knew that he could have prevented if he hadn't been such a coward…

"My d-dad said tha-that he go-got into the hab-habit of only awakening under extreme stress…" said Sho. He could see it, there, yellow. Not the custard sort of yellow that Reigen had or the golden yellow that Teru had. This was different. This was something else entirely. This was dad. This was dad and he was pissed.

"We need to run! Now!" screamed Rei and she tore free from Reigen's grasp. She felt a hand in hers, a big one, and knew that it was Reigen. She knew that she should have waited, then, for the rest of them to link up but there just wasn't time!

The sky turned yellow.

Mob didn't know what happened. One minute she had been watching the red of his aura disappear and the next the sky was yellow.

And it hurt.

And she could feel her skin burning, she could feel bits of the buildings hitting her, cutting her, the force of it all making it difficult to stay in place…even her barrier fell in the face of that overwhelming onslaught.

And then she was grabbed by the leg.

And spun.

And let go. She went sailing to the ground. She broke through falling debris, through the ground itself, and into a crater. A Mob shaped crater. Kind of like when she and Ritsu had been little and made all of those snow angels. She…she was fine. She willed her body to heal. She tried to, anyway. She had already been so smashed up….and now…at least her dress was still together. At least she wasn't naked. Shigeko didn't care if they were naked but Mob did. At least they both cared if their vessel was back together. At least they both could agree on that.

A barrage of power and little hard things, rocks and bits of metal and cement, rained down on their body. They put up a barrier and held it as best as they could. They were not going to die there. They could not die, not when everyone they cared about needed them. They were going to win….they didn't have to win. They just had to make sure that he lost.

The barrage stopped.

And it was replaced by a crushed pressure. They were…the two of them knew this feeling. They knew what this was…what this had been…what it had been the last time they had been so pinned down and powerless…what had happened….

Her hands shook.

Her fingers shook.

She was small.

Her powers didn't work.

The world was white.

She was naked like a doll.

Shigeko reached out. She reached out through their mindscape and took Mob's hand. Not in the physical world but in the world of their mind, their spirit. Shigeko was there, now, and this was different. Shigeko was there and they were not helpless. Shigeko would not be beaten, not be locked away, not this time.

There wasn't enough air.

He was so heavy.

There wasn't enough air.

He was so strong.

There wasn't enough air.

She was helpless.

There wasn't enough air.

But there was. Mob could breathe. The pressure…oh God the pressure…but she should still breathe. She was their vessel. She was in control now and she could breathe. She forced their chest upwards and downwards. In and out. Inhale and exhale. Over and over again. They could breathe. There was air and they could breathe.

She was dying.

She couldn't breathe.

She was dying.

She couldn't breathe.

She was helpless.

She was dying.

She couldn't breathe.

She was pinned down.

She was helpless.

She was dying.

She couldn't breathe

She was pinned down.

She was helpless.

He broke her apart.

She was dying.

But she wasn't. This was…this was not Mogami. This was not then. She could feel Shigeko, feel Shigeko's hand in hers. She could feel the air filling their lungs. She could feel her own power, her own aura, and she could see it too. She was not helpless. She had not been broken apart. She was…they were….they were this thing together.

And they would not lose!

"You can't pin me down!" said Mob as she broke free from the force pinning her to the ground and launched herself high into the air. She looked down as she flew and saw what looking like a giant handprint. She was in that…he had tried to pin her down. No. That was never going to happen to her again. She was not Mogami's prisoner anymore. She was nobody's prisoner. She was not going to lose like she had before.

She didn't have to win, she just had to make sure that she didn't lose.

She stopped short of him. He was there. His eyes were yellow and his aura was yellow and it was just…too much yellow. Yellow reminded her of the people she loved most in this world…and he was not one of them. Shigeko wanted to tear him apart and Mob….she had given him so many chances. Chances on top of chanced on top of chances. She had asked him so many times to show him something inside of himself that was good. He couldn't. He either wouldn't or couldn't, Mob would have believed either. This was…they were both going to end this.

"How dare you! How dare you think that you can just awaken these destructive impulses within me! You're so unstable…and you tried to destabilize me too! You little-" said Suzuki. He would have said more, he had little control over his mouth at this point, when he felt the bones of his vessel begin to bend and twist and snap. She was pinning him down…she was pinning him down and breaking him apart…

She wasn't going to like what was inside.

"I tried, I really did…and now it's over. I don't care if I win or not, I just have to make sure that you lose. I know that you don't believe me and don't care at all either way but I really am sorry. I never wanted it to come to this. I'm not going to kill you, just break you apart…and I am so sorry. So very sorry." Said Mob. Shigeko was not sorry but Mob was. Mob was going to break his vessel enough to stop him but not enough to kill him. Enough to hurt him. Shigeko had wanted to peel him like a grape…but that would have been wrong. This already felt so very wrong…she didn't want to make it worse. This was…this was already so much…

She was done.

She just wanted to be done.

But she wasn't.

"Rei, listen, we're not done yet…ok? So please, please, please tell us which way to go." Said Reigen. He was making it a point not to look up at whatever shonen action sequence was happening up in the sky. No. His eyes were on the little girl in front of him. He was down on her level, he had his hand on her shoulders, and he was making every ounce of eye contact that he could.

"I don't know! It's…all happening and…and I want Ritsu! I want to be with Ritsu! I don't want to be alone! I don't want this! I don't want any of this! I just want Ritsu! And my mom! And my dad! And even my sisters! I want to be at home! I don't want to be here! I WANT TO GO HOME!" shouted Rei. She wasn't even thinking, she was just saying the things that popped into her mind. She knew what was happening, now, she had dreamt it so many times…and now it was happening….and now she knew that she was going to die. She was going to die and…and she just needed to be with the people she loved. Her family and her boyfriend. That was what she needed. She knew that there was no escaping what was coming….and she just wished that the others realized it too…

"Rei, listen to me. You're going to see you family again. Your mom and your dad and all of your older sisters. Ritsu, too. He's right back there and I'm sure that when this is over he's going to hold you and squeeze you and never let you go. If he's anything like Mob, anyway. You and Ritsu are going to have a long and happy life together. You're going to do all the things you've ever wanted to do. Um…travel, university, get married, have some kids…and you'd better invite me to the baby shower and the wedding and whatever else! And when I get there I am going to stuff my pocket with food and write my name on someone else's gift and drink all of your top shelf sake or whatever you guys are going to have and then Ritsu will get the pleasure of kicking my ass and I'm sure that you'll see it coming but of course you won't stop it because I had it coming…but none of that is going to happen unless you start walking, Rei." Said Reigen. He needed to get her to start moving. He needed…Mob always did whatever he said…back when she was thirteen, anyway. Back when she was still a kid…more of a kid than she was now. Why weren't all kids that easy to motivate?!

They needed to move.

Because some serious shit was going down and they needed to get the fuck out of there but Reigen had no idea which path was the safest. The world was…he didn't even know. Shaking. Quaking. Falling. Floating. He didn't know. All he knew was that there was a small, shaking, hand holding on to the back of his suit and another hand holding onto that kid and so on and so forth. A never ending chain of people depending on him to lead them to freedom.

And he was, once again, depending on a little girl.

But this one was not listening to him!

"I…I think….I think….I don't know!" said Rei. She tried to see the future that Reigen described to her. The one she wanted so badly. Her and Ritsu going to high school together and then university and then traveling the world for a while before settling down and having kids and living right next to Mob and Teru and then all of them being best friends…she even added The Shiratori brothers and Takeshi and Go to her suburban dream neighborhood. Sho, too, because he was nice and funny and stuff. They would all be friends and all do adult stuff and have kids and cars and stuff and it would…it would all be wonderful…

But she couldn't see that future.

All she could see was the white thing. The explosion. The end of Akira. That movie had always scared her, since she had first caught it on the movie channel when she was four, but she had been able to take solace in the fact that it had just been a movie. But now it wasn't a movie. It was happening in real life. Espers were real and she was one of them and so was one of her best friends and now she was going to explode and everyone was going to get caught up in it and there was no escape and-

Two hands held her face.

"_I think. I can. _I think. I can. Come on, now you say it." Said Reigen slowly. He said it in English, like the original song lyrics, and then in Japanese. He had seen that show in it's original run and, apparently, it was still popular with Mob's generation. The song was iconic. I think. I can. A good message, and Reigen was not ashamed to borrow it. He was moments away from death, maybe, he did not have time to think up any of his patented Reigen Arataka originals.

"I…I think….I think. I can. I think. I can." Said Rei. She said it until the words came freely. English and Japanese. The English wasn't easy…she should have studied for her test…the test she had coming up…and she did have a test coming up. An English test. She got ok grades in English…and if she brought them up then mom said that she could have a better vanity table in her room…and that…she tried to look through the future…

No.

She made her own future.

The explosion was going to happen but she…at the end of Akira the guy with the metal arm and all of the old people looking kids went to a higher plane of existence or whatever. Rei didn't know if she was going to die or go to a higher plane of existence or just be fine but…but she had to try. She had to try because she had a test to study for…and pass…and not just for the new vanity table. She needed good grades so she could get into a good high school. The same one that Ritsu was going to. Then she could go to the same university as him. Then they could spend their lives together. She had to do this for him, for Ritsu.

I think.

I can.

"This way!" said Rei. This way was…she felt good about this way. She couldn't see the future beyond the explosion but she felt very good about walking this way. It was dark, it was cold, it was scary, and there was a good chance that they could all die….but she kept on walking. She had to. For her friends. For Ritsu. For everything that mattered to her in this world.

So she led them to safety.

Mob knew that they were not safe.

Shigeko didn't care. They were twisting the man up like a pretzel. They'd stop when he…not when he died but just when he was seriously injured. So seriously injured that there was no way at all for him to keep doing what it was that he was doing. Yes. Break his vessel. As good a plan as any. If they had done this ages ago…or even back when they were fighting Mogami when he had been in Asagiri's body…but that was neither here nor there.

They had to do this now.

"You…you call this victory?" asked Suzuki as he struggled to maintain his physical form. She was trying to break him apart. She was trying to release twenty years' worth of stored up energy at once. Such poor tactics. He would have been ashamed of her if he hadn't been in so much pain.

"No. I don't. I don't think that I won at all. Neither did you. I tried, Mob tried, to show you a better path. Mob tried to see something good inside of you. Mob tried…we both tried…to help you…but now we see that we've failed. We've lost. You've lost. We've both lost at this point." Said Shigeko, mostly. Mob was trying to reconcile this with herself, what they were doing. Shigeko was quite a bit more unscrupulous.

"You…you're right…we both lose!" said Suzuki as he vessel finally broke…and released twenty years of stored up energy. He had used up some in the battle but he had plenty left over. Even after awakening it was enough to take him apart…to set the sky on fire…

He felt like he was going to die.

_I think….I think that we're going to die…_

**No! Stop it! We're not going to die! This is nothing! This is nothing compared to losing all that we have!**

Shigeko was right. Mob knew that this…this was just energy…and that was what she was. She was energy and they were all energy and she was not going to break, no. She could…she could take this in to her vessel. She could and she would and she did. It may have been a lot, enough to hurt, enough to make white cracks form along her vessel….but it didn't matter. She could not lose all of them. Her friends. Her love. Her brother. Her Master. This pain, the pain of almost coming apart, was nothing compared to the pain of losing each and every one of them.

This was fine. She was fine.

"We're fine! Everything's fine! That's just the sky catching fire! Heh…you don't see that every day, now do you?" said Reigen as he walked along the path Rei guided them down. He heard screaming, crying, panicked exclamations, and even a few words that he was pretty sure kids that age were not supposed to even know let alone use. He knew that he had to have this under control. If a thirteen year old girl could lead them out of danger, and a fourteen year old girl could fight for them, then a he, a grown ass man, could keep everything under control.

"And that was just the sound barrier!" said Reigen. He had no idea if that had really been the sound barrier or not but he had to keep this whole thing together. He did. He could not freak out.

"And that right there was just a…those are just shooting stars…hitting the Earth…or bits of debris….or even satellites! We're fine, really, everything's fine!" said Reigen as Rei led them around a crater. Thank God that she knew what was happening, even with the burning around them he still would have missed that…when this was over she was getting a raise…

Well, first he would give her a job in the first place….and no he wasn't. No. He was not putting any more kids in mortal danger. He was not…this was enough excitement for a lifetime. He didn't know what he was going to do after this...reopen Spirits and Such? Go back to selling water coolers? Become a P.I.? Dance for hundred yen coins at the train platform? He didn't know what he was going to do but whatever it was it would not involve putting kids in danger.

This was enough danger to last all of them a lifetime.

If Suzuki had been in his right mind he would have been amazed that she had managed to consume what must have been a near lifetime's worth of energy.

But he was not in his right state of mind.

This was the other Suzuki. The one who only came out when he awakened. The yellow in his aura. It did not think, it was not capable of thought, it only acted on instinct. The last time the other Suzuki had come out it had been to destroy the house that he and Masami had shared together. Of course when he, the real Suzuki, came back he had been very ashamed of what he had done. His little temper tantrum, of course, had not brought his wife back to him. He hadn't let the other Suzuki out even once after that.

Until now.

He was not capable of thought. No. The only thing he knew how to do was to destroy the enemy. Her. The girl. Had Suzuki been in control he would have been more careful. He wouldn't have thrown her down into the water pipes. He wouldn't have tried to drown her. He wouldn't have picked her up and smashed her into the walls like a ragdoll. He wouldn't have tossed her into the air and then grabbed her and slammed her back into the ground.

The other Suzuki didn't care if she broke.

The other Suzuki wanted her dead. She was responsible for all of this. She had hurt them. She needed to pay with her life. She needed to be broken into a million pieces and never reassembled. She was small and she needed to be made smaller…but she just would not break! No matter what he did, now he hurt her, she simply would not come apart!

Shigeko knew that this was not how they came apart.

Mob was scared. Shigeko wasn't. This wasn't the place for Mob, anyway. They didn't need a plan, there, no they needed action. Actions. Her actions. He hit her, she blocked it. Even though every single bone in her arm turned to dust, it seemed, she had still blocked the hit. That arm hung uselessly, now, but that was fine. That was just their vessel. It could be fixed.

She was being thrown, now, through this icy cold water.

She didn't care. Her arm was useless, the left one, but the right one still worked. He, that Suzuki, that awful Suzuki…he thought that he was going to win! No! He punched her and she blocked it right back! She didn't care about the blood that came from her bones splitting and breaking through her skin! She would fix it later! Right now she needed to….to stop this!

He threw her.

She didn't have her yo-yo anymore. It had been lost in the fray…and that had been such a good trick Mob had thought up. It was easier to use weapons than her own vessel….her broken arms were a testament to that….but no matter! He may have sent her flying but she could come back down again! and she didn't even need arms, she had her powers! She tore off a piece of wall and rode it down onto Suzuki's head.

Well, if he could still be called Suzuki.

He was on fire, psychic fire, and his skin was blueish grey…also he was naked. Very naked. Shigeko didn't care that he was naked, it was just an observation. She couldn't imagine the man she had been fighting before just showing his naked self off to the world…but there he was. He was a lot more muscular, too, than she had figured…but those muscles might have just been gained through psychic powers…

"Body improvement! Fight on!" shouted Shigeko as the wall came apart and her foot made contact with Suzuki's head. Real muscles were much better. Mob had learned that…and Shigeko had learned it from Mob…and now it was their leg muscles that sent their shoe heel first into Suzuki's face.

And it was his psychic muscles that grabbed her by the leg and sent her flying down into the ground.

It hurt but Shigeko and Mob were used to that by now. They were…a bit dizzy but they were fine. This dress…it had been white, once, but now it was red…despite how many times they had been dunked in water. This dress was stained red…because her vessel had broken. Was breaking. The vessel…they needed to heal the vessel before it broke! But he was still right there and he-

He sounded like…like something was wrong.

His vessel was crisscrossed with white cracks…like hers had been. That…that always preceded an explosion…but he had already exploded…how did he still have so much energy! He was…he was a monster made up of energy!

No matter.

"This time I'll finish you!" said Mob/Shigeko as they forced their energy into him. In an effort to both overload him and do something about the cracks that were forming along their own vessel. The white ones, of course, not the red. The red ones were….they would heal later when they had time to focus. Right now they needed to finish him off and-

A flash of white.

Then a skeleton.

Then flesh grew around that skeleton.

Then more white.

And that was….that was energy. It wasn't either of his colors. Not an aura but instead pure energy….and a lot of it…he had used a lot to heal himself but….but that was still a lot…and he was breaking apart again…and she had no idea if she could…

If that energy made it outside then it could explode.

Mob remembered Rei's sketchbooks. The white thing, the thing from her dreams. The thing that kept her up at night…it hadn't been a dream but a prophecy! The explosion…the world ending explosion! She had seen this before. Not in Akira like Rei had said but…but in herself. That was how she looked before she…before she ended the world. The world of the unreality…

If that explosion made it out then it could have ended the whole world.

But Mob was not going to let that happen….and neither was Shigeko. No. They had already ended one world. It had been a pretty lousy excuse for a world but they had still ended it. They had that kind of power. Well she wasn't going to let this world end. If she, if they, had the power to end one world then they had the power to save theirs. There was no other choice. This was the world that mattered to them. This was the world that had everyone that mattered to them in it. If this world ended then there would be no other worlds for them. They had to save this world. They were a magical girl and that was what magical girls did. They saved the world.

They knelt down beside him.

They put up a barrier.

There was no other way.

"There's no other way…" said Rei as she stopped walking. She had felt it long before she had seen it. The white thing. The explosion. She…no path felt right. There was no escaping this. There was no making her own future. There was only the future that was growing, there, on the horizon.

"Rei, come on, there are a lot of other ways. North, south, east, west…hell! We'll even fly if that's what we need to do! Yeah, we aren't even confined by the two dimensional limits of gravity! Just tell us where to go." Said Reigen. He was shaking her, now. The train had stopped and now they were all just watching the…the whatever it was growing on the horizon.

He knew what that was.

Trouble.

"We can't run anymore." Said Rei softly. Her eyes were wide. She could see…she could see everything. She was surrounded by colors. White and yellow and orange and red and blue and purple and green and some in between and some that she did not even have the names for. They all swirled around her…she reached out to touch them.

"Yes we can! Our legs work, well most of us have working legs, and we'll run in whatever direction we need to! Just….please…show us where it's safe." Said Reigen. They'd trip and fall and break their necks if they tried running for it in the dark. They needed this kid…and this kid needed…she needed…

"Hey! Mob's little brother! Get up here!" said Reigen. Someone needed to talk some sense into that girl. She had no reason to believe any of Reigen's bullshitting. She was not Mob. Mob…Mob have only listened to him for all of these years because she had a crush on him…not something he liked to think about…but if manipulating teenager hormones got them out of this mess then, yes, he would have Ritsu talk some sense into his girlfriend.

"Just go. She needs you." Said Sho as he gave Ritsu the hardest shove that he could manage. It wasn't very hard at all…he was still so weak and Fukuda was drained and they had been running for their lives anyway, something which had not given them a lot of time to stop and take a rest, but he would get better…so long as they got away from that…that explosion. Energy. Pure energy.

Dad.

"You need me." Said Ritsu. Sho looked like crap. He needed….he needed a friend, then, and Ritsu didn't want to leave his side for anything. If there truly was nothing that they could do, he was inclined to believe Rei's clairvoyance, then he wanted nothing more than to be with his friend. He had spent so little time with Sho…and now he wished that there had been more. More time to get to know each other. More time to…to be together. Even if it was just messing around with their powers or eating surreptitiously made pancakes at dawn or even drawing up battle plans to save the world…he wished that he and Sho had gotten to spend more time together….

A hard tug at his sleeve.

"HE is not your girlfriend. She is. Kurosaki Rei. She's your girlfriend and it doesn't matter how you feel, right now, because she needs you. She needs you and we need her. We have no way of containing that explosion which means that our only option is to run. She knows where it's safe to run to and I, for one, don't want to break my neck running around the ruins of the city in the dark. Ok?!" said Teru. He pulled Ritsu in close and spoke as lowly and as dangerously as he could. He was not dying there. None of them were dying there.

Shigeko would never have forgiven him if he had just let everyone die there.

"…right." Said Ritsu. He could not be selfish, no, not then. Rei was their only way out and if she wanted him to be by her side then that was what he was going to do. He reluctantly let go of Sho's hand and made his way to the front. To his girlfriend. He glared at Reigen. Reigen, thankfully, immediately let her go.

"Are you in my dream too?" asked Rei. She felt him. She saw him. Ritsu. Her Ritsu. The only person she had ever truly loved in a non family type of way. She was so happy that he was there…and so happy that she had met him. She was so happy that she had known, even for a few months, what real and true love felt like. She was glad to have been dying or ascending to another plane of existence or whatever with him.

She loved him so much.

"Rei, you're not dreaming. You're here and I'm here and this is…this is reality, ok? Right now this is reality." Said Ritsu. He took both of her hands in his. She liked that sort of thing. Usually she giggled and blushed but now…now she was just staring past him….at the white thing on the horizon….

"I tried…I tried to make my own future…but I knew that this was going to happen. There's no escape from the future." Said Rei in a dreamy sort of voice. This was it. She felt…she felt very free. She wasn't as scared anymore, no, because there was no use being scared of the inevitable. This was going to happen…and she could not run or hide or fight. This was happening right now. Right now in front of her…her and Ritsu.

"Rei, please tell me…which way do we go? Come on, use your powers. You know what to do. I think…I think. I can. Like Reigen said. You think. You can. I think you can, too. Please…please Rei." Said Ritsu

"There's nowhere to go and nothing that was can do. Nothing at all." Said Rei as she pointed, there, to the white thing that was growing off into the horizon. It was over, it was all over, and that was ok…it was ok because there was no way to stop it.

"Rei just…just shut up and run!" said Ritsu. He didn't care if he fell and broke his neck or whatever. He was not going to die there. He was not going to die at thirteen. There was nothing that he could do but run…so that was what he did. He picked her up and he ran.

"Hey! You're going to-" said Reigen but the kid was not listening to him. That wasn't new. The kid had never liked or listened to him. Well then he could either yell at a kid who wasn't going to listen or run, too, and pray that he didn't end up tripping over something or crushed by something or…well anything would be preferable to exploding, he supposed.

So he ran too.

"That's…that's our President's final light…our President who was…was trying to take over the world…" said Serizawa as the people around him started running away. He had no idea…he had every idea what he was looking at. He didn't know how to feel. On the one hand the President had used him, hurt him and countless others, and tried to take over the world…and on the other hand the President had been the one to get him out of the hellhole that had been his life….but he had traded one hell for another…

"Just shut up and run, you're going to die. You're a traitor and shit but I don't want you dead." Said Sho. So this was how it ended. He hadn't wanted his dad dead, he hadn't wanted anyone dead, but here they were. Death was coming and there was nothing that they could do…nothing at all. Nothing but run. Well Sho couldn't run but he could still be carried….great. Just great. All of his planning had gone up in whatever that explosion was. Now all he had to show for it were a dead dad and some cool new scars…and his friend's tears dripping onto his head. What was Serizawa crying for? It wasn't like he was the only person who cared about dad…

"Right….right." said Serizawa. He was going to die if he stood there. He was not only going to die but he was going to take Sho with him. If he died…if he died then….but he couldn't die because he was the only person big enough to carry Sho. Sho had a lot of living left do to. He was just a kid. He shouldn't have had to deal with any of this. Serizawa did the only thing he could do for Sho at this point. He carried him and he ran.

There was nothing else that he could possibly do.

There was nothing else that anybody could possibly do.

"You've made the right decision. There's no avoiding this. You have to sever the energy source before the explosion happens. To do that you'll have to end my life." Said Suzuki. He was back…sort of. He could think again. He was surrounded by the rubble of whatever it was that he had broken. There, before him, was the girl. She knelt before him in that white dress….a little girl playing dress up…she had bested him. He had finally lost…

"I already said that I wasn't going to do that." Said Mob. She was back in control, now, she had to be. There was no sense in kicking this man when he was broken and defeated. There was no sense in killing him. Mob could see it and so could Shigeko. How broken he was. He was coming apart. He couldn't…he was having trouble even maintaining his physical form.

They hadn't won.

Nobody had won.

"What are you doing?" asked Suzuki. There was a barrier around them…and it was strengthening. First from shimmering nothingness and then to crystal or diamond, even. In the middle of it was them. Him and her, there, just sitting. Waiting. Waiting to die. There was no way that he was going to survive this. His physical and metaphysical self were far too broken. He could hardly maintain his own form. If she thought that she could…what? Sit with him as he laid dying? What was…what was she even doing?

She offered him her hand.

"I wanted to kill you because I thought that you had killed Master Reigen. You hadn't so now I don't have to. I want to help you. That's all I've ever wanted to do, Suzuki, all I ever wanted. We didn't have to fight. Part of me wanted to fight you, to hurt you, to make you pay but another part of me knows that…that fighting is wrong." Said Mob. She still offered him her hand even though Shigeko was telling her to pull it back. That he had hurt them and everyone they had ever cared about. They could have and should have ended him, Shigeko thought, but Mob thought different.

She still offered him her hand.

"You have to kill me. If you don't kill me then you'll die. You and all of your friends will die." Said Suzuki. He looked at her, at her hand. It was filthy, she was filthy, and bloody too. He didn't look much better, probably. At least she had clothing on. This was how he died. Naked and alone aside from his mortal enemy standing vigil at his final resting place.

"Take my hand." Said Mob

"Why?" asked Suzuki

"Because I'm going to contain the explosion as best as I can. You can change, we all can. I don't want to kill you…and me letting you die would be the same as me killing you. I'm a good person. That's who I am and what I want to be and a good person…a good person wouldn't let you die and…and take everyone they loved with you. I won't let you do this. I won't let you explode. I won't let you end the world….ok? and I won't leave you here to suffer on your own, either, that would be much too sad. So, please, Suzuki…take my hand." Said Mob.

"So this is your victory?" asked Suzuki as he watched her. She watched him right back. Her face was impassive. So was his.

"No. I would never call this a victory." Said Mob. She knew that if she had won it would have been through showing him a better path, showing him how to be a good person, but she had failed. Now all she could do was make sure that he didn't blow the world up like she had all those weeks ago.

"In the end we both lost. It's such a pity. Someone with your abilities should have been able to handle this better. You would have fared much better if you'd had it planned out." Said Suzuki

"Psychic powers aren't everything. In the end I couldn't show you a better path and I lost…but I can still save you. Please, let me save you. I may have lost but I still have a choice here…so please let me save you. I'm the protagonist, my life if my own, and I choose to use my life to save yours." Said Mob. She watched him. He stared at her and she stared right back. He made a move, a small one, towards her. his arm lifting ever so slightly. She took his hand and grasped it in both of hers.

This hurt.

But she had to do this.

Everything went white and she…she was…who was she? She was in a place which was…a place which she did not know…and there was a woman there. A woman and a little boy…and she cared about both of them. The woman had a cat. It was filthy and skinny and she…she didn't like it? Why? Because it was weak and…and weakness could not be…she thought that? She told the woman to leave the cat and the woman…no. Now it's later on in the-the-the future…of the past…and the woman…she's upset and she's gone and she's….

She doesn't need anyone.

She's complete all on her own.

But that doesn't make sense. People need other people. People need…people need the invisible bonds that they form with others.

Kageyama.

_**Suzuki.**_

So this is it.

_**Yes.**_

This is how it ends.

_**Yes.**_

No one understands me.

_**You misunderstood everything from the very start.**_

I don't need anybody. They can all just die.

_**Then why am I here?**_

You don't need anybody.

_**We all need someone.**_

I never thought that I did.

_**You thought wrong.**_

I've been betrayed! I've been betrayed by everyone I've ever trusted! Ever needed!

_**So you were never complete on your own, then. **_

I wasn't.

_**You needed others.**_

They can all just die.

_**Is that what you're for?**_

I was supposed to rule the world.

_**Is that what you're for?**_

I was the protagonist of the world.

_**Is that what you're for?**_

I DON'T KNOW.

_**I don't know either.**_

What do you know?

_**I don't know.**_

What don't you know?

_**I have no idea.**_

What are we?

_**I am Mob and you are Touichirou.**_

What are you?

_**I am Mob.**_

What am I?

_**You are Touichirou.**_

You betrayed me.

_**I was never on your side to begin with.**_

Nobody was ever on my side.

_**Your side was wrong.**_

I was wrong.

_**You were.**_

And this is my retribution.

_**It is.**_

And I am alone.

_**You aren't. I'm here. We're here for you.**_

People need other people.

_**They do.**_

You almost killed my son.

_**That was your fault.**_

It was my fault. Whenever Sho is near me I hurt him.

_**He scares you.**_

He needs me.

_**You need him.**_

My son is alive.

_**He is.**_

Every time I'm near him I hurt him. I should just die.

_**Is that what you're for?**_

I don't know.

_**Are you sorry?**_

I am.

_**Then say it.**_

I'M SORRY.

_**Not to me. Say it to him.**_

Why?

_**Because people need other people.**_

I don't want to.

_**Because you're afraid.**_

I am.

_**Of the invisible bonds that people form with one another.**_

Yes.

_**But you need them.**_

I do.

_**Then say it. Say it loud and clear for him to hear. **_

I have to.

_**You do.**_

I do.

_**When will you say it?**_

In the end.

_**In the end. The end and the beginning. The beginning and then end are one in the same. This is my retribution as well. It all returns to nothing. It all comes tumbling down. I just keep letting me down.**_

_**Letting me down.**_

_**Letting me down.**_

_**Letting me down.**_


	71. Congratulations

Congratulations.

You've come this far. Congratulations.

You've worked so hard. Congratulations.

You've done so much. Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Are you tired? It's been a long journey.

Congratulations.

You seem tired.

Congratulations.

Was it worth it?

Congratulations.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Congratulations.

Was it worth it?

Congratulations.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Congratulations.

Hi. I'm Shigeko.

Hi. I'm Mob.

Hi.

Hello.

Mushi-mushi.

Kon'nichiwa.

Hajimemashite.

Ohayo.

Kon'nichiwa, hajimemashite. Watashi no tame ni soko ni ite kurete arigatō. Watashi wa soko ni modotte hijō ni obiete imashitaga, ima wa zutto kibun ga yoku natte imasu. Wao. Sore wa totemo kowakattadesu. Watashi no yūjin-tachi ga genkidearu koto o negatte imasu. Watashi no otōto ga daijōbudearu koto o negatte imasu. Watashi no shishō ga yūnōdearu koto o negatte imasu. Kareshi ga daijōbudearu koto o negatte imasu.

I hope that you're alright.

Am I alright?

Watashi wa daijōbu ka dō ka wakarimasen.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Did you find anything at all?

Were you even searching for something?

I feel like I was. I feel like was looking for something once. I feel like I was looking for AN ANSWER, maybe, but I don't even know what the QUESTION was.

What was the question?

What is your question?

There were some people on a train.

19 people get off the train at the first stop.

17 people get on the train.

Now there are 63 people on the train.

How many people were there on the train to begin with?

I got that question wrong.

Was that your question?

What was your question?

What is the question?

And what is the answer?

999.

Solutions without answers.

Meanings without problems.

Am I meaning?

Am I truth?

The truth?

We all have truths. Are mine the same as yours?

What are you?

What am I?

Yes, I'm a witch.

I was a magical girl.

Then I became a witch.

The best of all magical girls became the worst of witches. That's what happened to Madoka at the end of Madoka Magica. That's a show I like. Well it's a manga too but I haven't read all the manga yet. I saw the whole show, though, and the movie. I was a magical girl but then I turned into a witch. I think that's what happened to me. I think that's what happened. I think that I became the worst of all witches. I think that's what happened.

Was that the question?

Or maybe I ended the world again. Maybe I'm not a magical girl. Maybe I'm an angel. Maybe I'm an angel in human form. Maybe I destroyed the world. Maybe I took the world apart and broke it down and returned everything to nothing. But that would be a good thing. Instrumentality. That's what happened. I wouldn't mind that. If everything is back to nothing and everyone can understand everyone else and everyone can be happy.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Omedetō.

CONGRATULATOJNS.

I just want to be happy.

I just want my friends to be happy.

I just want everyone in the whole world to be happy.

What did you want?

Did you get what you wanted?

Did you find what I was looking for?

Did I find what you were looking for?

Is that what happened?

Are you still there?

Touichirou?

What about you?

Have you been here the whole time?

Have I been here the whole time?

What time is it?

Is it dark outside or light?

Does that even matter?

Jinsei de nanika jūyōdesu ka? Nani no pointodesu ka? Mewotojiru to,-iro ya moyō, katachi ga miemasu. Ima sorera o miru koto ga dekimasu. Watashi no me wa tojite imasu ka? Mewotojite imasu ka? Mada me ga arimasu ka? Watashi mo jūyōdesu ka? Anything wa jūyōdesu ka? Sore ga mondaidesu ka? Shitsumon wa nanidesu ka?

Does anything in life matter? What is the point of anything? When I close my eyes i see colors and patterns and shapes. I can see those now. Are my eyes closed? Are your eyes closed? Do I even still have eyes? Do I even matter? Does anything even matter? Is that the question? What is the question?

I have very good English scores.

Master Reigen helps me. Master Reigen helps me with everything. He's someone very important.

I love him.

I love a lot of people.

But I'm in love with him.

What is love?

Teru too.

What is love?

Love is caring about someone. Love is wanting to be with them all the time. Love is fighting for someone. Love is dying for someone. Love is being able to say I'm sorry to someone. Love is being able to say goodbye to someone. I said goodbye. I said goodbye to everyone. Then I fought for them. Then I saved them. Then I died.

I died.

Am I dead?

I can't feel my body.

I can't see.

I can't hear.

I can't feel.

I can't smell.

I can't taste.

I can only think.

What am I thinking about?

Evangelion Unit One. That's my favorite. I think about that a lot. I think about it a lot because it makes sense. Sometimes you just have to get in the robot. Sometimes you have to do the right thing even if you don't want to. You do things because people are happy with you when you do them. If they aren't happy in the moment then they will be happy later. I got in the robot even though nobody wanted me to. I had to do it because I was the only one who was strong enough to fight. I did fight. I fought and I won. I fought and I lost. Did he win? Did you win? Did I win? Did anyone win? Was this a winners and losers thing? What were we even fighting about? The fate of the world? I don't think that I ever cared about the fate of the world. I was selfish like that. I fought for the people I loved and cared about. I fought because they were in danger and I was the only one who could save them. I did it for them. That as how I knew that I could win. Or at least not lose. I don't think that I lost. I don't think that I won.

I don't know what happened.

I don't know what I am.

I don't know what this is.

It doesn't hurt. Whatever this is it doesn't hurt. I don't feel anything anymore. I'm not in pain. Is this a world without pain? I'm not sad anymore. Is this a world without sorrow? That's all that I've ever wanted, I think, a world without pain or sorrow. A world where everyone could be happy. A world where I could be happy. A world where I have friends and stuff and I'm happy.

A world where you're just like everyone else.

But that can never be. Maybe I could make the world. Maybe I could remake the world into one where everyone is happy. Into one where everyone can have whatever they want. I could have friends, I do have friends, and my friends could be happy. My parents could love me again. My little brother could be safe. I could be safe. I could make sure that everyone was safe.

I could fix this.

Is it broken?

Am I broken?

What is broken? What does it mean to be broken? And who decides what's broken and what isn't? I don't think that I get to decide what's broken and what isn't. I think that the world is overflowing with emptiness and meanness and sorrow and pain and I want to fix it but it's not my place to do so. Touichirou thought that it was his place to fix the world, to make it into what he thought that it should be, and then we had to fight. He did things to get to where he was when we met. So many bad things.

I'm sorry to all the people you hurt.

I'm sorry to all the people you killed.

And I'm sorry about Masami.

It isn't as though you've been walking the righteous path either.

You've hurt everyone you've ever met. Emotionally. You know it and you hate it. You hate harming others, burdening others, and in hating that you take on a greater burden for yourself. This was not your fight. You did not have to play any part in this. in fighting you hurt them, the people who care about you the most, and it hurts you.

I'm sorry.

Congratulations.

You've lost control more times than you can count.

So?

So have you.

You lost.

You lost.

Congratulations.

Have you found what you were looking for?

Have you?

What were you looking for? What were you really looking for? I think that you were looking for what you were most afraid of. You don't like to be alone so you were looking for others. You wanted to make a world where you were surrounded by people just like you. You wanted those invisible bonds that people form with one another. You wanted them more than anything else in the entire world but you were afraid. You were afraid that you would be weak. When you think of weakness you think of being just like everyone else. You thought that you were strong and that they were weak. You thought that your powers, your strength, made you complete. You didn't want those invisible bonds, you told yourself, because if you had them. If you wanted them. If you had and wanted them then you would be incomplete.

That scares you.

That scares you as well.

You're so terrified of being incomplete. You've forged those bonds with others and they had made you both strong and weak. Would you have done all of this if not for them? Would you have found the strength to do what you have done? You have so much strength within you but it terrifies you. It terrifies you because your strength sets you apart. It strains those invisible bonds that you've formed with others. I am not your enemy. Fear is your enemy.

Fear is my enemy,

Fear is the enemy.

Fear is the enemy.

Maybe we're both just terrified people.

Are we?

Both people.

What are we?

A we? Or an I? what's the difference even, anymore? You are fond of that word. What word? That word. Instrumentality? Yes, that one. You seem to be grasping at that word. Is this it? I have no idea. Well do you understand me? I think so. Do I understand you? I think so. Do we understand everyone? I don't know. Do you know? I don't know. What is this, then? I don't know. What are we, then? I don't know. Am I witch? I don't know. Am I still a magical girl? I don't know. Am I still a villain? To me or to you or to everyone? I don't know. I don't think that you're a villain. You don't? No, because you're sorry.

Sorry.

Yes.

I'm sorry.

Yes.

Are you sorry?

Yes

For what?

For everything. For hurting my little brother. For hurting my friends. For hurting Teru. For hurting Master Reigen. For hurting you. For causing you pain. For not doing more to help you. For not doing more to help me. For not doing more. I should have done more. I should have been more. But I wasn't more. I was just this thing. This thing that I am together.

You hate yourself.

Sometimes.

You're terrified of others hating you.

Yes.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

You could have been strong in the real way. I know that you could have been strong in the real way.

The real way? I am strong in the real way and I wish that we could have been strong in the real way.

So you are strong in the real way, then. You're strong enough to know your own strength. You're strong enough to know your own weakness. You're strong enough to know yourself. You're the strong one and I am the weak one. That is why this is my retribution.

What is this?

The void.

Forever?

Eternity expanding out in all directions. The vastness of the universe with no beginning, no middle, and no end. Just the endless void. Reach out to it. Reach out with what? Just reach. I am. It hurts, why does it hurt? I don't know. When did it start hurting? I don't know. When will it stop hurting? I don't know. What does the pain mean? I don't know. I thought that this was a world without pain? Without sorrow? You didn't want to make the world into what you wanted it to be. I want a world where it doesn't hurt. This hurts us both. Does it? Reach into it. I am. It hurts. It does. Why does it hurt? I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know either.

But what's the point of knowing? There is some freedom in this, not knowing, and not having to know. Just being. Just being in this void. I wonder if this is what pre-life is like. I wonder if this is what death is like. I wonder quite a few things. I suppose that I have always wondered quite a few things.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Congratulations.

Why do we all have to be looking for something? I don't want to be looking for anything. I have friends, I have Master Reigen, I have the best little brother in the world, and I have Teru who loves me more than anyone else in the entire world. I should be happy. I shouldn't be looking for answers or questions or anything like that. Nobody is complete. I know that I am not complete. I can become complete with the invisible bonds I have formed with others. The me that exists in the minds of others completes the me that exists in my mind.

I'm happy.

Congratulations.

I'm so happy.

Congratulations.

I'm happy because I have so many people in my life who I love and who love me. I'm happy. I'm happy and I have no reason to be unhappy. I didn't win and I didn't lose. I went through a long series of events to get to where I am now. This is just another event in my life. The story of my life is continuing. This is not the last chapter of my life. This is not the OVA of my life. This is just another part of it. I am so happy. I have so many people in my life, I exist in so many pieces in the minds of others, and so many of them exist in my mind…we all exist within each other. This is instrumentality. Every single day of life is instrumentality. Within every single moment of exist we exist within our own minds and within the minds of others. They also exist within our minds. In doing that we understand each other as well as we understand ourselves.

We understand ourselves?

We don't! We really don't! And it's wonderful! Nobody understands anything and in not understanding anything we understand everything! We can't truly understand one another because we can never truly understand ourselves. So, you see, that's the answer and the question all in one. The beginning and the end truly are one in the same.

They are.

So, really, I should stop this. It's over. I won. I won and I lost. Now I have to go. I'm sorry but I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now. I have to go now.

Bye.

Goodbye.

See you later.

Bye-bye.

See you later.

See you tomorrow.

I'm leaving now.

Excuse me for leaving so soon.

Goodbye. In the big way.

Ja ne.

Baibai.

Mate ne.

Mata ashita.

Itte kimasu.

Osaki ni shitsureshimasu

Seishikina sayonara.

Are you still here?

Congratulations.

There was a stillness to the world. A stillness to Reigen. Reigen and stillness went together about as well as soy sauce and lemonade. Apples and bacon chips. Milk and orange juice. Cigarettes and mochi, those big ones from the vending machine next to the cigarette vending machine at the train station. That had never stopped him from getting one on the way home from work. One for Mob, too, though she never had the taste of mochi fighting against the taste of cheap cigarettes for dominance on her tongue. No, she so rarely smoked. Such a bad habit. He really should have quit by now. He was such a bad influence on Mob sometimes. All of the times. He really should have been better for her. He really should have worked on being better for her, being a better man for her. Maybe if he had been a better man for her then things would have gone differently for them. Maybe if he had been a better man for her then things would have ended differently.

"Where are we?" someone was scared. Oh…he knew that voice. One of Mob's friends. The little fire bug. Reigen wanted to answer, he wished that he could have answered, but he had no idea where he was or what was happening. It was dark. No, his eyes were closed. He opened them.

Dirt.

Dirt in his eyes.

"We…we're alive! Who cares where we are….we're alive!" another one of Mob's friends. The kid that wore a lot of white and hung around with the fire bug. The kids were alive. At least two of the kids were alive. Reigen reached up…he was under something….dirt. He was half buried in the dirt. It took some work to get his arms out but he did.

Then he brushed the dirt from his eyes.

"We…we won…..we fucking won! I mean I knew that we would win the whole time. We had the power of friendship on our side and with the power of friendship you can't lose. Right? Guys? Someone back me up here…." Reigen shook his head and sat up as best as he could. His clothes were in tatters and his body…he felt fine…good…all of the aches and pains that he had felt were gone…

It was dark outside.

Not totally.

The sky was turning pink. For a moment he thinks that it's still happening. That the…the whatever it was…was still happening. Night had turned into day. The sky had filled with pink and blue and red and yellow, in that order, before all the colors merged into this white light…and then nothing. Then a whole lot of nothing.

It had been quicker than going to sleep.

"Go…shut up…just shut up…" Reigen knew that voice well. Even now, dry and cracking, he knew it. Even when it wasn't accusing him of God only knew what Reigen knew it. That damn kid…that stupid fucking kid…that stupid fucking kid who had thrown himself into all of this…and the others…

Reigen couldn't be mad at him.

Because they were all a bunch of stupid kids. That was what being a kid was, being stupid, being stupid enough that you dove head first into danger, mortal danger, with only your own assurances that you would make it out. Damn these kids. None of these kids had been willing to listen to reason and they had almost…

If not for Reigen they would have all died.

The only kid that Reigen wanted to be responsible for was Mob.

"What are you so pissed off about? We won!" said the kid, Go. Reigen wiped enough dirt from his eyes that he could see clearly. The sun was rising. Pink and blue filled his vision. There was enough light to see by…somewhat. To see all of the kids…their clothes were ruined but they all looked alright…and so did those scars…though Reigen wondered if they could still be called scars, now. They were digging themselves out of the ground, the dirt….where had all of this dirt come from? They were…Reigen had no idea where it was that they were. There was something…something that he could feel. Mob. This whole area felt like Mob….

Where was Mob?

"Teru…come on. I know it's been hard but you don't have to be an asshole-" said Go. Reigen let the swearing go. He had other things to worry about…like where Mob was. He could feel her…everywhere. Like he had dove into the swimming pool that was her aura…but different. Because he had no way of honing in on her…he had no idea where the focal point of her feelings were…

Or even what her feelings were.

"I said to shut the fuck up!" said Teru. Reigen felt…his chest was tight. The corners of his eyes prickled with tears that he was not going to shed. He felt…he ached. There it was, the pain, but not…it was and was not physical. He wanted to yell and scream and cry out and-and-and-

Where was Mob?

"Teru…" There. That was Mob's little brother…but that was not Mob…and he couldn't see her. He could see all the kids…but not Mob. That made sense. Mob hadn't been with them when the…the whatever it was….happened. The explosion. When they had been running for their lives. Mob hadn't been running. She had told them to run…

"Ritsu…shut up. Shut up and leave me alone. Just leave me alone…" said Teru. Reigen could feel it. Tears continued to prickle at the corners of his eyes. His vision went glassy. He still wanted to run and yell and break things. He wanted to more than anything else in the world. He wanted-

Something knocked him back.

And something else caught him.

He could see it. Purple. He had been pushed by gold and caught by purple. Another set of emotions. Fear. Now he was afraid. Now he felt like the floor had fallen apart beneath his feet even though he was standing firmly on the ground. He felt the ground beneath his shoes. It was there even though it felt like it wasn't. He was alone. He was all alone now. The world was too big and he was all alone and he had no idea what it was that he was supposed to do-

"A-Are you ok?" He was being addressed. It took him a moment to realize that he was being addressed. That man…what he had said his name was? The one who saved his life. The one in the pajamas and crocs and bright orange bathrobe who saved his life…and Reigen would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all of this if his heart had not been trying to beat its way out of his ribcage.

"I'm fine. I'm fine…I am. This is all…this is fine." Said Reigen. Now it felt like mad and afraid and…and also was that…that was despair…they were fighting it all out inside of himself…but he could not let them win. He had…he had to keep calm and keep control. Mob…she worked so hard each and every day to keep control…and so could he…

He had to. He had to be…he had to be the man Mob had always seen him as. The one that existed in her mind. In his mind as well. He needed to be the great Reigen Arataka…he needed to because this was not over. The fight was over, a new day was dawning, but it was not over. The horizon…the skyline was back in some places…but it was also dominated by…a tree? Some kind of awful tree…it was hard to look at it. It was hard to…to think about. To see it…he didn't know if he should have turned to it or away from it. He didn't know if he should have turned to the tree and faced the unknown of it, the wrongness of it, or if he should face everyone and take the full force of the collective feeling…feelings…so many…

He let himself latch onto the loudest of them.

"So now you care about someone other than yourself?" Reigen knew that voice too. The red haired kid. Mob's little brother's friend. The hurt kid…but he was not hurt, not anymore it seemed. He was standing on his own two feet now. His clothes were just as ruined as everyone else's but he was standing, now, and the bruises that had covered him from head to toe were gone.

But he was not fine.

He was pissed off. The kind of pissed off that made Reigen take a step back. The kind of pissed off that could put Mob's boyfriend to shame. That kid. That poor kid. No kid should have had to feel like that. None of those kids should have had to feel like that. Like this. This cocktail or fear and rage and elation and joy and despair and God only knew what else….

"Sho…I always cared about you-"

"You would have let him kill me!"

"I-I didn't know what to do-"

"You knew what to do, you just didn't care enough to help me. To save me. You saved him, some guy you don't even know, but you wouldn't save me."

"Sho….please."

"Please what? Forgive you for leaving me to die? How am I supposed to forgive that?! Who could forgive that?! You were my friend! You were my friend and you just left me there to die!"

Reigen covered his ears and turned away from the fight in front of him. No, it wasn't even the fight. The kid was just screaming…and he had every right to. That kid had been in terrible shape…and his own father had done that to him. His own father. That man. The man that Mob had fought. That Mob had…

Where was Mob?

Reigen turned away from one fight and ended up facing another.

"Teru, please. You're not making sense-"

"She's gone! Your sister is gone! My girlfriend is gone!"

"We do-don't know that. She could be-"

"She's gone! Do you see her here? Do you see her anywhere?"

"Her aura-"

"That's not good enough! I DON'T SEE HER! I don't see her! Just…this doesn't even feel like her aura! I know what she feels like! This is not what she feels like! She's gone! She's gone! Can't you see it?! Can't any of you see it? Shigeko is gone! She's gone, she's not coming back, and there's…there's nothing that I can do…I lost her…"

"Stop saying that! My sister is not dead! She is not dead…I would have noticed…I can see her aura! She's not dead! She's not…she said that she…that she was coming back…and she…she can't be dead. Sister…she's not dead."

Reigen hunched down and screwed his eyes shut. She covered his ears and closed his eyes and just tried not to be…there. Present in that moment. He did not want to be present in that moment. Fighting. More of it. He didn't want…he didn't want this. He was sick of this. Sick of all of it. He did not risk his life leading these kids to safety just to have them kill each other now!

Reigen just wanted this to be over.

Rei just wanted this to be over.

"Stop it! Just stop it!" shouted Rei. She was alive. She was happy to be alive. She had, for a brief moment, been happier than she had ever been at any point in her entire life. She had woken up half buried in the dirt all wrapped up in Ritsu's arms, he was alive too, and then the others had woken up and then, at that moment, she had been so happy and ok and everything else had been ok…

But things were not ok.

Because they weren't all there.

And also there was fighting. Rei was sick and tired of all of this fighting. She had been so happy and she wanted to continue to be happy…but she could not. Not when all of this was happening. Not when Ritsu and Teru were rolling around in the dirt fighting…and now Takeshi and Go were trying to pull them apart….

There had been so much fighting already.

"My sister is not dead! Take it back! Take it back!" shouted Ritsu. He sounded like a kid. He felt like a kid. He was a kid. He was a kid and he was scared…and he shouldn't have been. They had all lived through that…that explosion. They had lived through the sky turning colors and catching fire and…and then the shockwave had picked them up…and he went unconscious…but he woke up and he was alive and everyone around him was alive so that meant that Shigeko must have been alive too.

Because she was Shigeko.

She was strong. She was stronger than he had any chance of ever being. She was the strongest being in the whole world and she would not die like that. In that explosion. She would not die and she did not die. Shigeko was still alive. She had to be. He was not going to give up hope. The sun was coming up, it was a new day, and with it came hope. It was over. It had been going on for so long but now it was finally over. Now everything could get back to normal. Claw was finished and with the end of Claw would come the end of the fear that had been sticking to him, to all of them, like a curse that could not be lifted. They would be ok. They would all be ok. It was over and they were all ok.

Shigeko was ok.

"Get the fuck off of me! She's gone, Ritsu, your sister is gone! The love of my life is gone! My girlfriend…she's gone…she's gone and you have no idea what this is like! So get the fuck off of me! She's gone. She gave her life for mine…for yours…for all of us…and she's gone." Said Teru. He could not stop saying it. It just came out like vomit, word vomit, and no matter what he could not stop it. Stop saying these terrible words even though they caused him so much pain…

Shigeko was gone.

The love of his life was gone.

He would never see her again. He would never meet up with her before school again. He would never see her eyes light up again. They always lit up when she saw him. He would never hold her again. He would never kiss her again. He would never share himself with her again. He had no one. She had been his everything, the one person in this world that never would have left him….and she was gone.

And he was pissed.

She had promised! PROMISED! SHE HAD MADE HIM A PROMISE! She had told him that she would never, ever, ever leave him. That she would always be there for him. That she would always be his. That she was his and he was hers and that they would have forever together. But she had lied. She had died and she had lied. Her aura was everywhere, like a fog hanging in the air, but there was no focal point. None. No place where her aura sprang forth from. Not even off in the distance. Just that stupid tree…

It felt weird to look at it.

But it also felt like Shigeko.

So he didn't know.

He didn't know where it had come from. He didn't know what happened. All he knew was that Shigeko was nowhere to be seen. He had seen it, the explosion, he had been the one to face it the longest. Even after the shockwave sent him flying he had still made sure to watch it. It had been beautiful. The explosion had been a dome at first but then it grew into a person. At first just the outline of on, a head and a body and hands, but then the head grew hair and eyes and the hands grew fingers and the body grew a belly button, and for a moment all he could think about was how ticklish Shigeko was, and then for a moment he had been looking at his girlfriend…and then everything went white.

Then he woke up.

And Shigeko was not there.

And he looked for her. He looked for her with his aura even though his range was not good. He even looked to Reigen, Reigen had always been in her aura even though he swore up and down that he did not have a thing for Shigeko, and Reigen had started freaking out and then Teru…he just knew. He knew it in his heart, in his soul, to be true. Shigeko…she was gone. She was well and truly gone. Gone from him like she had sworn that she never would be. Gone from this world. Gone, gone, gone a millions times gone.

And he was all alone.

Ritsu was under him. Someone was trying to pull him off of Ritsu. Someone was crying. Someone else was yelling. That didn't change the fact that Teru was more alone then than he had ever been in his entire life. He didn't know what to do without Shigeko. He didn't know who he was without Shigeko. He had changed for her and he had stayed changed for her. He had become the person that she wanted him to be, the Teru that existed in her mind. The one who existed in his mind…the one who existed in life…the Teru that he had been before he met her was not…he did not want to be that person. But he had only changed for her. Everything that he did, literally everything, had been for her. Shigeko.

He was all alone.

And it pissed him off.

So he hit.

He hit and he yelled.

He yelled out the most hurtful things that came to mind. He told Ritsu that he had no idea what it felt like to lose someone you loved. He told Ritsu that he would never love someone the way he loved Shigeko. He told Ritsu that it was his fault that all of this had happened. He told Ritsu that if he hadn't been such a bastard before, if he hadn't gotten kidnapped then Claw would never have known about Shigeko or any of them and they wouldn't have had to get involved in all of this. He told Ritsu that if he had been a better little brother then his sister would have still been alive.

It made him feel better.

This was the old Teru. The one who hurt others to make himself feel better. The one who beat people up to make himself feel powerful. The one who made other people hurt just as much as he was hurting. That was the person who Shigeko had met and that was not the person who Shigeko had wanted him to be. What did it even matter anymore? She was gone. Shigeko was gone.

"Shut up! Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" said Ritsu. He wasn't even listening to Teru anymore. He knew that if he listened then he might have been, have ended up being, even more pissed off than he already was. He didn't want to do this, to be this person. He had been this person before, briefly, and it had…it had ended up costing him everything. Literally everything.

This was all his fault. Like Teru had said. Like he was saying. Like he was saying over and over and over again even though he knew fully well that Ritsu had heard him just fine the first time. This was why he needed to stop listening.

He had been hurting inside so he had made people hurt on the outside.

And in hurting others he had made himself feel more powerful. Made him feel better, and he needed to feel better. Even if he was hurting his friend. Even if he was being someone terrible. This was not the person that he should have been. He should have been a good little brother and not….well now there was no point, now was it? Now he wasn't anyone's little brother at all. Now he was just Ritsu. Kageyama Ritsu. The only Kageyama. Shigeko was gone. She was gone and…and he needed her to be ok…but Teru kept on saying that she was gone….

And he…he wanted to go home.

He was pulled, hard, and now he could see the sky. It was blue, now, and getting bluer. This was how the sky looked when he got up in the morning for school. Was it is a school day? He didn't know. He didn't knowing anything anymore. It was light outside and his sister was gone and he just wanted to go home. He wanted to go home to his house and his parents…and his sister. But she wouldn't have been at home. That was his fault. He was the one who drove her from their home…the home that he wanted nothing more than to go back to-

It had burn down.

It was gone.

Sho's doing, true, but Ritsu's fault. He had been the one who had gotten himself involved in all of this. Now he had no house and no sister and just….he had nothing. Nothing at all.

Teru was screaming at him.

Sho was screaming at someone else.

Rei was screaming, too.

Very noisy.

And he finds himself telling everyone to shut up. Telling the world to shut up. He wished that they, everyone, the whole world would just shut up and let him think. He needs to think about…he doesn't even know what. He just wants to go home. He just wants to go home to his bed in his room with his arguing parents and the empty bedroom next to his and the sunlight coming down through his window. Wait, no, the curtain would have been closed….

Or not, if Sho decided to make him breakfast again.

Heh.

At least one good thing had come out of this. He had met Sho. He had met Sho properly this time. Heh. He'd made a friend. He could always use more friends. Even if he had probably lost one of the best friends he'd ever had. Teru…Teru was right…and Ritsu…Ritsu could not let Teru be right. Even if he was right. Even if Ritsu knew that he was right. Even if in denying the truth, the truth that he knew in the core of his being as being the truth, he was losing one of the best friends he'd ever had.

He sucked.

This sucked.

Life sucked.

Life sucked but he wanted to go home just the same. It was an all over feeling, the feeling that he wanted to go home, and that was why he was shaking. Big, all over, shakes. Everywhere. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. It was just him now. No more older sister. Just him and him alone. He was an only child now. He'd never been an only child before. That was who he had to be now. Kageyama Ritsu. Good student, good boyfriend, and good only child. A crazy thought. He wishes that he had been the older brother, not the younger brother, because then he would have had some experience at being an only child. A whole year. Heh. He had no idea how to be an only child.

Or a friend.

Or a boyfriend.

She was saying something, now, his girlfriend. Rei. She was begging him to stop fighting. She was upset. She needed him. She loved him. She loved him and she just wanted him to be ok. She had saved all of them. They would have died if not for her, for her powers, and he owes her his life. He owes her so much…and the least he could do would be to be the person who she wanted him to be. The least he could do was knock it off. The least he could do was listen to her.

"She's not dead! She's not dead! I can tell! She's not dead!" said Rei. She said it as loud as she could. She could feel it with certainty, one hundred percent certainty, that Mob was still alive. She knew it with the same certainty that she knew that the sun would rise today, tomorrow, and again and again until she died. She knew that Mob…Mob hadn't died….and she was so happy…

This was the best day of her life.

Even if she had almost died so many times. She was alive now and that was what mattered. She wanted to go home. She didn't live anywhere near where all of this had happened. Her family was probably ok and probably worried sick. She wanted to go home and get yelled at by her parents and fight with her sister and do all of her late homework and clean her room and do the rest of her chores and all of the stuff that she had taken for granted before.

She was alive.

She had Ritsu.

She had her friends.

And the explosion was over. That terrible explosion. The one she had dreamt about. The one that she had seen hanging in the horizon of her future vision. It had been amazing. It had been terrifying. It had been so much at once…and it had been so…she didn't have words for it…and she didn't need them. She'd draw it later when she got home.

When they got home.

Because Ritsu's home had burnt down. He could stay with her….and now she's even happier. All of her friends were alive and all of their injuries were healed and it was another day and…and everything was ok. The world…the world was saved and everyone had lived…and it was good.

"Wh-what?" asked Ritsu. Teru stopped yelling, finally, and was just staring at them. Ritsu knew how he felt. Rei…there was a chance that Rei was just saying what they wanted to hear…but no. Rei was no liar. She must have been telling the truth.

"Where? Where's Shigeko?" Asked Teru. His voice hurt…he had been yelling a lot….but now he was done. He was done and that was done because Shigeko would not have wanted him losing control like that. What Shigeko wanted mattered. She was still alive. Rei knew. Rei had future vision…and possibly present vision too…and she knew and Teru believed her. He believed her. He believed her more than he had ever believed in anyone or anything in his entire life.

"There. She's…somewhere under there…" said Rei. She pointed to the tree on the horizon. The impossibly big tree. Some of the buildings around it had been put back together. The tree dwarfed them. That tree…it hadn't been there before. But it was there now and Mob was somewhere under it.

"The tree? She's buried under the tree?" asked Ritsu. That was where the explosion had been…where his sister had been…and it stood to reason that she would still have been there. Of course. Or course she would have gotten caught up in that explosion. Of course she wouldn't have made her way back to them yet. Of course.

He had never been so happy in his life.

And it was all thanks to Rei. She really was a…a good person. A good person for him. She didn't deserve what he put her through…how could he have…he owed her one. No, he owed her two now. He owed her for saving his life and he owed her for…for this. Now he knew where Shigeko was…and that he wasn't responsible for her death….

He was so happy.

"Then that's where I'm going." said Teru. There was no question about it. He was going to go dig Shigeko out from under that tree with his bare hands. She was alive and she needed him and wherever she was he would go to her. He was happy. He had never in his life been this happy. She was alive. His girlfriend, his everything, was still alive.

She had almost died for him.

He had almost died for her.

And if that wasn't love then he didn't know what was. She loved him. She loved him and he loved her and…and he thought that he had known, before, what love was. Now he knew. Love was…was this. The fact that she had been so ready to lay down her life for him…nobody had ever been prepared to do that for him before. He didn't want her to die. He wanted her to live…and to live with him. He had been ready to fight for her, to die for her, without hesitation. Well there was nothing left to fight for and they had both lived…and they would live for a long time. Together.

He would never leave her.

And she would never leave him.

And they had forever. It was dizzying, the thought of forever, but he had it with her. She was not dead. She was alive and he was alive…and they were together. She had gone through so much but…but they had so long to get through all of it. The stuff that just happened the other day, the stuff with that Mogami spirit, all of it. They had all the time in the world to work through it. All of it. They were…the two of them were ok. There were ok and they were going to be ok and that…that was ok. Better than ok. Great. Happy.

He had never been this happy in his entire life.

Reigen had never felt this happy before.

He had been ready to throw up, he would have thrown up if there had been anything in his stomach to throw up, but now he was…he was happy. His own happiness. The collective happiness around him. He knew what they were so happy about, all of them. He had heard it. Mob was still alive.

Mob was still alive.

He didn't even think. He just acted. He saw the kid, that stupid fucking kid, running over to that tree that felt all kinds of wrong…and Mob's little brother was following him…and that was where Reigen was going, too. To Mob. She was all alone under there, under that tree, that tree of…of wrongness…

It felt like her but it didn't.

And he needed to get her out of there.

"When this is all over you're getting a promotion." Reigen knew that he had to say something to that kid, that invaluable kid, and that was the first thing that came to mind. She had kept them all alive. She had led them to safety. Now she had been the one to pull them out of the put of despair. This was a pretty awesome kid.

Mob knew how to choose her friends well.

"But I don't work for you!" said Rei. Reigen either didn't hear her or he didn't care, she would have believed either, as he ran with Teru and Ritsu towards the big tree. Rei wanted to follow them…but she also didn't. That tree…she didn't like that tree. She didn't want to be anywhere near that tree…

Something was…not right…about that tree.

Something was not right.

The sky felt cramped.

Limits. There was a limit there. An up and a down. She had been limitless before. There were limits now. She lost some freedom, there, because of the limit but the limit also made her feel safe. She was safe there. She was small and safe. The sky felt cramped. She felt cramped. Cramped and small. Limited.

She was back within the limits of her vessel.

She tried to move.

An expression of her own free will. Movement. Up and down. Left and right. Movement within the limits of the world, within the limits of her vessel. Her vessel had not broken. She was not broken. She was safe, now, though from what she did not know. She was back, now, though where she had been she did not know. She knew not if it was dark outside or light.

The sky was cramped.

"God, it's so cramped in here." She heard a voice. Far away and muffled. She was having trouble seeing. She was having trouble feeling. She was having trouble existing within the confines of her vessel. But she needed to. She needed to be this thing, this thing together with the other her. Was this the answer? But then what was even the question? Had she even asked one? She did not know.

"….split up…."

"….that way…"

"…careful…."

"…whatever…"

"…..sorry….."

"…..whatever…."

Voices, movements, and colors. So many colors. Custard yellow and deep gold and school uniform blue. Colors she knew. Voices she knew. She needed to get up. She needed to move. These were expressions of her will. These were expressions of her will that she did not have the freedom to carry out. Her vessel did not let her. Something was pushing down on her from all side.

She should have been afraid.

But she was not.

She wasn't afraid of anything anymore.

The colors move apart. She watched gold split off from custard yellow. She watched school uniform blue stay in one spot before going back the way it came. Then forward. Then back. Custard yellow grew closer. Deep gold grew farther away. Blue stayed where it was.

Movements were an expression of will.

Movements could only be done within limits. Vessels were limits. Vessels gave one the freedom to move. Vessel gave one the freedom from movement. When inside of a vessel one lost a degree of movement but gained a degree of freedom. This vessel felt odd. Wrong. Right. It was hard to be back…though Mob did not know where it was that she had been.

She had no idea where she even was.

All she knew was that the sky was cramped.

A limit.

So many limits.

She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. There were so many limits on her…had she always had this many limits on her…she tried to move again. She had not always been so limited. She had been able to…she had been able to do a great many things…but that part of her was not listening. Another limit. She was stuck…but she was safe. Freedom. Freedom from and freedom to.

Movement.

Custard yellow.

The sky was less cramped.

"Mob…Mob speak to me…come on…come on Mob…" said Reigen as he dug Mob out of the ground with his bare hands. He had barely been able to feel her. Their auras trying to bond. But they had been trying and he had been following that tiny tug, almost imperceptible, to this spot. Then he had started digging.

And found black hair.

And a pale hand.

And a very pale face…so peaceful…peaceful as death….

So he dug harder. He dug her out of the ground with his bare hands. He needed to get her out of there before she suffocated. She was alive. Rei had said that she was alive…even if she wasn't moving…but she felt warm. Her face. Her neck. The parts of her that he had dug out of the ground felt warm. That was good…right?

Right?

"Mob…just say something. Anything. Please. Please be ok…I just need you to be ok. Ok? I'm not…I'm not upset with you. I just want you to be ok…or even just alive. Yes, alive is good. Just….just please Mob…please…" Mob can hear him more clearly now. The sky is less cramped. She opens her eyes a little more. The sky becomes even less cramped. A limit lifted. She feels cold. Cold air touches her skin. A feeling. Another limit. No, a way to be in the world…to experience the world. With her vessel.

Her body.

Herself.

She was Mob.

"Mob…please….please just say something. Talk about…tell me about your mangas. You read anything interesting lately? Or about…that show you like about the cats and they're all friends? Or about the robot thing? Come on, explain to me about how they aren't robots at all. Come one Mob." Said Reigen as he kept on digging her out. He needed….he needed her to be ok….otherwise….no. He needed to stay calm. For her sake. So she didn't…didn't…

That explosion had been her.

And now she had hardly any aura to speak of…and he was getting no emotion off of her….

"What about your friends? I know that you haven't been to school or anything in a while but…I mean I know you hear from people…right? Tell me about your friend who let you stay over with her…uh…Tome? Yeah. The one who likes aliens…or maybe about your esper friends? They're good kids, you know, I've been hanging out with them…if that's what you want to call it…and they're good kids I think. You…you've got some great friends there, Mob." Said Reigen. Mob knew him, she knew him well. Master Reigen. She wanted….she wanted to….she wanted to be with him. She had been so worried…so very worried…and now…he was fine…

She willed her hand to move.

She reached up. A slow and shaky thing. She felt something crumble from her arm as she raised it…and some cold air…so much cold air…she felt her skin going to goose flesh. It was…it was like a cold sort of burn. She felt…she reached up and felt something soft under her fingers. She presses her hand down a little harder. Warmth. She felt warmth.

"Congratulations." Said Mob quietly. At least she thought that she had said something. She had felt her lips move. Barely.

"…Mob…?" asked Reigen. He felt her hand at the small of his back…and she was so cold…and weak. But she was alive and that was mattered. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He just stayed still, perfect still, as if any movement on his part would end this moment between the two of them.

She was alive.

He was so happy.

"Master?" asked Mob. She found her voice. She could speak. Another limit lost. Another freedom gained. Her voice…talking hurt. It hurt like…like she had never spoken before. He throat felt raw. Her voice was raspy. She wondered if he had ever heard her…

But he had.

And she was being embraced.

"Mob…Mob….oh my God….I thought that I'd lost you. I thought that you'd died. I thought…this isn't about what I thought. I think…this isn't about what I think. This is about you. This is about you and…and you're alive…and this is about you being alive. God Mob…oh my God…I thought I'd lost you…" said Reigen. He held her close. He pulled her close and now that he had her he was never letting her go again.

She was so small.

She was so fragile.

"I love you too." Said Mob. She was sitting up, now, well not really. She was slumped against him. Moving was hard. She was heavy. Her vessel, her body, was heavy. She was heavy. A limit. Another limit. She had limits again…and this wasn't bad. She was slumped against him and he was warm and he smelled good. A lot like himself. Not a bad smell, a little acrid, but not bad.

She smiled.

She raised her arms up as best as she could and put them over his shoulders.

And then he got very tense.

"Mob...you're…you're not…Mob, let go." Said Reigen. There was no way that he could say it. She was naked. Very naked. He had been so focused on making sure that she hadn't died that he hadn't noticed, or thought to notice, that she wasn't wearing anything. Not even that bloody wedding dress that she had been wearing….

He pulled his hands back.

Not ok. Not at all ok. Mob was…she was out of it…and he was not going to hug her while she was naked. That wasn't ok. He loved her, he was happy that she was alive, but he was not…this was not the same as when he pushed her away on that night when they came back from the Asagiri job…and Mob might not have seen the difference….but that was a line that he was not going to cross. She was alive, and so was he, and he wanted to stay alive. Her boyfriend and her brother were looking for her…and they, or at least her little brother, would not have wanted to see her in that state of affairs…or for Reigen to see her in that state of affairs…

He did not want to see her in that state of affairs.

But she was not moving. He didn't think that she could. Her aura was dim, down to almost nothing, but he could still get a feeling of heaviness from her. She was so out of it…which was probably that only reason why she had not died of embarrassment on the spot.

"Master…" said Mob. She felt cold, so cold, and so alone. He hadn't holding her anymore. Pain. Another limit. Pain told her when she had hurt herself….but she hadn't hurt herself…he had hurt her…and she wanted to be with him so badly…and she was so cold….

His hand on her shoulder.

Something draped around her.

"Mob, try to sit up on your own, ok? Just…it's so hard to get you dressed without looking…not that I have any plans of looking…because then I would have to gouge out my own eyes with a rusty spoon. Just…come on, work with me here." Said Reigen as he tried to get Mob's arms through the sleeves of his suit coat. It was torn in places, frayed in others, and totally filthy but Mob was naked and he didn't have anything else that she could wear. She was naked and it was cold enough for him to see his breath. The sun had just risen and hadn't warmed anything yet. It was so cold….so very cold…

It was hard to do this with his eyes closed.

But he got her dressed.

"Master…where am I?" asked Mob. Her thoughts were coming in clearer, now. She needed to know where she was. That was important. That was very important. She needed…she needed to be grounded. Grounded and…and there. She was…she was cold and heavy…but Master Reigen was there and…and everything was going to be ok now that Master Reigen was there.

Custard yellow.

Pink and blue.

Together again.

"Mob, you're not going to believe me when I tell you. Seriously, it's just….you'll have to see it to believe it. You…I thought you were a goner, Mob, I really did. Scared the crap out of me to be honest. Scared the crap out of all of us to be honest. Man, everyone's going to be so happy to see you. You're the man of the hour! Or, woman I guess. Girl. You're the girl of the hour. Seriously, we are getting to much ramen on the way home. There's got to be some place that's still opened. You and me…and everyone else. Yeah, let's celebrate! We'll go all out!" said Reigen. He lost control of his mouth, again, but not in any serious way. He wanted to tell Mob over and over and over again that he was just so glad that she was alive. That she was there and she was alive and that this whole thing was over and they could just get back to their lives like normal…or as normal as possible…because even before all of this had happened things hadn't been normal….but that was ok. That was ok because he could help her through whatever she needed help with.

"I'm…I'm still alive." Said Mob. She was still alive. She had…she had been without her vessel, her body, any limits. She had returned to nothing. She had gone back to the void. It had happened. She had…she had died…maybe. If you counted losing your body as dying. But she had her body and she was alive and this…this was ok. She was ok.

Cold but ok.

"Yes….Mob, you're still alive." Said Reigen. His voice broke at the end. He wanted to pull her close, again, but he couldn't. She was in his suit coat but he still felt like he was crossing some sort of boundary. She was naked, still, and he was not going to…she was…this was complicated. He would offer her whatever comfort she needed….later. When she put some actual clothes on and he collected himself.

But he really did want to hold her.

But he didn't even get the chance to. Something pulled him back. Hard. He ended up sprawled out on his back. He could see the sky, sort of, through the knotted roots to this tree. It looked cramped.

Someone stepped over him.

"Shigeko! Shigeko….you're alive! You're here! You….Ich liebe dich so sehr. Ich bin so froh, dass du am Leben bist. Du bist mein Ein und Alles. Bitte verlass mich nie-" said Teru. He forgot Japanese at some point. She was…she was alive and she was with him and he was so happy that she was there. She was his and he was hers and they were never going to be apart again.

"Hi Teru…." Said Mob. That was the only thing that she could say. The rest of her thoughts kept on getting tangled in her mind. She wanted to tell him that she only spoke Japanese and some English. She wanted to tell him that she was happy to see him again. She wanted to tell him to hold her and kiss her and never let her go.

He takes her hand.

And he kisses it a bunch.

And it feels good.

She leaned forward and pressed herself against him. She wanted to feel him, to feel warm, and to be with him. To be as close to him as she could be. She was so cold…and she wanted to be warm…and she loved him so much…

He kissed her.

And it felt good.

And he kissed her again.

"Never go. Never, ever, go. I will never leave you and you will….please don't ever leave me. Please…please be with me forever. Shigeko willst du mich heiraten? Please, please, please be with me forever, please….please. I love you. I love you so much. Shigeko…I will love you until the day I die just…just please don't…I love you so much please….please ma-please don't go." Said Teru. Her aura was almost out. Dull. But she was still alive. She was alive and she was….she was his and he was hers and he didn't care if she was in Reigen's suit coat and that they were outside in the cold under this weird feeling tree…and he didn't give a damn that Reigen was back there clearing his throat either!

"Yeah I'm just going to…yeah…" said Reigen. Well that was not for him to see. That was not something that he even wanted to see. That was private. He knew that as the only adult there he had a God given duty to break apart amorous teenagers…but Mob had earned this. She saved the entire world, she could make out with her boyfriend for as long as she wanted to.

Also he didn't much want to be around Mob when she was in that state.

Plus he had to…to find her brother! Yeah, he could have gotten lost in these roots. There wasn't a lot of light getting in even though the sun was fully up. The kid could have gotten lost or something. Yeah, Reigen had a good reason for leaving Mob to…that.

Maybe the kid really was lost.

Because Reigen was getting a feeling of…despair. He walked towards it even though he was so sick of that emotion. When all of this was over he was putting on Mob's cheerful music playlist and getting as drunk as humanly possible…or something. Anything to chase away the feelings of despair that he had been feeling almost nonstop since all of this shit started up.

He heard crying.

Mob's little brother crying over…thank fucking God. Mob's clothes. Well not her clothes, her actual clothes had gotten ruined at some point in the fight, but that wedding dress and the white shoes she had been wearing. Oh, her bag too.

"Sister…" said Ritsu. Rei had been wrong. She had been wrong and now Shigeko…she was dead. That feeling that she was around, that was just her aura or her spirit or whatever, hanging out after she had died. That explosion had been her. That had been her and she had exploded and now she was gone and-

Someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"She's alive! Before you kill me she's alive." Said Reigen holding his hands up in surrender. Ritsu was giving him a long look.

"My sister…she's still alive?" asked Ritsu. He was…he was relieved that she was alive but…but Reigen had found her…but her clothes were right there…

"Teru found her too, if you don't believe me. Come on, she's back this way." Said Reigen. Ritsu was still staring at him. What? Did he think that Reigen was lying? Well that would have made sense, this kid had always been able to see through him like a cheap shower curtain, but he was telling the truth now. For once in his life.

"Where?" asked Ritsu. He got up and picked up his sister's clothes. She needed clothes. It was cold out…and he wanted to kill Reigen…he wanted to kill Reigen because if he had found sister…she was alive and that was what he had to focus on. She was alive. Everyone was alive, this was all over, and everthing was ok now.

"This way…but give Mob and Teru a minute to…uh…say hello." Said Reigen rubbing the back of his head. Ritsu didn't listen to him. He just ran off in the direction that Reigen had pointed him in. Reigen followed at a distance.

So…

So this was it. This was the end of all of it. The worry, the stress, it was all over. Everyone was alive and well. That was as best, no, it was better than could have been expected. He hadn't been exaggerating, he had in fact thought that Mob had been a goner…but she was alive.

"Sorry!"

And well. Which was more than could probably be said for her little brother. The poor kid had just been traumatized, probably. Yeah. Nobody wanted to watch their big sister making out with her boyfriend. Not that Reigen had any big sisters, or little sisters, to have caught making out with anyone. Well he had that little brother he never saw…he hoped that the kid was ok.

He hoped that everyone was ok.

His mother, his father, his half-brother, the few living grandparents he still had, the cousins he never saw, the family across the water that he hadn't seen since he had been a child, all of them. He hoped that they were all ok.

He really did.

"If you think that this is ok then you've got another thing coming!" shouted Sophia from her car window at the miserable bastard who was wasting her valuable tax money standing by the side of the road with a very unhelpful sign.

All traffic into Seasoning City was closed until further notice.

What a load of crap! Her tax dollars paid for this road and her son was in Seasoning City and this was a free country and she could drive wherever she wanted! This road was not closed! If this rod was closed then…then she was out of options. She had been trying to come in from all directions but it was…futile. They were all closed. Only the army, no it wasn't the army here, the ground self-defense force was allowed to enter the city. Anyone could leave it though….but if she drove on the wrong side of the road she'd probably end up in some kind of grisly auto collision and dead, or deported, and then she would be no use to Taka at all.

She made a U turn and pulled into a roadside stop.

She double parked. She knew full well that it was rude but she was well beyond the point of caring about manners. Manners, manners, manners…this country had too many goddamned manners. She couldn't read lips but she knew what those soldiers, or whatever they were called her, talking about. The crazy foreign woman that had been about to run them down. What did she need to get into the city for? She wasn't Japanese, who could she have been looking for? Crazy foreigners. Cray Americans. Crazy old woman.

She was not old.

But she had been acting a little crazy. She'd gone a while without sleep. Work had at least let her go because of the state of emergency. Her phone vibrated again. Probably more work friends asking about her son. Her son and his little sister.

Some said sister.

Some said girlfriend.

One person said female companion. The entire message had been written out in hiranga. Baby expats. If you couldn't speak, read, and write the language then you had no business in the country! Honestly, how hard was it to memorize the meaning and stroke order of a few thousand characters?! She banged her head against the steering wheel and let it rest.

If Taka and Mobbu made it out of this alright then she promised that she would never bitch and moan about work again.

She checked her phone. It might have been Taka or Mobbu. Neither of them had been picking up their phones…but the radio said that there were problems with the internet and cellular network in Seasoning City because of all the destruction. Landlines were down too but landlines were for old people. She had tried the one at Taka's office, though, just to be safe.

No answer.

She closed her eyes and just listened to the racket the car made. It had been Taka who named the car. He had named it back when he as three, about. Back when he had been so small that she could have picked him up and carried him. He had named the car without fanfare, no, he had just asked if they could get in Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang and drive down to the big playground. He had always been so creative, Taka, and so clever. He had certainly been create in some of the thing he did for that business of his…and if he and Mobbu lived through whatever it was that was happening in Seasoning City then she promised that she would never criticize his choice of profession again.

"Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Our fine four fendered friend. Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Our fine four fendered friend." Sang Sophia so softly she could barely even make out her own voice over the racket of the car. She didn't know why she had to be quiet. There was no three year old Taka to sing along with her, no thirteen year old Taka to tell her that she was embarrassing him, and no twenty three year old Taka to tell her that he was quitting his job and possibly ruining his life…

She wondered what thirty three year old Taka would have been like.

Was going to be like. Her son…her son was not dead. Arataka was not dead. He was alive. He had to be. He was alive and any minute now he was going to call her back and tell her off for blowing up his inbox like she had been. Any minute now. Arataka…Taka…Taka-chan was not dead. Neither was Mobbu. They were…they were fine…

Last night a picture of a mushroom cloud appeared on her news feed.

It was white but in the shape of a mushroom, maybe, she didn't know. She wasn't a physicist. People on the internet were calling it a mushroom cloud. They were saying that some kind of bomb had been set off. They were saying that it had been powerful enough to knock satellites out of orbit. That it had caused tremors so strong that people on the other end of the country had felt them.

Sophia needed a cigarette.

She turned the car off but stayed double parked. She wasn't going to be long, just to the cigarette vending machine out in the front. Besides, this was Japan. The worst she would end up catching were some angry glares. It wasn't like anyone was going to fight her in the parking lot because she was double parked. It wasn't like there was anywhere to go, either.

There was no way into Seasoning City after all.

"What are you doing telling me there's no way into the city?! Talk to the man again and explain that our son, our children, are all alone in the city!" said Hana loudly from her spot at the rest stop picnic table. She had a lukewarm cup of weak coffee in front of her and a dry vending machine donut. They had been driving all night, sleeping in shifts, trying to find a way into the city. The roads were terrible but those morons from the self-defense force were even worse. Hana would have glad sat in another bumper to bumper traffic jam if it meant getting to her son…her son and daughter.

"Hana…please. They said that they're not allowed to let us in. Come on, we'll try another road-" said Ichimaro as he put a hand on his wife's shoulder. She shrugged him off and glared in the way that only she could glare.

"There are no other roads!" hissed Hana. People were around and she did not need to add embarrassed to the ghastly mix of emotions swirling around inside of her. They seemed to have been engrossed in their own business, staring down at the phones, huddled around car radios, and talking amongst themselves but Hana knew that at any moment they would notice her and start talking about the crazy woman making a scene in public. She was not her daughter, she cared what people thought of her.

"Hana…we need to think. I've called the house and there's no answer. None from the neighbors, either, back when I could get through. Nobody's picking up their cell phones and the operator said that the landlines in Seasoning City are down. All of them. Hana…we're not getting in." said Ichimaro

"Don't….don't say that. The road is literally right there. We could just drive past the man with the sign and-" said Hana

"Get shot? Get arrested? What use are we to the children then?" said Ichimaro

"What use are we to them right now?" asked Hana

"Right now at least we aren't in prison for running through a military blockade! I…I'm sorry to have raised my voice to you then, Hana, but you are being completely ridiculous." Said Ichimaro

"Oh? So I'm ridiculous for being worried about my son? The son that we left home alone during a TERRORIST ATTACK?! The one who's probably scared out of his mind right now?! The one who's only thirteen years old-" said Hana. Ritsu was just a baby. He needed his mother. He probably didn't even understand what was happened. The violence was, as the media had said, contained to the downtown area…they weren't very far from downtown. Not very far at all. Her office was there…her husband's office was there…the place where she bought the children's clothes…the place where she sometimes got pastry…they said that downtown was hit by some sort of bomb…and that it was gone. She had seen the pictures on her phone. It was like…like the ones from the pacific war she had seen in her school books…back when she had been Ritsu's age….her poor little baby boy….

"Two! We have two children, Hana, and I bet that Shigeko is just as terrified as Ritsu is. I bet that they…they've found each other and they're somewhere safe and…and we have two kids! No wonder Shigeko won't come home with the way you blatantly favor Ritsu like this! The world is going to shit and you're still putting him first!" said Ichimaro. He knew that this was not the place to have it out with his wife. He couldn't help it. The first numbers had come out of Seasoning City. The missing. They weren't going near ground zero…and there was a ground zero…until some government scientists said that it was safe.

There were a lot of missing people for that list.

And their two children could have been on.

"I know! I gave birth to them! I was the one who fed them and changed them and nursed them! I am their mother and you…you are not going to sit there and lecture me about our daughter! I didn't hear you calling after as she left! I didn't see you running down the street chasing after her. She left of her own accord and I-I-I- need a cigarette. I am not talking about this to you, with you, in the middle of a roadside stop." Said Hana jumping to her feet and making a beeline for the cigarette machine. She waved her hand to brush a cloud of smoke out of her face. She wasn't the only person who needed a cigarette that morning.

"It's out of everything but cheap cigars and Peace Lights." Said Sophia as a harried looking woman walked up to the cigarette machine like it had spat in her mother's ashes and then danced a jaunty jig in them for good measure. She had been shouting at that man, presumably her husband, for the whole carpark to hear. Sophia didn't blame her. Yoshio would have gotten an earful, too, had he been there.

"You're smoking 520s." said Hana eying the box in the foreign woman's hand. The woman shrugged.

"I got the last box…but you can bum one off me if you want. You seem like you need one." said Sophia. That was what you were supposed to do in these times of crisis, right? Have a moment of kindness and connection with a total stranger?

"Thank you. I can pay you back-" said Hana

"For a single cigarette? Please, I'm not so hard up. Besides, it's one less for me to smoke." Said Sophia

"It's a terrible habit." Said Hana with a frown. She was setting such a terrible example for Ritsu…for the children. She was setting a terrible example for the children…though the man Shigeko lived with smoked like a chimney from what Hana had been able to gather. She hoped that Shigeko hadn't started smoking. That was just what she needed. Not only was her fourteen year old daughter skipping weeks and weeks of school but she was smoking now, as well.

"Yeah, it is…but it's too late to stop now." Said Sophia with a smile devoid of all mirth. Not that the woman noticed, she was busy digging around in her handbag. Her wedding ring caught the light of the rising sun. Gold, probably a lot nicer than Sophia's. She felt for the band. Oh. She had forgotten to put it back on after she'd prepared dinner. Heh. Maybe it was a sign of….something.

"I'm sorry but may I trouble you for a light as well? I seem to have misplaced my matchbook." Said Hana as she searched through her bag. She didn't usually smoke but she did carry a matchbook so she could be polite to her workmates. She had probably left it at the hotel when her bag tipped over. She should have been more careful as she left…and she should not have been in such a hurry, either, not with the way that the traffic had been.

"Yeah, sure thing." Said Sophia as she pulled out her lighter and lit the end of the woman's cigarette for her. The woman read the side of her lighter, it seemed like, though Sophia didn't know what was so interesting.

"Lower Back Pain City?" read Hana. Wow. Well then there must not have been any hope. She knew where Lower Back Pain City was in relation to Seasoning City…it was not anywhere near here. If that route was blocked off too…then there really was no hope at all….

"Yeah, that's where just I came from….God, this traffic…uh, what about you? Where are you headed in from?" asked Sophia. She fully expected that the next question the woman asked her would be 'but where are you really from?' or something along those lines.

"I…I'm from Seasoning City. I was up in the mountains but…but I'm from Seasoning City." Said Hana. Her hands shook, she almost dropped her cigarette. Her baby…her baby was there in the city and Hana was out here and she had no idea what she was going to do when she actually got into the city…but she had to be there for her son.

"Damn….I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Said Sophia because, well, what else was socially acceptable to say? Everyone was freaking out and it wasn't like this woman was special….hell, she had two people trapped in the city and she wasn't freaking out.

"My son is in there…" said Hana. She knew that she should not have been spilling her guts like that to a complete stranger but once she started she couldn't stop. It didn't matter, this woman was so obviously foreign, who knew how much she even understood.

"Me too." Said Sophia. She had too much of her own shit to deal with. She did not have the mental space right then and there to deal with other people's shit. She had a son too…and it was easier to get mad than to let herself feel sad. Feelings sad was…it was draining. Worry. Anxiety. Very draining emotions. Anger was the get shit done emotion. It was easier, better, to be mad at Taka. Mad at him for staying in the city even though he had no reason to at this point….and that poor little girl was not a reason…and thinking about that made her madder…and the madder she got the easier it was to stop worrying…and she had been worrying for so long…

She bit down a little too hard on the end of her cigarette.

"How old is your child?" asked Hana. She had opinions on foreign people having children in Japan…but now was not the time to voice them. She felt for this woman, she did. It was hard having a son so far away, so young, and in so much danger…and she could not protect him. She could have lost Ritsu…and she…without Ritsu she wouldn't have any more children at all. She'd have no children. No son, no daughter, just the house. The big empty house…and she hoped that she even still had that. She didn't care if her home was a smoking pile of rubble so long as her son was safe.

"He's twenty nine. Yours?" asked Sophia. Twenty nine years old and he still could not listen to his mother even though she knew what was best for him. She had been telling him and telling him and telling him to come back home…and he hadn't listened….and now look at where he was. Not that Sophia knew that this was coming. She didn't. She had no idea that this was even something that could have happened.

"Thirteen." Said Hana with a shake of her head. Thirteen was, she decided, the worst age. Ritsu used to be such a good boy. Now he had a girlfriend and was making terrible decision after terrible decision…and hopefully he hadn't made any terrible ones in her absence…or hopefully he had. Hopefully she came through her front door and her son was there, safe and sound, and had just spent the weekend making out with his fast little girlfriend.

"Ah, I do not envy you. A teenager…I shudder to think." Said Sophia. Taka as a teenager…pretty much the same as Taka as a grown man aside from the fact that he had not been beyond her command back then…or maybe he had been. He hadn't been too keen on listening to her back then, either, no more keen on it than listening to her now. Teenagers. Adults.

"Yeah…I have no idea what's going on in that head of his half the time." Said Hana with a bitter sort of laugh. What had happened to her little boy? He used to always listen to her, he used to never even need to be told to do the right thing, but now he was thirteen and he thought that he knew everything and knew what was best…just like his sister….

"Teenagers….I wish I could tell you that they grow out of it but I can't. Boys…am I right?" said Sophia. She laughed, then, a bitter sort of sound. She wished that her son was still thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…small enough that she could have dragged him out of the city by the back of his gakuran. But he was a grown man…but she could still drag him back him by his suit collar. She would ask Mobbu if she wanted to come with, of course, because Mobbu was not her child. She wondered what the legality of moving someone else's child to a whole other city was. Well said child had most likely been abandoned at this point…she'd worry about the legality of it all later.

"And girls, too." Said Hana. She would have said more, she felt like saying more, but she didn't. Because she was not Shigeko. Because she cared about that fact that she had broken so many social rules already. Also because her husband was on the phone with someone…and he was motioning for her to come over…and it could have been Ritsu….

Hana excused herself and rushed over to her husband.

Sophia watched her drop a half smoked cigarette on the ground.

Well at least she had some good news. Sophia hoped that it was about her kid. It was hard enough having a grown, adult, son in the middle of that danger….having a child in the middle of all of that was just…incomprehensible. She knew that Mobbu was only fourteen, she knew full well how young that girl was, but she also had this feeling in the back of her mind that Mobbu would be able to keep herself and Taka at least somewhat safe. She wasn't invincible, far from it, but she could still do so much more than the average person…but so could those terrorists if their little message to the world to be believed…but Taka had said that Mobbu had fought these people before…and that she had won. That she was very strong for a psychic. For an esper. ESP. Extra sensory perception. Extra. More than most people could do.

Maybe enough to keep her and Arataka safe.

"I can keep her safe. I've got this." said Teru as he picked Shigeko up and tried to carry her bridal style. She was still kind of….tired? Exhausted. She kept on fading in and out…and he could understand why. She had grown this tree after all.

"….cold…" said Mob as she felt herself being lifted into the air. She rested her head against something warm…Teru. That was Teru. He was so warm and soft and he smelled so good…she buried her face into his chest. He felt so good. He smelled so good. Even his aura felt so good. It was like she was feeling him for the first time, body and aura, and it was so amazing….

"At least put this back on her." said Reigen as he tried to drape his suit coat back over Mob. She was back in the wedding dress…the one that she had saved them all in. It wasn't bloody anymore but it was burnt and torn…and didn't really seem to fit her. The straps kept sliding down her shoulders and the front was hanging down way too low…and Reigen made it a point to look away from her. Like her little brother was.

"She's fine." Said Teru. He glared at Reigen as hard as he could. Shigeko was fine. He'd get her home…well no it had exploded…but he'd get her back to the Awakening Lab and he'd put her in some of the clothes he had brought….the only clothes he had left in the entire world…and then they'd go to one of the extra rooms and just be warm and sleep and just…just be together. With her…and sleep. He was tired. She was exhausted….and he was pretty damn tired.

"Teru…it's cold out here. Sister even said that she was cold." Said Ritsu. He didn't much want to think about the fact that his sister had been wearing Reigen's suit coat…that he had been the one to find sister….

"….fine…" said Teru. He snatched Reigen's suit coat out of his hands and draped it over Shigeko like a blanket. He held her in his arms with his own strength, though, which was not as easy as it looked. She was not as light as she looked…but he would gladly carry her all the way to the ocean if that was what she wanted.

He would do anything for her.

She was doing that thing where she nuzzled into him like a cat, again, and he wanted nothing more than to just go somewhere warm and hold her and be held by her. He had come so close to losing her…but there she was. She was there and she was alive and that was what mattered.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I have no idea how stable any of this is." Said Reigen. The wind was whistling through the spaces between the roots. He was freezing. Those kids must have been freezing too. Those poor kids…it was over. It was all over and now they could all go home…those of them who still had homes…

These poor kids.

"And then what? My house burnt down." Said Ritsu. He had nowhere to go after this…nowhere. It was…he had never had nowhere to go. Was this…was this how Shigeko felt when she was living outside? At her friend's houses? When she had run away from home for the first time? He didn't know and he was not about to ask her. Not now. Not today.

"Mine too. Well it exploded….but let's just go back to the Awakening Lab. We'll figure it out after we eat and sleep and-" said Teru. He had nowhere to go…but he had his debit card and checkbook and he could find somewhere to stay. That is if there was even anywhere else to go in the city…so much had been destroyed….he wondered if parents knew what happened. He wondered if they even cared.

"…hungry…" said Mob. She wanted…she wanted milk. She had been afraid…but she wasn't anymore. She wanted milk and nobody was going to ruin milk for her. She wanted milk and takoyaki and ramen and curry and eggs with rice and…and food. She needed food. She was hungrier then than she had ever been in her entire life.

"Yeah…don't worry. I'll get you something to eat. Whatever you want." Said Teru. He repositioned her and started to walk. Ritsu and Reigen followed. The Awakening Lab…he wanted to go home more than anything but he had no other place to go…and all he wanted to do was to be alone with her. Away from everyone else. He just…he wanted this whole thing to be over. He was tired of being there for people, of being the one who knew just what to do, the one who told them what to do…he just wanted to be alone with his girlfriend and just…just rest.

"You can both stay with us…me…if you want. It'll be a tight fit but we'll-" said Reigen. He needed to at least extend the invitation. Both of these kids were homeless. They had literally nowhere else to go. They couldn't live at the Awakening Lab….or maybe they could. He didn't know. He didn't know the guy who ran it, only that he let the kids in his charge jump head first into danger…so not that different from Reigen then…heh…..

"I'm fine. He's fine. We're fine." Said Teru picking up his pace. The last thing that he wanted was to stay with Reigen. He had this. He'd stay at the Awakening Lab until he figured something out. Ritsu…he'd figure something out, too. Hell, Ritsu could stay with him when he found someplace to stay.

And so could Shigeko.

"Alright, alright. Just a suggestion." Said Reigen as he raised his hands up in surrender. No use arguing with teenage boys. He used to be a teenage boy, he knew how stubborn they could be, and he was done fighting and arguing. Not his kids, not his life, not his responsibility…even though they kind of were. Even though the two of them seemed to have no parents to speak of. Ritsu and Mob's parents had fucked off to some spa in the mountains and Teru's parents had fucked off to a whole other continent. He wondered about the others. What about their parents? Did they care that their kids had been away for days and days? That they had all almost died more times than Reigen could count?

He didn't know.

Right now he was just going to worry about Mob. She had been explicitly made his responsibility…and he had been taking pretty piss poor care of her lately. Poor kid. She seemed fine now, kind of out of it, but he had no idea how she would be when the dust settled. What she would think of herself. She hated fighting, hated violence, but she had fought and…and she had won. He had no idea what the true cost of her victory had been. To herself. To the way that she saw herself. None of them had seen any sign of that Suzuki guy. Not even body parts…and Reigen wouldn't have minded if they did…well he would have minded because of the psychological damage finding pieces of a dead guy would do to the kids…and also Mob. If she had killed that guy…if he were dead….

Poor Mob.

And poor that Suzuki guy's son. The kid's father may have been a piece of shit but he was still that kid's father. That poor kid….Reigen could see his aura. A few auras. He saw the auras before he heard the voices. Loud ones.

"…so look again!"

"….keep looking!"

"….she said he was here!"

Ritsu took off running. Reigen didn't stop him. Reigen could not only hear that red haired kid's voice but also the voice of Ritsu's girlfriend. Soft and quiet but there…and Reigen was not going to stand in the way of true, middle school, love. He looked away from Mob and Teru. Yeah. No point in standing in the way of middle school love.

"Teru….walk that way." said Mob. She pointed in the direction of…of where he was. She could feel herself being drawn to him like a magnet. She wondered if he had found what he was looking for. She wondered if he knew what the answer was.

She had to congratulate him.

"Huh? This way?" asked Teru. He was about to regroup with the others and see what the hell was going on. They weren't looking for Shigeko, from what he could hear, and he needed to tell his people at least not to look for that other guy. The one who had the nerve to think that he could just…just try and hurt Shigeko like that. No. If Teru found him then he would have no choice but to kill him. No choice at all.

"Yes. This way." said Mob. She heard Master Reigen telling them to join the others. Mob wouldn't. She needed to go that way. She needed to. Teru was walking too slowly so she asked to be put down. He wouldn't so she just leaned herself forward until he almost dropped her.

"Shigeko, wait!" said Teru. She wasn't going to let herself be carried. She had rolled out of his arms and now she was stumbling around in the dirt in her shoes…shoes that she was having trouble walking in. She stumbled but did not stop. He followed her. Reigen followed behind them.

"This way." said Rei. Teru heard her voice carrying down to him. He heard footsteps, a lot of them. Now more people were following Shigeko. She didn't even seem to notice. She didn't even seem to care. She had somewhere to be and the only thing that they could do was follow.

So not that different from life, really.

"I'm pretty sure it's this way." said Rei. She was not seeing with one hundred percent certainty now. She was seeing pathways. She had a vague idea of where she needed to go…and every sign was saying to follow Mob. She hadn't wanted to go to into the tree but Sho said that the best place to look for his dad was where Mob was…and Rei wanted to help…and everyone wanted something to do….so that was how they all ended up in the evil tree. That was how they all ended up here, following Mob, through this evil feeling tree.

Probably because it had a bad guy in it.

"That's good enough for me!" said Sho. This was why you had friends, to help you find your dad…or his body…after the climactic final battle ended. Dad was probably fine. Ritsu's big sis was not the type of person to just kill someone. She was a good person like that. Dad was probably just maimed or seriously hurt. That was it. Dad was just super hurt somewhere in this really weird feeling tree that looked like a piece of broccoli a little bit….

Dad was fine and broccoli was disgusting.

"What are we even going to do with this guy when we find him?" asked Reigen. His question was met with shrugs. Nobody knew what they would do. They all just said noncommittal things…and that worried Reigen. If they found this guy and he decided that the fight was over….even if he was as depowered as Mob was right then he still had the brute force advantage. As amazing as Mob was she was still as strong, physically, as a teenage girl could be expected to be.

This was bad.

This was so bad.

But he had no clue what he was supposed to do but follow everyone.

Mob knew that she was being followed but she didn't care. She was following something herself. A tug at something deep inside of her. A tug that got harder and harder the closer she got to…to whatever it was. She wondered if he'd found his way out of the void, out of nothing, the nothing that she had returned them to. She wondered if he had found his way back.

She wondered if he had found what he was looking for.

She wondered if she had found what she was looking for, too.

Her feet hurt. Walking in these shoes on this ground was hard. She was cold. Even with Master Reigen's suit coat on she was still cold. She wanted…she wanted…she had no idea what she wanted to do. Eat. Sleep. Kiss Teru again. She wanted a few things but right now she needed to do this thing…this one thing…

Her feet carried her through the roots and outside.

Where he was.

"Congratulations." Was all that Mob could say. That felt like that right word to use even though she didn't…or maybe she did. Maybe she knew what she was congratulating him for.

"Congratulations." Said Suzuki. He had felt something going towards him…and he had felt something pulling him towards that something. That something turned out to be her. He had no other words to say to her. Nothing else could encompass the sheer amount of…of he didn't have the first clue what….gratitude? Understanding? He didn't know. He just did not know. He just knew that congratulations was the right word to use in this situation so he used it. He had no other words.

But others had words for him.

"Dad?! What the fuck!? How can you just-just-just embarrass me like this!?" shouted Sho. Embarrassment was the most overwhelming feeling. He was mad at dad for all the shit he pulled, happy that dad was still alive, sad that dad had become this…and also worried about his own future because with dad gone and Claw finished…he had nothing…

But he chose to focus on his most immediate problem.

"That's a side of Suzuki that I never wanted to see…." Said Koyama before Sakurai covered his eyes. He took off his own glasses, too, because that was…more of the President then he had ever wanted to see in his entire life. That gesture seemed to break everyone out of the shock of, well, that. Seeing that.

"What's going on? What can't I look at?" asked Mukai as Tsuchiya covered her eyes. Well now this just made her more curious as to what was going on. She could feel the President's aura…he was still alive….but maybe he had broken into a bunch of little pieces and there was blood and guts everywhere!

"For the love of God…." Muttered Tsuchiya. She made a point of not looking. Well then…it was good to end on a point of levity? Maybe? She didn't know. All she knew was that she agreed with Koyama, that was a side of Suzuki that she had never wanted to see.

"Rei, don't look." Said Ritsu as he covered his girlfriend's eyes. He couldn't help but stare. That was…that was…that was like looking at a train wreck. He couldn't help but gawk. That guy had seemed so imposing, so terrifying, but now he was just….stark naked outside like it was nothing.

"Ritsu…stop looking! Everyone, stop looking! I mean it!" said Sho as he covered Ritsu's eyes. No. Nope. This was not ok. This was not at all socially acceptable…and he was gaining a new appreciation for what was and was not socially acceptable.

"Mob! Close your eyes!" said Reigen. He ran up to cover Mob's eyes but her boyfriend beat him to it. He knew that Mob was fourteen, in a weirdly committed relationship, and what she got up to in said relationship….but he was not just going to let her stare at this guy….he could at least protect her from that.

"Yeah….that's not right." Said Teru. Served him right. Beaten, stripped, though Shigeko hadn't shaved his head…and at some point he'd have to ask Shigeko why she stripper her enemies after she beat them. He couldn't imagine Shigeko, his sweet and caring Shigeko, stripped people for the humiliation factor…or out of some weird desire to…he was going to stop thinking about this now. In fact he was going to look away from the naked guy in front of him. That was the thing to do.

"What did I just say!? Quit looking at my dad's dick!" asked/screamed Sho. This was the worst day of his life…and it had barely even started. This should have been the best day of his life. He was alive. Everyone was alive. Claw was finished. Yes, he should have been celebrating his victory but no, of course he couldn't. The universe couldn't cut him any slack now could it? No, as a final kick to the balls his dad decided that the best thing to do would be to go swinging his dick around…this time literally.

"P-President! What are you doing? There are girls here!" said Serizawa. He rushed up and dressed the President in his robe quickly. Regardless of how he felt about the man, and he wasn't even sure how he felt about the President, he could not just walk around naked when there were girls around! Or ever now that Serizawa thought about it. He dressed the President as quickly as he could. This was…there was a pseudo intimacy to it that Serizawa would unpack later. He had a lot to unpack later…or never. He'd think about what happened, his part in it, and what he did later. Right now the President was naked. That had a quick and easy solution.

And now that the President wasn't naked anymore Serizawa wasn't quite sure what to do with himself.

He had betrayed the President, betrayed Claw, and let Sho get beaten almost to death…he had no place at the President's side anymore. No, his place was at…at her side? The girl's. Mob's. Shigeko's. Miss Kageyama's….yes, that feels better. Miss Kageyama. More respectful. He knows her but he also doesn't know her. So then his place was at Miss Kageyama's side…

Or not.

Because he didn't really know her that well and he had no idea if she needed him…or if he needed her. If he just needed someone to tell him what to do. He knows that she won't give him any orders even though he needs some in that moment. She's not like that. Your life is your own. That's what she said. She's not the type to tell others what to do…and she was pretty preoccupied anyway, it seemed. She was still but her aura…it was moving.

And so was the President's.

And he didn't know what to make of it. It was like they were talking but without words. He could see it, the exchange of energy itself, passing back and forth between the two of them. He had never seen anything like this…and he had no idea if this was good or bad. If they had reached some sort of conclusion or if the fight was just getting started…again. He was tired of fighting. He was tired of running.

He was tired.

He joined Sho, went back to his side, because he had to find some way of making things ok between the two of them. He had no idea if that was even possible. He had turned a blind eye to so much over the years….and Sho had gotten so hurt…and Serizawa had always just let it happen. Of course Sho was angry with him. Of course Sho probably wanted nothing to do with him anymore. They were probably done….

His friend.

Probably not anymore.

He was selfish. He had been selfish all of these years, all the years he called Sho his friend but let him get hurt over and over again, and he was being selfish now. Everyone was watching the President and Miss Kageyama with baited breath. Were they going to fight or were they done? Everyone was worried about that, something of consequence, and he was worried about himself.

What was wrong with him?

He was thrown from his own internal struggle with a shift, subtle but there, in the energy around them. Whatever the President and Miss Kageyama had been doing it was done with now. Now both of their auras were back where they belonged….though he couldn't remember the President having that much yellow in his aura before…

"Was it worth it?" asked Mob. She couldn't see…something was covering her eyes…but she also could see. She could see all of the people around her…they were all alright. Everything was alright. She was alright. They had returned to nothing and then returned from that.

So, really, everything was fine.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" asked Suzuki. The world was black. The world was white. The world was him and her. She was the focal point to the world at that moment. He had no idea what had happened, where he had been, or where he was now. She was all that mattered. All that he could see was her. Her light. Her being.

Her.

"I don't know." Said Mob

"I don't know either." Said Suzuki.

Then they both collapsed.


	72. Tired

Good.

This felt good.

Becoming one felt good.

She was back in her own body, her own vessel, and all of it's boundaries. It's limits. The limits of her and the limits of him. The boundary of her and the boundary of him. The limit. Him. Her. There. Good. Warm. Sticky. Slick. Good. So good. The most good. Her in her vessel and him in his but him in her vessel as well…

Good.

"Good. Good, good, good, good, so good…" said Mob. That was what she felt so that was what she said. Good. This felt good, the most good, and she had to say so. She had to. To tell him how she felt. She had to tell him with words because she could not tell him any other way. This was not what they had…what she had been…this was different. She had a body, now, and this body had limits. There were so many limits. So many boundaries.

But that made it good.

Because this didn't hurt. She knew where she began and ended. She knew where he began and ended. She knew where they were connected. There. Here. Like this. She ran her hand across his back. She felt him, the boundary of him, the limit of him, the limits of her. he was sticky and slick at the same time. Her hand felt it, him, his back. The boundary of him. Just the one hand, of course, because the other was pinned down. She was laying sideways now, she had been for a while. She wasn't sure how they had ended up here.

Well she had asked him.

She had been carried back to the lab place. Teru had carried her after she passed out. She woke up while he had been carrying her down the hall. She let him carry her even though she had still been awake. She wanted to be near him, then and now. He had carried her over to the bed and put her down…and then she would have been away from him…so she told him not to go and then somehow they had ended up, like this, all tangled up in one another.

"I love you…oh God I love you…." Said Teru. Mob kissed him as best as she could from that angle. He said some more stuff, much of it not in Japanese, but she didn't mind. She wanted to hear his voice, she wanted to be near him, she wanted to be with him. she was with him. She was with him right now.

And it was so good.

His hand found hers. The hand that was pinned. His hand was pinned down, too. They were sideways, which they had never been before, but was very good. There wasn't…she had been…before it had bothered her, the weight of him on her, but now…now she didn't know. She wasn't afraid of…of anything anymore. How could she have ever been scared? This was so, so, so, so, so good…

"This feels good." Said Mob figuring out how to put her words in order. Before she hadn't even used words Just thoughts and feelings. There had been no limits on how she could express herself. No matter what she had been understood completely and totally. He had understood her, Touichirou, back when they were in the…wherever they were. The void. The abyss. The place without limits. The place where they were just…them. Without limits and without vessels.

Mob didn't want to go back.

Even though she had understood everything. Even though, for once in her life, she had heard and had been heard. She had understood and had been understood…but that was not this. This was…this was another level of understanding, another way of being understood. She was sharing herself, her vessel, and having someone else share themselves with her. She was kissed. She kissed back. She kissed back just as hard as she was being kissed. This she understood.

This felt good.

"Shigeko….oh my God Shigeko….oh my God…." Said Teru over and over again. He pushed against her, into her, and she made a noise that she could never recall having had made before. Her throat felt raw and her eyes hurt, it was bright in there, and her skin…her she could never remember feeling as much as she was feeling right then and there. She was sweaty. She was sweaty and slick and so was he and she knew that it should have been gross but…but it didn't. It felt good.

"This feels good." Said Mob softy. It took her a moment to put choose her words and put them in the right order. She had to use words now. Words, not ideas, even though this was kind of like words and ideas…all at once…but with bodies and vessels and even auras…though hers was dim. The room used to shake when they did this…but she didn't have the strength. She was still there in bubblegum pink and electric blue, and so was he in deep gold, but she was dimmer now…tired…more….

She was still there.

But she was still tired.

New. Everything felt new. The silk of the sheets against her side. The red of the room hitting glaring into her eyes, the itchiness of her hair plastered to her head, the softness of his skin underneath her fingers…all of it. It had even hurt, a little, when they started…this. When he laid her down and she opened her eyes to all of this bright red…when she reached her hand over and took his…when she pulled him down to her just so he could be near her….

When he kissed her.

She had kissed him, back, and it had been…it had been the best thing ever…and she had wanted more. She wanted more and she got it. She pulled him down and pulled him close and he got closer to her, so close, and then at some point she had lost the clothes that she had been wearing and so had he and now they were there. Skin to skin. Flesh to flesh. Vessel of vessel. Limit to limit. They were limits. They had limits.

Limits could be good.

Because this did not hurt. It had hurt a little, just a little, when they started. When their clothes had gone to…she'd find them later….when their clothes had gone to some other place and they were there and she wanted nothing more, nothing better, than to become one with him…and then she had kissed him…and he had kissed her…and his skin had been so soft against hers…and then they were one and…and it was this and this was amazing…the most amazing thing. Even if it hurt a little. Uncomfortable. Just a little. Even though they had done this so many times already…and this was…this was not like those times. This was different.

And not just because they were on their sides.

And not just because their fingers were laced together, pressed together, pressed into her…pressed into him. He was kissing her and she was kissing him and he was moving and she was moving and they were moving and the bed jumped a little which meant that her strength was returning but that was ok and everything was ok and this was good and they were good and everything was good-

"Oh….fuck…" said Teru. He said it before he got really rigid and then just sort of…stopped. He stopped and he leaned back, his back was to the wall, and he just sort of laid there…and he was so happy and red…and this whole room was red.

She kissed him again.

He kissed her back but not as hard. Slower, more tired…and that was…Mob rocked against him.

"Teru…why'd you stop?" asked Mob. She was getting better at ordering her words, now. She could pick them out and put them in the right order and make herself be known with words. Known and heard and understood. It had been easier in the void, when she had been returned to nothing, but now she was something, someone, back in her vessel…

Her hand was still pressed against his.

She kissed him. His mouth, his neck, his chest, all of it. The skin of him. His vessel. His limits. Him. He was soft and sweaty and salty…and he also tasted kind of like dirt…but he was still amazing and this was amazing and she had no idea what she'd do without him…without everything….

She loved him.

"Again?" asked Teru. He opened his eyes slowly. For once, just for once, he had not been about to cry. Well he had felt like it but he had not felt like he had been on the precipice of some abyss. He had felt like crying a little, just a little, but he had managed not to. She was there and she was his and the first thing she wanted to do when she woke up from that weird, death like, sleep….the first thing she had wanted to do was him. Be with him…like this.

God. He loved her.

He was with her again. She was there and she was his and she was alive…and so was he…and everyone had lived and now it was all done…and that had been more than he had ever thought was possible. From what had happened. He had thought, been sure of, the fact that he was going to die. That she was going to die. That they were all going to die…but they had made it. Everyone had made it and now everyone was alive and…and that was good.

This whole thing was good.

Especially her. Especially the way she was rocking again him. Her hand met his, and her other hand was tracing patterns up and down his back, and she was kissing him…and if she wanted this again then he could…even though he was dead tired. He wasn't sure if he had slept, actually, or what he would have called whatever state he had been when he had been buried in the dirt…he was tired. He was tired and he wanted to sleep…

But he also wanted this.

Her.

"Teru…you feel good. This feels good. I want more." Said Mob between kisses. She had never felt anything so good in her life…well she must have but now, well, all she could remember was how much it had hurt. Before. How much pain she had been in…and she was so tired of pain….she wanted to feel good, not bad. She wanted to feel close to someone, not alone, not all alone in her vessel and her limits.

This vessel. Her vessel. His vessel. Their vessels.

His hand left hers and traced down her thigh. She made that noise again, that one that she knew should have embarrassed her, as his hand went down her thighs and then stopped at her knee, and then moved upwards…this was good. This was the best. He was the best and he loved her and this was love and this was what love felt like and it felt good and she was feeling something good for the first time in so long and it was all over and she was there and she was alive and he was alive and everyone was alive and it just felt so good to be alive….

"Teru….I love you." Said Mob. That was how she felt. That was how the words were supposed to be, the order that they were supposed to be in. She wished that she had been back in the void, but with Teru this time, because maybe I love you was not enough words. She wanted him to know, to know how she felt, to know what this was to her…for him…what he was to her…what he was for her…was love enough? Was there a bigger words than love?

She didn't know.

All she knew was that he was making her feel good and she already felt good because she was alive…and this was the best.

The very best.

"I love you too….Oh God I love you so fucking much…." Said Teru. She was still rocking against him. She was still there and she still wanted this and he wanted nothing more than to make her happy. She deserved it. She saved them, she saved him, and…and he hadn't been able to save her. He closes his eyes. He sees it. The explosion.

The white explosion. The slow explosion. It expanded outwards and upwards. It expanded until it took a form…her form…and he couldn't run anymore…and he didn't want to…and then he got caught up in it. In her. That was what it had felt like, her, being within her. Within her aura, not her body, they both felt good but in different ways. He had been prepared for whatever that was, then, because if that was death then he welcomed it. Her. Him. Together.

But he hadn't died.

And she hadn't died.

And now they were here. This was not what he had set out to do when he carried her to his room. He had just laid her down on his bed because she was sleeping and he was sleepy and it had just been so much, too much, and he hadn't wanted to think about how much it had been…so he had busied himself finding her something to sleep him, something that he could dress her in, because she was wearing that wedding dress…and it didn't fit…and also she had been wearing Reigen's coat….

He hated that dress.

He hated that coat.

And he loved her.

And he had just wanted to put her in something other than that hideous, terribly, ensemble. Her dress that didn't fit, that was burnt, that was torn, that had been covered in blood before….and Reigen's fucking coat. He needed to dress her in something else, anything else, and he had been mentally kicking himself for not packing any of her clothes when he had been hit over the head with Reigen's jacket…and her dress…

And then she had asked him to come to bed with her.

And then she had kissed him.

And then she had asked him to become one with her.

Which was the new phrase that he was using for this. There was no other way to describe it. He had been inside of himself and inside of her and she had been inside of herself but also all around him…and it had never felt like that before. Not even the first time. But he hadn't cried…even though he had wanted to…even though he still wanted to…

He was just that happy.

And so was she, it seemed. She was saying his name over and over again. Teru. Teruki. Over and over again like a prayer. Her nails were digging into his skin, her thighs were cutting off circulation to his hand, and it was wonderful. Being with her like this. Being with her at all. He had almost lost her…but now all of that was over…it was over and done with. He wondered if this was how it felt when a big war was over. You were done fighting and then you go to go home to the woman you loved. The fighting was done with…it had to be…although maybe they should have done something about that guy instead of just leaving his naked ass to freeze out in the cold…although in his defense Sho hadn't let anyone go near his father after he passed out, nearly naked in the dirt….

Good. He deserved it.

He had hurt Shigeko and he deserved what he got.

"Teru…keep going…" said Mob. She wanted to feel like that again. Again and again and again and again until she forgot what pain felt like. She never wanted to hurt again. She never wanted to feel…any of what she had felt before again. She can still kind of feel it when she thinks about it. Her body burning away. Her skin popping and bubbling…

The bed floats a little.

But just a little. Her powers feel far away and slippery, like trying to catch a greased up medicine ball would probably be like. She can feel the other Shigeko, there, but she feels like she's far away too. Far away and asleep. Deep asleep. Mob was done sleeping…even though this is very comfortable…and not just comfortable but…she leans herself more into Teru. Their skin is sticking together, now, and it's kind of hot and itchy. She shifts…and regrets it. There's a wet spot under her and it feels…not the best…but not the worst either….

She's happy.

He's making her happy. She's making him happy. A positive feedback loop. Sort of. One with bodies, not powers, one with limits. Limits that she does not mind. The limits make it better in a way…and it's already pretty amazing…

"Teru…Teruki….please…" said Mob breathlessly. She was tired of feeling bad. She wanted to feel good. She wanted him to make her feel good. She wanted to make him feel good. She wanted them to become one….but in the good way. The way with auras. The way with limits.

"A-Are you sure? I mean I remember what you said before about what happened and I just….I don't want to make you upset…and I don't want to remind you of what happened with-" said Teru. The last time they had done this she had said that she had been so upset that she had gone into her own mind until it was done…and that had been like getting kicked in the chest, the balls, and the back of his head all at the same time…and his only saving grace was that he had not known. That was why they were on their sides, now, because having his full weight on her was a thing…and he did not want to make her feel like that again…and if he was making her feel like that again, especially after she had saved the world, then he would not have been able to live with himself….

"Teru…please. I'm happy…so happy…you make me so happy…" said Mob between kisses. She kissed his mouth, his cheek, the side of his neck, the spot where she could feel his pulse, his collar bone, over his heart, wherever she could find. He tasted salty. She liked it.

"Holy fucking shit….you want this that badly? Me? Shigeko…just…wow…thank you…thank you so much…I can't believe…do you really want this that badly? Me?" asked Teru. There was a thing in movies where after the main male and female lead had some sort of big, climactic, near death experience they decided to have another big, climactic experience. Art imitated life, it seemed, because she had never been this…insatiable…before. He likes that word. It feels good in his mind. On his tongue, too, though he does not speak it. He's filthy, he's exhausted, and he knows that he looks terrible but he just does not care. How could he? She's there and she loves him and she wants him.

And he's happy to be alive.

And this is their epilogue. This is the end of their movie and now they're going to live happily ever after. If this had been an old movie, something post war but pre mass adaption of color, they would have cut to fireworks or cherry blossoms by now. Then the end credits would start and that would have been the end of it…but this was not the end of it. No, this was their beginning…

"You. I want you." Said Mob. She wanted to become one with him and nobody else…well not nobody else…but she was not going to think about….about that right now. About him right now. About the grey coat she could see tossed over on the floor. She loved…she loved Teru…and right now that was what…everyone was ok. Everyone was ok and she needed just a few hours of not beating herself up over all of this….over stuff…she kissed Teru again. She kissed him again and he went back to what he had been doing…

And she had never felt so close to him before.

She knew how this had made her feel, before. How all of it had made her feel. Not in the beginning but after all of the stuff with Mogami…she knew that she should have been afraid but…but she was not afraid. She was not afraid of anything anymore. How could she had been? She had died. Her body had been destroyed and her soul had been free…and it had hurt so much….and then she had returned to nothing, to the void…

And she had come back.

Maybe the void was the other side. Maybe she had gone to the same place where all of the spirits she exorcised went. Maybe she had been well and truly dead and now she was….she wasn't a spirit and she wasn't a zombie. She didn't think that zombies could be real, anyway, because she had never seen a spirit possessing a corpse. She was alive. She had made this body, remade it, and she was remembering…coming back. How much it hurt. How much all of it had hurt…

"I'm sorry." Said Teru. It had been too much for her. Her eyes were closed and she was starting to get all nonresponsive. He knew what that meant. He had pushed her too hard again and now she was going inside of her own head, again, and it was all his fault and-

"You stopped…and you apologized….why?" asked Mob. She opened her eyes. He was so close that he looked blurry. She could see him but also not. How did she look to him laying that close? What was this like for him? What was anything like for him? Was he remembering too? How much it must have hurt? He had been hurt when they had met up…before the great big fight…was he thinking about that? Or was it over for him, gone from his mind, and now he was thinking about…about regular things? What was it even like to think about regular things? Mob didn't even remember….

"I saw you, what you were doing. How you went all nonresponsive. I don't want to make you feel like that again…how I had made you feel before. I never want to make you feel like that again." said Teru softly. She propped herself up on her arm and looked at him for a very long time. The longer she looked at him the more assured he was of the fact that he had fucked up and that she wanted nothing more to do with him….

"Teru…why do you think that? That I felt bad? You're making me feel good, Teru, I would have told you if you were making me feel bad." Said Mob

"But you…before. You didn't before. Before you just went inside of your head while I was…while we were…and I don't want to make you feel like that again…" said Teru. There. The crying had started. She was still looking at him. He couldn't read her face or her aura…what aura he could see. She reached out and brushed his tears away.

"I don't feel like that anymore. I'm happy, now. You make me happy. Being with you, right now, like this, is making me happier than I've been in so long. Teru….I've been sad for so long. I've been mad for so long. I've been hurt and scared for so long….I don't want to feel like that anymore. I want to be able to be happy again. To feel good again. I want…Teru I want to feel good….because I'm so tired of feeling bad…and I don't want you to feel bad anymore. I don't want that." Said Mob

"I-I can't help it. It's just…I want this with you. I love you and I love having this with you…and I just…we saved the world. We just saved the whole fucking world….and we should be celebrating…hell, we were celebrating…and I should not be feeling like this…" said Teru

"You can feel however you want to feel. I can't tell you how to feel…and I don't think that you should tell yourself how to feel, either. I think that you should just feel whatever you feel right now in this moment." Said Mob

"Ok…ok. I feel…I feel love. I feel love for you and I feel you loving me…and I feel…I'm happy to be alive. There were so many times that I thought that I was going to die…that I was going to lose my life and their lives…and your life. I thought that I was going to lose you…but you're here. You're here and you're alive and that's all I want…I want to feel good too….but I just…I love you and I can't stop thinking about how close I came to losing you…" said Teru

"You didn't lose me. I came back to life…if I even died. I might have died…I know that I lost my body and I had to put it back together…and I know that it hurt…and I just want to feel good. I want to feel good, here, with you. I don't….I don't want to think about what happened to me or to you guys or to…I just want to be here, now, with you. That's all that I want." Said Mob

"That's all that I want, too…" said Teru. She had lost her body…he had known that already. He had seen her lose her body, her vessel. He had seen her turning night into day. She had been so bright, so very bright, and so beautiful that it had hurt to look at her…but he had looked at her. He had been looking at her until the very end and it had been-

He kissed her.

She kissed him back.

She wanted to feel good. He wanted to feel good. They both wanted to feel good right then in that moment.

So why not just…feel good?

Reigen did not feel good at all.

He should have been happy. Mob was alive, all of the esper kids were alive, and he was alive too. That was the best outcome that any of them could have hoped for. Alive. Alive and well, actually. Better than well. Sure their clothes had been ruined, clothes could be so easily replaced, but their bodies had healed once they had been enveloped in…whatever that had been. The explosion.

No more scars.

Those Scars had lost their scars. The prominent ones on their faces. He had his scars, too, the one on his knuckle, his knee, even the spot where he had cut himself shaving…all gone. He was better than fine and so were the esper kids and those former Scars…so, really, he should have been happy. It was over. The final battle had ended, the villain had been defeated, the hero had won, and now it was time so see what else was on. If they had been in one of Mob's shows, anyway. Real life was a whole other story. This was real life and in real life things didn't just go back to normal once you beat the bad guy…

The city was still in ruins.

Some of the buildings around the explosion had been put back together….and Reigen did not trust them. He loved Mob, he really did, but she was not a structural engineer. Maybe that was why there weren't any helicopters or planes or whatever investigating that big tree…thing. The big tree that looked like a broccoli stalk…and felt wrong to look at for too long. That thing…it was not right. He did not like looking at it.

So he stopped.

He was on his way back to the Awakening Lab now. Mob had passed out after whatever it was with that Suzuki guy. She had just collapsed but her boyfriend had, luckily, been there to catch her. He had nowhere else to go but the Awakening Lab, Reigen had offered up his home but he had no takers, and he had taken Mob back with him. Reigen knew that he should have been the one to carry Mob home, to their home, and he should have been the one to keep vigil over her…but he also knew that he was not who she needed right then and there.

The dust had cleared.

He could see, clearly, what had happened between them. All of it. He had not been there for her…he had almost died for her…but he had not been there for her. That was why he was avoiding her, sort of. That was what he told himself. It had nothing at all to do with Dimple possessing Mob and kissing him. Nothing to do with that at all. That had just been something….something bad that Dimple had done…and it hadn't been Mob at all…

Even though it had been her.

But he could hate himself about that later. He could hate himself for that split second, that delay, in which he had actually…he could hate himself for that later. He could hate himself for everything that had gone wrong later. He could hate himself for the fact that he had been unable to stop her from diving headfirst into danger, for not being able to protect her from…from everything that he had seen…for not being the man that she wanted him to be. That she had needed him to be.

He had been scared out of his mind.

And she had seen him scared out of his mind. She had seen him panicking. She had seen…she had seen a lot. He had ben panicked and scared and…and a lot of other things. Even when he had gotten himself under control, after he had almost died by that Suzuki guy's hand, he had been panicked. He should have had it under control…though he had no idea how anyone was supposed to have that situation under control. Some wannabe shonen villain had honestly tried to take over the world.

And a fourteen year old girl had kicked his ass.

Mob hated fighting, she hated violence, and yet she had been the one to deliver the much needed ass whupping to that…that words that Reigen should not have been using. Heh. What would his mother say if she knew that he knew even half of those words? She'd have had words for him, his mother, if she hadn't already…

No bars.

No signal.

No internet.

No phone.

Cut off from the world.

Whatever. He could just imagine what his mother was going to shout at him. It would start with her berating him for not calling and it would end with her telling him that he had been taking terrible care of Mob. Well she would not have been wrong on either account. He hadn't picked up his phone back when calls had been able to get through and he had not been able to keep Mob safe. Not now and not…not then either. But she would not have seen it that way. She was incapable of seeing him for what he was…

She had called him a good person.

Back when they had gone their separate ways…when he had abandoned her….and she had come back she had called him a good person. Even though he had pushed her away. Even though he had lied to her. Even though he had treated her like…like she was nothing. She had still called him a good person even though he had done nothing to deserve that…even now he was…

He didn't know what he was.

The guy bringing her a change of clothes. He was the guy bringing her a change of clothes because all she had to wear was his suit coat and that wedding dress she had gotten from…somewhere. Heh. Mob had stolen a wedding dress. Well that was better than her fighting naked….and now he's remembering something that he should not have. She had been…thank God her little brother had found that dress. That damned dress….

He hated that dress.

Why did it have to be white? Even in the dark of the nigh the blood stood out…Mob's and…there had been so much blood. She had gotten so hurt…but she had continued to fight. She had fought on and on and on like he sometimes heard her telling herself when she practiced her sit-ups or pushups or whatever else-ups that they had been working on in her club. She had fought on and she had won and now it was all over and they could put that dress back where it came from.

He wished that he had another uniform for her to wear.

Because that was what she should have been wearing. She was a fourteen year old girl, not some kind of anime hero. She should have been in her school uniform and her gym shoes and not…not how she had been…not in that damned wedding dress. It's stupid, he knows, to be so angry at an article of clothing…but he cannot help it. He knows that he should have been happy, that he had no reason to be angry with her dress, but he was.

And he was angry at himself.

And he was angry at that tree, too, that followed him no matter where he walked. He was walking back to the Awakening Lab. He was freshly washed and freshly dressed and he was ready to greet the day…what was left of it…and he had some clothes in an old grocery bag for Mob to change into, and then after she changed then they could figure out what their next move would be. The whole thing, that whole long thing, had been over and now they could move on with their lives…

The office had burnt down.

A good portion of the city had burnt down.

The schools were most likely closed.

There were posters everywhere saying that the trains outside of the city were free…probably in an effort to get people to leave. Downtown was in ruins. The economy around here was probably shot to hell. If there was no work then there was no reason for people to stick around….which would then tank the real estate market….and the economy hadn't been that great to begin with…

Maybe he should move.

The thought is absurd. Where would he even go? He couldn't take Mob away from her friends and her brother and her boyfriend. She needed stability. She needed safety and stability because she had been without both of those for so long. He…he wanted to give her all the safety and stability that he could…but he couldn't give her that here.

A cold wind blew.

He wanted to put as much distance between himself and that tree, and this city, as possible. It was over…at least it seemed like it was over. Suzuki had keeled over, hopefully dead…and that's a terrible thought to think….but also he deserved it for what he did. He was done, it was done, and now there was nothing left for everyone to do but pick up the pieces of their lives…

The esper kids had all gone home.

Ritsu had gone with them, well with his girlfriend, and Reigen…his heart went out to the kid. He couldn't even begin to imagine what that must have been like. To live though all of that, to have had to see all of that, and then to have his home burnt to the ground. One of those guys had told the kid that he could have it fixed up in a few days but…still. Poor kid.

Reigen didn't blame him for not wanting to be by Mob's side.

Not when his girlfriend so clearly needed him. That girl…Reigen owed that girl his life. He owed Mob his life. He owed a lot of teenage girls his life. That poor kid, though, she had been a mess during all of…that. She had still stepped up, though, and she had saved them all. So, yeah, she deserved some time with her boyfriend. Not that Reigen could have told Ritsu to stay with him and Mob until something was done about his living situation…no. Reigen did not have that kind of power and Ritsu hated his guts, it seemed, though Reigen had no idea why.

The lying.

The fact that he had used Mob, shamelessly used her, for years.

All the ways he had failed to keep her safe.

So, yeah, Reigen deserved the kid's blatant dislike. He got what he deserved out of this world. But not…he did not deserve Mob. He had done nothing in his life to earn him someone like her. Someone as transparently good as her. Someone who would gladly lay her life on the line for him. She had been prepared to die for him. He had been prepared to die for her. They were even…and it never should have come to that…and it would never come to that again. He would never put her in a position where she would ever be in that kind of danger.

Ever.

And he meant it, this time.

She was safe, though, as safe as she could be. He was coming up on the lab now…and he could sort of see her aura…but it was dim. It had been dim since they had dug her up. She had been so out of it and her aura had been so dim but she was still alive and she was ok and he would keep her safe, he would always keep her safe, and-

And he meant it, this time.

Sho meant it when he told everyone to get leave him alone.

"Get the fuck away from me! I mean it this time!" shouted Sho for what felt like the millionth time that day. Dad was asleep. He was breathing, his aura was dull but there, so he wasn't dead yet. He was just sleeping. Sho had picked him up and tried to lay him in a comfortable position. Some pillows, a futon, and bedding had been liberated from what was once some kind of bedding store and put to good use. Dad may have been trying to take over the world, he may have almost killed his own son, and he may have embarrassed Sho more than he had ever thought humanely possible…but he did not deserve to sleep on the cold ground.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I just thought…you seemed like you were cold, that's all." said Serizawa. He got away from Sho like he had been told. Sho had been keeping vigil over the President and Serizawa had been…he had been keeping vigil too. Even after everything that had happened, everything that had gone wrong, he still cared about the President…

Something was wrong with him.

The President had almost killed Sho. He had treated him so poorly…and then he had almost killed him…and he had killed so many people…and he had made Serizawa complacent in so many bad things…and now they were here. They were out in the cold. The President was sleeping in his robe on the outdoor bed Sho had made. Sho was shivering, his face was red, and his hands were buried in his pockets…and yet he rejected Serizawa's offered blanket. It had been found in a pile of rubble left over from what had once been a store…

Stealing was wrong.

Well, this might have been looting…and it didn't matter. He had committed a lot of crimes…like treason. Treason was a pretty serious crime…and he knew that he should have started running like the others had. The other members of the Ultimate Five, Minegishi and Hatori, had run away once the dust settled. Shibata was still out there somewhere and Shimazaki…well he had probably gotten himself to safety ages ago. His friends…at least he had always considered them his friends. Now he was not so sure. He didn't know what anything was any more.

He knew what real friendship looked like, now.

And he knew that the only thing he had that had even been close to friendship had been what he'd had with Sho. Sho…Sho who now didn't want anything at all to do with him…and that was fine. That was…that was not anything that Serizawa did not deserve. He had been a pretty terrible friend to Sho. Sho had almost died…and it had all been Serizawa's fault.

If he had just stepped in sooner….

"Now you care about me?" asked Sho. He was cold, so cold, but he didn't want anything from Serizawa. Not after the shit that he had pulled. So he'd put his life on the line for a guy he had never even met before but he would gladly listen to Sho getting the crap kicked out of him for the millionth time? How the fuck did that even work?!

"I-I-I…I have always cared about you. There had never been a time, since I've met you, that I haven't cared about you, Sho. I…I am so sorry. I am so sorry for…for everything. Everything that I've put you through. I should have done more to protect you. I should have…I should have defected when you asked me to. I have been a terrible friend and I understand if you want nothing more to do with me." Said Serizawa. That was everything that needed to be said. Sho…Sho did not need him. Nobody needed him. He was terrible, the worst, and he understood why Sho as upset with him….it had been nothing that he hadn't earned.

He had made his own bed and now it was time to lay in it.

"Bull shit." Said Sho. He was tired. He wanted to rest. He wanted to lay his head down on that makeshift bed and just…just sleep. He didn't know what had happened to him after the explosion ate him but he knew that, judging by how tired he was, he hadn't been sleeping. He did not want to deal with this right then and there. What did Serizawa want? His forgiveness? Him to tell Serizawa that they were still best buddies for eternity and that everything was forgiven?

Well it wasn't.

"I-I really am sorry…and if you don't want to…to have anything more to do with me then…then I accept that." Said Serizawa. No matter what Sho said he would accept it.

"Shut up already." Said Sho through gritted teeth. He did not want to deal with this. He did not want to deal with anything anymore.

"Sho-" said Serizawa

"Just shut up! I don't want…I don't want to deal with right now! I have been doing nothing but dealing with shit for months! Planning all of this shit…for months! And then-then-then it happened and-and-and I am so fucking tired right now!" said Sho

"I underst-" said Serizawa

"No, you don't….you really don't. I'm tired, Serizawa, I'm cold and I'm tired and I want…I want all of this to be over already. I…I don't want to talk about this with you. I don't want to talk about how mad I am at you. I don't want to talk about how…how you betrayed me. How you were just going to let dad beat me to death…and how you only came back for a guy you…you didn't even know." Said Sho. That was the worst part of all of it. Serizawa would have let Sho die but he would have risked his life, had risked his life, for some guy that he hadn't even said two words to…

"I-I came back for you, too." Said Serizawa. It was too little too late. Sho had been…he hadn't even been conscious when Serizawa had finally decided to stop hiding on the steps like a scared little kid. Then he had carried Sho in his arms…and he had been so hurt…and Serizawa could have saved him from that hurt…

He had been terrible.

"Yeah, after dad had already kicked the crap out of me. After he had kicked the crap out of…out of Ritsu's big sis…and you only came back because of her, didn't you?" asked Sho

"That's not-" said Serizawa

"Yeah…you only came back because of her. If she hadn't of shown up when she did…if she hadn't…you only came back because of her….you only betrayed dad because of her…" said Sho

"There were…it's complicated…" said Serizawa

"Tell me I'm wrong. Come on, Serizawa, tell me to my face that I'm wrong. Tell me that you coming back when you did had nothing to do with Ritsu's big sis." Said Sho

"Sho…I was wrong. I was wrong to betray you, wrong to let you suffer, and she…she showed me how wrong I was. I was….I still am….I'm not a strong man. I'm weak. I'm pathetic. I…I let terrible things happen to you and I…I was so blind and so weak that I hadn't even realized that I was betraying you…and I'm sorry." Said Serizawa

"Yeah…you were wrong. So were so damn wrong…" said Sho

"I was. I was a-and I know that me saying 'sorry' will never be enough." Said Serizawa

"You're right. It won't be." Said Sho

"And I know that you hate me-" said Serizawa

"I don't hate you. I don't hate anybody." Said Sho quietly.

"You'd be right to hate me if you did, Sho. I wouldn't blame you…I hate myself." Said Serizawa

"Shut up." Said Sho

"I do. I hate what…what I let myself become. The sort of person I am…to you. To everyone…and myself. I hate-" said Serizawa

"Don't be stupid. There's no point in hating yourself. Just try and do better next time. Try and fix what you've done wrong. You think that I'm not mad at myself for all the fucked up shit that I've let happen over the years? Well I am and instead of sitting around bitching and moaning about all of the terrible shit that I've done I, instead, tried to fix it. I tried to stop dad…I tried…so what are you going to do?" said Sho

"Do?" asked Serizawa. What could he do? He had no idea. The organization to which he had devoted his life to was gone. The President might have been in a coma. His mother was certainly aware of what he had been complacent in…and she probably hated him now…what could he do besides sit there and…and just…just made sure that Sho was ok?

"Yeah, do. What are you going to do to make up for all of the shit that you've done? I don't give a crap that you feel bad, I want to know that you're actually going to do something. Well, are you? Are you going to do something or are you just going to sit there and cry about how you're such a bad person and all of that shit?" asked Sho. Anyone could have gone on and on about how bad they felt. What mattered was making a vow to do better and then acting…acting on that vow. That was…that was the only way that he could have even considered forgiving Serizawa.

"I-I-I don't know…." Said Serizawa. Claw was gone. He had committed terrible crimes so people were probably after him. His mother had probably changed her name and moved away to parts unknown in order to distance herself from him. There was nothing that he could do…nowhere that he could go…

There was the offer.

The one that Reigen had stuttered out at him while they were running for their lives…from Miss Kageyama and…and the President's final light. Before they had been enveloped Reigen had asked, had told him, that if they made it out of this alive he had a job for him…

"But I might have a way." said Serizawa. Maybe it was just the words of a man about to die. Maybe it was a genuine offer. Either way he knew that he had to do something. He had to do something…something that he chose to do…because he had spent so much of his life being blows from place to place like a plastic bag caught in a breeze…and look where that had gotten him. He didn't know where the future would take him, or even what the present had planned for him, but he at least…at least there was something that he could do.

That he wanted to do.

Reigen had no idea what he wanted to do.

Well he knew that he didn't want to be there. The Awakening Lab had been a little worse for the wear but still a hell of a lot better than a lot of the surrounding buildings. Reigen had thought that he wanted to be there, to be there for Mob when she woke up…

But she had been awake for a while, it seemed.

Reigen was grateful that her aura was dim and her powers were, apparently, pretty burnt out for the time being. He was grateful that there was so must distance between the two of them that his aura could barely bond with hers. He was pretty damn grateful for that. The most grateful that he had ever been.

Because he knew exactly what Mob was doing.

And he wished that he could go back to sweet, blissful, innocence.

He had been pointed to where Mob and her boyfriend's room was…and like a moron he had gone to their room to give Mob the clothes he had packed for her. Socks, undershirt, underwear, skirt, T-shirt, sweater, and a nightgown too incase she wanted to wear pajamas. No shoes, though, because she had lost her only pair in the fight…

And maybe his next move should have been to find a shoe store that was opened at the end of the world.

Heh. Maybe Amazon was still delivering…but still no bars. No internet bars and no real bars, either, where he could drink away the memory of what he had heard…and felt…before he had hightailed it right out of there. He knew that as an adult it was his responsibility to cock bloc horny teenagers but…but Mob had earned this. She had fought for them, she had won for them, and she deserved to feel loved and to feel…all of that.

So Reigen was ok with that.

But that did not mean that he wanted to see, hear, or feel what was happening in that room. Nope. He and Mob were close but not that close. He left the bag of her clothes by the door and then made his way across the building until the smell of food ensnared him and he found himself sitting on a stool in the kitchen eating curry with a guy who he strongly suspected that he didn't like.

"Should we do something about…that?" asked Matsuura as he sat across from Reigen nursing his own curry and rice. The cooks had all head for the hills as soon as the Claw guys found the building so now it was just him. Him and Reigen and the two kids that had chosen to stay. The others had gone back to their families. They'd be back later, though, in a few days maybe once things got settled and he managed to fix what had been broken.

Maybe they could even have a party!

"Mob's the one who kicked that Suzuki's guy's ass. She saved all of us. She can get some if she wants. It's not like I'm in any position to tell her to stop." Said Reigen sourly as he picked at his food. Mob and him could do better than this with those curry cubes they sold two for one hundred yen.

"I know….and I'm grateful to her for it! I just…they're just kids…is it, you know, responsible to let them-" said Matsuura

"Listen, I'm not in a good mood right now. Not in the least bit. I just saved a shit ton of kids, your kids, from certain death…so don't you even begin to think that you're in any position to start up about what's responsible. I'd rather Mob and her boyfriend go at it until it goes out of style than have them go back out there and do even a tenth of what they did last night. Ok? If it's a choice between sex and certain death I'll pick sex every time." Said Reigen not even looking up. Mob wasn't the only one who was out of it powers wise. His own aura was trying to bond with Mob's even though she was too weak and too far away…which was good. He was keeping this anger, this….all of these feelings to himself…

He scraped his spoon against his plate.

"….I was worried about them too, you know. I mean they're all espers but they're still so young-" said Matsuura. If there had been some way for him to help he would have. He wasn't an esper, he didn't have any abilities whatsoever, and he would have been more of a hindrance than a helper in that fight. Really they were all better off on their own with those other espers, the adults. He was hurt by what Reigen had said but he wasn't about to start anything…he didn't want to be alone…

"They're all in middle school…and they're barely espers. Those kids were sitting ducks. The only one that was useful was Rei…and she's probably been traumatized. Hell, I think that everyone's been pretty thoroughly traumatized. I can't believe…you know what? People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. I'm just as guilty as you are and I am in no mood to pick a fight with you or anyone. I just want to eat and sleep and then…I don't even know." Said Reigen

"You can stay here for as long as you like. I mean I know that a lot of people have lost their homes…" said Matsuura

"My place is fine. I don't need to stay here…but I might. Just to be there for Mob…so thanks for your offer…and….thanks for keeping all of the kids here, at least, for as long as you did. Those damned kids…kids…there's something wrong with these kids today…." Said Reigen

"Who could understand a single thing they say?" said Matsuura

"Why can't they be like we were?"

"Perfect in every way." said Matsuura

"You know Bye-Bye Birdie?" asked Reigen

"I've seen it a couple of times. You?" asked Matsuura

"My mother is obsessed with musicals. For a while when I was a little kid I thought that all music came from movies. Heh. If she could see me now." Said Reigen

"My mother was the same way. She wanted me to get into show business but I…I have no talents whatsoever. Not like all of you." Said Matsuura

"So your parents made you feel invisible so you, what, decided to start up this place so you could get psychic powers and then you'd come back and rub it in their faces?" asked Reigen sardonically.

"Yeah. Pretty much. I had a crappy childhood and now I spend all of my time with a bunch of middle school kids and I study their powers, if you can even call it that, so I can finally be someone my mother can be proud of. That's me in a nutshell." Said Matsuura with a shrug. There was no use lying or sugarcoating it. He was what he was.

"You and me are in the same boat, I guess. My parents were grade 'A' assholes and they made me feel like I was no one so I decided to become someone and here I am. My best friend is a fourteen year old girl with a better love life and social life than I ever had." Said Reigen with a laugh. He could laugh, now, and he did. Ridiculous.

This whole thing was ridiculous.

He was sharing a meal with a man who he had every right to hate, letting the kids walk into certain death and all, and yet all he could do was laugh. Was this what he might have been if things had gone differently? If his parents had been rich assholes instead of just assholes? He had no right to throw stones at this man or at anyone. He had no right to…to anything.

But he could laugh.

Because this whole thing had been so absurd. A fourteen year old girl had defeated to so called strongest psychic on Earth. Mob had kicked a grown man's ass….Mob of all people. Heh. Mob had been the one to save him, not the other way around…and that was how it always had been. He had been prepared to….to go up against that madman with only a toy gun and his big mouth for protection…and then Mob had been the one to…to save him…and then he had been running and then…then that light and…and then that damn tree….

"You got anything around here stronger than strawberry milk?" asked Reigen suddenly. He was interrupting, he knew that he was and that it was rude, but he needed a drunk more, then, than he had ever needed one at any point in his life. Even though he knew that he shouldn't have been drinking, that the whole thing could maybe even start up again, and that he had to be there for Mob when she was done with…all of that…

But then he realized that Mob had always been there for him, not the other way around.

A bottle of wine had been produced. For cooking. Not commercial cooking wine, thank God, but still not the best…but Reigen didn't care. For every great crisis in his life he had reached for a drink and this was the greatest crisis that he had ever faced so far. He had almost lost Mob…again…but this time…this time he had been there to see it. This hadn't been inside of someone's mind or body or soul like that shit with Mogami had been…this had been…this had been right there in front of him.

He knew that he should have put that bottle down.

He knew that he should have been responsible.

He knew that he should have been a lot of things.

But he also knew that he just…he could not. He could not be the man that he was supposed to be right then. Besides, he had earned the right to celebrate. Mob was certainly celebrating…and thank God that drinking dulled what little powers he had….yes, this was a practical and pragmatic measure….so there was nothing wrong with what he was doing…nothing wrong with getting stinking drunk in the middle of the day….nothing at all.

Well there was but…but he could worry about that later. Tomorrow. The next day. He'd look back on this day, the one before this, and the one before that…he'd reflect on all of this later. Right now…right now all he needed…all he wanted…

All he wanted was a drink.

Ritsu needed a drink.

He had never had a drink, an alcoholic drink, before in his life…

But he really wanted a drink.

"Rei….Ritsu….ok, just stay calm. You seem fine…just stay calm…ok? Just stay calm and we're going to…we're going to go to the hospital-" said Rei's mom. Ritsu had walked her home. He should have gone with his sister…but she had passed out and Teru had been carrying her and the whole thing just seemed so…not for him. Like it was a moment in a bubble and that if he tried to intrude the bubble would have broken. Shigeko…she was his sister and he loved her but…but she had Teru now and…and he had been a pretty piss poor little brother lately….and he should have stayed with her even if he had been…

But he hadn't.

He had wanted to stay with Sho. Sho who had been so mad…but not mad. No, not just mad. He had been mad and sad and worried and hurt…Ritsu was getting better at reading auras…or just reading him. Sho was his…Sho was his friend and…and he had never made such a fast friend before…and he should have been there for his friend but…

But Rei had needed him.

He owed her one. He owed her two. He owed her everything. She had been the one who had led them to safety. She had been the only one who could have saved them…led them through all of it…all of the things that Ritsu knows that he'll be seeing this in his dreams…his nightmares. Even now when he closed his eyes he saw it…and he didn't want to…and he should have done more…even though he had no idea what it was that he could have done…

"They don't look like they need a hospital. I think that it's their clothes…just their clothes…they're fine." Said Rei's dad. Rei's parents were freaking out…well it seemed like they were freaking out. He didn't know what to make of the fact that nobody was yelling. Mom and dad would have been yelling at each other so loud that the whole neighborhood could have heard…if they had been there. But they were safe in the mountains. They were far away and safe and he…he wasn't worried about them…

He wasn't worried about anything.

Because it was over. The whole thing, that whole terrible thing, was over. He had been preparing for it, worrying about it, and agonizing over it…and now it was all done. It was done and everyone was safe and he was at his girlfriend's house and he was safe and now adults were fussing over him and she wasn't stopping them…she was just holding his hand and…and all of that…

"Are you two hurt? Come on, say something. Anything." Said Rei's mom. Ritsu looked to Rei. She was just staring straight forward. They were on the couch, now, in the living room. She was looking at the TV. It was muted. The picture kept on breaking up into bars and pixels…broadcast. Right. The internet was down and the phones were down and everything was down. Heh. Maybe this was what life had been like in the old days…heh.

"Say something, stupid, Rei…you're so stupid…" said Rei's older sister. She was sitting on the chair, the comfy one by the plants, and she was on her phone even though it didn't work…well it did but there was no internet…and she looked pissed off…was that how older sisters were supposed to be? He couldn't imagine Shigeko being pissed off about anything….

But she had been.

He had caught sight of her, even made eye contact, for a moment when she had been in the middle of fighting Sho's dad. She had been so pissed off….and he knew that face…she had made that face back when they had been kids. Back when…when she had first lost control…and now he would be seeing that, too, when he closed his eyes…

He was so tired.

"Am not…" said Rei because she knew that she had to say something. She should have yelled at Riko, told her to shut her mouth, but she just didn't have the energy. She was tired. She wanted to go to sleep. She hadn't…she had no idea what had happened during the explosion and the aftermath…but she knew that she had not slept that night. Not if she was this tired.

She wanted to go to sleep.

She was home. He had come with her, Ritsu, and she was holding his hand. She wanted…she wanted to never let go of his hand. Ever. She had been apart from him, before, and she could have lost him…and she never wanted to be apart from him again. She never wanted to…to let go of him. She wanted to lay down in her bed and sleep…and she wanted him to be near her.

She loved him.

He had risked his life for her. If it hadn't been for him, if he hadn't been there to put up a shield to keep her safe…and if he hadn't been there to remind her that she…that she had someone there for her…if he hadn't been there then she had no idea if she could have been able to…to save them. To save herself. If he hadn't been there then she…she had no idea what she would have done.

She held his hand tighter.

She felt his aura touch hers.

She loved him.

She loved him so much….and this was what love was. Love wasn't getting all giggly when he texted her, love wasn't daydreaming about kissing him, and love wasn't…love wasn't thinking about all the stuff that came after that. Love was being willing to risk your life to save someone. Love was…

She loved him.

"You are too. You're an idiot. You went out during a terrorist attack and-and-and you're just so stupid!" said Riko. She got up, ran over to Rei, and punched her in the stomach before she ran through the room, up the stairs, and then the slamming of a door could be heard. Rei didn't mind. She had seen it coming. She had seen it coming but she hadn't stopped her. She could tell that they would make up. She could see that coming, too. She could see everything coming.

She could see the future spread out in front of her.

And it was wonderful.

"Riko! Get back….oh! I'll go after her!" said Rei's mom. Ritsu watched Rei for any sign of…of anything. Nothing. She just kept on sitting there and kept on holding his hand. She showed no sign of letting him go any time soon. Even though her hand was warm and sweaty. Even though they were both dirty and filthy and they probably smelled awful, too. Even though they both…they both needed a bath and a change of clothes and a rest…

He was so tired.

He was too tired to say anything, to do anything, to even keep his eyes opened. The walk to Rei's house had been a long one…and they had spent the night running for their lives…and he could not even remember the last thing that he had eaten….he was tired. She was so tired and he was so tired and they were so tired…

And he just wanted to go to sleep.

"I'm tired….I want to go to bed…" said Rei. She wanted to change her clothes and go back to her own bed in her own room…and she wanted Ritsu to be with her. She didn't ever want to be away from him ever again…even if it was over. She could…she could see the future. The explosion was gone and the future…there was so much of it…

And she wanted nothing more than to see it out with him.

But she didn't see…she could see a future where they…but they would. They would always be together. It was over and she was…she was so happy…and so tired. It was over and she could get back to normal or…or something close to it. She wanted to…she wanted to be with him…

But she couldn't.

Because she had to sleep in her own bed, her parents had said, and that was what she did. Even though it was in the middle of the day she went to sleep in her own bed in her own room…even if she was all alone…Ritsu had been tired, too, and her parents had made him a bed on the couch…away from her…but she didn't want to be away from him…but she had to be…even though she wanted nothing more than to be with him…but…

But at least it was over.


	73. Awake

"…cooking wine?"

Reigen felt something soft under his head. That was…this was new. He had fallen asleep, well passed out, hunched over in the kitchen at the table. The table had been hard. This space was soft…and something warm was over him….

"Is it dangerous?"

He opened his eyes and then immediately closed them again. Too much, too bright, and too much red. There was so much red…what was it with that Matsuura guy and all of this red? It was the worst, eye bleeding-est, shade of red that the good people at the paint company could have conceived. It was designed only for the purpose of torture and torment.

"No…just disgusting."

There was a chill to this room. He huddled closer under the blanket…and it was a blanket. It was a blanket in that same, eye bleeding, shade of red as the walls. How anyone could have lived with so much red was beyond him. He wished that he was in his own home with his own neutrally colored walls faded by years of chain smoking and not closing his blinds during the day…but he wasn't home. He was here.

"Is it really? Have you tried it before, Teru?"

He was here because this was where Mob was. He wasn't going to leave Mob alone…not after what she had gone through. Not that she had been alone. He could hear her, her and her boyfriend, and he….he didn't know if he wanted to. Now was not the time to be squeamish about what it was that Mob got up to…but he didn't like having confirmation of what it was that she and her boyfriend did together…but she had saved the world. She had saved them all…she could do whatever she wanted to at this point.

"Once. Just once…and it was disgusting. I mean if you drink enough of it you'll feel…something…but it was not worth how sick I got afterwards or how truly terrible it tasted."

She sounded fine. She felt….she felt fine. Better. It was easier to feel her aura, now, and she sounded less…spacey…than she had before. How much time had passed? He had no idea. This room had no windows. A lot of the rooms didn't have windows. It was a gutted apartment building, that guy had said, and as a consequence there were a lot of rooms that hadn't existed before. Room enough for all of the espers he had planned on finding…though he hadn't though that they would be all kids. Some kind of bizarre baby boom about fifteen years ago, it seemed, though Matsuura had only been able to gather so much data…and Reigen wished that he would have just shut up about…about all of it…

"I'm glad that you're ok now, Teru. I drank once, too, and I only got a little sick. I mostly just felt good."

This was not the place for kids. Kids….this had been too much for a bunch of kids. Kids Mob's age. Younger. All of this…but it was over. This whole thing was over and Mob was fine. If Mob was fine then he should have been fine, too. He had…he had survived and everyone had survived and he…he was just so grateful that she was still alive.

"Good. I like it when you feel good."

He was not grateful to have heard that. No, he could have lived a long life without having had heard that. He could have lived long enough without ever hearing the tone of voice from that kid…or the way Mob laughed, there, a few seconds afterward. She must have gotten his meaning…and he wished that she had been clueless. He wished that he had been clueless. He wished…he wished that the discomfort he felt right then and there could have overridden all of what he felt after…after all of that…

"Teru! Don't say things like that where people can hear!"

She sounded embarrassed, then, and she felt embarrassed…..or maybe that was his own embarrassment. She sounded like a normal, fourteen year old, girl then. She sounded the way that she was supposed to sound. Like she was fourteen and she didn't have a single care in the world besides…besides her boyfriend and feeling embarrassed and…and she didn't have a thought about saving the world or…or anything.

"What? They're asleep and even if they weren't, well, I don't care. I love you and I don't care who knows."

He wondered what was coming for her, for them, for everyone. She sounded fourteen, there, and…and he wanted her to sound fourteen for the rest of her life. Well for the rest of her life where it would have been appropriate to sound fourteen. She was…she was just a kid…and she had gone through so much….he pulled his aura away from hers. She was happy. Well neutral….but she was not upset and that was what mattered. She was the one who had every right to be upset…but she was fine…and he should have been fine, too.

"Teru….you're not talking about love. I know that you're not talking about love." Said Mob. She cast a glance in Master Reigen's direction. He was asleep…maybe. She knew what his breathing was like when he was deep asleep but he might have just been half asleep. Like when he fell asleep sitting up at his desk, sometimes. She could sort of feel his feelings…and he might have been having a bad dream. She understood if he was. It had been a lot for her and would have been even worse for him.

"It's got nothing at all to do with love?" asked Teru. He asked like he was kidding, he hoped that she had been kidding, but he couldn't stop that feeling that was settling into his chest….that cold sort of feeling. Cold and…and now his heart was beating kind of fast, too…but he was ok. She loved him. She had told him a million times…and half of those million times had been just then in that borrowed room…God, he loved her so much….

"No…I mean it does….I did all of that with you because I love you…and also because…because I wanted to feel good. I mean I know that sometimes people only do that to feel good but…but that was not one of those times. I mean that…that I wanted to be with you because I love you more than anything and…and I wasn't really thinking clearly, I guess. I mean that my thoughts were all…fuzzy. I just knew that I loved you and I wanted to feel good and I wanted you to feel good, too." Said Mob. She tried to find words for how she felt, then, and found none. Well 'good' was a word but it was not a word that could properly encompass all that she felt…and she felt so good, though, then….and she felt good now, too. Being near him. Being there. Being alive. Being herself.

"I get it…you were happy to be alive…and so was I. I still am, of course, but I was…it was a lot. I thought that I had lost you…but that doesn't matter now! It happened and now it's over and…and let's have breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Food! Let's have some kind of meal right now and just…just have some kind of meal right now." Said Teru. He was still shook…even though he knew that there had been no reason to be. It was over, it was all over, the world had been saved and the credits had rolled and now…now this was their epilogue. The part where they all lived happily ever after…

He hadn't watched those sorts of films in years.

The sorts where everything was all wrapped up in a neat little package at the end. After the credits rolled the people all lived their bets lives or whatever. Well that was not…that was not how the real world worked. In the real world…in the real world so much, still, could have gone wrong. They had beaten the bad guy…but even then he still might have felt like going for round two. Even then there still might have been an even bigger bad guy, later. That was how it worked in manga and anime and all of that. Just when you thought you'd won, beaten the big bad, there was an even bigger bad waiting there for you.

And then they would have to fight again.

Then she would have had to fight again. They would…she would…that didn't matter. He had to make her something to eat, now. He had to make and she could not help. He was in the kitchen, now, and she was there too. They had gone their originally and had, instead of finding food, had found Reigen and Matsuura passed out with a bottle of cooking wine between them. Adults…he would never understand adults.

Cooking wine was truly disgusting.

And so were adults. They thought that because they were older they could do whatever they wanted. They could be whoever they wanted. That they could just…just do whatever they wanted! Who the hell thought that they could take over the whole world! This whole thing was just…it was ridiculous! It was stupid! It was so stupid and then….and then they all had to go through that and…and he had almost died, he had almost died and lost her…lost everyone.

Adults could be truly disgusting sometimes.

He was and was not an adult. He had been taking care of himself for years, now, without help…and that was the way that it was going to be. He reached down to check his phone. It was useless. He didn't have his phone in his pocket because these were pajama pants, they didn't have pockets. These were his marigold and cheddar ones, an underrated color combination if anyone were to ask him, and they were comfortable. He had saved of his wardrobe what he could….he wondered if anything had survived the explosion. He wondered if his apartment building was still standing. He wondered if-

"Teru. You're going to burn it." Said Mob. She wished that Teru would have let her help. She liked to help…and she wouldn't have let Teru burn the food. She wished that she knew what was going on in his head. He had been doing that thing where he talked a lot and talked very fast…and she wished that he would have just slowed down and just…just made himself heard…

And understood.

That was the limit that they were under. Instrumentality…it hurt. It hurt so much. It hurt in a way that nothing had ever hurt before…but it also…it was easier to be understood. Easier. The easiest. She had never understood and been so understood in her life…and that was all over now. She needed to get used to words. She needed to use them again and use them well and use them right….and other people should have, too.

Was that what she had been looking for?

"Sorry. I'm sorry." Said Teru. Right. He had to at least be able to do this. To make her something to eat. He had…he had been useless to her. She had saved him. He knew that he shouldn't have let himself feel that way but his pride was wounded. She had wounded his pride…and he was the biggest piece of shit in the world for feeling like that. It was…it wasn't about the glory of winning but the fact that she had…she had done what he should have been supposed to do. He was the guy, he should have been the one to keep her safe. She was his girlfriend. She was his girlfriend and he…he had almost lost her. Because he had been too weak and powerless to fight…to win…

"I don't mind. I can even help, too, if you want me to." Said Mob. She tried to reach over to him but he took a step away.

"No. I can do this myself. Let me do this for you." Said Teru. He wondered when these feelings would ever end. This feeling of being useless, less than useless even. He should have been there for her, been the one to save her, but she had saved him…she had saved him and then…then what was the point of him being there? For her?

She could leave.

But she wouldn't.

No matter what he did he could not shake that feeling, the feeling that she would leave him alone one day and that it would all be…that he would be all alone. He would be alone and she would be…not with him. With someone else. But that…there were two side to his mind and they argued. There was the stupid part of his mind that kept on trying to convince him that she, his girlfriend, the person he loved most in this world was planning on leaving him the moment she realized how amazing she was. There was the other part of his mind, too, the smart part that told him that he knew Shigeko. She was not the sort of person that would leave him when she realized that she was so amazing and he was just so…not.

Then there was the part, also, that kept on reminding him that they had all almost died yesterday.

"You don't have to do everything yourself, Teru. I'm here too. We're here together." Said Mob

"I know that you're here but….Shigeko, you've done so much for me already." Said Teru

"Do you mean when I did that thing you like? Because that's also kind of for me, too. I like knowing that I've made you happy." Said Mob. She liked the fact that she had, for a little bit, chased away all of the bad feelings from the previous day and replaced them with good feelings. The best feelings. Maybe that was what she had been looking for, a way to feel good, to be happy. She had been so unhappy for so long…and she never wanted to feel like that again.

Had she been selfish, then?

Had she been using him, then, to erase her own bad feelings? Was she just a selfish person? She hadn't been thinking of him, then, or how he felt. She had just wanted to feel good and she had felt good in making him feel good. She had just been so sick of all of those bad feelings…and she was still kind of sick of them. She had just…she wanted to be happy. She should have been happy. She was happy. But if she was happy then why couldn't she just let herself be happy? What was wrong with her that the first thing she did when she realized that she was happy was tell herself that she had been selfish?

What was wrong with her?

"No…I mean I wasn't talking about that…and thank you, by the way, you didn't have to…not that I'm complaining! I just…I meant that…you do a lot for me in general. I mean beyond saving my life! Which was, by the way, amazing. I just…I can't thank you enough for what you did and…and I just…let me do something for you, now. Let me do everything for you." Said Teru

"But I can do things for myself, Teru, you don't have to do everything for me. If you do everything for me then when will you have time to do things for yourself?" asked Mob. She could not be so selfish even if Teru offered. Though it seemed sort of nice…not having to think about anything…having everything done for her. She had been…she felt like she had been holding up the weight of the world, lately. She only had two hands, though, but she had…it had been a lot. Being alone after Mogami…that whole fight and the time leading up to it…she just wanted to rest.

But she had already done a lot of resting.

And now it was time to eat something.

"I don't care about that. I only care about you." Said Teru quickly. He didn't…he was not going to be selfish. He had been a selfish prick when he had met her…and in a lot of ways he had still been a selfish prick even afterwards. He hadn't noticed that there was something wrong with her, after all of that shit with that Mogami spirit, until it was too late…that was on him. It made sense, reasonable sense, that he would be pissed at himself for letting her…for everything that had happened to her, then. It didn't make logical sense for him to beat himself up about not having had been able to save the world from a guy who was so powerful that he could have…any of the things that Teru now saw when he closed his eyes.

"But…but you should also care about yourself. I care about you, Teru, and I think…I think that we should care about each other. We're in a relationship and when two people are in a relationship then they're a team. They're there for each other. You're here for me and I'm here for you. That's how all of this works." Said Mob

"We…we are a team." Said Teru

"We are…and that's why we should think about each other, why we should be there for each other." Said Mob

"You…you're right. We should always be there for each other. You're so right…you're always right." Said Teru

"I'm not always right, Teru, I'm not right about…about a lot of stuff. I mean…I was wrong about…I don't want to think about it." Said Mob

"About what? Tell me what's bothering you and then I can…I can do…something." Said Teru even though he had no idea what he could do. What he could do without holding her and kissing her and just…just making her happy in the best way that he knew how. He was an adult and that was what adults did. Words…words were hard, sometimes, and words….words had meaning but so did actions. He spoke better with his actions than his words, then, because his words…their first instinct was to protect him. To fill up the atmosphere so thickly that she couldn't see through to what he was, what he was feeling. To protect him from…from he didn't even know what.

To protect him from showing himself.

From showing her himself…even though she had seen every single part of him already. Body and soul. They had become one time and time and time again. Body and soul. She had seen him at his weakest tome and time again, at his most vulnerable…and he did not know why it still bothered him. Why the whole things still made him so…so…anxious. If that was the word. He loved her…and he had shown himself to her as he was time and time again…and she…she had made him what he was, now.

She was the one who made him work for what he was.

"It's about…I don't even know. I just feel…I know that I should be happy, and I was happy, and I am happy but…but also I feel like…selfish." Said Mob

'What? Shigeko, no, there is nothing about you that anyone could ever call selfish. You save me and you saved everyone and I…you're not selfish. Ok?" said Teru

"I…it's just that…I made you do all of…I mean I wanted to-" said Mob

"I wanted to, too, you know. You didn't make me do anything that I didn't want to….and I just…please don't ever call yourself selfish, ok? Just…please don't ever call yourself selfish ever again. You're not. You risked your life for me…for everyone…and that's just…I love you, ok? I just…" said Teru. He didn't even know. He knew that he should have been happy too….and he was. He was happy and also about a million and one other things. He loved Shigeko, he loved her the most out of anyone else in the whole world, and he was so happy to be with her…

But there was so…much.

So many feelings. All of them swirling around inside of him…so many of them contradictory, too. He wanted to be near her forever and he wanted to be alone. He wanted to go home and he wanted to never set eyes on that burnt out husk of an apartment again. He was hungry and he was nauseous. He was cold and he was warm.

A lot of feelings.

Maybe he should have done the adult thing and run from them. Maybe he should have found a bottle of cooking wine and drank that….if it would even do anything. It was for cooking, not drinking, and he had gotten sick to his stomach that time he drank it long before he got even a little bit…anything. Maybe he should have found some real liquor or…or something. Because that was what adults did, wasn't it? They ran away? When things got too hard they ran away? They ran away and left you all alone?

But he wasn't alone.

He had been trying to run away, before, and so had she. When they had gotten here. When the dust settled and they found themselves tired and filthy and alone…that was what had happened, wasn't it? They had both been trying to run away from these truly terrible feelings that they both had? They had both wanted nothing more than to…to just be….happy. To find happiness with each other? Because…because there had been happiness in all of that. Happy. They had been happy to be alive…and he was still happy to be alive.

Also he was hungry.

And he decided to settle on that feeling and not the million and one others that had settled somewhere deep within himself.

"I love you too…and if you don't want me to then I will never call myself selfish ever again." said Mob even though she felt…she felt selfish. She felt selfish for letting the fight get as bad as it did. So many people lost their homes and their jobs…and also there was no more Cultural Tower either…and that had been a fun field trip…and nobody else would ever have that fun field trip again…and she had…she should have done more to save the city…and to save him, too…

Was it worth it?

Had she found what she had been looking for?

"Please don't." said Teru. He meant it. He meant it more than he had ever meant anything in his life. She could never have been selfish. Not Shigeko. Never Shigeko.

There was nothing at all selfish about her.

Ritsu knew that he was selfish.

Plain and simple he was the most selfish person to ever walk the Earth.

"Are you kids sure you're ok?" asked Rei's mother. Ritsu nodded. He still didn't feel much like talking. He had slept through most of the day on Rei's couch. He hadn't meant to, he had just passed out, but it was alright. Her family had made it perfectly clear that it was alright. They had certainly said it enough times.

"Mom, we're fine." Said Rei. She felt a million times better after sleeping, actually sleeping. She felt…she still had that low key fear but…but it was better. She was alive. She was alive and she was back home with her family and her boyfriend….the best boyfriend in the world. She was having dinner, well breakfast for her and Ritsu, with her family…and she would share meals with them again and again and again.

The future told her so.

She looked into the future again. Her parents…they would fight over whether or not they should stay in the house or evacuate with everyone else. Some people were still leaving even though they were far from where all of the fighting had been. Nothing was broken here. Nobody had died. Well people had died but…but nobody she knew. Hopefully.

Nope. Nobody she knew.

She saw her aura glow. Ritsu must have seen it, too. He held her hand tighter. They were holding hands under the table…and it was so nice! She was so glad that she could get back to the things that mattered…that had mattered to her before she had to help save the world. She had a bag to unpack, a shower to take, and a boyfriend to hang out with and cuddle and kiss and maybe even…

Life was short.

Life could end at any time.

And there were a lot of things that she wanted to do before she died. She had come so close to death so many times…and she could have died again…and she didn't want to. She looked into the future again. She saw so many possibilities for her death….but that was good. The explosion had been this thing, this beacon of certainty, and it had been…bad. But now there was so little certainty. Mom and dad would fight but make up. Her sister would be a jerk to her but what else was new? Ritsu would…he would…

Their future was muddy.

Unclear.

But that didn't matter. They had a future together…in some of the futures that they saw…and almost dying certainly did put some things into perspective. Things between them were great. Sure there were some compatibility issues but it was nothing that they couldn't work through with the books that she'd found in her parents room. He loved her, that was what mattered, and not the kind of love that was all 'oh I love you' but then you love someone else three days later or whatever. Their love was real. The real and true kind of love.

They had risked their lives for each other after all.

"Mom, stop making such a big deal out of it. We're fine, our clothes just got messed up." Said Rei before her mom could start up again about what had happened. She had been about to, Rei could see what she had been about to see. She never used her powers this much….and she didn't know why. Sure she sometimes got headaches and stuff but there was no reason not to look into the future. The future…anything could have been hiding there. Anything could have been waiting to hurt them…

So she looked into the future.

It was going to be a good future. The internet would be fixed in a couple of days and…and also the state of emergency would be over…and Ritsu would stay with her for a long time. His house had burnt down but Sho had said that his friend, one of the adult espers, could put it back together in just three days…and Rei didn't know how to feel about that. One the one hand of course she didn't want her boyfriend to be homeless but on the other hand she wanted him to stay with her for the rest of his life.

But they had their whole adult lives for that.

"Damn. You almost made me the youngest." Said Riko. Rei stuck her tongue out. Mom and dad told them both to knock it off. Jeez. You'd think that someone's big sister would have been happier that their little sister hadn't been crushed by a building or killed in an explosion or kidnapped or died in a fire or something like that…not that Riko knew what happened…but still!

"You're lucky I don't make myself the oldest." Said Rei. She didn't mind it, not really, not when she thought about it. She'd rather deal with her sister being a jerk a thousand times over than deal with being dead or kidnapped and having to deal with whatever Claw did with the people they kidnapped…or watching Ritsu die…or knowing that he was dead….that she would never be able to see him again….to be near him…to hold his hand….

"Dummy. We still have two older sisters." Said Riko. Rei stuck out her tongue again. Ritsu held her hand tight.

"Rei, it's ok." Said Ritsu softly. He didn't know if they were fighting for real or just fighting for the sake of fighting. He couldn't tell. She and her sister fought…but he had never fought with his sister. Not for the sake of fighting. Their first and only fight was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life…

He wondered how she was doing.

He was her little brother. He should have been there for her…but what could he have done? What could he have done but say that he was sorry…and he had already said that so many times already. He said that he was sorry because he was sorry. There was nothing else that he could do but say that he was sorry. Either that or build a time machine and beat Sho's dad all by himself and then go back further and save her from that Mogami spirit thing and then go back even further and kick his own ass so he didn't lost control and yell at her…or push her….

He wished that he knew how she was doing.

She had been passed out last time he's seen her. She had every reason to be tired. She had saved them all after all. She had…he remembered what he' saw. He would never forget what he'd seen that day. The explosion…his sister made of light….the way it hurt to look at her…the way she got bigger and bigger and bigger until she was touching the sky and then…and then she had bent over backwards and…and then she had folded herself backwards until she was back in the shape of an explosion…

And then everything hurt.

His hand was squeezed.

"You're ok, too." Said Rei. She could see and feel his aura. He was bothered. Sad. Unhappy. Scared. Something negative that caused his aura to flare out like that. She could see auras better now, or maybe his was just showing a lot. Hers was. She had never glowed so much before….and she had never used her powers so often before…

"Will you two just get a room already?" Said Riko. Rei kicked her under the table in the way that only a little sister could. Not to hurt her for real, she was sick of fighting, but hard enough to tell her sister to shut her mouth. This was…she would have missed this if she were dead. The war at home was what her parents had called it. She used to be annoyed by her sister…

And she still was…

But it was a good sort of annoyed.

"Riko! Who's in middle school, you or Rei?" said Rei's mom. Ritsu wondered if she was yelling for real or just yelling. His mom always yelled for real…and if she came home to find the house in ashes and cinders then she would yell so loud they'd be able to hear her across the country….but mom would be gone for a while. She was up in the mountains with dad and there was no internet or TV up there. Hopefully mom and dad would come home long after the house was put back together…and Ritsu wondered when that would be.

Not that he was going to go and bother Sho.

He had been…the last time he had seen Sho…Sho had been worrying. Worried and worrying. He had been making a bed for his dad…and he had been yelling at everyone to go away. That had hurt, the way Sho has yelled at him, but he could understand it. It must have been hard having a dad who not only tried to take over the world but tried to kill him with his own two hands.

Sho had been too hurt to walk, even.

Ritsu hoped that he was better. He had woken up with all of his injuries healed just as everyone else's had been. He had been well enough to walk…and talk…and yell…and there was nothing that he could do for him, either. Nothing at all but…but be there until he had been told in no uncertain terms to go away. That had hurt, too. They had been through so much shit together and now Sho was just…

Going through a lot.

Everyone was going through a lot. Ritsu had to remember that. He was thinking selfishly, like a kid, and that was…that was wrong. He had to be better. He had to be the person that everyone seemed to want him to be. Even though his sister seemed to want him to be no kind of person to her. She hadn't even asked him to help her…not that he would have been any help….

Because he just was not strong enough.

He got the feeling that this feeling, this feeling of being useless and a failure, would stick with him for years to come. He imagined that all of the feelings had about this, the bad ones, would stick with him for years to come. After all this was not the sort of thing that a person could just forget. Even though he wanted nothing more than to just forget that everything had even happened. He just wanted to be ok. He just wanted everything to be ok. He just wanted…

He just wanted to calm down.

Because he was sitting at Rei's table with her family like normal. This was a normal scene, something that he could have sat in on at any day of the week. This was normal and expected and he had to act normal and he had to tell his stupid brain that it was all over…even though it didn't feel like it was over. It felt like it could have started back up again at any time…and there would be nothing that he could do. Once again there would have been nothing at all that he could do. He'd be…

He wouldn't be anything because it was over and done with.

"It's over and done with….so now what?" asked Koyama. Suzuki, little Suzuki, had been pretty clear. Everyone had to leave him the hell alone. Fine. That was an order that Koyama could follow and would follow because, well, he did not want to see any more of Suzuki, big Suzuki, than he already had.

And he did not want to see what the Boss did with people who ruined his world domination plots, either.

So he and Sakurai had walked until they found a place that was opened. A convenience store. They got some boxed breakfasts and some coffee and just sat and…and existed. Decompressed. It wasn't every single day that you…what had that guy said? The purple haired member of the Ultimate Five? Something like…

So that was what it looked like when two Gods fought.

"Get the hell out of here and try and start new lives? I mean what else can we do? The organization is done with." Said Sakurai. He reached up and touched the spot where his scar had once been. Gone. Not even the boss' personal healer could fix scars…but there it was. Gone. Thanks to that girl…

If she could even be called a girl anymore. That was…no human being should have been able to survive that. There was just no way that a person could give up their body like that….and to have done all of that after the beating that she had taken…and that big tree…

That felt wrong to look at.

"That's easier said than done. We may not have scars on our faces anymore but it's not like we can explain the gaps in our resumes." Said Koyama with a shrug. Sakurai shrugged too.

"We'll just say that we were self-employed independent contractors. I mean we technically were. We'll be fine. Anything would be better than what we were doing before." Said Sakurai. He finished off the last of his coffee and set the cup down next to him. The wind picked it up and it blew down the street. Near desolate. A lot of the city had been evacuated. Technically they were all still under an evacuation order. This place was far, very far, from the warzone. Some of the people had stayed and now they were all sort of milling around.

Well there wasn't much else to do with no phones, no internet, and only broadcast TV.

He was brought back to a scene from his childhood. Him and all of the orphans just milling around after the earthquake, well one of them, had taken one of the dormitories. Nothing to do. No twenty four inch black and white TV to crowd in front of, no more broken toys to play with since they had all been in there. Just a whole lot of nothing.

Nothing good had come from kids being left to their own devices like that.

But these people….they weren't causing trouble. They seemed nice. This must have been a pretty nice place. Especially if it had given them that girl. Mob she had called herself. She really was a nice kid, he thought, from what he had heard. Of course he had only spent time with her in battle both as friend and foe. She spared her enemies, though, and sacrificed herself for the good of her allies and friends…

Even though she was the strongest of all of them she acted as though she were the weakest.

"You're right about that. God…I can't believe that I actually went along with…all of that." Said Koyama. It had been weird, a little, seeing the kid he had kidnapped again…and the one who had mangled his hand. Peeled the skin right off she had…but that was better now, too. He had the full range of motion back and everything.

Thanks to whatever that light had been. Had truly been.

"You're not the only one who did things that they should be ashamed of. That part's over now. We have to keep moving forward with our lives. There's no other way." said Sakurai. He wondered what kind of trouble they'd be in when the dust cleared. Suzuki was over. His dreams, Claw, all of it was gone. He was going down…and it would just be a matter of time before they found out who he was taking down with him.

He hoped that someone with access to Claw's employment records had enough sense to destroy them.

"Yup. No other way. Nothing to do but settle down, get jobs, and live the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders." Said Koyama. He had been involved in some very serious crimes. The kind of crimes that they put people away for. Away for a very long time. If he got caught….by the time he courts were done with him he'd either be very old or very dead…

"Pretty much." Said Sakurai. He hoped to God that someone on the inside had the good sense to destroy every single record they could get their hands on. A lot of people were about to go down. He was happy to have lived, happy to have woken up half buried in the dirt, but that happiness was fading. Being replaced by worry. There was only so much time before the government came in and started making arrests, seizing assets, and placing blame. If they were lucky, insanely lucky, the government would find Suzuki, arrest him, and then decide to let the whole thing go….but when were they ever that lucky?

They never were.

"Well aren't I lucky?" drawled Shimazaki as he was helped to his feet. He still couldn't see shit. The entire area was so loud. The girl. The girl and the president. It was like they were having a shouting match with their auras…and it had ended in a draw.

"No, not really considering the fact that the explosion didn't heal your eyes." Said Minegishi as he handed Shimazaki what was left of his coat. After the president had bared his soul, and everything else, he had decided to get going before anything started up again. Some little skirmish was bound to come up. Necessity had made them all allies but he was still a member of the Ultimate Five, the inner circle, and those Scars had never been their biggest fans….

"I was born without eyes. You can't heal what was never there." said Shimazaki as his arms were threaded through the sleeves of his coat. He could dress himself, he was blind not helpless, but there was something nice to this. Intimate. Caring. It was not often that he got to see this side of Toshiki….of Minegishi.

Maybe the world should have ended more often.

"True, true, true. You're not missing anything, anyway. There's rubble everywhere, Hatori's freaking out-" said Minegishi

"You'd be freaking out too if you had to delete almost three decades' worth of-of-of everything! Almost three decades' with of everything with a last gen smart phone that's only connected to the main system through sheer force of will!" said Hatori. He hadn't come up out of the ground fresh as a daisy with a whole new lease on life. No, he had come up out of the ground without the luxury of any time to enjoy the fact that he hadn't been dematerialized or whatever in that explosion of pure psychic energy…

And also that he had emp shielded his old phone.

Not that he was sure if that had been an emp. He had no idea what to call that explosion. All he knew was that he had woken up, all the little cuts and burns he had gotten from working without gloves on were gone, and now the world had this pink and blue and red and yellow haze around it...

And also there was an evil tree glaring at them.

Minegishi had been the one to use the word 'glaring'. He said that the tree did not feel right, did not feel right at all, and that it wasn't showing any signs of being anything like a normal tree so they all needed to put as much distance between that thing and themselves as they could. He was not about to argue with Minegishi about plants.

So off they went.

For a while. For a while he had thought that they were just walking in some random direction. The best thing to do would have been to start running. He could have easily fabricated new identities and histories for them as soon as he got access to the internet…which there didn't seem to be any. Something had been damaged…a lot of something's had been damaged….well some of those something's had been important now they were without internet aside from what he could force into his phone.

Thank God for the small miracles.

"Stop complaining. It's not like either of us can help you." Said Minegishi. He brushed some dirt from Shimazaki's hair. He had almost died, he could be a little soft right then. He'd go back to normal once the thrill of having not been blown up in a horrific explosion passed.

"It's not like either of you would." Said Hatori as he went back to work. He needed to do this before the government did. He did not want to have to go underground until this whole thing blew over….so, basically, forever. This was not the sort of thing that people were just going to forget about. It wasn't even fair. He hadn't wanted any of this. He had been dragged into this thing kicking and screaming, pretty much. He wasn't Serizawa. He hadn't been singing the President's praises until the very end…

It was finally over…

But not yet.

"Unless that thing can do text to speech I can't help you. Sorry." said Shimazaki. This was disconcerting. He could feel Minegishi but he couldn't see Minegishi. Not really. Not in the way that he had been able to see before. He could see a vague sort of…of outline…or whisper….because it was just so fucking loud! It was over. The loud…thing….was gone. That thing that had been both Suzuki and the girl together. Two become one…but not in the fun way, it seemed. No. It had hurt, burned, when that thing touched him…and he hadn't even been at the epicenter of it all…

And the memory of it still hurt.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You two go off and be useless over there. I have to save all of our asses before someone goes digging around. Me, I'll be fine, I already destroyed all of my records but you two….I have no clue. Minegishi at least didn't go and kidnap the Prime Minister live on national TV…" said Hatori. He bit his thumb as he found Minegishi's records. He did not snoop…even though there were a few things that he had been curious about over the year….but he did not snoop. He deleted and destroyed everything that there was.

He hoped to God that he didn't get popped for this.

He wondered how much time they gave you for destroying the evidence? Maybe more than they gave you for terrorism and acts of treason. He was…he was being paranoid. There was no way that he was getting caught. His records were destroyed….as best as he could have with an old smart phone and sheer force of will. He needed….he needed a drink. A strong one. This whole thing…he just wanted to be done.

He was getting there.

"I fully acknowledge the fact that I am well and truly fucked no matter what. There's no way I can be caught and trapped by the government so I suppose that I can just live the rest of my life on the run…not a fun prospect. I can hang around here until the boss regains enough strength to kill me for losing to a bunch of kids and Scars, also not a fun prospect, or I can try to get into the girl's good graces so she doesn't hunt me down for trying to kill her friends as well as all of the other shit I've done over the years. No matter what I do I'm fucked." Said Shimazaki with a shrug.

"Well aren't you optimistic." Said Minegishi

"I'm realistic. Something that I thought you used to be. I'm amazed that you're even here. You of all people….I would have expected you to run away as soon as the girl was done with you." Said Shimazaki

"Now why would I go and do a thing like that? That'll get me nowhere with her. She's not Suzuki, you know, not by a long shot. I think….I think I might stick around. I mean it's not like I have anywhere else to go." Said Minegishi. He wasn't stupid. The girl was the most powerful among them all and he was going to stay near her. Thank God she was pleasant and nice and forgiving. Yes, very forgiving. He had changed sides at the last minute…and that must have meant something to her…

Plush she had saved his life even when she had no reason to.

Not a bad kid at all.

"Away. Far away. With me." Said Shimazaki. He had almost died. Almost dying, or whatever the girl had been trying to do with all of that aural shouting, tended to make a man rethink certain things. Feelings and all of that crap. Toshiki was….he was someone. Someone who Shimazaki cared about…and someone who he did not think that he could stand to lose. Maybe it was time to…he didn't even know. The Ultimate Five were not all one big happy family like certain people thought, no, but they were capable of caring for one another.

He was capable of caring for another person.

"And do what?" asked Minegishi. He did not want to live this life anymore. This life…it had gotten him nowhere. Nowhere good. He knew Shimazaki. He knew where he was planning on going from here. Minegishi…he didn't want this anymore. He wanted something simple, something safe, something that didn't end in him getting devoured by a spirit that must have been the embodiment of all that was evil in the world….

He owed that girl one.

And, frankly, if it was a choice between following her or following Suzuki he would pick her hands down. If it was a choice between following her or following whatever yakuza boss that Shimazaki was going to end up working for he would put the girl. Mob. Shigeko. She had saved him and let him live….and also she had forgiven him…which was way more than he had any right at all to expect. He owed her one, two, three, everything….his life….he owed her his life. Also he needed to keep an eye on that tree. It was…it was pissed off…it felt like. It was like no other plant that he had ever felt before.

"Whatever we feel like. A little of this, a little of that." Said Shimazaki. He was not staying here. Not with all of this noise and not with that girl. He should have been long gone already….not that he was going to try his luck blind. It was too busy here, too loud, and it was messing with his perceptions. He needed to get somewhere quiet and just…think. Plan. Figure something out.

"Do you two have to do this now!? I am trying to work! Have your moment somewhere else!" said Hatori. How was he the only one who realized just how much deep shit they were in? They were all going to go down if he missed even a single scrap of evidence. It wasn't just a mass deleted, no, he needed to leave enough to satisfy the authorities when they inevitable went digging around in this area. They were all going down if he didn't do this just right. One mistake and…

And then it was all over.

"I can't believe that it's all over." Said Daichi telepathically from his perch on the top bunk. Mom and dad had finally given him and Kaito some space. There had been a lot of hugs and kisses when they got home and it had been nice…

But they needed space to think.

Or to sleep, as they had told their parents.

"I know. I was so sure that it was…the end….but we're here and everything's ok." Said Kaito from his spot on the bottom bunk. The whole thing was over. It felt like it had happened years and years ago even though they had just dug themselves up out of the dirt that morning.

"I'm sorry about all that stuff that I said before….and I know you are too, I can feel it, so can we just pretend that it never happened?" asked Daichi. That would have been the best thing. He didn't want to remember what happened or think about it or ever talk about it again. He had never come so close to dying before…but at least he had been with his brother….

"I don't think that we can ignore what happened." Said Kaito

"We can try. I mean that we don't have to dwell on it." Said Daichi. He felt it, his brother's hand in his. A trick of telepathy. It hadn't been a trick last night. When they had been running for their lives with only Rei to lead them. She had been freaking out, everyone had been freaking out, if not out loud then their minds were screaming…

And then they were somewhere else entirely.

It was like being both completely alone and surrounded by people. He could hear not only his brother's thoughts but everyone's and they could hear his. It was like everyone was talking at once and nobody knew how to take turned and it had just been so…much. Everything from everyone all together…and Ritsu's older sister had been talking the loudest. Ritsu's older sister and Sho's father had been talking so loudly too each other….and everyone else had been talking so loudly….

But he and his brother were the only people to remember.

Well so had Ritsu's older sister. Her thoughts had been slow and sticky but she had remembered. She had thought that she was still in that place, the place that was both everywhere and nowhere, when she had woken up. That place…it had hurt. He had seen so much…and his brother had seen so much…and they had all seen so much of each other.

Maybe it would have been better if he could forget.

"How can we possibly forget? We were there. I think that we're the only ones besides Ritsu's older sister that remember what it was like. How loud it was. How much it hurt. I don't think that we can forget that." Said Kaito. That had been unlike anything that he had ever felt before. Sometimes he got physical sensations from people, it was a side effect of the telepathy, but he had never fully inhabited another person before. He had been himself and his brother and his friends and everyone else all at the same time…and he had no idea if it was even right to forget something so…so life changing.

"Then can we at least not talk about it. You and I…we're different people again and I just…I want to forget that any of this ever happened. I just want…I want things to go back to normal. Or as normal as they can be after what happened." Said Daichi. He could feel his brother's hand in his. A trick of their telepathy.

He reached up.

And his brother reached down.

"You're right. We're different people and if you don't want to talk about it then we won't. Whatever you want, brother, I'm just happy to still have you." Said Kaito. He had no idea how they were supposed to get back to normal, how anything was supposed to get back to normal, but he would try. For his brother he would try.

Because that was what you did for someone when you loved them, you tried.

"Arataka…I don't know why I keep trying your number…maybe because I love you…but please just call me back as soon as you can…and if you're screening my calls then shame on you young man!...heh. I was just kidding there. Taka-chan, if you're screening my calls please just….don't. I'm worried about you. I tried to get to you but it turned out that there was a mountain high enough, a valley low enough, and a river wide enough to keep me from getting to you…heh. You used to love that sound when you were little….do you still like it? Oh God…." Said Sophia. She had made it home in one piece…though she could not say the same for her alleged car. She didn't care about that.

She just cared about her son.

And Mobbu, of course, but in a different way. Arataka was her child. Mobbu was just the teenage girl her son was in a codependent nonsexual and nonromantic relationship with. Though she would try Mobbu again next. She would call and call and call until the screen on her phone had worn totally through. What else could she possibly do? There was no getting into the city.

People were getting out, though.

"If you're out of the city come here. I'll reimburse you whatever the train costs just…just come here so I can know that you're safe. Please. You've spent so many years away from home as it is…but that is not what this is about. I spent so many years trying to control you, trying to make you into the person that I thought you should be, and I am very sorry for that. You can be whoever or whatever you want to be, Taka-chan, but please just be here with me where you're safe. You and Mobbu." Said Sophia as best as she could. She was not going to cry. Her son could not hear her crying. He had heard enough of that growing up. He was…he had deserved better back then and he still deserved better now. She would give him better. If she heard from him again…WHEN she heard from him again…then she'd be a better mother to him. Well as much of a mother as a man his age needed.

He wasn't even thirty yet.

But he was not dead. He was alive and Mobbu was alive and any minute now her phone would ring and it would be Arataka telling her to stop blowing up his phone or it would be a chime telling her that Mobbu had posted something on Friendbook and Sophia would hit like even if it was another picture of her and her little boyfriend all curled up in bed…tasteless selfies if anyone were to ask her…but she would like the pictures anyway even if they were terrible because it would have meant that Mobbu was still alive.

The number of missing had only gone up.

No numbers of dead yet. People…people reported other missing but…not dead. Not yet. There hadn't been any word from the media or the authorities on what was even happening in Seasoning City…the internet was on fire, though. People who had been close to the city reported seeing some kind of explosion. A big one. Big enough that it had been seen from a distance of-

She didn't want to think about that.

She didn't want to think about all of the wild and outlandish rumors that were coming out of Seasoning City. She didn't want to think about Earthquakes and explosions and giant trees and meteor showers and whatever else people were talking about. You couldn't believe everything that you read on the internet after all. The internet…it was full of liars. Just look at what happened to Taka…at all that had gone wrong…

At least people would forget all about Taka-s fifteen minutes of shame.

"This is…Taka-chan, we can get through this together. The two of us….the three of us…you and me and Mobbu…we'll weather this storm. I know you and I know that…you're always had a knack for getting into trouble and you've always had a knack for getting out of it, too. You're fine. I know you're fine. If you survived your father and I then you….you could survive anything. I…I love you Taka-chan…and give Mobbu my best." Said Sophia before she ended the call. She had so much more to say…but she had been leaving so many messages…it was a fruitless task.

His phone might have been off.

Or on silent.

Or broken.

Or maybe she had just said something or done something to bother him and now he was ignoring her until the end of time. That was it, wasn't it? He was always running away from things…and people…when things got hard. He had always had a knack for running away. Good. She knew her son and she knew that he had…he had probably ended up running away…and he had probably taken Mobbu with him…probably. Those two, they were joined at the hip almost. It was a weird relationship, a really weird relationship, but if they had both made it out then she would never say or even think a single word against…whatever that was.

If she could just have her son back she would have accepted him no matter what he did with his life…or who he lived his life with.

"I do not, cannot, and will not accept this. I refuse!" shouted Hana as she scrolled through the latest news out of Seasoning City. They had stopped again, this time at the home of some of her husband's relatives. Hana knew that she needed to come out of the guest room and be sociable, to crowd around the television like everyone else and wait for more news to be broadcast.

She could check the news on her phone.

Another ping. An update. She opened it…and it was nothing of interest. Well the Prime Minster was alive. He had been found by rescue workers half buried in some dirt outside of what had been the corner of Allspice and White Pepper streets…and he was alive and well…though the street wasn't….

"Hana! Come quick! They're showing footage of downtown….and it's horrible!" said her husband. Hana shook her head. She did not want to deal with anyone. She was so like Shigeko, then….Shigeko….she had another child. She had another child and she had been so focused on Ritsu and…

And she was such a bad mother sometimes.

Even now she was more worried about Ritsu than anything. She was more worried about how he was doing, if he was ok, if he was safe, than she was worried about her own daughter. Shigeko could take care of herself, that was it, she had proven time and time again that she could and would take care of herself. She had her powers. She could do….Hana had no clue the limits of what her daughter could do, but Hana knew that she was fine. She had run away before and she could do it again. Yes, that was what she had done.

Her Daughter was fine.

"Hana, you need to see this! I don't even know what I'm seeing!" Hana groaned. She did not want to be out there with her husband and his family. He did not know how to control them. The minute they had come through the door last night his relatives had asked about the children. His sister and his parents. They hadn't seen the children in so long…and it was obvious why they couldn't. Shigeko. What she could do…and how she had no control over what she could do…but she wasn't there now…

And that whole thing was not something that she had been prepared to explain.

What could she say? Her fourteen year old daughter had run away from home? That she had no idea where he daughter was or what she was doing? That she had made so many mistakes and that she was not prepared to talk about any of them? That she had her husband and abandoned their son at home to go up to some spa in the mountains….

She had, ultimately, said that she was tired and avoided their questions.

"Hana! Hurry! Before they cut to something else!" She sighed and got up. She had might as well go out and deal with…everything. Even though she could see it all on her phone. The destruction. The first images to come out of Seasoning City were of destruction. There was no more downtown. There were just piles on concrete and rebar where it had been. Some building were still standing. They were slating dangerously. Nobody was allowed to get close. There was still a state of emergency. There was still an evacuation order in place. There was still her son all alone in the middle of that. The phones in Seasoning City were down, even the landlines, and she was about to just stick her head out the window and yell really loudly if that meant she could know if her son was alive or dead…

And her daughter.

Hana joined her husband and his family. For a man who had been calling her like it was the end of the world he was surprisingly silent when she joined him. He said nothing, he just pointed at the screen. The screen that was taken up by…a close-up shot of a stalk of broccoli? What in the world? Wait…no…that was downtown. She could see what was left of that big bank with it's cheating fees…she could see….and she knew that statue…well what was left of it…she knew…

The Cultural Tower should have been there.

"What in the world…."

How did…why would….what was Hana even looking at? And where had it COME FROM?! How had…how had it even….just….what?

What was…was any of this?

"What even is this?" Reigen asked himself. It was…this room had no windows. He had no idea what time it was. All he knew was that this was not his house and he needed a cigarette. Badly. Also Mob was…near.

"This is….today." said Mob. She hadn't been able to sleep. Teru had gone back to sleep. She had laid very still with her eyes closed. That had gotten boring. She felt like she had been sleeping for a million years. But she hadn't been. She had only been sleeping for…she didn't know how to count it. Mainly because she didn't know what time it was. Her phone was broken. It had been in her bag and her bag was mostly broken now. There was a big hole right in the center of it and her phone…and everything else inside…was broken into a million pieces…

She needed a new phone.

Which was a problem that she could deal with in the immediate future. She liked those kinds of problems. She liked problems that she could solve quickly and easily. Not the types of problems she had been having lately….

"Mob. Hey….you're here." Said Reigen. He sat up slowly. He had been laying down for too long. His head was absolutely spinning. Something moved on the table in front of him.

"I'm here. I made tea. You can have some, you feel thirsty." Said Mob. She could feel what he was feeling. Her mouth was dry and her tongue was sticking to her teeth, and it hadn't been before, so that must have been his doing. It felt….this was familiar. Feeling what he was feeling. Him feeling what she was feeling. It was all so familiar. It was all so…so normal. This was better than…whatever that had been. The void. Instrumentality.

She walked over and sat next to him.

"Thanks. I needed this." said Reigen as he finished downing his entire cup of tea. Green tea. Mob had made this. She had made this and…and she would be around to make him tea again and again and again and again and again….

She was there.

"I know. I could tell." Said Mob. She had her own cup of tea in her hand, it had gone cold a while ago. She had gotten bored a while ago, when she had been sleeping next to Teru but not really, so she went to see if Master Reigen had woken up yet. He hadn't so just made some tea and waited for him to wake up.

It had taken a while.

"Way to get a clue…sorry. That came out wrong." Said Reigen. He tried to find words, words that he would have used before, words that fit that easy sort of teasing that they used to have…that they still had. Maybe. He just did not know. He had no idea what they ever were, now. After all the shit that had happened…what were they?

Besides sitting on the lumpiest couch in existence sipping lukewarm tea while the ashes of the world smoldered just outside of those walls. The ones that contained them. That limited them.

"No, it's ok. It's easier for me to understand you when you share your feelings with me. It's been easier since you got powers, too. I mean powers like mine." Said Mob. She didn't know what to do. She wanted…she didn't know what she wanted. To go back? To have stayed…it felt weird. Her body felt weird. Heavy. She felt heavy and she could feel…she could feel her powers again. the other her, too, and she…did she want to go back?

Back to the void?

No, she didn't, because Master Reigen was out here, not in there.

"Mob…." Said Reigen. She was talking like she…like she was the way she was before. They were before. Who they were before. Before all of this. He knew who they were before. They were master and student. Now…now he did not know. Friends. Two friends. Two friends having tea after the world had almost ended.

"Yes?" asked Mob

"Nothing. This is…this is good. Good tea. This is very good tea." Said Reigen. He was not going to ruin this. This…whatever they were. Two friends having tea.

"Thank you. I made it how you showed me. There was lavender tea, too, but I didn't want to make lavender tea. I also didn't know if either of us liked lavender tea so I made us green tea." Said Mob

"It…it's great. Just like old times." Said Reigen

"Old times?" asked Mob

"Yeah, remember? Back at the office you would always make tea…and I would always drink it…and that was just…how we were?" asked Reigen. It seemed like a million years had passed since they last sat in that office together. Since she had last made him a cup of tea. Since he had last watched the minutes count down on the clock until he could see her again…

"I remember, Master, but those don't count as old times. I mean…we still…we're still Spirits and Such…right? We're still Spirits and Such even if our office burnt down or melted or exploded or-or-or anything." Said Mob

"Melted?" asked Reigen with a quirked eyebrow. Mob tucked her head down low so he couldn't see how red she was. She smelled…she smelled smoking and green tea and…and home. Master Reigen had brought her this from home…well she had known that already. There had been a bag with clothes for her and who else but him could have brought it?

"I was just thinking of words." Said Mob softly. She felt his hand in her hair. He tugged on a piece of it. It wasn't in braids, she hadn't braided it…and maybe she should have. If they were talking about old times which were not really old times at all. Back when she had braided her hair before school every morning, well every morning that she had school, and then they took the train together and…and those times. Before this…..all of this.

"Mob…never change." Said Reigen. That was…her. Mob. His Mob. She hadn't changed and they…they hadn't changed. Even if everything around them had changed they themselves had not. The office was…there would be a lot of insurance and whatever else to go through but they were still…they were still what they were…like she had said.

"I think I might have…sorry. I just think that maybe after what happened I might have." Said Mob. She felt…different. She was different. Her body felt different. She pressed her fingers into the porcelain of the tea cup in her hand. She pressed her nails into the white of the cup. The tips of her fingers turned white with the pressure. She could feel….she could feel again. She had been feeling things for her entire life…so why was she feeling weird about feeling things?

"Well that's fine, too. People change, it's what they do." Said Reigen. She was…what did she feel like? He didn't know. He was writing his feelings to her, now, instead of feeling what she was feeling…like he should have been. He should have been there for her…and he was now. He was there for her now and that…what mattered most was the fact that he was there for her now.

He would help her through this.

"But you just said not to change." Said Mob

"I didn't mean…Mob, you can be whoever you want to be." Said Reigen

"Am I who you want me to be?" asked Mob

"Whoever you want to be." Said Reigen

"But what do you want me to be? Maybe what you want me to be is what…is what I want to be. Maybe I don't even know who or what I am or who and what to be…anymore." said Mob

"That doesn't matter. I don't want you to be any way other than the way you want to be." Said Reigen

"But I don't know how I want to be. I thought that I knew before but then…then I changed…and a lot of other stuff happened…and then I became this person…and I don't even know…if I'm the same person." Said Mob. Her hair and nails were longer…because this was a new body. She had lost her old one and…and now she had this one. Was she the same her, then, if she had a new body? What part of her was 'her'? Her body and her soul were…separate…but together. They were separate but together. Her and the other her. Her and her body. Her and her…her and her.

Was she the same person?

Did it even matter?

"Mob…people change. They change all the time and I…I would be happy with you no matter how much you'd changed." Said Reigen. He put and arm around her and pulled her close. She smelled…not like herself. She smelled like…kiwi. Heavily of kiwi and…winterberry? Borrowed soap. Borrowed soap and borrowed shampoo and borrowed conditioner and borrowed whatever else she had borrowed.

No more dirt and no more blood.

"I think…I think that I'm the same person and a different person too. I think…when I was in the…when I went back to being nothing it hurt…because I didn't have a body anymore. Now I have a body but it's different and I want…I want to stay the same." Said Mob

"What are you even….I mean, you're ok. You're ok and no matter what happened back there you're still…you're still you." Said Reigen. He knew her. He knew that any minute now she would start up about how terrible she thought she was…and he could not have that. Not again. She hadn't even gotten over, if she even could get over, the last terrible thing that had happened to her. Now she had a whole new terrible thing happen to her…and she was processing it, it seemed.

Hadn't had a body?

He had no idea what had happened to her back at the fight/run for their lives. He had only seen…light. A giant of light…human shaped. It had gotten bigger and bigger and arched it's back…and then it had bent over backwards and then there had been the actual explosion…and…and then nothing. As bad as it had been to witness, as terrible and terrifying as it had been to be there, it must have been nothing compared to what it was to actually have been in the middle of that thing…

Or to have been that thing.

He wanted to demand that she tell her everything that had happened. He wanted to know the whole of everything that had happened…he needed to know…because she had a history of keeping important information from him until he said the wrong thing and did the wrong thing and then the whole thing just ended up going totally and completely pear shaped and Mob ended up sleeping between vending machines and in the park…

That was not going to happen ever again.

"Do you mean that?" asked Mob. She leaned over and rested her head on him. She missed this, being with him, being near to him…it was nice. This. Her body. The feel of him. It wasn't painful. It wasn't painful at all because she had a body, now, a barrier between herself and himself. There was space between them…and she liked it. The space between them…because it did not hurt. She was tired of things that hurt…

"Mob…of course I do." Said Reigen. He reached up and rested a hand in her hair. He had missed this. her. Him. This. He could have lost her. He could have lost her so many times and…and he hadn't…and he just had to remember that she was there and she was going to be there and so was he and it was over…it was all over…

"I know you do. You would never lie to me, Master, you would never lie to me." Said Mob. She wasn't tired but she closed her eyes just the same. She was happy. She was happy and this…this was the best feeling ever…

"I never would…" said Reigen quietly.

The 'again' was left unsaid.


	74. Getting Back to Normal

"What the hell is this thing?" Dimple asked himself as he ascended through the leaves of this…tree. This thing that was more psychic energy than tree. He felt…alive…and that was not an exaggeration.

He felt alive in this thing.

Corporeal. It was easy to get into his corporeal form like this. He didn't care who saw him. The only people around were espers anyway. Usually he would have made a meal out of them, not in the way that he made a meal out of spirits of course, but he would have syphoned some energy to them. Not now. He didn't have to do that anymore, not now….

This tree tasted like Shigeko.

Shigeko and something else. Something that he couldn't put his metaphysical finger on. Something sharp and unpleasant…but also strong. Powerful. Like liquor, really good liquor. If he were to compare this to a drink it would be one of the sweet, fruity, but biting concoctions. It was good, invigorating even.

He could get used to this.

Reigen could get used to this.

"You're cheating." Said Reigen. They were playing a game from his childhood. One of those stuck in his room and trying to pass the time games. They had found a deck of cards, a hat, and the rest was history.

"No, I would never cheat, Master." Said Mob. They had started out playing Go Fish and ended up playing throw cards in a hat. There was nothing else to do. Her phone had exploded and the internet was still down and the only things on TV were about what happened. She didn't want to watch about what happened. She had been there. She didn't want to see the tree that she had grown or about how so many people's houses were destroyed or how bad the economy would be from this…

She wanted to throw cards in a hat.

This was a fun thing to do. The only thing that would have made this more fun would have been if Teru had been there. But he wasn't. He was still in their room, asleep, and she hadn't wanted to wake him. He slept a lot. More than she did. She didn't need a lot of sleep in general and she had spent so long asleep anyway…

"Hmm….I don't believe that. You've been doing way too well lately. Makes me suspicious." Said Reigen. She smiled at him. She knew he was kidding. She always knew when he was kidding she knew him…and he knew her. She was…she was….surprisingly ok. For someone who had given up her physical body to save the world from some madman who had been intent on mercilessly killing her….she was ok. She was smiling, her little Mob smile, the smile that he had been afraid that he would never see again. She was happy. She was here, with him, and if they had been at home in their own living room then all of this would have been so normal….

It was almost normal.

"Maybe you're just out of practice, Master, you said that you used to play this when you were my age." Said Mob. Master Reigen was surprisingly ok. For someone who had almost died so many times running for his life…he was pretty ok. Not scared. Not sad. Not anything but ok. Normal. This whole thing was very normal…and that was ok. This would have been even more normal if they had been in their own apartment and stuff but they were here, now. She could have left at any time but she didn't' want to. She didn't want to leave Teru alone. She loved him. She loved him and she wanted to be with him…and she had come so close to losing him…to losing him and…and she did not want that. He had been surprisingly ok, too, for someone who had gotten beaten up very badly and also almost died. He was surprisingly ok…

Everyone was surprisingly ok.

"Yeah, maybe I'm just getting slow in my old age." Said Reigen with a laugh. She shrugged. He reached over and gave her hair a tug. A light one, one of the ones he had given her so many times before. That was normal for them. This was normal for them. Everything was normal for them. Nothing had changed…and nothing was going to change. They were fine, now, everything was fine. It was all over and everything was fine and they were normal and everything was normal.

"You are almost thirty, Master." Said Mob. She had been both young and old at the same time, before, when she had been in the void or whatever she wanted to call it. She hadn't felt any age in particular. It had been like she had been cycling between old and young and then she had no age at all. Now she was fourteen again and she was normal and everything was normal.

"Yup. Pretty soon I'll be forty then fifty then sixty and then you'll have to feed me mush like I'm a baby and my life will have come full circle." Said Reigen

"Mush? Why does it have to be mush?" asked Mob

"Because I'll be old, too old for food…and I am dreading that day! The day when I won't be able to eat ramen again! Takoyaki! Those-" said Reigen

"Those big mochi that they sell at the train station? Next to the cigarette machine?" asked Mob

"Yeah! You remembered….you actually remembered that?" asked Reigen

"Yes Master Reigen, I remember everything about you." Said Mob. Master Reigen got up really fast after she said that. He seemed…she could feel his aura resting on hers…startled? Well Mob had certainly felt like jumping up from her spot on the couch…she must have said the wrong thing. She was always saying the wrong thing….

"Just getting something to drink. You want something to drink?" asked Reigen. He needed to put just a little bit of distance between the two of them. Just a little. She had something of a crush on him and that was fine. Normal. She was just a kid and it was normal for kids her age to get crushes on anyone and everyone. He was not going to make her feel bad about the way she felt. He was not going to make her feel weird about the way she felt. He just didn't want to…to feel the way she felt. To rest his aura on hers and share in the feelings, the totally normal feelings, that she felt for him. That was all.

"Cooking wine again?" asked Mob

"What? No, hell no. Mob…don't do what I have done. I'll bring you some milk." Said Reigen. Right. She had found him after he had somehow managed to drink just enough cooking wine that his lightweight self had gotten messed up but not so much that he had made himself violently ill. That Matsuura guy was another story…though to be fair everyone had almost died and the guy didn't keep any real drinks in this place. So really it was no one's fault…..not that he ever wanted Mob to drink cooking oil…or to turn to drinking in the first place. It was a terrible habit of his and one he did not want to teach her. Not that he was in any danger of her dying of drink or anything like that. She coped well, very well, better than he did. She was coping better at fourteen than he was at almost thirty….

"Thank you." Said Mob. She used her powers to the cards out of the hat. She had won, again, though maybe she should have let him win. She usually let him win things. She liked to let people win. At games, of course, not at the things that mattered. She hadn't let Suzuki win. She had won…even though this did not feel at all like victory. She wasn't celebrating. If this had been a victory then she should have been celebrating. She wasn't celebrating, though.

She was normal.

She felt normal.

Good, even.

She felt good. She was with someone she loved…or cared about a whole lot. Or loved. Or liked a whole lot. She didn't know. It was weird. Teru was there, well not 'there' there but he was there and she was with Master Reigen and she liked….she didn't much want to think about it. Them. Her feelings. She had just gone through so much and she was ok and she just…she did not want to think about that now.

"Milk delivery." Said Reigen as he handed her a tall glass of milk. Nice and cold. There was plenty of food there, in the kitchen of this place. That was good. The looting outside had stopped but there were kinks in the supply chain to iron out. They had lost a lot of grocery stores. They had lost a lot of everything. Life in the city wouldn't be easy for a while. That was ok. At least they hadn't lost each other.

Though money might be kind of tight for a while.

And any plans he had of moving would be shot to hell, too, since there was going to be housing shortage. He could just feel it. Well that and he had seen a lot of people's homes get destroyed. Or maybe it would be the opposite. Maybe there would be a mass exodus from the city. Maybe this would turn into some kind of ghost town and then they'd end up with a whole city to themselves….or something.

He'd worry about that stuff later.

"Thanks, Master." Said Mob. She liked milk again. She still sort of remembered it, the way it felt when Asagiri dumped her milk over her head day in and day out…but that was all. It was a sort of memory. She wasn't afraid anymore. She knew that…that she had no reason to be afraid. It had happened and now it was over and…and it would never happen again. She was fine. Even though she knew that Mogami was somewhere out there…she'd think about this later. She would think about it and worry about it later but as of now nothing was going to stop her from enjoying this glass of milk.

Nothing at all.

Because she was Mob. She was Mob and she was Shigeko and she was not the person that she had been in the unreality. She had her powers now, for one thing, though that was not what she meant by not being the same person. She was stronger in this world than that one. Here she had people who made her strong, people she cared about, and they were her strength. That was why she had made it through all of that. She had people she had to come back to. That was also why Suzuki almost exploded and died. He had no one and nothing. He was fighting for himself, doing all of that for himself, and ultimately he lost. Well they had both sort of lost…

Because Mob had lost her body, too.

But she had been trying her very best to save him. To make sure that he didn't die. He had so many people to say sorry to. He had so many things he wanted to tell people. She was not about to just let him die before any of that could happen. She was not that sort of person. She was…she was a good person. She was a good person and so was he…deep down. Very deep down. There was a good…a decent…a decent person hidden deep down in the depths of his being and she had not let him die because of it.

Even though they both might have been dead for a little bit.

But she did not want to think about that now. She did not want to think of anything, now, aside from the fact that she and Master Reigen were together and now everything was as it should have been. Well not everything. Teru was still homeless and Ritsu's house…her old house…was still burnt down and the city was still broken and there still wasn't any internet but…but things were still good. They were a lot better than they could have been, would have been, if she had lost…or just not fought at all….

"So, best two out of three?" asked Reigen. He knew that he should have headed home. He had no reason to be here aside from her. He could always lie to himself and tell himself that he was being responsible. That he was being a responsible adult and making sure that Mob was doing ok after everything that she had been through. That wasn't why he was there, though, and he knew it.

He was there because he didn't want to be alone.

He didn't want to be alone so he was hanging out with Mob. Even though he knew that he should have just left her alone. He should have just given her some space to process what had happened to her. To get her bearings. To have some time alone with the kid she was in love with…who was not him…and who was an age appropriate romantic partner for her. Not him. Not someone who was over twice her age. She needed to get over her crush on him and she could not get over that crush if they spent every waking moment of their lives together.

And she needed to.

Because now it was all over and things could get back to normal. Well as close to normal and they could call it. She had stopped going to school a while ago…would she want to go back? She had a life that she had dropped out of because of what happened on the Asagiri job…and she had been a wreck after that job…but history would not be repeating itself it seemed. For one thing she was smiling, now, and for another he would not push her away. Ever again.

"If you want to. Until Teru wakes up, I mean. He didn't get a lot of sleep last night. A lot of things are bothering him even though he's pretending like they're not. He's pretending that he's ok but I know something is wrong…and I wish that he would just tell me. Even if it's not something that I can fix, like how his apartment exploded or something like that, I would at least like to know. I just…this was a lot for him and I'm worried." Said Mob.

"Mob, don't ever apologize for worrying about someone you love." Said Reigen. She was beside him again, or rather he was beside he again, and he wanted to pull her close and tell her that it was all going to be ok. Mob was worried about her boyfriend….after everything that she had been through she was still worried about other people. Not herself. Not what had happened to her. He loved her for that, her capacity to care about others…and her capacity to care about him, too.

"I won't. I'm sorry…and I said sorry again. Sorry for saying sorry again." said Mob. The butterflies in her stomach were there, again, and they were not going to be leaving anytime soon. Was it right to feel like this when she had just been talking about her boyfriend…her boyfriend who had been tossing and turning all night worried about things that he would not tell her about and muttering things in a language that she could not understand? Why did she have to be like this, too feel like this? She wanted to be ok, to feel ok, and she could not feel ok if she was feeling like….like this….

"Mob, stop apologizing. You're alright to feel the way you feel. You're worried about him, that's understandable, and if he won't tell you what he's worried about well then don't pry. He'll tell you when he's ready. He cares about you a lot, Mob, I can tell. He'll tell you when he's ready." Said Reigen

"I guess…but I don't like it when he keeps things from me. Like before, back before all of this, he was going off to fight Sho's dad with all of the others and he didn't even tell me. I just worry that he might be keeping something big like that from me. I want…" said Mob

"You feel like you're having trouble trusting him, now, because of how he was involved in all of this and didn't tell you?" asked Reigen. That made sense. That made a lot of sense…and he could not be pissed off at the kid. Not when he was just a kid and hadn't realized that he had been in over his head from the very beginning. This was not anything that any of those kids should have been involved in. He didn't blame the kid for not wanting to get Mob involved in all of this insanity.

"Yes, that's it….you cheated. You used your powers to figure out how I was feeling." Said Mob

"I didn't. I just…I understand what you're going through. It's hard when someone you love breaks your trust and puts themselves in danger. It's hard because you came so close to losing them and they wouldn't even let you help. It's hard coming close to losing someone you love and then you just can't help but wonder when…when it'll happen again." said Reigen

"That's how I feel." Said Mob. That was true. She did feel like…like what if this happened again? What if Teru thought that he had to fight and then he just…went off and did it? And didn't tell her? And then got hurt or died or something like that? And she hadn't been there to help him. From what he had told her, what little he had told her, he had been beaten up so badly that he could barely see…and she hadn't been there for him…but she was there, now, and she would always be there for him. For Teru. For her Teru.

"I know." Said Reigen

"And I'm sorry." Said Mob

"I said to stop apologizing." Said Reigen with an exaggerated moan. She knew how he felt. She knew that he wasn't really annoyed with her. She knew that he was…he did not have a word for this feeling. Happy didn't cut it. Happy…he was happy to be with her, to be there with her, that both of them were alive and well. She was a gift. It was a gift to have been able to spend time with her like this. A gift that he would never take for granted again. He was so happy…and happy was even too small a word for it…for what he felt when he was near her….

"I mean that I'm sorry for what happened before. When I left the house to go and fight Sho's dad. I broke your trust when I did that and I made you come out here and…and you almost died. So I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry about that and I'm sorry, too, about what happened after the thing with Mogami…how I ran away from home." Said Mob

"Mob….don't. We already decided that the Asagiri job was my fault from start to finish. You and I are not going to share the blame in that. It's my job to keep you safe. It's my job not to run my mouth and say terrible shit to you. Ok? And as for what just happened….let's split the difference. You didn't listen to me and I didn't listen to you." Said Reigen

"Split the difference…ok. We can do that." Said Mob. She didn't want to feel bad about herself…even if she kind of did already. Because she had let so many of her friends, her little brother, all the people that had been there…she had let them all almost die because she hadn't ended the fight sooner. Made Sho's dad stop sooner. She did what she had to do. She had…she was not going to make herself feel bad about this. Split the difference….she liked that.

"Good. That's what we'll do." Said Reigen even though he knew, deep down, that it was his fault. Not the fact that it had happened in the first place, no, he hadn't been the one to tell that madman that he had to take over the world or whatever else he had been planning on doing. Mob's involvement…he hadn't been able to stop her. He hadn't been able to stop her and had, in fact, almost lost her. Almost let her get hurt….

She had gotten hurt.

She had gotten very hurt.

But here she was, just sitting with him, like everything was normal. That was good. That meant that…that she was fine. On her way to becoming fine. Not suppressing what she felt but just not…not afraid. She had come so close to death but she had come out the other side. So why was she so calm? Was it that she had come out the other side? Was there nothing left for her to be afraid of, even?

After facing death….what did one have to fear beyond that?

Ritsu had almost died. Beyond that he had nothing to be afraid of.

Really. After almost dying the rest of the world, the things he had feared before, seemed insignificant by comparison. This was worse than the time he had almost gotten kidnapped. He hadn't been staring certain death in the face back then…even if he felt like he had. He had been so young then, even though it hadn't been the long ago, actually, he still felt like he had been so young…

He wasn't a kid anymore.

Even if he was still just thirteen. Thirteen going on whatever. He had saved the world, helped to save the world, and had almost died in an explosion of…of whatever it had been. After that what else could he possibly worry about? Well the state of his house, obviously, that would need to be put back together…and sooner rather than later…but Sho said that he would find Ritsu. He had his own loose ends to tie up, loose ends that did not involve Ritsu…and he had no idea why that stung the way it did. They had come so far together and…and he was being selfish. Sho had things going on that Ritsu could not even begin to understand. His dad, how own father, had tried to take over the world…and also there had been the part where they found him….that was it's own flavor of terrible right there. He couldn't blame Sho for needing some space and time to get all of his loose ends tied up…

Ritsu's house could wait.

But that wasn't the only reason that he wanted to see Sho. No, he just wanted to be near him. He knew why he wanted to be near Sho, almost dying about fifty million times really put things into perspective…and he wasn't sure, yet, how to be ok with that. He liked Sho a lot, a lot of a lot, but he had someone who liked him….

Someone who wouldn't leave him alone.

"It looks just like a piece of broccoli, doesn't it?" asked Rei. She and Ritsu were watching the news coverage of the big tree downtown where the cultural center used to be. So far the only thing that they had to report was that it was a tree, it was big, and that was all they knew. Broadcast TV was so boring. She couldn't wait until the internet came back. Maybe by then people would actually have some idea of what was going on with that thing…

It felt weird, that tree.

She looked into the future and…just general bad feeling about that tree…and then she stopped. She didn't want to think about that or anything else bad happening. Not now. Now she should have just been happy. She had lived through the explosion. There had been a future beyond the explosion. There had been an actual future in which they had not all died. That was enough to celebrate.

She was alive.

He was alive.

They were alive together.

"Yeah, it's weird. I mean I have no idea why a tree even grew in the first place but a giant piece of broccoli is just…weird." Said Ritsu. He had not expected he climactic final battle to end in a giant broccoli tree…but that whole strong of events had just been so…so outside the realm of the ordinary…that he could accept this. Well he had no choice but to accept it, there was a giant tree downtown. A giant evil tree that had tried to eat his sister. At least it felt like it had tried to eat his sister…

Finding her clothes half buried in the dirt had been one of the worst experiences of his entire life.

Even worse than finding her and Teru together…

But he was so glad that she was still alive. He wished…he wished that he had been with her. That he had gone back to the Awakening Lab with her. He would have gone with her, too, if he had been able to. But Rei had been clinging to him and she was his girlfriend and if she wanted him to come home with her then…then he had no choice but to come with her. She had been scared and clinging to him and….and he had to go with her. Besides, sister had her own boyfriend and he did not want to be around when they did….the things that couples did together that he did not want to think about his sister doing…or the guy he liked….and he did still kind of like Teru…even though that was terrible of him. His sister had almost died saving him and he was still thinking about kissing her boyfriend….and he had kissed her boyfriend….but that had just been a moment of temporary insanity. He had been tired and stressed and not totally in control of his actions. That was all. Had he been in his right state of mind he would have remembered who he was and who Teru was and what was and was not acceptable and what he had to be and who he had to be and how he had no choice in the matter…

It didn't matter if he had a choice in the matter. He was alive. That was the only thing that mattered.

"This whole thing was just so weird. I mean I can't get over it. We were actually there….I keep on thinking about it but it's like…like I'm remembering something from a dream. A bad one." said Rei. She was holding Ritsu's hand. This was about the only thing that they could do in the living room…unfortunately. She wanted to lay down with her head on his chest and just be comfortable and there with him. She loved him so much….and she wished that she could have just been older. If she had been older then nobody could come in and tell her not to cuddle with her boyfriend. She knew that they had their whole lives for stuff, they hadn't died so they literally did, but she didn't want to wait her whole life for that.

For anything.

She wanted to be with him now. She was with him now. She had no idea how long they would be together for. His parents were still safe in the mountains but they could come down and get him at any time. Their phones were still smashed but the landline phones were still working. Mom and dad were tying up the line talking to people and telling them that everyone in the family was still alive. Still, every time the phone rang Rei worried that his parents had somehow gotten their number and they were calling to tell Ritsu that they were going back to what was left of their house. Ritsu still hadn't left to help put it back together….

His house would be fixed.

A glance into the future told her that. His house would be fixed and then he would leave her and then she would be all alone…well her parents were still there and so was her older sister…but it wasn't the same. She just wanted to be with Ritsu. She didn't care if he was really quiet a lot of the time or if he had been a jerk all the way back when they met. He had risked his life for her so many times. She had risked her life for him.

They loved each other.

And it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that they were thirteen and everyone said that they had no idea what love was. That was what mom had said. She said that Rei was too young to know the full weight of telling someone 'I love you' even though she totally did. Those weren't just words that she said to hear herself speak. She meant them. She would have died for Ritsu and he would have died for her. if that wasn't love, if that didn't count, then what did? She may have been thirteen, and so was he, but that didn't make what they had any less real.

"It's over, Rei, you don't have to be afraid anymore. You saved all of us so you don't even have to be scared." Said Ritsu. He let go of her hand, briefly, to wipe the sweat off onto his shirt. Thank God he had packed a bag. He had woken up to it right next to him…Sho was like a ninja when he wanted to be…and he wished that he could have thanked him. He had spent that first night here, after everything, in one of Rei's big T-shirts and her pajama pants. Not that he had anything against her clothes, they were very soft and comfortable actually, but there was just something to wearing his own clothes…the only clothes that he had left in the world…that is until he put his house back together. Well until he helped…and he wondered when that would be…and he wished that he had woken up when Sho was there so he could have asked…but he had been dead to the world that day.

"Ritsu, no. You saved me. I didn't do anything but tell everyone where to go. You're the one who actually fought for us…for me…and I can't put up a barrier. You can. You can and you saved us so many times. I didn't do anything but tell you where to go." Said Rei

"I couldn't have done it without you and you couldn't have done it without me. Ok? Let's just agree that we…that we need each other." Said Ritsu. He did not want to remember that. His barrier hadn't done much, probably, because he wasn't nearly as strong as the rest of them. He had been more worried about his own life than…and he had been selfish. He had been panicked and selfish…but he was done being selfish.

"Ok…that makes sense. We both saved each other. It was so scary…but you were so brave." Said Rei. She had saved him and he had saved her…and that was…that was everything. That was love. That was…she loved him. She loved him more than anything or anyone else in the world…and he loved her…

And she hated that they were thirteen.

"So were you. I mean we all were. We kind of had to be." Said Ritsu

"Yeah….but I'm glad it's over. Like, now we can move on with our lives and stuff. I mean I have no idea what we're going to do…school's closed and stuff…but we can figure something out. I mean we can't go out or anything because it's still not totally safe and everything's broken but we can still do….stuff. I mean we can still hang out. We should hang out with Mob and Teru, too, when she feels better. She's going to feel better….soon….sorry, I kind of cheated and looked into the future. I mean we shouldn't bother her anyway, she went through a lot. I mean we all went through a lot but she went through a whole lot. I'm just glad that we're here and were ok…and it's just like….like I had no idea how, I don't know, grateful I'd guess to be here again. Like…even my sister being a jerk is good because I'm alive for her to be a jerk to me again. If that makes sense. It's like 'Hello Rei' you're here and you're ok and you're with…with you and that's…that's pretty ok. Pretty good. More than ok. Sorry, I said too much again…" said Rei. She had been rambling, she rambled sometimes, and she'd even had no idea what it was that she had been getting at. She had just wanted to make words and hopefully those words could express how she felt….and maybe she did and maybe she didn't. She didn't know.

She didn't know how to say how happy she was that she was alive. Not only alive but alive and there, with him, and how she had never been so happy to be in her living room with her boyfriend, the best boyfriend ever, in her entire life.

"Yeah…it's pretty good. That's it's over." Said Ritsu. It took him a moment to process everything that she had just said. She was back to normal, it seemed, which was good. Maybe she didn't need him anymore. Maybe he could go…well he had no home to go back to. Sho said to he'd find him…but where was Sho, even? He couldn't still have been under that broccoli tree, right? It was freezing out there…well if he got cold then he always could have burnt it for warmth,….heh…

"Honestly I don't even know what I would want to do. Like, I know that there's still stuff I have to do. I have homework…even though I have no idea when they're going to open school again…and I have to dye my roots, too, because they're showing again and it looks so bad when they show. Like, it looks better when it's really grown out but I don't have time to grow them out. If I go to school with my roots showing…well, still, I have no idea when I'll be able to go to school again…it's amazing how much of my life revolves around school. I guess it's like adults and work. Yeah, school is like work for kids. My parents are worried about work. Well they didn't tell me but I heard them talking and they're worried about the economy and stuff since downtown is, well, gone. Maybe if there's no work there won't be any school. That would be so great! Wait, no, you like school….sorry. I bet that it's harder for you, too, since you actually liked going to school. I wonder if Mob is going to go back to school. They shouldn't make her. She saved the world and I think that if you save the whole world you shouldn't have to go to school anymore. Like, we helped, but she did most of the work. All of the work. We just sort of ran around and tried not to die. So I guess that we would have to go back to school…but that's ok, because you like school…and I don't hate it but I would rather not go…even though I have no idea what I would do with my time if I wasn't in school. I mean I like holiday breaks and…." Said Rei. She was just saying words, all of the words that came into her head. She knew that she should have shut her mouth, already, because she was having a conversation with herself at this point…but she didn't know how to stop. It all came up like word vomit.

"Uh-huh…" said Ritsu. That was about the only word that he could get in edgewise. Not that he wanted to get any more words in edgewise. He was content to let her talk. The more she said the less he would have to say. He didn't really want to think about what would happen after this. How he was expected to go to school after all of that, and if his sister would even be coming back. He didn't want to think about that at all. So he just listened.

"….and they had better not take up our whole summer break to make up for lost time. We need that break. It's so hot in the building during spring, even! Riko says that her high school has air conditioning to at least I have that to look forward to. Does your school have air conditioning? I wish that we got all the hot months off and just stayed in school all winter. I wouldn't mind Christmas at school if I got to come home at the end of the day. Maybe we won't even get a summer this year since it's freakishly cold outside this fall. Maybe that's climate change and we'll never have a summer or a spring again. Maybe it'll be like a mini ice age or something like that. Maybe…." Said Rei. Ritsu was listening to her ramble. He didn't tell her that she was talking too much or that she was annoying or anything like that. He just sat there and listened and…and that was so great. He was so great. She scooted closer to him as she went off on a tangent about all the things that they could do when summer got there.

Because they'd have a summer together.

She didn't need to use her future vison to see that they would have a summer together. It would be great. There'd be festivals and fireworks and her parents worked during the day so they could be all alone in her house. Not his house because his mom had already walked in on them once…that had been bad…but her parents were gone all day during the summer so they could have the whole house to themselves…kind of like now…

Dad was on the phone in the kitchen. Rei could still hear him. Mom went to go check on the old lady who lived on the end of their street. She was old and lonely and the visit could take over and hour if she roped mom into one of those long conversations that didn't go anywhere. Those sorts of conversations where you just made words and hoped that they made sense because you didn't want the other person to go…or to know what was really on your mind…because if they knew what was on your mind then…then they might want to do something about it…and the thought of that is both terrifying and…and exciting….and so you just keep on talking and talking and talking and talking…

She highly doubted that her mother had the same things on her mind that she did.

"So…yeah….I hope school starts again soon…and I have a lot of homework piled up…and I want to get it done before…summer…" said Rei because she had been talking for a very long time. Ritsu had just been sitting there waiting patiently for her to be done. He was still looking at her and still holding her hand even though she was sweating buckets. He was just…there. There with her. They were together…almost totally alone….

She wished that she wasn't wearing a sweater.

And she wished that she was wearing two sweaters.

"Do you want me to help you with your homework?" asked Ritsu. She went silent after that like she expected him to say something. He kind of wanted to tell her that a conversation was like a game of ping pong, both people had to participate, but that would have been mean. He may not have felt the same way about her as she did about him but he was not about to be mean to her…even if that would have made his life easier…but that would have been wrong. She had saved his life and he had to be with a girl anyway so why not this one? She was nice and she cared about him and even if he didn't think that thoughts about her that he knew he should have been thinking he could still tell that she was pretty. Really, he had no reason not to want to be with her. Well aside from THE reason but nobody could ever know about THE reason who didn't already know…and he hoped that Teru kept what happened between them to himself for the rest of his life.

"Sure! I mean, sure. That'd be…that'd be nice. Responsible. Grown up." Said Rei. Her voice was being kind of squeaky, there, and she…she had never made hat sound before. Kind of nervous. Kind of afraid. Kind of…she didn't even know what. She wanted….she wanted a lot of things. Things that she knew she wasn't supposed to want. Because she was so young. Because she was a girl. All of that stuff. All of that unfair stuff.

Stuff that she wasn't even sure if she should have asked about.

Ritsu never asked her about that stuff. He was mature like that. He was mature enough that he probably figured that they had their whole lives for stuff like that, like adults were always saying, even if they almost hadn't. They had almost died. They had almost died so many times in so many ways. They had almost been crushed and…and there was the part when the sky caught fire…and then there was the explosion and…and she would have died without knowing what ANYTHING was like. It wasn't fair.

It really wasn't.

But she had no idea how to even begin to talk about that. Mom and dad had a bunch of books about love and relationships and making a marriage work after forty and they all said that the key to a good marriage was communication. Well that may have been true but they were thirteen, not in their forties, and they weren't married. They hadn't even had their six month anniversary. They'd had their three month anniversary, though, which mostly just involved sitting in the river park and kissing a whole lot. Also Ritsu had gotten her a slice of cake, which was nice of him, and she had drawn him a picture of the two of them. It was a charcoal sketch and it came out ok…though maybe their three months anniversary was not the time to be trying out new mediums. He liked it, though, he had it taped up in his room. He had all the pictures she had ever drawn him taped up in his room.

Because he loved her.

That was the thing, he loved her, so would it be alright to just come out and…and ask? Just ask him to…she didn't even know what. Not THAT because she was not in any way ready or prepared for THAT but…more than kissing and holding hands and cuddling and watching TV. The kind of stuff that second years did…well second years did that too or at least Mob did…and she did not want to think about her friend while she was in her room all alone with her boyfriend…and she was not going to bring his sister up too because sisters were mood killers…speaking of she had better close her door even though she knew that she was not allowed to…

"Rei, what are you doing?" asked Ritsu. He had been in the middle of helping her with her homework, math this time, when she said that she had to go do something. That was Rei for close her door even though she knew for a fact that she was not allowed to and he did not feel like getting her in trouble or getting kicked out of her house just because she wanted to kiss again. Not that her parents were like his. They might just…get upset. Mom had kicked Rei out when she walked in on them…they hadn't even been doing anything. Not really.

What was she doing?

"Don't worry, my mom's out visiting and my dad's going to be on the phone for a while since they just fixed them and, you know, people want to know that we're not…dead…and stuff. My sister…she knows that I know stuff about her, too, so if I go down then she goes down with me." Said Rei. She sat back down on her bed. There was a book between them, and a notebook, and a pencil, and a calculator. She wanted to shove everything onto the floor. She wanted to pile more stuff on the bed.

Was she honestly going to do this?

"But…that doesn't answer…." Said Ritsu. The collar of his shirt was suddenly way too tight. The room was suddenly way too hot. There was a textbook and a notebook between them…not exactly insurmountable obstacles. She didn't actually want to….did she? Why would she…because she loved him and that was what people did when they were in love….

He scooted backwards until his back was against the wall.

She scooted so she was next to him.

Her homework stuff fell on the ground. He wished that her room wasn't carpeted. If her room wasn't carpeted then someone could have heard that and kicked down the door and then they would have been banished back to the living room where they could be clearly heard and seen and then whatever Rei had on her mind couldn't happen.

"I just…I don't know. I love you, ok? I love you and I don't….I mean I love you and I know that you're going to….I mean I love you and…." Said Rei. Well it was one thing to think about something and quite another to set out and…and she didn't even know. Kiss. More than kiss. She wanted…she wanted to but…but there was a difference between wanting to do something and then actually sitting there on her bed and preparing to do it…

Not like THAT.

"Rei…I love you too…but this is a bad idea. This is a really bad idea. What if your mom comes home? Or your dad comes upstairs? Or your sister decides that she doesn't care if she gets in trouble too?" asked Ritsu. She was close…so close…and she had been this close before….and he shouldn't have been bothered by this. She was his girlfriend and even if she wasn't he owed her for saving his life. He had no reason to be freaking out like this. She probably didn't even want to…any of that….she probably just wanted to kiss again. Yeah. That was probably it.

"I don't care. I don't…I don't want to die." Said Rei. She clung to his hand when she said that. She clung to his hand so tight that she worried, a little, that she was hurting him. She wouldn't have blamed him if he shook his hand loose…but he didn't. He still held her hand…just like he had before…when they were in the middle of it all…

"What? Rei, we're not going to die…are we?" asked Ritsu. He wondered if there was something else coming, something that was just about to start again, maybe more world saving….great. Just great.

"We will. I mean everyone who has ever been alive will die…but that's not what I mean. I mean if I look into the future there's a million ways we could die and they all have their own probabilities…but that's not what I'm talking about. I love you so much, Ritsu, the most, the very most, I've ever loved another person and…and I don't want to die without…I can't even say it." Said Rei. She knew what they said at school. If you weren't mature enough to say it then you weren't mature enough to…but she wasn't even thinking about…that. She just wanted…she wanted to know what something felt like…but she didn't even fully know what…

So confusing.

"I…I love you too but…uh….I don't know." Said Ritsu. Guilt. A hell of a lot of guilt. This girl was in love with him…and he…he had to make her happy. He hadn't meant to lie to her. He had just gone with it…because it was the thing to do…and he had been lying to her for so long…and she was so in love with him that…that she was looking at him like that and…and he just did not know.

"Can I kiss you?" asked Rei. Well now she was having second thoughts and third thoughts and fourth thoughts even. All the different degrees of thoughts that one could have. She had never done anything before and she didn't want to die without ever having done anything….but the probability of their imminent deaths was low…but that could change. Some other misguided person could try and use their powers to do terrible things…and maybe there wouldn't be any running next time. Maybe there wouldn't be anyone to save next time….

She had no idea what would happen next time.

She had no idea if there would even be a next time.

But there was a now. There was a now and he was there and she was there and she wanted to kiss him and of course he wanted to kiss her, he was her boyfriend after all, so they kissed. They kissed and went from there….for as long as they could because, yes, she was not allowed to have her in her room with the door closed. But they'd had some time alone together…

And they'd made the most of it.

"Well I can't exactly say that we've made the most of our time together." Said Sho. At some point it had gotten light, then dark, then light again. He had spent the entire time by his dad's side. Serizawa had spent the entire time at his side. It was cold but they had made something close to a shelter from broken bits of buildings and stuff that they'd scavenged. Sho wondered if they could have lived there. Made their home in the mess and lived out the rest of their days with the rats.

There were a lot of rats.

The gross city kind that carried disease. He had been loath to shoo them off but he had to. No sense in dad surviving the explosion just to end up sick from rat germs. They were cute, though, but not as cute as hamsters. He wondered if he could get a hamster now. Dad hated it when he had pets…but dad was looking half dead and he wasn't the boss of Sho anymore, anyway. He wasn't the boss of anyone anymore.

Claw was finished.

More years than Sho had even been alive were gone. Right down the drain. He had won. Well his side had won. But why didn't he feel better about winning? Why did he feel…bad? For all of this? For his dad? That was the worst part, feeling bad for dad. The same dad who had no only tried to take over the world but had tried to kill him with his own two hands. He should have just left his dad to freeze. Left him to starve. Left him to the gross city rats that came up to them trying to steal the food he had scavenged.

He had left his dad.

Briefly. To give Ritsu his stuff, he had told himself, and Serizawa too. Serizawa was even more choked up about what happened than he was. It made sense. Dad was the guy who saved him and all of that. That was how Serizawa had put it, before, that dad had saved him in every way a person could be saved. Now he said that about Ritsu's big sis. That she had saved him in every way a person could be saved. By fighting dad. By saving their lives. By exploding. By growing that evil feeling tree. That was why Sho left. He just…he could not listen to that for a moment longer.

And also Ritsu needed his stuff.

Sho knew what it was like to live out of a backpack. That was how he had lived most of his life. Ritsu was living out of a backpack now but it wasn't permanent. He had to get back to Ritsu, he had to help put his house back together and all of that, but right now there was some stupid force that was keeping him near dad. He hadn't even woken Ritsu up when he found him. He had been at his girlfriend's house, he was probably still there, and he wouldn't have wanted Sho to bother him in the first place when he was with his girlfriend. People who were in love liked to be in love together, on their own.

He really had wanted to wake Ritsu up.

Not for any specific reason. He still had to find Ootski and in the middle of the night after that great big fight was not the time to do so. So fixing Ritsu's house was out. He just…he had just wanted to be near him. To have someone to talk to. Someone who wasn't Serizawa. Someone who wasn't dad. Someone who made him feel good. Ritsu…it always felt good to be around Ritsu. Even though there was nothing that Ritsu could do. Even though Sho was the one who had dragged Ritsu into this whole thing. Even though Sho was probably the last person Ritsu even wanted to see….

"He's waking up…I think. I mean I can see his aura and it looks…better." Said Serizawa. He had been sitting there at the President's side since he had collapsed. He had nowhere else to go. It didn't matter if he stayed, the President didn't care one bit about him, but he had nowhere else to go. He could always go back to his mother…back to his room…back to the hell that had been his life…but he didn't want to. His life was his own. She had said that.

Her.

She had gone away, been carried off, and he…he sort of wanted to follow her. Wasn't he just the most pathetic person in existence? He's cast aside by one person so he follows another right away. He hadn't followed her, though, even though he had wanted to. He stayed with Sho. He had to stay with Sho. He had to make things ok between him and Sho again.

If it was even possible.

"And then what?" asked Sho. He could see dad's aura, too. He wasn't dead, just passed out. Once dad woke up…he had better now have been planning on pulling any more of that shit like he had before! Especially the part where he decided that it was a good idea to literally go waving his dick around! That was the part that pissed Sho off the most. The embarrassment. Not the almost killing him, not the taking over the world, no, it was the constant never ending hailstorm of embarrassment!...and also Dad had better not have been planning on trying to take over the world again. That would have sucked, too.

"Then…he'll be awake." Said Serizawa. He had no idea what would happen next. He hoped that the President had learned the error of his ways and all of that but…but there were still doubts. Serizawa knew that he would never go along with something so transparently terrible again…because the President didn't give a damn about him or anyone else…

Then why was he still there?

For Sho. For his friend.

"What happens after he wakes up? I mean…I don't know. I don't even know why I'm asking you. I'm the one in charge." Said Sho

"You are?" asked Serizawa. They had never decided who would be in charge…but of course it would be Sho. Who else? Even if he was only thirteen he was still a hell of a lot smarter and braver than Serizawa had ever been at any point in his life.

"Yeah, aren't I always? That's my name after all." said Sho. Dad said, years ago, that he named him Sho because he had hopes for his future. Well it sucked for dad because, yeah, the prophecy had been fulfilled after all and Sho really was a leader just like the kanji that made up his name spelled out. He had led an incredibly successful resistance movement…that really had only won because he had found someone overpowered enough to take dad on and win….but winning was winning. Even if it didn't feel like victory. Even if it wasn't….even if there was something like a feeling of loss. For what he didn't know. There was kind of a sort of loss that settled in over him. A loss of…not what he'd had…but what he could have had.

He looked down at dad.

Dad looked downright normal when he was asleep. Sure he looked super thin, like he was on one of those eat single apple once a week diets or something like that, but he looked like…a normal guy. The kind of guy who didn't try to kill his son with his own two hands. The kind of guy who didn't think that it would be ok to call his son a failure. The kind of guy who hadn't watched way too much TV and decided that taking over the world was a totally smart and feasible plan. When he was awake he was….downright terrifying….

But asleep…

Asleep he looked like…a guy. A guy who could have been his dad. A guy who could have been….who could have been someone to Sho. Someone who…who actually cared about him. Someone who wanted…who actually wanted him for a son. He could have had that. Those kids from the Awakening Lab had that. Ritsu had that. Teru….well he didn't…and neither did Ritsu's big sis. Maybe that was just how it went when you were powerful. Maybe the more powerful you were the more people left you.

He looked over at Serizawa.

Or used you. Left you or used you or hurt you. Maybe that was just how it went. Maybe that was why dad had turned out the way he did. He never talked about his parents but they must not have been very good parents to have raised someone who grew up to be him. Maybe Sho would end up messed up from all of this. His parents did suck after all…well dad did…

He hadn't heard from mom in a while.

Maybe that would be what was going to happen next. Maybe he would end up back with her. He was only thirteen and that was a kid in this country…and pretty much every other country on Earth. Maybe he could flee the country….not that he wanted to. He just…he didn't know what he wanted. Someone to care about him, maybe? Someone to tuck him in at night and read him stories and chase the monsters out from under his bed and-

What was he, three?

"I-It is…and we'll do whatever you want….after this." said Serizawa. it was easier to just let Sho pick what they were going to do, where they were going to go from here, because he really had no other options aside from living in the rubble out here or going back to his room in his mother's house. Neither option appealed to him. He trusted Sho. He trusted Sho's judgement. Even though Sho was a kid…and also might have hated him…he still trusted Sho.

"Yeah, I've got this. When dad wakes up I…I'll figure something out. We'll be fine. Well me and dad'll be fine. You can come with too…I guess." Said Sho. Serizawa may have betrayed him but….but he was still there…and that was something. That was something in this world. More than his own father had ever given him, anyway. He didn't forgive Serizawa, he didn't know if he would ever truly forgive him, but he didn't want to be all alone…

When dad finally woke up.


	75. Goodbyes and Hellos

Apparently Joseph, the cigarette guy, worked for the government.

Who would have thought? He didn't do a very good job, in Sho's opinion, because he hadn't done a thing to stop dad for even getting close to all of the crazy shit he had done. That had all been on Sho….like everything was. He didn't know what pissed him off more. The fact that Joseph did fuck all to stop dad or the fact that he thought that days after what happened he could just swoop in, capture dad, and take all the credit.

"I can't believe you were stopped by a civilian esper of all people. This gives us pros a bad name." said Joseph as he scrolled through his phone. He tried to look bored, nonchalant, like it was every day that he had the most powerful man in the world at his mercy…and Suzuki was at his mercy. He was there, bound in smoke turned to steel, and there was no way he could have gotten out…this time. His aura was still so dull….but looks could be deceiving.

The other two seemed fine, though, and that was…both a good thing and a bad thing.

"What's going to happen to my dad?" asked Sho. He knew that it would not have been able to last. They could not all just live in the shadow of the broccoli tree eating scavenged food and making forts out of debris and whatever else they could find. Of course it ended and of course dad would have to be punished for what he did. He tried to take over the world. That wasn't the kind of thing that people were just going to forget.

No matter how many times he said that he was sorry.

"Well if they don't outright execute him then they'll probably keep him alive for experiments or something." Said Joseph. He was not afraid of Suzuki's kid or his lapdog….or Suzuki himself. Suzuki who had been rather…agreeable….during this whole exchange. Once the initial fighting had died down, and the state of emergency had been rescinded, it had been easy to find Suzuki…well somewhat easy once he figured out how to find auras within the….shadow? The shadow of that tree….that worrying tree….

Which was not his problem. The tree was not his problem, the man who helped create it was, and his orders were to bring this man into custody. No more and no less. As for his son…that was not his problem either, and neither were Suzuki's followers. Some of them had defected and that earned them some points. Maybe even enough points for a get out of jail free card. Not that anyone who had willingly followed Suzuki deserved one…but Joseph was not being paid for his opinions. He didn't even get to have opinions on any of this.

"D-Do you have to say something like that in front of his son?" asked Serizawa. Nobody deserved to hear something so awful. Even if the President had been a terrible father to Sho….Sho still did not need to hear something like that. The President…he reminded himself that the President was an awful person. He reminded himself that the President had used him and everyone else. He reminded himself that the President had tried to kill his own son…and the rest of them, too. He reminded himself that he knew what true friendship was now and the President had never had anything close to that for him….

He reminded himself that he shouldn't care what happened to the President after this.

But he did care. He cared a lot. He told himself that the pain he felt when Joseph said those terrible things was on Sho's behalf, if anyone had a right to feel terrible it was Sho, and he told himself that Sho's pain was the reason he felt like…this. So terrible. It was just empathy, he told himself, empathy for Sho.

He had always been very good at deceiving himself.

"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." Said Joseph with a shrug. That guy could have kicked his ass eight ways from Sunday if he'd wanted to…but he didn't seem to want to. He was just…there…with the kid. The kid who was being oddly somber….and Joseph didn't care. He didn't care about anything but getting Suzuki into custody and taking a nice, long, leave of absence because this had been just too much.

This whole thing had been too much.

Too much to handle. The world…this guy had almost taken over the entire world…and the only one who had been able to stop him, according to reports, had been a teenage girl. A teenage girl in a school uniform had stopped the most powerful man on Earth…and now she was just out there. There was a government policy on espers and that policy was to leave them be unless they used their powers to commit some sort of crime or something.

That girl, the one responsible for stopping Suzuki, was still out there.

"What are you going to do to him?" asked Sho finding his voice. That was all that he could ask. The only words that he could form. He wanted to take dad and run away with him. To hide him somewhere where nobody could ever find him and then spend the rest of his life as his father's jailer. He didn't know why he wanted that. Maybe because he didn't' trust anyone either than himself to watch over his dad…or maybe because he didn't want to be alone. Maybe he just didn't know what would happen if dad was gone. Maybe he hadn't thought ahead this far. Maybe he wanted….maybe he didn't even know what he wanted.

He didn't want his dad to be executed.

He didn't want them to experiment on his dad like a lab rat.

He just wanted his dad…locked up…or something. Locked up in a power nullification room or something. Locked up somewhere where he couldn't hurt anyone ever again. He was still super pissed off at dad, and he had every right to be, but he did not want his dad dead or dissected or whatever else the government was planning on doing to him.

"I don't know the specifics and that's not my call to make, kid. Anyway if that's the last of the goodbyes I've got to go. I've got a schedule to keep." Said Joseph. There was a sort of….guilt…to this. That kid, Suzuki's kid, looked more like, well, a kid than Joseph had ever seen him looking before. Not that he knew that kid well, just at a distance like everyone else in Claw had. Just as that kid who hung around sometimes. Just as that cocky, annoying, little brat. But he was not a cocky, annoying, little brat now. He was a kid who was about to lose his father….

And Joseph was not allowed to feel guilty about this.

This was what needed to be done. Suzuki had proven that there was no way that he could be allowed out in the world. Not after all that he had done. He was going away for a long, long, time if they didn't just stick the needle in his arm the minute they brought him into custody. It served him right, too, for all the things he did. There was no reason to feel guilty about this. The kid….Joseph was not social services. The kid was not his job. The kid was too young to be tried for any of the things he had done, and he had defected in the end anyway, and therefore he was nothing to Joseph. A nonentity. Just another civilian esper.

There was no need to feel guilty about orphaning this kid.

The goodbyes were said and now it was time to go and figure out how Suzuki was going to pay his debt, his substantial debt, to society. He turned his back on it, on them. On the city, that tree, and the people who he had found living under it. He turned and left. He turned and closed the book on all of it.

"President-" called Serizawa. He didn't know what he was going to say. He just knew that he wanted to, had to, say something to the man who saved him. Who saved him and damned him all in the same motion. To the man who…to the man who had betrayed to. To the man who he had betrayed. To the man who had…who was responsible for…everything…..

He had no idea what to say.

I hate you.

I love you.

How could you?

I forgive you.

Get away from me.

Please don't go.

Or maybe all of the above.

"Serizawa." said Suzuki. He had been silent. There was nothing that he could possibly say. There was no way that he could justify himself. What he had done. Hoe he had hurt…everyone. Was it worth it? He didn't know. He had held the world in the palm of his hands…and then he had lost it…but he had never had it in the first place. It hadn't been worth it. Not if it meant…being alone.

He had been alone for so long.

He had spent his entire life thinking that no man could be his equal. Well he had been right about that. He'd found his equal and she was a fourteen year old girl. She'd defeated him…no….they'd both almost destroyed each other. She had almost destroyed him and he had almost destroyed her…if 'almost' was even a word which had been applicable to their situation.

He'd lost his body.

He'd lost the entire boundary of himself. Lost it. Been one with not only her but the universe itself, it had felt like, and for once in his life he had known what it was to not be so…alone. So very alone. People needed other people. She had taught him that. People only existed in this world because of others. Because of how their interactions with others shaped them. Because of how their interactions with others motivated them. People needed other people….including him…he needed other people. In his pursuit of his goal he had pushed everyone away…and now he was alone…

And it had not been worth it.

"S-sir?" asked Serizawa. He hadn't had even the faintest idea of what he would say to the man…and now it was a moot point. He was the one being spoken to. The President was always speaking to him, never with him…and Serizawa wanted to speak with him. To have one conversation, even a short one, as the friends he'd thought that they were. A lie. It had all been a lie. He had been lied to…and he had also lied to himself as well. Just lies on top of lies on top of more lies.

He wanted the truth. For once he wanted the truth.

"You should know that I never considered you all my comrades. There's no reason to care about me." Said Suzuki. He knew what Serizawa was going to say. Something like an apology for betraying him, possibly, or some expression of guilt for his part in all of this. What he had done to Serizawa…it had served it's purpose. His most powerful follower was also his most loyal…but it had come at a cost to his wellbeing. A cost that Suzuki never should have asked him to pay. It was time, for once, to be truthful about…everything.

"I-I know…" said Serizawa. He knew that the President hadn't cared about him, he knew that the President had just been using him, but hearing him say it…there maybe might have been some hope. Some hope that some part of the President had…had cared for him. But of course there was no hope of that.

"Now you get it…." Muttered Sho. He was angry, again, and he didn't want to be. Serizawa may have betrayed him, may have almost let dad kill him….he was still pissed about that one, but he had also been there by his side…eventually. Sho wanted to take him and shake him and ask him where this epiphany had been weeks ago. Months ago. Years ago. Back when he could have actually done something rather than just…just let so much bad shit happen….

"You should be careful from now own since you lack self confidence and that makes you easy to manipulate." Said Suzuki. That was the most important information he could leave him with. Now was not the time for apologies. They were well past that point. Now the best thing he could leave his most loyal follower with was a piece of very good advice. This was a good place to end it, to end them, on. His last act as President.

He would never see Serizawa again.

And he would never see his son again, either.

He's spent this whole time avoiding looking at his son. It hurts. It hurts to look at him and to know just how badly he had messed up. Just what he had done to his own child. Not only what had happened in the Cultural Tower but everything that had happened in the past thirteen years between the two of them. He had hurt Sho in every single way in which a person could be hurt. Not only that but he had taken Sho away from his mother…away from Masami….

The wound is opened again. It hurts.

"Sho." said Suzuki. He needed words to leave his son with, too, since this would be the last time he ever saw him again. His son. The person he had made. The person who he had hurt most. The person who…who he was proud to have made. His son had led a successful, barely, insurrection against his own father. His son was a leader, like his namesake, and his son…his son was not a failure. Sho was not a failure.

"Yeah, dad?" asked Sho. He didn't know if he even wanted to hear what his dad had to say. Based on what he just said to Serizawa it wouldn't be anything good. Probably more about how he was such a disappointment and a failure. Probably more about how he wished that he'd never had him for a son. Something mean like that. Something cruel Something….something dad.

"I'm proud of you. I'm proud of the person you've become." Said Suzuki. He saw his son's aura. He saw his son's face. Disbelief. Complete and utter disbelief….of course there would be disbelief. Why wouldn't there be disbelief? He had been nothing but cruel to his son for his entire thirteen and three quarter years on this planet.

"Dad…." Said Sho. It was like something out of a dream. Dad finally being proud of him, finally looking at him like something other than the worst failure that ever could have existed, finally talking to him like he actually cared….

Why did this have to happen now?!

Why couldn't dad have just said something mean and then gone from his life forever?!

Why did he have to leave Sho with this?! This-This-This final 'fuck you'?!

"You're seriously telling me this now?! Now, after all of these years, you decide that I'm worth something!? Right fucking now!?" shouted Sho. Serizawa took a step back. Sho didn't care. He didn't care that he was yelling, that his aura was showing, he didn't care at all about any of that. He just wanted-wanted-wanted-he had no fucking idea what he wanted!

"Yes." said Suzuki simply. He so wished that his son would do something about his language…but the way his son spoke was no longer under his control. Nothing about the boy was under his control…and he never had been to begin with. That was ok. He was his own person and that was totally ok.

This was ok.

He was ok with this.

"Fuck you! Fuck you for-for-for fucking with me like this! And don't start with me about the way that I fucking talk! I will say any fucking thing that I want! So fuck this and fuck you, too! You don't get to suddenly start giving a damn about me! You don't get to suddenly just…..fuck! You don't get to tell me this now! Why didn't you say this before!? Why?! What was stopping you?! What was…why are you telling me this shit now!?" said Sho. He was shouting at the top of his lungs, now, and his throat was red and raw…and he didn't care. He didn't care one bit. Dad needed to hear this. He would shout until he went mute if it meant that dad heard this.

"I'm telling you this now because this very well be the last time that we speak. I was too blinded by my own pride and ambition to see that…that you are someone who I'm proud of. You are. I know that you're angry with me, it would be strange if you weren't, and I know that I deserve it. What I have done to you….what I have done to you….I am truly sorry for what I've done to you. All of it. I know that all of this is far too little and far too late but I am deeply sorry for everything that I've done to you…put you through. The pain I've caused you both emotional and physical. Treating you the way I did…keeping you from your mother…all of it. I'm truly sorry." Said Suzuki. His son shouted at him some more. He shouted the worst obscenities in his vocabulary. Truly obscene things, truly vile things, and some very creative word combinations that Suzuki had never even thought of….

And he let him.

He deserved it.

So he just let his son curse him out. He let his son curse himself out until, truly, he would out of things to say. Exhausted himself. Stood there panting while a thoroughly scandalize Serizawa patted him on the back in a gesture of comfort. Sho was in good hands. Sho would be in good hands. Any hands were better hands than his. Sho didn't need him anymore, Sho had never needed him, Sho needed so much better than what he could be. That was why he hadn't stopped Sho for throwing every piece of obscenity in the dictionary at him. For making those their parting words. He had only said, Sho had only said, his son had only said, what needed to be said.

"I'm sorry."

And so had Suzuki.

"I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry." Said Mob as she walked down what was once called a street. She had really done a number on this part of the city….on most of the city. She had put some of it back when she exploded, when she lost her body, but most of the city where the battle took place looked like this.

And she was so, very, sorry.

And she said it. She said it to the trees that she had uprooted. She put them back as best she could but….but she had still hurt them. She said it to the broken sidewalk she tried her best to fuse back together. She said it to the windows she had broken. She said it to the buildings she had knocked down. She even said it to the people she passed.

She was so, very, sorry.

And she wanted nothing more than to fix everything that she was responsible for breaking. She wanted to just…to just stop and make everything better. She knew that there had been two people in that battle. She knew that Touichirou, that Suzuki, should have been saying sorry too….but she knew that he was sorry. She knew it deep within herself. She knew it to be true….she knew a lot of things about him to be true. A lot of things about the both of them to be true….

True instrumentality.

Something that she never wanted to feel again. People needed the boundaries between themselves and others. They needed the limits that their vessels could provide. They needed….they needed quite a few things. Things that instrumentality, returning to nothing, took away. She wished, a little bit, that she had never felt that…even though in some ways it had made her better. There had been a feeling, before, like a cloud...a thick rain cloud…that had been hanging over her. The feeling that she was terrible. That feeling….that feeling had been her constant and unwanted companion….

And now it was gone.

Mostly. Mostly gone. She knew that she had done some bad things but…but she had found what she was looking for. She was looking for peace, maybe, peace within herself….and it was peaceful. The other her…she was there…but they were not fighting anymore. Not only that but that sense of terribleness that had clung to her was gone-ish. She still…remembering what had happened with Mogami hurt, knowing that he was out there worried her, and thinking about all of it…but it was easier not to think about it. She had so much new stuff to think about now.

Like fixing her old house.

It wasn't her house anymore. Her house was with Master Reigen. That house was, if anything, Ritsu's house now. That was where Ritsu lived with mom and dad and he loved them and they loved him and everyone was so much happier when she wasn't around. It didn't hurt, no, it felt nice knowing that her little brother was happy. Mom and dad were happy too. Now they only had to think about Ritsu. He was the one they loved and he was worth it.

She had to help fix up his house.

This wasn't what she had set out to do today, no, and walking all the way home from the awakening lab was hard on her feet. Her shoes had been destroyed in the battle. Now all she had were the ones she'd saved the world in. It was hard walking in heels…or maybe it was just hard because these shoes did not fit her. Mom wore higher heels than this and she got around just fine. These shoes hurt her feet a lot, and she knew that flying would have been easier, but she did not want to fly. She had flown enough, before, back during the fight. No, walking was just fine. She hadn't set out to go on this long walk today, hadn't set out to fix up Ritsu and mom and dad's house today, actually she hadn't set off to do much of anything at all today…

But then Sho showed up at the lab and told her that they were fixing the house.

And his aura had felt sad and mad and Mob was sure she was not misreading it, no, because Master Reigen had even asked if everything was ok…and Sho said that it was…even though Mob got the feeling that it wasn't. Sho hadn't even given her any answers when she asked him where he had been, if he was ok, and what happened to his dad. Sho just told her that none of that was important they had a house to fix.

And then he went to get Ritsu.

And then Mob had been on her own. Well, not really, because Teru and Master Reigen had been there. They had both asked if she was alight to go to the house on her own. Of course she was. The battle was over and now all that was left was cleaning up and getting back to normal. Teru asked if she felt like she did after Mogami. Master Reigen asked that, too, but at a different time. She told them both 'no' and that was the truth…even though it had felt like neither of them had believed her.

This was nothing like how she had felt after Mogami.

This was a good feeling. She had saved everyone she loved. She hadn't ended the world, no, she had saved it…and everyone had been there for her, afterwards. Master Reigen hadn't pushed her away and she'd had no reason, this time, to push away from Teru. She had been happy and loved and it had just been the best, the very best. Loving and being loved…

And she was outside and on her way to her old house and her brother would be there and that would be the last she thought about how good it felt to show love and to have it be shown in return.

She loved Teru and she wished that he had been able to come with but he had to go to his apartment and see what could be salvaged. The internet was back….sort of. It kind of worked, or at least it had kind of worked on the computers at the Awakening Lab, and Teru had been in a very long skype call with someone. Mob hadn't wanted to eavesdrop and gained nothing by over hearing. None of it had been in Japanese.

Teru had been kind of upset, though.

But he said that it was nothing. He said that everything was under control and that he would never leave this city and that he would never leave her. She, of course, trusted him. She had never accused him of wanting to leave her in the first place. They loved each other, the real and true kind of love, and they would always be together. She loved him so much….

And she loved Master Reigen, too.

He said that it was about time that he went home. She'd go back home, too, after this was done with. She hadn't been home in so long…and she wanted to be. She wanted to be with him, alone with him, but not the kind of alone with him that she and Teru had been…well she sort of did….but she knew that it wasn't right for her to feel like that. She loved him, she always would love him, but he did not feel that way about her and he never would. Not now, anyway, because he was an adult. Maybe it would change when she became and adult and maybe it wouldn't but right now she had Teru and Teru had her and she loved him so much.

So very much.

And she wanted to be with him but she had things to do and so did he. He said that his parents were working on finding him a place to stay. He said that no matter what happened he would always be there for her and that there was no way he was leaving Seasoning City. Not unless she wanted to leave. She, of course, did not want to move. She wasn't opposed to taking a trip somewhere but she was not moving away from her friends and her little brother and Master Reigen. She wanted to stay right here in this city for the rest of her life.

Even if she had broken just about everything.

But it could be fixed. She could fix it and other people could fix it. Nothing that she had broken could not be fixed or replaced. They were just buildings and things. She felt bad for what she had done but what she had done was nothing compared to what so easily could have happened. They could have lost. She could have lost. They could have lost it all. She could have lost it all. She hadn't, though, and what they had lost could be fixed.

And it would begin with fixing the house.

"How the hell are we supposed to fix this house?" asked Ritsu mostly to himself. The house had burnt down. He knew that the house had burnt down. He knew that Sho had set fire to the house and that the house had burnt down. He knew this….but knowing that something had happened and seeing the aftermath…those were two very different things.

The house was gone.

There was almost nothing left. There were parts of the wooden skeleton, some pipes catching the sunlight, and what looked like it had been the door…and that was it. The concrete steps, too, were still there. That was it. That was the only evidence that there had ever even been a house at all. The houses around his seemed fine…well aside from the black marks from the smoke….and at least he could be reasonably sure that his neighbors were ok. Not that he knew them personally or anything like that, he just didn't want anyone to get hurt on his account. Pretty much every car on his street was gone and there were evacuation notices everywhere.

No neighbors around to see this.

No neighbors around to tell his parents what they had seen. Mom and dad must have still been up in the mountains. Seasoning City was the only place that had been damaged. There was some fighting in Cuticle City but nothing nearly as bad as what had happened here. At least that was what the TV had said. The TV had also said that all of it had been the work of a delusional terrorist organization.

So he wasn't sure what to believe.

"Ritsu, Ritsu, Ritsu….you've just got to have a little faith, that's all. Don't worry. We'll get this put back together as good as new. It'll be easy, trust me." Said Sho. He was told to speak for himself, Higashio was kind of cranky it seemed, but Sho paid him no mind. It wasn't like they were doing anything terribly difficult.

Nothing in the world was as difficult as what he had just done.

"Do you remember what happened the last time I trusted you?" asked Ritsu. He felt his pulse quicken. Sho had no concept of personal space it seemed. Well he had known that for a while. This seemed…different, though. Closer. His aura was being all….clingy…too. Something was up with him. When Ritsu asked him, earlier, where he had been he had brushed him off.

It had been days since they'd last seen each other.

At some point he had changed clothes but that was it. He looked like he hadn't had a bath in a while and he smelled like, well, broccoli. The last time they had seen each other was at the tree….had Sho been there the whole time? With his dad? Ritsu wanted to ask about that too, his dad, but he already knew the answer and he knew that it wasn't good. Either he got away, not good, or he had been captured, also not good. Well that last part was good for the rest of them, that guy had tried to take over the world after all, but Ritsu knew that nothing good was coming to Sho's dad.

He wondered what Sho would do now.

But he didn't ask. Sho didn't want to talk about it so he didn't ask. This was a lot to deal with. They were all dealing with a lot but the only person who was dealing with more than Sho was Shigeko. He hadn't even heard from her since she collapsed. The internet was barely working and he had smashed his phone, anyway, so he couldn't just text her…and forget going to the Awakening Lab and seeing her. Rei's parents weren't like his parents. They cared where the kids in their house went especially after a terrorist attack nearly leveled all of downtown.

Even leaving to come here had taken a level of sneaking around that Ritsu was not used to.

"Yeah, we saved the entire fucking world. See, you can trust me!" said Sho. He needed to stop saying 'fuck' so many times. He had thought that he had used the max amount of 'fucks' that a person was allowed to have yelling at dad…but apparently he still had some fucks left to give. Heh.

He didn't know what was wrong with him.

Dad finally told him everything that he had been waiting his whole life to hear…and he had told dad everything he had been waiting his whole life to tell him…and now this was…it. This was it. Their words had all been said and now it was over. Dad was off to the mercy of the government and Sho was…he was here. He was here and he was…

He was not alone.

Even if he kind of felt like he was alone.

"Sure I can." Said Ritsu. He was only kidding. He trusted Sho with his life. He had never trusted another human being so totally and completely before. He had never been ready just give another person….everything….like…like he had to Sho. His trust, his life, everything. Everything that he had to give, everything that mattered, he had given to Sho.

"You can. Don't worry, your house is going to be rebuilt and everything is going to end well." Said Rei squeezing his hand. She barely even had to look into the future to see that this, all of this, was going to be just fine. They were ok. He was ok and she was ok and they were all just…they were all ok.

They were more than ok.

But Mob was coming and she needed to stop thinking about just how much more than ok she and Ritsu were. Had been. Were now. She had never felt this way about another person in her life…and she liked it. She loved him, she knew that she loved him, and this…all of this…had brought on a whole new dimension to what she felt for Ritsu. Him saving her life…and all of the other stuff….

She never wanted to let him go.

"Thanks, Rei." Said Ritsu as she tried her best to cut off his circulation. He wondered, he had been wondering for a while, if this had been a mistake. She loved him. She loved him so much and all he could think about was the boy in front of him. The one who had come into his life like a whirlwind. The one who had dragged him into…all of this…and who he would let drag him into it again and again and again.

There wasn't anything he could do about the way he felt.

But it wasn't fair to Rei. He was making her happy…but was he really? Was her happiness real if it was based on a lie? Or did that not even matter? Was happiness just happiness and it didn't matter what it was based on so long as it was there? Maybe he was just over thinking things since they had…stuff. All of that stuff. That more than kissing but less than a lot of what other people were doing, if talk was to be believed, stuff. That sort of stuff that he regretted the minute that it was over and she was holding him and telling him how much loved him….sort of stuff….

That had, possibly, been the biggest mistake of his life…it felt like.

"Come on! Let's get to it!" said Sho taking a step back. Right, he had a girlfriend. As much as he needed Ritsu…Ritsu had a girlfriend. He knew this feeling. He liked Ritsu. He liked him a lot. More than just wanting to be his friend and also with a generous scoop of wanting to at least kiss him if not bang….and he knew that he should not have been feeling like that.

Even though it felt nice.

Even though when he was with Ritsu it felt like everything was going to be ok. Even though he wanted to just throw himself into Ritsu's arms and be held because….because he needed someone to ground him. Because he knew that at any minute he could just…he didn't know. Go. He wanted to go, to run away, to be alone…but he also wanted to be around people. There were just too many feelings happening inside of him at once and he needed to do something about them!

So he had might as well make himself useful and fix what he had broken.

"I have no idea how I'm supposed to even begin to help with this." said Ritsu. He was grateful for it, this immediate problem, and the immediate solution of fixing it up. This gave him an excuse, at least, to pull himself free from Rei's grasp. He wished that she had just gone with her sister. That was who was supposed to be watching them, even though they thirteen, and that was where they were supposed to be. Her sister was supposed to be out checking on people and stuff and he and Rei were supposed to go with her. He was supposed to be checking on his house and his sister.

Well he was checking on his house.

And there, in the distance and getting closer, was his sister.

So it wasn't a lie…and he was thirteen, anyway, and could take care of himself. Her parents were weird like that. They treated him and Rei like they were little kids. His parents always let him go wherever he wanted and do whatever he wanted. Her parents had barely even let them out of the house. Even with everything that had happened he knew that his parents would have let him leave the house on his own. They would have never put Shigeko in charge of him...and not just because she didn't live there anymore.

"I've got everything all sorted out so all we need is a little, actually a lot of, telekinesis." Said Higashio. As soon as the dust settled he had gotten to this…mostly just to have something to do with himself. He had made the kid a promise and he was going to keep it. One last promise before he fled the country before the inevitable witch hunt began.

"Yeah but how are we supposed to-" said Ritsu. His telekinesis didn't always listen. He wasn't good at precise movements, either, not like Shigeko. He had seen her brush her hair and do her buttons with telekinesis back when they had been kids….and the last time he tried to button a shirt with telekinesis he had ruined it and mom had been so upset with him. If he couldn't do up a button then how was he supposed to fix up a whole house?

"Things that are broken want to be back together." Said Mob as she touched down. She had, in the end, ended up flying. These were the worst shoes ever and she didn't know why adults bothered with them. She was sticking to gym shoes…well if she could get another pair. She had a pair of dress shoes at home…or at least she had some dress shoes in her room before her house burn down…and she hoped that they still fit…and could be fixed.

This was going to be a big job.

"Sister….you're ok." Said Ritsu. She had flown there…and it had been nothing like when she had been flying before…and now he was remembering what had happened…how it had felt to see her being thrown through the air and being so powerless to help her….how it had felt knowing that his sister was up there in the air and that there was nothing that he could do to help her…

And now he knew what it was like to be hugged by his sister.

Not that he hadn't known, already, what it was like to be hugged by his sister. They had hugged so many times over the years….but he hadn't been hugged by her in so long. Too long. He didn't care if he could feel her aura, and if it hurt a little, he just cared that she was there. She was there and she was alive and she was awake and she looked so, incredibly, normal and he had to be normal even though he almost wanted to cry and-and-and

He loved her so much.

"Brother…of course I am. You're ok too…we're ok together." Said Mob as she hugged Ritsu. He was too big, maybe, to be hugged like that…but he should have said something if he had a problem with this. It had been too long since she had last seen him, last hugged him, far too long. This was…this was perfect. Her little brother was ok. She had come so close, before, to losing him….but here he was. He was there and he was ok…

They were there and they were ok.

"I missed you so much." Said Ritsu quietly. Not just over the course of the past few days but…but for months. He wished that he had the power to turn back time. He wished that he could have just gone back in time and kicked his own ass. Done something to knock some sense into himself. Done something to…to keep himself from ruining what they'd had….from sending her away. From making her leave. He wished that the house wasn't the only thing that they were there to fix. He wished that he could have fixed what had gone wrong with them.

He wished that he could have made her come back home.

But he didn't dare ask. He knew what her answer would be and he didn't blame her. Who would have wanted to come back to that house? To deal with a brother who had treated them so terribly and a pair of parents who were going for the world's record in shouting matches almost every single night? He didn't blame her one bit for not wanting to come home…

He blamed himself.

"I missed you too, Ritsu, I missed you so much little brother." Said Mob before she let him go. She had missed him so badly, too badly, and she also knew that she had to let him go. She wanted to hold him close and never let him go but she also knew that they had things to do. It was cold outside. It was cold and Ritsu was homeless and she knew what it was to be homeless in the cold.

So she got to work.

What looked like piles of ashes and rubble were, in fact, not piles of ashes and rubble….well they were and they weren't. These were the remains of the house. Higashio, the one with the power of restoration and transformation, as he called it had been doing most of the hard word himself. Everything had, mostly, been put back the way that it was meant to be. All it needed was a little telekinetic nudged back into the right place.

Or a big one.

Because Ritsu could not do this. Ritsu just sort of moved things around. He didn't have the intuitive sense for how things needed to be put back together. That was ok. That was perfectly ok. Mob didn't want him to end up tiring himself out…and this was very tiring work. She just wanted him to have a place to live, that was all, and even if these very small and precise movements were tiring…she would gladly had spent the rest of her life doing this for him.

She had the power to pick up skyscrapers and pulled satellites from space. This was nothing.

Besides, it wasn't like she was doing this all on her own. Sho was there to help, too, and so was Higashio. Rei was there to provide moral support. She kept on telling them how they were going to succeed and how the house would be back to normal, too. She didn't have to tell them that. Mob was there. She was the one putting things back together. She could see clearly just as anyone else how the house's skeleton rose up in the air. How the bones of the house got filled in. How the body of the house was just as complex as the human body.

If she could put her body back together from nothing then she could put a house back together.

"You don't have to work so fast, you know, you can take it easy. You know, so you don't get burnt out or anything like that." Said Sho. She worked fast, really fast, and he didn't really want her to. The faster she worked the faster they would be done…and once they were done he had no idea what he was supposed to do with himself.

He had told Serizawa to fuck off.

Not that Serizawa would hold that against him, no, he was the most forgiving guy on the planet. He just…he just had no idea what to do, either. He would probably end up going back to his mom's house…and he couldn't take Sho with him. Or maybe he could, who knew? Sho knew, though, that if Serizawa went back to his mom's house then…then he could not go with him.

He had his own mother after all.

The mother who had left him all alone with dad. He knew where she lived, well he knew her last known address, and he was sure that Hatori could find her…if he hadn't gone underground by now. Like the others were planning on doing. His Ultimate Three, well Ultimate Four if you counted Ritsu, were going underground after this…well not Ritsu, obviously, but those guys. They were going to flee the country and…and Sho would never see them again.

He would be all alone.

"I don't mind. It's cold out here and I want Ritsu to have a place to live. It's terrible not having a place to live…being out in the cold. It's the worst." Said Mob. Ritsu did not deserve to feel like that. She was going to fix up his house and then he was going to be ok and everything was going to be ok…it really was. He would be back in his nice warm house where he belonged and she would have been a good sister to him and then she would go back home and then…well she hadn't really planned that far ahead. Maybe make instant ramen with Master Reigen and watch TV. Yes, that would be a nice time. Something normal. The best thing to do, as if now, was to get back to normal.

"Yeah, not having a place to stay sucks." Said Sho. He did not want to live under that stupid broccoli tree anymore. He had nowhere to go. If the government was involved then those safe houses wouldn't stay safe for long. He could live by his wits on the streets…but that was going to be a last resort thing. He was tired of living from day to day and moving from place to place. He wanted…he wanted…

Part of him wanted this.

Not this house specifically but…but a house. A house which was his. A place to put his stuff. Some stuff, actually, that didn't all fit in his backpack. A bed of his very own and a room of his very own…like other people had. Parents of his very own, too. A dad who didn't try to take over the world and who hadn't killed every single pet that Sho had brought home and who he didn't have to be afraid would just hurt him for every little thing….that was what he wanted. A mom, too, a mom that would last forever. A mom that was there when he woke up. A mom who loved him…a mom who wanted him…a mom who was…

He had no idea what his mom was like.

He knew where to find her, maybe, and he knew that…that maybe that was where he should have ended up. Maybe that was step two. Go to his mom's house and just…what? Tell her that it was over and they could be together again? Tell her that he had missed her for long, too long, and that he wanted to start again with her?

He had no idea what he was supposed to do when this was all over.

"It does, it really does….do you have a place to stay?" asked Mob. She knew that she had said something awkward the moment the words had made the journey from her brain and past her lips. She barely knew him…even though it felt like she had known him for a while….and she knew that she could have phrased that better…but she was worried about him. He looked like he hadn't had a bath in a while…and the last time she had seen him had been by that tree….and she knew that his aura was being weird…

And all of those things worried her.

"Yeah I have a place to stay! The world is my place to stay! I can stay wherever I want! I'm a nomad like that, I find a place and I stay in it until I don't like it anymore." Said Sho perhaps a bit too loudly. Ritsu was looking over at him, now, and he was all concerned…and that face did not suit him at all. Ritsu shouldn't have been concerned, he should have been happy! His house was getting fixed up and….

And his girlfriend was with him, too….so he had no reason to be concerned about anything at all.

"Oh. I meant specifically if you had a place to stay. I know what it feels like when you try and live outside…not that you are living outside…but it just sounded like you were planning on living outside…and it looks like you've been living outside, too. If you need a place that's inside to live in you could stay at the Awakening Lab or with me and Master Reigen." Said Mob. She knew that the Awakening Lab was open invitation, the guy who ran it said so, but she wondered if her house was….Master Reigen wouldn't say no. Even if they didn't have the space for another person except for on the very uncomfortable couch. Master Reigen would still say yes, he was a good person like that.

"….after this I'm going to stay with my mom." Said Sho. That was what he had to do. There was no other way. He was only thirteen and that was still a kid. Even though he would be fourteen…fourteen was still a kid, too. Even if he had stopped his dad from taking over the world, or at least sort of helped stop his dad, he was still a kid. Even though he had been to every corner of the world by himself he was still a kid. Even if he had seen so many terrible things…and done so many terrible things…he was still a kid.

And kids lived with their moms. Usually.

She didn't but she was something all on her own. She didn't act like a kid. He knew that he could act like a kid sometimes but he had never seen her act like a kid. She hadn't given up, hadn't gotten scared, even back when they first met. She was…she was her own thing. Not a kid. A big sis. Ritsu's big sis.

"Oh." Said Mob. She knew his mom. Masami. She liked cinnamon a lot. She liked movies with dogs in them. She liked to watch the rain fall. She loved bright colors. She was a very good go player. She could speak three languages. She had worked at an animal shelter before Sho was born. She had long brown hair that was very soft, impossibly soft, and-

And those were not her memories.

She wondered how many of her memories Touichirou, Suzuki, had in his head. Did he remember things about the people she loved? Did he remember how Teru smelled like winterberries? How he loved scary movies? How he hogged the bed every single night? How it took him a VERY long time to get ready in the morning? Did he know things about Master Reigen? The way he ashed on the floor even though he knew that it made the carpet dirty? How he loved to watch the same shows he had when he was a kid even though there were so many good shows out now, too, that he could get into? How he would have lived on instant ramen if he could have? How he could make anything feel like an adventure and how he could make even the most dangerous of adventures feel safe just by being there?

She didn't know if she wanted him to know that.

And she didn't know if she wanted to know these things about the people he loved, either.

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm always fine. I'm like a cat, I always land on my feet." Said Sho. He wondered if she believed him. He wondered if he believed himself. He wondered if he should have asked Ritsu's girlfriend over there if he really was going to be ok. He wondered if he should have just gone over there and asked her to look into his future. Maybe there was something to reveal.

He did not.

He just helped finish the house.

"There you go, pretty as a picture." Said Sho after they put the finishing touches on the house. It looked more or less the way he remembered it. Maybe a little shinier than he remembered. A little newer. Well then that was a good thing! Ritsu deserved to live in a nice, clean, house. He was a nice guy and he deserved a nice house…and this was a nice house! The nicest on the block! In the whole city! Sho had done a damn good job on this house….and now the job was done…and now he had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go but to…to his mother's house…which was his own house, now, and he had no idea if…if it was as nice as this….or if she would even be happy to see him and…

And he needed to stop this.

He focused on Ritsu. The way he smiled. The look of disbelief in his eyes. The way he held his girlfriend's hand so tightly…and Sho wondered what it would have been like to have someone hold his hand so tightly. To have someone just reach out and without even a single word say something like 'I'm here for you, Sho, I've got you' or something like that. To have Ritsu say something like that to him….

"Whoa…." Said Ritsu. He had seen it being reconstructed. He knew that this was what they had been working towards…but it was still amazing. His house had come back from the ashes. It was mostly the same. The outside was whiter than he remembered and it might have been moved a little….but that was his house.

Sho was amazing.

"I told you it would all work out." Said Rei. This wasn't a surprise, she had seen it in her future vision, but it was cool. She wished that she could have done something as amazing as make a house from ashes but she couldn't. She could only see the future…and even then just barely. It was nothing compared to what the others could do.

"Thank you…thank you so much." Said Ritsu. He meant that for everyone but he looked at Sho when he said it. Sho looked away. He was red….but that was because of the cold, that was all. It was a really early winter. They could all go inside now…that is if the heat still worked.

It did work.

The heat and the power and the water all worked. The house was totally back to normal. Even the food in the fridge was back. Everything was completely normal…aside from the fact that it was as clean as a show house. Whatever, mom would just think that he had done some cleaning. She was always going on and on about how she did everything around here. She and dad would come back and suspect nothing and then they would be free to resume their nightly shouting matches.

"It's just like it was before." Said Mob as she walked through her old house. The books were back on the shelves and the cups were back in the cabinets and the table was back where it was supposed to be and her chair was there where it had always been…and she did not sit in it. This was not her house and that was not her chair and she needed to get back home to her actual home. This was Ritsu's home and his alone, not hers, and she was ok with that.

She really was.

"It's not totally like it was before…" said Ritsu. Everyone was walking through the house, now, seeing if it was done or if it needed some touching up. That was what Ritsu should have been doing but, instead, he was broaching a subject that he knew would not go over very well.

"Oh. Well if something changed since I've been gone then I can fix it. I haven't lived her in a while." Said Mob. She wondered if there was something else that need fixing. Maybe the kitchen had been a different color. Last time she had lived at home mom had been talking about painting it. She said that the colors were dated, whatever that meant. Mob hadn't fully known what she was doing, she had just been putting things back the way that they had wanted to be put back, but she could maybe change things…if that was what Ritsu wanted.

"It's just…nothing. You're what's changed. You being gone…that's what I meant." Said Ritsu

"Oh. Ritsu….little brother….I'm not coming home. This isn't my home anymore. I just came here to fix the house for you and get my other pair of shoes, that's all. I told you before that I'm never coming back. I won't live in a place where people are afraid of me…where they think that I'm a monster." Said Mob softly. She looked away from her brother. She looked over to the wall, the wall that she had cracked when she was little…and that wall was fixed, now…and she wondered if mom would have been happy about that. Probably. She had been complaining about that crack since Mob had accidentally made it all those years ago.

"I know….I know. I know that you're never coming home and I know…I know how mom and dad make you feel….and that's why I'm not going to ask you to come home." Said Ritsu. He was not going to ask even though he really wanted to. He wanted not only his house to have been restored but his family, his life, to have been restored as well.

But there was no going back.

This was his life. His sister had moved out and moved on…and that was just the way that it was going to be from now on. He had made his mistakes, one more mistake to add to the pile, and he had to live with them. Besides, he told himself, it wasn't like she had moved away to parts unknown. She still lived in the city and they still went to the same school…if she was ever coming back to school…and once he got a new phone he could call her or text her whenever he wanted to….

Even though she was never coming home it didn't mean that they had stopped being brother and sister.

No matter what happened, what he did, and what the world threw at him they would never stop being brother and sister. He loved her and she loved him and no matter where they lived that bond would never break. It would never break so long as they both lived. They had both almost died…and they were both alive now….and their bond was just as strong as ever.

Even when they were apart nothing could separate them.

Being separated from Mob made him anxious.

She was at her house. She was helping to put it back together. She was fine. She was fine and everything was fine and he had no reason to freak out as badly as he did. He should have been fine, happy even, because this whole thing was over and he was back to normal. They were back to normal. The world was back to normal.

Well, mostly.

He had stopped, on his way home, to gawk at the tree. He didn't know what it was, well he knew it was a tree, but he had no idea WHAT this tree was. Why it felt the way it did…like Mob but not. Why it was so disconcerting. Why it was even there. He had seen his fair share of climactic anime battles and none of them had ever ended with the appearance of giant trees. Not that what Mob had been through counted as a climactic anime battle, no, it had all been real life….and that had been the worst of it. But she was fine and he was fine and he needed to get home and he needed to stop staring at that damned tree…

But he couldn't.

There was something about it. Disconcerting. Fascinating. Off putting. Powerful. It was like it was Mob herself. The contradictions that had made up her being. She was fascinating and powerful and disconcerting and, to those who were not used to her, off putting. This thing felt like Mob but it was not Mob…or maybe it was. He had no idea how her plant powers worked, only that she had them, and only that the explosion had left them with whatever this thing was.

He got closer.

It was sort of like being all wrapped up in Mob's aura…but also nothing like that at all. Mob's aura was warm and safe and…and a good place to be. This felt like it was trying to be a good place to be…and Reigen knew that it shouldn't have been trying to be anything. It was a tree. Tress did not have wills of their own….or maybe they did. He didn't know, he wasn't a botanist, but he did know that he needed to get out of there and head home and-

And then what?

He had no clue. Mob would come home and he would be there for her, of course, even though this time…this time it felt like she didn't really need him there. This time it felt more like she had this. After the Asagiri job she had been a wreck but now…now she was keeping it together. She was happy, even, and he should have been over the moon that she was taking this whole thing so well. Hell, because she was taking it well then he should have been taking it well, too, instead of trying his hardest to keep it together.

He was fine, she was fine, and everything was fine.

Well, everything but this tree. He wondered what sorts of answers he hoped to find by exploring it like this. He wondered what answers there even were to find. He wondered when he was going to stop being ridiculous and just head home already and…and figure out something to do with himself now that the world was saved. Heh. Since the internet was back maybe he should dealt with the glut of emails he knew his mother had sent.

Joy of joys.

With the only other option being going home and checking his email he kept on walking around the roots of this thing…this tree. He walked along the roots not knowing what it was he was setting out to find. Answers without questions? Prizes without games? Solutions without problems? He didn't know. All he knew was that he didn't know what to do with himself. All he knew was that-

He was alone.

He was cold and alone. What was he supposed to do now? She was gone and without her he was nothing. He had nothing and nobody without her and she had just gone and left him….and how could she just DO THAT?! Didn't he mean anything at all to her!? How could she have just cast him aside like that? Like he was nothing? He loved her. He had loved her, cared for her, and been there for her for so very long….and she had just cast him aside like he was nothing at all! He loved her so much that it hurt and she had just left him all alone to-to-to-to-! He didn't even know. He was alone and cold and he wanted someone, anyone, because it just hurt so very much and-

And these were not his feelings.

These were not his emotions. These thoughts…they were being influenced by something else. Once he realizes it he can tear himself away from….he knew that aura. He vaguely knew that aura…and he went to it. That was a terrible way to feel….nobody should ever have had to feel like that. To feel so alone and rejected….he wouldn't wish that on anyone. Well…almost anyone….

Not that man.

Not him. Reigen knew that man. He would never be able to forget that man for as long as he lived. The man who saved his life. The man who helped him save the esper kids. The bravest man that Reigen had ever known in his life. He had been resigned to die….but that man, a man who he hadn't even known, he thrown himself right in the past of that explosion without a single thought.

Reigen was indebted to him.

"Oh! I remember you…." Said Serizawa for lack of anything else. This was….he knew that he had felt another esper and there he was. He had thought, for a moment, that it was someone coming to make him answer for his crimes. He was prepared to do it, to go and face the music, because he knew that he had to pay for what he had done. He had thought that it had been another government esper…

But it hadn't.

Serizawa had no idea how he had forgotten that man. Reigen. Reigen Arataka. The man who he had defied the President to save…for her. For Shigeko. For Mob. For Miss Kageyama. The person who had saved him. The President hadn't saved him from the hell that was his life, no, the President had only delivered him into another layer of it. A layer in which caring and friendship and love were just tools use to exploit him…a world in which he had allowed himself to be used and exploited….

She had saved him from that.

So the least he could have done was save one of the most important people in her life.

"Yeah….I remember you, too….and I never took you for the outdoorsy type." Said Reigen with levity he did not feel. It looked like he planned on living under the tree….which made sense. With the end of the fight came the end of that guy's only source of, well, everything. Yeah, Reigen would have done the same, maybe, if he had nowhere to go and no one to help him….

"I-I'm not. I mean this isn't…this isn't permanent. I don't know where to go…really. I mean without the President…but he got captured…and it doesn't matter…but it feels so…so bad…but…but he never cared about me to begin with." Said Serizawa. He could always go back to his mother's house…to his room…to the hell that had been his existence. That was always an option….but one that he did not want to take. No, he would have gladly lived under this tree for the rest of his life if it meant never stepping foot in that room again….that prison….that self-imposed purgatory…that self-imposed hell…

Even if it meant having nowhere else to go.

"Well you can go anywhere you want, I figure. I mean Mob said that you were the one to let the Prime Minister go so I bet that earned you some points and if there was a manhunt for you they would have picked you up when they got that President guy." Said Reigen with a shrug. He knew, from Mob, this guy's story….and it sucked. He was like…Mob…an older version of Mob. Afraid of himself, used by someone he trusted….

This could have so easily been Mob.

"I-I can?" asked Serizawa. Well that made sense. He hadn't exactly been hiding in shadows over these past few years. No, he had been at the President's side this whole time….and he sort of wished that he had been taken away. He had done so much stuff….so many terrible things….

He was terrible.

"Yeah, you can do whatever you want and go wherever you want to go. You're a free man, Serizawa, and your life is your own." Said Reigen. Words of hope, the same ones….some of the same ones….that he had given Mob all of those years ago. Your life is your own. Words to live by, words that he had lived by, and words that Mob lived by too.

Your life is your won.

"It-it is?" asked Serizawa. She had told him that. Your life is your own. Simple words, simple yet profound. Words that…that she lived by. Words that he could live by. She….she had saved him and she…she had been the only one to ever say those words to him…well at that point. She had been the first one to ever say something so simple and yet so profound….

Your life is your own.

"Yeah, it is. You're your own man, Serizawa, and you can do whatever you want with your life….even live under this tree I guess." Said Reigen. Serizawa's eyes were brimming with hope….just like Mob's had been all those years ago. He wondered how this guy's life would have turned out if someone had said those words to him back when his life had gone off the rails. If there had been someone like him in this guy's life…what he would have ended up being….

Something other than what he was now, that was for sure.

"I-I don't want to live underneath this tree but I…I'm terrible. I've done so many terrible things and-" said Serizawa.

"No. You are not terrible. You are a person who terrible things have happened to but there is nothing terrible about you." Said Reigen. That was what he should have said to Mob. The minute that idea had entered her mind. He should have…he should have just been there for her instead of being stuck in his own shit….

He was not that man anymore.

There was somewhere here who needed him, who needed him to be that man, to be the Reigen Arataka that existed in his mind….and he could be that man. He would be that man. He would be that man and he would…he would help him out. He owed this man his life after all. He had come so close to dying so many times…and would have if not for this man….

"I-I just want….I want to make this right, I guess. I just want…I've been hurting people for so long. I don't want to ever hurt someone again. I want to help them but…but I don't know how to help anyone….being who I am. With my powers being what they are." Said Serizawa. He was getting a little worked up but…but nowhere near an explosion. Not yet, anyway, but another explosion would build and build until it came…and it would come…it always came….

He was too dangerous to be around people.

His powers were too dangerous. He was….everyone was better off when he was gone, when he was away from them. He wanted to make things right but…but with his powers there was no way that he could do anything other than hurt people. Maybe that was all he was good for….

"You know something? If you really want to help people then I know just how you can do it." Said Reigen. It was a split second decision born of his own guilt and also….also the fact that he had this need to be…himself. The version of himself that he wanted to be. It was also a very selfish decision, too, if he were to look at it more deeply. Maybe he just knew that this man was someone important to Mob and he wanted to make Mob happy…or something like that. Or maybe he just had a pathological need to save people.

Either way this looked like it was shaping up to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


	76. Mothers

It was amazing how many people could fit around a table.

Rei's mom, his girlfriend's mom, had made a big pot of curry for everyone. Pork curry because she remembered that he liked it. Her mom was nice like that. Her whole family was nice like that. They were nice people….and part of him kind of wished that they weren't. Part of him wished that they had nightly shouting matches. Part of him wished that the atmosphere in Rei's house was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

But that wasn't what Rei's house was like.

"You can't just pick out the potatoes, stupid, they aren't your personal potatoes."

"I'm not taking all the potatoes, Riko, I just need more because you keep on taking out all the carrot pieces."

"Hey! Company eating rules! Armistice until the Kagyeama's go home. Then we can resume World War Kurosaki."

Ritsu almost rolled his eyes. Rei's mom called this a war? This was nothing. Ritsu knew war, the war at home, and this was nothing compared to that. He had been through a real war, a psychic war, it felt like and this did not even compare to that. His hands shook. He put them down onto his lap.

A hand held his.

Soft, very soft, with pink nails. Her fingers laced themselves within his. A palm pressed against his. An aura pressed against his. Not much of an aura but one that was there. Orange. A soft sort of orange. Not a bright sort of orange, not that artificial orange color that denoted orange flavoring, no, a regular soft sort of orange. Kind of like the inside of an orange, the flesh of it, but she didn't taste like oranges. No, she had just kissed him twenty minutes ago. She had tasted like bubblegum.

He wondered if any of her lip stuff had rubbed off on him again.

That might have been why his mom was practically glaring at Rei. He wondered if mom could tell. He wondered if she could just look at them and tell what they had been getting up to. Not that Ritsu had been getting up to much, not if what the stuff that the guys at school talked about was anything to go off of, but he had been getting up to something that he knew his mom would have freaked out over.

She would have freaked out if she even knew a quarter of what he had gotten up to in these past few days.

"It's fine, I know how kids can be. It's been a…stressful…time for everyone. I'm just glad that Ritsu is alright…and your daughter as well." Said Hana. She knew how strained her voice sounded. She knew that she should not have been scraping her spoon across her plate like she was. She couldn't help it. Like she had just said, it had been a stressful time for everyone. Amazingly enough the stress was still there even though she knew her son was alright. There he was, alive, and unhurt. Even their house was unharmed.

If anything it was cleaner than when she had left it.

So she had no reason to feel like this. It was over. Everything was over. They were letting people back into the city, the internet was working again, and people were starting to shamble back to what was left of their lives. Downtown was ruined, most of it, and as her husband had said the economy would take time to recover, and she had her own work to worry about…but the worst of it was over. Her child was fine and this…this was something that had been coming for a while. It was normal to meet your son's girlfriend's parents.

This was normal.

Even though just a few days ago a delusional terrorist organization, the government's own words, had tried to take over the world. Even though she had come within an inch of losing her son, it seemed, even though according to his girlfriend's mother the kids had slept over with their friends for a day or so before staying at the Kurosaki house. Ritsu had never been in any real danger….well Mrs. Kurosaki had said that when the kids came back their clothes had been in tatters…but her son was fine.

He was sitting there holding hands with his girlfriend like normal.

Normal. This was a normal night. Normal. Normal was a word that she liked. If she tuned out the TV playing in the other room she could have even imagined that nothing had happened. There had been no terrorist organization. Downtown was fine. Her son had never been in danger. Her daughter…she didn't know. Her daughter must have been fine. Ritsu would have said something if something had happened to Shigeko….

Shigeko was fine.

"Yeah, she was always like that. There's no helping her." said Riko. The table jumped. Rei looked down and began to eat quickly with her free hand. She knew that it had been childish and immature to kick her sister like that….but that was not an ok thing to say! Not at all! She was not going to be embarrassed at the table with Ritsu's parents, who didn't seem to like her very much, and she…well a glimpse into the future told her that she would not be getting in trouble.

Mom was going to say that she was allowing this on the grounds that what Riko had said was uncalled for.

Dad was going to talk more with Ritsu's dad about how the city being broken would hurt the financial sector badly.

Ritsu's mom was going to cough a lot and glare at her.

Her future vision told her that. She saw the paths the future could take and walked down the path with the highest probability. Just as she saw it, the whole sequence of events, it came to pass. She was maybe using her powers too much…but they were her powers and she could use them however she wanted. She wanted to know what was going to happen. She wanted to be sure of something, sure of the future, sure of what was going to happen. That way she could be safe.

As if she ever could be unsafe when she was with Ritsu.

But he was going to leave after dinner. All signs pointed to yes. She didn't even need clairvoyance to see that he was going to have to get back to his own house and his own family and his own life…and then he was going to leave her all alone…even though, hello Rei!, she had her entire family with her. Plus the internet was working again and she had to get on her laptop and make sure that everyone was ok after everything that happened. She had been neglecting her friends for her boyfriend. She had no idea if Takeshi was grounded for life again, if Go ever realized how serious the whole thing had been, and if the Shiratori brothers were off of that weird 'I go, you go' stuff that they had been going on and on about. She hadn't even checked in with Mob, either, since the whole rebuilding the house thing. She wondered why Mob wasn't there. Well she knew why, Mob had moved out a while ago, but Rei would have thought that she would have wanted to check in on her parents and little brother.

And her friend, too.

But it was selfish of her to want Mob to drop whatever it was that she was doing and get on some kind of messenger and just say 'hi' or something. Mob had been through a lot. They had all been through a lot but Mob had been through way more than a lot. The explosion, the end of Akira explosion, had been Mob. Mob had even said that she lost her body when that happened. That was a lot.

So if she didn't want to find a laptop and be on messenger all night then that was fine.

She was probably with Teru anyway. Rei had always scoffed at the sorts of girls who ignored all of their friends for their boyfriends, not that Rei was calling Mob that sort of girl, but now that she had a boyfriend…and they did more than kiss…she could kind of understand it. Well Mob had done way more than kiss, she had done everything, and Rei hadn't done much more than kiss…even though it felt like a lot...but the principle was still the same. Relationships could be sort of intense and sometimes your other friends just slipped your mind.

She knew hers was intense, anyway.

And she wondered just how intense was a normal amount of intense. She wanted to ask Mob. She wanted to ask Mob a lot of stuff. Mob was the only person she knew well, besides all of her older sisters, who had done…stuff. Who had a boyfriend that they loved and did stuff with. Rei wanted to know if it was normal to feel all cold and scared inside at the thought of Ritsu being gone. She wanted to know if it was normal to think about him all the time, him and the stuff that they did together, even when she knew that it was wrong….like while she was sitting at the table…

Being glared at by his mother.

"Oh, she's a lovely girl." Said Hana. That was the thing to say, the polite thing to say, about the girl trying to dig her claws into her son like that. This was a normal thing to worry about too, she knew that it was, because her son was only thirteen and she knew that look on that girl's face. She knew the look on her face and the flush to her cheeks and the smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

And she was having none of that.

If there was one thing that she was still in control of it was her own family. Shigeko may have been off doing God only knew what but she still had Ritsu and she was going to keep him on the good path, the right one, the one that did not involve whatever he had been getting up to with that girl. She knew that they had been getting up to something, based on the amount of makeup these people let their daughters wear they were the permissive sort, and she was not alright with it.

Thank God that Shigeko never gave her these sorts of problems. That girl, despite having a boyfriend, would remain a virgin until the day she died.

"Thank you Mrs. Kageyama." Said Rei in her most polite tone. She held Ritsu's hand tighter under the table. She was maybe holding it too tight….she checked the future. She eased off before he pulled his hand away. He had been right about to. She didn't want that. She didn't want any space at all between them, not until he had to go, and then there would be all of the space between them…and that would have been just awful.

Her dad was going to make a joke about how hard it was to have two daughters.

His dad was going to make a joke back about how hard it was to have one of each.

Both of their dads would laugh at the thought of how hard it would be to raise two boys.

His mom would get that look on her face, like she was sucking on a lemon, and then she would call her husband by his given name like she was scolding a little kid.

Then the atmosphere would get weird.

Then Riko would ask about Mob.

"So….don't you guys have another kid? Short, pale, and gloomy?" asked Riko. Rei wanted to kick her under the table again but she knew that if she did mom would send her to her room and then lecture her about being polite. The first time had been excused but the second time would not be. Her clairvoyance hadn't failed her lately and it would not fail her now.

"Shigeko is…away, at the moment." Said Hana. She could have slapped that girl over the head. Obviously the younger sister took her behavior cues from the older one. Shigeko's whereabouts were nobody's business. Shigeko's living situation was…she was not going to talk about it. She was not going to look like a failure.

"Riko, shut up!" hissed Rei. The last thing Mob needed was her parents getting all in her business about coming back home and stuff. Mob had been through enough. She did not need the added stress of living with her parents again. Rei hadn't even been sitting at this table for a full hour and she was ready to start ripping her hair out and eating it. She didn't know how Ritsu put up with this.

"She's with Reigen." Said Ritsu. He knew that his voice had too much of an edge to it. He knew that he should not have been scraping his spoon against his plate. He knew that his hand was gripping Rei's too tightly. He knew that he should have been normal, calm, like he was telling mom that he would be coming home late tomorrow….and it was normal. Shigeko lived with Reigen. That was normal.

"Is she….alright?" asked Hana. She wanted to take her words back as soon as she spoke them. What sort of a mother was she? She had no idea if her own daughter was alright. If she had enough to eat. If the part of the city she was living in, wherever that was, had been hit hard. By the terrorists…the ones who the government had labeled as delusional…even though they weren't. Even though the things that she had seen them broadcast were no different from the things that Shigeko had been able to do, in miniature, as a child. A small child. A toddler. A baby.

"She's fine." Said Ritsu. She was fine, she had said that she was fine, and she looked fine. Even though she had just been beaten up and broken and buried….**Reigen** had been the one to dig her up…and then she had passed out…but she was fine now. He wanted to tell his mom and dad what had happened. She should have known. Dad should have known. He wanted to get up on the table and start shouting at the top of his lungs.

She had saved the world but mom and dad were still going to treat her like a monster.

"That's good. She hasn't been affected, at all, by what happened?" Said Hana. She could feel eyes on her. She could see it, the silent conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Kurosaki, and she knew how this conversation looked. Sounded. How she looked and sounded. Like a bad mother. But she was not a bad mother. She was doing the best she could. Even with four girls these people could not even begin to understand what it was to be Shigeko's mother.

"….no. She's fine." Said Ritsu. She had been affected. She had lost her body, in the explosion, and then she had put herself back together. She was someone who had been to hell and back…and so had he…and mom and dad could not know. They would just think that he was a monster, too, just like they thought that Shigeko was a monster. He didn't know what he would do if mom and dad ever thought that he was a monster.

Where could he even run away to?

That was what he would have done if mom and dad ever decided that he was a monster. If they figured out who he was and what he could do. He didn't want….he was selfish. He was selfish because he didn't want to leave his life even though a lot of it sucked. Hiding sucked. What he had lived through sucked. Sometimes life just…sucked.

"Good, good, that's good." Said Hana. She didn't know what else to say. Somethings in life were just ghastly. Like this. There was nothing that she could do about this. She could only make sure that her Daughter was still alive. She could only make sure….through her son. She couldn't even pick up her phone and call her own Daughter…somethings in life were just ghastly. Like this. This whole thing, this meal, this return to normalcy…

It was just so….ghastly.

"Yeah….it is. It is…" said Ritsu. Rei was still holding his hand. She made eye contact with him. He knew what she was trying to tell him. She was telling him that she was there, for him, and that she was trying as best as she could to make him feel better. She knew that this was hard for him. She knew how he felt…and she cared…and he wished that she didn't. He wished that she would just stop caring about him and…and just…let go of his hand already.

Because it sucked.

This whole thing, his life right now, just…sucked.

"This sucks." Said Reigen. He had no idea that it would be this crowded. Wasn't the evacuation order over with? Weren't people supposed to be on their way back INTO the city? Not OUT OF it?

"Do you want to go back home?" asked Mob. She tugged at the strap of her gym bag. She didn't much want to go back home. Home was nice, it was normal, but she just…she would rather have been at the busy train station instead of sitting next to Master Reigen on the couch watching people talk nonstop about what they thought that had happened….what they thought had happened in the fight….what they thought that the tree was….

What they thought Touichirou had been trying to do.

Suzuki. What Suzuki had been trying to do. Everyone was talking about it, about him, about what he had done. Every channel was talking about him. Everyone was trying to pick him apart…and they couldn't. She was probably the only one who picked him apart and understood what it was the she had found. She might have been the only person who understood him…

But he was not the only person who understood her.

"No, mom would never forgive me if we didn't show up, in person, and make sure that she knew that we're still alive. Now come on closer to the front, Mob, I am not standing all the way to Lower Back Pain City." Said Reigen as he walked closer to the end of the platform. He had a hand on her back, not the small of it, and he tried to push her through the crowd and towards the front. That way they might have been able to get seats, or at least she could get a seat.

She had saved the whole world, she could have a seat on the train, even if he had to pick someone up and move them himself.

"I don't mind standing." Said Mob as the train came in to view. Master Reigen's hand was on her back, his on her back, and she wondered if he could feel her heartbeat. It was fast, it was always fast when he touched her, even though she knew that it was wrong to feel that way. She loved Teru.

He had almost died for her.

And if that wasn't real love then she didn't know what was. She loved Master Reigen, she loved him a lot, but she knew that he wasn't in love with her. She didn't know what would happen when she became an adult but she did know that now, at this moment in time, he was not in love with her. Teru was. She felt kind of bad for leaving him but…

But she did not want to be in that city for one moment longer.

"Well I do so come on. Don't be afraid to use your elbows." Said Reigen as the train pulled in to the station. His hand was still on Mob's back. For stability. For safety. Even though it was award keeping his hand so high up on her back, between her shoulder blades, but he was not going to let his hand drift down to the more comfortable and more familiar small of her back.

It didn't mean anything.

But it could have to her. He could feel his own heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. He could feel how warm he was despite the cold. He was sweating in his jacket but he knew that it had nothing to do with the temperature. It had everything to do with her and the way that she felt about him. So she had a little bit of a crush on him, that was normal, and he was not going to make it weird.

Or any worse than it had to be.

"But I don't want to use my elbows." Said Mob as the train finished pulling up. She did not want to shove anyone out of the way. If she stood then she stood…even though she really did not want to stand. The pair of shoes that she had left behind at her parent's house hadn't fit anymore so all she had were these white ones. The ones that she had saved the world in. She was grateful to the other Shigeko for putting clothes on them when theirs got ruined but maybe, just maybe, she could have taken a second to pick out some comfortable shoes for them to wear. Though when she used her powers to keep herself up, with less of her weight on her feet, it wasn't that bad. She still wanted her old shoes back, though, but they had been ruined in the fight. A lot of things had been ruined in the fight.

She wondered if Touichirou was alright.

She wondered if Suzuki was alright.

She shouldn't have cared if he was alright or not. She should have been happy that they had caught him. He had been the one who was responsible for all of this. He had been the one to try and take over the world. Nobody had told him to do that, no, that had come from within. He had been the one who decided that having psychic powers gave him the right to hurt people and ruin their lives…even though it wasn't totally his fault. He had just never had someone to show him the right way to be. To show him that he was more than his powers. That he didn't need his powers to make him a complete person, that he could make himself a complete person though the bonds he formed with others…

She had shown him that.

"Then I guess I'll have to do enough shoving for the both of us." Said Reigen with a sigh. The train pulled up and he sprang into action. This had been a lot easier when he had been younger…and not just because he hadn't had Mob to think about. He wasn't shoving meanly, no, just enough so he could make his way to some of the few open seats on this train. He managed to find two together and sat Mob down before he sat down himself.

Her feet must have been killing her.

"I wouldn't have minded standing." Said Mob softly. She reached down and played with the hole in the front of her bag. She had put tape over it, duct tape, but she could still feel where the hole was…and it still looked ugly. That was where her broccoli seeds had been. The broccoli seeds that had grown the tree that people were trying to figure out.

Some people were praying to it.

Which was dumb, in Mob's opinion, because that tree was not God. She didn't know who or what God was, exactly, but she did know that the tree had not been the work of God. That tree had grown because her powers had gone crazy when she absorbed the explosion…and then became the explosion. There was nothing magical or godly or divine about that tree and if she had been a meaner person she would have gone down there and set the record straight about what had happened.

But she didn't want to.

She just wanted to get back to normal.

"But I would have minded you standing. Come on, Mob, I know how you feel. Your feet are killing you." Said Reigen. He nudged her a little. She looked over at him. Her eyes met his.

"Do you really?" asked Mob

"What do you mean? You know how my powers work." Said Reigen. He knew how this conversation must have sounded…but everyone was in their own little world. Some people were muttering into phones either angrily or sadly or, more rarely, elatedly. Some people were listening to music so loudly it leaked through their headphones. Some people were talking in groups amongst themselves. Some people were muttering to themselves as they scrolled through their phones.

This train was noisy.

So he clung more tightly to Mob's aura. She was calm, quiet, a rock in the storm of this train. The emotional storm. She was with him and she was ok…and that was enough for him. They were getting back to normal. They were on their way to getting back to normal…even though they were, technically, on their way to his mother's house. It was something that they had to do, visiting her, because a phone call or an e-mail would not have been nearly enough. Her calls and tests and e-mails had gotten more and more frantic, then angry, and then she had just been asking him to call her…and to come home….

So that was where he was going, home, even though that house was the last place that he wanted to be….

He had to get out of the city.

"I do but….I don't know. I just feel so…I don't even know." Said Mob. There was so much happening inside of herself. There was so much happening inside of her mind. She felt…she was happy to have won…even though she didn't know if this was something that could be called victory….and she was happy that her friends were ok…even though she had lost them…and she was worried about Mogami…even though she didn't want to even begin to think about her and him and what had happened…

She felt sort of terrible.

But she knew that she was not. She was….she had let her friends get hurt…she had let Mogami get away…and in the end she hadn't been able to save Touchirou. To show him the right way without beating him up. To win, if this was even winning, because….because she had still lost. She had lost her mind and her body and she hadn't been able to stop him from destroying the city or hurting her friends and now he was on his way to prison and people were talking about executing him and she did not want to be responsible for him dying…

She hadn't been the one to tell him to take over the world.

She hadn't wanted any of this.

But she had it.

Here it was.

"…you're tired, your feet hurt, and you're kind of chilly…and a little motion sick, too." Said Reigen. He reached over and zipped her hoodie up. This was another one of her boyfriend's hoodies. He wondered how warm it could have possibly been. Not very, if the way she felt was anything to go off of. Her blushing had subsided and now she felt cold. Cold and vaguely motion sick.

"Yeah…I am. I always get motion sick on the train." Said Mob softly. She let him zip her hoodie up. She closed her eyes and leaned towards him. She wondered if it was ok to fall asleep on him. He had said that it was ok, then that it wasn't, and then that it was again. She didn't know. She knew that she wanted to be with him…and she wanted to be with Teru, too, but he had his own things to do. His parents' people had contacted him and now he had stuff to do. He had to collect his not destroyed stuff and then move into the hotel that his parents' people had found and just wait there while his parents' people got things settled.

She wondered if he missed his parents.

He said that he didn't. He said that he didn't care. He didn't care if they came back to Japan or sent their people to take care of him. He said that he didn't need anyone to take care of him. He said that he could take care of himself. He said that he was fine but…but she felt like he may not have been telling the whole truth about that. He had told her, before, when they had been all tangled up in the dark together after….all of it…that he knew that his parents cared about him because they would come back to at least see if he was alive.

He cared even though he said that he didn't.

And she cared about him. She wished that there was some way to make his parents care about him. To make them want to be with him, to want to take care of him, and to see the wonderful person that he was. He was not the monster that his parents thought he was, they had left because of his powers and how Claw had come after him, and that was not fair to him. He was a good person and he tried every day to be a good person and they could not just leave him all alone in the world like that and-

-and the train did not need to be derailed.

"And now you're freaking out a little bit. Mob, come on, you're ok. You saved the whole world. You-you're fine." Said Reigen

"I know…and I'm fine. Just….I'm fine. A little motion sick is all." said Mob. That was not a lie at all. The feelings inside of her were making her motion sick. She had won. Everyone was telling her that she had won, Master Reigen included, so therefore this must have been victory. Even if it didn't really feel like it.

"You and trains, Mob, I swear." Said Reigen. He remembered that first morning. The morning after she had come to live with him. The way she had rested her head on his chest and just closed her eyes and rode out the motion sickness. She wasn't doing that now. She was slumped over to the side but not onto him, no, it seemed like she had outgrown that…maybe. He didn't know if he wanted her to.

He wanted her to change.

And he wanted her to stay the same.

"I don't know why I'm like this. I've always had trouble in moving vehicles since I was a little kid. Like the time I threw up in Ritsu's hood. I told you about that, I think." Said Mob

"You threw up in his hood?" asked Reigen sticking out his tongue. Mob's brother may have been a little pain in the ass sometimes but he did not deserve that.

"I'm pretty sure I did, Master." Said Mob

"Uh…refresh my memory." Said Reigen

"Me and my family were driving back from grandma's house, I was seven or eight I think, and my stomach was upset. I told my mom but she said that we couldn't make any stops because we were making good time so I tried to not be motion sick but I couldn't help it so I threw up in Ritsu's hood. He wasn't that mad at me and he even said, later on, that he forgave me….but I still feel bad. He really liked that hoodie." Said Mob

"Don't feel bad, you couldn't help it. Your mom should have pulled over. My parents were like that too. I mean I never threw up but my parents just would not stop for any reason. Even bathroom breaks." Said Reigen

"Why wouldn't they stop?" asked Mob

"Same reason your mom wouldn't. They were trying to make good time. I don't understand it now and I didn't then. It wasn't like they had anything planned when we got home." Said Reigen. Nothing more than screaming the house down every night, anyway, but he didn't want to think about that. Those times were done with now. He was a grown man and his parents were long divorced.

"Adults are weird sometimes…or maybe I just think that they're weird because I'm a kid." Said Mob

"No, some people just never stop being weird. Like mom….I swear with her sometimes." Said Reigen more to himself than to her. She had tried to drive into Seasoning City during a terrorist attack just to make sure that he and Mob were alive…even though she knew that she was putting her own life in danger….

He knew what that was like.

"What did she do?" asked Mob. She liked Reigen Sophia. She was always so nice to Mob even though she was a normal person and Mob had powers. Well she must have been used to Master Reigen's powers but his powers had never been anything like hers. Mom, her own mom, had always treated her like a monster…but Reigen Sophia had never once treated her like a monster. That was weird but Mob…she didn't care. If that was weird then Mob didn't want to be around normal people.

"She actually tried to drive into Seasoning City while all of the…stuff…was going on." Said Reigen. He felt his lungs stop working and his pulse quicken. He didn't think. He just reached down and took Mob's hand. There was no need to have this train get derailed. He knew how this looked to the world…and to Mob herself…but he had not lived through what seemed like the end of the world only to die in a train derailment.

"That's so…why would she do that? She could have died." Said Mob

"Because she's my mom and she loves me…us…and that's just what they do." Said Reigen. He waited until he felt her calming down before he let go of her hand. Disappointment. From her.

"…but she could have died…." Said Mob

"That's what you do when you love someone, Mob, you risk your life for them. That's what it is to love someone…in my opinion, I mean." Said Reigen

"I think that's right. When you love someone then you don't care that you're risking your life for theirs. You just want them to live, it doesn't matter what happens to you." Said Mob

"Yeah but…but it's hard for the person on the ground, you know. It's hard for the person on the ground to look up and see the person they love putting themselves at risk." Said Reigen

"It's hard, too, for the person in the air. It's hard to risk your life, sometimes, but then you look down at the person on the ground and you know that you're doing it for him and that's how you know…that you're doing the right thing." Said Mob

"But the person on the ground is looking up at the person in the air, too, and he's scared for them. He doesn't know what he'd do without them in his life and he knows that the only reason that they're even in harm's way is because of him…and he feels guilty." Said Reigen

"The person on the ground doesn't need to feel guilty, Master, because the person in the air wants to be there. The person in the air wants to save the person on the ground because the person in the air knows that they're the only one who can save the person on the ground." Said Mob

"Even though it shouldn't have to be that way." said Reigen

"Yes, even though it shouldn't have to be that way." said Mob. She got the feeling that they were not talking in hypotheticals anymore. She just got that feeling, she didn't say anything, because that might not have been the right thing to say. Words were hard sometimes. Words had limits. Words could only express so much. She wished that there was some way to express everything to Master Reigen, to everyone, to have everyone in the whole word just understand each other already…but that was not going to happen. She knew what it was like, instrumentality, and she knew how much it hurt.

She didn't want to put anyone else through that.

She didn't even want to have gone through that. But she did. She had gone through all of that and come out the other side and her feelings should not have been making her motion sick like this. The train should have been the only thing that was making her motion sick…and it was. It kind of was. She leaned against Master Reigen.

She just needed some stability.

It was like all the stability had gone from the world.

But Sho didn't care! He didn't care if everyone was going underground or fleeing the country or whatever. He didn't care. He was fine. He was fine and everything was fine! He won! Well his side won….anyway….his side won and now everything was over and they could all just live their lives and all of that other stuff that happened after you beat the bad guy and you won….

They never got to this part.

On TV they never got to this part. Either a bigger bad guy showed up or the show was over. Sho did not want to deal with a bigger bad guy, he had barely been able to handle dad, so he guessed that it was over. But it wasn't. The sun rose and set and it would always rise and set, as it had been doing since the beginning of time, and now he had to figure out what to do now. Time was passing and for once he had to fill it himself.

No more dad to plot against.

No more Claw missions.

No more going from country to country finding espers for dad.

No more facing danger every single day.

No more….

No more anything. He was alone, now, at the safe house. He had no idea how long the safe house would be safe for. They government had dad and that guy, Joseph, told everyone that it was best if they disappeared. Everyone but Sho. He was just a kid, thirteen, and he had to go back to his mom. Well he didn't HAVE to. He didn't have to do anything….but he was a kid and that was what kids did. At least he wasn't in any danger of being locked up. Because he was a kid. Because he was a kid and because he had worked against dad. That was why nobody was coming after him.

Or Serizawa.

He had gone back to his mom, too, but just for a little bit he said. He promised Sho that he would totally come back to Seasoning City and then he would try and make up for what he had done…or not done…or whatever. They could go back to being friends. Were they still friends? Fine, whatever, they were friends and everyone was friends and he was fine and everyone was fine. There was no reason to feel like this.

No reason to be rocking back and forth on some borrowed bed in a borrowed house.

This was not his house, his room, or his bed. This was just another safe house. Now it was empty. Everyone had gone. It was just Sho. Sho and a burner phone. He had smashed his, and he stood by his decision, and now he had this phone and he knew all of the important numbers by heart….including hers. Mom's number. He knows mom's number.

So he should just call her already.

He just got done facing off against dad. He just got done running for his life….being carried for his life…and he just got done almost dying. He just got done living under a giant evil tree watching dad sleep and praying to whatever God was listening that he woke up from his coma and that he spent the rest of his life asleep. He had been through so much so typing in mom's number and calling her…that shouldn't have been hard…

He was Suzuki Sho.

He could do anything.

He had done anything.

He hadn't been afraid at all.

He was not afraid of anything.

Especially not his own mother! If he was not afraid of dad then he was not afraid of mom, either. She had never even given him any reason to be afraid of her. She had always been the good parent. She had always been the one who loved him. She had always been the one who was there for him. She had never hurt him, not in the ways that dad hurt him, and….and while it had hurt when she left she had a very good reason. She had to get away from dad. He knew that she had to get away from dad because the best place anyone could be was away from dad….

He dialed her number.

It rang.

It rang and it rang and it rang and with every ring he got a tighter and tighter feeling in his chest and his hands shook and the bed shook and the room shook and that made no sense whatsoever because there was nothing here for him to be afraid of. It was just his mom. He knew her. He missed her.

He loved her.

She picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

He couldn't speak. His throat was dry and his tongue wouldn't work and his lungs had decided to go on strike and, frankly, he didn't blame them. Not after what he had put them through. Not after getting his ribs smashed and then also, probably, breathing in all of that dust and stuff from those destroyed buildings had been pretty dangerous too, so really if his lungs stopped working and he suffocated it was his own fault. If he suffocated and then mom never heard him or what he had had done or all the things that he had to say to her…

It would have been his own fault.

"Hello?"

He swallowed as best as he could. He drew his knees up to his chest and started rocking back and forth. The room was shaking. That was him. Everything was him. He started to look for exits. He wanted to run. He needed to run. He needed to run away. He could go out the door or out the window. He could hide. He could run or he could hide…but he did not do that. He did not run and he did not hide. He was Suzuki Sho.

"Hi, mom." Said Sho. There was a gasp and then the line went dead. He wondered if it had been a bad connection, they'd only just fixed the internet and phones and stuff, so maybe mom hadn't wanted to talk to him. Maybe she blamed him for what happened, for letting things go as far as they had, for not realizing that what dad was doing…that it was so transparently wrong…until just a few months ago. And he didn't even come to that realization on his own! It only came when he saw some girl, her friends, and Ritsu kicking the entire Seventh Division's asses…

He sucked.

As a person he sucked.

His phone started ringing. He read the number. He knew that number. He tricks himself into thinking that it had just been a dropped call. That mom had been happy to talk to him. That she had missed him. That she had worried about him. That she was worried about him. That she had never stopped worrying about him and that she had just been waiting for all of these years to hear from him again and now they could be together and be a family and then she would love him and he would love her and they would love each other and then everything would be great and-

He answered the phone.

"Hey mom." Said Sho. That was what people said to their moms, right? After going years from the last time they had spoken…maybe it was best to be normal. To be regular. He didn't know much about being normal but he could try. He had to try. Mom was a regular person and she didn't want any of his craziness, the craziness he brought with him, and that was fine. He just wanted to be with her. That was all. He would be whatever she wanted him to be so long as someone wanted him to be with them. Without using him or hurting him or making him hurt anyone else.

"Sho?" asked Mom. There was a pause. Who else could it have been? Did she had other kids? Maybe she had gotten tired of waiting for him and she had decided to have more kids, her own kids, kids who didn't come from some guy who thought that he could rule the whole world and didn't care who he had to hurt or kill to do it.

"It's me. Hey. I just thought I should call since…since it's all over. With dad I mean. It's all over." Said Sho. He could hear the background of wherever she was. There was a TV or something. Some music, too, fighting with the sounds of the TV. He could hear her walking. He heard what sounded like a door closing.

"Sho…..Sho? Sho? Oh God, Sho….Sho. Are you alright? What happened to you? Where are you? What happened with your dad? What's happening…." Mom asked a bunch of questions. Sho wanted to tell her that if she wanted him to answer a question then she needed to wait instead of asking fifty more. She just kept either asking and asking or apologizing and apologizing…and he had no idea what it was that she was saying sorry for. It wasn't like she was the one who had tried to take over the world. It wasn't like she was the one who had let it go as far as it did. She had blameless in all of this.

"I'm fine, me and my friends beat dad and now it's all over. The government came and took him away and now all of those guys who were loyal to him are either getting arrested or running away. You don't have to worry. It's all over. Me and my friends took care of it." Said Sho. He had stopped rocking, well his body had, but the bed was still rocking back and forth. The floor was getting super scratched up. He didn't care, this wasn't his floor. This wasn't his floor or his bed or his room. None of this was his.

But this was his mom.

She was his mom and she had gotten really quiet again, so quiet that he could have sworn that the line had gone dead again, but it wasn't. He could still hear her breathing. He could hear her breathing and walking. He could still kind of hear the music, too, and he had no idea what song that was. He had no idea what sort of music she liked, what sort of shows, if her favorite color was still yellow, if she still liked cinnamon on toast…there were so many things that he just…he didn't know about her…

She was his mother but she…she was also someone entirely new, maybe, than the person he had left behind.

Who had left him behind. She had left him with dad. She had left him all alone and he was different, too, maybe. Maybe they had both changed so much that they were strangers to each other now. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Maybe he should have just stayed out of her life. They were strangers to each other, now, when it came down to it. She didn't want anything to do with him, probably, because he hadn't been able to stop dad…hadn't even thought to stop dad…before it got as bad as it did. Before it went as far as it did.

"Do you….do you need a place to stay?" asked mom. It had taken her a long time to ask him that. It was taking him an even longer time to answer. She had asked…which meant that she wanted him to be back.

She wanted them to be a family again.

Wasn't this what he had wanted since the day she left? His mom back? His family back? A family? A house and a place where he could just…be. Just be there and just be safe? He wanted to be safe. He wanted nothing more than to be safe with someone in a place where he didn't have to worry about getting hurt or hurting someone else. A place where…

"Yeah, I mean if you have room." Said Sho. There was more silence. She was thinking again. She might have just been thinking about logistics. She might have just been thinking about how she was supposed to feed him and where he was going to sleep and…and….and stuff like that. That was all. Mom stuff.

She was just thinking about mom stuff. That was all.

While the whole world had been worried about being taken over his mom had been worried about mom stuff.

"This is all my fault, Katsuya, all my fault. If I hadn't let that Suzuki into this house, into your room, into your life…."

Mom was mad at herself. He didn't want mom to be mad at herself. He didn't want mom to blame herself. His life was his own and he had made his own choices. He had been the one to go along with something so wrong….so blatantly wrong….and now he was the one who would have to live with it for the rest of his life.

He wished that mom would have stopped blaming herself.

"Mom, you didn't do anything-" said Serizawa. He wanted mom to stop it. To stop pacing the floor between the table and the kitchen. To stop talking like this was all her fault. To just…stop. She was just….she just wouldn't stop. He didn't know why she blamed herself, anyway, because he had been the one to leave his room of his own volition.

He had left the safety of his room of his own accord.

"That's right Katsuya, I didn't do anything. I should have just let you be, at least up there you were safe. I just wanted….I wanted you to have a life…and you did. You had a life in there and it was a right bit better than the one you had out here. This is all my fault. I never should have made you leave your room." Said his mother even though she had no reason to say things like that. This was not her fault and he had no idea why she thought that it was her fault. In the end it had been his choice. In the end everything had been his choice. In the end his life was his own.

"Mom, please. Just…please. I chose to follow him and I chose to do…to do what I did…even if I knew it was wrong I still chose to do…all of it. I'm sorry." Said Serizawa. This was not how he had planned this visit going. He hadn't seen his mom in years, not since he left his room, and he had wanted…he didn't know what it was that he had come here looking for.

Her forgiveness.

Because she knew. She knew what he had done, what he had been an accomplice of, and he wanted her to know that he was sorry. That he was sorry and also that he was still alive. She had been worried, she had always been worried, but now she knew that he was ok. She knew that he was ok and…and she was blaming herself for some reason…and she had no reason to blame herself. She may have invited the President into their home but going with him, clinging to the first bit of hope he'd had in years, and clinging through the years even though….even though he knew even from the start, maybe, that it had been wrong….

Maybe he shouldn't have come back.

Just for a visit. This was just a visit. He had made that clear to her. Even though she had cleaned out his room for her…and that room was tempting. It was small and safe and when he was in that room there was no way that he could hurt anyone…or be hurt by anyone….but he couldn't go back to that room. To that self imposed prison. To the hell that had been his life, his existence, and his life had been nothing but existence. He had spent so many years just sleeping, it felt like, waiting for time to pass him by…but now he had…

He had something of a life now.

Well he had Sho, who he needed to make his peace with, and also he had a job…a job offer. Some place to be every single day. Some place where he could help people. Use his powers to do something good. Use his powers to do something that didn't involve hurting people. Use his powers to…to do something with his life…something good…

He was not going back up to that room.

He was not staying.

Even though he knew mom wanted him to. Even though he knew that it was the safest option, the best option, the one that would keep him from…keep anything bad from happening to him. His room was safe…but he could not go back to it. He was not going to forsake the rest of his life for the safety of his room. Not again and never again. He wasn't going to go back there…back to his room…he was not going to…

No.

He wasn't.

And he meant it. For once in his life he was going to make his own decisions. He was going to choose for himself and he was choosing to leave. To leave his room and to live his life. To live his life for real for once. His life was his own and he had made his choice.

And for once in his life he was choosing right.

Maybe this hadn't been the right choice.

"Are we there yet?" asked Mob

"Just a little bit more. Sorry, I forgot mom's house was this far from the train." Said Reigen. He could feel a sharp sting on the back to his heels with every step she took. He could feel a low level annoyance from her, too, and it may have had to do with the sheer amount of walking that they had to do.

"Maybe this is why she has a car." Said Mob. She had been happy to see Sophia again, to get out of the city, and she still was. She just wasn't used to so much walking. Well she had walked around a lot when she and Master Reigen had been fighting and she had to live outside. This was totally different. Back then she may have been cold, hungry, tired, and dirty but at least her shoes had fit.

"If you can call that thing a car." Said Reigen. He checked his phone again. Mom had said, before, that she was giving up on going to the city and heading home. He wondered if her car was up to that. That thing was older than he was. He hoped nothing had happened to her. Seasoning City was the only place that had been hit. She was probably fine.

He walked a little faster.

Then he slowed down. Mob was smaller than him. Shorter. She couldn't keep up and her feet already hurt. Right. Heh. It was funny, almost. She could lift buildings with her mind. She could survive being thrown from the stratosphere. She could survive whatever it was that had been that explosion…losing her body…but she was still fourteen and tiny and her shoes didn't fit and the whole thing was just…in a way kind of funny…

"Master Reigen, slow down." Said Mob as she tried to keep up. She didn't know what the big hurry was. The sooner they got there the sooner they would have to leave. She wanted to be with her friends and her brother and her boyfriend…but she just didn't want to be in Seasoning City. She wanted to be…here. Wherever this was.

Lower Back Pain City.

The houses were bigger, here, and it wasn't as cold. This was where Master Reigen was from. Well he was from a lot of places, his family had moved around a lot when he was a kid, but this was the place that he had stayed at the longest. This was the place that he had lived when he had been her age. There was something about that. There was something about walking down what might have been the same streets that he had walked down all those years ago when he had been a kid. Like she was.

She didn't really feel like a kid.

She knew that she wasn't an adult but she didn't much feel like a kid. Something in between. Something new. Something new to her. She hadn't felt like a kid in a while but now…now she didn't know what she was. Mob. She was Mob and Mob was her. She was Mob and she was walking and this was normal…normal-ish….and that was what was happening now at this moment in her life.

She was walking down the street like normal.

She caught up to Master Reigen, or maybe he just slowed down, but they were walking along side each other now. Her gym bag was heavy. The strap dug into her shoulder. She lifted it with her powers and Master Reigen's bag as well. That was normal, too, for them. She was always the one who helped carry heavy stuff. Like laundry and groceries. She was the one who did the lifting and she didn't mind. She liked helping him. She liked being there for him.

And he was there for her.

And they were there for each other…even though she had told him not to be. Even though she had told him time and time again to run away. Even though he had almost died….and he hadn't had to…and she was not going to think about this. She was going to think about how this was where he grew up…sort of. She was going to think about how he had been her age, once, and she was going to think about what he must have been like. What it would have been like if she had known him then….but that's kind of hard…because she has no idea what he was like when he was her age. All she knows is what he's like now…and she likes it….

She likes him.

She likes him and she's grateful that he's alive. That he woke up that morning alive. That he was walking down the street with her and that he was alive and that they were both alive and that the world was still there….all of it. She was just so grateful to be there with him…walking with him….

And she was also grateful that their walk was finally over.

"Well, here it is." Said Reigen as they came upon the house that he had sworn to himself that he would never go back to for as long as he lived…but here he was. With Mob. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. Maybe he should have turned back. Maybe he should have stepped away from the front gate, picked Mob up, and ran back to the train station. He could see the cat in the window. He could see mom's car in the driveway.

Sometimes you had to run away.

"Do you have the key?" asked Mob as she stared at the house in front of her. It was big, and white, and there was a cat in the window. She didn't know what she had been expecting….and she didn't know if she had even been expecting anything. This was…this was the house he had lived in, before, back when he had been her age. He had been her age a while ago….

He had a life before her.

A life she had been told bits and pieces of. A life that had gone on for fourteen years before she had even been born. She wanted to know more about him, about the person he had been, about what he had been like back then. She didn't know why this was so important to her. She knew him now as he was in this moment. She knew the person he was and she loved he person he loved. She loved him so much…

Would he have loved her back?

She didn't know and she knew that she had to stop thinking about that. She had someone who loved her and she loved him back and it didn't even matter if Master Reigen would have liked her if they had been the same age. They were not the same age. She was still a kid and he was still an adult. Even if she didn't much feel like a kid and he didn't much feel like an adult, sometimes, fourteen years still separated them.

"You know what, Mob, I actually don't so maybe we should just head home and-" said Reigen. He wanted to run away. That house…that damned house. Mom's car was there and the cat was as fat as ever so she was still alive…unless she had died and the cat had eaten her…he watched it. It was sleeping in the window. It didn't look like it had just spent the past few days eating his mother's corpse…and he didn't want her dead at all! Just….he just didn't want to be there. At that house. That house he had told himself that he would never return to for as long as he lived.

Sometimes you had to run away.

But this was not one of those times. It couldn't be one of those times. The curtains had moved, the cat was out of the window, and the front door was opening. Mom knew that he was there and there was no escape now. He wished that Mob had worn better shoes. Maybe they could have booked it. Run all the way back to Seasoning City. Mom knew he was alive, now, at least so mission accomplished.

Sometimes you had to run away.

"Reigen Arataka! You get in this house this instant!"

Sometimes you wanted to run away.

"Oh, and hello Mobbu. Always so nice to see you."

And sometimes you couldn't.


	77. Answers at the Bottom of a Cup

"You could have died!"

Reigen bowed his head and kept his eyes shut. He was the kid now, not Mob, and he was getting another one of his mother's screaming lectures.

"I actually went to Seasoning City to find you!"

Reigen wanted to tell his mother that nobody told her to go off and do something so stupid. She should have stayed ere where she was safe. Nothing happened here. The place that was hit hardest was Seasoning City followed by Cuticle City and then some scattered stuff happened but nothing that local forces couldn't put down. This was not a place of interest. There weren't any espers here…that he knew of. Mob could have told him but she was busy in the other room playing with the cat.

"I CANNNOT BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND-"

She stopped herself. Her eyes went across the living room and towards the kitchen. Reigen followed her eyes. Mob was standing there with a cat toy in her hand and just…staring…at them. He let himself feel what she felt. Well he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She was the loudest person in the room, emotionally, even eclipsing his mother. Mob was worried, mom was worried, and Reigen….he felt like crap. Even though he'd had a very good reason to be in the middle of all of that and that reason was named Mob.

"I cannot begin to understand what would possess you to-" said Sophia, her eyes darting back to the kitchen. As a child she had always hated hearing her parents fight. Hearing her and her husband fight might have been what ended up messing up Arataka all those years ago. Mobbu did not need this. She had been to hell and back. Sophia had seen the pictures that were coming out of Seasoning City, heard the survivors' accounts, and seen the death toll. It had been hell, pure and simple, and they had been through it...

"Mom! Can we drop it already! I get it, I should have run away. I wanted to run away! Hell, I tried to run away-" said Reigen. He did not come here for the lecture. He came here to…he didn't know why. To get the hell out of Seasoning City. To get the hell out of that…that place and go to here…maybe he should have stayed him.

Mob was looking at him.

No, this was for the best. He didn't know how they were supposed to get back to normal after all of that. How they were supposed to stay in that tiny apartment together and watch TV and play videogames and whatever else after…after all of that. After what they had done. Almost dying and all of that. Seeing Mob turn into…he didn't even fully know what happened there at the end. All he knew was that he had never been more scared or more powerless in his life….

"You should have tried harder, Arataka!" said Sophia. There had been an evacuation order. When there was an evacuation order you evacuated! Arataka had never been good at following directions even as a child. He had always been so…she didn't even want to think the word. If she thought the word then she might have ended up saying the word and if she said the word then he would have some choice words for her and then this whole thing would devolve into a shouting match and she…she did not want to have any more of those with her son. Not after the last one. The last one that took him out of her life for years and years….and then there were so many tears….and there would be more, she could tell, because she…she had almost lost her only son…

"You think I didn't?! I couldn't!" said Reigen. Now it was his turn to look towards the kitchen. Mob was still staring. He took in a few deeps, calming, breaths. Mob did not need this. Mob did not need to hear this or to deal with this. She had been through enough. They had all been through a lot…but she had been through the most. She had actually fought that madman….and she had won. She had won and she should have been…she should have been doing something other than watching two adults fight.

"There was an evacuation order, Arataka, and when there's an evacuation order then you evacuate! It's not a difficult concept to grasp." Said Sophia. She was pacing the floor in front of the couch now. She had made tea. This whole thing had started with tea. Well she had been drinking a cup of tea and trying to get ahold of her son when, behold, there he was at her front gate with Mobbu in tow. There had been relief, then anger, and more anger to follow. Worry. Anger born from worry. She knew what she was feeling and she knew that she was expressing it poorly.

She glanced towards the kitchen.

The poor little girl did not need this. She had lived through the worst terrorist attack that the country had seen since that nastiness back when Arataka had been young. She was probably alone and afraid. Her own parents were, as usual, nowhere to be seen. As much bad blood as there had been between her and Arataka she would not have left him alone during all of that…and she certainly would not have let him leave the city right after a terrorist attack! That poor little girl was alone in the world…and she did not need to hear this…

"I tried to! I couldn't! I was not going to leave without-" said Reigen

"I'm sorry." Said Mob. She wondered if she had said the wrong thing. She was being stared at now. She must have said the wrong thing. She really was sorry, though, and she wanted everyone to know it. She was the one who ran away and she was the one who wanted to fight Suzuki and she was the one who had…who had made Master Reigen com after her…even though she hadn't told him to. She had asked him to do the direct opposite, actually.

She had told him to run away.

But he was not the sort of person to leave her alone to die…and she had died, maybe, just a little…which only went to show how dangerous the whole thing had been. Master Reigen should have just run away, his mom was right, because in the end he hadn't….there had been nothing that he could do. That was something that only Mob could have done. She was the only one with the power to save everyone…

Well he had saved people too.

He had saved Ritsu and Teru and Rei and everyone else. He had been the one to lead them out of the city. Well Rei had told him where to go but she had been so scared, she had admitted to being scared, and everyone had been so scared, too scared even, but not Master Reigen. He always knew just what to do. He led everyone away and they didn't end up getting killed during the fight. She would always be grateful to him for that….even though she had told him and the others to run away long before it had even gotten to that point. Why didn't people listen to her? She said that there was nothing that they could do and-and-and they should have just listened and run away and-and-and-

"Mob, no, you have nothing to apologize for." Said Reigen. They were not going there again. Mob could beat herself up like no other person could. He was not going to let her. They were not having another repeat of the Asagiri job. She was not going to sit there and call herself terrible and then decide to do something stupid like spend the rest of her life in the park again. No. He was not letting that happen again. Even though she had been really stupid, going up against that guy, and she could have so easily died. She could have died at any point when she was being thrown around. She could have died at any point when she was being beaten up. Hell, she even said that she, in fact, had died when she turned into that…explosion of light…and then that broccoli tree grew….

She had nothing to apologize for.

"I do too have something to apologize for. I'm the one who went off to fight-" said Mob

"Did you just say 'fight'?" asked Sophia. She must have been hearing things wrong. Maybe her hearing was going. She was a year shy of fifty after all. Now was when things started to fall apart. She was going deaf obviously, because there was no way that a little girl like her could have fought off…even with psychic powers….there was absolutely no way that she could have….

"Yes. I said fight. If I hadn't had to go off and fight Toui-Suzuki then Master Reigen would have run away and all the others would have run away…well they probably wouldn't have because my brother's friend Sho, he's a new friend and I kind of like him but we're not good friends yet but I'm happy that Ritsu made a friend, asked them to help him fight his dad, that's the guy who tried to take over the world, and then they said yes and then they almost died. I would have helped but I was asleep for a while because Sho burnt my house down, but it's ok because he had a good reason and he fixed it too, and I couldn't stop them but then I woke up and then there was a lot of fighting and I told everyone to run away but they didn't….even though they should have…and then I went to fight Suzuki…well actually at first I wanted to talk-" said Mob

"What the hell….?" Asked Sophia

"At first I wanted to talk to him because…because I really don't like fighting….but he wanted to fight. Well before that I met Serizawa, he's a new friend but already a good friend I feel like, and we fought but he's not a mean person at all. He doesn't like fighting either but the thing is that Suzuki told him that he had to and then we did fight but we ended up talking, well I stole bunch of his energy and then gave it back to him and some of mine was in there and then he saw what real friendship and stuff was like-" said Mob

"Slow down…." Said Sophia

"I can't slow down because some of this is hard for me to talk about, well the next parts are kind of hard for me to talk about, and if I slow down then I might not be able to talk about them. I don't want to have to talk about this a bunch of times in little pieces so I'm trying to get everything that I have to say out now." Said Mob

"Oh…alright then. C-Carry on…" said Sophia

"Ok. So then we talked a lot and he said that he felt so bad about what happened, and he still does I could tell from the last time I saw him, and then he let me go up to talk to Toui-to Suzuki and then I tried to but he was kind of a jerk. He had already beaten up Sho so badly that he couldn't walk to I tried to heal Sho, I can do that but there's this guy Fukuda who's much better at it than I am, and then I shared a lot of my energy with him but then Suzuki got mad at me because he has the same powers that I do and…and I guess that it bothered him not being all alone in the world. He told me that for his entire life he had been all alone in the world, even with other espers, and I thought that it was such a saw way to live. I feel alone too sometimes, and I did a lot when I was a kid, but then I found Master Reigen and I wasn't alone anymore. He never had anyone in his life like that and I think…I think that that's why he ended up the way he did. He said that when he was my age he decided to take over the world…and that scared me a little because….because what if I ended up like him?" asked Mob

"Mob, you know that you would never, ever, ever have ended up like that bastard. Even without me in your life you're a good person and you would never-" said Reigen

"You made me into a good person, Master, you know that you did. I hurt people before…on accident…but then I could have started to hurt people on purpose. You're the one who told me to just be a good person and that's what I did…what I've been doing…so thank you for that. I wish that he had someone like you in his life to tell him to be a good person…and also to be his friend. He never had any friends, even with all of the people following him around…and that made me sad. I tried to be his friend-" said Mob

"Why the fuck would you go off and do a thing like that for?" asked Reigen. She was too nice for her own good. He had told her before that he had not been the one to make her into a good person, she was already a good person, and there was no way that she could ever have been a bad person. She was not terrible. Even in Mogami's little fantasyland she had been a good person up until the very end. She had snapped in there but out here there was no chance of that. This was Mob. You looked up the definition of 'good person' and her picture was right there.

"Because he needed a friend and I saw…I saw a lot of myself in him. Like he was what I could have been if I had been a grown up…and I had never met you…and also I had been born a boy. I saw a lot of what I could have been in him…and also Serizawa…and I just…I couldn't let a person be that way. I offered him my hand and my friendship and…and to show him how to be good person but then he beat me up…this was before you tried to shoot him-" said Mob

"Excuse me? Did you just say 'shoot'? As in with a gun?" asked Sophia. She glared at her son. He shrank under her gaze. What was the MATTER with that boy? He had never shot a gun in his life…and all of those videogames he used to play did not count! What was he thinking? What was SHE thinking?! What in the hell had Mobbu been…well she knew what Mobbu had been thinking…and that was why she needed someone to look after her properly! She may have carried herself like an adult but she was still so clearly a child! Case and point…life was not a cartoon! You could not defeat supervillains with the power of friendship!

Or maybe you could considering the fact that Mobbu had won….

"I didn't know what else I was supposed to do." Said Reigen through clenched teeth. Yes, he knew that he had been stupid. Yes, he knew that he had almost died. Yes, he knew that if she hadn't taught that Serizawa guy the meaning of friendship or whatever they would have had to bury him in a matchbox. He knew that he had come close to dying and he did not need to think about it. He thought about it enough when he closed his eyes…when he had a quiet moment to himself….

"You should have run away like I told you to." Said Mob

"Yes, you should have. Even a teenage girl was telling you to run away-" said Sophia

"I don't want to get into this now. Mob, we talked about this already. I was not going to let that guy KILL you and-" said Reigen

"But you almost died. I thought that you had died and then…and then that was when the fighting happened….and I tried so many times to kill him because I-I hadn't realized that Serizawa had saved you…even though I should have been able to sense him…but I couldn't sense him. I couldn't because I was so scared…and you…you were so dead…so I let the other me take over and then all the fighting happened…" said Mob

"Arataka…what in the hell is she talking about?" asked Sophia. She wondered if this was what it was like to have a heart attack. Her heart was going a mile a minute and both of her arms were going numb. She could hear her pulse in her ears. Her blood pressure must have been through the roof. Maybe she was about to die. Maybe this was it. Maybe her son had finally been the death of her.

"Mom….don't make a big deal out of it-" said Reigen. He felt like he was going to be sick. His heart was pounding so fast…and his blood pressure had probably never been in a healthy range with all of the smoking and the drinking and the friend and fattening foods he ate….maybe this was it….heh. He had lived through all of that only to die on his mother's couch sipping lukewarm tea. What a way to go.

"How am I not supposed to make a big deal out of-" said Sophia. Her only son had almost died and she was not supposed to make a big deal out of it? What even went on in his mind that…that she even had the option of not making a big deal out of it!? This was a big deal, a huge deal, and she was not going to pretend that everything was hunky-dory just because he was acting like he was the one who was fourteen and not Mobbu!

"It was my fault! I'm the one who-who went off and did…all of that. It's my fault because I was…I am…the only one in the whole world strong enough to stop him! I had to do it, me and me alone…and the other me…which is still me…we're an us…it's complicated and I don't like to think about it…and now we're getting to the part that I don't like to talk about…the instrumentality part…which is what I think happened….I don't want to think about it. I just want….I just want it to be over with…and I'm sorry that I couldn't show him a better way and I'm sorry that I tried to kill him and I'm sorry that even when I stopped because…because you were still alive the fighting didn't stop…and I'm sorry about the big tree too…I don't know why I grew that…and I'm just so sorry…" said Mob. She was still in the kitchen. She could feel the cat, Thomas O'Malley, looking at her. He wanted her to go back to dangling his cat toy. She wished that she could have…but she was still being stared at…

"Instrumentality…isn't that what you call-" said Sophia as she tried to process what she had just heard. That was…the stuff of movies…and comic books…but now it was the stuff of life….and that poor little girl…not a little girl. No, no little girl could have beaten a grown man to submission…which was what it sounded like she had done…and which was also pretty damn impressive all things considered…

"Mom! Don't ask her about that!" said Reigen. There were two things that he did not want to think about. That whole mess…and Mob's sex life. He didn't know which was worse. Instrumentality was what she called sex, two become one and all of that, but he was not going to bring that up. Mob would either blush and hide her face in her shirt or she would, matter of factly, admit to…well…everything. He was not going to shame her for have a, admittedly much healthier than his had been at any age, sex life. Plus he did not want to think of Mob and that…yeah. That guy…that bastard…who he hoped was rotting somewhere…and Mob said that it was different anyway. Well she never made a direct comparison but she had said…but then again he had ended up having to dig her out of the ground…and she was naked…

And he wanted to beat himself over the head with the nearest blunt object just to erase all memory of this conversation from his mind.

"It wasn't like sex. Sex is fun…and I have a body then…and my own mind. That was…terrible. The worst thing ever. It was like…even between me and the other Shigeko there is still a her and a me. When we're an us thigs get…weird…and we were an us. We were an us and then Touichirou was also an us with us…and then we knew all of his thoughts and feelings and stuff and then he knew all of ours…and he knew everything about us and we knew everything about him…and it was just…I don't ever want to do that again with anybody. That wasn't like sex, I like sex, and I also want to stop talking about sex now." Said Mob. She wondered if she had said 'sex' too many times. She was embarrassed, she knew that it was showing, but she had to make it perfectly clear that what had happened between her and Touichirou, between her and SUZUKI was not sex. That would have been…she didn't even like him like that….or at all, really, when it came down to it. Nope, it had been nothing like that at all. It had been something like that but…but not like that.

"Hey mom, is that a new cabinet? It's really nice. Where'd you get it? When'd you get it? Who'd you get it with? In fact, did you redecorate this living room? It's really nice. You've always had such an eye for décor-" said Reigen. His eyes were darting around the room like that time in university when he had taken that stuff his roommate gave him…and his heart was going just as fast, too. This was not something that they ever needed to talk about. This was not something…and not to shame Mob but…and he was glad for her. He was glad that she had a good…that she was having a good….this was none of his business.

Nope.

None of his business at all.

But good for Mob either way. She had a good sex life which was more than a lot of adults had…and he was not going to be saying that to her any time soon. Because that would have been weird. Well every single part of their relationship was weird but that would have been the weirdest part. That would have been….things were already weird between them. One-sidedly weird. She had no memory of what Dimple had made her do when he possessed her…and he did…and he would be taking that memory to the grave with him. He wished that there was some way to remove specific memories…and maybe there was. What the hell did he know? He wasn't a scientist. He just needed to forget for just a minute-

"That cabinet is the same as it's always been. This room is just the way you left it. That cabinet came from your father's parents. It's full of liquor. The cabinet is old but the liquor is new…and I think that we could all use a drink." Said Sophia. Mobbu was only fourteen…but it sounded like she needed a drink more than anyone else in that room. Arataka looked like he needed a drink more than anyone else in that room. He had always drank too much…but then again who was his mother? That was how Reigen's dealt with their problems.

The solutions to all of life's problems could be found at the bottom of a bottle.

Hana knew that she could not find solutions at the bottom of a bottle.

But it helped, it really did. She had tried to call Shigeko but there had been no answer. No replies to her emails, either, or her friendbook messages. Nothing. Complete radio silence from her own daughter. Hana had even gone down to her daughter's place of work. It had burnt down. Well for once Shigeko had something in common with her mother. Her office, hers and her husband's as well, were gone. Most of downtown was burnt down or knocked down or just….down. Down was a good word for it.

Down.

The phones had been down, now they weren't, and the internet had been down until recently but now at least those were back. Work…work was down and there was no school either. Nothing. Nothing to do all day but sit at home calling a daughter who wouldn't pick up her phone. Emailing her daughter. Heading down to her daughter's place of work. Nothing. She…she was not worried. She knew what her son had said and she trusted him. If he said that his sister was fine then she was fine.

She was not worried.

And she had just picked up a bottle of cheap liquor, bottom shelf rubbing alcohol practically, on her way back from Shigeko's job because…because of reasons. Because she'd had the brilliant idea of marking the liquor bottles at home because her son's girlfriend seemed like the type…and now she couldn't take a single drink without her husband knowing and then breathing down her neck about it…not that he wouldn't be breathing down her neck about spending money on this…

She didn't care.

That was what brought her to her current predicament. She had a full size drinking glass of tea and liquor and she was watching television like this was a semi normal night. Her husband was on their laptop in their room trying to save their family from financial freefall and her son was in his room studying. Even though the schools were closed Ritsu was still at it. He made her so proud. At least she had one child who didn't give her grief.

She loved her son.

And her daughter as well.

She tried Shigeko's cellphone again. Still nothing. Straight to voicemail. Either her phone was off or she was screening her calls. Both were equally likely. Shigeko didn't have much of a reason to speak to her mother now did she? She was all grown up and out of the house now. She was working and…and doing the things adults did. She didn't need her mother anymore. She didn't need her mother or her father anymore. She had made her choice.

She tried her daughter's cellphone again.

Nothing. She didn't know what she was so worried about. Shigeko was fine. She was fine because she was always fine. With her powers there wasn't anything that could hurt her, not really, and Ritsu had told her that Shigeko was fine…and also her name was not on the list of the dead. Hana had checked that obsessively when it came out. They were updating it constantly. It seemed like every hour they were pulling a new person up out of the rubble. She didn't…she didn't understand why any of this had happened…well she knew why. She had seen that ghastly broadcast like everyone else in Japan…but she still did not understand. The government said that it had been the work of a delusional criminal organization. People agreed. There was no such thing as psychic powers, according to most people in the world, but Hana knew better. She knew exactly what psychic powers were capable of. She knew exactly what her Daughter was capable of….

What she could have been capable of.

There's a new layer of fear to it, her relationship with Shigeko, and she does not like it. She had always been afraid of her daughter losing control and hurting someone, namely Ritsu. She had done it before back when she had been only eleven years old. She was fourteen now. She'd be a true adult before Hana even knew it. She'd grow up and her powers would grow with her and then she would be capable of…things like that.

Shigeko was not that kind of person.

As far as Hana knew her daughter's ambitions didn't extend past drinking as much milk as she could and passing math. Shigeko rule the world? No way. But she was still nothing more, really, than a teenage girl. She would grow up and then…and then there would be no one to stop her if she ever got the idea to…to do…to do the unthinkable. But she wouldn't. This was Shigeko. She was not a vindictive person. She lost control, true, but she didn't terrorize people like that…

But she could have if she wanted to.

Hana put her phone down and focused on the broadcast. They were talking about shelters. There were shelters for the homeless and displaced. Every hotel in the city was full. Some people didn't have the money for a hotel anyway. Some people had come back to the city to find that they had lost everything. Downtown was destroyed, mostly, but a lot of neighborhoods were hit too. Looters. Vandals. Fires. One block had even had a gas explosion. Hana was lucky, truly lucky, to have come home to, well, her home…

Even if her neighbors had their own stories to tell.

The neighbors across the street swore up and down that the house had been on fire. That they had seen Shigeko go into their burning house. That there had been nothing, just smoldering rubble, before they evacuated. They obviously were thinking of the wrong house. This house was still standing. It was perfectly fine, perfectly clean, and perfectly not at all on fire. She would have noticed if there had even been a small fire, if her neighbors had been exaggerating, but there was no evidence of any fire at all.

Ritsu would have told her if there had been a fire.

Ritsu was a good boy. He was everything that she ever could have wanted in a son. There was no way that the house had burnt down and then…what, exactly? Rebuilt to the exact way it had been before complete with the half eaten sandwich in the back of the fridge that had gone moldy ages ago? Absurd. Truly absurd. Everything had been fine. Ritsu had been fine. He had not been in any danger….no, not at all….he had been with his girlfriend. He had been at his girlfriend's house and…and he had been fine. Aside from whatever it was that he and that little….he and his girlfriend had gotten up to because obviously they hadn't been supervised properly and they had been free to get up to anything and everything and Ritsu was a good boy but he was still a boy and his girlfriend was not a very good girl and-

The ceiling lamp shook.

"Ritsu? What are you doing up there?" asked Hana. She turned towards the stairs and shouted. She really should have gotten up…but the floor seemed a bit uneven….or maybe it was her house slippers. It certainly had nothing to do with the amount of alcoholic tea that she had been drinking. Nope, nothing at all.

"Nothing mom!" said Ritsu eventually. Hana knew that she should have gone up there and checked on him but…but he was a good boy. He was a good boy and he had to know that she thought that he was a good boy and that she could trust him. She did trust him. She trusted him when he said that his sister was fine and that the house hadn't burnt down and that…that he was fine. He really was fine.

He had to be.

"You have to be quiet." Said Ritsu for what felt like the millionth time. He sat at his desk hunched over his notebook. His mechanical pencil was pressed to the page but he didn't dare write anything. Not when he had company. Unexpected company.

Suzuki Sho was in his room.

Part of Ritsu had been worried that he would never see Sho again. He had been worried that….that he would leave his life as quickly as he entered it. Their alliance was over. Claw was done, Sho's dad had been arrested, and Shigeko was safe….with Reigen….but that still counted as being safe. Really there was no reason for them to keep on doing…this.

Whatever this was.

"I am being quiet." Said Sho as he picked himself up off the ground. He had been trying to a cartwheel on Ritsu's bed and had severely underestimated how small it was…and he had also severely overestimated his ability to do a cartwheel. Or maybe he was just better at doing them on solid ground. He didn't know. All he knew was that it was very important that he do a cartwheel.

He had to keep moving.

"If you jumping on my bed counts as being quiet then I sure as hell don't want to know what you consider being loud." Said Ritsu. Maybe he could write about this. The guy who kept on inviting himself in. The guy who invisibly opened his window, flew through, and then started jumping on his bed. That was a better than all of the other things that he had to write about beds and what happened on them…

He was such an idiot sometimes.

His phone vibrated again. Rei. She been carrying on a one sided conversation with him about…he wasn't even sure. He caught the beginning of her message. Oh. She wanted to see him tomorrow. Well that was an easy one to answer. No. His parents had him under house arrest, it felt like, because of what had happened. They didn't even know the whole of what had happened but they were still keeping him inside 'until the fuss died down' as mom had said. He didn't care. Well he sort of did, he wanted to see Teru again and see how he was holding up. He had managed to find a hotel and he was living there until his family found him a new place to live. Shigeko wasn't there. She was with Reigen. Why she kept on going back to Reigen Ritsu did not know.

Girls could be mysteries, sometimes, or at least the ones he knew were.

"I was not jumping. I'll have you know that I was in the middle of a perfect cartwheel when your bed decided to be way too short. Seriously, how do you sleep on this thing?" asked Sho. He bounced up and down on Ritsu's bed a couple of times. Way too soft. How did Ritsu manage to sleep here? Or maybe he just liked it this way. Sho didn't know. He had never slept on one bed long enough to get used to it. Maybe most people slept on soft beds. He didn't know.

Mom didn't have a bed for him.

She had a couch that he was welcome to sleep on. There wasn't enough room in her new house for him. He hadn't given her any warning, to be fair, and he was sure that she'd made him a room when she found a new place for them to live…together. If she wanted to. Even though her face got really tight and her eyes got really intense when he knocked on her door. Even though…there was no even though. She was his mom and of course she wanted him there.

"On my side for about seven to eight hours a night." Said Ritsu with a shrug. He looked away from his notebook. He didn't have anything to write about, bed related or otherwise, because if he wrote about then…then it would be something that he had to think about. Everything would be something that he had to think about. Him. The way he had almost died. Shigeko. The way he hadn't been able to save her and how she almost died. Rei. The way that, if it hadn't been for her, he and the rest of them would have died. Sho. The fact that if it weren't for his dad then none of this would have happened, nobody would have almost died in the first place….

He was not blaming Sho.

Not for what happened with his dad, not for dragging him and everyone else into it, and not for…not for other stuff. Feelings stuff. Feelings that Ritsu….that Ritsu knew that he should not have had. The kinds that caused moments of…it had been temporary insanity. The kind that was….that was born of being afraid to die. Being afraid to die without knowing what…what certain things were like…and now he knew and he knew that he could never do it again and he knew that he didn't have to do it again….

And he wouldn't do it again.

"Seven to eight hours? How does that even work? What are you, a baby?" asked Sho. He was lucky to get five hours. He had barely slept since…well to be fair he had been standing guard over dad. He couldn't just fall asleep on the job like that. What if dad had gotten up and decided to get back to the whole 'world domination' thing? That would have been crappy. Dad hadn't, though, and he had even said that….it didn't matter. It didn't matter what dad had or had not said or what he should or should not have said. It was over. Roll credits.

It was finally over.

He had been working to take down Claw for so long…and now it was over. He had been dreaming of the day when it would be over, when Claw would be done with, and when he could see his mom again. Now it was all over. There was a kind of a sort of a…loss. Dad was gone but dad had been a jerk. Why did he even care? Dad had been nothing but an asshole to him for the entire thirteen years of his life. There was no reason to even care if that bastard lived or died. So what if he had said…so fucking what!? It was over! It was over and-

And-

And he stood on his hands. This he could do. He stood on his hands and stared at Ritsu. He was trying to look annoyed. He knew how Ritsu looked when he was really annoyed by something, he looked like he was sucking on a lemon, and he did not look like that now. He was smiling a little, just a little bit, the sort of smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. Sho didn't know why he was hiding it, the fact that he was smiling, because really he looked so…Sho liked it when he smiled.

It took his mind off of shit that he knew that he should not have been thinking about.

"What are you even doing?" asked Ritsu. This was dumb. If he fell then mom would have been up there and if she caught Sho in his room she'd kick him out…maybe. She'd definitely want to know how he got in the house without her or dad noticing and then he'd have to think up a lie and then another and another and he was not in the mood to be thinking up lies. He didn't know what he was in the mood for but…but it wasn't that.

His phone vibrated again.

He ignored it.

"What's it look like?" asked Sho. He wondered how long he could keep this up for. Eventually the blood in his head would make him pass out and then he'd probably fall and break his neck or something. That would have sucked for Ritsu. Seeing his friend die in such a stupid but also cool way. His friend.

He'd never had one of those before.

One his own age. Serizawa didn't count. They were back to being friends…or at least Sho didn't want to kill him or kick his ass or anything anymore….they were ok. They were back to being friends but it was just…different….when you had a friend your own age. Sho hadn't had a friend his own age in…ever. It was nice. Ritsu was nice. Ritsu was more than nice. He was brave as fuck. He was trustworthy as fuck. He was loyal as fuck. He was…

Ritsu was a lot of things.

And all of them ended in 'as fuck'. He earned it. He earned it a thousand times over. Holding his own against Shimazaki like that….not a lot of guys would have done that for him…or been able to. Ritsu was awesome. Ritsu was the most awesome. That was why he liked him so much. That was why he liked him…liked him, liked him. Maybe. Probably. Even though he knew that he shouldn't have. Ritsu had a girlfriend and they were in love and you were not supposed to mess with that. Love. Love was one of the most important things in the world. Maybe if his parents had loved each other more then none of this shit would have happened. Sho knew love was important and he was not going to mess with it.

Plus Ritsu obviously wouldn't have liked him back, anyway.

Ritsu had a girlfriend which meant that he liked girls and Sho was not a girl. He was not a girl and that was that. Besides, even if he had been a girl he wouldn't have messed with Ritsu's relationship, that was just not right. They loved each other a lot, that was why Ritsu had so many of his girlfriend's drawings everywhere, and also why he had that picture of her on his desk. That was love. She was probably who was messaging him nonstop, too. Sho was probably keeping him from talking to her and telling her how much he loved her and stuff. Yeah, maybe he should have just left and-

And he didn't really have anywhere else to go.

"It looks like you're trying to pass out from all the blood rushing to your head." Said Ritsu. He shook his head. Sho was ridiculous sometimes. Maybe all of the time. They didn't really hang out socially that much. They had been a little too busy saving the world and all of that. Now they could, though, they could hang out. Him and Sho and Teru…or maybe just him and Sho. Teru wasn't still mad at him for what happened but…

He wanted to be alone with Sho.

He needed to knock it off. He could not like this guy. He could not like any guy. Besides, he had someone who liked him…and that was that. He was not going to hurt Rei like that. He couldn't break up with her, that would have hurt her, and he couldn't cheat on her either. That would have hurt her even worse. She had done nothing at all to deserve that. She had done nothing but love him….and he had to at least act like he loved her back. She didn't deserve to get hurt like that.

His phone vibrated again.

He checked it.

"No, I'm trying to walk on my hands." Said Sho. He wanted Ritsu to look at him. He hadn't realized how badly he wanted Ritsu to look at him until he stopped. This was dumb and he was being dumb. Ritsu was, of course, going to pay attention to him again…and he shouldn't have needed that much attention in the first place. He had spent so much of his life practically invisible…maybe that was it. Maybe he just had issues. There was no maybe about it, he had issues, he had so many issues that his issues had issues.

"Well then do it." Said Ritsu. He skimmed over everything Rei had sent him and replied that, no, he couldn't come and see her and then he cited his parents as the reason. That got him a crying emoji and then more text. He didn't know why she wanted to see him so badly. They had just spent days and days together….maybe she wanted to get back to what they had been doing in those days and days….not that they had been doing much if all of the talk that Ritsu overheard was to be believed….

He felt himself blushing and then put his phone face down on his desk.

She'd had a lot more fun than he did. He didn't even know how that worked. From what he had been able to gather it was supposed to be really complicated, girls and stuff like that, but of course he was just as naturally good at that as he was at everything else in his life. She had certainly told him so enough times. She hadn't been good at it at all…and she had stared a lot….but it was mostly about her anyway. He could give or take….at least he thought he could…his mind was going to places that it shouldn't have….

"Check me out." Said Sho. He could walk on his hands and he did walk on his hands…for a little bit. People were not meant to walk on their hands. Not without the assistance of psychic powers, anyway, and he was not using his powers for that…even though he maybe should have….because he wound up overbalanced and tipped over…and Ritsu caught him. Great. Just great. Now Ritsu probably thought that he was an idiot or something. Anyone but him, apparently. He didn't know why he even cared….well he did know….and he wished that he didn't know. If he didn't know why he even cared then he could have pretended that he didn't care. But he did care.

Because he liked Ritsu.

"I told you so." Said Ritsu. He had managed to catch Sho, that was good, because he didn't need his mother in there. He had managed to catch Sho with his powers and now…now all that was left would be to put him down….any minute now. Any second now. He just had to let go…but his powers wouldn't listen. That wasn't new, they didn't listen sometimes, but usually in the opposite way. He had never been able to tell them to….he had never had to tell them not to do something, before, usually he had to argue to even get them to work….

He didn't know what was wrong with him.

Well he did. He knew exactly what was wrong with him. He knew what was wrong and he knew what he had to do to fix it. He liked Sho. He liked him and there were two things that he could do. He could avoid Sho for the rest of this lives until he even forgot that Sho existed, not likely, or he could mess up his and Sho's friendship so badly that…that it was like the mess that he had made out of his…whatever it was with Teru….not something that he wanted to do.

Or he could ignore it.

Yes, that could work.

"Well then let's see you do better." Said Sho. Ritsu was still holding him up. He could break through easily, he was strong enough, but he didn't want to. Ritsu had caught him…and there hadn't been anyone there to catch him in so long. Longer than he could remember. Maybe he didn't even like Ritsu like that. Maybe he just wanted someone to be there when he fell. Someone to catch him. Someone that he could trust.

He hadn't been able to trust someone in so long.

But he knew that he could trust Ritsu.

"Trust me, Mob, you are not going to like this." said Reigen as he sipped a cup of room temperature sake. Mob had finished her cup, hers had been watered down, and now she said that she wanted more. She was reaching for his cup now. They were sitting in the living room, him and mom on the couch and Mob on the floor, and she was reaching for his cup.

"I might." Said Mob. She was not a child. She had gotten a cup that was half sake and half water. She did not want to be treated like a child. She had saved the world and she…she was not a child. Even if she felt, then as she sat on the floor, like a child amongst adults.

"Trust Taka-chan, Mobbu, if he says that it's bad then it's bad. I caught him drinking cooking wine once." Said Sophia. Solutions could always be found at the bottom of a bottle. She couldn't believe that she was doing this with her own son…and his…whatever she was going to call Mobbu. Whatever she was tipsy enough to call her. Whatever she was about to call her but had managed to stop herself from saying. She was not about to go and open up that can of worms. That can of worms would not have gone well with room temperature Costco sake.

"He still does. After we came back from saving the world Master Reigen drank a whole bottle of cooking wine." Said Mob. She laughed when she said that. She laughed and the table jumped. When she laughed and the table jumped Master Reigen laughed too. His aura and her aura were together. She was happy and he was happy because she was happy…or maybe it was the other way around. She didn't know. All she knew was that she liked sake, there was an orange cat sitting on her legs, and Master Reigen was happy.

"Arataka…..what is wrong with you?!" laughed Sophia. She didn't know what was so funny about that, she had caught him doing the exact same thing fifteen years ago and it hadn't been funny then…cleaning up his vomit from the kitchen floor at three in the morning…but the thought of him doing that as a grown man…she laughed. She was happy. She laughed because she was happy. Sake did make everything better.

"Yeah Master….you're not supposed to drink cooking wine." Said Mob. She laughed and the cat jumped away from her. Well as well as it could. It was such a fat cat, maybe because of all the treats in the kitchen, and she kind of wanted to give the cat a treat…all the treats. It was such a good cat…it needed all the treats in the whole wide world…

"Oh come on, it's not like I do it regularly." Said Reigen

"I don't know, Master, I don't watch you every minute of the day." Said Mob. She was just teasing him and he knew it. That was why he tugged on her hair like that. Not meanly. There were different ways to tug on her hair. He never tugged on it in the mean way, that wasn't like him at all, but he had his own tugs that meant different things. There was the one that said 'I'm here, I've got you' as well as the one that said 'Mob, you dummy'. This was the 'Mob, you dummy' one but he didn't mean it meanly. He could never be mean to her.

Never again.

She watched him. He and his mom were talking about something that he did when he was a kid, now. Apparently when he had been young he had drank cooking wine until he got sick. Poor Master Reigen. She couldn't imagine him as a kid….well now she could. Behind the TV, it was sort of distracting seeing pictures behind the TV, there were pictures of Master Reigen. When he was a baby and then a little kid and then a big kid and then her age and then high school aged. He looked….he looked nice when he was her age.

She would have liked him.

She could imagine him in a dark blue gakuran. She could imagine him sitting there inside of her classroom. Maybe in front of her. In front of her because then he couldn't notice her staring…and she would have stared. She stared at him a lot now…but not as much as she could have stared at him if he had been her age. It would have been ok to stare at him. It would have been ok to feel the way she felt, now, about him. It would have been ok to hold his hand….to kiss him…to do….and she stopped thinking about that. He was an adult, fourteen years older than her, and it made no sense to think about him being her age. That was not how it worked, she had to think of him as he was now…or maybe not at all.

She had a boyfriend.

And she missed her boyfriend. She missed Teru. Her hand went to her pocket. Her phone wasn't there. Her phone was in her NERV bag hanging on the hook by Sophia's front door. There was a hole in her bag and a hole in her phone and she wished that she had left her phone at home before she saved the world. Then she could have gotten on her phone and seen how Teru was doing. He was in a hotel now…and he wanted her to be with him, probably, and she wanted to be with him….but she also wanted to be with Master Reigen….

Kissing Teru was nicer.

And she didn't know where that thought had come from. She had never kissed Master Reigen before and never would. She had kissed Teru more times than she could count. The only boy she had ever kissed, kissed on the mouth for real, was Teru. Kissing Ritsu on the forehead and the cheek when she was little did not count. Teru was the only boy that she had ever kissed and the only boy who she ever would kiss…because he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her…and nobody had ever wanted that from her…

And that was why he was the only boy who she would ever kiss.

Even though she wanted to kiss….she wanted to kiss Master Reigen. In the end he had slid his cup towards her and she had drank the whole thing at once even though it burnt going down….and now her thoughts were getting all fuzzy…and the cup was floating now…and Master Reigen was talking to his mom about more stuff that had happened before she was even born. She would have been his friend, maybe, or maybe even more….if they were the same age. If they were in the same class. But she would still have known Teru…and she maybe still would have loved Teru…and then she and…she didn't know what she would have done in that case….

She liked kissing.

She could have kissed Master Reigen if she wanted to. She could have stood up and kissed him. She could have stood up and kissed him before he could even have stopped her…and she's staring to put her weight on her hands to push off from the ground before she realizes what a terrible idea that this would be. She had a boyfriend and she loved him and when she grew up she was going to marry him…because that was what he wanted…and no matter what happened Master Reigen would always be older than her…and Teru loved her and she could never have hurt him and…and she loved Teru…

And Master's Reigen's stubble would have hurt anyway.

She's watching him now, watching his talk. She's always watched him talk…and she…she almost could have never…she doesn't want to think about it. She doesn't want to think about how close she came to losing him. How close he had come to dying. She could have…she could have lost him…and now she wants to kiss him more than anything else in the world. Because she almost didn't…she almost lost the chance forever….because he almost died….and she almost died. They had almost died…everyone she knew had almost died…and then…but now it's over. It's over and she's not in the middle of it anymore. She's there and she's safe and everyone she loves is safe and….and she saved everyone…and everyone is safe…and her mind keeps on going around and around in circles and she has no idea how to make it stop. She has no idea how to get back to being….not like how she just was because she should not have bene thinking of Master Reigen like that….and even before that….she hadn't been happy in so long…well she had but that was right after she almost died….and Teru had been there…and she wanted nothing more than to be with Teru again…but not if it meant that she didn't get to be with Master Reigen anymore…and she doesn't want to choose….but she had already chosen….and she thought that she'd had more time….

A cup is placed in her hands.

"Come on Mob, don't be like that." Said Reigen. He knew what she was feeling, it was what he was feeling, and he did not want to feel that way. Mob apparently cycled between being a horny drunk and a sad drunk. Well he was a happy drunk and he was going to pass that happiness onto her. She should not have been upset. It killed him when she was upset. She had been…she had gone through so much. Not only just now but also…also before. With the Asagiri job. With the Asagiri job and also…also what had happened the first time with Claw…all those months ago…

"I-I'm not being like anything." Said Mob. She blushed when their fingers made contact. She wished that he would just hold her hand. She still….she still wanted to and she had almost died without knowing…without knowing the unknowable. She was not going to…but he was so close….

"You know how you're being." Said Reigen. She really needed to quit him. He wished that he could have just come out and told her that he did not and could not share in her feelings. She had feelings for him and that was…well not ok but not something that he was going to make a thing out of. She was fourteen and got crushes. School girl crushes for the school girl…which she was even though it didn't feel like it all the time…and who it should have felt like it all the time…because she was fourteen…and…and…who hadn't gone to school in ages…but he had no idea who it was that he was even arguing with in his own mind.

"I-I-I wasn't being like anything." Said Mob. She knew that he could feel what she was feeling…and she drank the cup down really fast. It burned. It got refilled. She would have drank again but she sort of felt like she was going to be motion sick. Master Reigen could not have known how she felt. She did not live through all of that only to die of embarrassment….

He could not know what she was thinking of.

How he had been one of the biggest reasons she had won. Well she had told him that but…but he didn't know how she meant it. Like when she told him that she loved him…he had no idea how she really meant it. She loved him and…and she knew that it was wrong to be in love with him…and now that she was thinking about him and how much she loved him…she thought of Teru and how nice it felt to be near him…and how warm he was…and how sometimes when they would watch interesting movies he would tell her facts about the movie and it wouldn't be annoying at all even though she knew that you weren't supposed to talk through the movie…

Her cup was refilled. She took another quick drink. It burned going down. She didn't care.

She didn't know why she was like this. Maybe if she drank enough she could get better. Maybe that was where the answers were, at the bottom of her cup.


	78. Climbing Trees to the Top of the World

Mob hadn't had a room all to herself in a while.

This was a junk room. Reigen Sophia said that it used to be a home office when Master Reigen's dad lived with them but then he left and they turned it into a guest room. It had become a junk room shortly after Master Reigen left because Sophia didn't usually have guests. Then it became a junk room. Now it was Mob's room.

For the time being.

Sophia had said that this room was Mob's for the being. Neither of them knew how long that would be. She and Master Reigen hadn't talked about that, about when they would be going back to Seasoning City, but she hoped that it wasn't soon. Soon would be too soon. They had only just gotten here. Mob hadn't had any time to properly explore the house. This house. The house where Master Reigen had grown up.

Well, not really.

Because he had moved into this house when he had been her age. She had heard him talking about it, he hadn't been talking to her he had just been talking, as he tended to do when he drank. They hadn't drank together in a while. She liked it. It was more like they were the same, equals, instead of adult and kid. Even if he did lay down on the ground and ramble about how his life had been. How he had hated this house when he had been her age. How he had hated moving here, hated his school, and hated life. It was hard to imagine him being her age and being so….mad…..about stuff. About moving to this house. About how his parents fought all the time. She didn't want to imagine him like that.

Well she did and she didn't.

She wanted to imagine him being her age. To imagine a time when they might have been friends. To imagine a time when they could have been friends…or even more than friends. To imagine a time in which the times when he put an arm around her or played with her hair or any multitude of the other things he did…the little ways he touched her…could have meant something more than what they did now. To imagine him being in her class, maybe, to imagine him being someone that she could have been with….and she knew that she shouldn't have imagined him like that.

She tries to tell herself that she wouldn't want to know him when he was her age.

She tells herself that she wouldn't have wanted to know him when he was her age. That when he was her age he drank and smoked all the time, which really didn't bother her, and that he was so mad at everything back then…and she tried not to be mad…and that they couldn't have possibly been happy together. That he wouldn't have given her the time of day back then. That they wouldn't have known each other and if they had known each other then they wouldn't have been friends let alone anything more than that.

She tries to tell herself that.

She has to tell herself that because she has a boyfriend who she loves and who loves her. She has Teru and Teru has her and they have each other and Teru is her age and she should be with him forever. She had thought that there had been more time to choose but, really, there hadn't even been a choice to make. Master Reigen was never going to like her like she liked him. No matter how much older she got he would always be older, too, and he would never be able to think of her the way she thought of him. So really there was no point in laying down on this dusty old futon and imagining a world where Master Reigen was her age and they were a couple together.

No point to that at all.

Because that was never going to happen. She had might as well get up and…and she didn't know. There was nothing for her to do. She hadn't gone to school in a while…so why did she still feel like she had to get up and go to school? Why did it feel like that was something that she had to do? She felt like…she missed school? Yes, she did. It was all over, all of it, and the thought of getting up and putting on her uniform…which had been ruined in the fight…..the thought of getting up and putting on her uniform and having breakfast seemed so good right then….

Getting back to normal.

Truly getting back to normal. Getting back to what her life had been like before all of this. Back when she hadn't felt bad about herself almost all the time. Back when she'd hung out with her friends and not had this weight on her…a weight that felt like it had been lifted. Lifted a little. She'd saved the world and showed someone how to be a better person. That was good. That was great. That was….that was….that had been so scary. It had been scary and it had hurt…but now it was over. It was over and she was there, in the office turned bedroom turned junk room turned bedroom again.

And it was nice.

Also it was white. A very bright shade of white. The white just showed off the dust marks on the walls. Sophia's had moved some boxes and shelves to make room for Mob. The room had seemed so much smaller, before, when Mob first unrolled the old futon and went to sleep on it. The room was bigger now because a lot of the junk had been moved out of it. She knew that this was not her room, she didn't have her own room anymore, but she felt almost like…like it was. Even though this only temporary. Even though she needed to go back to seasoning city eventually. Her friends and brother and boyfriend were there after all.

Also her parents.

Mob's phone had broken during the fight. She and Master Reigen hadn't gone to the phone store yet even though they really needed to. She needed another phone. She needed to know if her parents…well she knew that they were ok. Ritsu's friend Sho had thought of everything. He was a nice person like that. She felt so bad about what his dad had done to him…not just the whole beating him half to death thing but also the whole thirteen years of his life…and here she was worrying about her parents when his parents were, well, his parents. Was that how it worked? Was it that you didn't get to worry about yourself when someone else had it worse? It felt like that. Poor Sho. She hoped that everything worked out with him and his mom…and also that he and Ritsu stayed friends. She hoped that he and Ritsu stayed the very best of friends, and they were good friends since Ritsu let him hang around so often, and she hoped that they were both happy.

She hoped that everyone was happy.

She had no idea how everyone was doing. Ritsu was back home with mom and dad. Teru had found a temporary place to live that wasn't the Awakening Lab. Rei was probably fighting with her sister again, something which Mob didn't understand at all. She was big sister to Ritsu and they never fought….aside from the time that Ritsu had gotten his powers and then turned into a jerk…but she did not want to think about that. She wished that her phone wasn't broken. Then she could check up on everyone…but that had happened. That was a thing that had happened. Her phone was broken and most of downtown was broken and a lot of things were broken so there was nothing else to do but accept that things were broken and then get out of bed.

Futon.

A futon was not a bed. A futon was a bedroll. Master Reigen slept in an actual bed. It was actually a little bit funny. He had fallen asleep on the living room floor and Mob had carried him up to his room with her powers and put him to bed. He was almost too big for his bed. His room, and it was his room because this was his old house, had been so much like and so much not like his room at their apartment. It had been messy, and the plants were long dead, which was like their apartment but it was also different. He had a lot of posters up on the walls. Mob hadn't been in there for very long but she had recognized some of the shows that they were from. Master Reigen really liked that junk food fighter show…and also Death Note, for some reason, which was not something she expected from him. He also had a poster of Mogami above his bed…and that was when she had left the room really fast.

That hadn't been her room.

Now she had a room, temporarily, and it was this one. But now she was going to leave it because it was another day and she had…well she didn't have things to do but she still had to get up. So that was what she did. The room was cold, or maybe she had just been overly warm. She could see dust and cat hair dancing in the air as she sat up. She didn't mind. She'd slept in worse. She wondered where that cat had done to. That was the best part out of all of this. There was a cat in this house. A big, fat, orange cat that was so very fluffy….and like she had said last night it was sad that the poor cat would never know how fluffy it was. So sad….

That was something to do. Look for the cat.

She stood up and shook out her hair. Messy. She'd brush it later. Or maybe she should have brushed it now…she went through it with her powers. Good enough. It could have been worse. It could have been a lot worse. She was…she felt good. Happy. Better than she had before. Even if the room was cold and her nightgown was kind of thin and she had kicked her socks off in the middle of the night. She still felt good. She had saved the whole world…and now she had a cat to play with…so it was good.

Now where was that cat?

Her search took her out of her room and into the hallway. The walls of the hallway were pink. Mob wondered why the walls of her room weren't pink too. She liked pink. Maybe Master Reigen's family had run out of pink paint or something. She liked pink. If she ever got her own room for real, when she was an adult or something, she would have liked pink walls. Or maybe blue. Or maybe whatever color Teru wanted since she would be sharing her home with him. She wondered if he would have wanted to live in a house or an apartment. She liked this house a lot. Maybe she would have been happier in a house. A nice big house with pink walls and soft carpets.

The carpeting felt good against her bare feet.

Even if there was a lot of cat hair on it. Mob didn't mind. When you had a cat the cat would shed. That was just how cats were. They shredded their fur everywhere. That was why mom had never let her and Ritsu get a cat. She said that the fur would be a ghastly nuisance. Mob didn't know what there was to get all upset about. It was just a little cat hair. She could pick it up with her powers easily.

So that was what she did.

She used her powers to pick up all the cat hair. She balled it up until it was one fuzzy little hairball. The rug seemed brighter, now, much brighter. That had been a lot of cat hair. Mob knew that she had to throw it out even though it was an impressively sized hairball. She wasn't grossed out but she figured that other people would be. She had to throw it out…and if she'd had her phone with her then she could have taken a picture….but she had to throw it out.

She threw it out in the bathroom.

The bathroom had been down the hall from her. One bathroom. There was one bathroom for the three of them. Mob didn't see how that was a problem but Sophia had said that it would be. She said that it would be a tight fit, all three of them in one house, but Mob didn't see it. Three people in one bathroom didn't seem like a lot. Well not all in at the same time but taking turns. Now it was Mob's turn. It was Mob's turn but they had no set up a system of turns or anything like that. Nobody else was in the bathroom. It was later in the morning than she usually got up. She had been sleeping a lot more lately. A lot more since…since everything that had happened. Since the big fight.

She felt well rested.

She decided to brush her teeth. She had put her toothbrush in the bathroom. It was in a mug, a world's greatest mom mug, next to Master Reigen's and Sophia's. Pink, blue, and white. Kind of like the colors that her family had. She wondered if they had toothbrushes again, her family, if they had toothbrushes and toothpaste and all of the other things from the bathroom. Making the house its self had been easy…easier than making the things in the house anyway…and she was worried, now, that she had forgotten to fix everything…and that her family could have been without toothpaste or toothbrushes or soap or-or-or-and she reaches down for her phone. It doesn't work for two reasons. First of all this nightgown did not have pockets and second of all her phone was broken.

She brushed her teeth.

What else could she do? Besides look for the cat, of course, but she had to brush her teeth before anything else. That was the first thing that you did in the morning, you brushed your teeth, and then you started your day. Mob didn't have much to do with her day but she had might as well start it. So she brushed her teeth. The toothpaste tasted weird here. The toothpaste at home tasted like bubblegum. This toothpaste tasted like cinnamon…which was weird….but Mob was not complaining. She was not the one who went shopping so she was not going to be the one who did the complaining. Mom had said that. Only the one who did the shopping could also do the complaining. That was how it worked.

Mob wasn't complaining.

She was brushing her teeth. She watched herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. She looked the same. Two eyes, one nose, one mouth, long bangs, long hair, pale skin. Mob. She was still Mob. She was Mob and she was fine. She knew who she was. She wasn't in the void anymore. She wasn't in instrumentality anymore. She was herself again. She was herself again and she existed, again, within the limits of her vessel. This vessel had limits but it also had freedom. It limited herself to this space, this small space, but it also gave her the ability to interact with the world. The world around her did not hurt. The world of the void…it had hurt…but that was never happening again.

She was never going to do that again.

Any of that. Because it was over. Over and done with. She never wanted to…to put her friends in danger like that. To put the people she loved and cared for in danger…and she never would because it was all over. She had won…no. She hadn't won. She hadn't won because nobody had won. Instrumentality was not winning. Instrumentality was just…not winning. They had both lost and both lost their bodies and themselves….and now it was…it was over. It was over and she was ok and her teeth were brushed and she had no reason to be in the bathroom now.

So she left the bathroom.

Where was that cat? She loved that cat so much. She barely knew that cat but she knew that she loved him. He was orange and fluffy. She wanted nothing more than to pick that cat up and hold him and put him and all of that other stuff. There was a laser pointer. She had accidentally pointed it in her eyes last night when she had been playing with the cat. She hadn't been hurt even though Master Reigen had been worried. It took a lot to hurt her. She had survived being set on fire and throw into space and shoved through the ground and even lost her whole body. It took a lot to hurt her. That hadn't always been the case. When she was little, a lot littler than she was now, she had fallen and scraped her knee and then…and then she had cried so much…but now she knew that if she fell down and scraped her knee that she might not even have noticed.

She touches her hair.

There's a little bit of a disconnect between herself and her body. Like there's a little bit of a delay between the fact that she's touching her hair and the way that her hair feels under her hand. This is her body that she's touching. This is her body that she's feeling. She is herself. She is herself and this is her, this person is her, and she is herself. She is herself and this is her body…and this body is herself…but she is also herself. She is also herself.

She is herself and she is her body.

And she doesn't want to think about this anymore. She doesn't want to think about what happened. She didn't want to think about how it had felt…and how she felt now. She wanted to go back to feeling good. It was a new day. It had been several new days. She was feeling good. She had saved everyone and she was ok now. She was ok and everyone was ok….most everyone. She wondered how he was doing. Touichirou. She wondered how he was….if he was ok. She wondered what it was that they did to people who tried to take over the world. Probably nothing good. He deserved it…she felt like he deserved it, anyway, because he had tried to take over the whole world. He had hurt so many people…so she should not have been so worried about what was going to happen to him…what was happening to him right then and there in that moment in time….and maybe it was bad…and she wanted to…to make sure that nothing bad was happening to him. That she wasn't the reason that something bad was happening to her…not her. Him. There was still a him and a her…and there would always be a him and her.

She reached out with her aura.

She hadn't meant to. The minute the thought came to her mind she acted on it. She expanded outwards. She could feel…there was Master Reigen in his bed…there was…other espers…but not many. She extended out farther and farther until…she got kind of dizzy. She was dizzy want…

And her feet were not touching the ground.

So she stopped. Her feet went back to touching the ground. The ground was cold here, because the flor was tile. The floor was a cold white and black tile…and she wondered if he was cold, too…even though she knew that she should not have been worried about her. He had been fighting against her. He had tried to take over the whole world. He had used his powers to do so many bad things…and now…and now he was being punished because that was what happened when you committed crimes. You got punished. That was just how it all went. That was why they had that saying about not doing the crime if you could not do the time. He was doing the time. He had done the crime, pretty much all of the crimes, and now he had to do the time.

And it was not her fault that he was wherever it was that he was.

She didn't know why she was thinking about him so much. While it was true that they had both lost their bodies and their souls got all mixed it none of that changed what he had done. Sure he had changed now, at least she had gotten the feeling that he planned on changing now, but that didn't change what he had done in the past. It wasn't enough to feel bad about what you did. It wasn't enough to say that you were sorry. It wasn't enough….she did not get to decide this. She was not the one who made up the rules and the punishments. She was not the one who decided who got punished and who didn't. She was….she was just Mob.

And she was done brushing her teeth.

So she went to look for the cat. It had to be somewhere, everything was somewhere. She checked behind a door…a door that opened up to a room that she had not been in yet. This was Reigen Sophia's room. There was a double bed and it matched the nightstands and makeup table. There were pictures, too, of people Mob did not know….and a lot of someone she did. She assumed, anyway, that the baby in those pictures was Master Reigen. She didn't stay long enough to really check. This was not her room. She should not have been going through other people's bedrooms.

Even if she wanted to.

Even if she wanted to make Reigen Sophia's bed for her because she had left her bed unmade. Even if she wanted to sit down at the makeup table and just…well it wasn't polite to wear someone else's makeup so Mob would not be doing that any time soon. She wanted to, though, and she wanted to see what was in Sophia's closet….but she didn't. She was not going to snoop through other people's stuff because that was impolite.

Even if she hadn't ever been in an adult woman's bedroom before.

She had hardly ever been in her own mom's bedroom. She hadn't been allowed in there, and neither had Ritsu, because that space belonged to mom and dad. Mom and dad were still allowed to go into their rooms whenever they wanted to even though that was not at all fair. Mom mostly did that, not dad, and Mob didn't even know why she kept on doing it. It wasn't like Mob had anything worth snooping through. Mob didn't want to snoop anyway. To do what her mom did and look around for things that she knew would make her upset like bad report cards or candy wrappers. Mob just wanted to know what it was that grown adults kept in their rooms. Sophia's room looked a lot like Rei's room, actually. There were pictures on the walls, picture of people instead of posters and drawings, and there were clothes on the floor and a table covered in makeups and hair ties and other things….Mob just wanted to know what they were, that was all. She wondered what you were supposed to have in your bedroom. Mob didn't know, she didn't have her own room…and she never would.

Because she would be going back to Seasoning City eventually.

She knew that she had to…and also she wanted to. She missed Teru…or at least she knew that she was supposed to miss Teru. She knew that she was supposed to be all sad because they were apart, and she was a little sad, but not very sad. Not as sad as Teru got when they were apart. Teru didn't have as many people as she did, she felt like, because he didn't have any parents or any siblings and he had even told her that she was his first real and true friend. He had friends but nobody that he didn't have to be anything other than the person he pretended to be, with. He said that she was the only person that he could ever be himself around….something which struck Mob as being very sad. That was why he was so sad when they were apart and also so happy when they were together.

She was sad when they were apart, too, and happy when they were together but not as much as he was.

Did that make her a bad person? Did that mean that she didn't love him as much as he loved her? Sometimes she felt like she was a bad person….but she also felt like she was tired of feeling like she was a bad person. She didn't want to feel like a bad person, she didn't want to be a bad person, she wanted…she wanted to be a good person. She wanted to be a good person and she wanted…she wanted a lot of things….

Like finding that cat.

There was a cat.

Sho liked cats. He liked cats and dogs and pretty much any animal with fur. So he should have liked that cat. He did like that cat. He liked mom's cat. Its name was Duchess, because it had all white fur and was fancy and finicky, and Sho loved that cat. He even loved that cat when it woke him up early in the morning put digging its paws into his face. He hadn't been sleeping too well anyway. How could he? He had never had his own bed, before, but at least there had always been a bed for him to sleep on. Now all he had was a couch.

Mom's couch.

That was where he was supposed to sleep now. Mom's couch in her apartment that she shared with this cat. She had a boyfriend, too, but she told him not to come around until Sho got settled. As if he could get any more settled than he was now. He had his whole life with him, it all fit in one backpack, and that backpack was sitting right there on the floor covered in cat hair…he was covered in cat hair too…but that was ok because this was the cat's home, it had been the cat's home first, and Sho was the one intruding upon it. This was the cat's home and his mom's home and also she said that she and her boyfriend who Sho had not cared to learn the name of had been talking about getting a place together so really this was not anywhere near being Sho's home. He had no home. He hadn't had a home since he was seven. He was thirteen now. Years had passed. He was over stuff like this.

He had won.

He had stopped dad and his side had won so, really, he should have been happy. He should have been doing somersaults and cartwheels and backflips and front flips and whatever other kind of flips he knew how to do. This was what he had been waiting for, working for, hoping for since he was a kid. He was back with mom. Dad was defeated. Everything was right in his life…

But it wasn't.

Because things were never just over. Things didn't work out like they did on TV. Sure the whole take over the world thing was over but that was just part one of the shit show that was the life of Suzuki Sho. Now he had to find a place to live and go to school and work on being normal. That was what mom had said. All he had to do now was worry about being a normal kid. Even though he was neither of those things. He was not normal and he was not a kid. Well he was only thirteen and three quarters, which was a kid legally, but he didn't feel like a kid.

How many kids organized successful coups and ousted their own fathers from power like it was nothing?

Well, ok, it hadn't been like nothing. Also getting dad put in jail…he hadn't thought so far ahead. He hadn't thought about what it would be like to actually see them carting his father off to esper prison, which was probably worse than real prison, and to possibly even his execution….it was harder than he would have thought that it would have been, especially with all the stuff that dad had said. It would have been easier if dad had just called him a failure again or told him to go to hell or something like that. No, dad had to go and say that he was sorry.

Sho hadn't accounted for that.

He also hadn't accounted for just how big Claw was and just how many people wanted to see Dad's dream becoming reality…and just how few people knew what really happened….and just how many people wanted to see him carry on with Dad's work and his dream…but he was not going to do that. He would ignored them and tell them to fuck off and beat them up and whatever else it was that he had to do to get those asshole off of his back. He wasn't his dad and he was not going to try and do something as stupid as to take over the world…and fuck those guys who thought that just because his name was Suzuki and he had red hair and blue eyes he was going to pick up where dad left off.

He wasn't.

Some of them were talking about Ritsu's big sis, how she was the most powerful esper ever, and how they should follow her. Those were the ones who knew more of what happened. They were fighting about that, now, last Sho had heard. Good. Let them beat the shit out of each other. Let them all destroy each other until they were one less thing for him to worry about. He had enough to worry about. Shit that he hadn't even thought to worry about. Shit that he had never worried about in his entire life.

School and shit like that.

Normal kid stuff. He was supposed to be working on being a normal kid. He was in mom's custody now and she said that she had to find him a school to go to. She said that he would like it. She said that he would like to be normal. She said that his life was going to get a hell of a lot better now. She even said that, a hell of a lot better, which was weird because he didn't remember his mom talking like that. In fact he didn't remember much of his mom. She was different than the memories he had of her…which meant that maybe his memory was really shitty or she had just changed. He knew that he had changed.

She had looked at him like he was a stranger.

When he had first knocked on her door she had looked at him like she had no idea who he was. That made no sense. How many other thirteen year olds with red hair and blue eyes did she know? Well obviously a lot because she hadn't recognized him. Then when he told her who he was she had just gotten the saddest look on her face….and it didn't make any sense. She had no reason to be sad. They were together again. They could be a family again. There was nothing stopping them from being together. No more dad and his crazy world domination plots. None of it. Just him and his mom. It would have been great.

It could have been great.

But it wasn't great. It hadn't been great from the very beginning. After the hugs and the kisses and the tears she had asked him about his life….and then it had all started to go downhill. She asked and he answered. He told her about the missions he went on when dad said that he was old enough, the places he'd stayed and the people he'd met. He told her about what it was like growing up with dad. How he was. How much of an asshole he could be. The way he treated….everyone. Maybe the best thing to do would have been to have kept it all to himself. Maybe the best thing to do would have been to tell mom that his life had been just fine and normal up to that point. But he didn't. He didn't lie to her.

He told her just what it was like after she left.

After she left him all alone with dad. After she went off to live her life with no thought at all towards her own Son. With no idea what she would be leaving him to. Maybe he wanted her to know how bad it had been. Maybe he wanted to know if she had any idea of how bad it was going to be. Maybe he wanted to know if she was planning on casting him aside again. If she thought that he was nothing, too….if she had ever seen him as anything or anyone to begin with….

She just hugged him and told him that everything was going to be alright.

And then she started up with her plans for his life. How they were going to get a bigger place and he was going to go to school and make friends and be normal. How everything in his life, the bad parts, were in the past and now he could start a new life where he could be a normal kid and just do normal kid things and soon everything that had happened would just be bad memories…or whatever. Sho…he would have liked it I she had asked if he wanted to go to school. If she had taken the time to ask him how he felt about all of this. If she had taken the time to ask him if he wanted to have a normal life and be a normal kid.

But she hadn't asked.

And he hadn't stopped her. She was happier, then, when she was telling him what his life was going to be. That was just how parents were, they had power over you, and they used it. They kept you boxed in to this idea of who they wanted you to be. They were your makers after all and if you were going to make something then why not make what you wanted? Why not make the perfect normal kid who went to school and made friends and did all of the other normal kid stuff. Why not make a kid that could inherit the world after you took it over. Why not make what you wanted to make because, after all, you were the one who went through the trouble of banging unprotected so therefore you got what you wanted and if your kid wasn't what you wanted him to be-

He had to get out of there.

This place was not big enough for the three of them. Him, mom, and the cat. This place was too small and Sho did not do well in small spaces. It was early in the morning, well at least by his standards, and mom was still asleep. She had work that day. She had work even though most of the city was out of work because of what dad did. Mom said that she was lucky to still have a job to go to. Mom said that she was going to work harder to save up and find them a bigger place once all the panic passed. Sho didn't say anything to that. She was his mom, she could do whatever she wanted, and so could he.

So he did whatever he wanted.

And what he wanted to do was to see Ritsu. He liked being around Ritsu. Hell, he liked Ritsu. Not in that wanting to bang him sort of way either, even though he totally did, but also in that butterflies in his stomach making him want to puke his guts out sort of way. Liking Ritsu was not ok. Ritsu had a girlfriend and they were in like, or even love, and messing with that was the worst thing that a person could do. There was nothing more important in this world than love and nothing hurt more than when someone you loved left you.

So Sho was not going to mess with Ritsu's relationship.

But that didn't mean that they couldn't be friends, they could be, because Sho had more self-control than to go and start kissing a guy just because he liked him. No, he and Ritsu were just friends. Best friends. The best friends in the history of friendship! That was all. Ritsu probably wouldn't have been into him even if he hadn't been seeing Rei. Ritsu was….Ritsu. He could have had any guy he wanted…if he had even wanted a guy in the first place…and Sho was just…Sho. Sho was just Sho, the guy who couldn't even save the world on his own, and Ritsu was Ritsu, the guy who put his life on the line even though he hadn't had to. He was also smart and funny, but not in a ha-ha sort of way but more in a Minegishi sort of way, and he was cute, too, so cute…and the way he smiled on those rare times when he did…

Sho had it bad.

But he was not going to go and see Ritsu just to spill his romantic guts to him and ruin everything. No, he was going to see Ritsu to….hang out in his room and….watch him do normal kid stuff. Yeah, Ritsu was the expert after all. Ritsu knew how to do all the normal kid stuff and Sho had been too busy staying alive to learn how to do. Maybe if he just spent enough time observing he would learn how to be a normal kid and then mom would be happy with him and never cast him aside or leave him again.

So, yeah, that was a good idea.

"So when did this look like a good idea?" said Ritsu as he sat up. It was too early and he was too tired. He had been up all night either texting Rei, sometimes he wondered if she ever slept, or stuck in his own mind going over every single mistake he had ever made in his thirteen years of life up to this point. Also mom and dad had started up with the Olympic level shouting matches so, yes, it hadn't been a long and restful sleep.

And he had been woken from what little sleep he had gotten to Sho starting at him.

"Like, an hour ago. You're a really heavy sleeper, you know, you didn't even notice me coming in. I mean you turned over for a little bit but you eventually turned back onto back. How do you even sleep like that? That does not look comfortable at all. I can't believe you managed to sleep so soundly on your bac, Ritsu." Said Sho. He had made sure to be very quiet. Ritsu was asleep and even though Sho was awake at this crazy hour it didn't mean that everyone else would be. Plus Ritsu looked….relaxed…when he slept. Not that Sho had spent that long watching him sleep. No, he had spent much more time watching Ritsu sleep back at the safe house during the….yeah. Then he had just been trying to commit him to memory in case…in case the worst were to happen.

Now he had just been staring for the sake of staring.

"Or maybe I was just pretending to sleep in the hopes that the creeper who broke into my room in the middle of the night would get bored and go away." said Ritsu even though there was no anger at all in his voice. He was…he was happy to see Sho. Even though he had just seen him last night. Even though he should have been upset at the intrusion into his room. He was just…happy.

And he shouldn't have been.

"Or maybe the creeper who broke into your room in the middle of the night, actually this morning, was there to watch you sleep all along." Said Sho. Ritsu was pissed at him. He knew how Ritsu looked when he got pissed and this was not it. Ritsu was happy. He looked….cute. It was the behead, that was what did it. The bed head and…and the way his pajama shirt was pulled way far too the right…

Ritsu fixed it.

"Then maybe the creeper who broke into my room early in the morning needs something else to do with his time." Said Ritsu. Sho was still looking at him. Sho had been looking at him. He needed….he felt more self-conscious then at that moment than he'd ever felt before in his life. He fixed his shirt and tried to run his hands through his hair. He stopped when he felt a warm hand on his forehead.

On his scar.

Where his scar should have been.

But as quick as that hand was there it pulled away. Ritsu felt warm. Every single inch of him felt like he had just gotten out of a warm bath. He swallowed. Now not only was he self-conscious but also he was…nervous. Very nervous. His eye met Sho's before they dipped down to his bedspread. Blue. Not evidence at all that his room had burnt down. That his house had burnt down. He felt like he was about to burn down or burn up or just burn.

"Maybe getting a life is the reason why he broke into your room early in the morning in the first place." Said Sho

"What do you mean?" asked Ritsu

"My mom wants me to get a life…a normal life….and I was up thinking about how I don't know a damn thing about being normal. I mean I have a life but it's, you know, my life. I was just thinking about how weird my life's been and then I thought that it sucked how weird it had been…and also that my mom shouldn't be telling me how to live my life….but she's my mom and I love her. So, yeah, I've been thinking about that stuff for a while. Then I remembered you and you're the most normal guy I know. So I figured that I would observe you to figure this whole 'norma0'l thing out." Said Sho. There was a pause in which Ritsu stared at him and he stared back and it was a lot…but in a good way…and he was so nervous…but also in a good way….and that good way was a bad way and he should not have been feeling like that but he was and-

"I'm the most normal guy you know?" asked Ritsu. He laughed, which came out weird, and he wished instantly that he hadn't. What was wrong with him? Had he always laughed like that? What that what he had been laughing like for his whole life? Why hadn't anyone told him how dumb he sounded? Now Sho probably thought-

"Well, yeah. I mean there's Teru but he's probably still with his girlfriend and I am not bothering them when they're alone together and probably banging or whatever." Said Sho

"Oh my God please never say that again." said Ritsu maybe just a bit too loudly. He threw himself back down onto his bed and pulled the covered up over his head. They were pulled down quickly, however, and he found his personal space completely invaded.

He didn't mind it as much as he should have.

"What? It's the truth. I mean they love each other and when people are in love, and even when they aren't, they-" said Sho

"If you say it I swear to God-" said Ritsu

"What? That's what people do. They bang." Said Sho. That was something that he never got. Maybe it was because he had spent his whole life, pretty much, around other espers. He knew when two people were going at it, their auras told the whole story. People were squeamish about the weirdest stuff.

"Do you have to put it like that?" asked Ritsu. He pulled the covers up over his head again. He did not want to think about Teru and his sister doing….anything. Nope. There were a million and one other, more pleasant, things to think about. Cats with fluffy fur, the smell of a new notebook right from the store, warm clothes right out of the dryer, the way the sun hit Sho's hair….

"Well, yeah…how else would I put it? I mean there's a million different words for it but, yeah, that's what people in love do. That's how we got here and our parents and our parents' parents….and now I kind of get what you mean. My mom and dad….nope. I mean love is a good thing and all my parents used to be in love but thinking about the two of them…that's not something that I want to think about. Not at all." said Sho. He used to think, a while ago, about what it would be like if mom and dad got back together. If they ran into each other and remembered why they had been in love with each other….he had seen that in a movie, once. That was where he had gotten the idea. A movie he had seen when he was a little kid. Well life did not work out in the movies and mom and dad were not going to get back together, for the purposes of love or banging or otherwise. Mom had a boyfriend and dad…dad was somewhere in prison….

Sho pulled the covers off of Ritsu and then laid down next to him.

"Um…." Said Ritsu. There were a lot of words that he could have used. Words like 'what the hell are you doing' and the like…but he didn't use them. His brain was both going a million miles an hour and also much too slow. This was, like most things with Suzuki Sho, unexpected. It was so weird to go from talking about sex to, well, having him lay down….right there….this was not a big bed. They were close. The only person who he had ever been this close to, besides his sister, had been Teru when they were play fighting….or Rei. His eyes moved from Sho and across his room. So many drawings from her, Rei, his girlfriend. His girlfriend who he could not hurt by doing any of the things that he was thinking of doing.

Sho was so close.

"Whatever. What do I know? It's not like I've ever even kissed anyone let alone banged them. What do I know about love? You know more than I do. I don't know shit about love." said Sho. What did he know about anything? Anything besides all the stupid stuff dad had spent years and years trying to fill his head with. All he knew was that this bed was warm and he was getting cat hair all over it…and that was what was happening right then and there. Also he knew that Ritsu was warm and right then and there he needed warmth. He needed to feel warm…and he hadn't even realized that he had been cold.

This was a nice bed.

And it had been so long, it felt like, since he had been in a bed. Even though it hadn't been even a week yet. A week ago he had been in some safe house planning out how he was going to stop dad and save the world. Now dad was stopped and the day was saved and now it was time to go back to normal. He didn't know what normal even was but he knew that it was something he had to get back to…

He wanted this to be normal.

Beds were normal. Laying down in a bed was normal. Laying down in a bed next to someone else was not normal. The last time he had ever shared a bed with someone….he had been a little kid. Well he wasn't a kid anymore, little or otherwise, and he should have…he shouldn't have…he didn't even know. All he knew was that this was a warm bed.

"I…I don't really know anything either." Said Ritsu. Sho had never kissed anyone before…why does he like that? It's none of his business who Sho has and has not kissed. He shouldn't have given a damn…but he did. He did and it made no sense. The thought of Sho kissing someone else…he had no reason to feel jealous. He had as little reason to feel jealous as he did of rolling over and just….

What was with him?

"You know more than I do. You've got a girlfriend and she loves you and you love her. That's something. That's more than I have." Said Sho. He felt like, sometimes he felt like, he didn't have anyone at all. No more dad and mom….mom had her own life now. All those guys who helped him save the world went off to hide and, you know, not be hunted down for being with Claw for years and years. Sho didn't have to run. He was just a kid and no court would convict him of doing any of the things he did…because he had done them on dad's orders…and now dad was gone….and the way he felt made no sense. All alone. Even if he was alone, now, he actually…he wasn't. He wasn't. He was there and Ritsu was there and therefore he was not alone.

"Yeah…she loves me." Said Ritsu. Rei loved him and he could not hurt her. Though if he could do it all again he would have just flat out rejected her. He hadn't ever seen it going as far as it was now. Well he knew that his options were either to be with her for the rest of his life or to break up….he just hadn't foreseen just how much would happen between them. It had all been a series of abstract concepts, the things that he did with her now, and even forever felt…far away. Abstract. Being with her was more than just doing what she wanted and making her happy. She was always thinking of him and he hardly ever thought of her….and that made him terrible. Maybe. He didn't know.

All he knew was that he wanted nothing more in that moment than to roll over and kiss Suzuki Sho.

"Want to go do something? Outside, I mean." Said Ritsu. He knew fully well that he was not supposed to leave the house but right then and there at that moment he did not care. He needed to get up and get out. He needed to get the hell out of that room before he ended up doing something that he knew he was going to regret. That was what had happened the last time he had given in to this sort of feeling.

So much regret.

Things between him and Teru were…not the same as they had been before but also a lot better than they could have been. After all Teru didn't hate him so that was a win. Ritsu was not going to give into these sorts of feelings. Not at that moment with Sho. He hadn't known Sho as long as he had known Teru….he had no idea if Sho would kiss him back or tell him to get the hell away from him….

And he was not going to find out.

"Yeah, sure. Come on let's….let's climb or something. I saw this big tree at this park by my mom's house and we could climb it or….something." Said Sho. He didn't much want to get up out of bed. He hadn't been in a bed for so long….but he had to. This was not his bed. This was not his bed and this was not his room and this, Ritsu's life, was not his. People's rooms were like tiny windows into their lives. Ritsu's room was like a tiny window into his. He had a lot of school books, awards, and pictures that his girlfriend drew for him. There was also a lot of blue. Ritsu must have liked blue…and school…and also his girlfriend. Normal. Ritsu was pretty normal….even though normal meant the same thing as ordinary and Sho would never have called Ritsu ordinary.

There wasn't anything ordinary about him.

"Yeah….let's do that." Said Ritsu. He needed to get out of that room. His room was like it's own little world and right now it felt like that world was just him and Sho. he had to move out into the greater world, the world with other people in it, the world where he could remember that he couldn't just do whatever he wanted. There were consequences to his actions. If he acted on these feelings than he would hurt someone who had done nothing but love him. He wished that he had never even stared this thing with her but he had and now…and now this was his life…

So he had might as well go climb some trees.

"How are you this good at climbing trees? Are you cheating and using your powers?" asked Reigen. This had been a hell of a lot easier when he had been her age. This had been the way he had spent many an afternoon when he had been a kid. Climbing this tree. Giving his mother a heart attack whenever he got close to the top. At some point he had outgrown tree climbing, around high school he had stopped, and at some point he had gotten too old to climb trees…or at least it felt like it.

"Body improvement club." Said Mob simply. She was glad, now, that she had packed tights even though she hated them. She hadn't known that they were going to be climbing trees or even that she would have enjoyed climbing trees but she wasn't complaining. This had been…she had no idea who's idea this had been. Master Reigen just pointed out the window and said that when he was a kid he used to sneak out by using that tree as a ladder to and from his room. It had seemed like it was too tall to climb but Master Reigen that it wasn't and he could prove it. That was how they ended up climbing this tree. Well how she had ended up climbing the tree. She had made it up a lot farther than he had. She was more used to exercise even though she hadn't been to body improvement club in a while. She wondered how everyone was doing….

She wondered if she would ever go back to school.

She had to go to school. She was only fourteen. She had to go back to school…even though she had been gone for so long. She felt better, now, less terrible. She wondered if she felt good enough to go back to school. She wondered if there was even a school to go back to. She wondered when they were going to open the schools again. School was closed here, too, in Lower Back Pain City even though nothing had even happened….

She'd think about this later. Right now she had to climb this tree.

"They have tree climbing in that little club of yours?" asked Reigen as he hoisted himself up onto the trunk of this tree. Ok, he was now officially off the ground. Had this tree always been this tall? It had been easier when he had been young and spry, like she was….and oh God he was getting old. Pretty soon he'd spent his day raising coy fish and playing mahjong and yelling at kids to get off of his yard.

"No but we had upper body strengthening. This is pretty much all upper body strength." Said Mob

"You're seriously just pulling yourself up with just your upper body?" asked Reigen. He was not looking up, Mob was in a skirt and she was up considerably higher than he was, and he had no idea how she had climbed that fast. Damn….Mob was strong….

In more ways than one.

"Yes. Aren't you?" asked Mob as she pulled herself up higher. She wasn't afraid. She wasn't afraid of being up this high because she had been up higher. She had been up so high that she could see the whole world underneath her. She had been up so high that there wasn't even any air up there. She wasn't scared or tired. Her hands was getting scratched up and so were her feet, her shoes were terrible and she was climbing in her stocking feet, but she was not about to stop. She'd been through worse. So much worse.

"No, I'm pushing myself up with my legs. How are you this strong?" asked Reigen

"I just said, body improvement club. Fight on, Master Reigen." Said Mob

"Wish they had that when I was a kid." Said Reigen. He also wished that he hadn't been smoking a pack a day since he had been her age. That was probably what was holding him back the most. Actually he was having an easier time breathing these days.

"What clubs were you in?" asked Mob. She was thinking about it, now, him as…as someone her age. It takes less than a second for her mind to spin a story. It's after school and he invited her over and they were climbing trees…and then when they got to the top he would take her hand and kiss her softly…and then she would kiss him back…and then he'd hold one of her hands in his and the other would be on her waist….and it would move lower towards her leg….and she then decided to climb a little faster. She had to climb faster even though she knew that no matter where she went her mind would follow and so would all of the thoughts in it.

"Me? I tried a few on a trial membership basis but…well I was a card carrying member of the going home club for pretty much all my middle and high school years." Said Reigen. She knew an abridged version of his life. She knew that he had his troubles but he was not going to go deep into it. He was not going to tell her what made him climb this trees night after night when he had been her age. The places he would go after he climbed down. How difficult it would be, sometimes, for him to climb back up. She didn't need to know the details of all of that.

"Oh…right, you said that before. Sorry." Said Mob. Her mind amended its fantasy to him and her in the club room, her club room, and he had joined body improvement club on a trial basis…and they were all alone…and the two of them….she tried not to think about it. It wasn't even accurate. She had no idea what his school was like. He had worn a black gakuran, that was all she knew and she only knew that from pictures, and therefore she had no way to create an accurate fantasy…and she should not have been thinking about that sort of stuff anyway.

"Nah, don't be. The past is in the past." Said Reigen as he tried and failed to catch up to her. He knew that he should have told her to slow down and be careful, the things an adult was supposed to shout at a kid who was climbing a tree, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Not when he was doing the same thing that she was….and now when he had seen her…what she had gone through. Mob was one tough little girl.

No, she wasn't little.

Well she was, physically, smaller than he was and he was not a tall man to begin with. He was smaller than average and she was smaller than him…but she had grown a bit. Taller. As a person, to, he noticed. He couldn't imagine thirteen year old Mob taking on the man who thought that he could rule the world. Fourteen year old Mob was different from thirteen year old Mob…and he wondered what fifteen year old Mob would be like. Sixteen year old Mob. Twenty six year old Mob. He wondered if he would even still be in her life but then…

Of course he would be.

He wasn't going anywhere and neither was she. He would always be there for her. Also he had a promise to keep. He said that he was going to get way too drunk at her wedding, dance like a moron, and stuff his pockets full of hor dourves and Reigen Arataka was a man of his word…these days. He was never lying to her again so, therefore, he was going to be in her life long past this. Wow…adult Mob…

He looked forward to it.

Her being an adult. He looked forward to it because he wanted to see the person she would become…and also for more selfish reasons. He wanted to be her friend as an adult. Maybe then people wouldn't look at him weird. Maybe then his own mother wouldn't give him those sideways looks when she thought that his attention was elsewhere. Maybe by then she would have gotten over her little crush on him, too. Yes, she would end up growing out of it soon enough. She was just a kid after all, only fourteen, and she got crushes all the time…most likely. They didn't exactly spend their time giggling over crushes and stuff…now that would have been weird….but he knew what it was like to be her age. He knew what it was like to be fourteen and he knew how quickly crushes happened. They came and hit you like a tsunami of wants and feelings but then they eventually rolled back into the ocean of emotion from whence they came. She'd get over him. Besides, she had a boyfriend. She had a boyfriend who she loved, he knew full well those kids were in love, and it looked like the two of them were going to be one of those rare couples who were actually going to make it. Her mind was probably on her boyfriend, too, which would explain all of the feelings that he was picking up from her….

He knew how she felt.

He could feel it, the intermitted butterflies and also….feelings that he would not name….and he knew that they were not because of him. At least he hoped that they were not because of him. He wished, a tiny bit, that Mob had been a guy. If she had been a guy then they wouldn't have been having these problems. Or maybe they still would have. Actually if Mob was a guy and had a crush on him then he could have easily shut that down. Reigen wasn't into guys or kids. There. Simple. Well he could easily have shut all of it down now, because he was not into kids and Mob was still a kid even if it didn't seem like it, but he was not going to bring any of it up. Mob was really sensitive.

"How high do you think that we can climb?" asked Mob. The world was so far down…well it seemed that way, anyway. She had been up much higher. This was high up for him, though. He was a lot squishier than she was. He could have fallen and gotten hurt…but she did not need to worry about that. She would have been there to catch him, she would always be there for him…at least she would always try to be there for him.

"Well I used to be able to climb to the top….but that was about ten years and thirty pounds ago. Why? Do you need help climbing down?" asked Reigen. He knew that he was too old, too tall, and too heavy to be climbing trees. The smart thing to do, the responsible thing to do, would have been to climb down. Mob was the kid and he was the adult. She could climb as many trees as she wanted to. He couldn't, he was an adult now…and it just wasn't fair….but then again if he planned on categorizing everything that was unfair in the world he would have been there for quite a while.

"No, I was just worried about you. Even if I fell out of this tree I would be fine, Master Reigen. I've been through much worse." Said Mob. She figured that she had said the wrong thing. A cold feeling started in her heart and moved through her whole body. She almost lost her grip on the branch in front of her. She had made Master Reigen feel like this…and she hadn't wanted to. She always said the wrong thing….

"I'm not coming down until you come down." Said Reigen. He wasn't afraid. She had been through much worse and so had he. They had been through much worse together than falling out a tree….and there was no guarantee that they would even fall…and she was ahead of him anyway. If she were to fall then he would have no choice but to catch her. Even if it meant that they both came tumbling down he would still make every effort to catch her.

"I don't want to come down but I will if you want to. Or if you're afraid or-" said Mob

"Afraid? Mob, you underestimate your Master. I've climbed up and down this tree a thousand times at least. Falling out of this tree is the last thing that I'm afraid of." Said Reigen

"What's the first thing?" asked Mob. She used to think of Master as fearless but now she knew better. He had been afraid back at the fight. He had been both brave and afraid at the same time. He had actually tried to shoot someone for her, to kill someone for her…and he had been so scared while he did it…he had been scared but brave. He was full of contradictions like that. He was scared but brave, confident but worried a lot of the time, Master Reigen but also….Arataka. He was only Arataka when he was vulnerable….but Master Reigen was invulnerable. Of course they were one in the same. Even if she didn't like to think about it Master Reigen and Arataka were still one in the same. Not like her and the other her. Not like Mob and Shigeko.

"The first thing that I'm afraid of?" asked Reigen. Well if she wanted to know the first time he had ever felt fear it would have been the first time he could remember his parents fighting. His dad had broken a bowl so his mom had broken a dish….and that was all he remembered. That and the pulse pounding terror. If she wanted the top of his list of fears….that was more complicated.

"Yes. What are you most afraid of?" asked Mob

"Losing you." Said Reigen. He didn't even have to think. There was nothing in this world more terrifying than the thought of losing Mob. Losing her to spirits or supervillains or to his own stupidity. Or her own stupidity….no, stop it. That had been Dimple. That had all been Dimple. She would never in a million years have done anything so stupid as to kiss him. No matter how she felt she still had sense enough to know that kissing him was a very bad idea. The worst idea that she possibly could have had.

"Oh…same." Said Mob as she pulled her way to the top. She could see over the house from up there. lower, below her, was Master Reigen's bedroom window. He had climbed in and out of his window countless times. There were countless times when she could have lost him. There were countless times when he could have fallen to his death…and then she never would have known him.

The branches beside her shifted.

"Man, I can't believe that I forgot all about this view." Said Reigen as he made it to the top for the first time in over ten years. He could see up over his house…and across the street to…and that was not something that he was going to agonize over. His ex-girlfriend's house. Well her parents' house. He had no idea what had become of her over the years and he didn't much care. He was almost thirty years old, now, and he as not going to agonize over some middle school heartbreak.

That was Mob's world.

He was a grown man, now, and those times were over. A grown man climbing trees with a teenage girl was still a grown man…and maybe he should have gotten down from that tree. There was a gift that some people in this world were born with. Greater even than the gift of esp. It was the gift of truly not giving a damn what other people thought. Reigen had pretended many times over the years to have been blessed with this gift. He hadn't been. He still cared about what other people thought…and caring about what other people thought had gotten him into that mess with Mob…the one that had led her to running away from him…

But not caring what people thought also wasn't an answer.

Mob had feelings for him and he shouldn't have encouraged them…even though he didn't. He was not into her in the lets bit but…but he did care about her and he was affectionate towards her. She needed it. After the month she'd had. The Asagiri job, being homeless, and now that ridiculous world domination plot…all of it would have been a lot for a grown adult let alone a kid. A kid who had done more in a month than he had ever done in his life. She had saved the world…the whole world…and she had been through so much….

And she had feelings for him.

He never explicitly condoned them but he never told her not to feel…well he had. That night after the press conference he had told her to her face that he would never have those sorts of feelings for her…and she had broken down…because he had picked the absolute worst possible time to reject her. She had been in so much pain…and she was in so much pain now…well she had been….before…not now but before….she seemed fine now….

She was on top of the world now. Literally.

And he was not going to bring her back down. He was going to climb up and join her. That was what she wanted and that was what he wanted…and he was not encouraging her feelings for him. He was just joining her, that was all, because she wanted him to be by her side.

"It's a really nice view, Master Reigen, you're right." Said Mob. She couldn't see much, just more houses, but that was fine. It wasn't about her view but who she was seeing it with. She would have watched paint dry with him if it meant that they got to be that close. She loved him, she really loved him, and she knew that he would never love her back the way she loved him….but that was ok. This was ok. What more could she have wanted beside this?

Being on top of the world with Master Reigen…it just didn't get any better than that.


	79. Domesticity and Other Such Things

Mob already knew how to cook.

But it was nice to have someone trying to teach her. She had felt bad, before, because Sophia had been the one making all of their meals. She and Master Reigen sometimes cooked together but also mostly ate a lot of junk food. Way too much junk food, actually, so it was good to cook something at home. Even if this was not their home to begin with. Well it was Master Reigen's childhood home…but he had moved out. So it was kind of like her with her parents' house. She wondered if it was still her house even if she didn't live there anymore and had no plans of ever going back.

Probably not.

"Am I doing this right?" asked Mob as she stirred a pan full of red sauce by hand. She could have used her powers but it felt better to be doing that by hand. More fun. Cooking was kind of fun. She liked cooking with Master Reigen too but his mom had shooed him out of the kitchen. She said that he was a disaster in the kitchen, which seemed kind of mean to Mob, but Master Reigen hadn't argued so he must not have wanted to cook.

Plus he had all of his scrapes and splinters to tend to.

Getting up the tree had been easy, getting down had been the hard part. Mob hadn't gotten hurt but she was a lot younger than Master Reigen and stuff. She would have used her powers but Master Reigen said that it might not have been the best idea to go do something like that out in public so soon after someone had tried to take over the world with psychic powers.

Which made a lot of sense.

She hated it when people were afraid of her. Now, because of what happened, a lot of people would be afraid of her. It wasn't fair. She had been the one to stop all of that take over the world stuff from happening. Well actually she hadn't been the one to stop Touichirou, he had stopped himself by losing control of himself and almost exploding…but she had helped. She didn't know. She didn't want to think about this.

"You're doing just fine. Now keep that sauce moving or it'll burn on the bottom." Said Sophia. She was such a sweet girl, Mobbu, Arataka had always hated cooking with her. He had always put up such a fuss….not matter, no matter, she had a new little helper now. It was so nice to see Mobbu up and about after the ordeal she had been through. Poor girl.

She seemed so normal now.

"Ok. I didn't know that you could make red sauce on your own. I've only had it out of the jar. Can you make white sauce on your own, too?" asked Mob as she kept on stirring like Sophia had showed her. Master Reigen taught her the same trick for making curry. Always keep stuff moving, that was the trick. Just keep moving.

Just keep moving.

Always move forwards. She was fine. She was fine because it was over. No more fighting, no more getting hurt, no more of anything bad happening to her at all. She was fine and everything was fine. Really, there was nothing more fine than what they were doing right then and there together on their own. They were fine and the world was fine. All was right with the world. That was what had happened after instrumentality in the show. Well the movie of the show. She didn't think that it was a bed ending at all. Instrumentality…

But now she had lived it.

She watched her hand as she stirred. That was her hand. That was a limit. It had a limited range of motion. Around and around and around. Her powers on the other hand were not limited. But she liked her limits. A life without limits was not a life at all. She needed to be limited, she needed to feel her limits, because without limits she was both nothing and everything at the same time.

She wanted to be neither nothing nor everything. She wanted to be Mob.

"You can. White sauce, Alfredo sauce, is a lot harder than marinara. So much cream and cheese. I never really bothered making that on my own." Said Sophia. She watched Mobbu stirring. It was hard to imagine that the fourteen year old girl in front of her was the same kid who had stopped that man…the man who went live on national TV and told the world that he was it's new lord and master…she had taken down a grown man…

And now she was standing there in her pink cat t-shirt and matching skirt, compete with adorable tail, making marinara sauce like it was nothing at all.

Where had she come from, this girl? She expected more eye rolling, more stomping more shouting, more…something. She was a fourteen year old girl who had been through hell and come out the other side without a single scratch on her. She was just…so sweet. She was so sweet and…and Sophia almost wished that Mobbu would have acted more like Arataka had, little Arataka had, and he hadn't gone through even an iota of what Mobbu had gone through.

Poor kid.

"Why are we making this on our own, though, if it's easier to buy it out of the jar?" asked Mob. She liked this better, maybe, if she were to go by smell alone. The constant stirring while it boiled, reduced Sophia called it, was tiring for her arm…but she liked it. The exercise part of this. She liked to exercise. She would have to work even harder if she ever got back to Body Improvement Club. No, when she got back. She needed to go to school.

Because she was a kid and kid's went to school.

Even now she felt like a kid. She had rarely been in the kitchen with mom when she was a kid…but she still felt like a kid now. More like a kid than she had in a while, anyway. She was only fourteen but she had always felt so much older….but now she was fourteen again…if that made sense. Her age was a limit just like her vessel was. There was so much that she couldn't do when she was a kid…but so much that was going to be done for her.

Freedom to and freedom from.

Before, when she had lived outside, she had been free to do whatever she wanted. She was free to go wherever she wanted to. She even could have left the whole city. She could have even flown off the face of the earth. She could have done a lot of things but the city had acted like a sort of limit to her, too. She liked limits. With limits she had to think less, to do less, like leaving the city. If she had left the city then she would have had a whole world all around her…and that would have been too much. Or like if she had been the one to pick dinner. There were so many things that she would have had to make and she would have had the responsibly of making sure that dinner was good and also something that everyone liked…but Sophia had been the one to decide that they would be making pasta with red sauce. That took the freedom of choice away from Mob but also gave her the freedom of responsibility.

So there was a limit there.

"Because it's better this way. My mother…well my mother was a firm believer that the best food in the world either came in the form of an appetizer or a dessert. Everything but sauce. She took her marinara sauce very seriously. This is her recipe so I thought that I would…pass it down to you." Said Sophia. Taka-chan had run away when she'd tried to teach him…but that had been ten years ago. Over ten years ago….but she felt like teaching Mobbu now. She was the closest thing that she had to a Daughter, anyway.

It was not good to think like that.

Because this was not her child. This was someone else's child. She had her own mother and…and that mother had abandoned her. Not even a phone call. That…Sophia didn't even have words for Mobbu's mother, hadn't even called to see if her Daughter was even still alive. Did her mother even know what happened? The whole of what happened?

Did she know that her Daughter had saved the world?

Did her parents know anything at all about what was happening? That their child had been homeless? That their child was now kilometers away from Seasoning City? Did they even care? Obviously not. They had left their child in the care of a man they barely even knew after all. They had no idea what sort of man Taka-chan was. They knew the image that he put up but not the sort of man he was.

He was not that sort of man.

But they had no way of knowing that. He was the man who was in a codependent, but thankfully nonsexual, relationship with their fourteen year old daughter. Did those people know? Did they care? Of course they didn't know or care. Mobbu…they were damn lucky that Taka-chan was not the sort of man who would take advantage of her obvious crush on him. She hoped that she never ran into those people or she'd end up giving them a piece of her mind.

"Oh, well I know that this is going to be good. I don't know if my mom has any recipes to teach me…she always said that it was too dangerous for me to be in the kitchen….but sometimes me and my boyfriend cook things together." Said Mob. She wanted to reach into her skirt pocket to check her phone…but she didn't have one. Her phone was still broken. She missed him so much.

She wanted to at least talk to him.

She wanted to talk to him and to hold his hand and to see if he was ok. His whole apartment had blown up…and now he was all alone…and maybe she should have stayed. She had wanted to go with Master Reigen but maybe, just maybe, she should have stayed at the hotel with Teru. At least he had found a place to stay that wasn't the awakening lab. Teru said that there was too much bright red there. He said that it was hard on the eyes…and Mob agreed. Not that she'd had her eyes opened that often while she had been there. She had either been asleep or….or with Teru…and that had been the best. It hadn't ever been that good and…and now she was blushing because she was thinking about it while she was standing right next to Master Reigen's mother.

"Tell me about him." said Sophia. That was the trick. Instead of freaking out over a school girl's crush like Taka Sophia decided to take a more direct route to the end of it. This girl already had a boyfriend and judging by that blush, and the way she had spoken about him before, they had a pretty good relationship together. She loved him, and maybe for real, not in that way that kids said that they loved each other.

So, really, the best thing to do would have been to encourage this.

And not think about the fact that the sweet little girl in front of her apparently had a very good sex life. She was too young for that. She wanted to take Mobbu and shake her and tell her that she was too young for all of this. That sex was more than just having fun, there was a lot of responsibility, and it was not something that a girl her age was ready for. That she could get sick or pregnant or have her heart broken. To repeat the things that Mobbu had probably heard a million times before from a million other adults in her life.

"About Teru? Um….what do you want to know?" asked Mob. She certainly did not want to know what was on her mind right then and there. The way that Teru laughed when she kissed her way across his back. The way that he smiled when he told her that she loved her. That noise he made, the high pitched whine, that he made when he was really happy….and she needed to stop thinking about this. She didn't know why she was thinking about this so much….maybe because it felt ok to think about it again.

Before it had felt weird.

Having him on top of her and within her….it had been a lot after what happened with Mogami. But after what had happened…after she had saved the world…after she had put her body back together…all she could think about was how good he felt. How good he made her feel. Now her mind was just stuck like that. Maybe it was because of all that stuff they talked about in health class…that must have been it. She should have been thinking about the other things that she liked about him….

There was so much.

"Just about him I guess. Like…what's his favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite song? What do you like about him? What's he up to these days?" asked Sophia. She settled herself in for a monologue about a fourteen year old boy. She would listen. This was how you got a fourteen year old girl to get over a crush, point out a bigger crush that she had. Simple. Taka always overthought things.

"He likes all colors, especially bright ones, and he really likes steak so I think it's his favorite food. Like this one time we went to this restaurant and he sent his steak back three times because they didn't get it right and I told him that he shouldn't do stuff like that because they might spit in his food, I heard that people in restaurants did that when you were rude to them, but he said that it was just a myth. He sends food back a lot, actually, even though I don't like it. Like this one time when I got fries, I like fries, but they were too fried so he sent them back even though I didn't mind that much…" said Mob. She stirred as she talked. Maybe she talked a little bit too much. She tended to go on and on when she talked about the people she liked.

Loved.

She was in love with Teru. She loved him and she…she was going to spend the rest of her life with him. She had to. Master Reigen was an adult and he was not going to wait for her to grow up. Even if she grew up then he would still be a lot older than she was…and also she had already promised Teru. Back when he thought that he was going to die.

As if she would ever have let him die.

He was hers. There was no way that she was ever going to let anyone, even death, have him. He was such a dummy, well he had been such a dummy, and he'd had something of a death wish it seemed. Going after the man who took on the world. He was in no way strong enough to take him on. No, only Shigeko was strong enough to take him on. She had taken him on and she had won.

No.

Nobody had won.

That was the other Shigeko thinking like that. Mob knew better. None of them had won. Not her, not Touichirou, nobody. They had all lost in the end…and now it was over and it was in the past and she was not going to let it hang over her. Not her and not the other Shigeko, either. She was going to live her life. She was going to talk about Teru, all the stories she had about him, and she was going to help make dinner and she was not going to let what happened hang over her.

She refused to let it hang over her.

"It just hangs over me I guess. The stuff I did. Even if I know that it shouldn't hang over me, that I was just a kid when I had to do all of that stuff, and that I had only been doing what my dad told me….I guess that it's still hanging over me. Stupid, huh?" said Sho. He normally wouldn't have wanted to talk about it. Normally he wouldn't have wanted to talk about any of that stuff. There was no point to it. It had happened. The past was in the past.

But it felt good to talk about it.

Especially when he was hanging upside-down from a tree branch with Ritsu. The sun had gone down a while ago. Nobody was outside anyway. Not in this cold. He hadn't been back in Japan for a winter in a long time but he couldn't remember it ever being this could. Not that he minded the cold. He had saved the world. The cold didn't bother him at all.

He wasn't cold anyway. How could he be with Ritsu so near?

"Maybe that's just the feeling of the blood rushing to your head." Said Ritsu. He didn't know how he got roped into these things. One minute he had been sitting between his parents watching some drama his mom had put on but was also too many episodes in already for Ritsu to have become invested when he felt an aura pressing against his. He went upstairs to find Sho just hanging out in his room like it was nothing.

Then they got to talking.

Not about something heavy at first, no, they had traded funny videos and laughed as quietly as possible. He couldn't have his parents discovering Sho…that would have been a lot of plaining that he was not prepared to do. If they asked why there was a boy in his room in the middle of the night he would have had to explain how he knew Sho and how Sho had gotten into his room, which was on the second floor, and then he would have had to confess to not only having powers but his part in what had happened…and he had no idea how his parents would react when they learned that he had powers…

Maybe they'd kick him out, too.

Maybe. He didn't know. All he knew was that his room had eventually begun to feel like a claustrophobically small world unto itself. A world that was just him and Sho…and that was how it always felt when he and Sho were alone together…which was always. Different from being alone with anyone else.

Probably because he liked Sho.

Not that he would ever tell a soul. It was hard enough to even admit it to himself. No, he would never tell another living being how he felt about Sho. Especially Sho himself. He couldn't know. If he knew then…then nothing could come from it. Nothing good. Either he told Sho and Sho was pissed off at him, like most guys would be when they heard that another guy was into him, and then he wanted nothing more to do with him….or Sho liked him back and then…and then Ritsu was in an even bigger mess than he had been in before. The biggest mess that he had ever been in his life. He had a girlfriend and he was never going to break up with her…

So either way it would have been a mess.

But he had at least been able to enjoy the world that had been his bedroom. The world that was just him and Sho sitting on his bed exchanging funny videos. Most of Ritsu's had come from Rei, she was always sending him funny things that she found, and even then he had been able to ignore the knowing feeling inside of him whenever he clicked over to something else that she had sent him forever ago but he had put into favorites because that was what you were supposed to do when your girlfriend sent you a link to something funny….

He wished that he hadn't been able to remember his login.

Because if he had forgotten then he would have lost all of the videos that Rei had sent him links to. With the loss of his phone, this was actually his dad's old phone, he had lost all of the pictures he had taken with her and their previous textual history and…and he shouldn't have been relieved every time he clicked on his phone and didn't see that picture of him and Rei…why did he suck so much? As a person?

He didn't know.

But he did know, back in his room, that he was so happy. He did know that with his parents downstairs and his sister safe and his girlfriend safe in her own home that it was easy to pretend things that he shouldn't have been pretending. Things like him and Sho…things like it being ok to be with Sho…thoughts that he shouldn't have had.

It had been an easy thing to think, an easy world to get lost in, and an easy world to be pulled out of.

Rei had texted him. She did that a lot. She must have spent her entire day at her laptop waiting for him to message her. He almost never did. She always messaged him first. He didn't have much to say to her. He didn't really do anything. He had practically been under house arrest since mom and dad came home. She had been stuck in her house, too, but she just did not run out of things to talk about…even after he had run out of things to talk about long ago. He mostly just sent her stickers and emojis and agreed with whatever it was that she said.

Talking to Sho was different.

And, within his mind at least, it was best to keep Sho and Rei separately in his mind. Rei was his girlfriend Sho was his…friend who he had feelings for. Kind of like Teru but…more intense. Even though he knew what it was like to kiss Teru. It was one of the best things he had ever felt in his life…and it was never going to happen again.

And he was never kissing Sho, either, so there was no point in thinking about it.

But he had been thinking about it. Since the moment Sho flew in through his bedroom window his mind kept on going back to kissing Sho. What it would be like to kiss someone and not be afraid for his life. Sho had never kissed anyone before, Ritsu had done more kissing in his life than he could count. He was good at it, according to Rei, but he didn't really do much. He just matched what she did. Sho had no idea what he was doing. That meant that Ritsu would have to lead…

The combination of his not entirely ok thoughts towards Sho coupled with the vibrating of his phone after Rei messaged him….his room had suddenly gotten too small. The world of it, so small, had become claustrophobic in a bad way….and he just had to go outside….

Which was what brought them to this tree.

"No, that feeling is what's making me want to faint." Said Sho. Ritsu was so good at bringing him out of his shit. Living with mom….it wasn't great. He just couldn't stop thinking about things that were over and done with. Claw was finished and it was time to live his normal kid life!

Not that it was looking like it was going to be easy.

Maybe it was because the rest of the world wasn't normal yet. The adults were freaking out about reconstruction and the environment and the economy and all of that. Maybe when life got back to normal then he could figure out his normal kid life. Maybe if he spent more time around Ritsu then he would have an easier time with it.

Either way it felt so good to be near Ritsu.

"Then maybe we should stop?" asked Ritsu

"No way. If I faint then I faint." Said Sho

"But wouldn't you rather, you know, avoid fainting?" asked Ritsu

"Hell no. If something's going to happen then it's going to happen. I'd rather be here, with you, about to faint from hanging upside down like a possum than go back to being right side up and then having to go…back….or something like that." Said Sho

"Going back to being right side up doesn't mean that we'd have to go back. I don't…I don't want to go back either." Said Ritsu. He didn't want to go back to the claustrophobic world that was his room. He didn't want to go back to him and Sho all alone…but also not alone. The war at home was back and worse than ever, or maybe it just felt like it, and he knew that if he went back then tomorrow would just end up happening faster, well it would feel like that anyway, and then he'd get up and get right back to where he had been yesterday and the day before. The bad parts of it, not the good parts, not this part. Not the parts that involved Sho.

"You've always got to go forward, you know, at least that's the way I see it. I mean the past is in the past and sometimes shit happens…and it happens and then it's done so you just have to keep going…no matter what's different now." Said Sho

"Yeah…" said Ritsu

"I mean so what if everything's different. That's how time works. Time moves forward and things change and people change and that's just how it's always been. So what if she had a boyfriend now and she looks at me like she's scared of me….and she's always trying to keep me in the house even though it's so small…and cramped and there's no room…but there is room…but just not enough of it…" said Sho

"I know what you mean." Said Ritsu

"No, you don't." said Sho. This time he did end up right side up. He ended up right side up and he ended up walking away. Ritsu didn't get it. Nobody got it. Nobody ever could get it. What it was like to have someone who had been gone for so long…but also to not have them. What it was like to be without someone you'd had for so long…even if they were an asshole….and what it was like for there to be all the space and none of the space.

Footsteps followed him.

"Fine, maybe I don't. Maybe you're the only person who knows how you feel. Maybe I'm just being an idiot and I have no clue what I'm talking about. Maybe. I don't know. What I do know is that…." Said Ritsu. He didn't know how he was going to finish the sentence. There were a million and one things that he wanted to say but there were also a million and one things that he knew that he never could say. So he said nothing. So he just stood there beside Sho and said nothing and just….let time pass. Was it passing? He didn't know. He couldn't tell. He had no clue. He was clueless. He felt clueless.

"Yeah…I get it." Said Sho. Ritsu didn't have to finish the sentence Sho knew how he was going to finish it. What he knew was that even if he was the only one who knew exactly how it felt it didn't mean that he couldn't still be there. That was why Ritsu had followed him even though he had walked away. That was nice, having someone follow him, follow him and not want to hurt him. Having someone who would never hurt him. Not try to hurt him physically or emotionally.

It was nice.

"Come on, let's see if we'll really faint if he hang upside down for long enough." Said Sho. He tugged on Ritsu's sleeve and started walking. That was all that he could grab. Well he could have grabbed Ritsu's hand, he wanted to grab Ritsu's hand, and that was why he didn't grab Ritsu's hand. That would have been a bad idea for a number of reasons. The first of which being that if he were to grab Ritsu's hand he would end up ruining everything that they had together. The second reason being the same as the first. The third reason being the same as the second and so on and so forth exponentially until you got to infinity and other such math things that he would learn about when he started going to school…

Of course it wouldn't matter anyway….if he never went back.

He had run away before. He had run away before when he had been a kid…and he'd been dragged back to dad…and then he had run away again…and again…and again….and now maybe this counted as running away too. From dad….since dad was in one place and he was in another. Or maybe it didn't because he was the one who put dad in prison in the first place.

Why did he feel like this?

Dad was the worst, literally the worst, person ever. He killed pets and people. He hurt people. He hurt everyone. He declared war on the entire world on national TV, and he gave his full name too just so people would know that he and Sho were related, and it had been so embarrassing…the worst. Dad was the worst and Sho knew that there was no point in missing him…and he should have been happy to be back with mom. He had been wanting to be with his mom since she had left him…she had left him alone with dad….and now he was back with her and there was nothing to be upset with her about. She had to leave. She had keep herself safe…and she had been safe…and now she was ok and Sho was ok and they were ok together…

Even if they weren't ok together.

Because they were apart. Could they be ok together if they were apart? Could you be ok and be apart at the same time? He didn't know. He just knew that he didn't want to be alone. He didn't want to be alone…and he had Ritsu. Who did he need besides Ritsu? Who else would put up with him when he got like that….and other such feelings? Intense feelings? Feelings that made him want to do the stupidest things...things that he knew were stupid but the more he thought about them the more he wanted to do them…because it wouldn't have been hard…it would have been easy…

But he was not going to mess everything up.

What he was going to do was hang upside down until all the blood in his body rushed to his head and then he fainted and fell and broke his neck and then he woke up in the afterlife or whatever. Or maybe he would just end up with a bump on his head and Ritsu telling him that he was an idiot. He didn't know which was worse.

But he did know that this, being with him, was pretty damn awesome.

"Mob, as awesome as this show is, I think that I've reached my limit." Said Reigen. Dinner was taken in front of the TV that night. Mom had, at some point, let go of her 'all meals must be had at the table like civilized human beings' rule. They were eating in front of the TV like a bunch of savages, mom's words, but if she really minded then they would have just eaten at the table like people.

"Arataka, don't be like that." Said Sophia in a tone that she hadn't had cause to use since her son had been a child. This whole thing was such dejavu. Her eating a meal with him…it was like those rare times when he had won the argument about eating dinner in front of the TV. She could almost close her eyes and picture it, her son, as he had been back then….in those bygone days before all of this. Psychic powers, madmen trying to take over the world, co-dependent non sexual relationships, and whatever else her son planned on down at her feet.

"You don't live with her, mom, she'll watch this all night if you let her. The same episode over and over again, too." Said Reigen. He loved Mob, he really did, but this…this was too much like those days after…after she had come back to him. Those days when they had just sat together and watched TV…this show…over and over again. He did not want to go back to those days. That was his fear, going backward, going back to how things had been when she had first come back….he could not let that happen. He could not let herself think that she was terrible again.

"Then let her. It's not like there's anything to watch on TV these days anyway." Said Sophia

"Ok. You can change it." Said Mob as she passed the remote to Master Reigen. She shouldn't have taken up all the TV time, he was right, even if she was the guest and the guest usually got to decide. He was a guest too, right? Or was it different because he had grown up here? She didn't know. All she knew was that while she could watch EVA for hours and hours other people couldn't. Not even Teru and he loved her more than anything else.

"Taka, stop that. Mobbu, leave it on this." said Sophia as she intercepted the remote and passed it right back to Mobbu. Honestly. She must have sat through at least a hundred hours if not more of Taka's shows when he was young, this thing included, so the lest he could do was be an adult and do the same for Mobbu. Even if this show was just as somehow boring and incomprehensible as it was what Taka had watched it. She didn't get it but apparently it shaped a lot of Mobbu's world view, gave her the words to describe a lot of things that happened, so of course she would sit and watch with the two of them. Besides, her TV her rules.

"But if you guys are getting bored-" said Mob

"Nobody is getting bored. Taka's just a complainer, aren't you Arataka?" asked Sophia

"Nobody's complaining. Do you hear me complaining?" asked Reigen. Damn it, mom, why do you always have to be like this. She could sit through this because this wasn't the only thing that she had been watching with Mob for days and days. Honestly in his opinion Mob needed a new favorite show. She took too much from this show. Words for things that happened to her. Words for what had happened before. She must have been reminded of everything that had happened to her. Why would she ever want to be reminded of that horrible night? He knew that he sure as hell didn't. What he wanted more than anything else was to just forget. Just to close his eyes and open them again and everything that had passed that night would have just been some distant memory that he never would have had to visit. Yes, that would have been just fine….

"You were complaining before, Master Reigen, that's why I said that I could change it if you wanted me to. Really, I don't mind." Said Mob. She didn't get to mind because this wasn't her house. Of course if it was her house then she would have been sitting there on the couch with Master Reigen and he would have let her rest her head on his chest or on his lap and he would have been touching her hair or drifting off or something like that. That would have been so nice…but that was also not going to happen. Not now because they were at his mom's house and there was not enough room on that couch with the three of them sitting there for her to be laying down like that. Also she didn't need that kind of comfort anymore.

She wasn't the only one who had been hurt.

She was not the only one who had been scared of…of what had happened. Before. She was not the only one who had been hurt and scared and all of that. She was not the only one who got scared. She was not the only one in the world who had been scared and hurt and…and that was how she had felt before. She had felt so lost and alone and scared and she had felt like she was the only person in the entire world who had felt like that…and she had been so alone…and then she hadn't been alone anymore. She had been back with Master Reigen and…and then she had sat with him and she…and they had been so close…

But she was not the only one in the world who felt like that.

Everything bad that she had felt, before, was something that someone else had felt before. She wasn't terrible even though she had felt like she was terrible then and she still felt like it, a little, now. She wasn't terrible and she needed to know that she wasn't terrible. Even if she saw herself as being terrible, the her that existed in her own mind, the her that existed in the minds of others was not terrible. The her that existed in Master Reigen's mind was not terrible. The her that existed in his mother's mind was not terrible. The her that existed in her brother's mind was not terrible. The her that existed in her friend's minds was not terrible. The her that existed in Teru's mind was not terrible.

The only her that was terrible was the her that existed in Asagiri's mind.

And the entire thing had left her feeling so bad, so terrible, that she had thought that everyone in the world had felt the way she had. Not only that but, also, that she was the only person in the world who had ever felt so terrible. She hadn't said that to herself at the time, that she felt worse than everyone else, only that she was the most terrible. In thinking that she was the most terrible she had been telling herself that nobody else had ever been through something like she had, had never felt like she had, and that hadn't been true.

So, really, she was fine and she didn't need to be held anymore.

"Well I don't mind this. Go on Mob, let's watch it again. I know that this is your favorite episode." Said Reigen. He was not going to be selfish. If she wanted to watch this, to watch something that she had seen a million times before, to watch something that he knew must have reminded her of what had happened…that terrible word, instrumentality, that she used to describe it….then so be it. He was done being selfish towards her. He was done with all of that. He was never going to be selfish again.

Him being selfish…that had been…that had been what had gotten them into so many messes….

Not that last one. No, that had been…that had been something totally out of nowhere. There had been no way for him to have seen some madman declaring war on the world…and for him to foresee Mob declaring war on him….but it had happened. He could leave Seasoning City, escape to his mother's house like and hide like a child, but he could not leave what had happened. He may have walked out of that without a scratch but there was no way at all for him to escape what had happened….

And it seemed that Mob didn't even want to.

"Hush up and eat dinner, the both of you." Said Sophia. Honestly, these two. She flicked Taka over the head. No need to be so wishy washy. Mobbu did not need to deal with that right now. She had been through enough. They both had. Everyone had been through so much….but nobody so much as Mobbu. She looked over and watched her eating, her TV tray balanced on her knees, her eyes focused on the TV. She was sitting there like normal. She was just so…normal…even though by all means she should have been a nervous wreck. But she wasn't.

She was just a normal fourteen year old girl.

Even though objectively she wasn't. She was someone who had saved the world, done the impossible, risked her life and all of that. She should not have been sitting there watching cartoons and eating pasta like it was nothing. Of course Sophia was not going to say anything to that affect. Let her be normal. Let her reality be one of normality. Hell, that had been her normal. The powers that she had been born with were normal to her. She didn't know anything else.

So of course she had used her powers to save everyone.

And of course nobody had even tried to stop her. How could they have stopped her? She was Mobbu. She could move entire skyscrapers. She could fly. She could do all of the things that Taka had told her about and then some, probably, and there was no one to stop her from doing things that were just plain….stupid! Like taking that man on…she could have so easily died…and there hadn't been anyone in the world who could have stopped her. Not even Taka. Hell, Taka had almost died….and Sophia doesn't want to think about this anymore. She knows that if she thinks about this now then she'll end up driving herself crazy. Right now she can't think about this. Right now she can only think about…about what's happened right now. This scene of boring domesticity. Yes, this is good. A family eating dinner. That's what their reality is. Not crazy fights and supervillains trying to take over the world. A family watching TV and eating dinner….what could be better.

And she did consider Mobbu to be family.

She was something to Taka. What she was now was hard to pin down and what she would be when she grew up was something that Sophia didn't really want to think about. Right now, though, that was something worth enjoying. Not thinking about, not drawing out and chewing on and driving herself crazy over….just enjoying. Being in the moment, in this moment, and this was….this was ok. This was more than ok. This was…this was nice….

This was a nice night.

It was not a nice morning.

"Ok, mom." Said Ritsu as mom made them breakfast. She had been upset about something, Ritsu didn't know what, and he didn't really care. It was something to do with dad and how his job was letting him work from home…which should have been a good thing because last night mom had her saying that she was worried about them ending up in the poor house or something….mom was so confusing sometimes. Most of the time it was best just to agree with everything and stuff like that. Made life a lot easier.

"If your father would just join his family for five minutes…." Muttered Hana as she poured her son some juice. She wondered if he was alright. The poor thing was practically falling asleep at the table. He may have been sick…or he may have been up all night because of the way that his parents had been carrying on. Either way she would be there for her son no matter what.

"Thanks, mom." Said Ritsu as he took his glass and set it down on the table. He needed a nap. He had been up all night, literally, and even though he didn't have school he still didn't get to sleep in. Mom would never have let him mess up his sleep schedule like that. She thought that she was looking out for him. There really wasn't any reason for him to get up this early. She just wanted someone to listen to her talk since dad had locked himself in their room. Well Ritsu would listen until she left him alone. The more that he listened the more likely she was to leave him alone.

He didn't much want to be alone.

He wanted….he didn't want to spend another day alone in this house. He wanted to go to school. School at least had structure. There was a list of things for him to do at certain times and certain people he had to see and he didn't know that he would have missed it so much until it was gone. He wondered if Shigeko felt like this. She hadn't gone to school in a while. She was probably…he had no idea how she was doing because he hadn't seen her since what happened. She was fine, though, because she was with…Reigen…and if she was well enough to be with him then she was fine….

He missed his sister.

He missed her so much. It had been stupid to think, even if he hadn't really thought in any serious way, that once the house was fixed she'd come back home. Of course she was not going to come back home. She had no reason to. She could do whatever she wanted now and be with whoever she wanted…someone who didn't yell at her and push her…and he wished more than anything else that he could just take back everything that he had said and done that night…but he couldn't. He had no way of doing that…so he just had to live with what he had done.

Wonderful.

So this was his life? Sitting there at the table with his mom listening to her complaining about anything and everything while he played the part of the dutiful son and listened….wonderful. He wished that he were in school right then and there even if it was for something he hated like recorder practice or the long pointless lectures that didn't say anything that he hadn't already read in the book. Hell, he would have taken hanging out with Rei over this. At least she didn't complain, not like mom did, when she talked and talked and talked….

What he really wanted to do was see Sho again.

Which made zero sense because he had literally just spent the entire night with him…hanging out. That was all. Just hanging out and not doing anything else….not that he was thinking of that sort of thing…especially not at the breakfast table while his mother complained to him about dad, the city, and whatever other stuff that was totally out of both of their control. What he wanted to do was…was go to bed. Yes, that was it. He wanted to go to bed and then…and then wait for tomorrow to happen. Tomorrow which would, of course, be the same as today. Then the next day and the next day and the next day would all be the same. Just one day after another…

He needed to go to bed.

He needed to lay down and close his eyes if just for a little bit…not that he would get the change. He had left his phone upstairs and he knew that when he went back there and checked it there would have been a million and one missed messages from Rei. Not having a phone, relying on her computer, hadn't slowed her down at all. If anything she was messaging him more than ever. She missed him, she wanted to see him, being stuck inside with her family was really starting to get to her and all of that. He always said something back. Maybe not the long and heartfelt messages she sent but he did try and always say something back. She did love him after all. That was why she wanted to be with him, because she loved him, and also because….because of other things that he didn't much want to think about.

Because of THE thing.

Which was what they had, well what she had, settled on calling it. The thing. That thing that they did on her couch the night after the day after they saved almost died trying to save the world. The thing that she had asked him to do for her. It hadn't been any real trouble, really, and it hadn't been that bad either. Awkward, mostly, and also a lot slimier than he had thought…the guys who sat in the back of class and never shut up about it never mentioned that part….but it had made her happy and it was one of the things that he was supposed to do for her since he was her boyfriend so, really, it wasn't that bad….of course she had been terrible when she had tried to reciprocate…or maybe that just had to do with the fact that he did not feel that way about her…

She probably wanted to do the thing with him again.

Which was maybe why he didn't try to fight mom about having to stay inside. Well that and, aside from seeing Rei, he had nowhere else to be. No more school and school stuff to do, his sister was busy with her own life, seeing Teru socially after….yeah, way too awkward. The only person he really wanted to be with was Sho…and he usually came around at night. He was probably at his mom's house now…or something.

He had no idea where it was that Sho went during the day.

But now he wanted to know. He wanted to know where Sho went and what he did. He wanted Sho to show him where he went and what he did during the day, during the times when they were apart. He wanted to get rid of the times that they were apart, to erase them completely, so that there were only the times that they were together. He didn't care what the did or where they went, they could sit around and watch the grass grow for all he cared, he just wanted to be with Sho…to be near him…

Near enough to count the freckles on the bridge of his nose.

He had freckles there, a few, but they were very light. Ritsu…he had been close enough to count them before…and he wanted to be that close again. He wanted to be close enough to count the freckles not only there but…and now he was not going to think about that. He as not going to think about Sho or the fact that he was covered in freckles or any of that. He was going to think about…something else. He was going to think about what he was going to think about next. Yes, that was a good thing to think about…or maybe he was just overly tired.

That was something else to think about. Going to bed.

"Ritsu? Ritsu, are you listening?" asked Hana. She had been in the middle of telling him that he should not have treated this little break from school as a vacation. That they all had to do what they could to keep going as normally as possible. That he still had his whole life ahead of him. She had been telling him this when it seemed like he was ignoring her…or just drifting off. Either one was not good…not good at all…

"Huh? Yes, mom, I was listening. I'm just kind of tired, that's all." said Ritsu. Mom frowned and reached over. She put her hand to his forehead in true mom fashion. He had no idea what she could tell by doing that. But then again what did he know? That was a mom power. He didn't have mom powers, just psychic powers, so really he had no room to say anything.

"Are you getting sick? You feel kind of warm." Said Hana as she pressed her hand to her son's forehead. She could have sworn that she felt, when she touched him, that same sort of static electricity feeling that she got when she touched Shigeko sometimes. Of course that was just her mind playing tricks on her. Ritsu was not like Shigeko…in that way. She would have noticed.

"Mom-" said Ritsu as his mom reached her hand out. He wasn't a child…but he was not going to say anything. Sometimes, most of the time, it was just easier to go along with things than to fight. He was so tired of fighting….

"Yes, definitely warm. I never should have left you. You were going from place to place…and all of the excitement could not have been good for your immune system….you might be getting sick. Do you feel sick, Ritsu?" Muttered Hana as she felt her son's forehead. This was her fault too. If she had been there with him then he wouldn't have had to go out in the cold to be with that girlfriend of his. He hadn't spent that much time at her house before either. So many unfamiliar germs. Her poor little boy.

"Yeah, mom, I think that I might be getting kind of sick. I think that I maybe should go to bed or something before I get sicker. You know, that way when school opens again I'll be ready." Said Ritsu. Lying to his mother. Not the worst thing that he had ever done. Not the worst thing he had ever done by half. So much of his life was a lie already what was one more lie to add to the pile?

"That's good thinking. You go up to bed and I'll bring you some tea in a little bit." Said Hana. What had she done to get such a good boy? And how had she gone about getting him in the first place? He and Shigeko had come from the same home, the same two parents, and yet they were night and day. Well obviously it had something to do with the fact one of her children had psychic powers and one of them did not. One of her children was there with her safe and sound and one of them was not. One of her children was sitting there in front of her and one of them was off somewhere-

She did not want to think about this…so she didn't.

She didn't think about all the ways in which she had failed as a woman and a mother. She didn't want to think about how one of her children was off on her own in the world. She didn't want to think about how close she had come to losing her son, to losing both of her children, to losing everything…she didn't want to think about that.

So she didn't.

She took care of her son. What else could she do?

Teru took care of himself. What else could he do?

He had a place to stay now, one of the few open hotel rooms in the city, and there were people trying to find him a place to live. There. Those were the things that he couldn't do himself. Those were the only things he needed his parents for…or at least their people. He hadn't seen his parents in years, not since he was ten, and that was…that was fine. It had been stupid to think that they would some back to Japan after all this time. That they would come back to him after all this time.

Even though Claw was over with now.

He had told them that. Claw was over and done with. That was why they had left him in the first place, because Claw had constantly been trying to kidnap him. Now that all of that was over and done with they were free to come back to Japan. But of course they wouldn't. They wouldn't and it had been stupid of him to even begin to think that they would. Not that he had harbored any serious thoughts about them coming back.

They had no reason to.

He could take care of himself. He had been taking care of himself since he had been a kid. There was no reason for him to be getting all upset now. So what if he was all alone in this hotel room? He was a hell of a lot better off than a lot of other people. And he wasn't even alone. This hotel was at capacity. He could hear people at all side of him. It was sort of like being back at his own apartment…sort of. Not really.

This was not his home.

He rolled over onto his side. He had been sitting on his bed just passing time. At least his laptop had survived the explosion. The internet was back too. That was the thing that had really gotten to him in the beginning. There had been nothing to watch but broadcast TV and every station was broadcasting the same thing. He didn't need to see it on TV, he had lived through it. He and Shigeko…and everyone else…had lived through it.

So he didn't need to see it playing on an endless loop on TV.

He thanked God for the internet being back. Now, at least, there were movies to watch and things to read and all of that. That was what he had been doing, trying to find something to watch, though he had not been able to find anything that he wanted to watch on his own. Everything that he found had been something that he wanted to watch with Shigeko…even horror movies which she could enjoy on a purely technical level…not that they would be watching any horror movies together….

Or anything.

Because she was not there. She was so far away and…and he didn't even know how she could stand it. He had almost lost her, she had almost lost him, they had almost lost each other…and then afterwards they had been as close as two people could possibly be…and now all of it was just…he didn't know. He needed her. She was the only person that he could need. She was his girlfriend after all. So it was ok to need her. Fuck everyone else in the world, he just needed her, but she was just…gone.

Also her phone was broken.

So he couldn't even text her to ask how she was doing. She was off somewhere with Reigen probably having fun ad he was here on his own just being…not even miserable. Just sort of tired. It was amazing, now, knowing that this was all over. That Claw, the people who had been trying to kidnap him since he was only ten years old, was gone now. The people who had had fought with so many times before….it was all over. There was a feeling of what now?

What was he supposed to do now?

He had no clue. There was literally nothing for him to do now. He never would have thought that he would have missed the structure of school but here he was. Just sitting there without nothing to do but get lost in his own thoughts. Just sit there and get lost in a lifetime's worth of memories while time passed around him…

No, there must have been something else for him to do.

Lay down on his, not even his, bed and wait for tomorrow to happen. No school, no clubs, no friends, no girlfriend, just…waiting. He knew that he should have been happy for the waiting, for the quiet, for all of it but he just…couldn't be. Not when he was so alone. Not when Shigeko was so far away. Not when-

Oh.

Someone was calling him over Friendbook…and he had honestly forgotten that was a thing. Right. But who would….he woke his laptop up. Right there in the corner…Shiegeko…she was calling him….he didn't think. He didn't have time to think. He just answered. Even if he looked terrible. He was in an old undershirt and boxers, he hadn't brushed his hair or even properly treated it in so long, and his skin was all broken out from not taking care of it like he should have…

But Shigeko didn't care about any of that.

She loved him. She was with him because she loved him. She had called him because she loved him. There was something in that….that total acceptance that she gave him….that made him want to cry from the sheer…emotion…of it. Of what he felt for her. Of what she made him feel. He loved her so much…

And that was why he had asked her to spend the rest of her life with him.

But he was not going to be bringing that up now. No, that would have been stupid. Even asking her back then had been kind of stupid. They were fourteen. He shouldn't have even been thinking about that…but he didn't really feel fourteen and hadn't felt fourteen for a very long time. He just wanted to be with her, that was all, and he knew that without her there would be no him…or something that sounded just as romantic but a hell of a lot less creepy and dependent.

He'd think of something to say to her, and soon, because she was coming in to view.

"Shigeko, hey. What's-uh, what's up? How have you been?" asked Teru. He attempted to look and sound like she hadn't been the only thing on his mind for the past he didn't even know how long. The last thing she needed was him being all creepy and dependent on her. The last thing that she wanted was to be smothered by him like that.

"I'm fine, I mean I've been fine, and also I'm fine right now. I just missed you so I decided to call you. I hope that it's not too early or too late or…or anything. I just wanted to talk to you and I hope that I'm not bothering you. If it's too late or too early or you just don't feel like talking then I can always call you back later. Well I don't know when I'd be able to because this isn't my laptop but I would call you back as soon as I could borrow this again if you're busy or tired right now." Said Shigeko

"No! I mean, this is a very good time. I wasn't really doing anything." Said Teru with a practiced calm. His heart was pounding, in reality, but he didn't let it show. She didn't need to start worrying about him. She had enough in her life to worry about…but then again if she did start to worry about him then maybe she would come over and…but he couldn't ask that of her. She had just almost died saving him. He was not going to ask anything else of her. Besides, she wouldn't have come anyway. She was with Reigen and there was no taking her away from him…or maybe not. Maybe this would have been one of those rare times where she chose him above Reigen…and he didn't want to know. He was not going to press his luck. He was happy to just be talking to her. He was just happy to see her again. She was in her pajamas and her hair was just as messy as his…and he loved her so more than anything else in the whole world….

What he wouldn't have given just to kiss her.

"Me neither. Well before I was having dinner but now that's done with…um I guess that I'll have breakfast next but it's still pretty early…or late, maybe, I don't know. I didn't sleep too well." Said Shigeko. He doesn't want to think about her having dinner with Reigen. He doesn't want to think about her spending her evening with Reigen. She could have come to him, she could have spent her time with him, he would not have turned her away….but she would always go back to Reigen….

"You couldn't sleep? Why? Do you need me to-" asked Teru

"Oh no, I don't need you to do anything. I'm just not used to sleeping in this room yet. That's all." said Shigeko

"You have your own room now?" asked Teru. He tried not to sound as happy as he felt. He always hated that, how she slept on Reigen's floor. That was where her futon was and that was where she slept even though she could have moved it into his apartment and slept on his floor…or on a real bed, too, if that was what she had wanted. Or whatever. Anything would have been better than Reigen's floor of all places….

"Yes. Well it's not my room, it's a guest room, but I live in it for now." Said Shigeko

"A guest room?" asked Teru. He didn't think that Reigen's place was that big…but then again he hadn't ever really gone exploring or anything like that.

"Yes, this is a guest room." Said Shigeko. She picked up her laptop, the one she had borrowed it seemed, and showed him the room she was staying in. White walls, lots of boxes, and nothing like the kind of room that he and Shigeko would have when she finally moved in with him. She wouldn't have to live in a guest room, no, they'd have their own room and there'd be space for both of them and it'd be colorful and…and it would be, above all else, theirs. Theirs and nobody else's.

"Why does Reigen have a guest room if he knew that you were going to be staying with him?" asked Teru. This time he wasn't going to let on to how upset he was. Of course Reigen was just trying to be with her. Why else would he have made her sleep in his room? Teru was just about ready to get up and leave and fine Reigen and kick his-

"This is at his mom's house, not at our apartment. I still don't have my own room at our apartment but Master Reigen's been talking about us moving-" said Shigeko

"You're at his mom's house? Why?" asked Teru. Hopefully it was because she missed her mom and she needed a mom substitute or Reigen's mom was some kind of frail old lady and she needed a lot of help and stuff like that. Or something. Some other reason which would have made it less painful for him to have to sit there and hear her talk about how she would rather spend time with Reigen and his mom than with him….

"Because Master Reigen asked if I wanted to visit him. Don't worry, it's just a visit. I don't know when we'll come back but I know that we will. It's fun here. There's this cat and…." Said Shigeko. Teru was listening, somewhat, but mostly he was just watching her. She was still with Reigen…she was always with Reigen…but she was his girlfriend…

But she had left him all alone.

But that was not the way to think. Girls did not like it when you got clingy. She could go wherever she wanted to go and do whatever she wanted to do. She was his but not literally HIS…but she was his. Not Reigen's. That was what he had to remember. As she told him about all the fun she was having, without him, he reminded himself that she was his girlfriend…

And that she loved him. He had to remember that.


	80. You and Me, Present and Future

Rei could see the future.

She could see that she would be having egg salad for lunch. She could see that Riko would throw a sock in her face for no good reason in about half an hour. She knew that it would start to rain in about four hours and then stop suddenly. She knew that she would forget one of her good eyeliner pencils in her pocket and it would get ruined in the wash. She knew that the tomatoes in the fridge would go bad by the time dad tried to make himself a sandwich.

She could see the future and she could act accordingly.

First of all she hated egg salad so she would, instead, help mom make literally anything else for lunch. Second of all Riko was a jerk and had no right to throw an icky gross sock in her face so, really, the only thing to do was a preemptive strike. Third of all there was nothing she could do about the rain besides close all the windows so at least nothing got wet. Fourth of all she could take her good pencil out of her pocket because it had been expensive and she only had so much money.

Also she threw out the tomatoes before anyone could get sick.

She could see the future and it was a dead useful power. She had been using her powers more and more lately since the whole almost dying thing. The whole 'getting stuck in an end of Akira explosion' thing. The whole 'fighting a real life shonen villain but not really since Mob was the one who did most of the work' thing. She wished that she could have seen the future better back then. Too much had been changing too quick…and also she had been scared out of her mind. When she was scared it was harder to use her powers.

She wasn't scared now.

She was ok. She was more than ok. She was the most ok. She was so happy to be back at her house with her family, even if Riko was a jerk, and she was so happy to have been able to sleep in her own bed and wake up in her own room. She was so grateful not to be dead or kidnapped. She was ok and it was all thanks to the power of friendship, like Go kept on saying, and also the power of love. Yes, love had a lot to do with it.

She loved Ritsu after all.

She didn't know what she would have done without him. Back them, back when they had been running, she had been so scared. She had been so scared that she didn't know up from down or left from right or light from dark or anything. She would have totally freaked out if not for Ritsu. He was there and he had bene scared too but he had been strong enough to keep her calm…and he had been there for her even though he had been beaten up and, honestly, had gone through a lot worse than she had. She had to be there for him because he had been there for her.

He loved her.

It's a good feeling. Loving someone and being loved in return. She'd always wanted a boyfriend but now, looking back, it may have just been for kissing reasons. Kissing felt good and she liked doing it and she had, mostly, just wanted a guy that she could kiss. That was why she had kissed Go and Takeshi and a few other boys too. Also, maybe, why she had wanted to be with Ritsu when she first met him. He was cute. He was more than cute. That had been the first thing that she had noticed about him…and it had been kind of shallow…but then he saved her from being kidnapped. Then he saved her again when the world was about to end or be taken over or whatever Sho's dad's endgame was. Ritsu had saved her and she had saved him…and that was love.

Real love.

And then they did the thing. Not THE thing, no way, because as much as she thought about THE thing she knew that she was not ready for that. No, the thing that they did was just fine. More than just fine. She had wanted to do that, that and a whole lot more, before but it had never felt like…like something that she could reach out and feel. Like it was something that was ok to do. She had always freaked herself out when she got even close to doing…things like that. But then, the night after, it had just felt so right…and they did the thing….but not THE thing….and it had been so good and loving and right….and she couldn't believe that she had almost died without knowing what it felt like….

Good, it felt good.

Which had been such a relief. She'd heard, before, that boys sucked at it. That they didn't care if their girlfriends had fun or felt good and that they just wanted to get it over with so their girlfriends could do stuff for them. Ritsu hadn't been like that. He listened to her when she said what felt good and what didn't and he made sure that it was really good. Rei had heard that you were supposed to pretend that it was good even if it was terrible so you didn't end up hurting the guy's feelings. Well she hadn't had to pretend not even once…even if his nails were kind of long….but that hadn't been that bad. It hadn't been bad at all. It had been the most awesome thing in the history of ever!

Even if she did kind of suck at it.

Well Ritsu never said that she sucked at it. He loved her and he never would have said something like that. He didn't have so. She knew that she sucked at it. That was why it had taken so long. She had heard, before, that boys finished super fast. She didn't know why that was supposed to be a bad thing. That just meant that he'd had fun. Ritsu probably hadn't had a lot of fun. She had no idea what she was going…and also all the staring. She didn't mean to stare, she'd just never seen anyone but herself naked before. Well she had but never a boy. So she had stared….a lot. Enough for him to ask her to stop staring. Enough for him to probably have been embarrassed. He hadn't stared at her. He hadn't looked away but he hadn't stared, either.

He hadn't ever done anything like that before.

Which was something that she reminded herself of. Something that she had to remind herself of. Ritsu wouldn't lie to her. When you love someone you never lied to them. He hadn't done anything like that before and she was his first girlfriend and his only girlfriend and she shouldn't be worried about stuff that she knew wasn't true. Besides, she'd kissed more people than he had so if anyone had a right to be worried it was Ritsu. Not that they were counting. No, like she had read in several very expensive books at the bookstore, it had more books than the library and nobody looked at you weird there for reading the relationship books, a person's previous sexual partners had no bearing on the current relationship and there was no reason to even care about what your partner's number was.

Not that either of them had ever gone that far with anyone else.

She was just insecure, maybe, and she didn't even know why. He was good at it, doing the thing, so she had no reason to worry about…anything. That was a dumb thing to worry about. Her boyfriend being too good. Most girls had the opposite worry if what she had overheard was anything to go off of. She really had no idea what she was so worried about.

The creeping feeling that all of this was going to pop like a balloon.

She could see past the explosion now. Before, when she had tried to use her powers, the explosion had been hanging out there on the horizon blocking her view of literally anything else. Well now it was gone and she could see clearly now the future. There, far off, there wasn't an event but a sense of…dread. Like something big and scary was coming…something related to her and Ritsu…but she didn't know what. She knew that they were going to be together forever…she knew it in her heart to be true…but when she looked into the future there was nothing to reveal.

No house or family or anything.

Just this sense of dread. This feeling that everything that she and Ritsu had together was going to pop like a balloon. She didn't want that. She could never want that. She wanted Ritsu with her, by her side, for the rest of her life. They weren't going to break up. She was so happy with him. Even if he could be a little distant sometimes. Even if she did get the feeling, sometimes, when they were together that his mind was elsewhere….and hello Rei! Of course it was! He was busy with school and student council and also all that stuff that happened to his sister and also his parents were screaming down the house every night. Of course he was sort of distant from her sometimes.

They were not going to break up.

She had no plans of breaking up with him and as far as she knew he was happy with her….though her information on him was becoming sort of dated since he hadn't messaged her back in a while…and she really wanted to hear from him….or better yet see him. She hadn't seen him in so long, not since his parents came back from their trip, and she wanted nothing more than to see him and kiss and him and spend time with him…and also maybe other stuff. Stuff that she maybe should not have been thinking about. Well there was nothing wrong with thinking about it, she had read that there was nothing wrong with having a healthy understanding of your own sexuality and that of your partner, but she liked him for other reasons, she wanted to see him for other reasons….so she had to think about those other reasons.

She really wanted to see him.

But she wasn't supposed to go anywhere. Mom and dad were really worried, still, about what had happened even though it was over now. She didn't understand adults sometimes. Once something was over then there was no reason to keep on worrying about it. She knew that, in the future, there would be so many other things to worry about. She didn't even have to use her powers to see what all of those things would be. There were a million and one things to worry about and what had happened wasn't one of them.

Ritsu was one of them.

An idea was taking root in her mind. She was worried about Ritsu, of course she was, because he had been through so much and now he was stuck in his house with his parents and they were probably back to fighting and that was really stressful for him…and she didn't want him to be stressed out. He was probably really lonely to see her, too, and maybe that was why he hadn't messaged her back in a while. Mom and dad were busy anyway so it wasn't like they'd notice, really, if she snuck out. Just so long as she was back before lunch…even if it was egg salad. Truly disgusting. She knew that mom would have made something else if Rei had helped her….but Ritsu was more important than the fact that egg salad really sucked.

He needed her and she needed him so, really, it would have been wrong of her NOT to go and see him.

It would have been wrong of Reigen NOT to bring this to Mob's attention.

Because, really, she liked videogames. He had found his old games console, well one of them, in a box underneath his bed of all places. Mom must have put it there. He hadn't played this in ages, not since mom took it away, but he was a grown man now and if he wanted to play Dreamcast then he was going to play Dreamcast. Plus, well, he hadn't feel his human faced fish in a while. He wondered how Seaman was doing these days….

And he was going to have to make sure not to laugh.

Because then Mob was going to ask him what it was that he was laughing at and then he would have to explain to her and he did not want to do that. Also he was an adult and should not have been laughing like a middle schooler over something like that. It was the name of the game. It was about a human faced fish. It lived in the sea and had the face of a man. Ergo Seaman. Yes, he was not going to start laughing. He was going to be mature and composed….

And also he was going to remember how to even hook up a Dreamcast. Had it really been so long?

"Arataka? What are you laughing about in there?" asked Sophia as she scrolled through her phone in the kitchen. Work was still unsure if they needed her. Lots of people freaking out over the terrorist attack. They'd need her later once all the baby expats ran away. For now, at least, she could enjoy being home with her son and his fourteen year old codependent best friend/non sexual life partner.

"Nothing, mom, I'm not laughing at anything." Said Reigen as he turned the TV around. Ok, so he was just a moron. Red to red, yellow to yellow, blue to blue….wait, what? What did this blue wire go to? There was not supposed to be a blue wire…right? Wait, no, it wasn't connected to anything. Mom had, at some point, designated this the random wires box. He didn't even know what half to these wires and chargers were for….

"Oh God, you found it." Said Sophia. She had come out from the kitchen to see what Arataka was fussing over. Apparently he decided that ten in the morning was a good time to ruin the TV. Right in time for the news, too. She knew her Son. He was going to sit there playing that damned Seaman….don't, Sophia, you'll never live it down….game.

"Am I still banned from Dreamcast?" asked Reigen. He was kidding…mostly. He was a grown man now and she could not ban him from anything. He could drink and smoke and play videogames to his heart's content.

"That depends. Did you ever apologize to your teacher?" asked Sophia. She was pretty sure that she had either taken that games console away because he had called his teacher an asshole or because he had just up and quite doing his math homework one day….or maybe that was because instead of going to boy's volleyball team meetings he had been sneaking away to fool around with the Ono girl from across the way….or something. It had been….she didn't even know how long. It had been about 2000 or 2001 when she had taken it away…he had been about…ten or so…so too young to have been fooling around….

"Mom, I already paid my debt to society for that one. Remember, you made copy kanji from the dictionary five hours a day after school for weeks?" asked Reigen. His hand still hurt just from remembering that. There was no kill like overkill. He wondered if she thought, now, that it had been an unfair punishment….of course she hadn't. Mom, admit that she had made a mistake? Hell must have frozen over in that case.

"Oh, right. Well we are going back a long ways here, Taka-chan." Said Sophia. She didn't want to sit there and rehash the past. She knew what the next words out of her son's mouth would be. He would go on and on and on about how unfairly she had punished him. Well she had done her best. Better she be the one punishing him than his father.

"Yeah, I was a pretty shitty kid." Said Reigen. He wondered if mom would agree or saying something to the effect of 'yeah, but I was a shitty mom' and then they would hug and their bond would have been mended and then they could have lived together in happiness and mother and son…

"No, you weren't. You were just a wild little boy, that's all." said Sophia. She knew what he wanted to hear. He wanted to hear that she had been a shitty parent. That she had made mistake after mistake after mistake when she had been taking care of him. That she should have done better. Well she had done her best with what she'd had. Nobody was perfect. If he thought that he knew better than she did well he had another thing coming once he had his own kid. If he ever had his own kid. She wondered if that day would ever come for him. Later, rather than sooner, if he was planning on keeping up with whatever it was that he and Mobbu had together.

"Yeah, well, I grew out of it." Said Reigen with a shrug. That was the closest that he would ever get to an apology from her. Not that he was one of those people who blamed his mother for everything under the sun. No, he was perfectly capable of taking responsibility for his own actions. His life was his own and he had made some pretty poor life choices in the past…but that was all in the past. Right now he had to get this console hooked up so he and Mob could play videogames and have a nice day together. Poor kid needed as many nice days as she could get.

"I'm pretty sure that the cable that you're holding doesn't go to your game, Taka-chan." Said Sophia. She was not going to rehash the past. She was not going to fight with her son. Not about the past or the present or the future or the fact that he was way too old to be playing videogames like that. He really should have been thinking about what he was going to be doing with his life. Seasoning City was in ruins, his business was hopefully over and done with, and he had Mobbu to think about. Really, he should have come up with some kind of plan or idea at this point. Unless he wanted to stay with her forever, she wouldn't have minded that at all.

"If it doesn't go with it then why is it here?" asked Reigen. He was frustrated just a little. He tried to keep it to himself. He was glad, actually, that Mob was up in her room. She didn't need to be stressed about anything. She had been through way too much. Mob was up in her room and she was having fun…or whatever. He didn't actually know. He had just found his Dreamcast and got to it. Which was what he had to do, get back to it, and not sit there and fight with his mother. She seemed so much taller than him, there, because she was standing and he was sitting on the floor like a kid.

"Honestly I have no idea. I just sort of used that as cable storage." Said Sophia with a shrug. She had been something of a packrat and it had gotten worse after Taka left. Not that she hadn't taken it well, she had, because that was just the way things were supposed to be. Your child grew up and left. That was the way of the world...even though she had always assumed, growing up in this country, that her son would have stayed with her. Well of course she hadn't given him much of a reason to stay now had she?

"Do you have to use my stuff as storage space, mom?" asked Reigen. His room was a storage room, now, and yeah he knew that she had the right to do whatever she wanted in her own house…and all of that…but still. It had been his room. His room had been full of boxes and his drawers had been full of junk and his closet had been full of boxes of mom's clothes….whatever. This was her house and she could do whatever she wanted.

"Well considering the fact that you moved out, Taka, I didn't think that you would mind. As I recall you said that the next time you'd be here they'd be digging your grave." Said Sophia. That had been the last thing he shouted at her before he left for university all those years ago. She didn't know why he hated it here so much. True they'd had their differences but it hadn't been that bad, not after his father had left anyway, and he had no reason to feel the way he did. She didn't understand him but then again when had she ever understood them.

"Yeah, I was a dramatic little shit." Said Reigen with a shrug.

"That you were, Arataka, that you were." Said Sophia with a shake of her head.

"Still, you didn't have to fill my room with junk." Said Reigen

"I didn't think that you'd be coming back, Taka." Said Sophia

"I'm not back….not permanently." Said Reigen. He did not need his mom getting any ideas. He was not going to stay. He couldn't. He had to get Mob back to Seasoning City at some point. She had a life there and she had to get back to it. She hadn't been to school in a while, first of all, and also she had her friends and her family and her boyfriend in Seasoning City. He couldn't just uproot her from her entire life…and also there was the legality of that, too. Mob wasn't an orphan, she still had parents, they were just really crappy.

"Taka-" said Sophia

"Mom, you know that I can't stay. I have to get Mob back home-" said Reigen. Nope. No way. He was not sitting there and having this argument again. He didn't know what mom thought that she was going to accomplish by starting up with this. Mob was not his kid and she was not her kid either. Mob had her own life to get back to and he was not just going to uproot her…and also he didn't want to move back in either!

"Home to what? Arataka, from what you told me she had completely dropped out of her life. She'd stopped going to school, stopped going to work with you, and-and-and what is there in Seasoning City for her? Especially after what happened. Why not just make a clean break from it all? She could be happy here-" said Sophia

"Mom! Listen to yourself for ten seconds. Mob is not my kid. I can't just…and she doesn't even want to! She wants to go back home. She has a life, mom, and yeah I let her drop out of it but…but she's going to drop back into it. She's not…she's not going to drop out of her life again…she's feeling much better now." Said Reigen. He wasn't going to let that happen again. He was going to be there for her. He was going to always be there for her no matter what. She had been through so much but she was taking it so well…better than he ever would have thought.

"Feeling better? How much longer do you think that she'll be ok for? Once the high of saving the whole world fades away and she realizes that she almost died. That you almost died. That…that all of that insanity actually happened. She's going to end up back at square one-" said Sophia

"No she won't. I won't let her." said Reigen

"How? How are you going to keep her from-" said Sophia

"I'm not going to uproot her from her entire life, mom, and I'm not going to let her drop out of her life either. We have fun together. She knows that she has me and she knows that no matter what happens she'd going to be ok and everything's going to be ok. She knows, ok? She knows." Said Reigen. He was not getting all wrapped up in his own shit again. He was going to be there for her one hundred percent. That was how it went. That was what friends did and she was his friend and he was her friend and they were there for each other and he was not going to abandon her again and she was never going to be apart from him and she was never going to run away again and he was never going to push her away and-

"How? Arataka, how is she going to know that everything is going to be ok? She's just a kid and she's been through things that no child should ever have to go through. She's probably scared out of her mind, or at least she will be, anyway, once she comes down from this. She saved the world, Arataka, and she's been through so much doing that….she's not going to be ok forever. She needs…she needs a lot. She needs much more than you can-" said Sophia

"Mob needs….Mob's fine. She's fine and she'll tell me when she isn't. What happened between us is never going to happen again, ok? I am never going to treat her like that again and she's never going to run away again. Ok? Mom, I am handling it and I will continue to handle it." said Reigen

"How are you handling it?" asked Sophia

"Well first I'm going to get this Dreamcast set up and then me and Mob are going to spend the rest of the day playing videogames and having fun." Said Reigen. He mostly got it, he thought, at least he thought that he thought. Mob was younger. She would probably know better than him.

"Maybe you should hold off on that, Taka." Said Sophia as he son got up off the floor. He wasn't actually going to go upstairs and both her….was he? He had more sense than that, right?

"What? Don't tell me that you're going to start up again about videogames rotting my brain." Said Reigen

"No, not that. I just…you're playing with fire here, Taka." Said Sophia

"No, we're going to be playing Dreamcast." Said Reigen. What was with her? She was not going to lecture him about wasting the day playing games. He knew her. She still hated it when he enjoyed his life in any way.

"I mean that…you know she's fourteen right? And she has a laptop in her room?" asked Sophia. After all the times she had walked in on him, and all the times he had screamed at her that when he had kids of his own he was never going to treat them the way she treated him, he was seriously going to go up those stairs and bother a fourteen year old girl who was alone in her room with the door closed and a laptop?

"Mom!" said Reigen. He did not need her making that kind of conjecture! Seriously. Mob was not…well he had no idea what she was and was not…and he was not going to ask! Or speculate! Or-or-or-

"What? I'm just saying that maybe you should wait for her to come downstairs on her own." Said Sophia

"Mom! I don't want to talk about…she's probably just talking to her boyfriend or something! I walked by her room and I think I heard her talking to him or something." Said Reigen. Besides, he would have been able to tell…and he gets off the train of thought before it starts.

"….and you didn't stop and think that maybe, just maybe, that wasn't all the more reason to leave her be?" asked Sophia. Honestly. Her son. He could be so short sighted sometimes.

"Ok, ok, ok, I'll leave Mob alone until she decides to come out of her room! Can we please just never speculate about this again?" asked Reigen. He had, at some point, forgotten about privacy. He had lived without it for so long. He and Mob most certainly needed a bigger place. It was nice having their own rooms…not that they would be able to move since all the spare housing in Seasoning City was probably all taken up by now. Still, it was nice to have some privacy…and he had remember how to give it, too. She was way too old for him to be bothering her like that when she needed some alone time talking to her boyfriend.

"Deal. Ok, you wait for her to come downstairs and while you wait I need you to put my TV to channel two while I put the kettle on. How's that sound?" asked Sophia. She was not going to fight with her son. She was going to have a nice visit with her son and she was not going to get on him to make something of his life or to take more responsibility for himself and the person he had been tasked with caring for…nope. She was going to put the kettle on and then watch TV and then wait for work to bother her to come it.

Yes, that was what she was going to do.

"….but then what are you going to do?" asked Mob as she sat crossed legged on her futon talking to Teru. It was sort of like he was there with her, sort of, but not really since they were so far apart. She wished that they could be together again. She missed him so much. It was worse than yesterday. She wanted to go home to him but she also wanted to stay here….the whole thing was very complicated.

"Live wherever they tell me too. I can't be picky right now and it's not such a small place. Originally they wanted me to stay in a one room but I told them that there was no way I was living in one room." Said Teru. He hated this, being so far from her. She was coming back though, she had to, and when she came back it was going to be great. That was why he had turned down the studio. He needed at least one bedroom. That way she wouldn't keep him up and he wouldn't wake him up. Also he could do so much better for her than a studio apartment. She needed a real house to live in, and he would have given it to her if he could have, but his parents were being total assholes. They wouldn't get him a house even though he needed a place to live. Too permanent, they said, and too much for one person to worry about. As if they had ever cared to begin with.

"But if you want to live in a house then they should let you live in a house. It's not like they're the ones who have to live in the house. They're all the way on the other side of the world. I don't know, I shouldn't talk about things that I don't understand." Said Mob. She didn't understand parents one bit. Her parents, his parents, anyone's parents. He said that his parents had more money than God…not that she knew why God even needed money to begin with…and if they could afford to get him a house to live in then they should have. She would have done that for her son if she had more money than God.

She pressed a hand to her stomach.

Not that she has a son or a daughter or any sort of child at all. No, she and Teru were not going to have a baby. She had just been thinking about it a lot because of…a lot of things. Things that they had done. She was not going to have a baby or anything like that because she was just a kid…and she and Teru were not going to get married yet because they were still kids…even if he had said that he had wanted to get a house for the two of them to live in…which was something that adults did…

She was not an adult.

Even if she sometimes felt like it. Even if she had saved the world and a lot of other stuff. She didn't think that she was ready for all of the stuff that adults did. There was a lot to being an adult, a lot that you had to worry about, and Mob was getting tired of worrying about everything. She had saved the whole world…she sort of wanted a break. She wanted a break and she also wanted to go back to her school and her friends and her life…but she did like it here, too. She liked it here with Master Reigen and she liked it back there, back home, with Teru.

"I don't understand either….I mean it doesn't even matter. Whatever. I don't care where I live so long as it's big enough for you and me." Said Teru. It was going to be so great. They were going to be together in his new apartment. They were going to live together. They were going to spend every day of their lives together…but not in a terribly needy way. She was not going to want to be with him if he was terribly needy.

"Your last apartment was big enough for the two of us." Said Mob. She knew that Teru wanted her to move in with him…and she had no reason not to want to. Even if moving in with him would have meant leaving Master Reigen…actually that was a good reason not to want to move out. She had made a promise after all….but she had also made a promise to Teru. She had promised to love him and to always be with him…and also she said that she would spend the rest of her life with him….

"This one is…going to be smaller than the last one. I'm sorry but it's the best that they could do on such short notice." Said Teru

"I'm not upset, Teru, why would I be? I'd be happy with you no matter where you lived. Really. I don't care how big it as just so long as you're happy. That's all I want. I know that you've been really unhappy lately…and I don't want you to be. It makes me sad when you're unhappy. I love you, Teru." Said Mob

"You are so fucking sweet….sorry. Just…sorry. I know you don't like it when I say stuff like th-" Said Teru

"You…you don't have to apologize. I like it when you say nice things to me." Said Mob. She liked how low his voice got, there, and she didn't know why. She just felt this tingling sort of feeling all up through her body when he talked like that. Kind of like being shocked but in a good way.

"Oh? You do? Like what?" asked Teru. He was leaning on his side, now, and there was a tone to his voice that made her insides get that nice feeling again. She wished that she had been there or that she had been with him…because then they could have kissed….and more than kissed.

"Um….I don't know. I just like it when you say nice things to me." Said Mob. She could feel her hair starting to float. She could feel herself turning red. She wanted…she wanted a lot of things in that moment. She wanted Teru to be there, right next to her, even if it was just to hold her hand. She just wanted to touch him, that was all. In some way. She just wanted something real, something that she could just reach out and feel. It wasn't fair, sort of, that he was so far away…but she had no one to blame for that but herself. She was the one who had gone away from him after all.

"Like…how cute you are when you smile?" asked Teru

"Teru!" said Mob. She laughed, a laugh that she hadn't even set out to make, and pulled her shirt up over her face. She didn't even know what it was that she was so embarrassed about. He was just Teru, her boyfriend, and he said nice things about her all the time.

"What? I just so happen to think, Shigeko, that you're cute when you smile. Like now. You have no idea how cute you are right now." Said Teru

"You…you look nice when you smile, too. I like it when you smile. I like it when you're happy." Mob. She smiled and let her hair, the part that wasn't floating, fall over her face. She knew that Teru liked it when she smiled…and for some reason that made her feel embarrassed. She didn't know why. She had been naked with him more times than she could count. He wasn't even in the room with her…even though it felt like it…but he was all the way back in Seasoning City and she was there….and she kind of wanted him to be there with her….

She missed him.

"You know…you're the only one, pretty much, who gets to see me smile. I just…there hasn't been a lot to…never mind!" said Teru. She was happy. She felt good. He was not going to bring her down. She had enough going on, saving the whole world, and he was not going to ruin her happiness…because that was not the way this worked. Even though a part of him hated how happy she was while she was all the way over there and he was here.

"Never mind what?" asked Mob

"Nothing. I don't want to make you upset." Said Teru

"You could never do anything to make me upset…well you could, actually, but that's not like you at all." said Mob

"Shigeko….I love you, ok? I love you and I'm going through some of my own shit and I am not going to put it on you after we-" said Teru. He couldn't just put it all on her. She had almost died, before, and before the whole almost dying thing she had to fight for not only her life but theirs too. She didn't need…she didn't need to deal with his shit on top of the shit that she had to deal with.

"You're my boyfriend, Teru, I'm here to make you feel better. We make each other feel better when something is bothering us. That's how relationships work." Said Mob

"This is my shit to deal with. There's nothing that you can do, anyway." Said Teru

"I can listen and I can be there for you." Said Mob. That was doing something. That was something that people needed sometimes. She needed it sometimes…but not as much as he needed it. She had people in her life who cared about her. When she had been living outside so many people had helped her…but his own parents knew how sad he was that they were gone and they didn't come back to him not even for a visit.

"But you aren't here, Shigeko." Said Teru. He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. He should have. She didn't need that from him. She didn't need that in general.

"I know…but I'm here but it's sort of like I'm….there. I'm there for you." Said Mob

"It's just…I know that I shouldn't complain about having to move. I'm lucky to have found a place and the act of moving…that's not what's upsetting. It's just…this place only has one bedroom." Said Teru

"Well that makes sense. It's just going to be you living there." said Mob. She didn't know why he was upset that there was only one bedroom. How many bedrooms did they need? It was just the two of them after all. She didn't want her own bedroom, she wanted to share with him, even if he was a bed hog.

"…I know. They didn't even….they're never coming back. Even though Claw is done with, that's why they left in the first place, they still aren't coming back. Like…like there's something wrong with ME-" said Teru

"No. There's nothing wrong with you. I love you. If your parents don't want to come back then…then-then…I don't know. You…I don't know why they treat you like that but…but…." Said Mob. She didn't know. She wanted to tell him that his parents were treating him terribly. That he did not deserve that. That he was a good person and his parents should have seen how good a person he was.

"I love you too…and I don't need them either. I don't need them either because…because I have you. And you're right. WE don't need two bedrooms. What do I care if they have a space in MY apartment? Our. Our apartment. It's just you and me and I don't need my parents ruining it for us." Said Teru

"Right…our apartment. It's going to be…our…apartment." Said Mob. She liked that. She knew that she liked that. There would be a place for just the two of them…because that was what he wanted. What they wanted. She loved him and when you loved someone you either spent the rest of your life with someone or you broke up…and she had no intention of breaking up with him. She thought that she would have had more time to make up her mind, him or Master Reigen, but really there hadn't been any making up her mind…because no matter how much time passed, even if she became an adult, Master Reigen would always be older than her and he would never think about her in the same way that she thought about him.

"Yeah, and it's going to be great. I don't need my parents. I've never needed my parents. I have myself and I have you and who else do I need? Yeah, one bedroom is plenty." Said Teru. She always made him feel better. He wasn't that ten year old kid his parents had left all those years ago. He was practically an adult. He didn't need mom and dad to tie his shoes for him. He was practically a man and all he needed was his girlfriend. She was going to live with him and they were going to do so much and be so happy…and she was going to leave Reigen for him….

This was going to be great.

"We don't need two bedrooms…because it's just going to be us." Said Mob. Just her and Teru…her and Teru living together in the way that adults did. That was…she could do that. She was his girlfriend. She was supposed to want that. She loved him and because she loved him then she should have wanted to live with him and marry him and have kids with him and then they could be happy for the rest of their lives. She wasn't a kid anymore…so why was she so nervous?

"Yup. Just you and me." Said Teru. He could just see it now…it was going to be so great. Waking up next to her, having breakfast, going to school, coming home…all of it. Also sex, a lot of sex, and that was…that was also something worth looking forward to. It would be like the time that she stayed with him only she wouldn't be homeless and trying to deal with a bunch of truly terrible shit all on her own.

"In your apartment." Said Mob. It would be like all of those times that she'd stayed over…only she wouldn't feel like she was terrible. She wouldn't have the feeling just hanging over her…it would be great…it really would be.

"In our apartment." Said Teru. He wondered what it would be like to have her with him all the time. Permanently. They would have to agree on décor and a chore schedule and a whole bunch of other things…and he found himself looking forward to that. Just…making a life with her. This was what it was to be an adult, to look forward to sharing your life with someone you loved.

"Yes, ours…just the two of us." Said Mob. She wondered if it would be like living with Master Reigen. Would they cook together? Watch TV together? Spend hours together just talking? Probably. She and Teru did that already…but it would be different. Living with him all the time…it would be like being married…which he wanted. Which he wanted and she had never given much thought to. Well it made sense. He had been living like an adult for much longer than she had. Of course he was ready for this…and if he was ready for this then she was ready for this too. A home, being together, taking care of each other, all of that adult stuff.

She had no idea what she was going to do.

She had no idea how to be married so someone. Even without having a wedding living with him…when they were a couple…that was just like being married. They were in love and had sex and cared about each other…and now they were living together…and that was like being married. She had no idea, though, what else….what else came with it. She thought back to her own parents. The fighting. She didn't want to fight with Teru. She wanted…she would have to be like her mom. She would make dinner and keep the house clean and…and take care of their kids.

Her hand found her stomach.

She hadn't ever thought that far ahead in her life. Well she'd had idle sorts of thoughts before but…but to actually be staring down the future….it was a lot. She remembered…she remembered holding someone very small. That person was small and warm and the minute he was placed into her arms she felt a sort of kinship with this person that she had never thought possible. She was responsible for another human being…she had made a person. That was the ultimate power, being able to create life, and being able to mold that life into whatever you wanted and-and-and that was not one of her memories. That was one of Touichirou's…and she wondered when these would stop already. She was back into her own body. It was over. It was over and she was Mob and her life was her own and no one else's and now….and now she just had to…to untangle her life from Touichirou's and…and then get it tangled up with Teru's.

This was what she wanted.

Even though she felt such pain…pain that was not hers…when she thought about marriage. She felt the pain of waking up in a cold bed. She felt the pain of having been rejected by the one person she had thought would…would always have been there for her. She felt some anger at herself for allowing these feelings to enter her mind. She had to be a complete person all one her own….and those were more of Touichirou's thoughts and memories. She needed to untangle her life from his.

And there was no better way to do that besides actually living her life.

She needed to live her life and that meant…that meant that her life was progressing. Even though she had never meant for her life to end up progressing this fast. She hadn't thought before, not even a year before, that she would ever have been in this position. A boy was so in love with her that he wanted to marry her. He wanted to marry her and live with her like adults did. They would have a home and jobs and lives and kids….and it was all happening so fast….

Way too fast.

But that was fine because they loved each other. If he loved her and she loved him then there was no point in waiting. Even though she had just gotten through so much…but that was ok. This was what she wanted. She had always wanted someone to love her and now she had someone to love her and she loved him in return and if he wanted to marry her and everything that came with it then…then that was fine…though maybe they could have held off on a few things…

She loved him but she was not at all ready to have kids with him.

"Just you and me-" said Teru. He had asked her to marry him, before, because he had been so convinced of his own incoming death…but now he was alive and…and it was a big and scary step but…but he knew that he loved her. He loved her and he was an adult in every sense but the chronological one so this made sense. This was something that he was ready for. This was something that he was looking forward to.

"We'll be married and we'll be happy and we'll have kids and they'll be happy and everything will just be so…happy." Said Mob. That was what he wanted and if that was what he wanted then that was what she wanted too. They both wanted nothing more than eternal happiness for each other. That wasn't that much to ask.

The picture on her laptop screen went all blocky.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Lost control for a moment….that hasn't happened in…anyway. Yes, that sounds wonderful and I can't….I can't wait." Said Teru. He was struck with the feeling that maybe he hadn't thought this one through. He wanted to live with her, he wanted to spend his life with her, but he hadn't thought so hard on what…on what all of that would entail. He didn't want kids, at least not now while he was in MIDDLE SCHOOL but…but that was what you did when you agreed to share your life with someone…and he would do a good job. Yeah. If that was what she wanted then he would do the best job…but not now. They were in middle school. People in middle school did not have….well they didn't have their own apartments either but…yeah, no, that was not happening until they were older…even if Shigeko was probably excited about that…

There suddenly was not enough air.

"Teru? Are you ok? You keep on pulling at your collar like that." Said Mob

"Me? I'm fine. Just…just a little stuffy in here. I'm fine. Anyway how's…how are you doing? Wait, no, I asked you that already. Uh…cats? There's a cat there. Tell me about the cat again. I am really interested in hearing about this cat." Said Teru

"His name is Thomas O'Malley and he's orange and he likes warm hugs and he's kind of old so he doesn't play that much but he likes his laser pointer and his mouse on a stick and-" said Mob. She would have gone on and on about that cat, that was truly one of the best cats in the whole world in her opinion, but she was interrupted.

A welcome interruption.

And she should not have been thinking like that. Not about Master Reigen. Not while she was talking with Teru. Not after she and Teru had just gotten done talking about their future together. She should not have been thinking about Master Reigen…even though his voice made her feel like she was about to be motion sick but in a good way. Even though when he talked to her he never made her think about the future in the way that Teru…she needed to come off of this.

"What's he want?" asked Teru. His voice was so bitter he could taste it. He didn't care. What more did Reigen want from her. Whatever he needed he should have taken care of by himself. Shigeko was not his girlfriend and he should not have been treating her like one…and Teru knew that he shouldn't have been jealous. Reigen didn't have a chance with her. Also Shigeko had already promised…well she said that she would…

Shigeko was his girlfriend. Not Reigen's.

"Mob! You want to play videogames!?" called Reigen from the living room. He was not playing with fire if he stayed down there. Mob could always just tell him no or pretend that she couldn't hear him.

"Master Reigen wants to play videogames…but I'll call you back later. Next time I can borrow the laptop I mean. Ok?" asked Mob. She felt bad about leaving Teru but she didn't want to talk about their future anymore. She didn't even want to think about it. She just wanted…she wanted to play some videogames.

"Yeah, sure. That's fine. Talk to you later. Love you." Said Teru. He should not have been talking to his girlfriend like that….but he was pissed off! He was pissed off not only because she was ditching him for Reigen but also because he was getting pissed off in the first place. He wished that he could have just told her to stay but that would have been controlling and girls hated it when guys acted like controlling pricks. He loved her and she loved him…and for some reason she still ditched him for Reigen…and it hurt…

" Teru. I love you t-" said Mob. The call ended before she could finish…but that was ok. Teru knew how she felt about him. She had told him at least a thousand times or more that she loved him so he knew it to be true. He had this whole life planned for the two of them after all…and Mob was ok with that…she really was…

But she also really wanted to just play some videogames….or something. Anything but talking about the future.

Rei didn't want to think about the future.

She didn't want to think about the high probability that she would get caught and punished once her parents realized that she was out of the house. She didn't want to think about how much trouble she would get in if Ritsu's parents caught her in their house. She didn't want to think about any of that. All she wanted to think about was the present. How she was there, right below Ritsu's window, and how romantic this all was.

Well the boy was supposed to be the one outside of the girl's window but still. This was still plenty romantic.

She wished that she hadn't broken her phone. That way she could have just texted him. Now she had no way of getting his attention…and maybe she should have looked into the future to see how she would...oh! Hello Rei! She watched TV, she read things, she knew how this was supposed to go. The boy throws a bunch of little rocks at the girl's window and she opens it and then he comes in and…and then a whole lot of other stuff that the camera usually cut away from. Well she didn't know if they were going to do any of that, she kind of wanted to, but she did know that she wanted nothing more than to climb up through his window and…

And a lot of things.

"What the hell?" asked Ritsu as he looked up from his book. He sensed another aura and then half a second later someone was throwing things at his window. Not Sho. No. He always just let himself in…and also his aura wasn't orange. That was Rei….for some reason. He checked his phone. She had gone quiet a moment ago…

So it wasn't anything serious.

He wished that it was. He wished that she had come over to tell him that the world was in danger again or something. She probably hadn't. Ritsu watched TV, he read things, he knew this old cliché. Wasn't he supposed to be the one to come to her window? Maybe he should have, it would have saved her a trip, and that was the kind of thing that he was supposed to do anyway.

He sighed, opened a window, and then used his powers to levitate her in before anyone noticed. Especially his parents. If they found out then…he didn't even want to think about it.

"Thanks so much. Sorry I just dropped in on you. I just really wanted to see you and then I thought 'hey! I can go see him' and then I came here but then I realized that my phone was still broken to I-" said Rei. She knew that she was talking too much. She knew that she always talked too much. She couldn't help it. It was the first time that she was seeing him in person since his parents picked him up from her house. She wanted to say so much but it all got all mixed in her head and then all that could come out was a play by play of sneaking out to come to his house. He listened, though, because he was a good listener like that. He always listened to her no matter how much she went on and on and on. He liked listening to her. He watched her…and their eyes me…and she felt like she would melt through the floor right then and there.

"That's…that's what happened to me today." Said Rei. She dropped her eyes and stared down at their feet. She had taken her shoes off. She wished that she had worn nicer socks. She didn't know why she wished that she had worn nicer socks, Ritsu didn't care about things like that, but she really wished that she had worn nicer socks.

"Ok….uh….it's nice to see you again?" said Ritsu. He suddenly wanted space. He wanted to put as much space between them as possible. He felt…guilty…even though he hadn't done anything wrong. Well, lately, he had kissed Teru…but that was a moment of temporary insanity. He hadn't done anything wrong lately…but it still felt like it. His eyes glanced over towards his window.

He didn't see anything but that made sense since Sho usually came by at night.

"It's nice to see you too. Sorry I just….I was really missing you." Said Rei. She was nervous. Why was she nervous? Because they were alone for the first time since they did the thing together? Because this was his room? Because she had come here with no plan and now he must have thought that she was…he didn't think anything bad about her. That was her own insecurity talking. Ritsu loved her. He was happy to see her. Why would he have been? He was her boyfriend after all.

"Um….I missed you too." Said Ritsu. Even though he had no idea how she could have missed him considering how many times a day, no, an hour she texted him.

"So um…do you want to…I don't know. I just wanted to see you, I didn't think this far ahead." Said Rei. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to cuddle him. She wanted…she wanted a lot of physical things right then and she knew that there was nothing wrong with that, the book had said so, she also knew that a relationship also needed emotional stuff too. Talking and stuff like that. Sex was a building block of a relationship but there was also emotional intimacy…and also they were not going to be doing that because she wasn't ready yet.

"You can stay but just be quiet. If my mom catches you in here then she'll throw you out." Said Ritsu. He wondered if he'd get thrown out too. Mom had already thrown one of her kids out…but he was the favorite. He was the one that all hopes for the future rested on, his parents had actually said that once, and he was the one that mom would never get rid of…unless she found out about his powers. Unless she found out every single thing about himself that he had been hiding from her.

"Ok, I can be quiet. I can be so quiet. I can be the most quiet. I can-" said Rei. She was still talking and she was only doing that because she was nervous and she was only nervous because…because of everything that had happened.

"Rei. Seriously. My mom…you don't want my mom to catch you…and neither do I." said Ritsu

"Oh….are they fighting again?" asked Rei. She shouldn't have asked that. She knew that the answer would be yes. His parents were always in the middle of a fight even though that must have been exhausting. She didn't get adults. She and Ritsu were a couple and they almost never fought. Well emotional intelligence was hard sometimes, that was why there were so many books about how to achieve it.

"Yeah….I think that it's the same fight." Said Ritsu. She took his hand in hers. He didn't look at her. How could he look at her? He had been lying to her since the beginning…and he was still lying to her. Even now. He knew how this would go. They'd lay down on his bed and he'd tell her about all the things in his life, most of the things in his life, that bothered him and she would be there for him and he wouldn't deserve it one bit. She would be there for him because she loved him and she thought that he loved her back…

Maybe he should have just told her the truth already.

He didn't. They did end up laying down on his bed and he did end up telling her what was bothering him but he didn't tell her the truth. He couldn't. He had just come out of one crisis, he didn't want to start another. She didn't deserve that. She hadn't done anything to him to deserve that kind of pain and he wasn't going to cause her that kind of pain either. So, really, there was nothing that he could do but be there with her and let her be there for him. She was his girlfriend and he was her boyfriend and this was…this was the way that things were….even if he wanted…even if he wanted to be with someone else…

He stopped thinking about that.

He tried to stop thinking all together. She was there, with him, and that was the whole of it. She loved him and he was not going to hurt her so…so this was it. Him and her cuddled up on his bed. Her listening to him go over the latest developments in the war at home. His arms around her, her head on his chest, his powers keeping his door shut so nobody walked in and got the wrong idea…even if that would get her away from him…and that was not something that he should have even wanted in the first place…just like he shouldn't have wanted...the things that he wanted. All of the things that he wanted.

Rei could see the future. He wondered if this was what it was going to be like for the rest of their lives.


	81. Dreamcast Games and Nighttime

"When is our fish person going to evolve?" asked Mob as she sat on the couch next to Master Reigen. It was late, nighttime, and his mom had gone to be a while ago. Mob was kind of tired, just a little, but not too bad. They couldn't go to sleep yet anyway. Their fish person hadn't evolved yet and Mob wanted to see what it would become.

"I honestly have no clue. I never made it this far in the game." Said Reigen. Now he remembered what made him stop playing this in the first place. It was like a Tomogachi but worse. Also when it died it was much more emotionally devastating.

"Why not? This is fun…mostly fun." Said Mob. Honestly this game went on for way too long, in Mob's opinion, but this was a game from when Master Reigen was a kid. People were a lot easier to entertain back then it seemed.

"Mob, this game is boring as hell. You can admit it." Said Reigen

"It's…not so bad. It's cool when the fish person evolves. I just wish that it would evolve faster." Said Mob

"You and me both. Now I remember why I stopped playing this game in the first place." Said Reigen. He passed Mob the controller. It was late. He needed to get to bed. He didn't have any reason to get up in the morning but he still shouldn't have been messing up his sleep schedule. All of this was temporary, his visit with his mom, and he would have to get back to his life at some point.

"You said that you stopped playing because your mom took your Dreamcast away." said Mob

"That's why I stopped playing Dreamcast all together. I stopped playing this specific game because it just goes on…and on…and on. I kept on getting bored and then my fish person kept on dying." Said Reigen with a shrug.

"That's very sad Master. You put so much time into this game and then it was all for nothing…and also your fish person died." Said Mob. That was why they couldn't stop playing now. They had been playing all day with only breaks for meals. They couldn't stop now, their fish person could evolve, or it could die. She did not want it to die…even though this game was boring and being looked at by a human faced fish was creepy. Very creepy.

"What, are you seriously getting attached to this thing?" asked Reigen

"No, not really, but we've still put a lot of work into it. I mean it's not like it's alive or anything…unless it's alive to its self. Like how spirits don't want to be exorcised even though they're dead." Said Mob

"I don't think that videogame characters have real sentience Mob, not like people and spirits." Said Reigen. He didn't blame her, he'd had the same sorts of weird two a.m. thoughts when he was her age. It was the fact that this fish had a human face. That was making it too human but also not. Uncanny. It was uncanny.

"I guess…but we can't ever be sure. It's like in this movie that me and Teru saw about the world inside of a computer and all the programs were like little people. It was kind of boring but now I'm just thinking that maybe to them they're alive…or something." Said Mob

"You've been watching way too many movies." Said Reigen. He wondered if she missed her boyfriend…her friends….her life. The way that her life had been before all of this. She probably did. He wondered if she wanted to go home. Also a possibility. She hadn't said a word to him about going home, though, not a single word…but they could not stay here. They both had lives that they had to get back to.

"I don't think so. Me and Teru haven't watched a movie together in a while. Not since before…everything that happened." Said Mob. She drew her knees up to her chest. She didn't want to think about everything that happened. It was over now, it was all over, and now she was fine. She was safe and she was fine and everyone was safe and everyone was fine. So that was what it was. Fine.

"Do you…do you want to? Spend time with him, I mean." Said Reigen. He wanted to ask her if she wanted to go home but he could not get the words out. If she said yes then…then they would have to go back. He wanted to go back…he really did. He had to go back. The options were either go back home or live with mom until the day one of them died. Of course he was going to go back…it was just a question of when.

"I will. When we go back." Said Mob. She wanted to be with Teru so badly…but she couldn't. They were here now. She wasn't going to make Master Reigen go home. She had no idea if he wanted to. She knew how much his mom liked having them around, too. She would be sad to go from here, it was nice not having to worry about things, but she knew that she had to get back to her life eventually. She had to go back to school, she hadn't been back in a while, and she also missed her friends and Teru and Ritsu and everyone…and she had to…to get back to normal.

"Hey Mob?" asked Reigen

"Yes?" asked Mob

"Do you want to go back? I mean when do you want to go back?" asked Reigen. It was a simple question and one that he knew that he had to ask. He could not keep her here forever and he did not want to stay there forever, either. He didn't much want to go home, though, too. Maybe they could move….no. There was nowhere to move to. Seasoning City was still in ruins and people were still putting the pieces of their lives and the city back together…and he was one of those people.

"Whenever you want to go back, Master Reigen. We can't stay here forever but I like it here a lot. We can go back whenever you want to…or we need to. We haven't been to work in a while so we should probably go back soon. People might think that we've gone out of business." Said Mob. She wanted to get back to work so badly. She wanted to sit at her desk and do her homework and write receipts and go out for ramen afterwards. She also wanted to go out on jobs and save people from evil spirits and…and all of the other things that she used to do before everything went wrong. Before Mogami and the unreality and then saving the world. She just wanted things to be normal again. She just wanted to be normal again.

"You're right, we should open the office again…I should open the office again. Yeah…it's been a while, hasn't it Mob? I'll just…let me handle it for a while, just a little while. Ok, Mob? Just…it's not about you. I just know that…that it's been a lot for you lately. You…you've got a lot to get caught up on. You haven't been to school in I don't even know how long. Yikes, I do not want to think about all the work you have to catch up on." Said Reigen. He'd be reopening the office but not with her. She had a whole life to get back to and he was not keeping her from it. No, he was going to give her space to be fourteen and have fun and he was not going to be putting her in danger ever again either…not that he was replacing her! He wasn't…but he knew that she would see it that way…and he had to talk to her about it, about what was going to be different, but he'd just never had the chance. Mob was happy and she was having fun and he was not going to take that from her.

"I don't want to think about it either. I hope that nobody is going to be mad at me because I missed so much school…but they probably will be. I know that my parents are mad at me…or at least my mom is." Said Mob. She knew that she would be in trouble when she got back to school. She was only fourteen, she had to go to school, there was nothing that she could do about that. She didn't have to go to high school though but she probably would because that was what people did. She already had a job and she had moved out but she still needed to go to school. Also she liked school. Not the school that she had gone to in the unreality but this was not the unreality. Here in this reality people were nice to her. Here in this reality nobody acted like Asagiri had. Here in this reality she had so many people who cared about her…so she had no reason to be afraid to go school. And she wasn't. Not one little bit.

"You talked to your mom?" asked Reigen. He attempted to sound nonchalant, like he couldn't give a damn either way, but he did give a damn. He gave more than a damn. Mob's mother had entrusted him with her Daughter's safety and look what that had gotten them. She had almost died…there was some shame there…but there was even more anger. Towards her parents, of course, because they were the ones who abandoned her in the first place. He kept that anger to himself as best as he could. Mob was having a nice time. He planned to keep it that way.

"No, not yet. I just know that she's going to be mad at me. I haven't talked to her since the time she called me because I stopped going to school. She was mad at me then and I know that she'll be mad at me now…but it's ok because I'm going back to school when we get back to Seasoning City." Said Mob

"Do you feel up to it? Because I don't want you to push yourself. No matter what I just want you to feel ok." Said Reigen

"I feel fine. Much better than before. I know that this isn't the unreality. I know that people are going to be nice to me. I've been feeling really good lately, Master, because I saved the world. Even if I had to give up my physical body to do it." Said Mob. She didn't much like to think about that part. The part where she hadn't had a body and Touichirou hadn't had a body and then they were both their own people but also the same person…and it hurt. Instrumentality had not been fun but it was all over now. She was never going to have to do that again for as long as she lived. The world was saved and she felt fine.

"Did you….Mob, did you really? I mean I saw…I honestly have no clue what I saw…but we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to." Said Reigen. He had no idea if she was being literal or not. There, in the dark, the cloistered world of the living room…it seemed alright to ask. Just alright. Not the best idea but…but he needed to know exactly what happened. He couldn't help her if he didn't know….not that he knew how he could help her. He had done such a piss poor job of it the last time she needed him…

"I'm telling the truth. When I absorbed the explosion I lost my physical body and so did he. I wouldn't lie about something like that." Said Mob

"That's what literally happened?" asked Reigen. It sounded too much like death. He could not accept something which sounded that much like she was telling him that she had died…even though she had been through enough to kill a person ten times over. He wondered how she could sleep after all of that happened to her. He knew how he had been sleeping knowing that those terrible things had happened to her. Not well at all.

"Yes. I didn't have a body and it hurt. It was kind of like when I went into the sea of red LCL but it didn't hurt as much. Probably because he wasn't a spirit. Here, you can play with our human faced fish person some more. You haven't had a turn in a while." Said Mob. She did not want to talk about it anymore. She had other things to talk about. She would think of what those things were later but right now she did not want to talk about the time that she had lost her body in an attempt at saving the world. She wanted…she wanted to play videogames. Yes, that was it.

"God, I forgot how tedious this game was. You know he still grows if we don't interact with him, he just might die but, hey, we can always try again." said Reigen. He read her loud and clear. Time to change the subject. Time to change the game. This game lent its self to conversation, which normally neither of them would have minded, but now there was just too…much…for both of them. What they needed was a distraction.

"But then what will we play? I don't want to go to bed yet, I'm not tired." Said Mob. Master Reigen patted her on the head and then went over to the box which housed all of his old Dreamcast games. He dug around the box for a little bit before he pulled out a game. He held it high above his head triumphantly. Mob smiled just a little bit. He could be so silly sometimes. She liked that about him, that he wasn't afraid to be silly, not like how Teru always cared so much about how he looked and how other people perceived him. Not that she was comparing the two or anything.

"Student, tell me, have you ever heard of a little game called….Crazy Taxi?" asked Reigen. Mob shrugged. Good. This game was fast paced and left little room for heavy conversation. The perfect distraction for these long nights where they had so much to say to each other but he also knew full well that talking about what they needed to talk about would only cause them both unnecessary pain. They had been through enough. She had been through enough.

So they had might as well play some videogames.

There was nothing to do, really, but play videogames.

It was bit like how Serizawa's life had been before. Back when he had locked himself away. There had been a sort of stillness, calmness, to his existence. A sort of half-awake feeling. Time passed him by, the years passed him by, and he let them. He didn't have to worry about anything. What he would do, who he would be, any of those big questions. He knew what he would do, live out the rest of his days in his room, and he knew what he would be, less of a danger to himself and those around him. It had been for the best, back then, but now….he needed to remember that this was now, not back then, and he was going to get out of this room.

Eventually.

He had only come to visit his mother, he reminded himself, and he was going to leave. He was going to get back out there and join society for real this time. Not by following someone else's dream but by making his own path. He was going to help people, he was going to make up for all the trouble he caused, and he was not going to make the same mistakes that he had made in the past. He couldn't change the past, he couldn't take back what he had done, but he could move forward.

That was what he was going to do.

Moving forward had just involved a stopover at his house, at his mother's house, and it was only temporary. He had a job lined up and a plan, sort of, and even if he didn't have all the details he would still try. He was…he had to be braver now than he had at any point in his life. Saving that man's, Reigen's, life had been easy. Someone was going to die so he saved him. Starting his life over for the second, no, the third time….that was going to be hard. But he was going to have to be brave and he was going to have to try.

He was going to leave this room and try.

But not now, of course, because it was in the middle of the night. The curtains were opened. He could see the moon and the stars and the glow of the streetlights, too. He had kept those curtains closed for fifteen years. He had forgotten what the view was like. It was nice. He wasn't going to stay though. He had things to do. He had to move to Seasoning City and see what became of the other members of the Ultimate Five and he had to figure out when his new job started and he had to figure out what he was going to do in that new job and he also had to see if Sho was still mad at him and if Sho was still mad at him, something which was completely understandable, he would have to patch up their friendship…if it even could be patched up…and also he had to…to see HER again…and he had no idea what he would ever say to her…

She had defeated the President. The President was in prison because of her.

No. Don't think like that. The President is in prison because of all the crimes he committed. He was the one who had done bad things and…and he had done all of that to himself. The girl, Mob, Miss Kageyama, whatever she wanted to be called…she had done the right thing by stopping him…and Serizawa had done the right thing by betraying him. The President had said it himself, Serizawa had meant nothing to him, and therefore the President…he was nothing more than a distant memory…

Not a very distant memory at all.

The last pleasant memory he had of the President was actually when they had found him after the big fight. When he had been naked and vulnerable and Serizawa had dressed him…he counted that as a good memory for so many reasons. The intimacy, the fake intimacy, of it. The fact that the President had truly needed him…even if it had been because he was still dazed from whatever had happened….but he had needed Serizawa to dress him because nobody else would and also there were all of those girls around and it was not good to be naked in front of girls like that. The President had needed him then…but not really….

Suzuki Touichirou didn't give a damn about him and never had.

He didn't care about anyone other than himself. Hell, he had tried to beat his own son to death. That…that was the last straw. There had been cracks before, cracks in Serizawa's imagine of him, but trying to kill Sho…Sho who was his own son and also a great person…that had been it. So why did he still feel the way he felt? And what was he even feeling? Good and bad, he felt good and bad when he thought of Suzuki….and he shouldn't have felt anything because he had been cast aside like he had been nothing…

He needed to go back to feeling nothing at all.

So he decided to play some videogames. That was how he had managed to pass the time, fifteen years of it, and that was how he was going to pass the time again. He wasn't going to play all night and he certainly was not going to spend another fifteen years in this hellhole…his mom had cleaned it for him so that was unfair to her….he was not spending any more time in this room than he had to. He just…he just needed to shut off his brain again. He had been the master of it, before, shutting off his brain. Distracting himself with videogames and TV and building all of the tiny plastic models that made the room feel even more cramped than it had been before…

This was not forever.

This was just until…until he ironed out the details of how he was going to build his new life. That was all. Mom even said that she would help….so that was good. He didn't even want to stay in this room. Even if it was small and safe. Even if, while he was in there, he didn't have to worry about a thing. The time just flew by. In that room he was safe and everyone was safe from him….but he couldn't stay. He didn't even want to stay. He wanted….he wanted to…

He wanted to play Dreamcast.

In the course of cleaning mom had boxed up some of his lesser used consoles. He hadn't touched his Dreamcast since he had been…twelve? He wanted to say twelve. Since the beginning of his self-imposed isolation in this room. He had liked this a lot but then mom had gotten him a Game Cube and eventually this had just found it's way off into the corner….and now he was playing it again partially for the nostalgia and partially because he wanted to see what had become of his virtual pet. The human faced fish thing.

It had died of neglect.

He was not going to start that game up again. He liked caring for another living thing, it gave him a sense of real purpose, but this game was boring and tedious and also kind of creepy. Why did it have to have a human face? It was…it wasn't right…and he remembered what had made him stop playing this game in the first place. He did not do well with boredom. Boredom made him think about things that he, really, would rather not have been thinking about. That was why he had played so many, a truly appalling number, of videogames. To keep from being bored. To keep from thinking.

To keep himself occupied.

Not that he was going to be keeping himself occupied for fifteen years again. No, he was just…he couldn't sleep. He had might as well do something, then, if he couldn't sleep rather than lay there in bed staring up at the ceiling and going over his many, many, MANY failures and deficiencies as a human being. He had might as well sit down in front of his TV, brush off some old favorites, and turn off his brain until he was tired enough to sleep.

It was in the middle of a quest, he hadn't played Arcadia in forever, when his mom knocked on his door.

"Katsuya, are you still awake?" asked Serizawa Yuzu through her son's door. She wondered if he would be staying this time. He said that he had no plans of staying, that he was going to build a life for himself in Seasoning City, and she….she would support her son in whatever she chose to do. That was what a good mother did. Even if…even if she had been the one to deliver him into the hands of evil itself in the first place….but she could still do right by him. She would support him in whatever he chose to do. Even if he was going to leave her again. That made no sense. She wanted him to stay but she wanted him to leave, too, at the same time. She wanted him to go out and have as close to a normal life as he could but she also wanted him to stay in that room of his so that she knew he was safe. There was so much wrong with it, wanting him to stay, but she was…she was trying to be a good mother and what mother wouldn't want her son to be safe and sound in his room? Especially after the ordeal that he had been through.

"I'm still up, mom, just playing some videogames." Said Serizawa after a moment. It had been close, far too close, to those times when he had been younger and she would knock on his door to tell him that she was home or that she was going to work or that it was his birthday or Christmas or New Year or…but it wasn't like that. He was getting himself all worked up over nothing. He needed to stop. His control should have been better than that. He should have been better than that.

"Oh…alright. I was just checking on you. I'm going to be going to bed now but if you need anything just…just come to my door and knock. It doesn't matter what." Said Yuzu. She heard some movement from the other side of the door. She wondered if he had gone back to what he had been doing. He did that, well he had done that, when he had been younger. She didn't mind. She was just happy to know that he was still alive in there. Even if that door always stayed shut she was always so happy to know that he was still in there and he was alive and he was as close to happy as he could get.

The door opened.

"Goodnight mom, I'll see you in the morning…for breakfast. We should…we should have breakfast together. I can help you make it. I-I sort of know how to cook…a little bit." Said Serizawa. That should not have taken as much effort as it had. He had barely been back in his room and he…he had almost been so rude to his mother. As rude as he'd been before. Why had it been so much effort for him to get that door opened? What was wrong with him? This was not then, this was now, and he could open that door. He wasn't….he wasn't as afraid of himself. He knew that he was better, now, that his control was better. He knew that he would never again repeat the time that he had accidentally sent his own mother flying.

"Good-Goodnight, Katsuya….and thank you. Yes, I would like that. I can show you how to make a few things. You know, so you'll know how to cook for yourself when you…when you leave." Said Yuzu. This was surprising. In a good way. In a way which was both good and…and not good. She was not at all afraid of her son, even if he had accidentally sent her flying once she still was not afraid of him, but what she was afraid of was the fact that he was serious. Him, out there in the world….he should not have….he had left her once already….but this was what she had always wanted for him. This was what any mother would have always wanted for her son. To be able to, at least willing to, try and stand on his own two feet. That was all that she could have wanted for her son. Even if the thought of him alone out there again where anything could happen to him was so terrifying….

She was a good mother and a good mother would have wanted nothing more for her son to get back up and try again.

"Me too…..I would like that too…" said Serizawa. There. He could not lock himself away in his room because he had plans for tomorrow. His mom was going to show him how to make breakfast. That was something that he would need to know how to do if he planned on moving out and moving on with his life. Yes, he was …he was going to get up in the morning and make breakfast with his mother…

He was not going to waste another fifteen years of his life playing videogames.

Sho didn't own any physical copies of games but that had never stopped him from wasting what must have been years and years of his life playing videogames.

At least Dad had called them a waste. Mom never said anything. He still didn't have his own room, and he didn't really need one anyway because a couch worked just fine as a bed and table and also a place to build a fort, and that meant what whatever he did mom could walk in at any time and see. It had been scary the first few times. She had no aura and he couldn't sense her coming…she had caught him drawing actually, that first time, but she hadn't gotten mad and told him that his drawings were a waste of time. She hadn't said that about him watching TV, either, even though he wasn't watching anything educational.

She also had no problem with him playing videogames.

She had asked him what it was that he had been playing. She was always asking him things like that. What he had been playing or watching or drawing. Questions that he knew should not have felt so very intrusive, she was his mom after all and she was nothing like dad, but it had felt so…prying. Like he was going through one of dad's interrogations. Not fun at all. But she was just being nice, moms were supposed to be nice like that, so he had no reason to hide what he was doing when she came into the room.

He did it anyway.

And he still his what he was doing long after she had gone to bed. He had no plans of going to bed. He couldn't. Not when he was all exposed in the living room…even though there was nothing wrong with sleeping on a couch. He had no idea what was wrong with him. Claw was over and done with, dad was in prison, and the world was saved. He had nobody and nothing to be afraid of. No one would ever hurt him again.

But he still could not sleep right there while his mom was in her own room and could have come out at any minute and been right there…

So he had no plans of sleeping. That was fine. He was an esper, he only needed about three or four hours of sleep a night, so there was no need to get himself all twisted up like that. He had no plans of sleeping that night. Maybe later on when mom went out and ran the errands that she could. The Costco was opened again and she had been weirdly excited about that. Yeah, he was on vampire bat time now. He was up all night and slept all day and that was fine by him.

Left him plenty of time to have fun.

He had that sort of freedom now, the freedom to have fun, because dad wasn't there anymore. He wasn't there to tell him that he was wasting his time. He wasn't there to tell him that he was being ridiculous. He wasn't there to rip his drawings into little tiny pieces. He was gone and now it was just Sho and he would draw whatever he wanted or watch whatever he wanted on TV, within reason because he was living with his mom and she didn't like violent stuff, and he could play whatever videogames he wanted…on his DS, anyway, because Serizawa had been the one with all the consoles but now he was staying with his mom and Sho…he didn't want to travel so far from his mom. Not yet, anyway, when he had just gotten back to her. Even though playing games was more fun with Serizawa because it was more fun than playing against the computer and also he had pretty much every game ever made…

Sho could have fun all on his own.

He still had access to dad's money and that meant a game buying spree. He got a bunch of stuff, stuff that he had never even heard of, because it looked interesting. He got a bunch of collections, too, because they seemed like a good value. All of those games all in one. Games for consoles that had come out long before he was born.

He wondered what kind of games Ritsu liked.

Sho had been playing through the Dreamcast collection. He wondered if Ritsu had a DS. He wondered if Ritsu would have wanted to play with him. He wondered if Ritsu was still awake. He wondered if Ritsu was getting sick of him yet. He wondered if he could ever get sick of Ritsu. He seemed, on the surface, like he would have been a boring guy but he was anything but. He was so smart and…and he was good at fighting…and also he had this way of talking where it felt like…where Sho felt a lot of things about his friend that he was still trying to work out.

So maybe it wouldn't have been a good idea if he were to go and see Ritsu.

Because he knew that he felt more than friendship for Ritsu. He wanted to be more than friends…and everything that came with that…and he knew that Ritsu would never have wanted that with him. He had a girlfriend and they were in love and love was the most sacred thing ever. He didn't want to ruin that. Ritsu loved that girl so much that he had risked his life for her…well they had all risked their lives…but it had been special because they were in love! Just like it was special….well he had no idea if it was special when he and Ritsu fought alongside each other because he had no idea if he and Ritsu were even in love.

If he was in love with Ritsu, he meant.

He had never been in love before. He knew that he wanted to be more than friends with Ritsu and it went past the whole wanting to bang thing. He did want to bang Ritsu but he also wanted to bang a whole bunch of other people. Mostly guys now that he thought about it…and that was ok because there wasn't anyone in the world who was going to tell him that it wasn't…and so what if he wanted to bang Rtisu!? He was a really good looking guy! And he was strong, too, and more powerful an esper than he gave himself credit for. Also he smelled really good…kind of like soap but better…not that Sho should ever have been close enough to know what kind of soap he used and then commit that smell to memory so he could go to the store later and figure out which soap it was that he used-

Yeah, he had it bad.

But he didn't know if it was love…and even if it was love and not just really liking someone there was nothing that he could do about it. Even if there was the minute chance that Ritsu liked him back, that he liked guys at all, he still had a girlfriend. She was really nice, she liked to draw and also she was super powerful too because she could see the future, and they were in love…and Sho was not going to interfere with that. What if by interfering with that then their kids ended up never being born? That would have been his fault. What if their kid ended up being the most powerful psychic in the world? Or the prime minister of Japan? Or the owner of a successful chain of pet stores? Then what? Sho would have been responsible for removing that person from the world all because he wanted to hang out with and hold hands with and kiss and bang someone with a girlfriend.

Maybe the best thing to do, then, would be to leave Ritsu be.

Maybe he was just tormenting himself spending so much time with someone who he could never be with. Not in the way that he wanted to, anyway. Or maybe he just wanted to bang Ritsu really badly and his brain was telling him that it was love. He had no idea. He had nothing to compare this to, nothing outside of TV anyway, and it wasn't like he could just ask his parents how they knew that they were in love. How to tell the difference between being in love and wanting to bang.

Yeah, waking mom up in the middle of the night and asking her that would have gone over really well.

He had no idea how he felt but he did now that he should have just left Ritsu be…and he had fully planned to let Ritsu be…but then he found this super fun game where you took care of a human faced fish thing and it evolved and it was so cool and he just had to show Ritsu. For friendship reasons. Not wanting to lay down next to him and hold his hand and kiss him and all of that other stuff reasons. No, he just really, really, really needed to show Ritsu this game and it absolutely could not wait until the sun came up because that was the time that he had set aside for sleep. It was important to keep to a schedule.

This really could not wait until the morning.

"Rei…Rei, wake up." Said Ritsu. He shook her just a little. He could hear the TV going downstairs, mom or dad or maybe both of them were still awake. It was late, really late, and Rei shouldn't have been in his room in the first place. He would have been in trouble if his mom and dad had caught her in his room during the daytime but at night…they'd have to describe new words to describe how angry his mom would be. Heh. Maybe even angry enough to kick him out like she'd kicked out Shigeko…or maybe he could just leave on his own like Shigeko had left on her own.

"Wh-what? Oh no! What time is it?!" asked Rei. She sat up too fast and ended up bumping heads with Ritsu. Oh no! Now it was even worse. She looked like such an idiot. She couldn't believe that they had bumped heads and she couldn't believe that she had slept so late, too. Her parents were going to kill her. She was going to die. She would never see Ritsu again. She would-

A hand rubbed her head.

"You're ok. I mean you don't have a bump on your head or anything." Said Ritsu. They'd bumped heads. It was his fault for having rested his head on hers. He had fallen asleep too. He couldn't help it. She was just so warm and comfortable…and also he had been feeling pretty boneless after….yeah.

He was not going to think about that.

About how she had wanted to pay back all that he had done for her. Not that he had ever asked her to, not that he ever would have asked her to, but she had wanted to and he had no reason to say no. Not unless he was prepared to come clean about everything. Since he had no plans to do that, and it was what boyfriends and girlfriends were supposed to do, he had let her repay the favor. Even though she had been terrible at it. Even though she had spent the whole time apologizing for being terrible at it. Even though he had wanted to be anywhere but there until he closed his eyes and thought of…someone who he was not supposed to think of. Two someone's who he was not supposed to think of. After that the whole thing had been over in no time.

And then he had felt both very guilty and very boneless and very tired.

Rei had wanted to cuddle, afterwards, so that was what they did. He used his powers to move his dresser in front of his door and then they had cuddled and went to sleep. That would only work for about a millisecond, barricading the door, because mom would probably get pissed off that she couldn't come in and she'd kick it opened or something. Also him locking his door was pretty much an admission that he had been doing something that he shouldn't have been doing. Even though, actually, he was doing what they wanted him to do. They wanted him to find a girl and marry her and live a normal life and that was what he was doing.

Maybe he wanted to get caught.

Maybe a part of him wanted to get caught. Maybe a part of him was tired of living the life that other people wanted him to live. Maybe he wanted to get caught in some stupid effort at proving that he was not the perfect little Ritsu doll that his parents wanted him to be. Maybe he wanted to get caught, too, so he would have been forbidden from seeing her….and that would not have been fair to her at all…

She was in love with him. Being away from him…that would have hurt her…and the last thing he wanted to do was to hurt her.

"Oh my God! I can't believe that I did that! I am so, so, so sorry! I can't believe that I was such a klutz…" said Rei. She tried her best to whisper. If she got caught in his room then that would be the end of them. His mom would ban her from the house and from seeing him and if she couldn't see him then their relationship would die and she was not going to let that happen! Even though when she looked into the future she saw….

The future was not written in stone.

It was written in the sand. The future changed constantly. There was no path for it, there were multiple paths, and even if when she followed those paths she saw…well that didn't matter, her powers became less and less accurate the more she looked into the future. She and Ritsu would be together forever. They would go to high school and university together, she'd have to really bring her grades up, and then they'd get married and have babies and it would be the best….

She would make the future happen. She didn't care what she had to do, she would do everything in her power to make that future happen.

"Rei, it's fine. Just…don't get my parents in here. It's late and I know that my mom would not take it well if she found you in my room. My dad…it depends on how afraid he is of my mom right now." Said Ritsu

"You're right. I should really get home…I don't think that my parents seriously think that I was in my room all day…but I want to stay with you…you're so comfortable." Said Rei. She leaned down and rested her head on his chest. He smelled so good. She wished that she could have spent the night with him…not like that! She just wished that she could have spent the night in his arms. Like married people did. She felt so well rested….so this was why adults slept in the same bed. She liked this. She wanted…she wanted to spend this night and every night with him…she looked into the future.

She was going to end up sleeping in her own bed.

"You…you're comfortable too but we're both going to get in trouble." Said Ritsu. Too warm, it had been too warm. Comfortable in some ways but also too warm. Not in the good way. Not like when he'd fallen asleep with Sho next to him…

He put an arm around her.

"You're right, you're always right. I'm going to get in trouble if I stay here….let me see actually…ok, if I stay here then I get in trouble but if I come home now…my sister's been covering for me…but she's going to want a million favors in return…so I guess that I have to go home. Sorry. I'll see you…I don't actually know when I'll see you again but…but I'll message." Said Rei. Ritsu was holding her so close and tight…of course he didn't want her to go. If she left then he would be all alone with his parents and she did not wish that on even her big sister. Any of her big sisters. Even Riko.

"I know you will…I will too." Said Ritsu. He held her hand like she liked. She would message him 'good morning' and then nonstop all day until she told him 'goodnight' and then they'd do it all again. He wondered if it would be easier when they were married. Maybe she would say less to him once they were living together…or maybe she would say more to him because they'd be together all the time. They'd have kids, too, and then they'd probably end up fighting all the time…or not. No. He wouldn't do that to her. He would not treat her like that or put their kids though that.

"I'll message you when I get home. Can you help me down through your window? I don't think that I should go sneaking through your house. Your parents would definitely notice." Said Rei. She scooted to the end of his bed and tried not to make any faces. She felt so gross. All slimy from…stuff. Maybe it would have been less gross, afterwards, if she were undressed…not that she was ready for that yet. She wondered if that was normal, being ready for touching stuff before being ready for naked stuff, but it wasn't like there was even anyone she could have asked. Asking her mom was out of the question because then that would be the same as confessing that she and Ritsu were doing that sort of thing…even though there was nothing wrong with consensual sexual expression between two people who had feelings for each other. Mom's book had said that right there in black and white and it was written by relationship doctors. She couldn't ask her mom or her sister, Riko would just call her a nosy little pervert again and maybe throw a sock in her face which was always super gross. The only other person she knew who did things like that was Mob and she was not going to tell her friend about the boyfriend and girlfriend stuff that she did with said friend's little brother. It hadn't gone well the last time she told Mob about…stuff…and that hadn't even been real stuff. Not like the stuff that she and Ritsu did now…

Forget talking to people. She'd stick to books from now on.

"I'll walk you home. It isn't safe out there." said Ritsu. He scooted to the end of the bed. He regretted putting his feet down without looking. He tossed the gross tissues into the garbage can beside his desk. Maybe that would be a good reason to have her not return the favor all that often, too much cleanup, or maybe not. He shouldn't have been trying to weasel out of it. It made her happy and he was supposed to make her happy. That was part of the job of being a boyfriend. Keeping her safe and happy. At least it wasn't a lot of work. He had heard, before, that some girls were super high maintenance. Expensive dates and gifts and stuff like that. Their dates never got more expensive than a trip to the arcade and he usually just won something for her there. She didn't ask a lot from him and he knew that he should have been grateful. She was a good girlfriend by all the metrics that he was supposed to measure her by. She was pretty and liked spending time with him, he never had to worry about her cheating, she loved him and wanted to kiss him and mess around with him and that was what he was supposed to want in a girlfriend.

He was supposed to want a girlfriend in the first place.

"Th-thank you…but you don't have to. I can tell that nothing is going to happen to me…but thank you so much for walking me home. I mean it's cold out and it's late and if your parents find out that you're gone they'll get so mad so it really does mean a lot to me that you would walk me home so…so thank you." said Rei. She was nervous…why? She knew the future, she knew that nothing was going to happen to her out there…but it was that he wanted to spend time with her. That was it. She knew how he was, how distant he could be, and sometimes it felt like he didn't want to be with her. That was crazy of course. He loved her. Even if he usually just responded with one or two word answers when she messaged him…he wanted to be with him. He just didn't show it that often that was all. That was good, actually, because it made the times that he sought her out and…and wanted to spend time with her…it made them even more special.

"You don't have to thank me. It's not like I could just let you walk around out there at night on your own. I have to keep you safe, that's my job." Said Ritsu with a shrug. She was his girlfriend and he was her boyfriend and he had a job to do.

So he did it.

He helped her out his window and walked with her. She could have walked by herself, she could see the future after all, but he still was going to do the right thing and walk with her. He always did the right thing. It should have felt good, doing the right thing, but he mostly just felt cold. It was cold out. Even where she was clinging to him as they walked he felt cold. He didn't know why. It wasn't that cold out, not really, and either way he shouldn't have felt bad. He was just walking with her. He was making her happy. Who cared if he was happy? He was making someone else happy, someone who loved him, and that was what mattered.

It was always best to make others happy.

He was through being selfish. Well, acting selfishly. He still had selfish thoughts. He still wanted things that he knew that he should not have wanted. Things that he wasn't even going to think about. Things that he was trying his damnedest not to think about. Someone he was trying his damnedest not to think about. Someone who he swore that he could feel…but that was all in his head. It was him and Rei, who was clinging to him, and no one else. There wasn't a familiar aura coming towards him. There wasn't a very familiar red auras coming closer and closer until-

"Hey! What's up?!" asked Sho as he glomped onto Ritsu. Ok, maybe not the best thing to do considering how he felt but sometimes he had ideas and they became actions without him thinking them through. Like that. That had been…something that he had wanted to do…so he did it.

He let go.

"Sorry!" said Sho. He was more used to seeing auras than people. He had seen Ritsu's aura only, his girlfriend's wasn't that bright, so he hadn't noticed her…but not he did notice her. He felt guilty even though he hadn't done anything wrong. Well he had thought about doing a lot of things that were wrong but just because he thought about something that didn't mean that he would act on it…well sometimes it did but not when it came to things like that.

"Oh…hey." Said Ritsu. He didn't know why he felt so guilty. He hadn't DONE anything. Well not with Sho, anyway, so he had no reason to feel guilty. So he had to stop feeling guilty. Now. Any minute now. Come on already!

"Hi! Wow, I haven't seen you since we saved the world! You look better, by the way, a lot better. I guess all of your injuries got healed in the explosion too. That was so weird how that happened. It was so scary but then we all woke up and we were fine. I didn't see that coming at all." said Rei. Wow, how had she not seen him coming? Probably because she hadn't been looking for him. She had been looking for anger in her future so obviously she hadn't seen Sho. He was a friend, well he was more Ritsu's friend it seemed like, but any friend of his was a friend of hers too. That was important to the long term stability of a relationship, she had read, having mutual friends.

"Of course you didn't seen me coming. I blend into the night." Said Sho with a shrug.

"Sure you do." Said Ritsu as he reached over and flicked Sho's bright red hair. Sho batted his hand away, though he didn't mean it. Thank God it was dark out. His ace was as red as his hair. He hoped that the city didn't fix those streetlights any time soon. He needed the cover of darkness.

"Hey! I totally blend into the night!" said Sho. He couldn't meet Ritsu's eyes. He couldn't meet anyone's eyes. What was with him? Ritsu had a girlfriend. Right there. The red haired girl holding his other hand.

"No, it's because I wasn't looking for you. I was trying to see if anyone dangerous was around and I know that you aren't dangerous. You're a friend, well you're more Ritsu's friend, but I hope that you can be my friend too. Why are you out so late? Is everything ok? I haven't seen anything bad in the future but my future vision isn't the greatest." Said Rei. She was talking too much, she knew that she was talking too much, but she couldn't help it. She had to say something. If she didn't talk, if she didn't say something right then and there, then she would have said something about what she had just seen. That had been…cute. That was a good word for it. There was just something about two boys together…which was not something that she should have been thinking about!

"Your future vision is fine." Said Ritsu. He hated it when she got like that. She knew that her future vision was fine. She just said things, sometimes, so that he would tell her something nice. He wished that she would just come out and ask him to compliment her.

"I can't always see clearly. Sometimes things change and sometimes I just can't see things because I wasn't looking for them specifically. Like right now I can see that…you're going to hang out with him and he's got a game to show you…wow, you guys really are good friends." Said Rei as she flipped through the many paths that the future could take. Ritsu and Sho would spend a lot of time together. She was so happy for them! Ritsu needed more friends, he had a lot of trouble getting close to people, and she could see a lot of good things in their future….and a lot of good futures…but she wasn't in a lot of them…but that was ok because she was in some of them. The future was always changing. She couldn't cling to any one version of the future. Unless all paths lead to one place, like with the explosion, or with…not all paths led to one place this time…just a lot of them.

"I could be your friend too, if you want." Said Sho. He didn't have a lot of friends. Well he had thought that they were friends before but being friends was probably more complicated than just saving the world together. It was ok for him to be friends with her. It was good, actually, because then he could hang out with her and he could also hang out with Ritsu…but a friends. His girlfriend would be there and then if she was there then maybe he would have stopped thinking about Ritsu like he had been since maybe even the day they'd met.

"I-I have to take her home before she gets in trouble. We can hang out afterwards." Said Ritsu quickly. Why didn't he want her to hang out with him and Sho? There was no reason for him to not want…well there was…but that was not a good reason at all. No, she could hang out with whoever she wanted to. He had no reason to feel guilty. He hadn't done anything wrong…with Sho…and he was never going to do anything wrong ever again…so there.

"I can come with you. There's all kinds of creeps out here, I bet. Murderers and creeps and stuff. All that bad stuff that happens to girls. Two guys are better than one, in this case, I think." Said Sho. He didn't want to wait around for Ritsu to come home. That either meant hanging out outside in the cold, hanging out back at mom's house, or hanging out in Ritsu's room without him there. None of the options seemed good. None of the options involved being with Ritsu.

"You don't have to-" said Ritsu. He did not want to mix these two parts of his life. He didn't have a good reason, a terrible reason actually, but it was still a reason. If it was just him and Rei then it was easier to be her boyfriend. To make her happy. To pretend that he could possibly return the feelings that she felt for him. To not feel guilty about the way he really felt about her, and the things that he did with her, and also the things that he couldn't feel for her. It wouldn't be easy if his girlfriend and the guy he liked were within a hundred meters of each other.

One hundred meters was still too close.

"Sure! That'd be great! I mean I don't see any danger in our future but the future is always changing." Said Rei. This was great! Now she was friends with her boyfriend's friend! Maybe Ritsu would come with her to the Awakening Lab more. Then he would be better friends with her friends and then maybe he could bring Sho too and then they could all hang out and it would be great! Even though she felt like, sometimes, that maybe she shouldn't have gone back to the Awakening Lab. If Matsuura's work ever ended up being successful, if he ever ended up figuring out how to give people powers, then there would be more people like the ones who tried to take over the world. She never wanted to go through that again, having to save the world, and it was maybe even irresponsible to give people powers. There were some people in the world who should not have had powers, who could not have been trusted with powers, so maybe it was best to just let people get powers randomly. What if someone wanted to get powers and then try to take over the world? What if they had to go through that again?

She hoped that never happened.

"Great! Anyway, I've got to show you guys something. I found this game about this human faced fish and you have to take care of it and it evolves and it's just so…weird! I mean I like virtual pets as much as the next guy but I don't think that they should have human faces. It's just…weird." Said Sho as he pulled his DS out of his pocket. He showed them the weird virtual pet, human faced fish game, rabbit hole he had found himself in. This was nice, walking with friends, just walking and talking and not having to worry about anything.

Was this how normal people felt all the time?

It probably wouldn't. No, not the way he felt right then and there. He stood next to Ritsu. His girlfriend was on the other side. He was maybe walking too close to Ritsu. He was maybe bumping shoulders a little too often with Ritsu. He didn't know. He would think about it later. Right now he had to…to think about how weird this human faced fish game was. Not that it had a totally human face. There was just enough wrong with it to make it even worse.

"Yeah, that's pretty firmly in the uncanny valley." Said Ritsu as they walked down the empty streets together. It would have been cold, he would have been cold, if he hadn't been walking so close to Sho. He felt like a furnace, Sho did, or maybe it was Ritsu. Or Rei. She was pretty warm next to him too. Or maybe he was just warm enough for everyone. He couldn't help it, he was right there in the middle, and there was nothing he could do but stay stuck in the middle…stuck between the guy he liked and the girl who loved him. There was nothing he could do but walk between them even though he wanted to run away or disappear or…or something.

But he didn't, because he couldn't, because there was nothing he could do but be stuck in the middle of all of this…

And wait for their human faced fish to evolve, too.


	82. Scratches

A trip to the phone store had been in order for quite some time.

The stores in Lower Back Pain City were still opened. They hadn't had any of the destruction the Seasoning City had. Rei had messaged her over friendbook and said that the only thing opened was the Costco. They sold phones at Costco so if Mob had been back on Seasoning City then she could have gotten a new phone. But they had not gone to Costco. They had gone to the real phone store and Master Reigen said that she could have any phone she wanted, any at all, because she had saved the whole world.

She didn't much care about phones.

It just had to do the things she needed it to do. She just needed to be able to call and text and play games and take pictures. All phones could do that. Picking one had been kind of hard. She decided on one that had a good camera. She would need it for when she and Master Reigen got back to work. They would go back to making videos for YouTube and Friendbook and stuff. They had to because it was good for business. They would definitely need to drum up some business. The TV said, and Sophia agreed, that the economy would be in trouble for a while. Her dad would have said the same thing, and her mom too, if she had called them.

She could have called them if she'd wanted to. She had a phone now. She remembered their phones numbers and she easily could have called her mom and dad and talked to them. Told them that she was ok. Told them that she was sorry for all the trouble that she had caused during the big fight. Told them that she was sorry for all the trouble that she had caused when she had lived there. Told them that…she could have told them a lot of things.

That was what a phone was for, after all, calling people up and telling them things.

But that was not what she was using her phone for now. She using her phone to make a video. Not one of her Spirits and Such ones, there was very little spiritual activity in Lower Back Pain City, but one of a cat. Master Reigen's cat…well he had been his cat back before Master Reigen moved out…but now he was just Sophia's cat. In as much as a cat could be owned after all. Cats just sort of lived with you. They were like tiny tigers that you invited into your house.

Especially orange cats.

Mob decided that she liked orange cats best. When she grew up she was going to get an orange cat and call him Tiger. Tiger was a good name for an orange cat because they had stripes which made them look like tigers. She wondered why this cat was called Thomas O'Malley. That was a person's name, it seemed, and not a cat's name. The cat's full name was actually Abraham DeLacey Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley, O'Malley the alley cat. That was too many names for a person let alone a cat. His name was just shortened to Thomas O'Malley. If the cat had been Japanese he would have been called O'Malley Thomas.

Well the cat was Japanese but he was owned by an American person.

An expat. That was important. Sophia was an expat, someone who had come to Japan to work, and she was Japanese without being Japanese. That was what she had said, anyway, and Mob wasn't going to disagree. People were what they were and they could call themselves what they wanted to call themselves. She had nothing against foreign people. Some people had things against foreign people. Mob didn't care. People were alike all over. An esper was an esper and it didn't matter what country they came from because they would always have their use and-

And those were not her thoughts.

She still had so many of Touichirou's thoughts in her head. She didn't know why. She didn't know why his head was still all wrapped up in hers after they had…after they came back from the void. After instrumentality was over. It was over and done with so that should have been over and done with. She cared about people because they were people, plain and simple, and not because of how useful they could be to her. She cared about everyone and wanted everyone to be happy. She was Mob, she was Shigeko, and she was not Touichirou. It was all over and she was herself and she was normal and she was being her own normal self and doing normal things and everything was normal.

It really was.

She was doing a very normal thing. She liked cats, everyone liked cats, so she was recording a cat. She would record this and put it up on the Spirits and Such page. Then Master Reigen would have been happy with her. They needed to work to live so she was going to…well not drum up business but remind people that they were still alive. They hadn't worked together in so long. She hoped that if someone saw the video she made of the cat then they would remember Spirits and Such and then they would call her and Master Reigen and then they could go out on a job like normal.

Maybe that was what was going to happen.

She didn't know. She wished that this cat would do something video worthy. So far she had just been following it around the house. First it had been napping in it's cat tree but then it had woken up, stretched, and started walking around the house. Maybe it was just walking around aimlessly because Mob was following it. Maybe she was making the cat feel uncomfortable. Maybe she should have just set her camera up as a hidden camera and then gotten some candid cat footage. Maybe she should have set up a twenty four hour live stream or something like that. Her now phone did get excellent battery life, the salesman had said so.

She still followed the cat.

It had just finished going up the stairs. Mob hoped that it didn't shed too badly on the carpet. That was something that Sophia didn't like, how much the cat shed, even though the cat hair could have easily been vacuumed up. Mob didn't get adults sometimes. Her mom had been the same way. She had said no to getting a cat because she hadn't wanted to deal with the cat hair. It came right up off the ground. Adults were so weird sometimes. Not Master Reigen, though, not usually anyway. He could be weird sometimes, like how sometimes he let her lay her head down on him and sometimes he didn't, or like how sometimes he told her that he loved her and then he told her that they were just friends. Mob knew that they were just friends. She knew that she could never be his girlfriend because she was too young and also she had a boyfriend already. She knew these things and she thought that it was weird that he thought that she needed reminding.

Or maybe she was just clueless.

She had always been clueless ever since she could remember. That was just her default state of being, like how her default phone background had been solid blue. She could change her phone background, now it was a picture of the cat sleeping inside of a hat, but she could not change who she was as a person. How clueless she is, was, and always would be. There were just too many rules, that was all, and it was hard to keep them all straight. Rules for walking and talking and making friends and being friends and a million and one other things. Complicated things. Things that she honestly had trouble keeping straight in her head.

But not all rules were complicated.

There was the rule about bedrooms. Specifically how she was barred from going into mom and dad's room. Kids were not allowed to go into the rooms of adults, that was a rule, but adults could go wherever they wanted. That was why mom and dad could go into her and Ritsu's rooms whenever she wanted. That was also why she didn't know, entirely, if it was ok to follow the cat into Master Reigen's room. This was not their room at home, they didn't share here, so she wondered if it was ok. She could see inside of it, he was downstairs talking with his mom about something, and she could see how the cat was hanging out under the bed…

Maybe it was ok.

Because Master Reigen and her shared a room back at home. At first they had shared the living room but now they shared his room…though he had talked before about getting her a room of her own. The two of them getting a new apartment. She and Teru were already getting an apartment together, a thought that freaks her out just a little, so she did not want to have to go apartment hunting with Master Reigen too. She liked the home that they shared and she wouldn't have traded it for the whole, entire, world.

Also she liked sharing a room with him.

Because they shared a room at home then it must have been ok to go into his room now. The cat was in there, too, which gave her a good reason to be in his room. She needed to see what that cat was up to. She quickly stepped through the doorway into his room. The carpet was a lot softer here, and a different shade of blue, too. The walls were blue and the curtains were blue and there was just a lot of blue. There was even a blue square, the paint had faded around it, up on the wall. That was where the Mogami poster had been. They had burnt it.

Mob was glad that they had burnt it.

She knew that Mogami was out there but she also knew that he was really weak. Well weak for him. She knew that she should have been out there looking for him, trying to hunt him down before he could hurt anyone else, but she was just too…tired. Even though she knew that she was being very selfish there she also knew that she was tired. She had just saved the world and she wanted to be normal. To get back to normal. To forget all about Mogami and the unreality. It was a lot easier to remember nowadays that she was in this reality. She had helped save it after all.

Also she was in Lower Back Pain City now, not Seasoning City.

That was a big difference. He had made a terrible version of Seasoning City for her to live in. Lower Back Pain City was an entirely different place than Seasoning City. The houses looked different and it was a little warmer and…and it was just a totally different place entirely. The sort of place where cats and birds and bugs didn't mean danger. The sort of place where she could enjoy a cool glass of milk without having to worry about it being dumped over her head. The sort of place where she had clothes to change into and a bed to sleep in. This was…this was a good sort of place. The sort of place that she wouldn't have minded staying in…

But she knew that she had to leave eventually.

That cat had to come out from under the bed eventually and she had to go home eventually too. She had to get back to her friends and her boyfriend and her brother and her life. She could always come back here for a visit, though, the trains went here so it would have been easy. She needed to get back home eventually just like that cat needed to come out from under the bed eventually. She held the phone up with her powers and got down on her hands and knees to see better under the bed. There were so many boxes under there. As soon as Mob got close the cat went behind them. That wasn't good. The people wanted to see a cat, not old boxes with who knew what in them, and this left her with no choice.

She used her powers to move the boxes out of the way.

Which was not at all a form of snooping. Sophia had said, before, that she and Master Reigen should have made themselves at home. She also said that Mob could move the boxes in her room, the guest room, so that she would have room to move around. Therefore this was ok. It wasn't like she was going through them. They had boring labels anyway. 'Taxes 2011', 'X-Mas Décor Indoor', 'Yoshio's Junk', 'Indoor Gym',' Arataka's Junk'-

Oh.

Well that was interesting.

Mob wasn't snooping. The box was partially opened anyway, the tape had gotten too old to hold the box together, so since it was opened a little bit opening it the rest of the way would not have counted as snooping at all. So that was what she did, she opened the box the rest of the way, but she was not snooping, no. She was just curious. Curiosity killed the cat…but she was not a cat…and also she could see the cat's tail poking out from under the bed. The cat was fine and she was fine and this was fine. She was not snooping. It wasn't like she was going to open that box and find some of Master Reigen's deepest, darkest, most private secrets. Of course not. She was just going to open the box and find-

Clothes.

Just clothes. Old ones, ones that smelled like dust and mothballs, and ones that didn't look like they had fit Master Reigen in years. On the very top was an old gakuran. It was black, the ones at her school were dark blue, and it had silver buttons, the ones at her school had gold buttons, and also this one had a bunch of sewn up rips in it. She put her phone down on the ground and used her powers to lift the gakuran from the box. She sneezed as some dust went up her nose. Yes, this had not been worn in a very long time.

Not since before she had been born.

This was probably a middle school uniform. Not a lot of high schoolers wore gakurans. Yes, he had probably worn this when he was in middle school. Back when he had been her age and she had either been a baby or not even born yet. He had worn this when he had been small, smaller than he was now, as small as she was now…or maybe not. She was a small person. She was so small that when she had borrowed Tome's school uniform she had been practically swimming in it. She wondered if she would have been swimming in this if she tried it on. She wondered if the sleeves would have gone down over her hands and the bottom would have been long enough to wear as a dress.

She tried it on.

She stood up and put it on over her dress. The coat, not the pants, because she hated pants. She had no idea how people could walk around in pants. She was wearing tights and even those were annoying. She hated the feeling of her legs being restricted as well as the feeling of sometimes rubbing in between her legs…and not in the good way. She could not begin to understand how boys could wear pants day in and day out. She could not begin to understand how boys could have stood to wear these uniforms day in and day out, either.

The collar itched.

The collar was too stiff and too itchy. The sleeves were too long, too, they totally covered her hands. The bottom was almost as long as the hem of her dress. Master Reigen had been much bigger than her when he had been her age. She had worn Ritsu's gakuran once just to see what it was like. It had been like this only not as big. The collar of Ritsu's gakuran had been stiff and itchy too. How did boys put up with this? She didn't know. She decided to take it off before she went crazy. She undid the buttons slowly as not to break them off, she had that problem with buttons sometimes, and she folded it up as neatly as she could. She had been about to put it back when she saw something else in the box. A T-Shirt this time.

She had never heard of that band.

It looked like rock music. Teru might have known it. He knew more about rock music than she did. She liked anything cheerful and mostly leaned towards idols and stuff like that. Mob had never heard of The Pillows, though, but now she wanted to look them up. Master Reigen had liked them so maybe they were good. She held the shirt up in front of herself. Maybe this fit her. Not that she was snooping, not at all, she just wanted to see if this shirt would fit. She was just being curious. Curiosity had killed the cat but she was not a cat at all, she was a person, and as far as she knew nobody had ever died of putting on a T-Shirt.

She put it on. It fit.

It was very baggy on her. She could hardly see herself in it. She looked like a boy, she thought as she stood in front of Master Reigen's mirror, or maybe like an elementary schooler. Not that she looked that much like a middle schooler in her opinion. She was still in an undershirt after all. That had always been a point of teasing, the fact that she was still in an undershirt even though she was fourteen. Asagiri had even called her a carpenter's dream because she was flat as a board and needed a screw…

That was in the unreality. This was now.

First of all she was not flat as a board. She knew because she had eyes and if she had been in her normal clothes she could have seen the outline of her breasts. They were small but there were there and she was not flat as a board and Asagiri had just been being mean…and it didn't even matter because Asagiri was not there to tell her that she was flat as a board and that she needed a screw…and that last part wasn't even Asagiri's business! She was not still a virgin and even if she had been that was nobody's business but her own! Well Teru's too because he was the person that she was having sex with. Not now at that moment, of course, because he was milometers away in Seasoning City but they had done it more times than she could count…and now that she was thinking about it she kind of wanted to do it again…and now she was thinking about it. Him kissing her and holding her and walking her backward so that her legs bumped into the bed…that bed…and then she would still be in the shirt because…because she didn't know why…and then Master Reigen would say…

She took that shirt off really fast.

No. Nope. She was not supposed to be thinking about those things. Not about Master Reigen…and not about Teru, either, when she was standing in the middle of Master Reigen's old bedroom. That had been wrong, very wrong, and for so many reasons. The first reason being that she had a boyfriend and she loved him and he wanted to marry her and she had agreed…and the second reason being that Master Reigen would never have done those things with her anyway….and the third reason being that she should not have been getting herself all worked up into that state in a place where Master Reigen could have walked in on her and then their auras would have met and then he could have felt what she had been feeling-

And then she would have had to dig a hole, bury herself in it, and then wait to die because there was no way that she would have lived on the same Earth as him if he knew that she had those sort of feelings about him.

Or in general…though he knew that she had those feelings in general. She had told him about the first time that she had Teru had done it after all. She had just needed someone to talk too because the whole thing had been way too much…but it was better now. She had gotten used to it, not just her body but her feelings as well, and it ad even started to feel good. She wasn't even sad anymore afterwards. That was because she knew that the unreality was over and that this was reality and she and Teru loved each other and nobody was going to take that away from her.

And also they had figured out how to fit together while they were both laying down sideways. That had helped a lot.

Without his weight on her she could focus on how she felt. There was nothing to remind her of the unreality, of when she had been pinned down and stuff, and that meant that she could just focus on Teru. On how he made her feel. On how she could make him feel. It still didn't last very long, which meant that he was happy at least, but it was lasting long enough for her to feel good. It didn't stop once he was done, either, because he liked making her feel good too…

She really wanted to see Teru again.

And she would. Later, not now. She would come back to him and then they would be together…and it would be so great…but it would not be happening anytime soon. She thought so, anyway, though she had no idea when she would be going back home. She wouldn't stay here forever, though, not in this city or this house or in this room. Yes, she really needed to get out of this room. She was going through someone else's things and she was thinking thoughts that she should not have thought about and also that cat did not want to be followed around anyway so the thing to do, really was to take off that T-Shirt and get out of this room…so that was what she did. She took off Master Reigen's old T-Shirt and folded it up before she put it back…

But she did not get out of his room.

She would, eventually, but in a minute. This room was like a time machine, almost, a way to look into Master Reigen's past. The person that he had been before he had even known her. Before she had even been born. When he had been her age and he had liked shows she had never seen or was barely aware of and played videogames that she had never heard of and wore a black gakuran with a stiff collar…back when he had been a kid. A kid like her…even though she didn't feel like a kid. She hadn't felt like a kid for some time. She wondered if he had felt like a kid back then. She wondered if he had been through anything that would make him feel like not a kid at all, like an adult, even though chronologically he had still been a kid…

He had said, before, that times were hard when he had been her age.

She knew that he was telling the truth, he always did, but she couldn't imagine it. The picture that he had painted of when he had been her age. His mom was so nice, why had they fought back then? She had no idea what is father was like, she had never met the man before in her life, so it was easier to imagine him as being a jerk to Master Reigen. His mom was nice, though, very nice. She was always talking to Mob about her life and showing her how to do things like cook or brush the cat or file down the cat's nails, important things like that, and she could not imagine her being mean to Master Reigen.

Though they did fight.

That was what was happening downstairs. She could feel, sort of, some tense feelings. Those were from Master Reigen. The bedroom door was closed but she was sure that if she were to open that door she would have heard them fighting. Not shouting, never shouting, but exchanging heated words. She didn't know what there even was for them to be upset about. It was over, everything was over, and they should have been happy. She knew that she was happy. She was the most happy…at least she tried to be. She tried to be happy because it was….because it was all over. It was all over and now she had a cat to follow around, even if it didn't want to be followed around and…and that was what she was going to do.

She lifted the bed up with her powers.

Not too much and not too fast. She didn't want to scare the cat. The cat had done nothing to her and she had no reason to scare it. She just wanted to watch it, to play with it, to be with it. She liked cats and cats were ok now. Cats were ok and they were not a thing and nothing was a thing anymore because what had happened was over. It was over and done with just like saving the world was over and done with. Over. Everything was over. This was the end…or just the beginning again. She was there and she was happy and…

And the cat ran away.

After she picked up the bed the cat bolted for the door. The cat had no reason to be afraid of her. She was not a scary person. She was not a monster. Mom and dad…they thought that she was a monster. Even if she had a new phone she couldn't call them because they thought that she was a monster. She wasn't. She had saved the world and saved everyone…even if she did have this power just right there beneath her skin, her vessel, and…and it had been so much….she would not think about it. It was over and she was never…she should not have been feeling like that. It was over. She told herself over and over again inside of her head. It was over. Everything was over. She was…she was fine and everything was normal and…and that cat needed to leave the room because it was afraid of her and…and if someone was afraid of her then she should have let them go.

She opened the door.

The cat ran out. The door was opened. She could hear voices now, Master Reigen and his mom were talking. She couldn't tell what they were saying. She moved closer. She wasn't spying, no, she was following the cat. The cat had gone to the top of the stairs so that was where she was going to go too. Just to follow the cat. That was all. She still needed to follow him and record what he did…and that was what she did.

She went to the top of the stairs and started to pet the cat.

"Think about your future, Arataka." Said Sophia. Mob frowned. His mom had told him that before. She was always talking about the future. What was there to worry about when it came to the future? They were fine the way they were. They were here visiting and while it was nice they would go back home and get back to being Spirits and Such.

"I am, mom, I am thinking about it. She wants things to go back to the way it's always been." Said Master Reigen. He was right, she did want things to go back to the way that they had always been. So what was there to argue about? She was better and they were better and the best thing to do would be to get back to how things had always been. Simple.

"Arataka, you know for a fact that your business is not safe or sustainable. Seasoning City is…the economy of that city…the housing…and your business…it's fucked." Said Sophia. Mob gasped. Her powers made the pictures on the wall above her rattle. She had never heard Sophia say anything like that before. She was a mom. Moms were not supposed to say words like that. She knew that her mom didn't, anyway.

"Mom!" said Master Reigen

"What? It is. We both know it. You weren't doing great before all of this-" said Sophia

"We're doing fine. We still have money from the Asagiri job and-" said Reigen

"Oh yes. That debacle." Said Sophia. They were switching back and forth between English and Japanese. Mob could mostly understand what they were saying but she had no idea what a debacle was. She would look it up later. She didn't think that she should have been listening to this so she, therefore, didn't think that she should have asked about what she had heard.

"Mom…don't." said Master Reigen

"Don't so what, Taka? Bring up the debacle that was that job? Because I will. That job is all the more reason for you to get out of that dangerous business of yours. Arataka, that job almost ruined Mobbu's life and I don't think that the money was worth it." Said Sophia. Mob didn't want them to be talking about this. There was no reason, not a single reason whatsoever, to be talking about that. It was over. It was all over. Well Mogami was…he was out there somewhere…but this was all over. She wasn't in the unreality anymore and she wasn't living outside anymore. She was there and she was safe and warm and everyone she loved was safe and there was no reason to talk about it!

Her powers made her hair float and the pictures beside her on the wall rattled. The cat tried to run away. She held onto him.

"Mom…the money wasn't…it was not about the money. It was never about the money. It was about Mob…she wanted to help the Asagiri kid and…and I could have handled it better. I know that I could have handled that whole situation better. I know that…I know that I fucked up with her but…but it won't be like that this time." Said Master Reigen. He was right, that was over now, and now they…they were not going to even talk about what had happened before. That was then and this was now and this…this was better…because he hadn't pushed her away. He hadn't pushed her away and she hadn't run away. They were together now and that was what mattered…so there was no reason to talk about what had happened. Even to his own mother.

"How do you know that? You don't. You have no way of knowing how she'll react to this." said Sophia. That wasn't fair. Master Reigen knew how she would react to this and how she had reacted to this and how she was reacting now…and she was fine…and everything was fine…it was all fine.

"We were up all night playing videogames and now I'm pretty sure that she's following that cat around. She's fine, mom, she's totally fine. She isn't going to run away again and I'm not going to be an asshole to her. We're here and we'll get back to Seasoning City eventually and then we'll get back to normal and-" said Master Reigen

"Back to that dangerous business of yours, you mean. Back to barely making any money while risking your lives, while risking her life, and then-" said Sophia

"We have plenty of money in the bank, mom, even if we're only using my half of the money from the Asagiri job. Mom, we're going to be fine. Have I ever asked you for money? No, because I've got this. I can take care of both of us. I'm a grown man, mom, and I can take care of myself…and her. We have enough money from-" said Master Reigen. Something was bothering him. She knew that he repeated himself like that when something bothered him. She didn't know what. He had said it himself, they were fine and everything was fine.

"Taka, how long is that money meant to last for? Maybe, just maybe, this isn't the time to be living off of your savings. You're too young for that, for one thing, and also it's wildly irresponsible." Said Sophia

"Again with this? Mom, for my whole life you've been calling me irresponsible. Aren't you tired yet?" asked Master Reigen. That was not the way that you were supposed to talk to your mom. Especially not a mom as nice as Sophia.

"Aren't you? You've…you been the same since you've been her age! You…you have to think about her. You have to think about what's best for her." said Sophia

"I am thinking about what's best for her. The best thing for her is to get back to normal. She hasn't…things haven't been normal for her for a long time. She just needs things to be normal again." said Master Reigen

"How can she get back to normal when the city, when Seasoning City, is in ruins? When she took on the man who challenged the whole…and then she won. I don't think that things can ever get back to normal for her." said Sophia. Mob wanted to go right downstairs and tell Sophia that she was wrong. That it would be easy to get back to normal. That being normal would just come from going back to school and…and stuff like that. So what if she had stopped Touichirou from taking over the world? She was still Mob. She had never stopped being Mob….well she had been the other her for a little bit…but she was Mob now. She was Mob and…and she was normal. She was normal and everything was normal and…and yes. That was how it was now. How she was now. Normal. She was normal and this was normal and…

And the cat scratched her and ran away.

"Mom…don't. Things are going to get back to normal for her. I…I'm the one who fucked up before. If I had just been there for her when she needed me then she never would have run away and…and I'm going to be there for her now. We're going to go back home…I don't know when…but when we will we'll get back to business and then things…they'll be better. I found someone else to help out, too, to do the dangerous stuff that Mob does so she can be safe and have more time to spend being a kid. She needs…she needs to spend more time being a kid. I've been treating her like an adult but really she's just a kid." Said Master Reigen. Mob…she didn't even know what she was hearing. Just a kid? She was not just a kid.

Fourteen was just a kid.

And that was how he saw her? As a child? After everything that she had done for the both of them he was just…he was just going to see her as a child? Still? That made no sense…and what had he meant about finding someone to replace her? What had he even been thinking? There was…Spirits and Such had been their thing since almost the very beginning. He was…he was going to replace her….she feels cold.

Her insides feel cold.

He's getting rid of her just like before. He's going to find someone else to be her and then she's going to be all alone….and it isn't fair. She's done so much for him but he's still going to…to get rid of her….like she's nothing at all…and she just does not know…she can't know…she wants to be with him so badly. She wants them to go back to normal….but if someone else is there then how can they ever get back to normal?

Her hand is bleeding where the cat scratched it.

She can see her blood. Not a lot of it, she'd lost more blood fighting Touichirou, but it's still her blood. Her blood should not have been out like that. She should…she needed to do something about that. Yes, she was bleeding, and she had to tend to it. That was something to do, something to focus on, something that she had to deal with. She just had to go to the bathroom and find the bandages and then clean her scratch and keep it covered, like they had said to in health class, and them she would…she didn't even know.

Follow the cat around and try not to get scratched again?

Sho was trying his damnedest not to get scratched again.

There was a cat in the tree outside of his mother's building. This cat had white fur which was long and fluffy and oh so petable. So that what was Sho was trying to do, pet this cat. He needed to show it love because, obviously, it had nobody to show it love. It didn't even have a collar on. That meant that it was a stray. That meant that it was cold and alone and needed someone to love it. Well Sho could totally be that someone. He could love that cat and take care of it and make it feel like it belonged because it did belong. Everything and everyone belonged.

It was a terrible thing to feel like you didn't belong.

He saw the cat raise it's head. Something had gotten it's attention. Sho turned around to see what the cat was looking at. Oh, right. Mom. People without auras were so weird. They snuck up on you like ninjas. Sho had spent his whole life, almost, around other espers. He would have to get used to normal people. He would have to get used to mom. His heart was only beating so fast and he was only shaking so much because she had snuck up on him, that was all, it had nothing to do with the fact that he really loved this cat even though he had just met it and that he knew what happened, what had always happened to the things in life that he loved….

Dad was gone.

This was mom.

Mom was not dad.

"Sho? What are you doing in that tree?" asked Masami. She had damn near had a heart attack when she woke up to find her son missing. Of course she'd damn near had a heart attack before, the other day, when she woke up to find her son playing videogames on the couch. She wasn't used to him yet…and that was her own fault.

She had been the one to leave him, after all.

She had been the one to walk out of his life. It had seemed, before, like the right thing to do. She had seen him using his powers and she had seen how close her husband had been with him. She would have thought that he would have been good to Sho, he had been his pride and joy back then, and she knew that if she left and took Sho then her husband would have hunted her to the ends of the Earth. Sho had been better off, she told herself, with her husband and all of those other espers. He would have been happier with them and other such things she told herself to make her feel better.

She had been wrong.

But now they had time. Now they, she, had time to reconnect and make things right…as right as they could have been. Even though she had no idea whatsoever what she was supposed to do with him. A man from the government had given her a stack of papers and told her that Sho was her responsibility now. This was a responsibility that she had never had to deal with, not since he had been small, and she didn't know where to even begin. He was thirteen now, almost fourteen, and he was not a little boy anymore.

Even if he still acted like it sometimes.

"Oh…hey, mom. There's a cat in this tree and I'm trying to pet it. Don't worry, I won't try and get it down, I know that it has to come down on it's own or it'll get scared." Said Sho. He tried to sound calm, happy even, but he couldn't shake the feeling that….that something bad was going to happen to that cat. Something bad always happened to his pets and animal friends. Dad hated animals and he'd kill them if he found out that Sho had one…but it made no sense for Sho to feel that way now. Dad was in prison. He was gone. He would rot in prison for the rest of his life, probably, for the crimes that he had committed.

All the crimes.

Dad had committed all the crimes. The man on TV said that it would be difficult to figure out which crimes that dad HAD NOT committed in the course of running Claw. Sho's name was out of it, thank God, because he was still a minor. That was all that was on TV these days. Talking about dad, talking about what had happened, talking about what was going to happen to dad. Sho already knew what was going to happen. Joseph the traitor had already said that dad was either going to be executed or locked up for the rest of his life and used for experiments.

Good.

He got what he deserved. Now he was locked up while Sho was free and in his freedom he was going to pet this cat. It wasn't like there was anyone around who could stop him. No, he was Sho and he could do whatever he wanted…well mostly whatever he wanted. He had a mom now, and not a dad, but she could still tell him what to do…

But she couldn't MAKE him do anything.

"That's…that cat belongs to the Kobayashi family, the neighbors…be careful. It scratches." Said Masami. What else could she say? She did not want her son up that tree. She wanted him on the ground where he was safe…but she doubted that falling out of a tree could hurt him. Not after what she had head he had gone through…what she had read that he had gone through. She knew that the Awakened Child mentioned in those awful documents the government released was her son, Sho had told her so right to her face, and she knew that he had been through a lot during her husband's attempt at taking over the world.

And she knew that there was nothing at all that she could do, anyway, to get him out of that tree.

Controlling a thirteen year old boy would have been hard under even the best of circumstances. She knew, well she had heard, how difficult teenagers could be. Boys especially. Girls didn't do nearly as many stupid and dangerous stunts as boys did. It would be even worse, well it stood to logic that it would have been even worse, when said teenage boy had psychic powers.

"I'll be fine, mom, I'm always fine." Said Sho. He reached over to the cat to show his mom just how fine he was…and then he ended up getting scratched for his trouble. Right, well he'd had worse before. The evidence was gone, erased from his body in an explosion of energy. Not that he'd had many scars to begin with. This wouldn't scar. This wasn't even a big injury…and even if it was Fukuda had left the country and he was the one who said if an injury was big or not because he was a healer…but Sho knew that he was fine. He could judge his own injuries thank you very much.

"Sho, are you ok?" asked Masami. She saw her son pull his hand away very fast. He must have gotten scratched. That wasn't good. Now she had to…did he still need her to make it all better? Did he still need her to kiss it better? To wash it and put a bandage over it? Or was he old enough to that himself? She honestly had no idea. What had she done when she was thirteen? She could barely remember. Took care of herself in a lot of ways…but that was her. She had no idea what Sho needed. She had no idea what her little boy…well he wasn't a little boy anymore, now was he? He was thirteen…and psychic…

"I'm fine mom, just got a little scratch, that's all." said Sho. He eyed the cat wearily. This cat didn't want to be bothered. That was fine. Sometimes people just did not want to be bothered. Sometimes people had their own stuff going on and didn't need other people sticking themselves into their lives. Even if they needed someone. Even if they were far from home in a place that they were not supposed to be.

Cats were not supposed to live in trees.

"Sho, come inside and let me take care of that." Said Masami. She figured that he was still young enough that he needed her. He had probably needed her countless times over the years…and she hadn't been there. She was there for him now. She was there for him and she always would be there for him. She had a lot of lost time to make up with her son.

"….sure, mom, ok…" said Sho. He did not need his mom to take care of him. He could take care of himself. He could take care of his own scratches and he did not need his mom to take care of him like he was a little kid again. He wanted to say that to her. He wanted to say a lot of things to her, things that people did not say to their moms, but he didn't because he had to make…they needed to have a relationship again and he had to make it work. They both had to make it work. She was trying and now he had to try too. That was what you did for someone you loved. You tried for them.

He tried for his mom.

Even though he itched when he entered her, their, home. The walls made him itch. He hated it, being in a single place for so long, not that he hadn't had long stays in Claw bases before. The difference was that he always knew that he would be moving along. Now he would not be moving along, he would never be moving along, this was the end of the line. A one way trip. It had been a one way trip to Japan this time. That was…fine. He was Japanese, half Japanese since both of his parents were half Japanese, so this was his home.

Even though he would rather have had been…a lot of other places.

It was cold here, now, and he didn't much like it. He could have gone to Australia and hung out with kangaroos. He could have gone to some tropical beach….even though he did not get along with the sun. There were nice places to spend the winter, too. There was Lapland, which was always fun in the winter, and also Siberia which was beautiful and not at all a wasteland like dad had always said. There were a lot of places that were great in the wintertime…but Japan was nice too. There was that big snow festival…that he could not go to because he had to stay where mom stayed…and that kind of sucked…

That was what it was to be a normal kid.

When you were a normal kid then your parents carted you around with them. If they left then you left. If they stayed then you stayed. That was what it was to be a kid. His friends, he loved that word so much, had to live like that. That was why he had to help Ritsu walk his girlfriend home last night. She couldn't have stayed over with him because her parents would not have let her and neither would have Ritsu's. Dad wouldn't have cared if he had a girl in his room for a whole night…but he didn't live with dad anymore. He lived with mom and she probably would have told him no. This place was barely even big enough for her let alone the two of them…let alone a third person.

Ritsu would probably have not wanted to visit.

"Hold still, this may sting a little." Said Masami. They were in the bathroom now. She had managed to find her first aid kit. She hadn't refilled it in a while but she still had bandages and rubbing alcohol. Neosporin would have been better but she was all out…but she would have to get some. Little boys were very accident prone.

She had a little boy to take care of now.

A not so little boy, actually. She was close to him now as she fixed up his cut. He didn't even flinch away from the rubbing alcohol. Being brave or just…used to being in pain? Her husband had…he had never been easy on Sho…and she had read all of those documents that had been unearthed by the government. Sho had been…he had been to hell and back from what she had read…so a little cut would have been nothing. It was his age, too, probably. He was not the little boy that she had left all those years ago. She was certainly close enough to tell.

He needed a bath. Badly.

"Do you have any blue band aids?" asked Sho as his mom cleaned his cut. She used to put blue ones on when he was little. She said that the cool looking ones made him heal better. That was just a story she told, he knew that now, but he just….wanted a blue one. He was such a little kid sometimes. That was what he felt like, sitting on the edge of the tub getting his scratch fixed up by his mom, a little kid. Almost like she had never left. He wondered if she had a sippy cup full of juice for him, too.

"Blue? No….but I can get some. I can't believe that you even remember…" said Masami. He had been so young when she left. Part of her both wanted and was terrified of him forgetting her. If she had forgotten her then…then he would have been better off and if he hadn't then…then she would have been better off.

"I was like seven, mom, I can remember things from when I was seven." Said Sho. He tried not to sound bitter. He tried not to sound upset. She was his mom and she…she loved him. She loved him so much….right? That was why she was doing this for him. That was why moms were like this…unless she was just doing what a mom was supposed to do. He was doing what a son was supposed to do, letting his mom fuss over him, and that was….this was…it was…this was normal and fine.

"You…you were. But you aren't now. Almost fourteen." Said Masami

"Yeah, my birthday is on the first." Said Sho. Part of him expected his mom to have forgotten. He knew that dad sometimes forgot. It must have been harder for mom to forget because she had been the one to have him grow in her stomach and stuff. He wondered if she would do anything for his birthday…but he knew not to get his hoped up.

"I remember. Do you…what do you want for your birthday?" asked Masami. She had a whole closet shelf full of gifts that she had gotten him every year on his birthday. Gifts that she knew would never make it to their recipient. She wouldn't give them to him now, he was probably much too old for toys, and also she…she had no idea what he even liked these days. He had brought so little with him. Just one suitcase. That was all that he had to show for almost fourteen years of life. He needed more things, he needed more space, and she needed…she needed to give him all of the things that he needed. She was his mother after all. She was a good mother.

"I don't care." Said Sho. There was a whole lot that he wanted. He wanted to be able to sleep through the whole night. He wanted to be able to stop worrying about dad. He wanted to be able to erase half of his life from existence. He wanted to stop falling so crazy in like with Ritsu. He wanted Ritsu to fall crazy like back. He wanted a bunch of hamster, too, and that was the most attainable gift that he wanted…even though he knew that he could not have a pet.

He wasn't allowed to have any pets.

Dad always killed his pets. Dad hated pets. Dad….dad was not there. Mom liked animals, at least he remembered her liking animals, but there was just not enough room in that apartment for him and her plus some pets. That was just not going to work out. She would say no and then his hopes would be crushed…because part of him was still dumb enough to have hopes.

"You must want something? It's your birthday after all." said Masami. She loved her son so much and whatever he asked of her she would get it…if it was something that she could give him. He wanted his own room. She knew that he wanted his own room, he must have, and she would have given it to him if there had even been somewhere to move. There wasn't. Housing was low and her lease wasn't even close to up let. When it was up, though, she would find a place that was big enough for her and Sho…and just her and Sho.

She was seeing someone but that would have to wait.

Sho had gone through enough changes in his life. He did not need her bringing someone new into his life. He wasn't at a good age for that, too, when she thought about it. Thirteen was not a good age and he had already been through so much…and she had no idea what she was going to do with him…but she would figure it out.

"I don't know. Are you done yet?" asked Sho. There was a flesh colored bandage where he had been scratched. They called it flesh colored but it was really more of a dark peace. His skin was pale, paler than most people, and they did not make a bandage like that. He would have preferred a blue one. He would have preferred a lot of things…but that was fine. He was fine and this was fine…even though the walls were making him itch…and he needed to go somewhere…but he was not going to go back into that tree….he didn't know where he could go…

But he didn't want to stay there.

"Sure. You're done. I have work later today so if you want to we can-" said Masami. She had to go to Costco. She would take him with, that was what mothers did after all, they took their children to the store with them. They fixed up their children's injuries and then they ran errands. That was what normal family life looked like. She had…she had to get back to normal family life…even though they had never had normal family life…

"I've got stuff to do today." Said Sho. He didn't have anything to do, actually, but she didn't know that. He wondered if Ritsu was busy…and he was spending way too much time with Ritsu. He loved Ritsu…liked Ritsu a whole lot…wanted to kiss him and stuff…and that was enough reason not to go and bother him in the middle of the day…but he wanted to. He wanted to see Ritsu so badly it made him feel like he had just drank at least six liters of pop and then chased them with a whole sack of sugar. His pancreas hurt and he had no idea why. That was what hurt, not his stomach, he knew when his stomach hurt. His stomach hurt when he saw Ritsu being near his girlfriend. That was the worst, when she held his hand, even though he knew that he should have been happy for them. They had found love. Love was a sacred, beautiful, thing and he should have been happy that his friends were in love and would probably end up getting married and having kids and stuff.

Watching them kiss felt like he had been kicked in the stomach.

But thinking about being near Ritsu made his pancreas, which was right near the stomach, hurt.

"Oh….alright. I'll see you later, then, Sho." said Masami. She had no idea where it was that he went at all hours of the day and night. She wanted to tell him to stay put, that they'd had so little time together, that she wanted to spend some time with him…but he was at that age. He wanted to spend time with his friends, not that she'd had any idea when he would even have had the time to make friends, and she was not going to stop him…and she knew that he was just spending time with friends….

And nothing else.

His father's work was over and done with. Sho was not the sort of person who could have continued that work. He was a good boy…she knew it. She knew that he was a good boy. He had gone against his father. He was a good boy and she…she loved him. She loved him and she would have loved to have gotten to know him better. To have figured out what he wanted for his birthday. To have figured out how he wanted his room, when he could have his own room, to be decorated. What his favorite food was. What his favorite color was. She knew so little about him.

But she couldn't do anything to make him stay.

"Yeah, see you later mom." Said Sho. That was all that he could say to his mom. He had a million things to say to her, of course he did, but he didn't say them. He didn't ask her if she'd missed him for all of those years. He didn't ask her if she was serious about giving him what he wanted for his birthday. He didn't ask her anything.

He just left.

He walked down the street. He didn't feel like making himself invisible and flying. It had nothing to do with the fact that he got the feeling that his mom didn't like his powers. He just wanted to walk. The walk through the city was nice. He would have to figure out how to get around anyway if this was going to be his home. His forever home, like he was a dog that was adopted, this was his forever home now. This city. Seasoning City. This was his home now.

His home with his mom.

But he was not with his mom. He was not at home and he was not with his mom. He was on his way to see his best friend in the whole world. Ritsu was that, his best friend, and only his best friend. They were not anything more than best friends, they couldn't be, and he was happy with that. With what they had. He just needed to be around someone who wasn't his mom. Who didn't expected a million and one things from him. Things that he wasn't even sure of. He didn't know how to be a normal kid even though he knew that his mom wanted a normal kid more than anything else in the world. Dad had wanted him to just be a smaller version of himself. Sho…he wanted to be who he wanted to be. He just had no idea who he wanted to be. Ritsu never asked him to be anything other than what he was. Just his friend. That was all. He could do that, he could be friends, and they were friends. The sort of friends who could just drop in on each other at all hours of the day and night. The sort of friends who could just hang out for hours and hours without doing anything of any importance. That was the sort of friends that they were and Sho was happy.

Nobody was home.

When he got there all the lights were out. That was normal, it was day time, but the TV was off too. He could see it from the sidewalk. Ritsu's curtains were opened too. Nobody was inside. No aura, either, and no car in the driveway. One of them was gone. That meant that his family was out. That was what normal kids did, they got carted places with their parents, and that was…fine. Really, this was fine. Everything was fine.

He missed Ritsu.

He missed him more than anything…and that could not have been ok. Dad had always said that he was supposed to be above things like that. He was supposed to be a complete person all on his own and stuff…but dad was in prison. What did he care what dad said or thought? Dad was gone and he lived with mom now and she wanted…she wanted him to be a normal kid…but he had no idea how to be a normal kid…and wanting to be with Ritsu all the time and stuff was not normal…well it was normal to like someone but he was not supposed to like another guy…but lots of guys liked other guys and that shouldn't have been anyone's business but his own….

He would grapple with this quandary later.

Right now he needed somewhere to be. He could have gone back to the tree in the park with the baby birds in it. He could have explored the ruins of downtown some more. He could have climbed that evil tree….he was not going anywhere near that evil tree. Not on his own and not with anyone else. He really wanted to be with someone else, a specific someone else, but anyone would do…at least he didn't think that he wanted to be alone…

He wanted to be with Ritsu but Ritsu wasn't home.

He could have just waited in Ritsu's room for him. He'd thought about that before. Waiting for Ritsu in his room. He would be there and then Ritsu would come home and at first he'd be all 'what the fuck are you doing in my room?' and Sho would be all 'I'm waiting for you, dummy' and then…a lot of things would happen. Things that he knew would never happen. Things…a lot of things…and…

And he needed to find somewhere else to be.

Rei wanted to be anywhere else but her house.

"Do the dishes, Rei. Fold the laundry, Rei. Make me a sundae, Rei. Make it better next time, Rei. Bush my hair, Rei. Dance for my amusement, Rei. Cover for me while I go and make out with random guys, Rei. It's the least you can do, Rei. You don't want me to tell mom and dad what you've been getting up do you, Rei? Make me shampoo and conditioner from scratch, Rei. Watch twenty hours of how to videos on YouTube you so you don't mess up, Rei…..I'll mess you up Riko….making me work all day…making me mutter to myself like a crazy person…I'm not crazy she's crazy….she'll get it…she'll burn her ear with a curling iron…that'll learn her…learn her good….I am not going crazy…" said Rei to herself. She was going crazy. She was losing her mind because her sister decided that they best thing to do was to work her to death in exchange for covering for her when she snuck out to see Ritsu, even though covering for her should have been something that any good sister would have done for free…or at least not days of hard labor.

"Rei! Organize my clothes!" shouted Riko from her room. Rei rolled over onto her back and threw a stuffed animal on the wall. She instantly regretted it, that was the one that Ritsu had won her on their first date, and also it wasn't that heavy anyway.

"I just organized them by season! And before that I organized them by color!" shouted Rei. She was just about to come clean to mom and dad just to have her freedom back. This was not the way she wanted to spend her surprise school break. She wanted to spend it with Ritsu, mostly Ritsu, but she also wished that Mob was around so they could hang out again. She wished that everyone wasn't grounded, too, well not Go but it was hard hanging out one on one with Go. He was better when he was with Takeshi.

"Well now I want them organized by outfit!" said Riko

"Come on!" shouted Rei. Now that was just too much. What was wrong with shoving your clothes into your drawers and closet? You found them eventually.

"Now! And then I want my hair brushed again! This time in smaller sections at least a hundred times each!" shouted Riko. Rei, if she hadn't been so afraid of getting in trouble, would have told Riko exactly what she thought. But mom and dad were home and if she started cursing they would notice…yep, they would definitely notice, and they would punish her too.

"Riko! I've been doing stuff for you all day!" said Rei

"The day isn't over yet-" said Riko. She probably would have said more but she was interrupted by their mom telling her to stop shouting through the walls and to leave Rei alone. She should have seen that coming. She was grateful though that mom had her back. Even though as far as she knew Riko was just being a pain. Rei was not going to do anything else for her sister. This was going to be mutually assured destruction. She knew all kinds of things about Riko, too, and if she went down then they were both going down.

Because this was just too much.

She wished she was an only child. She had a sister that lived with her and two older ones in university. Riko would be gone soon and then she would be all alone. Part of her envied Ritsu not only for having Mob as a sister but also in being alone. She envied all of her only child friends…and she knew that she shouldn't have. She should have been happy to have a sister and a family because too many people had lost so much…and that meant that she should have been grateful…but it was hard to be grateful when someone was on your back morning, noon, and night!

Just a few more years and then Riko would be in university and she would be free.

Then she and Ritsu would be in university together. The original plan was for her and the others, Takeshi and Go and the Shiratori brothers, to all go to the same high school and university. That wasn't going to work out because they couldn't all get good enough grades to end up in whatever high school Ritsu was going to end up in. Also Teru had been added to the plan and he was probably going to go to a fancy private school like he did now and her parents could not afford fancy private school. If they couldn't all get into the same high school then, of course, they would not all go to the same university…but that was fine. She and Ritsu…they would be together…and it wasn't like she and the others would stop being friends.

The future looked good.

Aside from the unnamed…thing…she could see. It wasn't a big explosion like she could see on the horizon. That she had been able to see. This was just…a bad feeling. When she looked into the future she could see…a lot of them where she and Ritsu weren't together…but that was fine. She was just going to work harder at their relationship. She knew that they were different people, that he was a lot quieter than she was and she liked music a lot and he thought that it was annoying, but she also knew that they loved each other. They loved and cared for each other and that meant that they were not going to break up.

She wouldn't let them.

She wanted to be with him more than anything. But she wasn't. She was all alone. She was all alone in her room with nothing to do. Riko would not cover her for again, no unless she was her slave for even longer, and she did not want to be her sister's slave at all for any reason. Even if that reason was seeing Ritsu…and she spent way too much time thinking about him. She had read that in a book, one of mom and dad's books, that it was important for people not to be too wrapped up in one another. They had to have their own separate lives and interests and friends and hobbies. It was a lot, being someone's everything, and she was not going to make Ritsu her everything even if she really wanted…she wanted a lot of things…

She missed him more than anything.

She felt him…no. That was an aura but it was not him. She knew what he felt like. She was an esper and she could feel auras, though she was not that good at it, but she was good enough at it to be able to pick out the love of her life's aura. That was not it. She's worried, scared even, so scared that she rolls over onto the ground and then…and then she remembers that she can see the future. Someone's going to throw little rocks at her window like in the movies…and it's going to be…oh.

Well that was ok!

She got up off the floor, she wasn't sure what she was going to accomplish with the whole duck and cover thing, and she went over to her window. Yup, the tiny rocks from her garden. She couldn't see anyone but she knew who it was. She knew the future after all. She opened her window and then there was nothing.

She felt another presence.

"You want to hang out?" asked Sho as he made himself visible. He had made sure to take off his shoes as he climbed in through her window. That would have been rude, to wear shoes in her house, because this was Japan and he had to remember the rules about shoes and stuff. Also he wasn't entirely sure if this was ok. She was a girl and the rules about how you were supposed to be with girls were different…he should have thought this through. Sometimes idea just popped into his head and became actions.

Like now.

"Um…sure. That would be….sure." said Rei. This was…why was she blushing? She was sure that her blushing could be seen through her foundation. She wasn't wearing as many layers as usual, she wasn't going out, and she knew that he could see her blushing and she could…she could tell that she hadn't covered all of her spots, too, and now he could see how spotty she was…and she didn't know why she cared.

Well he was really cute.

It was the red hair and the blue eyes and the look in his eyes and the way he stood and…and a whole lot of other things. That was fine. It was normal to feel physical attraction to other people. That was part of being human, sometimes you checked out other guys, but the important thing was never to do anything about it. She had read that. She thought that other boys were cute, Mob was lucky to have Teru and Takeshi really knew how to dress…and also Go was so funny sometimes….but she was in love with Ritsu and that was the whole of it. She loved Ritsu and there was nothing that she was going to do besides look…

And there was nothing wrong with just looking.

"I can go if you want. I just wanted to hang out with someone and Ritsu wasn't home and you're the only other person who's house I had been to, so I came here…but I can totally go if you want me to." Said Sho. He wasn't sure if he should go or stay or if it was rude to just show up or if it was rude to ask if he should go. He was out of his depth. He had been more and more out of his depth lately. Normal life…it was a lot more complicated than he had thought it would be.

"No, you can stay. Just be quiet. I'm not supposed to have guests right now…or boys in my room with the door closed…not that I mean anything by that!" said Rei. She was thinking, now, thoughts that she knew that she should not have had…or at least should not have ever acted on. She read, before, that some people just had higher sex drives than others. Her love language was also mostly physical, hugs and kisses and stuff, and that was also what contributed to the way she felt. She could feel however she wanted to, however her brain told her to, but she would never cheat on Ritsu.

She could see the future. She knew for a fact that she would never cheat on Ritsu for as long as they both should live.

"I know that you don't…but I could go if you want me to. I mean I know that the rules for girls and stuff like this are different than the rules for guys…and also you're not my girlfriend." Said Sho. He was not going to be a jerk…and also he did not need Ritsu to think that he was after his girlfriend or anything like that. It hadn't even occurred to Sho how this would look…and he needed to start thinking things through. Like dad was always telling him to do…not that it even mattered. Dad was in prison and what he said didn't matter…

Though he should have, maybe, thought this through better.

"No, really, it's fine. Here, can I take your shoes and coat?" asked Rei. She had to be polite because that was what you did when you had a guest. This was fine. He knew how to turn invisible so if someone barged in then they wouldn't see him…and also she could lock her door and pretend that she had been changing…and they could be quiet. She felt…she knew that it was a dumb rule…but she still felt like she was doing something wrong. But she wasn't, not at all, because she would never cheat on her boyfriend. She just thought that he was cute. That was all. He was cute and also…and it was normal to think thoughts about cute boys. The sorts of thoughts that she was thinking…

She wasn't going to do anything wrong.

"Sure." Said Sho. He usually just tossed his stuff wherever. The only person he ever visited was Ritsu, though, and Ritsu was a guy so the rules were different. This was a girl's room. He had been in Ritsu's sister room before and it was pink like this one was. This one had more posters, though, mostly of guys but also idol groups that Sho was not familiar with. She had a bunch of clothes everywhere, mostly on the floor, and that was weird because he had always thought that girls were super neat and clean.

He learned new things every day.

She put his shoes and coat in her closet. He looked around before sitting down on her bed. The minute he did it he regretted it. Maybe he shouldn't have been sitting on her bed. He usually sat down on Ritsu's bed but he was a guy. He was also a guy that he liked and he wasn't even the least bit attracted to Rei. He looked her up and down while she hung his coat up in her closet. She had on those super tight pants that girls liked to wear. Mom had those too…and he was not thinking about his mom like this. Not that he was thinking about Rei in any particular way. So he could see her legs and her butt. He didn't care. She was in a T-Shirt too. He cared more about what her shirt said, there was a cat hanging on a branch and a speech bubble that said 'just hangin' around' in English…and it was a funny shirt, but he didn't care at all about what was under her shirt.

He was not into her at all.

Which was good because he was not going to mess with love. Even if he had thought that she was hot or whatever he wouldn't have done anything. She was Ritsu's girlfriend. It was good, actually, that he didn't think about her like that…and now to just figure out how to stop thinking about Ritsu like that. How to stop looking him up and down when he wasn't paying attention. How he could just stare at him for hours and hours….and hours and hours….and even more hours…and then he would spend even more hours thinking about him…

Like now.

"It says 'just hanging around'…in case you couldn't read it. Because it's in English! I meant that because it was in English, not that you couldn't read, because I would never ever say something mean about one of my boyfriend's friends…and one of my-my friends too! We're…we're friends." Said Rei

"I can read English….I like it. Your shirt. The cat on it, I mean, I like cats, I think that they're cool." Said Sho. He was not going to tell her that he had been checking her out to see if he felt anything because that was just not the thing to tell someone. He may not have been a social wizard or anything but he knew not to tell people when you were checking them out.

"I like cats too. They're so cute and funny. I've been drawing a lot of them lately…there's not much else to do. I mean I have other things to do! My sister's been using me as a slave…I've had a lot to do…and also there's talking to Ritsu…but he's busy today. Well you know that already. He's doing a Costco run with his parents and they don't want him on his phone. Not that I would ignore you for him or anything like that! That would be me being a bad host….and I am not a bad host…not that I'm full of myself or anything like that! I mean that I don't think that I'm full of myself but that doesn't mean that I think…um…I forgot what I was going to say. Uh…um…do you want to see my cats! I mean my drawings of cats…I have drawings…" said Rei. She was saying words but she had no idea what they meant. She hoped, at the back of her mind, that she was not being too loud. Riko was right in the next room…though Rei could hear her TV…and Sho could turn invisible anyway…so this was ok.

Actually it wasn't because there was a boy in her room who was not her boyfriend.

"I would love that. You have no idea how much I would love that." Said Sho with a seriousness that he hadn't even known that he was capable of. He liked to drawn and he liked to show his drawings to other people…though dad had always hated it…but now it was ok. He wished that he had brought his sketchbook…though maybe it was better that he hadn't brought it. He didn't know how he would have been able to explain all of the pictures of her boyfriend to her.

He was happy to see her drawings, too.

She was really good. Her style was a lot rounder than his. More cartoony. He had always focused on imitating life. That way dad didn't get as mad at him…but dad was gone now. He could draw literally whatever he wanted. The thought…it was dizzying almost. He could have drawn literally whatever he wanted. What could mom to do him? She couldn't hurt him…and she wouldn't hurt him…and he should not have been worried at all about his mom doing anything to hurt him…because she loved him. She was not dad. She was not dad and Sho had nothing to worry about.

Next time he would bring his sketchbook.

Then they could compare drawings. He could see why Ritsu liked her. She was good at drawing and that was reason enough to like someone. Not that he liked her like that. She was close to him, close enough that he could smell her shampoo and see stuff she had painted her face with, but he did not like her in the same way he liked Ritsu. In all the time he had been beside her in her room he had never once thought about banging her. Even though they were on her bed and he knew, objectively, that she was pretty.

Which was a good thing, him not wanting to bang her.

He was the way he was and that was fine. He just needed to stop hearing dad's voice in his head. Dad telling him that he was a failure. Telling him that he sucked. Telling him that he, that everything about him, was wrong. He didn't know why he still cared what dad thought. He didn't know why he had ever cared about what dad had thought. Dad was…he was dad…and that was the way he was. Sho didn't give a damn what his dad thought.

His life was his own.

He was his own man…kid…thirteen and three quarters, almost fourteen year old, and he was who he was. So what if he had a thing for another guy. He accepted himself and he didn't care about dad's acceptance…or mom's. He had no idea what mom would say about this, the way he was, and he was…why was he afraid of her finding out? There was nothing wrong with liking another guy. There was nothing wrong with him. He was not a failure.

"This one is mostly just of…of the explosion. I mean I could see it for a while before it came and I just…drew it a lot. I mean I wanted…I don't know why I drew it. I just had to get it out of my head I think…I don't know. Let's look at another one." said Rei. They had gone through all of her animal pictures. This one was nothing but the explosion. She didn't want to think about it. It had happened and now it was done.

"These are really good." Said Sho as he opened the sketchbook that rested between them. That was it….right there in…some in black and white and some in color…and she was a good drawer. She could totally be realistic when she wanted to…too realistic.

She took the sketchbook from him and closed it.

"I don't want to think about it. Let's look at a different one." said Rei. Looking at those pictures would lead to her thinking about it and she just did not want to think about it. It would have been a good distraction from the other thoughts that she had been having, ones that she would never act on, but she did not want to replace one feeling she would rather not have had with another one.

He was really close.

Their fingers had brushed when she took the sketchbook away. She knew for a fact that she had turned scarlet. He hadn't had any reaction at all. That was a good thing. He was Ritsu's friend, probably his best friend, so of course he was not thinking those thoughts about her. She hated this, the way she felt, and she wished that there was an off switch or something. She wondered if there was anything in the books she had borrowed from mom and dad about what to do when you couldn't stop thinking about your boyfriend's best friend but in purely sexual, not emotional, terms. There was probably a chapter about that and if not she could always Google.

She'd do that later, though, after he went home.

"Ok, I get it. How about this one? The one with all the heart shaped stickers on it?" asked Sho as he picked one up with his powers. He was careful not to knock over the tower of sketchbooks that she had made. He wondered what that was like, to not have to hide them, to not have to be afraid of your parents destroying your work. It must have been a good feeling.

"Um…this book is mostly of pictures of Ritsu that I drew. You probably don't want to see those." Said Rei. She didn't want to look at that one either. That one was all pictures of Ritsu that were ok to show someone else. She had a new one with pictures that she knew not to show anyone. Especially not a boy. She really ought to burn that one so nobody would ever see…but drawing was how she processed things so she wouldn't burn it. Just hide it better.

"I wouldn't mind. I like Ritsu…he's a good friend." Said Sho. He made sure to tack that last part on. That way she wouldn't think that he thought about Ritsu like that…not that he would ever do anything about it. He wasn't like that. Besides, thinking wasn't acting….well his brain made him act on what he thought…but that was just how his brain worked….and he would stop himself from…doing any of the things that he thought about.

"Oh…well ok. I did these a while ago. They get better the more you flip." Said Rei. She could sort of see her aura. She reached over to her phone, a trip to the phone store had been in order for some time now and her family had made that trip the second it opened back up for business. This may have been different, not as nice as her old one, but it still did it's job. At least it would have if it'd had the chance. Still no messages from Ritsu…but he was busy with his family. That was understandable. She didn't know what she was going to tell him, what she would tell him, if he messaged her…

The truth, of course.

Because nothing was happening between them. Nothing would happen between them. Even if she was just sitting there and looking at drawings of her boyfriend…and she couldn't stop imagining his hands pulling her shirt up over her head…and she wasn't sure who she was imagining…and that was ok. All the books had said so and she was not going to argue with books. They were written by professionals.

She could see the future too.

And it was a little scary. Sho had something to do with the…whatever it was…that was coming. But that made no sense. She knew herself and she knew that she would never cheat on Ritsu. She would die first…and she didn't see her own death in her future…and also Sho didn't like her like that….right? He was in her room with her all alone but…but that didn't mean anything. Most of her friends were boys, that didn't mean that they were all in love with her or she was in love with all of them….

This was not a harem show.

And also she had gone out with both Takeshi and Go and it hadn't worked out and that was why they were just friends….and by that logic she had to have a terrible date with Sho for them to be just friends…but she would not be going on any dates with him terrible or otherwise. Because she loved Ritsu. That was why she had drawn all of these pictures of him and that was why she couldn't stop checking her phone. She loved Ritsu so much…she loved him more than anything….

And love was a sacred thing.

"These are really good. I wish I could draw people as well as this." said Sho

"Oh yeah, you said that you mostly draw animals. I'm sure that you're very good. Next time you should bring your sketchbook too. Then I could see some of your work." Said Rei. She wondered if it was ok that she had said that there would be a next time. She wanted there to be a next time…purely for the art, of course, and nothing more. She just wanted…she wanted…she didn't know what she wanted.

Ritsu back. That was what she wanted.

"I will. I mean the ones I have. My dad…he never liked it when I drew. He always said that it was a waste of time." Said Sho

"Your dad said that? That is so mean…but of course he was mean. He tried to take over the whole world…sorry." Said Rei

"You don't have to say sorry. It is what it is. He's in prison now anyway so it's whatever." Said Sho

"Yeah, I saw that on TV….and I'm sorry…but there I go saying sorry again. Sorry." Said Rei

"You said it again…but that's ok. I know what you mean. I don't care that he's in prison. He did it to himself. He was a pretty sucky dad anyway. I don't care." Said Sho with a shrug. He cared and he also didn't. It was like the thing about the cat where it was real and not real at the same time. He didn't know why he still cared and he didn't know why he wanted to talk about it. There was no point in talking about it. Talking wouldn't change what had happened. It was what it was. He especially wasn't going to talk about this with Ritsu's girlfriend. Ritsu himself, maybe, but not his girlfriend.

"It's ok if you do. I mean I would care….but then again I can only speak for myself. I read in a book that people have trouble with that, thinking that their emotions are universal, so forget that I said anything." Said Rei with a blush. Thank God that she had hidden her relationship books in her drawers. She did not need other people to see the stuff that she had been reading. Not all of those books were about healthy communication and emotional intelligence.

"Ok…but it's still nice, I mean, that you care. That's probably what Ritsu likes about you, that you care about people and stuff." Said Sho. He felt…he didn't like what he felt there. He wanted to be near Ritsu, to talk to Ritsu, to…he wanted a lot of things. Things that he couldn't have with Ritsu but she could…and she'd had. She could talk to him whenever she wanted and she wouldn't have to worry about being weird, not that he cared if he was weird…that much, but she didn't have to care at all. She could…she could talk to him whenever she wanted to and see him whenever she wanted to and…and kiss him and hold his hand and other stuff too. Banging stuff. That is unless she was reading that book, the one poking out from her drawer, for fun. The Joy of Sex. Kind of like the cook book….

None of his business.

Jealousy was what he had been feeling. He should not have been jealous at all. He should have been happy that Ritsu was in love with someone as nice as her. He should have been happy that she was in love with someone as great as Ritsu. He should have been happy for both of them and he should have been planning on what to get them for their wedding or whatever. He should not have been imagining being next to Ritsu and….

So he stopped imagining.

He flipped the last page of the sketchbook and handed it to her. She picked up another one. Hopefully this one would not have had too many pictures of Ritsu in it. It didn't, thankfully, this one was just pictures of anime characters. That was fine, it gave him no reason to think about Ritsu, which was good. He wouldn't have thought about Ritsu at all, actually, if she hadn't been checking her phone every ten seconds.

He reached for his own phone and found his pockets empty.

He needed a new phone. He wondered if he could have messaged Ritsu if he'd had one…or if that was a strictly girlfriend thing. It probably was. He would probably have been overstepping. Ritsu would have probably told him that he was being weird or something if he called or texted as much as his girlfriend did…because Ritsu did not and would never like him like that.

He played with the bandaged scratch on his hand.

It didn't hurt as much as that pain in his pancreas, stomach, and heart.


	83. Space, Too Much and Not Enough

There was too much space.

Space was at a premium these days. Teru knew that. He knew that he should have been grateful for this place, his new apartment, because he was lucky to have found it. Well he was lucky that his parents' people had found it for him. There was a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. That was all he needed. That was…this was…this was home now. This was home now and he should have been more grateful. This could have been a lot worse, he could have ended up in a one room, so he should have been happy.

He had plenty of space.

He had too much of it. This was…he mostly just had the stuff that he had taken with him to the Awakening Lab. Very little had survived the explosion at his old apartment. So he was starting again, almost from zero, and that was…this wasn't so bad. It could have been a hell of a lot worse. So what if he was all alone in this empty space? He was alive. He was alive and that should have been enough. Considering how close he had come to death then it should have been enough.

Should it have been?

This was not how he had seen his life going. If he had asked himself a year ago if he had thought that any of this was going to happen he, of course, would have said no. He also would have probably insulted himself too, put himself down, because that was just the sort of person that he had been back then. Before Shigeko had come into his life and changed everything…but for the better. Always for the better. She had made him a better person and he loved her so much and he was grateful that he had lived through all of that so that he could have come back to her…

Even if she wasn't there.

It wasn't enough to be grateful to have been alive. Actually is seemed like a fucked up thing to be grateful for, when he thought about it, because that should have been the default. Being alive, not worrying about being killed in some crazy take over the world plot, should have been the very default of his life. He shouldn't have had to have gone through all of that. He wants to scream it as loud as he can, it wasn't fair, none of it was fair, but he doesn't.

Life is not supposed to be fair.

And, really, he had a lot to be grateful for. He shouldn't have been whining about how unfair it was that he was all alone, that his girlfriend had left him all alone, because that was just…a lot of people had it worse. A lot of people had died or were homeless now or had lost their jobs…and he should have been grateful. He should have been better than this, more mature than this, more grown up. He was supposed to be the grown up. He was always supposed to be the grown up.

Nothing had changed.

The world was saved. Claw was gone. But nothing had changed. He was still alone. He was just alone in a smaller apartment. He was just alone with someone, not literally, but he did have someone…and she was coming back. She had promised him that she was coming back. He trusted her. He had to trust her. He loved her after all. She was…she could go wherever she wanted to go. He was not going to be all controlling and possessive like that. Besides, she had earned it. Being able to go wherever she wanted to go. She had been the one to save the whole world after all. She had practically done it singlehandedly. She had fought that…he didn't even have words for the man who tried to kill the love of his life…and if she wanted to visit Reigen's mom and post a million and one videos of that same orange cat then…then that was fine….

Maybe he should get a cat.

Maybe if he got a cat then she would want to come home already. It had been way too long. He needed her like he needed air and water and winterberry lotion and sulfate free shampoo. He needed her and…and she didn't need him. At least that was what it felt like. It felt like she wasn't even thinking about him, like she could just carry on happily even without him being there, and he knew that it was a terribly possessive way to think. She was not literally his. She was her own person and she had saved the world and if she wanted to spend all day chasing a cat around then that was her business.

And she would come back to him anyway.

He threw himself down onto his futon, the only piece of furniture he owned so far, and clicked his phone on. No new messages from her…a few from hid school friends but he did not want to have to be that person, school Teru, right then. There were about a million from the Awakening Lab group chat, it was back up finally, and he decided to spend some time scrolling through just to see what everyone was up to. The difference between him and those guys was night and day, and he did teach them a lot of things, but they saw their relationship with him as one more of equals. He was at most the cool friend.

He liked it.

He scrolled through. The Shiratori brothers were upset because their parents were making them sleep in separate rooms now and see a therapist…and they needed it, the way that they had been carrying on about dying together, but Teru knew better than to speak his mind on that subject. He just offered words of encouragement like Shigeko would have wanted him to. He offered words of encouragement to Takeshi, too, who had at some point decided that he was never leaving his room again….which in Teru's opinion was not a healthy way to deal with all of this…and neither was Go's plan of acting like it had all been in good fun….

He said nothing, of course, because Shigeko would have wanted him to be nice.

Even though it's hard to be nice sometimes. Even though sometimes he wants to take people and shake them and tell them how idiotic or ridiculous that they're being. Sometimes he wants to just…but he doesn't. That's the old Teru. This is the new Teru, version 2.0, the one that Shigeko wants. He has to be who she wants him to be. She deserves someone who is so much better than the person he had been when they met. He loved her and he would not lose her.

Even if he really wanted to take her little brother and shake some sense into him.

Ritsu was in the group chat too. He was in there sporadically but he was there. Mostly it was Rei speaking for him. Ritsu said this, Ritsu said that, and so on and so forth. Poor Rei…not that he made it a habit to go poking around in other people's relationships. Just…poor Rei. He didn't know what Ritsu was, exactly, but he knew that it was not into Rei. He wasn't just going to sit down and ask, that was not any of his business, but he knew that Ritsu could not return even a millionth of the love and affection that Rei had given him….and wasn't he just the worst sort of hypocrite? How many girls had he gone out with in the past with zero intention whatsoever of returning their feelings? He couldn't even remember how many girls he'd made out with after they confessed to him. Really, he could not just sit there and throw stones at Ritsu when he himself had been the biggest liar and user around…

Well he could because he was not a cheater and also he never kissed anyone that didn't want it.

He did not just go around kissing people. Moment of temporary insanity or not. You could not just go around randomly kissing people. That was not how it worked. That was not how anything worked. That had been….violating was a word that would fit. He had never had any intention of kissing Ritsu. He never wanted to kiss him again. If he had just asked, if Ritsu had just done the normal thing and asked, he would have gotten a polite but firm 'no' followed by a 'hell no' if he didn't leave it be and then finally a nice and hard 'fuck off' if he decided to be pushy. But no, he had gone well beyond pushy and had just gone and kissed him out of nowhere…

And also he was cheating on his girlfriend which was unforgivable.

Well he had cheated. Teru had no idea if Ritsu was out there kissing any more random guys. He didn't want to ask. He did, however, know that cheating was wrong. The one thing that he had never done. Well he also hadn't ever had an exclusive relationship before but that was neither here nor there. Teru…he was still Ritsu's friend but…but it was not easy. Teru didn't know Rei all that well but he did know that nobody deserved to be treated like that….

This whole thing was none of his business.

He was so bored sitting there alone that he was agonizing over things that were literally zero percent his business. He almost wished that he were back at school. He wished that he had something to distract himself with. The group chat was not a good distraction since everyone decided to talk about how they were coping….which was not fine…well aside from Rei. Apparently aside from her sister using her as a slave and her parents making her a prisoner in her own home she was doing great. Well good for her, at least her life was ok…

Ritsu just said that he was fine…and so did Suzuki…

Suzuki Sho had made his way into their group chat…and the whole thing felt vaguely…not good. That was the only way that Teru had of describing it. Not good. He didn't…he didn't hate Suzuki. Sho. Right, they were supposed to be on a given name basis. There was no hate or ill will there, Sho had been the one to try and take Claw down after all, but his father had been the one running it. His father had personally ruined so many lives in pursuit of the most ridiculous and clichéd goal in history…ruined Teru's life…even though Teru's life was better than a lot of other people's lives currently were…and he had no reason to blame Sho or to not want to be his friend….

So he supposed that they were friends then.

Because that was what Shigeko would have wanted. She would have wanted him to have been nice and forgiving and to have made friends…and that was what he was going to do. For her. He did it for her, for her, always for her. Even if she was so far away. Even if he missed her more than anything. Even if it felt like, maybe, sometimes she didn't even want to come back to him…but that was crazy. Of course she wanted to come back to him. She was just…taking a break. From the world, not him, never him. She had saved the world and now she was just taking a little break from it.

Friendbook felt the need to inform him of something.

He clicked the alert. Oh, Shigeko was posting something new. Probably something about that damn cat again. He would probably end up getting them a cat. Later on, when they lived together, they would go to the shelter…no, not that. She deserved a purebred cat. Like one of those little leopard cats or one of those cats with the really long hair or a hairless cat…ick. No, not that. Anything but that. He would get her, they would pick out, anything other than a hairless cat. An orange cat, a leopard cat, a cat that would make her happy. Then she could post all the videos of it doing random cat things to her heart's content.

From the apartment they shared, not Reigen's house…or his mother's house…or wherever she was.

A trampoline. She was on a trampoline.

"Mob, what are you doing on that thing?" asked Reigen. He and mom had been having another one of their oh so pleasant cup of tea talks. This one was about how he could have made decent money teaching English at her English school and she could have let him stay there rent free so he could build up his savings and get a home of his own. So pretty much less of a conversation and more of another one in his mother's lecture series entitled 'who is the most disappointing son in all of Japan'.

Thank God for Mob.

He had let his gaze wander away from his mother's constant hand motions, family trait, and out the window. There he had seen Mob in the backyard with the cat on his old trampoline. Of course he had no choice but to see what it was that she was doing. That thing had been unsafe when he had been her age, he'd had a scar to prove it but it had ben healed in the explosion, so he did the responsible thing and excuse himself to go and save not only her life but the life of his mother's one companion, too, since that cat did not look very happy.

"The cat jumped up here to eat a bird and then I followed him…but I scared the bird away…and now he's not really moving either. I don't think that Thomas O'Malley likes it up here. I think that I should get him down but every time I get near him he swipes at me." Said Mob. Poor little cat. He was probably scared. He was an outside cat but cats were not meant to be on trampolines. They could jump just fine on their own.

"He'll come down on his own. Now come on, you get down too. This thing is ancient." Said Reigen. He still worried about her getting hurt. Even though she had been through so much he still worried about her getting hurt. She was just as human as everyone else after all. Maybe this was just his way of reminding himself.

"I'm not going to fall off." Said Mob. She had been on trampolines before, they were ok, and she was not going to fall off like that time when she and Ritsu had been little. No, she was fine. She was not a little kid. She didn't know why Master Reigen was treating her like one either.

"I'd never be able to forgive myself if you did." Said Reigen

"But you didn't make me climb up here in the first place. Besides, I have to record what he does. He walks funny when he's up here. People might like that." Said Mob. She thought that it was funny, anyway, the cat's cautious walk. Even though she knew that she should not have been enjoying that. She just liked cats a lot. They were the best animals in the whole world. Master Reigen thought that dogs were the best but that was just one of the rare instances where he had no idea what it was that he was even talking about.

"You're recording right now?" asked Reigen. He spied her phone propped up on the side. He straightened out his T-shirt and flattened down his hair. He was suddenly conscious of the fact that he had not shaved in a while. He hoped that he wasn't in frame. He had no desire to go chasing internet fame again.

"Yes." said Mob simply. She turned around so that she was sitting down on the trampoline facing Master Reigen. The movement makes the cat run off to the side. She doesn't much care, it'll come back. She cares more about the fact that she's taller than Master Reigen now, or maybe as tall as him. They're practically eye to eye. She could, if she had wanted to, leaned over and…but that would have been wrong so she decides to stop thinking about it.

"Why?" asked Reigen. Mob had been recording that cat like mad, lately, and he could not figure it out. That was an old cat, it should have been dead by now actually, but she was obsessed with it. Probably because she liked cats. Maybe they ought to get a cat…when they move…if they ever move….

"People like cats, Master Reigen." Said Mob quickly. She focuses on the feel of the metal trampoline sides against her legs. She's in tights now so it's not as cold as it could have been. She wished that it had been colder, then she could have focused better on what she was feeling then, and then there would have been less of a chance of Master Reigen knowing what it was that she was feeling.

She hated feeling like this.

The loss of control. The need for another person. The fact that one person could have derailed her whole being just by…being. The fact that there could have been in existence a person who could have had such an effect, so much control, over her. The fact that…that these were not her thoughts. Again with this? Those had been Toucihirou's thoughts again. Not his thinking voice but his way of thinking. She wondered if she could ever get better from that, past that, because it was just….weird to have such alien thoughts in her head….

At least they distracted her from the feelings that she knew she should not have been having.

"Fair enough." Said Reigen with a shrug. The internet loved cats. That was…she would be fine. The internet hated him but it loved cats…and her...and he was not about to start up that train wreck again, his attempt at garnering some internet fame….and he was not about to get into it with her about why he did not want her to try and get back into it, their internet presence. He just wanted to move on past those three weeks…so he said nothing about what happened. She could…she could…she would be fine. She was just posting harmless cat videos after all.

Harmless worked best.

Harmless cat videos were better than her trying to find some job for them to take and then recording it and….yeah. This was not a good time to be an esper, first of all, and second of all he did not want her putting herself in danger like that. Not the same sort of danger as someone realizing that she was the real deal but the sort of danger that he had found himself in a few weeks ago. No, she did not need that. Nobody needed that. Even if it felt like it had been a lifetime away he still remembered how it had felt to be there under the scrutiny of the whole world, to have had his whole life picked apart and dissected like that, to have been called out in front of everyone…

That had not been a good time.

"Oh. That cat ran away. I guess that it wasn't having a good time." Said Mob. The cat had jumped off of the trampoline and now was scratching at the back door. Mob opened the door with her powers and let the cat go inside. Master Reigen's mother was making something in the kitchen and Mob heard her saying something about the win before she closed the door again with her powers.

"Yeah, this really isn't the place for cats. I tried jumping with him back when I first got this thing…or maybe that had been the old cat. I'm not entirely sure." Said Reigen. He hoisted himself up onto the trampoline and sat beside Mob. He kept himself out of frame in case she was still recording. He knew what people made of their relationship, people who had nothing better to do than make crazy speculations about things that were none of their business, and he was not going to be pouring any gasoline on that fire.

Not that he was going to reject her again.

That had been what had almost ruined them. He had rejected her when she had needed him…and he was not going to do it again….and she did need him. She must have needed him. She must have needed him because she had been through so much…even though she seemed fine. She seemed perfectly fine…he let his aura meet hers….

She felt a little cold but otherwise perfectly fine.

"Why would you jump on a trampoline with a cat, master? That doesn't seem like something that they would like." Said Mob as Master Reigen sat next to her. She scooted over and made room for him. She focused on how cold it was out. She had to focus on how cold it was outside or she would end up focusing on how warm he made her feel.

"Honestly I have no idea. I was at that phase where my brain just was not working." Said Reigen

"What do you mean, Master?" asked Mob

"That's just how guys are. There's a period of time when we're idiots plain and simple. Not much impulse control, every idea seems like a good idea, all of that." Said Reigen

"Oh….I understand. I think that Ritsu went through that phase too. Back when he was framing people and beating them up with his powers. I'm glad that he got better though." said Mob

"How is your little brother doing?" asked Reigen. He wondered how all of the esper kids were doing. He hoped that they were ok. That had been a lot for anyone to go through let alone a child. They were children even if, at their age, they never would have wanted to be referred to as such. He knew that they were all either Mob's age or a little bit younger but the difference between Mob and them…she was a kid. He reminded himself that she was still a kid.

"Ritsu's is doing ok…I mean I know from Rei that he's doing ok. I was in the group chat today, it's mostly back because the phone store is opened and now people can get new phones and we can talk again, and Ritsu seemed fine. Rei told me that mom and dad are fighting and it makes him sad but he's not as upset as he used to be. He made friends with Toui….with Szuki's son, Sho, and Rei says that he's helping Ritsu a lot because it's important to have a lot of people that you can lean on emotionally. At least she read that in a book….and it's good that Ritsu has people in his life who can be there for him." said Mob

"Nice to see your little brother making friends." Said Reigen. Why someone would want to voluntarily spend time with that kid was something that he could not begin to understand…but that was mean. He was a great kid once you got to know him. The only trouble was that Ritsu didn't seem to want Reigen to get to know him.

"I think so too…but I also think that if he was sad or mad or…anything then he could have talked to me about it. We just…we don't talk like we used to but…but I'm glad that he's ok and that he's making friends. He always had trouble making friends when we were little. I was his only friend for a long time and he was mine…" said Mob. She should not have been feeling hurt that her little brother didn't want to talk to her about what it was that bothered him. She should have been happy that he had friends, had made a new friend, and had found the love of his life, too. Well Ritsu never came out and said that Rei was the love of his life but Mob could tell. They were so happy together. She couldn't wait until Ritsu and Rei got married. Then her little sister would also be her friend…and also they would be adults…and maybe if they were adults then things between her and Ritsu would have gone back to the way that they had been before. Maybe by then enough time would have passed from their great big fight, the night that she had moved out, and then things would have been back to normal between the two of them.

"Things change and it sucks….believe me." Said Reigen. The view from up here was different. Because he was taller now. He was taller and this deathtrap was groaning under his weight, he was bigger now too, and he wanted…he had no clue what he wanted.

"Do they always?" asked Mob

"No…they don't have to. Somethings don't suck…and sometimes things that seem like they suck actually…don't. Like you and your brother. You've said before that you aren't as close as you used to be but you two are close with other people now and that can be good, too. People need other people." Said Reigen. He thought that he said it well, made his point, but he felt a stab of…anxiety? Something that made him feel like his blood had gone cold and he was…far away.

"I know. I know that people need other people." Said Mob. She had said that. She had told Touichirou that. People needed other people…and that was true…but there was another feeling. One that told her that she was complete all on her own…but that was not true. She wanted…she wanted….

"Mob? You ok?" asked Reigen

"I'm fine. I was just…thinking. That's something that I told Toui-that I told Suzuki. When we were fighting. I told him that people needed other people and he didn't believe me…but now I think he does." Said Mob

"Who cares what that guy thinks? Mob, don't think about him and what happened. Just…come on." Said Reigen. Well he had really messed up hadn't he? She had been fine…or not. Maybe she hadn't been fine. Maybe she had just been telling herself that she had been fine. Maybe mom had been right. Maybe the high of saving the world was finally fading and Mob was getting back to how she had been…before. After the Asagiri job. After everything that had happened. When she was…he didn't want to think about it.

So he didn't.

"Master Reigen?" asked Mob. She didn't know what she had said or done. She was so clueless sometimes. Now even Master Reigen would tell her that she was clueless and…and…and….

"Come on. We're on a trampoline aren't we?" asked Reigen. He was not going to think about it and neither was she. She was there, at his mother's house, to forget. They had left the city so that they could forget and that was what they were going to do.

So he pulled her to her feet and jumped.

Even though it was a deathtrap. He could feel it groaning. He could feel it shifting. Every jump seemed to send it into the fence. The ground was cold and hard now, wasn't it? That would not have been fun, coming crashing down to it. She would…she would have been hurt…but she had already been so hurt. He remembered her covered in blood. Telling him that he had to run away. It had been dark out but her dress had been white and…and the red had stood out even in the darkness…and she had been so hurt and…

And she still could have gotten hurt.

"Arataka! Get down from there before you get hurt!" called Sophia. She felt the cold getting in as she stood in the back door. That, this, all of it took her back. It had been cold back when Arataka had fallen off of that thing. She didn't know why she had gotten him that thing…well because he had asked for it and it had been a good way to get him to exercise…but she had also gotten it used. That may not have been the best thing to have done….

And also she had never intended for him to be jumping on it at almost thirty.

She loved her son, she honestly did, but he drove her up the wall sometimes. She wanted the best for him but he just couldn't see it. She just wanted him to see the gravity of the situation he had found himself in. Maybe she had gone overboard. Maybe she should have learned, by now, that lecturing didn't work…even though it was just so easy to fall into old habits. She just wanted what was best for him…

And jumping on the trampoline in the backyard with a fourteen year old girl was now what was best for him.

"Mom! I'm not a kid anymore." Said Reigen. He stopped jumping, though, and so did Mob. Not because his mother had told him to, no, that thing was just very rickety. Rickety and old, older than Mob was. Mom had gotten him this thing used after he had practically thrown himself on the ground and rolled around and screamed like a little kid. Not the middle schooler he had been.

"Exactly. You're almost thirty. Now get down from there and help me with the….laundry." said Sophia. Her eyes landed on the old clothesline. She wasn't going to put out any laundry, too cold for that, but there were plenty of clothes that needed washing and a son that really needed to get back to his chores.

"Mom, I don't want-" said Reigen. The laundry…that hadn't been his chore since he had been a kid. Or did they still count as chores. He really should have been helping out. Mom was right, he was almost thirty…even though part of him didn't want to be. It was hard, being an adult sometimes, because he had to be the one in charge. He was confident in his ability to take care of himself. He was not so confident in his ability to take care of another person.

Mob had stopped jumping.

"It's ok. I'm running out of clean clothes." Said Mob. She didn't mind helping out. It was nice that Sophia trusted her to help out. Mom had never trusted her. Mom had always said that she would either mess up or lose control of her powers…but then she would also complain about nobody ever helping her out. Adults could be confusing like that sometimes. People could be so confusing sometimes. She understood Master Reigen though, and his mom, or at least she thought that she did. She didn't know why Master Reigen didn't want to help. Well it seemed like he didn't want to help, anyway, she wasn't sure. She couldn't be sure of how someone else felt. She only knew how she felt. Unless she did the instrumentality thing with him…

No. She was never going to do that again.

"No, no, no. You stay there. Arataka can help me." Said Sophia. She didn't much think that Mobbu should have been jumping up and down like that, she needed something more substantial than an undershirt at this point in her life, but if it made her happy…

And also that was what kids did.

She should have had some space to be a kid. Arataka also needed some space to be an adult. At some point they had gotten it all mixed up, the two of them, and maybe Sophia needed to take it upon herself to get it untwisted up. She accepted…whatever this was between her son and Mobbu….well she was trying her best to accept this. If it made Arataka happy…and Mobbu herself had no one. Abandoned by her family and all of that….

Poor Mobbu.

This was a sticky situation if there ever was one….and speaking of sticky situations she had another chore for Arataka. Nobody had cleaned the space underneath the refrigerator for quite a few years now. That was something for Arataka to do. Also nobody had dusted the ceiling fans in a while too. The living room carpet could use a scrubbing...and that fence hadn't been whitewashed in a good twenty years either…and maybe it wasn't too early to get the garden going….or at least some indoor seedlings….

Hmm….

"Go on Mob, keep jumping. I know that look. Mom…she's going to put me to work." Said Reigen. Yup. He knew this. Arataka, Arataka, night and day it had been Arataka. Do the laundry and the dishes and wash the car and paint the house and plant an orchard and balance the checkbook and organize the groceries in the pantry in order of discovery by man.

Joy.

"But I can help too. I don't mind helping." Said Mob. She stopped jumping and sat back down. The cat was long gone so she could go inside. She took her phone and put it in her pocket. It was cold out, she should have worn her..Teru's….hoodie. Maybe she didn't want to help. Maybe she just wanted to go inside and be near Master Reigen some more…even though she knew that she should not have been feeling that way.

She knew, firsthand now, how painful it was when someone left you.

She had known, in theory, that breakups were painful. Now she knew that pain firsthand. Even if it wasn't her pain she knew firsthand how it felt to have the person you loved most in the entire world leave you. She had been thinking so many of Toucihirou's thoughts and remembering so many of his memories…feeling so many of his feelings…including how it felt when Masami left him…and she did not ever want to do that to another person. Teru loved her and she had thought, before, that she would have had time to choose…but in telling her that she loved him, in being his girlfriend, she had already chosen…and she could never have done anything to hurt him…like leaving…

And also no matter how many years passed she would always be a lot younger than Master Reigen and he would never care about her in the same way that she cared about him.

"No, you can stay out here and have fun. See if you can beat my record. 1259 jumps before I got sick. Besides, I bet that mom's just been itching to put me to work since we got here." Said Reigen. She needed to relax and just forget what had happened. That was a luxury she got because she was just a kid. Even if she didn't act like it, even if she tried her damnedest not to be, she was still just a kid and she deserved to forget what had happened…as best as she could.

"Damn straight." Said Sophia. She stood off to the side and let her son slink through the doorway. She was struck with the feeling that there was less room, now, than there had been before. Why she made these constant comparisons to how things had been before she did not know. That had bene years ago, a decade and a half, and there was no reason to think about how this scene had played out time and time again back then. He was a grown man now, her son, and neither of them had anything to be nostalgic about when it came to that period of his life.

She handed him a laundry basket and told him to collect the dirty clothes from upstairs.

How many times had she done that? Told him to pick up his things? The floor was not a hamper. She had told him before, over and over again, that the floor was not a hamper. He hadn't listened, he never listened and even now he hadn't listened. Probably. She hadn't been in his room since he took up temporary residence in there. She imagined it as it had been back when he had been young. A mess. Clothes and junk everywhere. He had been something of a packrat.

So was she.

She really should have downsized ages ago. It was so hard for foreigners, expats, to own property in this country…but this was too much house. Too much for just her and that damned cat, anyway. This was the perfect size for her and Arataka, though. Her, Arataka, and….and they were not staying. They couldn't stay. Mobbu had a life in Seasoning City…even if she had dropped out of it for a few weeks…but Sophia did not blame her. She blamed her parents, of course, and Taka…but not Mobbu. Of course Sophia could not begin to understand why she even wanted to go back to Seasoning City. She was young, she could easily start again, and it wasn't like her parents were going to notice her absence.

How anyone could have just let that little girl walk right out the door….Sophia could not begin to understand.

"Here, I collected the clothes from the floors and the bathroom hamper." Said Reigen as he came down the stairs and entered the kitchen. He lingered. The washing machine was in the kitchen, now, and this one looked new. He knew how to wash clothes, just put them in and then the detergent and let the machine do its thing, but he also knew how possessive his mother could be with her major and minor appliances.

"Good, you can just….wait, that is that?" asked Sophia as she spotted a riot of color sitting on top of the pile of clothes. She knew that hoodie. She reached over and took it right out of the pile. Of all the things….didn't that boy ever think?

"Mom, that's Mob's hoodie. I need to wash it for her. She hasn't washed it since we got here." Said Reigen. What was with mom? She asked him to do the laundry so he was doing the laundry. If she had wanted it done right then she could have done it herself.

"I know that's her hoodie. Don't wash this. This is from her boyfriend." Said Sophia. How dense could her son possibly be? He hated the fact that Mobbu had a crush on him, even though it would fade with time, so it would have made sense not to wash the hoodie that her actual boyfriend had given her. He had been young once. How could he not have understood?

"Yeah, that's why I'm going to wash it before it starts to stink." Said Reigen. Was this some secret girl thing that he wasn't supposed to know about? It was just a hoodie. A hoodie with an expensive label, how a kid his age had money to piss away on clothes like that Reigen would never know, but still just a hoodie. Wouldn't it have made sense to keep it nice since it, apparently, had such sentimental and monetary value?

"Taka….men, they just don't understand." Said Sophia with a sigh.

"What's there to understand? When clothes are dirty you wash them." Said Reigen

"This hoodie belongs to her boyfriend. It smells like him, probably, and if you put it through the wash then it won't anymore and she'll probably be devastated. Also I would think, with the amount of complaining that you've been doing on the subject, that you would have wanted her little crush on you to wither and die." Said Sophia as calmly as she could. Mobbu called herself clueless? Well Arataka was on a whole other level.

"Mom! Not so loud! She might hear you!" said Reigen. He could hear the squeaking and groaning of that old deathtrap of a trampoline. He doubted that Mob heard anything other than that. Still, he did not want to talk about…that…with her. If he pretended that he didn't know, that he couldn't even conceive of such a thing, then maybe it would have withered and died on it's own like mom had said. Also there was what had happened between them….well between him and Dimple possessing Mob's body…and she didn't seem to remember…

And he did not want to jog her memory. That would have benefited no one.

"You know she can't…and while we're on the subject of you and her…" said Sophia. While they were on the subject she was going to try and see if she could get him to figure out something other than going back to that dangerous business of theirs. There were so many things that he could do with his life. She hadn't spent a fortune sending him to university just so that he could die in some psychic related insanity or to have his good name, and hers by extension, dragged through the mud and then spat all over on the internet.

"Mom, no, we are not on the subject because there is NO subject. She has a crush on me and I pretend that I'm none the wiser. That's the extent of it. You know, I don't need my own mother speculating about-" said Reigen

"I…was doing no such thing…because I know for a fact that you do not return her feelings. Arataka, if you returned her feelings then I would have to…I don't even know. But I know you and I know that you are not that kind of man. Do you honestly think that I would believe all of those crazy internet rumors? I know my own child." Said Sophia. Well that had been…something that she was not going to agonize over. Either her son did returned Mobbu's feelings and then that was something that she had to deal with or he didn't and they were just in a really bizarre and age inappropriate friendship with some serious codependency issues…also something that she did not particularly feel like dealing with.

"I knew you weren't…." said Reigen. Well that had been…to be fair she had totally thought that when she'd first met Mob. To be fair the whole world seemed to think that…even though it was insane. Maybe the world had just gone crazy. He would have believed that with all that had happened.

"I was going to ask you what your plan was for the future…something beyond getting back to normal." Said Sophia

"Mom, no, what Mob needs is to get back to normal. We are not going to move in here-" said Reigen

"I never said that you were…though if you wanted to-" said Sophia

"And I am not going back to selling water coolers-" said Reigen

"There are thousands of jobs out there that have nothing to do with selling water coolers-" said Sophia

"And Mob can't go home so I have to do right by her-" said Reigen

"Putting her in mortal danger is not doing right by her-" said Sophia

"She puts herself in-" said Reigen

"You are the adult and she is the child-" said Sophia

"She doesn't listen to-" said Reigen

"Then make her-" said Sophia. They went back and forth like that. She knew how confident her son was that he could defeat anyone in an argument, he really should have stayed on the debate team, well she was just as confident as he was. She was his mother and she would not rest until he saw reason. He could not go back to the life that he had been living. She had almost lost him so many times…she didn't know how many more times he had left. He had been at ground zero of that…that take over the world…whatever…and he was lucky to have walked out of there. One day his luck was going to run out.

And she had no idea what she was going to do when that happened.

Mob had no idea what Master Reigen had done to make his mom upset with him.

She had no idea what happened but then again she never had any idea of what happened when it came to those two. She could feel how upset they were, the both of them, and she wished that she knew why. She never fought with her mom like that…until that awful night when….but it had never been like that before.

She wished that she could have just gone into the house and asked what all the fighting was about.

But she didn't. She knew that she would not have gotten a straight answer. She had tried it before. Master Reigen and his mom had just said that nobody had been fighting, even though Mob could clearly see and hear that they had been, and then Sophia had taken her to the kitchen to show her how to make popcorn without a microwave. That had been fun…the popcorn, not the fighting. She had no idea what they had been fighting about or what she was supposed to do about it…

So she just kept on jumping.

Master Reigen had asked her to beat his record after all. She was starting to get motion sick but it was nothing that she couldn't handle. She had been through worse. So much worse. Every time she went up she was reminded of being thrown…and then when she hit the top she could remember how the earth had looked from above even though the highest she could see was over the garden fence, and then when she came down she remembered what it had been like to be thrown…and she did not want to remember. She wanted…she didn't want to even think about that. She wanted…

She could keep it together and she would keep it together.

If not for herself then for the people watching her break Master Reigen's record. That was another genre of popular internet video, people doing random stuff, and people seemed to like her a lot. Even when she and Master Reigen had gone their separate ways people had still asked about her. She didn't know why people liked her so much, she really wasn't that interesting aside from her powers, but if it got them attention then she would do whatever she had to. They needed people to remember them, and for good things, if they were ever going to get back into business.

When. For when they got back into business.

When they went back to the city they would get back to work and back to normal. She was looking forward to it. She was going to sit back at her desk and do her homework and listen to Master Reigen talk and then they would go out on jobs and then they would get ramen on their way back. Yes, it would be so great to get back to normal…

She had no idea when she would get back to normal but she knew that when she did it would be wonderful.

Ritsu was finally allowed back out of the house…and it should have been wonderful.

Dad had been the one to let him out. Well he had convinced mom to let him out. Mom had been complaining about how much time he spent in his room, she said that he was becoming a recluse and stuff, but then dad had told her that she was the reason that he stayed in there. Then they got into a fight about mom smothering him, and he had not wanted to ever be the subject of one of his parents' fights, so he'd said somethings…and then things had gotten worse…

But then better because dad said to mom that things would never get back to normal unless she let him act normal.

Which was what had brought him outside of the house on a very cold day. He had been outside before, though mom and dad didn't need to know that, and really there was nothing that he wanted to do. Well there was something that he wanted to do but Sho usually came around at night. It was the middle of the day and Ritsu had no idea if it was ok or not to ask Sho if he wanted to hang out. He knew that if he tried hard enough and walked around for long enough that he would, eventually, find Sho's aura….

But then that might have been a little weird.

Sho was weird, more than a little bit weird, but Ritsu didn't want to make him think that…well he didn't want Sho to think a lot of things about him. Things that would most certainly ruin their friendship. Things that he should not have been thinking about in the first place. There was no point to it, first of all, and second of all he was just tormenting himself at this point. Sho was his friend and that was all that they could be….

So, no, he was not going to seek Sho out.

But he had nothing to do. He knew that he could have gone to see Rei, she would have loved that, but he knew that if he did then she would want to kiss him and other things and he had no problem with any of that, he had to make her happy after all, but he just…he didn't feel like it. Well he never felt like it but now he really didn't feel like it. He mostly just felt…tired…if anything. Tired of pretending, tired of trying to be something that he wasn't…

But there was no point to being tired. He was the one who had dug himself into this hole so he had might as well make himself comfortable.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. That was probably Rei. She probably wanted to see him and then he would probably end up seeing her and then they would probably end up doing what they had been doing lately, she showed no signs of getting bored of him even though he had heard that girls only pretended to like it and really guys were just terrible, and then she would want to because he was apparently just as gifted at things like that as he was at everything else he put his mind to….and he wasn't even putting his mind to it!

He really wasn't!

She just told him what to do and then he did it! How hard was that?! Maybe if every other guy in the world wasn't an idiot then she could have found someone else and he could have been alone…even though the prospect of dying alone did not appeal to him at all. No, he didn't want to be alone, but he could never be with the person he wanted to be with. Even if he got over Sho there would be another guy and then another and another and he would not have been able to do anything about his feelings. That was just not who he was supposed to be. He was supposed to have a girlfriend and then they would become adults and do all the things that adults did and they'd have a good life, measured by someone else's standards of course, and then he could die and they'd write on his gravestone 'here lies Ritsu, he did everything right' and people would pour water over his grave and mourn him because he had lived the best life possible and-

His phone vibrated again.

He reached deep into his pocket and took out his phone. Time to do what he had to do. It wasn't that bad, it never took too long and she was one and done instead of the conflicting accounts that he had heard from other guys about girls either never wanting to or wanting to nonstop, and it made her happy. Yeah, if she wanted to then he would. Even if she wanted to return the favor afterwards…no matter how many times he told her that she didn't have to and it was not selfish of her at all not to touch him. Yeah, this wouldn't be so bad.

Oh. It wasn't Rei.

Well it was and it wasn't. The Awakening Lab group chat was back and his number had been added…thanks to Rei most likely. He sometimes responded but he was mostly content to just let Rei speak for him. They were really more her friends anyway. Apparently Teru had found a new place to live…and he was inviting everyone over….and now Rei was asking him if he could sneak out and if he would go with her…

He told her he would. He had nothing else to do that day.

Teru had nothing to do that day so he had might as well have people over.

He was getting dangerously close to the old Teru. The one who had to pretend to be something he wasn't…or maybe he was pretending now and this was who he was. Maybe he just had to be the sort of person who surrounded himself with people less than himself. People who weren't as popular or good looking or as powerful…and that was not the way to be. Shigeko would have been so ashamed of him… if she ever planned to get off of that damned trampoline.

He had no problem, actually, with the trampoline.

He liked that she was having fun. He liked that she wasn't upset. He just wished….he wished that she could have had fun with him. There was certainly enough room in his, their, new apartment for a trampoline. There was only the futon in there…well that and the TV. His laptop, too, but he could have moved that out of the way. There definitely could have been a trampoline in there for the two of them to jump on…

He decided to stop thinking about this.

This was not the time to be thinking of Shigeko jumping up and down on a trampoline. She was wearing tights, thank God…for everyone else since he was the only one who could….yeah, but she was just in a shirt and she was all…it was like the times when he would wait for her by the Salt Mid gates and she would be outside with her exercise club….

Not the thing to be thinking about when he had company coming over.

The first of his company was there…and he knew that aura. Well Ritsu certainly wasted no time…and Teru was not going to look into his feelings about this. About Ritsu, apparently, rushing on over to be with him….it meant nothing. Ritsu had meant nothing by…well he had meant something…but that was something which was never going to happen again. Ritsu knew not to try anything like that again and Teru knew that he was never going to let his guard down like he had…before…so therefore it was never going to happen again.

It wasn't.

Which was why Teru had not been nervous at all about letting him in. Even if they were alone for the first time since…everything happened. Even if Ritsu was looking at him like normal…which was normal for Ritsu…which meant less than normal by the standards of regular people…..but this would be fine. Teru was just worrying about nothing. He just had to open the door and act normal and pretend that nothing at all was different between them.

He could do that.

He did do that.

"Ritsu, good to see you." Said Teru as he opened the door. Ritsu looked normal, his usual broody self, which was good. Normal. Normal was good and good was normal.

"Hey. Thanks for inviting me over. I guess." Said Ritsu. He had come over because he'd had nothing to do. Now he wished that he had been back in his room. Teru…he had….yeah. Of course it was going to be awkward. Ritsu knew that it was awkward. Teru was trying to be normal. People were never normal when they were trying to be normal. That just make it more awkward.

He wished that Teru would have just said what was on his mind.

"Thanks for coming over. Come on in. I'll give you the grand tour." Said Teru. He needed something to do, something to talk about, something to stay busy with. He wanted to tell Ritsu…he had no idea what he wanted to say to Ritsu. He had no idea what he even could say to Ritsu. That he was glad that they were still alive? That he was still pissed about being kissed back when they though that the world was burning? That he was so lonely that he wasn't going to say anything because Ritsu was one of the few real friends he had?

He decided to stick to the tour.

"…living room. It's smaller than it looks. Well with will be when I get some real furniture. I would have gotten some before I invited everyone over but I want to see what Shiigeko thinks." Said Teru. He wished, for not the first time, that this apartment was bigger. If it had been bigger then he would have had more to say. He had so little to say but he had to keep on talking because if he didn't talk about something he would talk about what happened and-

And really it should not have bothered him that much.

First off he had almost died. Many times. More times than anyone should ever have had to almost die. His girlfriend was kilometers away and staying with a guy who swore up and down that he wasn't interested in her one bit, which was damn suspicious because even the idea of being with Shigeko should not have even crossed his mind once, not that he thought that Shigeko would ever doing anything….because he trusted her completely. He didn't have to worry about that just like he knew that he would not have to worry about Ritsu bringing up anything or wanting to talk about anything or…anything.

"You talked to Shigeko?" asked Ritsu. He had only been half listening. It was an apartment, it was new, and it was Teru's. He didn't know what he needed to know beyond those facts. He knew what he wanted to know. Shigeko. How was she doing? Was she ok? Was she ever coming back? He knew that he could have just called her himself, could have just asked her himself, but he just…couldn't. Not after what he had done with her boyfriend. Not after what he wanted to do…and he still kind of did. Teru had rejected him in a way that left zero room for misinterpretation. But he still liked him. He liked Teru…he was ok with himself enough to admit it but not ok with himself enough to think that it was ok. Teru was his big sister's boyfriend. He had made Teru kiss him, which was not ok, and he had also made Teru cheat on Shigeko…

It was amazing that, after the dust cleared from that day, Teru still wanted anything at all to do with him.

"I did. She's…she's well. She's doing very well. She's been having a lot of fun and relaxing and…stuff. She's been posting a lot of cat videos. They're alright." Said Teru. He tried to sound light. He was not going to get upset. If he did get upset then he might start going on and on and on about Reigen and how he was just….Reigen!

The badmouth Reigen Arataka came would need to be put on hiatus.

Because, whether Teru liked to admit it or not, Reigen had really been there for everyone. He had helped keep them together when they had all been so close to falling apart. He had helped keep Shigeko together too…because she cared about Reigen whether or not Teru wanted to admit that. She cared about everyone. She was a bottomless well of love and caring, his girlfriend, and that was all. It would have hurt her, too, to know that he was voicing his less than positive opinions on Reigen and she did not need to be hurt.

He cared too much about her.

"Cat videos?" asked Ritsu

"Yeah, Reigen has a cat. Well she said that it's his mom's cat. It's got a really long and really stupid name and doesn't do much besides run away from her." said Teru

"I can't believe that he went running back to his mom." Said Ritsu. If there was still any common ground between them it would have been the badmouth Reigen Arataka game. Ritsu was grateful that he had kept Rei from losing it when they'd been running for their lives and all of that but a few nice things did not change the fact that he was and always would be weird as hell with Shigeko.

"Well it is Reigen. Sometimes you have to run away." said Teru. He smiled, then, even though he knew that Shigeko would have been so upset with him if she had known what he had been saying. But she didn't know because she had chosen to leave him…temporarily. Yes, it was only temporary.

"I don't know why he had to take Shigeko with him though." said Ritsu. He knew why Shigeko would have gone with him, she cared about him and stuff like that, but he didn't know why he had to take her with. That was his mom, not hers, she already had a mom. She was in her bedroom shouting at dad most likely. If she had wanted to hang out with a mom so badly then she just could have come back home and hung out with their mom.

"Because he's Reigen. She only went with him because his mother has a cat, probably, anyway." Said Teru. Where there were cats there was Shigeko. This was a good thing, actually, because she had been afraid of cats for the longest time. Because of what had happened to her in the unreality. That was why she had been afraid of cats and her not being afraid of cats meant that she was getting better. That was good. That was great. She was getting better or…or maybe she just had a new set of things to be afraid of.

That would have made sense.

Because out of all of them she had been through the most. She had come to him last time something awful had happened to her…well she had come to him and then left…but she knew that she could come to him again. She knew that she could always come back to him. She knew that he loved her and that he would be with her no matter what.

She would come back to him.

"She's coming back, right?" asked Ritsu. If anyone would know it would have been Teru. Well Rei was friends with her too but then he would have to talk to Rei and…and that had been mean. Of course he wanted to talk to her. He may not have been able to return the feelings she had for him but she was still someone he cared about.

"Of course she is." Said Teru. That came out a bit more harshly than it should have. He wanted to tell Ritsu that he needed to ask his big sister himself. But of course he wouldn't. Things, in Ritsu's mind anyway, had been awkward between him and Shigeko since their fight. Well they hadn't been, not back then, but they might have been now. Things were not awkward between Teru and Shigeko because Teru had wanted no part of kissing Ritsu. Ritsu, on the other hand, may or may not have had feelings for his big sister's boyfriend.

Honestly it would have been weird if Ritsu HADN'T felt awkward.

"I…yeah, I knew that." Said Ritsu. Well now he felt even more awkward. He knew his sister and he knew that she was coming back. He had expected Teru to tell him something like 'ask her yourself' which he would have been totally justified in saying. Or maybe Teru would have told him to ask Rei…which he had more tact than to say. He knew…way too much…about that area of Ritsu's life. Anyone knowing anything close to the truth was way too much for Ritsu.

"Of course you did. This is Shigeko we're talking about. She's…she's going to come back. And when she does I'll finally be able to get this place furnished." Said Teru. He forced his voice to take on a levity it did not have. He hated this. He had invited Ritsu and the others over specifically so that he didn't have to pretend to be someone he wasn't…but that was the story of his life, wasn't it? Pretending to be someone he wasn't. Even with Shigeko.

She had made him into a better person.

Or maybe he just pretended to be a better person when she was around. There was the version of him that existed in her mind and then the version of him that existed in the minds of others and finally the version of him that existed within his own mind. Each of those Teru's was different. So who was the real Teru, then? With all of those different versions of himself running around which was the real Teru.

He smiled a bit as he imagines Shigeko standing in front of three different versions of himself holding a gun and trying to figure out who the real Teru was and which ones were the pod people….that had been a great movie….he should have showed it to Shigeko when he'd had the chance…not that he didn't have the chance. He did. She would be back and then he could show her all of his favorite movies and it would…it would be great.

It really would.

"Or you could, you know, go to Costco and buy something besides a TV and a futon. Some chairs, maybe, would be nice. I mean if you're going to be entertaining people." Said Ritsu. Teru was smiling a little. That smile…it woke up the butterflies in his stomach…but not that badly. It was more like when you heard your front door slam when your parents went to work early in the morning. They went back to sleep pretty fast. He thought about another smile…freckles at the corners of it…freckles everywhere really…well everywhere that he had seen…

Now it was like someone had reached into his stomach and shook the butterflies awake like it was Christmas morning.

"You honestly think that I would buy furniture from Costco of all places? I am not buying chairs at the same place I can get twenty kilo bags of rice." Said Teru

"Well anything would be better than everyone just standing around." Said Ritsu

"I thought you were Japanese. Obviously we'll all be sitting on the floor. What's wrong with you?" asked Teru. Thinking of Shigeko…it helped him fall back into what he and Ritsu had been. Paradoxically thinking of her also made him acutely aware of what had transpired between him and Ritsu. So much contradiction. Of course that was what she was, his Shigeko, a contradiction. The most perfect contradiction ever to live.

God, he loved her so fucking much it hurt sometimes.

"Sit down and I'll tell you." Said Ritsu. He knew that Teru wasn't being serious. He sort of was. There was so much wrong with him that he didn't have a clue where to ever start from. He had been too introspective, lately, because after almost dying the things that he worried about should not even have been on his radar. So what if he would never know what it was like to be with someone he actually had feelings for? So what if he had feelings for someone and he could never tell them? So what if he had already almost ruined one friendship and was about to ruin another with all of his stupid feelings? So what if he was in a relationship with someone who loved him more than anything and liked to do stuff with him and, probably, would want to do more stuff with him the next time she saw him or would even want to go further and-

And thank God for doorbells.

"You sit, I'll get that." Said Teru. He knew that aura…and he was going to be polite. He was going to get the door and he was going to be polite because that was not his enemy and he was smart enough to know that there was a difference between a father and a son and he had been there and Sho had been running, well he had been carried, for his life with everyone else. Hell, he had been an inch from death when they had all been running. Suzuki, no, Sho was on their side…

And he was on the other side of that door.

Which he then opened. He opened it and was prepared to say hello, to take his coat if he had one…which he would have because it was cold as hell outside, and then he would have offered him tea or water and been just the picture of politeness and manners. They weren't close at all, not like with Ritsu, so of course he had to be the picture of manners and politeness. Actually there was a comfort in that, falling into basic etiquette and all of that, because that way he at least wouldn't have to think about who was on the other side of that door.

The two people on the other side of that door.

"Sho, Rei, how nice to see you here…together." Said Teru. Maybe his whole thing with Reigen had poisoned his mind. It must have since…since his mind had gone straight to…and maybe that said more about him than it did about anyone else. Rei wasn't like that.

If she was then Ritsu's life would have been about ten times easier, Teru figured, at least ten times if not more.

"What?" asked Ritsu. He wished that he had sat down. If he had sat down then maybe he wouldn't have felt like clutching the wall. He knew that aura, he'd felt that aura, but he could not believe that he was feeling that aura…and this feeling made no sense because he saw Sho all the time…and now he was seeing him again…with Rei.

He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

He settled on getting a hold of himself before he lost control of his powers, very rare, or his mouth, not very rare at all. Rei was not like that. He wished and wished and wished that Rei was like that, that he would catch her with some other guy so he would have had an excuse to leave her. He could have said something like 'when you love someone you let them go' or some other movie cliché like that. He didn't, though, think that he would say that if she were to have feelings for…

Which she didn't.

She wasn't like that. She loved him and she was devoted to him…also she was pretty much the only one trying to make their relationship work so, of course, she was not going to throw all of her hard work away. She would never do that to him and Sho would never do that to him either. Sho had said, before, that he thought that love was a sacred thing and all of that. Sho was his friend, too, and…and he could be friends with whoever he wanted. He could hang out with whoever he wanted to hang out with. He could be friends with whoever he wanted to be friends with.

He had a life outside of Ritsu.

He knew that Sho had a life outside of Ritsu. He was living on his mom's couch and she was being distant. She had a boyfriend too and Sho wasn't sure if he should have been happy that his mom had someone she cared about, sad that she had replaced his dad, or completely grossed out because that was his mother and it was gross to him that his own mother would do…things…with someone and that it had been bad enough that his parents had done that….Ritsu remembered Sho's voice when he went on that rant. The way his face flushed. The way he paced around even though he knew that he had to be quiet…

But Sho didn't know how to be quiet. Even now.

"Ritsu! You beat me here!" said Sho. He knew that aura. He had been able to feel that aura from blocks away. His aura was always trying to bond with Ritsu's…and he was not going to let that happen. He tried his best to keep that from happening, usually, but now he had to be especially vigilant. His girlfriend was right there and she was a pretty cool person, he liked hanging out with her, and he was not going to go and mess with what Ritsu and she had. It didn't matter how he felt about Ritsu. He was not going to mess up what they had together.

Running up to Ritsu and glomping on him was not messing with what he had with his girlfriend.

Because that was a friend glomp, not an 'I want to be your boyfriend' glomp. There was a difference…tough both made him feel like…yeah. Maybe that hadn't been the best idea…though he hadn't seen Ritsu in so long. He had been making an effort to give him space because, well, Sho liked him as more than a friend. Sho really liked him and he knew that Ritsu didn't like him back and he knew that he had been spending way too much time with Ritsu so, maybe, the best thing to do was just to give him space…give the both of them some space…

Though maybe hanging out with his girlfriend all day and drawing hadn't been the best thing to do. Maybe dad had been right when he said that Sho was totally incapable of thinking things through.

"You're cutting off my blood circulation." Said Ritsu. He swore that he heard the click of a camera. He couldn't see anything past Sho, though, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to. He had missed Sho…though he knew that Sho had a life outside of him. Also he had a life outside of Sho. Also…also he needed to get out of this glomp…because he was way too close, they were way too close, and being this close made him feel all…

Not the way he should have been feeling.

"Sorry. Wouldn't want to kill you or anything. That would totally suck, wouldn't it? If you lived through all that shit my dad pulled only for me to kill you." Said Sho. He took a step back but he was maybe still standing too close. Maybe weirdly close. Or maybe he was just being weird in thinking that he was being weirdly close. He didn't know. He couldn't think.

"Yeah…that would really suck." Said Ritsu. Sho was still standing so close…but he had been even closer…and he had stepped away and…and Ritsu just could not think. He had been so close and he had liked it and Rei had been right there and…and Sho had been so close and…and he smelled like….

He smelled like Rei.

Vanilla, acetone, the detergent her family used, the general smell of her house…which made sense because he had been hanging out with her….and WHY had he been hanging out with her? What reason could he have had to hang out with her? Well they both liked to draw and they both liked animals and they both…they had a lot in common. Even hair color…well hers was dyed a different sort of red than Sho's…and her hair was black if he wanted to be technical about it and…

And Sho smelled like her and he wanted to hit him for it.

"My turn!" said Rei. That had been so….cute! Yes, cute was a good word for it. Well seeing her boyfriend and another, almost as cute guy, well that was a lot of things. Very good things. Including a very good new wallpaper….or lock screen. She'd figure out which after she was done hugging Ritsu. He smelled so good…how had she gone this long without seeing him? Days and days. Thank God that she wasn't under house arrest anymore…though as far as her mom and dad knew she was just going to the store to get snacks. She could think up an excuse for being gone for hours on end later. She didn't care if she got in trouble. She got to see Ritsu and hold him and kiss him too, maybe, once there weren't other people around. She could feel herself being stared at. Yeah, maybe now was not the time to be kissing Ritsu even though she really wanted to!

"Hey…Rei." Said Ritsu. He hugged her back as best as he could. She was warm and she smelled like herself and he had never minded it, the way she smelled, but now she did. She didn't smell bad or anything she just smelled like…herself. He hadn't ever even been that aware of the way that she smelled…but now she was. She at least smelled like herself. He didn't know what he would have done if she had smelled like Sho.

She hugged him for a long time. Long enough for someone else to come to the door.

"Thank fucking God." Muttered Teru. He could not stand the sight of…whatever that had been. The hopeless pining between Ritsu and Sho and then Rei's…Rei-ness. Rei being totally in love with a guy who was apparently pining after another guy and…and this was the stuff best left to daytime dramas and not Teru's life. There was enough drama in his life already.

At least Ritsu wasn't pining after him anymore….so thank God for small mercies…

He took a deep breath and opened the door. Barely any aura to speak of, that God, which meant one of the Awakening Lab kids…Takeshi. He had never been so happy to see Takeshi in his entire life. He practically pulled him through the door hard enough to dislocate at least a few bones.

"Takeshi! It is so good to see you!" said Teru as he dragged Takeshi through the door. The appearance of another person….he had never been so happy to have another person in his space. This apartment had been too big before but now…

Somehow it was both too big and too small at the same time.


	84. Looking Back, Going Back, Moving Forward

The house was like a time capsule and Mob was doing her best to open it up and discover all of it's secrets.

So far she had found a few interesting things. She had found a box full of records, which were like giant CDs, and had tried out each and every one of them. Some were nice, some were broken, and some were in a language that she didn't even understand. Not English but something else. Sophia had found her sitting on the living room floor trying to figure out what she was listening to. She said that her ex husband had liked world music and that those were his records.

Then she carried the box away and told her that the records on the shelf under the record player were much better.

Mob had found a box of movies too. They were tapes, the things that people had used before DVDs, and she had looked through them slowly and carefully. She looked for things that Teru might have liked. He liked all movies but he liked some movies better than others. He liked anything scary and anything in black and white. There were plenty of scary movies which were in black and white too. She took pictures of the ones that Teru would like and she would have watched some, too, if Sophia hadn't found her again. She said that those movies were old and probably didn't work anymore. They hadn't been watched since Master Reigen's dad had lived there.

Mob could watch any of the movies on the shelf under the TV, though, Sophia had said. Those were supposedly much better than the ones that Master Reigen's dad liked.

She had found other things, too, like a box of old clothes that belonged to Master Reigen's dad and a box of old photo albums that had a person cut out of every picture. That was Master Reigen's dad in them. Mob didn't know why Sophia kept so much of Master Reigen's dad's stuff around if she didn't like him anymore. They were divorced and had been since Master Reigen had been her age. She figured that all of those years gone by would have been enough time for him to come and get his stuff but she didn't know when it came to adults.

They could be so complicated sometimes.

Like how Master Reigen and his mom could go from being nice to each other one minute to fighting the next. Or even in the same minute sometimes. Master Reigen said that when he was a kid he and his mom used to have fights all the time. Sometimes they would fight so badly that the neighbors would stick their heads out their windows to listen to what was happening. No neighbors had done that, well as far as Mob had noticed, so that was good. The fighting, on the other hand, wasn't. She didn't get it. Sophia was nice and Master Reigen was nice so why couldn't they just be nice to each other? Why did they have to fight all the time?

Mob didn't get it.

They were fighting again now. Mob didn't even know what they were fighting about. She heard them talking about work. Probably about money. Sophia wanted Master Reigen to get a different job for some reason. Mob didn't know why. She liked their job and it wasn't that dangerous. Compared to saving the whole world their job was pretty safe. Not that they would be saving the world again anytime soon. It was over. The whole thing was over and now, finally, they could just rest and have fun and stuff…or rather Mob could have fun. Master Reigen and Sophia were still fighting.

How two people could do so much fighting she would never know.

She also didn't know why she kept on listening. She could have just gone back to her room. She could have just called Teru and seen if he was awake yet. She could have called Ritsu, too, or maybe not because he was little and he needed his sleep. She could have watched TV or gone back to sleep or looked for more things to look through or played with the cat again or something like that. Instead she just sat at the top of the stairs listening to Master Reigen and his mom fight. Maybe she just wanted to know what they were fighting about….or maybe she just wanted to see if they were fighting about something new for once.

"Just come to work with me for one day, Taka, we need a sub and really first level English isn't that hard to teach." Said Sophia as she paced back and forth in the living room genkan. Her heels were clicking and maybe, just maybe, they would drown out the sound of her and her son fighting at this ungodly hour.

"Mom, I can't just leave Mob home alone like that." Said Reigen. This was what he got for getting up and getting a glass of water. An early morning lecture from the greatest lecturer in all of Japan. He wished that she would have just kept her voice down. Mob was awake. He could feel her moving around. She did not need to hear this. Not after everything that she had been through.

"She's fourteen. She can be left home alone for a few hours. Come on, it'll be good for you to broaden your horizons…and also leave this house for a little bit. You've been inside for days, Taka, it isn't good for you." Said Sophia

"I've been outside." Said Reigen defensively. Mom always had to exaggerate, didn't she?

"Playing on the trampoline does not count as going outside." Said Sophia

"It's in the yard, isn't it? The yard is outside." Said Reigen

"Don't get cheeky with me Arataka. You know full well what I meant." Said Sophia. Did he always have to act like a teenager? Even at his age? He knew what she meant and he knew that she only wanted what was best for him. She did not need him turning into one of those men who lived in their bedrooms. She wanted him to stay, God knew she wanted him to stay, but not like that. He had to rejoin society. Sure he had been through a lot but miring himself in it was not how his life was going to progress. He needed to move forward at least in small steps.

"Mom, why are you so hell bent on me getting another job? It's not going to happen. Mob needs to get back to normal and I want to get back to normal and normal means me and her getting back to…well…normal." Said Reigen

"Arataka you know more Japanese than that. Find another word besides 'normal'." Said Sophia. She almost ran a hand through her hair but stopped herself. She could not go back in after this long looking a mess. This was not going the way that she had planned. She had just asked Taka if he had wanted to come to work with her because they were going to be short staffed that day. That was all. Somehow the whole thing had decayed into an argument…which was normal for them.

"I'm not a thesaurus, mom, and I'm not an English teacher either." Said Reigen

"No, you're an exorcist." Said Sophia. Her son rolled his eyes at her. Just like before. If he hadn't stood taller than her she would have thought that she had stepped into a wormhole back in time. Taka was there in his T-shirt and pajama pants acting like a brat early in the morning. The scene would have been complete if she had been chasing him around trying to get him into his gakuran. Some things never changed, it seemed, no matter how much she wanted them to.

"And a pretty damn good masseuse." Said Reigen sarcastically. Mostly sarcastically. He was pretty good at giving massages, nobody had left disappointed yet, but of course mom wouldn't see that. He didn't know if this was his anger or her anger or him making her angry or her making him angry. Either way he was angry. No matter how much she wanted to play the nice, helpful, caring mom she always went right back to how she was. Things always went right back to the way they were. The way that they had always been.

This house was like a time capsule.

He felt like he had stepped back in time, then, and it wasn't because mom hadn't redecorated in about twenty years. It was about the pictures that hung on the walls documenting his life. It wasn't the fact that mom still had a VCR and a Hi-Fi and all of his old games consoles. It wasn't even all the boxes of junk, a lifetime of collected junk, that Mob kept on getting into. No, THIS was what made this whole thing feel like a time capsule.

He was arguing with mom at some crazy hour of the morning in his pajamas all because mom had tried to make him do something that he just did not want to do.

"Is that was you want to do with your life? Taka, you've been to university. You have other skills. You can get a better job." Said Sophia

"Really? Better by who's standards? Mom, it feels like we've been going around in circles since I got here. Even…even since before. I'm tired of this. Mom, my life is my own and if this is what I choose to do with my life then this is what I choose to do with my life. Ok?" said Reigen

"Your life is your own but…but you know that I want better for you. I just want…can't you just try it?" asked Sophia. Teaching English wasn't fun but it put moderately priced bread on the table. She had seen the bread that Taka bought. Moderately priced bread would have been a step up.

"Mom, no. You want me to work with you and live in this house with you forever and-" said Reigen

"I don't want you to live in this house with me forever and I'm not saying that you have to work with me, either. I just want to show you that there's a world of jobs between selling your soul selling water coolers and risking your life exorcising spirits and whatever else you do." Said Sophia

"It doesn't matter what else is out there, mom, Mob wants…she wants us to get back to normal. She wants us to be normal again and I…I want it too." Said Reigen

"Normal for you two or normal for the rest of the world?" asked Sophia, her tone just as snotty as her son's.

"Mom-" said Reigen. He didn't want to talk about this. He didn't want to talk about how far from normal that his life had gone. He didn't mind it, well he hadn't minded it, before everything that happened. It had been so…easy…before this year. The tunnel job…that was the first time that he had ever seen Mob in true danger. She just kept on…she just kept on getting into danger and he just kept on letting her get into danger. He knew that she would have just…just kept on getting herself into danger. If things had been normal, truly normal, then she would have been getting ready for school in her own home with her own family right now. They wouldn't have had to save the world or risk their lives or anything like that. But things were not normal, their lives were not normal, and this was just…it was what it was.

"Taka…maybe she needs to see that there are other things in the world, too, besides risking her life. Maybe she needs to see that there are a world of jobs out there beyond the one that she's had since she was eleven. Don't you want that for her? Don't you want her to be safe?" asked Sophia. She knew that she had to switch gears. Taka's greatest weakness was that girl. She was the reason that he stayed in that dangerous business of his and she was the reason that Taka had risked his life so many times. She was also fourteen and should not have been calling the shots the way she was. She was an unusually mature fourteen year old, it was amazing that she hadn't broken down from everything that she had been through, she was still just fourteen. She didn't get to call all the shots because she did not have the life experience to be calling the shots. She had no idea what adult life had in store for her. She was a child and she had no clue what she needed.

She needed an adult to call some of the shots. It wasn't fair to her or to Taka.

"So what then? You want her to come with?" asked Reigen. He didn't want her to go with. He didn't want her out there in the world because…because it was dangerous. Because there was so much that could have happened to her and he would not have been able to keep her safe just like he hadn't been able to keep her safe before….

It was irrational.

It was irrational to feel like that. Like she would be in danger if she went with. Was he worried about her being in danger or was he worried about he, himself, not being able to protect her? And from what? His goal, their shared goal, should have been getting back to normal and getting back to normal meant getting back out into the world. That was his plan, too, it had always been. To leave mom's house and to get Mob home and to get everything back to as close to being normal as they could be. He knew…he knew that these were his goals, their goals, but…but before that moment it had all felt like something far away…almost not real…but it was real…

Maybe he was the one who needed to get back to normal.

"If she wants to. I doubt anyone would complain…or even realize that she's only fourteen." Said Sophia. She checked the wall clock. Whatever. She could be a little late. They were the ones who called her in at the last minute while they knew that she was going through a family emergency. A son that had lived through a terrorist attack. That counted as an emergency, it had to.

"I'll ask her-" said Reigen. He knew that she was up. She was moving around and probably going through some old boxes or playing with the cat or something. Did he really want to take her away from all of that? She would have liked to come with. She would have liked to come with and he knew that she would have liked to come with and mom said that it was ok…so then he would have her come with. He would go upstairs and ask her if she wanted to come with.

At least he would have if she hadn't beat him to it.

"Hana, I love you but I'm going to go downstairs and have some cereal before Ritsu beats me to it."

Ritsu wakes up at the sound of his name. He kicks his blankets around and for a moment, a terrifying moment, he thinks that someone is going to come into his room to wake him up or check on him or something. But nobody does. Footsteps make their way down the hall and to the stairs. He can hear mom and dad's voices getting further and further away. Good. They won't be coming in any time soon.

Not that there was any reason to keep them out.

Even if Sho had made himself invisible Ritsu would still have been able to sense him. He couldn't. That meant that Sho was well and truly gone. Whatever. That was fine. He had his own life. He had his own things to do in the daytime. That was fine. So what if he just came by in the middle of the night to keep Ritsu up? To hang out until neither of them could keep their eyes opened and then make himself a nest of blankets on the floor? That was their night. That was the way that their nights went a lot of the time and Sho was usually gone in the morning and that…that was just how it was between them.

He was not mad.

He was not mad at all. He was done being mad. That had been the old him, the version of him that had gotten him into more trouble than he had even been able to comprehend, and he was not going to be that person anymore. He was not going to get mad and start losing control of himself just because his friend left in the morning without so much as a goodbye. He probably just hadn't wanted to wake Ritsu or whatever. That was it. There was no need to get upset.

Especially since they were just friends.

Ritsu checked the time. Early. So early that Rei hadn't even texted him 'good morning' yet. She was probably still asleep, maybe, because it was early and she had been up late last night talking to him. Why she stayed on the line with him until she started nodding off he did not know. She knew that he would be there to talk to her more tomorrow and she knew that if she saved some stuff for tomorrow then she would have had more to talk about. Not that he had been paying too much attention to what she had been saying. It all just sort of started to run together after a while.

Which was very mean of him. He should have listened to her.

He was her boyfriend and it was his job to listen to her no matter what she had to talk about. Dad listened to mom all the time and she mostly complained. Teru listened to Shigeko all the time, too, even if she sometimes said the same things over and over again. Mostly about cats or EVA…she could go on about cats or EVA…but Teru always listened because he loved her and he was good at doing the whole boyfriend thing.

Ritsu was, for once, not good at something.

Maybe he should have just let himself be bad at the whole boyfriend thing. Maybe then she would leave him and find someone else she liked. He knew that she liked, or at least looked at, other guys. She had told him so. A book that she read told her that it was normal to be attracted to other people and that you had to be open and transparent about that with your partner to build open and healthy lines of trust and communication or whatever. Somehow he got the feeling that if he were to be open and honest with her about who he liked, who he really wanted to be with, it would not end well.

Not that he would ever do that to her.

She had done nothing to deserve getting her heart broken and even if she had he did not think that he was up to breaking any hearts. Even if, for some reason, the last time she had hugged him he wanted to push her away. Not that he would, of course, he would never push or shove his girlfriend or any girl…and it had been wrong of him to have shoved his sister before…and it would have been especially wrong for him to even want to shove his girlfriend away because she had smelled like…or rather Sho had smelled like her.

He was still mad about that.

He didn't like to think about that. It had been a thing that had happened. Sho had hung out with Rei and he had ended up smelling like her house. That was fine. He would have wanted his friend, very good friend, to have been friends with his girlfriend. Rei would never cheat on him and Sho was not the sort of guy who would ever ask that of her. He was a firm believer in love being a very sacred thing and all of that. So Ritsu had no reason to be mad or worried or angry or anything else that he had been on Teru's sort of housewarming party…

Or the any of the other times that he had seen Sho.

He didn't get close enough to see if he still smelled like Rei. He had no reason to and it was weird of him to have wanted to be that close to Sho. Sho would have thought that it was weird. Even though he was a pretty touchy feely guy Ritsu knew, or he just did not want to risk, Sho thinking that he was weird…and knowing all of the reasons why he should have thought that Ritsu was weird.

Like now.

Ritsu knew that he was being weird, very weird, but he didn't care. Nobody was around to see him. Mom and dad were downstairs and not fighting for once. Sho was off to wherever he went to during the day. It was just Ritsu all alone in his room. Nobody would look over and see him laying down in the nest of blankets that Sho had made for himself and tell him that he was being weird. Nobody would tell him to get up off the floor and to stop being ridiculous. Nobody would tell him that he was wrong for thinking the thoughts that he was thinking and being the way that he was. When he was alone, all alone, he could just…be.

He rolled over onto his stomach.

It smelled like Sho. Like how he was supposed to smell. Even that unwashed way he smelled, he hated baths for reasons he was adamant that Ritsu would not want to know about, and Ritsu didn't mind. It smelled like him. Kind of like the outside world and animals and not washing, but in a good way, and also there was a sort of detergenty smell there, too, but not the kind that his house used…which meant that Sho's mom had washed his clothes for him...which Ritsu was just a little bit sad about because it took away from the way that Sho usually smelled…

He had it bad.

Rei had one of his hoodies. She had just sort of put it on and made it hers. He hadn't said anything, he figured that she had been cold, and he thought that it would have been rude to say something about it when she went home with his hoodie on. He would have thought that she would have thought to return it at some point but she hadn't. The last he had seen of it she kept it in her bed with her. She liked it because it smelled like him, she had said, and he hadn't been able to understand it back then…or maybe he had understood and he just hadn't wanted to acknowledge that he had understood. Back then it had been body spray and winterberries. That had been his favorite smell. Body spray and winterberries and also, back during soccer season, grass and sweat and…yeah. He'd had it bad back then, too, and now it was worse.

Now he was being honest with himself about the way he felt.

He was being honest with himself about what he wanted. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was all alone and there was no harm in it. It wasn't like he was going to be doing any of this in real life. It wasn't like he was going to go over to this nest of blankets while Sho was in it and just lay next to him….and if he were to do that Sho most certainly would not have moved closer to him…close enough that he could actually smell him…close enough to touch. Sho would not have let Ritsu touch him. Sho would not have let Ritsu start at his shoulders and then go down his arms and across his chest. Sho would not have let him pause at his stomach….what was it with him and stomachs…either was Sho would not have let him just feel his stomach. Rest his hands there and just…feel it. Him. Run his hands across his stomach, to his sides, and then back again. Sho would not have taken his hand and pushed it lower-

He had to stop.

He had to stop this before it started…well it had already started…so he had to stop this before it ended. He knew where this was going to end. He knew how it always ended. He knew that he had to stop because this was not something that he should have been thinking of. He was Ritsu. He was Kageyama Ritsu and if anyone found out-

Who was going to find out?

These were his own thoughts. Who was going to find out…besides a telepath…but there were none around. This was a purely private moment and he…he should at least have been able to have a purely private moment with himself without having to worry about who was around or who would be around or what people would think if they knew…because they didn't know. Nobody knew. Nobody knew and nobody could say anything. Nobody could say anything if he imagined what Sho's hand would feel in his as he pushed his hand down to the waistband of his pants and-

Sho would never let him do that.

But there was no harm in…in thinking about it. Thinking wasn't acting. He knew that Sho would never take his hand and slowly…well this was Sho. He would probably undo his own pants and say something like 'you know what to do, right? You're not a moron or anything are you?' and then he would say something like 'well maybe I don't want to now' even though he did and Sho would, of course, be able to see right through him. Sho would just look at him like he was challenging him and Ritsu would, of course, accept the challenge. He wouldn't tale his time like with Rei. She always took his hand and went so slowly even though it just made it last longer….don't think about Rei, stop thinking about Rei….Sho would just want him to get right to it and he would and-and-and it would be…Ritsu had no idea what it would be like considering that he had never been with another guy before…but he knew what he was like and he knew what he liked and-

And that had been too much.

That had been way too much. He was still on his stomach and he felt…gross. Gross for thinking about his friend like that, gross for doing something about how he had been thinking about his friend, and gross for lying on his stomach while he had been doing that. Now he was cold, sticky, and deeply ashamed of himself in ways that he had never imagined that he could be ashamed of himself…

And it was only seven fifteen in the morning.

"Sho? Where have you been? It's seven fifteen in the morning." asked Masami. She had come straight from her bedroom when she heard the living room window opening. It was either her son or the night prowler. She didn't know which would make her more upset. She knew that he went places at night…and she knew that she should have made him stay in where she knew that he was safe….

But she had been doing a pretty piss poor job of keeping her son safe over the years now hadn't she?

"I was just out, mom, that's all. Sorry if I woke you." said Sho. He made sure to take his shoes off before he came in through the window. That was good manners. Mom liked good manners…or at least he remembered her liking good manners back when he had been little. Either way this was Japan and in Japan you took off your shoes when you were inside even if it was your own house…

Not that this was his own house.

When he thought of his own house…he drew a blank. His life had been nothing but moving around…and the house he used to share with mom and dad was nothing more than a distant memory now. Still when he thought of this place he thought of it as his mom's house. This was his mom's house and he just lived in it.

"It's….you didn't wake me. I have to go in to work again today so I was already up." Said Masami. She wondered if maybe she should have stayed home to care for her son…and then she wondered if there was even any more care that she could possibly give him. He was thirteen and had gotten by so far without her…and she just did not know. She wondered if he would even accept her care. He spent more time away from home than at home…if this was even truly home for him…

It wasn't, obviously, and she had idea if it would be with time.

Barely any time at all had passed. They weren't used to each other yet. They would get used to each other eventually. They had. He had no one else and…and that was not the way to think about her own son. This was a difficult situation for the both of them…and neither of them was making it any easier on the other…and if she wanted him to stay put then she should have told him to…not that there was any way for her to enforce any rules that she put down.

"Oh, ok. Have fun at work." Said Sho. He sat down on the couch, which also doubled on his bed, and flipped through his phone. There must have been some game on there that he hadn't played in a while. Something to do. Something to distract from his mom looking at him. She was looking at him and still looking at him and he had no idea how to get her to stop looking at him. He didn't even know why it bothered him so much, his mom looking at him, because it shouldn't have. This was what he had always wanted, his mom back, and now he had her. They were together again, a family, like he had been wanting since he had been a stupid little kid.

Maybe he was a stupid little kid.

He was her family and she was his but…but they didn't feel much like a family. Mom was mom and he was him but…but her looking at him like that didn't make him feel loved or anything like that. It just made him feel like he was under a microscope or something. Like he was some alien germ or something and she was trying to figure him out before he could end the world or something.

Even though he knew for a fact that his mom was not looking at him like that at all.

"Sho…" asked Masami. He was ignoring her. He was making it a point to ignore her. Why? Had she done something? Was she doing something right now? Maybe he held her responsible for what his life had been…which would not have been totally unfair. They had never sat down and talked about it, why she had left, and why she hadn't been able to take him with her. Maybe that was what he wanted from her. Maybe that was why he was being so distant from her.

She didn't know.

"Yeah, mom?" asked Sho. This was mom and whatever she had to say to him had nothing to do with the reasons that dad would have had to talk to him and the way he tensed up had been stupid because this was dad and not mom. Mom and not dad. MOM and not DAD. DAD was gone. DAD was rotting in prison where he belonged. Mom was there and she wanted to talk to him and she loved him and she wanted him around and she would never do anything to hurt him and she did not think that he was a failure and she loved him and he loved her and that was the way that families were supposed to be.

"Do you…do you want anything special for dinner? I mean is your food still…" said Masami. She didn't even know her own son's favorite food. She didn't know his favorite…anything…and this was not the first time that she had tormented herself over this and it would not be the last, either. It was her fault. She had nobody to blame but herself…even though she had done all that she could do. She couldn't have taken him with her…and she had no idea that her husband would have become…that…

That was then and this was now.

"I'll eat whatever." Said Sho. She wanted him to be home for dinner. That meant that she would be home for dinner. She wouldn't be working late, she did that sometimes because her work was playing catch up because of what had happened she had said, and she was going to be home and making him dinner and that was good because that was what moms did. They made you dinner. They made you dinner and you ate the dinner and then…and then that was just what families did….

"Are you sure? I can make you whatever you want. I could even pick something up for you." Said Masami. This was what families did. They sat down to dinner. Sho wasn't normally home while she was home. He was off in the world doing God knows what with God knows who…

"It's ok mom, whatever you want is fine. Have fun at work!" said Sho. He may have overdid it at the end but he just…he wanted mom to leave him alone. He would eat when he got hungry. He didn't need his mom to be making him food like that. He could take care of himself. He didn't…he didn't know why he felt like this…

Kind of mad.

He had no idea what was wrong with him. He wanted to be with mom and he wanted to be alone. He wanted her to love him and he wanted to be off on his own. He wanted to have something to do, anything to do, but he also wanted to just relax for once. He had never not had anything to do. Even before he had planned and taken down, with a lot of help, dad's life work he'd always had something to do. Some pointless mission that dad sent him on. Even towards the end…but now he had nothing to do…and he knew what he wanted to do…

He wanted to go and see Ritsu.

Every time he felt bad about anything he went to see Ritsu. He felt lonely at night, he always felt loneliest at night, so he went to see Ritsu. That wasn't fair at all to him. He had a life and he didn't need Sho being all clingy. Weirdly clingy. One of these days Ritsu was just going to come out and tell him that he was just weirdly clingy and that he wanted nothing more to do with him. He would figure it out one day, why Sho was that clingy, all the stuff that Sho wanted from him…

Not just the banging stuff.

That would actually be the easiest thing to look past. People wanted to bang people all the time. That was normal. Fukuda had assured him in that talk he would rather not think about that it was normal for a person to want to bang just about everyone. That was part of that special time in life and all of that. So he wanted to bang Ritsu, big deal, he wanted to bang a lot of people. Mostly guys. That was normal too. Everyone had those sorts of idle thoughts about people and what it would be like to kiss them and hold them and all of that other stuff. Even Ritsu did, he had a girlfriend after all, and he would get it. Mostly. He would still be weirded out of course, who wouldn't be, but he wouldn't tell Sho to get the fuck away from him.

He would, though, if he knew what else Sho wanted from him.

If he knew that when he went to bed first, well when he passed out first, Sho wanted nothing more than to lay in bed next to him. That Sho just stayed up at night listening to him breathe sometimes even though it was literally just breathing. That Sho made himself a bed of blankets on his floor instead of just going home because he wanted to spend as much time with him as humanly possible. That he wanted to hold his hand and rest his head on his chest and just lay there listening to him breathe like his girlfriend got to do whenever she wanted like when Hanazawa invited them all over and they all sat on the floor watching some movie that was way too long and way too boring. She had just rested her head on his chest and held his hand and-

And he was not jealous.

She was his friend too, now, and she was happy and he was happy for her. For him. For the both of them. Finding love was hard. If finding love was easy then there wouldn't have been so many books and magazines and stuff telling you how to find love. They were lucky to have found each other and lucky to be in love and Sho was lucky to have two friends who were in love with each other and cared about each other and stuff. He was happy for her, that she had someone like Ritsu, someone who was smart and brave. Someone who would go into a fight that he knew he couldn't win just to buy you enough time to…he still hadn't thanked Ritsu for that, had he? Maybe he should go and thank Ritsu now. That really was the sort of thing that you were supposed to do in person, wasn't it? Thanking someone for risking their life to help you save the world? Maybe he should just…maybe it wouldn't hurt to…maybe if he just…

He's being stupid. He knows that he's being stupid.

Ritsu is either asleep or doing stuff with his family or studying because school was going to be opened up again soon. He had been talking about that the other night, how he was worried that his big sis wouldn't be coming back to school and stuff, and how his parents were worried about how he would do in school even if they had nothing to worry about. Ritsu was smart and he knew it. Sho knew it too. Maybe they could end up at the same school and then Ritsu could help him because he hadn't set foot in a school since he was seven…

He was still thinking about Ritsu.

It just would not quit. The way he felt. He couldn't stay away from Ritsu, just quit him cold turkey like stopping smoking or whatever, because it would have hurt him…and also Ritsu. Yeah, if he just went and ghosted Ritsu then he would get hurt and Sho could never do anything to hurt him. Well aside from the whole beating him up when they first met thing. Well he would never do anything to hurt him again. He just…he wanted to see Ritsu more than anything but he knew that he was spending way too much time with him and if he showed up again in the morning right after having had left…

Sho didn't want to be alone.

Did he just not want to be alone? Was that it? Did he just want to be with Ritsu because he was scared of being on his own? Especially now because he had no one. He'd never had many friends, real ones, and now he was down to…well the new friends he had made. Serizawa was away at his mom's house and the others, Fukuda and the rest, had run for their lives after everything went down. So now it was just him…and Ritsu because he was the next closest person to him. Was that why he liked him so much? Because he didn't want to be on his own?

No. He'd never thought of any of his other friends like this.

But none of his other friends had ever been his own age. Now he knew a lot of guys his own age…but none of them as well as he knew Ritsu. There weren't any that he wanted to get to know as well as Ritsu. That was all him, though, that was just him being weird. He wanted…he didn't know what he wanted. He knew exactly what he wanted and he had no idea what he wanted. He knew, however, that he needed to do something because doing nothing did not agree with him. Mom was gone and he was alone…and this place was so big and empty…and he wanted to be around someone.

Ritsu.

Someone. But he didn't know anyone else well enough to just…well he did. Rei. He knew her and they spent time together and she was nice and she drew well and also she could be really funny and stuff…but she was Ritsu's girlfriend…but that was ok because even if he had been into her, which he wasn't at all, he would never have done anything about it. Love was sacred and he would never hurt two people's relationship. It was wrong.

Was it ok to just visit her?

Well It wasn't like he hadn't done it before. It was either her or…who else did he know reasonably well and also where they lived? There was always Hanazawa. He was nice enough and he had his own place and stuff…but also Sho maybe got the feeling that there was still something there. Claw did kind of ruin his life after all. That was why he lived alone even though he was only fourteen, because his parents had gotten scared and abandoned him…

So maybe visiting Rei would be better….of course it would be. Besides, it wasn't like anything could happen. He didn't even like her like that.

He liked her boyfriend like that.

Rei did not even like him like that.

She had a boyfriend after all and she loved him more than anything. She really did. She was not going to trade in the most perfect relationship that she had ever been in, well the only relationship that she had ever been in but still a very good relationship, for some boy that she barely knew. Even though Sho was…cute. Cute and…exciting. The way he just sort of showed up and asked her if it was ok for them to hang out. He just showed up in the morning at her window out of nowhere because he wanted to see her…and Ritsu had never done that before.

That was just because Ritsu was the mature and sensible type.

If this had been an anime or something Ritsu would have been the quiet and serious guy who had a lot of feelings but never showed them because he didn't like to be vulnerable. Ritsu really didn't like that, being vulnerable, she could tell. Even when they were alone together he could be so closed off…of course she didn't blame him. He had a lot of pressure on him and his parents were always fighting and stuff. That was why he was the mature, sensible, and closed off type. She liked his type. She wanted his type. His type and her type went together. They were perfect together, her and Ritsu, and she didn't need anyone else. She liked the type of guy that he was…

The only problem was that she liked Sho's type too…

She had never been with anyone who was just so…open….about how he felt. Open and reckless. Sho did whatever he wanted to do whenever he wanted to do with no thought to the past, present, or future. He was the fun reckless type. If this had been an anime he and Ritsu would have been the opposites attract sort of…not that kind of anime. If this had been shoujo, yes best to stick to normal shoujo, she would have had to choose between them because the protagonist always had to choose and…

And she was getting ahead of herself.

It was perfectly normal to feel attraction to someone other than your partner. It was healthy, even, to be able to identify these feelings and also to never act on them. When she started acting on them, kissing every cute guy she saw or whatever, then she would have a problem. So she could think whatever she wanted to think and feel whatever she wanted to feel as long as she didn't do anything about it. There. That was fine. She could do that.

It wasn't like she had a crush on him or anything.

She was perfectly capable of examining her own feelings towards someone. She thought that he was cute. She thought that he was fun. She thought that he was exciting. That was all. She didn't feel the same thing for him, even one millionth of the same thing for him, that she felt for Ritsu. Her love for Ritsu wasn't just about him being cute. He was brave, too, brave enough to hold her hand and keep her grounded while she led everyone to safety. Brave enough to buy her and the others time to escape when they had been kidnapped. He had risked his life for her and she had risked her life for him and if that wasn't love then she didn't know what was.

Also she would never do with Sho what she had done with Ritsu.

"People are so hard to draw. I don't know how you do it." Said Sho. They were in her room now. Visiting her had been the right thing to do. Even if she was Ritsu's girlfriend she was able to get his head off of Ritsu and back to drawing where it belonged. He was drawing her while she was drawing him. Her idea.

She had some pretty fun ideas.

"Practice I guess. I used to want to be a manga artist, and about a million other things, but now I'm not sure. It took me a while to learn how to draw people and at first I was all 'just follow the steps, Rei' because I had bought this how to draw manga book but then I was bad at it so I looked it up one YouTube but I was still bad at it but then I just kept on practicing..." said Rei. She was talking a lot, she knew that she was talking a lot, but talking a lot was good. Talking a lot would keep her from thinking too much. Thinking too much would lead her to thinking too much about the boy sitting across from her…

He drew well.

For some reason she was fixated on the way that he held a pencil. His fingers were long. He had freckles on his hands. He had a lot of freckles, actually, but you could only see them if you got really close. Not that she was that close. She was just sitting as closely as was necessary for this. Drawing him while he was drawing her. It was just an idea that she'd had, she just blurted it out, and he had said that it was a great idea and now here they were…

In her room on her bed with the door closed because she was not supposed to have guys in her room at all even if they weren't her boyfriend.

"It's ok. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up either...I never really thought about it before." Said Sho focusing on the first part of what she'd said. What she wanted to be when she grew up. That was a question that mom had asked him. He had no idea. Work at an animal shelter? Draw pictures? Take over the world? He had no idea. That was something else that he would have to think about, wouldn't he? Especially since he would probably end up having to go to school and stuff…all of that normal kid stuff…

"That's ok! We have our whole lives to figure it out. I hate how they always try and make us figure it out, like, now even though we have years and years before university. There are even some first years worried about entrance exams at my school…not that I don't care about entrance exams! I mean I know that they're important and I have to do well if I want to end up in the same school as Ritsu…even though I'm not half that student he is…oh! Hello, Rei! You've never been to school. Ok, entrance exams are these big tests that they make you do to see which high school you can go to. They make you take them in third year so all of the third years are all stressed about them and then the second years get stressed out and then they pass their stress down to the first years like some terrible stress virus or whatever. I'm sure you'll do fine, though, I mean everyone gets into somewhere…not that I'm saying that you're dumb You're smart. You're really smart and I bet that you could get into a really good school." Said Rei. She needed to learn to think before she spoke. She needed to get a clue already…and also to stop staring at his hands, at how he was drawing, and to get back to her own drawing. Yes. She needed to stop counting his freckles and watching the way his fingers moved…

Stop it, Rei.

"Right…school. Hey, how do you figure out which school you have to go to? Or does someone else figure it out. School for people our age, I mean." Said Sho. He didn't want to go to any school at all but he was only thirteen and he knew that he had no choice. Plus mom wanted him to go and he wanted to make mom at least a little bit happy…as happy as he could make her…and he had no idea where these feelings were coming from. Mom was not dad. She was not going to decide that he's a failure as a son and a human being and then beat him almost to death…and he need to stop thinking about this because it is over and done with.

"Middle school? You usually just end up going to the one in your neighborhood. Well there are some that you test into and some that you pay to get into but I just ended up going to mine because it was near my house. So I guess that you'll end up at the one near your house. Hey! I have no idea where you live! It just came to me…sorry. I shouldn't have said that so suddenly…and also I have to be quieter because if my parents catch you in here they'll kill me." Said Rei. She began to draw quickly. Maybe if she focused enough of her energy on drawing she could forget how stupid she had just sounded…and how close he was…

She was just being thirteen, that was all.

There was nothing more to the thoughts that she had about him than the fact that she was thirteen and the hormones and all of the other things that she had read about. He was a boy and she was a girl and her brain was just being stupid and telling her that because he was a boy and he was cute he had genes that she wanted to pass on or some other primitive thing like that. She was more than the random thoughts that her brain was making her have. She had someone and she loved him and…

And she had forgotten to text him good morning.

"Why would they kill you? We aren't doing anything. We couldn't be doing anything. I'm not your boyfriend." Said Sho. Rei wasn't that kind of person. She wasn't a cheater. She loved Ritsu and surely her own parents could see that…but then again parents could be kind of clueless in his experience. He knew that dad had been. He hadn't seen the fall of Claw coming until the very end. If dad couldn't have seen that his life's work would end up blowing up in his face then maybe her parents wouldn't be able to tell that their own Daughter wasn't a cheater.

It wasn't like he wanted to do anything with her anyway.

He stopped drawing and looked over at her. Nothing. He knew that she was pretty and stuff. He knew that he should have been staring at her boobs or her legs or her butt or wherever else you were supposed to stare at girls but he just didn't want to. He was more interested in the puppy on her shirt, it was a very cute Labrador, than what was under her shirt…and even if he liked girls at all he knew that he should not have been looking at his friend's girlfriend. That was wrong and he stopped himself the moment he realized that he was doing something wrong.

"Ri-Right. You aren't. We aren't! I mean we aren't together…but you're still a guy and they would still freak out…not that I don't trust you. I mean I know that you're not that kind of guy. The kind that would go after your friend's girlfriend…and also I'm not that kind of girl. The kind of girl who would cheat on her boyfriend. Because I wouldn't. I mean I love Ritsu and I would never cheat on him. Because I don't have to…because I love him and…and you know that already. Um…so yeah. It's nothing personal it's just because you're a guy." Said Rei

"Oh…that makes sense I guess. Families are weird about girls like that." Said Sho. He didn't have any sisters but he knew, from TV and stuff, how weird families could be about their girls. Like they weren't allowed to bang and stuff…which made no sense because people were supposed to want to bang. If half of the population wanted to bang but the other half didn't then there wouldn't be any new people in the world at all or something.

"Yeah, they are. It's like they think that I'm stupid or something. It's like, hello! I'm thirteen, not three, I'm smart enough not to do something stupid like get…um. Yeah. Parents just sort of worry about stuff like that when it comes to girls. When you find a girlfriend you'll get it." Said Rei. She was not about to go into how mom and dad thought that she was going to do something stupid like get pregnant because that would have been like talking about sex and she was not going to talk about sex with a guy…even though she wasn't having sex…but what she was doing she was not going to talk about with him! He was a guy! You didn't talk about stuff like that with guys, you did stuff like that with guys!

Wait, no, too far.

Way too far! She had not thought about that even once. She had not thought about how strong he was, well he probably was, and how nice he looked with his jacket off. How nice he smelled when he got close even though he didn't take enough baths…but it was ok because it mixed with this sort of earthy smell he had to him…really nice. She didn't think about that at all. She didn't think about things like that or how long his fingers were or how he could have kissed her or how he was on her bed and she was on her bed and-

Shut up, brain.

She picked her phone up and checked it. Nothing from Ritsu…and she needed to hear from Ritsu. He still hadn't said anything…but that was because she had to text first. He never texted first. Never in the history of their relationship had he ever texted first…but that was ok because he was just that type of person. She could text first. She texted him good morning…and then slammed her phone down on the bed because she was being super rude.

"….don't even think I like girls. Not really. I mean I like you but not like that." Said Sho with a shrug. He didn't like that. The inevitability of him finding a girlfriend. It didn't work like that. Love didn't just happen…and also he didn't like girls like that so his odds of finding someone who returned his feelings was even lower. He might even go his whole life without finding someone…but that was ok. Where had love gotten his parents? No. Don't think like that. Love was good and love was sacred and maybe he would find someone he loved…and who he could be with. Not even for banging reasons, no, those reasons were important but he didn't only care about those. He wanted to be kissed more than he wanted to be…yeah. But it didn't matter. He didn't know who would ever want to do that with him.

"Oh! Well that's ok. There's lots of guys out there too. Like…um…Go and Takeshi have always been weirdly close! Not that, I mean, not that I think that every guy who won't go out with me is…but they are really nice and um…there's um…there's lots of nice guys out there. Loads of them. You're great, too. You're cute and smart and funny and brave and you draw good and…and you're honest and you always say what you mean and mean what you say and you're always so…fun! Like you just do whatever you want to and that's so cool and…um. Yeah, you're great and anyone would be happy to be with you." Said Rei. Well that felt like a load off of her shoulders. Not that she was going to do anything. Not that she was going to go past idle and intrusive thoughts that she hadn't wanted to have in the first place. No, those had just been thoughts.

Thoughts that she never had to have again because he liked guys, not girls, so there was even less of a point to thinking the thoughts that she'd been thinking about him.

There was no point to thinking that way about her boyfriend's friend…who was friends with her boyfriend…who hung out with her boyfriend…and now she was having a bunch of other thoughts. Thoughts about Sho and Ritsu that she knew could NEVER happen for many obvious reasons…and also thoughts which she knew that she should not have been having while he was sitting right next to her on her bed…

She drew faster. She needed to get excited about drawing and not…those kinds of things.

Mob was excited.

She was very excited. She was so excited that her hair was trying to float away. She had thought, that morning, that this day would be just like the one before and the one before that. But something new was happening. She hadn't realized that she had been getting bored…or maybe not bored. Maybe just…too used to the usual. What had become the usual? This whole situation was, of course, unusual.

The whole thing.

This was not Seasoning City. She had known the whole time, of course, that she had been in Lower Back Pain City and not Seasoning City. She just hadn't thought much about it. The fact that she was in a totally new place. The fact that she was farther from home, now, than she had ever been before. The houses were different and it was somehow less cold out but greyer and the trees were a different shade of green and the sidewalks were more narrow and a bunch of other little things that she hadn't been able to notice from inside of Sophia's house. She had thought that it would be more and also less different somehow.

Just different enough.

Just different enough that she could imagine, if she closed her eyes, that she was back in Seasoning City. There were plenty of Smile Marts and Family Marts and MobRonald's and other places too that they had in Seasoning City. They also had a bunch of different places, too, like all of the different ramen places. She counted fifteen on her way to Sophia's work. Maybe this was why Master Reigen liked ramen so much. Maybe he had a usual ramen place that he stopped at all the time when he lived here. When he was a kid…

This whole city was kind of like a time capsule.

For him, probably, but not for her. To Mob everything was new and interesting but for him it was probably all old and boring and stuff. He had lived here for years when he had been a kid and she hadn't even been born yet. She wondered how he felt…well she knew how he felt. Sort of. When she let their auras bond she felt sort of…worried? Worried and also tired. Even though that made no sense. There was nothing to worry about. This place was not new to him and his mom would take good care of him too.

She didn't understand him sometimes.

Which was weird. She sometimes felt like she knew him better than she had ever known anyone before in her life and other times he was a mystery to her. Like now. He was being all withdrawn now and she didn't know why. This was fun. This was going to be fun. She had never been to work with anyone other than Master Reigen before, and that didn't even count because they worked together, so this whole things was just…it was going to be fun. Or at least interesting. He had never been to work with his mom again, either, so she would have expected him to be more…excited?

She didn't get it.

They passed by a group of kids on their way to school. The uniforms were different for girls here. The skirts were yellow and orange and they wore orange ribbons, too. The boys still wore gakurans. The same sort of gakuran that she had found in Master Reigen's room. She wondered if those kids went to his school. It was harder to tell with boy's uniforms since hey mostly all looked alike. Well some were colorful, like the purple ones that boys at Rei's school went to, and some were more like actual clothes like Teru's uniform. The black or blue gakuran was standard, though, even though it made no sense. The uniform had to be uniform with the school you went to, not every other school in Japan.

She did not understand boys sometimes….or all of the times.

"How you doing back there, Mob?" asked Reigen. He was not going to use his powers to see how she was feeling. Instead he was mostly focused on mom…who was worrying even though this was her idea. Or maybe he was the one who was worrying. Maybe their family was just a bunch of senseless worriers. He didn't know. All he did know was that he did not want to feel what Mob was feeling. He got the idea, based on how wistfully she had been looking out the window at those other kids, what was on her mind.

He needed to get her back home. He needed to get her back to normal.

"She's fine, Arataka." Said Sophia. Bringing Mobbu along hadn't been her first choice, if anything she had been trying to get her son to spend less time with his fourteen year old best friend and nonsexual codependent life partner, but she could work with this. It was like drag your kid to work day. It would be good to show her that there was another life out there besides risking her life and Taka's for a few thousand yen a day.

A better life than the one she'd been living lately.

Sophia had seen the way Mobbu had been staring at those other kids, the ones on their way to school, and a part of her was happy. She wanted that. She wanted to get back to her old life. She had been out of school for a good long time and it was good to know that she wouldn't have to be dragged back through the gates by her sailor suit…not that Taka would be doing any dragging despite the fact that as a rational adult he should have known that Mobbu's life would go nowhere if she dropped out in middle school.

"I'm fine, Master Reigen." Said Mob. She got the feeling that she was missing something. Master Reigen and his mom looked at each other for a while, which was dangerous because she was driving and had to watch the road, and Mob had no idea what it was that passed between them. She wished that if they had something to say, even if it was fighting, that they would have just said it to each other. That would have been easier for her to understand, anyway, than the look that passed between them.

Adults could be so confusing sometimes.

Ritsu could be so confusing sometimes.

"Ok, watch me. Only kick with the inside of your foot. Otherwise you'll just end up sending the ball flying." Said Teru. Well this was not at all how he planned on spending the day. He had planned on sending Shigeko pics of furniture he was planning on ordering, getting a pizza, and maybe getting some studying in. Possibly some meal prep too but he had been feeling lazy lately. Well all of that had gone out the window when Ritsu just suddenly decided to drop by in the middle of the morning.

And now they were playing indoor soccer.

"So like this?" asked Ritsu. He'd played soccer in gym class. He knew how to play soccer. He didn't even like soccer that much. He hadn't come over to Teru's apartment just to play indoor soccer, actually he wasn't really sure what his plan had been, he just knew that he needed to get out of the house. He needed to be with someone but not Sho, for obvious reasons, and also not Rei because he just…couldn't. Not after what he had done.

So he decided to go and hang out with his only other friend in the world.

"Yeah, you've got it. Ok, now watch me steal it from you." Said Teru. Something was up with Ritsu and it had nothing to do with trying out his new soccer ball. He wasn't the type to just randomly show up places. Also his aura was being weird. When he came to the door Teru figured that he had finally come clean to Rei or something…

But of course he hadn't.

Rei had called him and told him that she loved and missed him, Ritsu needed to learn how to turn his speaker down, and those were not the words of a girl who'd had her heart broken. Those were the words of a girlfriend…though his information on what a girlfriend would have sounded like may have been a bit dated since he hadn't heard from Shigeko in a while…but he was fine. Compared to whatever the hell Ritsu was going through he was fine.

"I'll just steal it back, then." Said Ritsu. He stole it back from Teru with a little more effort than he'd ever had to put in during gym class. Teru was going easy on him, maybe, or maybe he was just naturally good at this. He didn't know. All he knew was that he needed some kind of distraction from his life. What he had let his life become. He wished that things could have been normal, the old normal, because his new normal that he had found himself in really sucked.

"Well then." Said Teru as he allowed the ball to be stolen out from under him.

"Well then what?" asked Ritsu

"Well then I get the feeling that you didn't come all the way over here for a soccer lesson." Said Teru

"How about a soccer game, then?" asked Ritsu. He just had to keep on moving, that was all, just move and move and move until he couldn't think about anything else but moving.

"Or you could just tell me what's wrong." Said Teru. Nope. He had enough problems in his own life to deal with. Ritsu needed help with something, probably something personal and emotional, and that was fine. What he was not going to do was sit there and pry every bit of information out of him bit by bit. He'd had enough of doing that with Shigeko….no he hadn't. He loved Shigeko and accepted her for how she was. Even if she could be so closed off sometimes…

"Nothing's wrong." Said Ritsu defensively. Too defensively. Obviously Teru saw right through that. Teru knew him better than that…but he also should have known Ritsu well enough to know that there were parts of his life that he just did not want to talk about. With anyone.

"No, something's wrong. I know you and I know that something's wrong. You never just randomly show up at my doorstep asking to hang out." Said Teru

"I've hung out with you before." Said Ritsu. He tried to steal the ball back, tried to keep the game going, tried to keep moving. Teru wouldn't let him. Teru was practically staring him down…and he didn't know why. What? What was so wrong with wanting to hang out?

"Yes, but this is different." Said Teru. He kept the ball trapped. Ritsu tried to steal it from him but he wasn't half the soccer player Teru was.

"Different how?" asked Ritsu

"This. You. Everything. Just…this is different than how you usually are. This feels different." Said Teru

"Why? Because of what happened?" asked Ritsu. He knew that they were never to speak of it again but there was something else, something that he especially did not want to speak of, and he would rather speak of his moment of temporary insanity then…then the truth of who he was and the mess he had gotten himself into. The mess that he had made of his life.

"No…well yes but we agreed never to speak of that again. I'm talking about whatever it was that brought you here, to my apartment, and whatever it is that you're trying to run from. You're just like Shigeko, you know, you don't want to talk about things that you know you should be talking about." Said Teru. Shigeko did the same thing. She pretended that she was fine while she held everything in until she exploded. He loved her so he would deal with that from her but he was not in love with Ritsu so, no, he was going to get Ritsu to just TALK about it.

"I-I am not running from anything. I just wanted to hang out with you. I mean it's not like you have anyone else to hang out with." Said Ritsu. He regretted it the moment he finished speaking. He knew Teru. He was friends with Teru. He…he liked Teru…and he knew that he should not have said something so….low.

That had been a low blow.

"Excuse me?" asked Teru. He could feel it, the old Teru, the Teru who he had been before Shigeko. The Teru who had existed before he had met and been changed by Shigeko…he needed to calm down. Ritsu was just going through a lot, that was all, and sometimes people said stupid things when they felt cornered or…whatever.

"Sorry. That just…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It was wrong of me and just…I…I just wanted to hang out with someone today. That's all. I just need to be with someone today." Said Ritsu

"Then why not spend time with your girlfriend?" said Teru. Fine. If Ritsu wanted to trade low blows then they would sit there and trade low blows all day and if Shigeko didn't like it then…then she should have been around to deal with her own little brother.

"Rei…we can stand to be apart for a few days. I don't go to pieces just because I'm not with my girlfriend twenty four hours a day." Said Ritsu. He said that he was sorry. He had so clearly said that he was sorry. There was no need for Teru to act like a jerk. He knew what, well not the whole of it, but he had some idea of what Ritsu was going through. Fine. If he wanted to be that way then fine.

"Of course you won't. We both know why you won't." said Teru. He did not get to talk about him and Shigeko like that. He was clingy, he knew that he was clingy, but better to be clingy and in love than distant and playing with some poor girl's feelings. Dribbling her heart around like a soccer ball. Making her think things that could never be true. Even he, at the height of who he used to be, had never been such an asshole as to make a girl think that they had a future together when he had no intention of ever being anything to her.

"Shut up. Stop being an asshole and just shut up." Said Ritsu

"I'm the one being an asshole? You came into my house-" said Teru

"I said that I just wanted to hang out with you, that's all, you're the one who had to go asking about things that you knew I didn't want to talk about." Said Ritsu

"I was worried about you. Please forgive me for giving a damn about my friend." Said Teru

"You know what it is and you know why I don't want to talk about it. Just…if you didn't want to hang out with me then you should have just told me to get the hell out. Ok? I just…I don't want to talk about it." Said Ritsu. He didn't want to talk about it with anyone. Not just the details of what he had done that day but also…also the mess that he had gotten himself in to. He just…he wanted it all to be over and done with. He wanted to wake up and it would be months ago and none of this would have happened. None of it.

Except for the parts with Sho…and that was the worst part of all.

"Fine. Whatever. But I'm here if you ever do." Said Teru. He had a choice to make, there, about what sort of person he was going to be. He could have been an asshole. He could have told Ritsu that he was being a complete piece of shit in the way that he was treating Rei, the way that he had cheated on her, and the way that he had forced Teru into being an accomplice to his cheating. He could have told Ritsu that he needed to get himself sorted. He could have told Ritsu that he had almost died, almost lost his girlfriend, had his girlfriend run away with Reigen fucking Arataka, had his apartment blown up, had his parents tell him that even though Claw was done with they were never going to come back into his life beyond a weekly email, phone call, and deposit into his bank account, and on top of all of that he hadn't bene able to sleep through the night since even before they saved the world. He could have told Ritsu that he had his own shit to deal with, everyone had their own shit to deal with, and that he needed to get himself sorted out because Teru just wasn't up to it.

He could have said that but he didn't.

That was not the sort of thing that Shigeko would have wanted him to say to her little brother. Even if she was off with Reigen, even if he had no clue when she was even coming back, even if he hadn't seen her since the Awakening Lab…he was still going to be the person who she wanted him to be. Not the person who he was. She had always been the one, the only one, to make him work for what he was.

And he was a good person and good people helped their friends keep busy so they didn't have to deal with their various crises.

The office was busy.

Mob had worked in an office for her entire working life but this was nothing like Spirits and Such. First of all Spirits and Such had a staff of two, her and Master Reigen, while this office had more people than she could count. There was more to teaching English than the teaching part, Sophia said. There was enough paper work to deplete the whole rainforest, Sophia had said, and Mob had been worried until Master Reigen said that she was kidding.

Mob hoped that she was. They needed the rainforest, she had heard at school, and without it they would be in trouble.

She wouldn't have doubted it, though, that this place used up an entire rainforest's worth of paper. There had been paperwork at Spirits and Such like writing up things from cases and copies of receipts and other stuff like that but never at this volume. This was what the baby expats did, which was a not so nice way of saying foreigners, the paper work. Sophia said that because she had been there so long she could delegate work, which meant have someone else do it for her, and she also told her that when she grew up she could delegate work too.

Not that Mob knew if she wanted to be an English teacher when she grew up.

"Sophia, so you weren't making him up."

"Wow, look how tall you've gotten, Arataka, Sophia I can't believe how tall your boy is."

"And look at her, so cute!"

The people were really nice. Everyone had wanted to meet her and Master Reigen. Sophia had pictures of him but only of when he had been a kid. They went on about how tall and grown up he was, which was what adults were supposed to say to you when you were a kid but not when you were an adult, and also they asked about her, too. She didn't know why Sophia and Master Reigen mad that face when she said that she and Master Reigen weren't brother and sister.

And she also didn't know why people kept on telling her how young she looked.

"I knew Japanese women aged more slowly but that is ridiculous." Someone said in English. Mob understood English and she didn't find that entirely polite. She knew that she looked young, when she and Rei hung out people often thought that Rei was the older one even though she was only thirteen, and she didn't like it when people pointed that out. How young she looked. But everyone was doing that. They said that she looked so young and she was so petite, which was a nice way of saying short, and that they wanted to know her secret.

She just said that she drank a lot of milk.

Which was supposed to make you grow up to be big and strong, not make you look like a kid for the rest of your life. She was glad that Sophia pulled her into her office when people asked how old she was. She didn't want to say that she was fourteen but looked like she was twelve…if she was being generous. Maybe more like ten. Or nine or eight or maybe even younger. At least that was what she thought. She was taller than she had been before but being taller didn't make you look older. She still looked like a kid.

People even said that she was cute.

"She's so cute, Sophia." Mob heard someone say through Sophia's office door. People were agreeing now. They all thought that Mob was cute like she was a little kid or something. She didn't know why she felt bad, well she did because she didn't like to be reminded how young she looked, but she knew that she was being complimented and she should have been happy and able to just accept the compliment. That was a good thing wasn't it? Looking young? Or maybe not because she was young. Because she was just a kid and this was a place for adults and she got the feeling, even, that she was not even supposed to be there…but she was there. She was there and she was invited there and she should have been fine and she was fine but if she was fine then why was she even LIKE THIS?

Mob didn't know.

She knew she was a kid. She was supposed to look young because she was a kid. She was a kid surrounded by adults. As much as she felt like an adult sometimes that didn't change the fact that she had only been alive for fourteen years. It felt like longer, though, much longer. If she closed her eyes she could remember a different sort of office. It smelled more like smoke and the people were so myopic and boring and-and-and those were not her memories. Those were more memories that she had gotten all tangled up with Touichirou's.

She wondered if that would ever pass.

She wondered when she would be able to get her own memories in order from his. It was over. What happened was over. She was out of…whatever that was. The void. Instrumentality. That place where she was not herself and he was not himself and he understood her and she understood him…but also it hurt. It had hurt so much and she just did not know what to do and-

Another aura.

She felt Master Reigen's aura before she saw him. She had been sitting down with her knees drawn up to her chest and her phone in her hands. She had been lost in it again, the differing set of memories in her head. She had been stuck there for she didn't even know how long. She was her own separate self now but she still…she didn't even know. She was Mob, she was Shigeko, and she was herself. Except for the parts where she wasn't. But she could…she could fix herself…maybe. She didn't know.

She decided to make her aura bond with Master Reigen's. They used to do this more often. She didn't know why he stopped.

"Hi Master Reigen." Said Mob for lack of anything else. She sat normally, her feet on the ground, because that was the polite way to sit. She should not have been putting her shoes up on the chair. Even though her feet hurt even when her shoes were on the ground. She didn't know why. She just sort of hurt for now reason.

It was like the ghosts of hurt.

She could feel it, all of it, again. She could feel it and she didn't know why. Breathing was kind of hard too, like when she had been in space, and when she had been force choked…and real choked…and it made no sense to feel that again. Nothing about this, the way she felt, made sense. But feelings didn't always make sense…right? Feelings were just there and she had to be the one to make sense out of them, right? But she didn't know how she was supposed to make sense of these feelings.

She just did not know.

She tried to focus on the good things. Like how much fun she had been having at Master Reigen's mom's house and how nice she had been to her. How much she loved that cat. How nice it was of Sophia to bring her to work with her. How interesting this place was. How interesting it was to be in Sophia's office, too, because she had never been in anyone's office before. It was kind of like a time capsule, too, like how her house was. There were pictures of Master Reigen everywhere but old ones. Ones from when he was in elementary school, it looked like, and some when he was in middle school but none of him as an adult. There was one of her and Master Reigen too, on the desk, taken from friendbook and printed out. That was…she liked that. Pictures and stuff…

Her old office had been completely bare of anything that didn't have to do with work. That was how it was supposed to be. Work was for work and home was for home. Masami and Sho, there was no reason to put up pictures of them, since they were strictly home life. It would have been dangerous, too, to show people that they existed. The nature of the work was dangerous. That was the explanation that Masami had been given when she showed up with…

Those were not her memories.

Again with this. They came without any rhyme or reason. She knew that these were not her memories. She knew that his life, Touichirou's life, had not been her life. Her life was her own and his life was his own. She wondered why her brain had decided to hold on to so many of his memories. Since she had memories of being him did that mean that he had memories of being her? Of her desk in her, well her and Master Reigen's, office? Of sitting there day in and day out not doing anything sometimes but still being happy? Of the little things she kept on her desk, the pictures that Master Reigen had tacked up on the wall? Did he ever lay in bed and think about how, because of him, that office was gone? That even though the exorcisms and stuff could be done without the office Spirits and Such had still burnt down? Did he ever think about how many lives he ruined? Did he ever stop and think about-

She didn't know, she couldn't know, so there was no point in sitting there and thinking about it.

Those memories were not real. He was real. Master Reigen. He was there and he was real. Why couldn't she had just had this with him? She didn't think that she would have minded having his memories in her mind. Thinking the way he thought. Being him for those brief moments of time…but then if she were him then he would have been her…and then he would have known how she felt. How she had felt for so long. How she had been trying not to feel about him…because she had someone who loved her…and Master Reigen would never have loved her the way she loved him. He couldn't. No matter what happened he would always be the adult and she would always be the kid.

And it just was not fair.

"Mob, you doing ok?" asked Reigen. Of course she wasn't doing ok. How so many people could mistake her for an adult he did not know. She didn't look a thing like an adult but people were, once again, assuming that she was a hell of a lot older than she was. They assumed that she was old enough to be his…to be something to him. To be something to him that she was so obviously not. At first they assumed that she was his younger sister, which wasn't true but was preferable to what they were thinking now, and now for some reason they thought that she was his girlfriend. His absurdly youthful girlfriend.

Which was what sent her in here in the first place…well that and mom not wanting to answer all of the uncomfortable questions.

He knew what she looked and felt like when something was wrong. She hated it, she must have hated it, being mistaken for his girlfriend. She must have hated it on two levels. The first of which being that crush that she maybe, possibly, sort of had on him and the fact that he, of course, would never see her as anything other than Mob. As a kid. As the kid that he had met when she was eleven. The second level must have been the fact that she had been reminded just how far away she was from her peers, from the other kids, and how much she wanted to be one of them. He had seen her staring wistfully out the car window at those kids on their way to school. He knew that she wanted to be one of them, to go back to normal, and he knew that he had been doing a shitty job of getting back to normal.

But at least he could be there for her.

"I'm fine Master. How are you?" asked Mob. She really was fine. She had gotten better from…what had happened…and she was back in her own body, too. Even if…no, it was hers. Even if she had made this one, pulled it together from the energy around her, it was still hers. It was still hers because she inhabited it. She was not her body, she was herself, even though 'herself' had a lot of…of parts to it that were not originally hers….

She was fine.

Everything was over and she was fine. She was Mob and Mob was her. She was a kid and not an adult and she, well part of her, should not have been expecting to be treated as an adult. Even Master Reigen didn't see her as the adult she felt like…the adult that part of her mind told her that she was. She was not an adult and he would never see her as an adult…

And she should not have been feeling like that anyway.

That was what was wrong with her. Too many feelings. Too many feelings all mixed up inside of her. She was upset because she was young. She was upset because she felt old. She was fine. She was herself. She wasn't fine. She wasn't herself. She didn't even know what was wrong with her. She knew exactly what was wrong with her. She knew and she didn't know and the whole thing was just so mixed up and confusing.

"Well aside from the fact that mom feels the need to show me off to everyone, apparently she thinks people think that she's been making me up, I'm fine. More worried about you than anything." Said Reigen

"Don't worry about me, Master Reigen, I'm fine." Said Mob

"Hey, Mob, talk to me." Said Reigen. That was what he settled on as he sat a cup of lukewarm tea down in front of her. She felt like crap. Maybe he should have just stayed home, well home at mom's house, with her. Maybe he should have thought more about her, how she would feel, because she felt like crap.

"I'm fine. Really. I know how I feel and I know that I feel fine." Said Mob

"Mob, I know how you feel and I can tell that you don't feel fine. Just…I'm sorry. I never should have brought you. I didn't think you would be so upset but this is just me not thinking things through again, like usual, and-" said Reigen. He leaned against mom's desk across from Mob. She was not fine. He leaned back too far and knocked a picture of himself off of mom's desk. Mob caught it with her powers and put it back. Even now she still thought about him more than she thought about herself. But that was not the way that it was supposed to be. She was the kid and he was the adult and he should have done more to think about her, to care for her, especially after all that she had been through…because of him.

"What? No, being here isn't upsetting…I mean this place isn't upsetting. I like seeing where your mom works. I just…don't like what people say. That's all. It just got me to thinking and then I thought too much. That's all. Sometimes I just think too much." Said Mob

"Mob, no, you aren't thinking any more than you should be. This is my fault. It's my fault for not thinking about…about how it would look. You, here, with me. About how people would react. About what they would think…so I'm sorry." Said Reigen. She knew what people said and she was not clueless. She was a smart kid. She understood that she could never be with him and people thinking that she was…of course this bothered her…

"What ae you talking about? You don't have anything to do with people thinking that I look like a little kid." Said Mob. She was not good at these things, the talking sorts of things, and she knew it. She wished that she was better at these sorts of things. She wished that Touichirou had been better about those sorts of things, too, because then she might have gotten that part of him, the part that knew about talking things and wasn't clueless, and that would have been ok. At least something good could have come out of all of that.

"Wait...that's what you got out of all of that?" asked Reigen. People had been talking about her like she was his….like she was old enough to be his girlfriend…but she took that as people thinking that she was a kid? In what universe….well that was Mob. It was nice to see that some things never changed. Mob was still as clueless as ever.

"Yes. People kept on saying how young I look and It bothered me and then I got to thinking too much…but really I'm fine. I'm fine now, Master, so you can go back to your mom." Said Mob. She hoped that she had said it right. She had told exactly what had happened but even when she said exactly what happened, before, it sometimes came out wrong. Saving the world was easy. Talking was hard.

"Mob…they weren't saying that you were a kid…they were saying that you…looked like you were younger than they assumed you were." Said Reigen. Well that had not come out right. He was, for once, without words. How was he supposed to tell her that people thought that she was a grown woman who looked like she was fourteen? That would just open up a very long discussion that he did not want to have with her right then at that moment in time in his mother's office.

"I know. That's what bothers me. I know that I look like a kid and I just…I don't know why it bothers me because I already know how young I look." Said Mob

"Mob…you're fine the way you are. You look fourteen, the way that a fourteen year old is supposed to look. People only think that you look young because they assume that you're…that you're older than you are. Because…." Said Reigen. He needed to find an explanation that had nothing to do with things that he preferred not to talk about. Things that were…things that were the sorts of things that opened up discussions about things that he did not want to discuss….

"Because?" asked Mob. People expected her to be older? Why? She didn't think that she looked older than she was…so why did people expect her to be older than she was? Maybe because she expected herself to be older than she was. She didn't think of herself as a kid. Even without the parts of Touichirou that were inside of her she still thought of herself as being older…even though she knew that she was only fourteen and in middle school and she had to remember that she was only fourteen and in middle school.

"Because…um….you should be in school right now. Yeah, that's it. People expect kids to be in school right now and since you're not in school, or even a uniform, they think that you're an adult." Said Reigen. He was not lying to her. There was no way that anyone could have mistook her for anything other than the kid she was if she had been in her school uniform…which had gotten ruined in the big 'save the world' fight….and she needed a new one…

Because she was a kid in middle school.

She was a middle schooler and she needed to be back in school. This was not the place for kids. This was his world, the adult world, and he should not have tried to make her a part of it. She needed to get back to her world and he needed to get back to his. That was…that was what it should have been…and that was…he had not being doing right by her at all…

"Oh…ok. I get it." Said Mob. That made sense. She knew that she was supposed to be in school right now. That was just what kids were supposed to do. That was where she was supposed to be. At that moment in time she should have been in school…but she was not. If things had been normal…she looked at the time…homeroom would have been over by now. School would have been started. She would have been at her desk like normal…and it had been so long since she had sat down at her desk….

She wondered what school would feel like now.

Would it feel like a time capsule? Since she hadn't been back in so long? She didn't know how she would be able to go back after being gone for so long…well she knew what she would do. She would sit down at her desk and do normal school stuff. It would feel like a time capsule then, probably, because she hadn't done it all in so long. It might feel weird, maybe, and it might be weird because she hadn't seen everyone in so long…

But she needed to go back. She was just a kid and she needed to go back.


	85. Coming Back

Home.

They were home.

For Reigen this apartment was more of a home to him than the home he had left. That place had never been home to him. Even if mom kept a lifetime of his accumulated junk in there it was not and never would be his home. Not like this place. This was his home. This dusty one bedroom apartment in a bad neighborhood that he and Mob shared was his home.

And it was a mess.

"Man, it is dusty as hell in here." Said Reigen as he crossed the threshold into his apartment for the first time in weeks. That was the only thing he could say as the clouds of dusty swirled around him. He kicked his shoes off in the genkan. Dust. He walked across the rug. Small clouds of dust. He threw himself down on the couch.

Bigger clouds of dust.

Mob came in after him. She didn't kick her shoes off in the genkan, no, she took them off normally and made them face the right way. She did the same for his. Once she was done she stood up and looked around. Her nose wrinkled and she did her best to stifle a sneeze.

Her best was not good enough.

"Master, how did it get so dusty in here?" asked Mob. They hadn't been gone for that long…right? But it was as dusty in there as if they had been gone for years and years. She wondered if her room at mom and dad's house was anything like this. She had been gone from there for months and months. It felt like years.

"I guess this is what happens when you leave town for a couple of weeks." Said Reigen with a shrug. Right. They would have to get back to cleaning…not that either of them had been good at that. Mom had been on him about cleaning but now he was an adult and he didn't have to…but he still had to because he was a grown man and he was going to have to keep his apartment clean without being told.

Mob was fourteen and she was already trying to clean up…and he hadn't even had to tell her to.

"Hold still, Master, I'm going to try and get the dust out." Said Mob. She concentrated on making the dust move…and it did…but then it resettled. She made it float around in clouds…and some of it got out the door…but most of it got on Master Reigen and her.

Master Reigen slapped himself on the stomach. Clouds of dust rose out of his shirt and into the air. Mob laughed. That laugh turned into a sneeze very quickly. So much dust…how had she been gone for so long? Gone from her home? This was her home. They had passed the turn to get to her parent's house on their way back to the city. She didn't want that, to go back to mom and dad's house, because that was not home. The only reason she would have gone back would have been for Ritsu but he was better off without her.

She still felt like that.

She didn't still think that she was terrible and all of the other ideas that Mogami had put in her head…but she did think that Ritsu deserved so much better than what she could be. He had pushed her to the ground and told her…everything that he had been feeling for his entire life…and that was not something that she wanted to repeat. Besides, they were both very happy now. He had the whole house to himself and all of mom and dad's love and she got Master Reigen.

And also a whole lot of dust.

"I'm sorry, Master Reigen, I can try again. It's just the there's a lot of dust and all of the little particles are very small." Said Mob. She remembered being very small and trying to clean up chalk dust with her powers. There was a limits to how many small particles she could pick up. She was small, though, and she got very upset. It was her turn to clean the chalkboard and she just wanted to go home. So she got mad and then-

-and that was not one of her memories.

Touichirou's memories were still in her head. She had no idea how to make them stop. She wished that she could have just jumped up and down and shaken the memories out like when she got water in her ears. But that was not how memories worked. They were in your head until you stopped thinking about them. So she just had to stop thinking about them…even though they just sort of popped up randomly. Like the Evangelion theme song…and now that was back…

But it was preferable to another one of Touichirou Suzuki's memories.

"It's fine. I'll get this cleaned up later on. Right now I am exhausted. Who knew that such a long trip could take it out of you so badly." Said Reigen. He could feel her frustration. He knew how she felt…and he knew that he was not going to let her feel that way. This was his apartment and keeping it clean was his responsibility. He would scrub this place from top to bottom if he had to….which was something that he should have done ages ago…and she could just…go and be fourteen. Go and have fun.

She had earned it.

Even after their long 'vacation' to mom's house she still needed to rest. Just to rest and to be fourteen. She had been doing too much for too long…the broccoli tree where the Cultural Tower used to be was a testament to that. Let him be the adult for once in their relationship. Let her be the kid again.

"I feel fine. I can help clean up. I think that we're out of cleanser but Sophia showed me how to me cleanser out of vinegar and I know that we have that." Said Mob. This was her home and she was going to keep it clean. She had been away for so long…and she just wanted things to get back to normal…but they would never get back to normal unless she did her part.

"No, I'll do it. You just relax." Said Reigen

"But I'm not tired." Said Mob

"Then go and have fun with your friends. I've got this. You just worry about having fun." Said Reigen

"I've been having fun since we first got to your mom's house. I can help you. You even just said that you were tired." Said Mob. If he wanted to relax then she wouldn't have minded relaxing with him. She wouldn't have minded resting her head on his lap while they watched TV together. His hand in her hair. The rise and fall of his chest again the back of her head. Maybe he would rest his hand on her back…or even better, the dip in her waist…and then he might even fall asleep and…and she needed to not think about him like this. She had a boyfriend…and she missed him…and she did want to see him…but would that be ok? Master Reigen had no one to hang out with but she had someone…and was it ok to just leave him alone like that?

"I am but it's fine. Go on, you keep on having fun. You've earned it." Said Reigen. He was not going to keep her trapped inside with him. She was going to go out and live her life. She had friends. She had a brother. She had a boyfriend. Yes. She really needed to see her boyfriend….because he did not know how much longer he could keep pretending that he didn't notice the way she felt about him.

"We could hang out. We could watch TV together." Said Mob

"You'd rather watch TV with me than see your boyfriend?" asked Reigen. Nope. As much as he would have enjoyed that, just sitting there in peace with her without having to worry about the next fight mom was going to be picking with him, he knew that she needed to spend time with her boyfriend. The guy her own age who she had feelings for. The feelings that she had for him were totally natural and she couldn't help it…but he could help her get over them. It would be for the best, for the very best, if she got over them.

For both of them.

"Um….I miss Teru a lot…" said Mob. She hadn't seen him in so long…well she had seen him over a webcam but seeing him in life was different…and she did love him so much…and he loved her….and also the last they had been together they had….and they hadn't in a while…and she knew that she shouldn't have been thinking about it so much…but it was finally good again…but she loved him for so many other reasons…

But she loved Master Reigen, too.

She loved him too. She loved him and she wanted to be with him. She wanted to be alone with him. Not for the same reasons that she wanted to be alone with Teru….well sort of but she would never do any of the things she thought about…she mostly just wanted to be alone with him because she missed the way he used to be. He was a different person when he was with his mom. He was a different person when it was just him and her…when he wasn't fighting or about to fight with or having just finished fighting with his mom…

She loved him. That version of him.

But she also loved Teru. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to hold him and be held by him. She wanted to watch one of his movies that had subtitles and had a very confusing plot. She wanted them to go for a bike ride even though they crashed sometimes. She wanted them to go for a long walk and just talk about nothing and everything at the same time. She wanted him to have gotten her a bunch of clothes that she didn't ask for but still liked because they came from him. She wanted to take a bath with him and hold him and also…a lot of other things…

She wanted a lot of things.

"Then go and see him while you can. You won't have time like this when school's back in session so why not make the most of it." Said Reigen. She was fourteen. He knew what she was going to end up doing with her boyfriend. It was better than her sitting there pining over him. At some point he had become that sort of person to her. At some point he had crossed over in her mind from Master Reigen to…guy she had a crush on. He should have known that this day was coming. She was fourteen and she had more hormones than sense. She knew what she wanted but she didn't know that she was too young to want that…from him.

So she really needed to come off him already.

"But….you'll be all alone." Said Mob

"I'll manage." Said Reigen. He would. He had managed before her and he would manage after her. He had his own things to do, anyway. He had to get this place clean and then figure something out for work…how they were going to reopen Spirits and Such…even though mom had a point about it being dangerous…and also there was the matter of the new guy. He said that he'd be ready whenever Reigen was…and he was ready….so, yeah, he had a lot to do.

"Um….alright. When do you want me to come home?" asked Mob. She usually had to come home no later than midnight…but she would have liked to have spent the night sleeping next to Teru again. Waking up with him after they had saved the world…it had felt good. Being with him had felt good. He…everything about him felt good.

"You don't have to come home at any specific time." Said Reigen. He was being…he knew that he was being irresponsible but…but it was for the best.

"You usually say midnight." Said Mob. That was weird. Usually it was midnight. Maybe it would be later because she didn't have school in the morning yet.

She missed him so much.

"You can come home whenever you feel like it, Mob, I trust you." Said Reigen. He was giving her permission to crash at her boyfriend's place for days and days…and he knew that he had to be the responsible adult there…and he was. Sometimes you had to be irresponsible to be responsible. Sometimes you had to let your fourteen year old best friend spent the night with her equally young boyfriend in order to help her get over the precocious crush she had on you.

"Ok…um…I'm not sure when I'll come back but I will come back…so please don't think that I ran away again. Ok?" said Mob. She knew that she didn't have to come back…but she wanted to. She wanted to come back to him and she was not going to run away and live outside again. Master Reigen might have been worried about that. Well she didn't want him to worry. She wanted him to be happy. She wanted…she wanted him to not feel bad…

And also she wanted to not feel bad.

"If you're going to be gone for more than a day give me a call." Said Reigen. He hadn't even thought of that, her running away, but she could. She could walk out that door at any time and he would never see her again…but she said that she wouldn't. Also they hadn't fought in a long time and they were never going to fight again. They weren't like that anymore. Things were…they were better.

"Ok…I will. I'm going to take a shower first and then I'm going to…to go to Teru's." said Mob. She had barely been back and now she was out the door again. Was he kicking her out? No, those were crazy people thoughts. She wasn't being kicked out. He just wanted her to be happy and he knew that being with Teru made her happy. That was all. So now that was what she was going to do.

She was going to take a shower and then she was going to see Teru.

Teru came out of the shower to the most beautiful sight that he had ever seen in his entire life.

"Hi Teru. I'm sorry that I just let myself in like this. I just…when you lived in your old apartment you said that I could come in whenever I wanted to and I never had to, before, but I came back today and I wanted to see you and I tried calling but you didn't pick up but I already had your address so I came here and I saw your aura so I let myself in…sorry." said Mob. She wasn't sure if this was ok. She had been allowed to just come in when he lived at his old apartment…but this was not his old apartment.

It was a lot smaller.

It was smaller and also he didn't have a lot of furniture, it echoed a lot in there, and also it just…smelled different. Sort of like new paint. She wanted it to smell like him. She wanted it to smell like body spray and winter berries and…and that smell that was just….Teru. That could only be called Teru. She wanted….she wanted it to be the way that it had been before. That was sort of what she had been expecting even though she knew that she was going to a new place.

The old apartment had felt like…theirs.

She knew that she had no right to be so attached to that apartment. That had been Teru's home, the last home that he had shared with his parents, and also that had been the place where he had learned to live in his own. That had been the place where he had grown up. She had sort of grown up there, too, but not in the same way that Teru had. That apartment had been where she'd had her first kiss and her first time and all of the firsts in between those two times. The first time someone had said 'I love you' and the first time she'd said it, too. The first time she had slept next to someone. The first time that she had taken a bath with someone. The first time that she had ever seen someone naked and the first time that they had ever seen her naked. The first time that she had ever touched someone and the first time that they had ever touched her…

All of her firsts.

And it was selfish of her to feel like that. Like she was the one who had lost something. Not when he was the one who had lost everything. That had been his home….and this was not his home yet…and she had no right to miss his old apartment. Besides, when she really thought about it those memories weren't special because of where she had been, they were special because of who she had been with. Him Teru.

The person she loved most in the world.

"Shigeko…no. Don't be sorry. Don't ever be sorry about-about dropping in. I just wasn't expecting you so soon." Said Teru. He ran a hand through his wet hair. He knew that he had felt her aura but…but he hadn't been expecting her to be right there. She was so bright all the time…and he she had been away for so long that he had lost the ability to judge how far away she was from him….not that he was complaining. Not that he would ever have complained about seeing her. She was….she was different in person. He had seen her before, over webcams, and they did not do her justice. She was so beautiful and perfect and…and he loved her so much in that instant…

He hadn't seen her in so long.

She felt the same way, it seemed. Stood up, went over to him, and held him close. He was still slightly damp from his shower but she didn't seem to care. She simply pressed herself into his arms and held him close. He held her right back, of course, because he loved her. He loved her so much in that moment…even if she smelled like…she smelled like…

She smelled like Reigen.

She'd just taken a shower too, he could tell by her damp hair, and now she smelled like Reigen. Like his soap. She smelled…her clothes smelled like an ashtray. She had…she had been with Reigen for so long…but she had come back to him. She had come back to him and that was what mattered the most. She didn't have to come back to him. She didn't have to come back to him at all and nobody had to come back to him but she had come back to him, she had chosen to come back to him, and that was all that he needed….even though she did smell just like Reigen.

"What's wrong?" asked Mob. His aura was being weird and he had stopped hugging her back. His arms were around her but he had gone all stiff and distant and stuff. She wondered if she had done something wrong. She really hoped that she hadn't. She wanted him to be happy…and also she wanted to be happy.

"Nothing just….you smell like-" said Teru

"Oh! Sorry! I just took a shower but I guess that I might still smell and I'm sorry about that I-I'll just-" said Mob. She let go of him and tried to step back. He just held her even closer. She didn't get it. If she smelled bad then why did he still want to hold her and stuff like that?

"No. You don't smell bad. You just….you smell like Reigen." Said Teru. That was all that he could say. If he said anything else he ran the risk of telling her how he felt about her and Reigen and….and everything. About how she made him feel. About how she was still so close to him even though they were together. About how every time Reigen swore that he wasn't after her it just made it seem like he was. After all, why plead not guilty to a crime that you aren't even being accused of?

"Oh. That's because I had to use his soap. I forgot my soap and shampoo and stuff at his mom's house and she lives all the way in Lower Back Pain City and that's very far away. I'll get some new soap and stuff on my way home, though, because I don't really like this kind that much." Said Mob. Not a lie, not exactly, because she did prefer her own soap and shampoo and stuff, but she did like smelling like Master Reigen….and those were not the sorts of thoughts that she should have had while she was with her boyfriend.

She made herself think about Teru.

She closed her eyes and thought about him….and then she realized that she was being stupid. She didn't have to close her eyes to think about him because there he was. He was holding her and he was there and he smelled like himself…and also like he had just gotten out of the shower…and she was pressed right there into his chest…and he had gotten taller. She liked this. They had been almost the same height when they'd met but now…now he was taller than her…but not as much as Master Reigen was…but still taller…

She loved him.

She let her hands go from his sides to his back. She let her hands feel up and down his back. She didn't mind all the bumps he had there. She didn't know why he minded, either. It wasn't like anyone but her touched him like this…right? A scary thought. She had been gone for so long and he could have….a stupid thought. They're together and they love each other. He would never do anything like that to her. He loved her and she loved him.

They were in love.

"You can keep some of your soap and stuff here….or you could just use mine." Said Teru. He could feel her hands running up and down his back. He felt….he knew that it was stupid but he wanted her to stop. He hated his back. He hated how the only place on his whole body his skin wasn't clear was his back. He knew her, though, and he knew that she did not care about those things in the least bit. Why did he feel so self-conscious around her? She was his girlfriend and she loved him and he loved her right back…

She loved him and only him.

He had to remember that she loved him and only him. It didn't matter how Reigen felt about her. She could never return his feelings. Shigeko wasn't that sort of person. She was just so…good. The thought of cheating on him, of breaking up with him for Reigen, these thoughts had never crossed her mind. They couldn't. She wasn't that sort of girl. She was the sort of girl who risked her life for you…for the people she loved…she was the sort of girl who was just….

Perfection.

"That's a good idea, since we spend so much time together…and we are together…and also I had some of my stuff at your old apartment…and that's what you do when your boyfriend has his own apartment." Said Mob. This apartment was so empty. He had said, before, that he would hold off on getting a lot of things because he wanted her opinion…because she was his girlfriend. She didn't know if she would be meant to be living there too. She lived with Master Reigen….well she could live wherever she wanted…but she wanted to live with Master Reigen…even if their apartment was very dusty and dirty and stuff….

"When we have our own apartment." Said Teru. This was her home as much as his. That was why he absolutely would not live in a one room. That wasn't enough space for the two of them. He needed enough space for her. One bedroom. They'd had two before…but they only needed the one. He was fourteen and she was fourteen. He knew that he had asked her to marry him, in his defense he thought that he was going to die, but that did not mean that he wanted to have a kid with her or any of that other married stuff. Nope. No way. Not yet.

This was as much of an adult as he wanted to be.

"You…want me to stay here forever?" asked Mob. She felt so…trapped….there. Suddenly. Being in his arms had felt so good but now…now she didn't know. She didn't know if she wanted to stay with him forever. She had been with him for days on end, before, back when she had run away from home…back when she had been living outside…and she had come back to Master Reigen. He was the one who felt like home…but Teru felt like love…and she loved him…but things were so….fast. Things had been going so fast lately. She had…it seemed like the past few months had gone way too fast.

Half a year ago she would have been eating lunch with mom and dad and Ritsu…and now she was here.

Now she had a boyfriend. Now she lived with Master Reigen, they had a home together, and that home…and the rest of the world…had almost been destroyed. She had saved the whole world…well her friends had helped…but she had saved the world and…and now she was here and…and she had taken a break. She had taken a break but now she was back. She had taken a break but…but everyone else hadn't. Teru hadn't.

She had taken a break and he had moved forward.

He had found a place for them to live. He had found them this apartment and it was meant for them to live and…and it was big and it echoed…and that was just because he had been waiting for her to come back. He had been waiting for her to come back so that he could buy furniture and stuff…because they had to be here together and…and it suddenly seemed like too much. The apartment was suddenly too big and also too small.

"…if you do." Said Teru. Of course he wanted her to stay forever. She was his girlfriend and he wanted to always be with her…but he didn't want to know what her answer would be. She might…she might have wanted to stay with Reigen…and he…he didn't know how he would handle that….

"I want to…I want to….I want to be here with you…but I do have to go back home…but I do want to be with you." Said Mob. She wished that Master Reigen had given her a time that she had to be home by. She loved Teru but….but she didn't want to stay forever. Even though that was how a relationship worked. In a relationship you had to move forward. In a relationship you moved forward until you were living together and you were married and…

And that was kind of a lot.

Enough had changed. She had been through so much. She had been living with her family and then she wasn't and then she had been living with Master Reigen and then she had run away and then she had come back and then she had saved the world and….and the whole thing had been so much…and she had no idea how much more things could change. She knew how much more things could change…but she also wanted things to slow down.

"….I want to be with you, too." Said Teru. He hated it, the way that she had called the apartment that she shared with Reigen 'home' but….but it made sense. This place didn't even feel like home for him now, either. This place was so big and so empty…but she was there. She was there and she made the space smaller. She made it feel more like home….for him. He had to make it feel more like home for her. He had to make her feel…feel like this could be her home.

Because he wanted this to be their home together.

He kissed her. He kissed her because he didn't want to…to talk about this anymore. He kissed her because he loved her. He kissed her because he hadn't kissed her in so long…and she tasted different. That wasn't her toothpaste. She liked bubblegum toothpaste. Now she tasted like mint. He didn't know why she tasted like mint…but he knew that she didn't taste like Reigen…and his mind was going to places that it should not have been going….

She had not and would never kiss Reigen Arataka.

Why would she want to when she could kiss him? He was a little out of practice….just a little. Just a little and not too badly. He got back in the rhythm of it with her. His lips sliding against hers. He wanted to kiss her deeper, to kiss her so deeply that he got rid of any of that mint toothpaste taste…but he waited. He waited until she showed him that she was ready. He waited until she reached up and wrapped her hands around his shoulders. She parted her lips and that was his cue to enter…and he did. She was out of practice too. She kissed him like she was trying to play tonsil soccer…but that was ok. She kissed him. She kissed him and that was what mattered. Even though her teeth scrapped against his. The scraping of their teeth was unpleasant but….but he didn't care. She was kissing him and he was kissing her.

She wanted to do more than kiss.

He could tell. She presser her whole self against him. He hadn't been this close to her in so long…so very long. Not since after they saved the world. Not since after they dug her out of the dirt. Not since the explosion…that big white…her….made up of energy. Not since he had been so sure that she would die and then he had been so happy that she had been alive…and he was so happy that she was alive. His hands found her waist. She kissed his way away from his lips. The corner of his mouth….his cheek…down the side of his next.

And she kept on saying his name…and that was…it was so….

"Teru….Teru….Teru…" said Mob. She wanted this. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him and hold him and be held by him. She wanted…his hand was on her waist. She wanted his hand to be there. She could feel his fingers untucking her shirt from her skirt. She let him. She wanted this with him. She loved this. She remembered….she remembered soft hands working her shirt out from where it had been tucked in to her pants…she remembered being in an office….she remembered sitting in her chair and….

And those were NOT her memories.

She stopped kissing Teru. She needed some space. She just needed a second. That had not been one of her memories and she should not have been thinking like that and she wished that there could just be some way, any way at all, to get these memories out of her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was…she was feeling weird. She was a girl. She knew what it felt like to be a girl. She knew what it felt like to have sex as a girl. She knew what it felt like to have someone inside of her…and now she knew what it was like to BE INSIDE of someone….to have them pressed down onto her….in an office chair…and she did not need to know this…she had NEVER wanted to have this information….

She almost wished that she could have switched places with the other her in that moment just so she didn't have to be there in that moment with those memories in her head.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I misread-" said Teru. He was more out of practice than he thought…or maybe it was like it had been before. Back when she had been living outside after….after everything that happened to her. They'd had sex, no, they'd made love after they'd saved the world…and she had liked it. She had kept on asking him again and again until he physically couldn't anymore….and she had still wanted him…and it had been so beautiful and perfect and loving and….and it had been the best he'd ever had in his life…and he was being selfish. He was being selfish and only thinking about how good it had felt for him. She had her own feelings and…she had been through so much shit…and she had wanted him so badly before…and it had been so perfect and…and he had never felt more loved in his life than he had felt with her in that bedroom after everything that happened….and he wanted so badly to feel like that again…

But she might not have felt like that anymore.

"No, don't be sorry. This is just me being…weird. This is just me remembering things." Said Mob. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to get her memories away from Suzuki's. She was not going to have this in her head. She wanted to kiss Teru and hold him and make love to him and…and she was not going to let that be ruined for her. She had almost let Mogami ruin it for her. She was not going to let sex get ruined for her again.

"I..I get it. I'm not going to make you do anything that you don't want to do. I understand that after everything that happened with Mogami-" said Teru

"Mogami? No. This is about Suzuki." Said Mob. She didn't want to talk about or think about what had happened with Mogami. That was over. That whole thing was over and…and she was ok now. She was ok now and…and everything was ok.

"…what? What did HE do to you? What….what happened to…to you?" asked Teru. Well now he had someone new to kill. Killing that guy would be a hell of a lot easier than killing a spirit. He couldn't kill a spirit but he could kill a person…he could! He could and he would because…because he could not go through that again. He could not let her go through that again.

"He beat me up and tried to kill me and also he tried to kill you and he tried to take over the world. You remember. You were there." said Mob. How could he have forgotten? Or maybe it was better that he had forgotten. She wished that she could have forgotten. She wanted him to just forget and be happy and stuff.

"No, I mean….I mean was it like with…with Mogami or…" said Teru. He hated Suzuki. He hated Suzuki so much. Nobody hurt Shigeko. She was his and nobody could hurt her…and he should have been able to protect her. He should have protected her and he…he hadn't. He had never felt so weak and so scared in his entire life…and also this was not about him…and he had to remember that.

"No. That was stuff that happened to me. Now I can…sometimes I remember things that happened to him. To Touichirou. Because when I absorbed all of that extra energy from him we both lost our bodies and then we were the same person for a little bit. He was me and I was him and…and it was like instrumentality….but also not because….well not in the way that we have instrumentality because that's what we call sex and me and him didn't have sex…ick…but also I want to have sex with you and then that made me remember this one time he had sex….and it was really weird…" said Mob. She knew that she was not the best at expressing her thoughts through talking but she thought that he understood her. He was looking at her and it looked like he was listening…and that was good…

"….what…." asked Teru. That was something…he didn't know what that was. Having someone else's memories inside of your head….that was just so…not good. Really not good. Really weird and also somewhat….horrifying. Like…not only that but having THOSE kinds of memories in your head…from someone else….just…what? How did that even…what?

"I want to have sex with you and when you were touching me I remembered how someone…I think she was his wife…touched him like that and then they had sex and then it was just sort of weird but it's gone now and I want us to have sex….but only if you want to." Said Mob. She wanted to have sex with him and she was not going to let sex get ruined by what happened. She was not going to let something she loved get ruined. She loved him and…and she would not let it all be ruined….

"But….you have his…memories? Shigeko that sounds….horrific. Like…how do you even….anything? How long have you been like this? Will it get better? What do I do to-" said Teru. He was trying to stay calm but it was hard to stay calm when his girlfriend had just told him something so…so….he didn't even know what.

"It's not so bad. It's more annoying than anything." Said Mob. Teru just sort of looked at her…and she had no idea at all what she had done that was so wrong. He was looking at her like she had done something wrong, at least she thought that she was reading him right, but she had always been so bad at reading people. Like that time when she had been sixteen and-

And she had never been sixteen.

She was fourteen. She was fourteen and her memories were her own and his memories, Touichirou's memories, were his own. She was herself and he was himself and they had been a 'themselves' together when they had been in the void or instrumentality or whatever….but now that was over. That was over and it was so annoying and now Teru was looking at her and-

And now she was being held.

"It's ok. I'm here. I'm here for you." Said Teru. What else could he say? He was there for her even though this was…a lot. This whole thing had been a lot and there was still a lot more coming to him, it seemed, but that went with the territory of being Shigeko's boyfriend. He had to be there for her no matter what…even if the 'what' was having someone else's memories in her head.

He was there for her. That was what mattered.

Serizawa was here and that was what mattered.

"I can't believe that you're actually going to be living here." Said Sho as he made his way through Serizawa new, small, and very echoy apartment. He made sure to step loudly so he could hear his footsteps echoing. That was kind of cool.

This whole thing was kind of cool.

Well Serizawa had stull let dad almost kill him, that was not cool, but he was going to make up for all the bad things that he'd done by coming to Seasoning City and working for Reigen and stuff. That was good. Reigen seemed like a cool guy…well from what he had seen…and the second hand stories that he's heard from Rei. Ritsu's big sis told her stories and then she told him stories.

He was happy for Serizawa. Really, he was.

"I-I can't believe it either." Said Serizawa as he watched Sho walk up and down the small amount of space that was well and truly his. Mom had helped him. She had helped him move into his own place…and also find this place. She'd had to move fast, she'd said, since there wasn't a lot of housing in Seasoning City…because of what had happened…and Serizawa still felt so terrible about what he had been an accomplice to…to all of the things that he had just LET happen…but he could make up for it…in the small ways…like actually rejoining society and actually using his powers to help people. In the real way. Not in the way that…that he had let the President manipulate him into…

He would never forgive himself for what he had let happen.

"So, when are you going to start the rest of your life? Because you've got a lot to make up for and don't think that I'm going to let you slack off." Said Sho. He stopped in front of a window and looked out it. There was a tree there like the one that grew outside of mom's building. There weren't any cats in that one, though, but some would come. Maybe.

This was a nice place.

He'd never lived on his own before. Well he'd gone on missions on his own and stayed in bases on his own but he had never had a space of his own. He didn't even have one in mom's house and he was her son…but there was still time. Mom was always saying about how she was going to find some place in the city that had room for the two of them. She was looking, she said, but there was plenty of space…

Well not for two, he guessed.

"I-I wouldn't dream of it! I mean I know that I hurt a lot of people….including you." Said Serizawa. He had let Sho get hurt and that was the same as hurting his friend himself. He had known that the President had been treating him poorly but he had still let all of that happen. He had been a terrible person and a terrible friend and just…terrible. But he could make up for it now.

"Yeah, well, you can make it up to me by being a good person and stuff like that." Said Sho. He was still facing the window. He fogged it up and wrote his name. Sho. Leader. There. Sho was here. Maybe if he wrote his name in enough places this would become his place. Like writing you name on all the food in the communal fridge.

Not that he wanted his own space.

He finally had mom back. He was happy with mom. Mom was happy with him. They were happy together. They were so happy together and they would be happy for the rest of their lives because he had been wishing for so long to have his mom back and now he did….and he was happy. This made him happy and he was happy and mom was there and she was happy too and…and that was the truth. It had to be.

Because otherwise he had made a mistake.

He'd saved the world! He'd stopped dad and saved the whole world! That was not a mistake. The world would have been terrible if dad had been ruling it and he'd stopped him and…and that was a good thing. Even though now he had nowhere to go. No more missions, no more Fukuda and Higashio and Ootski….just him. Him and mom and…and he had new friends, too! He had new friends and a new life and people he could hang out with and Serizawa was turning over a new leaf and it was all just….just fine!

"I will. Don't worry. I…I have a lot to make up to you." Said Serizawa. He couldn't believe that he had just stood there and let the President beat Sho up so badly that he hadn't even been able to stand to watch…how could he had been so terrible to someone who he cared so much about? What was wrong with him? What was…no. That was over. Sho was here and he was ok and he had forgiven him and now…now it was all going to be ok.

Things were different now.

Now he had this place. One bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. His. This was his…well mom's name was the one on the lease but he was the one who paid the rent…all on his own. He was on his own for the first time in his life and…and he had so much to do. So much unpacking to do. So much to get set up. So much…and it was a lot…but he could do it. He had to.

"Yeah, well, we've got forever for that." Said Sho. The rest of time was stretched out in front of him, it felt like sometimes, because now that he had reached his goal….what else was there to do? It was like a videogame. He had completed every mission and played through all the DLC and now there was just…nothing left? What could he do?

Start a new game?

That was what Serizawa was doing. Well not literally, most of these boxes were games and he had not even begun to unpack them, but he was starting something new…and so was Sho, in a way. He had gone from a shonen action series to a slice of life. Now instead of Sho the guy who was working to undermine his wannabe supervillain of a dad he was Sho the normal kid who hung out with friends and would probably end up going to school and other such normal kid stuff.

Did he wanted that?

He didn't know. He liked parts of his new life. The Ritsu parts. The parts where they could be together and stuff. The parts where they could just…be. Where he was there and Ritsu was there and something they talked and sometimes they went outside to explore the city and climb things and sometimes they did nothing at all but he just…he liked it all so much. He liked Ritsu so much…and he shouldn't have been thinking about Ritsu right now. He should have been thinking about how to help Serizawa get used to the world and stuff and also they should have been hanging out and…and stuff.

But all he could think about was Ritsu.

"That's a long time." Said Serizawa. He didn't want to think too much about forever. About how his whole life was stretched out in front of him now. About how there was a whole world out there for him and he could…he could just go out into it. Not at the President's side but on his own…and he had never been on his own before. He had never had to just…be on his own before. There had always been someone. Even when he'd locked himself away in his room there had been someone…and now there was just himself…

And Sho.

But Sho was just a kid. He was just a kid and…and he may have been a thousand times more capable than Serizawa would ever be but he was just a kid. Serizawa may not have felt like an adult but he was an adult and he…he had to take care of himself now. Even though it would be hard. Even though he had missed out on so much…he would still do this. He could still do this.

"Yeah, it is, but that's the beauty of it. We've got forever and in that forever we can do a lot of fun stuff. Like…hey! Have you seen the human faced fish game? I found it in this Dreamcast collection and I've been playing it nonstop. I'm trying to get my fish guy to evolve and stuff but he just keeps on dying. It sucks. I thought that virtual pets were supposed to be easier than normal pets. I can keep a normal pet alive…I mean if nobody kills it, but I can't keep this stupid fish man thing alive." Said Sho. He didn't want to talk about heavy things. He wanted to play videogames and other such light escapist stuff and Serizawa was always up for videogames so that was what they did.

They played some videogames.


	86. Back to School

Mob was back at school.

She couldn't remember the last time she had sat here at this desk. Too long ago. Before everything that happened. Before saving the world. Before everyone she loved almost died. Way too long ago. Now she was back at her desk, back to normal, and back in her school uniform too. This one was hers and hers alone. This wasn't the too big one Tome had given her. This was her uniform and she had bought it with her own money and...and that was it. She had her uniform, her school bag, and she was sitting at her desk while her teacher took attendance.

Everything was back to normal now.

"Kageyama Shigeko….absent…." said her teacher even though Mob had her hand raised high in the air. She didn't know why she was being marked absent if she was there, probably because she hadn't in school in so long, of maybe because she was just forgettable. Maybe because she had done nothing to make her mark on the world. School was a waste of her time. There was so much more she could have been doing. She should have been out there building something. She was in here to build a better future for herself bit that made no sense. Why did someone else get to define her future? She was the most powerful being on earth and she got to-

Touichriou's thoughts. Again.

No! She was not him, she was nothing like him, and she was not going to start thinking like him. She was Mob and she was going to think for herself. She was not going to do any of the things that he had done. She is not going to hurt anyone. She was not going to leave school….again. She did not want to make any kind of mark on the world. No, she already had. She could see it from her window, the mark she had made on the world, and she wished that it was gone. She wished that someone would just cut down that broccoli tree. She wished that it was gone so she could just forget.

But she couldn't forget.

Touichriou was in her head and he wouldn't go away. So she would never be free of what had happened. She had tried running away to Master Reigen's mom's house but that had just made him quieter, not gone, and he was loud now that they were back in Seasoning City. His thoughts. Thoughts that she would never have. She was the most powerful being on Earth but that didn't mean anything. She was still just Mob. That was all. She is, was, and always would still be just….Mob.

Well also Kageyama Shigeko. She was that person too.

"Miss Kageyama? You're here?" asked her teacher. Her teacher was staring at her. Everyone was staring at her. The other part of her, Shigeko, wanted to put a barrier around her. Touichirou was in her head too and he thought that they were right to stare. He wanted them all to stare because…he was kind of full of himself, in Mob's opinion, but she was not full of herself so their staring was actually sort of unwanted and stuff.

"Yes? I mean….yes. I'm here. At my desk. This is where I am." Said Mob. She wondered how many times she would have to say it before people believed her. Tsubomi smiled and waved. Mezato just stared with eyes so wide that Mob was worried they'd pop out. That was a thing that happened to people sometimes. Touichirou had seen it…and been responsible for it…and she wished that there was some way to exorcise his thoughts and memories from her head. But there wasn't. If there was then she would have done it a long time ago…so she was stuck with him. She was stuck with him in her head just like she was stuck in class even though she didn't need to be here. Even though this sort of mundanity was not worthy of-

She was fourteen, not forty six, and she was supposed to be in class with people her own age, not out there trying to make her mark on the world or take it over or….whatever.

"I supposed better late than never." Said her teacher. Mob looked over at the clock. She hadn't been late, no, she was right on time. She had made sure to come in right on time that morning. She had even gotten up extra early to make sure that she was right on time. She had made time to see Teru, too, but she had still been on time.

The pencil on her desk stood up.

She put it down with her hands and held it there. She was getting upset and she needed to stop getting upset. Power was nothing without control. There was no point to having the absolute power if she couldn't keep absolute control. Heaven had given her these powers for a reason and she needed to use them to further her ultimate goals, not lose control, and frankly she was ashamed of herself. How could she ever expect any better from-

More of Touichirou's unwanted thoughts.

"I was on time. I got in before the bell." Said Mob. There. Now she had set everything straight and she could let go of her pencil…or not. It was trying to rise up again. She kept it in her hands. Why was the other her doing that? Or was she the one doing that? Or did her powers just…have their own sense of self? No, that was the other Shigeko. Maybe she had more of Touichirou in her head than she thought that she did…but…but what? No, she just had his thoughts and memories, that was all, and nothing more. She was still her.

She was still Mob.

She was still Shigeko and she was still Mob and she was…she was just fine. She was herself, she was sitting at her desk, she had come to school on time that day, and she was herself. So she was fine and this was fine and…and she still couldn't put her pencil down. Well that was fine too. This was school in she would need to. She had a lot to do in school…a lot that she had missed out on…and she had a lot of catching up to do…so she would…and then maybe if she worked really hard at catching up she wouldn't have these nagging thoughts about how she needed to take over the world because she had the divine right to rule because of her powers…

Because that was not AT ALL how that worked.

"Moving on. Mao Aki? Present….let's see. Mikoto Fuya? Present…." Her teacher went back to taking attendance. Mob wished that everyone else would take their attention off of her. She shrank down in her desk as everyone just…stared….at her. They just stared at her and she didn't want to stare back, because they would have thought that she was rude in that case, and also…also she didn't know what would happen if she stared back. People always said that she stared too much. People would never stop saying that. They had been saying it since she was a little boy and…and she was a girl! She was a girl and she had always been a girl and also, yes, people had been telling her that she stared too much since she had been a little girl and…and stuff. So maybe she shouldn't stare back. Maybe she should just…find something to do….while her teacher took attendance….

She felt her phone vibrating in her skirt pocket.

Oh! She felt her hair jump up. Not in the braids today, down, because she liked it when Teru ran his fingers through it. He had done that this morning. They had kissed a lot and Teru ran his hands through her hair. She had been expecting it to be shorter, and courser, and spikier because it was long…but she had kept that one to herself. Teru…he hadn't reacted well when she told him that she still had Touichirou in her head and stuff….

So she would keep that to herself from now on.

It wasn't Teru that texted, though, no. It had been Mezato. She asked Mob to tell her everything whenever they got the chance to talk….which she would not be doing. People did not react well to the 'everything' part of what had happened to her. People did not take it well when she told them that she had lost control, the other her took over, and then she had lost her physical body and went back to nothing with Touichirou. People did not like it when she talked about how they had both been together in instrumentality. She did not want people to…to look at her like that. Like how people looked at her when she told them about…about what had happened. She did not want to worry people…and she did not want people to be worried about her or…or afraid of her…

So she would keep most of the details to herself.

From everyone. Tome was texting her too and she wanted details too…and Tome was a very good friend and she liked weird stuff like this…but Mob had no idea what she could and could not tell her. That she was responsible for that broccoli tree? That she had someone else living in her head…worse than normal. At least the other Shigeko was a part of her. Touichirou…he didn't have a self like the other Shigeko did but his thoughts and memories are still right there inside of her head…and she has no idea how to get them out or even what they're in there for. She wondered if he has her thoughts in his head. This was what happened when you had instrumentality, not sex but actual instrumentality, with someone.

She didn't much like it.

And she didn't much want to talk about it with her friends or…or anyone. But she did want to talk to someone. She wanted to talk to someone because she didn't want to look up from her phone. If she looked up from her phone then she was sure that she would have seen everyone looking over at her. She didn't want to see everyone looking over at her so she…did…phone things….texting! That was a phone thing. Her hair tried to float away when she came to what she was going to do but she stopped it. She could text…she went through her contacts…right at the top were two named.

Master Reigen and then Teru with a heart next to his name.

She wanted to text Master Reigen. She wanted to know what he was up to. She wanted to ask him how his day was going. She wanted to ask him if the insurance man decided to give them the money to rebuild the office. She wanted to know what he'd had for breakfast. She wanted to know if he was thinking about her. She wanted to know if he missed her. She wanted to know if it was alright for her to miss him like this. She wanted to know if it was alright to feel what she felt about him. She wanted to be near him. She wanted to just…be next to him. She wanted to be sitting in her desk in the office working on her homework while he told her important things. She wanted to be sitting next to him on a bus to a job and just…just to close her eyes and rest her head against him and…and just BE with him…and stuff. She wanted…she wanted to crawl into bed next to him and just go to sleep and….

And she wants the same thing with Teru.

She wants to be near Teru, too. She wants to crawl into bed next to him but…but she doesn't want to sleep. She wants to kiss him. She wants to kiss him and…and be kissed by him…and then she wants to…a lot of things that she shouldn't think about at school especially not when people were looking at her. She should not have just been sitting there thinking about Teru like that…or Master Reigen like that….and she didn't know which was worse. She was there and just thinking about….

Well she was not going to tell them what she was thinking about.

So she just said 'hi' and left it at that. There. That was what she would say. Then they would say 'hi' back and then it would all be simple and it would all go from there and it would…everything would be ok. She didn't know why she had this feeling inside of her that things would not be ok but…but she decided that she was not going to let herself feel like things were not going to be ok. She was back in school where she should have been and saving the world was over and done with…and now she was….she was fine. She was fine and everything was fine.

She was back in school and everything was fine.

Teru was back in school and everything felt small.

He had been away from school for a couple of weeks now because, well, a lot of buildings had been destroyed. A lot of buildings had been destroyed and a lot of people had lost their homes and jobs so the government decided that everyone got two weeks off from school. So that was fair…but not really…but he had nothing to complain about. He had a place to live and a girlfriend who loved him and his hair looked amazing, too, and his skin was doing well and he was still turning heads….not that he would do anything more but turn them, of course, since he had Shigeko now.

Shigeko who was texting him right now.

His hair got ruined. He had lost control and felt his hair shift around, he'd picked that up from her, but his hair was the least of his worries. She had texted him and…and he was afraid to open it. It could have been anything. The world could have been in danger or she could have been in danger or…or anything! He was afraid to open it but…but he had to. He was in class and he should not have had his phone out but, well, this was his girlfriend and she needed him and whatever she needed from him he would be there to give her and-

Oh.

'_Hi'_ and then a happy face. Oh. She just wanted to talk. But they had just seen each other…he was always up for talking with her. That was normal. It was normal to talk to your girlfriend just because. It was normal to want to be near her and talk to her and stuff…and it was normal for her to text him in the middle, well more like the beginning of the day, just because. Just because she wanted to hear from him. Just because she loved him. All of those just because things.

'_Hey. What's up? Don't tell me you miss me so soon.' _ Said Teru. He wondered if that was too subtly flirty for her. They weren't usually flirty but, well, he was. Not with her because she missed it a lot of the time but he was the sort of guy to flirt with just about everyone…but he was not that person anymore. He had a girlfriend and he was happy with his girlfriend and…and maybe he just wanted to flirt with her!

And he had no clue who he was even arguing with.

'_I always miss you Teru but if you don't miss me then that's ok. You're right we did just see each other. I'm sorry to have bothered you.'_ Classic Shigeko. He wondered how she could have so easily missed…how she could just be so clueless…but that was ok. It really was. She was his girlfriend and he loved everything about her, even her cluelessness, and he would not take it badly that she couldn't tell when he was….he could not take it badly. Out of all of the things about her that he could take badly this was not one of them.

So he wouldn't.

'_I miss you too. Even though we were just together I miss you. How's your day going? Mines boring. I can't wait to see you again.'_ He wondered if that was a good or bad sign that they were already in the 'how was your day?' stage of their relationship. He wondered if that meant that they were getting into a rut…and if it was a good rut. He didn't know. He wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. He had never wanted that with any girl before…ever. He wanted to spend his life with her at his side and…and her in his home….not that he still cared about being on his own. He had no choice but not to care. Mutter and Vater weren't coming back to Japan even after Claw had been defeated and they had no more reason to stay away. That was fine, he didn't care, he just cared about…about…about her. He was not a child anymore. He didn't care if his parents never came back.

He had her now.

'_My day is going ok, being in school is weird though. I miss you a lot and I can't wait until the day is over and I can see you again. Can we hang out after school? Or do you have club stuff to do? Well I mean that I do too but my club stuff is over before yours is most of the time and also I know that you like to hang out with your friends afterwards sometimes.'_ She always thought of him…and it felt good. Having someone else thinking of him. Having someone else wanted to be with him. Having her with him. Having her want to be with him…it was all just…so good. So nice. She was so….she was everything in this world that was good, sometimes, and he wondered if that was an ok way to feel.

That was how you were supposed to feel about someone you loved.

People paired up all the time. Sometimes for a short while and sometimes for the rest of eternity. This was one of those eternity things. He didn't have to be alone when he had her. She was there for him. She had come back from the DEAD for him…or whatever she had meant when she had told him that she had given up her physical body. She had come back from whatever the hell instrumentality was for him and…and he was so happy to have her. No girl would ever have done that for him besides her so the least he could do was skip soccer…or cut it short because she had not been planning on skipping out on her own clubs but…but that made sense since she had not gone to club, let alone to school, in literal weeks. She was trying to get back to normal and her not wanted to skin club so they could hang out…and do all of the things that they did when they hung out….was fine. She needed to focus on getting back to normal after what had happened and also…also the less time she spent with Reigen the better.

'_I'll come and pick you up after club and then we can do something together. We haven't been on a real date in a while. How about dinner and a movie? Or just staying in and making something? Or whatever else you want.'_ He couldn't remember the last time that they had been on a proper date. Well that would change. The two of them would go on a date together after school like a normal couple. No world saving or evil spirits to deal with. Just the two of them on a date. Yeah, this would be great.

'_I would like that. We can do whatever you want to do. I would be alright with anything just so long as you're happy.'_ That was so Shigeko. The good parts of her. The parts that made his insides turn to jelly in the most undignified way. She was the only girl who could make him feel like this. She was the only girl who had made him feel like this. That was the whole love thing. The thing that made him want to spend his life with her. He wanted….God, he wanted that so badly. He knew that he was only fourteen, he would be fifteen next year, and he knew that he shouldn't have even been thinking about that at this point in his life but…but why not?

He had met her, he fell in love with her, so why not just make it a permanent thing?

He had gone out with girls before. A lot of girls. He had gone out with them to prove to the world, and himself, that he could get a date and also for kissing reasons…a lot of kissing. A lot of making out. A lot of stuff that he had never dreamed he would ever do with Shigeko when he had met her. Well he had thought that she had been a guy when he'd met her but that was not the point. He had been beaten by her and then he had fallen for her…and then she had fallen right back and now here they were. That was a good basis for a relationship, mutual respect or whatever it was, and…and their relationship had been through a lot. All of that shit with Claw and saving the world…which was more than any of the other people in his class had gone through…and he had seen so much out with her…

Since they had such a good thing going why not make it official?

But all of that could wait. Right now he had a date to plan. A lot of things were opened again. Not as many options as he would have liked but, well, it would take time to rebuild downtown and that was where everything truly fun had been. He'd take her out and show her off. Show everyone that he had someone as amazing as her on his arm. Show everyone that…well maybe he should have been less focused on showing her off and more focused on making her happy. What made her happy…oh! That place with the fancy milkshakes was opened again and she did love milk…but it was cold out…but that was ok. He'd keep her warm. Yes, she'd like that. They could get fancy milkshakes and go for a walk…and then go back to his place…and then he'd put on one of those Evangelion movies she liked so much…and then they could cuddle and then she would be so tired that she would fall asleep and then, well, he was not going to wake her up. That would have been rude. They could fall asleep on the couch together or he could move the TV into his bedroom and they could sleep next to one another….

And then Reigen could go to sleep alone without Shigeko like he should have….

'_I was thinking that we could' _Teru started his message but didn't get the chance to finish it. No, she texted him again…and that was odd for her. Usually it was a back and forth thing. He should not have felt the stab of worry that he did. What? Was this going to be his life from now on? Every single time his girlfriend initiated communication with him of any kid his mind would go straight to world ending cataclysms? God, he was so ridiculously sometimes. She was not going to text to tell him that the world was in danger or someone had been kidnapped or that evil tree grew legs and was rampaging through what was left of downtown….he looked out the window just to be safe…yup. No rampaging. He decided to actually look down at what she had written to him instead of panicking over nothing.

'_Can we have sex today too? I really want to have sex with you.' _He practically slammed his phone back down into his pocket. If that had been one of those old style flip phones then he would have slammed it shut. That was….what was he even reacting like this for? He was red, he knew that he was red, and he knew that he needed to stop being red because someone was going to notice and it was unbecoming. In true anime protagonist style he had the back row seat by the window…but he was not going to be living any more anime clichés…even though he did sort of feel a nosebleed coming on….from the cold! From the change in temperature and not from his girlfriend asking if they could have….

He was a mature young adult. He could say it.

She had asked if they could have sex…and he knew that she wanted to have sex with him, she had been asking him a lot lately, and they'd had sex before. They'd had A LOT of sex before. For months now….and it was amazing…and he had no reason to still be embarrassed or whatever this feeling was. This weird combination of embarrassed and turned on that he felt. She was asking him to….and he would! This time he would! He's had enough time, now, to get used to the weirdness of her having someone else's thoughts and memories in her head that he would be able to….do all of the things that she wanted him to do. He could do and would do and….

And it would be great.

It was not weird for him at all that she had someone else's thoughts and memories inside of her head and sometimes they would just come out at the worst times. This was just something about her that he would have to accept. He loved her and when you loved someone then you accepted every single part of them. Even the parts that they had gotten from someone else in a big, climactic, world ending fight…and stuff. Really, yes, really, he was ok with that and he would not let that stop him from doing what she wanted…

And what he wanted, too, though he would not be pushy or anything like that.

'_Of course. Whatever you want. We can just go straight to my house if you want and then we can just get right to it.' _He was in a state that he should not have been while sitting at his desk in the middle of class. He needed to think about whatever was being talked about or…or something else. Not bringing his girlfriend home and….and all of that other stuff that people did not just sit there thinking about in the middle of class surrounded by people in public.

Calm. Down.

'_Can I do that thing that you like? You can say no since I'm not that good at it but I just wanted to make you happy and I haven't done that with you in a while. I mean we haven't done anything in a while but I want to make you happy.'_ She was trying to kill him. That was the only explanation. She was trying to kill him either from anticipation or embarrassment. She was going to put him in the ground and then she was going to exorcise his spirit. Shigeko…his Shigeko. Who would have thought that her, Shigeko, Kageyama Shigeko, the girl everyone called Mob for some reason, could be so….filthy. In a good way! In a way that he would never, EVER complain about at any point in his life! She was just…she was asking if she could….oh my God…

He was in class. He needed to calm down.

'_If you want to. I'll return the favor too. Well I would even if you hadn't offered first.' _Well he was well and truly close to death. There was no way he could survive this. There was no way that his brain could survive after being this depleted of blood and oxygen. That was why he was doing something so stupid. That was why he was doing something as stupid as texting dirty with his girlfriend while he was sitting in the middle of…whatever class this was. He didn't know. He didn't care. All he cared about was what Shigeko wanted to do with him when this was over…he checked the time.

Clock. Move faster.

'_Ok. I'll go first though because it takes me longer to recover than you after I finish and I don't want to be all boneless feeling when I'm trying to make you happy.'_ Teru wondered if anyone would notice if he just asked to go to the bathroom and never came back. Salt Mid wasn't too far from here…and if she asked to go to the bathroom at the same time then they could run over to his apartment and…enact their plans…and that would be pretty great…and also what was the worst that could happen? Their parents got called? They were practically orphans, practically adults, as it was. If they wanted to ditch class in the middle of the day and have fun then who could stop them?

'_Whatever you want, though you do know that I like giving just as much as receiving.'_ Well now that was filthy. He had this sort of heady feeling, now, kind of like what he imagined being drunk would feel like. He felt like what he was doing was only a little stupid and not very stupid. He felt like what he was doing was not so stupid that if he got caught he would have no choice but to flee the country, change his name, and never look back. What was he supposed to do if he got caught? Smart Teru was asking him that. Dumb Teru, on the other hand, was thinking of the best way to sneak home without any adults seeing him and questioning what he was doing out in the world in his school uniform during the time when all kids were supposed to be sitting at their desks in school learning things and not exchanging filthy texts with their girlfriends.

'_Me too. I like the noises you make. How you say my name and stuff. And I like how you touch my hair, too. Kind of like pulling on it but not really. When you're close I mean. I think about that a lot.' _Teru's brain stops working for a second. She…she thinks about him? Well he knows that she does, they're in love after all, but she THINKS about him? Like THAT? She…she thinks about him and the ridiculous faces and noises he makes while they….

He was VERY glad that he was sitting down right now.

'_I think about you a lot too. How you rock and the way you day my name. Things like that. I can't wait to hear you say my name later. I wish you were saying it right now.'_ Yup. He was stupid. Probably a pervert too while he was calling himself names. This counted as public indecency…right? Well it must have counted as something indecent. God, he had become one of those guys. The ones who got caught…well he wasn't going to get caught because he wasn't stupid enough to sit there and just do…that…right in the middle of class….and he's not going to excuse himself to go to the nurse or the bathroom and just never come back either. No, the logistics just don't add up. Someone would notice and also he'd get in trouble and she would get in trouble….

Though the thought of her on his bed calling him Teruki like she always does when she-

Calm. Down.

'_I'm in school. That would be weird if I just started saying your name in the middle of class. I can say your name a lot after school when we get to your house. Can I stay for dinner too? We haven't had dinner in a while. We can get something or cook something or whatever you want.' _Oh. Right. This was Shigeko. While he was sitting her getting himself all worked up she was probably just sitting there bored in class going over the logistics of their upcoming date. Right. Well that was….right.

'_We can get a pizza if you want. Or we can go to this fancy milkshake place, they aren't really a meal but I know how you like milk.'_ If they had still been talking dirty then he could have said something clichéd like 'I want to make a meal out of you' but considering that he had gotten that line from a bad porno-adult film then maybe it was best that he was thinking again. Maybe now he could calm down already. Maybe now he could just focus on getting back to normal because this was…oh, wow. They were having math already. Right. This was math and he was good at math and if he got called up to the board in this state then it would be the end of him.

He needed to calm down.

Her changing the subject, or just staying on the real subject and pulling his mind from whatever gutter it had gotten stuck in, calm him down just a little. He isn't thinking about running away home with her and spending the rest of the day in bed…but he is still thinking about her. How she feels. What it's like to be with her. What he wants it to be like. All of the things they could do together…all of it. Maybe it would be even better than the last time. Right after they had saved the world…

He calms down a lot.

That had been…the best sex of his life but also it had come after the worst night of his life. That had been the night that he had almost lost her. That had been the night that he had almost lost her forever and there was nothing at all that he could have done to save her. That guy had been hell bent on killing Shigeko and…and there was nothing that he could have done to save her….which might have been why the sex had been so good. Because he had almost lost her and almost died himself…

But now all of that was over. They were normal. Things were back to normal for them. Everything was normal.

'_I would like that. Also I was thinking that we could'_ that was as far as he read. He had been sitting there messaging back and forth with his phone in his hands for a while. That was…not good. Not good because he was still in the middle of class and he had to pay attention or there would be hell to pay. Like now.

"Hanazawa. Since you seem to already have a mastery of the concept then why don't you come up to the board and solve problem number one." said his teacher. Teru wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Right. Why did these things have to happen to him? What had he done to deserve this?

Oh. Right. He had been on his phone in the middle of class and his teacher was a sadist.

"I swear to God Mr. Nakamura is a sadist." Mob looked up. She had been too wrapped up in what she had been doing, planning her day with Teru, that she had stopped paying attention to the world around her. It was like it had all just melted away leaving her and her phone as the only things in the world…well Teru too, of course, but now she was back to what she should have been doing. She was sitting in class and…oh. She was meant to be doing something. Maybe not talking, like the people in front of her were, but she was meant to be doing some school work right about now.

Right. School work.

"You think that he worships the devil?" Mob didn't think that sadist meant that you worshipped the devil but she decided to stay out of that conversation. She was not a part of that and she was not going to get involved. She was going to…oh. They were having math class now. Maybe her teacher was a sadist…no, no. He didn't get to decide what he taught. The government and stuff did and they decided that everyone in Japan had to be tortured with math classes so here she was.

"No, that's a Satanist. He's a sadist because he likes to torture us with this." Oh. She had been right. Good. At least she had still remembered vocab…thought math was still way over her head. Maybe this was why she had to go to school every single day. This was supposed to be a review, it said review right on the board, but this was all new to her….and maybe she should go to school every single day from now on.

"I hear an awful lot of talking and not a lot of working." Said her teacher. Mob looked down and pretended to have a clue what was going on. She didn't. This was all new to her and…and she just had no clue what to do. She saw numbers and letters together. They had been doing that kind of math for a while but now there was a new symbol…and she had no idea what it meant. This was…this felt like too much and…

That's just another variable.

Oh. That was just another variable. That variable meant…to solve for that little symbol she needed to…solve for x and then use that to solve for y and then….plot it. One she got the curve she could….oh. That made sense. She put her pencil to paper and just…worked. She had never seen this math before but…but also she had. She had been sitting at her desk…no, not her desk. Her desk was in the middle. This desk was at the end closest to the door. Her collar had been poking her and she had been…she had been reading a book. A manga about….she couldn't even remember…but it had been fall and…and there had been a draft and then….

'_Suzuki! Get up here and solve problems one through three since you seem to know what you're doing without being told!'_

Child's play. She had heard him explain it the first time. Everyone else was so stupid. Everyone else was such a moron. They just had to see what it was that they had to do and then they just had to do it. It wasn't difficult. It wasn't as though the structure of school had changed at any point in the nine years they had been attending it up to this point. Really. Some people were just so stupid. This was why she had been blessed with-

She broke her pencil.

It snapped in half and then in half again. These were not her memories or her thoughts or…she knew what to do because she had done this already. Touichirou had done this already. He had been her age already and he had done this and she had remembered being him, being his age again, and she needed….she needed space. She needed to think. She needed to stop thinking. She needed someone or something who could make her stop thinking because…because she had been thinking too much and…and she just needed….

She checked her phone.

Teru hadn't replied back because he was busy. No. She wouldn't go and distract him. He didn't have someone else's school memories in his head. He didn't have someone else telling him how to do his work and he needed to pay attention…and she needed the world to melt away again. She needed the world to become her and her phone and the person on the other end of her phone and…and she needed to talk to someone…

She went to the name at the top of her frequent callers list.

She clicked on his name and typed out one word. Just one. That way if he wanted to talk to her then he would and if he didn't…well he might have been busy, too, with things. He was going to go and talk to the insurance people again about how the office had exploded and stuff. So…so he might have been busy but…but she still wanted to talk to him.

So she said hi.

'_Hi.'_ And then a smiley face. That was what lit up Reigen's screen. A message from Mob. A welcome distraction from the headache of trying to get his office rebuilt. Why did he even have insurance if this was going to be so difficult? Seriously. Why not just take that money and burn it for warmth? At least that way it would have been of some use to him. No, how he was sitting in an overcrowded waiting room just trying to talk to a human being about this since the phone had said that there were wait times of up to or over and hour…

And he did not want to be on hold for that long.

Mob's text was a welcome distraction from all of this. He maybe should not have been encouraging this, she was supposed to be learning or whatever because she was supposed to be in school, but her being physically in the building was enough for him. She had gone to school and was in the building right now….well he hoped that she was. He hadn't dragged her in by the back of her uniform but…but she had to have gone back. She had said that she was going back and he believed her. She had even gotten up extra early to be there on time….or to make out with her boyfriend…

Who she maybe should have been texting instead of him.

He was not going to tell her to text her boyfriend instead of him. No, not at all. He was not going to contribute to another kid getting distracted in school or…whatever. No, he was not going to do that at all. He was going to be responsible and text Mob while she was in the middle of class. Yes, this was the thing to do. She needed the distraction.

Someone spilled coffee and started crying.

He needed the distraction too. Too much…everything…here. He had attached his emotions to a very tired old man sitting next to him. He had one of those extra-large soduko books on his lap and he was working diligently. That was better than the woman in front of him who seemed to be close to a nervous breakdown. That was a lot of people these days, honestly, and he couldn't blame them. He wasn't the only person who had lost it all in the whole hostile takeover thing. Well he hadn't exactly lost it all…

He still had Mob after all.

'_Hey, what's up? Bored in class?'_ There. That was a good reply. Keep it about her. She was the kid and he was going to keep it all about her. She was the kid and he was the adult and it was his job to keep things about her because…because he was the adult and he lived out here in the adult world and she was the kid and right now she had to live in the kid world…and stuff. So that was just the way that it was going to have to be. They had been mixing worlds too much lately. He had given her too many adult responsibilities and she…she had just had too much on her plate to begin with….so this was…he was being responsible here…for once in his life.

'_Yes. Math is boring. What are you doing? Did the insurance people give you the money? Are we getting a new office?' _Of course that was what she wanted to know about. She had been itching to get back to work since even before all the craziness started up. She had been wanting to get back to normal for so long…and so had he…but he got the feeling that things would never go back to normal. That they couldn't. That no matter how badly he wanted to he just could not turn back the clock and…and just get back to normal.

It wasn't going to happen.

Life did not work out that way. He couldn't hit stop when he got to a part of life that he didn't like and rewind the tape until he got back to the good parts. That was how he had broken the VCR he'd had as a child. His life was like a broken VCR. The one that he'd had when he had been a kid. He could not rewind no matter how badly he wanted to. So he just had to go forward until there was no tape left and….bad analogy. Life was not like a VCR because life did not have a finite ending. Life was like….he would come back to this wisdom later. He would save it for Mob when she needed it. He didn't need wisdom right now. Neither did she. She needed a distraction and he needed a distraction so why not just…distract?

'_Still in the waiting room. How's your day going? Anything happening besides math? How are your friends?'_ Reigen fires off the questions as soon as they pop into his mind. Anything to get her mind off of his problems. He needs to keep her mind there at school where it belonged. He needed to keep her mind where it needed to be, on kid stuff, because she was a kid.

'_No, just math class. The people in front of me think that our teacher is a Satanist. Well one of them thinks that he's a Satanist the other one thinks that he's a sadist.'_ Reigen smiled. The people to his immediate left and right smile too.

'_That's a requirement for teaching math. You have to be at least a sadist though being a Satanist helps too.' _He smiling now and more people are smiling along with him. Good. Maybe then this waiting room could be a little more pleasant. He knew that his day was a little more pleasant now that he was talking to Mob….and he had no clue if that was healthy or not so he just decided to leave that be. He'd worry about all of that later.

'_Oh. I just thought that my teachers had to teach what the government made them teach. I didn't know that they had a choice. I guess that you have to like hurting people if you want to tach math. I don't understand it though, wanting to hurt people, and that might be why I have trouble with math.'_ Reigen shook his head. God, she was so cute sometimes. Cute in the adorable sense, not cute in the same sense as the woman sitting across from him with the bright pink lipstick that matched her shoes….even though she already looked pretty tall. Huh. Maybe he should go up and introduce himself. He hasn't…in a while...and he did get around before all of this. Maybe he ought to get back to normal in every sense of the word and…

Right. Mob.

'_Well you have to be something of a sadist to want to teach math in the first place. They have to teach what the government tells them to but they decide what kind of teachers they become. Sort of like how we decided to become exorcists but we have no say in the jobs people come to us with. Not that we have any jobs or anything piled up. You just focus on school and your friends for the time being.'_ He wanted to get back to work, maybe as much as she did, though he wasn't going to tell her that. They had almost died, she had almost died, there had been a lot of danger to it. He kind of got mom's point about all of this. It was dangerous work that he and Mob did….and maybe it was time that they….well he couldn't stop. They could take fewer jobs, and he could vet them better, but there was no way that he and Mob were going to stop.

They were Spirits and Such. They exorcised spirits and such. That was just what they did.

'_Ok. I'm going to Teru's house after school. Do you want me to come home today or can I sleep over with him?' _Reigen stopped smiling. The people around him stopped smiling. Of course they did. He had no reason to smile so, of course, the good cheer stopped. At least she was asking…which was good. She was asking and….and he had to say yes. Even though she was a known flight risk….God, he sounded like a police show….she ran away from home. She'd had a history of running away from home and…and he wants to keep her near but…but….

But he's not her parent.

He didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to her life. She'd already had sex with the kid so he couldn't try and stop her from doing that. She'd already lived with him for a time, too. She was fourteen going on twenty four, it felt like, and he had no ability to stop her…so he didn't. He didn't try to stop her and he didn't voice his doubts. How could he? She was just…her. She wasn't his anything, just his friend, and friends did not order friends around…even if one of those friends was only fourteen.

Because one of those friends was only fourteen.

Mob was a very stubborn person when he got down to it. She stubborn when it came to her convictions and…and she was stubborn when it came to her thinking that she could do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted because….because somehow she had gotten the idea in her head that she was practically an adult and….and he'd had a lot to do with that. Well he couldn't put the toothpaste back in tube now could he. He could only ask that she stayed safe and didn't run away from home.

Though he's not going to tell her explicitly not to run away from home because she needs to think that he trusts her…and also he's not going to go back into the whole birth control and condom talk because he knows that his heart can't handle it.

'_You can stay over. Try to come home at some point this week or I'll start to miss you. Stay safe.'_ There. That was good. It wasn't that he didn't trust her…well he did and he didn't. He trusted her not to run away for no reason but he knew that when she had a reason to run away she would take it. That was his doing. He had taught her that sometimes you had to run away…and that had not been the thing to teach her at all it seemed because she took everything so literally…but it was fine. She said, before, that she felt god about having had saved the world. That she didn't want to run away, so he was going to believe her…and as far as the other part of staying safe….she was a smart kid and she knew that she did not need to have a baby at this point in her life…so he trusted her about that.

God, she had grown up so fast.

When had she stopped being a kid? He still thought of her, sometimes, as the eleven year old he had met all of those years ago. He had thought of her as the eleven year old who had come to him looking to be saved. Looking for answers that would save her from herself. Well in the end he had been the one who had needed saving. He had been the one who had needed her to save him time and time again. She had saved him in every way a person could be saved…and he liked to think that he had saved her, too.

"Reigen Arataka? Is there a Reigen Arataka here?"

Now if only someone could save him from the bureaucracy of an incredibly stingy insurance company.

Mob got the feeling that she wanted to be saved from this school day….even though nothing had been going wrong.

Master Reigen had sent her a message. Got to go. That was what he had said. That was all that he had said…but he was busy. He was busy and it made sense that he would have to go so suddenly. She was busy too. Math class was over and now it was Japanese class. She didn't know why she had to take a Japanese class if she already spoke Japanese…but those thoughts may have been more of Touichirou's. He had never understood why he needed a class on the language that he had been born speaking and neither did she.

She finished her whole assignment.

This was supposed to be a review. They had learned some new kanji and now they had to use them in sentences. The sentences had to have proper structure and display adequate vocabulary. She that was what she had done. Even though this was another one of those reviews that wasn't a real review. This was another bit of knowledge that she could not remember learning. This was…it was something new and not new at the same time.

She didn't want to be here.

She didn't want to have to be reminded about….about this. About how her head had gotten just a little more crowded. She wanted…she wanted to go and be with Teru…or be alone…or even to be with Ritsu even though she knew that she would have just been bothering him. She knew that he loved her but…but the memory of that night was still fresh in her mind. It was one of her memories and she remembered it like it was yesterday. How he had pushed her…and been so mad at her…and she knew that he had been possessed and not in his right state of mind but…but she also knew that she never wanted to make him feel like that again. Also she knew that she never wanted him to ask her to come home again, and he asked her a lot, and she knew that it hurt him when she said that she was never coming home again but…but she was not going to go home.

She missed him, though.

She missed being his big sister. She missed the times when they would hang out together all day just having fun and playing games. She missed the times when the two of them could just play games or talk for hours and hours. But that had been when they were kids. They couldn't go back to that…and not only because of what had happened. He had his own life now and she didn't want to…to smother him. She had heard what he had said, before, about how he had spent his whole life in her shadow and how he had wanted to eclipse her. He had said those things and he had meant them. He hadn't meant the part about pushing her but he had meant the part about having spent his life in her shadow. That must have been so smothering and she did not want to smother him. Also he had a whole life of his own now. He had friends and a girlfriend and she had friends and a boyfriend and maybe…maybe this was just how life was supposed to go when you got older.

She didn't know.

But what she did know was that she had not been expecting him to just…text her…like that. She had been worried when his name popped up on her phone screen. She had thought, for a moment, that something must have been going very wrong for him to just talk to her like that…and that was not a good way to think at all. He was her little brother and he could text her whenever he felt like it. She was so happy to hear from him.

'_Hi. I'm happy that you're back in school. I've missed you.'_ Mob smiled and texted him back. He should not have been texting in school, he had to learn things and stuff, but she was still happy to hear from him…so that was what she had said.

'_Hi little brother. I'm very happy to hear from you. I'm happy to be back at school because it means that I can be near to you. I'll talk to you at lunchtime. You should pay attention in class. You're very good at school and I wouldn't want you to fall behind.'_

"Really sister?" muttered Ritsu as he surreptitiously held his phone in his hand under his desk. She was really going to get on him about paying attention in school? Her? She hadn't been to school in weeks and now she was the one who was going to talk to him about-

Calm. The hell. Down.

He was just in a mood. That was all. He was just in a mood because his girlfriend had been texting him nonstop all day. He had been getting his phone blown up, not literally, though he wished that she had ben literally blowing up his phone. Maybe then he could have had a minute to himself. Just…he was being an asshole. He was being an asshole to her. She was being normal and he was the one being abnormal.

'_My mom's making the pork thing that you like and I think that I can get away with closing my door. I mean I think that if I close my door a little more each time then we can eventually get it closed all the way and then we can' _He stopped reading after that. Why would she text something like that while they were in class? She could ask him to do that for her after class when they were actually together.

'_Sounds good. Can't wait.'_ That was the best thing that he could saw to her. She texted him right back…and didn't she have to, you know, do school stuff? Didn't she have class too? She wasn't like him. She couldn't just hear something once and learn it in an instant. She needed to pay attention, not him, and…and he checked his phone anyway because he was not going to be an asshole to her. She had done nothing to earn him being an asshole. She had done nothing but love him and he had to love her back…even though he had no idea how he was supposed to love her back….

But he would try.

He clicked his phone back on. She had sent him a long string of emojis that he was not even going to begin to try to understand. He sent her happy face emoji. There. She would like that. She could take that in any way she could. She was happy and he could focus on just trying to get through this day. He hadn't been in school in so long and they were doing reviews…that he didn't need...and he just had to get through this and then he had to get through the extra-long student council meeting that he knew as coming and then he would meet up with Rei and get through dinner with her family and then he would either watch TV with her in the living room or, more likely, just go up to her room and sit on her bed with her and kiss and probably all of those other things that she would want to do with him. Well he could do that. He loved her and…well he didn't hate her…and he could do that.

His phone vibrated again.

He almost didn't check it. He was close to just ignoring her and pretending that he had been busy with school stuff. But he did check it because she loved him and he had to be a good boyfriend to her….at least he tried to be. It wasn't her. It was Sho and…and it was a picture of an unusually long haired dog…that he had just taken…because he didn't go to school. He was out there in the world and…and he was just….

Sho had no idea how good he had it.

Sho had no idea how good he had it. He could just…be…out there…in the world. He didn't have to sit there through a long school day…and a even longer after school day. Sho…he was so lucky…and Ritsu wished that he could have been out there with him…for freedom reasons. Not about the other reasons. The reasons that made him feel so…he didn't even want to think about it, how Sho made him feel. How he felt now…

He put his head down on his desk.

The school day had just started and he already wanted it to be over.


	87. Welcome Back To Spirits and Such

Serizawa wanted to go home.

Home being his apartment, the one room he lived in now, not the one room he had been living in back at his mother's house. No. He didn't want to go back to mom's house. He knew that if he stayed there for just one day more he would end up spending the rest of his life in that room….and he could not spend the rest of his life in that room. He had already wasted fifteen…..no….eighteen years of his life. He had wasted those years in his room and…and at the President's side….and he was not wasting another moment of his life.

He couldn't afford to.

He had to do this. He had to…to take Reigen up on his offer and…and he could do this. Even though it was so…so big outside. The world felt immeasurably big and he felt immeasurably small and…and he wanted….he found his hands clasping together…he found himself expecting to have his umbrella in his hands. He expected it and…and he had bought another one…but he had left it at home. He had left it at home because…because he shouldn't have needed it.

He shouldn't have needed anything from the Pres-from Suzuki.

Suzuki had lied to him. Suzuki had manipulated him. Suzuki had used him. He…he didn't need Suzuki and he didn't need an umbrella. He could do this on his own. He didn't need to follow anyone around. He didn't need to…to be anyone's….whatever he had been to Suzuki. He didn't need anyone…well he did…but he didn't need….he didn't need anyone to tell him what to do….he didn't need to…he just….he needed….

He didn't need to freak out in the middle of the road.

It was early on a Saturday. Anyone who needed to be somewhere was there already. There were a few people walking around, just a few, and they were…they made their way around him. Like he was a stone in the middle of a river. The current corrected around him. The people glanced his way as they passed. He wondered what they were thinking about him. What they had going on behind their eyes. He had no idea. Maybe they were thinking that he looked weird and creepy….like people had thought…had called him to his face…when he had been a child. When he had been a kid and he could feel the energy inside of him becoming the energy around him and maybe…maybe this was too much….maybe he should have stayed inside….because this was just…this had been a mistake and…and his whole life had been a mistake up to this point…and maybe everyone else was better off if he-

An aura passed over him.

An aura passed over him and a shadow, too, and also…something was caught in his hair. He opened his eyes. At some point he had closed them. At some point he had closed his eyes and clasped his hands together as if he had been praying. He opened his eyes and pried his hands apart. The sun was gone and the world was small and there was someone familiar beside him. A red aura. A read hair and a shock of red hair and an expression that he had seen time and time again.

And also there was an umbrella above his head.

Well not totally above his head. The person holding it was short. Not as short as he had been before, when they had first met, but still short. Well maybe he had done some growing. Serizawa didn't know. They so rarely saw each other these days. He didn't blame him. The way that they had parted. The events of that day…of the whole three years that they had known each other…

He was always amazed when he saw Sho….since he'd never expected to see him again…after that day…

"You seriously left your apartment without an umbrella? What are you, some kind of moron?" asked Sho as he poked Serizawa in the head with his umbrella. Honesty. This guy. If it hadn't been for Sho he would have completely lost it in the middle of the street. Seriously, he couldn't leave this guy alone for more than five minutes….

It had been more than five minutes.

Serizawa was….still a friend. Even if he had sided with dad time and time again…and even if he had only betrayed dad because of that Reigen guy and Ritsu's big sis….but they were still friends. They were still friends because….because of forgiveness and stuff. He didn't know. All he knew was that he was bored and he felt like being helpful so this was where he had to be.

Holding an umbrella in the middle of the road for his twenty nine year old nervous wreck of a friend.

"Th-thanks….Sho. What are you doing here? No-not that I mind or-" said Serizawa. He hadn't wanted to take that umbrella, he hadn't wanted to need that umbrella, he had wanted to have been able to step outside of his apartment like…like a normal man. Like everyone else could. He had wanted more than anything to have just….been able to be normal. To not have needed this umbrella. To not have needed….

To not have needed another Suzuki offering him an umbrella.

That was not….this was not…what that was. Sho was a friend. Sho was a real friend and he was offering real help and…and as much as Serizawa wanted to…to have been free of the need for that help he also…also knew that he needed….he needed that help. He needed that help and he shouldn't have needed it but…but also he didn't need to explode in the middle of the street.

He took the umbrella.

The plastic was warm in his hands. Sho had been holding onto it for a while. He had gotten this from his apartment. Sho had been there….well locked doors meant nothing to him…and it didn't feel like an intrusion. No, Sho had just been looking out for him. Sho…he was his friend and…and friends looked out for one another…

Even though Sho was just a kid….and Serizawa should have been looking out for him…instead of the other way around….

"You weren't home so I tracked you down. It's not like you're a hard guy to find. I just followed the purple dot." Said Sho. Truthfully he had been sort of hard to find. That stupid broccoli tree was way too bright.

"Oh…ok. But why?" asked Serizawa

"What? You thought that I would just let you go alone? Come on, it's your first day. At least let me walk you there." said Sho. He had to be there for Serizawa. That was what friends were for. Serizawa needed him and he…well he needed to be needed. He had planned, he had spent literal years of his life planning, on how he was going to take dad down. Now that dad had been taken down…well he needed something else to do…and he wasn't sure if Ritsu was up yet….so this was the next best thing. When he was done walking Serizawa off to the first day of the rest of his life he could go and see what Ritsu was up to…or maybe one of his other friends. Yeah. He couldn't just hang out with Ritsu. Besides, he was probably hanging out with his girlfriend or something. They were in love and stuff and he didn't want to be a third wheel or anything.

But he did really want to see Ritsu.

But he had to think about something else…someone else. Something or someone else…like Serizawa! He was someone! Well everyone was someone…but whatever! Serizawa was a friend and he had his problems and Sho could be there for him and Sho…Sho had always been there for him. Back when he had first joined…when he had been scared of everything and everyone…Sho had been there for him. Sho had been there for him. He'd been there when Serizawa had been afraid to leave his room. He'd practically dragged him out to meet the others…

And now he would have to drag him out again.

"Um….sure." said Serizawa. Sho took his hand and started to drag him away….and he let him. He was reminded, in the moment, of the first time Sho had dragged him out of his room…back when he had first joined the Pres-back when he had first joined Claw. He hadn't been…the umbrella hadn't been enough. There had been too many new people and new places and it had all been so big and bright…and being near the President had made him feel better but….but he could not have always been by the President's side. He'd locked himself away and…and Sho had been there. He had been there to play games with until…until he had gotten bored as ten year olds tended to do…

And then he had wanted to leave…

And Serizawa had wanted to stay put. He had no reason, he had thought, to force himself to leave his room if he hadn't been near the President…but Sho had told him that he had been acting like a moron…and then he'd dragged him out of his room. He'd dragged him out of his room to see…he'd been raising a baby squirrel in a box…and he'd shown Serizawa and…and for a time he had been happy to have left his room just so that…that he had been able to share in that moment with his friend….

It had been a nice moment…

But then the President, well not right then but later, he had found Sho's pet…and after that Serizawa had wished….he had wished more than anything else that he could have gone home again….but he couldn't. There was no going back…there was only going forwards…like now. There was no going home, no going back, there was only going forward.

Sho wasn't dragging him home, he was dragging him forwards, because there just…there was no going home again. Not for either of them.

Mob felt like she was at home again.

Even though she wasn't. This was an office, not a home, but it was their office. It had taken weeks and weeks to get this place. First Master Reigen had to argue with the insurance company, a lot of arguing had happened, and then he'd had to find this new office….and that had been hard since so much of the city was still all messed up…but it had been worth it. Now they had this place. This new office.

Spirits and Such was back in business.

Well….mostly. They still had a lot of unpacking to do and things to assemble, Master Reigen said that paying for assembly was a waste of money since they could figure it out themselves….even though Mob felt like this was best left to people who knew what they were doing, but Mob didn't care. She was back. They were back. They were getting back to normal. Everything would get back to normal and then things could just…be like they were before.

Almost like they were before.

"Ok….I think I've got it now." Said Reigen as he took a step back and admired his handiwork. The office was…an office again. When he had found this place it had just been a collection of rooms, a very expensive collection of rooms, but now it was shaping up to being a proper working space. Nothing was unpacked or assembled, not yet anyway, and there was still the weird combination of old dust and new paint smell in the air, but it was still on it's way to being an office again. He'd put the boxes where they needed to go, thank God Amazon was back to two day delivery, and he had the desks in the spaces that they needed to be.

All three of them.

His on the far wall and then two facing each other halfway down the room. One for him, one for Mob, and one for the new guy….who was very late….and also who he was not replacing Mob with. She was just…getting an assistant. That was all. She just needed an assistant and now she was getting one since, well, she had been there long enough for a…a promotion. Yes, that was it. She was just getting a promotion. She had certainly been working there long enough to be the…he didn't know. Co-owner? Vice president? Senpai. Yes. She had been there long enough to be someone's senpai and…and she was ok with this. She had said that she was ok with this….

And Mob didn't tell lies…though she also didn't always tell the whole truth….but she was ok with this.

"Do you want us to start putting things together now?" asked Mob. There were three desks in the office now. Hers, Master Reigen's, and Serizawa's. Serizawa was coming to work with them, he was going to rejoin society again, and she was going to help him. Master Reigen said that her job was to show him the ropes because she was the more senior employee. He said that this was like a promotion…and she hadn't wanted or asked for one…and things had been fine with just the two of them…but she was…she was ok with this.

She was.

The crackle of energy. A scream. A traitor blown away….hopefully he wouldn't live…but of course Serizawa would let him live. He was so weak like that….but he had his uses. Keep him close. He's almost perfect. The most powerful esper she'd managed to find to date and someone so completely loyal to the organization….he had no choice but to by loyal…he had nowhere else to go. He was like a child cowering there under his umbrella. More of a child than her own child. More useful than her own child even if he was more of a child and-

Touichirou, please be quiet.

"Wait for the new guy….man is he late…" muttered Reigen as he clicked his phone on. How late was this guy planning on being? Well transportation was still a mess…it took over an hour just to get here this morning….but still. The least he could have done was texted….not that Reigen was going to turn into one of those bosses that breathed down his employee's neck…no. He wasn't that kind of boss…

But he was the boss.

This was going to be….something. He had an actual, non-Mob, employee now. An adult. Someone his age…he was in charge of someone his own age. This was a trip….and maybe mom would finally get off his ass about his career or lack thereof. He had an employee who wasn't a teenager, he had a new office, and he had a metric ton of furniture that needed assembly. Yup, this was that boss life. This was…something.

Definitely something.

This was something…and so was that. Mob's aura washed over him. He pulled his own aura close. He felt…well she felt….vaguely annoyed? He figured she would be. They had gone over it again and again. She wasn't being replaced….but he had no idea how she saw it. She had said that she understood but Mob was the type to say anything to keep the peace….not that she had to. He almost wished that she would have just said what she had been feeling, that she was worried about being replaced, that she wasn't ok after everything that had happened, that she was…something. Anything.

Because there was no way in hell that she was ok after all of that.

"He's coming. I can feel it." Said Mob. She felt…she knew that aura. She knew that aura…and so did Touichirou….Suzuki. So did Suzuki. He was in her head…well not like the other Shigeko was in her head…but he had sort of left…like an impression of himself….or a shadow or…just his memories and stuff. He didn't talk to her, he didn't take control, he just sort of….popped up from time to time. Sometimes it was helpful, like when she was in math class and she had no idea what was happening, sometimes it was annoying like when she was doing something boring like brushing her hair and all of a sudden she would wonder why it was black and not red, and also sometimes it was just….unpleasant. Like when she and Teru had sex and she remembered what it was like to be the boy and then….and then it just got sort of weird…..

She didn't like to think about that.

She didn't like to think about the weird feelings that she got with Touichirou in her head. She didn't think about how Serizawa had felt her aura and now he was walking faster. She didn't think about the big broccoli tree that she could see through the window. She didn't think about how she could feel it's energy pulling her….she could see it and feel it and….

And she felt a tug at her braid.

"Mob, come on. Talk to me. What's happening in that head of yours?" asked Reigen

"Nothing. I was just thinking." Said Mob

"About?" asked Reigen

"Just….nothing. About how Serizawa is coming here and….and stuff." Said Mob. She wasn't going to tell him that she still had Touichirou in her head. He would just worry. Everyone worried when she talked about this…so she had just stopped talking about this. She had just stopped and…and let people think that it was done with. She didn't want to make anyone worry…especially not Master Reigen.

Not him.

She still….well he still loved him and she always would love him…and she knew that it wasn't right to love him. She had Teru and he loved her and she had thought that she'd had more time to make her choice but then Teru had asked her for forever and…and she had to give him forever because…because she had no reason not to. She loved him and he loved her and….and she knew that no matter how much time passed Master Reigen would always be fourteen years older than her and he would never fall in love with her hold her or kiss her or…

His stubble was scratchy.

She didn't know why she knew that, why she had that feeling, since she had never felt his stubble against her face….because she had never kissed him. That was a dream. That had been a dream that sometimes popped into her head…like how other things popped into her head. Like the dream she had when they were all alone in the office and he switched the opened sigh to closed and then he picked her up and sat her down on his desk and then he kissed her…and then he kissed his way down…like how Teru picked her up and sat her down on his kitchen counter and then….

And she needed to stop thinking about this.

"Mob, come on. We talked about this. Nobody will ever replace you. We just….need some more help around here, that's all." said Reigen. He let go of her braid. Right. He had been too close. He had been working on that…well telling himself that he had been working on that. Being so close to her. Touching her. He did that a lot and it wasn't fair to her. To her feelings.

She had something of a crush on him….but that was fine.

She was a teenage girl. Her mind was mostly on guys and….the things she did with them….and she couldn't control that. She was fourteen and going through puberty. It was only weird if he treated it like it was weird. She was a teenager and she was having perfectly normal feelings towards the opposite sex that could be explained in any health class. This was not weird. There was nothing weird about this. This was only weird if he made it weird.

So he was going to stop making it weird.

"I know...I get it. I know that you could never replace me…and I could never replace you either, Master Reigen." Said Mob. She tucked her braid behind her head. She could never replace him and….and she wasn't. She wasn't replacing him with Teru and she wasn't being replaced and….and she just….she could feel in her head that….she felt like she should just tell him how she felt and then he would say yes to her because you only got one shot and once you messed that up that was it and…

And an empty house.

She remembered an empty house and an empty bed and…and she didn't want that and…and she wanted…she wanted to him to kiss her and…and she kept her aura steady. She had to keep her aura steady and she had to calm down because those were not her thoughts. She knew better than to tell Master Reigen that she loved him, that she wanted him to kiss her and other things too, and that she wanted….she had a boyfriend and….and she should have been thinking about Teru….

And she needed to figure out how to untangle their minds already.

"You know what, Mob? Why don't we start putting my desk together while we wait for the new guy to show up? Come on, I bet some telekinesis would really make the job go faster." Said Reigen. He did, legitimately, need help with all of this. He needed help with the office and….and everything. She could help. Even though he wanted….well he didn't know what he wanted. To be near her…and to send her away. It was a beautiful Saturday. She should have been with her friends or her brother or her boyfriend or just…out being a kid…

She deserved to be a kid.

Serizawa felt like a kid.

His suit felt too big. His shoes felt too big. The world felt too big. He could feel…there was a cut on his cheek from that morning's attempt at shaving…and it was out of place…like he was out of place. This was a terrible idea. This was the worst idea in the history of ideas! He should have just stayed in his apartment until his money ran out and…and he should have known that this had been a bad idea and he should have just-

A slap on the back knocked him out of his panic.

"Ok, here we are. Have a good day at work and don't fight with the other kids, unless of course the other kids want to fight, in that case you have to kick the other kid's ass." Said Sho. He gave Serizawa a reassuring pat/shove on the back. He could see and feel his aura. He was getting himself all worked up over nothing again. He always did that. What did he have to be afraid of? How many years had he spent at dad's side? How many traitors had he beaten up? How much fucked up shit had he done for dad? Had he seen dad do? And he was afraid of….of what?

Ritsu's big sis?

Ok, she was someone to be afraid of…not that he was afraid of her. Sure she could take powers away and sure she had been the one to beat dad and sure she had been the one to grow that big broccoli tree….but he wasn't afraid of her. He wasn't even weary of her. He had seen her a few times after…everything. Not for very long and it wasn't like they had gotten up close and personal or anything but….well he wasn't afraid of her. She may have been the most powerful esper ever to live or whatever but he wasn't afraid of her or anything like that. She was just…she was herself. She was a girl. She was Ritsu's big sis.

She wasn't scay.

"But I don't want to fight with anyone." Said Serizawa. No. He wasn't…he wasn't going to do that again. Reigen had said that he would be doing exorcisms and light office work, that was it, and he could do that. He never wanted to hurt anyone….any person…ever again. Spirits. He would be exorcising spirits…and even then he would only be exorcising the evil ones that gave people trouble. Not the good or neutral ones. He would be helping people. He would be making up for all the trouble that he had helped cause. He would have been regaining a place in society…what he had always wanted…and he wanted…

He clutched his umbrella in both hands.

He never wanted to hurt anyone ever again. He had been born with these powers, cursed with them, and for his entire life the only thing that he had ever imagined that they would have been good for was hurting people…and he didn't want to hurt anyone. He wanted….he wanted to be…he wanted to be someone other than the person that he had been. His powers….she had powers too….she was more powerful than he had ever been at any point in his life…and she had been afraid of herself, too, until she had met…he had seen her entire life and….and he knew that she was ok…

And he would be ok too.

"Well that's too bad because you might have to. OK, there it is. Have fun on the first day of the rest of your life!" said Sho. He patted/shoved Serizawa on the back again. Honestly. He was getting all worked up over nothing. Ritsu's big sis was Ritsu's big sis. She couldn't hurt him or anyone….who wasn't a threat to her first….and she would be….he would be…Sho would be….

Serizawa's nervousness was rubbing off on him.

"Wait! I mean…you're going?" asked Serizawa. He wished, as soon as he said it, that he could take it back. He needed to take it back. He could do this on his own. He had to do this on his own. He had to….he had to be someone better than who he had been before. He had to just…open that door and walk up those stairs and…and just….just….

He had to so what he had to do.

"Yeah, you're the one with the job, not me." Said Sho. He could have easily gone up those stairs with Serizawa. He was Suzuki Sho, he went wherever he wanted, and he could have…but also that would have been…bad for Serizawa…or whatever. Or maybe it was worse to let him stand there freaking himself out. He didn't know. What would Ritsu have done in this situation? Ritsu was smart. He would have told Serizawa to suck it up and go to work like everyone else….like Ritsu's parents might have been at work….and Sho could have gone over….well he might have been sleeping in…but Sho could make pancakes again…and Ritsu would have liked that…waking up to freshly made pancakes….

He had a girlfriend to make pancakes for him.

He had a girlfriend to wake him up with warm food. That was what they did. They made their boyfriend's food and then they talked about how good the food was and then they made out and banged and stuff and Sho was not going to stand in the way of Ritsu making out and banging his girlfriend just because he wanted to make out with him and bang him too…not that he would ever tell Ritsu that since he had a girlfriend and love was a scared thing…and he might not even have been into guys….and it wasn't like Sho was going to ask him….

And it wasn't like Sho was trying to get rid of Serizawa so he could go and see Ritsu, either.

"But…you could probably come too. I mean…she's there…and she's very nice…..I mean I don't know her…well not well….but I do know that she's very nice." Said Serizawa. They would get along, probably, and Sho could always use another friend…and maybe he could have used a friend, too. He knew her and he did not know her. He had met her, and he had seen her life when they had shared energy, and he had seen Reigen through the lens of her experiences with him…so that was sort of like knowing Reigen…and he was wanted there…..he knew that he was wanted there. Reigen had extended him the offer, he hadn't had to ask, and he had taken it and….

And he was late.

He was late but…but he had…well he knew that he should have come on time and he knew that he President hadn't liked…well Reigen was not the President. He knew, from her memories, that Reigen was nothing like the President and that this would be nothing like Claw and…and he should have just….just been able to get these thoughts out of his head and he should have just….just been able to open that door and go up those stairs…

And he shouldn't have needed someone to walk him up those stairs.

"Lots of people are nice." Said Sho with a shrug. Ritsu was nice. Ritsu was nice and he hadn't almost killed dad…not that Sho cared that dad had almost died. Good. Served that bastard right. He shouldn't have taken on the whole world if he hadn't planned on people trying to stop him. Besides, Sho hadn't planned on showing him mercy. That charge bomb…he hadn't wanted to kill dad with it…but he had taken the risk, hitting people with bombs was always risky, and if dad had died by his hand then…then dad had died…at least then the craziness would have ended….

Nothing ever ended….it felt like…like sometimes it just changed….or whatever other stupid thoughts popped into his head sometimes.

"Th-they are but….but she's nice." Said Serizawa. He shouldn't have needed someone over half his age to walk him in….he should have been the one to have been walking Sho into his first job…or wherever. He was the actual kid in that situation. Serizawa….he just felt like one….and he shouldn't have. Sometimes it felt like he had put himself on pause when he had gone into that room, when he had put his life on pause, but there was no pause. There was just….just time. Time passing, always passing, and him letting it pass him by….

And there was no pause button for life….and he had to stop acting like there was.

"Jeez, fine, ok. I'll walk you in, too. What would you do without me?" asked Sho. He gave Serizawa a harder shove and then up they went. This whole place smelled like paint and dust and also vaguely of eggs…maybe because there was a breakfast place down the street. The whole block smelled like eggs…and he hated the smell of eggs. Dad had practically lived on breakfast foods. They were his favorites and he was the future king of the world so that meant that he got to eat whatever he wanted and whatever he wanted was breakfast foods so that was just…all that he ate…

And Sho never wanted to look at another omelet again.

He hoped that mom wasn't planning on making omelets again anytime soon. It had been nice and all for her to surprise him with breakfast, since this was another work day for her, and Sho had eaten as much as he could to be polite…but the second that she had left he had thrown it out….and taken out the trash, too, for good measure. There. Now she couldn't call him useless or ungrateful….not that she had ever called him either of those things. Those had been dad's words for him. Dad was gone now and he…he was with mom. He was back with mom like he had always imagined and…and it was as good as he had thought that it would have been….since she was always nice to him. She never yelled at him, never hurt him, and she even let that cat live…the one that liked to hang out in the tree outside of her building…she knew that he liked it and she let it live…

And wasn't that fucked up? His mom didn't kill a cat in front of him just because he loved it and he was treating her like she was the best parent ever.

She was….she was the best that he had. Even if she had left him….and he understood why she had to. Dad would never have let her go if she had tried to take him with….and dad was one scary bastard…so she had to…she'd done what she'd had to do…and now they were together again…and that was all that he had ever wanted…even if they weren't together again. Even if she was off at work, she had to work more because he was living with her now…not that she had ever said as much….but her having to work all the time was better than….than her wanting to work all the time….to get away from him…because he was a failure. Because he should have done more to stop dad sooner. Because he never should have let it get as bad as it had. Because he should have been the one to defeat dad, not Ritsu's big sis. Because he was the one who should have saved the world. Because he should have stopped dad from being led off to prison….because prison was too good for him….because he needed to actually suffer and pay for what he had done. Even if…

There were a lot of 'even ifs'.

But that was ok because they were together. Even if they were apart they were still together and…and he'd see her again and…and he felt fine, he really did. He felt better than fine. He was being a good friend right now and that felt fan-freaking-tastic. Being there for Serizawa in his hour of need…and walking up this tall staircase with him…everything was fine. Even though he could feel three…no…two. Two aura getting closer. A yellow one, really faint like a dying Christmas light, and a two color one. Pink and blue.

Dad's aura had been two colors.

But that didn't mean anything…..well it might have meant that she was super powerful or whatever….but that didn't mean that she would have been anything like dad. There was nobody like dad. He was dad. She was good and dad was evil and the two of them had level the city, almost, in a climactic battle between the forces of good and evil! Yeah! He had nothing to be all…like this about! He was Suzuki Sho! He could handle anything!

Including opening a door.

Reigen was beyond grateful to hear the door opening.

This….this was madness. This was torture. This was designed to drive a man to commit terrible crimes…like throwing this stupid desk out the window littering laws be damned! When he had thought of sadistic torture, not that he spent a lot of his time thinking of sadistic torture, but when he thought of sadistic torture the Swedish did not come to mind. But now they would…because this…this was insane!

Thank God the new guy was finally here.

"Someone's at the door, Master Reigen." Said Mob as she laid out the different screws and little wrenches in the order that they would have been needed. Teru had taught her that. She had helped, well she had tried to help he had wanted to do it all on his own, him build a lot of the furniture in his new apartment…well their new apartment…an apartment where she had some stuff. Some hair ribbons and clothes, a spare pair of shoes, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, bottles of shampoo and conditioner, some napkin she kept at the back of his bathroom cabinet that she hoped he never noticed….and some other stuff. The apartment was his and…and she didn't have to move in until….until she was older….

And she had been happy to help him put the furniture in it together with him.

That had been the adult thing to do….and she was an adult. Well she was a kid….but she was not a child. She was young but not a child. Chronologically she was fourteen but on the inside…she had no idea what she was on the inside. How old she was. Sometimes she felt like a kid…like when she was playing a videogame or just having fun with Teru….and sometimes she felt a lot older…like when she was thinking about what had happened or helping to furnish an apartment or having a totally different kind of fun with Teru….

And she had to stop thinking about Teru and all the things that they did together because now…now Serizawa was here with…with another aura…one she knew..

Oh. Him.

"It's opened!" said Reigen as he got up. He offered Mob a hand and he took it….and he felt…he felt a great many things…some of which he hadn't wanted to know that Mob had been feeling. He reminded himself that she was fourteen, she couldn't help it, and it was only as weird as he made it…and he would have made it pretty damn weird if he were to bring it up now. The fact that she was low key….yeah. No, not the thing to bring up, ever, but especially not at work…and especially not on the new guy's first day….

And especially not when he had taken it upon himself to bring a friend.

Two people came through the door…and he knew that kid. He remembered….damn. That kid had been half dead….on that day. He'd been beaten to a bloody pulp…all slumped over in the corner…and his own father had done that to him. His own father….and then Serizawa'd had to carry him…and that had been….that whole night had been….

That whole night was something that he need to forget….

Or at least stop thinking about. This was not the time or the place. Serizawa was giving off enough anxiety to put Reigen on edge. He resisted the urge to shove his hands in his pocket and sink down into his suit coat. He was wearing the dark blue today, good for slinking down into and blending into the wall with like a chameleon, but he would not be doing that. He couldn't do that. He was Reigen Arataka and he did not try and hide…

Well unless his life was in danger…which it was not.

"H-Hello…..so sorry that I'm l-late! I-I got lost along the way and then I ran into Sho and then-" said Serizawa as he bowed. He bowed low and deep…and maybe kowtowing would have been better. The President had liked people to kowtow….not that Reigen was anything like the President! He wasn't! Serizawa….he could feel Reigen's aura…and it was nothing like the President's. Where the President's aura had been almost painful to be near Reigen's…it felt…warm. He felt warm. It was like he was taking all of the bad feelings that permeated Serizawa's aura and he was just…taking them in and giving them back….sort of like what she had done on that day only less…like what she had done on that day….since now Reigen was only giving him feelings when she…she had given him….

She had given him the story of her life.

"Hey, none of that. It's ok, we weren't really doing anything important anyway." Said Reigen. He did his best to give out good feelings, like one of those crystals in the massage/exorcism/curse removal/nap room only, well, he actually did something. This guy was a ball of nerves….and psychic energy…and Reigen did not need him to explode.

The painters had just finished up yesterday after all.

"Oh! Well I just wanted to apologize for-"said Serizawa. He wasn't sure if he should get up, if that was appropriate, so he just stayed in his kowtow. The President had always told people when it was ok to get up.

"Really it-" said Reigen. Nope. In went the bad feelings, out went the good ones, like he was an air purifier…or a water purifier. Like he was one of those ultra-deluxe purifying models that he had been so good at selling back in the day. Taste nature's goodness! Even though the tap water was fine to drink….heh. If he had managed to sell water of all things to people, water coolers to people who had perfectly good water in their own homes, then he could sell…the idea that everything was going to be ok to Serizawa.

This was his specialty after all.

"Get up, he's not going to kill you." Said Sho. He poked Serizawa in the stomach and he straightened up so fast it took his hair a second to keep up. Sho put his hand to his mouth and laughed the way that girls did when they didn't want you to see them smiling. Not that he was a girl or anything, he just didn't want anyone to see him laughing. That would have put Serizawa back on edge and nobody needed that.

But then again if he did get too close to an explosion then Ritsu's big sis could have just drained all of his energy…or whatever.

It was hard to believe that anyone had that kind of power….but it was possible. Dad…he had that power and so did Ritsu's big sis. If she hadn't looked almost exactly like Ritsu Sho would have wondered if they had been secret half siblings or something. Something out of one of mom's shows. But they weren't. She and dad just happened to have the same power set….not that she acted like that. She was just staring at them, and her aura was calm, but not in the way that dad stared at people. When he stared at people it was like he was either sizing them up or looking through them.

When she stared at people it was like…like she was just staring at them.

"Hello Serizawa and Sho-Suzuki. Suzuki. It's nice to see you both again." said Mob. Sho…well she wasn't entirely sure if it was polite to call him Sho…but he was staring at her. He was staring at her like…like she didn't know. She wasn't good with reading people's looks….but she had seen that look on him before. She could remember…he had been very small them. He had been small and he had been watching some ants devouring the carcass of some sort of insect, she didn't know which Masami knew more about these things than she did, and Sho had been watching with such fascination that she hadn't thought her own son capable of and-

And you need you stop it, Touichirou, this is my head.

"Nice to see you again too, Ritsu's big sis. Reigen." Said Sho with a shrug. He couldn't get a read off of her. She was just…well now she was coming over. She had a rip in her socks. The cloth was coming off of the elastic. A flaw in the thread, not an injury, but if he wanted to have a chance against her his best bet was to take her by surprise. Send her dress flying over her head and then while she was embarrassed and she couldn't see he could land a kick to her-

Stop it, brain, she isn't a threat.

"It-it-it's good to see you again Mo-Miss Kageyama! And you too, Reigen. It's nice to be here and thank you so much for this opportunity and this second chance and I promise that I won't-" said Serizawa. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say in this situation so he just said everything. The President hadn't really liked it when he spoke, he was a 'speak when spoken to' sort of person, but Reigen was different. He knew, from what she had shown him, that Reigen loved to talk and he always had something interesting to say and he probably wanted a good conversation partner and Serizawa had no clue of he even knew how to be a good conversation partner and it wasn't like he'd had anyone to practice with or anything like that and….and he just…

He could not afford to mess this up.

"No, thank you for taking me up on it! Here at Spirits and Such we believe in second chances for anyone who needs them." Said Reigen. He put a reassuring hand on Serizawa's shoulder…and regretted it almost immediately. It felt like that time when he had been four and had stuck the nail in the electrical socket. He had only done it because mom and dad had told him a thousand times not to and he had wanted to see what all the fuss was about….and then he had known. Touching Serizawa….it was a shock to the system. Physically and emotionally. This guy….he had A LOT of anxiety to him…and Reigen….he did his best not to let it affect him. He did his best not to let this turn into a negative feedback loop….

His best hadn't been good enough.

Mob took his other hand. Mob took his hand and let her aura envelope his and now…now he felt good. Well sort of. His legs felt cold….and if he was getting physical sensations then he was in too deep….and also he really wanted a glass of milk….and he had a slight headache…but at least he wasn't a ball of nerves anymore. He let go of Serizawa and made a mental note not to do that again unless he was prepared…and he also made a mental note to start stocking some calming chamomile tea in addition to the green tea….and Mob could learn how to make chamomile, he could teach her, and it would be something that she would have needed two hands for….

Which would have been good since she was still holding on to his.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" asked Sho. He tried not to sound pissed off as he saw her just holding some other guy's hand when he knew fully well that she was going out with the Hanazawa guy. He loved her. According to the other esper kids he had called her back when dad gave his crazy speech and asked her to marry him or whatever. Love was scared and the worst thing that you could do was cheat…and this sucked because he had liked her and he liked Reigen….he had seemed like such a cool guy….but still. Cheating was wrong and it was wrong to mess with love. What if through doing this then Reigen stopped her future kids from being born? Or something? What if he threw the whole world out of whack? Just because you wanted to bang someone didn't mean that you had to…not that they were banging or anything like that. Sho would have had way harsher words if they had just been banging there in the middle of the room….

Sho needed to stop thinking so much about….stuff….all the time. He was poisoning his own brain.

"I do. Master Reigen just gets overwhelmed by other people's feelings sometimes, that's all." said Mob. She let go of Master Reigen's hand and looked down at her feet. She would need new socks again soon….and she needed to think about how she needed new socks and not about how she had been holding his hand in front of everyone and it had looking like she was doing that because she had been in love with him and not because she had been trying to help him and-

A hand on her shoulder.

"I'm ok now Mob, thanks for that. Mob's right, sometimes I get a little overwhelmed but, hey, don't we all? Anyway now that we have introductions out of the way let's get right to work! You can help too, Mob's friend, but you're getting paid in experience." Said Reigen. He tried to sound lighter than he felt. Right now he felt heavy. He wanted to look down at his shoes and just stay like that for the rest of his life. That was Mob's embarrassment….and he was not going to get pissed at the kid for embarrassing her. What was he? Twelve? Thirteen? Yeah, kids his age were not known for their tact and grace. Whatever. It was what it was. Mob would bounce back….hopefully….or maybe it would have been best to send her to her boyfriend's apartment…or someone else. To see her friends….

Or something else to take her mind off of him…and her own perfectly normal and natural feelings.

"R-Right!" said Serizawa. Right, he was here to work and he was going to work and…and he was fine. He hadn't messed up…but he sort of had. Reigen's powers were different from his, he could feel other people's emotions, and Serizawa….he had been nothing but emotion for his entire life…and he just….he had to calm down and just….he didn't know what he would do if he accidentally hurt Reigen and…and now he had to worry extra hard about losing control and-

And an aura was over his.

Purple met blue and pink. It was….he felt…sort of like he was under his umbrella. Sort of like he was under a thousand umbrellas at once. He felt like….like he was safe. Like he would always be safe no matter what so long as….as he could stay under this aura. She was…she was there and she would keep him safe and he would be safe with her and she had gotten closer and…and this was….he knew what this was….

The President had done the same thing…but she was nothing like the President.

"You're going to be ok, Serizawa, we're friendly here." Said Mob. Touichirou had done that. That was how he got Serizawa to calm down when even the umbrella wasn't enough….and he had his umbrella with him…and this had maybe been sort of….well not mean but….she didn't know. Bad people could come up with good ideas, right? The ideas could be good or bad dependent on the people who came up with them? Like maybe having an idea was like having a baby and once you made the idea it became what it was and it didn't depend on who you were…or something. She didn't know. She just didn't want him to get upset or for Master Reigen to be overwhelmed again…and also she wanted Sho to stop staring at her like that…not that she had any idea how she was being stared at but she got the feeling that it was not good…

"Yeah….I guess that's ok." Said Sho. Dad had done that to Serizawa before, when he got freaked out, and it wasn't good seeing her do that….but she was helping…and maybe he shouldn't have jumped to conclusions about her. Yeah, she was just being helpful…and girls were always all touchy feely like that. It didn't mean that they were in love with you or they wanted to bang you or anything like that. If that were the case then Ritsu's girlfriend wanted to bang him and that was crazy. She loved Ritsu with all her heart or whatever and Sho….well maybe he had just been seeing himself or whatever in Ritsu's big sis….or whatever. He didn't know.

Well he did know…he knew that he needed to stop thinking about Ritsu because his thoughts went back to…places which they did not belong.

"Alright, come on. Who knows how to put furniture together?" asked Reigen. Well now this was definitely…something. He may have needed Mob around after all…and that sort of defeated the purpose of…no. He had meant what he had said about second chances. Everyone deserved one and if he could give someone a second chance then he would. He was not trying to replace Mob…he just….he had needed some extra help for a while. Yeah, he was pretty sure that he had been breaking a few labor laws before so…yeah. This was….he just needed some extra help and he was happy to give someone a second chance….

And also he really needed some extra help.

Especially since it seemed as though he had just been inept at putting furniture together. He didn't remember having had this much trouble last time….well last time he had sprung for the assembly fees. Of course. Why was it that now that he had more money he had turned into a cheapskate? Where had this sense of frugality been when he had been living on instant ramen and plain white rice from the discount store?

Well he had been a lot younger then.

He had been younger and a hell of a lot more hopeful. He had moved into that first office with big aspirations of helping people and making bank…well he had helped people…but the bank had been coming after him…and then he had been ten seconds away from calling it quits until Mob walked into his life. She had been eleven and small, all doubts and pigtails, and now she was…well she was still small but she was fourteen now and she had a confidence these days that he had never seen on her before…and she wore it well. She wore it better than she had worn anything in her life. He had seen her scared. He had seen her doubtful. He had seen her insecure. He had seen her….he had seen her at her lowest points….but here she was. She was….she was there and she was happy and she was confident. She was talking to people and making friends and just….so much more than the child that he had met all of those years ago….and he was so fucking proud of her…and he loved her so much….

And not just because she knew how to put furniture together.

"It's really not that hard once you get all the pieces lined up. My boyfriend showed me how to do this. we put together all of the furniture in his apartment….well he mostly did it and I watched. I learned some things, though, like always line up the parts and always follow the directions." Said Mob from her spot on the floor. This was better, everyone sitting on the floor, more equal. Touichirou was in her head, still, and he was giving her the feeling that she should stand up tall and straight and always look down at people….and she was going to stay on the ground thank you very much.

The view was much better from down here.

The four of them were putting Master Reigen's desk together. She was doing the big part, the frame, and everyone else had a drawer. It just made more sense for her to do the frame since she had the best grasp on her telekinesis. Serizawa was mostly brute force and Sho couldn't even hold a glass without it shattering…and he was so lucky that she had let Fukuda see to that he should have had to sit there and let the cuts get infected as a constant reminder of just how much of a failure he was and…and she needed to figure out how to make this stop.

Sho was not a failure.

Well she didn't know him, not really, but she knew that he was not a failure. He was brave, so brave, because he had gone up against his father…and she wasn't sure if she could have done that. She and her dad weren't close, they hadn't spoken in months, but she didn't think that she could have done what Sho had done….and one day she would have to tell him how brave she thought that he was. Not now, though, because that would have been an awkward thing to say while they were in the middle of putting this desk together….or in general. She didn't know. Maybe she should tell him that because, based on what she knew from Touichirou, that Sho needed to hear more good things about himself….and she liked to make her friends happy….

But first she would have to become better friends with him.

"Who needs directions?" scoffed Sho. He could figure this out. It was a rectangle. How hard could a rectangle be? You just put the side with the other side…or maybe it was that side…and why were there SIX pieces? Who thought this up? This was from IKEA….and as much as he loved jumping on their couches and climbing on their bookshelves….and also the meatballs….this was torture and the whole company should have been called out for making a rectangle of all things overly complicated!

"We do. Come on, Sho, it's like when we build models. Remember what happened when you ignored that directions last time?" asked Serizawa as he brushed his hair out of his face. Sweat tended to weigh it down and building models was sweaty work. Well it wasn't exactly like building a model…but it was close. Close enough that he felt more in his element. As long as he kept his umbrella near…and as long as he stayed under Miss Kaegyama's aura…then he would be fine. Also he needed to stop looking out the window. The sky was…big. It was big and blue and…and he had spent too much time back in his room if the sky was freaking him out again…

He went back to work.

This was….something that he knew how to do. Follow the directions, put the pieces together, and then put it on the shelf when he was done….well not the last step. This was not a model. This was a desk. This was something useful. This wasn't some colorful bit of plastic that was going to gather dust for years and years. This was something that was going to be used, it was useful, and he was being useful by helping and…and he was being useful in a good way. He didn't have to hurt anyone…and he would never have to hurt anyone ever again. Miss Kageyama would never have asked that of him. President Kageyama wasn't like that. She was kind, she was kind in the real way, and he was so grateful to her for that. For her to have been kind enough to…to do everything that she had done. She was such a good person, a genuinely good person, and he just…he wanted to be more like her….if that was even possible. If it was possible for anyone to be like her….

Because, really, he had never met anyone as good as her before.

"Hey, I made it work. Who cares if the arms were where the legs should have been? It's more artistic that way." said Sho. They used to build things together back when he had been little. Well not little like a baby but little like a ten year old. Eventually they had switched to videogames and then…and then he had gotten busy with his whole secret rebellion thing….and yeah. They had just sort of drifted apart a little bit….but they could always drift back. Yeah, this wasn't so bad…

Even if he was only being paid in experience.

"May I remind everyone that my desk is not an art project?" asked Reigen. This felt like an art project…and even the kids were better at this than him…though to be fair they had telekinesis. Still, though, this was embarrassing just a little bit….but, hey, he could always….supervise. Yeah, he was the boss and he could just supervise and…and it was ok.

He couldn't do everything.

There were things in this world that he was just…not capable of. He couldn't stop madmen from taking over the world, he couldn't go back in time and deliver those witty comebacks to arguments past he came up with while sitting in bed at one in the morning, and he couldn't build overly complicated Swedish furniture delivered by Amazon…and maybe he should have gotten real furniture….it would have maybe been less complicated….but that sweet two day shipping though….

Mob had this.

This was one of those things that it was ok for Mob to have. She had done so much….and in the grand scheme of things this was…this was nothing. He would rather she build all of the office furniture on her own than go out there and risk her life again. She was…she should have been out there living her life and being a kid…but there was another kid here so…so this was ok….and Mob was ok….

And he was ok, too.

"Sho! Come on, take this seriously." Said Serizawa as he brushed his hair out of his face again. It generally stood up on it's own…but not when he got this sweaty…and he never got this sweaty not even when he had been building his most complicated models…and also this felt sort of like a waste of a shower….but he had to stop thinking about bathing like that. He bathed every single day, now, whether he felt like he needed it or not. That was another part of rejoining society…and he needed to just…rejoin society.

"I am." Said Sho sticking his tongue out. Serizawa gave him a look and he knocked it off. Right. This wasn't Claw and he had to act like a civilized member of society or whatever….and also there was a girl here and girls didn't like things like that.

"Do you want a hair tie, Serizawa? Or wait…your hair might be too small…but I have a headband that you can borrow, too, if you want….not that there's anything wrong with your hair. It's just…in your face…and you keep on brushing it out of your face…and stuff." Said Mob. She had a cloth headband in her bag…well it was pink….but boys could like pink. Teru liked pink. He had gotten pink bedding and he said that he liked it even though she got the feeling that he had just gotten it for her….not that she was complaining….not that she would ever complain…

And she needed to stop thinking about this.

Sometimes it felt like that was all she could think about when it came to her and Teru. She loved him and…and making love was a part of being in love…and also….also it was good again. Making love. Having sex. Sleeping together. She just….for so long she had been stuck, mentally, in the unreality….but then she had saved the world and now she knew that she was in this reality…and in this reality she and Teru loved each other…and also that day had been so good. So very good. She had just been so happy to have been alive, and also the other her had mostly been in control, but it had been so amazing…and it was still amazing. It had been amazing last time and it could have been amazing again and…

And she needed to stop thinking about this.

"No-no thank you. I….I know that I need to get it cut." Said Serizawa. Back in Claw haircuts had come like clockwork…but now he had to…well that was another thing that he had to figure out on his own. Mom had cut his hair for him back when he had lived with her and…..and yeah. He had something else to worry about…and that was ok.

"How about now?" asked Reigen. Mob's aura was big and bright and there and his aura was always trying to latch onto hers…and when he did that he could feel her feelings…and he did not want to feel her feelings right now. Nope. Not now. It was normal and natural, especially when she was near a guy her own age…something which made him feel better for reasons he would examine later, but he did not want to be there while she felt those totally understandable and normal and natural feelings.

"Wh-what?" asked Serizawa. He was proud of himself for not shouting….but also he should not have been about to shout in the first place. Right. People were going to talk to him and he wasn't always going to be used to those people and…and that was ok. His aura…well if his aura was a person on it's own it would have ran and hid under Presid-under Miss Kageyama's.

"I've picked up a thing or two about cutting hair and I'd be happy to give you a trim." Said Reigen. He mostly wanted to get away from Mob while she was feeling….all of the things that she was feeling. Also Serizawa was long overdue for a haircut. Even if he liked it that way….well he was asking…and Reigen wasn't going to just cut his hair without asking but also….also there was no way that he liked his hair like that….

But then again Mob had been rocking the bowl cut for the past three years that he had known her so…yeah. Maybe he didn't know anything about hair.

"Go for it, you need it." Said Sho

"Um….sure." said Serizawa. Sho had a point, he was overdue for a haircut…and it was nice of Reigen to offer…and he needed to stay calm. He did his best to stay calm as he was led to a bathroom. Reigen was just as talkative in life as he had been in President Kageyama's, in Miss Kageyama's, memories. Serizawa was sat down as Reigen went through the 'emergency haircut/grooming' box that he hadn't unpacked yet…and that would be next, helping to unpack, which was something that was even more out of his comfort zone….

But he couldn't spend the rest of his life in his comfort zone.

He had been spending his entire life in his comfort zone. He had wasted his entire life in his comfort zone. Well that was then and this was now and now…now he was here. He was here in the bathroom getting his hair cut…and he…he didn't mind. Even if he did feel Reigen pulling away from him…making sure not to touch him…but that made sense. Serizawa knew that he had almost hurt Reigen…he knew that he had overwhelmed him….and he knew that he could do that again…

But maybe not.

He looked in the mirror. He looked like….his hair had never been this short before. He looked different, new, very new. Very different….and maybe this was a good thing. Sho had called this the first day of the rest of his life…and maybe that was what this was. He had felt, before, when the President had come for him that he had been stepping out into the rest of his life…like he had been stepping from a long waking dream and into reality….into this reality…..

Now he was in a better version of reality…and he was a new version of himself…a better version of himself. A better Serizawa Katsuya.

"Well, Serizawa, now you are officially ready. Welcome to Spirits and Such." Said Reigen. He knew that he had spent the whole time saying 'almost ready'….and maybe he had been a little too careful…but it was a big change. A dramatic change. But a good one. Reigen knew that it was an asshole thought to have but, yeah, he looked like he was ready to become a normal member of society. He wasn't going to say anything.

He was better, these days, at watching his mouth.

And he would have to watch his mouth. Serizawa was more sensitive than Mob…and he was dealing with a lot…but that was ok. That was nothing that he couldn't handle. If he had managed to save one lost soul then he could save another….and that wasn't a healthy way of thinking about it, now was it? But then again he had never been a healthy person, the cigarettes in his pocket could attest to that, but maybe he needed to look at this as something other than saving a lost soul, helping out someone more fucked up than himself, and other such thoughts.

Maybe. He didn't know.

"I….I am. Thank you." Said Serizawa. He was ready. He had to be ready. This was…this was the first day of the rest of his life…or the latest first day of the rest of his life…he didn't know. He just knew that he was ready. He had to be ready. If he wasn't ready then…well that just wasn't an option. Not being ready. He was…he was ready and he had to be because…because…

There were only so many second chances.


End file.
